Magic Kingdom

Just a quickie from the Magic Kingdom......we got in REEEEEEEEAAALLLY Late last night and I didn't have th eenergy left to do anything except wash and dry all our "soaked to the bone" stuff from Splash Mountain. Above, monorail ride.

Here are the folks meeting Minnie Mouse.

On one of the Monorail rides, we rode in the very front car! It was really exciting and very informative. There must be Prozac in the water here because everyone who works here is so HAPPY!!!!!

We are off to Epcot today and to the princess breakfast. I will show you some more tonight.

Green Day!

Top O' the Mornin' to ya! ( That was spoken with a cheesy fake Irish accent).
Today we will be doin' an Irish jig to the Magic Kingdom to have breakfast with Chef Mickey and then on to all sorts of adventures.

I'm up early .....drinking coffee and still doing laundry. The children are still sleeping like pigs in sunshine, and Pumba (dad) is in there rolled up like a burrito in ALL the covers. Hopefully they will be well rested when they get up and be all smiles.

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY TO SARAH AND JOHN!

One More Thing....

Since we were coming to Florida and my hippie-girl Susan ( and Ed) live here, and pretty close by, we arranged to have a little visit in Cocoa. It was so great to see them, and NOTHING has changed. Same Susan. Good thing.

Here we are.

And again. What is wrong with that kid?

Something's brewing.

I guess she didn't like the photography technique. Or maybe it was because the picture was not all about HER?

See what I mean? We found a sign with her name on it and she was off to the races.

There ya go!

I probably could have left her there with her new best friends. Susan said she would fly in and babysit for a week whenever we needed her to. I am studying the calendar!!!

It was so wonderful to visit, and it certainly wasn't long enough, and WAY too long in coming!

One thing that the internet is exceptional for is keeping in touch with all the tumbleweeds that you know. Because of it, I can keep up with so many of all of you.....many almost daily. Sometimes it is just a quick FW: , but no matter what comes, it means that we're all still making the effort to connect. I think that is so cool.

Hakuna matata!

The Himalayas......

Ok, Martin is now not the only one who has "been to the mountain." I been there....and it scared me. In a good way though. The number one coaster at Disney is this one. You can make out the ascent track just to the left. That mountain is HUGE. If you look at the little shrine in front of it, the tops of the little temples mirror the mountain peaks. Disney misses NOTHING in the details. Of course, I have been thinking about things like: who cleans the bathrooms? How do they not run out of stuff? do they have crews touching up paint all night?

Anyway, our little family rode that thing and had a blast. There really wasn't time to visit Dinoland with the long waits to ride, and we missed the parade, but I can't think of anything else I would have rather been doing than being right there with those kids getting the living daylights scared out of me. The picture when we were on the coaster was hideous..my hair was standing ON END and I had my hand on the boychild's knee....I guess I was going to hold him in the car should he start to fall out . Both of them were talking a mile a minute when we came off of it- wanting to get back in line to do it again.

Well...everyone else is asleep and I am still up drinking coffee and doing laundry. The other half of our entourage came here to swim and eat dinner ( Subway - It was closeby) and left some of their laundry too, so I may be up a little while. Tomorrow we go to the Magic Kindom and have breakfast with Mickey Mouse at Chef Mickey's. I can hardly wait.

Where Dreams Begin...

My tiny dancer was all about clapping and jumping until this part of the show. When the ballet began, she stopped moving altogether and just stared at the girl playing Zazu. She reached over and touched me on the leg and said, "Mama.....you know, someday, that could be me. "

Well, she's right. There is really no limit to what someone can do if they put their mind to it. I hope she does it if that is what she wants to do. I can see her being a cast member here. I can also see brother being an Imagineer, designing all sorts of exciting things.

Coco's Disney Debut

The Lion King show was about a 20 minute version of the broadway show as far as the costuming and such goes. It is definately something that you don't want to miss if you get the chance to visit Disney. Our girl was right on the front row and ready to volunteer ( thanks Sarah!) and they picked her, or at least this monkey who kept winking at her did. She had so much fun and we really were tickled that she was invited to participate. Our star is the one in the long pink tee shirt and glasses.

First Installment Disney Pictures

Today was the "bestest day of my life" according to the young master of the family. Of course, he will say that any time things are going his way, but I do have to admit that this ranks right up there for them.

Here is the little princess posing ( imagine that) for a snap in Rainforest Cafe.

The obligatory brother/sister shot. I had to threaten to get them to do this one. They have had a bit too much togetherness for the last few days.

Here we are meeting Kenai and Koda, the bears from "Brother Bear". There were other characters on the greeting trails, but the lines were LONG and we had shows to see and coasters to ride.

Here are a couple of silly boys . The kids all got along well considering that it was HOT, they were TIRED, and we were having to WAIT, WAIT, WAIT, and WAIT some more.

Trip to Disney world....$ 5,000 ( or at least it seems like it).....stroller rental.....PRICELESS. They ought to have wagon rental because we had so much stuff hanging off the back of this buggy that it would try to tip over without a sturdy kid in it.

This is our "Map-meister." He made extra sure that we stayed on the right path and would let us know where to find the next attraction that we needed to see. Since he has learned to read, I rarely have to check up and see that he is telling me right...he rarely makes a mistake. He even had East, West, North, and South figured out today.

There were a few educational moments scattered out around the park today. One little guy was showing off an anteater skull next to the giant anteater exhibit and our little country kids wanted to know, "Reckon he would eat FIRE ANTS?" Hey, if they would, we need to start raising them and turning 'em loose up in Mississippi.

I promise more pictures as I get them, but I have to say that it is very hard to take pictures because things move pretty quickly and there is so much happening that it is hard to decide what to do next. I'll do the best I can and we'll see what we get. Stay tuned for a precious video of Coco participating in the Lion King show.

Shuttle Launch!

Here we are, waiting on the side of the road for what seemed like HOURS for the shuttle Discovery to make her 36th launch. The mission this time is to take some replacement struts to the International Space Station.

The shuttle blasted off at 7:43 pm. We could hear the sound just a few seconds after we saw the fire and steam.

The steam trail was HUGE and curly, and the sun reflected off it and made it all different colors. It was so AWESOME!!!!!!

It took about an hour to get over there from Orlando, then about 1 1/2 hours to wait for it to blast off, then about 2 minutes of " AHHHHHHH", then about 2 hours of driving back. The traffic was horrendous! Part of the problem was the stinking toll booths.....there must have been 20 of them! It was an unforgettable moment for the kids, especially the young "science-tist." He will surely remember it for the rest of his life.

More pictures tomorrow from our afternoon in Cocoa. We were loaded down when we came in from the car, and I forgot to grab the other camera out of the glove box.

We Made it to Orlando...FINALLY!!!!!!!

It was an incredibly long drive from home to Orlando....... but worth it! We left home at 36 degrees and unloaded our stuff here at 85! It is sunny and beautiful and everyone is HAPPY!

Here is the view from the balcony of the condo. There is a BBQ area down there and a lake. Smells like someone is cooking steaks and/or burgers.

Here is the bathtub in the larger bedroom. It is just in the corner of the bedroom....odd, but hey... I guess you could lock the bedroom door if you didn't want company.

No matter where I go, I have to do laundry. That's my Aldi detergent there ......nothing like bringing a little bit of home with 'ya!

The view of the place from the balcony door. There is a lot of room here, but it doesn't look like it in this picture.

Our driver deserved a little relaxation, so I bought him some Blue Moons when I went to the grocery store while he had the kids in the pool........

Now, y'all know I like to shop for groceries, even maybe more so now that I am trying to be a good bargain shopper. Today, I sneaked out to Publix, which is maybe the coolest grocery store I have ever been in. It has a great deli, lots of fresh stuff and a TON of things that they just don't have where we live. I think I liked it better than Whole Foods because it had all the "good for you" stuff, but the "not so much good for you" stuff too.

I found some whole wheat, flat ,sandwich bun things that are only 100 calories and 16g net carbs. I bought two bags and may be having more shipped to me if we can't get enough to take home before we leave. ( I promise Lauren, I will share)

I talked to a girl from the West Indies and two guys from Germany in the check out line and she was trying to tell them that Ramen Noodles were not good ( or good for you) and they were acting like guys and telling her that they "like noodles". It was so funny. They had M'waukee's Best Beer too....guess they were into cheap.

Now, if I can just find a Trader Joe's to visit..............hahahahaha!

I think I might get these in every color.

The Happiest Place in the World!

As soon as school is out tomorrow we will be on the road to " You know where"! That is what the kids call it now because I told them I didn't want to talk about Disney anymore, so now we just talk about " You know where". They are so excited that they probably won't sleep a wink. I have to admit, I am just a tad happy about going too. The car ride, well, that I could do without. At least the kids can watch movies while we drive.....that makes all the difference!

Disney countdown.....four days left til blastoff!

With only a few days left before Disney, we have been washing clothes, packing suitcases and doing all sorts of things that need doing before we can get on the road. The puppies don't know it yet, but they are staying home and having Miss Melanie come stay with them. She will likely whip them into shape and have them trained to do all sorts of things...like potty outside ALL the time.....by the time we get back. One can only hope!

This video was taken with a Flip digital video recorder. It is the coolest thing- plug and play device with a USB hookup that pops out of the side. It has it's own software in the machine, so no need to carry discs, etc. It holds 60 minutes of video and counts it down for you on the screen. There are only 3 buttons on it and it is extremely easy to use. The whole shebang is about the size of a pack of cigarettes, so it will fit in a pocket or purse easily. It has a good "hand feel" and I think it will be really convenient for those on-the-go video ops. Think it will get a good workout in Orlando? I sure hope so!

Home-made Donuts

Last Sunday, we had snow-cream, so this week we had to try something different......
home-made donuts! My able assistant dragged herself out of bed at the mere mention of donuts. What could be bad about dough, grease, and sugar?

This plan of action calls for a can of small biscuits. I used a $.33 can of buttermilk style from Aldi. They are the skinny ones, not the "grands", but you could probably use the larger ones. Also, the flaky variety is not supposed to do as well, so don't get those. You just pop the can, lay them out and make a hole in them with something. I used a skinny little scoop I got in some kitten milk replacer. ( yes, I washed it) A cap from a 2-liter coke bottle would work too.

I tested the holes first in my oil. Here is what they look like when they are done. The draining on the paper was so that they didn't become big greasy sugar balls when we dumped them in the powdered sugar. Wait, that is the definition of donut, isn't it? Big greasy sugar ball?

Anyway, you just fry them up in some hot oil. Use new oil for this, not left over stuff from your last fish fry. Drain on paper towel, then pop in a bowl of powdered sugar and shake them around.

Then you just call your people to come and eat them up! These were gone in no time flat!

Monthly Staff Meeting

The first Wednesday of every month, we have a staff meeting. Of course, along with business, we have to eat! This month, we did a MardiGras themed meal. It was a week late, but we didn't care.

The faithful green Crock Pot made us some delicious Red Beans and Sausage which was served over rice. Brown rice for those who wanted to seem healthy, white for those who wanted to be authentic.

Boudain is a soft cajun sausage made with pork, liver, rice, spices and probably stuff I don't want to know about. It is already cooked and just needs to be warmed a little , then squeezed out and served on saltine crackers. Personally, the liver in it makes it repulsive to me, but several in the office adore it, so it turns up in our fridge from time to time.

We also had salad and some other various items, but the King Cake was the real treat of the day. It was made by our fairy godmother, Andrew's mom. Lauren and I were going to make them, but he volunteered his mom to do it, and she did a beautiful job. Above, Margene shows it off like a Price is Right model.

Now we gotta buckle down and be good for Lent!

I can get back to business now.......

For the last two weeks I have been in another world......Stephanie Meyer's world with Edward, Bella, and Jacob. To say that this series was engaging is a big understatement. Just ask my girls at work. They are sick of me and these books. I resisted reading them for the longest time, thinking that since they are aimed at a high-school age audience, that they would be juvenile or feel "canned." I was so wrong. The themes were too mature for junior high, but with the degree of maturity ( or at least exposure) that high-schoolers have these days, I think they would be fine. The themes were pretty much the same ones that are universal....good guys vs bad guys, where the good guys win and have to risk it all to do so.
I have not yet seen the movie, but I guess when it comes out I will MAKE ( wink) myself get it from RedBox and see if it holds up to the books. I hope I am not disappointed, because I already have a good idea of what I think the characters look like, and I hope they aren't too different. Guess we will see!

Snow Cream

I remember "Ma" making us snow cream when we got some snow once when I was little. My people didn't know that such a thing could be made, so I stirred up some and surprised them before the snow melted off. They loved it and ate quite a bit. I am sure I will pay for all that sugar consumption for the rest of the afternoon, but ya know, it doesn't snow that often!

To make snow cream:

1 can sweetened condensed milk

1 tablespoon vanilla ( I used Watkin's Double Strength)

1 Gallon clean snow.

In a large bowl, mix sweetened condensed milk and vanilla, then begin stirring in snow until it reaches desired consistency. I didn't use the whole gallon of snow.

cute, huh?

One of these days I am going to get photoshop, but for now, I just use picasa3 .

The wise boy stayed inside on his nest of blankets and pillows. I don't know why he scrambles his bedding up that way, but he likes it that way.

Here is the princess making a snow angel. The snow was too powdery to make a snowman this early. Maybe it will melt a little later and get sticky enough to roll.

Bindi plowed around in the backyard long enough to get wet, then came back in and wanted to sit in my lap. ( Don't tell me how fat she is, I know. )

Sunday snow

This little snow bunny showed up at the front door wearing socks on her hands, short pants, and crocs , ready to go out to play in the snow. Luckily, we were there to intercede and make her go back in and get some more clothes on, but she wouldn't give up the socks on the hands. The bigger child said it was too cold and he wasn't going out. Smart boy.