the Paladinos

We decided to take advantage of the nice weather and fall colors and drive over to Withrow Springs State Park in Huntsville.  The colors are so beautiful right now and the drive alone was worth it. 

We checked in at the visitors center and asked the park ranger if the trail would be okay for the kids.  He said it should be fine so we took off to the trail.  I’m assuming he doesn’t have kids because if he did I’m not sure he would have recommended this one for them.  It was pretty scary at first when we were walking on the edge of a bluff single file.  But the trail got a little better when we were actually going up the mountain and we all made it in one piece.  The views at the top were so amazing and it was quite an adventure. 

After we got home we asked Gabby what her favorite part was and she said “the movie in the car.”  :)  Oh well, at least it was a priceless memory for mommy and daddy.   

He’s so much like his daddy.  Love my boys!  


It may not look like it but Michael had a death grip on them at this point because right behind them is a drop off that goes a loooong way down.  It definitely had us freaked out with two little wild turkeys along but they did great. 

The three pictures below are the views behind us in this picture  and to the sides.  The pictures just don’t capture the colors and amazing views. 

Around the yellow tree at the top of the picture is where we hiked to and looked out over the valley. 


Yours, Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendor, for everything in heaven and earth is yours. Yours, Lord, is the kingdom; you are exalted as head over all. - 1 Chronicles 29:11

Before Gabby even turned 5 we decided that we wanted to take her to Disney as a milestone.  But Gabby has a mommy who loves to procrastinate.  I mean she really, really loves it.  So we didn’t make it until 8 months after Gabby’s birthday.  But she’s still 5 so it totally counts. 

We couldn’t have picked a more perfect age to take her.  She is old enough to know what’s going on but also still young enough to get caught up in the magic and believe everything is real.  Peter, well, we’ll take him to shoot guns or something when he turns 5 because Disney was not his favorite.  He was a trooper though and we had a great time. 

We didn’t want to do a full blown trip to Disney yet since the kids are still a little young so we decided to just focus on the Magic Kingdom.  We drove over on Tuesday night and checked in at our resort then went to Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party. 

Let me start with the resort.  We stayed at one of the “modest” resorts, Port Orleans Riverside.  It was perfect!  The staff was there to greet us with stickers and bubbles and the grounds were beautiful.  We got lucky with a room close to the lobby, pool and bus stop but also with a “river” view.  The room was sooo clean and cute.  There were two beds plus a murphy bed that pulled out and had a picture of Louie, Tiana and Prince Navine.  So we all had our own beds to sleep in which worked out perfectly since no one wanted to sleep with Peter.  :) 

As soon as we walked into the park we saw that the Princess Meet and Greet had no wait so we started there.  To say that it was awesome is an understatement.  Gabby was greeted by Sleeping Beauty, Rapunzel, then Cinderella.  She got to talk to them and have pictures taken with each.  We got lucky with a soft opening of the new part of the park, Fantasyland, and got to meet Ariel, ride her ride, then visit Belle’s cottage/castle. 

After Belle’s cottage we got a little worried about Gabby.  Her eyes were bloodshot and she had this wild look on her face.  Disney should totally have a pill for that or something because I’m sure it’s common.  She had a case of the Too Much Princessitis as Doc McStuffins would say.  So we tried to keep it low key after that and watched the Halloween parade, hit the candy stands and walked around.    

The next day we hit the park early and rode all the rides we had planned (no big roller coasters for this bunch).  GranDeb met us in time for Gabby’s princess makeover at the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique.  She loved it of course!  And Peter finally got to ride the race cars with Daddy which he will tell you was the only thing he liked.  We finished up our magical tour with dinner at Tony’s Town Square Rest. (which was delicious) then visited the princesses AGAIN. 

It was exhausting but so much fun and an unforgettable memory.  We couldn’t have asked for a better family vacation and are so thankful that we got to go.  Thank you GranDeb and Bill for putting up with us for a week! 

This is inside Belle’s cottage/castle.  They picked kids/adults to act out a skit for Belle.  Gabby was an enchanted picture.  Then they were introduced to Belle after.  This was her favorite thing at Disney.

Trying their hand at the sword in the stone.

Almost time for her makeover and she is very excited.

Vacation?  I somewhat remember taking a vacation but alas it’s back to schedules and routines now and the memory is growing dim.  So I guess I should keep the posts coming while I have at least a faint memory of it.   

On Monday of our vacation GranDeb and Bill took us out in their boat for a trip down the St. John’s river to the Blue Springs Park.  This was one of my favorite things on our trip.  The kids had never really been in a boat before so it was fun to see their reaction.  And the river itself was beautiful!  The water was coffee black which was a little scary knowing what lurked in those waters but beautiful nonetheless. 

The trees there are so different than the trees here.  They have pines which we of course have here too.  But the oak trees (I think that’s what GranDeb said they were) are beyond huge and so picture perfect with their big branches going all the way up.  And I know the moss is a fungus killing the trees but it really makes everything look so exotic and beautiful.  

The park that we stopped at has a boardwalk trail through the forest and along the springs.  It’s amazing…the water is black and mossy then all of a sudden it just turns crystal clear and beautiful.  It’s a constant 70 something which means no gators and that’s where the manatees come to hang out during the winter.  There are also huge alligator gar and other fish that you can see perfectly in the clear water. 

As we were walking back to the boat Michael saw a manatee swimming along beside us.  It turns out there were two which was such a treat to watch.  It was so amazing to see something like that just out in the wild, totally in it’s natural setting. 

We also saw a few gators along the way also in their natural habitat.  Yikes!  I’m glad we just saw them from a distance.  :)  

The gray long spot in the middle is the first alligator that we saw. 

Alligator sunning on a log.


I know they’ll be mad at us someday for this but they were so sweet all cuddled up together we had to take a pic.  Unfortunately this was probably about 5 minutes before Peter started slapping her in the face or kicking her in the head.  We discovered on the trip that he get’s VERY aggressive in his sleep.