May 10, 2008 Ship of Thieves! Stealing the Magic..AGAIN!!! Panama Canal FL to CA!!! Part 6

[lillygator]

Yes, it's going to be really quiet here with V gone!

Hi V....by now you're at Mickey's World and I'm not! It's ok, I'm out of the hospital and....as Karen says....I'll live vivasiously through you this week! Can't wait for the pics and stories on Sunday.

Now about that dog....she is temporarily living at DD Sandi's house with the rest of that group....so she's very happy to be part of the pack and she won't be home to jump on me....we both get a little vacation until I'm fully healed.

Deb, I am hoping you are doing great!

I'm staying at a Hotel on the Manatee River, but I'm going down to see some of my favorite family....my aunt that I spent many summers with as a child, my favorite cousin and his son, who is mine and John's Godson. I've always been close to all of these people and I wanted to be with them on Thanksgiving, so I wouldn't miss being with my mom as much. My Aunt Jesse is retired, my cousin Doug is an X-ray tech at one of the local hospitals and his son Kyle is still in elementary school. I'm really looking forward to spending time with them, we always laugh and enjoy each other's company. Aunt Jesse wanted us to stay at her house, but DH John is a hotel man. He's uncomfortable staying over at other people's homes. Personally, I'm a gypsy and it wouldn't bother me where we slept, but John prefers his own space. We'll probably be checking into our hotel on Turkey Day at the same time that my cousin goes into work, but he's getting that Friday and Saturday off to hang out with us. So, I'll be available Turkey Day to do our miniDISmeet....maybe drinks at out hotel or pick a place on Anna Maria Island that we could meet for a bit. Then we'll head to Orlando on Sunday and be available to miniDISmeet Karen and family. Somewhere in there we would love to meet Heather and Monica too.

Let me know!

Have a good evening John!


HAPPY BIRTHDAY HOLLY!

Pirating!! HB Holly~!

Well, today was the first day of school for Sophia . . .

Loves that American Girl Backpack . . .

And Alex's White Coat Ceremony, first step in the four year long road to becoming a physician.

Getting his coat

With his room mate and friend Greg - don't they look like they could be on that Gray's anatomy show some of you guys watch?

With Amy's mom

With Amy's Dad

With his family

such great pics~!

 

[lillygator]

so before I bore you all - can anyone fill me in?

 

[lillygator]

I know many want to see this!

my lively crew (on the way to WDW)

 

[Jhalkias]

My father was employed by NASA his entire life. Retired a few years ago with his astronaut wings. Neil Armstong and Buzz Aldrin have been friends of the family for as long as I have been alive. He can assure John that they did indeed land on the moon

That is so cool. Those men were my heroes when I was a boy growing up. I cannot even imagine having them as friends of the family. To me they were some of the bravest men ever! (not that current astronauts are not - but it was such a new frontier at that time).

 

[HollyTyler]

so before I bore you all - can anyone fill me in?

Well, somebody else will probably beat me to this, but WELCOME BACK!!!!

OK...let's see....Deb's out of the hospital and working on recovering. Lisa's (disneylover5) foreign exchange student Vanessa arrived. The same Lisa's 50th b-day is Tuesday. Karen & Ted's (been2marceline) 13th anniversary is Tuesday. Lots of football talk. Lots of kids back to school. Can't remember what else, but somebody else will!

 

[lillygator]

no more TR's for me now, but I am happy to report we made ALL reservations except Crystal Palace....and WOW, Maya Grill and Marrakesh ----- Johnny loved as well as Yachtsmen!

I can never get a seat to myself!

 

[HollyTyler]

Adorable pics V! I'm sure there are more coming....patiently waiting.

 

[lillygator]

we've only stayed at CS once but I LOVE that the pool and playground are all together!

 

[lillygator]

so....who knew my husband was an ARTIST? I didn't, but he purchased some plain football magnets and dug around my art room for some paints and he was just over the moon making his own Gator magnets....sorry for the no shirt!

I will show the finished product - he did GREAT~

 

[lillygator]

sorry I missed a lot, I hope everyone is well..please forgive me if I don't know specifics.

 

[Jhalkias]

no more TR's for me now, but I am happy to report we made ALL reservations except Crystal Palace....and WOW, Maya Grill and Marrakesh ----- Johnny loved as well as Yachtsmen!

I can never get a seat to myself!

THAT is a great photo Vanessa!

 

[Jhalkias]

V, you need to post the "crafty" photo of John on the 12/9 thread so Becka can see it.

 

[HollyTyler]

We had so much fun today! Tyler's dad and stepmom went out of town this morning for their anniversary. They were given tickets to see Cirque Du Soleil in Toronto tonight, so they dropped Tyler off at my house around 8:30am on their way out of town. I usually pick him up at 5pm from his dad's on Saturday, so we basically had a whole extra day together! First, he told me how good he was Thursday & Friday (his dad had already told me the same), and he was so proud of himself, and asked if he could please pick out his toy he earned back for each day. When I told him he could get 2 toys plus 2 stuffed animals, he looked just like it was Christmas morning! And since the 2 items he picked were tiny, I let him pick 2 toys for each day.

We both played for a while with the stuff he picked, then did some grocery shopping and boring errands, then headed to Llamafest. He loved the llamas SO MUCH, he asked if we could go again tomorrow! Those animals are so friendly! Every one we walked by had to walk right up to us to check us out. Everybody we encountered walking their llama around was very nice about asking if Tyler would like to pet it. One guy even asked Tyler if he'd like a picture with a llama and took it out of its cage for me to get a pic! Too bad I still only have the cruddy camera on my phone to use, but it's better than nothing!

That same llama started leaning closer to my nose very slowly and when I started backing up, the owner told me, "Oh, she's just leaning over to give you a kiss! Stay still and she'll kiss you!" Too fun! We spent so much time there and both really enjoyed ourselves. I just had to buy Tyler a stuffed animal llama because that's something he definitely didn't have already! I need to take more money with me tomorrow because there were so many inexpensive things for sale made from llama wool. I really want some mittens....they were so soft! And maybe a sweater too.

 

[HollyTyler]

I definitely have to get some sleep. I was so tired today that I thought I'd fall asleep driving home from Walmart this morning around 11am. I sat on the couch while Tyler had lunch and immediately started drifting off to sleep. It was so difficult staying awake! I suppose it's my body's way of telling me to get more sleep, so off I go!

I think we'll plan a busy day tomorrow and try to have as much fun as possible before his dad picks him up tomorrow evening (if he does). His dad has him for Labor Day this year and wants to just pick him up the night before. But he doesn't know when he'll be back in town, so he'll call if he gets back early enough. As has happened in the past, he'll probably call around 7pm and say they just got back and are too tired from driving so many hours and will just pick Tyler up in the morning. Makes it hard to know what to tell Tyler, but we'll make the most of our day together since I'll be losing the following day with him.

We're definitely going back to see the llamas again, but haven't decided what else we'll do. Maybe his favorite museum. Or a picnic in a park he doesn't get to often. Or all of the above! I'll let him decide.

Goodnight!

 

[LisaG520]

we've only stayed at CS once but I LOVE that the pool and playground are all together!

This is our favorite hotel. We've stayed there at least 6 or 7 times.

 

[HollyTyler]

I wish Marilyn were awake....there are some cute porcupines on the snowman cam she mentioned a couple days ago.
http://www.snowmancam.com/

 

[HollyTyler]

OK....REALLY going to sleep now.

 

[MrsMork]

....sorry for the no shirt!

No problem, Vanessa. You Charming Johnny is a cutie!

 

[MrsMork]

We are enjoying watching the Southern Cal game. We are so glad football season is back!

 

[been2marceline]

When one door closes another one opens...don't take it too hard, just look at it as a new opportunity!

Deb,

That's close to one fo my favorite sayings...

When a door closes... a window always opens.

Great minds (and positive thinking ones at that) think a like!!

Karen