The Three Amigos!

Becky & I had the most wonderful day today. First, we went down to the plaza for breakfast. This hotel is set up to replicate Italy, so of course there is a plaza square with shops & restaurants - even opera singers at sunset each evening! We had a lovely breakfast with a wonderful view.Then our CWA friend Corrine and her two darling boys Victor and Joseph joined us for the day. They live about 1 1/2 hours from Orlando and came down to spend the day with us. We started at the beach pool - which has a sand beach and a very shallow end for the kids. It also has an awesome slide - but it will be a few years before any of the three amigos can handle that!

Becky was quite the water bug today.....

Joesph was quite the little camera ham.....

and Victor was the responsible, serious one in the group!

Becky holding court

After the pool ,we got dressed and headed down to the boat dock to catch the shuttle boat over to Islands of Adventure & Dr. Suessland. We actually got all three kids to look at the camera at the same time (never mind we could only get two to smile - we figured we were doing pretty good!)

I love the way Joseph is looking at Becky in this picture. Joseph really took to Becky - even though for months it has been Victor asking his mommy to get on the computer & see pictures of "Baby Becky". Joseph was so attentive to Becky - watching her in the pool, not wanting to go on rides she couldn't go on, pushing her stroller and generally looking out for her. Doesn't this look like a good photo for the slide show at their wedding? (just kidding - sort of!)

I love this picture - it reflects everyone's personalities

Has anyone noticed that my daughter has a habit of falling asleep at theme parks??? I wonder if rock concerts are next....

Becky is not any fonder of the Suess characters than the Disney ones - couldn't get her anywhere near Cat in the Hat

Very tired but very happy group at the end of a very long day!

On the Road (again!)

Quick post from the road - we arrived in Orlando last night. Doug had never flown with Becky and you can imagine his surprise when the ladies in the Admirals Club remembered Becky (ok - she's been there a few times!)

Doug went to his meeting while Becky & I got unpacked, settled in our room and went to dinner. We are staying at the Loews Portofino Bay Hotel and it is just lovely!

The Best Dog

BB (before Becky), our dog Sailor was the baby of the family - and I mean baby. Her sleeping bed is in our room, she has "her" spot in the middle of the couch between Doug & I for TV time, she has babysitters & dog walkers when we travel - the works. Then came Becky. Becky took over. Becky is a jealous child. Becky doesn't even like for Sailor to lie on the couch next to mommy, and has been known to come & push Sailor's head away form mommy when mommy is petting Sailor. She takes toys away from Sailor. She hits Sailor. She is generally mean to Sailor.

However, the great things about dogs is they don't care about that. Sailor loves Becky and is so patient with her. Case in point.....These pictures were taken while Sailor was eating her dinner. She never even looked cross eyed at Becky (now if that cat had done this - it would have been ugly!)

She is the best dog ever!

ps - we are working with Becky to help her be "less mean" to Sailor and it is slowly improving!

Disneyland Once again

The Lucky Mommy's went to Disneyland yet again...we are compiling a list of other things to do, but for right now - this was easy and fun and let us put something together at the last minute! Becky did much better on the rides this time; she rode It's a Small World twice and Winnie the Pooh - and liked them both! I was actually able to take pictures of the other kids on the rides because Becky was sitting in her seat enjoying them herself instead of hanging onto me with the death grip!
Sweet Kailee and her mom KarenMia and Christy - this kid loves the camera!

Hanging out in Frontierland

Kailee does some modeling professionally but she hates to smile for us when we are hanging out - so I try to get her being cute when I can!

Our tradition is to go to the candy shop after we ride Winnie the Pooh; Mia is showing Becky how to pick out the fallen jelly beans from the grate...

Becky settled for a lollipop, but didn't quite get all the way through it before succumbing to the inevitable....

...along with several others.....

...but not all....Mia looks like she is wondering what the others could possibly be thinking by falling asleep at Disneyland!

Good bye (for now)

On Thursday and Friday, we said good bye to all our friends who were visiting us. The good news is - they will all be back to California soon! We all went to Islands & had a ton of fun. We sure will miss you guys - the house is way too quiet!

Days of firsts

Becky has had several days of "firsts" over the past several days. She went to the beach, had a photo shoot, walked.....and got her first haircut!

Photo Project

My good friend Mary's sweet daughter Kim is taking a photography class at Fullerton High. Their project for this week was a photo depicting love and she asked if she could take some pictures of Becky & me. I was so touched that when she is looking for a subject to show love - she thought of us. We had a lot of fun & Becky did really well for her first real "photo shot"! Here are just a few of the photos.

Matt's 15th Birthday

In Honor of Matt's 15th birthday - here are 15 things we love about Matt

1) His sense of humor - he is a funny kid
2) We love how much he loves his little sister; Matt was the first person besides Doug & myself that Becky bonded with. One of the first words she said was "Matt"
3) His hair - it's just great!
4) The passion that he has for music and especially the guitar - and how well he plays!
5) I (Karen) love how much he is like his dad
6) His negotiation skills
7) How frugal he is with his money
8) How cute & innocent he looks when he's sleeping
9) How loyal he is to his friends; Matt has had the same best friend since he was 5 years old and he has a few very close friends that he is very close to. He is a good friend to those kids.10) His mellow personality - he never gets too riled up about anything
11) How he humors his dad & pretends that he is still into baseball to make his dad happy
12) His mostly sweet relationship with his sister Ashlee- he pretends to bug her (and she him) but he really loves her a lot13) He treats his pets really well - he loves his dogs & cats
14) I (Karen) love that he can beat his dad at Lord of the Ring Trivial Pursuit!
15) Most of all - we love that he is part of this family and adds so much to it!

Happy Birthday, Matt - we love you & are so proud of the young man that you are becoming!

A Day at the Beach

Even though we live 20 miles from the beach, last summer we never got there with Becky. She just wasn't ready for it. Yesterday, we had a break in the rain and took the dog and Becky to Dog Beach in Huntington. Pictures are worth a thousand words here....