DisneyWorld, Savannah and home!!!

O.k - no pictures this time - sorry! Lots of pictures from DisneyWorld, but I haven't uploaded them to my computer yet, they are still on the disk....Savannah was beautiful, but with the narrow streets really hard to take pictures of, especially any that do it justice.

DisneyWorld was great - the campground was wonderful! Big sites and much quieter than I expected - if you go, ng all your food with you because the nearest grocerty store is a drive, and well, what little food they have at the camp store is at Disney prices. 'nuf said. We did 5 parks in 4 days - next time, we'll take at least 7 days for 5 parks with at least 1 full day just enjoying the pool and playgrounds at the campground.

Savannah, Matt watched the kids - they were ALL ready for a down day while Kerttu, Gerli & I toured the City. They picked us up at the campground, drove us to where we picked up the touring trolley and then back. I wish we'd had 2 days. We definately missed seeing some things we would have like to. After seeing Savannah, I can't wait to see Charleston! I've heard it is even more beautiful! We did see the Church where the feather foated by at the beginning of "Forrest Gump" and the fence the man walked his invisible dog by in "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil".

Home - well, yes, we are back - and it is good to be back. Matt interviewed with 3 companies, and started work yesterday. So - 4 months to the day from his retirement ceremony, and only 6 weeks in official retirement. Not too bad! And, after 2 years of no "real" yard work here, the extra time came in handy. The yard looks sooooo much better! And, most of what needs to still be done can't be done until the spring. Well, that and he he managed to do "something" to his rotater cuff, so he isn't allowed to lift his right arm above shoulder level for 3 weeks. We also took the painted paneling down from the family room Matt prewired the wall for his suround sound and new t.v. he wants.......

The boys like their new school and have 2 classmates who live nearby, they don't, however, like the increased amount of homework!!! But we are all adjusting. They are back in Kung Fu, playing soccer and joined CubScouts - their first campout is next weekend.

Stephanie loves pre-school, and is so excited to be like "her boys". She wants to go every day and really dislikes that I don't make her lunch in her lunch box on her stay home days....

Me, well, I renewed my R.E. license and will probably try and pick up a client or 2 this winter. It's time to start seriously working towards remodeling this house, and I suppose I better help out at least a little with that since I'm the one with the expensive plans....

Anyway - this will probably be my last post here, at least for a long while. We don't have any plans to camp until sometime after the first of the year, and, I think most of you read here are now on Facebook - so well, we'll see you there! If you aren't on FB already - come join us - we're both there. Yes, even Matt. Not my doing, he was talked into by his C.G.A. buddies!

Destin, FL

We got to Destin a little later (o.k. - a LOT later) than we planned....we developed a "blistered" tire on the way to New Orleans..Anyway - although a short overnight, Destin was enough to remind me of why living on the gulf coast was so much fun - warm water, warm air - and beautiful beaches...

Yep, even Stephanie liked the water...

Body Surfing Jamesy...

Gerlie & Stephanie having a sand castle competion...

And Andrew enjoying the clear water....

next up - *shudder* Disney - it may take a while for me to get that organized, so be patient we are already back in Yorktown, and busy with that. BUT if you ever get the chance to drive slowly cross country - TAKE IT!!!!!

New Orleans

Yes, we took our kids to the French Quarter- but it WAS Sunday, and we opted to not eat at Emeril's because it didn't open for dinner until after we planned on being on our way back to the campground. Stephanie and James on the trolley on the way downtown.

Ready to start down Bourbon Street

The kids beads, Andrew chose dice, Stephanie chose pink rubber duckies, and James chose spiderman rubber duckies.

Lunch at Pat O'brien's the kids loved that they got fancy drinks in fancy glasses!

Next stop - Destin....

Fredricksburg & San Antonio

First - Fredericksburg, we stayed at a beautiful campsite! It hade an olympic size pool - o.k. not quite, but 2 1/2 solid lanes of about 25 yards. I was so excited - goin' to get a swim in.... NOT. The kids played and I did "grown up stuff" waiting for my morning swim. It was padlocked until 10 a.m. Oh, well....

We did however, get to go seen Matt's Aunt Helen (his Godmother) what a lot of fun that was! The kids fed the calves, sat on horses, went on a "hayride" (minus the hay), watched some young deer familie eat and identified on their own a praying mantis, plus several other bugs.....

San Antonio was so much fun! We did the river walk the first night, very cool! But, while kid-friendly is definately more grownup oriented! The second day we went to a waterslide park...Another good day!


Matt, Aunt Helen, the kids....

Andrew

both boys - and yes, they already argue who's taller....

James

Stephanie

Before the boat tour of the river walk~!

Just before dinner....

next up.....Lake Charles - and you will WANT to hear about this - especially if you have a camper.......

TBC

Michelle

Carlsbad, NM & Ozona, TX

I only use the simple uploader,and always forget that it will only upload so many at a time, and the order is always in reverse UGH! - So, these will be a little mixed up. We had a great time in Carlsbad! We had a premium campsite with a patio, firepit (for s'mores) and a swing - so loved it! We went to the Carlsbad Caverns and did the Big Room tour. We would love to go back and do the Natural Entrance, but need to wait until the kids are a little older. The second day we went to Sitting Bull Falls, the boys did NOT want to leave, and wanted to know if we could go there again once we got to Virginia. Clearly even the map on the wall of the camper with the stickers marking where we are is not clearing up the whole geography thing. BUT they can find most of the states, and are learning some of the capitals. Carlsbad is definately a place we want to go again.

Ozona? Not so much. Ozona is in the middle of, well, nowhere. And, 5 1/2 miles away from the campsight (a truck stop - no picnic tables, no shade, but it did have a pool) one of the tires on the camper shredded. So, in 105 degrees Matt had the privilege of changing a tire on blacktop. He says that if any of you are having trouble sleeping, this works better than a pill! Fortunately, there was a tire store that was open at 8 a.m. to get a replacement spare. We will be getting at least 1 more in San Antonio, since there is another tire ready to go. Matt thinks he will change that one though in the comfort of a campground. Hopefully.
This is just outside the Natural Entrance to the Caverns, we didn't go in, but wanted to see it. At dusk each night bats fly out, there is a whole little theater viewing area to watch them come out...

At Sitting Bull Falls, too tricky for Stephanie to come over. The falls were 55 degrees, then spread out into several little pools. James & Andrew for some reason have started checking nutritional information (calories) on the back of everything. We did not teach them this. But they already say they are fat - generally right after they eat when they have a little puppy belly each. And the doctor told me "not to worry" when James lost 6 pounds just over a year ago......I still can't believe that.

Stephanie playing in one of the pools - she really was there!

We spent the most time at this pool, there were rock walls for climbing and the water was about 5 feet deep so there was some jumping and swimming going on. The water down here, was still cool but considerably warmer than 55 degrees.

I tried to put a picture here that shows the backdrop for the pond, but blogspot cropped it. I'll e-mail it if anyone is interested. It was BEAUTIFUL!!

This picture should be last, James went down this "waterslide" then Andrew, and finally Stephanie had to get in on it - she actually went down twice!

Andrew and Kerttu at the beginning of the walk through the Big Room. The little paddles were for self quidedn tours, at each various points you punched in the corresponding number and learned a little about the history of the caverns. There were both kid and adult versions. The boys did not miss a number and listened to some of them twice!

In the caverns listening to the "bats" talking to them. Stephanie was not happy she didn't have her own, so we let her listen to ours a couple of times, but the adult one just isn't as much fun.

You were not allowed to speak above a whisper in the caverns, and the kids managed it, although looking at this picture it's probably hard to believe. We were in the cavern close to 2 hours!

Well, that's it for now, we are in Fredericksburg heading for San Antonio today. Will hopefully get an update in on our stop after that - I think Lake Charles, LA.

Michelle

Las Cruces, NM

Just a quick not about Las Cruces, this was just an over night for us, but I'm sure there is some good hiking and stuff around. We opted for the more expensive back in with a view vs. the standard pull through - figured when the back in is more it must be a view worth having - and it was! Not to mention it was right across from the pool and park. For $5 more this is what we got........

We are actually leaving Carlsbad now, I hope I can get something up for there in the next couple of days - we had a blast!

Michelle

Grand Canyon

But first - a leftover shot from Disney :)

The Grand Canyon was a great (grand?) day! The boys loved it - mostly. They still think that Yellowstone is better, the sulfar and tar pits are apparently WAAAAAAAAYYYYYY cool! I showed Matt and the boys the trailsm we hiked, and even pointed out Phantom Ranch to them - they weren't impressed with the hike -they wanted to run down and back up that afternoon. For those who don't know - it's a 9.8 mile hike....steep.... and the day we were there it was 102 at P.R. - and DRY.

Kerttu and Gerlie - our friends from Estonia. Kerttu was our AuPair for 18 months - and stayed in the U.S. an additional 18 months. She met Stephanie - but left when she was just 2 months old. It's been great having her back, and we are enjoying getting to know Gerlie as well - although I think the combo of jet-lag, a busy family, and Disneyland overwhelmed her the first few days.

We are in Las Cruces, NM tonight - it's beautiful, but HOT! Good thing they have a nice pool!

Michelle

Anaheim....

We got to Anaheim on July 2nd, early in the afternoon, Matt really enjoyed taking I-5 straight through L.A. with the trailer. We had dinner with a friend of mine from High School and Kerttu and her friend Gerli arrived shortly after midnight on the 3rd. We were up and out by 9:30 to head to Disney and not back to the camper until about 10 p.m., a long day, but a lot of fun. The park was super crowded but with 4 adults we were able to split up the kids for a couple of hours so they all got to do what they wanted to do the most. Stephanie met 3 princesses, Andrew did the Finding Nemo Submarine ride, and James went on the Matterhorn and the cars. On the 4th we mostly just hung out at the pool, it was a nice change from the rush, rush of the day before.....On the 5th we drove to Las Vegas, we had dinner with Matt's cousin Don (forgot my camera, kicking myself!) while Kerttu & Gerli explored Vegas.


Finally through the gates at Disney, they did NOT want to pose for their Birthday picture - they just wanted to get to the rides!

Stephanie and Aurora (Sleeping Beauty) her favorite Princess

James & his Pirates of the Caribbeann Mickey hat - can you tell it was the END of the day?

Andrew posing with Birthday ears

"Home sweet home" on the 4th of July...

Stephanie with birthday ears

Family shot on the way in the park - Kerttu is back left, and Gerli back center....

Michelle

Crater Lake & California

Finally, I made it to Crater Lake! I have lived in Oregon 3 times now, and it is the first time I've been there, and it was our last stop in Oregon. Matt was there when he was 8. It was beautiful. We apparently chose our time wisely, it was sunny and warm all 3 days we were there. We also did a little hiking but when your pacer is a 3 year old, it's not very fast! We saw the "disappearing river" the Rogue River dissappers into a lava tube for a short distance, and 2 nearby waterfalls. While I was off doing laundry, James took a pretty serious header off his bike, bruised his tummy and ribs and scrapped up his elbow pretty bad, left a little blood near another campsite, but he was brave and back on his bike before I got back, where he proudly showed me his booboos and led me to the scene of the accident. A fun 3 days, another day or 2 would have been great too though, I can see why it is a popular place to go! We also really like the campground, small, clean, quiet -


The Lake

Us at the lake - even the dog!

The boys LOVED Wizard Island, there is a boat that will take you there, but logistics just weren't right this trip.

Andrew eating lunch at the Avenue of Boulders

And James doing the same - my solid proof that dressing twins alike does not impair their sense of individuality....

Stephanie loved all the flowers

And finally, one of the waterfalls we hiked to.

Since, Crater Lake we have visited Orland and Fresno, California. The campgrounds had pools - that's about the extent of our visit! Today we head for Anaheim and a visit with a H.S. friend of mine, then of course, our big birthday bash with Mickey Mouse on the 3rd.

Have a great and safe 4th of July weekend!

Heceta Beach, OR (Florence)

Well, technically we should be about a quarter of the way to Crater Lake by now - but nooooooo, remember the blinker/brake light problem? Well, it's back, but the solution that worked isn't working this time.....Matt's been to Ford and Les Scwaub, noone there to help. And apparently no service departmens are open ANYWHERE.....so Matt is trouble shooting on his own ... he has figured out that power isn't going from the fuses in the front to the plug in the back of the truck - so I'm going to see what/who I can find online that might be able to help. Hopefully my next blog wil be from Crater Lake..

Theses were both taken at the beach that is walking distance from the Campground - it's a really nice campground, big shrubs on each side of the sites to keep the wind down, it has been VERY windy!

These are when we went to see the Heceta Head lighthouse, a nice little morning trip, we had a picnic there as well.