Happy Birthday Karen!

Karen celebrated her happy birthday today. It's a Monday so she had to work but Dad and I took her to breakfast yesterday then to Harrah's to spend all her birthday money.

I don't know why I'm obsessed with putting old pictures up for birthdays. I did it for Teresa's, Michele's, and now Karen's. Maybe I'm fighting my own aging and yearning for the younger years. Happy Birthday, Karen!

Crawdads in the Street

I've seen many things in my neighborhood either early in the morning or in the evening while taking the puppies for a walk. I've seen birds, squirrels, deer, skunks, wild turkeys and the dreaded geese but I couldn't believe what I saw yesterday morning.

It was a crawdad just walking down the middle of the street. The picture is a little blurry because I couldn't get it to stop so I could take a picture. I almost got a rope burn trying to hold Lola back. I guess she wanted a little surf and turf dinner.

Violet's Refrigerator Art

Violet has created her first piece of art for the refrigerator.

She may not be Monet or Cezanne but I'm hoping she has the creative and artistic gene like her Dad, Uncle Michael, Great Aunt Michele and Great Grandma Celine. Look out Julian!

Move on Tour - Tunica, MS

I'm a huge fan of Dancing with the Stars so when I heard Derek and Julianne Hough put together a road tour, I quickly checked the website to see where they would be performing. Much to my surprise they were scheduled to appear at the Horseshoe Tunica at the same time I would be passing through on my way back from Florida. Luckily I received an offer for free tickets.

The show was good and I was glad I went but in my opinion they really need to work on their show. I thought there was too much dancing with the entire troupe instead of just them together. I liked that they interacted with the audience and made it more of a performance than just a dance show. It reminded me of the old Donnie and Marie show. They even referred to that at one time.

The venue at Horseshoe is terrible for this type of performance. The floor is level and dining room chairs are set out so close together that it's nearly impossible to get to your seat without stepping on everyone's toes. My seat was in Row K which is about 21 rows from the front when you count the VIP seating in the front section. It was also three rows from the back - small place. The ladies sitting next to me moved right away when they saw the section behind us was a step higher. After intermission they called me over and I watched the second half of the show from there. Much better seats. All in all I'm glad I took the time to see the show. It's even better that the ticket was complimentary.

Michael Turns 33

I can't believe another year has past and today Michael turns 33.

Since today is a work day for Michael, we decided to meet at Harrah's for dinner. Melissa, Jamie and Violet are out of town so it was just me, Dad and Ashley who helped Michael celebrate - if you can call this a celebration. No cake, just pie.

I don't post many dinner pictures without a picture of Dad and Michael and this post is no exception. And dinner tonight by no means is any kind of substitution for our Thursday night dinner. In fact Michael and Dad were discussing where to have dinner on Thursday. So Happy Birthday Michael and remember what Mom told you - keep telling people you're 23!

Florida/Disney Family Vacation

Coordinating schedules for a family vacation isn't as easy as it used to be. Melissa and Violet are always ready to go any time. But I need to work around Michael and Jamie's work schedules and Ashley's school breaks. Plus Melissa and Jamie need to find someone who'll take the puppies (thanks Pam). So last Tuesday Melissa, Jamie and Violet headed to Florida.

Their flight down was pretty uneventful. Violet slept a good part of the way and I even heard a woman at baggage claim say how good that baby was. She was either being very honest or very, very nice. And speaking of baggage claim - from the time the kids landed and they got their luggage, over an hour had passed. I think the baggage handlers at Orlando must have carried each piece of luggage from the plane to the carousel by hand. On the plus side at least all their luggage was there. I already had the car seat in my car so at least it was one less thing to carry. Then the debate began on when and where to eat. It was already 6:00 p.m. in Florida, 5:00 p.m. Kansas City time. Even with an hour and a half drive we decided to wait until we got to the beach. After dropping off the bags we headed to Waldo's which is the restaurant/bar at the Driftwood where we were staying.

This is the view from our rooms.

Violet has this special gift of making friends wherever she goes and dinner was no exception. She quickly made friends with a waitress who kept stopping by our table.

Wednesday morning I got up early so I could see the sunrise over the ocean. There weren't many people on the beach at that time.

Knowing that Violet would be up I went to Melissa and Jamie's room and saw Violet sitting on the table. Give her a book, her blanket and a phone, let her climb onto the table and she'll keep herself entertained. Whenever I see Khloe I always say in a high pitched voice "Hello, Khlo". Now Violet is mimicking me and saying the same thing when she has a phone. She doesn't actually say "Hello, Khlo" but she does raise her voice higher and you can tell it's her version.

Meanwhile Michael and Ashley were up at 3:30 a.m. to catch their 6:30 a.m. flight. Michael usually goes to bed around 3:30 a.m. after working and a quick stop at the gym. So by the time they got to Orlando he was pretty tired. Then he had to stand in line at the car rental place for over an hour waiting for a rental car. Then when they got to the beach, Michael lost his favorite sunglasses in the ocean. Not a good day for him.

The rest of the day was spent at the pool and an occasional dip in the ocean. These pictures were taken before Michael lost his glasses.

Violet didn't like getting in the pool or the ocean. Sure is a good thing I bought her these swim shoes before we left. She may not have liked the water or sand but she loved to travel around the pool and through the outdoor restaurant.

Thursday was our trip to the Magic Kingdom at Disney World. By the time everyone got ready and we had breakfast there was just enough time to stop at the outlet mall to get Michael a new pair of sunglasses before heading to Orlando.

You enter the Magic Kingdom and walk down Main Street - mostly restaurants and souvenir shops.

Melissa has been to Disney World but this is Michael's first trip.

Our first stop was an animated production with audience participation of Monsters, Inc. Monster's, Inc. came out in 2001 and centers on two main characters, Sulley (narrated by John Goodman) and his one-eyed partner Mike Wazowski (narrated by Billy Crystal). The best part about this stop was it was air conditioned. This made up for the guy sitting next to me who obnoxiously laughed through the whole thing. It wasn't that funny.

We were walking past the Magic Kingdom castle just as they were performing one of their many shows. Mickey, Minnie, Donald Duck, Goofy and other singers and dancers performed several musical numbers. Violet was a little unsure of what was going on but she liked to watch.

The teacups were our next stop. I made Jamie promise he wouldn't spin the cup too fast.

Then it was off to ride the flying Dumbo's. Michael and I rode together with Melissa, Jamie and Violet in the Dumbo behind us.

I wondered why everyone else's Dumbo was high in the air while ours was still on the ground. I thought it was because Michael and I were too heavy but it was actually because we didn't use the little lever to raise us. By the time we figured it out, the ride was over.

Michael, Ashley, Melissa and Jamie wanted to ride Space Mountain so I volunteered to take Violet to the Dumbo playland. (Sorry for the bad picture but it was dark in Dumbo playland.)The sign said ages 2-14 but no one stopped me as I entered. It took Violet a while to adjust to all the kids but then she began climbing on the toys. There was one structure that had four steps, each about two feet high leading to an overhead rope walkway. Violet has learned to climb so it was up the steps then carry her down the steps. I was so afraid all the other screaming kids were going to step on her fingers. After 30 minutes of the Dumbo playland I decided to make my way to Space Mountain. As I exited the playland I realized I didn't remember where I parked the stroller. My first thought was NOT all our stuff in the stroller. It was that I was going to have to carry Violet through the park. I know it took me two trips around the outside of Dumbo playland before I finally found the stroller. I must have walked for 10 minutes before I finally found a small spot of shade where I could stop and check the map to find Space Mountain. (Did I mention it was blistering hot that day?) Of course I was headed in the wrong direction. I don't think there's an employee at Disney World that I didn't ask for directions to "Magic" Mountain. I probably would have gotten there sooner if I would have asked for directions to "Space" Mountain.

After lunch we headed to It's A Small World. This is an indoor boat ride that takes you through different animated countries. By this time Violet is completely exhausted. We decided to make our way back to Main Street to do our shopping and go home.

The streets were blocked for another of the many parades through the park. The lively music and enthusiasm of the performers revived us all. My mission was to get Violet a Minnie Mouse balloon.

When we entered the park Violet wanted a balloon but we didn't want to carry it all day. So Violet finally got her balloon.

My other goal was to get everyone Mickey Mouse ears and take a selfie.

This is my best picture of the whole day.

I wonder who had the best time!!!!!!

Friday morning I took everyone to my favorite place for breakfast, Casey's - an outdoor restaurant famous for their hamburgers but they also have great breakfast sandwiches.

We had originally planned to go to the zoo but Disney wore us out so we spent the day at the beach.

Saturday morning I found out Jamie got up each morning and took Violet across the street to Cravings - a bakery and ice cream shop. Violet likes to stroll the sidewalk and visit with all the people, dogs and birds.

But all things must come to an end and it was time for the kids to go home.

Time for one last brunch before heading to the airport. Michael and Ashley were scheduled to fly out an hour before Melissa and Jamie. But Michael and Ashley's flight was not direct and they would arrive in Kansas City an hour later than Melissa and Jamie. As luck would have it Melissa and Jamie's plane had mechanical issues so they were delayed 4-1/2 hours.

Entertaining a 14 month old is not an easy job in an airport. Violet did make friends in the airport and the Taylor's finally got home about 11:00 p.m.

Best vacation ever!!!!!

Another Florida Vacation

Meanwhile I left Kansas City 10 days ago headed to Florida. The kids will be joining me in another week. After my last airplane trip that caused my ears to clog up for about a month, I decided to drive to Florida. I took my time driving stopping in Tunica and Biloxi. I escaped the cold weather in Kansas City hoping for warmer climates. I was extremely disappointed when I had cold temperatures and rain in both Tunica and Biloxi. Figures. But my last day in Biloxi was nice and I was able to spend a little time poolside.

My expectations of warm sunny weather were met when I arrived in Florida. So far the days have been full of sunshine. I rented a little cottage just a block from the beach. It's very nice, more like a studio apartment. Sometimes I feel like I'm living in my bedroom. But the bathroom is very large and the kitchen is nice. I brought my electric skillet thinking I'd prepare breakfast or dinner. But there's so many fun places to go out to eat that the skillet has been left untouched. I'm off to take a walk on the beach then decide where to go for dinner.