Connor's AMAIZING Acres

A neighbor recommended we check out this 6 Acre corn maize. Unfortunately, it was further away than we expected and we missed the Air Show on the base.

You were supposed to answer questions which told you whether to turn right or left and then find all 10 markers. If you really got lost looking for the markers, you could climb a tower to get your bearings.

The boys found all ten first . . . and rubbed it in.

We fed some cows on the hay-less tractor ride.

The kids raced these go karts.

They had chicken catching contests . . . to win FREE FOOD. Amara was really hungry and easily caught the first chicken.

Not to be outdone . . . Orrin quickly caught the next chicken. The catch was that you had to stand in line for 40 minutes to get your food.



We picked pumpkins while waiting to get the food. They cannot grow pumpkins here in Florida (too hot and humid), so they have them shipped in.

Busch Gardens 2010

Orrin was sad that all summer long that we visited only historic places on vacation . . . and not one themepark! His wish finally came true when we went to Busch Gardens as a family in October.

This was a VERY THRILLING new ride and the boys loved it!

The girls loved meeting all the Seasame Street characters.

The children's area was connected with all these hanging rope walkways. Lots of fun to run back and forth and back and forth.


The fun park about this place is that it combines theme park rides and zoo. The new tiger exhibit was in-your-face!



The train ride took you REALLY close to all the animals. Even closer than at the Wild Animal Park in San Diego.




When we lived in Florida before, the boys were too small to ride any of these rides.

The boys loved the coasters the best. This is an exhilarating suspended coaster.

Our Rhino Rally ride was cut short due to construction on a new roller coaster. We can't wait to come back!



It was a fun-filled day and a nice get-a-way from the doldrums of school and work.

FI Silver Eagles Football

Orrin decided he wanted to play football this year. He was invited to be on a neighbor's team when they had opening. He played on the Jr. Pee Wee red. It was a new team and they really worked hard to learn to play together as a team. It was REALLY warm weather to practice and play in early in the season.

The coaches liked his toughness and had him on both the offensive and defensive lines, as well as playing right guard and nose tackle.

For one of their last games, they got to run out of this inflatable tunnel.

These guys are the head coaches of his team.

Orrin, #22, played on both the offense and defense for the better part of most games.


The team participated in a fun Homecoming parade for the local high school team.

At the end of the season, they had a team party at a state park.

The boys had fun playing volleyball and football with the coaches and then enjoyed a refreshing dip in the lake. WATCH OUT FOR GATORS!

10/10/10 Birthday

Christian lucked out this year with one of those RARE and COOL birthdays: 10/10/10

He received some really nice presents. Hopefully, he'll take the kids fishing in the backyard, now.


Yes, this photo was actually taken at 10:10PM. Now, if only he was ten years old . . . then it would be EXCEPTIONALLY COOL!

Wet N Wild Waterpark in Orlando

Fortunately, the weather was still good, this late in the season and we were able to enjoy our annual trip to a waterpark. We heard on the Travel Channel that Wet N Wild in Orlando is one of the top 10 waterparks in the USA.

The wave pool is always fun.

The children's area is magical.

Amara was really good at the rope swing.

It took Aleya a little while to get the courage to try it and then a little longer to get the "hang" of it.

The boys' favorite ride was The Bomber. The floor drops out unexpectedly and drops you straight down the slide.

It was quite a drop . . . one they repeated over and over again.

The whole family enjoyed this in-the-dark waterslide.

The Disco was also a lot of fun with all the 70s music they would play as you dropped into the disc and swirled around on your raft with the disco ball shooting lights everywhere.

Aleya was brave enough to conquer these monstrously-high slides. I was even nervous to go that high . . . and ride them down face-first on mats. All-in-all it was a GREAT family trip.