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!

Always Be Yourself . . . or Be a Unicorn!

As Maddy says -- 

"Always be Yourself unless you can be a 

Unicorn, then

Always be a Unicorn!"
Words of wisdom from my favorite teenager!

Pretty magical, right! :)

We've been loving the rather large

floatys that are around this year

and the unicorn is definitely our favorite 

. . . 

so far! :)

With the extreme heat and humidity we've 

been enjoying,

the pool is the place to be with a floaty

and maybe a root beer float too!

Animal Kingdom!

Africa section of Animal Kingdom

Good news as you can see --

my friend was able to get back into my

blog setup and figure out how to

remove all that junk!

Africa - Animal Kingdom

 I must attempt to get caught up now as I haven't

even finished chatting about our Disney trip!

Yes, I am way behind!

Soooooo -- on to Animal Kingdom (AK)!
Usually, there are only a couple rides I really like at  AK -
the safari ride and Kali River Rapids.
Those rides are such a blast and I don't even
mind getting wet on the river rapids ride!
 Generally, this area is packed, wall-to-wall people!

Looking forward to a ride on a banshee in Pandora!

Disney just opened a new area known as Pandora.
This area is where all the people went and was packed with people and
some waiting 4-5 hours for a ride!
It was a fabulous ride - but 4-5 hours in line???
 In the heat and humidity of Orlando??

Pandora - The Floating Mountains!

The Avatar ride is the best!  We had Fastpasses and walked
right past a 4+ hour waiting line!
Yippee for planning ahead!  :)
Get this -- you even had to wait in line (no fastpasses)
for the gift shop attached to the Avatar ride!
You'd think they were giving stuff away -- ha ha ha -
Disney giving stuff away -- that's sooooo funny! :)
I crack myself up sometimes!

Stay tuned as I am finally able to access my photos and my blog again!

OH MY!

Oh my word!!

So, Photo*bucket decided to hijack part of my blog!

I think one of their gadgets or some such was

used in my blog header or side info.

Please excuse the mess!

Hopeful that my friend will be able to figure it out and

clean it up.

It's so distracting, isn't it?? 

I'm so sorry!

Guess a forced bloggy break is 

happening!

Love & Kisses -

Hope your blogs are safe!!

Happy Independence Day!!!

Happy Independence Day!!

What a special day to celebrate our freedoms!

Mr. Tennis and I lived in Philadelphia a few years and the celebrations 

there were simply amazing!

I love Philadelphia!

I must admit when my sons were young and LOVED fireworks,

I kind of dreaded the 4th of July -- not the actual holiday, of course,

but the danger involved with boys and fireworks!

Mr. Tennis was like a kid himself and the three of them

together were constantly blowing things up (including toys, 

stuffed animals, little cars)

 and making more and more trips 

to the fireworks stand for supplies! OY!

We had a few mishaps over the years . . . 

probably the most memorable was when a spark somehow

ignited a bagful of fireworks on the patio table!

Ended up with a hole in the umbrella and a fried table!

But, at least no one was injured that time!

Looking patriotic in her Happy Hound bandana, but terrified of fireworks!

Maddy and I like the pretty fireworks and sparklers,

the Roman Candles, buzzing bees, smoke bombs 

and cracklin balls.  Much tamer fireworks!

We're planning some pool time and hot dogs on the grill.
A little gin and tonic is on my list!

Maddy and I may make a quick trip to our local zoo.

Sounds like a perfect day to me!

Happy 4th Friends!!