Disney World--"The Happiest Place on Earth"!

Our first day at Disney began with "Breakfast with the Princesses" in the Magic Kingdom. If you read Amy's blog, you'll know that our Disney experience began rather rocky, with Amy and Corin having trouble getting to the park on time, and us all thinking we were going to miss out on this exciting event that Pressley was looking SO forward to. Amy had made reservations ahead of time, from home, and it looked like it might be a disaster. But, to our delight, the folks at Disney couldn't have been any nicer, and told us(Ralph and I were at the park already) that, if they weren't able to make it on time, we could simply get into the next seating. Fortunately, Amy's family arrived in time for the next seating--and all was well with the world! Amy, Pressley and I had a wonderful time having breakfast with the princesses, and the "boys" had breakfast elsewhere and enjoyed themselves! Above and below, are pictures of Miss P with her favorite princesses, Cinderella and Ariel( the Little Mermaid). You might notice that P has an Ariel costume on, herself!
Pressley was able to get the autographs of many of the princesses--even the 3 step-sisters!
Evan had his favorite characters, himself! Below, he is with one of the chipmunks.
A "must-ride" was the Dumbo ride, which did not have a fast-pass. Amy stood in line for quite a while, but all turned out fine there, too.
The heat sapped a lot of energy out of one little girl, but the ice cream cone helped tremendously!
There was A LOT of walking, so the double stroller really came in handy--even though they don't normally use strollers. ( Actually, it would have really been nice if there had been adult-sized strollers, too.)
For lunch, we had reservations for the T-Rex Cafe! Wow, Evan enjoyed that as much as Little P enjoyed the Princess breakfast!
Then, it was on to the Bibbidi, Bobbidi Boutique! Here, Pressley was transformed into a true princess herself! Of course, by her own "fairy godmothers!!!
When the fairy godmother was pulling her hair back so tight, Amy and I weren't sure Pressley was a fan, but, in the end, she LOVED it! See the big smile!

And...... here is the final product! All of this was in ONE DAY......enough to wear a little princess totally out!!!!
After a little nap...we were all back to the Magic Kingdom--and ready to go again!
Evan bought a sword and was brandishing it at the Electric Light Parade.

The second day, we were off to Animal Kingdom. We did a fantastic safari ride and SO much more!

Face Painting.........

and watching parades.
Then, on the third day, we hit Epcot. There Evan and Pressley got even more autographs........
Met Mickey......
And learned about lots of other countries.
Such an awesome trip!!!!!

Catching Up on Birthdays

Oh, my goodness! Things have been happening fast and furiously around here! But, I am grateful to say, "It's all been good!". Therefore, I failed to even realize how far behind I was with the blogging. So, as not to miss out on documenting any of the important events in our lives, I thought I might do a few " catch-up " blogs. The one today will be to share the birthday celebrations of our other two "Grands", Pressley and Evan.

As you can see from Pressley's cute invitation, her party had a "Rock Star" theme. Amy did a wonderful job of decorating their den as a stage for all the little rock stars!
She also got two of the teenagers from our church to come and do make-up and hair! "Yours truly" was recruited to do nails. Of course, there was every nail color imaginable-and lots of glitter!
Here, Sadie is making up the "Birthday Girl".
The girls all loved the inflatable guitars and the great music on the Wii.
The birthday cake was a hit. As usual, it was delicious, as well as beautifully decorated by Amy.
In May, Evan turned 7!!!! I can't believe he could possibly be 7 already and heading into the 2nd grade! On his actual birthday, Amy and Corin and Ralph and I took all four grandchildren to Evan's favorite restaurant, Uncle Julio's Casa Grande. Amy had gotten an ice cream cake from Bruester's, and he opened his gifts from his parents. The upside down gift is a SpyNet Video watch.
Pressley loves her brother!
Although not as beautifully decorated as Amy's cakes, the ice cream cake was very good!
The next day was Evan's "real" birthday party. It was originally supposed to be a swimming party at their neighborhood pool, but due to rain, it was suddenly relocated. I think Evan was VERY disappointed at first, but, in the end, decided that a bowling party was a lot of fun, too.
He and his friends did quite well with the bowling--considering it was "a first-time" experience for most of them.
As many of you know, Beyblades are the latest rage. At least, they are around Atlanta! They are about the size of a yo-yo, but function more like a top. They have interchangeable "tips" on them, and the kids launch them to do battle with someone else's Beyblade. Any way, Evan's cake was fashioned after one of his favorite beyblades!

Below, Evan is about to launch on of his beyblades-and take on one of his friend's beyblades.

Well, that does it for the kids' birthdays. They all four come pretty close together-so it will be a while before we celebrate another one.

Coming up will be a catch-up blog of our Disney trip with Amy's family. (I promise to show you some pictures of Will and Abby soon, too.)

Tis the Birthday Season!

All four of our grandchildren have Spring birthdays! Will and Abby both have March birthdays, Pressley has an April birthday, and Evan's is in May. That makes for a fun Spring, but also a very busy one! Our eldest grandchild, Will, celebrated his 10th birthday Friday. Look at this picture. It was taken the day he arrived in Atlanta from Beijing, China--and this was, by far, one of the most exciting days of our lives! Wasn't he just the cutest thing you've ever seen? He was the first grandchild on both sides--and we all adored him--and still do!

Here he is now--9 years later! We are so proud of him, and marvel everyday at what a special, intelligent boy he is. Many of our friends ask frequently for "Will stories" because he is just so unique. And, of course, his Poppy loves to tell the latest tale about him and his interests!

We got to check him out of school on Thursday(like we did for Abby), and take him to lunch at Chili's, and then to spend his money from us. He bought a Wii game, and couldn't wait to get home to play it!
On Friday evening, the family got together at Red Lobster( Will's choice) and had dinner. Beth and David let him choose one friend to "sleep-over" with him, too. Here he is with his friend--and two of his cousins, Evan and Jonathan.
We couldn't leave the girls out! Here's Abby, Sarah and Pressley outside Red Lobster.
Will wanted a cookie cake this year, so here everyone is singing Happy Birthday, as Will blows out his candles. The dog wanted to be in on the fun, too!
Will loves Crocs, so here he is showing off his new shoes from his cousins......
and reading a letter from his sweet sister!
To top off the great birthday, he was so excited to see his new bike!

God has blessed us so much --and Will is definitely one of those very special blessings!

If This Weekend Was Any Indication....

If this weekend was any indication of the fun ahead of us, then I am really excited about seeing the next few months ahead! Wow, it's been a busy one, but oh, so much fun--filled with a birthday shopping trip, a birthday party, a boys' sleepover, a first-ever T-ball game, and a soccer game.

Friday was Abby's 8th birthday! (I just can't believe that tiny little thing could already be 8 years old! ) But, the truth is--she is growing up! The above picture is from our shopping trip to North Point Mall. Abby loves the carousel there-- so that was a must! We gave her money to spend and ate lunch together at the mall. Then, the first thing she had decided to do with her money was to get her ears pierced. (We DID have her parents permission!) She was SO excited, and was SO brave! Not even one tear!
She enjoyed the frozen yogurt, too!


See how brave she was? I was so proud of her, and thought she looked so cute with her new little earrings!
Then, it was on to the American Girl Store! Abby has an American Girl doll named Ivy. She looks a lot like Abby, too. After lots of shopping and trying to decide just what she wanted, she decided on a new bathing suit for Ivy and a beach-set for her with sandals, a beach blanket, sunglasses and a beach bag. They were so cute!
Here's Abby with a full sized American Girl Doll.
On Friday, we met Abby and lots of her family at the Mall of Georgia and had dinner together. There were 16 of us. All the kids sat at one end of the table, and had a ball together!
After dinner, we went over to Beth and David's and had "birthday brownie". Of course, that was Abby's choice--as was Olive Garden for dinner.

Here are Aunt Amy and Evan.
Her other grandparents gave her two new pair of shoes. She especially liked the flip-flops!
She was really surprised with the new bike she got from her Mom & Dad and brother.

Since Abby had a friend to spend the night with her, Will decided he'd much rather come to our house, than to listen to giggling girls. So, we invited Evan to come too. They always have fun together.
On Saturday, we went to Evan's first T-ball game. Doesn't he look cute in his uniform?
This was his very first "At bat"!
Here is Pressley, dressed in her soccer uniform, waiting to go to her game.
She has really surprised us all with how much she enjoys soccer! We thought she was much too prissy and "Princess-like" to enjoy it. But, she really gets in there and hustles!
Yesterday was such a beautiful day! It really spoiled us. Today has been a good bit cooler, but yesterday only reminded us of how much we have to look forward to!