Biking

We got a tag-along bike for Drew to ride behind last fall and finally got to use it in the last couple of weeks. He was a little nervous the first time went out, but now he's a pro except he doesn't always expend as much effort as Adam would like. They get lots of comments from people when we pass by. I thought these things were pretty common, but I guess they aren't something you see every day.

This is a picture taken from our first ride of the year on the Columbia trails.

Another day, we took Hailey and Alex for a ride on the Patapsco Grist Mill Trail which is one of our favorite areas. The kids especially like looking at the waterfall and climbing on the railroad tracks (we try to do that when the trains aren't coming).

On Memorial Day weekend, we met Andy and Alex at the BWI Trail. They hadn't ridden on that trail before, and Alex did a great job especially was using a bike with gears for the first time.

On a totally unrelated note, I've been trying to get a good picture of Drew lighting the candles at church. Obviously, I haven't gotten one yet, but he loves lighting the candles whenever he gets a chance. It's about the only time he sees the inside of the sanctuary.

Florida Vacation - Part 3 - Disney Cruise

After our big day at Castaway Cay, we came back to get ready for the Pirates in the Caribbean Paryy. I got this pirate costume at Target right after Halloween, and and I had to keep hiding from Drew. He was so happy to finally get to wear it.

He loved getting his picture taken with Pirate Mickey. He didn't even complain too much about waiting in line.

We sat with the same couple at dinner every night. They had a 5 year old girl named McKenna. She and Drew didn't really hit it off, but then Drew wasn't at dinner every night either (gotta love the kid's club!) Anyway, on Pirate night, we all showed up at dinner and McKenna had the exact same costume as Drew, so we had to take their picture together.

On the last day of the cruise, they had a little graduation ceremony for all the kids that were in the clubs. They all got t-shirts and little mortar boards - very cute. It was amazing to see all of those kids in 1 place.

We took a few pictures of our stateroom before we left. We were all sad to see the cruise coming to an end. We decided to sign up for another one - 7 days this time!




Sunset was beautiful on our last night.

Drew made sure there weren't any pirate ships coming to get us before we got back to port.

Florida Vacation - Part 2 - The Disney Boat

On Sunday morning, April 27th we headed to Port Canaveral to embark on our 4 day cruise on the Disney Wonder. We had a smooth trip except for Drew asking every few minutes how much longer it was going to take to get to the big boat.

Here are Drew and Adam enjoying the Sail Away Party.

It was a little too crowded at the party, so we went to watch the ship pull out of port. It was a beautiful day, and we we so excited to finally be on the cruise.

The next day (Monday, April 28th), we docked in Nassau. We gave Drew the option to go ashore with us or stay in the Oceaneer's Club, and he decided that he wanted to stay on the ship and play with the other kids. Adam and I went on a short walking tour of of the city and took this picture from Fort Fincastle. We weren't overly impressed with the city, although Atlantis looked like it would be worth a visit if we ever come back.

We spent some time at the Mickey pool in the afternoon. Drew really wanted Adam to get in with him. Of course the water is only about 2 feet deep.

This is the water slide going into the Mickey pool. Drew really liked the slide, but he was much more interested in just playing in the pool.

This picture was taken at Castaway Cay, Disney's private island. We signed the whole family up for Castaway Ray's Stingray Adventure where you get to feed the stingrays and then snorkel with them for a while. Adam and I really enjoyed it, but as soon as Drew got in the water and the fish and stingrays started swimming around his legs, he was done. We finally had to make him go sit up on the beach and wait for us to finish snorkeling.

We put Drew back in the kid's club after that fiasco which was fine with him. Adam and I rented bikes and then went to the Adults only beach for awhile. It's no wonder they call it Serenity Bay - it was very quiet and peaceful. Here's what Drew looked like when we picked him up to get back on the ship. He was covered with sand from head to toe after playing some water game which obviously involved throwing or rolling in sand.

Florida Vacation - Part 1

Adam and Drew left for Florida on April 24th and I joined them the next evening. They had a good time until I got there visiting with Great Grandma and taking her out to dinner. On Friday evening, my plane was a bit delayed so we didn't get to have dinner together as we had planned, but we did have the GPS find us an ice cream store, and it did quite a nice job finding us The Cone Cabin.


On Saturday, we had to make a stop at the mall before going to visit Great Grandma again, since I needed a couple of things from Sears. We stopped at Steak and Shake for lunch since we don't have them around here. Drew thought he looked good in the hat.

We didn't take any pictures with Great Grandma, but she was feeling much better and looking forward to going home soon.

Almost Heaven

The day after Adam's party (April 13th), Pat, George, Adam and Drew took off for Morgantown, WV. Adam and Drew had a good time in the mountains, and Drew loved the condo where they stayed, especially the jacuzzi tub in Grandma and Grandpa George's room.



On Monday, they went to visit Fallingwater, and Drew had to pretend to be 6 years old since they don't let 5 year olds in (I wonder why?). Luckily, he managed to get through the tour without too much disturbance and destruction. I was jealous -- I've never been there, and I love these kinds of tours.


Pat took the picture of George below when they arrived home. It was 70 degrees when they left West Virginia and you can see that there was still plenty of snow on the ground when they got home to New Hampshire.