Ninth Anniversary

Jamie and I celebrated our ninth anniversary this past week by sending the kids to TN with his parents and heading to FL (Orlando to be specific) so I could attend a conference and Jamie could work on his dissertation. It was a wonderful week.

The "kid exchange" was made at Cracker Barrel last Saturday...the kids were elated!

Then, we met my colleagues early Monday morning to head to the conference. Monday, we enjoyed a WONDERFUL evening with Nancy and Diane at Emirel's Orlando restaurant. From bread to entree to dessert...it was our favorite...even if we did get sat beside the table with kids. (Is there a sign us that says, "We understand" or do we smell funny?) I can't imagine paying that kind of money for kids to eat (or not) chicken fingers. The fish was excellent and the company was great!

We headed to one of the many available Universal Studios' stores on CityWalk and updated our "Thing One, Thing Two" collection. (Years ago, Jamie attended a conference and brought home Thing One and Thing Two t-shirts (from The Cat in the Hat if you are confused), but the girls have long outgrown them and Betsy had expressed a concern that we never provided Jack with an appropriate shirt. (I think he's been wearing Thing 2 lately.) So, we bought the kids shirts, and they have Thing One through Four shirts! Who knew?! (apparently Betsy)

But on the way...the grown-ups had fun with some hats:

I can't wait to show the kids this picture of their daddy as the man with the yellow hat!!

Tuesday, I headed to a FULL day of learning and LOVED it. Jamie worked on his dissertation and had a draft of Chapter 4 sent to a committee member by the end of the day.

Wednesday, I headed to a day of conference activities that ended mid afternoon so after asking the Disney recruiters (there are many advantages to being in this field) how to navigate Hollywood Studios in three hours, we headed there, and we hit the best stuff...beating the storm with minutes to spare!

As instructed, we headed to Tower of Terror and Rock 'n' Roller Coaster (Starring Aerosmith) first.

I'm not sure if Jamie is being "scared" or "scary" as we prepare to enter the "tower."

I'm scared...of what that mist is doing to my already frizzed hair!

I didn't really break the Toy Story ride by pushing over any dominoes, but I have to say, I think it may have been our favorite. Jamie had a higher score, but I was more accurate.... We need to go back, don't you think?!

The Muppets are great...wherever you are, and we also hit the Star Wars ride and the Great Movie Ride...we did a lot in a very short amount of time!

Then, we headed to the BlueZoo restaurant via water taxi for a WONDERFUL anniversary dinner.

Thursday, after another great day of conference-ing, we headed to Epcot. Though we didn't get to ride any rides, we had a great time!

I thank God for this wonderful man I live life beside. I'm a better person...mommy...Christian because of him. It didn't take Disney for me to know that. It didn't take a break from the mommy-role for me to realize that...but I have to admit...it sure was nice.

Of course, it was nice to have us all back together again too!!