EPCOT's Flower and Garden Fest

One of my favorite Disney's events is the EPCOT Flower and Garden Festival that is held every spring. This year Grandma was visiting so we decided to take her to the park since she loves gardening. Joo had a great time playing on the various playgrounds that they build for the fest, but Min said he was too old for playgrounds now so he sat with the grown ups and watched. We will be heading back from the fest ends in a couple of months.

Happy 9th Birthday Min!

March 11 was Min's 9th birthday. If you recall from an earlier post, Mr. Cash and I gave the kids a choice for their birthday this year. They could choose a party, a special event or a big gift. Min chose to get the big gift, but we also did a special event with the family. On his actual birthday, Min chose to have Olive Garden for dinner and received his gift from us, which was an ipod nano.

He also received lots of money and gift cards from other family members. He chose to have a lemon cake for his birthday. It was yummy! That weekend we took Min and Joo camping at Disney's Fort Wilderness Resort. We set up the tent first, then rented a golf cart to drive around.

The kids went swimming, then we headed over to the Trail's End restaurant for dinner, which had a delicious American buffet. I ate way too much!!! Min received a huge bowl of strawberry shortcake in honor of his birthday.

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After dinner, I returned home while Mr. Cash took the kids to watch the movie under the stars. We had planned on having smores that night, but we were too full from dinner so we had them for breakfast the next morning. You can do things like that when you are on vacation!!! Min had

a great birthday!!!!

Nanny's Wedding

On Saturday, March 5 Min and Joo's old nanny got married in Orlando. Joo was the flower girl so we had a very busy weekend. On Friday, we had a bridemaid's luncheon to attend. Joo was very excited to be one of the grown-up girls.

Joo with Nanny at luncheon

That evening was the rehearsal at the church in Altamonte Springs and the rehearsal dinner at a restaurant at Pointe Orlando, so (those of you who know Orlando know that getting to those places is a nightmare from my house on Friday at 5) Joo and I spent more than 2 hours in traffic. Min stayed with a family friend and Mr. Cash had to work late, so it was just the girls again. Once we got out of traffic, we had a fun time.

Saturday all of us attended the wedding and reception. Min and Joo had a fun time at the reception eating and dancing.

Joo and Daddy getting ready to go to the church

Joo waiting to walk down the aisle

Standing at the alter

Walking back down the aisle after the wedding

Toasting the bride and groom

Dancing with daddy

Congratulations Nanny and Mr. Nanny! Thanks for including us on your big day!

3rd Annual Buckeye Cruise for Cancer

Mr. Cash and I, once again, went on the Buckeye Cruise for Cancer February 25-March 1. Although the weather was chilly, what's new, for most of the days, we still had a blast. My favorite Ohio State player, Troy Smith, was on the cruise this year so I finally got my signed number 10 jersey. The cruise left from Tampa went to Key West, Playa del Carmen and a day at sea. The first night was an introduction to all of the players on board and a tribute to Stefanie Spielman, wife of Chris Spielman, an Ohio State great, who lost her battle with breast cancer this past November.

Here are all the athletes singing Carmen Ohio along with the rest of us. That night was an early night, midnight, since we needed to get up in the morning for our autograph sessions. Here we are with some of the athletes and us waiting in line.

Archie Griffin

only 2 time Heisman Trophy

winner.

Mike Nugent and Troy Smith, how did they know to put my two favorite players together?!

James Laurinaitis, who plays for the Rams and Todd Boeckman.

We just hung out and relaxed for the rest of the day. That night was the first auction of Ohio State and player memorbilia. Some very cool, most out of our price range.

The next day we were in Mexico. The ship had to tender of fthe beach and we needed to take a boat into Playa del Carmen. It was very windy so the boats were having a hard time linking together. After waiting for an hour and a half, we finally got on the boat. Apparently, we were the last boat to go ashore. They refused to tender the boats anymore due to the wind so everyone else was stuck on the ship. We went to the Tulum Mayan Ruins, which being the history buffs we are, were fascinating.

We made it back on the boat with no problems. That night was the player's experience auction, where you can bid on different activities to do with the players or get exclusive access to different events, like College Gameday. Once again, most were way out of our price range, but it's fun to watch. We stayed till the end around 2:15 when they auctioned a horse. Here is Kirk Herbstreit auctioning off the Heisman Trophy experience.

The next day was for sleeping in and relaxing, which we did. We had a great time and can't wait to go again next year!!

Happy Birthday Joo!

This year for the kids' birthdays we gave them a choice: a party, a personal experience of their choice or a big gift. Joo's birthday was first and she chose a spa day with mom. So today we went to the Grand Floridan spa for manis and pedis. Joo absolutely loved it. She picked out this pretty fushia nail polish and enjoyed the arm and leg massages.

Waiting to begin

Getting her nails painted

Getting her leg massaged

Getting the final coat of nail polish on her toes.

Leaving the spa. Joo received a spa princess lanyard and a bottle of nail polish, she picked out this bright orange color. Check out the nails! It may look nice out, but it was cold!

After we left the spa, we got dressed up (Joo even got her hair curled) and went for tea at the Grand Floridan. We ate yummy tea sandwiches, scones, jam tarts and pastries. It was delicious!

Checking out the menu

Eating a ham and cheese sandwich

Eating a strawberry dipped in white chocolate. It was huge!

It was a great birthday/girls day out. Joo says she wants to do this again the year after next. Next month, Min. I'll let you know what he decides to do.

Happy New Year!!!!

WOO HOO!!!!!!!!!!!! The Ohio State Buckeyes won the Rose Bowl 26-17 over the Oregon Ducks!!!!!!!!!!!!! Way a great way to start 2010!!!!!!!!!!! Can't wait for the new season to start!!

Our Holiday Break

We had a very busy holiday season. The week of Christmas started with cookie baking and play dates, it was nice to catch up with friends that we don't get to see that often. On Christmas Eve, we went to Celebration to play in the falling "snow" and see the Christmas lights.

After looking at lights, we headed home to get ready for Santa. The kids put reindeer food outside for the reindeer then headed to bed.

The kids has a wonderful Christmas and received everything they asked for. They were also excited because their Grandma and Cousin were down to spend the holiday with us.

That day was also Mr. Cash's 40th birthday so we had a special birthday event planned. We rented a pontoon boat to take us out on the lake to watch the Magic Kingdom fireworks. We even had birthday cake on the boat. It was an awesome experience!

The next day, we did some shopping and went to Light Up UCF to slide down the ice slide and watch the outdoor movie. It was a bit chilly! Luckily, we had our warm coats and blankets.

On Sunday, we ventured north of O-town to make and eat pancakes at the Old Spanish Sugar Mill, climb trees, and see Manatees. We even saw a Bald Eagle, which was neat.

Monday and Tuesday were spent at Disney and Wednesday Grandma and Cousin went home. We have finally come to the first day of 2010, which is a day spent watching college football in our house. I wonder what team we are rooting for?!