Magic Kingdom

(Warning: this post contains LOTS of pictures)

PRE-DISNEY SWIMMING!

Reagan is all about the splash!

Olivia is ready with a pose

Emma just needs some time to relax

Real sibling love

 First thing in the morning...THE CASTLE!

 Dumbo is one of those iconic Disney rides.
What a perfect day in Orlando Florida!  I was a little worried about spending
all day outside on the hot pavement in Florida IN JULY!  God took care of
us.  It was hotter and more humid in Nebraska than it was at Disney World in Florida.  YAY!
Breakfast was at 10:20am which gave us about an hour to pack in as much as
possible before the royal dining.

 Breakfast in Cinderella's castle was very magical, especially for Olivia.

Snow White

"Sleeping Bluety" is Olivia's favorite princess so I told her she should tell her that.

Olivia was so nervous so when she saw the pink princess she said,

"I'm your favorite!"  Poor Livie was so embarrassed.

Liv was surprised that Ariel had legs.  I had to remind her that

in the end of the movie she got her legs before she married Prince Eric.

It all made sense.

Belle...really, they couldn't have put her in the

yellow ball gown?  Princesses don't wear work clothes.  :)

After breakfast in the castle we were on a mission to take in as many

rides and shows as possible.  With the exception of one ride,

we had excellent timing.  Relatively short lines.

Waiting for Pirates of the Caribbean

Chris and I really enjoyed the Hall of Presidents, the girls weren't all that impressed.

Everyone loved the Peter Pan ride and our favorite show of the day was

MICKEY's PHILHAR MAGIC...awesome!!

Reagan and I stood in line for 60+ minutes to ride SPACE MOUNTAIN...totally worth it!

The hardest 3 hours of the day was from 6-9pm.  We had done basically everything we

wanted to do and had to wait for the parade and fireworks.  Unfortunately, there were 5-6 HUGE

groups of teenagers from Brazil, so many that they lined both side of main street...we had no

place to sit.  Luckily we found a sweet little elderly couple to sit by.  What started out as

a sweet little lady ended up being an angry old woman who was willing to run over anyone

with her motorized wheelchair if they stood in front of her.  YIKES!

Waiting for the electric parade along with hundreds of our closest Brazilian teenage friends

These girls were awesome all day long.

Here they are at 9pm after going strong for 13 hours!

Chris and I are so pleased to be making these memories with our daughters.

When our dear friends, the Kirgans, moved to Florida last summer they

invited us down to stay with them and hit the parks.  This vacation has been

so much more than Disney.  We have had great family time, friend time and Disney time.

This is more than I could have dreamed of. 

 I thank God for the opportunities and blessings He lavishes on our family.

More vacation pictures to come....

Lake Tour

The Kirgans and The Raabes

Our first full day in Orlando was perfect!  After waking early for several mornings in a row we slept in this morning and then hit the lake for a tour.  There's a series of lakes connected by channels in the city of Windemere.  We certainly saw some amazing homes.  To be honest I found myself going back and forth between being in a state of awe and disgust.  Do you have any idea what kind of change for the good these people could do with the millions of dollars spent on their homes?  There are only a few lots available...the land alone goes for at least a million dollars.  Crazy!  David Segal's house on the lake is 90,000 square feet.  No, I did not type too many zeros.  Think in terms of larger than the white house...that's what I am told.  That is disgusting!!  We went by homes of Shaq, Tiger Woods, the guy who owns Papa John's, J.Lo's old house and so many more.

Me and My Girls

 Dani, her youngest, my Liv and her oldest son

 Shaq's (the basketball player) house.  It litterally takes up the whole veiw, in fact you can't see it all.

 This yellow house was the first mansion built on the lake in the 70's by the President of Disney.
It has been sold twice since then, one guy had a heart attack and another lost his house.
See it just doesn't pay to own a mansion!

I couldn't even capture the whole house but I love the trees with all the hanging moss.

Dani, Courtney and Chris

Livie and Mommy

I was warned that the Florida sun should not be underestimated.

We applied sun screen twice but after a boat ride and then swimming

out back, some of us got a little too much sun.  Not so smart

on the first day.

Yesterday we drove through so super heavy rain.  I was shocked that it was in the 70s

and pouring down rain when we drove into Orlando.  Today is was hot and sunny

until 7:00pm when we got another down pour.  Basically that's the forcast for every

day this week.  Maybe that means we might be leaving Disney BEFORE the fireworks.

On The Road Again

Morning #2 and Chris is loading the car again, we are gearing up for another long trip.  We'll be in the car for 8-9 hours today and then finally ready to rest and relax for a week with our friends the Kirgans.

Wednesday afternoon we left our home for the extended trip KC.  (Extended because the flooding of the Missouri river kept us from traveling down the interstate.)  Four hours to KC and not one fight.  The girls didn't even use the DVD players.  So proud.

Thursday morning came way to early.  We left Angie and John's house at 6am for an eleven hour haul into Tennessee.  I'm one of those people who wants to get in the car and not stop for 3 hours.  Chris is a little more flexible...ok a lot more flexible.  Including our many stops we still made it to Chattanooga in 13 hours.

 Had to get a shot of the St Louis Arch.  I didn't ever get a closer shot.

A quick pit stop in Illinois to see Super Man's hometown...Metropolis

Cute little rest stop in Tennessee

Lastly, ready for the pool.

Now Chris is "yelling" at me...gotta get back on the road.



Once again, we attended the world famous Foley Fourth of July celebration. So it might not be "world" famous but it certainly is getting the attention of the folks in Grand Island. We first attended the firework party and BBQ back in 2004 with only a few families in attendance.  Most of us had one or two children.  Now not only have the families grown in size but the number of people invited have grown...some who came weren't even invited.  :)  This year the celebration included somewhere around 70 people.  Geesh!!!

 I know I already posted some pics of my cupcakes but this is the finished product.  The frosting was the best I have ever tasted.  I would like to keep the recipe a secret but it's not mine to hoard...found it on http://www.familyfun.com/ 

 Rod and Chris' arsenal

Let me add that Chris has already bought part of the finale for NEXT year.

  Look at these beautiful faces...I love 'em all! 

The dads say they put on this huge party for the kids. 

That's partially true...the dads are just big kids!

 Yes, I snapped this picture just as Olivia TOUCHED the burning punk!

 The two girliest girls at the party had PINK CHIC smoke bombs

 The whole neighborhood was full of pink smoke!

 Chris spent the whole evening handing out fireworks to everyone else's kids. 

Hopefully next year he will get to help his girls "play with explosives"

 What a face!

 Now the big boys get to play.  I shutter to think the amount of money they blew up

Rod was so proud of his finale that it found it's way onto youtube.  Click this... 2011 Foley Fireworks to see the best amateur firework display of 2011.

It's easy to forget the real beauty of this holiday.  There have been (and still are) men and women serving, fighting and dying to protect my freedoms.  Most of those freedoms I take for granted everyday...flying my flag, openly worshiping my God, wearing shorts, cutting my hair, voting, educating my daughters and the list goes on.  I am grateful that I can chose but it has come at a great cost.  Thank you to every soldier and soldier's loved one.

NOTE: Emma's camera has the firework pictures, I will add them later.

Planning...It's a Love/Hate Relationship

Summer is a funny creature in the Raabe house.

Chris and I are both "unemployed" for two months

but that opens us up to be the people who can help

in any situation because we "don't have anything

better to do."  :) 

Don't get me wrong, I love being available to

watch a friend's child last minute or pick them up

for a game or camp but as you can guess, it can be

difficult to draw a line.  Some people call it having

B O U N D A R I E S! 

Most mornings Chris is helping out with a softball or

writing camp.  That's my opportunity to sit with my

coffee and bible/book for reflection and prayer. 

I love waking slowly.  About 9:30 I realize I've

gotta get in gear or the day will pass me by. 

The afternoons are filled with errands, chores, family

time and sometimes a nap (not for me). 

Evening is a whole other beast!  Kids have games

and practices; neighborhood friends are over; BBQs.

I don't mean just one of those things is going on,

occasionally all of them are going on the same day.  :)

(Oh did I mention all night security too?)

For some people this would mean planning, being prepared

and always ready for the next event.  NOT ME!  I do have

a calendar with every event listed but I don't want to

P L A N

anything else.  If I am going to do something extra it's

going to be "last minute."  It does sound better to call it

S P O N T A N E O U S.

So even tho I want to know what's going on, I don't

want to schedule a play date for crying out loud. 

Tonight I did plan ahead just a little.  We were again invited

to spend Independence Day with some dear friends.  The men

blow up everything they can find while the women sit back

and pray.  I like to do food with a certain level of excitement 

for holidays.  I found this idea on http://Familyfun.com

All the cupcakes were going to be red, white and blue until

little Olivia put in her 2 cents worth.  We also have rainbow

cupcakes.  And wouldn't you know...I had to take a picture.

Frosting will come later, I'm just so happy to be mostly

done with one of the foods I will be taking to the

F a b u l o u s   F o l e y   F o u r t h !

disclaimer: I did not take time to buy healthy food dyes. 

These are Wilton.  They do a great job and won't kill

anyone but certainly, not the best thing for growing kids.

Happy July 4th!

Please remember our military men and women.  Pray for

their safety, their families left behind and that God will

continue to do a work in their lives.

Business Time

A summer day with nothing to do...why not try to make a buck? Too bad we don't live on a street with a little more traffic, they worked hard for paying clients.  They even offered me a glass of cool sweetness, only if I was willing to pay 50 cents.  Geesh, they drive a hard bargin.  I opted for the organic limeade.

Doing the Prep Work

Ready for Business!

We aRe FAmiLy

Summer is a special time for Warren's family.  Back in the day Warren (Chris' grandpa) and his brothers were either working in the field or playing ball on the field.  Either way, it was a time to work hard and play even harder.  In honor of Grandma and Grandpa the modern day Raabes (Ray.be) come together for a weekend of fun and games. 
-This year was a little different, no bocce tourney, no pizza, no group photo as well as missing a couple people.  We did have an addition to our crazy group...Steven.  What a great guy, I hope the family didn't scare him off. 
-Our annual reunion includes 3 days at the cabins, gift exchange, campfires and smores, swimming, fishing, lots of teasing and this year we added an Easter egg hunt.  Pictures below.

Ready for the hunt!

Emma enjoyed time spent with Levi

Olivia's quote: "We can do whatever we want and not ask our moms."
These three played so well all weekend while their brothers hunted for frogs.

My Blondies!!

cooling off with ice cream on a hot day