Okay Okay

Had a bit of rain this morning but I must admit there was no relaxing today we did more shopping and walking the Village Shops and the Mall. It became sunny and was hot and humid and I am thinking a massage or at least a foot massage is definitely going to be in order. Mikayla is having a blast and walking just as much. I think I walked off the 20 lbs but problem being I think I just ate it back on. Still enjoying the trip and the food why change things now. Hope to get some beach/lagoon/pool time in tomorrow and entertainment from dinner at Bennihana's. So I hope to get some pics to share then and later. Got to go get my puppies up so I will share more later. Blessings AJ

Hawaii Bound

We are in sunny Hawaii cruising the beach and hangin' at the lagoon. Our feet are sore already from shopping, shopping, shopping. Only been here one full day and I think I gained another 20 lbs even with all the walking like I needed to do that. No worries there is always tomorrow to work it off.... why suffer when you can enjoy all the sites, sounds and wonderful food of Hawaii. Maybe I should just get on the Pineapple Diet if there is such a thing...yummy. Just wanted to give you a taste of the tropics for now, until I take some more pics.

Still Going Strong

Cleaning at the Country Store

Need some bread?????

Mikayla practicing her ribbon dancing

How high can we go

Always helping each other

A good one of Samantha but I see Ms. Cheesy back there.

Ride-um Cow Girls

We are such buds

I think Samantha was ready for the buckin :-)

Playing at home....I think this outfit (a hand-me-down) is history...too small but still cute and she gets to keep the head band One 60 lb lap dog...I think he loves his momma

Not a good one of mom and dad but a good one of the girls

Mikayla told the girl she had to put two ...one on each cheek she was so funny

The wonderfully funny Magician

Glued on the Magician

All three girls and CJ too.

The Balloon Lady in action

I will race you.....hey no cheatin' CJ!

Daddy helping Mikayla hang with the big girls

She loves Cars, Trains and Horses can you tell??

Their version of float trippin

Mikayla always making new friends

We were so glad we got to see and chat with our friend Janet

We made it to the Gardens without a hitch. We thought the trip might get rained out but instead we got a nice cool morning and the Gardens pretty much to ourselves. We did not go to far in the venture around the Gardens as we went to the kids play area and then a few other areas but the kids play area was a big hit so much so they had to be talked out of it to see more of the Gardens. Mikayla and Samantha had a blast shopping and cooking and cleaning at the country store, they played with the ribbons dancing around, climbed the tree house and built some buildings with blocks, walked the beams and stumps and hung around riding on the sheep and raccoons. Then our venture came to a quick stop when G called that he was in a car accident....no worries he is okay but the car did not fair so well. The car is in the shop and should be back on the road Friday. I am sure I will be reminded of the accident when the insurance goes up as it was classified as G's fault. Until then back to a good note, Saturday we went to the FCC picnic which was loads of fun for all. Mikayla had fun playing with Samantha and Maggie, I don't think she knew who she wanted to play with more... Samantha being 4 and Maggie being a bit older than that...Mikayla still likes hanging with the big girls. There were balloon animals, face painting, a wonderfully funny magician, kung-fu masters doing some Kung-Fu, a student sharing knowledge about the Chinese New Year, tons of delicious food, great families to meet,chat with and get to know and so much more like, pumpkin painting and of course the super play area for all ages. Today we ventured with the FCC to the South County Mall Children's Play Area for some fun. Not only did Mikayla enjoy seeing her friends again, mommy even got to meet up with a great friend for some good old yakking and catching up on what we've both been up to. I think I might have enjoyed the time with my friend more than Mikayla did with hers....okay maybe that's pushing it, but I really did enjoy catching up with my friend. Next we will be heading out for Hawaii and should have some cool stuff to share with you on our return.... then we will be home to catch back up with the FCC friends and family. Blessings, AJ

We Have Been Busy!!!

We won't be around for Halloween so we nixed the pumpkins but there were many and of all shapes and sizes

Mikayla picking her very first Apple

Mikaylas first flight

She looks like the Red Baron to me...watch out!

She loves the trains

On the boat swing she was happy until the girl next to her screamed...then her whole facial expression changed...she wasnt sure if she should be scared or having fun????

Fall Festival writing wall

Her second live pony ride...never again with these guys...they were a rip off...Mikayla still enjoyed it.

Play gone wrong

Who are these crazy girls

Mikayla and her Bud-Jake. She loves Louie too but I think she likes Jake more...

Relaxing after a game of fetch with the Chuck-it. I think Jake was eyeing the ball for more. :-)

We played around the house and had a fun with shaving cream that did not end so well as you can see, we played with the boys and hung around home having fun and when we needed a change..... We went to the Rodeo, Apple Picking and went to the Fall Festival. Mikayla loves her brothers and just can't play with them enough. She even helps walk them...if she was able to take the boys alone she would probably walk them all day long, but she still needs supervision. She is practicing throwing the ball for them with the chuck-it. When we were playing with the shaving cream and Kelley put it all over Mikayla, Mom jumped in and the fight was on...Mikayla was not sure it was OK to get so messy but once she knew it was OK she was all for it, we had a blast. At the rodeo she loved watching all the horses, she kept asking if she could go ride them....she loved watching the guys go boom when they were on the bucking horses she thought it was funny that they fell off. The bull riding was no different for her except I am not sure she understood it was no longer horses. Apple picking she enjoyed although I think she liked eating them as she picked them more than putting them in our bag. She could not get enough of the rides there, her favorite if you can not tell from the expression on her face was the plane ride. As soon as she saw it, she wanted on and she was over joyed with flying it around and around. All the rides other than the train was a new experience for her and we were pleasantly surprised how she went on them alone and actually had a blast. Just Sunday we went to the Fall Festival where she walked the streets pointing out every dog she saw (if you ever went to the Festival you know there are tons of dogs out there). Then she was dancing up and down the streets to all the different music that played on every street. Although she was not too sure what to think of the guy in a dress playing the bag pipes (we are just trying to get her to understand who is a boy and who is a girl...this was very confusing for her). When we got to the drawing wall she had to get her hand in the act....and it was too funny when she was done she walked up and down the whole wall picking up all the chalk everyone left lying around and put each piece back in the boxes. That's my girl! Tomorrow we will be going to the Botanical Gardens with a friend and on the weekend we will be attending the Annual Picnic of the FCC (Family with Children from China). We have been keeping busy and soon we will be headed to Hawaii another new adventure for Mikayla, the Ocean, the Lagoon, the dancers with grass skirts and men with fire lighting the torches every night, the setting sun on the beach, etc. So much to see and do....God is Awesome. Blessings Everyone.

Back Home for Now!

Check out the attitude on the New Queen...she was trying very hard not to smile...

Mikayla's hot and sweaty Knight

The Evil Knight Mikayla not taking an eye off him

Mikayla petting the Lego Dogs

Getting ready for the Princess Parade...they collect ordinary girls, bring them inside and they come out all dressed (hair, glitter and all) as Princesses

One of the country pics from Epcot

The Cannoli Cart....yummy!!

To Germany ...hmmm do I see a butt I know??

Back to China so soon...only without the pollution :)

Do you remember Tinker Toys????

Mikayla in la la land where Peter Pan, Wendy and Tinkerbell were flying over head

The cool pic made from Mikaylas hand print

Oh yeah Mikayla hated Mary Poppins, can you tell??

She was just too afraid to go near Alice...so afraid she was showing off to the crowd that thought she was soooo cute....it was hilarious

The big animal characters scared her the most she clung to mommy and daddy .....hmmm you mean you don't see us in the pic????

She wasn't even worried when she was tagged teamed by this duo and someone even took one of her ponytails out.....grrrrrr

Mikayla's Treasure

If you look closely you can see in the center where our Knight gets the sash from the Queen and then in the right he brings it to us, on the left G is taking it off the joust.

We are home again re cooperating from the sun and fun. We did get to the Medieval Times Dinner Show and Mikayla was actually picked by the winning Knight to be the Queen of Love and Beauty. She was awe struck. There was tons of food at the show more than they have at the Dixie Stampede which surprised us. The show was great and food massive. Mikayla could not get enough of it all. We also got to Epcot where she got her pic taken with all her buds; Mickey, Minnie, Pluto, Donald, Goofy, Alice (in Wonderland), Mary Poppins, Chip and Dale and more. She was not shy a bit was giving hugs and kissing noses and lovin every minute. She even got lipstick kisses from Mary Poppins and Mulan that lasted all day. We shopped at Downtown Disney and we didn't do to bad. In all the shopping at Epcot and Downtown Disney we got a parasol for Mikayla with butterflies and her name, new onesies with Minnie Mouse as she out grew her fav one at home and a cool hand print of Mikayla's made into a Butterfly and Mikayla now has a lanyard with all the characters she met and more ready for trading. Of course we had to buy some Baklava and Cannoli and of course water to stay dehydrated in the heat.