Playing with the cousins at the Park

These pictures were taken a while ago, but I thought I would throw them out in the blog! Joe's mom and stepdad Charlie came out one weekend in June to bring out Blaine's bed (it was in storage). They brought Joe's stepbrother's kids Tyler and Reese too! We took a picnic to our local park and after we ate fried chicken, we let the kids run wild! The boys and girls are about the same age, so they each had a playmate. Fun times....aaahhh Summer :)

Whitney on her favorite swing



again....



Kids making silly faces



...and more silly faces!

Trip to the Shore

For this post I have no pictures of the beach, but I promise that we went! I thought it was best to keep the camera in the bag and just enjoy our time there. My friend Tina and her mom invited us out to the New Jersey shore (Sea Isle City) to spend some time in the sand and surf!
Tina's mom's former boss has a condo out there and we stopped in to change and say HI. We had a great time playing in the waves and just relaxing in the sun. It was probably the hottest day of the year (about 107 heat index) but on the beach we had a breeze and the water was cool, so that helped a bunch! The kids (Whitney and Tina's two, Hayley and Landon) played in the sand and had a great time. The first time we went in the ocean it was really nice and we were trying to teach Whitney to boogie board, until I lost hold of her and she went under (oops). She is fine and wanted to go out again, so all is well....After a little break for some sand time, we went back in and there was SEAWEED EVERYWHERE! UGH! Despite the icky seaweed, it was nice to reconnect with my friend and relax before heading back to work.

That's right, I eased back into work today. Our official first day back is Wednesday, but I had a training this morning that I presented for new teachers and I have to attend a workshop on Monday and orientation day on Tuesday. So, soon I will be a real working girl again! **SIGH** I have loved this summer off and will miss all the time with my kids, but C'est la vie!

Here I do have pictures from about a MONTH AGO!!!

For Father's day I got Joe a 3 lap ride-along in a stock car at the Pocono raceway. He ended up with 6 laps instead of 3, which was AWESOME!

Joe waiting his turn to go 165 MPH!



The family



Getting in the car



We also went to a BIG Boulder Field in a state park close to the Poconos. Blaine and Joe and Whitney walked ALL the way across and back! I would have gone, but I am extremely uncoordinated and clumsy and was not wearing sneakers b.c I did not know we were going that day....At least that is my story and I am sticking to it!

Whitney making her way across the boulders...some way bigger than her!



Blaine and Joe about half way across



Blaine...my rockstar :)


Enjoy!

DisneyWorld

We spent July 3rd-July 10th in DisneyWorld enjoying the holiday and some family time together. We arrived safely Friday evening and took a quick dip in the swimming pool. We woke up early Saturday morning to get ready for our big day! We had lots planned to do and see and did not want to miss a bit.

We started off in the Magic Kingdom with Breakfast with the Princesses at Cinderella's Royal Table. It was fabulous. The meal was great, plus you could get as much as you wanted AND we met ALL the princesses at our table and got a special photo with Cinderella! It was a great experience!

Meeting Snow White at our breakfast table



We headed out of the castle and made our way through the Magic Kingdom until late in the afternoon. We hit many of the rides and did not have a lot of trouble with lines until after lunchtime. We met a LOT of characters and got some great pictures. The kids really loved it.

Meeting Ariel in Ariel's grotto


After taking a break at the pool, we headed back to the Magic Kingdom and pushed our way through the crowds to get our spot for the fireworks. They have fireworks there every night, but I knew that the 4th of July fireworks would be great!

My pirate Princess


Cap'n Jack Sparrow



Cinderella's Castle on July 4th


Next day we headed to Animal Kingdom! We caught a couple of shows...the Festival of the Lion King and the Bugs Life 4D show. Joe and Whitney were actually participants in a short show with Pocahantas! It was really cute. We again saw lots of characters there.

Animal Kingdom in front of the Tree of Life



Meeting Pocahontas



Participating in the Pocahontas show



Meeting Lilo and Stitch



Meeting Minnie Mouse



On Monday we headed to Epcot and toured the Innoventions, The Land, and the Seas. We explored the Finding Nemo show, the Turtle Talk with Crush and saw a diver in their tank. They had lots of fish and underwater creatures and two very large manatees!




The Finding Nemo show


Meeting the Diver



We waited over an HOUR for one of their new rides, SOARIN'! It is a simulator of a glider...it was really cool, or AWESOME as Whitney said.

That night we toured the countries, caught a show in Morocco and ate dinner in France! It was nice. I just wish I remembered more of my high school French.


We stayed for the Illuminations fireworks and light display.



Tuesday was a day off from the parks, but we spent the time at Downtown Disney shopping and trying to stay out of the rain. We ate lunch at TREX, a dinosaur inspired restaurant. Even our dessert was over the top! We explored the toy stores, World of Disney, Goofy's Candy shop, and the kids made a Disney t-shirt at the Create your own T-shirt shop. They also BOTH made Star Wars Light Sabers at the toy store!





The dessert explosion!



At the Create your Own T-Shirt store




Wednesday we headed to Disney's Hollywood Studios. We were not as impressed with this park (not as much for little ones to do), but we did have a good time! We saw the Voyage of the Little Mermaid, saw the Playhouse Disney show (Whitney loved it) and met a June from the Little Einsteins (Whitney's favorite). We also went on Star Tours, a ride that took us on a trip in space (Blaine loved this one).

Disney's Hollywood Studios





Meeting June, Whitney's favorite Little Einstein!



Enjoying the Playhouse Disney show!



Thursday we went back to Magic Kingdom and wrapped up some of the rides we missed on Saturday, including Splash Mountain and Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, the AstroOrbiter in the rain, and the Monsters Inc Laugh Floor. We even waited about an hour to see MY favorite..Tinkerbell!

Tomorrowland Speedway



My passenger....I tried to convince him to drive, but he wouldn't!



The Monsters Inc Laugh Floor...this was an interactive show...Whitney was chosen to be the character BOO! They showed her picure about 3 times!




TINK!


We had a great time and made some great memories. It was great to be able to take the kids someplace so magical!

I took a lot of pictures...they have been uploaded to Snapfish.com. If you did not get an email to view them and would like to see them, send me an email to let me know.
ALSO...DisneyWorld has started a Disney Photo Pass program. They have photographers posted in various areas and at al the character spots. They take your photos and later you can view them and print them. If you want to see those...go to www.disneyphotopass.com Enter my email address as the username : blondymommy123@aol.com
The password is Blaine
We had a great time! Hope you enjoy the pictures!

Trip To NC

Last week I took a trip to NC to pick up Blaine for the summer and see a bunch of my friends, who I miss very much! :)

Whitney and I stayed with my good friend Stephanie! She was nice enough to let us crash at her place while we were in town. Steph and I had a great time catching up and enjoyed watching the kids play! In this first picture, Devin is front and center...he is such a cute and sweet baby, so adorable!



The next couple of pictures are Duncan and Whitney playing together. They loved playing with my IPOD and Duncan's electronic toy, as well as resting in their jammies every night in their "nest".




NEW BABY CLARA!
My best friend from elementary school, middle, high school, college....pretty much all our lives, has a new baby! She is the second addition to the Engelbrecht family. She was born on May 30th and has been keeping her mom and dad awake ever since :)

Me holding Clara

Me and Christine


Me holding fussy Clara

Even the kids loved the baby and wanted to help take care of her! They did a great job....maybe they are practicing for the future!

Whitney holding Clara...wouldn't she make a cute big sister?


Blaine holding Clara...what a pro!


I loved visiting Christine and all my friends in NC! I just wish we weren't so far away.

Blaine and Whitney at lunch after visiting Christine

Meltdown??

Who is having the meltdown? Me or Whitney?? Probably me! Whitney just goes along in life kind of flitting around like a butterfly! Me? I should be looking out for the next disaster and trying to avert it. No that is JOE and I do NOT listen!

Today, we went to many places, but one of which was Giant (grocery store). Whitney had a pack of SKITTLES candy that I let her have, Joe did not want her to have them. Maybe he could see the disaster that was about to happen, maybe he was saving me from a meltdown, and her from trouble. What happened next is classic 4 year old and classic Whitney. In the produce section, the Skittles ended up ALL on the floor! She had about 3 left!

The fun did not end there! NO, NO, NO! We get a little further, still in the produce section....Joe had left to get something and came back to find me standing there laughing and Whitney pointing her finger at me! Was it me that created the mess of blue on the floor??? Partly. Joe had bought Whitney a blue Mountain Dew. She wanted some, but dropped it. I then opened it. BIG MISTAKE! Everyone knows that you can't open a soft drink after it has been dropped! At that moment, I did not recall that little fact. So, the drink comes out and all over the floor. I have to then find some unassuming store worker to help clean it up!

Eventful, is my life with a 4 year old!

OH, but we did have S'MORES tonight! Whitney loved roasting the marshmallows, smushing them in the graham crackers and chocolate, then EATING them!

I liked it too :)

Mother's Day

Mother's Day was more than just one day for me...it was a whole weekend! It started with a one hour full body massage at Massage Envy....how nice and indulgent! LOVED IT! That afternoon (Saturday) we headed to Joe's parents' place. Whitney, Sandy, and I attended a Mother/Daughter banquet sponsored by the church. It was a very nice dinner..they definitely served us well! Whitney really enjoyed playing with her cousin Reese (his stepbrother Jeff's daughter). They are both the same age and always have a great time.



We spent the night at Joe's parents' place and Sunday morning, Sandy and Charlie took Whitney to church while Joe and I slept in. Apparently Whitney was very helpful at church passing out chocolates and flowers to all the Mothers.

After church, we all (our family, Sandy and Charlie, and Reese,Tyler, Christa and Jeff) went to Knoebel's amusement park. It was a GREAT day outside....not too hot, not too cool and the kids had a great time!





To top it ALL off---Joe and um, Whitney got me a BEAUTIFUL diamond and peridot ring for Mother's Day! It is round and has the peridot in the middle and tiny diamonds all around the stone and down the band. GORGEOUS!!!!! I picked it out a while back, but never thought I would actually be treated with such a gift. Thank you, honey! I must be a great wife and mother ;)
Actually, I must be REALLY good, b/c I got TWO cards from Blaine! WOW! I'm on a roll!