Just a few last minute things

I have never been so organized for a trip than this one. The trailer is almost all packed. Food is packed, clothes are packed for the kids and I am almost done packing me. Beds are made, kitchen floor is clean (thanks to my son tonight), and just have a few last minute things to tidy up and get in the trailer. Really we just need to get our toothbrushes that morning, pillows, and the coffee maker and we are set to sail.

I watched a special on Food Network last night about the giant gingerbread house, the lights down main street, and the holiday extras they put into making our experiences "magical". I tell you I took NOTES while watching it! I am WAY more excited than the kids are.

We got them all matching tshirts (well ones for us too) and I am going to give them to everyone the morning we leave so they can wear their Mickey shirts to school that day. I am wearing mine too!! Too fun...

So I have finished addressing our Christmas cards and they are stamped and will go in the mail tomorrow and I packed my address book and will be sending out post cards while we are there. I am hoping that Disney has wifi somewhere and we can use our laptop to up load a few pictures to you all via email. If you want to be on my email list, email me your address if you don't think I have it.

Wow, the adrenaline of excitement is running through my veins right now and I can FEEL it!

And for this trip we got our handy-dandy housesitter to stay here while we are gone. He loves it here because we have a big backyard for his two ginormous German Shepards. Unfortunately he doesn't always find all the land mines in the backyard and the kids find them later, tracking it in the house! Yuck! Oh well, we still love him.

Our Backyard

Here are some pictures of the backyard that I promised not long ago. I am sorry to make you all wait so long.

Here is the new and extended veggie garden. The original plot is around the corner of the porch. I planted peas along the back that will climb the lattice work and bush beans in the front. You can see the little sprouts of squash. The begonias are right next to the steps to the porch.

This next picture is the new flower bed in the front corner of the backyard. It gets only a little sun in the very late afternoon only in the summer. The rest of the day and year it is shaded. We plan to put an azalea in the back corner and use more ferns and shade loving hastas in here. Right now the bench is for visual interest.

The next picture is of the new sod and the new flower bed under a big Pin Oak Tree. It still has some work left and we plan on extending it all the way to the fence on the left of the picture where the trashcan is, doubling it in size. In here we will plant more azaleas, hastas, and some other shade/sun plants. Like the rocks? The close up is of the corner right by the entrance to the backyard.

This next photo is a great look at how the grass is with and without the sod. We will be bringing in some topsoil in the late summer and spread it to raise the backyard up to where the sod is and then reseed the sections that are not sodded. Actually where the sod is there wasn't much more than dirt there.

This is such a great improvement in our backyard. I am so proud of it and excited to finish it. We still plan to bring in some rocks to put where the oil tank, trashcans and AC unit is. Oh there is so much to do but this is such a pleasant place already!!