Wrapping up August

Jasmine loves dressing up her sister Jyllian. On this day, she was a rock star. don't laugh...someday she may make us a whole lotta bling!
Jyllian started "Joy School" and loves it. She asks me everyday if it's pre-school today. She's growing up so fast. We had to buy the sparkly tennis shoes at the store. She didn't want anything else, just sparklies...the same shoes her brothers got for going back to school.

Donovan turned 37. Isn't he getting old (ha, ha)? I guess that would make me even older. He just wanted chocolate cake, so he got chocolate cake.

Day Four - Universal Studios with the Pittard's

Our last day with the Pittard's, we went to Universal Studios. We had a great time, but it was terribly hot (Can you believe we had a hot day in August in Florida?!). I wasn't very good about taking pictures with my camera on this day. But at the very beginning of our day we saw Dora. Jyllian loves Dora, so I was very excited to get a picture with Dora. I think Jyllian always pictured Dora with a much smaller head...one that couldn't swallow her whole.

We did get caught in the middle of a down pour. It actually felt good to get wet. The only bad thing about getting wet is going inside a building for your next ride and freezing from the air conditioning. I know...what a crazy thing to complain about. I can hear my pioneer ancestors turning over in their graves listening to me complain about that one!

Jasmine is sporting her rain coat. It was also very windy, but we forgot to bring along our wind coats.

Day Three - Hollywood Studios With the Pittard's

Some may wonder, "What does one do with a younger child that can't ride due to her height?" Jyllian doesn't sit in the stroller and wait twenty to thirty minutes while the rest of her family enjoys the rides. She is always looking for something to climb on at every moment. Most of the time we can pass the time, but it does get tricky as evidenced by her scampering on the fountain wall below. This place was a great find. While Jyllian and I were waiting for the others, we found an arcade room. She had the best time playing video games (at least she thought she was playing..which is much more economical than the money spent to amuse the other 3 kiddos on the arcade games).

Inside one of the buildings, I snapped a picture of Dreyton. I asked him in my best Joker voice, "Why so serious?!" but he just acted like I wasn't funny at all.

I stumbled upon a bunch of Disney characters. I usually don't do the whole meet and greet the characters bit as the lines are usually too long and I don't like wasting my time waiting. I guess it was villian day. This is the Queen of Hearts. Jasmine was just excited to take a picture with a character.

This is a picture with the Snow Princess. She really frightened Jyllian. She wasn't nice at all...maybe she was a little "too in character" or maybe her Princess panties were in a wad!

Here we have the Sheriff from Robin Hood.

I tried to get one last picture of the day with our group, but Jyllian was not wanting her picture taken. My kids have a lot of fun when the Pittard's come to town.

Day 2 - Animal Kingdom with the Pittard's

Day 2 with the Pittard's was spent at Animal Kingdom. It was a very hot and humid day, which tends to happen more in Florida than us "Westerners" care for, but overall the weather is great. I thought we were going to melt on this day. As a parent, I like going to Animal Kingdom because the park closes early. It is nice to be able to leave at a reasonable time and not have to tell the kids they can't go get on one more ride. We were able to go back to the campground and swim. The swimming pool was really warm. It felt about as warm as bath water...ahhhh...I hope the warmth was not due to some kids' healthy kidney function, but I like to think it was from the Florida sunshine.

I'm glad Jasmine was smiling. The heat was making us a little cranky. And a cranky/moody Jasmine is not what anybody wants to deal with for very long (very long being more than 4.7 seconds...trust me on this one!).
Dominique is browsing around the gift shop. His Grandma Peterson would be so proud how he spent time in a Disney Park store!

I wish I could ride around the park in a stroller. Do they make these in a larger size?? I am not that big and could probably squeeze in one built for children. I think the bigger trick would be to convince Donovan to push me around in it all day. It would make an interesting addition to his Honey-do list.

The four boys enjoying their jawbreakers. What a bunch of suckers!! lol We love you guys!

Day 1 - Crescent Beach with the Pittard's

My sister (Laura) and her family couldn't have come to town at a better time last month. Donovan had just left for the week to attend a conference in Monterey, CA. I don't like it when he leaves town, and I am left alone with the kids However, this time I had company thanks to Laura and her fam. Monday, August 10, we drove to Crescent Beach, which is a little South of Jacksonville. The kids had a great time with their cousins and loved being at the beach.

Below is a picture of Jasmine and Trent.

Jyllian and I walked along the beach collecting seashells. Jyllian had a great time, but she didn't like the salt water going up her nose (not that I can really blame her).

The boys (Dominique, Dreyton, Grayson, and Trent) enjoyed themselves trying to be surf dogs while riding the boogie boards.

My niece Paige and her friend Gracie. You should have seen the number of Florida teenage boys weeping when these two hotties left the beach that day!

The kids had fun making sand formations. Fortunately, there were not many cats to come along and make "deposits" in the creations the boys made.

Here's Dominique sqiunting from the sun and enjoying the beach. We really had some fun that day and were glad to spend some time with Laura and her family. Thanks for visiting, Laura.

Magic Kingdom- Aug. 1st

Our annual passes to Disney World expired in August, so we planned to visit all four parks before they expired. We picked August 1st to go to Magic Kingdom. I thought it was going to be a day full of crowds and long lines, but it was quite the opposite. We actually cruised through the park and even saw places we hadn't seen before. The Tiki Tiki show is something my children will pass on in the future, but I thought it was a fun show. It was a very enjoyable Saturday with the family. We woke up early and got home late, but the kids had a great time.

Here we are in the Swiss Family Robinson tree house. I loved this movie as a child.
Jyllian and Jasmine were excited to ride the Jungle Cruise.

I guess Dreyton didn't want Dominique to sit too close to him. Dominique decided that today would be the day to start riding the "bigger" rides. Too bad Space Mountain is under renovation, because he said he would finally ride it. Dominique even rode Thunder Mountain. He does not like drops on amusement rides, so he passed on Splash Mountain. Dominique is great to have with us when he declines to ride because he watches Jyllian while we hope on the rides she can't.

Of course, I had to have a family photo. I know the kids just love me for this. :) I'm very sad my passes expired, but I'm sure I'll figure out a way to earn money to buy them again (or at least con Donovan into getting some in the future...I mean, he can go without something, can't he??).

July 24th BBQ

This is my last post for July. I'm finally caught up from my trip in UT! We had one last BBQ before we headed back to Florida. It was nice having Wayne and Anne (my in-laws) come to my parents home. There is always plenty of food, and it was delicious...with lots of fresh Utah corn.

This year my dad grew 30,000 ears of corn. Two of my brother-in-laws worked for my dad over the summer to help farm the corn. They took care of the corn, and it turned out great! I wish I could have been able to freeze it and bring it with me home to FL.
My sister (Laura), my brother (Jeff), my mom and dad were just enjoying each others company in this picture.

Jyllian was able to ride uncle Jeremy's horse. It was her first time riding a horse. She was hanging on to her cousin Sierra very tight.

Jasmine also enjoyed riding the horse. We told her maybe next summer she could learn how to ride by herself.

Bailey, Sierra, and Jyllian are all the same age. Jyllian really had an enjoyable time with all of her cousins.