Disneyworld without the Family

So here is a picture from last year. The only difference this year is that Magan, Sam and Davis were not there.

I finally got to go on a business trip to Orlando, but did not get to bring the family because Anabelle is so little…even tho I still tried to talk Magan into it. But anyway…just a quick blog for the Disney fans.

I arrived on Sunday night and after waiting for baggage, riding the bus to the rental car place, driving to the Downtown Disney Hilton, Checking in, Riding the Bus to the Magic Kingdom, Getting on the Resort Monorail, Waiting for the monorail to begin working due to some computer issues, Riding to the Grand Floridian, then walking through the lobby asking for directions to Narcossees, I finally arrived for my dinner reservation shortly before 8:30 PM in time to watch some of the fireworks over the castle.

My dinner was excellent. The view was wonderful, I had a direct view of the Castle and Space Mountain, while watching the monorail make its rounds. I began with a Ceasar Salad that was delicious, then had one of the best meals I’ve had in a long time…crab crusted Mahi Mahi over potatoes. Here is a picture of my dinner (I found it on another blog of someone who at the same)

And now I will jump to Tuesday where I was able to use my free ticket (I volunteered the week before by donating blood) to enter EPCOT. Wearing my “Honorary VoluntEAR” badge, I quickly ran to the Spaceship Earth ride which I was unable to ride last January during our trip.

And my route for the remainder of the day went as follows:

· Got FastPass for Soarin.
· Took the Behind the Seeds Tour of the Land Pavilion Greenhouses (Please…no one should ever choose to take this tour).
· Rode the new “Sum of All Thrills” build your own roller coaster ride in Innovations (This was really neat).
· Rode Test Track (My favorite at EPCOT).
· Watched the American Adventure at the USA Pavilion (First time for this show…It was really great).
· Ate Supper at the German Pavilion (A Meat lovers fantasy…then the chocolate desserts were awesome).
· Rode Soarin with my FastPass (This ride just makes me smile). Went shopping for souvenirs at MouseGears (10% off with Disney Visa).
· Rode Test Track, then Rode Test Track Again (Did I mention this is my favorite, and if you are in the single rider line, you get to skip the annoying preshow video).
· Watched the Fireworks show (Probably the best of the fireworks shows at Disney).

Fun Day back in the Sun

I will begin my blog on Martin Luther King Jr day with a book recommendation, The Help, by Kathryn Stockett. I am about 2/3rds of the way through this audiobook, and it is great. It tells the story of black maids “the help” working for white women in Jackson, MS during the civil rights movement. It talks about the racial lines that were not crossed in those days, and how those lines were passed down from one generation to the next. It is amazing to me to know that this is the way things were only about 40 years ago. We’ve still got some issues, but we’re making progress, one generation at a time.

OK…just wanted to also write quickly about the fun things we did today outside. Magan and I were cleaning in the basement and the garage, and I looked out the window to see Dave dragging his big wheel up the little hill behind the house. This was strange to me, because Sam is more of the thrill seeker, and Davis is usually scared about speeding down hills. I ran outside just to make sure he was ok, and then he came down pretty fast, but stopped short of the swingset. Sam witnessed this initial trip down, and immediately wanted to join in the fun…but he first ran to get him and Dave some “helmets” (plastic police man hats).

Here are some pics of them as they went up and down and up and down the hill…

And back in the house, Magan had found a barn that works for their megablocks, which we found out made a good base for our tower to the ceiling. So I moved it over to the bunkbed ladder where they could build it really high. They had a blast and made the tower several times. The picture below is 2 seconds before it collapsed…then was kicked and punched to the ground.

And Davis got to hold a little lizard, It was "his friend"

This was the other night, but it is usually where they like to sit on the couch. :)

The Boys and their Sister

While I do not think we realize fully yet the transition from 2 to 3, it is great that Sam and Davis seem to have taken the addition of Anabelle very well. They both hold her, and kiss her, and sometimes will not leave her alone, but they are very sweet with her. It seems that wherever we lay Belle down to nap, the boys end up choosing that place to pull all of their toys over and play. They just want to be near her.



Sam just constantly wants to hold her. He often laughs at her little hiccups or sneezes, smiles so big when she is holding his finger. He is also our designated pacifier installer, because if she is crying, he immediately wants to make her feel better, and the pacifier stops the crying. He wanted to hold her the other night, and Magan and I were working on the computers in separate rooms. I heard everything get quiet for awhile, and when I went to check on him, I found him asleep sitting up holding her. It was pretty sweet, and I’ve got a picture below.



Davis tells me all the time “She’s cute” and he likes her, but I think he is ready for her to start playing with him. Jokingly I told him the other day that she would be throwing the ball with him soon. Shortly after that, I saw him throwing the ball at her on the couch! I had to quickly explain “not yet”.

Back at Home

We stayed at the hospital until Wednesday, Dec 2nd, and then came home to our family of 5. I was able to have the whole week off, so it was just us and lots of visitors bringing lots of good food. The next week MaMaw and Nanny were both able to spend some nights at our house to help magan out while I went back to work.

(Above) Minivan is getting Crowded. :)

MaMaw had to leave early from the hospital so she had to wait until she came to our house to hold Anabelle.

The Sartins...

She told me that should couldn't sleep without me. My first little nap with my princess Belle. :)

Pam and Benet brought cookies! Their excuse to come over and hold belle.

Car problems, Bad decisions, and a cute little gal named Anabelle!!

November 30th, 2009 began early in the morning for me and magan. We were supposed to be at Brookwood at 6:30 AM for an induction. It was a nasty morning with that mist that just seems to never go away. Granny and Granddaddy were staying at our house taking care of the boys while we left for the hospital. We got in my Explorer to leave and the car would not crank…would not even turn over…so I quickly run to wake Granny up to get the keys to Granddaddy’s truck so I can jump my explorer off. All went well and we made it to Brookwood in plenty of time. We parked at the labor and delivery emergency parking lot and loaded all of the stuff in our room. I then went back out to the car to move it to the main hospital parking lot…and it would not crank. The batter cable connectors had cracked and were no longer making a connection. So I called AAA to see if they could help.

Meanwhile in the Hospital room, the doctor had broken magan’s water and labor had initiated. I received the call from AAA that they were outside and then began making bad decisions. AAA was able to get the car cranked again, and then told me where a Goodyear shop was where I could get the cables repaired. I looked at my watch (8:30 AM) and thought “Wow, I’ve got plenty of time, and I’m really not doing much but sitting right now, so I guess I will just go get the car fixed this morning”. I mentioned this brilliant idea to magan, who shrugged and said “ok” in a tone that I later interpreted as “You’re doing what?”, but currently only interpreted as “ok”.

I then left the hospital…and yes, my wife in labor…to get the car fixed. And as I pulled into Goodyear, told them the issue, and was instructed to “sit and wait, we will get to it shortly”, I realized that time had not stopped because I was having a baby today. I think that I had forgotten that other people would also be getting their car serviced today, I just assumed that my car was the most important, and I needed it quick.

At 10:00 AM, when magan called my cell phone number, I was beginning to realize that this was not a good decision, because now my car would not crank, and I was stuck at Goodyear. But she only called to ask where I was and that she was at 4 cm, would I be back soon? Luckily the fact that I mentioned my wife was in labor helped push my car to the top of the list and I was able to be back in the car (with repaired cables) by 10:15…and back to the hospital shortly afterwards.

Easily made it back in time as Miss Anabelle Ottriss Rene’ Junkin joined us around 12:05 PM. Ok, no more writing…here are some of the pics of our little girl.

I got it at Walmart

I was sitting in the kitchen floor this morning playing with Davis. He is a very imaginative kid, and was busy telling me about how he was santa clause. I asked him if he had found the cookies, and he had, then told him that we had some carrots in the refrigerator for Rudolph. In his little deep voice he told me “Ok, he likes those”. Then I told him that I liked his big beard (This was an imaginary beard), and again in his deep voice he said “yeah, It’s soft, I got it at Walmart”.

Walmart is the place to get anything, and apparently the boys have picked up on the fact that Magan and I truly get about everything at Walmart. Sam was telling me the other day about a new listing of toys he would like for Christmas. I tried to explain to him that mom and dad did not have enough money to get him all of these things, he simply explained “Oh, that’s ok, hoho (Santa) can buy it at Walmart”

And this morning Davis came up to Magan’s uncovered toes and gave his version of the “This little piggy” story.
He said:
“This little piggy went to Walmart
This little piggy ate cake
This little piggy played with Boy Stuff (he had a Batman for Sam, a Spiderman for Davis and a Superman for Dad
This little piggy watched TV
And this little piggy went wee wee wee all the way home.”

So in closing, Walmart is traded as WMT and is currently considered a low risk, upward growth stock and I am not Jim Cramer, but I would say this one will be a good one to own for awhile.

Back to the Blogging

November 7th was the last blog...Wow...I guess we have been a little busy. Anabelle Ottriss Rene' Junkin is now a part of our family. We have her Social Security card and everything, so I guess she is official. I am off work until after Christmas, so I figured I would finally get to some blogs. But now I have forgotten most of the things I was supposed to blog about.

Ok...I have some other blogs and pictures to post, so this is just a quick blog to get me used to blogging again.

I had a quick random thought the other day about my work and the quirky things that happen. You ever notice that we sometimes just repeat what other people say in their salutations and goodbyes. When someone says to me "hello", I often reply "hello". Or if they choose to say "Good Morning", I reply "good morning". Davis is our little echo in the car as he repeats about everything magan or I say...I wonder if we develop this parrotting characteristic from an early age. I first noticed that this constant repeating is often inaccurate as I leave my work building, the guard often says "Drive Safe", and I replied "Drive Safe", then continued walking and thinking about why my brain told me to repeat exactly what the guard had said (The guard was not about to drive anywhere, I have also replied "you too" when confronted with a Drive Safe. But the other person was not about to drive anywhere). If I reply "thank you" I don't know why I have really thanked them, and if I reply "I will" it sounds quite arrogant. I think maybe just a "I shall prepare myself to do my very best" would probably be the best response.

Ok, Ok, On to the blogs....