The Brown Brick Road

Capturing our adventures one photo at a time...

Naples

After Christmas we headed down to Naples for some rest, relaxation and sunshine! Despite a delayed flight out of Bham, we made it to Ft. Myers with no problems mainly thanks to a full speed sprint through the Atlanta airport! Phew! The kids were happy to get to open some more Christmas gifts…especially when those gifts consisted of cleverly wrapped cold hard cash!

cash

cash

cash

Leave it to GJ – she’s the best!

gj

gj

We didn’t get to to go to the beach while we were down there. It’s still being put back together after the hurricane, but that didn’t bother us!

naples

Gary the Gator even came by to say hi!

gator

We did enjoy some dinners out…

dinner

and tried some new foods!

naples

But consumed lots of chicken fingers and fries too! ha! We also did a little shopping…

shopping

shopping

and made cookies, of course.

ccc

As always, the trip was too short and we can’t wait to go back!

naples

See you again soon GJ!

NYC!

Last week we got up bright and early to catch the 6:30 am direct flight to NYC!

nyc

It was worth it to be in NY by 9:30! GJ took an early morning flight too and her plane got in 10 minutes after ours only 2 gates away! Perfect! We got all checked into the Mandarin Oriental…

nyc

nyc

and then hit the streets! First stop was the first apartment Robert and I lived in together right across the street from our hotel – 330 West 58th Street.

330

330

We then hopped the subway down to Soho…

subway

and got lunch at Fanelli’s Cafe…

lunch

and had a celebrity sighting! Nobody cared except for me but I was thrilled to see Gary Janetti and grab a picture! He’s IG famous!

gary

We then started shopping!

soho

soho

Shooting hoops in the Nike store!

nike

We then had tickets to go Color Factory and it was so great! Everyone had fun!

nyc

color factory

color factory

nyc

nyc

color factory

nyc

nyc

nyc

nyc

nyc

nyc

nyc

nyc

nyc

nyc

nyc

We then did little more shopping and Samantha got her first Brown Bag! 🙂

blades

That night we were worn out after our early morning. Maxwell and Robert headed to the east side for burgers at JG Mellon’s, GJ, Samantha and Spencer ordered room service, and I got my very favorite NY sushi delivered! Tenzan!

tenzan

We love NYC!

nyc

LOTS more to come!

The Judds

After Boo Bash on Friday, I skipped out on some of the clean up and hit the road at 2:30 to make the 3 hour trip to Nashville! I knew it was going to be a good trip when I got this fortune at Boo Bash!

boo bash

I rolled into town just in time for a quick dinner before heading into Bridgestone Arena with full VIP Access to the The Judds!!!

judds

judds

judds

Well, one Judd. RIP Naomi. We had full backstage access to anything we wanted.

judds

Of course, everything is that much more fun when you get to do it with Lyndsay!!

judds

I sadly didn’t get a pic with Wynonna but I was feet from her and this close to her at the beginning of the show!!

judd

judds

It was a fantastic show – especially when you consider everything she’s been through in the last 6 months. I’ve always loved The Judds and getting to see this show was pretty insane!

judds

I got back to the hotel about 1am and was back up at 5am to get back to Bham in time for some very important playoff football games at 8:45! Don’t worry, I made it in plenty of time. I don’t think they missed me one bit while I was gone…for a whole 12 hours. They were living it up at a football party…

party

and Robert’s office party!

party

The fun never stops!

Disney day 3

On our 3rd day at Disney we had to go without the VIP Guide but I managed to figure out the Genie+ system and we had a great day! We started with a breakfast of champions…

cinnamon

I guess everyone was feeling a little blue about it being our last day…

epcot

ha! I do love a good color coordination. Ready to take on Epcot!

epcot

We made it there in time for our Lightning Lane pass for the new Guardians of the Galaxy roller coaster. We had no idea what to expect and it was AMAZING!! Really just about the most fun roller coaster I’ve ever been on!

disney

disney

disney

After that we managed the Genie+ system and did Figment, Soaring, Test Track…

teset trach

test track

test track

We also found churros for all! Success!

churros

I also managed to snag a spot in the virtual queue to ride Guardians of the Galaxy again that evening. GJ and Spencer once again decided the call of the hotel was too tempting and headed back to get some dinner and relax. Maxwell, Samantha, and I took off to explore the countries in Epcot for 2 hours before it was time to get on the ride.

epcot

disney

epcot

epcot

epcot

We got on the ride about 5:45 and it was well worth the wait!! So. Much. Fun!!

disney

We then took our tired selves back to the hotel…

hotel

The next morning we had to say goodbye to GJ as we flew back to Birmingham.

disney

I am not sure we will ever be able to top this epic surprise Disney trip!! Huge thanks to GJ for being the very best sport and making it all happen!! We love Disney!!

Disney day 2

We started off day 2 with backstage access into the Magic Kingdom thanks to Annie! It was another beautiful day at Disney!

disney

Annie started us out in Adventureland with Jungle Cruise and we made our way around the entire park riding everything we wanted as many times as we wanted. You simply cannot beat that!!

disney

pirates

splash mountain

haunted mansion

haunted mansion

disney

It’s hard work spinning those tea cups!

teacups

Vroom! Vroom!
speedway

speedway

We love Space Mountain!!

space

space

space

space

We rode everything – Jungle Cruise, Aladdin’s Magic Carpets, Pirates, Splash Mountain, Big Thunder, Haunted Mansion, Small World (a low! GJ’s knee almost didn’t make it off of Small World!!), Peter Pan, Little Mermaid, Seven Dwarfs, BarnStormer, Dumbo, Speedway, Tea Cups, Buzz Lightyear, and, of course, Space Mountain!! By the time it was 4:00 we had made it all the way around the park. Annie scanned us into Space Mountain one last time and then we were on our own. We had a fast pass for Splash Mountain…

splash

splash

and then these two decided they had had enough! A nice meal and the hotel was what they wanted. We waved goodbye..

disney

and then there were 3!!

carpets

We rode the Magic Carpets again…

pirates

rode Pirates again…

pirates

played around in the Pirate shop…

pirates

and got some dinner at Pecos Bill’s! It was then time for my choice of the day – riding Big Thunder at night! Can’t beat this view of the castle all lit up while zooming around those tracks!

castle

disney

disney

I do love being in the parks at night.

parks

Maxwell really wanted to ride Astro Orbiter so we made our way all the way across the park, stopping for a quick castle pic…

castle

and got to the ride just at the right time. As we went up the fireworks started going off! Pretty cool!

disney

disney

disney

We then made our way back through the firework traffic to get to the monorail. We even saw who I have to believe is the cousin of this guy (scroll down!)…

disney

I love the people watching at Disney.

It was an epic day full of all things Magic Kingdom! A truly MAGICAL day!!