Happy Birthday Ben & Alek

Today is Ben & Alek's 8th birthday. They had a small sleepover party last night ... just one friend each. It was a lot of fun, all games all night! (actually, everyone was asleep by mid-night, which was just fine by me). I'll post some videos of it later today ... I'm really catching up now!

Midevil Times

This time to Orlando we did a couple things other than Disney - Sea World and Midevil Times. Here are some videos from our dinner at Midevil Times, which was totally awesome for the 7/8 year old participants. Quite overpriced for the adults, but hey, isn't everything in Orlando?

We wave our flag in support of our knight who is dressed in the same color. We were 'black and white'. A little difficult to chant ... 'go black and white knight!'

Our knight was the only one to pierce the ring with his pole ... 'go black and white knight!'

Another race ... 'go black and white knight!'

Overall, it was fun, and a very unique experience. The boys were the right age for it, and the food was good.

Swimming with the Cousins

Back over the 4th of July, we were at my mom & dad's house with my sister and her family. Here were three videos of the cousins that I found on my recorder when I went to download the Disney videos ... a little out of order, but very cute.

Cousin Parade ...

Swimming at the hotel ...

Sweet Lauren ...

Disney

July has been a busy month - the first week we were in Illinois, then home for 5 days, then off to Disney for the 3rd week of the month. Here are some videos from our trip ... We went with Gary's brother Ed, his wife Mary, and their kids Adam, Chrissy and Casey. Casey is just a year older than Ben & Alek, and the three of them have a blast when they are together! As I was posting these videos, I realized that these are not 'traditional' pictures of Disney ... we didn't take pictures of the rides or parks or anything. But, these were some fun and unique experiences we had! We did a lot of Rock-n-Roller Coaster, Expedition Everest, Thunder Mountain, Space Mountain, etc. But, everyone's seen pictures of those before!

We counted off so we could keep track and know when we were all together ... haha ....We took the boat from Magic Kingdom over to Wilderness Lodge for lunch at Whispering Canyon. Wow, what a feast! It was amazing, and there are move videos, yes, of the FOOD.

Bubblegum milkshakes ... seriously ...

Incredible ... each day we found different towel animals in our hotel room - we stayed at Port Orleans, in Alligator Bayou. Totally beautiful, very lush tropical surroundings. The room was good sized, and had a pull-out trundle bed, and two sinks outside the bathroom. We really liked it. The pools were nice too, and we were in building 14 which was just a few steps from the food court and main building.

The boys were so cute, trying on Goofy hats ...

And here's Alek, telling us about his adventures ...

Kahlu

Today our beloved kitty cat Kahlu died. He was 19 1/2 years old, and had gotten very thin, had stopped eating, and had trouble walking. I took him to the vet where he passed away. I am very sad, and will miss him very much. I adopted him about a month before I met Gary, back in Endicott, NY. When he was younger, he loved to play ball, talk, sit on your lap or on top of the laptop computer (where the warm air blew ... he often turned our laptops off by stepping on the power key!), lay in the sun, play chase under the sheets, and chase toys on strings. He was so much fun, very social, and very talkative. His feisty spirit showed in his bright blue eyes, and he loved to get his belly rubbed, and would put his forehead against mine when he was happy. Here is a of him and I back on my wedding day, back when he was vibrant and healthy.

At the Farm for 4th of July

We've been having a fun week at Mema & Papa's house in Illinois. We've gone to the farm, gone fishing, rode fourwheelers, gone on hikes and played games. Here's some video of the fun week. Sorry, they are not in order, as I've uploaded these over several hours during the day as we keep running out to do things.

5 cousins on Mema's bed, watching cartoons and eating Lucky Charms with extra marshmallows.

Alek's perfect blueys.

Daddo and Ben rowing on Papa's pond. What a beautiful day!

Ben and Ashley picking Blueberries near Goreville, Illinois.

Daddo, Ben and Alek climbing the dry waterfall at Fern Cliff State Park.

Climbing the waterfall.

Beginning to pick Blueberries.