Under Construction

Our little home remodeling project has begun. We are in the demolition stage -- fun, fun! My office is gone for the moment. I am temporarily relocated to the kitchen (like my house wasn't messy enough already). Gatlin got to put the first hole in the wall to tear it out.

We are doing most of the work ourselves -- or I should say Ronnie is doing most of the work and I am doing most of the supervising. Twelve years is long enough to be married right? We might not make it through this project! Well we might if I can learn to keep my nose out of things and my mouth shut, but, let's face it, that isn't likely to happen!

A Few From May

(We are only two months behind.)

Some of our favorite things from May:
--Going to Papa's and Grandma's
--Getting to irrigate the grass


--Playing and fighting with each other (Gatlin had been wheeling Carsyn around the house in the bucket. I loved how he figured out to prop her up so he could take a break to watch Dragon Tales)
--Rainbows and playing on the slide
--Watching the horses run after being cooped up in the corral

Our Vacation Pictures Come to an End

If only I were caught up on the rest of my pictures. Now I get to start into my "May 2009" folder. The San Diego Zoo was great as well. The kids really enjoyed riding the double-decker buses and sky tram. We really wish we could have gone to the Wild Animal Park as well, but now we have got something to do next time!

One of the biggest exhibits is the Panda Bears. My favorite was the gorillas, Gatlin's favorite was the giraffes, Carsyn's favorite was the elephants, and Ronnie's favorite was any exhibit that didn't require pushing the stroller up-hill!

Carsyn & her momma (No, I'm not always yelling like that) :)

We had a great vacation. The kids love it -- Mom and Dad lose their minds and all sense of restraint, but really we are just big kids at heart!

Favorite Spot On Our Vacation

Sorry if you are sick of vacation photos -- I'm still plodding my way through them trying to get caught up. And . . . I took way too many pictures so I have to share them somewhere! The zoo is still to come.

Sea World was everyone's hands-down favorite of the whole trip! The kid's just loved all of the marine animals and were able to get up-close-and-personal with several.

Carsyn would always say, "Do it again!" after one of the whales jumped.

And Gatlin got the chance to meet one of his favorites, "Elmo!"

Yes, we spent a little over $20.00 feeding the Sea Lions the two days we were the there. Unfortunately the Dolphin feeding pool was being redesigned so we didn't get the chance to feed the dolphins, but it did save us another $20.00! (No we can't just do it once!)

Gatlin got to make friends with a Ray. This big ole' guy stayed with Gatlin along the entire length of the pool. Gatlin thought that was pretty great. The first time we went to the Ray pool, Carysn was standing up in the stroller to get a better look. One of the these big guys popped his head up over the side, and Carysn just about fell over. She wanted NOTHING to do with them!

Gatlin also got some lovin' from Zoe -- Carsyn's anti-character attitude continued!

Waving Bye! We are definitely going back to Sea World!

The Wonderful World of Disney

I have come to realize going to Disneyland is a little like pregnancy and childbirth: you forget the pain and frustrations and only remember the good stuff. I thought we had picked a perfect time to go to avoid the heavy crowds but apparently not. Waiting in several lines for 45 minutes with a two-year-old and four-year-old is not exactly "vacation," but when I look at these I remember how much fun we had despite those lines. And would we go back? You bet!

The kids got to meet a few of their favorites. Gatlin thought it was way cool, but Carsyn didn't want to get near them!


Gatlin loved this giant swing ride. I also went on it with him, but I wasn't quite as crazy about it (yes, I'm a bit of a wimp).

The fireworks show was wonderful. I tried taking several shots, and as a fluke, I got this pretty cool shot!

Carsyn loved the rides.

One of our favorite parts was the parades. Here's a few from the Disney/Pixar Parade:

Carsyn loved Minnie's house (her goofy look and all)

And the following are actually from the Disney Photo Pass Photographers. Yes, I got suckered in to spending more money. This is actually pretty neat since these photographers take your pictures throughout the park. You get all of the photos and permission to print if you choose to buy the CD (which I did). It is just about the only way to get some pictures of all of us together. If you go to Disney, it might be something you want to look into beforehand.