Back to Real Life

Ahhh! Life is perfect . . . until tomorrow! :)

We just returned from a family mini-vacation to Kentucky. 2 nights in Louisville and one at Barron River State Park in Lucas. So nice. We did all kinds of fun stuff: sight-seeing, shopping, eating, swimming, biking, more eating, horse-back riding, napping, and even more eating. It was such a great time. Perfect way to end off Charity's summer vacation as school starts Thursday. She even finished her last summer reading book report in the hotel. So we're ready!

And it's was nice to be home at a decent hour today. We went out and did some errands and got groceries for our empty cupboards. Lunch is made. Clothes are ready. Tomorrow will be my Monday. Guess I can deal with that. Then Thursday and Friday!!! Dave doesn't go back to work until Monday. Lucky Ducky!!

I would love to post pictures, but my computer is not cooperating in that way anymore. I have purchased an external hard drive in hopes to move everything from this thing to lighten it's load. Maybe by some small chance making it a little more operable, but we'll see. I'm not sure there's any hope for it. I hate not being able to post pics!! Arggggg!!!

Please pray for my mom. She goes in for another brain surgery tomorrow in Boston. She's been having numerous seizures. So they're hoping this will help. Her faith remains strong and I know the Lord will bring her through! Love you, Mom!

NYC, Here I Come!!

Tomorrow the day! I cannot wait! If I had not stayed up sooooo late last night trying to get my camera (Sony) operating correctly, I may not be able to sleep. But I'm pretty tired, after about 2 hours of sleep.

Excited, is not the word! Maybe ecstatic? In the morning, at 4:30am, we head for the airport and then, by earlier than I'm up most Saturday mornings, I'll be in NEW YORK CITY!! Did I mention how excited I am?!?!?! It's my first trip to the Big Apple ever. And I don't plan on it being my last. Of course, next time Dave and Charity are going with me, since Charity won't stop whining and crying about how much she's going to miss me. I'm sure she'll be fine and though Mommy's going to miss her greatly, I know I'm going to have lots of fun!! And hopefully, I'll have some pictures to post and time to post them . . . unlike my Florida trip. . . Hang in there, but don't hold your breath!! :)

For now, good night and sweet dreams of your next destination!!

Keeping My Eye on the Goal

It's never easy to go back to work after having vacation. But this week is a short week for me, only 3 days. Next week with the Memorial Day holiday, it's a 4 day week. So it isn't until June that I'm back to working 5 days in a row. Uuuuugggg!! Don't know that I'll be able to handle it!! :)

So while at work to help me get through the week, I've been keeping my eyes on my special NYC book that Shira made me. Not only is chalk full of information, it's keeping me excited about this weekend. I can't look at it without smiling. Ohhhhh, I can't wait!!

The Meaning of Vacation!

Ahhhhhh, we're having a super good vacation, but very busy! Been running around every day doing all the touristy, theme-park things. Finally today, I'm staying in. Not leaving this house. My dad's sister, Janice and her husband, as well as their daughters, Eleanor and Christina will be coming to visit today. So besides that, it will be a whole lot of hanging around the pool and hopefully uploading some of my 100's of pictures! But it's wouldn't be vacation without all the extra pictures!! Just hang in there and I'll share. :)

Sea World

Today we visited Sea World. It was nice, but once you've done Disney it's hard to top. The landscaping and animals were enjoyable. The rides, well, I could have lived without those.

Happy People on a Crabby Ride

Petting Sting Rays

A neat show we watched.

The roller coaster I went on for Charity. It was a little troubling for ride-hater. But I guess I lived! :)

The Shamu Show was awesome! I'm glad we didn't sit in the "soak" section or there'd be nothing left of my camera! We chose to sit safely near the top of the arena.

A Hug from a Killer Whale, who would have thought?!?!

Impressive!

We even made it back in time for a yummy dinner, Jason, my sister's boyfriend. prepared. And after a day in Florida's hot sun, I was hungry!!

The rest of the night we 3 just relaxed and enjoyed family. I know we'll be doing lots of this over the next 5 days!

Dave chillin':

Charity swimming with the cuz'n:

Me lovin' on my little nephew!

Ahhhhhhh, vacation! :)

At the Villa!!

We made it and without a hitch. Family was already at the airport when we arrived. It's going to be a fun week!! We're all looking forward to various actives and spending time together! I love VACATION!

It (almost) here!!!

Our much-anticipated Bridgham Family vacation to Florida is finally here! The first time ever our family has vacationed together. It's going to be LOADS of fun!! :)

The house is clean for next Monday's arrival, outfits are set out and ironed for tomorrow, everything's packed and suitcases are awaking to be loaded in the car for an early morning departure. Even my silly little craft projects that I get myself into at the last minute are complete. And I'm pretty happy with the outcome!! Now it's off to bed for just a few hours of sleep!! YAY!!

New Kix

I Like:

Mexico 66™by Onitsuka Tiger by Asics

Today I received from Zappos.com what I hope to be the most comfy sneakers I've ever slipped my feet in, as these are officially my "New York" kix. Not a sneaker-wearer, I've been diligently shopping and researching for the perfect footwear for all the walking I'll be doing during my 3 days in the Big Apple. And I'm hoping I'll get some more use out of these Onitsuka Tigers. I also appreciate their retro-ness. The first athletic shoes with famed signature 'tiger stripes' debuted in 1966 and were worn by athletes competing in the 1968 Mexico Olympic Games. Just think that's kinda' neat. So I'll be testing them out over the next few weeks and hoping they do the trick, just like in 1968.

Dollywood

We headed out bright and early this morning for Pigeon Forge, TN . . . well maybe not so bright. But it was early . . . 4:30am early! But Dave planned this quick weekend trip away for just tonight so we wanted to make the most of our first visit to East Tennessee. It turned out to be an absolutely beautiful day. The weather was so cooperative! However, there was some crazy car show happening there that made traffic a little ridiculous. Took us about 45 minutes from O'Charley's, were we ate dinner, to our hotel and should have taken 4! But besides that nonsense, it was really a nice getaway.

Here's our day at Dollywood.

Charity, at our first snack stop about 6:30 am, and she's happy! :)

First "ride" . . . well, the first one I photographed!

On the elephant that goes up and down . . . and way too jerky I might add! Almost lost my breakfast with Charity controlling that thing!!

Doing the "lemon" twist!

This one makes Daddy lose his breakfast!

Getting hot . . . slushies time!

Checking out the ducks.

Big veggies!

The family with the big veggies . . . see Dave with the potato? Oh wait, he got cut off! The sun was so bright and it was hard to see what the camera was getting. Oh well! Thanks for trying, Gramma! :)

The carousel.

Pure glee!

Charity and Gramma (we're so glad Gramma came along to enjoy the fun day with us!)

Look out below!

This time, a sucker break!

We did some crazy wet ride! We were all soaked and a little chilly. Luckily it didn't take long to dry off.

. . . still completely soaked!

Or was it the $0.25 shower that drenched us?

There was even a playground! Luckily we didn't find it until the end of the day. Charity was pretty tired, so it wasn't too hard to get her away from it.

They are having a "Festival of Nations" theme. We caught a couple of interesting shows. One in particular I thought interesting, the Lithuanians. Happens to be were my maternal grandmother originated from. Dave says I get my "elfin" (pointy ears) from this culture? Maybe?

Guess she likes butterflies?!

Ouch! Who pinged my ear?!?

Stop bugging people Daddy!! :P