A Little Pool Time Please

Indy steps into pool

Indy realizes the water is freezing after being repeatedly told so

Indy decides to take the plunge and just jump in

After a short break Indy joins Daughter and the Princess in the hot tub

The Princess

Daughter

     After breakfast on Sunday we headed over to Phipps Plaza one more time to take in the movie, "Oz, the Great and Powerful."  It is safe to say we almost didn't want to leave. The theater was remarkable. And those recliners, heaven. Even Indy who really wanted to go swimming first was impressed. Talk about comfort.

     When we got back to the hotel, Daughter, the Princess and Indy headed to the pool. Pan and I decided to take in some lunch at Shula's 347. Just as we were getting ready to leave, Daughter texted that they were heading down for lunch. So Pan and I just extended our time there and spent some more quality time with our family.

Dante's Down the Hatch

Indy

Pan

Daughter and the Princess taking another picture together

The Princess, our waiter and Pan

     When we got to Dante's Down the Hatch we were disappointed to hear that they would be closing July 31. We would like to make it back at least once before then, but I don't see it happening. We had brought the grands here before, but this was Daughter's first time and the first time she has had a fondue dinner. With a cheese fondue, 2 steaks, chicken and shrimp there was definitely enough food for all of us.

Lenox Mall

Indy and the Princess keeping close together

Daughter, Indy & the Princess

     After Legoland Discovery, we drove over to Lenox Mall, where Pan use to hang out when he was going to college here. First things first was to head to the food court for some lunch. Everyone except Indy and I bought their lunch from different vendors. Afterwards we spent the rest of the afternoon shopping. The Princess and I managed to find some things we liked at Forever 21, while Daughter found her favorite make-up at Bare Essentials. Pan and Indy spent quality time together at Game Stop.

Legoland Discovery

Indy

the Princess

Legoland Atlanta

The Princess playing football at Legoland Atlanta

Indy and Pan building a Lego car

Daughter and the Princess doing karaoke

     Once inside, Professor Brick-a-Brack gave us a guided tour through how Lego blocks were made. Next we headed to the Kingdom Quest ride where we were able to battle skeletons, trolls and rescue a captured princess. Then it was over to Miniland Atlanta where the city of of Atlanta had been duplicated in Lego blocks, with moving vehicles and some interactive games.

   Finally into a very interactive room where the Princess and Daughter took of on Merlin's Apprentice ride while Pan and Indy put together a Lego car. We watched through all three of the 4D movies before continuing the fun. Princess and Daughter got up to perform some karaoke, while Indy discovered the attraction of the Fire Academy. All too soon it was time to leave.

    

The Anxiety

Indy

The Princess

Indy & the Princess

Daughter, Indy & the Princess

Indy & Pan checking out what is in the store

     Now the waiting really begins. Luckily Pan ordered the tickets online so we were guaranteed to get in. They can only allow so many in at one time. This weekend was the start of their birthday bash to celebrate being there for one year. Great for us. The kids got some extra prizes. And we had a fun time riding the rides and watching the 4D movies.

Phipps Plaza

Pan with the Princess mimicing him

Daughter and the Princess taking pictures

The Princess and Daughter taking a picture of themself

Pan, Indy, Daughter and the Princess waiting to get in

Pan, Indy and Tink

     Saturday morning found us the Phipps Plaza doing some site seeing while awaiting the opening of Legoland Discovery. We all got a good laugh at the Princess mimicking Pan (reminiscent of a photo I have to Daughter mimicking him). Although super anxious to get in, Indy was a good sport and behaved himself thoroughly.

Breakfast and a Break

The Princess & Daughter

Indy and Daughter

The Princess and Pan

     Breakfast at the Lenox Dining room was a fun affair with a buffet filled with delectable fruits, scrambled eggs, bacon and waffles you could smell as you walked into the room. Daughter took one look at Indy and said "I think you like to go on vacations so you can eat bacon." I think she's right.

     After breakfast and before leaving for the Phipps mall, we took a short break for everyone to log on their favorite electronic, ipod, iphone and laptop.

That's an RC?

Tinks are really big in this house hold. We have Tinkerbell ornaments, a tree topper, lotion container and the list goes on. But one of my favorite has to be my radio-controlled Tinkerbell. Mostly she just sits around looking lovely, but once in a great while we let her into the living room to spread her wings. Or, at least we use to. Guess I need to take her out for a test drive sometime soon.

Tink's Blueberries

I loooove blueberries. In muffins, on cereal (to the point having been asked if I would like a little cereal to go with the blueberries) and on salads. You just can't go wrong with those tart little morsels of deliciousness. I think I need to buy some blueberry bushes and grow my own. Right next to the plot where I intend on growing turnip greens, which is the only thing I love more than blueberries.

Who's scarier

Also nestled up there is a ceramic pumpkin that one of the kids made, OMG, fifteen plus years ago. The little Jedi has a scowl on his face but I really think the "blood" drenched teeth and spider webs in the interior of the pumpkin win the scary feature hands down. I also think that bookshelf is in need of some serious dusting. We don't notice because of the height at which it is set, and besides I kept hitting my head on the ceiling fan just trying to get these pictures.

Star Trek v. Star Wars

Remember yesterday when I mentioned the hidden Legos figures? Where here is one of our little Jedi preparing to take on a ST Bird-of-Prey. I think he may being having second thoughts here. That is one awesome BOP and heavy too. This is actually the second one Pan got. He took the first to work to show it off and while he was away from his desk, one of his co-workers came by and wanted to look under it. Not realizing that it was not permanently attached to the stand, he turned it over and snapped the neck. Great guy though, owned up to it and replaced it.

Who's watching who?

Pirates ©Indigo Designs, Treasure Hunter ©Indigo Designs,
Wild West ©Indigo Designs, Easy Breezy ©Connie Prince

     I do love using the Lego figures to photograph and this picture turned out soooo cute. Indy had called me on skype so I set Jack on the keyboard and snapped away. Kind of looks like he's (Jack, that is) at an outdoor theater. If you have ever been to Guam (like ages ago), you will know what I mean.

     And speaking of Lego figures, Pan has been holding out on me. While trying to figure out what to photograph for GP's 13 on 13, I found a slew of them on the bookshelf above the bed. Star Wars characters all scattered among the Franklin Mint Star Trek vehicles.  How wrong is that?

Oh Lasagna

Taking a break from scrapping. This is the lasagna I made last week before leaving for Atlanta. All my mom's idea. And a brilliant one too. We have all thought about. I'm sure you have. Why waste all that time and money are frozen dinners when you can make your own. Made the meat sauce one night. Put is together and baked it the next day. Once it had a serious cool down in the fridge, it was time to cut, wrap and freeze. Once solid, into a large food saver bag they went. Now when I get a hankering for some good Italian cooking, I'll pull one of these babies out. Nuke it, then serve with a super-large salad and a glass of good wine. Now I just have to think of something else to prepare ahead of time and freeze. And when I do break down and buy those frozen dinners, maybe I should save the containers to fill with my own food.

Happy Birthday Daughter

Then (early 1980's)

Now (12/31/12 photo by DB)

Now (12/7/12 when she's being goofy)

It's difficult not to gloat when you realize that you have one of the most beautiful women in the world as your daughter. I have been so blessed to have children who were not only intelligent and responsible but also good looking. So here's to you, Daughter, wishing you a most pleasant and wonderful 33rd birthday.

Who's toy is it?

     The cat lay at the end of the bed grooming himself with one of favorite toys beside him. She watched him stealthily, then eased her hand over, ever so slowly to take possession of the bottle.

     Quick as a flash, the claws came out and latched onto the bottle. What came next was a tug-a-war to see who would dominate in their fierce battle.
     AND a very Happy St. Patty's Day to all my Irish family/friends and wannabes.

Surprise, Surprise

Gypsy ©Designs by Helly, With You ©A-liya, Template by MJAJ Designs

     Just look at the surprise...They did not have the car Pan reserved so they upgraded up at no extra charge to a convertible Cadillac. Talk about driving the strip in style. While we may have been there for the Experience, we most assuredly enjoyed driving around taking pictures of the strip and even the "back" roads of this famous city.

Viva Las Vegas

Gypsy ©Designs by helly, Shades of Reality ©Laitha's Designs, Lightness of Being
©designs by helly & bybecca, Industrious ©Laitha's Designs, Template by Jady Day Studio

     A real, honest to goodness vacation. Just the two of us in Las Vegas. Most would wonder, since neither of us gamble, why we would chose Vegas as vacation spot. Well, it has to do with the Star Trek Experience. Pan had been before. Now it was my turn. What we did not know was that we were in for a surprise.

Practice make perfect

Haunted{by memories of you} ©designs by helly, Template by Megan Turnidge

     We start our journey home from the disastrous getaway and I think this was the first time I started to really play with the camera while we were moving along the interstate and highways. The ones where I really tried to get some pictures of the landscape and buildings and even some clouds. This was before my new Canon camera. Most of the pictures really turned out blurry or bad, but I was lucky to get a few including the city of Birmingham in the distance.

Disastrous Getaway

Haunted{by memories of you} ©designs by helly, Template by Megan Turnidge

     One of the nice things about traveling with Pan when he has to attend conferences and such, is that I get to see something of the country again. This time we headed to Birmingham for an overnight stay. Not much to see, although we did take in a museum before dinner. I wish I had written down the name of the restaurant, because it was really nice. Just about the only nice thing about the trip.

     That night we were woken from a deep sleep from the people in the room next to us having their television blaring. We called down to the front desk and they called the room (we could hear the phone ringing too), but no one answered. Several minutes later we had to call down again and this time they sent someone to knock on the door. Still no answer. Finally after an hour or so, they called the fire department to break down the door. The person(s) in the room had gotten drunk and passed out.

     To make matters worse, but that time it was nearly morning so we just checked out and we didn't even get an apology. Sometimes travels can be a real pain.

Beware the Spider

Main Street Magic ©Connie Prince, Happiest Memories ©Happy Scrap Girl Designs,
Template by fiddle-dee-dee designs

     We spent our last day in Orlando at the Magic Kingdom and they were preparing it for Halloween which would be coming up in a couple of weeks. As we strolled through Tomorrowland, they were putting up this HUGE spider atop one of the buildings. It was so cool. I would love to have one to put up on our roof at Halloween. But I would want laser lights coming out of it's eyes when the kids walked by.

More on Disney World

Main Street Magic ©Connie Prince, Magic Moments Remake ©Laurie's Scraps, My Funky Monkey ©Connie Prince,
Happiest Memories ©Happy Scrap Girl Designs, Template by fiddle-dee-dee designs

     I'm with the Princess on this one...We really need to get back to Disney World. I like Universal and all, but you can get through it in about two days. Maybe in the next year or two we can take her and Indy to Disney for a vacation. I would like to do it in early fall or spring, preferably when school is in session, so they had better be making good grades.

     None of my pictures really turned out well on the trip we took in 2001 and so I altered this one to look like a painting. I know you can't tell from this small jpg, but it looks pretty cool.

Margaritaville

Escape ©Dancing Princess Designs & Simply You Simply Me,
Stitch It Up 2 ©Isabel Mendez, template by BusyBee Designs

     Love those margarita's at Margaritaville. Funny, since we have been going back to Orlando after a couple of years of going to Las Vegas, I don't think we have been to Margaritaville. Next time, we will have to try it out again. See if they made any changes. Speaking of margaritas, Chili's has one of the best...platinum presidente'. Yummy.... Made with fresh lime juice. And I always squeeze just a little more with the lime they put on the side of the glass.

     Does anyone know why restaurants are now serving margaritas in martini glasses instead of the traditional margarita glass? Just curious.

Frog Jerky

Escape ©Dancing Princess Designs & Simply You Simply Me, Merlot at Midnight ©Michelle Swadling,
Project 2012: April ©Connie Prince, template by BusyBee Designs

     On the phone with my sister, Bug, a couple of weeks ago (how is that not unusual?) Had her on the speaker phone as I was trying out a script she had written and didn't want to take the time to go find my bluetooth. When we finished with the script, I took the phone with me to watch Pan play his video game but neglected (probably on purpose) to take it off speaker.

     Suddenly we hear her telling the puppy to give her what was in his mouth... "Ugh, yuck," we hear, "It's a dried up frog." Pan started silently laughing and when Bug & I got off the phone, he turned to me and said "Frog Jerky."

Universal & adults

Jewel of Denial ©Armina Designs & Veronica Spriggs, template by Jumpstart Designs

Honestly, Universal really caters to the over 21 crowd. What other theme park can you go to have pick up a beer at a stall throughout the parks. And the rides tend to be aimed at the older set and more adventurous type. There are measuring stations throughout the parks to make sure you meet the height requirement (I think ddpuppies may miss out on a couple rides, LOL).