The Magic of Disney World

To take you away from the recent gloom and doom in the news from the stock market decline to London’s riots and Philadelphia’s youth vandalizing (What’s up with that, right?), let me share with you some sense of escape for a few minutes about a magical place…

We have now returned from our “magical” vacation.  This is the one I have wanted to take the kiddos on since they were young and finally was successful doing so.  Even though they fought like cats and dogs  - yes they don’t get along right now at the tender ages of being a tween and teen on the brink of adulthood. But between their disagreements on rides, and where to eat and… and… and… we had a great time. Sincerely, we did.

They also flew for the first time and we were impressed with Allegiant Air, with their prices and their services, so I will give them a shout out here. Kass was the unlucky one in our group randomly chosen for the extra security check: But she did great and didn’t freak out! Can you believe it?

Jas now says he is meant to travel.  He loved flying and even considered the possibility of making Florida his home someday… well maybe.  And to his own surprise, he found some rides that he enjoyed amongst the many parks we visited during the trip, between Disney’s Epcot, Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom and especially at Universal Islands of Adventure.

Kass tried a roller coaster  at Magic Kingdom and enjoyed it!  She even had her hands up on the 50 foot drop! However, when we ventured out and did the Expedition Everest Coaster in Animal Kingdom---even I thought it was intense; and now she says she will not get on another coaster again.  Oh well.

Mr. M and his boys joined us on the trip.  (No worries, they had a separate hotel room, people.) The four kiddos actually got along pretty well, except for the few times they seemed to gang up on and pick on Kass… with three boys and one tween girl, what do you expect, right?  But for the most part they did great together.

Here are a few pics from the trip for your enjoyment:

       

 

There are plenty more where those came from.  I will keep you posted of when I load the album designated just for Disney….

Happy Thanksgiving

My kiddos happened to be with their dad for the whole Thanksgiving holiday.  They left Wednesday after school.  So with that in mind, Mr. M (who also wouldn’t have his boys till late in the day Thursday) and I decided to take a short trip for our holiday.

We ended up here at Natural Bridge enjoying the sites, the attractions, and the lovely resort where they also had unbelievable food.  Good thing we had our reservations for the Thanksgiving feast. The place was packed when we headed back to the resort for our meal.

 

 

 

  

 

Here is the Indian village they had created on the grounds of Natural Bridge. Inside this Palisade Mr. M. and I learned interesting facts about the early days of the Indians that lived in Virginia, how they made their tools and what they used for trade.  We could have listened to this guide for hours, but it was getting close to time to eat.

After this photo, the batteries died.  But you can see from these pictures, we had a great time.

Hope your Thanksgiving was a memorable and enjoyable one.

Find yourself… keeping it real.

Technorati Tags: Thanksgiving,travel,resorts,Natural Bridge,Virginia,hiking,photography,photos

Ode to Fall in the Color of Pink

When we went hiking last weekend on the Blue Ridge parkway, I took a few pictures before I knocked the camera one too many times and messed it up.  The shots I got on the hike weren’t fabulous. 

But I love the pink peaking through the bare trees in this one.  It was getting close to the peak of the fall colors in this part of Virginia and some of the trees had lost their leaves… but that pinkish looking one was holding on to her fall colors, her fashion statement, for as long as she could.  Strong woman. Nothing wrong with that.

Find yourself… keeping it real.

The party you were trying to reach was DISCONNECTED

I just got back from vacation and now I am in the process of getting my connection to the world back on the hook. 

The kiddos and I went to Pigeon Forge, TN.  Great place.  We go every summer.  Literally.  And with this trip I didn’t even tote the laptop with me.  I had the cell phone turned off most of the time we were there as well.  It was nice to just get away, to have fun, and completely disconnect from the rest of the world.  So I didn’t twitter, I didn’t check facebook and my emails piled up to about 700 messages in my personal gmail account alone.  I haven’t even looked at the office emails yet.  That will come Tuesday.

But for today I wanted to check back in, write a short blog, and see what I missed.  This is to let my friends and recent followers know that I am not ignoring your friend requests on facebook or your following alerts on Twitter.  No, it’s not that at all; I just didn’t see them until today.  I have only looked at or deleted 200 emails so far and with almost 500 more personal emails to sort through, some of your requests I haven’t even seen yet.

Mr. M and his boys came down and met us while we were gone so we kept the kiddos busy with fun stuff to do everyday and playing in the water park every night at the resort where we stayed.  There are lots of photographs I want to share and there’s definitely more to say about the week of events.

But in the short version: Yes, we had a blast.  I wish I could say I missed twitter, the blog, and facebook, oh my.  But taking a week away, completely away, was definitely worth it. 

In case you haven’t done so for awhile… you need to pull the plug, get off the hook, and give it a try.

Find yourself…keeping it real.

Photo Credit: PhotoXpress.com (Juan David Ferrando)

Caught in the act

I just realized I never posted this blog of pics taken hiking on the Blue Ridge Parkway.  Enjoy:

While Mr. M was taking this picture of me on the Blue Ridge Parkway back in April…

I was taking pictures of…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Find yourself… keeping it real.

Technorati Tags: Blue Ridge parkway,photography,black and white photo,nature,hiking,landscapes,flowers,walking away

Enjoying Paris over Lunch

Someday I am going to Italy.  I have said this more than once. 

Mr. M. is Italian. He was born there and lived there as a child. But that’s not the only reason I would like to go – I just want to travel to Europe, and I thought that would be a lovely place to start.

I plan to learn some Italian (Mr. M. and I have already bought the book to get us started).  But I took French in college, so Paris would also be an awesome place to visit if I end up in Europe in my future travels.

Now what got me thinking about all this traveling?

Was it my spring break vacation coming up in a couple weeks when the kiddos are out of school?

Nope.

Was it trying to plan what I am going to do with my kiddos when we take a week off in the summer?

Nope.

I was just enjoying “Stumble it” over my lunch break and found this awesome panorama view of Paris… via webcam:  http://www.gillesvidal.com/blogpano/paris.htm!

Take 2 minutes and check it out.

Find yourself… keeping it real.

 

Technorati Tags: travel,vacation,panorama,Italy,Paris,French,Italian

Delayed Photos

These were photos I took of the Fourth Street Live just down from our hotel when I was in Kentucky.  Yeah… talk about delayed reaction… this trip was quite a while ago and yet I am just now getting around to sharing photos from that trip.  More photos from the recent trip to DC are coming soon.

Oh well, I told you it was a hectic week.  This is all I could get to you for now….

Find yourself… keeping it real.

A Long Weekend to Remember

This is crazy week in my world.   I have a longer to-do list than normal and not enough hours in the days.  Kass’ birthday party is Friday and I don’t even have her gift yet.  But that isn’t even the problem.  I have a meeting tonight with her troop and then a three hour training class tomorrow night – leaving me exactly 2 evenings to get all that’s on my list for the party finished…

BUT…

That’s not what I wanted this blog to be about… but in saying all that… you understand why this is only a glimmer of what I want to share later in more detail…. about my long weekend.

Thanksgiving Day was great with the kiddos.  We ended up at Mr. M’s house with his mom and stepdad for our special meal… and it was just that – special.  We did watch the parade together and after the meal the kiddos had to leave with their dad.

Following their departure, Mr. M and his boys and I headed up to DC where we spent the rest of our downtime.  WHAT A TREAT!  I want to share more with pictures and details of all we did while we were there and I have to tell you about meeting his dad!

But with my hectic week… that will have to come at a later time… but stay tuned.  More is coming soon.  I promise.

Find yourself… keeping it real.

Photo credit:  http://plus.maths.org/latestnews/jan-apr08/sand/sand.jpg

Technorati Tags: holidays,travel,Washington DC,Thanksgiving,weekends,relationships

Traveling as a SINGLE MOM

When I started planning the trip to Kentucky (literally months ago) for training classes; I had to plan a way to take care of the kids while I was away.  As a single mom this is the first thought that comes to mind when you hear the words “Can you go out of town for this event?”

I have been working for the same non-profit over ten years and they have always been great about being flexible.  Quite frankly, it is not often they even need me to go out of town.  But when they do, my mind starts working in over-drive… “What about the kiddos?”

It was no different months ago.  And the first plan is usually to ask their father about him keeping them.  He lives an hour away, so it would mean they miss school if it falls on a school day; but one day or two isn’t a big deal, because they always make up the work.  But in this case – he was unsure when I first asked him if he could make the days work on his schedule, even though I asked months in advance.

Ok, on to Plan B.  When he couldn’t commit, I considered my other options. 

Remember, not only am I a single mom with an X that can be uncooperative at times, but I also lost my mom two years ago.  When she was well, she always kept my kiddos for me when I had to go out of town.  But now more than ever, the one thing I find useful as a single mom is the support team you put together around you in order to have people to lean on during these times when you need help.  It’s inevitable.  We single moms – still need the help and support of others.  I talk about this often in my blog, I hope you have had a chance to see other examples.

Now back to plan B, the support team.  By the time I was finished planning what to do with the kiddos (and the two dogs as well) I had quite a little network planned out to take care of things for me in my absence.  And each member of the network had a copy of the game plan as well as phone numbers to reach others involved in this setup.  (Remember, I love lists!)

As an example I will share who was involved in our game plan… and let you know HOW MUCH I APPRECIATED THEM!

Mr. M. took care of the dogs every morning before he went to work (driving out of his way to head over to my house to let them out and tend to them).  He also met up with Sue to pick up Kass the evening I was due home so I could just concentrate on getting home from the airport that night.

My aunt, Sue took Kass under her wing and into her home and treated her like a little princess while I was away.  (Kass said she missed being with her the next day when we were getting back into our regular routine.  This made me feel really great – because if Kass missed being there… I know she enjoyed her stay! – Kudos Sue!)

E my neighbor two doors down and Kass’ good friend took care of the dogs in the afternoons and evenings before bedtime so I knew they were in good hands.

C, Jas’ friend from the neighborhood took Jas in as an adopted brother for those few days so he could go to school (and Governor’s school).  His parents were a true God-send to take him in and have often said he is welcome anytime.  Thanks C’s parents!!!

So in summary, don’t be afraid as a single mom – or as a married mom for that matter – to create your support team of people including your family, your kiddos’ friend’s parents, your neighbors, and of course your s.o.  These people can be a life saver for you on more than one occasion.  They were for me!

Who is in Your Support Team?

Find yourself… keeping it real.

Home from KY

I have so much to share about the trip… but let me just leave you with a quick note.  I made it home last night, after stressful flights (beyond imagination).  Yes, more about that story is to come soon.

Thankful to be back home, and grateful my luggage made it with me…  This was the highlight of the trip home (see above) from Louisville – this beautiful sunset seen out the airplane window.

Find yourself… keeping it real.

Technorati Tags: travel,Louisville,Kentucky,home,training,single moms,sunsets,photography

Seelbach Hilton is in my Future

I am headed to Louisville, Kentucky in the next few days.  The hotel, Seelbach Hilton is in the photograph above…. somewhere.  That’s where I will be staying.  This isn’t a pleasure trip though, I’m going there for some training for my day job but I hope to get some cool photos (like this one) while I’m there. 

This trip I will be flying (not driving)… but I still covet your prayers for travel mercies!

Find yourself… keeping it real.

Photo Credit: http://www.aaomr.org/images/kentucky.jpg

Technorati Tags: travel,Kentucky,training,work