Happy Holidays 2010

What an eventful end to the year.  We had a great holiday although it was a bit different than we thought.  Brad's uncle Bernard got to visit from California but he had to go into the hospital for the holiday and we missed him terribly.  He will now be staying in the area however and it will be fun for the children to see him all the time.  He is doing much better now.

The seasons top 10 gifts included itouch, an ATAT(from star wars), sports Jerseys, Barbie Kareoke and Barbie Cruise Ship.

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The trees were huge!

The views were spectacular!  We visited the top of Heavenly Ski Slope and overlooked Emerald Bay.

Overlook of Emerald Bay and Fanette Island.

Beard's and Wildings at Hyatt Resort at Incline Village

We hiked down to this bay and saw the Vikingholm castle.

Although it was beautiful, the water was freezing.  That didn't stop us from renting a 

boat and jumping in the water! We also did this paddle boat dinner cruise.

Lake Tahoe

There is nothing like going on vacation where the weather is 70 degrees in the middle of July! Arriving back home to a humid 90 in the middle of the night however is brutal!

Create your own video slideshow at animoto.com.

Piano Recital

Everybody did great at the piano recital today!   Ryan played Peter and the Wolf and Rock Around the Clock as a duet with mom.  Jacob played Light Calvary Overture by Suppe and Jurassic Park on his trumpet while Emma Kate played Mary had a Little Lamb and Pat a Cake as a duet with mom.

Dance Recital

On Stage

Time for Tap

Getting Ready to go on!

Posing Pre Rehersal

Everyone is a little nervous

First Dance Recital

This was Emma Kate weekend with her first dance rehersal and then recital on Saturday.  It was at Rudder High School and it was terribly crowded.  She did a great job and loved every minute of it!

Oh the last day...

We just put Emma Kate to bed kicking and screaming she was so tired.  I know now why people have kids younger!  40 is way to old to walk amusement parks for 6 days straight with Autism and a 3 year old!  Well.. Universal was expensive but fun and different from Disney.  My favorite was Dr. Suess and Spiderman.  Jacob couldn't wait for Jurassiac Park and Ryan loved the Popeye rides.  Emma loved the Dr. Seuss World and Brad loved that we all got soaked on half the rides today!

We will see you all on Monday!

Disney Day 4 - Hollywood Studios

Well... this is by far this was my favorite day!  We began the day riding the water taxi to Hollywood Studios.  We got there just in time for our 11:00 lunch reservation at the SCI FI restaurant.  It was so cool.  It was an  old fashioned drive in movie atmosphere with 50's horror flicks...

We then went to Play House Disney with Emma and Jacob stood in line for 2 1/2 hours to be trained as a Jedi Knight and fight Darth Vader. Ryan's highlight was Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular. We saw Star Tours, Lights Motor Action, Muppets 3D and the new Toy Story Ride.  Emma also saw the Little Mermaid.  We finished the day at 50's Prime Time Cafe where everything is 50s and the waitress fussed at the children for putting their elbows on the table (Hee).   We are trying to decide what to do tomorrow.  We may go to universal or just finish up a few things we missed.  We can't get over how much we are paying to eat.  $17 for kids meal spaghetti! but we are having a blast you guys!

Bippiti Video Link

click here to see EK video at the Bippiti Boppiti Boutique

Character Breakfast was a Hit!

This morning we all begrudgingly got up at 6 to make it over to the Contemporary Resort for a "Character Breakfast"  It was well worth it... so many signatures and no waiting in line!  Emma Loved Donald.  The boys liked it pretty well too.  They even had Mickey Waffles and Gummy Bears on the Buffet.

Today EmmaKate had an appointment at the Bippiti Boppiti Boutique .  They did her hair and nails and dressed her like a princess. She was so enchanted!  Everyone then made a fuss of her. They even announced on the shuttle bus that we were riding with a Disney Princess today! Hee... We did Epcot and Downtown Disney.  The highlights included the Aquarium and the Sea turtle interactive show with Crush from finding Nemo, Honey I shrunk the kids,  Sorin (a flight simulator) and Test Track.  We finished early and tucked our selves in bed to watch the Epcot fireworks from our window....we're exhausted!!!!

Goofy's Barnstormer Roller Coaster

We all liked different rides but Goofy's Barnstormer stood out as a memorable one.  It was Emma Kate's first roller coaster ride.  For a kiddy ride it is very fast and bumpy.  EK got off of it pleased as punch!  We have a thrill seeker.  She wasn't afraid of anything.. Snow White Scary Adventure, Stitich or even the Haunted Mansion!

Magic Kingdom Day 2

Well it took more time than we thought to finish off the Magic Kingdom today.  We started in Adventure land with the Jungle Cruise Ryan was dying to go on and finished up with Mickey's Toon town and the famous Tea Cups.

Slurping Noodle like Lady & The Tramp

Magic Kingdom Day 1

After a long travel day, we actually squeezed in some time at the Magic Kingdom.  It was Ryan's lucky day.  Last time we ate at a restaurant in Magic Kingdom called Tony's (from Lady and the Tramp).  Ryan talked about eating there this entire last month but I could not get a single reservation anytime this week.  We walked up to ask if anyone canceled and they sat us right away!  Jacob got up some guts and rode Space Mountain with Brad and EmmaKate had a blast with Buzz Light year after space ranger spin.  She couldn't make it through to see the Spectro parade at 9 pm.  All are zonked and snoring away this evening.

Snow Day in Texas

Well... it didn't cancel school but it was fun none the less.  One Tuesday in February the flakes began to fall.  It was a heavy wet snow and made for painful snowball fights.  Emma Kate made her first snow man about 3 feet tall.

Weekend News

Wow what a whirlwind.  Back from the Tech conference and all I want to do is play with all of the fun tools I learned about but... reality hits and the dishes have to be done.  It was fun to hang out with my friend Jody.

Getting ready for Valentines Day.  Jake is helping with youth group dinner and B and I are going to Christopher's!  Yeah!

Ryan is finally feeling better from the stomach flu this weekend.  Hopefully no one else will get it.

Here I am at the TCEA convention 2010. I am practicing making my first blog. We are in Tammy Worcester's Google Tools for Teachers.