on the Mother's Day trip! You will have such a wonderful time!
AK is one of my favorite parks (ok, let's be honest, they are all my favorite while I am there!). The trick to seeing the tigers while the are active is to go when it is cooler! When we were there in Jan, they were all over the place. It was a balmy 45ish degrees, but they apparently like the cold! Of course, there are other animals that we missed because it was so chilly. 
looks like a little piece of heaven on Earth. Such an amazing resort. 
We don't have any plans yet but we'll probably hang around and go to a park for a while on the 1st since it's our last day and it's always so hard to leave. 
Since we drive we don't leave until the evening and we try to stay as late as possible...we've also been known to just stay another day. 
When it gets closer we'll pick a meeting place. 
*Sigh* I love the GF.
We actually downloaded it from youtube and put it on DH's ipod.
She says she wants to have Stacy's job when she grows up. 
This was in Feb. 2009. We walked in and she just went and stood there waiting for me to take her picture. 
Watching Stacy is a great way to relax.
That's weird that the CMs were pushing people away.
Cute pictures of the girls in front of the tree. I'd love to be there for the balloon drop one day.
It sounds like you've had a busy week MeMom! First, congrats to Trent on the new job. Hugs to you
I love Drew's pictures. He's got a good eye for composition!
********
I just wanted to say thanks again for all the prayers for my family and grandma. She passed away peacefully Friday afternoon; my grandpa and one of my uncles were with her. She is one my heroes and I strive to be more like her. She was a touch lady and a fighter, but loving, caring, welcoming and creative.
I spent Thursday night with her and the nurses seemed pretty amazed with how long she had made it. They say that many times, people who are dying wait for a holiday, to see a loved one, etc. I have a feeling that she was waiting until she knew Grandpa would be ok. As can be expected, he is taking this hard. I think benefit of hospice it gives the family time to say good bye, but you are never truly ready to let go.
Anyway, thanks again for the prayers and for letting me use this as a sounding board. Hope every has a wonderful weekend.
Rachel
Ahhhh the Grand Floridian
That's pretty cool that they have the balloons all strung up like that waiting to be dropped. Has to be pretty neat to actually have been there when they did!
The girls look so cute in front of the tree! Bella is ALWAYS smiling...or sleeping
Good girl, Brookie! Watching Stacy!
Aw, I love those pics of the girls in front of the tree. Bella is always a happy camper.
When it gets closer we'll pick a meeting place.
Me too!! My favorite breakfast is 1900 Park Fare and I love to sit in the lobby after breakfast and just.....be.
Gotta love Stacy!
and in Sept. 2008 she asked me to take her picture w/ her. She says she wants to have Stacy's job when she grows up.
), but I think it would be really cool to see all those balloons drop on New Years! 
Okay guys, Trent got the call this afternoon, and they said
they
did
want
him!
Food. Not ours. I took a picture of someone else's food while they weren't looking.
This made me laugh out loud!!! You are awesome!
The exciting news is
the world's best daughter
is taking
her very honored and humbled mother
to DISNEY WORLD
for Mother's Day!!!
Balloons ready to drop for New Year's Eve.
Okay, I have a strange hatred of balloons (I don't like it when they pop -- some weird leftover fear from childhood
I'm with you on GF being a little out of the comfort zone. I would love to stay at the Beach Club as long as I don't have to see that clown slide. We got to walk around there a little bit, too, and it was gorgeous! The idea of being to walk to Epcot is really, really appealing to me, too.
Thank you for clearing that up! Even more reason to try to stay there in the future!Okay, I have a strange hatred of balloons (I don't like it when they pop -- some weird leftover fear from childhood
I'm with you on GF being a little out of the comfort zone. I would love to stay at the Beach Club as long as I don't have to see that clown slide. We got to walk around there a little bit, too, and it was gorgeous! The idea of being to walk to Epcot is really, really appealing to me, too.
Love all the pictures. We never did make it inside the GF. We monorailed by it.
Did you make it to any of the Boardwalk resorts? I did make to all 3 so if you didn't make it, I can post some pictures if you like.
Somehow in the back of my mind I was OK with not making it to the GF, Wilderness lodge and Fort Wilderness because I knew you would have some awesome pictures!
Goodness, I was sooooo far behind and SO much news has happened since I was here last!
Mop, she is just ADORABLE! So cute!!
What a very fun meet! Erica, you are just beautiful with that pregnancy glow!
Congratulations Trent!!!!! That is very exciting news!
Beautifully said. This is my hope on how I raise Henry. Should he choose to stay close to home, or choose to move far away and run after a dream -so be it. As long as he is happy, I know I will be.
And that is just what my Mom said to me when I moved to NYC years ago. She was sad, but excited for me. (and I'm sure she'll be saying that again when we move back!) It's hard for everyone, but it's good. Many hugs to you, Jill and the girls!
Aieeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! THAT IS GREAT NEWS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The plans look great! Is it just a girls trip?
I was at the GF this day too-but just slightly after you were I think. I loved the balloons up there, that would have been a great sight to see, but I would still choose our party on the beach!
Same thing happened to me! Weren't all the cars just nuts? I took a few pics of the parking lots filled all the way to the back as I went along on the monorail. Eventually I'll get that far in my TR too.
Oh right
You come out of hiding to say good job to the man's pictures!
I have been thinking of you guys during the Olympics, since Canada has been in the spotlight.
I don't like popping balloons, either, because I don't like loud noises. I'd be okay with falling balloons at the GF on NYE, but if people started popping them, I'd be ready to go walking around outside
probably toward the Poly beach
where all the action will be
this year!
.
The short walk is great. Bus to Mk and AK not so great but the good out weighs the bad. .
SHAMROCK SHAKE!!! 
Me too...especially since she is staying at my new favorite place...Ft Wilderness Cabins!!!
**************************
I was happy to have a lot of great company at school this afternoon. Jill's crew came, follwed about 5-10 minutes later by Dawn, Margot, and Erica.
Dawn and her sweet girl.
Wait Wait Wait....Stop the Bus right now.....Dawn had a baby??????
And obviously its not new news.....I so apologize....yeesh...I am out of the loop! Congratulations Dawn!!!!!!
We had a great time seeing Dawn and Erica. They have a big weekend planned. I guess next time we see Erica, she will have a new little boy for us to ooh and aah over.
Very nice Dis meet....I love how everyone gets to meet up!!!!
We will have an amazing time. We'll meet on a future trip, I imagine. I am hoping we can go 3-4 times a year as long as Trent is there, and more if possible, of course.
All of the colorfully painted animals in the park are so cool. I wish he had taken more pictures.
***************************************
After leaving Animal Kingdom, the plan was to meet everyone else at Grand Floridian. Drew wanted to go on back to Pop, so I went to GF by myself. While I was on the bus, Jill called and said they were already there waiting on me.
Cider was being served ouside the entrance.
Walking into the beauty of the Grand lobby.
I met the rest of the group and got a few shots around the lobby.
Jill and I wanted the guys to see Fort Wilderness with all of the crazy Christmas decorations, so we boarded a boat to do just that.
We all got fun stickers.
