Disney 2012

We had an amazing spring break vacation to Disney! We spent four days at the Animal Kingdom Lodge with our friends and their children. Then, we met up with the two grandmas and we (all nine of us) spent five days on the Disney Dream cruise ship. We cruised to Nassau, Bahamas and then two days at Disney's private island Castaway Cay. Here are a few photos of our time on vacation.

Waiting for the bus to the Magic Kingdom.

Family photo.
'Let the memories begin.'

Hanging out in Frontierland.

Choosing an outfit from the princess wardrobe
at the Bibbiddi Bobbiddi Boutique in Cinderella's Castle.

Getting started on her princess transformation
with her very own Fairy Godmother-in-training.

Checking the progress.

Getting ready for the big reveal! She loved it!

Dinner at Cinderella's Castle for a birthday celebration!
All of the princesses were in attendance.

Castaway Cay

Aquaduck on the Disney Dream.
What a great ride!!

A few more photos

I just downloaded photos from my iphone and thought I would share a few more.

(photo courtesy of Cashman Photography)
Dinner at Circo in Las Vegas.
Sorry the photo quality is not great. I snapped a photo of a photo with my iphone.

It was sooooo yummy. Hand pulled spaghetti with a bolognese sauce. And an espresso martini for dessert.

Roses from my sweet hubby.
He had them (and sprinkled rose petals) on the table at our dinner in the Eiffel Tower Restaurant. It was one of the best meals I have ever had.

Bring on 2011!

I was just looking at my blog posts this year and there are only ten (including this one). OMG!! I have been such a slacker. That will not happen in 2011. I have an entirely new outlook to my life and plan on sharing and documenting it much more than ever before. Look out world! :)

We will be spending tonight with friends and then the holiday clean up can begin. I have been so busy this year it is no wonder I have only had 10 posts. So I am going to recap 2010! Some with photos some without.

JANUARY

Marissa playing at recess in preschool.

Robert spent some time in Boise, ID for work and at our home there.

FEBRUARY
Cody performed in the play "The White Rose". This production was amazing!

Robert attended the yearly Safari Club dinner/auction and brought home a beautiful painting.

MARCH
A very quiet month for us. The calm before the storm you might say. :)
APRIL
We had all of the kids and their families to our house for prom photos before the limo picked them up. We did this last year and it was such a hit we did it again. They had such a good time taking photos and at the prom. The limo company called the next morning and told us they had never had a better more fun group of young adults. The good stuff every parent wants to hear.

All the guys dressed for prom.

Cody and all the girls dressed for prom.

Cody also has Senior Fun Day and his last performance in high school, Dimond Night Live (the high school version of Saturday Night Live). It is so fun, they do it every year. All of the skits are written and performed by the students.

Robert was back in Idaho for work and flew his mom in to spend some time with her.

I found out I would be needing a new aortic valve and started the scheduling process for that. Also, had all of my dental work done. :)

MAY
Cody graduated high school!!
Cody and mom at Baccalaureate.
Cody, his diploma and his principal. :)

Marissa finished up preschool and was promoted to kindergarten!!

Robert headed to Orlando for his continuing education class for his CIMA.

We went to Seward, AK in the RV and camped for the long weekend. It is my favorite spot to camp. The ocean, the biking, the shopping, etc. Who doesn't love to shop when your camping?
Playground in Seward.
Octopus at the Seward Sea Life Center. It was HUGE!
Sorry about the glare I couldn't avoid it.

This momma moose birthed twin calves in our backyard. The other baby was laying down.

And sadly, our dog Max passed away. He was such a good dog and we still miss him.

JUNE
We took Robert's mother to Italy for her 70th birthday.

What a great trip! I shared a lot of the highlights already on my blog so you can check out the photos and stories there. :) But, here are a few more photos.
Pisa
Me, being a tourist in Pompeii. Loved it!
Morning in Santorini Greece.
Ephesus, Turkey. These are older ruins than Pompeii.

JULY
We returned to Alaska on the 9th of July from our Italy trip.

We left for Portland, Oregon on July 14th for my heart surgery.
It was a great success! I am so blessed to have such amazing doctors and nurses on my team. I am going to share a few photos, nothing gross, but lots of tubes and wires. I recovered so quickly and easily it almost doesn't seem real. Technology is amazing. We flew home on July 24th.
This is the late afternoon of my surgery! Can you believe it? Who would think you can look this alert and sitting up after just having massive open heart surgery. Okay, the heavy drugs were still in effect, but wow!
This was day three or four ?? I had just gotten my regular room and was feeling pretty good, considering. My daily visits from Marissa and Robert were very welcome. I was never so glad to go home in my life. Great team, but I am not a fan of hospitals. :)

Our good friend Julie hosted us for dinner the night before my surgery at her new home. It is gorgeous. And, her children were so welcoming to Marissa. Thank you Julie!

Marissa and Robert spent a lot of time in the hotel pool while I was in the recovering in the hospital. Marissa learned how to swim and daddy took her to her first movie 'Toy Story 3'.

AUGUST
Cody left for Air Force basic training.

I happily celebrated my 41st birthday! On the couch. ;)

Marissa started Kindergarten! She has Miss Yan for her teacher and has adjusted to full day kindergarten very well. She loves going to school and seeing all of her friends. You can see a blog post for more on this. :)
First day of Kindergarten 2010.

Robert left for Idaho on August 30th and returned home to AK Sept. 10. He worked in Idaho and then flew to Tennessee to drive his mom's car, with her and her 'stuff' (what she didn't ship there) back to Idaho. She is now living in our Boise home and loving it. So much to do and has met many friends already.

And, another sad day. Miss Inka, one of our cats, passed away.
This is Zoey (Sophie is on the stairs behind her). Inka looked exactly like her sister Zoey, but I didn't have a recent photo to share.

SEPTEMBER
Robert celebrated his 46th birthday! And, he accepted the position of President of the Anchorage Opera board of directors.

We camped, for only the second time this summer, in Seward again. It was a gorgeous weekend and we had a great time.

I left for Cody's Basic Training graduation the end of the month at Lackland Air Force Base in Texas. My mom and dad went with me. Robert stayed at home with Marissa (for school).
Cody chillaxing in his 'blues' after graduation.
So proud of him!

Marissa lost her first tooth and was visited by the tooth fairy!

OCTOBER
Cody celebrated his 19th birthday at tech school (Sheppard Air Force Base, Texas).

I helped my mom decorate the hotel lobby, bar and dining room where she works for Halloween/fall. It was a lot of fun to shop and decorate.

We left for Idaho on the 23rd for Marissa to enjoy some warm weather trick-or-treating. She had so much fun going out with out with daddy and grandma. She was so good about asking politely for candy and saying thank you.
Moments before heading out the door.
Lunch at the Flying Pie Pizzeria.
Some nice witch lent Marissa her hat and hair! Oh, my!

NOVEMBER
Marissa celebrated her 6th birthday at Chuck E. Cheese.
She had 14 friends at her party and had a great time! Lots of cake, presents and friends. Does it get any better? I think not. :)
In the ticket blaster at C.E.C.

Marissa lost her second tooth! And again the tooth fairy made a small deposit. ;)

Robert and I celebrated our 10 year wedding anniversary! XOXOXO

Robert's mom came up to visit for three weeks at Thanksgiving.

I decorated the hotel again for the holidays.

Robert and I attended the Marine Corps Ball.

Robert went to Florida to visit our nephew DJ and see a Florida Gator football game. Then he was off to Orlando to a work conference.

DECEMBER
Lots of school stuff before the winter break. Two plays we chaperoned. Dad attended the 'West Side of Whoville' and mom attended 'Click, Clack, Moo'. And she went to a friend's birthday party at a roller rink. How fun!!

We hosted Robert's office Holiday Party at our home on the 11th.

Robert and I went to Vegas for a much needed recharge of the batteries from the 16th - 19th. And, Marissa hung out with grandma and grandpa for a long weekend. Fun was had by all. :)

Cody came home on the 22nd for a brief visit for Christmas. Marissa was totally into handing out all of the presents this year and watched every person open the gift she handed them before she would go and retrieve another gift to pass out. But most importantly she stated the morning after Christmas, "Maybe Santa brought more presents." That is a scrapbook memory for sure.

Well that is all the big stuff. I think. ;) If your still reading at this point, thanks.
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

At the Beach!

All of our beach days on our cruise were in Greece.We went to the beach in Mykonos, Katakolon & Corfu. Every island was different and the water, waves and beaches were different. Some good for sandcastle building, some good for shell hunting and some good for critter finding. It was hot (lots of sunscreen), the water was cool and we had a blast! Marissa was definitely in her element. She is a water-loving kiddo.

MYKONOS

Beach at Mykonos, Greece.

Boats on the edge of the swimming/beach area.

View from our lounge chairs of the beach.

Marissa building in the sand.

A fish at my foot. :)
Lots of fish, but hard to photograph in the bright sun.

KATAKOLON
Grandma (Robert's mom) hangin' out in the shade.

Fighter jet flying over the beach.
I assume this was practice. They were flying over for about 30-45 minutes.
Not a bad view for the pilots.

Our pilot boat heading out of port.

Jellyfish in the water all around the ship as we were leaving the port.
Thank goodness none were at the beach we were swimming at. Whew!

CORFU
View of the beach in Corfu.

Me holding some little clams that were on the beach.
If you kept them wet they stuck their necks out to feel around.
That is what you can see in this photo.
Not sticky or slimy, just kind of a soft tickle. Too cute!

Marissa holding a hermit crab.
Daddy's hand is nearby just in case. ; )
We put him back in the water and he scurried off.

Marissa swimming with no arm floaties. Yay!

Old Town of Corfu.

Random photos from our trip to Venice

These are just some random pics from our trip. I am also listing our itinerary just so you know how many places we visited. It was a trip of a lifetime!! AMAZING!! I can't wait to go back and see and learn even more. And, by the way, cruising on a ship, water taxi's, gondolas and traveling by train are by far my favorite ways to travel. Airplanes and crazy, tiny taxi's in Rome, not so much.

This is the view of Venice around midnight as our cruise ship was pulling in to port.
The bell tower in St. Mark's square is just gorgeous.

Marissa sitting on the steps of the Rialto Bridge.

Fresh seafood at the Rialto Market.
This fresh air market has been in existence since 1097 A.D.

More fruit and veggie vendors at the rialto market.

Some yummy treats in a Venetian bakery window.

Venetian bakers making the days apricot filled croissants. We spent over four hours walking around Venice and saw an open window in a back of a bakery. I asked them if I could take their photos and they just grinned and nodded yes.

I think this is one of the only pics of me on the entire trip. We were in a water taxi on our way to the island of Murano to tour the glass factory. It is in the top ten of most amazing things I have ever seen. Worth every penny for that artistry.

From our trip to the Murano glass factory.

Here is how the piece started.

This is the finished piece. It is a lampshade.

An average street in Venice in the morning.