Birthday Time

 Jack turned 7 and Lucy turns 6 and this is their first big family birthday party.  When you are military, it isn't often you land in the middle of your extended family during birthday time.  A short vaca during the move to Alaska prompted this celebration!

The kids had a wonderful time in P-Pops pool.  

A kiddie fence is necessary around a pool.

 But with nine children and over half  of them under age four, this kiddie fence was screwed into the door jamb for the duration of the visit so no child could remove it or knock it over.  

One either climbed over or walked around the house.  For Mom, at 84, a quick hop over the fence seemed easier than the hot walk.  For the first few times anyway!  

The youngest of the nine children present, Andrew walked alone for the first time today.  By the end of the day he was almost running.  Hugs for G.G.!  

There was fishing going on down at the dock and Priscilla showed off her catch to everyone.  It was tossed back in after all had admired it and a huge Blue Heron swooped in an feasted on it moments later.  Ahhh the cycle of life. 

 P-Pops cooked supper single handedly for 40+ people

Then the orgy of presents began! 

Birthday Bucks are always appreciated to start off with! 

And no further pictures could be gotten with all the children crowding around the the two piles of gifts and cards and adults moving about keeping the area cleared of paper and ribbons.

Later...

Jack and Lucy blew out their own candles!

Pete and Rob were in the thick of the party able to jump up and assist at any moment.

While P-Pops and Pappo took clear advantage of a quiet backyard and escaped the madness of presents and mayhem going on in the living room with the other 38 revelers.  

Grandma G.G. really enjoyed her fill of great grandchildren and they enjoyed her!

Look at the big smile as they are saying goodbye!

The Tale of the Scooby-Doo Food

My mom bought these to snack on while reading in bed.  She loves a little treat and especially a cinnamon snack.  

 Just as she pulled out the first pouch she saw the dog and and saw dog bone shaped "cookies" and hastily put them aside, laughing at herself for almost snacking on dog treats.  "I never knew dogs liked cinnamon" she chuckled.

She set them aside for my dog, Gracie and I took them home a day or so later.

We had a good laugh when she showed them to me and I opened a pouch as soon as I got home to give Gracie a treat.  The cinnamon sugar scent caught my attention and I looked again at the package.  They were Keebler.  Elves bake cookies not dog treats.

But these look exactly like dog bones.  

I read the nutritional statement.  Wait.  Nutritional statements are for people food.  

I wanted to taste test one, but had a very hard time biting into what looked like a dog bone.  I decided to call  the number on the package and verify for sure they were cookies.  I punched in the number but they were closed.  

I paced a bit.  I gave Gracie one and she gobbled it up like nothing.  Dog treats should be harder to chew, I thought, so I  screwed up all my courage and took a bite.  

They were cookies.  

I noticed the price tag was from Big Lots.  Big Lots sell items that didn't make it in the grocery store at full price.  $1.30 was pretty cheap and these were marked down again to half that.  So who was the genius at Keebler who thought this was a great new product?  Would you send these to school in your child's lunchbox?  I think not! 

Even Big Lots can't sell cookies shaped like dog bones!  

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Hooked up with Ivy and Elephants on their "Whatsthis" day.  Perfect huh?

Mom's Mother's Day 2013

We had a wonderful day, of course!  It's like magic to spend the day with my mom after living one to two thousand miles away from her for nearly forty years!  We have fun vacation pictures, but few holiday pictures together.  I love celebrating with her now, special days! 

Our gift!  

A Nifty Grabber!  

And a great meal out! 

Mom clowning at dinner! 

I had to get a shot in front of her beautiful flowers!

The sign from Patty & Wayne that she asked for to mark the

 area they landscaped when they were here in February.

She was very happy with it!  

Mom & me

Mom & Bill 

What is Mother's Day without cards? 

And a lucky strike extra!  Patty sent some flowers and some spending money!  

Janet sent a card and a gift card for several meals out and Karan, who was away sent her card and $'s in plenty of time so Mother's Day began early as the largess of cards and gifts and flowers arrived daily!    

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It's Time to Start Blogging Again

It may be time to start blogging again, but I'm not quite ready.  

But here is the gathering Christmas morning 2012 at Dianne's house.
We had a wonderful three weeks in Ohio!

The Boardwalk at Walt Disney World

The Boardwalk at Disney World is something we discovered for the first time last week.  It is something like  a smaller scale Downtown Disney but it's a resort hotel with condominiums as well.  

As with the Grand Floridian, the period is Victorian.  You are whisked to Atlantic City, NJ when you step through the doors onto the old boardwalk. 

The foyer at The Boardwalk Inn

Just through the foyer is a small lobby, the light fixture overhead is prancing carousel horse/mermaids. 

 The theme is followed through with the circular lobby bench below it is boasting a carousel that was handcrafted in 1920 at Cony Island.

 The resort was decorated for Christmas with enormous swags everywhere and huge decorated trees.

 The gingerbread gazebo was spicy and fragrant with Donald Duck coming out of the chimney.

 A carousel elephant decorated the huge mantle.

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 A life size gingerbread house also wafted delicious spiciness.  It was alongside the gingerbread gazebo. In the evening, gingerbread roof tiles are available to guests.

A replica of the coaster at Atlantic City across the hall from the gift shop.

Everywhere touches of carousel decor delighted.

We went out to the boardwalk and the day was quite chilly with scattered showers.  The clouds and cold kept everyone inside except for brave souls like us.  We had the "seacoast" practically to ourselves.  

Outside to the left shops and a dance hall.  It is open and busy every evening.  The whole area is a mecca for young couples staying at the resorts looking for fun.  The dance hall and saloons are open until 1:00 a.m.  

More shops to the right, a bakery, restaurants, sports places.  Note the weathered boards of the boardwalk.  

Little outdoor stands sold beverages 

Our lunch was a delicious traditional hot dog from one of the stands.  They told us it was all beef but I wish now I had asked the brand name as well!

It was delicious, eaten outdoors while we enjoyed the blustery weather.

Here is the cute hot dog stand.

 

We took a water taxi from The Boardwalk to other areas of Walt Disney World and you can see the view from the "ocean".  

 Just past the shops there was a large gazebo where a wedding was being held.

We had seen Micky and Minnie and Pluto running in that direction but didn't see the wedding party until we were on the water.  Was Minnie and Mickey the Maid of Honor and Best Man?  They were guests for sure as we observed photos being taken with them. 

We really enjoyed our time at The Boardwalk.  We definitely will be returning.  We only explored two resorts from this location and there are two more on the water taxi route.  There is no admission to go and when the weather is nicer there are many more carts and events going on.  

I encourage you to click on the photos to see more detail.  The light soft, the haze thick and misty.  It wasn't your ideal day, but any day at Disney is a fun day. 

For more fun..Rednesday

  

Holiday Dalmatian

Hunt for the shadow

Life is never obvious

Merry Christmas all

The Dalmatian is located in Georgia near Savannah.

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A Disney Christmas

We took a trip over to see James and Rachel and celebrate their birthdays.  They had come to celebrate their first anniversary and see the new Fantasyland.

It was a great start, because when we arrived at Downtown Disney There was a huge double rainbow.  We got it from this angle, James took a fantastic picture of the whole bow over the entire area as they came over from Port Orleans by boat.

James stopping to answer a birthday call as 12/12/12 was actually his birthday! 

After shopping and a great dinner at Rainforest Cafe we went to the Grand Floridian

 to see the decorations. 

The Gingerbread house was life size!   

And we found some hidden Micky's (can you spot them?).....

.....as we hung out in the lobby.

The next morning as James and Rachel went to the Magic Kingdom, Bill and I visited resorts.  This is quite a thrifty way to enjoy Disney without the price tag.  Each resort is open to visitors to come and visit even if you are not a guest.  You can absorb the atmosphere and wander through their beautiful gardens at your leisure without all the hustle and bustle of staying and rushing off to the parks.  

Here is a quick preview of the day.  It was chilly and rainy but we really enjoyed seeing the fabulous Disney Decor.  Later, I'll do a post on each resort.  

Here is the Gingerbread house at The Boardwalk 

A Map.

  I never knew this place existed.  More details in another post later. 

 We took the water taxi around to the Yacht Club

And to the Dolphin Resort 

Where the decorations were blue, white and silver

Orchids everywhere

And windows filled with Christmas tree ornaments.

It was a wonderful two days!  

Merry Christmas!

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