Tale of a Trip... part dos

Di'ney World

It's a small world after all??? Are you kidding me? Eight billion people on the planet and they all decide to show up at Disney when I'm there- what's up with that? Guess that's why they call it Disney WORLD, hello!

We stayed at one of Disney's resort hotels, it was the Coronado Springs Resort (see pic in part uno of Brenda). Very nice place to stay- there are nicer... for a price. And one bit of advice if you're ever going to go to Disney World- staying at one of the resorts is the best way to go. They have buses running about every 20 minutes from the resorts to the theme parks- don't have to worry about parking or anything... you just have to remember where you're staying, which bus to get on, or which monorail to take (more about that later in the Magical Kingdom part) :D

We got up early to hit the parks. Our goal: hit Disney's Animal Kingdom, Hollywood Studios, Epcot, and Magic Kingdom- all in one day. Impossible you say? Well, we shall see...

Animal Kingdom


This is a very cool park- probably our most favorite. Unfortunately, since we were on a very tight s'edule, we could only hit the highlights. Brenda had her show this day, but we all went to the park together, then she left for her show at about 10:30a and would be gone for a few hours. She'll meet back up with us @ Hollywood Studios. Anyway, there is this awesome tree in the middle of the park. The trunk has all kinds of animals carved into it (I guess it's really cement)... see the pic- but so cool. The animals were awesome- the birds, monkeys, lions, tigers and bears... ok, we just saw monkeys, tigers, and birds, and Carson had a staring contest with a gorilla- he was quite a show-off. People say that when they go to Disney World, they usually do a full day at each park. You know why? Can I just say that I think whilst we were there, the Slow-Walker's of America must have had their Convention as well and followed us around all day- good gravy! Make a hole, would ya? We always felt like salmon trying to swim upstream. Mount Everest was an awesome ride. After a few hours, we had to bug out to our next park- the time was going much too quickly. Our regret here was that we didn't have time to take the safari ride- line was too long and the FastPast wasn't until late in the evening- dang!
















Hollywood Studios


This was pretty cool too, but not a lot of time here either. We were getting pretty hungry and we needed some lunch. Brenda was done with her morning show and met us here... guess where we ate? Pizza Planet- why wouldn't we? Double prizes- no way!" We went on the Star Tours ride- some 3D action there, which was more fun than I expected. We also hit the Indiana Jones show- a stunt show which was very well done. Carson thought it was the real thing and that Indy got run over by the big ball- funny! We saw a few more things here, like the Tower of Terror (fun!), and we wanted to get on the Aerosmith roller coaster, but the line was over an hour long and the FastPasses were not available until about 10p! I'm sorry, but we'll be in another kingdom, sir (alas, not the Celestial one).

Epcot


Sydney, Carson, and I were reticent about this place as we were not that excited about it. But we went, we saw, but forgot the t-shirt. When we got there, I was wondering if they were shutting the place down, as there weren't too many people there (yahoo!). We did go on the ride in the big round ball- I thought it was going to be a screamer, it turned out to be was a yawner- the slowest ride in the world... although it was very informative- OK, I liked it. But after the "ballroom blitz", we woke up and cleaned the drool off our shirts then high tailed it outta there. We did look around a little bit, but nothing really attracted us to stay. Remember when I said earlier that you had to remember where you are/were and how to get back? Well, we had a hard time finding how to get to our next destination.... we had a date with Micky at the Magical Kingdom and our coach was soon to turn into a pumpkin! After a wrong bus or three, we finally figured out how to get to the mayhem at Mickey's maniacal Magical Kingdom.

Magical Kingdom


When we went to Disneyland, back in 'ot whenever, when it was getting late and the kids were all crying and the parent ticked off, they started pouring out of the park... just the opposite here. They took everybody out of the other kingdoms and dumped them off here. The place was wall to wall Mickymani-ites! Unbelievable! First thing we do is grab a map so we can figure out where we are (usually that big 'X' labeled "you are here") and where the good stuff is. We were getting a little hungry again, so we tried to find a vender of victuals that wasn't too busy, but, we saw Pirates of the Caribbean! Had to do it, even if it is a little goofy, it was fun anyway. Then we wolfed down some kind of meal as we had to bee-line it to Space Mountain. We were hung up a bit as we had to wait for Tink and her Electric Light Orchestra Parade to pass by- totally cut off our route! We even tried to get around her by going up the Swiss Family Robinson tree, but dang... it just came back down (because what goes up....). Anyway, we finally made it to the mountain... a little bit of a line, but whatcha gonna do? Crazy ride! Then we saw the Buzz Lightyear ride which was kinda fun, too. People started lining up for the firework show- which meant the lines were low! We boogied over to the Haunted Mansion- our shortest line ever.

Brenda had her evening show and was unable to be with us, we invited her to meet us, but she respectfully declined as she was enjoying a little quiet time at the hotel (perhaps she found a BBD (bigger, better deal)?). So, we did our best to have fun without her.... P.A.R.T. Why? Because we gotta!" We grabbed some ice cream and walked around trying to find things to do. I think this is when we hit Splash Mountain- not smart to ride this one when it's late and a bit cold... oh well, it was a splash and it brought back good memories of Disneyland ;)

It was getting a bit late and we thought we had better think about heading back. So, we hopped the first monorail we saw leaving the place... remember earlier when I said you have to remember where you are/were and how to get back? We got off at the last stop, and well, things didn't look all that familiar- hmmmm. After trying to figure out where we were, I finally did the manly thing and, ladies... Wait For It!!!!... asked for directions. As you might have guessed, that first monorail was NOT the one to take- and it was getting late and the buses don't run all night. Unbeknownst to us, the monorail back to the Magical Kingdom is the slow ride- a death dirge if you will , and we stopped at everybody else's hotel and wait for all the drunken princesses to disembark. Man, did your pumpkin dump you in the gutter or what?

With directions from the friendly Mouseketeer, we were able to make the correct connecting monorail which connected to the correct bus. That is one thing I have to say about the staff at Disney, they are all very helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, cheerful, obedient,... a very scout-worthy bunch. Who knows, without their help, I might still be there "...runnin' off the rails on the crazy train!". Well, we finally made it back to the hotel... is 2a in the morning too late? So, the answer to the question, "can you can do 4 parks in a day?" Yes, not everything, but doable. And what a blast- what a day!

Tale of a Trip... part uno

We had a great opportunity to have a family vacation down in Florida in March. Brenda had a show she had to do for her work and decided to take me, Sydney, and Carson along with her. We had quite an enjoyable time, even though we did soooo much in a week- what a whirlwind tour of Florida! I'm going to break the events up in separate days (parts), so forgive, but it's my blog anyway :)

Miracle of the arrival:
As we were traveling to the airport (leaving late as usual, but thinking we still had plenty of time), Brenda had been saying that the plane was supposed to leave at 8:45a, so as we get off the shuttle, we look at our boarding passes and they say 8:25... and we're late, remember? We check in and the lady says that we may not make the flight and since we're so late, the bags may not either. The security line is out the door. I just smile and say- "we're not going to make it on the flight. Don't freak out, just relax cause there is nothing we can do about it." But, we go through security anyway, the flight has gone- the kids are fuming... at least Carson was. So, we talk to the ticketing people to see what we can do. Everything looked like we wouldn't make it to FL until 12:30a- yuck! Plus, even then we'd be lucky to get on a flight as they were almost all full. She said our best bet would be to go to Phoenix- and that plane was ready to go, right now... and guess who had just gone to the bathroom??? Yes, Sydney, my little toilet princess. So Brenda ran to go get her as the boarding people were trying to rush us aboard.

We make it to Phoenix and talk to the ticketing people about our problem... they also told us the only flight out was at about 4:30p, and would be lucky to maybe get on board as it was full. Just then we heard, "Last call for flight blah to Orlando, leaving at gate blah blah". We say, "what about that one, can we go on it?" They quickly look it up and said that there is one seat, and 3 other people haven't shown up yet. They said, "they haven't arrived- just go, we'll do the ticketing later". We didn't even have time to get boarding passes and they rushed us on board- the last 4 seats! I unfortunately had to sit in the middle of a pretty good sized guy, and this woman that was... ok, large boned. (I preface this, letting you know that I love large people- I have a lot of large friends- so I'm not dissing large people... got it?) I'm sorry, but she had the extender strap and was in her seat and half of mine! It was the most uncomfortable flight I've ever had. She was very nice though- she worked at Disney and gave me a few tips. I was thankful when she had to go to the bathroom (window seat) as it allowed me to get up and unfold. But when she sat back down, she forgot to put down the armrest and dang- even more into my seat. There was no use trying to wedge that baby down now- just long suffering, endure to the end, etc!

As we unloaded in Orlando (at just about our planned arrival time of 4:30p or so), we are walking to baggage claim wondering where our bags were, when or if they'd made it. As we walk up to the carrousel, just coming around the corner were our bags- unbelievable! A traveling miracle! I gave a quick thanks to the Lord. The trip had already started out with excitement... and we hadn't even been to any theme parks yet! And as we said many times during the course of our stay... "Adventure's out there!"

Forever Young

39- again? Well, you've caught up with me now, so, no more old jokes, OK? This is quite a milestone in anyone's life and you seem to be taking it like a champ... at least this morning anyway (it's only been a few hours). We'll see how you do the in the days to come... most likely with a stiff upper lip... and an aching back :) Just remember, it's all downhill from here... I guess I shouldn't say that, eh?



Turning 50, it's not so bad though, right? Don't you think this is fun, growing old together? Can't you wait until we're like my mom and dad? NOT! (Don't forget to tell the girls to use the pillow on me, OK?) But for now, Brendr, my sweet, while we are still semi-OK, I will continue to love you. And you may ask- "how will you love me?" And I will respond, "I will love thee like the stars in the heavens... cincuenta". A happy cincuenta years to you, Love. And BTW, you've still got it sister!

Happy Holidaze

Oh, the holidays go by way too fast, don't they? We were fortunate to have the whole fam damily here this holiday- Rory got about 10 days of leave from the Army, Taylor had Emery off and on, and we have Madison, Jake and Isla living with us as well, not to mention Sydney and Carson- OK we won't mention them... it was a lot of fun. As usual though, we didn't get our Christmas cards sent off, so we'll send them as we get around to it- no pressure, right?



















It was the first time that the wee babes (Emery and Isla) had seen each other face to face. Emery was so excited to see baby Isla. After Madison, Jake, and Isla had moved up, Taylor had told Emery that Isla was up at Grandma and Grandpa's, she said, "Baby Isla is here!?" I think she was starting to get a little jealous of wee baby cousin though. One day I was holding Isla and Emery said, "Grandpa hold me". I said I was holding Isla. So, she said "Grandpa hold me first". Dang, is sure is fun to be a grandpa and be loved by such sweet little things. I sure love spoiling them.

Jake also got a little puppy- a chihuahua/terrier mix. It was hard keeping it a surprise from him... or, maybe he knew and it was hard for him to make it a surprise for us???

We had a lot of fun eating, playing games, eating, staying up late, and more eating. Now there is a new year ahead of us and time to put the new year's resolutions into gear... more exercise and eat less. Good luck to us all! And may it be a prosperous new year for everyone!

Once There Was A Snowman...

Emery came over the weekend- she is so dang cute and so much fun. See what she and GpaZ made on their date with Mr. Play-Doh.

I just had to share one of the splendid "things" she made. At first it was just a white snowman with a hat. She said, "Grandpa, the snowman needs some eyes". Then, "Grandpa, he needs a mouth". Later after she looked at it, "He needs some arms".


As I look at it, the snowman kind of reminds me of a "Mr. Bill" snowman, for those of you who remember Mr. Bill.... "Oh no!!!!!!"

Dark, Light Side of the Moon

This doesn't happen very often, but when it does, I like to be part of it- a total eclipse of the moon. I've always enjoyed astronomy, the stars and all the mysteries that are out there. Can't wait until we can travel the galaxies... anyway, I digress....

I got up early in the morning when all was quiet, bundled up with several layers, and "slunk" out the door... after all, I didn't think anyone else was as weird and would like to brave the frigid temperatures that early. I walked north then west down the street to where there would be no light pollution- down by the cows, where they were gently mooing- no doubt a bit agitated seeing some stranger walking the street and disturbing their slumber. I wish I would have had a good camera to capture the event- maybe someday we'll be able to download that stuff from our brains. Now, that would be sweet, but again, I digress...

Here are a couple of pix I downloaded for you to enjoy- taken in Arches National Park in southern Utah.




...And if the band you're in starts playing different tunes I'll see you on the dark side of the moon....The Floyd

Blessings and Birthdays

Isla's Blessing
The past weekend we went down to AZ to participate in Isla's blessing. That precious bundle of joy and noisemaker is getting so big and is so dang cute! (must be from genes) We had a wonderful time hanging out with Madison, Jake, and the wee babe. What a sweetie! Talk about being wrapped around her finger... she had Gma and GpaZ, Aunt Sydney and Uncle Carson at her beacon call. Jake gave her a nice blessing that Sunday. And me, GpaZ, being privileged enough to be in the circle, give this account to the best of my recollection; at one part of the blessing, Jake said something like "... Isla, know your parents love you...", and Isla let out this sweetest sound, like the coo of a dove- not unlike Cindy Lou Who, but much sweeter. It was a heart-melter of a moment. We then went to Jake's parent's place and enjoyed delicious food and company with his family.












The weather wasn't quite as warm as we would have liked it to be- could only wear shorts and flip-flops for one day. But, it was better than being in UT at the time as they had about 4 inches of the white fluffiness.

We had beautiful views of the red rocks and cliffs both directions of the drive. Such wonderful colors that Motha Natcha gives us to enjoy... sometimes, it's the little things in life that make it all worthwhile. We had snow and rain off and on from Flagstaff to Beaver on the drive home. We stopped off at this little dive of a pizza place in Beaver @ about 8:00p- we were getting weary of the trail and had to stop and rest (and water) the horses, but mostly, there was a sign out front that said "Soup", and Damama wanted soup ("and what Baby wants, Baby gets). The name of the place was Deano's Pizza. The establishment I believe was a converted church- lots of space, although that didn't matter as we were the only ones there. Well, after ordering, we thought we had made a terrible mistake in our choice of diners, but were determined to see it through. After waiting for quite some time for our pizza... how long you may ask? well, let's just say that Rip Van Winkle had awoken, finished his food, and was into his second slumber WAY before we got ours. But to our surprise and delight, the pizza was like... DANG! very good. We took a menu and will phone ahead next time- or will have to stop when we have an extra day to kill :)

Emery's birthday
Emery had her 3rd birthday today- it's hard to believe that time has gone so fast. We had a great time celebrating with ice cream and cake. She got some fun toys and she really enjoys the puzzles, bingo, and matching dinosaur games. Happy birthday sweet Emery!