September 2004

With a year of planning behind us we were about to embark on a wonderful family vacation to Disney World in Florida.
However, our life is usually fraught with challenges and nothing is done easily. So amid a Hurricane we drove the family to Florida. On the tail of Frances we arrived to stay at a very beautiful travel resort that our Vacation Club made the arrangements for.
The Riley’s were joined by the McBreen’s (Hugh, Joanne, Elizabeth and boyfriend Mike) on their trek to asail the hurricane and all were determined to have fun.
Well, the Lord smiled upon us for our vacation week fell neatly in place between two hurricanes. The weather was beautiful and we had a lovely trip.
Our accommodations were grander than we had anticipated, and we were only one exit away from most of the attractions.
You could frequently find Anna snuggling up to her “Vacation boyfriend” Mike. This relationship was handled quite well by Elizabeth, Mike’s official girlfriend. She didn’t mind taking a back seat to her 4 year old niece.
We visited many attractions together but also spent some time apart exploring our dissimilar interests.
Surprisingly, Trish and Tom found the Dr. Seuss Landing quite fun. This could have been that it was empty because everyone else was on the thrill seeking rides. We decided to give the priority to the children’s interest and it paid off big time.
Also, the Magic Kingdom had reports of a Miss Riley stalking Cinderella. She’s a slippery one. Though we attended the Princess Breakfast and saw all the other princesses, Cinderella continued to evade us. We finally found her and many of her friends together in Toon Town.
Further, this just in, per Zach the Epcot Ball has been Officially renamed Micky’s Ball, and as usual Trish was hot on Mary Poppin’s trail.

As an interesting turn of events, shortly after returning from our fabulous vacation Thomas learned that his company was downsizing and he was laid off.
We traveled to D.C. to ponder and pray in the House of the Lord, and ask for guidance.
We decided that we would shake things up a little. After staying at home to raise the little ones, Trish returned to the full-time work force to become the bread winner while Thomas returned to college to pursue his Bachelor's Degree in Industrial Education.
Though Thomas had a full time course load (6 classes), he also became a full-time homemaker, and freelance Drafting Consultant, which only left him 3 hours in the day for sleep.
Both Trish and Tom have learned a great deal from their swapping of tasks.
“We have a better appreciation for each other and what we have a talent or endurance for. We are grateful for that learning experience” ~Trish & Tom