Thankful Thursday--17 July Edition

Today I am thankful for the time and resources that German's job affords us. No, they are not unlimited resources, but they are enough. Enough to:
*stay home with our girls and homeschool
*get a train at an hour's notice to go spend an evening with him on a business trip
*enjoy a lovely dinner in a nice restraunt with the family
*spend an entire day wandering a museum with the girls
*not feel guilty that the laundry, and house, and proper school were ignored for a day out

The resources are not unlimited, but they are all we need and I am thankful!

What are you thankful for today? Join us with Iris at Sting my Heart to share your thankful hearts.

In Other Words--Which Way is Right?

“When we are set free from the bondage of pleasing others,when we are free from currying others approval-then no one will be able to make us miserable or dissatisfied. And then, if we know we have pleased God, contentment will be our consolation.
~Kay Arthur~

Our lives are entangled with the lives of others. We do not live in isolation. So, because we are are in close proximity with others, we often get confused that their approval is the most important thing.

We want to live in the right neighbourhood, drive the right car, wear the right clothing, read the right books and see the right films. "Right" will be be defined differently for each of us because "right" is defined by those with whom we associate. And it can be oh-so-confusing when our groups of association conflict in their definition of "right."

You understand those confusions: the wardrobe that is "too frumpy" for the hip-trendsetters at work but still too "revealing" for the ultra-conservative at church; that quasi-Christian writer that makes you look "cool" to your unchurched friends but make your church friends shake their head in wonderment that you would read that "fluff"; or your "quaint" (according to some friends) belief that your husband is the leader of your home. Which group is right? And by exclusion then, which group is wrong? And where does that leave you, when your choices are appropriate for where God is leading you at the time?

Right does not have to be defined by our friends. Right is defined by God within our relationship with Him. If we seek to be attuned to God's direction in our life, He will direct us to "right." He won't lead us into wrong choices. It all comes down to what voice do we hear--God's or the crowd's? I want to hear God's and be able to rest assuredly in those decisions.

A man's steps are directed by the LORD.
How then can anyone understand his own way?
Proverbs 20:24

I know, O LORD, that a man's life is not his own;
it is not for man to direct his steps.
Jeremiah 10:23

Father, help me to push aside the voices that detract me and make me unsettled with the life You give me. Help me to only hear Your Voice of Truth. Make me content in the things that You have blessed me by giving. Please direct my path, today and always. Amen.

Today's hostess for In Other Words is Denise. You can visit her site to link to others writing on this quote, or post a link to your own post. Have a blessed day!

Menu Planning Monday

This is kind of an odd week since German is out of town more than once and with our weird British weather I can't decide until late afternoon if it is a grill day or a non-grill day. So that is how I'm dividing the menus. ;)

Grill Days:
Option One: Lemon and Garlic Chicken breasts, steamed carrots, green salad
Option Two: Kielbasa, green salads, melon
Option Three: Grilled cheeseburgers, salads, green beans

Non-Grill Days:
Option One: Salmon Chowder (hold over from last week)
Option Two: Summer vegetable pizza with melon
Option Three: Savoury Lamb Chops with Rosemary, steamed zucchini
Option Four: Blackened Chicken open Faced Sandwiches with Carrot, Green Pepper and Pinapple topping, green salad

Florida Vacation--Day Twelve

This was the day that Dad and Dixie were flying home. I was trying hard not to think about it! They had rented their own van (that we didn't use) so we were not seeing them off at the airport. Again we had a late breakfast. Then we went to the shopping outlet to do a little "retail therapy". Not much was actually purchased. I think Dix got a couple of T's for the grandkids. The girls enjoyed riding all the mechanical toys (think in front of grocery store toys). Grandads are much more willing to pay for things like that than moms are. ;-) Then we said good-bye and they headed to the airport.

We headed to Universal's Islands of Adventure. We had two goals for the day: explore Seuss Landing and conquer a big roller coaster--or at least German would conquer it.

This is a picture of the Incredible Hulk taken from the train in Seuss Landing.

Since this was our latest arrival at any park, it was crowded. And it was hot! So our first stop was to buy German and myself a hat! Then we were off to Dr Seuss Land!




The Seussossel


Red Fish, Blue Fish....And then you get wet!

After we rode the "Cat in the Hat" and the train, Rose's slight "accident" necessitated some more shopping. We decided that the girls and I would do the shopping and make the clothing change needed, and then meet German at Dueling Dragons--the big roller coaster he planned to conquer! At least it gave me an excuse to buy "Thing One" shorts for the girls!

As we were getting ready to leave Seuss Landing, a few friends came out and we stopped to meet them all!




Then we went to meet German. He rode the "ice" side of the dueling dragons. By far, he thought it was the best coaster of the trip!


Then we wandered through the rest of the park. The girls played in the Jurassic play area. The queue to ride the flying pterodactyls was 90 minutes, so we passed. We ate ice cream in the 'Toon area and took a few pictures.


Our goal was to get to the Incredible Hulk for German to conquer another coaster. We took some pictures of it from a distance and commented that it didn't seem to be going as frequently. Just as we got to the turn styles, they announced that it had a mechanical failure and they were turning out the queue who had been waiting for over half an hour. *sigh* German took Jewel to go on the Spiderman ride instead. Neither of them were terribly impressed. While we waited, Flower showed her best "I'm bored but I'm incredibly cute" pose.


After we left the Islands we took what is my favorite family shot of the holiday!


Dinner was at Vallarta Mexican restaurant. It took us until day eleven to even spot a Mexican restaurant anywhere! I was beginning to panic. lol. But it was totally worth the wait!

Home for a swim and then another good night's sleep!

Florida Holiday---Day Eleven

This was the day that Amy had to leave us to go back to work. Her flight was early afternoon. We once again had a late breakfast at Cracker Barrel. Then we went to play miniature golf. It was a blast! Dad and German took the girls in the group ahead, and Dix, Amy and I played behind. Everyone had a great time. I made the comment to Amy that it was the best round of mini golf I had ever played. We joked that it must be because German wasn't playing with me. It may not have been a joke since German watched the last two holes and I went from playing a par game to 5 strokes over! In two holes! AARGH! Flower and Jewel thought this was the greatest game ever. Flower had never played, and Jewel was 3 the only time she had played. Too bad we don't have mini golf where we are in England.









After golf, we had lunch at Steak and Shake.


None of the Texas crew had ever been, so it was a new experience. I think we have converted all of them to understanding that Steak and Shake have the best shakes ever. German was in heaven, since it is something he misses from St. Louis.

Then we took Amy to the airport. :-( On the way home we stopped at Wally World, again, for a couple of things. Then we went to the villa to swim and relax. We just snacked at the villa for dinner. After tucking the girls in to sleep, we watched a video and then took ourselves to bed as well.

Florida Holiday--Day Ten

We awoke early for our journey to Kennedy Space Center on day ten. Not everyone wanted to be up early.


The drive went quickly, even with eight people in the van. We arrived just before the doors opened. Perfect! As soon as the doors opened, we headed to the back to the Shuttle Launch Experience and were in the first group to go in for launch. Again, Jewel and Rose were too short to go on. Dad offered to stay with them. They were able to go to the viewing area and watch us "launch." I'm not one for big rides of any kind, so I wasn't sure about doing this, but it was very cool! Dad said that Jewel was quite concerned when we "took off" (lol). It was great and we decided that Dad really needed a chance to do it as well. So he, Dix and Amy went back into the queue while German and Jim took the girls to go on the shuttle they could explore. They liked it, but the thing that made the biggest impression was the turtle that they helped "save" by having daddy find someone to get it out of the fence it was trapped in. Apparently, according to the worker who saved him, the turtle gets stuck often.


Once everyone had been on the shuttle experience we joined the queue for the bus tour. All of the Space Center was cool to see, but it was really great to see Discovery on the launch pad since it was 7 days to launch.



Sunday was a great day to visit. The crowds were low, and since it wasn't a proper work day there was little traffic and the bus guides could take all the time they needed to tell their stories. In route to different parts of the Center we saw lots of crocodiles, a manatee and a HUGE eagle aerie.


Once back to the beginning we went to the IMAX show of landing on the moon.


Then we let the girls play in and explore the Rocket garden.



A little (?!) shopping later and it was time to go.

After Space Center, we drove to Cocoa Beach to get our feet in the sand. What a lovely beach! We saw the Disney cruise ship at dock as well. The girls, and everyone else, had a blast jumping in the waves.





They were absolutely soaked when we got back to the van. I just stripped their shorts and socks off and laid them in the back to dry. Their shirts were damp, but not too much, so we left them on.

Jim had to leave us Sunday night due to prior engagement at home on Memorial Day. So we drove straight from the beach back to the airport for him to get his plane. :-( Jewel just sobbed as he left.

The rest of us went to dinner at Boston Lobster (very, very good). The girls clothes were still wet. Grandad and Dix had bought them little knit dresses at Kennedy so we changed them into dry clothes before dinner. YAY!


Another awesome day.

Florida Holiday---Day Nine

Day nine arrived early, and I was exhausted. I said to German that I really didn't have it in me to do another long day. He was in the same state of mind. Our original plan had been to do Kennedy on this day and then take Sunday as just hang out by the pool and relax day. We wondered about switching the schedule. I checked the "Brits Guide to Orlando" which had an awesome table that told the types of crowds to expect at different places on each day of the week. It indicated that Sunday was a "light" crowd day at Kennedy, so decision was made. We quietly knocked on doors and told everyone "change of plans, sleep in!" No one argued!

The only problem was the housekeeping crew was scheduled to come at 10 since we would be away. So we got everyone up and ready to leave just before ten. We went and had a leisurely breakfast at Cracker Barrel. When we came back by the villa, the cleaning crew was still there. So we went to the little playground in the neighbourhood for the girls to swing and slide.

Amy-I'm-afraid-of-snakes managed to catch a lizard for the girls to see up close. They were enthralled. Enthralled, but Jewel wouldn't touch it. Flower on the other hand couldn't wait to touch!


We finally got back in the villa, and most everyone got ready to swim. German and Dad were going to Wally World to try and get a disk made of some of our pictures, and to get a birthday cake for Amy. The girls had a blast showing off their swimming skills to Dix, Amy and Uncle Jim.

And, Amy caught another lizard.

They played in the pool for hours. When German got home, he joined them for a while as well.

The villa also had a great game room with a pool table and airhockey table. Pool was a little tricky, since the game room was a converted garage, but they had not taken into consideration that the floor of a garage is slightly sloped. Dad tried to balance the table, but it still was sloped. Air hockey, on the other hand, was a blast. The girls loved it. Here, the two brothers are showing their competitive sides.


Later we went out for dinner. We returned home for dessert, birthday cake.

When German had asked Dix what kind of cake Amy liked, she had said "icing." So German chose a cake with lots of icing. When he was cutting the cake and asked Amy which piece she wanted she replied, "icing." We cracked up! He had done well, the cake had great flavor and awesome icing!

We then had an earlier night since the next morning would be early.

Florida Holiday--Day Eight

Friday morning we got up early. Everyone gathered in the kitchen for coffee. Then German went and got the girls up. He brought them into the kitchen. It took them a few minutes to process that we had new people. Finally Jewel lit up in a smile and ran to hug Grandad, followed by Uncle J and Dix. Flower needed more time to wake up before she was very demonstrative.




They really had no clue that the family was joining us. It was such a fun surprise!

Finally everyone was really awake and dressed and ready to go. We headed off for a day in EPCOT.

The flower and garden show was going on at EPCOT and we enjoyed looking at all the flowers and topiaries.


We got fastpass passes for the Test Track and then went to the Mars simulator. Flower was too little so she and I went to the play area at the exit while everyone else rode the non-spinning side. It was convincing enough that Jewel wasn't sure where she was when it was over! From there we went back to the Test Track. Dix decided that her stomach couldn't handle test track after going to Mars so she stayed back with Flower while I went with the others.

It was a blast! Jewel thought it was the coolest!

Then we went exploring in World Showcase. It was already hot that day, so our first stop was for ice tea in Mexico. We explored the other countries and finally stopped for lunch in Germany. Along the way, the girls met Snow White and got her picture and autograph.


We listened to the "Beatles" in the UK and heard a story in China.


We did the movies in France and in Canada--a way to get out of the sun for a little while.


We finished "traveling the world" and were headed to "Honey I Shrunk the Audience" when the clouds began to look ominous. We managed to get in before the rain came. And the rain did come! It was still coming down hard when the show ended. We made a run for the next building so the girls could see the Lion King/environmental awareness movie. By the time it ended, the rain had stopped. It was time for us to say good-bye to EPCOT.

We then took the monorail to Magic Kingdom and then the boat across to Wilderness Lodge.

We had dinner reservations that evening at Whisperin' Canyon. Wow! The food was awesome. The antics were hilarious. The girls loved it when they asked for crayons and kids from every table brought them one crayon each.

They also loved it when they got to take one crayon to someone else! The men in our group suddenly decided it was time to go when all the men in the restaraunt were called up to sing "I'm a little teapot." Spoilsports!

We got down to the boat dock just in time to see the SpectroMagic parade go by.


Then we could see the beginning of Wishes Fireworks as we got on the monorail to go back to EPCOT to our car. We would have stayed, except we had to get to the airport. My step-sister was arriving from Texas at that very time. The girls fell asleep in the car, so they did not fully comprehend that Amy had come too until the next day. Too funny!


We were showing Amy the house and somehow the topic of snakes came up. Amy said that she "couldn't stand snakes." Her room was the "animal kingdom" room in the villa. I had not noticed it before, but a six foot plush snake was trailed through the head board of her bed. It was hilarious. We decided to remove the snake for the duration of her visit. The girls would enjoy playing with it the rest of the trip.


We all went to bed with strict instructions that we were leaving the house at 730 a.m. to go to Kennedy Space Center.