House for Sale

On April 12th, we will officially be here for two years. In that time, our closest neighbor moved away and today, two more houses down the road went up for sale. Was it something we said?

Smelly Garage

We have a local skunk that has been sighted hanging out around our house several times. Last year, I pulled in the driveway with the top off of the Jeep and he was waiting for me. Thankfully, he wasn't scared of guys in trucks. We have seen him out visiting the rabbits and walking around the concrete. We have been leaving the garage up just a bit for the cats. Well, the other morning, our garage had a not-so-pleasant smell. I saw one cat, but heard something crunching the cat food on the other side of the car. So, I carefully went around the other side of the car to find... the other cat. Luckily, the skunk was gone, but he must have been in our garge, because it stinks! And, the cars, stink! And, the cats, stink! I drove my truck to Peoria, went to a four hour meeting, came out, and it still stinks! Any suggestions?

Day 6

Ok, so our last day was pretty laid back. We left Dad & Mom's and headed back to Orlando. We stopped by Wal-mart to pick up a new GPS and I ran over the rack that holds the carts. It was Friday the 13th after all. Looks like I probably need to see my friend Jay Nail. Anyway, we ate at a Perkin's and after the meal, the waiter starts making these balloon animals. Needless to say, his stock went up. We went shopping for a little while and ran into this parrot guy. And, for a small fee, we were able to capture that moment on film. I think we were set up. Then, we went to play mini-golf at the Pirate's Cove. Luke took at nap, so just me and the big boys got to play. They love mini-golf. I don't know why we have never played up town. I guess that would be too convenient. We finally ended our day at Downtown Disney. We started at the other end this time and got to see Lego Land. Wow! I am impressed. To think that somebody gets paid to play with legos all day. Where do I sign up?

Day 5

On Thursday, we went down to Mom & Dad's place. Holly stayed with Luke and Mom while Dad took the rest of us on an airboat ride. It was really cool. We went down to Lake Trafford where they have like some 3000 alligators. We were up close and personal with most of them. You could reach your hand out of the boat and touch them. I didn't realize we would see so many or get so close. We all had a great time!

Day 4

On Wednesday, we went to Universal Studios. It was very cool. Most of the attractions were interactive shows and/or simulated rides. I think everybody's favorite was the Simpson's Ride. There was also a Kid Zone where the boys could play in a huge play area or a little water park. There was also a roller coaster that they rode over and over. (I didn't ride. I just took the pictures. Dr. Bloomberg will thank me later). The park wasn't nearly as busy as Disney, so we hardly had to wait in lines. Very cool.

Day 3

This was supposed to be an easy day, but it was very eventful. We started out the day at the pool. Luke was not a big fan. He liked the pool, but did not want to be held. Bad combo for a little guy that can't swim. The big boys really weren't in the mood to swim for some reason. We ended up watching these two ducks get it on in the deep end till some old guy broke them up.

We went to Disney's Hoop-Dee-Doo Musical Revue in the afternoon. This was a real treat. We all really enjoyed the show. Big shout out to the Cucinalla's for the recommendation. The boys had a blast and we were all laughing the entire show. Even Luke seemed to be really entertained. I think it was the cute girl behind us that he kept checking out.

The day ended on kind of a sour note. Somebody broke into our truck and stole the GPS. Why? I don't know. They didn't take the power supply. They didn't take the Nintendo DS, the iPod, the digital camera, the DVD player or anything else. Maybe these crooks weren't the brightest. Anyway, we were able to get the glass replaced ASAP and the maintenance man at the hotel cleaned up all the broken glass. We are just lucky to have a great insurance agent! ;-)

Day 2

Today, we went to the Magic Kingdom, so here we are some pictures from the rides. I think the big boys' favorites were Splash Mountain and Thunder Railroad. We rode each of them twice. They were my favorites, too. We didn't hit all the smaller rides this year. Luke rode the Tea Cups and the Merry-Go-Round, but really enjoyed the little Water Park. We stayed till close and watched the fireworks. They were awesome. It is really hard to enjoy the ones in Dieterich after that display. (no offense to you people in Dieterich) All the boys were actually very good. We had a blast!

One not so magical moment was when a trio of older European gals cut in front of us in the fast pass lane. They didn't speak a lick of English and were very rude. When they got to the end, they only had one pass for all three of them. But, since it was Disney, the attendant let them all ride and gave them a stern warning. I think they should have kicked their butts out of the park.

Day 1

Well, we made it to Florida in a little under 16 hours. That wasn't all driving time... Luke did fine after he realized that he wasn't going to win the battle. The first night we went to Downtown Disney and ate at Planet Hollywood. Here we are shopping for something to spend Mammer's money. Apparently, Ross loves to shop or at least buy everything he thinks he wants at that time. Cole seems to have more energy than all of us. I am not sure he will ever wear out. More to come. It has been an interesting time so far. We are having lots of fun!!!

Don't Glitter!

This week when it was warm, the boys and I took a walk up our road. Ross said to me, "Mom, why do people glitter?!" I tried very hard to keep a straight face. It was so cute.

On the way home he said, "We should pick up some of this glitter." and he did, he filled the bottom of the stroller with trash from our road. I am so proud of his stewardship.

So think twice before you litter....Ross has his eye on you.

(The above pic is not of our road, thankfully it wasn't that bad.)