Last week was family vacation time in the North Carolina mountains. We were situated in Rosman NC, just a few miles away from where Nicole Kidman and Jude Law struggled to reconnect in the movie Cold Mountain. We left early on Wednesday morning for a five day jaunt that included hiking, a natural rock water slide, a birthday celebration, picnicking, sampling of the area's finest brews and viewing (and not viewing) some of the area's famed waterfalls.

Rowan was not so into hiking until he learned that throwing rocks into the creek is good, clean fun. He enjoyed having such sports enthusiasts as Uncle Pat and Cousins Alex and Gus around to throw ball, bat a balloon around and run laps on the deck with.

Maureen was quite taken with the idea of sleeping with Cousins Abbey and Gus, away from Mom and Dad. She didn't quite make it the first night, but was successful the second, though Aunt Kathy experienced the joys of the early morning water run. Maureen was also the instigator of getting everyone off their feet to dance to the vacation theme song, Sweet Caroline. Every time a new person arrived to the cabin, we had to welcome them with a little song and dance.

When driving home yesterday, we posed our customary question to the kids, "What was your favorite part of the vacation?" Rowan said his was having chicken nuggets, french fries and apples at McDonald's just an hour ago at the Dollywood exit. Maureen agreed. Just think of the money we could have saved!

But seriously, it was a great vacation with the in-laws and we have the pictures that will help us remember the trip for years to come.

North Carolina Waterfall

Sent on the Now Network� from my Sprint® BlackBerry

North Carolina Vacation - Cabin View

Sent on the Now Network� from my Sprint® BlackBerry

Another Rowan and Mama Pic

Sent on the Now Network� from my Sprint® BlackBerry

The Ro-Boy with his Mama

Sent on the Now Network� from my Sprint® BlackBerry

Tough day

Sent on the Now Network� from my Sprint® BlackBerry

Trying

Sent on the Now Network� from my Sprint® BlackBerry

Fun on the Fourth

Once again the holiday was too short. We did manage to throw some family fun in over the three-day weekend, which included a rib cook-off (which I won, hands down), and having some guests over to our backyard oasis. The son of the neighbors who live behind us discovered fireworks and was not shy about using them in the early hours - so we had to contend with that. Another drawback was that Kristin was feeling under the weather and we had to cancel at least one social function, but the sum of all the parts equaled a good time.
Although I alluded to the fact that we were going to paint our upstairs hallway, we didn't. We'll get to it another day.

Summer in full swing

I can't believe it's almost July 4. Everybody is doing well. Kristin and the kids have been trying to fill their days with fun activities: the library on Wednesdays, sporadic play dates, periodic trips to the Zoo or the Museum. Last week we celebrated Rowan's second birthday - can you believe it? Of course he got a lot of sports oriented gifts, plus a few Mickey Mouse presents (Hot Dog) to commemorate our family trip last month. We had both families over for Chicken Tetrazzini dinner and the kids tried their hand at breaking the homemade pinata. Rowan got a really cool water table that we keep on our newly remodeled back yard deck. It's supposed to be a duel sand/water table, but the water only approach seems best for us, and the kids love it.

No big plans for the 4th this year - we are trying to keep track of our expenses right now. We do have high hopes of tackling the painting of the upstairs hallway - a chore I've put off since moving into this house. I think we can knock it out though. We shall see.

Here are some current photos.

Racing Uncle Joby

Sent on the Now Network� from my Sprint® BlackBerry

Larosa Loop 2

Sent on the Now Network� from my Sprint® BlackBerry

Larosa Loop 1

Sent on the Now Network� from my Sprint® BlackBerry

I don't either

Whenever you ask Rowan a question his stock answer is "I don't either", meaning "I don't know either." Very noncommittal on his part. I can't believe Buddy-boy turns two at the end of this month!

Disney 2010

Our family vacation is now over - very sad indeed. We took the kids on their first plane ride down to the Princess Mecca, Walt Disney World, this past week for an extended Memorial Day week - Wednesday through Sunday. The plane ride was memorable for sure. Maureen looked very cute with her carry-on, a pink princess backpack. Rowan was a squirmy ball of energy. We did not buy a seat for him because he just qualified by one month as an "infant" or under two years old. He sat on our laps for the two-hour trek both ways. On the way down, we hoped he would fall asleep to make the trip easier, and he did...just as we were landing in Orlando.

We stayed within the Disney complex, at the Port Orleans French Quarter. Our lives were made much easier as our room was situated in the building closest to the main lobby, the counter service restaurant and very close to the swimming pool. The resort was made to look as much like New Orleans French Quarter as possible, with the wrought iron adornments, a lazy horse drawn carriage encircling the grounds and a Mardi Gras theme in the restaurant. The pool was large and accommodating. We only used the pool one time, on Wednesday evening after our arrival.

We visited three of the parks at Disney: Magic Kingdom on Thursday; Epcot on Friday; and the Animal Kingdom on Saturday. The Magic Kingdom was by far the most crowded of the three parks. We did a lot in Fantasy Land - the Dumbo ride, Winnie the Pooh, Peter Pan, the Carousel and Small World. We stood in lines a big part of the week in order for Maureen to get her picture with a character and get their autograph. She really got into the autographs, and was proud of the Minnie Mouse notebook we bought special for her at the park. She was dutiful in finding a fresh page for each signing, and for having her pen at the ready. We had Lunch at the Crystal Palace in the Magic Kingdom where Winnie the Pooh, Tigger, Piglet and Eyore made their rounds to each table. Maureen was in Heaven - Rowan didn't care for the costumed creatures and cried in fear through most of the lunch.

The next morning, we had a breakfast appointment with Princesses at Epcot in the Norway section. The reservations were for 8:30am - a half hour before the park officially opened, so we had the opportunity to be one of the select few to see the park fresh and uncluttered by tourists. They really did a great job with the breakfast and we were able to see Belle, Cinderella, Snow White, Ariel and Aurora. Maureen was somewhere floating above Heaven - Rowan could care less. We pushed the kids a bit too much and stayed at Epcot a little later than we had originally planned. By the time our dinner came around at the Aquarium restaurant, we were beat like red-haired stepchildren.

The next day we had a great visit to the Animal Kingdom where we saw a spectacular stage show with a Lion King theme, complete with wild costumes, acrobats, singing and dancing. Rowan's highlight of that day was the safari - he enjoyed the animals and wanted to see more. We decided to take it easy on the kids and we cut the visit short and headed back to the room for a little R&R before heading out to our final themed meal at the Grand Floridian Hotel with the cast of Cinderella.

The one thing I can say about Disney is that they do a good job making young kids feel special, from Mickey Mouse to the person in charge of emptying the trash cans. The characters seem to be trained in the art of saying or doing the right thing. An example is when Maureen told Snow White that they have the same hair style, Snow White correctly responded "Why yes, we could be sisters!" Maureen beamed.

All in all, it was a wonderful family vacation. Though the kids were too young to enjoy many of the attractions offered, and Kristin and I were unable to leave the kids unattended to ride some of the more adventurous rides, there were plenty of activities and attractions to keep us busy the whole time. And we were happy to be in bed by 9pm each night. We managed to keep Memorial Day available for the post-vacation rest at home, but I find myself ill-prepared and a tad sad about going back to work today (more so than usual.) We're already thinking about where we can travel next!

Goofy

Sent on the Now Network� from my Sprint® BlackBerry

More sports

Smooth Moves

Dancing at the Farmer's Market

Pop-a-shot

Our little athlete

Rowan is obsessed with sports. He has always been into balls since he was born - I think ball was one of the first words, if not THE first word, he's ever uttered. Within a week's time, he's gotten the hang of catching - and as of this past Sunday he is now drop kicking balls. He picked that up just by watching his 8-year-old cousin Gus.
If he sees a basketball goal anywhere within eyesight that's all he can think of. At a birthday party at Laser Tag this past Saturday, we had to pump about $10 into the pop-a-shot machine just so he could stand up on the platform and throw the balls over the plexiglass shield. He didn't come close to the hoop, but he didn't mind. As long as he could toss the basketballs. When it was another person's turn at the game, Rowan would wait patiently, for about three seconds until he started saying "My turn!" over and over again.
I have never seen such narrow-scoped dedication to sports in a 22 1/2 month old. And he seems really good at throwing, catching, and now drop kicking. It blows my mind.
I just need to figure out how to keep that fire burning in him; I was not the most athletic person, nor the most driven. He's still young - we'll see where it goes, but for right now - he is totally a sports guy.

Images from Easter 2010