Will the Projects EVER be done?

Our weeks seem to have fallen into a routine.

Some people would call this a rut, but I prefer the

terminology of a "routine".

Dan continues to work on the pergola -

all the painting is done now

and we have the lattice

on top.

He is working on screwing the lattice

down today and then he will

start working on the stairs at the 

"doorway" toward the canal.

(see those landscaping timbers on the left?  That's

what he is going to use to build a couple of stairs.)

I'm looking forward to having ready for me

to put the hanging baskets up

and "decorate" everything.

Lorelai is looking forward to being able to go

outside and play.

We think the lattice will really make a HUGE

difference on the amount of sun that

will get through to the sand, 

and believe me, shade is a good thing

here in Florida!

The next step will be adding the flower beds on the

"front" and the other side.   Yes, we still have

a lot of work to do, but it should be usable 

by tomorrow or Thursday at the latest.

We are still trying to find a kiddie pool for the little ones -

Dan got rid of the one we had last year and they have

not put the new ones out yet (at least not at our local

WalMart).  We might "borrow" one from the kids

until the new ones arrive.

Now, if this wasn't enough, late yesterday afternoon we

took on another project - but it will take a couple of weeks

to get it done and I'm not sharing until it is all finished.

This past weekend we were able to get a lot done around here.

While Dan worked on painting part of the pergola I worked on

cleaning the house and finishing up the laundry.  After Dan painted

all he could for the day (has to do it in stages)

we decided to take a little trip.

Yep, we headed back up to the Disney - this time to the Magic Kingdom.

I guess we are bound and determined to get our money's worth

buying those annual passes.  Actually the weather was

WONDERFUL for the park, and a lot of people felt the same way.

  

First thing we saw was a show on the stage in front of the castle then we headed off to ride Space Mountain.

We then headed back toward Main Street and met up with Melissa and

Justin (they were picking up their passes) and we grabbed some food

for "dinner" together and then split up - they did their thing and we

took off to do our thing.   Our next ride was Pirates and then we went 

to the Haunted Mansion.  Between our Fast Pass times we had about

30 minutes - so we caught the Hall of Presidents.

Then we took off for home.

When it takes two hours to go up to the park (and of course, then two hours home) spending four hours in the park means we have put in an eight hour day.

That is about as long as we want to leave the pups alone and it is a good amount of time for us to walk around.

Saturday was a much better day for Dan - he just didn't seem to be as tired as he was when we went to Epcot - so I'm hoping that the walking is doing us both good.

(Dan says that it's like a gym membership - if he is paying this much for passes he is going to use them - LOL!)

Oh, and did I tell you about our "magic bands"?

They are FABULOUS!!!

With them you don't need your pass card or anything -

everything from your entrance to your Fast Pass rides 

are on your "magic band".  All you have to do is 

hold the band up to the machine and

in you go.  Love them!!!!

(Plus, they were free with our annual membership instead of $15.00 a piece)

One other thing happened on Saturday while at the park -

Dan lost his cell phone on Space Mountain.

We didn't realize it until Sunday when I reminded Dan to

mute his phone before church - and he realized he didn't know where his phone was.  Anyway, to make a long story short we realized that he had lost it on the ride.  We were going to take one of our "old" phones up and have it re-activated.  I decided to call lost and found at the park and lo and behold they had his phone and mailed it to us.  We should be getting it sometime this week.  Just gotta love Disney!

Sunday we went to church and then had lunch with our pastor and his wife.  We have decided to transfer our membership from our church in North Carolina down here - so we needed to discuss this with Pastor Tim before it is announced to the congregation next week.

Of course, yesterday we started keeping the girls again.

They are growing up so very fast!

Our one purchase at the Magic Kingdom was

a bubble "gun" for little Miss.

She absolutely LOVES bubbles and

once she saw how to work the

"gun" she had the best time

until all the bubble solution

was gone!  LOL!

Of course, the cheap bubble solution doesn't work -

so after a quick look on the Internet - a case of

24 bottles of bubble "gun" solution is on the way!

Let's hope that it will last for a little while.

This weekend Dan and I are going back up to WDW and

head for Animal Kingdom - we have never been to this

park before and we are both looking forward to seeing

all the animals.  I might even take my "real" camera with us

instead of depending on my phone.

Should be fun!

Well, I don't have much else to report.  We'll continue to work

on our projects here - and hopefully get our new project done

in a couple of weeks.

Have a great week everyone!

Busy Saturday, Laid Back Sunday

Good morning everyone!

I hope that everyone out there had a great Mother's Day -

it was a real laid back day around here, but I'll

get to that in a few minutes.

We've had a pretty uneventful couple of weeks.

Keeping the girls during the week and

trying to get things done around the house on the

weekends.

Ada is growing up so fast!

She has such a wonderful laugh and seems

to laugh all the time -

all you have to do is talk to her and

she just cracks up laughing!

Excuse the blurry picture - but I was trying to catch

Lorelai without her knowing I was taking her

picture (hard to do).  Anyway, as you can see, she is

growing up right before our eyes.

Hard to believe, but in less that a month she will

be two years old.

She is talking more and more - but she is also pushing all the 

wrong buttons as she tests her limits.  It's okay, that is part of

growing up to be independent, but it can sure be frustrating and

 stressful.

Friday night Dan and I went into Sebring to pick up some things for "the" project and I needed/wanted some new shoes.  I needed some that didn't hurt my feet as I knew that I would be on my feet a lot on Saturday!

If you are looking for shoes that are perfect for walking in all day I highly recommend "go walk 2" by Skechers.  They are fabulous!!!  They are very light and make you feel like you are barefoot but walking on air at the same time.

I also got a pair of the new Croc sandals - they are really comfortable also and they don't look like Croc's - just regular sandals.  Nice!  After the stop at Lowe's and the shoe store we decided to eat at Chili's and ate off the two for $20 menu (Dan had a steak and I had the ribs).  Yummy!!!

Saturday was my birthday - and we had very special plans.  After some coffee, Dan and I took our shower and got dressed then jumped in the car and headed for Orlando.

Guess where we went.

Actually, we had purchased annual passes the beginning of the month, but had not picked up our passes yet so we decided to go up and pick up the passes and spend theday at EPCOT!  We had not been to any Disney park since before we had retired from the school system in Polk County and moved to North Carolina.  It was about time to check things out again.

On of the new things at Disney Parks is a thing called

Fast Pass - it is wonderful addition!

To get a "Fast Pass" you go to these special Kiosk throughout the park and decide what you want to ride and the time frame you want.  You can only choose three things at time but once you use all three of the passes you can choose three more.  Actually, you can do the Fast Pass on line - but because I did not have our tickets yet I couldn't do it before we went up on Saturday.

Anyway, the Fast Pass is wonderful - at each ride you have your own entrance and you are able to pretty much just walk right into the ride instead of having to wait in the "stand by" line.  For example, the regular line for Space Ship Earth was at 60 minutes, but we walked straight onto the ride by coming at our designated time.

We had lunch/dinner reservations at the Coral Reef - they were at 3:15 so I'm not sure what to call the meal.  To say that we were ready to eat by the

time we got served would be an understatement.

We learned that we need to eat before going into the park!

The meal was very good even though there was a 

very limited menu.

I did get a surprise at the end of the meal - 

a free dessert since it was my birthday!

(I don't know if you can see my "Happy Birthday"

button - but I was wished happy birthday all day long - 

not just by staff but by visitors to the park as wee!)

Dan and I shared the dessert. It was very good, but 

I sure wouldn't have ordered it - so much food!!!

After spending so much time in the heat it was nice

to spend some time in the cool relaxing restaurant and aquarium.

Sweet dolphins!

They do not do any type of animals shows but being 

able to watch the fish is so very relaxing.

While we were eating, a diver was in the water feeding the fish.

I didn't have my camera out at the time, so I did not get a picture

of him - but he had quite a little show that he "performed" 

for us.

My big guy enjoying the aquarium.

I think I walked Dan's little legs off so, after our meal, we decided it was time to head for home.  We did do a little side trip and rode the monorail over to

the Magic Kingdom, but decided not to transfer to the other monorails to see the rest of the park and just go back to EPCOT and go home.

We had a wonderful time at the park and we have already set up another trip in a couple of weeks - Animal Kingdom which neither of us have been to before.  This time I have already set up our first three Fast Pass locations and we will see how it goes there (plus our lunch reservation) with a really cool app that goes on your phone.  Since I had our passes I was able to set up our account and get the everything done through the app.  I have also ordered our "Magic Bands" but I don't know if they will arrive before our next trip.   We both spent the evening with our feet propped up - a lot of walking and Dan complained about his legs hurting - my shoes did their job - neither my feet or legs hurt at all.  We have decided that if nothing else, walking around the park is good exercise for both of us.

On Sunday we spent a quiet day at home "recovering" from our Saturday adventure.

Remember those little ducks I showed you a couple of weeks ago?

Well, look at them now!

As you can see, they have really grown.

You can also see that we have lost a few to predators.

I don't know if it was a gator that got some, but Dan says that

it was probably some big turtles that got them when they were small.

That just breaks your heart, but it is part of nature.

Dan had some bread that he threw into the water and

they swam over and would eat the bread - but they wouldn't get

too close.  If Dan didn't throw the bread out far enough they

just let it float in the water - until we walked away then they came

right up to the sea wall.

So, what about the big project that I haven't shown you.

Do you think Dan got it finished?

What was "the big project"?

Well, he did get it finished, for the most part - there are still some

last minute things to do - but we did have three days of rain that sorta put a damper on working.

Ready for some pictures??

These were taken during the construction process.

Any idea yet??

(oops - there is Sam photo bombing the picture)

Well, are you ready to see what it looks like this morning.

Remember, it's not quite finished - like all the painting -

but I think you can tell what it is.

How about a fabulous pergola???

I am so excited!

Now, "we" still have to put the 2 x 2's across the top and finish the

painting.

Then we have to complete the steps down into the yard and 

bring the flower bed all the way around -

plant the Jasmine on the "trellis"

and the rest of the azaleas.

It will still take a little while to get everything done, but like I said, the

main construction is complete.

Anyone surprised?

Well, I'm going to close for now - got an almost two year old calling me!

Have a great week!!!!