It Must be the New Bat!

Last Saturday at baseball practice CJ went up to take his first at bat and oopse, the end of his bat fell off. It just fell off in his hand, I couldn't believe my eyes. So OK, he borrowed another players bat for the rest of the practice. The next day Chris took him to Sports Authority to buy a new bat. They came home with a bat the was a little bit longer and 4 ounces heavier than the old bat.

Last Wednesday CJ took the new bat to practice for the first time. He went up to take his first at bat and WACK, he hit the ball deep into center field! I could not believe my eyes. Next pitch...Wack another ball into the outfield. I was amazed...he was hitting balls all over the outfield. Before getting the new bat he was having a hard time getting the ball out of the infield.

The next night, Thursday, WGLL Orange had a game against WGLL Green. Orange was the visiting team, so we had the first at bat. CJ was batting 5th. CJ got up to take his first at bat of the game. The first pitch comes, it was a little high but he reaches up for it, swings, and WACK...he hits the ball deep into center field for a double! A DOUBLE!!! This was first double that CJ hit since he started playing Little League last fall. In his second and third at bats CJ hit two singles. He also got a couple of RBI's and scored 3 runs. What a night! It must have been the NEW BAT!

Final score ~ Orange 14, Green 2

If It Won't Come to Us...We Will Go to It

Last night the kids and I made the short drive to Celebration, Fl in search of a taste of fall. Every year the town of Celebration hosts a Fall Festival and Oktoberfest. It was another hot night but with all of the fall decorations, fall themed foods, and good music, we at least had the feeling that fall was in the air.

Every Friday and Saturday night through the month of October, the town organizes a "Leaf Drop." What is a "Leaf Drop?" Well, since we do not have many leaves that change color and fall to the ground in Central Florida, we have to simulate falling leaves. In Celebration they do this by dropping/blowing small tissue paper leaves from the top of the street lights every hour from 6pm to 9pm. The merchants in town hand out small paper bags to all of the kids so that they can collect the leaves.

Whoo Hoo! The 7pm leaf drop. My kids hadn't been to the Fall Festival for a few years, so they didn't really remember doing this before. Once the leaves started falling they knew exactly what to do and they really got into it. We have 3 full bags of tissue paper leaves in our house now.

Picking up the leaves after they had all blown to the ground. After the first leaf drop we headed down by the lake to look for some pumpkins to decorate.

The pumpkin decorating area was really busy and a little crowded, but for $3.00 each all three kids got to choose a small pumpkin and decorate it with markers, glitter, tissue, googley eyes, and foam shapes. There were tons of kids there last night and all of them seemed to be having a good time. I saw a lot of very creative pumpkins.

CJ covered his pumpkin with NY Yankees logos and stats. Uggg...he is obsessed! Why does it have to be the Yankees?

After the pumpkin decorating we walked around to look at the food and stuff in all of the tents. We had a few goodies, looked in a couple of cute stores (I love going to Celebration because it has a bunch of cute little shops with stuff that you don't find in other stores), and listened to some music. We also managed to make it to the 8 and 9pm "Leaf Drops" before heading home for the night.

We had a really good time and we are already talking about going back to Celebration in December to see the "Snow Fall."

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Give Us a Break!!!

Ok, my calendar says October 9th. We are well into Fall. Sixteen days into Fall by my calculations. So...when is it going to feel like Fall? We live in Central Florida so it isn't like I am asking for 45 degree nights and 60 degree days. I would just like to see the thermometer stop at say...85 degrees. And could we please get a break from the oppressive, lung crushing, steam bath humidity? Ughhh...when will it end? I feel this way every year at this time. After 5+ months of 90+ degree days I am ready for a break already! It can't get here soon enough. WE MISS YOU FALL, PLEASE COME BACK SOON!!!

Wordless Wednesday ~ Fall

Where are you Fall?

Cruising to the Bahamas!

Last weekend Chris and I went on a cruise to the Bahamas. We sailed on Royal Caribbeans Monarch of the Seas. We went with 3 other couples and had a great time.
We left Port Canaveral on Friday afternoon. The weather was perfect and we had a great spot on the top deck of the ship to say "good-bye" to Florida.

Chris standing on the top deck of the ship as we pulled out of Port Canaveral. The "sail away" party is one of the best parts of the cruise. There is music, drinks, and lots of people on the shore waving good-bye as the ship starts to sail.

Good-bye Florida! We'll see you in 3 days, after we have visited paradise!

Our first stop on Saturday morning was Nassau in the Bahamas. We got off the ship for a few hours of site seeing.

We took a crazy walk to get to "The Queen's Staircase." I am sure there was a faster, more direct way to get there, but hey... then we wouldn't have had a chance to take in some of the more interesting sites in Nassau. Let's just say it was an adventure, and I am glad I was with a group and not by myself.

Crazy co-workers pose for a picture at the bottom of "the Queen's Staircase."

We started up the staircase. At the top a very nice Bahamian man in a cut off t-shirt told us the whole history of the staircase. Of course he wanted a tip at the end of his performance. Only in the Bahamas.

At the top of the staircase there is an old fort. It is very cool, you can see all around the island from up there. The water is beautiful. There really is no way to describe all of the different colors of blue in the water in the Caribbean. You just have to see it!


After a day in Nassau, we headed back to the ship to get ready for our formal dining night. Everyone looked great and we had a nice dinner. This 4 day 3 night cruise really is the perfect adult weekend get away.

After a night of good food, music, and fun, we returned to our room to find this towel animal. The staff on the ship works really hard to make sure that everyone has a great time. It is soooo great. I can't wait to go on the next cruise.

On Sunday morning we woke up to find our ship anchored off of Coco Cay, Royal Caribbeans private island in the Bahamas. We had breakfast and headed over to the beach. It is so cool, you go down to the bottom of the ship and get on a tender that takes you over to the island. It is the coolest think to look back and see your cruise ship anchored in the middle of the water!



This is the "Straw Market" on Coco Cay. They island has a little of everything on it. There are all kinds of water activities to do, a buffet is set up for lunch, and of course you can do a little bit of shopping in the market.

A view of our ship as we headed back on the tender. It was a perfect beach day. We had lots of sun, a cool breeze, swam in the nice warm Atlantic water, saw some fish, rays, and other critters, ate a good lunch, and just relaxed!!! Can I go back now?

The next morning we woke up in Florida. A 4 day cruise is way too short, but lots of fun. We are already working on plans for our next cruise. Next time I want to take the kids. They would love it!!!

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday Grandma G!

Hope you have a great day!

Love,

Chris, Julie, CJ, Caley & Caitlyn