Disney 2015

We just came back from a "surprise" trip to Disneyworld.  Carrie and Andrew thought they were going to Vermont to look at the leaves change and eat maple syrup.  We had the flight attendant read a note to them on the plane to tell them about their fate. It was pretty cute!  Below are some pictures! We stayed at the Bay Towers at the Contemporary and went to Magic Kingdom, Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom. Family favorites were riding the monorail, going up and down escalators, the Kali River Rapids at Animal Kingdom (I got soaked!), Toy Story Mania at Hollywood Studios, Star Tours at HS and story time with Belle at MK. Andrew's personal favorite thing was shooting his new Star Wars gun 24-7.  Andrew had one nap in 5 days - not so much fun, but he rallied pretty well. We had a great view of the fireworks from our suite so that was super fun. 

Merry-Go-Round - a welcomed ride after we were scared to death on the Dwarfs Mine Train

Cars....how could Andrew not love this ride?

My musketeers

Two tired and crazed parents

Andrew dancing at the Disney parade. Mommy was dancing too but we didn't get pictures of that :).

Andrews Alter Ego -  Stitch - In the flesh

Family Photo in front of the mother ship

Time out for the Gontarek Ladies

Carrie dressed up to meet Belle

Paul got selected in our Beauty in the Beast story telling experience

Andrew has a way with the ladies!

My princess with Belle the princess.

The Gontarek ladies do like their chocolate

Everybody but me refused to get picture with this guy, but this is just Paul after a long day at work!

Carrie with that girl doctor character at Hollywood Studios (sorry Doc mcstuffins or something like that)

My loves - waiting for a boat to take us to dinner at Wilderness Lodge

Me and kids

Crazy Kids after no naps

Kids using the force

Sweet Kids

Gontareks meet and great with the Mouse Family

This thing almost attacked us on our Safari at Animal Kingdom. Even our guide got nervous! It jumped out of forest onto trail.

Santa Rosa 2015

We were fortunate enough to get to spend 2 wonderful weeks at the beach this year. We went back to the same house that we have been several times in Santa Rosa, FL. While we were disappointed that neither set of grandparents could join us this year, the Hills came to join us for the 4th and we had a lot of fun! We also got to celebrate Carrie's 7th birthday here.  I am surprised we were able to fit all the toys in the car. Here are some pictures!

The car is full - can't believe there was actually room for us!

Kids at the beach (Hills girls, Carrie, Andrew plus little girl of old friend who used to live in Nashville)

Captain Andrew of the dolphin cruise

Carrie and Maddie Hill

Celebrating the 4th with Abby and Maddie Hill

The best family photo of the bunch and it isn't that great - oh well!

Carrie opening her new barbie car

Happy 7th Birthday Carrie!

Let's go fly a kite (and then promptly get it tangled in the dunes of our neighbors house)

Hawaii here we come!

As most of you know (all two of you that read my blog), Amanda and Brett live in Hawaii. The last time we were there was when Carrie was 4 months old for their wedding!  We decided to have a Gontarek family vacation together and rented a house in Kailua, which is on the west side of Oahu.

It was so much fun to see the cousins playing together - especially Tristan and Andrew who are 2 months apart.  They were definitely 2 peas in a pod.  I am surprised that the house survived them actually.  There was a whole lot of raucous, shooting, car ramming, and general rough-housing.  At one point, they were licking water off of the lounge chairs.  Hmmmm...

We ventured out of the house a few times.  One day we went to a sea life park fairly close to where we were staying. We saw sea lions, dolphins, sharks, etc.  The kids favorite was definitely the pineapple ice cream that Aunt Amanda introduced us to. We also went twice to the pool where Amanda and Brett take the kids all the time in downtown Hawaii. On our last night, we got to see an amazing fireworks show from there.

Another highlight was the yummy Kahlua pork Amanda made us one night.  I am going to try it this weekend!

But the best part of the trip was just getting to spend time together as a family.  I learned all kinds of good tips from Aunt Amanda and we discovered that are both closet Bachelor fans.  Now I have someone to text about it!

Thanks to Amanda and Brett for showing us around their city and to Kay and Jerry for renting the house for us. 

Here are some pictures.

P.S. Check out Brett's web-site.  I got to see some of his inventory first hand- it is beautiful!   http://www.ponowoodworks.com/about-pono/

View from our house



Cousins

This was pretty much the theme of the week except with lots of noise

Gigi and the Kids



G-Pops was a hot commodity at the house.

Paul with his ADORABLE nephew - Max

Brett, Amanda and Max

Gigi and her boys

In the kitchen devouring Brett's guac

20th Reunion/Trip to Raleigh

Well I must apologize that I have been so bad about blogging lately.  Unfortunately, this little thing called my job and these two other little things called my kids have conspired to suck all the free time and energy out of me!  That and some travel in May!  We went on two trips in May.  The first was a trip to Washington and Lee by way of Raleigh.

My 20th (scary!) college reunion was at the beginning of May. We decided to bring Carrie with us and let her stay in Raleigh with her Aunt Liz, Uncle Jeremy and cousins  while we went on to Lexington to play.  But before I get into that, let me tell you about the week leading up to that!  I had a business trip - second business trip since Andrew was born, so I don't travel much, but it was time for me to visit a client in CT. So I put together a 5 page manifesto for Paul, our nanny, Kay and Jerry, packed up my suitcase and flew out of town for the week.  

 As I was enjoying my nice hotel room, room service and sipping red wine in the bath, God decided to play a joke on Paul and make it thunderstorm 4 nights in a row.  In my kid’s eyes, the world is a pretty friendly place except for thunderstorms. Thunderstorms are VERY VERY bad. When they happen, there is no staying in our own beds.  Must share bed with Mommy and Daddy. Usually we split them up, but this time, there was no Mommy. Poor Daddy.  :)

Well Daddy survived and Paul and Carrie met me in Raleigh. Carrie WAS very excited for her visit with her aunt Elizabeth who had promised to play Barbie’s with her! She had a great time and Paul and I thoroughly enjoyed hanging out in the 'man cave' prior to leaving for Lexington on Friday.

The reunion was a blast.  All but one of my closest friends returned. It was so much fun to catch up and attend all the fun events. Paul even snuck in a run on the trails behind campus. We appropriately drained our bank account at the book store and got W&L paraphernalia for all!

A good time was had by all...especially Carrie who cried when we had to leave on Sunday.

That's it for now. Stay tuned for my HAWAII post!

The Gang is back and looking good at the Palms

Former Occupants of 109 W. Nelson (old apartment on college)

I forget how beautiful this place is! The timeless Colonnade of W&L

I felt very welcomed.

Beach Trip Post #2

For the second half of the trip, Gigi and G-Pops joined us.  Here are photos from that half of the vacation:

Carrie riding the waves with Daddy and G-Pops

Little Surfer Girl - Uncle Brett and Aunt Amanda should be proud

Clan at the beach

Family Photo - getting Carrie to smile is impossible

Photo before date night out!

Picture of giant barge in Savannah.  We saw these go by our beach house every day.