4th of July in Ormond Beach, FL

This year I was actually in the country to celebrate the 4th. Yay!!!! Here are some pics to document the event.


Awesome times three.


Peace. In the middle east.


I'm singing "God Bless America...". Sing it with me now.


Jen and Christian. His first 4th of July. He loved the fireworks!!!

Animal Kingdom commercial

Animal Kingdom 1 day ticket:
$75

Fruit and pretzel snack, vitamin water:
$9

Rainforest Cafe lunch:
$24

Realizing that I should thank the Lord, Jesus Christ, my savior that I don't have children to take to Animal Kingdom:
F$#@ing priceless!!

Wordless Wednesday

This is how we do it!

Here are pics from the Michael Jackson Tribute Singalong (found out via twitter and got tix asap!) and from our 80's Ladies Singalong. Yes, we did them both in the same night. Four hours of singing, dancing and drinking. Maybe the most fun I could ever have, even though it was a sad day!! Thanks girls--had a blast with ya!!

We wear our sunglasses at night...


We are the ladies of the 80's. Although some of us remember more of the 80's than others!!



King of Pop. Nuff said.

Gloved one.

Heartbroken

My favorite PS22 song

If you haven't heard them yet, you're missing out!! Awesome. And the boy with the solo...just precious!!


Click here--Don't Stop Believin

Hold me close I'm tiny dancin'

Ok. My brother and I just got into an argument about Elton John's "Tiny Dancer". I don't want to point any fingers or say "I told you so!", but I am a genius. After a simple google search, I came up with not only the answer to our question, but also what may be one of the best sites out there. Please check it out!

amiright

I highly recommend you find one of your favorite songs, find anyone who'll listen to you and go through the list and sing them aloud. It rocks! Poor Cody.

Ciao Chaya!

Today Chaya moved to Florida to visit with her family before she heads off to start a new adventure in Paraguay.

Girl, I can't even tell you how much you'll be missed! Please let me know asap when I can come visit. K?

Te quiero!!

It's official!

I'm on vacay.

Feel the love

So I just got home from the 5th grade graduation. My former 4th graders at my former school graduated tonight and are off to 6th grade next year! I have to say that I didn't really know what to expect. I mean, I left the school. Kind of thought that the kids would forget about me. Needless to say they were all as sweet as I remembered and welcomed me back with open arms. Didn't realize how much I missed them! They are all so grown up and taller than me! I also saw a student from my very first class of Monkeys. She's going into 8th grade. Makes me feel old! Now I know what people mean by that. Like I'm not aging at all, but everyone around me seems to be getting older! Anyway. Just wanted to give a little shout out (not really, I'm hoping none of them read this blog!!) to the Monkeys from last year. Good luck next year!

Six more days...

with the precious little 3rd graders. By this point in the year we are like family. And you know how family can sometimes get on your nerves? Yeah. That's what's happening now. We still love each other, but if I have to hear one more "...he's looking at me!" or "I was just..." and "...it's not mine!"--to which I reply "I don't care whose it is, just somebody pick it up!" I am going to scream. Today their homework was: Go home tonight and grow up. No more baby talk or whining at school tomorrow. It might sound mean, but they know I love 'em and they get my humor.

PS--Much better year than last year! I remembered why I wanted to teach. I love these kids with my whole heart. Each and every one. And you know who else rocks? The Monkeys.

The old college try

Well, after our first win of 20 to 1, we thought the outcome of our district softball tournament would be brighter. "The Bandidos", that's what they call us (because that's our name) would not be in the winner's bracket for long. The first game even ended in an exciting double play from 2nd to 1st base (with me on first!). But alas, we lost our second and third games. I'd like to blame it on the heat. The third game was much closer than the second, and we thought we had it! In the end they were just better. We did conduct ourselves respectfully and were good sports. Even though we were robbed.

La vida loca

Happy (early) cinco de mayo everyone!

Ok, so it's still April (happy b-day amber!), but I wanted to post!

Tomorrow we are off to go camping. We are hoping for good weather, strong drinks, comfortable chairs, and lots of relaxation. And perhaps some dancing. I am also thinking that hilarity will ensue.

Since it will be our second annual cinco de mayo camping trip, Chaya and I have prepared another little surprise for Anne Marie and Amy. Let's just say our last surprise included travel sized bottles of (adult) beverages, candy, and glow sticks all in the form of a donkey pinata. We were a big hit at the camp site. And donkey later turned up hanging in our tent. An apparent suicide.

Stay tuned to check out the surprise. Know you can't wait...

And I totally teach the writing process...

I am proud to say that the website FatPassport.com is up and running! I wrote a few articles for the site on travelling to Peru and Mexico as well as some other places in the US. Check it out! In case you want to learn all about me-click the link on the bottom of the page that says "Our Travel Experts" and I'm about halfway down the page.
FatPassport

England photos...finally!!

Double decker tour bus

Buckingham
Palace

Windsor Castle--the Queen was there! God save the Queen





Stonehenge



Tower of London



Roman baths in Bath

Happy B-day Cody!

Ireland photos

Dublin Castle


St. Patrick's Cathedral


windows inside cathedral



Drinking our pints at the Guinness Brewery


Paddy's Day-waiting for the parade to begin.


Parade craziness!


Beautiful scenery

Toilets

Americans...do not take your public toilets for granted. Note: I will be using the word "toilets" here as the word "restroom" that most of you may know. Not sure why they're so serious about not letting people use the toilets here, but they don't mess around. They actually have guards that are standing at the toilets making sure you are a customer/hotel guest/patron of whatever company it is. McDonald's actually hires some guy to stand outside the restrooms and make sure you are actually paying for something at McDonald's. Totally ridiculous and strange.

On another note, St. Paddy's day was fun. Went to the parade and drank in the pubs. Paying for it today, though. Took a tour of the Irish countryside today-beautiful. Hard to believe we'll be back in Amerrrica tomorrow. Cheers!

Pardon?

Okay. So I know they speak English in England and Ireland. I still can't seem to understand what the hell they're saying! I'm all "uh huh" and "oooh" and asking Chaya if she caught that last bit. Sometimes she does. And sometimes I'll get it. Then we put the pieces we understand together like a jigsaw. A UK jigsaw. It's funny. Takes some getting used to that's for sure.

On another note, had a great tour of Dublin city today. Got to see almost the whole city and walk around some. Even bought some super touristy regalia for the St. Patrick's Day celebration tomorrow. One word-ridiculous! Just wait for the pics. Had a Guinness, but not so sure I'll have another. Not my style. More to come tomorrow!

Allo from jolly old England!

Just sitting down to recap. The last two/three days we have spent in England. Our first day was spent recovering from jet lag. After our 8 hour flight (where we of course couldn't sleep), we sprang forward 6 hours into England time and it put us on our arses. Yesterday we toured London city. It was awesome. Except the part about getting lost at night. But we finally made it to our home here safely. Today we went to Windsor Castle (whilst the Queen was in residence!), Stonehenge, and Bath. Lots of awesome pictures and memories. So tomorrow it's off to Dublin. Can't wait to drink in a real Irish pub.

Be back soon to update on our European vacation!

Packing...not my forte

So it's time to start packing for Europe. Usually I'm an early packer. Like I'm an early gift giver. As soon as I buy a gift for someone, I want to give it to them. So usually when I plan a trip, I start packing as soon as I buy the plane ticket. At least in my mind. So when people started asking "Are you packed yet?" I panicked a little. I can usually answer, "Yes, I've been packed for a week. Think my clothes will be wrinkled?"

This time is different. I have put it off. Not sure why. Maybe it's because the weather is going to be different? Or because I needed closed toe shoes and can't wear flip flops (what else do people wear?)? So, here I go starting tonight. Wish me luck! Apparently it's not once-an-overpacker-always-an0overpacker. I keep reminding myself of the Peru incident. I've morphed into a minimalist packer that severely needed more pants in the rainforest. And if there's one thing you don't want in the rainforest, it's to be saying "I need more pants man!"