Animal Kingdom

After the breakfast with the Nick characters, we played a little bit, then Caleb was ready for an early nap (he's pooped out). Camden and I hit the arcade again (shocking) and then hit the pool (again, shocking). Caleb and Holli joined us at the pool after the nap.

We decided to spend the afternoon at Animal Kingdom. If I could give a big raspberry sound with my tongue on this blog, I would. I give it a thumbs down. We grabbed a quick bite to eat once we got there then rode this dinosaur flying ride sort of like Dumbo at the Magic Kingdom. Then we went over to the Bone Yard where the boys got to run around and climb on stuff and go down lots of slides. It's sort of like a dinosaur excavation site.

We saw the afternoon parade and did some strolling around. The grounds are beautiful, but we just weren't thrilled with the action there.

The highlight of the afternoon was when Camden turned into a dragon. You've got to watch the video.

Day 4 - Breakfast with Sponge Bob

We started the day off with breakfast at the hotel with Sponge Bob, Dora, Diego and Little Bill.

Camden's favorite was Sponge Bob. Caleb's favorite was Dora.

Camden says the songs and dancing were great!

Camden says this hotel is great!

Camden says hi to all our friends and family following along on our blog.

Ian, I'll be back soon. Tell the other owls I said hi. Your best friend, Camden. I love Ian.

More later....

Disney: Day 3 -- Ball, Ball, Ball

After Caleb's nap today we decided to head to Epcot for a short visit and do a couple rides. From hotel parking lot to walking in the main entrance it was 15 minutes, not bad.

As soon as Caleb saw the big Epcot ball, he started saying "Ball, Ball, Ball, Ball, Ball". The boy loves balls. As we started to get closer to it he started saying "Touch, Touch, Touch".

To quote Madonna, We are living in a material world, and Camden is a material, uh... kid. Our Camden...He loves to buy stuff. At least he asks for everything he sees. I guess what do we expect for 5, huh? He did get a cool ball and then he talked Caleb into wanting a cool light up Mickey toy.

Caleb LOVES the characters. Epcot has this new area where you can meet the characters and get pictures with them. Holli and Caleb saw the characters while Camden and I went and rode the Test Track. Caleb LOVES Minnie. He must have kissed her nose about 50 times.

Here's a few more pics. You can't go to Disney without getting a Mickey ice cream bar. And...Camden and Caleb got eaten by a shark!

Fun At The Pool

After the arcade Camden and I hit the pool! Much fun! This picture is the smaller of the two pools. The view is from our room.

Arcade Time

Caleb needed his nap, so Holli hung out in the room and Camden and I hit the arcade. $20 bought us over an hour of fun and enough tickets to get a bouncy ball, small airlplane, 2 tattoos, and an army guy!

Why is it that kids love trying to win those stuffed animals in the claw game??? Rip off ;)

Disney: Day 3 -- Breakfast at Cape May

Started the day off at Cape May breakfast at the Disney Beach Club. What is it about buffets that you eat WAY too much!?!

Disney: Day 2 -- Pooped Out

OK, so today is only day 2 and we're pooped out. We spent the day at the Magic Kingdom. The boys had a great time and Holli and I did too. I think Camden's favorite ride was the Buzz Lightyear ride or maybe the Indy cars. Caleb's favorite was seeing the characters. He gave them lots of hugs and high fives. Caleb was pooped out at the end of the day. We headed back to the hotel for a quick dinner and then he was off to bed. Camden and I hit the pool and then it was off to bed for him too. Both boys were asleep in less than a minute.

Here's a great action shot of the Indy cars:



Even scarier than those hairy legs in the beginning is that Caleb was driving the car in front of us!


And, here's a great shot of Caleb with Tigger:



Some other pictures:

Disney Day 2 -- The Magic Kingdom

Today we venture to the Magic Kingdom. Caleb says Mickey, Mickey, Mickey. Mouse, Mouse.

More pics to follow later.....

Disney: Day 1 -- A Plane, A Train, An Automobile

Today is Day 1 of our 9 day trek to Orlando/Disney. We needed a family vacation and an escape so about a month ago we planned this trip. Camden has been looking forward to this day for a while now.

I have to say, I love AirTran Airlines. I usually fly Northwest for business, but we got a great deal on AirTran and it was a great experience. Much better service than Northwest. Cheap too: $170/ticket roundtrip, with a direct flight.

Here's a couple of pics of Camden and Caleb on the plane. Both doing their favorite things:

Camden watching a movie:



Caleb having a snack:

The boys did awesome on the plane! Once we landed in Orlando had to take a train to the main terminal to get our bags. You would think that a busy airport like Orlando would have their process nailed down and streamlined for getting bags delivered. However it took about 45 minutes for the bags to arrive in baggage claim. At least they did arrive!

While Holli and Caleb waited for the bags, Camden and I decided to go get in line for the rental car (a cool white mini-van, yes friend's of Holli, you can gasp now). We rented the car through Dollar because they has a sweet deal. I guess the rest of the Orlando tourists got the same great deal because the line was crazy long! And Dollar only had 3 agents working.

Here's Camden's feelings on the long wait:

Notice all of the empty computer terminals behind him. OK, I'll get over my bitterness toward Dollar, once we finally got up to the counter the agent was nice and did I mention the sweet deal?

Off to the hotel: Nickelodeon Family Suites. This place is kid crazy. We were only here for about an hour and Camden declares: "THIS IS THE FUNNEST VACATION EVER!"

This hotel isn't for the weak of heart. Holli and I are not sure we're going to make it out alive, but hey, it's for the kids. Awesome pools and water slides and they do a mass-slime at 4:45pm every day at the pool.

Pizza and chicken nuggets for dinner and then it was off to bed for the little guys. Heading to the Magic Kingdom tomorrow to meet up with our friend Mickey.

Holli and I couldn't resist a pina colada after the boys went to bed.

Hosanna On My Mind

I was in North Carolina for a few days this week. It got me thinking about James Taylor's song "Carolina On My Mind". (For those JT fans, here's a good video).
However, I've been having this song "Hosanna" on my mind all week.

We sang this song last weekend at Northview called Hosanna by Paul Baloche. We've been singing it now a couple times over the past month or so. The song just plain rocks and I can't get it out of my head. It starts out with this good beat and it just builds and builds until you get to that point where you have to just throw your hands in the air and praise God.

Here's a video of the song:


Go on, nobody's looking, you're sitting in front of your computer, crank up the music and maybe just get so in the moment that you have to throw your hands in the air.

It is as the song says:

Come have Your way among us
We welcome You here, Lord Jesus

'Cause when we see You, we find strength to face the day
In Your Presence all our fears are washed away, washed away

Big Mouth Bites

Darn that Matt Bays. I was just reading his blog and somehow it's affected my subconscious. More on this in a minute.

You see, this morning I had a bit of an escape. I took my car to the dealer to get an oil change. "You took your car where???" I can hear it now... Yes, I choose to go to the dealer for an oil change. It costs more and it takes a heck of a lot longer too. But...I get to sit in their comfy waiting room and just chill. And they have these good apple pastry things and pretty tasty coffee. So I just power on my laptop and chill out and catch up on blog reading, etc. It's quite a nice escape from the busy life.

OK, back to the story, so I was reading Matt's latest post and cracking up (and thinking how could he not be throwing up) when this Chili's commercial came on the TV. They were promoting their new "Big Mouth Bites". I thought they looked nasty, but then I started watching more and I thought "hmmm, I'd like to eat one of those.". What is wrong with me? They have grilled onions on them. I hate onions!




Thanks Matt, now I might have to go to Chili's. Well, I might not take it that far.

Meet the latest Wolfe Family member

So a few months ago we got the crazy idea to get a dog. At the time it seemed like a rational decision. Today...I'm starting to wonder...

We got a Soft Coated Wheaten Terrier and Camden wanted to name him Fergus. He has a book about a crazy dog named Fergus.

Actually, Fergus is a pretty good dog. When he's not trying to bite me, he loves to play ball and fetch. He is a lot of fun to play with and the boys absolutely love him.

Here's a couple videos of the first day we got him. You might think that he seems like a calm puppy. Actually, the second day we had him we found out that he had an intestinal virus called Parvo. He almost died, but the vet was able to help him. He had to stay at the vet for about 10 days. Crazy. Luckily the pet store covered all of those expenses!






Here's a more recent video I just took to show how different he looks now. His coat is a light wheat color and he has a black beard.



If you're ever in the neighborhood stop by to meet the little guy. Plus, you can take him in the backyard and run around with him to work out some of that puppy energy!

Fire Trucks

About a month or so ago Holli called me at work and wanted to share a story with me. A fire truck had just driven past our house and Camden clapped his hands and said "Look Mommy, A fire truck!". Then he closed his eyes and said "Lord, please be with the people that need help from the fire truck."

Such a simple thing, but I was blown away. Holli has been saying this type of prayer with Camden when they see a fire truck or ambulance drive by with flashing lights. It was amazing to see it modeled back by him. He gets it!!

He did it again today, so I just had to share.