Saturday, February 28, 2009

February 28, 2009 Disney Day 5

High temp 82, Low 60....perfect...


Today started off as has become typical of Fort Wilderness. I awoke around 5:30 and rolled around and enjoyed the silence until about 6:15 when my bladder couldn't take it anymore. I grabbed my bathroom bag, robe and towel and headed for the showers. There's something completely blissful about walking barefoot just as the first light is coming through the Spanish moss. I didn't feel very well and judging by Danny hacking cough didn't figure he was going to either. I arrived back at the camper just as the coffee was done brewing and sat and enjoyed the early morning with Mo. Mom awoke shortly after, followed by Emily and eventually Danny at 8am. The weekenders had arrived and the stream running behind our house was filled with boys playing war games. We decided we have a quiet slow morning and shoot for the Spectromagic parade and the fireworks at Magic Kingdom provided Dan took a nap. He and I went down to the settlement so he could play at the playground and I caught up on uploading some pictures and blogging. Mom called after about half an hour and said she and Em were headed to Downtown Disney, and Mo was going for a bike ride. Dan and I decided since it was lunch time that we'd eat at the Trails Inn all you can eat buffet. We played a huge game of connect four, Dan won twice, I just once before our pager rang letting us know our table was ready. The buffet was nice but geared for those that eat meat. I had a nice Caesar salad and green beans with onions. Dan had macaroni and cheese and an ice cream sundae. We decided it was time to go home. Danny went over to the other side of the creek to play with the boys and had a great time. At 2 o'clock I called him home for a nap. I put on my suit and laid in the sun....and fell asleep. Dan however didn't nap and at 3:45 we decided he'd tried for long enough. Mo said he'd seen an alligator further down the creek so Dan and I went for a walk. We found a few lizards, a deer and some fire ants (the hard way), but no alligators. We returned home to find Em and Mom back. Dan decided he wanted to play with the boys for a while longer and ran off. The other boys must have been called in for dinner because Dan returned looking for something to do. Mom suggested they try fishing, but was worried about taking the fish off the hook if they actually caught something. I told her I'd blog and stand by for fish hook removal. They didn't catch any fish but I did assist with a couple of tangles. Mom and Dan returned the fishing rod while Em and I caught up, computers dueling behind the Meadow trading post. Aunt Fran had been given an arcade gift card that she passed along to us, so that's next on the nights events. It's been a slow Disney day but with 15 days and a 10 day pass we knew we'd have some down days. This was a nice one.

Friday, February 27, 2009

February 27, 2009 Disney Day 4

Started out this morning at 5:30 with Emily needing to pee and Danny complaining of a sore throat, at that might hopes of making use of the warmest day yet and going to Blizzard Beach quicklly went out the window. The kids fell back to sleep while I scanned via cell phone light the brochures for Animal Kingdom and decided we'd do that instead. The kids both fell back to sleep but I got up showered and returned to Mom who had coffee waiting. She and I decided that we'd go into town and do some shopping, pick up Dan another air mattress and come back and take Dan to the park. What I hadn't expected was that Emily would summon enough courage to do it alone. About midway into our shopping trip I texted her and sure enough she and Dan were waiting for the bus at the outpost for Animal Kingdom, what a terrific thing! Mom and I finished shopping, and returned. I made the beds in the tent, returned the pillows we'd been using as a mattress to Fran and started two loads of laundry. And am now...well... you guess it...blogging...The kids returned from Animal Kingdom at about 1pm, they did a Bugs life and took some pretty cool pictures. Em sucessfully got herself and her brother to and from Animal Kingdom. We fed them lunch and since Em didn't feel very well put her and Dan both down for a nap. With 2 hours at least to kill Mom and I decided to make use of the pass and go into Animal Kingdom ourselves. I have a knack for buses and no sooner did we arrive at the first the first bus stop we were stepping off at hour destination. We decided we'd go see the Lion King show since Dan would probably be more intersted in Nemo. It wa sgreat, lots of singing, dancing and acrobats. I managed to get a pretty good video. Next we walked up to the train so Mom could show me a huge Cicada she'd found but on the way noticed that the safari only had a 10 minute wait and decided to do that as well. The train was next. I texted my dear friend Elias with a picture of the huge Giant Malaya Cicada...always impressive. It was nearing 5pm and the park was preparing to close so we made our way back to the buses, as usual one was waiting for us and promptly departed once we climbed aboard. We were back at the camper by 5:30. We figure it's probably the first time in over 20 years that we've spend so much time alone together in one day. It was very nice. We made some dinner, then I took Dan down to take a shower, before the campfire. We had cowboy Bill tonight and he was great fun, Dan and I took a picture with Dale and stayed for half of Toy Story before Dan was treatening to collapse from exhaustion. I took him back and tucked him into the tent alone, he quietly went off to sleep on his new Lightening Mcqueen air mattress.



Thursday, February 26, 2009

February 26, 2009 Disney Day 3



Ah....Home Sweet Home......












Dan and I had Oatmeal for breakfast and since we knew Aunt Fran was planning on going to MGM decidedc to walk up doward the purple bus stop to see if they were up and out yet. Uncle Gary was waiting outside and said they were just getting ready to go. Aunt Fran handed Danny an envelope with $10 for him to spend at Disney. He was very excited and thanked her. Dan and Uncle Gary looked for alligators while we waited for the bus. Eventually it arrived and we took the uneventful ride over. Fran was very excited to ride the new Toy Story exhibit and once there we knew why. It was crazy and fun. It's a two person 3D ride where your driven by different ranges and you accumulate points by shooting at targets. I scored 118,000 my first time, pretty high considering. Dan had better accuracy however. From there we went to the Great Movie ride, which I've done before but forgotten, Dan liked that one as well. Next on our list was Star Wars and with at least three rides under their belts Aunt Fran and Uncle Gary decided to say good bye. Dan had a great time in Star Wars, I think he really thought we left our planet. On our way out we realized that Mom had called, so we called her back. She was on Rocking Roller coaster and would be right over. Dan tried with all his might to be chosen to learn how to be a jedi with no luck. With the same plan as the day before we got some lunch. Mom had an Asian salad that she took a few bites of then passed on to me. I had some fish sticks and apple slices and Dan had a cheeseburger, grapes and applesauce. We made it over to the Indiana Jones set just in time to find three seats. The show was great, three stages moved away and a dozen or so volunteers from the audience were properly embarrased. Mom had a fast pass for rockin Rollercoaster so we went back over there before heading back to the campground. The ride home was uneventful, I quickly put Dan down for a nap, and went over the the meadow trading post to blog. Unfortunately Dan snowed his Grandmother into thinking he'd napped and within 30 minutes I was summoned home. With most yesterdays blog complete. We had some more lunch, and hung around for a while. Mo took Dan to look for alligators. Emily must have been bored because suddenly I was attacked with sunscreen because my face looked a little pink. I ran away to the trading post for a few quiet moments in the sun. I arrived back at the camper just as everybody else was returning. We decided to take a walk down to the settlement. Perfect, I thought....Dan can play at the playground, and I can blog....that's what we're doing right now....until my battery died anyway. Once back at the camper,Mom, the kids and I shared a huge strawberry shortcake before heading over to the Chip and Dale campfire. Dan has stood in line twice to see Chip and Dale and ushered away because the lines were just too long. He was pretty excited to know he'd have a chance with them tonight. Cowboy Anthony sang some songs, and called us up to do the Hokey Pokey and chicken dance which Dan excited and I not so excitedly joined. Dale made his way to over to us and gave Dan a great big hug. We made it back to the camper in time to see Survivor which Dan barely made it through, then off to bed. We were all pretty exhausted.








Wednesday, February 25, 2009

February 25, 2009 Disney Day's 1 & 2



I'm sitting at the Meadows trading post, in a rocking chair facing the sun. My new laptop quite effortlessly picked up the wireless signal and whallah, blogging I am.




We had a terrific trip yesterday. Mike dropped us off at the airport, we checked bags, went though security, and made our way to the gate with only a half hour to kill before boarding. Dan and I went down to a little side market and picked up a couple of tuna sandwiches, bags of chips and a container of fruit and joined Emily who was keeping watch over the bags. We boarded the plane, and Dan sat between Em and I, Em chose the window. The flight was uneventful, Dan spent most of the time building and playing with a star wars lego set we'd saved just for the trip. Our flight arrived early, and we quickly deboarded, claimed our luggage and we're on the Disney Magic shuttle. Just an hour and a half later we were safely and happily at Fort Wilderness where Mom and Mo were waiting.


We settled in for a bit, then asked Dan what he wanted to do first. With Lego land as his answer we quickly made our way over to Downtown Disney. Mom and I ate some dinner, while Dan played. We bought a tub of legos for $7.99 quite a deal considering Dan probably chose 100 very small pieces. I knew they'd be worth their weight in gold during the trip.


Em, Dan and I climbed into the tent at about 9pm. Em didn't feel well and grumbled about the early hour but it didn't take long before we were all asleep. Dan woke us up at 3:30 needing to pee, out the door he went and since his airmattress had deflated during the night brought him onto the big air mattress with Em and I where we pretty much slept until 6am when the birds started chirping. Dan and I grabbed our stuff and made for the showers, dressed and were returned to a hot cup of coffee, thanks Mo! Mom arose shortly after and after a short discussion decided that Dan and I would take the boat over to magic kingdom and Mom would meet us there later. Em decided to take a bike ride and Mo did some grocery shopping, again...thanks Mo. Grocery shopping was the last thing I wanted to do. Dan and I arrived in Magic Kingdom right on time, quickly went through security, and slid our passes through the machines just as the 9am clock rang. The attendants eagerly covered us in mickey shaped confetti.

Dan and I made a bee line for Great thunder mountain but were side tracked by goofy at Splash mountain. Dan decided he wanted to try that first so on we went. I think it was a little more excitement then Dan anticipated but agreed to then go on Great Thunder mountain. By the end he was getting the general idea that Disney might have some surprises in store for him. Next we went to over to the Jungle cruise which Dan liked but was still a little hesitant about. Just as we were considering our next move, probably the Magic Carpets which I was less then thrilled to ride on, Mom called saying she was in the park and on her way. We decided to meet her at the Pirates of the Caribbean ride, Dan was thrilled she'd come and gleefully took her hand. He really liked the ride and after Mom treated him to a sword fight in the store that Disney every so cleverly dumps you into after their big rides. Little did we know that right outside, THE captain Jack Sparrow was enlisting a new crew, and Danny was chosen as one of the four. He was pretty excited. Dan, much to my excitement, decided he'd rather have Mom join him on the magic carpets. We explored the Swiss Family Robinson tree house next, then decided that since it was already 11am that eating before the mad lunch rush might be a good idea. Mom and Dan shared mini corn dogs, a hot dog, and some french fries, and I went next door to the bakery and took out a fruit salad, a mozzarella, pesto, and tomato sandwich. Mom found a nice outside dining area and we enjoyed our lunch while watching a parade pass by down Main Street before heading over to adventureland to Buzz Light year.

The line for Buzz was long so we got ourselves some fast passes and killed time in Stitch's escape, which has probably been Dan's least favorite ride so far since Stitch spit at him and the people mover which he thought was pretty cool. Finally it was time for Buzz and Dan loved it, the shooting was right up his alley and there was nothing scary. We decided to call it a morning and went back to the campsite to change into bathing suits. On the way back Danny found a little girl his size, sat down beside her and before you knew it they were best friends. They were going to the pool to and as we seperated promised to see them later. Mom and Em decided to go to the Wilderness Lodge Villa pool, but Dan found it a little dull and was drawn to the slide at the other, so off we went. He found his friend Aubry, and learned how to do the limbo, and play musical bear claws. He had a great time, but was clearly peetering out. Home for a nap, then a bus ride to Wilderness Lodge to walk the exercise path back to the Settlement in search of deer and armadillo. We saw a few deer in the distance but Em and Dan really got excited about the armadillo. We saw 4 or 5 of them, and you can actuallly get pretty close to them. Em named one Demetre and Dan named one fireball, the same name as the pelican he saw earlier at the boats going to Magic Kingdom. We ordered a cheese and pepperoni pizza from the Trails End restaurant ate it outside on the porch then walked down to the beach to watch the Magic Kingdom fireworks. The end to a perfect day. The kids and I went to bed around 10am and slept straight through until about 6am when I awoke to the first of the bird calls. Em slept in while I showered and we had to wake Danny up at 7:30 to get him up, fed and out the door in time for our adventure into the MGM Hollywood Studios.



Tuesday, February 24, 2009

February 24, 2009 Our bags are packed, we're ready to go!

Just a quick note this morning. Everything is packed, the suitcases sit waiting to be loaded and all we have to do now is wait. It's 7:30, we estimate that we need to leave at 8:30 and we're all ready to go. I was up at 3:30, Emily who has a cold anyway was up and down all night and Dan greeted us at about 5:30. To say we're excited is a bit of an understatement. Dan and Mike are killing time playing Mario galaxy and me, well...of course, on the new laptop. Hopefully I'll be able to hook up to Disney WiFi and be able to blog and post pictures during our trip. We'll have to see what happens!

Sunday, February 22, 2009

February 22, 2009 Valentines, Birthdays, Disney

Things have been slow and steady here. We've made it half way through winter, and are now enjoying the days getting longer. The boys did try to go out ice skating on the pond one particularly warm day but there was a layer of slush on top that made it nearly impossible. Took the token picture as proof of their efforts. I'm lucky in that my birthday is just three
days after Valentines day so for me, it's almost like having a birthday week. Since I had to work Saturday, Sunday and Monday nights Mike gave me my Valentines day roses and dark chocolate bar on Friday...one whole day early, thus extending the usual birthday week celebrations.
A card came on Saturday along with a little something from a store called Secrets in Wareham, and my Birthday present. I'd asked for an MP3 player for the gym and after consulting with the guys from work Mike ordered a Sansa from Amazon, which conveniently arrived on Saturday as well. Surprisingly enough he said I could have it early , he usually likes to torture me, and happily went off to the gym on Sunday morning with my tunes playing. Very happy, but too much Mama Mia, had to tweak it just a bit later on.
I'm still doing well at the gym, have sort of gotten into a routine and have gone just about every day since joining. I spend 20 minutes doing a glute elliptical workout. about 2 miles and 200 calories, then climb on the StairMaster for a 15 minute fat burner workout which involves 68 flights of stairs at varying speeds. I started at level 7 and am at level 9 now. About 150 calories and 1.5 miles. From there I go on to the nautilus machines and alternate upper and lower body. If I'm really feeling brave I do some squats at the captive bar...I always feel those the next day. Dan loves going to the babysitting room because there are always new friends to play with, he's so very social.
On Sunday (February 15Th) Marie and I took a trip to Newport. Had a nice salad at Coddington, tackled Hanging rock, toured the Breakers, dined at Brick Alley for dinner and finished the night with the movie, He's just not that into you. It was a good long day, and we were exhausted but had lots of fun.* Unfortunately I forgot the camera, the view from Hanging rock was amazing, and the Breakers beautiful, it's always fun taking someone who's never been.
Tuesday quickly arrived and so did 39. Emily surprised me with the Mama Mia DVD, which is right now safely packed in my suitcase...Thanks Em...that was nice! Thanks also to the many who e-mailed, sent cards, virtual or real, called or texted. You really made the day special. Mike and I had made tentative plans to go to Wimpy's http://www.wimpysseafoodcafe.com/ for dinner. Emily agreed to watch Dan providing she get to have Buffalo chicken wings and Margarita pizza for dinner. With the deal sealed, Dan and I headed off to the store. Dan decided since it was my birthday he was going to do the shopping. He ordered from the deli, "a quarter pound of bologna please" he picked out some birthday flowers for me, and even unloaded the grocery onto the conveyor belt. What a nice boy! The tulips he picked were beautiful and I was pleased with the gesture. Mike arrived home just in time to change and head out for our 8pm reservation. As I got into my seat he handed me a fairly large box, told me to hold it on my lap. I could open it at the restaurant. I had absolutely no idea what could be inside, but sure I'd already received my big present was intrigued. We sat down, ordered coconut shrimp, a couple of Irish coffees...we talked about our day. The box sat, patiently and waited. Finally I asked for it, started opening it and was absolutely astonished at what was inside. Right now I am typing on my brand new laptop, in my bedroom on my nice warm bed. No more sitting at the cold desk for me! No more blogs that freeze just as I'm getting ready to save. I was so excited, and immediately texted Em who I knew would be green with envy. She was...and still is. Have I ever said I have the greatest husband ever??? Well....I do. Thanks Honey! We enjoyed a great meal. Mike had the end piece of Prime Rib, I had Cioppino which for being in a red sauce was excellent. Way too much food, but we took the rest home. I couldn't wait to try out the new laptop....haven't put it down since, and still haven't let the kids touch it, much to Emily's dismay. I had a great birthday.
The rest of the week and weekend we spent preparing for the upcoming trip, trying to stay busy and make the time go by faster.
As of today, I think everything is done. Mike has enough human and dog food, clean clothes, cream and coffee to last him well into our vacation. The kids and I are mostly packed. A few loose ends to tie up, but we're ready. Dan and I went to Walmart this morning and while there remembered I had wanted to have a bracelet with his name and my cell phone number made up just in case he got lost. With no time to order one, I spied the dog tag maker and called Mom for the campsite address. He now proudly wears around his neck a rainbow dog bone shaped tag with his name, mine and Em's cell numbers and the address of our campsite. It's Disney, I'm less worried about him being abducted and more worried about him just getting caught up in the crowd....he's just one of those kids...he likes to wander. Now I won't worry quite so much, and he loves it!

On an up note. Mike our neighbor is doing a demo job on an old church and asked us if we wanted the old stove and dishwasher. I've dreaded parting with my stove, but this
0ne is old too, and the same kind so since the price was right
(free) I accepted both. Free isn't always free because Mike
has probably 10 hours invested in fixing the oven. But now it works and although it's brown I don't care! The
dishwasher will take a little work to get it going, plumbing, electricity etc, but I'm in no hurry,
we've been this long without one!
The pond has steadily melted and as of today there is only an ice flow left in the middle of the pond that stubbornly refuses to melt. Hoping to see it gone before Mike takes the kids and I to the airport on Tuesday.

Wednesday, February 4, 2009

February 4, 2009 Gold's gym, Star wars, and Disney

It's Wednesday, the sun is shining and although it only early February I can already feel winters hold starting to lift. The days are getting longer, the sun warmer. I removed the covers from the sky lights in our bedroom this week. It's just about this time of year that the sun is positioned just right that in the early afternoon the sun will stream in onto the bed and warm it nicely. I love to lay there when the opportunity arises.

I've faithfully gone to the gym every day and except for the day after working out with Pam have felt no pain. I think that means I'm not pushing myself hard enough. Emmy printed out a pass as well and has been joining me. It's nice to have her there, and Danny loves to go their childrens room. It's even more satisfying when everybody is happy!

We had an eight inch snow fall yesterday. It was a classic north easter so Dan and I went out early. Went to the gym, then headed over to the KC Coombs school to sign him up for kindergarten in the fall. We came home and thanks to Matt, who borrowed from his friend Paul all the the Star Wars DVD's, watched the first 4. It was a nice quiet day, curled up on the couch, in front of the stove while the wind and snow blew outside. I strategically planned a roast chicken for dinner, there's nothing better on a cold yucky winters day then the smell of roast chicken in the house.

With Disney just 20 days away I decided to retrieve the paperwork from the safe and familiarize myself with the times and dates that were set forever ago. We're all getting very excited. I feel sorry for Mike who will remain here in the hum drum while the kids and I have a fun adventure in the warmth for two whole weeks!

Sunday, February 1, 2009

February 1, 2009 Gold's Gym

Pam and London go to Gold's gym so last Monday I decided to check it out. I walked in for a free trial and felt right at home! Climbed onto an elliptical machine and didn't look back. I've been every day since. Usually do 20 minutes on Glute elliptical, then 15 minutes on the stair master. On Friday Jason trained me on the nautilus machines. On Saturday morning Janni joined me and we convinced Pam to meet us there as well.
We all did our own cardio the met at the nautilus equiptment and started doing rotations. Pam is fairly fit and I definitely had to work to keep up with her. We're going with London today, and since most of my muscles are already sore I'm worried what he's going to do to me!!! I'm sure it'll be fine, it's definitely been great for beating the winter blahs!!!