The "Dream" was just a dream and then the dream came true!!

     Our original cruise scheduled for May 27th had been booked and anticipated for over a year.  It was canceled due to the illness and death of our father, father-in-law, grandfather, and great grandfather.  With much maneuvering, rescheduling, rebooking and a little luck, we were able to set sail on July 22nd.
     All ten of us drove down as far as St. Augustine on the day before.  After some swimming, go-carts and relaxing we were ready for the 2 hr. drive to Port Canaveral for boarding.
     The children were immediately overwhelmed with soooo much "Disney" to see and do.  Disney characters were around every corner.  We all ate dinner and attended the live shows together nitely.  The rest of our days were spent sunning, swimming, tubing, dancing, partying, meeting characters, watching movies, and even having milk and cookies from room service.  A beach day was enjoyed while docked at beautiful "Castaway Cay".
     After disembarkation, we all headed home.   As we were driving north, we were still sort of in the "Dream" dream when we received a call that our beach condo had been flooded due to a broken overhead water pipe.  So the dream suddenly changed to reality and we were back in the real world!!

The "Dream"



July 23, 2016

Serious Driver



Quack Quack



Rub'n is Rac'n

Bon Voyage Party

Headed out to Sea!

Poolside breakfast complete with Mickey Mouse waffles

 Early morning swim in the Mickey Pool

Fountains at Nemo's Reef

Two princesses!

Hey, Mickey's here!

Ready for Pirate night

Pirate Dinner



Another cute Pirate

A "thinking" Pirate

Fountain Fun on Castaway Cay

Pelican Plunge at Castaway Cay

Fabulous Beach Day

The End!



Vegas-March 2016

Any idea what it is like to fly into Las Vegas on a Boeing 737-900 with 90 empty seats? NICE!!!  That was just one of several special treats on a Spring trip out West.  

There was the "white-out" snow storm we encountered while touring in Utah and then there was the Rightous Bros. show at Harrah's. 

On the two day Utah tour we visited Zion National Park, overnighted in Cedar City, Utah and then on to Bryce Canyon National Park, before returning to Vegas.  Even with snow conditions up in the mountains, we had some poolside days down in Vegas.

 

 

 

Views from the Lodge at Zion National Park

 

 

Shuttle Buses in Zion

 

Rock Climber in Zion (The climbers looked like tiny ants on the giant rock faces.)

 

 

3 ft. deep snow on road

 

Frozen lake??  this time of year

 

 

 

Tunnel through the Rock

 

Snow storm coming over the mountains

Red Rock Arch in Bryce Canyon National Park

 

 

 

Rock Formations called "Hoo Doos" in

Bryce Canyon 



THANKSGIVING - CHRISTMAS 2015

 

Our usual Thanksgiving and Christmas routine was altered somewhat this year.  Due to the unusual warm and rainy weather, we were unable to repeat some traditions while we created new activities as conditions allowed.

Now at 16 months old, Luke is more capable of following the footsteps of his brother and cousins as they enjoy their times together!

 

 

 

 Connor, the pilgrim, going through the motions and sometimes even singing!

 

 

Luke coming off the zipline

 

FUN in the MUD

 

Abi taking a leap

 

Logan landing in mud



 

 One of those times when the least expensive gift is the best

 

Everybody made gingerbread houses with Gigi

 

 

 

 Luke found chocolate goodies at this get-together

 

The gift exchange



 

 

Connor is wondering about Santa's entry

 

Abi on Christmas Eve

 

Rain never stopped a John Deere

 

Logan and Luke enjoying a movie

Luke-Christmas morning

Logan jumping on his trampoline



As Autumn Arrives in Colorado

Sept. was a great time for our visit to Colorado.  High temps in the 70's with lows in the 30's was very comfortable.  Our driving tour from Denver to Steamboat Springs and Rocky Mt. National Park, down to Vail, Breckenridge and back to Denver provided lots of great scenery and activities.

One special find was exploring some of the old mining towns that were antiques themselves.  Then there was the ride in the ski gondola's enclosed car up to an ideal outdoor lunch at the summit.  The golden aspen leaves as well as the large variety of wildlife made each drive more enjoyable.

 

 

 

 

Town of Steamboat Springs as seen from the ski lift

 

 

 

Mountain bikes being lifted for the "steep" ride down

 

 

 

 

The slopes from downtown Steamboat Springs

 

 

 

 

Ski Jump-Lots of Olympians produced here

 

 

 

 

Heading out for a ride in the Arapaho National Forest

 

 

 

 

View of Grand Lake from our ATV ride

 

 

We were definitely in the Rocky Mountains

 

 

 

Bison Herd

 

 

 

 

Mountain sheep in the wild

 

 

 

 

 

A calf elk along the highway

 

Baled hay must be protected from the wildlife

 

 

 

 

This arrangement keeps the snow plow from tearing down your mailbox quite as often

Yes, there was snow above 12,000 ft.

 

 

 

 

Strawberry Park's natural Hot Springs

 

 

 

 

Mining town of Silver Plume

 

 

Georgetown Loop Railroad tressel

 

 

 

Argo Mine's Hammer Mill