Mommy's Vacation Day Two

On Friday morning, we got up and went to the Hollywood Studios park. The two big rides in this park are the Rock N Roll Coaster and The Tower of Terror. We found out later that they redid the Tower with a new drop sequence but we were really unimpressed and liked the sequence in California better. However the Rock N Roll Coaster is another story. It's comparable to California Screamin' in Disney's California Adventure Park. It starts off shooting to 60 mph. This one though is built around Aerosmith and you're in a limousine trying to get to their concert. The track is in the dark with blacklights and neon signs and Aerosmith music pumpin'. Awesome. I was completely unaware of what an Aerosmith fan I was until I was singing along with every song.

Once again the heat became unbearable and we headed back to Typhoon Lagoon. This time the storm started rolling in a little early and so we started getting rained on but that was okay because it made all the lines for the water slide really short. We asked around and they only closed the park when they heard thunder and unfortunately we did hike up to the top of one of the slides just to have to walk out because the thunder did eventually come.

After a nap, we headed to Downtown Disney and had a lot of fun. We ate at T-Rex which is a cousin of the Rainforest Cafe just prehistoric. The animatronics were really cool and the special effects made eating there really fun. I sent Siena several pictures and she would say "Oh Cute" and "Mommy caught a dinosaur." We over did it when we ordered though because we thought we were starving.

Downtown Disney was filled with silly little delights such as a Disney Christmas Shop that's open all year round and a candy shop with create your own chocolate covered yumminess. We had a lot of fun goofing off and waiting until Extra Magic Hours at the Magical Kingdom.

Mommy's Vacation

Guest post from Mom:

For the sake of all, I will do several posts probably one for every day because it will be heavy on the photos (and we know that I love to post photos)! We had so much fun. I went with my two sisters, Becca and Angie, and my mom to Disney World in Orlando, Florida. We had five days of playing to do with just the four of us. The other three had been there four years ago as a treat from my Grandpa but I had just moved to California and couldn't come. They were excited to show a Disneyland junkie what a real amusement park was like.

We started off Wednesday the 16th with a flight leaving Vegas at 10:00 p.m. We caught the red eye so that we didn't have to waste an entire day with traveling. This of course left us a little bleary for the day. We got to our hotel, The Caribbean Beach Resort, at 6:30 a.m. and unbelievably they had a room ready for us. We weren't anticipating this and had left our luggage at the airport to be delivered. We did however have swim suits in our carry on because one of the water parks opened early at 8 a.m. for "select resort guests". So at 7:30 a.m. we boarded what would be one of many more buses to come and headed for Typhoon Lagoon.

Typhoon Lagoon has what is called The Crushin' Gusher which is a roller coaster water slide. You sit on tubes and it actually sends you up and down. Very very fun and that early in the morning it came with no wait. Plus in Orlando it was warm enough and the water temperature just right so we weren't freezing. I also did my very first "straight" water slide. You know the kind that you have to cross your arms and ankles and not flail them about at risk of breaking one of them? I've always been terrified but my sisters just walked me up and had me do it. I pretended it was no big deal but I was freaking out and let me tell you my swim suit went places that I didn't think was possible. Still fun though!

Everyone was pretty bleary eyed after that and so we went back to the hotel room to change clothes and head for the first amusement park of the four that Disney World offers. It was the Animal Kingdom. We headed in got our "fast passes" for the roller coaster "Everest" and had about 3 hours to kill before they were good and so we headed to the other ride called "Dinosaur." For anyone who has done Indiana Jones at Disneyland, it's the same ride just prehistoric and you're trying to find a dinosaur. Very loud and pretty scary. That's us on the back row. Not an awesome picture but since it is a photo of a photo..what are you gonna do?

That ride was the best because the line for it was indoors with air conditioning. We lasted like 20 minutes in our real clothes in that Orlando humidity. (Can you say pit stains?) We came out from that ride unfortunately to find that it was pouring rain and I really mean pouring. Soaked through my shoes and I was so bitterly disappointed. Our "Everest" ride had closed down and I didn't even feel like I was in Disney World. We headed back to the hotel from some much needed naps. I could only sleep for about thirty minutes but everyone else really zonked out. Luckily, my mom was willing to head to the Magic Kingdom (just like Disneyland) with me that night and my spirits really picked up. I finally felt like I was where dreams come true. I missed my little girls and hubby terribly but man, it was much needed girl time.

Okay so after that really long entry, I'm thinking I will try to condense days two through five so that you don't have to sit through pain staking recounts of my awesome vacation just because I never learned how to tell a short story!

And Mary came!

Mary Grace came to our house on Saturday night with Aunt Margaret and Hannah, but we get to keep Mary all week! She is so much fun to have here. I just pull her around to do all of my whims and she comes! We play outside, we play in the pool, we watch movies, we color pictures, we eat popsicles. It's great. On Monday, Mommy took us to the Main Street splash park which we love. Of course the weather was warm and Mommy got a nice red color on her back. Of course, Mary looks a little like a tomato because apparently Daddy says that putting on sunscreen is something that comes naturally to St. Georgians but takes more thought for Salt Lake Citians....I don't know.

Anyway, Mommy takes off on an adventure with Grandma, Aunt Angie and Aunt Becca tomorrow night and she won't be back until NEXT Monday night. So Mary came to help Daddy out. (Do you know where Mommy is going? It's called Disney World and it makes Mommy giggly and start dancing on her toes when you mention it.)

We have an almost identical picture of me at this same park...apparently the water is tasty.

Finally...the house post!

WARNING: HIGH PHOTO VOLUME AHEAD

But it is a post about our house so you would expect pictures. It has taken Mommy forever to take photos of the "after" part of the house. This is due to the fact that Cara and I are not known for neat habit. We're more destructors leaving a path in our wake. Plus Mommy and Daddy got really lucky and there wasn't much the house needed for the after photos except furniture. The owners before had done a beautiful paint job in an effort to sell the home and he did wood working and so there is beautiful crown molding detail. (Minor note: Mommy would take photos of those details but we're already posting a lot of pictures.)

Disclaimer: Mommy started thinking about NOT posting pictures of the house to try and force visits out of everyone who wanted to see it. However, we do have quite a few friends who it is just not possible for them to make it out. So she wants it known that this post does not excuse anybody within 450 miles of coming to see and stay in our home. Yes, St. George does get hot in the summer, but this beautiful home is equipped with ceiling fans and a working A/C. And there are plenty of pools, splash parks, and lakes to go cool off in. And she visits Salt Lake in the dead of winter, when there is snow and ice and everything icky.

So as a reminder this is the front of the home. We are located in a delightful neighborhood on a quiet cul-de-sac that is already off a side street. There is park within 5 minute walking distance and a fire department too!

Not the traditional stucco look of St. George. The home was built in 1996. It has 4 bedrooms/2 bathrooms.

Here is the main room before (note the delightful 90's green carpet. It was in the process of being removed as Mommy was snapping photos. Oh and she apologizes but even with auto-flash she somehow is terrible with light exposure in photos.)

And here it is after with all our furniture in it and can you spot Daddy? He's playing with Cara who is systematically pulling out all our DVDs.

And we'll call this our music/family/don't we look spiritual room. When we pretend to hold family home evening, it happens in here. Funny enough, it's wired for surround sound. Yes just that small space.


No real changes between the before and after shot here but the before shot has better light exposure and shows of the fake wood floor better.


Now off to the right after coming in the front door are three bedrooms and a bathroom. The first is mine and eventually Cara's room. I even helped paint the "Tinker Bell Green" accent wall. We do have photos from that too but they are on Aunt Angie's camera.


The biggest change in the house was this bathroom. It was painted a deep rusty red and has laminate pressed linoleum of some kind. Even the back of the door was painted.


This is our play room for now. The before shot was just more green carpet and had terrible lighting. Both this room and Daddy's office have "walk in" closets. They are not huge but it's still just a regular door on the outside.

And speaking of Daddy's office. It's at the front of the house and has a big beautiful window. Unfortunately, Mommy and Daddy somehow lost two critical bars for the beloved futon and it now sits on it's partially put together frame in quite a sad state in this room.


And now off the left of the big front room is the kitchen and the master bedroom. The before shot of the kitchen is strictly because it shows a different angle of the kitchen. We didn't do much except purchase a refrigerator.



The laundry room is just the little hall leading out to the garage but it's still nice to be able to close a door on the sound of laundry. We replaced the floor in here too because it was the same strange linoleum and we got a great deal on the tile. We have extra if anyone needs a small tiling job done! We also bought the washer and dryer. Aren't they pretty?


Finally the master suite! Mommy and Daddy LOVE their new space. Technically, Cara still shares with them but she is starting to sleep through the night and sleeps much better in that crib than I ever did! (More on that on a later post...)




And yes this Master Bathroom originally came with the lovely green carpet...it had to go. We also took out the sliding mirror doors that went on the sort of walk in closet. Notice the strange looking arrangement of the shower and tub. It's supposed to be a glass enclosed shower but instead there is a tension rod a foot inside it and so we have this lovely "staging area" in our shower. It's great!




And a few more photos of the backyard.


This side yard still looks a little like this. There is just too much space for us to even pin down all our wildest dreams. (Orchard, pool, splash pad, sport court-that would be Uncle Eric-, trampoline-in the ground are just a few of the things that have been thrown out there.) We were just happy to have the enclosed back yard!

Phew! So there you have it. That's the house....I warned you that it was a high photo volume. Trust me though. The pictures do not do it justice.

Ahhh Sunshine and HEAT!

It's here. The GLORIOUS and WONDERFUL St. George summer heat. (Of course I'm typing this and Mommy knows full well that a "cold" front is moving in for the weekend and it will only reach 82 degrees, sigh.) There are many out there who think my Mommy is loony but she once again insists on having a post about the awesomeness that is summer time. We have been playing in a pool almost identical to Aunt Rachel's terrific investment. It managed to get some holes in it the first day it was inflated and so we had been battling keeping water in it and not spilling over on top of our sprinklers but Uncle Braden and Daddy fixed all the leaks and so today it felt like a brand new pool. It is so much fun. Our backyard is AWESOME. And the scorching sun that makes ice cold hose water feel good is AWESOME. It's gonna be a good couple of months.

Oh and here is proof that Cara's hair is growing. Mommy put sunscreen on her and did some fancy styling. Yeah..it dried that way and looked so cool until she took her nap.

Alas...

Well alas for Daddy he returned much earlier than expected from his epic ride. If you went to the link on the last post, you'll have read the story. I will spare Uncle Greg and just briefly say that the trip was abruptly cut short just over 24 hours after it started. Sunday morning Uncle Greg and his bike got in a wreck and he tore his rotator cuff. Luckily he is on the mend and he wrecked in a densely populated portion of the state, right near an Instacare. Uncle Braden was kind enough to drive Daddy home and do a ride with him here in St. George today. Here is the one picture Daddy took with our camera. Poor communication before his trip meant that he didn't know it only had battery power enough for one photo. Bummer. It looks rainy and wet to me. This was their camp the night before it started. One day, those crazy boys will do this ride. One day.

Daddy's Great Ride

My awesome Daddy is on a ride from the Idaho-Utah border to the Arizona-Utah border accompanied by some of his best friends. They planned enough time off that it could take from this morning until next Saturday. Mommy cried mercy and has begged him to return sooner but we shall see. You can follow his adventures on the trip website:

www.rccee.com

With the magic of mobile internet, they appear to be updating daily. Granted, they are still in what I will call the more densely populated part of the state. We are so proud of Daddy and wish him the best. He is lugging our bike trailer behind him but didn't have room for me or Cara. Bummer. We're hoping he has our camera too because we can't find it and it would make sense that it is with him. We'll see.