Disney - Part 2

The river rapid ride at Animal Kingdom.  Elisabeth and Ansley loved it.  They weren't wet......they were SOAKED.  I am so glad I didn't ride this one.

Jan got volunteered (by Ron) to be a part of the dance.  She's in the orange shirt and tan shorts.  ;-)

Mount Everest Ride.  I was definitely too scared to ride it.  I couldn't even handle Thunder Mountain so I knew this ride wasn't for me.  John and Scott rode it instead. 

Family picture at Epcot.

Now this is the way to travel

Cooling off in the fountain

Decorating their KidCot masks at Epcot

 

Being Vikings in Norway at Epcot

China

A Fu dog just the right size for Elisabeth

Chinese Acrobats --- Epcot

Their finished masks.  Elisabeth made me put the Musketeer slogan on the top of hers.  All for one and one for all!!

Dressing up in Japan --- Epcot

Disney

The Magic Kingdom.  This is in the morning when we were fresh.  We should have taken a picture of us at the end of the day when we had been in this park for 12 hours straight in 90 degree heat.  It wasn't pretty I can assure you.

Elisabeth thought Cinderella's castle was great!  She had been wanting to see this for a long time!

Riding "It's a Small World".   She loved this ride!

It's a Small World

Aaahh.....the teacups.   We didn't twirl fast.  Ron and I would have definitely turned green.

This teacup on the other hand was spinning fast.  Scott likes to get it going fast!

Elisabeth was scared of the Rabbit.   I had to stand with her in this picture because she wouldn't get in it otherwise.

Elisabeth is driving!  She thought that was very cool.

Something funky was going on with my camera.  Everyone looks red.

The day was complete.......we met Cinderella.  It's the one princess that Elisabeth kept begging to meet.

I have no comment for this one.

Fireworks around the castle

We stayed for the Electrical Parade that night. It was good but boy was I tired by then!

Mary Poppins

Elisabeth and Tinker Bell.  I was kinda glad to meet her too.  I had never met her before.  Hmmm.....Who was this vacation for?.....me or the kids?!

Family picture at Animal Kingdom (day #2 of 5)

 

A 15 week old baby gorilla.  I could have sat there for hours watching her.  I have never seen a gorilla this small.  It was truly fascinating.

I love horses!

Happy times........then it all went downhill when Elisabeth had an allergic reaction to either the hay or the horse and we had to leave immediately.  It will be a birthday party I will always remember!

Meg (the birthday girl), Gracie and Ansley

Ansley loved this bunny and wanted to bring it home.  It loved curling up in her lap.

This is one funny looking chicken.  I held it but I don't have a picture of that.  This was about the time I had to take Elisabeth to Urgent Care. 

Ansley's friend, Meg, had a birthday party at a horse farm and Ansley was so excited to be able to go.  She LOVES horses!  Since several of the girls that were invited couldn't come they said Elisabeth could come and would be able to ride the horses also.  So off we went to the middle of nowhere in Waxhaw, NC.   We were having such a good time but then Elisabeth had an allergic reaction to the hay or the horse and her whole face was immediately swollen with huge welts as well as her neck and her scalp was itching too.  She was coughing, etc.  It was quite scary for me.  Ansley stayed at the party but unfortunately I had to take Elisabeth to CVS and then to Urgent Care.  Everything turned out fine in the end and Ansley was able to stay to enjoy the party but poor Elisabeth didn't get to ride a horse and she was very disappointed about that.   After being in the middle of nowhere with no Benadryl or any kind of medicine I now carry Benadryl in my purse at all times.  I will never leave home without it again!

Pre-School Graduation

I know I am behind on posting these pictures!  Sorry.....things have been quite busy around here!   At the end of May Elisabeth graduated from pre-school at our church.  She had a great year and learned ALOT.   She is going to miss Mrs. Amanda and Mrs. Aminie!  But she is also excited about starting Kindergarten this Fall.  She will be in the same school as Ansley and she thinks that is pretty cool.  Since they will both be going to a new elementary school this year everything will be new to all of us.  So for now we are enjoying the summer and trying to get settled in the new house.   Summer is already going by really really fast.   Another school year will be here before I know it.

Thank you!

Making baskets full of goodies to say thank you to the local police department, fire department and EMS drivers

Kids making cards to go in the baskets

Elisabeth hard at work on her card

Our group delivered a basket to the Piedmont EMS.  They guys on duty that evening were so nice and let the kids in the ambulance and let them turn on the lights and were nice enough to pose for a picture with them.

We recently helped volunteer at our church to make baskets for the local police, fire and EMS departments.  It was a small thank you for all that they do.   The kids had a blast making thank you cards for them while the adults put all the cookies, fruit, candy, brownies and snacks in the baskets.  Their was some yummy stuff in there!  We went to the Piedmont EMS with another family to deliver our basket.  The kids had fun meeting the guys that drive the ambulance and they let them have a "tour" of the inside.  It was a great way to spend the evening showing our kids that giving thanks to our community workers can be as easy as a card and some goodies.  We take some of these people for granted sometimes so it was nice to be able to do something special for them.

Miss Olivia's birthday party

Miss Olivia,  the Birthday Girl

Olivia's beautiful birthday cake

Don't let their arguing fool you......they really do love each other  :-)

Elisabeth and Ansley went to their friend's birthday party not long ago.  Olivia was turning 3 so we helped her celebrate!  It was a fun party!   It's hard to believe she is already turning 3!  Where oh where does the time go?

The Great Butterfly Release

This one stayed on Ansley's finger for a LONG time

Elisabeth was so excited that she finally got one to sit on her finger

Sitting on Ansley's flip flop

Sitting on Elisabeth's flip flop ---- they kept landing on their shoes.  I guess they liked the bright colors.

We raised LOTS of caterpillars this year and therefore had LOTS of butterflies that we were able to release into our yard.  If you never seen this whole process it is quite amazing.  I just don't know how they change from a caterpillar into a beautiful butterfly.  The kids love watching the process and getting to hold and "play" with the butterflies when we let them go.