Walt Disney World Day 4

Tuesday, June 8th, 2010

Tuesday was our Downtown Disney Day. We had reservations to the T-Rex Cafe at Noon for lunch and then at the Rainforest Cafe at 9 PM. Since neither were covered under our dining plan and both were expensive we decided that we would switch the reservations and go to Rainforest for lunch and then eat someplace around there covered under our plan for dinner and then Eric and Rachel treated us to desert at T-Rex Cafe that night. LOTS of eating that day, let me tell ya. AND OH SO GOOD! :)

Bayleigh and I both woke up in a bit of a funk that morning. I think that mine was stemmed from quitting smoking cold turkey just a few days prior and my back was sore and I knew that that meant one thing--an attack was on the way. I kept taking my medicine and tylenol, but was still irritable. Then when Bayleigh was sassing like she was we just didn't really get along. Everyone that knows me knows, that one of my biggest pet peeves is when I am taking care of MY child just let me take care of her. Tony, like he often does felt the need to put his two cents in and get onto her too and that just fueled my fire. I seriously cannot tell you how much that makes me mad. I just wanted to be anywhere, but around people in general. I ended up sucking it up and realizing that I was stuck there so I might as well make the best of it. So, I did.

Rainforest Cafe was amazing! Every 30 min there was a thunderstorm minus the rain of course and the whole "jungle" was WILD with animals. The food was delicious as well! Tony had a plate of ribs that was so big it didn't fig on the plate even. YUMMMMMY! Bayleigh LOVED the live parrots outside.

After lunch we walked around the shops and there were these character figures around everywhere and of course Bayleigh had to pose next to each one. :) Max got to make is own light saber and that was pretty neat to see. I don't have a picture of it though.

As we walked back to the ferry to take a break from the day we stopped by the Harley store so that Max could pose with a couple bikes in the store for his other grandpa.

I can honestly tell you that I do not remember at all what we did after getting back to resort and then we got dressed up to go for dinner and desert back in Downtown Disney. I know that is terrible. :) Maybe we swam???? IDK, I'll have to ask Rachel.

Anyways we got dressed up and headed to an Irish Pub for dinner that was covered under our plan. I had myself a moment again in that place, as did Larry. It took FOREVER to get our food and then It was hot and I thought they messed the food up. It was crowded, whatever. There is a funny picture in the bottom corner of Larry. He hopped up in the window seat and sat by himself. His feet were so far off the floor. :) There is also a cropped picture of a bar named called "tonsil tickler bar". We just thought that was funny. :)

After eating at the pub we went to ride the hot air balloon, but because the wind was faster than 10 miles per hour so we walked back down to T-Rex Cafe for our desert. AMAZING!!!! AMAZING! The atmosphere was incredible. The desert was to die for. The picture of it is in the middle of the below picture. I knew I was going to pay for it later, but hoped I wouldn't. :) Anyone going to Disney World must stop by the T-Rex Cafe to eat. It is a MUST. :)

Every 30 minutes there would be a meteor shower and the lights would flash and the dinosaurs would go wild. I LOVED it! We ate in the ice cave that changed colors and was so pretty. Bayleigh thought it was funny that the door to the ladies room said "she-rex". Of course that mean the men's said "he-rex".

I know that the day started very rough for me and my mood was not fun for anyone, but by the end of the evening I was glad I made the decision to have a good time, because it really was a nice evening. :)

Coming up next....Day 5! Stay tuned.

Love,

Jenn

Walt Disney World Day 3

Monday, June 7th, 2010

Day 3 was our Animal Kingdom day. I was very excited about this day because 1. I knew they had a safari ride that I was stoked to do and 2. We had lunch reservations that gave us tickets to a Finding Nemo show later in the afternoon!

When we arrived we got there before the park even opened. As soon as the gates were open we walked back to get the fast pass tickets for the safari ride. Along the way we passed Lilo and Stitch and stopped for autographs and pictures. We also stopped along the way to get pictures on the bridge and they will come later when I get my professional disc back.

Once we got up to the safari we noticed that the wait was only 20 mins. so we decided to stand in line rather than get the fast pass tickets. I am SO thankful we did. It started pouring down rain while we were on the ride, so we were seated and covered during the biggest part of the storm. I was absolutely amazed with the safari. The animals were SO close to us and it was just neat.

After the safari we needed to eat breakfast so we just stopped at a little stand and ate. When we were heading away from the seating a man was standing there with instruments inviting guests up to play. Bayleigh and Max both went, but Bayleigh quickly melted to tears and kept walking away. I was getting frustrated and insisted that she go up there with Max. She did, but again kept coming back. I know that I probably should have just let it go and not forced her to do it, but I want Bayleigh to stop being so afraid of the little things. She'll ride a roller coaster, but put her in front of a drum and she cries????? See my point?

Anyways, after that then we went to a 3D show called It's a Bug's Life. SUPER COOL--SUPER SCARY! Bayleigh cried, I think by the end Max cried too. It was fun for us adults and super neat because of the smells that they blow in your face and the sense of bugs stinging you in the back from effects from the seats. It really was a good show, but had I been a kid--it would have freaked me out too. :) After getting out of the show we stopped and bought ponchos because it was raining so much again and then headed over to the Tuskar house for lunch.

We chose the Tuskar House because by eating there we got tickets to a Finding Nemo Show just a couple hours later. The food was great. The service was AWESOME! It was a great lunch. After, we headed over to Dinoland and waited for our show to start. Pluto and Goofey were both there so we waited for pictures and autographs there. Just before doing that we got our fast pass tickets for the dinosaur ride as well. After autographs we went to our show. SUPER COOL! Because we got our tickets at the Tuskar House we had stage side priority seating. LOVED IT! Nemo was SUPER annoying, but the show itself was really good.

Somewhere in the day we also met the Jungle Book Characters and got autographs too, but Terek wasn't supposed to be there so I only got pictures of her on my cell phone. Once I finish all of the days of the week I'll do another blog with professional pictures and then one with cell phone uploads. :)

After the show we had a snack of icecream sundaes and then went over to the Dinosaur ride which reminds me a lot of Jurassic Park. I thought that Tony was going to crap himself and Max didn't like it either, but Bayleigh thought it was fun as did the rest of us. :) (I'll scan the picture in later, but I look like a big fat mess).

I know it seems like a lot, but it was still fairly early, but the kids were done. I was done too. It was hot so we opted to go back to the resort and order pizzas and hit the pool.

Speaking of pool--Bayleigh decided that she is done with floaties and jumped in without them and even did a great job teaching herself to swim as well. Eric worked with her and that helped tons because she relaxed with him and did great!.

Here are some pictures from our day.

Check out our animal pictures. The top middle picture that looks like rocks are hippos! The picture of the truck is the one that was behind ours, but thought it was cool. The guide told us that the baby rhino pretty much charges anything and everything. You could tell he was fun! Those are Nile Crocs which are the meanest and most agressive ever! There were cheatahs and other animals too, but I couldn't get a shot at them because it was so bumpy. Very cool and highly recommeded to anyone planning to go!

Day 4 coming soon!

Love,
Jenn

Walt Disney World Day 2 (more)

I cannot believe I forgot the pictures of the fairies from the previous post. :) Here they are now. Sorry about that.

Walt Disney World Day 2

Sunday, June 6th, 2010

Day 2 of Walt Disney World provided us with many great memories and ended up being one of, if not, my favorite days. We knew that it was Magic Kingdom day. Bayleigh wanted to ride the Dumbo ride and the Peter Pan ride. Max was excited to ride the Haunted Mansion. As soon as we got there Pinocchio was right inside after you pass the train station. I stood in line with the kids while Rachel went to a store across the way to find Max his Mickey ears. After that we decided that we needed to eat. I learned quickly that Eric and Rachel NEED food in the morning. :) So off we went to find a place to eat....

Below is a picture of Bayleigh and Max on the bus ride to Magic Kingdom. Included as well is a picture of BIG THUNDER MOUNTAIN!!!! Bayleigh's first BIG roller coaster EVER! The min. height was 40 inches and she measured EXACTLY 40 inches! Rachel wanted to take Max and I wanted Larry to take Bayleigh on her first roller coaster ride and I also didn't want to ride alone so I skipped out and waited with Eric and Tony. She was SO excited when she ran up to me at the end of the ride. She absolutely LOVED it! (I knew she would).

The breakfast we sought out ended up being at the Crystal Palace. I was surprised that we even got in, but it really was getting late and lunch was almost starting. Rachel went up and put our name in. I think the wait was around 40 mins. or so so we waited. I am SO glad we did too. The Crystal Palace is character dining! Sweet! Pooh, Eeyore, Tigger, and Piglet were walking around signing autographs and taking pictures while we had probably our best breakfast down there. It was a buffet and was OH SO GOOD! :) Bayleigh thought the Mickey Mouse waffles were pretty cool. The characters lead a parade throughout the restaurant and Max and Bayleigh participated in that and had a good time too. :) Rachel's favorite characters are Eeyore and Pooh so I am sure this was the start to a great day for her. :)

After we ate we hit the rides and the characters with autograph books in hand this time. :) This was the day of the PRETTY Princesses as well as Mickey and Minnie. I had to take Bayleigh's picture in front of the Goofey Cactus because she kept telling everyone before we went about it. It is located between Mickey's house and the judges tent where he signs autographs. We were surprised to go in and find Minnie with him. :)

After a VERY long, hot, and tiring day we decided to head back to the resort for dinner at Olivia's. Olivia's is good food, but the service is TERRIBLE. If you have a party of 6 or more an 18% gratuity is included (we had 7). It's almost like our servers knew that they were going to get their money so we just hardly ever seen them. We went to some really awesome places to eat so to pay Olivia's servers the same gratuity as those just sucked.

All in all this day was great. We had so much fun! Up next: Day 3! Stay tuned. :)

Love,
Jenn

Walt Disney World Day 1

Walt Disney World Vacation: June 5th-12th 2010.

**I am going to blog each day individually so more blogs are on the way**

Our vacation to Disney ended up being a lot of fun. Bayleigh was SO excited the night before that she couldn't sleep. It was well after 2:00 AM and we had the alarms set for 4:00 AM. I begged her to sleep and she said, but mommy, I'm so excited my eyes won't close. :) I thought that was cute.
I was excited, but anxious as well. I just wanted to arrive to Orlando safely. I wanted to have a good flight. I wanted our luggage to make it as well. I knew Bayliegh would do great on the flight, but worried how she would handle the pressure in her ears. I was worried about Tony--my father-in-law, because he tends to be a bit of a sissy when it comes to flying. Everything ended up being just fine. Bayleigh stayed awake long enough to get off of the ground and then she was OUT! Our whole flight was pretty turbulant, but nothing too bad. Just south of Atlanta we hit our bumpiest part of the skies and Bayleigh woke at that time to look out the window and see the other plane in the sky and then go back to sleep. I woke her up again just before we landed so she watch that too.

Once we got to our villa at Disney's Old Key West Resort we decided to head to the hospitality house and have lunch at Olivia's and then head to Magic Kingdom to get pictures with the princesses and to buy the ear hats! We walked thru Minnie and Mickey's houses before going on to see the princesses. As we got done I realized I had left Bayleigh's autograph book back at the resort. It ended up being for the best, bc the princesses were so ugly. Jasmine looked like she had had about 12 kids and Cinderella couldn't get the kids out of her face fast enough. I knew we would be going back with the autograph book and hoped that we would have different ones and we did. (those photos will be in a later post).

Below are the pictures of both sets of Bayleigh's ears. The pirate ones you couldn't have a name sewn on so we bought both pairs. :) In the picture of Bayleigh with the hula hoop--as we walked down Main Street cast members were asking visitors if they wanted to hula hoop and of course Bayleigh said she wanted to. By the time she was done we had to ask her to stop and she had a crowded circled around her clapping and cheering her on. :)

My brother and sister in law arrived later that night and once they arrived we took the ferry from our resort to Downtown Disney and at at Wolf Gang Pucks (YUMMMMMM O) and did a little shopping. The pictures below are from the ferry ride and then downtown disney and then Max and Bayleigh walking up to our room once we got home.

We were all exhausted, but so excited to be there. Day 2 and more are on the way soon! :)

Thanks for reading. Hope this blog is finding all of you well. :)

Love,

Jennifer

Goodbye Papa.

Died. That was the only word I heard from the phone across the room Sunday night, when Mimi called mom to tell her papa had passed away.

Shock. That was the only thing I could feel emotionally.

When the phone rang Sunday night, May 30, 2010 we were all sitting down with mom having a late dinner, so Bayleigh picked up the phone and immediately said, Grammy, it's for you and I think it's Mimi. I don't know if mom adjusted the phone just right or what happened, but as I was sitting across the room I heard Mimi say died. I immediately threw my food down and jumped up saying OMG! Larry said, What? I said, My grandpa just died. At that point my mom was bawling. We immediately shoed up and loaded up to head to Greenfield to the nursing home. Mimi, Anna, Uncle Larry, Carole, Casey, and Uncle Rick were already there. Mom, Larry, Bayleigh, and myself ended up being the only others to arrive.

It was so sad. My heart was breaking for my family. I still, as I sit here now, am in shock. I cannot believe that Papa is gone. He was doing so well. Mom had went to see him that day and he did mention that he didn't feel well, but not so bad that he needed medical attention or anything out of the norm. He just wanted to go to bed. So, mom and Jessica left him to rest. My poor mom--I feel so bad for her. She said, when I left my dad I never thought he would die. I'm so thankful she had that day with him. Mimi had went up with Anna after mom had left and papa was not feeling well still and wanted to go back to bed. He was hot--SO not like him. So hot in fact he wanted a fan in his room. Mimi helped him changed down to his boxers and get onto the bed and sitsuated with the fan brought in from the nurses station. Once he was settled she left and sought out a couple of nurses to check on him throught the evening so that once he fell asleep he didn't get chilled with the lack of blankets and the fan blowing.

Mimi and Anna had barely crossed the Shelby County line when the cell phone rang that he was unresponsive and to head back to the Greenfield E.R. So, of course they did. They told her the E.R. because EMT's had been called.

Mimi then called back and questioned the word unresponsive--she asked if her dad had vitals. At this time, the nurse said for her to just return to the facility. Facility being the nursing home. So, she thought--ok, the EMT's came and have him rallied and he refused to go to the hospital. As she walked down the hall of the nursing home she seen the EMT's standing by the nurses station and heard as she was walking toward them them ask if this was the family. Once she stopped to get the news they said, I'm sorry.

I'm Sorry. Two words that change a person's life forever. Two words that in that instant are almost impossible to grasp the meaning of. Two words that at that moment were not expected in the least.

We all sat with Papa and waited for Glen George to come and get him. He looked peaceful. He died peaceful. He died quickly. The cause of death is believed to be a stroke. Over the years we have seen Papa very sick. For him to be taken from this Earth that way is nothing more than a Blessing. Papa was 89 years and 4 months old to the day. He lived a good life. When he died, he was not suffering. Yes, he didn't feel well, but he wasn't sick as we had seem him in the past. I'm sure that most will agree that if that is how one is to go then that is the only way to go. For that, I am thankful.

I miss him. I love him. I am sad that our time with him is done. I have many good memories with Papa. For many years of my life he was the father figure I had. Papa is the man that gave me away at my wedding. He cried that day. Papa really thought the world of Larry and Larry really thought the world of him as well. Papa came to the hospital when I had Bayleigh and that was a very proud moment for me as well. I hope that Bayleigh never forgets how much he loved her. I am sure she won't. When we lived across the street from him he would walk over everyday and sit with us. We'd hear the bang of his cane on the screen door and Bayleigh would crawl with excitement to the door and meet him there. She LOVED his cane. He would sit and she would crawl up to his lap and go straight for the cane. :) Papa immediately took notice to the routine and even brought her one of his old canes to keep and play with all the time. It didn't matter--she'd hear that knock and still go straight for his. When it was time for teething he would notice her chewing on her toys and he'd pull his pocket knife (closed and dirty as well) out of his pocket and let her chew on that (as of course I cringed from being a germaphobe). BUT, I didn't say anything and just let him let her chew on his knife, and every single time he did I'd get the same story of how his kids loved to do the same thing. He gave her that knife and last summer my cousin brought 5 snapping turtles over to be cleaned and we sprung Papa from the nursing home and he helped the boys clean those turtles. He needed his knife back to show them how it was done and then put it back in his pocket. I think that that same day Papa was pretty proud of me. I jumped in and helped those boys get them cleaned. He said, Yeah--that's alright and would laugh.

As kids, mom and Papa would take us to Clifford Nasby's place to go fishing. He would collect cans--so many it would fill the trunk of his old cars--and Jessica and I would be out there deep in cans helping him unload. Papa would drive us to school. He sat in the garage for countless hours and teach Larry the ins and outs of "junkin". There is good money there. They have many good memories in that garage. Monday being Memorial Day Larry didn't have to work and he spent most of the day in that garage. I didn't need to ask him why or what he was doing out there, I already knew. Yesterday was Tuesday and he went back to work. Papa was a turtle man as I briefly explained earlier. Larry brought home a turtle he found in the road yesterday. I know what that turtle means...and I am happy that he is home safe with the Lord. This TURTLE! even layed two eggs in the tub Larry had her in. Needless to say, Larry has made a habitate in our back yard for her and her eggs. :) I hope they survive.

I'm not gonna lie, this has not fully hit me yet. It will. In time, it will and then I will have to pull myself together and move on.

The calling will be on Saturday, June 5th from 9-11 with Funeral services beginning at 11. Larry, Bayleigh, and I will not be there. We have had a trip planned for many months and mom and Mimi assured me that we need to go. I think that it is too the best thing for me at this time. I got to say goodbye to papa while being surrounded by my family that actually went to see him. Even if only on a regular basis for a few months. At least they went.

I have so much more to say, but can't at this time find the words for how I am feeling. I think I will end this now and keep these thoughts to myself. Thank you for all your thoughts and prayers. On Facebook people have been sharing memories they have of papa and most agree that we all lost a wonderful man. Those memories are comforting. God, I ask that you take good care of him until we can meet again. I love you papa and miss you so much already. Rest in Peace. Love, Jennie

**sorry for any misspellings.

PLAY BALL!

This has been a VERY exciting week for us! Monday, May 24th 2010 Bayleigh played her first Little League Game and they WON! She plays for Waldron Health Care and Mark Benson is her coach. Anthony Thomas is the assistant coach as well. The guy pitching to her, I am not sure of his name, but he must be a friend or relative or Mark. Whoever he is he is an awesome pitcher! Bayleigh got to bat 3 times and got 3 hits!!!! Momma was so proud! She even scored 2 runs for the team. On one of her hits she got to first and then got to go the second because of an over throw on the other team! YEAH! She didn't get the 3rd point bc the batter struck out. :(

All of the girls did an AMAZING JOB! I know that our final score was 17, but not sure the final for the other team. It was either 4 or 5, but they didn't post it after the 6th inning and we didn't bat that inning since we were up.

She's ready to go!
Warming Up before the game!

Pep talk from the coach before the game. She is so short. :)

The team preparing for the National Anthem.

We were the home team so we started in the field. Bayleigh is in position and ready to go! (chewing her nails)

A neat bench shot!

Bayleigh's in the hole!!!!

Whoooo Hoooo! This picture is funny because the bat hanging on the fence looks like she threw her bat to hit the ball. Each hit she would gently set the bat down and then run so she didn't get called out for throwing the bat. :)

On First Base!

On second base! After this she didn't get to stand on Third because she got to go HOME and score her first point EVER!!!

Bayleigh scoring her first point!

Bayleigh's On Deck! Tongue out and all. :)

Batter UP!

Bayleigh scoring her 2nd run for the evening!

Swing Batter!

Here is a shot of her on Third. That is her coach Mark beside her.

This didn't end up being the final score because the guest team scored 2 or 3 runs the sixth inning, but it wasn't enough for us to bat again.

The line up to tell the other team Congrats!

Yes! that is Bayleigh causing the traffic jam! She didn't know to walk and high five at the same time. When I told her in the truck she said, "it's ok, they can come to me"! LOL! it was SO funny!

All in All we had the BEST evening. I love watching the little kids play. They are so cute. I knew that when the time came I was going to put Bayleigh in softball because of watching Colin the year before. I never got to play growing up and I think it is great that she has this opportunity. I am sure that throughout the summer there will be more blogs about baseball. :) As a matter of fact, she plays again tonight and we will be the guest team so I will be taking photos from that side of the field. Until next time. Thank you for reading and if you ever want to come and watch her play just let me know and I can give you the dates and time. :)

Love, Jenn