jump start

we left the airport

dropped our stuff off at our hotel

and were off to epcot

food & wine was going on while we were there

we wasted no time before sampling our first snack - 

beer cheese soup from canada

ben loved it!

we caught a ride on frozen

made our first stop in america

for our favorite singers

hit the best happy hour around

(much needed after a 4 am airport alarm)

and we took a ride on the land

while we waited for our room to be ready

* hidden mickey with the hose at the land *

not a bad way to spend our first few hours :)

and we're off ...

with our passes expiring in less than a month

we knew that over MEA we should make one last trip to disney

because of the way that drew's college schedule fell

we found it best to leave on friday

and then have alex/ben miss a few days of the next week

so friday morning we were up bright and early

and off to the airport

we are all officially now precheck

which is AWESOME

we were thru security in no time

so the boys could get their usual -

aiport mcdonald's breakfast

while stacey and i got our starbucks

we had a smooth flight -

the boys sat right across from us

and the flight attendant couldn't get over

how drew could get his size

from parents like us ;)

we got to orlando by noon -

so much of the day still left ... 

it was perfect!

vacay prep

because drew still had classes this week

ben, alex, and i had yesterday and today off

but stacey still went to work

and drew still had school

SO ...

we did everything we needed to so we were ready to go ...

haircuts for me and chewy ...

dropped chewy off at the house of the lady watching him ...

had lunch with stacey

so that we could see his new office

and nice view ...

and finally started packing around 10pm :)

4am is going to come early

but it will be SO worth it!

orangutan yoga

while ben was volunteering

alex and i decided to run a few errands

and spend some time at como zoo

it was a beautiful day

we hadn't seen the baby giraffe yet

and the orangutans always give good entertainment ...

today i'm quite certain that he was working on his child's pose

mea kickoff

MEA break officially started today

ben and a group of friends

put in a few volunteer hours at feed my starving children

thankfully ...

my friend (ben's friend's mom) happened to be there with her other 2 kids

so she made sure to take a few pictures of the group

they look overly excited at first

but from what i hear they found their groove

and had a lot of fun

they even packed a lot of boxes!

nice job, boys!

move it move it

you might remember me mentioning that ben's friend carson has a sister maddie

and maddie cheers for the boys at cross country

a lot

and loud.

well ...

tonight was maddie's senior night swim meet

so a few of the boys from cross country

got together and made some signs

and then went to her meet to cheer her on

time trial smiles

tonight ben had a time trial run - 

basically a practice run going into sectionals

it was a GORGEOUS day for it ...

with the leaves changing

and the sun shining

we couldn't have asked for anything more

while blaine started their huddle

anoka came and joined in with them again -

minecraft sword and all

ben had a great run

and as you can see ...

had a little fun along the way

keep smiling thru your races ben ...

you make it look so easy

and i love it!

* seventeen years *

happy 17 years mr. barnett

every year that passes

i love doing life as 'us' more and more

i am so glad i said 'sure'

we celebrated tonight with a 'little' big bowl

and will continue to celebrate in just SIX more sleeps

at the happiest place on earth

can't wait!

blasting records

yesterday alex and his friend, andrew

went to the national sports center

there was a group that organized a world record attempt

at the largest nerf gun battle

and they were 2 of a few thousands of people

i haven't heard if they actually broke the record

but these 2 had fun trying

finished

and just like that ...

the siding is finished!