SPRING BREAK 09

We decided to get away for a little R&R in Florida for Spring Break. It was so nice to be somewhere warm - can't wait for summer! We went with our friends the Heaton's and Davis' and had such a good time.

We decided to road trip, and it wasn't as bad as we thought. Only 19 hours there and 16 hours home! It probably didn't seem that long because Chase and James drove 30 of the 35 hours - thanks guys! Molly & James caravaned behind us. We missed them in our car but they had to drive separate with their baby - thank goodness she was such a trooper the whole trip! It wouldn't have taken 19 hours to get there if we wouldn't have been stuck in traffic in Atlanta for 2 hours - can you tell we were really bored in the car at this point? 1st up Universal Studios

Best show at Universal - they did a bunch of stunts with animals that have been used in movies. Above the dog from Men In Black - he is sooo cute!

The Simpsons Ride was a lot of fun - we even were lucky enough to get a pic with Homie!

Jaws - the ride is pretty fun! Instructions on what to do Pretending to be scared? Sherri so graciously volunteered James to participate in one of the filming simulations Doesn't this suit him? The boys were a little obsessed with checking up on their brackets and all the games! The next day we went to Island's of Adventure - it's a separate park but part of Universal. Behind is the Hulk rollercoaster - super fun!

The Comic Strip area made for a lot of great photo ops!

As well as Seuss' Landing - gotta love Dr. Seuss, everything in this part of the park was so cool to look at, I really felt like I was in one of the books!

Jurassic Park - such a fun ride

This ride was similar to Splash Mountain at Disneyland (if you have ever been) everyone got soaked - Sherri was smart and put a poncho on that she found so she stayed dry, Raquel was smartest and just didn't go - this wasn't exactly a sunny day so it was a bit cold!

Shayne's mom is obsessed with Betty Boop so this shots for her!

There were quite a few different 3 and 4d shows that were really fun - Spiderman was my favorite!

Of course we had to get our pics with as many characters as possible - Marilyn and Lucy, Popeye and Olive were just a few we couldn't miss!

James & Molly had a caricature drawn - it was fun to watch!

Shayne and James both played this and won, it is not an easy game. The rim is tiny!

In addition to the parks we played games at the condo, hot tubbed, swam, talked laughed and just had a good time! A couple thinks to note.......

When going to an amusement park, take friends with a baby. Then you can do baby swap and go on the ride twice in a row! Thanks James, Molly and Lexie!

Lexie was such a trooper and looked so cute in her hat all the time.

Next, never let James near your food, it will end up on the floor!

Look close - that is soda all over the floor!

And his sandwich at his feet

We were at Subway and no sooner did Lexie grab hold of James drink (which ended up all over the floor) then she grabbed his sandwich too!

The last day we went to Wet N Wild water park - it was so much fun! This was the one of the only pics I took because most the time we were wet and I didn't want to get my camera wet. I wish I would have taken pics of more of the slides - this was by far the best water park ever and they had some of the coolest slides. You can't even see the whole thing behind James and Molly but this one they put you in a small rocket and it shoots you out - such a blast!

Just a random car on the way to Wet N Wild - do you like? We ate at Kobe's Japanese Steak house the last night - it was so yummy! Thanks guys for such a fun trip, it was way too short. Can't wait for the next one!

Just Another Friday Night

I was on my way to a work party in Gahanna when.....

Operator: "911 what is your emergency"

Surprised Girl: "Um I am driving behind someone and the whole underside of their car is on fire, I'm trying to catch up to them but I haven't yet"

Operator: "Her car is on fire?"

Surprised Girl: "Yes, I know it sounds crazy but there are actual flames underneath her car"

Operator: "Ok tell me approximately where you are, what does the car look like and can you see the plate number......"

Surprised Girl: Won't bore you with the details but I answered all her questions While I am on the phone I am speeding like a mad woman all the while honking my horn at this car and yes I realize they probably thought I was crazy.

We finally get to a light and I am able to pull up around to the side

Fire Lady: "Ahhh is my tire flat again?"

Surprised Girl: "NO, YOUR CAR IS ON FIRE GET OUT OF THE CAR!!!!!"

Thinking back on it I don't know what I would have done if someone said this to me I don't think I would have done what this woman did I actually think I would have thought the person was playing a joke and not immediately jumped out of my car. Well anyway this lady did jump out of her car nearly missing being hit by another and no sooner than she shuts her door and backs away the whole car goes up in flames - NO LIE!

Surprised Girl: "I know you don't know me but get in my car you can't stand in the median, we have to get away from here "

The lady gets in my car and we drive to a nearby parking lot where we can still see her burning car. I tell her I have already called 911 but we were still moving at the time so she called again to give them our exact location

NOTE PEOPLE: if you want the police and firemen there in 1 minute flat tell them your car is on fire in the middle of a busy rode!

Police Officer: "Do either of you have a fire extinguisher in your car"

Surprised Girl and Fire Lady: "No?"

This little snipit is important for two reasons. First, why would it matter if she had an extinguisher in her car? Were they going to go jumping into the flames to get it out? 2nd, right after he asked us if we had an extinguisher he went and pulled one out of his squad car!! Hello officer but that just wasted .2 seconds of precious burning time (what I was thinking anyway)! So now the question, who just keeps an extinguisher in their car? Do you? Guess I better start! We both proceeded to give statements to the fire marshall and the cops. The mayor of Gahanna even showed up out of nowhere. The fire lady was so nice and kept telling me "You Saved My Life!" Well I wouldn't go that far, I was just in the right place at the right time and was glad I could help! Needless to say it was an interesting night.

This whole incident left me wondering a couple of things which is why I even posted this: Why on earth did nobody else honk or try to stop this woman to tell her about her blazing car? There were a dozen other cars around and everyone just kept driving by. Even after she was out of the car and it was left parked on this busy road, nobody stopped they just kept on driving by. What were people thinking? I don't know necessarily that the car would have blown up or anything but I don't think it was probably very safe to be anywhere near it. Anyway, it was just some food for thought. It was just another Friday night - hope yours was just as fun!