Countdown!

We were still months away from our trip, but a friend of mine was to the point of counting down the days until her daughter's graduation trip.  Smart girl to choose Disney World for a graduation gift, huh?

She posted their countdown calendar on Facebook.  Cute!  Her daughters used the Mickey shaped paint chips from Home Depot, patterning theirs from an idea they read about on the DISboards.

Now, let me say that I am NOT a crafty person.  I don't have an "eye" for anything and I haven't been able to pick a paint color for over 10 years, but I knew this calendar was something we had to do.  The kids would love counting down the days, and personally, it would help me hustle to get all those last minute things in order.  Here's our rendition:

At the time, I had a tension rod in my kitchen window that served as a display for the kids' artwork.  It proved to be the perfect place for our countdown calendar.  The drapery clips are from either Ikea or Bed, Bath, & Beyond.

I went with black poster board because of the contrast with the colorful Mickeys and I really like the way it turned out.  Once I got all the supplies, I had to decide what order the Mickeys would go in, colorwise.  I laid out all of my chips, took out the duplicates, and realized I had too many dark colors.  Playing around with the brighter chips, I decided that a rainbow pattern would look best - ROY G. BIV!

Then I experimented with different ways to lay them out on the poster board.  Think outside the box.  It doesn't have to look like a calendar.  You could do a spiral.  Stagger the rows.  Columns.

As you can see, I stayed firmly inside the box.  Based on the range of colors I had, 28 days fit perfectly.  Four weeks.  Seven across.  Four down.  Nice 28 day countdown with plenty of room left around the border.

Here's what the paint chips from Home Depot look like:

I didn't want to stick the whole paint chip on the poster board, so I had to remove the Mickey head from the square backing.  I experimented with a couple of extras - oh, yeah, get extras.  It looks like they're stickers, right?  They're not.  I peeled from one side and then the other, ooching Mickey off carefully.

Using a ruler and my Mickey head, I measured off how big each square needed to be, lightly marked off my grid with a pencil, and then drew it on by hand using a white liquid chalk pen.  I thought hand-drawn lines would look better than straight ruled lines.  I've had the chalk pens for a while and never used them much until now.  They were not something I bought especially for this project.

After my lines were dry, I experimented with a couple of different glues for the Mickey heads - glue sticks, craft glue.  I ended up using craft glue, applying it with a Q-tip.  Here's close-up:

You can see how Mickey is glued down nicely on that top row and not-so-nicely on the lower rows.  Running the glue out to the edges of the Mickey head inevitably resulted in some oozing and I didn't like the way the dried glue looked on the black poster board.  After a couple, I didn't run it all the way out to the edges.  I also didn't want the Mickey head to bubble so I used a very thin layer of glue.  I did not obsess over this.  Some I got just right, but most weren't, plus the kids helped.

For the decorations around the border, I found images online, printed them off, glued them to cardstock, and then to the poster board.

You can also see that we used a black punched Mickey head to mark off the days as they passed.  I bought the paper punch at a local craft store with a coupon and used Hermafix tabs to stick them on.  The punch, the black construction paper, and the Hermafix stayed in my kitchen drawer for easy access.  The kids would call dibs every morning on who got to mark off the day.

We had a great time making this calendar together and haven't been able to throw it away yet.

Digging In - The Big Questions

When we set out to plan our vacation, there are several major questions to answer.

When are we going?  How are we getting there?  How long will we stay?  Where will we stay?  Will MawMaw go with us?

Let's start with that last one.

Will MawMaw go with us?  MawMaw loved going to Disney World with us and was looking forward to going again; however, my husband wanted this vacation to be just our family.  So, I had to make a very difficult phone call.  Not fun.  It was very hard to break the news and she was very disappointed that she wouldn't be going this time, but she understood.  Still.  She was very sad.

Next question, when are we going?  Even though the temperatures are sweltering, the best time for my husband is mid-September. So, we looked at the calendar and picked a week.

How are we getting there?  No question.  Flying.  My husband did not feel it necessary to drive all the way from Texas to Lake Buena Vista again.  And the good news is, flying would get us there quicker, giving us two more days than before.  Seven whole days in the parks!

As far as ground transportation, a rental car is a must for us. CB doesn't like to rely on others for his transportation which is fine by me.  Getting around WDW is very easy - I love those red and purple signs. We could be in the parking lot of any park within 10-15 minutes.  Yes, we might have to take the tram if we parked far enough away, but what's a trip to Disney World without a ride on the tram?

How long will we stay?  Our pattern is to suck all we can out of our vacation so we planned to arrive on Saturday and stay all week, leaving on the following Sunday.

Where will we stay?  We weren't quite sure.  We do have the mad love for Old Key West, but last trip we had lunch at Whispering Canyon at Wilderness Lodge and loved the look of that resort.  Chatting with my husband, we decided to give the Villas at Wilderness Lodge a try this time.  So, I got online to price it out and it showed that the resort was booked during our week.  How could that be?

I don't know what Disney does or why they do it, but their online reservation system will sometimes show that a resort is completely booked.  If this happens to you, don't let it deter you. Call them. That's what I did, and they had rooms available. So, I had them hold an 8-night stay in a 2-bedroom villa at Wilderness Lodge. That hold required no money down and I could either call and cancel it or it would expire on its own in a week.

You may be wondering why I didn't just go ahead and book the reservation.  The advantage to simply holding a reservation is that it let us live with the idea for a few days. We could think about things like:

how far would we have to walk to get to our car?

would we enjoy the resort pool?

what about the layout of the room?

what kinds of views are available?

what are we gaining by staying here?

what are we giving up by staying here?

are we okay with spending that much money?

Ultimately, we decided not to stay at Wilderness Lodge. We felt we'd have a longer walk to and from our car each day and the additional cost just wasn't worth it. We'd rather spend it somewhere else.

So, any guesses as to where we decided to stay?

EPCOT (Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow)

We got to EPCOT an hour or so after it opened. The relaxed mornings would result in less tired vacationers, but in the end we weren't able to see everything at EPCOT. However, thanks to super-low attendance we were able to enjoy our favorite attractions multiple times. Super low attendance. This was Value Season!

Our hotel wasn't very far from EPCOT so it didn't take us long to drive over. As for driving, we could've used Disney's free transportation system - the bus - but it was much quicker to take our own wheels. And because of the aforementioned low attendance, traffic wasn't an issue.

I loved Disney's roads. There's an entire road system within WDW. Serious infrastructure is another thing that fascinates me about WDW. Directions to the parks were marked clearly on Disney's own purple, red, and yellow road signs. Too often we found these signs did not give directions far enough in advance to make lane changes. Again, good thing there wasn't a lot of traffic!

Interesting factoid: Gasoline prices inside Disney were cheaper than outside Disney.

During the planning phase of this vacation, we decided that taking our car to the parks would give us more flexibility because we planned to come back to the hotel for lunch and a rest. Day 4 EPCOT was the only day we actually did this.

During Value Season, the parks close earlier so rather than take a break in the middle of the day, we stayed at the parks and left a bit before closing time. This day we decided to tour Future World (the part with the big ball) with a midday break for lunch back at the hotel.

Stroller: check. And away we go!

It was hard to get my bearings at first and I could feel my party's eyes staring at me - all ten of them - waiting for direction. Remember, I was the Compass, the Rudder. But it had been sixteen years after all and I had not done my map study homework or devised a touring plan.

Spaceship Earth, aka The Ball, was closed for construction during our visit so we had to maneuver to the left of it around the construction barriers. We came out in the middle of the Innoventions hub and stopped to look at the leader board. Placed here and there in Future World are these electronic boards that list the rides and their wait times. Brilliant!

What to ride first...?

I was excited about two things in particular this day. (1) Going to the GE pavilion to ride Horizons and (2) going to the Wonders of Life pavilion to ride Body Wars. I had told FM#2 that Body Wars was like Star Tours in MGM so he was excited, too.

When I was gainfully employed, my job involved programming control (SCADA) systems for the pipeline. We used GE Fanuc equipment. As GE customers, Texaco employees received GE Executive Club cards that allowed us to get GE's travel discount when scheduling Disney vacations and access to the Executive Club at GE's Horizons pavilion.

Flash back sixteen years ago when CB and I were at EPCOT. We walked up to GE's pavilion and went around the outside to a door that read, "GE Executive Club." The hostess took us to an elevator which emptied out in the lounge area at the top of the pavilion. You could relax on comfy couches, enjoy ice cream. You could also control a camera that was mounted to the top of the pavilion and view a significant panorama of WDW.

When we went back downstairs, the hostess escorted us through a couple of doors and into what might be called a pre-boarding area. We stepped into the car, or Omnimover, that was moving along the conveyor. We were on the ride! No waiting in line! The car went through automatic doors where everyone else was standing in a long line waiting to board. Nice!

Check out this Omnimover I found for sale online.

The GE ride was my kind of attraction. It involved robots doing housework, holograms, and the fresh crisp smell of oranges. Nothing like involving all of the senses!

I remember one portion of the ride took us through space or a night sky. As far up and down and to the sides as I could see was starry sky. I even leaned over the front of our vehicle and could see more stars. I love that.

Flash forward sixteen years and the GE pavilion is no more. GE discontinued their sponsorship and the building was demolished to make room for Mission: SPACE.

As for Wonders of Life and its Body Wars ride, it was closed when MetLife did not renew its sponsorship. Bummer. The pavilion was cordoned off with barriers this trip and sat empty and alone.

Add to the closings - General Motors World of Motion pavilion. It was repurposed into Test Track. You might remember the round shape of the original building as your car speeds around the outside of it. Upgrade!

Back to the present: as we stared at the leader board we found Soarin's wait time was already long so we opted to Fast Pass it. Obviously, people make a mad dash to the more popular rides. A 'long' wait time for us was 30 minutes or more. Why wait when you can Fast Pass? We were really getting spoiled by these low crowds.

We cut straight through the Innoventions hub which used to be called Communicore. Sixteen years ago CB and I went into one of the Communicore buildings first thing in the morning to schedule our dinner in Germany. We talked on a phone to a woman we could see on the computer screen - and we thought that was real fancy!


Needless to say, things have come a long way! Making a dinner reservation the day of the dinner? That's just taking chances. Nowadays folks call months ahead to make reservations. And they can be made online, too. Garsh! That's fancy!

We crossed to the polar opposite side of the park to ascend to Living with the Land pavilion, home of Soarin', to get our Fast Passes. What were they thinking? To get into this building you have to scale a seriously steep hill. Hey, it's steep when you're hot and tired.

Once inside you have to go to the ground floor via stairs or escalator to get to Soarin', Living with the Land, and the restaurant. Guess which is quicker? Yes, so I trotted downstairs to the Fast Pass machines; fed our tickets in; got the Fast Passes and dashed back upstairs. Whew!

I was in high gear at this point because we were wasting precious time. We had been in the park quite a while and had yet to ride anything! My people did not like the pace I was keeping. They were lagging behind.

It's hard to remember what we rode and in what order because we criss-crossed the park a few times. See what happens when I don't prepare?

I think we started out with Mission: SPACE. Again, my Space Ranger was all googly about riding this. FM#3 wasn't tall enough to ride this one and MawMaw heard about the dizzy factor so they sat this one out. CB and FM#1 chose the Orange Team which was more intense and me and my Space Cowboy went with the Green Team.

We walked right on. No wait.

Of course, the Cast Members were all decked out in space mission outfits. Gary Sinise briefed us on our mission from overhead monitors and we were given multiple chances to exit the ride if we had changed our mind. Then we were moved into a hallway and lined up in groups of four. What number you were standing on determined your role in the mission: Commander, Pilot, Navigator, Engineer.

As they announce what position you will be, a light shines down on you. Depending on your role, there are certain things you'll have to do during the flight. So pay attention! I think they even gave us another chance to get off at this point. They're really serious about this space stuff.


Then we boarded. We walked through a doorway into this small compartment.

I am not claustrophobic. I am not claustrophobic.

Stowed loose items below and pulled this big huge roller coaster-like harness down over ourselves. (The kind of harness that should've been on the Tower of Terror!) I think there was a barf bag, too.

I will not get motion sick. I will not get motion sick.

The door closed. Countdown began.

4-3-2-1. Earth below us. Drifting. Falling. Oooh, I don't like that song either.

But Mission: SPACE was cooool! The virtual effects Disney creates along with the storyline is most excellent. Each person has a video screen in front of them that shows what your 'shuttle' is apparently doing.

The video showed the shuttle tilting back to lock onto the liftoff tower and this simulator moved in such a way that it felt like that was exactly what we were doing! Then when the shuttle took off it really felt like we had the force of gravity pushing against us. How do they do that?

And again, looking at my little astronaut, he was totally into it! He took his role very seriously and we landed safely.

Funny thing about this ride is that going into it, everything is about the illusion. When you get off of the ride, for some reason Disney chose to expose the illusion. We exited the simulator on the side opposite of which we entered and were in what looked like a warehouse. Strange choice. Why didn't they continue the illlusion?

We then went on to ride Nemo so FM#3 could have some fun, too. There was a bit of a wait, but we liked watching the robotic birds on the rocks outside. My wee one loved it. It was just his speed. Where's Nemo?


We hung out quite a while in The Seas Pavilion. We got our picture taken with the shark from Nemo and watched a diving demonstration.


When going through Innoventions we spied the EPCOT Character Spot and decided FM#3 would enjoy that. He really wanted to see Donald Duck, but Donald wasn't at this character event. However, once he spied Mickey Mouse through the window he couldn't wait to get inside.

We waited in line for at least 45 minutes, maybe more. This was our longest wait at EPCOT - getting pictures taken with Disney characters. Go figure. I was amazed at the number of autograph hounds in the crowd. Yes, those seeking autographs from fully-costumed four-fingered mute Disney characters.

While we stood in line, CB decided to get Fast Passes for Test Track. It was still fairly early in the day and we heard that Fast Passes for certain rides like Soarin' and Test Track can run out by midday. So he zipped over to the attraction and, while he was there, discovered they had a Single Rider line. The wait was short; he had the time; so he decided to 'test' out the ride for us.

The Single Rider line is available on some rides. They use it to fill single empty seats. So if you're riding alone or don't mind splitting up your party, go Single Rider! It could mean the difference between an hour wait and a 5-10 minute wait.

As we inched closer to the front of the line, FM#3 started getting really excited. When it was his turn he yelled out, "Mickey Mouse!" and literally took a running leap into the mouse's arms! Mickey welcomed him heartily. He pulled back to look at him and went in for another hug. My mom and I couldn't believe this kid! It was like he and Mickey were old friends and hadn't seen each other in forever! A lot of kids are scared by these big characters when they see them up close as opposed to their TV screen, but FM#3 put on quite a show. The other folks standing around got a kick out of watching him, too.


He saw Mickey, Goofy, Chip 'n Dale (the Chipmix), Minnie, and he even danced with Pluto. Get down with your bad self! Even Pluto is surprised at his moves!


After all that excitement we decided to head back to the hotel for lunch and a nap.

MGM Part 2

It was a very pretty drive to Wilderness Lodge. Nice to get away from the theme park atmosphere for a while and in the heat of the day.

We arrived at Wilderness Lodge. Wow! That place was huge! The restaurant was to our left. It was elevated from the main floor and ran practically the whole length of the lodge. We were seated almost right away.

When I made our dining reservations, the girl told me Whispering Canyons was a great choice, super fun and interactive. We would have a great time! She said to be sure and have one of the children ask for a spoon and ketchup.

As I looked over our table that afternoon, there were at least 12 assorted spoons scattered from one end to the other. And we were to ask for more? Okay, I'll give it a go.

I told my eldest to ask our waiter for a spoon to which the other adults at the table started to question my sanity because there were already SO MANY DARNED SPOONS ON THE TABLE!!! I tried not to give it away and insisted he grab the waiter. More resistance. So I asked the waiter for a spoon myself.

What funny thing would happen? What would he bring me? This is so exciting, isn't it?

He brought me just what I asked for. A spoon. Isn't that hilarious?

I had spied a boy at the back of the restaurant marching around his table with a giant fork. You know those big wooden ones that hung in many a kitchen back in the 70's? That kind of giant fork. I suspected our waiter was supposed to bring us a giant spoon. Was he seriously off his game or was it because an adult asked and not a child (as the reservation girl instructed)?

Lesson #4: Children, do as your mother tells you. Husbands, go along with your wife.

As the kids finished up their dirt and worms dessert, the waiter entered into some sort of routine involving bird calls and even though he talked way too fast to completely understand, his routine involved some disturbing rant about his mother-in-law and then he kicked over a chair.

I kid you not.

We just stared at each other, paid the bill, and went out to enjoy Wilderness Lodge's lobby. Which was beautiful! Everything about it screamed "LODGE!" Light fixtures, totem poles, log railings. There was even a "hot spring" that bubbled right up into the lobby. The boys thought this was really neat, especially the "steam" that rose from the water.

We even contemplated staying at Wilderness Lodge in the future. They have villas there, too!

Now, back to MGM! Where we headed straight to the back for the Lights Motors Action Extreme Stunt Show. This was a full-throttle adrenaline rush for the boys. They loved it! Lots of tire squealing and car exhaust fumes.


By the time this show was over, evening was closing in. We ventured over to the Backlot Tour. In addition to the wall of water, fire, and explosions that this ride includes, the boys got to see prop vehicles from Star Wars and the bone cages from Pirates of the Caribbean.

It was getting late and we were starting to slow down so we meandered back to the front of the park. On the way we saw the Power Rangers; the boys played in the rain which was an umbrella that rained water from underneath (Singin' In The Rain); and we got pictures with Herbie from Love Bug.

It wasn't quite 5:30pm, but we made our way to the front of the park for the Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular! It was the same show they did 16 years ago. But still good. Action, fighting, explosions, gun fire. What more could a boy want?

Unusual for us, we arrived at Indy's show early. Way early. I hate waiting. CB took advantage of this void of time to get our wristbands for Extra Magic Hours.

Lesson #5: Two things are needed for Extra Magic Hours. (1) Your body and (2) your room card. For every wristband issued, there must be a body and an accompanying room card. That way they know you're a Disney resort guest and Extra Magic Hours are only for resort guests.

Wristbands are only given out at certain locations within the park. When CB got there, he only had his room card. The rest of ours were back in the room! And all of our bodies were sitting at Indiana Jones. Neither was where they needed to be! What to do?

After the show we trekked back to the front of the park to Guest Relations to have them check that we were resort guests and issue our wristbands. We were a little bothered by this lack of communication -- how could we not know this? Maybe if I paid a little more attention to Stacey and her Top 7. Or The Unofficial Guide should've alerted me to this. But the Cast Members at Guest Relations were so nice and it was air-conditioned!

At this point, FM#2 wanted desperately to ride Star Wars again and this time he wanted to ride it with MawMaw! Maybe FM#3 was asleep or maybe he needed a snack, but CB stayed behind with him and the four of us ran across the park to Star Tours.

It was dark by now and I think everyone had migrated to the other side of the park to see Fantasmic because we walked right onto Star Tours. This is good because there's no waiting, but it also prevents you from noticing the details of the scene they've created in the queue. The part that puts you in the frame of mind for embarking on a space ride! But we were still okay with jumping right on!

MawMaw loved that ride and FM#2 was thrilled to share it with her!

Now it was time for the Tower of Terror!

Throughout the day FM#1 kept asking me if I was going to ride the Tower of Terror. Quite frankly, I just didn't know. I'd figure it out when it was staring me in the face.

After we rode Star Tours, we met up with CB who took off to test the Tower by himself. We needed him to test it out and report back to those of us who were skeptical.

As we waited for him, hoards of people streamed out of Fantasmic for what must've been 15-20 minutes.

Finally, CB came off the ride with a huge smile on his face. He said it was fantastic and that we just had to ride it.

Well, there it was. Staring me in the face.

FM#1 would only ride it if I would. Great.

I really didn't want to. Let's face it. Freefalling isn't my favorite. I don't even like the song by Tom Petty. But I knew I had to ride it. I didn't want to regret NOT riding it and we were only going to be at this park for one day. So off we went.

I was extremely nervous. I kept checking my pulse which, I should probably say now, has been an ongoing concern. It tends to be high.

Aren't these the kinds of things that keep you from getting on rides like this?

Aren't these the kinds of rides that people have had heart attacks on?

Yet here I was. Too late to turn back. The things we do for our children.

The first room you go in is fairly small. It reminded me of the elevator at the Haunted Mansion. It is here that you watch a short clip hosted by what I suppose was a Rod Serling impersonator.

You exit to the boiler room which doubles as a queue. Much pulse checking here.

Once we reached the "I'm next" point, CB told me to sit on the back row - less scary there. So the somber Cast Member put us on the appropriate number for the back row. The elevator doors opened and the rows of theatre style seats stared at me.

I guess I'm really doing this. There's no turning back now.  Was this a smart thing to do? We'll see.....

I moved toward the back of the elevator all the way to the right. I buckled myself in and grew instantly concerned that there was no shoulder harness. I expected some shoulder harnessing here!

Why is there no harness?! All I have are these lousy straps to hang onto?!

This was not going to be good.

Once the elevator started to move, it snaked through hallways, past scenes as the story was told. Extreme apprehension and anxiety filled my body as I didn't know when the doors would open and we'd plummet to the bottom of this ding-dang tower.

When the scary part of this ride starts, there is no mistaking it. Thankfully. I don't like surprises like that. Metal doors open and you enter into utter darkness. You know it's about to start. Brace yourself.

Honestly, the dropping wasn't my favorite, but in short bursts isn't too bad. Screaming helps.  Seriously, go for it. Scream your head off.  It'll make for a great attraction photo.

And when you're catapulted back up the shaft you feel like you're floating which is totally wicked cool awesome!  You vascillate between AHHH, ahhh, AHHH, ahhh.

At some point the doors open and you're looking out over the park. I couldn't tell you much about this, folks, because my eyes were closed almost the entire time! I opened them once and darned if we weren't overlooking the whole bloomin' park!

Oh no! I'm afraid of heights. I'm gonna puke! Quick, close your eyes again!

The last drop is the biggest and about the time I was ready for it to stop dropping, we dropped even more. But it was over and I DID IT! FM#1 and I were very proud of ourselves. What a relief and a surge of adrenaline at the same time!

We bought our picture on this ride. All of our expressions are priceless.

Will I ride it again?

The Magic 8 Ball says, "Ask again later."

After all the lead-up and anticipation and excitement of having conquered the Tower, we were starving! We stopped at the counter-service restaurant, Rosie's All American Cafe, and had dinner outside. FM#1 spied a Hidden Mickey there.

We visited a shop on Hollywood Boulevard and drug our weary happy bodies home to rest up for a second day.

Big Family Vacation

We finally got our act together and went on our first official family vacation. You know -- before the oldest is in college. The one where money is spent with abandon, like we pluck it off the money tree growing in our backyard.

That one.

We went to Disney World!

Day One And We're Off! - We decided to drive because it was cheaper than flying; it would create great family memories; and we could bring a bunch of stuff we wouldn't be able to bring if we flew.

Besides, a great road trip would be fun, right?

Oh, it was. We headed out about 8:30am Saturday morning. CB and I manning the front, MawMaw and the younger two in the back, and the big guy in the Way Back with the Igloo cooler.

We were all perky and excited about our destination. Until about 9pm Saturday night. More on that later.

Driving was tiring. 1000 miles, each way. The trip there was full of excited anticipation. The kids watched DVDs and listened to books on tape most of the way. I did Sudoku. CeanBounter drove. MawMaw entertained her backseat buddies.

About 2-1/2 hours into the trip we had to stop due to, "I think I'm going to throw up," coming from the back seat courtesy of FM#2. He was watching a movie and resting the DVD player on his lap. We think the motion of the screen made him car sick.

I grabbed a plastic grocery bag and told him to lean over it until we could get stopped. I brought a couple of bags for the trash we would accumulate as we mowed through chips, crackers, cookies, water bottles, soda bottles, and CapriSuns, not thinking it might have to double as a Barf Bag.

We exited the interstate and pulled into a gas station. He put his feet on terra firma, had a few sips of Sprite, and he was good to go. Bathroom breaks for everyone!

I will call this throw-up event our Magic Moment #1 because it was a blessing the Lord sprinkled into our vacation that we were very thankful for and will remember as something really neat or exceptional that happened to us along the way.

I remember how my legs felt after being in the car for so long and trying to get around to FM#2's side of the car as quickly as possible with noodle legs.

I remember the expression on everyone's face as they stretched their legs in the parking lot of the convenience store, how we were relieved by the not-so-great bathrooms, and that excited feeling of getting back in the car to get closer and closer to Disney World!

The kids settled back into their movies; we had cold beverages in hand, empty bladders, and no one threw up! See...Magic Moment!

The weather was good the whole way and we were accompanied by those black love bugs. Everytime we stopped for gas, CB would clean the windshield. It was covered in lovebug juice and smooshed carcasses.

Sometimes we had to stop for the sole purpose of cleaning the windshield because it would be hard for CB to see! And whenever we opened the car door we had to do it quickly so the love bugs wouldn't get in which they sometimes did anyway.

We would SPLAT! them or crack the window so they'd get sucked out at 80 mph.

Magic Moment #2. MawMaw cooked a roast before she left home and brought it down. We made roast beef sandwiches the night before we left and packed them in the cooler along with other goodies for on-the-road munching.

Instead of eating while driving, we needed to stretch our legs so we stopped at a little tourist center in Mississippi, or were we still in Louisiana? I think it was the west side of Mississippi.

This little tourist center was a modular building with a wood facade that made it look like a cabin. It had a porch around it. It must have been fairly new because you could still smell the stain. Apparently, they had left for lunch because even though the sign on the door said they were open, they were not.

I thought we'd have to hit the road again and look for another rest stop, but CB pulled around back where we discovered a picnic table under the covered porch. We enjoyed our roast beef sandwiches, chips, drinks, cookies, and lovebugs.

Yes, lovebugs. Only a few bothered us during our meal because the majority swirled around our car like a black cloud. We surmised they were attracted to the heat the car was giving off.

We cleaned up our picnic area, used the bathrooms which were quite clean, and somehow managed to get back in the car amid the swarm. We hit the road once more.

And now for the awards:
Worst Roads & Nastiest Bathrooms - Louisiana, a place we will be glad never to have to return to again.

What a Relief/Smoother Roads - Mississippi! We loved their visitors center. A beautiful southern plantation with FREE soda and a lunar module out front.

(From this picture can you tell who's doing the driving?)

Best Roads Overall - Florida, well-maintained roads and lots of trees! Besides, where else can you go through towns with weird names like Okahumpka?

Most Rest Areas - Florida received yet another award because it had more rest areas than I've ever seen and they were exceptionally nice. Many had a State Patrolman on duty. Saturday evening right before sunset, we stopped at one rest stop that had palm date trees. The fruit was ripe and had fallen off the trees. You could smell the sweetness in the air.

Coolest Bathroom and Magic Moment #3 goes to -- Whataburger in Somewhere, Florida. It was already dark when we stopped here and we were starting to get tired. CB wanted to keep truckin' so we decided to eat in the car, but we went inside to order so we could use their facilities. And what facilities they were! There was a flat screen TV in the men's bathroom!

This Whataburger also had one of the nicest girls working there. She was very patient with us (we were very road weary). She gave FM#3 crayons and a coloring page, made menu suggestions that would save us money - some of us weren't very hungry so a couple of meals were split. She was a delight! I wish I would've gotten her name and written a letter.

And last, but not least...

The Thank You for Sticking Out Just a Little 'Cause We're Almost to Florida Award goes to --Alabama where we crossed over a couple of bays, saw the USS Alabama, birds diving into the water, and we got to drive through a tunnel.

Are We There Yet? - And this came from the adults! I'd like to state for the record that Tallahassee is a loooong way from here! And let me just say that there are NO towns of significant size in Florida's panhandle.

After 12 hours on the road we were ready for the first leg of the trip to be over, yet we still had 3 hours to go! Because it was dark, I couldn't do Sudoku to keep myself awake and we were in the middle of nowhere so we couldn't get anything on the radio to hold our interest (or our eyes open).

Nothing but black night whizzed by as we raced toward our destination which at this point was a comfy bed and soft pillow. Brutal. Occasionally, I'd say something to CB to make sure he was awake, but mostly we quietly fought off sleep while our backseat passengers snoozed.

When we arrived in Tallahassee, we (and by "we", I mean, CB) had to unload all of the luggage from the roof of the car because we had a soft-sided luggage carrier and they don't lock like the hard-sided ones. He loaded it all, including the Igloo cooler, onto one of those bellhop carts. We were able to pile everything on it and make it up to the room in one trip.

While CB parked the car, me, MawMaw, and the FM's lugged our belongings up to our room.

Now, to make my point here, I must say that this luggage cart was seriously weighted down and very hard to push, pull, and steer. But FM#1 and I managed -- in and out of the elevator, around the corner, down the hall. There was just enough room in the elevator ("alligator" according to FM#3) for five people and a bellhop cart.

We got to our room and just as I was about to put the cardkey in, I heard voices coming from the other side of the door.

Laughing, talking, people having a good time.

In our room!

So back downstairs all five of us go - down the hall, around the corner, in and out of the alligator. I marched up to the clerk and announced that someone was in that particular room. He was unphased, gave us an obligatory "sorry about that", and reassigned us an empty room.

And so...

In and out of the elevator, around the corner, down the hall. Push, pull, push, pull. They don't call it LUGgage for nuttin'.

Day Two - Since we decided to forego the alarm clock, we got a late start the next morning. I was the first one up. Hey, don't laugh! I almost rolled over and went back to sleep, but I checked the clock. 10:00am. The hotel's breakfast ended at 10:30am so I threw on some clothes and went downstairs to gather sustenance for my weary traveling companions.

By the time I got back to the room, everyone was awake. We ate, dressed, and CB began the arduous task of putting all of the luggage back on the roof of the car.

When he paid the bill, they gave us a discount for our room snafu. That, coupled with MawMaw's AARP discount, was a nice little bonus.

And away we went. Clear blue skies. Crisp morning air.

After showering at the hotel we realized that the teeny weeny bars of hotel soap were not going to cut it for a group of six for a week. On our way out of town we stopped at Walgreen's to buy full-size bottles of body wash, thinking Disney would have the same miniature offerings as Comfort Suites.

As MawMaw and I jumped out of the car, FM#1 requested a bottle of Axe body wash. Snake Skin to be exact. I said he could share the body wash I would get because he had a brand new bottle of Axe back home. Once inside, MawMaw asked if she could get the Axe for him and I said yes. When he found out, he was very happy.

Florida was the prettiest of the states we went through. The morning light revealed trees that lined both sides of the interstate. I wondered if there was some huge state-sponsored tree planting because they were in neat rows.

We enjoyed the smooth ride on Florida's roads and commented on their call boxes that were placed at one mile intervals.

After putting several miles between us and Tallahassee, the skies grew gray and dreary. We stopped for lunch at Subway, gassed up, and got back on the road. Just a couple more hours til we're there!

However, a few miles down the road we slowed to a crawl due to an overturned RV. In the bumper to bumper traffic FM#1 spied this:

At some point along the Florida Turnpike, the skies cleared. With that worry aside, I decided to call Mickey Mouse and ask the following:

Question: Can we check into our hotel and receive the Annual Pass discount on our hotel without showing the Annual Pass?
Answer: No. You'll have to get the Annual Pass first which can be picked up at any of the parks' Guest Relations window.

Question: Will we have to pay for parking at the park?
Answer: Yes, ma'am. That will be $11.

Yuck. The rub here is that parking fees are waived for resort guests, but since we wouldn't be checked in yet, we wouldn't be resort guests yet.

What to do? We decided to go to the hotel first and see if they can work something out.

We zoomed over the exit ramp onto the Daniel Webster Toll Road.

Skies - clear.

Roads - new.

Sights - scenic with an occasional orange orchard.

Can You Hear Me Now? - An intermittent humming noise was coming from the luggage rack since Tallyhassy. CB determined that the load on top of the car was not as aerodynamic after he repacked it that morning. At top speed, the air rushing over our soft-sided luggage carrier made a gosh-awful hum that turned into a roar after we went through the last toll plaza. It was so loud we could feel the vibration on our seats which was nice for the first few miles, but after a while that just gets annoying.

We had to talk really loudly to hear each other. We even had to cover our ears it got so loud at one point! I couldn't concentrate on my Sudoku. The numbers were jumping around in front of my eyes because of the vibration! The roof of the car was vibrating so hard we were hoping the luggage rack didn't unscrew itself and fly off the top of the car.

Looking off to the east, we could see Disney World in the distance. We could also see dark, ominous clouds. No worries. Get the rain out now.

We exited the toll road and rounded the cloverloop. Due to our slower speed, that humming from the roof faded. Aaaaaaah, relief!

As we approached the welcome sign at Disney's Western Way entrance, the skies emptied.

Ben Who?

Ben 10 Omnitrix F/X; it's all the rage this year;
For boys who watch the cartoon it's a must-have, I hear.
It's black and green and really cool;
A supply shortage I fear.
Ben 10!

The stores are sold out, only ones are waiting on Ebay,
For three times the retail price you can own one today.
Remember PS2 and Elmo,
Hurry, don't delay!
Ben 10!

UPDATE: HolyChow and my algebra buddy (nephew) found one! Score!

Digging Up Old Brain Cells

I must admit I'm breathing a sigh of relief. Over the Thanksgiving holiday I told my nephew, who is not loving algebra, to give me a call and I'd help him. I really didn't think he'd take me up on that offer. Well, he didn't really. His mom did. Now I'm on my second algebra assignment and I'm finding I remember stuff I haven't done since high school. What I've forgotten how to do I'm googling and, "Whew!", it's coming back to me. Hence the sigh of relief.

I am often surprised at how much we forget, although 'forget' isn't the right word. The knowledge is in there; we just don't use it anymore. Or the memory is in there and we just don't think about it. I wish there was a way to replay segments of our lives.

A couple of weeks ago I was talking to a friend's husband about what he did for a living. Come to find out he does the same thing I used to do, you know, before I retired (yeah right). He used a word that described the type of systems he works on. SCADA. At one point in my life, I used that word almost daily. It was like a little brain cell rejuvenation when I heard it again; kind of like this algebra is now. It was rather fun talking to him about my former job. But I'm glad it's my former job.

I *heart* algebra and CeanBounter for doing the job he does so I can do the job I do.

Who says I'm not a Fun Mom? Oh, that's right. I did.

What I Did On My Summer Vacation

Every couple of years, Dad comes back to Texas and as is tradition, we all converge on this bustling East Texas town. This year Sistah #2 took the week off. It was especially nice to have her around all week; she hasn't been able to hang out with us like that for years. Unfortunately, Sistah #1 had to work. The cousins had a great time together. After this week, my sisters and I have decided to plan a yearly sister-only weekend. Woo hoo!

We celebrated two significant birthdays during the week. My niece and my grandmother, who turned 90, and you'd never guess she was a day over 80. She's like the Energizer Bunny.

The festivities took place at Sistah #1's hacienda. The day started off cloudy and rainy, but by noon it had cleared up and the backyard was Water Sport Central complete with a blow-up water slide. Due to the rainy start, I didn't put sunscreen on the FM's - didn't think they needed it. For Swim Team Boy it wasn't a problem, but for my red-headed one it was too little, too late. He was downright crispy by the evening. He walked around like a little old man for four days and tried to maintain a "safety circle" around himself so nobody would touch him. I don't think he got a good night's sleep until Wednesday. Now he's Snake Boy, shedding all over the house, and his mantra is, "scratch my back, please."

Since Mamaw's pool is out of service, we broke our Sabbath Day rules and went to Chuck E. Cheese's so all the grandkids could play. They stuffed tokens into the machines and danced with the Chuckster for at least three hours.

My lowest score in skeeball was 230,000 as you can see from the picture. I didn't think to take a picture of my highest which was 250,000. Jess, jess it was!

The second birthday celebration was for my niece who turned 13. That's thirTEEN! She is growing into a beautiful young lady. We all went to Putt-Putt and then back to Mom's for dinner and cake.....yum! Playing Putt-Putt reminded me of a couple of dates I had there a bijillion years ago. Mom made two cakes: a yummy ice cream cake (on the right) and her signature coconut cake.

This gathering was particularly nice because Mom and Dad were both there. They're divorced and it is seldom they are together and enjoying their grandchildren. So this birthday party was a rarity for that.

Another high point of the week included the Aviation Museum. On display was a pamphlet that the US military distributed to several Japanese cities during World War II to warn them of the impending bombs that would be dropped. What I found particularly interesting was it stated that the US was humane; that we did not want to kill people; our targets were Japanese weapons facilities. It also said that the Japanese people were not our enemy, our enemy was the Japanese military. It told them to warn their friends and neighbors and leave town.

We also visited the East Texas Oil Museum. Although this was my first trip to the oil museum, a particular member of my family (and by that I mean Mom) thinks that not only have I been to the museum before, but that my husband has, too (he hasn't)! On top of that, she claims we've been there a couple of times!

It was really interesting to hear how the area was affected by the influx of people and money. One story told of how someone came into the general store asking for roach killer. The storekeeper didn't know what roaches were. They didn't have roaches in Kilgore before the oil boom. Imagine that! It was also neat to see things I haven't seen since I worked for an independent oil producer during college or for Texaco when I graduated. A lot of things like pumps, pipe, and valves never change.

We also visited a children's park in town. The kids enjoyed running around, climbing on rocks. CB was in the car enjoying the air-conditioning with a sleeping FM#3.

On our last day there, Mom took all the grandkids to see Cars, complete with soda, popcorn, and candy. The movie was cute. Since my boys were so well-behaved during the week, I bought the soundtrack for the trip home.

A Swimming Tribute

Mojo (2004-2006)

Today we bid a loving farewell to Mojo. He joined the family in early 2004 when FM#1 got him for a scout project. He was FM#1's first pet.

His color was brilliant. Deep blue, burgundy, and a touch of turquoise.

Sometimes he would "sleep" at the bottom of his bowl. Sometimes he would swim around so vivaciously that he'd move around the stones that line his bowl. When you shook the food he'd swim to the top of the water.

We enjoyed him and he fit into our family quite nicely.

He will be missed.

(Burial will be in the backyard tomorrow morning.)

Buy Low, Sell High

WOW! No. 1 in market return! I know one of their executives personally and this company is in good hands! Our very own, CB. In fact, he's only been there 5 or 6 years. Coincidence? I think not.

Leave and Cleave

I went to a wedding today. It makes me so happy to see two Christians get married. This is a sweet couple. The groom is from our church. I've known him ever since he was a boy (who loved Legos).

I cried.

I cried because sometimes something is so good you just cry. I cried at the message Pastor Bob IROACOMWTP gave. I love that reminder of what God intended for marriage; that coming together forever; that growing old together. I love thinking of the man I'm joined to forever. He's perfect.....for me. God really knows what he's doing.

I also cried because of the way this leaving and cleaving is 'goodbye' in a way. I watched the groom's mom talk to him at the car just before he and his bride drove away to begin their life together. In that private moment it was a mom saying something to that child she craddled in her arms, and rocked, and kissed, and doctored, and bathed, and dressed, and fed, and taught, and cheered for, and prayed for, and worried about, and grasping that one last sliver of a moment with her child, just the two of them in that moment before he goes off to be a husband, to become one flesh with his wife the same way she did with her husband. I cried because I know I'll be there one day. And I'll have to do it three times.

We raise them for that, don't we? We pray for that, don't we? We beseech God to give them a godly spouse that believes the same way they do; that wants the same things they do; that is of the same mind as they are in the raising of godly children. We raise them to do just this and then when that day comes...my, how hard it must be to let them go. I know now how my mom felt when I got married. I just didn't understand it then. I wasn't a mom then.

Although this mother and father will never again have their family of three, they rejoice in God's good blessings and providence. Their family has gotten bigger...and it will only get bigger still because they will give you grandbabies!

Got to go blow my nose. I cried again.