Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Next Up, Myrtle Beach


We arrived in Myrtle Beach late Sunday night and spent the next day at the beach. Well, actually, Colin and I spent the morning in our beautiful hotel room finishing up his online Spanish course, since Monday was the deadline. The rest of the kids got more than enough sunshine, and were thoroughly cooked by the end of the day. So how do South Carolina beaches measure up? Well, let's just say we're glad Grandma and Grandpa still live in San Diego!

We ate a wonderful Southern dinner here. Notice that, although the kids got plenty of sun today, I managed to maintain my beautiful lily white complexion.



We finished off our evening with a friendly game of putt putt golf (as opposed to miniature golf, which is what we call it out west). Apparently, Myrtle Beach is the putt putt golf capital of the world, and they have courses on every other corner. (The other corners have giant hotels and gargantuan t-shirt and souvenir shops.) The golf courses are unique in that they take up a smaller footprint than the courses we're used to playing. By the time we finished, we were three stories up!

To Infinity and Beyond!

We spent some time at Kennedy Space Center, touring the facility. One of the highlights was meeting astronaut Rick Searfoss, whose anecdotes and insights were fascinating. Especially interesting was the story of chasing his green beans and goldfish crackers, trying to eat them in zero gravity!

Monday, July 28, 2008

Living the Dream

Saturday was a day o' Disney.

Despite the fact that we used to live within minutes of Disneyland and could see the nightly firework show from our house, some of us had never ever been! (Okay, and one parent used to work at Disneyland, for heaven's sake.)

So, here are the results....


Favorite Rides
Geoff: Hall of Presidents
Amy: Space Mountain
Annika: Splash Mountain
Colin: Space Mountain
Tait: Splash Mountain
Brian: Splash Mountain

Most Terrifying Moment
losing Brian during the fireworks show

Most Terrific Moment
finding Brian a half an hour later


Splash Mountain


Big Thunder Mountain


Jessie, Geoff, and Woody
Frontierland BFFs


Amy and Annika "living the dream," dreaming of all things Jonas!

Friday, July 25, 2008

The Ever-lovin' Everglades

Walking the boardwalk over the "River of Grass."

Did you know that the Everglades is actually a shallow, slow-moving river? It's also home to 28 species of snakes and 30 different kinds of mosquitoes. I think we got bit by all of them (the mosquitoes, not the snakes)!
On the airboat, gazing off into the distance...




And the payoff!

Dippin' Our Toes in the Atlantic

Yesterday, we arrived in Miami, spent a little time at the beach, and had Greek food for dinner. The Atlantic was surprisingly warm (much warmer than the California beaches we're used to!) and there were absolutely no waves.

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Goodbye, Old Girl

It's time to say goodbye to our good old friend Hannah. She joined our family 14 years ago, and ate more than her share of socks, glasses, toys, and possums. We're gonna miss you, Hannah baby!