Oh yeah, my new camera!

Well, I've actually spent some money this weekend and ordered a new camera! And as hard as it was to buy it (I HATE spending money on something just for me) and going a little over budget (ok, it was a lot over budget, but don't tell my hubby! I'll make up the difference using grocery coupons so send some my way!) I am very excited to get it! I've been tracking it and right now it is somewhere in Ohio. It is a Nikon, my favorite brand. I received a Nikon from my parents when we got married. It was a point and shoot, and took film. I took the most wonderful memories with that camera. Most of my childrens pics, my favorite pics, were with that camera. I was devistated when it couldn't be fixed for the last time. After the Nikon, I've had other point and shoot digital cameras like Canon and Kodak, but I never felt as good about those pictures as I ever did over that Nikon. Although the Canon did me well on the Road Trip from Vegas to Colorado a few years back. But this time I went all out and bought a Nikon D3100 digital SLR camera! And I will be determened to use it to it's full potential and might even take a class or two. I can't wait, so be prepared to see some pictures soon. The tracking says it should be here by Friday!

Fish Extender

I am still working on our Disney Fish Extenders (FE). This will be our first time joining in. A Fish Extender is a "mailbox" type item that you hang outside of your stateroom. They are usually homemade and are called Fish Extenders because that is what they are hung on, a fish. (Well, a fish on the Magic and Wonder, I think a seahorse on the Dream). On the Disboard, you join in on the FE with fellow cruisers that are on the same cruise as you. I've heard that on some FE's you get the list of all that are joined in and you can give to whoever you want to how many you want. There could be quite a few on this list. On our cruise, a wonderful person has offered to provide us all with a spread sheet of the names/ages/sex of those joined, and a date we exchange and it is with only one other cabin, so you don't have to bring a lot of FE items. They can be big or small, store bought or home made, whatever you feel you want to do. I plan on trying to do something homemade and go to a local candy shop and by chocolate from Maine. Who doesn't like chocolate?! I will post pics of the FE when I get it done. Our trip feels so far away, but it will come up quick!

Orlando/Disney Cruise Trip

Our next trip will be this May down to Orlando, FL. First stop, the Nickelodeon Hotel. The home of green slim. My hubby has already warned me that at no time will he be slimed. Which only means that he will be. I have never stayed at the Nick and I don't know personally anyone who has so this will be our first experience there. I assume it will be a lot like Great Wolf Lodge, which we have stayed at and HIGHLY recommend you do visit one. We have been to the Williamsburg, VA and Niagara Falls, Canada GWL. Loved them both, I'll talk more about those trips in another blog. As for this trip....after the Nick for 3 nights, down to Cape Canaveral for two nights. I saw on the Disney DIS board that you can write to your Representative and request tickets to NASA, which I have done. I heard back and they needed more info, how many in our party and our ages. Still have not heard if its confirmed, but it would be really nice and save us almost $200! After Cape Canaveral.....DISNEY CRUISE! This will be our third Disney Cruise. While planning our second cruise, we said that would be it. The kids would be older and we would have been tired of it, boy were we wrong! They treat you so great and it is such a wonderful experience that we booked this "last" trip. We are telling ourselves it is our last, but the more I get into it, the more I feel like it wont be. All three cruises have been the three night cruise to Nassau, Bahamas and Castaway Cay, Disneys private island, so when the time is right, I'll bring up the longer cruise to my hubby. The kids are already on board with me! I have some planning and crafting to do for the Disney Cruise, but I'll explain more on that next blog. Until then, happy travels!

More past travels.....

Washington, DC and surrounding areas.....

I try to take Double Trouble to historic areas when visiting family in Maryland. In DC, they have visited the National Mall, Lincoln Memorial, National Monument, National Gallery of Art, National Archives, Air and Space, Natural History and American History, Vietnam Veterans Memorial. Just to name a few....

National's Baseball Game, Mount Vernon, toured Camden Yards and the house Babe Ruth grew up in.....

National Habor and The Awakening.....

Southern Md/Va - Point Lookout, G. Washington's childhood home, and the spot where John Wilkes Booth was killed....

and I just had to take them to a spot that my parents always too us as children.... Moll Dyers rock. Funny how small it seemed to me as an adult, and how weird Double Trouble thought it was that I took them to see a big rock. For those who don't know the story....

Moll Dyer is a legendary 17th-century resident of southern Maryland who was accused of witchcraft. She was chased out of her home by the locals in the dead of the coldest winter night of the year. The townspeople blamed her for the misfortunes in the town and suspected her of cursing the town. After an epidemic killed many locals, a group of townsfold decided they should kill her and set her cottage on fire. Moll Dyer fled into the woods and exhausted and freezing she knelt down on a large rock where she froze to death. Her body was found days later, and when it was removed her hand and knee left permanent impressions in the rock. It is said that this rock is haunted and on the coldest night of the year it is said you can hear her crying.

The rock has been moved from it's original spot in the woods, to the courthouse. You can see it in the pic on the left, left corner of the building behind the bench.

Now just to make traveling a little more interesting, I choose to go by different methods of transportation. Last trip down to Md, we took Concord Bus from Portland to Boston, Mega Bus from Boston to Philly (we did a pitstop in Philly to visit family). Mega Bus was SO cheap, and luckly we were in line first on got on the top deck, front row. A little scarey at first, but Double Trouble loved it. They described it as being in a roller coaster. When we were on the George Washington Bridge in NY, my son looked down and with the big windows, it was straight down. "WOW" was pretty much all he could say!

Amtrak on the way home, I LOVE the train! My oldest got free drinks, which he considered pretty cool!

Past Travels......

Here are some quick trip reports from past travels.....

Ocean City, Maryland - Since I grew up in Maryland, and most of my family still lives in the area, we travel there quite a bit. A usual vacation spot for us is Ocean City and day trips to Assateague Island. Ocean City is a wonderful beach community. Very clean, easy to get around and a lot of fun for kids. We have been taking them there since they were born.