it's been a while

Wow. I am a slacker! I keep thinking I want to get on here and post--I have lots to talk about, but seem to not be finding time where I sit down for fun at the 'puter. So, here goes a little bit.

Our vacation to Disney was really fun. The first 3 days were spent at the parks: Animal Kingdom (a lot of fun mixed with long, hot lines), Magic Kingdom (fun with long, hot lines ... we paid the $17--WTF!??--to buy the spray bottle with fan to help cool us for the day ... it helped, but only so much) and Epcot (best day of the three ... really great rides, almost no lines and the ones we did stand in were in air-conditioning--woo hoo!).

We learned that Austin loves roller coasters!! We'd had a glimpse of that from previous vacations to Sesame Place (near Philadelphia) ... they had a small to mid-sized roller coaster there that I'll bet we rode at least 10 times in the 2 days at the park. The full-sized roller coasters at Disney were easily his favorite things to do. The one at Animal Kingdom--called Expedition Everest--was his favorite. It somehow has been worked into conversation everyday since we've been home. Yesterday, the kids played Expedition Everest in the van. Every time I'd accelerate, turn a corner or slow down they'd pretend they were whooshing around like they were on a roller coaster ... complete with hands in the air and little "screams" to share their joy and / or pretend fear with what Austin referred to as the ride of his life. Funny!

Although Maya had fun playing Expedition Everest in the van, she was NOT interested in riding it--or many of the other roller coasters at Disney. She preferred meeting princesses and Minnie, watching the parade and doing low-key rides. I have to say that I was a little surprised that she got so afraid about riding some things ... several rides were abandoned just before we would have gotten on. Nerves got the best of her!

The last 4 days of the trip were on the Disney cruise ... also a lot of fun. We were busy, busy!! In the Bahamas, we had a great excursion--Close Encounter with a dolphin! We were in the water with "Andy" .... we hugged, kissed, rubbed, danced with and fed him. It was a wonderful, amazing experience. The kids loved it ... and we did, too! On Disney's island, we went snorkeling. The kids had never done that before ... Austin got a little nervous at first (I think it was mostly because he felt unstable with the fins on trying to figure out relaxed breathing through the snorkel), but once he got the hang of it, he was a snorkeling machine. I had to work to keep up with him when he was "chasing" fish! The kids spent almost all of the last day swimming in the Mickey-shaped pool on the ship. They had a blast ... making friends, splashing around, going down the slide. Maya thought that carrying me around the pool was the biggest hoot of all. So, being the great mom I am, I let her carry me just about as much as she wanted! :D

That trip was a great way to start the summer ... and after not-the-best school year for Austin, I was really happy that I had planned to have us on vacation a week after school let out.

Next post, the new additions to our family: Minnie and Belle.