The Woodalls go to Wally World

There were times when I did feel like the Griswalds in Vacation! It was a great trip, and the kids were much better than I expected. Yeah, it was hot, but not as miserable as I had anticipated. And, yes, it was crowded, but the only time you had to really deal with swarms of people was during/after parades & fireworks shows. We didn't lose anybody!! That was what I was most afraid of. Having Mom come with us was the best thing we decided to do. Having another adult was a lifesaver! I think she had a pretty good time too. :)

We stayed at the Pop Century Resort (one of the value resorts). It wasn't luxurious but plenty nice. The rooms were small, like a standard motel room, but we didn't spend much time there anyway! The pools were great and the decor really appealled to the kids. The food court had lots of choices and the food was very yummy!

DAY ONE--The hotel and Magic Kingdom

Our rooms were in the "70's" section, and this giant Mickey Mouse phone was right around the corner from our rooms.


What other place but Disney would pay tribute to the Big Wheel and Fooz Ball??


We made it! Main Street U.S.A.!!


Rebecca was a little frightened by the Snow White ride. Afterwards, she was presented with a "Certificate for Bravery" signed by Snow White and all the dwarves, along with a jewel.


The boys are going to love this picture some day. :) Here they are checking out the workings of Minnie Mouse's kitchen!


No trip to an amusement park would be complete without a ride on the carousel!


Rebecca meets Cinderella. She was fascinated by the princesses' beautiful gowns, but she was more interested in what kind of shoes they were wearing. This girl loves shoes!

Off to Neverland!

We leave out for Disney World tomorrow morning! It's just a 4-night vacation, but I think it will be plenty long to remind us of just why in the world did we want to do this?? I am expecting it to be very hot and very crowded, so any fun we have beyond that will be a bonus! The kids (especially the boys) are very excited, especially about the plane trip. Henry informed me today that he didn't want to fly upside down. I had to explain that only special pilots like the Blue Angels do that and we would not be doing any "tricks" on the plane.

Since it has been so hot here in the afternoons lately, we've been letting the kids watch Disney movies. One of the boys' favorites is Peter Pan. We also have the sequel, Return to Neverland. So, Henry calls the original, Straight to Neverland. Pretty good logic, don't you think? Another one that they have enjoyed is the Aristocats, or in Henry language, that's The Rest of the Cats!

I'm looking forward to having lots of great pictures to post when we return!

It's a Girl!

I talked my doctor in doing an ultrasound on the sly this week, and it looks like we are having a girl! My official due date is December 17th, which is Billy's birthday. We don't have a name picked out yet, but it will in all likelihood be a family name, since all of our children have family names. William was a little disappointed with the news of another girl, but he's getting used to the idea.

Independence Day Celebration

First of all, this was a very special day because it was the very first Independence Day for Rebecca as a U.S. citizen!

We started the day with our annual Jackson family 4th of July picnic. There is a large natural spring-fed creek that runs through some of my grandfather's farm land. It brings back a lot of memories every time we go there. I played in this water as a child probably long before I ever saw a swimming pool. And, with the springs, you know the water is COLD!

In my opinion, it wouldn't be the 4th without hot dogs, barbecue, and watermelon. (For those of you that are not Southern, barbecue is not a verb. It is simply the term you use for good 'ol smoked pulled pork! By the way, the term we use for what others call "barbecue" is "cooking out.")





After a nice nap when we got home, we roasted hot dogs and marshmallows in the fire pit. All holidays are all about eating, right?


Billy put up our tiny 2-person tent for him and the three "big" kids to camp out in the back yard overnight. Vivian and I prefer to be in our beds in an air-conditioned house! Here is everyone, including Vivian, staking out their spots!


At dusk, we all piled into the truck and headed to the high school stadium for the town's annual fireworks display. We parked along the highway and sat in the bed of the truck. Since we weren't super-close, the noise wasn't as deafening. The kids had a great time.



Bedtime! Billy and the kids got on PJ's and crowded in the tent for their "restful" night's sleep! About 11 pm (with no one asleep YET), a downpour started and the troops had to come in and get into their own beds. Billy was pretty happy as he was scrunched in the middle with his legs all folded up! Henry still greeted us with his usual 6:30 am wake-up call.

Lots 'o stuff

On Father's Day we spent time with both our dads while the kids played in Granddaddy's pool.


Couldn't resist posting this one--Look at Vivian's hair! Nice!


At our FCC's annual picnic and "Dragon Boat Races."




We also celebrated Nannie's birthday! Yum, chocolate cake!


We enjoyed a trip last week to the Botanical Gardens. The kids kept cool in the water and rock gardens!

Here are Nannie and Vivian in the butterfly house. Vivian is afraid of all insects, including butterflies! She wouldn't let Nannie put her down and she kept saying, "Go, bu-fie!" ("Go, butterfly!")

There were large dinosaur replicas all over the park. I think Henry asked me every single time we saw one if it was real.



We've had some other outings, but I have not done too well with taking pictures. Billy and the boys went to a big airshow over the weekend. He took some video but no photos.

We're all looking forward to our big vacation! We leave three weeks from tomorrow for Disney World!!! Before you all say we're crazy for taking four small children to central Florida in July, we are taking Nannie with us!! So, either we've got a little sense or she's crazy too!! Hmmm, might have to ponder that one!