Christmas 2008

We are done!

Another great morning. The kids finally got up around 8am for the morning. They were so intrigued with their stocking gifts that we cooked breakfast while they played. Then the fun began. Both boys did a great job taking turns. We all were spoiled rotten once again.

The best part of all was having Grandma here with us.

Thanks once again for a great Christmas!

Christmas 2008

5 am- Christmas Morning

The eldest comes downstairs just to check. "Is it time yet? I heard the kitty up!" Not yet son, go back to bed. Believe it or not- he did so willingly. It is 7am now. All are still sleeping. Will post updates as time allows and photos at days end. Merry Christmas to all.

Galveston

More later- too tired, but we headed to Galveston for the first time today.

Here are some pictures.

Galveston and IKE

It's Back!

As of last night around 5 pm, our power is back on. That makes a total of seven days without power, five of which we spent living in the house. We were actually just a bit sad this morning when all the usual noises greeted us instead of the relative silence we had grown used to.
That said, it's really nice to have the juice on again. I had fun just pulling cold milk out of the fridge for breakfast.

Update -- We're Back

Well, we are back at the house. Thankfully we sustained little damage. There was a lot of debris in the backyard (about twenty bags worth), and a little bit of water in the kitchen, as well as some missing roof shingles (maybe 30 or so) but otherwise we were largely untouched. We have had no power since the night of the storm, but the weather has been very nice so we are doing fine. Others on our block have power, so we have been able to charge cell phones, wash clothes, and keep some perishables cold. I am using our neighbor's computer to do this update.

Other neighborhoods in our area have taken more damage, from extensive roof damage to flooding in areas closer to the bay. And Galveston is a mess. Estimates from UTMB range from 2 weeks to 8 weeks until we will be seeing patients as usual. They are still not letting anyone on the island who are not essential recovery personnel.

As with the last hurricane, the hidden benefit here has been some quality time with the kids and our neighbors. We spent the morning cleaning out the yard at the house of a neighbor's elderly parents -- good exercise, lots of fun, and a great lesson for the kids.

We are putting things back together little by little. Our next hope is to have power restored as soon as possible, and maybe to get the roof patched up before the weather decides to turn.

Thanks to all for your thoughts and prayers. More updates later as we are able.
-Chris

Good news?

The storm passed over Houston today, and we've already heard from some people who went through our neighborhood. It appears that we have lost some shingles from our roof, but otherwise the house looks intact from the outside. No down trees or broken windows for us, although that doesn't hold for everyone in our area. Some people in our neighborhood appear to have power, which is quite a surprise.

Today we went to the zoo and then shopped for supplies. The plan is to hit the road for home very early tomorrow. We will probably have to get off the main highway before we reach Houston, as we have heard that parts of it are still underwater inside the city limits. The beltway appears to be open, though, and one of our neighbors has already traveled that way without incident.

Once we leave the hotel, chances are we will not be able to update the blog for awhile. I'm pretty sure that internet access will be as spotty as power in our area. Although we've already had several pleasant surprises, so who knows?

Our big worry now is the roof -- has it leaked, or will it do so if we get more rain before we can get it repaired? Time will tell. Wish us luck.

Waiting....

PLEASE DO NOT RETURN TO THE CITY OF LEAGUE CITY UNITL MONDAY SEPTEMBER 15, 2008. Certain areas of the City are without power and there is some localized flooding. Emergency Operations personnel are currently engaged in damage assessment.

This is the latest information from our city. Nothing from UTMB yet- we are hoping to find some people that stayed behind to check on the house so we can relax. As I was typing this a friend call and said that the police department said the city did very well- does not appear to be any major structural damage- no power for any of us- no flooding in our neighborhood.


The kids are a bit stir crazy- so we may head to the zoo today to get away from the updates.
We will head to Kitty's house as soon as it seems resonable to go. Eager to get home!

Sitting in San Antonio

We're sitting here in our hotel room in San Antonio, watching Ike on the TV. Actually we are watching the Cartoon Network, because the boys are tired of watching the weather.
After settling into our hotel this afternoon, we went for a walk on the Riverwalk and then had a nice dinner. During dinner a little mariachi band came by the table and asked if the boys would like to hear a song. "Sure," I said, thinking the boys would really like to hear a little live music. As the band struck up their first chords, the leader said very quickly, "we charge eight dollars a song, OK? La, la la laaaaaa. . . "
So now I have been officially suckered in San Antonio. But at least when another band came by later I knew to say "no thanks". Live and learn.

We also got some candy at a candy store, went through a mirror maze (very cool), and wandered into the lobby of a wax museum to watch a giant animatronic dinosaur head roar at passersby. The weather has been very pleasant (albeit a little warm), and we have nothing to do but wait.

Which is exactly the point of this blog post, and why I'm going on about the little details of our day -- because it's all we have to focus on. There is nothing to do but wait and see what the evening will bring. Galveston will get pounded, of course, but so far the emails coming from UTMB (where we work) are relatively benign. The real mystery is what will happen to our house (where the power is still on, by the way). League City hasn't been this close to a big storm in decades, so nobody is sure what will happen. Including us.

So we wait, and pray, and watch. Cartoons.

Arrived

We are in San Antonio. No problems getting here.
It looks like it may come on shore as a 2 and quickly dwindle to a tropical storm.
We will likely check out tomorrow and get to Kitty's house and then home as soon as they let us in.

I don't think wind will be a problem at all- it will be water. I feel optimisic that the storm is moving quickly enough that we will hopefully miss any flooding too.

San Antonio

We are leaving this am. Will be on the road by 7am. No traffic. Just don't want the kids to experience 100 mph winds over night and be scared. The house here is safe and Kitty will likely stay.

Not sure if we will have internet access. Will update when we arrive.

Arrived

We are in Katy, Texas. We took all back roads and made a drive that is typically 90 mins in 120 mins. Yeah!

We will make a decision tonight if we move further west to San Antonio. If we do we will head out early tomorrow am

For tonight we are enjoying Salmon, potatoes and broccoli! I think we chose our evacution spot well.

We're off

The house is boarded up. The storm is coming. We are hitting the road within the hour. Tonight we are going to Kim's Aunt Kitty's house west of Houston. Tonight and tomorrow we will determine if the track of the storm supports moving on to San Antonio. We will be available by cell phone if you need us, although obviously things will be a bit hectic for the next couple of days. Everyone is doing great, and we will be safe. No worries necessary, but prayers would be appreciated. :)

Hmm, this doesn't seem good. . . .

Is that anything?

David Letterman does a bit in which he and Paul watch an act for a few moments and then determine if it is "anything" or not.
Well, that's what it feels like we're doing with Hurricane Gustav. We watched it careen drunkenly around the Caribbean for awhile, and now we wait while it creeps toward the coast. Will it hit near us? No way to know. But we have a place to go and are getting things in order while hoping for the best.
Does anyone remember when I started this blog while on the run from Rita?
Team Mast certainly does.

Rock On

The boys rock out, undeterred by Samuel's clipped wing.
For a bigger version, look here.

Daycare


Today was Benjamin's first day of daycare-or "school" as he calls it.
Mom and dad have been crushed by this decision, but he was actually excited.

We were up early and dressed. I told him he would be eating breakfast at school- automatic tears. "no, i am supposed to eat here". So we did.

We arrive at school and take him to see his room and then to the cafeteria where he announces, "i am not eating or drinking, I already ate"

A quick goodbye- no tears and his day starts.

We pick him up and he is playing with some other kids. He did great, only crying when he didn't have his own blanket for nap.

His recap:
1. I made 3 new friends and I told them your name mommy
2. I ate at school
3. I played blocks
4. Can i go to school tomorrow?

Some pics below

benjamins first day

The Casts

July 9th, 2008

Our first visit with the local ortho doc was today. We learned several things.
1. The bones have separated a smidge (technical term). Still doing ok though
2. He will be re-casted weekly to check his pins
3. His shoulder now needs to be immobilized to minimize movement until the bones heal

Cast color #1- Deep blue

cast #1

July 18th, 2008

Cast #2

Today turned out to be a bit of a challenge for Samuel. Cast off, pins inspected, covered and off to xray. Joe (our tech) was quick and thoughtful regarding Samuel's pain. In fact he stayed with Samuel while I stood behind the shield and took the xrays. His films look good with evidence of new bone formation.

So next we pick our cast color- blue again (after 5 mins of discussion). Samuel gets his arm in position and Evelyn puts his stocking on, then the cotton wrap and suddenly Samuel keeps mentioning he is thirsty. Not a great time to get a drink but sweet Evelyn goes and gets him a cup of water. As she is getting the water I notice Samuel getting rather pale and I'm thinking he is going to throw up. Well, quickly he gets ghost white, sweaty, and then mentions he can't see anymore- yup- the boy was seconds from passing out cold!!!! We get him on his back, a cold cloth on his forehead and some sugar in his body and he recovers. They cast him while he is on his back and off we go!


Plan:
1. Continue in cast with shoulder immobilization
2. Follow-up in 1 week- more films (yes he is shielded)
3. The rest is up in the air-
4. Questions I asked that you may be interested in

-- Total casting time- ? 4-6+ weeks, distal humerus can be slow to heal
-- Pin time- Again? need evidence of good supportive new bone formation
--PT after casting- depends on elbow mobility
-- NO elective procedures- I learned this includes teeth cleaning :)
-- Fall baseball- sign up and see what happens

Do you see the trend? Time will tell us- patience (this I lack) uncertainty- (not good with this either)


July 25th

Cast #3

Back to the doctor today. Cast off, more xrays, cast back on. Blue again :)

What we learned.

1. The pins continue to look great
2. New bone formation is slow
3. Stay the course

cast #3

August 1st, 2008

Cast #4

We saw the doc again today.

Samuel did great. His bone is not "healed" but continues to make new bone. The doc decided it was time to remove the pins- there was mild redness around the pins, nothing concerning, just don't want to push it. Samuel did very very well while the 3 pins were pulled out. He is such a tough kid.

Then time to recast again. Once again samuel nearly passed out. They casted him quickly- and off we went. Back again next week -more xrays. Cast will likely stay on 2 more weeks- but who knows.

Samuel is mentally struggling today. We had made tentative plans to go to a resort in san antonio after the cast was off in 2 weeks, but a big no by the doc for the pool- he is adjusting to life without pins- fear of making his bones worse, he is sore today and not used to hurting- that worries him.


Tonight he just sat in my lap and cried- "i don't know why mommy, i just felt i needed to cry".

A tale of a broken arm

Wednesday- July 2nd

The day it all began. It was a beautiful day, the sun was shining, the kids were playing, we were having FUN! Then the moment that will be burned into our minds forever. A little red go-kart sideways, smoke, tiny screams. Time slows from here, but we knew instantly that his left arm, trapped under the roll bar, was broken. With the help of my brother, we got him out and up front while we waited for the ambulance. He was so brave. After being splinted by EMS, placed in a c-collar and put on a back board we headed to the local hospital. A little morphine and our boy was happy as a clam in the ambulance. "Daddy, this is really comfortable." X-rays confirmed a fractured humerus that would require surgery. This meant one more ambulance ride to Rainbow Babies and Children's hospital in Cleveland, Ohio. This would be a high-tech ride for Samuel. Comfortably sedated and splinted he watched a Scooby Doo DVD on daddy's
I-Pod.
Once at Rainbow Babies- he was greeted by Chris's 2 brothers and Pop Pop Mast. A welcome distraction. More X-rays, a new splint, more Morphine and finally, exhausted, he is allowed to sleep around 1am.

july 2nd

Thursday, July 3rd

This would prove to be a long day for all. The day was spent waiting for surgery to occur. He did not want to move a single inch of his body. However, we had a very nice set up in our room that included TV,VCR, DVD player, mini-fridge, bathroom with shower and decent guest sleeping area. Samuel spent the day soaking in the cartoon network! After a billion hours of cartoons he tired of TV and we played some Sorry and Connect four and started a game of Battleship. Child care specialists walked him through the surgery and a wonderful nurse bought him a doggy that had broken his paw too. He was lovingly named, "Sammy". The worse part was the waiting, never knowing when he would be called to surgery and the fact that Samuel had not had a single bite of food since 2 pm the day before. At 5pm the residents came charging in stating an OR had opened up and off we went. Samuel really had no fear, he was such a trooper. Just prior to surgery they informed us he had a small fracture of his right wrist also. One hour, 2 splints and 3 pins later he was out of surgery. We stayed the night to get his pain under control and make sure he could tolerate the oral pain meds and some food. Chris did some laundry in the free washer and dryer on our floor and we all fell asleep to the Discovery channel's, "how is that made?"

July 3rd

Friday, July 4th

Time to go home!! Chris and I were more than ready. Samuel was nervous to leave the safety and comfort of the hospital and none too pleased to get on his wobbly legs after being on his back for so long. He got dressed, ate some french toast and went for his first walk. Then off to the Mast's for the remainder of our trip. My mom and dad brought Benjamin to us while his Shirley cousins enjoyed a brief visit. That evening was filled with more wonderful company as several more Mast relatives made the trip to visit with all of us. The distractions were good, but the night would prove difficult. Pain was an issue this first day with a long and restless night that included a 2am showing of Scooby Doo on the ipod to calm him down until meds kicked in.

July 4th

The road to recovery...

Since that first day home, he enjoyed a day outside playing in sand, watching us play on wave runners, and taking breaks to rest. The plane trip home was uneventful. The car trip was no problem and finally the sleepless nights and stress of the previous days caught up with him as he fell asleep exhausted on our couch at home. The next days would have our Samuel emerging into the kid we know and love. The pain is gone, the smile is back and his activity level is back to normal. He smiles as he tells people what happened and debates what color cast he will pick out when he is finally casted on Wednesday the 9th.

Road to recovery

Benjamin!

This story would not be complete without a few words about Benjamin. He rubbed his brother's head as we waited for the ambulance, he cried as we headed for the hospital, he colored pictures to hang in his brother's room and he behaved better than any mother could ever ask of a 3 year old that didn't fully understand what was happening.

He would not allow my mother to sleep with him that first night, stating that Samuel would be home and need lots of room because he would have a big thing on his arm. And thanks to my parents he really enjoyed the time we were gone. I would call to check in and he would inform me that he was busy playing.

The best part was the reunion of 2 brothers so happy to see one another.

benjamin- Ohio 2008

Memorial Day weekend 2008

Kim here. Thought this would be an easy way to update you all on our wonderful weekend.

We went to San Marcos, Texas this weekend. We stayed at Pecan Park RV park.
Our first non-state park campout since we arrived in Texas.

Friday- did not arrive until around 9:30pm. Set up in the dark, off to bed!

Saturday- breakfast- cinnamon rolls in my new Dutch oven. Sooo good!
We rented a canoe for the day. They were at first hesitant to let us do a trip until they found out were used to be whitewater kayakers. The river is not rough, but winding and has 2 class I rapids on it. Lots of down trees. Just need to be able to read water and you are good to go. As we were waiting for them to bring the canoe down to the water we see friends of ours floating down towards us on tubes. We had no idea we were camping so close to them. A fun surprise. We canoed for about 2+ hours. Ran a couple of rapids- the kids loved them!!. We saw cows, turtles, snakes, wild turkeys and ducks and only about 8 other people. Both boys spent time paddling and both took mini-naps inside the canoe.

Once back at the campground we swam for about 2 hours and then cooked chicken and rice in the Dutch oven. Again- so good. Seeing a theme to our cooking yet? We headed over to the Jones' (our friends we saw on the river) and spent about an hour visiting at their campfire, then home and off to bed.

Sunday: Breakfast- homemade biscuits- a bit dry, but still good.
Tubing time- we found a place that will provide an inexpensive shuttle. We climbed into our 4 tubes and spent about an hour floating the river (San Marcos). It is spring fed and around 72 degrees year round. The boys loved having their own tubes and the freedom to jump around in them. They had recommended we take out before the "waterfall". Well they don't know our boys. Team Mast spent the next 2 hours shooting "tube chutes". I wish we had a picture. It is a 3 drop waterfall, the first part the biggest with a chute into about 3 standing waves then down 2 more drops. Benjamin always went down on one of our laps, Samuel did run it by himself. So proud! We ate lunch by the river and then decided to float it one more time. Samuel wanted to sleep in his tube going down river. We ran the chute one more time and finally made it back to the campground at dinner time. Dinner was beef stroganoff in the Dutch oven. Yummy. The 4 of us walked down to the river for one last view, then hit the showers and fell into bed exhausted.

Monday: That's right- cinnamon rolls in the Dutch oven. Check out was at noon so we packed up, let the kids play on the playground and headed home. Only about a 3 hour trip home.

A fantastic family weekend. We had wondered how the boys would do with just us parents as playmates and no other camping buddies. Well- it was grand.


Samuel's favorite thing: "floating down the river"
Benjamin's favorite thing: "my favorite part was going camping"


Pictures below- there are very few

Memorial Day weekend

Samuel's 7th birthday party

Today was his birthday party. What fun.
We had 8 boys here. Here is how it went...

Arrived- put on their trainer necklaces (cut out cardboard circles)- goal earn 8 badges.

Badge #1: Draw their own pokemon on shrinky dink paper- Samuel was the only one who had ever done shrinky dinks before. Then they made Perler bead pokeballs. (Slight panic on my part- this took much longer than expected!)

Badge #2: pin the fire tail on chimchar- blindfolded climb through a tunnel then Chris would spin them at the end-

Badge #3: Catch the pokeball- think hot potato

Badge #4: Rock smash- break balloons- find the 8 with a message hidden inside. (didn't quite get the balloons full enough- tough time breaking them)

Badge #5: Egg hunt- 58 eggs hidden- find the 8 camoflage eggs with the hidden message inside

Badge #6: Attack the pokemon characters hanging on the fence with silly string- a tradition at his parties.

Badges 7 & 8: An obstacle course set up by Chris- a huge hit. The best part was one of those balls with a handle that you sit on and bounce. The kids kept falling off and laughing!

Now- hot and tired we went inside for pizza-cupcakes and presents.

All are gone now. He got some nice presents and had a great time. We are tired and glad to have it behind us. A very nice group of boys. Pictures below.

Samuel's 7th birthday party

Home

Up at 7am, packed and out the door at 8:15 for our shuttle to the front of the campground.

At the front desk they take our luggage and tag it and print our boarding passes. Now when we get to the airport all that is left is for us to go through security.

The Disney magical express bus picks us up and transports us for free to the airport. Of course there is a short video to watch while you are traveling.

Uneventful flight until we land.

Benjamin refuses to get off the plane. "I no go home, I live in cabins." Chris waits until every person gets off the plane, then escorts a crying Benjamin off.

They both sleep on the way home. Once home out come the legos from the Lego store at Disney and back to reality.

Thanks for reading.

It was an amazing week, an amazing trip, an amazing time as a family. We will go back!

pics below

Home

Last day at Disney

Up at 7:30- to the Magic Kingdom for one last day.

We rode the boat over and arrived at the park as the opening music was playing.
Each person got to pick their 2 favorite rides for one last go around today.

Here are the choices:
Samuel: Indy race cars- big thunder mountain
benjamin: goofy barnstormer, carousel
Kim: pooh bear and peter pan
chris: pirates of carribean, transit authority

Well it turns out there were NO lines. It was amazing. We rode Pooh bear back to back. We just hopped from ride to ride. By 11am we had been on all of the above plus some for a total of 11 rides. We rode the transit authority around twice. It was cool, the lights were on in Space Mountain so we could see the roller coaster tracks.

It started to spit rain as we left to head to Downtown disney. We rode the monorail again. We got to ride in the conductors cabin up front. So fun. The conductor was from Illinois. From there we toured the Grand Floridian and then boarded a bus for Downtown Disney. Benjamin fell asleep on the bus ride over. We hit some shops- too busy for all of us.

From here we went to the Boardwalk. We rented a 2 seater bike with a front basket for the kids to sit in. Just as we are about to pull away it started to pour. Benjamin wouldn't sit in the rain so he sat between us under the cover and samuel put on a poncho and rode up front. He LOVED it. Every time we hit a bump the rain would poor off the canopy onto Samuel's head. He and we laughed so hard.

Dinner: The flying fish
so yummy- again the kids ate our food instead of the kids meal

We took a bus to the magic kingdom then the boat to our cabins. Samuel quietly cried as we pulled away from the magic kingdom.

Bed: 8:30

we pack and get ready to head out.

pics below

Last day at disney

Disney- day 5

Up at 7am- when will they learn to sleep in?
Out the door and to the Animal Kingdom by 8:40am.

Colder today- still beautiful.

Rides: Safari
Expedition Everest- samuel rode x 3, kim x 2, chris x 2
Triceritop spin- benjamin x 5
Primeval spin
Dinosaur
Lion King and Nemo shows- very very good

Characters; Pooh, piglet, eeyore, tigger- no lines at all. So wonderful.

Today was low key. The boys spent over an hour playing at a play ground and sand pit called the Boneyard. We got to talk with lots of nice people.

On the bus ride home Benjamin made friends with a little boy. As we were getting off the bus he says, "bye bye friend".

More pin collecting and autographs today.

Expedition everest has got to be the greatest roller coaster ever and yes I have been to Cedar Point. You do a portion of the ride backwards and in the dark. I think Samuel would ride it 100 more times.

Dinner: Boma
Our favorite place of the week. A buffet filled with African food at the Animal kingdom lodge. The boys loved it. Samuel wants to stay at this lodge next time we go so he can eat at Boma every day.

Bed: 830

pics below

Disney day 5

Disney- Day 4

Boys up at 7:30 and off to epcot by 8:45am.

Today we made the wise decision to get a double stroller. Samuel is wearing from all the walking. A wise decision!

Almost no lines today. The weather is overcast but beautiful.

Rides today: Test track- samuel rode 3x
Nemo- benjamin rode 3x
Soarin- kim's favorite
Living with the land, Universe of Energy, Imagination, Spaceship earth

Characters today: Mickey, minnie, pluto, goofy, chip and dale, genie

Dinner: Marrakesh- morrocan food- so good. kids got the kids meals and ate our food!

We got to ride the monorail today. So much fun.

For the first time we had rain as we left the park- everyone put on Ponchos and enjoyed the walk.

Today Samuel has enjoyed getting all the characters autographs. Different from his trip 5 years ago. Benjamin just loves to hug every character he can find. Both boys want lanyards with disney pins. Pin trading is a big deal, but no trading here, they just like to collect some of their favorites. Samuels are the rides he has been on, Benjamins are characters.

Memories: As soon as it gets dark on a ride, Benjamin will reach over and say, "you hold my hand". Never afraid after that.

Bed: 8:15

Pics below

Disney- day 4

Disney -Day 3

Boys up at 8am. To MGM- now called Disney's Hollywood Studios. Arrive 9:30am

Day full of shows. While one of us rode the bigger rides with Samuel the other would take Benjamin to shows.

The boys have been collecting those stamped pennies from each park. Very fun.

Rides/shows: Tower of Terror- Samuel and kim
Rockin roller coaster- chris only
Star tours- Samuel and Chris
Little mermaid, Beauty and the beast, Indy jones stunt show, Star wars demonstration, muppet 3-D movie.

Home for a brief nap at 3:30.

Back to MGM at 6pm for the evening show Fantasmic. Ate at the show. It was so wonderful. Everyone loved it.

In Bed: 9pm

Pics below- including some from our cabin. It had a back bedroom with bunk beds and a full bed. Bathroom, full kitchen and murphy bed. We ate breakfast each morning there and took a packed lunch into the park. Dinner was all Disney!

Disney- day 3

Disney- Day 2

Up at 7am- breakfast in cabin- off to the Magic Kingdom

Beautiful day. Sunny and in the 70's. With the holiday over lines are much shorter. Longest wait was 20 mins. Will be the longest wait of the week!

Rides today: Peter Pan, Dumbo, Pirates of Carribean, Space Mountain, Mickey Philharmonic, Big Thunder Mountain, Its a small world, Poohs ride, Carosel, Transit Authority, Speedway, Carosel of Progress, Train, Buzz lightyear, and Goof Barnstormer.

Favorite memory: While riding the train around the park the boys got to be honorary conductors. They rode in the back of the train with the conductor and gave the "all aboard" and their names.

Characters seen today: Pooh, eeyore, Mickey, Piglet, Tigger

Samuel's favorite ride: Big thunder mountain- roller coaster
Benjamin's favorite ride: Goofy Barnstormer- roller coaster
Kim's favorite ride: Big Thunder mountain
Chris' favorite ride: Big Thunder mountain

Cool disney feature- rider switch- one parent goes up and rides with Samuel who is tall enough to ride that ride, the other parent gets a rider switch ticket and sits with Benjamain. As soon as they get off, the other parent plus up to 2 more people get in the fast pass line and wait a max of 5 mins. to ride the ride. Samuel rode many coasters back to back with us.

Dinner: Crystal Palace- character meal buffet dinner. Chef came out and walked us through the line to tell me what was safe for samuel to eat.

Favorite dinner memory: Benjamin is waving and bouncy in his seat at Pooh bear, waiting for him to get to our table. Just as Pooh arrives, Benjamin falls out of his seat with excitement and hits his head on the ground. Note the picture of him sobbing with Pooh. Once he recovers, we find Pooh is more than willing to see him again. Benjamin dives into his arms as Pooh bear rubs his head.

Bedtime: 8:30

Pics below

Disney- Day 2

Disney- Day 1

We left Grams house and raced to get the rental car back in time- no sweat, 30 secs. to spare.

We took the shuttle to the cabins, unpacked the food and hit the road to the Magic Kingdom (4pm).

The lines were long today. While waiting we saw some friends the boys know from Adventure guides. Go figure.

Rides: Pooh ride, Pirates of the Carribean, Haunted Mansion

Dinner: Whispering Canyon in the Wilderness Lodge

Bed: 10pm

Pictures from Day 1 below

Disney Day 1

Florida 2008

I thought I would try and get some information regarding our trip on the blog for all to enjoy.

We started out trip with a stop at Great Grandma's house. What a great time. We were quickly joined by Frank and his family. The cousins had so much fun together. It was a fast but wonderful 48 hours.

Those we got to visit with include: Great Grandma, Grandma, Uncle Keith and Aunt Salli, Joshua, Frank, Katherine, Olivia and Elias.

Florida 2008