It was quite the event -- and at times there were about 30 neighbors gathered outside to watch the process. Here are some enterprising kids that decided to cash in on the deal with a lemonade stand -- good idea in the 100 degree heat!
In the meantime, David, Stacy and Brody are living with Stacy's sister and her family. They live in the same city, so it was really convenient. He promises to send pictures as the house progresses, so watch for updates.
The kids were all good sports. We managed to use the Disney "Fast Pass" technology to our advantage, and rode everything we wanted to, sometimes more than once. Mike and Nathan proved to be "Buzz Lightyear" experts, and they both got to add their names to the "high scorers of the day" display. Needless to say, they were quite proud. Just to give you some perspective on their scores, I usually get about 100,000. They did get a little help, however, because the ride stopped for a few seconds right in front of a good target, so they had some extra advantage!
Billee got drenched on Splash Mountain, and Faith, who LOVES the movie Dumbo, was thrilled to see her elephant friend:
She also LOVES the teacups:
I was happy that I got to ride on the redesigned submarine ride. They have remade it into a "Finding Nemo" attraction, and have somehow integrated video technology in an underwater attraction. It is really well done, and a fun ride. The old submarine was outdated and ready to be replaced, so it is a welcome addition. The line was (in Nathan's words) RETARDED...most of the day it ran 2-3 hours. But we got in line at 11:00 p.m. and got off the ride at 12:15 a.m. Not TOO bad, although still outrageous. The kids enjoyed their trip to the old "Tom Sawyer's Island", which has now become "Pirate's Lair" to conincide with the new Pirates of the Caribbean movie release. Many of the original things on the island still remain, with new added touches directly from the movie. 
All in all, a good time was had by all. I don't think the kids could get enough of the park, and me either, really! I guess I am just a kid in grown up clothes.
Aside from being H-O-T, we had a really fun day. Faith especially loved the hands on exhibits, particularly the tide pools. The starfish were a big hit:
Mike and his brother Greg enjoyed riding on Shamu...
...and Faith says, "Thanks, Grandpa, for bringing me!"
The temperature was in the 100's, so the cool water felt really good. Needless to say, we did not need to heat the water! Faith and Brody had fun pretending my Tupperware lettuce containers were helmets! 
That night we made home-made pizza, and baked it outside on the barbeque. David is an expert at "throwing" the pizza crust, so we always ask him to help out. Look at the size of that crust! 
Here are my kids, getting ready to add the toppings to our creations: 
Charles is famous at our house for his pepperoni pizza construction, and each time he makes it, he tries to fit on even more pepperoni than the time before. Here he is assembling his TWO LAYERS OF PEPPERONI creation with my niece Billee : 
The end result was delicious. Here are Brody, Billee and Faith enjoying dinner: 
I love having all my kids home, even though it is just for the weekend. What a blessing to have my grandkids running and laughing through the house, and my nieces and nephew from Texas here with me. It was a tiring, but WONDEFFUL weekend! 
We visited the Natural Bridge in New Braunfels, and toured the caverns below it.
We piled Bill's kids in the car with us, and drove to Socorro, New Mexico to spend the night. The next night found us in Las Vegas, Nevada. We took the kids to see a family oriented magic show (very entertaining!), and we toured some of the larger, themed hotels. We took them out to tour Hoover Dam, where the temperature was 126 degrees! It was oppressive, to say the least.
We also found out why I had such difficulty finding a hotel room in Vegas that weekend -- it was July 7, 2007...or 7-7-7. If you believe in such things, many hoped it to be a lucky day for gambling and spend the weekend in Vegas to win their fortunes. I had a net win of $17. So, you can see that I am not a very big gambler! Home to CA on Sunday, and then we will have the kids until the 26th of July. Tomrrow we're off to Disney's California Adventure Park, and next week, 3 days at Disneyland. I am tired already.
