Rori's Birthday

Yeah, yeah, I know, Rori's birthday was almost three months ago. So I'm a little late in getting pictures up... anyway, here is our precious goddaughter on her 6th birthday. She wasn't feeling that well, but she still really wanted to go to Chuck E Cheese, so off we went (even though it was ghet--to....)






She is really into High School Musical, so we got her an HSM book as well as the HSM DVD (the first one; she had the second, and they got HSM 3 shortly after her birthday).

Disney World: The Animal Kingdom

More Disney World pictures, this time from the Animal Kingdom.


The first thing we did was rush to Mount Everest (the new roller coaster) and get fast passes. But since there was a short wait (15 minutes or so) we decided to go on it then, too, so we got on it twice. It was still kind of chilly, so I'm wearing Dan's sweatshirt :)


Standing outside Mount Everest, which Dan, Kirsti, my mom and I went on :)


Rori posing on one of our walks through the "jungle"


At the food court.


My mom :)


I really am not that big, I promise, but I had to wear Dan's sweatshirt because I was really cold, and it makes me look huge.


Some wildlife we saw on our safari...

Epcot: Part II

Here are some more photos of our Disney World trip (still at Epcot):


Since England is my favorite country (well, I'm assuming, since I haven't actually been there yet!) I of course had to take lots of pictures in the English part of Epcot.




Here's us in "Canada." Aren't the gardens beautiful?










From L-R: my aunt Chris, my mom, Kirsti, Matthew, my grandma, Tracy, me, Rori and Katrina. Where's Dan? Oh, yeah, he's taking the picture.


Tracy, me, Rori and Dan.

Quite the Surprise!

So, yesterday Tracy called me and asked if I wanted to meet for dinner at Olive Garden. I said sure, and didn't really think anything of it, since we get together all the time. So I left work at 4 so I could still get my workout in before dinner, and then I headed over to the OG. Imagine my surprise when I saw my MOM sitting at the table! My mouth just dropped open; I couldn't believe she had flown out to surprise us! So that was very cool :)

And, here are some more pics. Ok, I know I'm all over the place in terms of posting, but remember how last Saturday I said we went to The Orpheum and I would upload pictures? Well, here they are. Oh, you can see my new haircut, which I'm liking a lot better now that it's grown out some. Before it was waaaay too short.






Rori, just being adorable (as always!)


I call this one "Rori Simmons" since she reminds me of Gene Simmons of Kiss.


Rori brought one of her books from school with us; she LOVES to read and be read to, and she already can read and write a lot of words. She knows a lot for a kindergartener! (Oh, and she doesn't wear glasses; those are Greg's, but she likes to wear them for fun).


Pretending to ponder something she's read...




Isn't she cute? Is it any surprise that she makes me want kids even more than I already do?


Here's Roberta, Tracy's mother-in-law, the one whose birthday we were celebrating.


Rori and I shared some cheesecake for dessert.


Rori being silly...


Rori took this picture; I joke that I always have a double chin in the photos she takes of me, so I was "pulling it back" for this photo.





I was tickling her, hence the silly face.


On the left: Kerman (their good friend), Dan, me, Rori.
Center: Roberta
On the right: Dan Hines (we always have to differentiate, since there's two Dans), Tracy, Kirsti, and Dan's brother Greg.


Greg and Rori making weird faces.


Oh, and this is what we saw as we left. I LOVE snow (I really do) but the end of March is too, too late for snow (in my book, anyway!) Oh well, it melted the next day. It was kind of pretty!

I can't believe it's been 15 years.

So today is the 15th anniversary of Kurt Cobain's death (well, the 15th anniversary of when they found him). He was 27 when he died, which is my age. That's so crazy to me, that he accomplished so much in such a short time and then lost it all. I don't really know why I'm posting this, except that it just struck me regarding how long it's been. And God I miss the music of the early 90s. Today's stuff just sucks rocks.

The Melting Pot

I forgot how good that place is! I went there last night with 4 of my friends for Ladies' Night, and it was so delicious! I want to go back with Dan (he's never been), but it's so much pricier on regular nights. Oh well. It was really fun, though, and good to see all of them!

Disney World: Magic Kingdom

We spent quite a bit of time at the Magic Kingdom, which I also love. One night, they kept the park open until 2 am for resort guests, so Kirsti, me, Tracy and my mom stayed there until closing (Dan took Rori back to the room because she was tired, and he had already ridden on everything he wanted). We got on all the rides we wanted, and the longest we had to wait for a ride (Peter Pan) was 15 minutes. It was great.


We were just messing around with our camera settings, taking pictures of the castle at night, since it changes colors.





Tracy and Rori; Rori said she wanted to live in this castle. Would be nice, huh?


Rori and I rode the Dumbo ride together; she was not happy that we had to ride in an orange one (she wanted pink or purple) but since we waited 30 minutes for that ride, I wasn't going to wait any longer! :)


My mom and me

Flowers

I just wanted to post these pictures of the flowers my mom got me for my birthday. They're gorgeous, and it's been two weeks now, and the only stuff I've had to take out were the roses; the rest of it is going strong!

Disney World: Epcot: Part 1

Ok, so I finally decided to upload pictures. I know, I know, I've been promising it forever. Anyway, this is of our Disney World trip in mid-January to celebrate my mom's 60th birthday. It was me, Dan, my mom, Tracy, Kirsti (13), Rori (almost 6; she turned 6 at the end of January), my grandma, my aunt Chris, Katrina and Matthew.

We spent a lot of time at Epcot, which is one of our favorite parks, so here are some snapshots from then:


Rori meeting the "other" Aurora ;)


Waiting for the bus stop outside our resort, Coronado Springs; it was actually quite cold for Florida, as you can tell from the sweatshirts and jackets. But I'll take mid-50s and sun over -20 degrees, which it was in Madison!





Chinese acrobats


Rori meeting her favorite princess, Mulan


After lunch one day, Rori got her face painted, and she wanted something Asian since she was going to meet Mulan.


Germany, where we ate lunch. I was surprised that I, such a picky eater, liked their food.


During lunch, we saw this German band play. They were quite good; it reminded me of going to supper clubs with my grandparents in Wisconsin.


Waiting for the bus... we just thought this vending machine looked cool since it was "Aztec"-ish.



There were only two beds in our room (since Tracy and the girls decided to come at the last minute, which we are SO glad they did!) so Kirsti and Rori slept in sleeping bags on the floor. Here Rori is on our first night, getting ready of sleep for the next day!