Hollywood Studios

Mark got a discount to the parks on the days of his conferences, so we went on my birthday to Hollywood Studios. Because we went in the evening there were no more fast passes left and the lines for the major attractions were extremely long. A lot of the shows were over for the night by the time we got to them. We did do enough to make it worth our while, however. We waited out the line for Tower of Terror and the Toy Story ride. We also saw Beauty and the Beast as well as the American Idol experience. The girl 5th from the left won. She sang Reflection from Mulan and had a real good voice. It's a little disappointing standing in lines for so long for how short most of the attractions are.

Orlando/Downtown Disney

Mark is blessed to have paid Educational conferences for his work. These opportunites are great to take advantage of vacation time as well. We were able to go to Orlando two years ago with the whole family. This year we went to Las Vegas and Orlando again, just the two of us. We stayed in a fancy hotel across the street from Downtown Disney. The view is looking out our room. We ate at Planet Hollywood the first night. That was a little too much stimulation for me. Very crowded, lots of noise, lights, and movement. We were also able to eat at the T-Rex restaurant. The atmosphere was better because we went earlier in the day (still loud noises though). The entrees were real expensive, but the portions were massive, so we were able to split one and still be filled. If I had known how close and accesible the temple was and had thought about it earlier, I would have used some of my free time to attend. It was right across the street from the church I attended. Oh well, next time. Instead I did a lot of window shopping. My favorite were the flea markets, Disney items for a lot less than at the park.

My sister, Kari

We've been lucky to have my sister around for the past several years. However, life changes and there were new opportunities waiting for her in Spokane, WA. We're sad to see her go, but look forward to all the upcoming visits.

Costumes/Painting

Grandma made the girls tutu's and the boys these reversible capes. Thanks grandma.

I finally got tired of our one colored walls. Mark isn't real excited about the idea of multi-colored walls. I finally talked him into letting me paint the girls room. I figured if I did a good enough job, he might be convinced that painting some of the other rooms might be a good idea as well. I was trying to incorporate both of the girls bedspreads (one is Hannah Montana with a lot of purples and the other is brown and turquoise). Taylor wanted stripes, so this is what we came up with. I had intended to add pink as one of the stripes, but after I had the other colors up I decided the pink might detract rather than add to the look. I don't think it looks too bad for a first-timer. Thanks to aunt Kari for her insight and help.

Valentine's Day

Grandma helped the kids surprise us by heart attacking our room for Valentine's Day. They did a good job.

Other parts of the strip

We didn't see as much as we wanted to, but after the second night on the strip and staying up late, we were so tired and worn out that we opted to stay at our hotel the last night. We did get to see the volcano at the mirage, the forum shops at Ceasars palace (although we didn't feel like waiting around for the show), the thunderstorm and fountains at Planet Hollywood (kindof disappointing)and the outside of many hotels. We tried to see the lions at MGM, but they had already gone home for the evening. We debated whether we wanted to see a show while we were there, but we decided we didn't want to fork over the $100 a piece to go to something we weren't ecstatic over (I'd rather spend my money elsewhere). We had a good time, but don't think we'll be going back to Las Vegas anytime soon.

Bellagio

On our first night out, Mark's cousin, Shannon and her kids took us down to the strip to show us a few of their favorite sites. We started at the Bellagio and walked through the conservatory. They were celebrating the Chinese new year (year of the tiger). We also saw the chocolate fountain among other neat things to see. Out front was a spectacular fountain show fit to music. We happened to see it several times as we walked past. We also visited the M & M store (4 stories). By this time the kids were getting tired so we called it a night. It was hard to know where to look on the strip - very inappropriate images everywhere, but if you could avoid most of it there were a lot of neat things to see too.

Southpoint in Las Vegas

Mark had a conference for work in Las Vegas. I wasn't going to go, but my mother so graciously offered to take time off work and fly over to stay with the kids (she's a brave woman). We stayed in a newer hotel called Southpoint. It was very nice and not near as crowded because it was 6 miles South of the Strip. This did have it's drawbacks, however. There wasn't much in walking distance and when we did shuttle down to the strip we waited almost an hour for the return shuttle to come. I thought I would enjoy time to myself, but it was weird - I just wasn't used to it and found myself feeling guilty sitting down reading a book, or turning on the TV. I did get a few overdue projects done, but I didn't bring enough to do. The picture with the view is looking outside our window. It took us a few days to orient ourselves enough and realize we were looking at the strip. We didn't realize right away because the more recognizable motels were hidden behind taller buildings and we were surprised at night that there were not more lights. When you're on the strip all you see is lights.

Mowing

We thought we'd start Joseph early on the lawn mowing. Just a few kinks that need worked out.

All about Joseph/Taylor's report

Joseph has found a new hiding space. He loves to climb in the cupboards under the sink. He also tried on Sam's cowboy hat. He looks as though he's posing as Michael Jackson (He was actually trying to fold his arms). Taylor gave a report on Christa McAuliffe (teacher in space in the Challenger) in her class. You can't really hear the video, but she did a good job.