ABC'S

A. Attatched or Single- Attached, to my husband of 11 years (Yes, I was a child bride, but not in the FLDS way)
B. Best Friend-My husband once again.
C. Cake or pie- Can I have both?

D. Day- Saturday
E. Essential item - chapstick (My kids love to steal it or occasionally eat it)
F. Favorite Color- navy blue
G. Gummy bear or worms- bears, on my TCBY (something I picked up as a kid and still enjoy)

H. Hometown- I guess Germantown, TN. I've lived here since I was 10.

I. Indulgences- Pedicures ( I wish)
J. January or July- July
K. Kids - Chandler (5) and Callie (almost 3)
L. Life would be incomplete without- Family

M. Marriage date- 3-29-97
N. Number of siblings- 3- Christine, Chad, and Curtis
O. Oranges or apples- apples
P. Phobias or fears- terrified of sharks
Q. Quote - I have plenty. What I mean is, I have plenty of quotes that I like. "I have plenty" is not my quote. To be honest, I'm not exactly sure what they're looking for here....

R. Reason to smile- my babies
S. Season- Summer

T. Tag-Jewly, Christine. and Sarah (I'll expect it in about 6 months)
U. Unknown fact about me- I am attempting to give up sugar. Of course, it's my second day and I accidentally ate blueberry cobbler at Jamie's today. I seriously forgot. But it was mostly fruit, right?
V. Vegan or oppressor- Oppressor all the way. Go meat!

W. Worst habit- I might be a little stubborn.

X. Xrays or ultrasounds- Um, ultrasounds, I guess. Cause it was the first time I saw my kids. Are X-rays ever good?

Y. Your favorite food- Chocolate (Is that generic or what? But it's true.)
Z. Zodiac Sign- Aquarius

My Husband, The Student

I thought I'd take a second to brag on my husband. Dave recently completely his first semester of graduate school with a 4.0 average. He also took his Praxis II examination and scored a 194 out of a possible 200. ETS sent him a "Recogintion of Excellence" certificate for scoring in the top 15% of anyone who has ever taken the test. We're so proud of our Daddy and how hard he is working. Go Dave!!!! We love you!!

Disney World!!!

The Sparkmans have just returned from a five day fun filled extravaganza to Disney World. Before you begin reading the post, I need to make the following disclaimers:



1. It will be a very long post a/k/a travel log. If you get bored, by all means, move on. Get back to your e-mail. We promise not to be offended.



2. It was extremely hot and humid, around 95 degrees with 150% humidity. Most of the pictures are of hot sweaty people with red faces. Yes, we do bathe and brush our hair, although these photos are not indicative of it.


3. Yes , my hair is gone. Even before May was over, I couldn't take the heat. So Christine chopped it off for me. I am loving it short and not missing the "Mommy Mullet" at all. Dave may be though. But he took it like a champ.



So that being said, here we go:


Day 1: The Magic Kingdom





We got there fairly early and headed straight back to Fantasyland, to knock out some of the kiddie rides before the lines got too ridiculous. Unfortunately the first one we chose was Snow White. The ride's full title, which would have been good to know beforehand, was "Snow White's Scary Adventures". And scare the kids it did. They got off the ride terrified and none too eager to ride anything else. Fortunately we did talk them into "Dumbo", which was a hit.








Then we headed over to Cinderella's Golden Carousel.




You're never too old for the Merry-Go-Round.

That afternoon we ended up in Tomorrowland. I wanted to ride Space Mountain, so Dave took the kids for a walk. I came back to find this:

The kids enjoyed their treat and thin sugary coating over their entire body. We left around 6:00, exhausted and sweaty and frankly, not smelling so fresh.

Day 2: Hollywood Studios

This day might directly be responsible for Chandler needing some therapy. Dave wanted to take his son on his favorite ride of all time, The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror. If terror was their objective, mission accomplished!!

Chandler came off the ride sobbing. He talked about how scary it was for the next three days. There was a sign advertising it on the way to Disney World. He would hide from the sign. Anyway, Hollywood Studios has lots of cool stuff, including the "real" Pizza Planet, where we had lunch.

That night we went to see the Beauty and the Beast show, which they stopped abruptly when it started raining. We decided to make a run for it, which resulted in the whole family getting drenched to the skin. I bought the kids ponchos, but it was too late.

Disney also cancelled the nighttime show, so we headed back to the hotel to wring out our clothes.

Day Three: Animal Kingdom

The first part of the day didn't start out so good. We began in the "Africa" section and weather wise, it sure felt like it. The animals were all hiding from the heat (and us). We did see some cool stuff on the safari.

Callie as able to cool off with some ice cream

Her Dad calls her "The Messiest Kid Ever". What do you think?

The kids were both tall enough to ride the Kali (Should be Callie) River Rapids. We got soaked!!

The kids did get to see some animals.

Here's Chandler riding a tiger.

And Callie romping with some elephants

We saw an amazing "Nemo" show and a really cool Bug's Life 3-D. Dave and I got to ride the Everest roller coaster, which we loved.

Overall, I don't think we'll be back to the Animal Kingdom for a summer time visit. Maybe when it's cooler.

Day 4: Magic Kingdom, Part Deux

By day 4, the kids sure were loving the stroller.

Callie got to meet her idol, the Little Mermaid. Chandler even showed Ariel some of his Ninja moves. She was impressed.

Small World is our family's favorite ride. We rode it 5 times, I think. Callie was psyched to get the pink boat this time.

We also loved the "Philharmagic", a 3-D movie with cool special effects and all the Disney characters.

Dave took this picture for my Mom. Growing up in Arizona, she loves cactus and always gave us lessons.

We were fortunate not to wait in many lines. The longest one was the line to meet Mickey Mouse. By the time we got to him, the kids were not in good humor.

The photographer who was there happened to be the same one who took the pictures with Ariel. She remembered Chandler and his ninja moves. She asked him to do them for Mickey and Minnie. He obliged. They too were impressed.

Watching the fireworks at the end of the night

Some tired kids!!!

We had a great time, but are so glad to be home!