epcot

we had a blast today at epcot. again, we did pretty much every ride that was offered. we ate lunch in mexico. that was really special because of manuel. unfortunately he isn't with us, but it had so much more meaning knowing that it's his culture.

we ended our day with dinner at the Nemo exhibit. earlier, we rode the ride, viewed the living seas tank, and sat in on a "turtle talk". the "turtle talk" was incredible because "crush", the turtle, called on cooper from the audience to talk to. they even came back and spoke to me and chris. i mean, what are the odds? cooper thinks he's famous now. he'll be happy to sign autographs when we return!

on our way out of the park we got to watch the spectacular firework display. what a show!! we're all exhausted...yet excited to see what tomorrow brings.

magic kingdom

today was our first day at disney world with pops and mama kay!

we started our day with a character breakfast at crystal palace where pooh, tigger, piglet, and eeyore visited our table. since we were in the park early for breakfast most of the lines for the rides were very short. even better chris and pops would grab a fastpass for the really popular rides while we stood in several other short lines. our whole day was tremendously timed. we couldn't have planned it better if we tried. we rode almost everything in the park...that we were interested in, which was mostly everything.

we ended our day with dinner at toni's, which features lady and the tramp, a ferryboat ride back to our car, and a nightswim at the hotel.

fyi...coop's favorite ride was buzz lightyear. taegan's was splash mountain.

a turtle named "chuck"

we bought an aquatic turtle while we were in destin, florida. a souvenir shop was selling them. they were the cutest little things i'd ever seen so we bought one for our family and one for manuel. i know...i'm a "sucker".

we went to petsmart once we got home to buy the turtle a more proper home. we already had a tank from the hermit crabs we brought home from destin two years ago (seems to be a pattern!)but they eventually died. in addition we had to buy a basking lamp, a turtle dock, and a small tank filter.

my whole family, especially manny, loves to watch the tv series "chuck"...so we decided to name our turtle "chuck". manny's family decided to name their's "florinda". i'll call her "flo". neither of us have any clue how to tell if they are male or female. we just named 'em.

today, manny allowed flo to spend some time at our house so she and chuck could play. they were so funny when they first met. who knew turtles had so much personality! thanks, manny, for letting flo visit.

we'd like you all to meet chuck and flo!

silver dunes

ridin' the waves, urgent care

so the seaweed's officially out and the waves are in!! unfortunately, so is the oil. it hit ft. walton this morning. some of our friends were there when the beaches were cleared. i think we may have skirted it...barely. we head back home saturday. i feel really bad for the families hoping to make it in the weeks to come.

well, manny is loving the ocean now! once the waves started rolling in, the real fun began. unfortunately, we spent the evening in the destin urgent care center last night with him. he got swimmer's ear. he's doing much better now that we have the ear drops. he wore ear plugs today in the water. nothing's gonna stop him from having a good time.

today i ran into a girl that i used to play with here at siver dunes when i was a young girl. she was from memphis but we only saw each other this week of each year at the condos. anyway, it was good to catch up with her and see her husband and kids. they are soo sweet. even more interesting is that she teaches in the memphis city schools in sped at white station hs. her husband is from england and is the head men's soccer coach at CBU. he also coaches highschool aged girls at the lobos. taegan and manny have been playing soccer in the courtyard with him. what a sight! the kids are in heaven...soccer at the beach!

i could get used to this!

as strange as the beach has been, manny is getting used to it. the seaweed is heading out and the waves are rolling in. now he's really having fun. the salty taste is a small price to pay for the amount of fun the ocean has to offer.

last night we went to buster's bar and grill for the $2/dozen oysters. manny tried them. i think his face tells it all! we finished our evening with a crab hunt. there was a family right in front of our condos who was shark fishing using small fish they had caught earlier in the day. believe it or not, we saw with our own eyes 2 ft. long sand sharks that they were catching. he was casting from knee deep water. even more freaky...they were letting them go right there in front of us, so they were smimming around right there where our feet would normally be. we'll see if manny wants to go walking the beach tonight. i doubt it!

first time on the beach

this year we brought manuel to destin with us. he'd never been to the beach before. he didn't even know what a beach was. i think he's having a good time, but he's not too sure about the ocean. we forgot to warn him about the salt...and how the sand gets in your pants. there's a lot of green seaweed, so it's kinda icky to swim through. however, he's definitely getting the full ocean experience...snorlkling, football, boogie boarding, crab hunting, etc.