As the song by Jack Johnson goes, "It's always better when we're together."

Sunday, August 12, 2012

The Wizarding World

After returning from Adam's graduation, Matt and I were able to take a much needed mini-vacation. Leaving town for the graduation was the first time I left Nate overnight (minus the night they wouldn't release him from the hospital due to jaundice) and I was a little weary. My mom was in town to watch him, but it was still hard. Matt and I came back in to town on Sunday and spent a little time with Mr. Man before heading off to Orlando. I love Mr. Nate, but it was nice to get away and have a grown-up trip. Matt and I decided to go to Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure to check it all out. Since Nate was not with us we were able to ride rides and see some shows.

When we got into town Sunday night we headed to Downtown Disney and ate at an Irish pub called Raglan Road. It was a fun time and we were even able to see the dancers. After traveling most of the day we decided to call it a night after dinner.

Monday morning we decided to travel to Universal Studios. It was hot, but we had a fun time. We rode several rides including the Rockit roller coaster and the Revenge of the Mummy indoor coaster. The Rockit coaster is cool because you get to choose a song to listen to as you ride, but it is a very rough ride. We did a few other rides and wanted to try the MIB ride, but we were not willing to wait in the line. Besides, we had a dinner date with some medieval jousters!

We left the park and were able to get back to the hotel for a quick shower before heading over to Medieval Times. It was my first trip and I enjoyed it. We got to the show a little early so we could tour the village and see various artifacts from the time. My camera battery was almost dead and Matt decided to use what was left of its life in the torture chamber. We have a few pictures....


We were supporting the red and yellow knight! Matt was not expecting me to take his picture which is why he has the weird look on his face. 


Turnabout was fair play and I had to have my picture taken near the candle-making apparatus.  


If I remember correctly, this loom is 800 years old! 


They had a display on how to make chain mail.  


This device is called a head crusher. It pretty much does what its name infers. 


Some form of torture table... 


I was pretty much finished with the torture chamber after the first few displays, but Matt said I needed to come back and take a look at the chastity belts.



On Tuesday we headed off to Islands of Adventure and Harry Potter world. It was a blast! The lines were not horrible at all and we were able to ride most of the rides we were interested in (a few lines were long and a few rides were closed). Amazingly we were able to ride The Hulk in 8 minutes! The wait time said 30 minutes, but from leaving our stuff in the locker to getting on the ride - 8 minutes! We were able to ride both coasters in the Dragon Challenge in a reasonable amount of time, too. The longest line of the day for us was the line for Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey. This is the ride that is inside Hogwarts. We decided to go see Blue Man Group after our adventures. While waiting for our show time we went to City Walk. We ate at Pat O'Brien's and enjoyed some piano music. As we were getting ready to leave the dueling pianos started. I wish we could have stayed longer, but Blue Man was calling. Matt and I thoroughly enjoyed BMG. I highly recommend their show if you are able to attend.


Hogwarts! (except Matt cut off part of the castle) 


I think I did a better job of getting Matt and the castle in the same shot! 


Okay, so this picture looks rough. Really rough. However, there's only so much you can do when you're trying to take a picture of yourself!

 We ate lunch at Blondie's Cafe inside Islands of Adventure. This is a Dagwood sandwich!


By Wednesday it was time to come home. We were missing Nate and getting tired! We stopped by the outlets and grabbed a quick lunch before heading back. Nate was excited to see us and loved his car we brought back as a souvenir. Our trip was a fun adventure and I'm sure we'll make plans to go back soon!

Saturday, August 11, 2012

Back in Bama X 2

On a sunny Wednesday afternoon in July, Nate, Indiana, Chanlee, and I hopped aboard one of Southwest's finest jets and flew to Birmingham. Nate and I visited for a few days with family and friends. We didn't do a lot, but we did manage to get in some rest before summer comes to an end. I was also able to squeeze in a quick trip to Tuscaloosa to see my friend Meredith's new addition, Riley. While there, Nate had fun playing in his inflatable pool and digging out some of Uncle Jeffery's old toys. Nate is currently obsessed with cars, trucks, and pretty much anything with wheels. He had a ton of fun hanging out and taking it easy.

Nate loves his pool! 

The pool has a little thing to squirt water, but Nate didn't care for it so much. 

Nate did love Jeffery's old fire truck. He found it in the garage and insisted that we get it out. 

Vroom, vroom!! 

He eventually started riding the truck. 

Yes, we were outside in our pajamas. It was so hot during the day that we would go out first thing in the morning!

Nate and I returned from Alabama on Thursday and on Friday Matt and I headed back to Bama. Well, not exactly Bama, but close enough. We drove to his dad's house in Georgia Friday night to see his brother, Adam, graduate from Auburn on Saturday. Matt and I survived our trip to the Plains, but we were definitely out of place with all of the "War Eagle" shoutings around us. Here are a few pictures from Adam's big day...

 Noah was very entertained by the Kindle :-)

Adam receiving his diploma 

Here he is shaking the president's hand

All the boys except Nate. Nate stayed home due to the amount of driving and the fact that he doesn't idle at all! He would not have been great company at the ceremony.

It was a bit of a whirlwind weekend, but we were excited to see Adam graduate. Maybe we'll be able to make it back to Bama soon!

July Visitors

I am a little behind with my blogging and since school is about to start my goal is to get caught up this weekend. We'll see if it happens!

Toward the end of July Chanlee and Indiana came to visit. We filled our days with activities designed to wear out our active little boys. One day we took a trip to St. Augustine. While there we walked around and tried a homemade (and delicious) popsicle at The Hyppo. It was a nice treat on such a hot day! After lunch we went to the park. Nate and Indiana played hard on the playground. Nate got to go on his first carousel ride. He loved it so much we ended up riding two more times! Here are a few pictures from the day...

Indiana had fun on the playground equipment. 

I tried out this crazy slide and almost took Nate out in the process! 

My sweet baby! 

They had fun on the playground! 

I took away the pacifier and now he chews the fingers. Needless to say, the pacifier is back until I figure out how to break the finger chewing! 

Chanlee and Indiana on the carousel. 

Nate and me on our third carousel ride!

Another day we went to the zoo. It was HOT, but the boys seemed to enjoy it. They loved looking at the animals, riding the train, and playing on the splash pad. They came home and had a nice nap that day!

Checking out the wildlife... 

I would love to have someone push me around the zoo!

We decided they needed their picture made in front of the big snake! 

Giraffes! 

It was hot, but he was a trooper! 

It was super hot in the butterfly garden! 

Nate got to cool off under the whale's tail at the splash pad. 

Indiana loved running around through the water! 


While they were here we also spent a day at the pool and a day at the beach. The camera didn't make it on those trips! Before she left Chanlee helped us get a few family snapshots. We don't have many pictures of the three of us because Matt or I am usually behind the camera. As you will see, it's getting harder and harder to take pictures with Nate!

Nate refused to look at the camera! 

I think this picture of them turned out cute! 

Once again, Nate refuses to look at the camera. 

This picture pretty much sums up the photo shoot!

We had a fun time with Chanlee and Indiana in town. Nate and I left town with them and took a quick trip to Alabama. I'll have another blog on that trip soon!