Disney World

I guess it's finally time to post about our trip. I've been neglecting it for two reasons: 1. I know I'll never do our vacation justice in a blog post and 2. I'm afraid I'll get weepy remembering all we did there. However, I know it must be done so here it goes. Without sounding too corny, the trip was the most magical vacation I've ever taken. Now I've been to Disney three other times (as a child with my entire Scherer family, with my best friend in high school for her 16 birthday, and with Al as the second part of our honeymoon). It has always been the most special place for me, but seeing it now through my kids' eyes, was a totally different and fulfilling experience. Some of my favorites: watching Reese meet the Disney princesses (I love the princesses myself), seeing Al and Drew ride the roller coasters together (it's so neat to have a child old enough to do those things with us), watching Trey enjoy the Nemo exhibit at Epcot, every daytime parade at each park, the fireworks at Magic Kingdom at night (when Tinkerbell floated down from the castle I cried), Splash Mountain at Magic Kingdom, and Soarin' at Epcot. Epcot was probably my favorite park this time around, could be because I'm older, could also be that we did that park from 3 'til midnight and it was SO MUCH COOLER! We visited all four parks with a break day in the middle. Al and Drew actually went to a park alone that day and rode roller coasters, while Trey, Reese and I stayed back at the hotel and swam. We also visited Downtown Disney where we each got a personalized Christmas ornament. We ate at the most amazing restaurants where there was more food than we could ever possibly eat (the new Disney Dining Plan is phenomenal). We loved the Wilderness Canyon Cafe where the kids rode stick horses around the restaurant in a race and they served bottomless bbq skillets with milkshakes, and especially Chef Mickey's breakfast where we were visited by Mickey and each of his friends while we ate. Our hotel was the All Star Movies Resort which was very kid friendly with large Disney movie characters placed throughout. The Disney staff was super when Trey tripped our first night there and bled from the nose and mouth. They had paramedics there in less than 5 minutes and gave T a Mickey straw for being so brave. We were completely off schedule, sleeping until 9, eating meals late in the day and staying at parks or swimming until midnight, but it was awesome! I cried the night before we left sitting in our hotel room, and asked Al very seriously when we could start planning to come back. I told him I want to be the family that comes every year - it's that kind of place for me. I know it was that kind of place for my kids, and if you ask Al, I think he would agree. Our family loved Disney, and we can't wait to go back!

Cardinal Game

For those who know me well, baseball is probably my least favorite sport. Contrary to what my husband says, I find it slow and HOT! It's enough for me that Drew plays every Wed. and Thur. night of the summer, and I know Reese will play two nights a week next summer as well. That's more of the summer sport than I can handle, but because it's my own children I will attend every game with a smile (and squirting fan). The St. Louis Cardinals, however, are a different story. They are lucky to get me to one game a year, and I usually shoot for way early or way late in the season to avoid heat stroke. My annual visit occurred on May 22 this year, when our school had Valle Night at the stadium. It was an evening game in May, so I knew we'd be safe from the heat. Another perk was that Drew sold enough tickets for the school to go on the field for batting practice. We got there early, and dropped him off with a Cards representative who took him and 3 other Valle students down on the field. We were let in the stadium about 20 minutes later and went down to take pictures. Here's one of him on the field.

Reese's Recitals

Since my last post over two months ago:( Reese has had two recitals, dance and gymnastics. Her gymnastics was in late April and she's continuing classes throughout the summer. Her dance recital postponed our Disney trip by one day. It was Sat., June 6, and we left for vacation immediately after her dance. Luckily, her group was second to perform. We weren't allowed to take any photos during the performance, but I got one of her with her best friend Ashlyn. She has chosen to not dance this summer, but hopefully we can convince her to pick it back up in the fall. We're so proud of how well she's done in both this year.