2011 photo challenge - Day 6

First of all I want to thank everyone that has come over to visit my blog and look at my challenge pictures!!
It has been a pleasure hearing from all of you and seeing your pictures in return.

Today is Day 6 of the challenge...and today we were supposed to take a picture of a Childhood Memory

I have alot of childhood memories.
I don't think I know alot of people that can say they had a "perfect" childhood...in fact I don't know anyone that could say that.

It's took me a while..but I think as I have grown up ..you realize your parents aren't super heros...they are human and they have feelings...I remember never thinking that.

I solely believe the one thing that completely changed my childhood...was my Grandma's death.

It hurt my mom to her core...understandably.
It hurt my dad ..because my dad's mom died when he was a baby....so my Grandma stepped right into that role when my mom and dad married.

It rocked the whole entire family...she was the glue that held us all together I guess.
Because now..we don't do family gatherings...no Christmas's or Thanksgiving's ...it hurts.

It hurts me
It hurts my daughter
It hurts my future children
It hurts all of us that used to sit at "the kids table"

As an adult I realize how much of an inspiration that my grandmother is to me.

I promise to be the glue to my family
I swear that if something happens to me and my family splits..I will literally come back from my grave and make them pay for it!

Fights happen in families...people get feelings hurt....you might not always agree....
but you LOVE each other
you apologize
talk
work it out

BE A FAMILY!

So I have to say for this challenge...

one of my childhood memories ...is holidays at Grandma's house

-having to go "in the other room" and play with our toys so the adults could open thier presents
-having my Grandma make all of us girls our own Christmas dresses
-seeing my dad always stand by the deep freeze to big meals "so it would settle evenly thoughout his body"
-eating homemade ice cream
-wrestling with uncles
-playing with cousins

being a family

oh..how  I miss that

Here is a picture of one of the dresses my Grandma made me for Christmas:

at the moment I don't even remember what year this was...

but I remember that it was taken in my Uncle Pete's bedroom

My favorite place in all of my Grandma's house.

I cry as I sit here and remember how much fun my Uncle Pete and I used to have together...how my mom used to have to be at work so early in the morning that she would take me to my Grandma's house and I would crawl in bed with my Uncle Pete and fall right back to sleep until it was time to get up to go to school and him go to work.

Even when I see him now...there is no time missed...it's like we see each other everyday

That's family

That's everlasting

But I wish I seen him more



Lunch at our lil Louisanna resort

As I have said before Thank Goodness we were on the Dining Plan when we went to Walt Disney World...
Food there is Crazy expensive!!

Tuesday after our morning of swimming and lounging we decided to head on over to the dining hall to get some lunch

Here are a few pictures from our walk over there:

Gregg took this picture!

I am so proud of him!

I really like it...it's a good picture...

of me and Lyla and the background!!

Way to go Babe!

Here is the little boat dock where you can rent boats and such

I like this picture because you can see the southern Louisanna mansion behind them

That is what the front of our hotel looked like

Lyla wanted to take a picture in front of the flowers...wow!

She said because Nanny always takes pictures with flowers...

ha ha

inside our dining hall..blurry...i took it...my fault....but I was walking

I was hungry!

You could see the water wheel through the windows

There is my husband in the bright orange shirt.

There were so many decisions.

Pizza, pasta, burgers, chicken, sandwiches....

whatever you wanted to eat for lunch..it was there

and you got to go to the bakery and get a dessert of your choice!

Yummy!

I thought this painting was pretty cool...so of course..

I took a picture of it!

Here is the dessert Lyla chose.

2011 photo challenge - day 5

Day 5

The challenge is to take a picture of someone you love... That's not a very hard challenge.
The hard part is picking the picture. I have so many to choose from.

I honestly don't know what I would do without my little family. Lyla is the light of my life... And Gregg helps me keep my light shining when I just want to sit and cry.

One man though ... That has always been on the top my list is my little brother Colton. He is my heartbeat. There is nothing I wouldn't do for that boy.

He is at the point now where he is old enough to hang with friends.. Have girlfriends... And act like a man ... It worries me to have him out in this world... I pray he makes good decisions... I pray that god keeps his hand on him and not let these wordly desires find a home in his heart.

My baby brother

Our Louisanna

Doesn't that bloggy title remind you of Blake Shelton's new song..Honeybee

I love that song....



Here we are the next morning after our Polynesian dinner

This was about noon...because Lyla didn't get up until 10:30...so we already had our bathing suit on and eating a little breakfast before we head off to the pool!

Boy...thank goodness I brought straws for my child to play with...

geez!

This is how wonderful my friend Trish is!!

She planned the whole trip...I mean the WHOLE trip

I knew nothing...we just paid for our part...then she sent me this email..letting me know what was scheduled.

After a little hang time at the pools....we spent a good time at each one....there was a little pool (for the little ones...very cute..and just enough water to really splash and have fun!)...there was a big pool (with a water slide and sprayer and fountains...very neat!) ...and there was a "bubbly pool" (which was the hot tub...which was momma and daddy's favorite!!! )

I was very suprised that when Lyla wanted to get in the Big Pool...she just took off swimming! I mean she didn't have a care in the world. I was really worried..I told Gregg to really hang on to her...cause I didn't want her to be scared of water...and I want her to take swimming lessons...

but to my suprise..she just took off...all you had to do was just keep her above water

then later on in our trip she started experiencing with going under water...

so she is gonna be like her daddy and love to be in water all the time!

This is the river that ran around our resort

I thought this was a really neat story...

and this is the tree they were talking about in that sign above...it was alot bigger than what this picture gives it credit for...very nice!!

and here was our fire pit...On Thursday and Sundays i think they would have story time and marshmallows...we were so busy ...we never went ....

Want Polynesian?

We finally made it to the Polynesian resteraunt...very cool place!!

Here is Lyla and I trying to take a picture...

but

Gregg doesn't know how to take a picture...in focus

Lyla doesn't look at the camera for Gregg

Just not a good combination

I'm starting to face the fact that I will not be included in our family pictures

it's ok..

at least i can blog about it...

or photoshop myself in    lol

eventhough you have reservations..it doesn't mean you get right in...we had to wait a little bit...Lyla wasn't a fan of that at all..but at least there was a cool window to look out of

I thought that was a cool sculpture behind the guy in the picture....

after the picture...the guy looked at me and smiled...

i am to nice to tell him i wasn't taking a picture of him

ha ha

My poor baby was SO SO sleepy...look at her eyes

This was the Polynesian kitchen...I couldn't catch it just right but there were about three foot flames coming up from the grills...and we sat right by it...fun! I was a little worried about the hairspray in my hair!

and this is how they served you....they would come to you and ask you how many

great huh?

Gregg was in Paradise!!!

You could choose from pork, chicken, steak, or shrimp...

or all of it

and all of it was pretty dang good

the bill was pretty dang good too

It was about $600 for a group of 15

thank goodness we had the dining plan...

This guy sang to us and they played limbo...the kids did a parade thing...it was really cute!

ha ha..

Gregg is gonna love me for this one!!

He was so excited about dinner..that he never had an empty mouth to take a picture

If someone would open a resteraunt like that in Arkansas...

and serve you like that...they would make a killin'

I can imagine pieces of watermelon on a skewer for dessertt!

My baby fell asleep on the bus ride home...

See how greatly focused this picture is?

That is because Gregg didn't take it...

Another momma on the bus did because she thought Lyla was so sweet and she knew I wouldn't want to miss a picture like this

So thank you to that sweet lady..

I great appreciate that and wish more people were like you!!!

This is my handsome hubby carrying my baby girl to our room

It was about midnight

We were so exhausted by the time we got to lay down..

we even skipped the next event that Trish had planned for us..because it was early in the morning and I knew that if we got Lyla up early after a late night and an exhausting day....she would make it a day from you know where...so we slept in the next morning...got settled and hung out at the pool!!