Spring Break Part 3

I really want to get caught up on all of these posts. I am failing miserably at it right now, but I am going to try to get through April this week!

Once we left the Nick Hotel on Spring Break, we went over to stay with Jeff's family. While we were there, we went over to the Kennedy Space center. Carson loves anything related to space. He loves to read about planets and anything about astronomy. He says he wants to be an astronomer not an astronaut because it is too dangerous to go into space. I think he has a few years before he needs to make a decision about his career!



This is Carson in front of the capsule that brought the astronauts back to Earth.


This is inside the capsule with our cousin Cassie.


We added cousin Jake to the picture with the space walking astronaut.


The space center property is a wild life reserve (or something like that). They have a lot of eagles that live there until the weather gets too hot. Then the eagles head north for the summer. Here is one of them on top of a pole.



Since they have really cool rockets and space stuff, I took some pictures to print and hang in Carson's space room. Of course, I have not done that either. I thought I would share one of the ones I liked of the back of a rocket.


We had a great time that week. We enjoyed the space center, but we needed a lot more time to do everything. We will probably take the kids back another time. Maybe we will wait until Ellie can enjoy a little bit of it.

Spring Break Part 2

After leaving Jekyll Island, we headed down to Orlando. We spent the first night at Nickelodeon Hotel and Suites. We had so much fun. It was a perfect place for us to go and hang out.

We got to meet Boots. Macie was showing him that he and Dora were on her dress. Carson had no interest in meeting any characters.



Then she gave him big hugs and smiles.



We went to see several 4D movies. Even Ellie loved them.


We did not get to meet the live Dora. Macie was very sad, but she settled for having her picture taken with the fiberglass Dora. And, even Carson was willing to pose with her.


We sat in Blue's thinking chair


We went down the water slides.



Some of us just looked adorable.


We got slimed. I did no think Jeff wanted me to post the pictures of him getting slimes


We discovered that the littlest Portis loves the pool like her brother and sister.




It was a great time for our family. I know the kids would love to go back and would suggest you check it out!

Spring Break Part 1

I am going to try to go back and post a little about Spring break. The first weekend, we spent at the 4H camp at Jeckyl Island with the cub scouts. It was a certainly not the Ritz, but we had fun.

We had time to play.


We learned about all kinds of animals and made a few friends.


We got to hang out with good friends.


We changed shoes often, because we got really dirty. (Both Carson and Macie fell in the marsh, but I did not have my camera with me.)


We wore ourselves out!


The kids had a great time and learned a ton. Our favorite part was the night walk. We learned a lot about constellations. It is amazing how much you can see when you don't have lights all around. Macie fell in love with a first grader and talks about him all the time! We are kind of hoping we will get to go back again.

Skiing pictures

I am trying out a new way of putting pictures on the blog. To test it, I thought I would post a couple pictures from our ski trip a couple weeks ago. I did not get too many pictures because I had my big camera with me. It is not really the best for taking on the slopes. Hopefully Rene' will have a few to share of actual skiing.

Macie trying on her goggles...




Carson fully protected.



Carson and Jeff on the tubing hill. This is a new addition to Frisco and it was so much fun. Carson only went with an adult, but Macie was gung ho. She went down even the steepest hill and was willing go alone. She was really 2 inches too short, but with snow boots and a hat she was tall enough.



Maice and Ann Bennett



Rene', Carey, Bryant and Me



We had a wonderful time. Carson loved skiing and Macie enjoyed it too. I am trying to figure out how to spend a couple months out there. It has to wait until Ellie is older though. She did not love being bundled up!

A sneak peek..

We have been at the beach for a week. We had an incredible week with awesome weather. September is the time to go. Here are some pictures I took of the kids one morning bright and early.
There are not as many of Ellie since she can not sit alone. It makes getting pictures in the sand a little more challenging. But, I was pleased with what I got trying to get 3 kids to cooperate! (I found sponge curlers at the CVS while we were there. Macie had to have her hair curled the night before.)

Day # 1 Disney

We spent the latter part of last week at Disney. We started out at Hollywood Studios. The kids loved it. And, it got us in the holiday spirit. They have the streets of America covered in Christmas lights. We were actually tired and ready to head home, but I refuse to leave until we saw the lights. It was beautiful. They have fake snow falling on the streets. Carson loved that and tried to catch it.
There is a relatively new Toy Story Ride. It is 3D. Carson and I rode it once, and then took Jeff and Macie back. They both liked the glasses.

The first time Carson and I rode, this is what Macie was doing. She took a short nap in her stroller every day. I think Carson would have had there been a place for him.
Disney does a great job of decorating. It is truly magical to be there this time of year! If it was the week after Thanksgiving when the holidays should officially start, it would be even better.

I love this picture of the kids once the lights came on. I considered it for our Christmas cards, but I decided on a different one.

We had a great time with a small crowd. Jeff got to ride Tower of Terror and the Rockin' Roller Coaster waiting less than 30 minutes. We tried to get Carson on Tower of Terror, but he was not willing to try it this time. He was still too short for the roller coaster. I loved the Beaty and the Beast show. The kids favorite show was Playhouse Disney, but Macie also loved the Little Mermaid.

We had an early night so we could get ready for another big day.