First Day of School

Since we are in MN, we don't start school until after Labor Day. Well, that was pretty late this year, so by the time we started school, we were all ready!

Anna started first this year! She started her 2nd year of Preschool. She was so excited to be going back to see Mrs Harms. She goes 4 days a week in the afternoon. The only problem we have is that somedays we eat lunch too late and are a few minutes late to school. Which, is sorta comical to the teacher, because we live the closest.

Gabriel had 2 days of being at home with me before he started back to school He is now in 1st Grade and learning so, so much! I am amazed at times how much these kids know as 1st graders. But, he is having a blast -- just being a little too silly in class. I think he is still trying to feel his way with the other kids and trying to find his groove.

The Rest of Summer

Once we got home from our vacation, it was time for Baseball and Tball to start. This year, Gabe moved up to the level where they pitch. They did occasionally use the T, but for the most part, the kids learned how to hit from a pitch. I was amazed at how strong some of the kids were. This was the first year for Anna. She was so excited to get to play Tball. She loved batting. She was also excited to play on the playground while Gabe was having his games.

Then it was time for swim lessons. This year, swim lessons were not that enjoyable for the kids. We had a cool, rainy summer, so the pool water was pretty cold. There were many days that the pool wasn't open the full amount of time because it was too cold. You may notice in a few pictures that the kids look really cold. We didn't get much use out our swimming pass this summer. But, it was a great time to go hiking. We also found a new bike path, so that was exciting.

Last Day at Disney World - Animal Kingdom

We spent our last day at Disney in the Animal Kingdom. It is the newest park and I had never been there. I was excited, but I knew we wouldn't get to see everything. Since we were leaving the next day, I wanted to get back to the hotel and get things packed up. But, we did get to see/do the most important things. Besides, that just leaves more for us to see when we go back in 4 years when it is John's turn to march. =)

We met up with Wendy, Jay and John again to ride a really fun roller coaster. Anna was about an 1/8" too short, so she couldn't ride. I guess we didn't have thick enough soled shoes! hahah She was really sad that she couldn't ride the roller coaster. It was a little scary and a little jerky in places, so it was probably a good idea that she didn't ride. The Maags left for another park and to possibly see Leah after that.

We moved on to see the some characters. We got to see Mickey, Minnie, Goofy and Donald all dressed up in their safari gear. That was neat and the lines weren't too bad. Then we headed over to Kilomanjaro Safaris. That was the best! And, the closest that I will ever get to an African Safari. hahah

By then, it was super, super hot and humid and we were getting tired. Well, I was getting stressed as to how I was going to get everything packed and IF everything was going to fit in the suitcases. So, we headed to the hotel. We were able to meet up again with Wendy for supper that night before we headed our separate days on Thursday.

It was a great trip and we all had an excellent time! I can't wait to go back when the kids are a little bit older!

Disney Day 7 - Back to the Magic Kingdom

OK, so I just realized that I never finished our trip to Disney and the rest of the happenings this summer. Then I will have both kids starting school, so I really need to catch up!

On Tuesday, we went back to the Magic Kingdom. It was the big day to see Leah and watch her debut down Main Street USA. We had a blast again. Of course, the kids HAD to take Leah and John down Splash Mountain and Big Thunder Mountain RR.

We were able to see and dance in the "Move it, Shake it, Celebrate it" parade this time. Anna was so excited she got to dance with both Woody and Jesse from Toy Story! As you know from the earlier post, Jesse is her favorite right now. It was so hot though and right in the middle of the day. Poor Anna was sooo hot and sweaty afterwards. Doug didn't even dance because he was too hot just standing there. We do everything to keep him cool and belly full. He easily gets too hot and then doesn't feel well.

We were able to all the extra rides that we wanted to do including DUMBO!! The only thing we missed was the Peter Pan ride. We had to check out of our resort and check in to another one for a couple days, so we ran out of time. But, the kids were able to get a little catnap because we were going to be at the park until 10 or 11p. I think it ended up being about 11 after the fireworks and we still had to get on the ferry and find the car. It was a loooong day, but very fun. It was also very hot and humid that day. We were standing waiting for the parade to start. The sun had gone down and we were all still just miserable because of the humidity. That is one reason we were happy to get back home to MN -- the summer as been really mild and some days pretty cool. It was so fun the watch the Spectro Magic parade as well. I remember watching that as a kid way back in 1982. Anna was more excitable than Gabe...imagine that!

Disney Day 6 - Blizzard Beach

Ok, moving right along to Monday of our vacation. As many of you know, the primary reason we booked this trip was to see our niece Leah march down Mainstreet USA. We opted to fly to FL, as did my sister. But, Leah had to ride the bus to FL. We got there on Tues, my sister got there on Fri and Leah didn't get there until late Sun evening. So, Mon was the first time we were able to see her. The band had an itinerary, so we tried to follow that as much as we could while Leah was there. It was only for 2 days, but that is the best we could do.

We were able to meet up with Leah on Mon at Blizzard Beach. It was so much fun. Our family really enjoys the water parks and swimming. But, I don't think it was the best planning to spend one day at the beach and the following day at a water park. By the end of this day, both Doug and I were sunburnt. Doug on his back and tops of the feet and me on my back, chest and tops of feet. And, yes, we had reapplied sunscreen like crazy. The kids were fine though. They had pink shoulders, but nothing that was painful. The painful part of the entire day was walking around on the HOT HOT concrete. They didn't have enough little sprinklers to keep all the sidewalks wet. As we were taking the stairs up to some of the slides, (of course the highest ones were the most fun!) there was no shade and I thought the bottom of my feet were going to fry off. I am not exaggerating here either. Thank goodness Doug and Leah are more athetic than me. Doug scooped up Gabe, Leah scooped up Anna and they took the stairs 2 by 2 because the kids were both crying. John and I just ran up the stairs and I thought I was going to pass out. (I have been working out, but not on steps. lol) Anyway, the slide was worth it and it was good to get some extra excercise. The kids wanted to do it again, but I said no way was I doing that again. So, we stood in line to ride the "ski lift" to the top. That was actually pretty neat. Ok, now that you have heard my ranting about the hot concrete...

They had a little area just for kids to play. It was OK, but Gabe was just about too tall. (He had hit 48" which was awesome for some of the bigger roller coasters, but also the cut off for the baby area.) And, it wasn't as fast as my daring daughter wanted. So, we headed over to the preteen area. They had a few slides, a nice pool and some floating ice to walk across. The kids thought that was the best. They both did it a few times. But, then it was on to bigger and better things. Unfortunately I don't have many pictures to share with you because, duh, I didn't want to ruin my camera. But, just know that we had a blast!!

Disney Days 4 and 5 - Relaxing and the Beach!!

On Saturday, we all just slept in and then hung out around the resort. We did some boring things like laundry and some grocery shopping. The kids were able to swim in the pool for a while. That was nice to just relax! After lunch, the "big kids" - me, Doug, Jay and Wendy went over to Downtown Disney to do some shopping. That was our big "buy all the souvenirs" day. Gabriel and Anna stayed home and napped and John stayed with them. That was so sweet of John to do.

Sunday we headed over to Cocoa Beach. It was about an hour from Orlando, but it was well worth the drive. We all had such a blast!! (Even though I had to deal with the sand. I do not like sand one little bit, but I managed.) I loved being able to teach the kids how to jump over the waves and just play. They had fun playing in the sand also. I was able to sit and enjoy a book on the beach also. Then, as the kids were in the water and we were relaxing on the beach, we saw a yellow crab. He was fun to watch. I had never seen a yellow crab before. I always think of them as red since that is the kind you get in the restaurant.

It was a very hot day though, so we had to make sure to keep the sunscreen going. We did a good job getting it on the kids, but Doug and I got a little sunburnt. Not as bad as it could have been though. The worst part was walking on the hot sand if you ask me.

Like I mentioned, it was just a great, great day and we really enjoyed the beach!

Disney Day 3 - Hollywood Studios

On Friday we went to Hollywood Studios. We weren't all that sure what to expect for the kids, but it turned out to be fun. Are you surprised? Anyway, it was here that Anna got to ride her FAVORITE ride -- Tower of Terror. For those of you not familiar, it is an elevator that you sit in that takes you up and "bams you to the ground!" (In the words of Anna.) You go down really fast and then back up and down a few times. It is fun and you really did need to be strapped in. There were lots of screams and giggles from our crew. It was also here that Anna finally got the toy that she had been waiting for. She was able to buy her Jessie doll. Jessie is the cowgirl from Toy Story 2. For some reason Jessie had replaced the princesses before we even left home. Not sure how that happened, but I guess it had something to do with the fact that both kids LOVE Toy Story 1 and 2.


While in Hollywood Studios, we also got to meet Woody and Buzz, along with Annie and Leo from Little Einsteins. Gabe got to see the Cars characters Lightning McQueen and Mater. Anna didn't want to have her picture taken with them though. We didn't get to see the parade here because of the weather. Of course, it rained almost every afternoon that we were there. Nothing too major, just a down pour and then the hot sun came back with lots of humidity. I am not used to the humidity anymore, since it is not as bad in MN as it was in St Louis.

The other fun milestone that we had in this park was Gabe riding his first upside-down roller coaster. He said it was fun and wanted to go again with me, but Doug said he was scared out of his mind. I think it was a little of both. =) I ended up not going on it..the standby line was getting a little long and I didn't want to wait in line. I was getting tired by that point in the day. And I was a little crabby having to put our ponchos on and off so many times.

After we were done, or had seen all we really wanted to see, at this park we decided to check in with Wendy and company. They were in Orlando and wanted to eat. Since Doug and I had been there a few days, we got to pick the restaurant. We ended up picking Outback Steakhouse. It was so yummy. Especially after eating sandwiches and "park food" for a few days now. To make it even better, we got here during happy hour so that made it better. The kids were so excited to see Aunt Wendy, Uncle Jay and John they didn't even want to sit by us. That's OK though, we know they love us.