We had such a great trip!!! Best idea EVER. We drove to Orlando on Saturday (April 14th). Checked into our room at the Marriott Resort (THANK YOU, MEEMA & PAP!) and went to dinner where Kaydee and Abby met this fabulous balloon artist who made Kaydee a Rapunzel doll and Abby a flower bracelet.

Sunday we just hung out at the resort--went swimming and played in the sprinkler park. Monday we went to Magic Kingdom-the girls met the princesses, Mickey & Minnie, Winnie the Pooh & Tigger...we rode LOTS of rides and walked for miles.  By 4pm the girls were DONE.  So we went back to the resort, ate dinnner and went swimming. Tuesday we went to Animal Kingdom in the morning-went on the safari and rode a couple of rides and were done by 11.  So we grabbed lunch, the girls took naps and then we went to Disney Hollywood Studios. Abby LOVED the Disney Jr Live! show-especially seeing Jake & the Neverland Pirates. Wednesday we went to Sea World. The dolphin show was AMAZING and Shamu was pretty cool too. Saw lots of neat sea creatures and rode a few rides. That night we went to a Mystery Dinner Theater.  Kaydee won a prize for guessing who-done-it. Thursday we went to Epcot (or as Abby calls it "Apricot"). Our favorite ride there was Soarin. (As we exited the ride Abby yelled "This is the best day EVER!!") We also walked through all the countries and met Mulan. That night we went back to Magic Kingdom and stayed for the parade and fireworks--it was....magical.  The girls loved it and the people around us were so sweet to them--making sure they could see what was going on. We spent Friday and Saturday morning at Magic Kingdom before heading back home Saturday afternoon.

Random notes:

Abby was completely enthralled with Jack Sparrow.  She wanted to watch his entire show...TWICE. (He was pretty good!)

Kaydee was scared of the Barnstormer but loved Splash Mountain and even braved Everest and Space Mountain with Shane.

Those Frontierland people know how to make an incredible caramel apple.

As we watched the electrical parade Abby waved and waved so enthusiastically that almost all of the characters took notice.

Abby literally dragged me to meet Winnie the Pooh and Tigger.

Abby called Sea World "Sea Land"

The girls said the best part was when they got to ride Peter Pan together (instead of splitting up between Mom & Dad)

Kaydee LOVES shopping.  LOVES it. Would have spent all day in the stores!

Every time a cast member referrd to the girls as "Princess" Kaydee GLOWED.

I have never seen Kaydee as excited as she was to meet Cinderella.

Disney World IS magical. :-)

There are over 100 pictures in the media gallery--enjoy!

T

Look what I got in the mail today!!! I am SO THANKFUL for a daddy who loves me enough to make me a new special tape!! I was so excited I skipped into the house and popped that baby into my cassette tape and cleaned the kitchen.  Then, because my dad is super awesome and sent TWO copies of the tape, I put the other one in the car and we sang along as we drove to pick up Kaydee from school and to & from soccer. THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!! I'll be sending a "propper" thank you in the mail but just had to give a SHOUT OUT to the bestest daddy EVER! :~) I LOVE YOU! :)

Or at least she works hard for school. :-)  Kaydee is writing a story for SCOPE that will be published in a book. In other news:  Soccer is full swing--Kaydee is loving practices and games and Abby is loving NOT having to have practices & games haha. (She's taking this season off....we'll re-evaluate in the fall.)

I think Georgia decided to skip winter, rush through spring and head straight to summer.  It's been in the 80s all week. We have had record breaking pollen (see pic in March Media Gallery) so I've been taking Claritin to make life bearable.  Shane is working on making our flower beds look pretty. Kaydee and Abby have decided they want to make scrapbooks for their Bumbies...but quickly realized that they didn't have any PICTURES of their Bumbies, so they spent the afternoon taking pictures. (I included one of them in the March Gallery.)

I got Kaydee's report card today--she's doing great! Let's see....other things we've been up to...root canals & crowns, homework and lots of reading, trading the Easy Bake Oven in for actually making food everyone can eat (Kaydee was quite pleased to learn she could make a cake that would feed everyone and not just herself!)Today was Early Release for Kaydee so we had a picnic with Teresa & her kids.  It was lots of fun!!! There are more pictures in the media gallery 

That's all I can think of right now...I'm sure there's more but I have lots more to mark off my ToDo list before I go to bed.....

This is a "Special Tape" (see label) that my dad made for me at least 20 years ago. (Wow...that makes me feel old...) I tried listening to it today and 20+years of playtime has taken its toll.  The poor tape is literally worn out. *sniff* So....ummm...Dad...on your next Rainy/Cold/I need a project Day...I could use a new tape. ;-)

I did manage to listen to it once and write down all the songs.  (Yes, Dad, I DO know who sang most of these and only had to cheat on a few. ;-) ). I'm including the youtube links so y'all can enjoy them too. :)

Side A

Johnny Angel (Shelly Fabares)

It Hurts to Be 16 (Andreal Carroll) (There were other videos that featured pictures of Andrea but I chose this one because it has a picture of the record....and the record is what I remember ;-) )

Forget Him (Bobby Rydell)

She Cried (Jay & The Americans)

Paper Doll (this is not the right version but the ony one I could find)

Rebel (Carol Jarvis)

Clementine (this is not the right version either)

The Diary (Paul Anka)

Tan Shoes With Pink Shoelaces (Dodie Stevens)

Stupid Cupid (Connie Francis)

Side B

Uh-Oh I'm Fallin In Love Again (Jimmie Rodgers)

Beep-Beep (The Little Nash Rambler)  (Playmates)

Rag Doll (Four Seasons)

Sweet Pea (Tommy Roe)

He's So Fine (Jody Miller)

Kentucky Turkey Buzzard (Burl Ives) (this one wasn't on youtube...sorry folks)

Big Bad John (Jimmy Dean)

Oh Donna (Donny Osmond version)

Why Must I Be A Teenager in Love (Donny Osmond version)

We had some crazy weather here last night--we spent most of the night listening to the tornado sirens going off and watching the tv to see where the storms were.  Abby slept through all the excitement, but the rest of us had a fairly un-restful night. So I made a mandatory nap/rest time this afternoon.  Abby slept (go figure-the one who slept last night was the one who slept this afternoon), Kaydee read, and I prepared my lesson for church tomorrow. I guess Mollie slept too LOL.

Building & sleeping in a fort for our Friday night slumber party.

My mom called this morning to make sure we're still alive....which made me realize we've been so busy living this crazy life that many people are probably wondering if we're still alive.  So while the kids play I'm going to take a few minutes to give a quick update on the chaos we call life.

Shane had a happy birthday--the girls and I took him to dinner and we (Me & Teresa & all the kids) threw him a suprise party the Friday after his birthday.

Kaydee received the Citizenship Award for her class at the mid-year Awards Ceremony at Bramlett.

Shane's been traveling around the state and across state borders for work.

We had a Superbowl party (for the food). :-)

I've been volunteering in both Kaydee and Abby's classrooms.

Saturday night Shane took Kaydee & Abby and Savana, Arizona, & Robbyn to Daddy Date Night at Chick Fil A. (See pic) I wanted a picture of all the girls together but I picked TJ up early to go get dinner for me, Teresa & Haylie so he wouldn't get upset with all the girls leaving.  They all had a really great time.  Shane even got ALL of the girls flowers. :-)

I've been too busy to take notes/write things down so the rest is a blurrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr. Mornings are filled with classrooms and laundry and errands. Afternoons are homework and chores and reading. Kaydee has been going to Activity Day girls (except last week when both Shane & I were at the temple) and she's been enjoying it.  Abby does NOT like Kaydee going to Activity Day girls so we go play with TJ while the other girls go to the church. Soccer starts in the next couple of weeks so I don't see life slowing down anytime soon. I don't have much time for blogging or facebook or long phone conversations....mostly texts and quick phone calls.  But rest assured--we do live...just at a break neck speed.......................................

Today Kaydee was baptized & confirmed a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints .  We were overwhelmed with the support of family and friends who filled the room this afternoon! Greema and PopPop flew in from Utah, Meema and Pap drove down from West Virginia, Aunt Teresa wasn't feeling great but insisted on coming to support Kaydee, and so many others sacrificed time on a Saturday afternoon.  Half of Kaydee's soccer team was there.  A girl from her class at school came. Her Primary teacher was there.  And many other friends were there to support Kaydee--thank you so much! It was a very special day. 

(More pics in the gallery :-) )