Trip to the Happiest Place on Earth

Photographic evidence that I actually went on the trip (stole that one from Betsy)

Emma at the Orange Orchard.  When asked at the end of the trip this was her FAVORITE part.  Still wondering why we paid for all of the "amusement" on the rest of the trip, I guess.

Warning:  There are at least 3 rides at Islands of Adventure that are designed to get you SOAKED.  I'm sure on an August afternoon it's absolutely welcome (it wasn't even too bad in 80 degree weather)

At this point in the day Kaisa was asking to go home and go to bed.  Luckily she could snuggle up with "Blankey Pink" the whole day.

Emma was an amazing rock climber (barefoot, even)

This is Kaisa ON THE WAY to the amusement park.  No wonder she was so tired!

Kaisa sat with us during our skydiving orientation class and then went absolutely crazy when she realized nobody was giving HER cool clothes and goggles to wear.  Luckily, the nice instructor got her all outfitted too.  She loved it!  She didn't even mind that she didn't actually get to fly.  

Unfortunately, Kaisa is still too short for most of the cool rides and has to find other ways to entertain herself.

Ah, shorts and t-shirts in December . . . nice.

No, not Disneyland or even DisneyWorld (though we were in Orlando) the happiest place on earth is the Orlando Watersports Complex--for Roland anyway. And the draw of that magical place (and the fact that Grandma & Grandpa Pat invited us to join them on their vacation there) was enough to get us packed in the suburban for the long drive and 4 days and 4 nights in the Orlando sun. Sitting at my desk now and watching the trees swaying in the stiff breeze and knowing it feels like 20 degrees outside here today, is making me miss last week's perfect 80 degree weather. We did lots of fun non-Disney stuff: Sea World, Universal's Islands of Adventure Park, Indoor skydiving, the Kennedy Space Center, relaxing in the pool, 30 mile bike ride, a visit to an orange orchard, and, of course, the OWC. It was a fun trip! By the way, the week BEFORE the kids get out of school for Christmas break is a GREAT time to go to Orlando--minimal crowds and great weather!

Kent Family Walks on Water

I've always wanted to do this! We had a bit of a storm surge (even though the sky was blue) giving us a really high tide that swept about 3 inches over the dock. So we pulled out the camera to capture the moment. The rest of the weekend was pretty cold and drizzly but that didn't stop soccer and baseball on Saturday. Noah didn't quite match his 11 pitch closing effort from the midweek game but got his first pitching start. Emma and I suffered our first soccer defeat in two seasons. And Roland finally broke through the Air Conditioning Supply Cartel to procure those elusive "wide-radius copper elbows" (so jealously guarded by the industry) to finish the 3rd floor a/c re-installation. Only six days left in the Primary program countdown!

Pictures from weekend trip

Roland and I got to take a fun little trip to the "Mountains" of western Virginia. Okay, so they weren't huge mountains, but Roland still killed me on the bike climbing all of the many rolling hills. With the exception of the (quite honestly, terrifying) streets of Harrisonburg (home of James Madison University) the 6 hour bike ride took us through some beautiful countryside. My chain broke right at the bottom of our last major assent (darn it:). So I had to sit out the last 5 miles of the 50 miler. I'm sure Roland will want it noted that it did not, in fact, take 6 hours to do the 50 miles--we stopped for lunch, the obligatory visit to the local bike shop, and got lost numerous times on the streets of Harrisonburg thanks to Roland's latest bike-mounted GPS:) It was a fun trip. Thanks to Deanna for taking care of the folks at home.

Emma Parts with her Tonsils & Adnoids

4:00 am comes early.  I always knew that it did, but I gained some renewed appreciation for Roland's ridiculous hours this morning as the alarm went off and Emma and I rolled out of bed and on to the hospital for her surgery this morning.  Emma had been anticipating this day for weeks, frequently telling complete strangers of the various problems her tonsils had caused and that they would soon cease to be a problem.  We met another little girl in the pediatric pre-op room who was, amazingly, even perkier than Emma at 5:30 am.  They became fast friends and played with the Bratz horses the little girl's mom had just given her as a special treat for the day.  They were very cute and chatty about the procedures they would be having that day until an older woman with a clip board came and collected the group of hospital gowned victims and marched them en mass through the halls of the 3rd floor to the surgery holding area.   It was sad to hear the same two little girls about two hours later, just a curtain apart, moaning in agony as the anesthesia wore off and the reality of surgical pain set in.  Poor little Emma, I'm afraid, was not expecting to have so much pain.  And the promises of endless popsicles and ice cream are not quite the prize she had imagined . . .  Anyway, she was pretty funny before the surgery "Can we ask the doctor to put the tonsils in a jar?  Because, I will miss them."