Destination Disney: Pin Trading

Pin Trading

Do you (or your kids) trade pins?

Where/How do you store your pins?

Do you have a favorite pin or set of pins?

Do you purchase pins in the parks or elsewhere?

How long have you been doing pin-trading and

How did you get started? 

We were never going to get into the pin trading... but on our June visit in 2008, the family that we met up with gave all of the kiddos (and Roger) a pin, and it kinda went downhill from there.  They chose to spend some of their souviner money on a starter set and they had the best time trading pins.  

They took them back in October of that year and the fun kept on going...

Easter Saturday

Games were canceled for the day, so Roger got up early and went fishing.  Kiddos and I got up at normal time and got ready to go to the church egg hunt and cake walk...

After the kiddos found all the eggs, we went in for the cake walk. Didn't get any pics of it, but we brought home quite a bit of goodies!

Home for a quick lunch of grilled cheese and making some Resurrection rolls with the kiddos, which turned out really neat and were very yummy! We headed to the other local church for their Easter Egg games and Egg Hunt...

Samantha only found 4 eggs, but one of them was the golden egg!  

For being the one who found the least amount of eggs, she also got a 1lb. solid chocolate bunny!

Kiddos went to Gramma's and I ended up taking a nap!  Roger and I went over for Easter Dinner and to dye eggs with them..

Kiddos are in bed and I am heading that way as well...

Check this out!!!

Best Firefighting Blogs

firesciencedegree.org

I was surprised to get the email and excited at the same time... I love the connection with other FF blogs!  
Now, if I can just find someone to help me learn how to redecorate my blog back to my FF theme things would be great!

Destination Disney: Character Autographs & what to do with them

This week, we’re going to continue with the character theme.
I want you to share
what you do with
CHARACTER AUTOGRAPHS

Sure, I know the parks sell character autograph books.  And, of course, there’s absolutely NOTHING WRONG with these books – so if this is what you do with your autographs, please do share (and post pictures!)  BUT, I know some of you are creative and have come up with various other methods of keeping and/or displaying those autographs – and we want to hear about them! 

So, go post about your character autographs on your blog, then go visit Heidi at Reviews and Reflections and link up with her there!

The first time the kiddos went in 2006, they just got one of the simple park books and had them sign in random places in there. and that small album is put with their big scrapbook of that year.  

When we went in June of 2008, my sister took white pillowcases and drew a Mickey head outline on it (added a bow for Samantha's) and put each of the kiddos names and year on the end of the case (it doesn't look like I have a pic of these...not sure why).  Anyways, they all carried folded up pillowcases around that whole week and the characters signed those.  Samantha and Riley use their's, Emily's is folded and put with in a page in her scrapbook.  For our family book, I took blank index cards and had them sign those - easy to keep up with and perfect for when it came time to scrap!! 

Returning in October of 2008, we bought a small park book again and I was very careful about what pages we had them sign on - leaving places in between and making sure they stayed in order - when we got home, I used those for the kiddos scrapbook of that trip - printed off pictures of them getting the autographs and with the characters.  

The pillow cases was my absolute favorite thing, but if we go back, we will do a park book (or something similar) so I can scrap it the way I did their October 09 books.

A day of NOTHING!

We actually had NOTHING on the calendar today, except observance of Lord's Supper at 6pm at church tonight.  We all slept in (late) and finished our school work and just did nothing!

Went out to eat with a friend and now we are headed to bed... and yes, I did enjoy it - because I know there are few of those days coming up...

Have a great Easter Weekend!

Game canceled- 3x's!!

Weather here is just nasty right now... we were at the top of the 2nd inning and game got called because of weather on Tuesday night...

It rained all day Thursday and caused fields to be closed and canceled that game.

Today, apparently the fields are pretty nasty, because they have already called Saturday's games...

A week into the season and we already have to make up 3 out of our first 4 games... gonna be a LONG season!

Swim team tryouts

She made it!  Samantha says ball is not her *thang*, so she asked to tryout for the swim team.  She made it to the end of the pool, so she qualify's for the team and even though she struggled a little, she did make and he said she would be swimming like a pro by the end of summer!  YAY!

Underwater Easter Egg Hunt

Riley was able to participate in am underwater Easter egg hunt. It was at the indoor pool and was pretty neat- underwater, not so much - plastic eggs float!!

Opening Ceremonies

And it was SO cold!!  I took a few snaps of the actual ceremony, but I missed shooting his first game because it was so bad cold and windy - I was wrapped up in a blanket the entire time! Gramma Sherrie did get a few shots of him  - he was walked to first then made a run!  I will share those pics as soon as she sends them to me...

Destination Disney: Character Meet and Greets

This week’s Destination Disney topic is
Character Meet & Greets

Share with us your favorite locations to meet the characters, your best experiences with the characters, and (of course) pictures with the characters!  Also, if you have a list of characters that you’d like to meet, or you have special tips on where to find some of those more elusive characters, do share! Find more post like this at Heidi's Reviews and Reflections!

The best experience we had with meeting the characters was the night we had after hours privileges at Magic Kingdom.  Donald, Goofy and Pluto, at the last minute, jumped on the carousel with us and roamed the extended ride we had on it!! (It appears my picture has gone missing- and I still need to print these off to scrap- yikes! - funny thing is, it is in my FB photos and when I try to save it from there, it disappears - weird - like I need one more thing to do...)Anyways... Mickey and Minnie at ToonTown are always a sure thing, and even though the line is always long, once you get in there, you get your time with them - however long it takes you to do however many poses you want to do!

Another good place to run into the characters is in Animal Kingdom on Rafiki's Planet Watch - we ran into a few up there:

Just this week...

Been a fairly normal week - baseball practice, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, church... just the regular routine...

My Girl Scout troop is taking part in a special interest group called OMG!! (our mall group).  They are meeting at the mall and she has many things planned for them!  This week, they did a scavenger hunt all over the mall - fun stuff - next week we are supposed to go to the Clinque counter at Dillards for a facial/make-up session!

I did have to give myself one of my shots this week and I had an appointment with an eye specialist- because when I went to get contacts, the doc didn't like the way my retina looked, so he sent me to a retina specialist.  Retina specialist didn't like the way my optic nerve looks, so he is sending me to a neuropthamologist - who deals with the eye and the brain... yay!... because I need one more issue to deal with!

Samantha met her 4H Sewing group at Hobby Lobby to learn to measure and pick out a pattern... they were talking about making an apron and she comes home with a pattern for PJ bottoms - MUCH MORE FUN! We get to go next week and pick out her material... they suggested fleece, but I am hoping we can find something light so she can wear them NOW, not waiting until winter again...

Camp prep and canoe training

Dropped Riley off Friday evening to go to camp prep weekend with his Boy Scout Troop.  They were going up to work on their section of the camp in preparation for spring camping weekends and summer camp coming up. Troop is also going to float the Buffalo in May, so they are doing canoe training for those that are new to the troop.

Picked Riley up late Sunday afternoon and he is EXHAUSTED!!  He says he had a great time and really enjoyed being there.  Looking forward to next camp trip with the troop! Camera's are not approved for taking, as they are considered electronics- so I have no photos to share...

Powderpuff time...

After we dropped Riley off at church for his camp trip, we took Samantha to eat and then took her to an overnight Girl Scout function.

Saturday was her powderpuff derby, I signed up to work it (since I was without Riley & Roger was at work).  Thanks to one of my GS mom's for bringing her to the derby!  She hung out with her girls and raced her level -

Lots of girls racing and Samantha gets 3rd place!!  These pictures don't do justice on how much she was glowing when her name was called...

She said they *had a blast* at the sleepover- I am waiting to see what all they covered - the Senior girls worked with them on a couple of IPP badges!!

At the hospital

with my Meme...

She has been in the Nursing Home since October and with her Dementia, gradually getting worse... she is to the point where she is not really eating much and she has been battling an infection.  The weekend nurse didn't care for the way she was looking, so they sent her to the hospital.  She has been put on IV antibiotics and fluids to get her built back up... Keep her in your prayers... she is weak and would be pitching a fit if she realized she was at the hospital.

Destination Disney: About Me

Heidi at Reviews and Reflections has a busy weekend, so she steered away from the normal and has a fun fill in the blank for us this week!

First Theme Park Memory: I think everyone remembers seeing the castle for the very first time!

First memorable Disney trip: My first Disney trip was when I was 23 years old, I went with a friend & we spent a week down there, park-hopping!

First Disney Resort Memory: When we went in October 2008, we stayed in Shades of Green, Disney's resort for military.  Sad thing is, we were never there long enough for much - so I really don't know what all it had to offer!

Last Disney Trip: October 2008

Next Disney Trip: unsure, but I am hearing talks about wanting to go back from the grandparents...

Into the Parks (Favorites) MAGIC KINGDOM Tomorrowland: Space MountianFantasyland: Mad Tea Party
Liberty Square: Haunted Mansion
Frontierland: Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
Adventureland: Pirates of the Caribbean

EPCOT 

Future World Attraction: Mission Space & Test trackFuture World Restaurant: Electric Umbrella

World Showcase: Mexico
Favorite Snack: Baklava
Favorite Drink: one of the cokes from around the world in Innovetions
Favorite Meal: have only eaten in Mexico - it was yummy!

Favorite Animal Kingdom Attraction: Mt. Everest

Favorite Hollywood Studios Attraction:Tower of Terror & Rock N Roller Coaster

Favorite Non-Park Restaurant: Rainforest Cafe

Top 5 Disney animated movies (non-Pixar): 1. Pete's Dragon 2. Fox and Hound 3. Great Mouse Detective 4. 101 Dalmations 5. Aladdin

First tourney of the season

DONE!

We walked away with 2 wins and 2 losses... the losses were pretty tough... one was 15-4 and the other was 17-0.  Our wins were 11- 4 and barely pulling it off with 5-4!!  We had a long weekend of sitting at the ballpark, but it was fun and Riley was super excited!

That time of year again..

Riley plays in his first Tourney of the new season this weekend... he has moved  up to the 11-12 year old league... they mean business up here!! Not sure when games are all weekend... will update on how things went when they are all said and done! Hopefully I will have a few pics as well!!

Time4Learning

So, we were given a free 30 days at Time4Learning in exchange for this review and I have to say, my kiddos really enjoyed it!!  They honestly didn't get as much time on there as I was hoping for, but the time they were on it, they enjoyed it.

I think I was able to spend more time on there than they were... and why not? It is full of info for the parents as well!! We are looking into this for the kiddos for this next year... the curriculum goes up through 8th grade...fairly cheap and so full of information!!

Destination Disney: Disney Water

Disney Water

What? You ask.  Well, like everything else that Disney does, they do water right.  Think Seven Seas Lagoon, World Showcase Lagoon, andCrescent Lake – and that’s just a few examples of LAKES.  When I think of Disney Water, my mind also goes to the many FOUNTAINS throughout the parks
COT.

So, this week’s topic is fairly broad and is limited only by your own imagination.  Let’s keep this topic for Disney ON LAND – parks, Downtown Disney, Water Parks, etc. – we’ll save the REAL WATER (Disney Cruise Lines) for another post.


Great topic, because there are some great Disney fountains!  I remember first time I visited Disney (in 1996) I was impressed with the *hopping water* at Epcot!  


I searched through all thousands of my pictures and I didn't have a single one that was worth sharing of the water....UGH!  And I was so excited about getting back into Disney....


So, for more Disney stuff, check out Heidi's blog... she always has many great pictures! 

Ultimate Blog Party 2011

Welcome to my small space on the WWW! 

About me: I am married to my best friend for almost 15  years.  We live in the same community that we grew up in.  He is a firefighter for the city not to far from here, as well as a part-time job at a smaller station close to home  and we are both involved in our local volunteer fire department (that is also where we met!).  We have 2 kiddos ~ twins ~ 11 years old.  Samantha and Riley.  I homeschool them. We are members of a small family oriented church here in the area as well.  We are very involved in the church, attending services, bible study and other activities as they come up.  Samantha is very involved in Girl Scouts - I am her troop leader. We have 7 girls in our troop and they are all the best of friends.  Riley has recently bridged to Boy Scouts and has recently started his second season in baseball.  They enjoy being a part of and helping out at the Fire Department as well as many other avenues of volunteer work and community service.

My blog was started as a way for me to keep up with what we were doing in school each day, but has since evolved into something bigger and better!  I have enjoyed reading and sharing books through reviews, I spent time on TOS Homeschool Crew and I made many friends throughout the bloggy world!