Molding cut..

After breakfast, we came home and began cutting the molding for the guest room. It only took us 8 cuts to figure out an outside cut and an inside cut. So we finished cutting all the trim work in an hour and a half. We were really pleased and happy it was done. We then headed to Lowe's, Micheal's, AC Moore, and to dinner. We had to look for picture frames for the new Disney pictures we got last time we were there. We then headed for an early dinner to Outback. Beth had steak and I had the roasted pork. Then we came home and began moving the dressers out of our room and everything out of the guest room, the guys will be here at 8am to clean the guest room carpet and re-stretch our bedroom carpet. The house is in total shambles again. But at least by Tuesday we can start putting things back in the guest room. Little by little it will get back in order. We are going to take each week and totally clean each room and closet of the house. We hope to get rid of a lot of unused stuff and only keep what we use.

Suprise Birthday Pary for Dawn..

Beth was on a mission today to finish the painting in the guest room. She had to do the wood work and a few touch ups. I on the other hand was content to watch the TV show ' How it's Made'. It was a marathon. You can learn a lot of stuff watching that program. I would have loved some of the segments to be a little longer, but heck they only have 30 minutes for 4 different items. I finally got dressed and went to Lowe's. we needed more of the molding and I wanted to start my robe and towel hanger project for the spa. It was still only 19 degrees today, but at least we did not get any of the snow the Midwest is getting. Beth was able to finish the painting and took everything downstairs before lunch. I found the screws I needed for my project were 1/2 inch too short. We had Dawn's surprise birthday party to go to at 3:30pm, so we just went to Lowe's first. Beth also needed new switch plates for the guest room. Dawn was really surprised and had no clue of her party. There were about 25 people there and we all had a good time. We are hoping to get the molding all cut tomorrow and maybe painted. We are not going to put it on until after the room's rug is cleaned on Monday. Then we can start putting stuff back in it and get the house back in order. Today's picture is of Dawn and her brother Bob, who came in from the Detroit area for the party.

Cold as Heck...

Boy was it a cold day today. I do not think the temperature got above 22 degrees, but it was a sunny day. I had to go to the grocery store and Best buy. I took Beth's car and love having the heated seats. Beth was able to get a second coat of paint on the guest room and finished the ceiling touch ups. I started printing off pictures to begin a scrap booking session next week. I would love to get caught up in the next 6 weeks. I also need to get things transferred over to my external hard drive. My computer is making funny noises every now and then and might be on the down hill side. It is 10 years old and I have never had any problems with it. Only time will tell. We had dinner with DJ, Maggie, and the boys. It was Mexican night. Today's picture is of the pink flamingos at Animal Kingdom. I know these had to be cold out since the temperature is only 28 degrees. So why are they standing in the cold water?

Snow today...

We woke up this morning to snow on the ground. We were not expecting this. We had to pick up Jojo at 1pm, so Beth held off on painting. We picked up Jojo and talked a little bit about the June cruise. We are trying to determine if we are going to drive to New York or hire someone to take us. We are looking at the options. After picking up Jojo we came back home and had lunch. Kim came by around 2:30pm to pick her up. We then headed to the mall. We had a coupon for 20%off at Hallmark and needed to get lots of cards for the upcoming birthdays, valentine day, and anniversaries. we then took and traded in a few games at Game stop. The snow had all melted by early afternoon, but really cold weather was on it's way in tonight. It is going to be in the teens tonight with winds gusts up to 40 mph. the high for the next 2 days is only going to be in the mid 20's, so it will be good days to stay at home. Today's picture is of the drum playing demonstration in the Japan exhibit at EPCOT. I love hearing them play and will get the CD next time we are there.

Not much going on today...

I did not sleep well last night as I am trying to ween off using the sleeping pills every night. So needless to say I finally feel asleep around 4am and woke up around 9am. Beth showered and we had breakfast. She then left to go pick up her mom's mail. I took a shower and cleaned the bathroom. We had lunch and I packed some more of the Christmas stuff up. Beth took a break from painting to give her legs, arms, and neck a break. The room looks go, but could use another coat of paint. We had string beans and ham for dinner tonight with the rest of the cornbread. Boy was it good. At least the sun was shinning today but was still cold. Not much going on today. Today's picture is of Goofy in the Magic Kingdom parade.

Day 2 of painting...

Buster had a vet appointment at 10:45am this morning. The vet said he was in good shape, except he was a little over weight. So no more table scrapes. We can give him fruit and vegetables, but no sauces or scraps. The lumps on his back are just fatty and are nothing to worry about. We dropped Buster off at home and then went to get the wall paint for the guest room. They have a paint that is the primer and wall paint all in one which saves time. Beth began the cut in work on the walls after lunch. I worked on my scrapbook area. By 6pm, Beth had the first coat of paint on all the walls. It looks really nice, but we think it needs a second coat. We will look at it again in the daylight to make sure. I will get the molding tomorrow and we can begin cutting it as soon as we can get Charlie's miter saw. We called to have the carpet people come out and clean the carpet and re-stretch our bedroom carpet on Monday. We are hoping to have the room all back in order in a couple of weeks. We are putting more shelving in the closest to make more storage room. Today's picture was taken at Disney on the safari ride. Water usually misted toward the ride, but because the weather was so cold the water froze to the trees. Kinda weird to see ice on a safari in Florida.

Painting had begun...

What a rain and wind storm we had all night long. It blew the trash cans way down in the yard and knocked over the redwood bench. The rain continued through the day at times it was so hard you could not see across the street. Beth began painting the guest room today. I on the other hand worked downstairs in cleaning the furnace room and tool room. I also did the laundry. After lunch, Beth had me look at the ceiling. She thought we had another leak, but it looked to me like the spider cracking was a place the guy did not fix when they did they room. So she continued painting. She was able to get the ceiling done with a coat of Kill primer and a coat of ceiling paint, also the closet got painted. Then it got too dark to be able to see, so she quit for the day. The rain finally stopped around 4pm and the temperature was in the 60's today. Tomorrow it will be back in the 40's. Tomorrow I am working on putting away the Christmas decoration in the rest of the house. Should not take long, but needs to be done. We did make our reservation for out October visit to Disney. We even found cheap flights. Food and Wine festival here we come. Today's picture is of Donald and Goofy. You can have your pictures taken with then and they sign autographs. It is great.

Shade hanging with Rylee..

We had breakfast then headed down to KOP to buy our new camera. Of course when we got there they only had the display model. But we knew it was not used that much, so we went ahead and purchased it. We both love the red color. We then headed over to Dawn and Jo's house to help them hang the shade and valance in Rylee's room. Her room is so cute. It is done in reds and yellows. We then began watching the Jet and Colts game. It was a good game and we were glad to see the Colts win. We then headed home and made kickoff for the Vikings and Saints. It was a close game and the Saints pulled out the win. We did finally finished going though the Disney Photo pass pictures and ordered the CD. We have finally made all the arrangements for the March Disney trip and are so excited. We have decided to go back in October for the Food and Wine festival. We are going to try and stay at the Bay Towers this time and see what they are like. We are hoping for a Magic Kingdom view. Today's picture is of Mickey and Minnie mouse in the parade at Magic Kingdom.

Camera shopping..

We decided to go look at cameras today. We wanted to look at the Cannon D10 before we purchased it. The reviews we read were pretty good and the only con we could find was the size. We saw online that Wal-mart and Sears carried them. So off we went to Super Wal-mart. Well guess what, they do not carry them in the stores. You can on order them on-line. So we went to Sears in KOP. And again they do not carry them in the store. That really sucked. So we stopped at Ritz camera. The guy we talked to showed us a couple different cameras and told us it was true that the Cannon were not made for the pocket. We we looked a the new Casio G1. It is really cool and we now think we want to go in that direction. We want the red body color one. So Beth called around today and found on, of all places, in KOP. So will try to get back there on Monday. We are headed over to Dawn and Jo's house tomorrow to help them put up the blinds in Rylee's room and then watch a little football. Should be good games.

Disney Plans..

We did not do a whole lot today. Kim came over around 12:15 and we talked about the dining arrangements we had made for Disney and talked about flights and the parks. Beth went to pick up Jojo around 1pm while Kim and I talked more about Disney. We headed to Best Buy around 4pm. We are looking to get a small camera that is waterproof. We have looked a couple of them, but wanted to talk to someone who never something about them. The Fuji was not bad, but the speed between pictures is really slow and would drive me crazy. I want all the bells and whistles of the SLR but in a 1/3 of the size. There is an Olympus that we are now looking at, but cost more than we wanted to spend. So we might sell my SLR and get it since we will still have Beth's SLR. We want to make sure we get one and have a chance to play with it before we go back to Disney in March. Today's picture is of the hippos we saw on the safari at Animal Kingdom. I am sure the water was cold as the outside temperature was 28 degrees that morning.

Happy Birthday DJ..

I had a 9am dentist appointment this morning. I never look forward to going, but know I have to. Things were not too bad today. I had to get a new set of x-rays taken and then it was off to the cleaning. She said things were looking a whole lot better except for one pocket on the left side. She could not see any reason for it not healing and the gum to grow back. So she is going to watch it and I now only have to go back ever 4 months. Yea. I then had to go to the pack and ship and mail mom's package. Then it was off to CVS, Target, and Wal-mart. It was a very busy morning. DJ called while I was gone to see if I was having any problems with my eyes and to let us know that Kyle had pink eye. My eyes seem to be fine but I guess it takes a while to show up. But I don't really remember a lot of contact with him, but guess we will see. Today is her birthday, so Happy Birthday DJ. We went over to Dawn and Jo's house around 4pm. They had to take Sydney, the dog, to the vet so they could learn how to give her shots. They found out she has diabetes. So they have to give her 2 shots a day. Rylee is getting so big and is now drinking 6oz. at at time. Her new born clothes no longer fit, she is 7 weeks old. Another cold day here and not expected to get any better. We miss the warm weather of Florida. Even if it was 30 degrees you were still all warm inside being in the mouse's house. Today's picture is of Beth with Nemo and his friends.

Great day of nothing...

We both slept until 8am then were on the computer until 11am. We took showers and played on the computer all afternoon. I had to pick up Kyle at 5pm and dropped him off at the dentist. I fixed crusted chicken romano for dinner and it was really good. Beth took the ornaments off the tree and put the Christmas tree back in the storage room. It felt good to do nothing today. Today's picture is of Dawn and Beth with Mary Poppins.

Christmas in the Attic...

It was nice to sleep in late this morning. Beth had a hard time going to sleep and was awake most of the night. I on the over hand slept like a baby. After showers and breakfast, Beth left to go pick up her mom's mail and I began pack up the Christmas stuff. The balls we had on the holly tree were full of water, so I had to empty them first and then pack them in tubs. I then started rolling up the lights and packing them in their holders. I then started putting the tubs in the attic. I was almost finished when I stepped on the bottom step and it gave away. I hit my knee on the step. Boy did that hurt. We really have to replace those pull down attic steps. After putting 5 nails in the step to make sure it would never come apart, I finished the small tubs. I then carried the tubs from downstairs to the garage. Beth would need to help with these as they weight a little more. I then began cleaning the tool room. With the Christmas stuff out, it looks nice. Beth came home and we had lunch, hot dogs with chili and Cole slaw. Yum Yum. We then finished putting the tubs in the attic. All we have left to do is take down the tree and box up the gnomes. I changed the sheets on the bed to the new ones. They are sure nice and soft. Beth did mange to book several lunches and dinners for the Disney trip, so I updated the spreadsheet with the conformation numbers. After dinner we played a little Wii Sport Resort. It was a lot of fun. Today's picture is of Dawn and her birthday ear's hat. We were so proud she wore it all day on her birthday.

Busy Day...

We had to get up at 7:30am this morning as we had well needed adjustments with Dr. Bill. We then stopped at the new Wegman's grocery store. I found some canned German potato salad that is pretty good and they are the only place that carries it. We also picked up breakfast as we were heading next to BJ's Club store. After that we headed home to unload the car. We then headed over to Dawn and Jo's house to visit and see Rylee. Boy has she changed in 2 weeks and is still as cute as ever. She is our littlest princess. We were asked to become her god mothers and are so pleased. We headed home around 2pm. Beth took the grill tank to be filled as she wanted steaks tonight. After dinner we headed to Bed Bath and Beyond. We need a new set of sheets for our bed as the elastic is gone and the sheets keep popping off. We did not really find any there and I remembered that Sears was having a white sale so we stopped by to check them out. We found a set that was a good price, so I am done looking for sheets. Yea. We stopped by Best Buy to look at a smaller waterproof camera. We don't like taking the big one to the beaches with us and think we need a smaller one for the Disney trips. We looked at a Fuji and and Olympus, but need to do more research on them to see which is better. We are hoping to get the Christmas stuff put away tomorrow and get the house back in order. I think Beth will begin painting the guest room next week and I am not allowed to help, so I will be working on scrape booking pictures. We also need to work on scheduling the dinning reservation for our next trip to Disney with JoJo and her parents in March. That is Dawn and Jo with us in today's picture.

Playoff Weekend..

Boy was it nice to sleep late in our own bed. We got up, took showers, and headed to the diner for breakfast. They did not have Mickey waffles, what a bummer. After breakfast, we headed back home. I went to the grocery store and Beth went to church. It was beginning to rain and continued all day long. We watched the two playoff games today and boy were they great. I was able to get all the laundry done while watching the game. I fixed pork chops and sauerkraut for dinner. We are still going through all the Disney pictures so there is not photo again tonight.

Travel Home..

Today was our last day at Disney. We left for the airport around 11:30am, our flight was at 2:45pm and we were in Philly at 5pm. The flight was full and there were kids all over. I think every baby on the flight was crying most of the way home and Beth might have also been one of the crying ones also. We are glad to be home, but look froward to going back. Beth has already started the count down and it will be a long 8 weeks. Buster had a good time playing with Gabby all week, but is also glad we are home. So as we start back into our routine next week, we will remember the good time we had with friends and look forward to our next trip to the mouse's house.

Disney - Day 8

Today was our last full day at Disney. Today's weather was great and we both wore shorts. We had breakfast at 8:25 at Ohana with Lilo and Stitch. We then headed over to EPCOT to see if we could ride SOARIN a couple more times. We left the park around noon and headed back to the room. We had lunch at the restaurant in the hotel. I had the pulled pork sandwich and Beth had a burger. They ere both really great. We then went to the room and hung out the rest of the day. I started packing what I could. I was worried that we were going to be over on weight. Beth is sad that today is her last day at Disney for this trip. She went down to the get the rest of our snacks in rise crispy treats, 12 of them. She will make Disney last a few days longer at home with them. We had salads and pizza for dinner. We want to have our luggage downstairs by 8am tomorrow to make sure there is not a line. We have breakfast reservations at 8:45am and want all the suitcases packed and checked by then. We can pack the purple box that stays here after breakfast. The Magical Express will leave for the airport at 11:30am. Our flight is at 2:45pm and we should be in Philly by 5:30pm if things go well. We have had a great time and will be back in 6 weeks with Kim, Lynne, and Jojo. So that should keep Beth going until then. today's picture is of Jo's Dad, Joe, with flirting with Minnie mouse.

Disney - Day 7

We were up and at the bus stop by 8am this morning. We meet the gang and headed off to Hollywood Studios. We were there at rope drop and headed very quickly to Toy Story Mania. So was the rest of the crowd. We were able to get on with only a 15 minute wait. It is a ride where you play carnival like games against each other for the best score. After we got off, we went and stood in line to get a fast pass. The return time for the fast pass was 12:20pm. We had 3 hours to kill before the next ride. We headed out and did a couple more rides and then decided to get some lunch. We had several counter service meals to use before Saturday. To our surprise we were the first customer of the morning at the ABC Commissary and had a Magic Moment. That meant we had our lunch served to us on real plates, a table cloth, and real silverware. And it was free. Well that is bad for us cause we are trying to use up our counter services, but it was really cool. We have never had the happen before. We then headed back to the Toy Story ride. I beat Beth's butt both times. I know she hates to lose but today she took it rather well! We then just kinda strolled around the shops for the next couple of hours. We found a bench close to the parade route and watched it go by. We had dinner at 4pm. There were 10 of us for dinner, so it took awhile getting the orders and eating. We were to see Fantasmic at 6:30pm. But when dinner took 2 hours, the show was sold out. There was another show at 8pm, but we did not want to wait that long. So we walked Jo's dad to the bus stop and made sure he got on the right bus back to the hotel and we headed to Magic Kingdom. We saw the parade and the fireworks there. It was a long day, so we headed back to the room at 9pm. The weather was finally warm and sunny today. No jackets needed and Beth even had on shorts all day. We only have on more full day left. We are having breakfast with Stitch tomorrow and not sure what we will do the rest of the day. It will be an great day no matter what cause we are at Disney. Dawn and Jo got home safe and picked up Rylee, so things are good. Today's picture is of the table setting we had at our free meal today. It was great.

Disney - Day 6

Finally a day to sleep in late. The alarm went off at 8am, but we both just laid there for about 15 minutes. It felt good to just take our time this morning. We all headed downstairs for breakfast a little after 9am. I had a bacon, egg, and cheese croissant and hash browns, everyone else had the big breakfast. We saw Jo's mom, dad, and aunt in the dinning room. We talked with them for a few minutes as we ate breakfast. Today was Dawn and Jo's last day at Disney. They had to catch the van at 12:30pm to take them to the Amtrak station. We had a great time with them and miss them already. Jo's family headed to Magic Kingdom and we headed back to the room and waited for the van. We called for a bell hop to take the bags down to the front desk. It was a lot easier then us caring them. After they left for the station, I finished the first load of laundry and put the second load in the dryer. We then caught the bus and headed to downtown Disney. We went to Disney Quest on the west side and played games there for about 3 hours. Beth was not able to do the virtual reality games as they made her sick. So we headed over to the east side/ downtown and did a little more shopping. As the sun went down the got a little cooler. Today was a great day and a jacket was not required during the day. Tomorrow might even be a shorts kinda of day. We are meeting Jo's family at the bus at 8am and hoping to be at Hollywood studios at rope drop. We are hoping to do the Toy Story ride that we have never been able to get on due to long lines. We picked up salads for dinner tonight and they were very good. They were called Wilderness Apple and had lettuce, chicken, apples, cheese, walnuts, candied pecans, and a vinaigrette dressing. They hit the spot. We are going to bed early tonight as the week is starting to catch up with us and a big day ahead of us tomorrow. Today's picture is of EPCOT at night. It is a really cool looking golf ball. LOL..

Disney - Day 5

We were up at 6am this morning as we had breakfast plan at Chef Mickey and 7:45am. We got to meet Mickey, Minnie, Donald Duck, and Pluto. The food was great and we love the characters. We then took the monorail to Magic Kingdom to ride space mountain. The lines were really short and we were able to get right one. We then took the monorail over to EPCOT. We were able to get a fast pass for the ride SORIN'. The wait time was 55 minutes, so with the fast pass we were able to do 3 other rides and have lunch. What a great concept. We had dinner plans at 6pm at the Biergarten. They have Germany food and it was all really good. The day started out not as cold as it had been the last 3 days. It actually was in the low 50's, but with the sun out it felt really good. My knee has really been hurting the last couple of days, but on the bight side my foot is not so bad. With all the walking we are doing, I think I have held up pretty good. we are hoping to spend most of tomorrow resting in the room. We really need a day of rest. We are mapping out the things we want to do with Jojo when we come back in March. Today's pictures are of Dawn and Jo with Mickey at breakfast this morning.

Disney - Day 4

We were up at 6am this morning. We headed to Animal Kingdom. It was another cold morning. I think they said this was the 9th straight day of cold weather and a lot of the plants were frozen. Not good for the produce market. We wanted to do the safari tour first. We were not sure how many of the animals would be out and about due to the cold weather. There was no waiting line and we got right on. It was surprising how many animals were out, but you could see they were looking for a warm sunny place to relax. We then headed to see It's Tough to be a Bug. It was a 3-D movie about bugs and was really cute. Next we went to Dino world and did a little roller coaster ride. By this time, Jo's mom, dad, sister-in-law, and nieces had landed and were at the hotel checking in. We headed back to welcome them and to give the girls their Mickey ears hats. They were so excited and had been up since 3am. We had a quick lunch and they headed to Magic Kingdom. Beth and I headed back to the room for a quick nap and did a load of laundry. Dawn and Jo returned back to the room around 4:30pm. We were all meeting in the lobby at 6:15pm and taking the boat over to see the Hooped Dee Do Review. It is a western comedy show and dinner. We had fried chicken, ribs, mashed potatoes, baked beans and strawberry shortcake for dessert. The food was good and the show was funny. We have another early morning as we are have breakfast with Chef Mickey at 7:45am.

Disney - Day 3

Another cold day in Disney. We were up at 7am this morning. I was not feeling well and my knee was a little sore, so I stayed behind in the room while the others went to breakfast. After a shower, 3 Aleve, and some tape on my feet, I was feeling better. I left the room to go see if I could find the others. I found them in the lobby just finishing breakfast. We then headed to the boat for our morning ride over to the Magic Kingdom. We all entered our cards and proceeded through the check-in. Dawn's card did not work, so she was not allowed in. They had to go over to the customer service. The gave her a new card and she was then allowed in. We were able to again get on a lot of rides will little to no wait. We had lunch at the Liberty Tree Tavern. It is a family style type of restaurant. We had roasted pork, turkey, flank steak, mac and cheese, mashed potatoes, green beans, salad, and apple crisp with ice cream for dessert. It was all very good and we were full. We then headed down main street for some shopping. We headed back home to catch the bus for dinner. We had reservations for the House of Blues at 6pm. The bus driver we had was a newbie and it took us almost an hour to get to Downtown, which usually only takes 30 minutes at the most. Good thing they were not busy, so we were able to keep our dinner plans. I had ribs and Beth had steak. It was really good. We then headed back to the room for a well deserved rest. We are heading out early tomorrow for Aminal Kingdom. Today's picture is of Dawn and Beth on Big Thunder Railroad.

Disney - Day 2

We set the alarm last night for 6am this morning. We had good intentions to get up early and go the Hollywood Studios. But when the alarm went off, we both said we were to tired and went back to sleep. We got up at 7:45am, took showers, and headed to breakfast. We ate in the hotel and had the Bounty Breakfast. It consisted of eggs, hash browns, bacon, pancakes, and a biscuit. We then headed to the Magic Kingdom. We were able to get on a lot of rides with no wait time. Of course the rain and 26 degree weather had something to do with it. We headed back to the hotel around 1pm to wait for Dawn and Jo. We met Bill and Eenie. They were waiting in line for the boat to the Magic Kingdom. We were able to get lunch as they had already eaten on the train. I had a bacon cheese burger and Beth had a chicken sandwich. Dawn and Jo got to the hotel around 2:45PM. Jo took a quick shower and we meet Bill and Eenie in the lobby. We then caught the bus to Downtown Disney. We did some shopping and had dinner at Earl of Sandwich. We then did some more shopping and headed back to the hotel. We are now watching the Eagles get their butt beat by Dallas. Let's hope they at least make a good showing in the second half. We are hoping for warmer weather tomorrow as these 30 degree days are kinda cold. We didn't take our camera today because of the rain, so again no picture.

Disney Day 1

We were up at 3am this morning. I looked outside and only saw about a 1/4 inch. We knew the heavy stuff was coming down between 3am and 9am. We took showers, packed the car, and were on the road by 4:18am. The snow was coming down pretty hard, but the streets were only wet. It took us about an hour to get to the airport. Beth was glad the drive was not longer. It was not that the roads were slick, it was that it was hard to keep the windshield clean. We checked in our bags and headed to our gate - B13. We were at the gate for about 75 minutes until 7am and then they announced that the gate for our flight had changed to A20. And of course this was way across on the far end of the building. So off went went. We knew we could make it in plenty of time. They finally called our flight around 7:30am. We were able to have the whole row to ourselves. It was great. We pulled away from the gate right on time - 7:55am. Then the captain come on to tell us that we need to deice and that we are 8th in line and it will take about an hour before we are done. Great just Great. But what can you do. So we took a nap. We finally left about 50 minutes late. The snow had stopped in PA and there was not much on the ground. The captain came on to tell us we were about to land in Orlando. At this time I lost Beth and Bethie Poo came out, for you who don't know who that is, it is Beth at about age 10. She was no longer an adult. We got to the magical express area and found the line long. Fortunately we were able to bypass the line and head to the bus as we already had out tickets. We took the 30 minute ride to the hotel. Beth was so happy to be home. Our room was not ready, so we checked our carry on bags and headed to downtown Disney. It was 56 degrees and rainy. We walked around a little bit and then headed to the stop for the Animal Kingdom Lodge. We had dinner reservation at 4:35pm at the Boma. It is a taste of African food. We had cold pizza on the plane at 9am and had a cookie for lunch so we were pretty hungry. I stepped outside the box and tried several things. I had braised pork shoulder, some type of rice with white raisins, mac and cheese, 3 different types of hummus, a coleslaw salad, and a chicken porridge soup. It was all very tasty. Beth stayed safely inside the box. She had prime rib, mac and cheese, and salad, the desserts were to die for. We decided to take the first bus that came along and then figure out how to get back home. It was the Epcot bus. We knew we could take the monorail to magic kingdom and then the boat home. So we hopped on the monorail, then had to change at the transportation center. We saw the we could take the Ferry boat over to magic kingdom, so off we went. We hopped off the ferryboat and then boarded the little boat to our home. We figured in one day, we were on 6 different types of transportation - car, plane, bus, monorail, ferryboat, and little boat. Not bad for our first day. We are both very tired as we have been up and on the go since 3am. No picture tonight as we did not take any today since the camera was in storage all day.

Ready for Disney...

Beth had a doctor's appointment at 8:45 am this morning, so her was up early. I had to be up by 7:45am so I could be logged on to the airline website at 7:55am. We wanted to see about upgrading our seats to the exit row for more leg room. We were not able to do that but did change our seats so we have an empty seat between us. We hope it holds out, so we will have more room. We had to go to Reading to the outlet mall as Beth needed new jeans and I wanted another pair of shoes. Her's were looking a little worn on the knees. we had lunch at Olive garden. We both love the soup, salad, and bread sticks combo. We then headed home. I was able to do almost everything on the list. There are a few things but they can't be done until tomorrow. We took Buster over to DJ and Maggie's house around 6:30pm. Gabby and Payton were so glad to see him. Payton wanted to take Buster back home last Sunday when they were over. He is so cute. We are expected to get snow tonight. We toyed with the idea of going down early and getting a hotel. I checked around and could really not find anything for a reasonable price. After listening to the news, we are only expected to get about an inch before it all ends with the heaviest part coming down around 6am to 9am. We figure we will be at the airport around 5:30am or 6am so we should be fine. We are taking the jeep as it handles better in the snow and takes dings from the parking lot better than the Jetta (and is 10 yrs old). So we are all packed and ready to head to Disney. We are so excited and can't wait.

Almost ready...

We woke up to a dusting of snow on the ground this morning. We had to see Dr. Bill at 9am so had to get up early. We went in separate cars so Beth could go to her parents house right afterwards to get the mail. The bug man was here at 11:15am. He said it looked like we had mice eating the poison, which is no surprise since we live next to the fields and woods. I can say we have never seen a mouse in the house anywhere. I had to go return the Penn State hoodie I got yesterday at JC Penny's. They forgot to remove the security tag and I could not remove it as it was filled with ink. So off I went and of course I set off the alarms as I entered. But was able to go right to the head of the line to have the tag removed. Beth wanted me to get her a couple of polo shirts she was looking at yesterday. I stopped by the shoe store to look at new sneakers, but did not find any. We had pizza for dinner and will eat the rest of it for breakfast Friday morning at the airport. We both love cold pizza. We were able to knock a lot of stuff off the list today and will get the rest done tomorrow. We are both looking for forward to Disney and miss it a lot at Christmas. Today's picture will be us again in less than 36 hours.

Shopping with Rylee..

We were up at 7:30am again this morning. We are trying to stay on that schedule this week, so waking up at Disney will not be that hard. We had breakfast and headed to CVS and the bank. We were meeting Dawn and Rylee at KOP mall at 11:3o am for a little shopping. Dawn needed to buy a new camera and we went along for the shopping. Our first stop was to Children's Place. They had the cutest cloths for Rylee. Then it was on to the camera shop. Dawn and Beth looked at cameras while Rylee and I waited. Dawn finally settled on a Sony camera. We then headed to the food court court for lunch. Rylee was still sleeping, so Dawn figured she had about another 30 minutes before Rylee was hungry, so we headed to Sears. Jo needed a new pair of house shoes. Beth took Rylee and Dawn and I looked at shoes. Dawn went to get in line and I was still looking at the shoes. We both heard Rylee cry and knew it was feeding time. Beth and I got the bottled ready and Dawn finished paying for the shoes as she had been in line for 15 minutes and was still 3rd in line. Beth and I took Rylee out into the mall and were feeding her when Dawn came out. She downed 2 oz. and was back asleep. We headed to J. C. Penney's for some final purchase and then said our good-byes to the princess and Dawn and headed home. Beth was able to get in for a haircut as she was looking a little shaggy. Another cold and windy day and Beth tells me we have 63 hours to Disney. These pictures of the deers were taken from our balcony at The Villas of Wilderness Lodge in Dec 2008. We love this resort because it doesn't feel like you are in a major vacation spot. It felt similiar to the lodges in Alaska that we stayed in.

Count down started.

We were up early this morning. I wanted to get a jump on my to do list. I was able to check off 4 things on the list by noon today. Not bad. Beth even started packing, which is way ahead of schedule for her. We had lunch and went to target. they had Bosu balls on sale. They are the same kind I use at the gym. We then headed over to BJ's. I got a new pair of tennis shoes and boy are they light and feel good on my feet, thanks to Beth who bought them last week for herself. We headed back home. We had dinner with DJ, Maggie, and the boys at a Mexican restaurant. It was really good and look forward to going back. Beth has started her count down to Disney. I think she now has is down to the exact hours. To me it is a reminder of how much I still have to do before we leave. Today's picture is of Jojo and our friend Jeff playing horsey.

Eagles Lose...

It was another cold and windy day. We are so looking forward to going to Disney on Friday. The weather has got to be better than here which had been in the low 20's the last couple of days. Dawn and Jo brought over Rylee around 11:30am. They decided not to go see the boys today as all of them have been sick the last few days. They needed to run to Lowe's for somethings and wanted to know if we would watch Rylee. Hummm let me see. Yes. So off they went. DJ and the gang arrived around 12:15pm with Buster in tow. He had a good time spending the night with Gabby and looks forward to staying next week with her. I attempted to make Dawn's famous mac and cheese today and I think I did really well. There was only a little left, so it must have been good. The Eagles did not play until 4pm, so we watched the early game of the Steelers and the Dolphins. It was a good close game. Then the Eagles game was one. I have to say they did not look good at all today. They could not score a single point and they play the Cowboys again next week. I hope they can get their act together by then. Everyone headed out after the game and we were able to get the last of the trash out to the curb by the start of the 8:30pm game. I have started on the packing and to do list for next week and it is pretty long. I am hoping to be up early tomorrow to get a start on it. Today's picture is of Jojo getting to hold Rylee. Kim said she has talked about holding her all week.

Yard is Bare...

Boy is it cold and the wind is really blowing today. After breakfast, I began removing all the Christmas stuff from the yard. It was really not that cold out, but the wind was blowing. I got everything in the garage except the ornaments off the tree and the house lights. The yard really looks bare now. We had to take Buster over to DJ and Maggie's house for a test visit. They are going to watch him while we are at Disney and he had never been over there before. He was a little nervous until he smelt Gabby and then began wagging his tail. Buster has never really been around a cat and their cat was not happy to see Buster. I am afraid Buster will learn the hard way with a tap on the nose by the cat's claws to leave it alone. Payton had to show me his new fish and since it was nap time, I put him down. He was not happy about it but did not fight much as he was very tired. We left there and headed for the grocery store a few last minute things then back home. By now it was really cold and the wind was blowing 30mph. We did manage to get all the stuff in the attic, so Beth could park her car back in the garage after church. Maggie called and said Payton was asking for me when he got up from his nap. Maggie went up to get him and he said he did not call her but called for me. She tried to explain to him that we left, but he wanted to call to tell me he was up from his nap. How cute is that? I started on all the list of all the things we need to get done before we leave Friday for Disney. Boy is it a long list, but somehow it will all get done. Mom, sorry you are not felling well, but I am glad Ken is doing better. Disney does magical things with flowers as our pictures of Pooh and his friends show.

Happy New Year...

Well it is 2010 and looking forward to a better year. We went to Micheal's this morning. I had a coupon for 20% off and could not find a damn thing that was not already on sale to buy. We picked up a few Christmas things that were 70% off. We then headed over to DJ and Maggie's house for a quick visit. We then went to Wal-mart and finally to the grocery store. I then settled in to watch 3 of the bowl games. I love watching the bowl games but know that the end of the college football season is near. We are cleaning up the downstairs and getting ready for the party on Sunday. We are all hoping for an Eagles win and the first round bye.

Today's picture was taken Dec 2008 in the Magic Kingdom during our last Walt Disney World vacation. We both really missed Disney this holiday season.