The Disney Grump is taking me on a DREAM vacation! TR Link, pg 30

[SoonerGirl]

I hope everyone had a wonderful Mother's Day spent with those you love!

I had the family over after church for brunch. We had fresh fruit, doughnut muffins (thanks for the recipe Jackie!), sausage stars - oh my gosh, these are soooo good, chicken & broccoli quiche, and mimosas - yum!

After we ate we opened gifts. I made mom a movie from the pictures of the trip we took last year. She loved it!

And I got..............

Yay, I KNEW he'd come through. I can't wait to try it out. I think I'll take some outside pictures today around the pool just to see how it does in bright light, I may even take a few in the water - I don't know though, the water is still a bit cold for me!

A couple more pics:

Me & Mom

And me with my boys

After gifts Mom wanted to watch her video, but the boys were dying to go swimming. A few of us stayed inside and played with Baylee

And watched the video, while the boys, Don & my SIL went outside to let the kids get in the pool. I thought for sure that they would only last a little while, even though it was hot yesterday (mid 90's) the pool water is still pretty cold. But they surprised us and stayed in until we drug them out.

Having some fun in the pool:

My nephew, Hudson

Jared & Hudson playing basketball

Just goofin' around

Takin' the plunge!

Jared showing off his backwards flip

And Justin, shooting across the pool while jumping off the board - you'd be surprised how many he actually makes doing this!

After everyone went home we drove out to see Don's mom and dad. His mom is not in the best of health and she doesn't like getting her picture taken anymore, so no pics from this part of the day. We had a nice visit with them, then came home and Don cooked me dinner while I read up on my new camera. All in all it was a great day!

Oh, and I also got Disney mail this weekend! My cruise documents and luggage tags arrived on Saturday

Woo Hoo! We are almost there!!

 

[jeremysdisneymom]

Wow, what a great day! I am so happy you got your camera. I know we will have lots of great pictures to see from your cruise!

Yay, cruise documents. How exciting!!!!

We are opening our pool tonight so you got me excited. We have been having some weird weather, rain all the time and in the 60's. I am ready for the 80's that is coming this week!

 

[Lovemy3babes]

Your plans look great!!! I'm so happy that you were able to sneak a little Disney in. AKL will be lots of fun to explore. I've eaten at Boma for breakfast and it was really good. Lots of choices for sure! I'm definitely in for the ride now. Not much longer Michelle!

 

[Charleston Princess]

Glad you had such a lovely Mother's Day, Michelle!

Those sausage stars look really good. Recipe, please? Hurray for doughnut muffins!

I am looking forward to seeing the pics your new underwater camera takes -- my kids are dying for our neighborhood pool to open -- if they saw the pics of your boys having so much fun, they would really be antsy.

Lots of happy dancing for your cruise documents arriving!!! Not too much longer!!!

 

[TanzUnited99]

Sounds like you had a great Mother's Day!

I love that you made a movie of your last trip for your mom. Also yay on getting the camera!! Enjoy taking pictures with it.

on getting your cruise documents and luggage tags! Wow - only 3 weeks to go tomorrow!!

 

[LilAnn]

Happy Mother's Day!

Cruise documents! yay! They look fun....who am I kidding. All Disney mail is exciting for me.

Jealous that you are anywhere new close to pool weather. I seriously need to move somewhere warmer.

 

[RinkyTinkyTinky]

Looks like you really had a fantastic Mother's Day! And you have a beautiful house, yard and pool! I know your boys enjoy that pool a lot. From what I hear, you better get used to being in cold water. Everyone says the dolphin encounter is pretty nippy!

Glad to see you got your camera. I would love for you to post some sample pictures if you do play around with it some.

 

[Lovemy3babes]

I missed the Mother's Day update. I would also love the recipe for the sausage stars. All the food looks yummy!

Travel safe to MN! We finally have some spring weather here though it might be chilly for you. Definitely not the 90's that you are having! Wow!

 

[stace208]

Looks like you had a wonderful Mother's Day! All that food looks just delicious.

Your pool is beautiful! We opened ours last weekend but then the temps took a lower turn so the water is still really cold. Ellie went swimming one night but hasn't braved it again since! I hope the temps come up so the water will warm up and we can start swimming.

I got a waterproof camera as well! I was eyeing the Canon but just couldn't justify it so I got the Fuji one. My niece has the Olympus but the Fuji was actually rated higher and considerably cheaper so that's the one I asked for. I'm sure yours will take much better pictures but hopefully mine will do the trick. I can't wait to see all your pictures!

Your trip is soooo close! We still have 27 school days which sounds horrendous and 43 days until Disney which doesn't sound so bad!

 

[SoonerGirl]

Hope you had a wonderful Mother's Day Michelle! Oh, you are getting sooo close. I bet you are getting very excited.

Thanks Erika - it was a good day and YES I am super excited!!

Wow, what a great day! I am so happy you got your camera. I know we will have lots of great pictures to see from your cruise!

Yay, cruise documents. How exciting!!!!

We are opening our pool tonight so you got me excited. We have been having some weird weather, rain all the time and in the 60's. I am ready for the 80's that is coming this week!

I hope I like the camera as much as I think I will. I took a few pictures with it this afternoon, they look pretty good on the screen but I haven't downloaded them yet to really get a good look.

We actually got the pool ready to go over spring break, which was in March, but we've finally had a stretch of warm weather that allowed the water to warm up enough that it was at least swimmable! It feels so good to see the boys in it - that means summer is right around the corner!

Your plans look great!!! I'm so happy that you were able to sneak a little Disney in. AKL will be lots of fun to explore. I've eaten at Boma for breakfast and it was really good. Lots of choices for sure! I'm definitely in for the ride now. Not much longer Michelle!

I've had several people tell me that Boma breakfast is good, I'm looking forward to it! I'm not usually a big breakfast eater, but I'm going to have to force myself to be in order to feel like I'm getting my money's worth - this will be the first WDW breakfast I've done without the dining plan, hope I don't go into shock when I get the bill

Glad you had such a lovely Mother's Day, Michelle!

Those sausage stars look really good. Recipe, please? Hurray for doughnut muffins!

I am looking forward to seeing the pics your new underwater camera takes -- my kids are dying for our neighborhood pool to open -- if they saw the pics of your boys having so much fun, they would really be antsy.

Lots of happy dancing for your cruise documents arriving!!! Not too much longer!!!

It really was a nice day!

How are your beach plans coming? You must be getting pretty excited too!

Everyone loved the doughnut muffins, there were no leftovers!

Jared has been asking to swim for a month but I wouldn't let him until the temps were consistantly warm and the water temp was at least tolerable - my idea of tolerable, not his

Mmmmmm, sausage stars! I had to pry this recipe away from a friend of mine, she wanted to be the one who always brought them to everything so that she could reap all the glory from the yummy snack I, on the other hand, enjoy sharing with my friends, so here it is

1 pound Sausage
1 1/2 cups sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
1 1/2 cups monterey jack cheese, shredded
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 sm can sliced or chopped black olives, drained
1 cup ranch salad dressing
48 wonton wrappers
vegetable oil

1. In a skillet, cook sausage until no longer pink; drain.

2. Add cheeses, pepper flakes, olives & salad dressing; mix well. Set aside.

3. Brush both sides of wrappers with oil; press onto the bottom and up the sides of greased muffin cups.

4. Bake @ 350 degrees for 5 minutes or until golden brown. Transfer to baking sheet.

5. Fill each wrapper with about 2 T of the sausage mixture. Bake for an additional 5 minutes or unitl heated through. Serve warm.

 

[SoonerGirl]

Sounds like you had a great Mother's Day!

I love that you made a movie of your last trip for your mom. Also yay on getting the camera!! Enjoy taking pictures with it.

on getting your cruise documents and luggage tags! Wow - only 3 weeks to go tomorrow!!

I was so happy with how the movie turned out, it was my first attempt at making one, and I was surprised at how easy it was - time consuming, but easy. I think I may do that with a lot of our vacation pictures that I have yet to scrapbook...

Yep, 3 weeks! But actually it's from today, not tomorrow. When we added that extra day to the beginning of our trip I never changed my ticker. I didn't want it to start all over again, yeah, I'm silly like that

Happy Mother's Day!

Cruise documents! yay! They look fun....who am I kidding. All Disney mail is exciting for me.

Jealous that you are anywhere new close to pool weather. I seriously need to move somewhere warmer.

Thanks Ann! Hope you had a lovely Mother's Day too!

I even love Disney junk mail, so you can just imagine how excited I get over this kind of Disney mail!

I don't think I could handle living up north, we only have a few cold months, and that is a few too many for me!

Looks like you really had a fantastic Mother's Day! And you have a beautiful house, yard and pool! I know your boys enjoy that pool a lot. From what I hear, you better get used to being in cold water. Everyone says the dolphin encounter is pretty nippy!

Glad to see you got your camera. I would love for you to post some sample pictures if you do play around with it some.

Thank you! The yard looks pretty bad right now, we have been so dry and it's just too big to water. I haven't done much planting yet this year either so the beds are pretty bare. The way things are going though, it's going to be June before I have time.

I almost got in the water this afternoon, but I just couldn't do it. I'm afraid you're right about the water temps for the dolphin encounter too - I'll tough it out though, I think the reward will be worth it

I took a few pictures this afternoon with the new camera. I'll post them as soon as I get a chance to download them

I missed the Mother's Day update. I would also love the recipe for the sausage stars. All the food looks yummy!

Travel safe to MN! We finally have some spring weather here though it might be chilly for you. Definitely not the 90's that you are having! Wow!

I posted the recipe for the sausage stars in the previous post - I warn you though, they are addictive, I find myself eating way too many when I make them!

Yeah, I checked your weather, I'm afraid I'm going to freeze - I'm already used to the 80s!!

Looks like you had a wonderful Mother's Day! All that food looks just delicious.

Your pool is beautiful! We opened ours last weekend but then the temps took a lower turn so the water is still really cold. Ellie went swimming one night but hasn't braved it again since! I hope the temps come up so the water will warm up and we can start swimming.

I got a waterproof camera as well! I was eyeing the Canon but just couldn't justify it so I got the Fuji one. My niece has the Olympus but the Fuji was actually rated higher and considerably cheaper so that's the one I asked for. I'm sure yours will take much better pictures but hopefully mine will do the trick. I can't wait to see all your pictures!

Your trip is soooo close! We still have 27 school days which sounds horrendous and 43 days until Disney which doesn't sound so bad!

I'm a big baby when it comes to the pool temp, I usually don't get in it until Memorial Day, that gives it an entire month of temps in the mid 80's to get that water warm enough for me.

Don tried to talk me into the Fuji, but I'm a bit of a Canon snob, so I found every bad review I could find of the Fuji and showed them to him to talk him out of it It was a third of the cost though, if I were a smart woman I would have gone for that one

Wow 27 days huh? We have 13 and it can't end soon enough, we're all ready for summer! You're right too, 43 days till Disney sounds like nothin' you'll be seeing Mickey before you know it!

 

[JPFamilyMom]

Hooray you got the camera have fun playing/practicing with it in preparation for the trip

And Mickey Cruise mail

You are getting close

 

[Wicket's Mom]

Your pool is so nice, I like the rocks around the sides.
It is still too cold here to even think of getting into a pool. If it would stop raining I will be happy. It's still hard for me to realize how warm Oklahoma is, I thought Ok. was a lot like Ohio, but when my son & DIL moved there I found out how warm it is there.

 

[ladybugmom]

Hi Michelle!! I know I haven't been on the DIS in awhile--soooo much going on right now! But I wanted to check-in over here as I know that your cruise is fast approaching! Sooo exciting!! I still feel like ours is sooo far away--still a little over a year away! However, we did book our October WDW trip and we're staying at AKL--a first time for us as well!! Can't WAIT!!

I read that you are going to Atlanta first--we took a trip there last summer and it was a lot of fun! We did the aquarium and Coca Cola. Note--be sure and buy your tickets ahead of time--we went on a Saturday and stood in a HUGE line just to get tickets to the aquarium and ended up having to come back several hours later. Then the aquarium was so crowded that it was hard to enjoy. However, Sunday was another story--so less crowded!! We went to Coca Cola on Sunday and Brent tried the Beverly for the first time! It was hilarious!!!

It looks like you had a wonderful Easter and Mother's Day!! Can't wait to hear more about your planning!! It will be here before you know it!!

 

[MeMom]

Thanks for sharing your fun Mother's Day. The food looks delicious.

Love the backwards flip picture!

And the Mom and sons picture =

Yay for Disney mail, of course. That always makes life more exciting.

I know you will get some great shots with that new camera.

 

[Charleston Princess]

Beach plans? What are those? I have been so laidback on planning this trip, it isn't even funny. We really haven't made any concrete plans except to book a dolphin cruise. Charles and I were talking about the trip last night. It consisted of, "Are we eating lots of seafood on this trip?" "Yes, we are."

Thanks for the sausage stars recipe! I will definitely be making those at some point!

 

[2xcited2sleep]

3 weeks!! Looks like you had a great weekend. Can't wait to see the trip pictures from that new camera!

So jealous it's warm enough to swim for you guys. It's in the upper 60's/low 70's here -- and just barely. Of course after the winter we've had it feels like a heat wave.

 

[PrincessInOz]

Happy Mother's Day Michelle and congrats on the new camera!

There is nothing that says I'm going on a Disney Vacay like getting that Mickey Mail in the mailbox!

And we're getting into winter here. It was 3 C (about 38 F) this morning when I left to go to work. Coldest May morning in a lot of years!

 

[wdwgirl03]

Ok, first of all I have to say (even though I already commented on it) you should not have posted that pic of the beach bag you got. Now I really want it! LOL.

Woo hoo for getting your new camera! Looks like you had a nice Mother's Day.

You are getting close to your trip!

 

[jenjolt]

YAY for a great Mother's Day!! Love the camera!!! You are definitely going to be using that a lot...wow only 3 weeks away I haven't even begun to think about packing and the trip is going to be here before we know it!!!

What a great beach bag!! Love it!!!! So pretty!!