Disney 2010

We finally made it to Disneyworld this summer.  It was our first visit, and we were all so excited to arrive in Florida.  It was HOT (95+ temps most every day) the entire week, but we still managed to have the best time ever. We visited Animal Kingdom, Magic Kingdom, Epcot, and Hollywood Studios.  Our favorite rides were Everest, Soarin, Buzz Lightyear, Splash Mountain, and Rockn Rollercoaster. 

We stayed at Port Orleans Riverside.

Shuttle bus ride to Animal Kingdom

Everest

Hunter, Andy, and Ryan!

The safari at Animal Kingdom

Way too close to a lion

Eating dinner at Tusker House

The Nemo Musical

Some random person snapped the only picture that we have of all of us

Digging for dinosaur bones

Andy's towel birthday cake

Andy getting the "It's My Birthday" pin

Meeting the characters

I absolutely love Donald Duck!

I tried to talk Kevin into buying this for me...no luck!

We ate at Teppan Edos in Japan (Epcot).  This was our favorite meal.  The chef cooked the meal at our table and did all types of tricks, including tossing a shrimp into his hat.  Very entertaining and excellent food!

The boys attempting to use chopsticks.

Ryan did not want to get too close...Andy did not mind at all!

They were so happy to find a cool place that they didn't want to leave.

Ryan finally got to meet his hero!

A replica of the Swiss Family Robinson treehouse.  I loved this!

We visited the Pirate's Lair where all of the boys were transformed into Jack Sparrow. 

While Hunter and Andy laughed through this activity, Ryan took his oath to be a pirate VERY seriously.  Check out this face.

He can't wait to show those teeth to Dr. McQueen

One of the parades

The one and only JackSparrow

This is my "it's too hot to wait in line" face.

Rockn Rollercoaster

Indiana Jones stunt show

As we were leaving a skywriter left a very special message for us..

I had to take 2 pictures because I couldn't zoom out far enough

We had a wonderful time, made some very special memories, and can't wait to visit again!

First Day of School Pictures

August 25, 2010 was our first day back to school.  We were up bright and early, whether we wanted to be or not.  These are a few pictures from the first day.

Ryan is in Mrs. Sherry Winborn's class along with his best buddy Garrett.  She may be on nerve pills before the year is over.

Check out Andy holding up the WRONG sign.  Did I mention that it was very early? Haha

This would be Andy holding up the correct sign.  He is in Mrs. Candy Smith's class this year.

Hunter in 7th grade!!

If you wonder why I torture my children and make them hold up a sign each first day to get a picture made...this is why.  When they first started preschool we established this tradition, and it is one that has carried over year to year.  Yes, the older they get, the harder it is to capture the moment, but we love to look back at how they have changed each year.

He has changed just a little bit!

Andy's Birthday

On August 7, 1999 I was blessed with a sweet baby boy.  Now that baby is growing up on me and has recently turned 11.  Wow, the years are really flying by.  For those of you who do not know Andy well, let me give you a few facts about him:

1. He is a very thoughtful and caring person.
2. He always makes people laugh, especially me!
3. He does not keep his room clean.
4. He loves sports... of any kind.
5. He loves to be outdoors.
6. He is a very loyal and good friend.

We celebrated his birthday with a homerun derby at the sportsplex.  He had a few friends over and they competed to see who could hit the most homeruns.  We played baseball, ate hotdogs, and Andy opened presents.  He got a new bike for his birthday and a ping pong table.

Testing out the new ride

Ryan

Kevin was hoping to be the champion, but Jacob Northcutt stole the title from him!

Andy checking out the birthday gifts

The party got a little out of hand so officer Dal had to make a few arrests! Haha

Yes, I hit it far...all the way to the pitcher's mound.

Summer Project

Anyone who knows me, knows that I am slightly OCD about cleaning and organizing.  It's just part of who I am.  Summer always gives me time to get closets, attic space, toyboxes, etc. cleaned out.  This year I decided to tackle the yard (at least the back yard).  I tried to get the whole family on board, but some people do not share my enthusiasm for clean space. I have a great husband, truly better than I deserve, but yard work is not his thing.  In fact, cleaning in general is not his thing.  So as you can guess, he was a little more than excited about putting a small pond in the backyard.  I bought a book, made a plan, and he begrudgingly accompanied me to Lowe's.  He spent some time trying to talk me into the plug-in fountain.  He said it looked more realistic.  Thankfully, I know all about his games by now and didn't fall for it. 

He was more than happy to spend hours digging up the yard because he loves me so much!  I never once heard a complaint. (He managed to mumble everything under his breath!)  I meant for this to be my project, but the digging and dirt...it was just too much.  I had to hand it over to him.  So while he sweated and dug holes in 98 degree weather, I walked around the yard and accessorized. 
Here is the finished product.  I had to take pictures at night so that you can see the lights in the pond.  Also, do not want you to notice that there is no grass yet!  Didn't he do a fabulous job?

Summer Fun

Some more highlights from this summer were...
Baseball- My boys are all about some baseball!! So as usual, we spend a large amount of time at the ballfields during the summer.

We went to see the DiamondJaxx play in Jackson.

Ribbee is Ryan's favorite!

The boys always want to get autographs after the games.  I have no idea who this player is (#4), but he stayed and signed autographs for each child after the game, and there was a line of people waiting on him.  Very nice thing to do!

Andy...with one of the cheerleaders.

American flag display

Spring Park

Wow!  I can't believe summer is passing so quickly.  I haven't had much time to do all of the things I set out to do this summer, but we have managed to have a lot of fun! Some of our highlights for this summer have been...
Spring Park in Tuscumbia- The boys and I decided to go visit the park in Tuscumbia.  We rode the carousel, the roller coaster, fed the ducks, looked at the waterfall, ...

and oh yes, Ryan broke his wrist. The day started out great and went well up until the point that Ryan dropped from the monkey bars and broke one bone in his wrist. We spent the rest of the afternoon at Helen Keller emergency room.

Moments before the fall-

We thought a snow cone would calm him down-

Unfortunately, he had to wear a cast for 6 weeks of the summer.  He chose a nice, bright green color.

He had a great time being the center of attention.  He would get this really sad look and hold his cast up so that people would ask about it.  He also loved having everyone sign the cast.  His wrist has since healed and he is right back to swimming, climbing, jumping, and all other crazy boy activities!