The Summer of the Pool Floaty - Size XL Please!

We are so sad to be saying "so long"

to our Floaty friends with the end of summer pool time!

Maddy had a blast at the pool

with the XL floaties that seemed

to be almost everywhere!

We started out with a Pineapple one -- loved it!

It was nearly as big as she was!

I had to put the back seats down in the jeep 

for the floaties to fit!

Loved the pineapple, but lo and behold -- 

she found a Unicorn  - 
MAGICAL!

Oh my word -- that one is crazy big!

I guess it's a good thing that the pool we visited was

not too crowded since the floaties took

up so much space!

Truth be told - there were lots of other floaties 

of similar sizes this summer!

The last big floaty of the summer

was the crabby duck!

We hate to put these things away for the winter,

but they don't really go with 

our house decor very well!  

The unicorn is currently lingering in the dining room

waiting for one last pool visit!

The pool and the floaties were Maddy's happy place

this summer especially during the trying times

of driver's ed classes!

Everybody needs an escape, am I right??

It's been a fun summer at the pool

with our pool friends! 

Fingers crossed for nice hot weather on the

weekend before we put the pool and floaties to bed

for this year.

Ahhhhh summer - we'll miss ya!

The Super Fair - JV Squad Takes On the Fair!

Do you have a state or county fair where you live?

In Nebraska, our state fair moved out of Lincoln

and on to Grand Island a few years ago.

However, we are still lucky enough (is lucky really the right word?)

 to have

the Lancaster County Super Fair!!!

Maddy and I made a quick trip there on one of the opening nights.

There was one ride (besides the Ferris wheel) I was willing to go on.

It was called The Tornado! 

I hated it!

  My favorite thing about the fair . . .

the funnel cake!!!!

Love!!!!!
 

This cliff hanger ride looked kind of fun, but you lie down so I was
afraid it might be too much for me and I'd lose my lunch
along with my shoes!
 

But, wouldn't a trip to the fair and all those fun [dreadful] fair rides

be just the thing for the JV cheer squad for some

cheerleader bonding time!!

Oh yes!  

The girls were ready to take on the Fair!

So happy these girls were able to go together
and go on those scary rides!
My bff cheer mom, Kay and I, hung out [we were the chauffeurs, you know]
and tried not to
follow the girls around and spy on whether
they were talking to any boys!
Actually, we attempted not to be seen by the girls
when we were checking on them!
They shooed us off once when they caught sight of us!
Teenagers!!! :)

Cheer Camp!

Of course, I'm still trying to catch up on summer activities,

so please bear with me.  

It's just been too busy and I've been too tired sometimes

to work on the blog after working all day and

running to school, cheer practices, etc.

Lost my mojo I guess! ;)

Sooooooo, let's get to it, shall we!

Varsity, JV and Freshman squads

Cheerleaders have a 3-day camp every summer at our local university!

Off to the University dorms!

Maddy absolutely loves the food at the dorm!

Hmmm -- do you wonder about my cooking now??

 

It's supposed to be a great time for bonding with teammates,

learning new cheers and figuring out how to 

go, go, go, all day long, stay up late and

put on a happy face everyday.

You guessed it . . . it's exhausting for the girls! 

JV - the winningest squad!

The JV girls (Maddy's squad) worked super-hard

and had fabulous results!

They won 3 first place trophies and 1 second place!

Way to go Bolts!

 Doing so well earned JV and the other squads an

invitation to go to the Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl

game in Orlando over New Years!

Exciting, but doesn't exactly work as well 

as one would hope.  

Hotel costs + travel expenses + crowds over Christmas holiday

+ logistics = nightmare.

Nice to be invited, but not able to attend. 

No matter, we are super proud of the cheerleaders

and their hard work!

Driving Time!

How can she possibly be old enough 

to get a learner's permit???

Besides getting her impacted wisdom teeth out in June (ouchie!!!)

Maddy studied for and received her learner's permit for driving!

Oh my word!

It just does not seem possible that this little sweetie 

is ready to start driving real cars!

Driving in 2009!

She took driver's ed in July and she's been practicing driving with me!
Fun Fact:  In a former life, I became accredited to teach driver's ed.

She's doing great. 

I bought these handy-dandy magnets for the car from Amazon* and

I'm sure they have helped calm down those drivers

who are in such a hurry to get places!

Let's all try to be patient with other drivers, shall we!

Once she gets more practice in, she'll take the final driving test.

Since her 16th birthday isn't until December 20, we have 

a bit of time!

Happy Motoring!!

What a Character!

When we first began visiting Disney World,

our main goal was seeing Princesses!
We had breakfast with Cinderella in the castle
the first year Maddy and I went to DisneyWorld!
[Wish I could find a photo - I think she was only 4 that year!]

Beautiful Mulan with Maddy - May 2011

While we still love seeing a Princess when we can,

we get so excited to see some other 

characters as well!

Yikes -- it's Chewy!!

One year, we caught sight of Chip and Dale and

we both took off in a sprint to get in

line for a quick autograph and photo!

My sister and her daughter were with us and just rolled their eyes!

We were serious - we had to meet Chip and Dale!

We saw Chip again this year at breakfast at Garden Grove --
best breakfast with characters ever!

Chip and Maddy at breakfast!

Characters are definitely part of the magic of Disney!

Am I right?!!!  Of course, I am!  :)

Love Pluto's dog tag, don't you!
If you can't read it, it says:
"If found, please return to Mickey Mouse"

We simply cannot go to Disney without meeting Mickey
somewhere -- this year, it was Farmer Mickey!
 

And we even saw one of our favorite characters from Maddy's
toddler days -- Doc McStuffins!!

We definitely were feeling the magic with the characters!
Most were characters
 we had never seen or been able to get a photo with on other trips!

Yes, we are goofballs, and we do love Disney!!!

Now, Where Was I?????

Back again and now it's August!!!

Oh my word -- I am so behind!

I could give you a million and one excuses, but 

it doesn't really matter, does it.

I'm going to attempt to catch up a little bit.

It's been a very stressful and busy summer.

And now, only 2 weeks til school starts!

H E L P!!

Where is everyone??  Early breakfast reservation for us!!

So, let's put back-to-school shopping, school supplies and

all that stuff out of our minds for a bit while

I try to catch up on our trip to Disney World in June!

(Where, oh where, did the summer go?)

We had an early breakfast reservation on our first day there

at "Be Our Guest" and it was fabulous!

Bonus - we were able to get into the park early, so it was not too crowded 

and we were able to jump on some favorite rides

without waiting or a fast pass!

Two faves -  the always popular and crowded 7 Dwarfs Mine Train and

Peter Pan!

How much do I love the teacup ride???

SOOOOO much!

Even though someone likes to get that ride spinning very, very fast!

Dumbo and the Goofy Rollercoaster are also
"must rides" for us

I wish I could show you a photo of me on the Splash Mountain

ride getting soaked, but sadly, no photos were made

of that scary ride or my resulting scary hair! :)

Love Magic Kingdom - it's always a favorite!

Stay tuned -- more to come!