Tag Archives: Fireworks

February 9, 2013 · 2:45 pm

Camping at Fort Wilderness

Matty had his second Berkeley interview this morning, so while we went to that Andy loaded up his car and drove Davy out to Fort Wilderness at Disney World to get our camp site set up. The Cub scouts go on two camping trips a year and this is the second one. Andy set up our tent next to Garrett and Caiden, let the fun begin!

Our first outing was to the fishing pond. There was a competition for the boys and a prize for whoever caught the biggest fish, well our boys didn’t catch anything and quickly decided that the pool was where they wanted to be.

This pool was perfect for the kids. There was a larger pool with this large slide and then a smaller pool for the littler kids. After the swim, the boys dried off and we went for a bike ride. Our first stop was to the front of the campground to see the horses. Matty loves the horses. Next, we biked back over to the Meadows swimming pool. Caiden was in an archery class, so the boys each got a Mickey ice-cream and posted up to watch him. From the way their faces look, I’d say they liked them :). From here we biked down to the marina. Both boys wanted to go on a boat ride, so we hopped onto the shuttle for the Magic Kingdom and went for a ride.

When we got back, the boys wanted to play at the playground, so I ran over to Crockett’s Tavern to grab Andy and I a beer. I picked for him one called Napa Smith, an organic IPA, and Andy said that he officially thinks that this is his new favorite beer. For dinner back at the campground we had Jack Daniels BBQ pork sandwiches, baked beans, corn, apple sauce, and smore’s.

After dinner we headed over to Chip and Dales Campout. The boys got to meet Chip and Dale, sing-a-long with the show and afterwards watch Toy Story 2, the movie under the stars. Right before it ended we walked back down to the marina to get ready to watch the fireworks. An employee told us to take the dirt path to the right and wander down until the opening that the view of the fireworks was much better than from the dock, and he was right. We had a perfect, clear view of them. I loved this moment. We took the purple bus back to the camp ground and called it a night around 10:30. It was a perfect family day. 🙂

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Filed under Cub Scouts, Fun Outings, Project Life 2013

Tagged as BBQ, Disney, Fireworks, Pool, Swimming

December 31, 2012 · 11:53 pm

New Years Eve 2012

Davy loves New Year’s Eve. He talks about it year round. So this year without the Carothers and Krulik families here we knew that we would have to make it extra fun for him. We talked about burning the Christmas tree in the fire pit like last year, but then decided to just buy a big pack of fireworks instead. They were so cute, the sun had barely set and they were grabbing us to go outside. Dan, Debbie, and Andrea came outside to watch the fun.

Matty lasted until about 9 and Davy made it until 11…he tried. At 11:45 we woke them up, toasted with some bubbly, and watched the ball drop to bring in the new year. This is mine and Andy’s 15th New Years together…love him.

In typical Westchase style, parties were going on all around us and fireworks were being blown off half of the night; and not just little ones, I’m talking about the big multicolored Continue reading →

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Filed under New Years Eve

Tagged as Fireworks, Holiday

July 4, 2012 · 3:25 pm

4th of July in Washington DC 2012

Happy Birthday America! Being so close to Washington DC, we had to take the kids in to celebrate with the Nation’s Capital. We started our day with a red white and blue breakfast, blueberry pancakes with strawberries and bananas and then we loaded them into the car and headed for Springfield to take the train in.

Every little kid loves to take the train.

We got off at the Smithsonian stop and headed over to the mall to camp out our spot for the fireworks before the crowds came in. We parked our blankets on the hill, right under the National Monument facing the reflecting pool and the Lincoln Memorial.

It was really hot again today, pushing 100 and the heat index was said to be 105, so to cool off the boys we took them down to the WWII memorial fountain to put their feet in.

All throughout the mall there were water fountains, established and brought in, as well as hoses for the kids to spray themselves down.

Another fun find were the air vents…

On our way to lunch we stopped by the White House for the classic out front photo. Davy was so sweet,when I told him we were going to see the White House he says, “Will we get to see President Obama???” If only it were that easy… 🙂

We saw this hanging off of the side of a building, I thought that it was nice.

Ahhhh, an air-conditioned lunch… 🙂

Cucumber gin and tonic with some of the best macaroni and cheese ever… Yum!

Street vendors were lined up everywhere selling water, ice pops, and fruit!

Fat suits, according to the boys…

The Marine Corps jazz band started playing at 6 and entertained us throughout the evening. Right before 9 o’clock, 850,000 people sang the “Star Spangled Banner” together and then did a countdown from 10 to 1… The beautiful fireworks shot off into the night…

After the fireworks were over, Davy turns to me and says, “Well that’s something you don’t see everyday!” Love him!

Little Matty didn’t quite make it back to the train. Although we were all hot, dirty, and tired…we finally made it home. This was a wonderful experience and I can’t wait to do it again!

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Filed under 4th of July, Bucket List, Carothers Family, Holiday's, Richmond, Vacations

Tagged as 4th of July, Carothers, Fireworks, Holiday, National Parks, Outdoor fun, Summer, Vacation

January 21, 2012 · 2:51 am

Argggh! Its a Pirate Invasion…

This year we decided to take it easy for Gasparilla and we drove down right before the parade started. We parked at the corner of Morrison and Armenia, loaded the kids up in the wagon, and wandered down to Bayshore and hunted a place to set up. There were some nice people who let the kids down on the fence and they were challenged to get 100 strings of beads and then in return they would be rewarded with light up wands. During the break between the parade and the fireworks we took the kids to Bella’s for dinner. The pasta and salad were delicious. The evening ended with beautiful fireworks and a bunch of very tired kids. It was a great day… 🙂

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Filed under Carothers Family, Fun Outings, Gasparilla

Tagged as Fireworks, Pirates

July 5, 2010 · 12:46 am

4th of July Weekend

The only way to describe this weekend is….wet! It rained for days and days; in fact, over the weekend we received 5 inches of rain and in a normal summer that is was what we get for the entire month of July. So what did we do all weekend??? We played in the house.

On Sunday the 4th we went over to Mark and Karen’s for a BBQ. Davy got to do a little swimming and fishing with Andy…so I was so happy for him. It drizzled some and it was very overcast, but both boys needed to get out of the house and do a little running. That evening the skies took a break and we were able to go outside and light a few fireworks in the street the guys next door. Davy loved them all and wasn’t scard a bit… Matty was a little afraid of the louder ones like the bottle rockets, but after a while he calmed down and would yell “BOOM” with the other boys….

On Monday July 5th, Ben and Karrie came over with their kids for lunch. Again, the original plan was to spend the day in the pool…so as the plans changed we watched the Princess and the Frog instead and drank our Watermellon Margaritas inside.

It wasn’t your typical 4th of July, an outdoor fun holiday…but in the end it was relaxing and we got to spend it together as a family.

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Filed under Holiday's

Tagged as 4th of July, Carothers, Fireworks

December 31, 2009 · 4:09 am

New Years Eve 2009

Today is New Year’s Eve. This is mine and Andy’s 12^th together and every year it gets better and better. Today we stayed around the house and after naps we created our first Zahn family painting. We set it up in the driveway, laid the paints around it on paper plates, and just went at it. It took Davy a bit to wake up and get into it, but eventually he did. It is 36×36 and now hangs over the TV in the man room.

For dinner Brian, Kelly and the kids came over. We cooked filets, lobster tails, risotto, potatoes and drank Greygoose spritzers with cranberry. Yum Yum! The meal was cooked perfectly. Afterwards, we attempted taking a few pictures of the kids, you can imagine how that went, and then it was time to put the babies to bed. The older boys had waited so patiently to light the fireworks and were just wild when we told them it was time. Not too much, just a few smoke bombs, sparklers, and TNT’s. It was enough to satisfy them.

We walked down to the field and let them play chase for about 20 minutes in the dark. We could barely see them, but we could hear them giggling and laughing. Also, all around us we could hear fireworks. Not the small kind either, the big ones. A lot of people were out and it really was a great evening. They went home and we popped open the Champagne. Davy stayed up the entire evening with us. At about 11:30 pm more fireworks started to go off so we snuck out the back of our house, cut through some trees and sat in the grass on the 6^th hole tee box. We could see fireworks in 3 different places, it wasn’t to cold out, and it was just perfect. Andy ran inside to get Matty so the 4 of us could sit together and stare out over the pond. At about 10 till we came inside, climbed in the bed and waited for the ball to drop. I can’t believe that it is already 2010. As Andy so kindly pointed out, we will have officially lived in 5 different decades: 70’s, 80’s, 90’s, 2000’s, and teen’s. Nothing like making me feel even older… The ball dropped, we gave each other big big big kisses and then all of us went off to bed. Davy slept in the little bed and Matty in his crib. Hello 2010!!!