Savannah...Garden of Good and Elusive?

We drove through to Savannah on Saturday night and spent the night in the last hotel we decided we were through with them! Liesl and I got up and went and took a dip in the pool which was really nice. She is getting to be a really good swimmer. She was paddling around in her water wings next to momma and not grabbing on too much. I was very proud of her. We went into Downtown Savannah for lunch at the Pirate House which is an old bar that Pirates would hang out and wait for people to get really drunk and "recruit" them....which meant that they kidnapped them. It was super cool inside with a dungeon and you could see the stone steps and iron rail down to thier hideaway. We didnt get a chance to do a tour or really enjoy the place too much because Liesl had a cold and was very crabby and we needed to pack a to go box for Liesl and I. But she did want to walk around the place and take a look around so I did get to see it. The food was awesome there. We then decided to walk around "town". We were trying to find the Garden of Good and Evil but never found it unfortunately. Apparently we must have walked past the Mercer house a million times too. We did see a lot of wonderful history and we were not in the least disappointed. Savannah was beautiful. Liesl took a long nap through the middle of the day while strolling and we made sure to get her some tylenol at the CVS on a corner. There was a beautiful fountain in the middle of the park that we recognized from the movie Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil and Liesl woke up and was in a much better mood afterwards. We thought we lost Jim's Blackberry which would have been a disaster later to find it when we were driving back hours later thank god.....We drove strait through from about 7 pm to 12 noon the next day to home with Liesl waking up at 10 am and saying "let me out!" I talked her down and back into the carseat by telling her that we would be going back to see Oma. Boy were we delirious. Thank god we got home. Jim ended up getting super sick and feverish for 3-4 days and was in bed for the remainder of our vacation. I created a slideshow of the trip and we loved watching it afterwards and will be happy to share.

Last day in Disney Parks EPCOT

Friday was our last day in Disney. We got up a little earlier and visited EPCOT. We of course had a reservation at 12 to get us up and Adam. We tooled a little around the World showcase near France, Canada, and Morocco and then to Japan for our reservation at the Japanese steakhouse Tepan Edo. Liesl was super hungry because we were rushed and she didnt get her snack in the morning. So she was a little hard to handle until they started cooking the food and gave her some entertainment. I had to do a little walking around until then. She loved watching them cook the food and I was quite happy that they asked about food allergies otherwise I would have had some issues on the shellfish end. It also allowed me to have my food cooked early and Liesl was much happier. We then visited the Living Seas which has changed quite a bit since I have been there last. They added Turtle talk with Crush and also Nemo and friends ride which Liesl had been talking abnout for days. Both were really cool and they had the turtle talk ride worked out so that the kids could ask the turtle questions which was neat. The tanks were really cool as well and there was a dolphin that came eye to eye with us through the glass that was quite a treat. Liesl really enjoyed the living seas with Nemo and friends. Of course by then she had already had it for the nap time. I put her to sleep in the stroller and Daddy and I went shopping in the world showcase before dinner at the Biergarten....which she fell asleep through the show. I couldnt believe it. The show was so loud that I was sure that she would wake up immediately. She is getting used to all of the noise it looks like. We missed the Snow White character greeting time so we ran to get the last greeting time with Princess Jasmine and Alladin in Morroco. As Alladin came in he called her "little monkey princess" She was so excited to see them that she could hardly wait to get to the front of the line and I couldnt believe that Jasmine was allowed to get close to her and teach her how to put her hands on her hips like a princess as she called it. Liesl was still reluctant about giving Alladin a high five but she said bubbye Alladin, bubbye Princess Jasmine. We then ran over to Journey to imagination....which was closed unfortunately for the day as was living with the land. So we then ran in for a quick ride in spacship earth which they updated as well really cool. Liesl enjoyed it very much and so did momma and dadda. We tried to go on the maelstrom but it was closed due to issues with the ride and so we did the 3 cabellaros ride in Mexico which Liesl enjoyed with Donald Duck... Oh I forgot to say that Liesl met Donald Duck there earlier and got pictures taken which she also enjoyed. Then there was the regularly scheduled downpour of the day. Who would have guessed that August was Florida rainy season? Anyways, About then we had 5 snacks let over on our dining plan so we got some sweets near Norway and parked ourselves for the Illuminations fireworks which were amazing as usual. A very nice ending to our Disney experience. We had a little dinner last night... took a dip in the pool and then momma was up until 2 packing up ....and thank god I did because we slept in until about 10! As soon as we checked out, Liesl and I took another dip in the pool, a little snack and some shopping and then we were on the open road again.....without a clue as to what we were going to do.

Well, we decided to drive toward the beach finally...first trying Daytona and then changing our mind and going toward St Augustine and driving around and looking at the old St Augustine and finding a hole in the wall seafood place on the coast. We then accidentally found a state park off the coast and went wading in the beach and running around eating sand....well at least Liesl ate sand. We closed down the joint and strongly thought of camping out of the car but changed our mind thinking it might do it's usual downpour on us during the night. So we chose a port off the coast and will be stopping in Savannah tonight and visiting old Savannah tomorrow before heading north seriously. We are hoping Liesl enjoys tomorrow's beach experience as much as this evening's and doesnt eat too much more sand. She really loved running around free on the beach and playing in the water.

Hollywood Studios

We packed most of the stuff we wanted to do in Hollywood Studios into a short time (well short for Disney) We got some fast pass tickets for the little Mermaid show from a mom leaving the park just in time. Liesl liked the Mermaid show although she has not seen the movie she really likes Ariel since she already has an Ariel doll. We visited her playhouse disney friends in a show with Rocket, Mickey Mouse clubhouse, handy Manny and the Winnie the Pooh super Sleuths. very cute toddler show with all the people sitting on the carpet and the muppets on stage from those 4 shows... We also went to a show on animation creation which Liesl enjoyed very much. Mushu from Mulan was in it doing the hosting. Toy Story arcade ride was closed for the day which was very disappointing. We did manage to get in the muppets in 3D which she enjoyed and then fell asleep so Jim and I decided to do a little shopping. Daddy bought her a charm bracelet with the Cinderella castle, Ariel, tinker bell and mickey and minnie in a heart. Oh yeah, I forgot to say that she had a really good time in the Sci Fi drive in and even got a souvinier tinkerbell cup that lights up which she has been playing with all evening. She finished her little nap in the hotel after sleeping through all kinds of park ruckus and bus ruckus and such and then we grabbed a bite in the cafe and a little boat ride to riverside port orleans and swim in that pool. Epcot tomorrow. I love Epcot and I know we will all have a blast. We will be going to the Biergarten and Tepan Edo for lunch and dinner tomorrow. I wish this netbook had a card reader so I could download some of our pictures.

Magic Kingdom

Yesterday and today we visited the Magic Kingdom. It has rained every day now that we have been in Florida. It didnt deter the fun though. Liesl was able to go on a lot of rides. Yesterday we went on...Tiki Room, which she was dancing on her seat in. The carpets of Alladin (2 times), The Jungle Cruise (loved the elephants), Swiss Family Tree House, Pirates of the Carribean which she had loads of fun and insisted on a Pirate Princess Mickey ears, Haunted Mansion and Monster's Inc Laugh floor. We also saw the electric light parade and the princesses all said happy birthday to her because she was wearing her birthday pin and we saw the fireworks which I think the loud noises bothered her ears because she was glued to me during it both nights. We also got into the Hall of Presidents which was cool with the addition of President Obama. We barely squoze a nap in sleeping the whole car ride to the Mickey's  Backyard BBQ. She started getting used to the characters and Mickey blew her a kiss and Minnie gave her a little pat on the shoulder which she took much better than the country bear in Animal Kingdom. She now asks for the characters to come up to her....and yes, she knows everyone's names.

Today, back to the Magic Kingdom. We first saw a show at Cinderella's castle with some villans and Snow white, Cinderella, and Sleeping Beauty, Mickey and Minnie, Goofy and Donald. She really liked watching them all. We then made it in to the Buzz Lightyear Space ranger spin...and she knows Buzz Lightyear of course. We took a ride on the cars and Liesl drove. We had lunch at Aunty Gravity, Lunch was good but someone took our stroller....everyone has a winney the pooh umbroller of course....that was annoying...so we left the one that the people that took ours for a few hours to make sure that they were not coming back and then took it. In the meantime finally getting Liesl's Dumbo ride in which she had been asking for days for, the Snow white scary adventures which runs extremely quick, Philharmagic which is a 4D ride with smells, 3D and water and smoke that puffs out. There was a magic capet ride in it that made you feel like you were flying which was neat. Visited a new Ride, Winnie the Pooh which was kind of neat. Had lunch in the Crystal Palace with Winnie the Pooh, Piglet (who she told she loved), Eyeore and Tigger. She was much more comfortable with them and actually hugged them all. She got to blow out a birthday candle on her cupcake again there. We finally got her to sleep while waiting for the fireworks and she slept for 2 hours in her stroller while momma rode Thunder Mountain and Splash Mountain YAY! The fireworks were amazing again but the noise made her hide but she watched them on the video camera the whole way back to the hotel and even got to see tinkerbell. We had a little dinner and then went into the pool for a little to cool off before going to bed. Hollywood Studios tomorrow. We wont be as crazy to get all that stuff in. It should be a much more relaxing day tomorrow.

Downtown Disney/Animal Kingdom

Sunday we met up with our buddies Davey and Kathy in Orlando after we checked out and went out to lunch at Bahama Breeze (one of my favorites). Liesl has been watching Finding Nemo nonstop and is a little obcessed with it. We had a great time with Dave and Kathy as usual and caught up on things with them for a little then went to check into the hotel at Port Orleans in Disney. Our room is right on a corner overlooking Magnolia trees and the river. It is super cool and the inside of our room is phenominal (wouldnt expect less from Disney though. We are quite comfortable here. Liesl needed a little nap before dinner so as we unpacked she snoozed. We then headed over to Downtown Disney for a little shopping excursion and some dinner at the T Rex Cafe which is owned by the Rainforest Cafe so it is basically the same but with Dinosaurs instead of the usual Rainforest animals and meteor showers instead of the thunderstorms. Liesl really liked it but she has been doing this grab hold for dear life thing when she is a little spooked and the dinos were definately doing that for her from time to time. The river out in front of our hotel room has a water taxi that took us to and from Downtown Disney and Liesl absoloutly loved riding it to and from the hotel. She pretty much crashed hard as soon as we got back.

This morning we headed out to Animal Kingdom. Liesl enjoyed the bus ride ...which was good. no meltdowns. She was very excited to see the zoo like theme park and was a good intro to Disney in my opinion. We first visited "it's touch to ben a bug" which is a 4D show with Flick from Bug's Life. She enjoyed it but definately was spooked when the water splashed in her face and all of the 4D effects came out to "greet" her. She calmed down when the villan was pushed out though. We all enjoyed the African jungle treck where we saw an infant gorilla which I unfortunately didnt get very good pictures of. It couldnt have been more than a few months old if that. It's mother was so cute with it the way that she coddled it and Liesl was very impressed with it. She also made some friends while we waited out a thunder storm in the hippo/fish tank that you could walk right up next to see into the water. A couple also celebrating thier anniversary there made fast friends with Liesl and kept her very occupied talking to her about her Nemo stuffed fish she had to have and her silly bands she hasnt taken off her wrists other than to sleep. We then went on the Killamanjaro Safaris which Liesl enjoyed because she got to see the African animals from a truck in a more natural setting. Then she got to see her first African Elephants among other african safari animals. She enjoyed itk very much but was very ready for lunch at 2....We had reservations at the Tuskar house ...however we didnt get in right away so it was a little bit of a challenge with a hungry toddler. Once we got in though she was much better knowing that her food source was secured which she got all over herself (mac and cheese) then later a birthday cupcake which she blew the candle out like a pro and thoroughly enjoyed being sung happy birthday to as usual. Lunch was fantastic (disney style). We then breifly watched the parade which a great one again Liesl saying " I love Donald" when Donald came by. We then had to high tail it to the Finding Nemo Musical which was amazing. I think my cheek muscles hurt from smiling so much and Liesl loved the show because she is so obcessed with Nemo and knows the story. It was definately a must see and we were so happy we got the preferred seating from having the reservation at the Tuskar house. It was kind of a Circqe Du Soliel kind of thing with them flipping and flying on wires and also a muppet kind of musical thing. very cool show. We then tried to make it back to Asia to see the animals there but it was getting kind of late and that was closed... the train was closed to get to the petting zoo so I decided to do the Everest ride which was phenominal! It goes way up the mountain and then stops and then you roller coast backwards into the dark! scary scary. Then you start forwards and again and twist and turn through the mountain. I was screaming the whole way through. We then went back and rode the Killamanjaro Safari and got a much better guide. this one didnt sound like Ben Stein and was very entertaining but we didnt see as many animals because it was getting to be dusk. I almost forgot! Liesl rode her first ride today, Triceratops spin which is like the Dumbo ride at Magic Kingdom where it goes in a circle flying up and down. Then the went to the dino playground and decided to eat dirt in the "excavation area" I got it all on film. She fell asleep for the bus ride back to the hotel thank god because no nap and she was done.. But I think little girl smelled dinner when we stopped by the cafeteria and woke up about an hour and a half later and ate most of my double cheeseburger WOW. I rounded the evening out with a swim in the pool which has a giant dragon waterslide. She is resting soundly clutching her Nemo dreaming of the Magic Kingdom tomorrow

Seaworld Rocks

Today we went to Seaworld because we had an extra day before Disney on Sunday. We pulled into a hotel in Orlando last night about 1 AM and got a good night's rest and went out into the Florida heat. Sea World was a lot different than I remembered. There are a bunch of roller coasters there which I was suprised at. Liesl had a great time seeing all of the animals as usual. She especially liked the dolphin show which was a litttle like a Cirque du Soliel with all of the swinging, diving and dancing involved. Her little face lit up watching all of that and those dolphins jumping and diving in the water. We think next she loved the shark encounter where she got to go through the tube to see all of the sharks swim around. We went to the dolphin nursery where the momma and baby dolphins have privacy to nurse thier young. We got to pet the stingrays and dolphins in the stingray cove and dolphin cove. We got to view the dolphins under water and the manatees. All very good exhibits. They also had some very good sea horse tanks even better than in Chicago in the aquarium. We seemed to just accidentally make the dolphin show and the Shamu show. We didnt of course miss a major downpour and thunderstorm though, We were all drenched by the time we made it home. We decided to pick a local pizza place that looks amazing and our friends Dave and Kathy that live in the keys are supposed to hook up with us tonight and Liesl is getting a little shuteye so she can see them too. Downtown Disney tomorrow! What a great day. Cant wait for PIZZA

Elephant Day

Wednesday we spent most of the day packing for our trip and head out the door about 8 PM. We drove through some of the night and made it through one of my least favorite parts of the trip to Florida.....Ohio at about 2. We stayed the night in Cincinatti so we could go to the Cincinatti zoo in the morning. When Liesl and I were waiting for Jim to get showered Liesl went to what I thought to be the bathroom door and I thought she opened it....when I realized that she had actually ran out of the room and was 50 yds down the hall I sprinted my bitt down there. From the time that Liesl got up in the morning until we go to the zoo I kept letting her know that she would see elephants that day so she started calling it "Elephant Day" which I think is kind of appropriate being our anniversary. I think Jim did very well in planning the zoo trip for our anniversary so we all could see elephants. It was the first thing that we saw there. Good thing it was in the front. It was kind of expensive but definately worth it. Too bad I couldnt find my zoo card because we would have gotten 50% OFF. Errrrrgh. Oh well. The zoo and botanical gardens were absoloutly beautiful. Liesl got to go into the Children's zoo where she went in and fed the farm animals with me and pet the goats and sheep. All of the exhibits were set up very aethetically. You could definately tell that it is one of the top zoos in the country. I couldnt believe I was actually more impressed with thier polar bear exibit. You could get very close to all of the animals. One exibit we were especially impressed with was the Mexican Wolves. They came right up to the glass. Liesl and Jim were hanging out in a cub cave and they were right outside like they were watching thier cubs from the front of the den. I was also especially impressed with the manatee exhibit. There was a very large aquarium indoors and they swam right by us. The Kimodo dragon exhibit, the white and black rhino exhibits, the bird exhibit.....we ran into a zookeeper meeting at the end of the exhibit and were waiting on it to end and when it did... Liesl and I almost got run over by what we thought to be a toddler which was in fact an emperor penguin that was being escorted by the zookeeper. Thier cat house was interesting, all indoors with the cats all behind glass. The gorilla exhibit brought the gorrillas very close to us as well. Liesl had a very long day and was biting my shoulder in the end...which is really bruised right now by the way but we still managed to visit the elephants again. Last night was kind of rough leaving Cincinatti as Liesl seemed to have missed her nap and also was late getting to bed again, so she was quite crazy vocal. We did manage to get her to sleep in the car finally about 9:30 and found a steak and shake hours down the road.

Today we tried a different tack to the drive. I think it was quite successful. Liesl remained happy and we got some of our shopping done at Walmart, Liesl played in the play place at Chick-fill-A and we were able to reach Orlando right out of Sea World at 1 AM. Looking forward to Sea World tomorrow. We are scheduled to be in Disney Sunday so driving went quite well.

Barbie Cake Birthday weekend

Saturday, Liesl's Birthday, we visited Opa and Oma Fritz for dinner. (mmmmm it was good) Liesl and I spent the morning icing her Barbie Cake. Liesl and I used a Cinderella Barbie and pink icing. I was rather impressed with the job we did on it and so was Daddy and Oma when we "cake bossed" it over to their place. We had a very nice time with Opa and Oma playing and eating wonderful food that Oma Ronnie made.

Sunday morning, Liesl and I visited the Farm Center at Wolcott Mill and saw the new piglets, saw the horses up close and personal and the cows as well. Liesl knows the calves by name that are there as well which I was surprised to find out. She was begging me to pet the sheep as well which I was surprised at. She had a lot of fun "driving the tractor" on the way out.

This week Liesl has been home with daddy for 2 days so far and they have been having a good time playing around the house. I was so glad to hear that she slept in until 10:30 today for him. He let me know that this morning she got hold of the camera and was saying to her Barbies and Farm Animals to "Say cheese", "take picture". How funny!  I am so glad to be off for some time! Looking forward to it. Missing Oma in AK and hoping she is having a great time.

Schneider Family Reunion and Birthday Party

The Tierneys had a very busy weekend. Friday night Liesl and I drove up to the reunion in Blanchard so we could make the kayaking trip Saturday morning. Liesl and I had a very good time kayaking in the back with Clara, Aunt Barb, Kaethe and Oma Gabi. We of course had diplomatic immunity  from the water guns because of the royalty on board (Princess Liesl)....all except Aunt Barb of course.

  
We had a really nice time hanging out with everyone. Liesl especially hung on to Heidi and Kaethe Tante and also Dee and Evelyn. She wanted to "see Heidi" alot Saturday and had fun with Kaethe Tante tickling her. She also took a real shine to Inge and Uwe when they showed her the chickens and let her feed them her left over corn on the cob. She also visited Kaethe Tante's chickens as well. Liesl also had a really good time playing in the pool and on the swingset. She is extremely comfortable in the pool now and wanting to get on her belly and kick and I am thinking is on the fast track to learning to swim. We left (very slowly) Saturday night so we could celebrate Liesl's birthday.

 

Sunday, we had Aunt Gloria, the Tonkins, Heather and Gavin, Oma and Opa Fritz, Grampa Jack and   Oma and Grandad Halsall over for BBQ and cake and icecream. It was a very nice party, very laid back and very little stress for me. Thank you all for all of the wonderful gifts and cards and conversation. Liesl felt very special that day and it was all thanks to you. It was wonderful hanging out with family this weekend.

We were also glad to hear from Opa Peter Monday night when I got home from work and Liesl and I called him. We are happy that he is home and resting now. Hope to see you soon Opa. Wishing for a quick recovery!

Barbies Sailing

 Monday morning I dropped Liesl off at Oma and Grandad's house and transferred her right into Oma's car for some sailing adventures with Barbie and a little Beach time in Port Sanilac. On the way to the boat Liesl told Oma that she needed to go potty.

 Oma obliged by stopping at McDonalds and putting the potty chair on the tailgate so she could pee. Which worked out quite well that she did have the potty chair because Liesl did use it. Good thinking Oma!

  I got a big kick out of it. Oma even had a potty prize for Liesl in case this happened.  She did very well on the boat wearing her life jacket the whole time.  She enjoyed climbing up from the cabin and touching Grandad through the windows and saying " I touch Grandad" and "I cook corn down here Grandad" when she and Oma were prepping lunch.

 The water was quite calm out there but there was a little rocking when they passed other boats with which Liesl responded with a "Wheeeeeeeee"!
















 Liesl even got to help Grandad by  pulling the sails up.

 She brought along all of her Barbies and instructed them in the proper sailing etiquette "Sit down Barbie, sit down" and Grandad in the proper use of his life jacket.

   After their sailing adventure they were able to go to the beach for a little sandcastle making and she even squoze a little nap in before she came home to Momma and Dadda.

 Momma and Dadda had prepared a little surprise for Gavin's birthday (kind of last minute) and got a cake to add to their taco night and invited Oma and Grandad for tacos so they could squeeze that extra time in at the beach.

 All in all it was a great day and Liesl got to have a lot of different kinds of play time.

Great Weekend with Grampa Jack

This weekend we picked up Grampa Jack up on Friday night. Saturday we spent the day at the Farm Center with the Animals as requested by Liesl. I packed a wonderful picnic lunch in our wonderful big picnic basket with PBJ sandwiches, beverages, fruits and chips. We met up with Oma Ronnie and Opa Peter there and they have added the Farm Center to their "adventures we can go on" list. Everyone had a great time hanging out with the animals. Liesl especially liked watching the horses, as they were in their stables after they got their bath. Momma enjoyed watching the cows this time because they were right up against the fence. Grampa Jack enjoyed it very much because it reminded him of his farm growing up and he loved petting the animals. So much so that I was worried one of those crazy goats would off and bite him. Liesl really enjoyed showing all of her grandparents around the farm center as it is one of her favorite places.

Sunday we spent a little time out in the pool and on the swings after a few errands in the morning. I dont know how Liesl stands water so cold in that little pool but she didnt want to leave it and it was strait from the hose and cold! After Liesl went for her close to 3 hour nap, whew, I couldn't believe it we decided to go to the member event at the zoo. There were rides and a show there with princesses and "Barney" (a green dragon) which she loved and wanted to go back to see the princesses. We met up with Shannon and Aunt Gloria at the Tiger pen (one of Liesl's favorites) and went around to the rhinos, lions, snow monkeys, giraffes, zebras, kangaroos and then ran back to see the hippo who was walking around for once. The zoo security turned us back a couple feet from the pen. Liesl was pretty upset about not being able to see the hippo and it would have been great to see them out of the water. When we got back we took Grampa Jack home. All in all it was a great weekend. Today, Liesl is going to Port Sanilac with Oma and Grandad to go sailing and to the beach.Tonight we are having the Perrys over for fun food night (TACOS!). One more week and we will be having a birthday party for the little princess. YAY 2 years old.

She has been doing awesome with her potty training this weekend and today. This morning on the way to the lake she told Oma "poo poo" so Oma stopped and put the potty chair on the tailgate and Liesl did a #1 and earned another "pottie beanie". This weekend she earned one for a #1 and a #2 Saturday and Sunday. I think I am going to have to take the potty and some prizes with us when we go on vacation.