Vernon Volumes text

Vernon Volumes text

Monday, September 30, 2013

Soccer and a rainy weekend


We had a pretty quiet weekend for the most part this week. Connor had soccer practice on Friday night and then a game on Saturday morning. It was a rainy game and rained the entire time. We all sat and watched him under our umbrellas. We stayed mostly dry, but Connor got soaked. We asked him afterwards whether he liked a wet rainy game or a hot sunny one and he said he liked playing in the rain. He was a very good sport about it! 

This week the coaches mixed up the players a bit, and Connor was chosen to play up a level, with the U8 players. He did a great job and held his own with the 7 and 8 year olds. He scored two goals and fit right in with the older kids. We don't know if he will continue to play U8, as the coaches can make changes weekly. 

I had an enjoyable weekend as I was able to get out and target shoot on Friday evening and Sunday for a competition. Thanks Andrea!

Sunday, September 22, 2013

Family Pictures - Downtown Jacksonville


This past week we got our family photos from our photographer. They turned out very nicely, although it was a near thing to even get them done. Our photographer Jenn is very pregnant and had to cancel our original appointment. When we rescheduled, her doctor determined she couldn't travel all the way to Old St. Augustine for the photos so we did them at downtown Jacksonville instead. Since Andrea had picked out some more formal outfits, it actually worked out nicely and we really loved the way the pictures came out.

Thanks Jenn, we love the pics! http://jennhopkinsphotography.com/

Animal Kingdom Lodge



This weekend we didn't have anything planned, so at the last minute we decided to drive to Orlando to spend some family time together. We heard the Nickelodeon Resort was fun and booked a suite for Saturday night. We showed up, spent a long time in the line, and finally went to our room. It was not very nice, to say the least. There was some kid's old dirty shirt in the room, the facility was dirty, our room smelled bad, and we were thoroughly grossed out. I called the front desk and told them we were leaving. It took a bit of convincing, but thankfully they refunded us our money and we left. Andrea called Disney and they gave us a decent deal on a deluxe room at the Animal Kingdom Lodge and we drove over and checked in.


It was a great choice, the facility was beautiful, our room was cozy and everything was typical top-notch Disney. The bunkbeds were a lot of fun to play on, but it was a bit scary watching the kids climb up and down a hundred times.


The kids were given pirate and princess gear when we checked in, which made everything more fun!



The pool was nice and big, but a bit cold. The slide wasn't huge, but it was nice that Paige was able to ride it.


The playground wasn't all that big or exciting, but the kids loved it and we spent a lot of time there playing pirates, jail, and chasing lizards.


For dinner we went to the Rainforest Cafe at the Animal Kingdom Park entrance.







Paige ended up getting scared of the animatronic elephants near us, but I finally convinced her they weren't real.


Andrea and Connor colored their kid's menu poster very beautifully.


Finally, it was bedtime. Since we'd spent so much time chasing lizards, I told them about Leo the lizard and how a little boy tried to throw him to the fish at Barbara Jean's.



The next morning, we swam and played a bit more before checking out and going home. It was an awesome weekend together with our fun family!