Florida Trip

We took advantage of a four day weekend and made our annual Florida pilgrimage to visit Grandma and Grandpa. As luck would have it, we were able to get in for a sneak peek of Legoland! Anyone who knows Jackson will understand what a monumental day this was for him. 

The kids posing with the giant Lego mini figures inside the main entrance of the park.What the picture does not show is the pushing and shoving that took place just before the final posing and smiles.

This Lego "baker" statue outside one of the restaurants was actually quite small compared to all the other amazing Lego statues throughout the park. When you stopped and really looked at them it's just amazing what they have created.

Dad and Catie were the only two brave enough to ride the  "Dragon" roller coaster! This was moments before it took off through the terrifying indoor/outdoor adventure. 

The menacing lion!

Now that's a smile!

Jackson was running around like a crazy man taking in all the sites. Over six hours, we probably only managed to see a quarter of the park.

It's a good thing we landed in the Imagination Zone at the Build and Test Center when we did because a big storm passed through and we were able to hide out here for most of it. This was a popular place with the kids because you can build race cars and test them against challengers on digitally timed tracks.

The girls enjoyed building Lego towers and then turning on the "earthquake" simulator that shook the building like a real earthquake to see if it would survive the natural disaster. You could even change the setting to represent different category quakes. This was a great time for the adults too as we all sat and rested! 

The verdict on Legoland was two thumbs up from all! We wish that we had more time at the park, but we had to head over to the Magic Kingdom for an evening of  Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween...

The Halloween parade was exceptional! The floats and characters were done up with the realism of a Hollywood movie production. The adults and children alike were entertained and amazed.

The mandatory family photo in front of the castle.

We meet up with the Wilsons for part of the evening and the kids had a great time running around in their costumes. Nothing like a dressed rehearsal for Halloween.

The Abster has become a real dancing queen! She loves to cut  loose whenever the music starts. Here she is dancing up a storm in downtown Disneyworld.

 

For some reason Jax and his shark costume were a big hit with all the people in the parade.  One after another, they stopped and gave him a high five with a big smile on their face. 

We have had great luck with the weather over the years, but this trip mother nature could not even offer one day without rain. We made the best of it and managed to have a great time in spite of the near tropical storms.

Heavy rains on Saturday caused us to cancel our Animal Kingdom plans. Grandma Sandye saved the day by finding the Orlando Science Center. This turned out to be a fantastic place for the kids with tons of interactive exhibits for them to explore. 

Abby loved playing in the water.

Catie building some kind of dam system.

Our three anthropologists

The kids loved digging for dinosaur bones and brushing away the dirt from their finds. Only a small amount of dirt was thrown at each other...

The highlight of the museum was the hurricane chamber that simulated winds of over 80 mph! The girls loved how their hair would blow wildly around their heads! Little did we know that we could experience the same thing at the beach the next day!

Southern Belle Farm

We decided to meet the McGee's at the Southern Belle pumpkin farm on a gorgeous fall day last week. We kind of had low expectations for the experience but it turned out to rival Disney World!

The only thing missing form this picture is the gun rack and a confederate flag.

We promised the kids horseback riding but had to make do with a mechanical cow ride instead.

Our favorite part of the day was the pig races held at Oinker Stadium. They held three heats with three different kinds of pigs. We learned that not only do pigs fly, but they swim too!

Around the corner they come!

Super Pig!

 As you can see, these little pigs are serious swimmers.

 

The farm had limitless activities.  The kids loved the huge "jumpy pillow" and were running around like crazy chasing each other and bouncing high in the sky.

Catie enjoying herself with the rubber ducky races.

Abby was a big fan of the bouncy horse. She was all over the field chasing the big kids.

They even had these pedal cars that you race around an awesome track! Talk about a good workout!!!

Here is the crew in the middle of the giant corn maze. Believe it or not, the adults could not find their way out but the kids had no problem.

Hayride...

You have seen rooms where the kids jump into a pit of balls...well this was the same thing only kernels of corn! We had corn kernels coming out of clothing all evening! 

Blue Belt

Jacko all prepared to complete the sparring portion of his test.

After a summer off from Taekwondo and two months back in the saddle, Jackson tested for his blue belt this weekend.

Part of Taekwondo is showing respect and helping others. Here Jax is helping one of the younger classmates get into her sparring gear. When is this respect, focus and helping others going to show up at home?

 

 

 Check out a clip from part of Jax sparring session. His moves have really improved from last year.

 The proud blue belt!!!

We are also proud of how Jackson has progressed. He completed his test with total confidence and passed with flying colors.

While our Explorer was in the shop this past week, the dealer gave us a convertible Mustang as a loaner.  We were pleasantly surprised how much we liked the car! It was perfect top down weather all week and Steve and Ann fought over who would take the car most days.

Catie has always wanted a convertible so Dad surprised her by picking her up early from school for a ride with the top down. As you can see, she was extremely excited. After initially being afraid of the "vertible," Abster grew to love it too!

Soccer!!!

The Comets... a few peeps were missing.

Jackson decided to try soccer this fall after never having played. He is doing remarkably well and had a goal and an assist in his second game.  

Jax on the move

Jax loves to do the throw-ins and play forward.  Except the third game, he mostly played defender and kind of lost interest.

While his ball skills are a work in progress, Jackson loves running all over the field and does a nice job hustling.

Abby was trying out Halloween costumes and may have found a winner!

Abster was all over us to set up the jumpy house on Saturday. After we relented, Abster played on it for a total of 4 minutes and went on to something else!

Catie was all smiles at the father/daughter lunch. Dad tried to convince all her friends that the scoop of mashed potatoes was actually ice cream. He had many of the kids fooled but not Catie... she is used to his shenanigans.

The Big Sleepover

The crew is ready to bowl!

The kids had Lizzie and Jacob over for a sleepover last week. They requested that we go to Stars & Strikes, a huge bowling and gaming center.  

 We are not sure how Jax was able to hold the ball without falling over!

  

Ann was quite the bowler... who knew? Here she is trying to tutor Abster in the fine art.

 

Lizzie asked if she could use the "ramp" at  bowling. We had no idea what she was referring to and finally asked the attendant if we could have the "ramp" brought out to our lane. He stated that it was intended for the physically challenged, but "what the heck you can use it."  It was such a hit that the family next to us asked if there was another one that they could use!

Vampires are everywhere these days!

As you can see, Jackson was quite the ladies man as he kept winning on the wheel of fortune.

Off to school!

The kids love the virtual roller coaster ride!

We spent over 4.5 hrs in Stars & Strikes and even had a "delicious" pizza and nacho dinner.

Laser tag pregame instructions.

The girls were "too scared" to participate in laser tag but Jax and Jacob took on all comers!

Jackson and Jacob were the youngest players by about 15 years and were so small that they were difficult to shoot. They were like two little mice running around the playing field.

The crew even got to ride on the bumper cars and crashed into each other... they loved it!

The girls love to play dress up and try on all different kinds of outfits....even if they are a few sizes too small.

Lizzie likes to wear a tiara around town like it is an every day accessory. Of course Catie had to have one too.

Nothing beats a dip in the front yard family swimming pool or throwing water balloons at each other on a Sunday afternoon!