Disney Family Vacation

This year we decided to take a family vacation to Disney. We went there with Dale's sister Debbie and her family and were able to spend a week in the land of magic...and it was truly magical! We left on July 5th to begin our adventures and had a week full of fun planned for the kids. We were able to dine with characters each day we were there which was a pretty cool treat. We hit Donald's safari breakfast, Cinderella's Royal Table, Princess Storybook dining at Akershaus, Chef Mickey's, and The Crystal Palace. Olivia LOVED spotting and pointing at the characters and princesses, however, once they got close or it was time to get her picture taken...she got shy! Then they would leave and she would talk all about them. By far, her favorite characters were Goofy and Pluto, and her favorite princess was Ariel!
Her favorite rides were Buzz Lightyear at Magic Kingdom, Toy Story Mania at Hollywood Studios, but the best for her....Cinderella's Carousel (we did this ride at least 20 times and each time she just had to have a purple horse) and each time it was over we heard...AGAIN, AGAIN! She also liked the Tea Cups, but again, she needed a purple tea cup and if one wasn't available, she would get mad.
She really got excited about the parades, especially the SpectroMagic parade at Magic Kingdom, we saw it three times and each time was just as magical for her as the first.
She also really enjoyed swimming, especially once we got her a lifevest to wear in the "big" pool. She was very independent and wanted to do the swimming all by herself. She even went down a waterslide that was at the pool all on her own!
I could ramble on more and more about our trip since we had such a great time, but I won't bore all of you with all of the details.
Sorry there are soooo many pictures, but I promise that that is only a fraction of the 550+ pictures that we took.

Memorial Day Parade

Each year, Avon Lake has a Memorial Day Parade on the street behind our house. It has been a tradition going over to our friends house, drinking coffee, eating doughnuts and watching the parade. This is the first year that Olivia did not cry when the band played. She really enjoyed the candy that was thrown at her...she opened and ate SEVERAL pieces. After the parade, there is an honoring event at Veteran's Park just down the street on the lake. This year there was a fly over by military planes...which was really neat to see. It was such a nice day that Buddy got to go into the water which made him very happy.

Memorial Day Party

This year we decided with our good friends Sandra and Craig to begin a tradition of getting together every Memorial Day weekend. This year we had it at our house. We had a great day and decided to have a cookout. Lots and lots of food and fun was had by all. Dale tried to start a bonfire...but the wood we had was not dry enough and the only thing we got was a lot of smoke. We can't wait for next years gathering.

50th Anniversary Party

On May 24, 2008, Dale's parents celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary. We had a celebration with them first at church for mass, where Father Dave did a blessing for their marriage which was absolutely beautiful, followed by a reception and dance. Dale's brothers band played music, with his nephew rockin it on the drums. Dale's dad got up to sing a few times and several of Dale's cousins joined the band playing many different instruments. It was a beautiful day, a great celebration, and it was wonderful seeing family. Congrats Frank & Dorothy on 50 wonderful years of marriage!

Spring Updates

It has been a while since I have posted, so I apologize. We have stayed very busy this spring, with Olivia continuing to have gym classes on Saturday mornings (which she loves), visiting the farm for Anna Marie's First Communion, planning Dale's parents 50th wedding anniversary party with his siblings, and oh yeah...GRADUATING from Cleveland State with my Masters of Education degree!!!
Olivia continues to grow very fast...picking up on all kinds of silly things. She really keeps us on our toes. She loves to be outside in the fresh air, but most of all she loves to go on bike rides with her mama! She makes sure she tells me to go ZOOM-ZOOM, I can never go fast enough for her.
I hope all is well with friends and family, but most important to all of the mothers today "HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!"

What Was I Thinking!!!

Well here is the big news!!! I decided after many months of consideration to donate my hair to Locks of Love! I had today off from work, so I decided to do it! I had so much hair that I was able to donate 2- 14 inch ponytails for wigs! I was really nervous, but once she got the first cut done, I knew that I had made the right decision and am very excited about my "short" do! When I picked up Liv from daycare...she wasn't sure what to think and hesitated coming to me. Once she figured out that it was still "mommy" then she gave me a big hug.

Winter & Birthday

Well it has been a while since we have posted, so I guess it is time to catch up. We have had a very busy winter so far this year. We had a welcomed visit from Uncle Steve, where Liv got to go swimming with him and show him just how "silly" she can be. GiGi & Bumpa came for a visit for Valentine's Day, she was so excited to see them and we all enjoyed our visit. GiGi got to come to gym class with us and see how brave Liv is. The following weekend was Olivia's 2nd birthday. Grandma & Grandpa came to visit and celebrate her birthday. She had a lot of fun with them at gym class. She LOVED opening her presents and played with all that she received. The big hit was the tea set she got from her cousins Alex & Elizabeth. She slept with the teapot for 3 days!!!

And now to the present...this week! It has been a CRAZY week in the weather for us. On Tuesday we had a beautiful 60 degree day....but never fear, by Tuesday night, we had 4 inches of sleet on our driveway. When we woke up on Wednesday morning, we had an additional 5 inches of snow! Needless to say, I had a snowday. On Friday (yesterday) they spoke of a storm that was coming in...how bad could it be...well as of the writing of this blog (Saturday evening) we have received about 15 inches of snow and it is still coming down pretty good! Thanks to Kath and Kirk for letting us "store" your snowblower! Dale was out yesterday, and already twice today.

Hope everyone stays warm!!!! And be on the look out for a SURPRISE post next weekend! And NO....it's not an addition to the family!!!!!!!!!!!!