The Pool

Yes, my friends, this is THAT pool. The pool that we had to fly all the way to Florida to swim in! This was our last day at Disney, so we threw caution to the wind and said, "Let that boy swim in that pool!" By this point Tim and I both were suffering from exhaustion and couldn't function well. Camden had the time of his life!

It was really a lot of fun for him. They had games and you could win prizes! This particular game you had to fill a jug with a bucket that had holes in it.

Daddy even joined in on the fun!

Camden played all of the games and participated in the dancing contest. They had a huge blow up screen that played a movie at 9:00 that night. Camden watched for an hour and then told Daddy that he had to go get him some sleep! 

Well that is a wrap for the longest, most confusing, painful, bittersweet, somewhat joyful vacation that I have ever been on!

Epcot & Nature

We had a pretty good time visiting Epcot. We walked all the way around to all of the countries and had to seek shelter several times due to a horrible thunder storm. By the end we were soaked. Tim and I were bummed that Fast Track was closed for repairs. Wouldn't you know it!

During our vacation, our little Nature Boy was on a hunt for any creature he could find. I think he was more enthralled by that than anything else. Well, besides the hotel pool! Here we are on a rock looking for lizards.

Let's try to find some worms, shall we?

Here is a little bird that got Camden's bread crust. He was so happy! (Camden, not the bird!)

Now let the Lizard Whisperer do his magic!

Please come here little bunny!

We could have done all of this becoming one with nature right in our own backyard. But, it was more fun at Disney! Ha! Oh well!

Animal Kingdom

We had a wonderful time visiting all of the animals. This was the day that Camden rode his first roller coaster ever, Expedition Everest. He loved it, but only wanted to ride it once! Then we were off to see the animals on the safari.

This one showed his behind!

We played some drums and woke everyone up!

Camden wanted me to take a picture of these rocks. He said the color of them reminded him of Chesapeake. He was our sweet dog that passed away a few years ago. The rocks are very close to his color. So sweet. Sigh!

After our morning adventures we had to go back to the hotel. I kind of got soaked and drenched by the water ride there. Wow! I felt like someone poured buckets of water over my head. Due to the horrible experience that I had at Disney a few years ago involving wet shorts and maybe some chaffing, well let's just say I didn't want a repeat! Ha!

Magic Kingdom

This is the happiest place on earth! We had such a great time wondering around, people watching and doing some serious eating! I got the biggest red velvet cupcake and not to mention lots of ice cream for all of us! We got a little break from the rain during the afternoon and saw the sun for about an hour. Daddy most certainly did ride Space Mountain. Thank goodness!! We were just a bunch of big giddy kids! The sweetest thing I will remember is that Camden said that his Papa looked just like Walt Disney!

We had to map out a course of action thanks to our little tour guide.

Then we took another ice cream break! Heaven!

During our visit we were honored to watch the Flag retreat ceremony. A very special moment!

Yep, another great day with lots of special memories!

Typhoon Lagoon

We had an exceptional day at Typhoon Lagoon. The sun peaked out for a minute and we got a little sun that day. After that it was back to raining buckets though. Daddy and Camden got to do a little snorkeling.

Camden had a sudden fear of the deep water and he decided it would be best to snorkel from Daddy's back. The only problem was that he was drowning Daddy. Several lifeguards told him to get off Daddy's back. It was all down hill from there and the snorkeling adventure came to an end.

Little did they know that this shark looked way much bigger from where I was standing. This is the number one reason Mommy doesn't go in the ocean. Ever.

We did get a little sun that day while Bear was back at the room sleeping!

You know it is a great day when it ends like this:

Downtown Disney

On our first day of vacation we went to Downtown Disney. Camden had a great time even though it was supposed to be "Mother's Day".

He rode a really fast carousel horse.

 Then it was off to build a Lego race car.

 Check out the kid next to him taking a bite out of a Lego. Yummy!

Next we got trapped by a scary pirate!

Then Camden got soaked on the splash pad. He loved it!

 He had an awesome Mother's Day! It was pretty awesome for me too!

Disney or Bust

We made it home safely from our Disney 2012 vacation. There are a few things that I must document so I can forever remember the hot mess train wreck that was our vacation:


1. The only thing my child wanted to do was go to the hotel pool. No matter what park we were at, he wanted to know when we were leaving to go back to the pool. We have a pool in our back yard and we didn't go to this much expense to swim in a hotel pool. I tried to patiently explain this to him, but all he did for five long days was whine to go in the pool.

2. It rained and rained and rained. It rained for four days straight, but who was counting since it was supposed to be the beautiful Florida sunshine? Right? Right?


3. On the second night we were there, I ran into the back of Camden's shoe and broke my toe. Oh what fun that was to limp 500 miles all over Disney World. It certainly wasn't magical!


4. Since Camden had the flu prior to us going to Disney, he thought he needed to get a stomach virus as well. He threw up all over Magic Kingdom before we could get to a bathroom. Thank goodness it was raining and washed most of it away! The next morning he spent moaning in bed a lot. That was the moment I was wishing that I was at work.


5. We did so much walking that we lost feeling in our feet and legs. Our bodies ached and screamed at us for torturing them. Tim told me that he could no longer turn his head to the left and look over his shoulder. Oh my!


6. The day before we left Tim decided that he needed a head cold to go along with his other miseries. He sneezed and blew his nose for the remainder of the vacation.


7. We were so happy to finally be at the airport and on the way home. We had to get on a tram to go to another terminal. Tim and I, along with everyone else, hopped on the tram. We turned around to see Camden sitting (all alone) on the platform trying to put his shoe on. In the next instant I could see him (a.) getting left there as the tram took off or (b.) the tram doors closing on him as he tried to get on. He jumped on the tram at the last possible second. Wow was all I could say!

8. We were then thru security and on our way to our gate. Just then we heard them paging us for last call for boarding. Mind you we are still half a mile from our gate. I told Tim and Camden to run for it. In the meantime I was half running, half limping and about to die of a panic attack. We did make our flight though!

We are so happy to be home safe and somewhat sound! We made some wonderful memories and had a great time in spite of everything else. We also learned a hard lesson: Don't take Camden to Disney World, take him to a water park! Ha! More to come!

Turkey Shoot

A few weeks ago the base had a Turkey Shoot. I don't know why it is called a Turkey Shoot, but these jets do look a little like turkeys from afar. Ha!

It is actually an event that pays homage to a similar competition that happened in World War II.  I wish that Camden and I could have been there to experience this in person! Camden would have loved it.  These pictures are from the base photographer.

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to our favorite mothers! You both are so very special to us. You have helped us get thru hard times, been our biggest cheerleaders, shared so many very special memories, had a ready shoulder to cry on, always ready to listen and give advice, oh and don't forget spoiling our child rotten!! We appreciate everything that you have done for us. Enjoy your special day!

Mother's Day will always be a sacred day for me. It was a long and hard road for me to get to be a Mother. It is something that I will forever cherish and it is that much more special to me because of what I had to endure. Camden is not that much into Mommy these days. He is all about his Daddy.  That's OK, I will sit quietly on the side lines for when he does need me. I will continue to dream all the dreams I have for him and plan all the things I want for him. I just want him to have the happiest and fullest life and do everything he wants with no regrets. I only pray that one day he will remember the important stuff that I have tried to teach him. Until then it doesn't matter how big my baby boy gets, he will always be my little cherub!

My Sick Child

We have had a rough few days dealing with the flu! Camden fixed this box so he could sit in it. Crazy, I know! I told him the day we came home from the doctor to not touch anything because I didn't wants germs all over the house. Later I asked him to turn down the TV. He told me that he couldn't turn it down. When I asked him why he replied, "Because you told me not to touch anything!"

For some reason this sickness has made him want to clean. He asked if he could wash the dishes one night. When I told him that  we didn't have any dishes to wash, he wanted to know if he could sweep. He also cleaned his room like it has never been cleaned before! What is up with that?


I caught him last night opening doors in the house using his shirt tail! Ha! The funniest part was watching him try to change channels on the remote using his shirt! Thank you Lord, he is my child!

What Else?

Did I mention that we would be leaving for vacation very soon? Well, I got a call from Camden's school nurse today and he told me that Camden had a high fever and was complaining of pain in his lower right side. I told him I was on my way and asked if he thought it was his appendix? After a trip to the doctor it was determined that it wasn't his appendix but just a case of the flu. Did we really need this right now? No, we didn't, but we are so thankful that it isn't something much more serious!

Camden asked me to get him something to drink last night. I told him that I was busy making dinner at the moment and he would have to wait. He said, "Well, I am kind of dry throated!" He also let me know today that his fever is not the spreading kind. Thank goodness for that! Ha! Let me just say for the record: Come rain or shine....Space Mountain here we come!!!

Mom's Garden Party

Mom's Birthday Party will forever be known as "The Party That Almost Wasn't". It was supposed to happen two weeks ago, but we had two family members that needed surgery and Tim went into the hospital for his Mini Vacation the day before we were leaving to go home for the party. The cake had already been made and Gina was nice enough to freeze it for us. Then we had to go to Plan B and figure out when everyone was going to be out of the hospital and what everyone's schedule looked like so we could try again. All the while we were trying to keep this a surprise! We were originally supposed to all wear white shirts so we could get a family picture, but we scratched that idea since we were still going to be missing a few people anyway. A handful of people stuck to the original plan and wore white! Didn't they get the memo?

The birthday girl was very surprised indeed!

She does love her some hotdogs! So we had a hotdog eating contest!

Camden and his Grandma A.

Even though planning the party turned into a disaster, it ended up being a great party and everyone seemed to have a really great time. Especially Mom! We just wanted to celebrate her and let her know how much she means to all of us. We love you Mom! And you are right, it is a "Sweet Life"!

Crazy Kids

We stopped on the way home from visiting family so the kids could run around and we could stretch our legs. This picture just struck me as very funny! I wonder what they are looking for?