Another One

Yesterday was another great day of our vacation!

We headed to Orlando for the day.

First we stopped at Give Kids the World Village.

Olivia's Make a Wish trip three years ago was here and we LOVE this place.

One of our favorites! :)

We go back usually one day each time we come to FL.

Liam could have ridden this all day!

Each time she has to find "her" paving stone and get a photo!

We ALL love the free ice cream parlor!

Their park is amazing!

I tried telling Braeden that this type of swing was for kids with physical needs,

but he HAD to use it anyway, and got himself STUCK! LOL

Course mom had to get a picture FIRST before helping him out!

The newer water/pool area is awesome!

We took full advantage in the 93 degree heat!

Then we headed to Medieval Times as a treat from Grandma and Grandpa!

Olivia had a ball and got her first "crush."

Because "our" knight, the green knight...

...threw her THIS and she was on cloud 9!

She held it in front of her ALL evening! LOL

Braeden cheered like crazy and was mesmerized by it all!

But I think this part was one of his favorites!

He loved the battles!

And Liam, he just drank it all in,

especially the Pepsi which he was allowed to drink,

unlike normally when we eat out!

He was in HEAVEN!

A late day, but a GREAT day!

Saturday Snapshots

Grandma and Grandpa treated us to a special day with them at Bus.ch Gar.dens today. Had a few rough patches, but overall a wonderful, fun day!

Braeden's Turn

Two summers ago Disney. had their day of allowing people to go to a park free on their birthday so I took Olivia to Hollywood Studios by herself to celebrate on my day. This summer, since Olivia and I were doing her ten year trip and because I had taken her last time, it was Braeden's turn.

Braeden chose Universal Studio.s and yesterday was the day we were finally able to go, since Liam's seizures postponed it from last week.

He absolutely LOVED the Jurassic Park education center where there were many dinosaur related activites... I think we ended up there three times during the day!

This fountain was so funny! Someone was watching and would talk from inside to the kids/people gathering around. Then they would try to squirt them with water from one of the many holes that water could come out of... Braeden did "ninja moves" to stay away from the water as long as possible! :)

Our favorite area was definitely the Wizarding World of Har.ry Pot.ter... and it was SO much better than last summer where we waited over 1 1/2 hours just to get in to the AREA. :) No lines like that this time!

We each had THREE butterbeers during the day! Our favorite!

We ate late lunch/ early dinner at the Three Broomsticks... YUM!

We loved seeing Zon.ko's and Honey.dukes which we didn't even get close to last summer with all the lines just to get in!

Seuss Landing was also a favorite as Braeden is not a big ride rider, and this area has four smaller kid-type rides. :)

On our way out... he was moving SO fast (as is his "norm") that the camera couldn't keep up!

All in all (we had a few issues with listening, etc) it was a good day! LOVE my Braeden!

Another Side

While Olivia and I were in New York City, we had so much fun! But, there was also that "other side" of life that we don't often get an up close view of, and although it was heart wrenching to see, I'm glad Olivia got to see some of this herself.

We passed many homeless people as we walked the streets of NYC.

As we walked along in our "nice" clothes, not worried about being hungry

and if so, satisfying that "hunger" whenever or however we pleased.

We saw many.

These are only a few that I snapped pics of as I happened to have my camera out

and taking a pic of something else nearby.

We had some good conversations about the people we saw.

We prayed for them.

We know that though we do not know their stories

or how they ended up in this situation,

God DOES know them.

He knows them personally.

And loves them individually.

And in that we laid our prayers.