Apr 29
We had another great Easter this year. All the photos from Easter 2009 are here.
I took off from work on Good Friday and the Monday after Easter for a four-day-weekend. Justin drove down on Thursday and stayed with us until Sunday night. Mom and Dad flew over on Saturday and stayed with us until Tuesday.
On Good Friday, Justin and I were able to play about 8 holes of golf before a nasty storm blew in. Afterward we went out to dinner at our favorite Japanese grill (Fuji) and ate sushi, sashimi and grilled entre’s. Our order got a little mixed-up because there were some stray pencil marks on the sushi order form we used. We ended-up getting an extra large plate of sashimi on top of the other stuff we had meant to order. We didn’t send it back and gobbled it up anyway. I would never argue with someone who feels inclined to bring me extra food. God clearly meant for us to eat that raw fish. 
On Saturday we picked Mom and Dad up at the airport and went straight to Rumor’s for oysters, boiled shrimp and their awesome fried grouper sandwich. We came home and rested a bit before getting right into some hardcore egg decorating.
Dad and I watched quite a bit of The Master’s over the weekend. I was totally bummed that Kenny Perry blew the tournament on the final two holes.
On Saturday night Melissa, myself, Justin and Dad stayed-up late playing Trivial Pursuit. Of course the kids woke us up early on Easter Sunday as they were tearing the house up looking for their Easter baskets. The kids all overloaded on chocolate while the adults (use that term loosely) played some Hearts in the kitchen as we waited for it to warm-up a little outside and as Melissa began getting the pieces of Easter dinner prepared to cook. It was a nice, laid-back day until the egg hunt began. Melissa was busy with cooking off-and-on at different points but she was able to rest and visit and of course hunted eggs.
This year we had two golden eggs that counted for two “found” eggs. The kids also insisted that they hide some eggs for the adults to find. Sharon and I teamed-up to win the adult egg hunt. I invented most of the places in our backyard where we hide the eggs. The competition had little hope.
Not long after the hunt we had a big ham dinner with fresh rolls, twice-baked potatoes, green beans and had key-lime pie bars and apple pie for dessert. It was awesome. Justin left later that night because he had to get back to Akron to work a shift on Monday. Dad and I were able to play nine holes on Monday using rain-checks from Friday when Justin and I had tried to play. Afterward Mom, Dad, Melissa and I played more Hearts and just relaxed before they had to jump on the plane home Tuesday.
written by mark
Apr 03
March was a fast month. James had one of his pieces exhibited in a school art show, Sharon began taking piano lessons, weekend golf began for me, motorcycle rides were plentiful and we all went to DisneyWorld for Spring Break.
James painted a watercolor of three trees outside his bedroom window for art class and the family went to the school art show at the Oldham County Arts Center to see the exhibit. It was pretty neat. The exhibit had a string quintet and cookies-juice-coffee laid out for guests. At the show they played a movie which contained interviews with each of the students explaining the background of their artwork.
For Spring Break, Suzanne and Glenn set us all up in a resort in Kissimmee, Fl called Star Island Resort. Star Island is right down the street from DisneyWorld. We went to Disney’s Magic Kingdom for three days and the kids had a blast. On the first day James, Sharon and Kayleigh all rode Space Mountain and Splash Mountain before they really had a chance to try any of the less “intense” rides. I had never been to DisneyWorld before and was impressed all the way around. I had never been on an indoor roller-coaster before, much less one where it was pitch-black indoors. I was surprised at how well the kids handled Space Mountain. Sharon had seen her fill of it after one ride but I give her credit for making it. Kayleigh wasn’t even phased really. Kayleigh was ready to ride it again even though it scared the bejesus out of her.
While the girls were getting autographs from the three mean step-sisters, one of the step-sisters noticed that James autograph book was getting signed but he was not up on the podium. The step-sisters motioned (shamed) James to come up to the podium and one of the step-sisters planted a big kiss on his cheek. I don’t know the character who kissed him but can attest to the fact that she was cute.
Through judicious use of the “Fast Pass” system we were able to ride all of the rides in Magic Kingdom. The big kid’s favorite ride was Splash Mountain. I can say that even the older, less action-packed rides were very detailed and showed a high level of artistry and care. The park was packed but it was very family-friendly and we didn’t have any bad apples at any time. I had lost or never received a photo that I purchased of our first ride on Splash Mountain. When I went back to the photo shop the next day to tell them I was missing one of the photos, they gave me a replacement with no questions asked.
We all ate well. We had Italian food (Carrabba’s), Mexican food (locally owned place), Japanese food (Kobe’s Grill), Pizza (Flipper’s Pizza) and burgers (Checker’s). Suzanne made sandwiches for us to take to the park that were really tasty.
The kids were able to swim each day we were there too. The resort had a really nice pair of lagoon pools. After driving there and back we just made it home today at about 3pm. I am whupped. All the photos from March are here.
written by mark
