Our Second RV Trip

Here's the story of how we decided on our second RV trip....
It was early February and we had been getting pictures from the Gayler's Disney trip on our cell phones for a couple days. It had snowed here so school had been closed Monday and Tuesday and we had just heard that it would be closed Wednesday also. Jeremy was having a slow work week and we had the itch to get outta town!!! At around 6pm, Jeremy paced the office while I looked at places we could go and by 10pm, we were on the road to Disney World!!! We called our families to let them know when we were already on the way. By the way, thanks Meredith for booking our reservation for us, as we were rolling down 95!

We stayed at Disney's Fort Wilderness, and I would highly recommend it to anyone! It is so beautiful. I think anything with the Disney name attached to it is bound to be beautiful, though. There was a movie and a campfire with Chip and Dale every night. You could also see the Magic Kingdom's fireworks from the beach at Fort Wilderness. We spent our days riding bikes around the campground and taking the shuttles or boats to check out the other resorts and Downtown Disney. It's amazing how, without even stepping foot into one of the parks, you can have so much to do. It was a little cold to swim, although the pools were heated and there were plenty of people in them, I was afraid of how it would feel when you got OUT of the pool. What's so great about Disney is that, aside from one resort, you can use their pools, restaurants, grounds, etc without staying there. So, each of the resorts has a different theme and different fun things to do which means endless options for pools, beaches, and fun kids activities.....and the shuttles/boats are free to get back and forth! We had so much fun and can't wait to go back. We made mental notes of the coolest pools, best campsites, where to eat, all those fun things we'll remember for next time.....hopefully soon!

This man showed Jake and Rudy some magic tricks...but I wouldn't know how that went....spent the whole time in the bathroom....thanks a lot House of Blues restaurant! haha
All I know is that the kids made up their own magic tricks for the rest of the day, so they must have loved it!

This is one of my favorite pictures EVER! I always think I should send it in to Ellen, or something. :-)

We had the kids convinced that this was a real alligator. They were totally fascinated!

Given our current circumstance, the kids should get used to sleeping on buses. haha!!!!

The pool at the Polynesian Resort overlooked the castle at the Magic Kingdom. I'll bet that the view at night-time is awesome!

We made it home just after the 2nd BIG snowstorm, so we still got to "enjoy" another foot of snow for a couple weeks.

All in all, we are so glad we just went for it and took the trip. These trips, even when they may not make a whole lot of sense, create the best memories for our family and hey, it's what having an RV is all about for us! We've learned that when we see an opportunity for a get-away, we have to take advantage of it, because with Jeremy's job we never know how each week or even each day will go. He spends a lot of time on the phone and on the computer whenever we are away from home (and when we're at home too) but always makes sure he spends lots of time with us too.

Happy Birthday Jeremy!

We celebrated Jeremy's 33rd birthday a couple weeks ago and had a blast! We played a few games from Minute to Win It, which were fun. Needless to say, I don't think anyone from the party will be trying out for the show, except maybe Matt. I heard that he was pretty good at the card into the watermelon game. Even the Pittman's were able to make it and by the end of the night, mine and Tammy's faces hurt from laughing so hard. We've had some good times with those Pittman's.....camping, weddings, Alex, skiing....the list goes on and on! Enough about that goofy family...Happy Birthday to Jeremy!!! He works so hard for our family and I couldn't ask for a better husband or father. I love you!!!

It's official. I feel old!

Jake came home from school yesterday with some wonderful news. His girlfriend (since the first week of school - I have a video of him telling me about her and once I find it, I'll post it.) wants to marry him and he wants to marry her. AND!!! While they were waiting for buses to be called in the afternoon, he kissed her......on the lips.....three times! (Those were his words!) This morning he got ready really quickly so he would have enough time to write a note with his phone number to give to her. He also shamoussed (that's what he thinks mousse is called) his hair so he'd look nice for her.

I told him that since he's so grown up now and getting married, he needs to get a job. At dinner he let me know that instead of his previous career goal of working at Chick-fil-a, he wants to be a dentist so he can have his own special tools.

I love keeping track of these stories because the kids LOVE to hear stories about themselves whenever we are in the car. They particularly love stories about when they've gotten hurt. Rudy tends to enjoy making up stories about himself getting hurt when he was a baby. They are quite entertaining and I'm hoping I can get one on video to post on here one day.

Jake's Big Announcement!!!

After school on Tuesday, he learned to ride a bike with no training wheels! What a big man!!!
We are so proud of him. It's wild (and sad at times) to think about how fast he's growing up.
Congratulations, Jake! We love you!!!

Drum Roll Please...............................

Yup, that right! WE GOT AN RV!!!!!!!!!!! We have had it for about 2 weeks now and already taken an AWESOME trip! It is just great having this thing! Considering that I have wanted one since I was a little kid, sometimes it's hard to believe that I actually have one now! What in the world are we going to do with all that time we have now that we don't have to bother all of the local dealerships with showing us different rv's????? I'll tell you what.....we're going to have the best time showing the kids all of the wonderful things around the US in our RV!!!!!!!!
We have been looking at every kind of RV you can think of for the past 2 years and things just fell into place recently and we got something better and nicer than I could have ever imagined, and we got it at a great price! I realize that given the recent recession, financially, it may not be the smartest move ever. But, our kids are only kids once and we are going to take the opportunity that we have been given to enjoy the heck out of this thing. We can't wait to explore areas we never would have under normal circumstances and take road trips to see family that live elsewhere. We've already got a pretty long list of places we'd like to go, and with the chance of me going to school in Colorado this summer, our minds are racing with the possibilities of what we are going to be able to do and see with the new ride. And one of the best parts....we get to take Abby with us!!! She normally gets car sick, but we took her to SC with us last weekend and she did wonderfully! I just can't wait to get on the road with the family and see everything that's out there!!!!

One of my favorite parts is the full sized fridge! I'm sure it'll make a big difference when we're on the road for a week or more. It also has hook-ups for a washer/dryer. I have heard that they're not the most efficient things ever, but I think it might be nice to have (especially with little boys that have accidents now and then).

I owe a big thanks to Jeremy (of course) for supporting my dream of having an rv. He loves it just as much as me and we're thankful for his experience driving big FedEx trucks. It made for an easy transition to driving a 37' RV. Thanks, Babe! Love you!

Lazy 5 Ranch

These are most of the pictures from our trip to the Lazy 5 Ranch with the Reid's. All I can say is.....Disney's Animal Kingdom can SUCK IT!!!!
It just doesn't come close to this place! You have a choice when you get here...drive your own car through the safari or for $5 more, ride in the horse drawn wagon. As you can see, we took the wagon ride. From some reason, Brian and Carrie didn't want to drive the Porsche through animals with sharp beaks and horns. :-) haha

All of the animals just wander peacefully around the property. Most of the seem to stay in groups, but the pigs run around everywhere.

We were actually able to feel these GIANT water buffalo. One of the kept running beside the wagon to try to get more food.

Our little terd, Rudy, threw food all over the poor buffalo's head.
:-(

Rudy, with his bladder of a 70 year old woman, had to pee about 5 minutes into an hour long wagon ride. We had just passed the buffalo and were next to the alpacas. The guy on the wagon said it would be ok if Rudy got out and pee'd behind a tree. He said that none of the animals nearby would bother him. I was a little nervous, but they(the animals) could have cared less!

We weren't allowed to feed the zebras because they're the only animals in the park with top and bottom teeth and they could get somebody's fingers. Carrie did get to pet one, though!

The rule was....if the animal has 4 legs, feed it with your hand...if it has 2 legs, feed it with the bucket. I think these were ostriches (?). You could see a giant lump in their necks as the food worked it's way down their throat. It was so creepy looking!

The giraffes were definitely my favorite part. I couldn't believe that we got to feed and pet giraffes!!! I never could have imagined that I would have a chance to do that! This place was so amazing!

We definitely did not touch or feed these guys!

The giant cow in the background is actually a holstein ox. He is the local celebrity, as he was painted brown and used in the HBO series, John Adams.

There were several kangaroos and with a lot of patience, you could coax them closer to the fence to feed them. The way they moved and hopped around was so neat. They use their thick tails to balance themselves when their back feet are off the ground. So Cool!!!

Jacob made a friend. This was the only goat that would let him reach in and pet him. Jacob decided to name him "Fredericksburg".

We had such a great time at the Lazy 5 Ranch. I would STRONGLY encourage anyone who reads this to head down and experience it. We can't wait to go back and see even more animals when it's warmer! Thanks Carrie and Brian for taking us!!!!! We will never forget the awesome time that we had!