Saturday, July 31, 2004
Elder David B. Haight
This morning Elder David B. Haight passed away. He seemed so much better at the last conference! It is sad. But then, he was 97!!! Now our prophet, Gordon B. Hinckley, is the oldest living apostle. He is 94! I was a bit surprised to hear Elder Haight had died, despite his age, so recently after Elder Neal A. Maxwell died. We will miss them, but we will always have their testimonies and teachings to learn from. They have fulfilled their earthly missions and are now with their Savior.
Giggle
1. Give a person a fish and you feed them for a day; teach that person to use the Internet and they won't bother you for weeks.
2. Some people are like Slinkies ... not really good for anything, but you still can't help but smile when you see one tumble down the stairs.
3. I read recipes the same way I read science fiction. I get to the end and I think, "Well, that's not going to happen."
4. Health nuts are going to feel stupid someday, lying in hospitals dying of nothing.
5. The other night I ate at a real family restaurant. Every table had an argument going.
6. Have you noticed since everyone has a camcorder these days no one talks about seeing UFOs like they used to.
7. According to a recent survey, men say the first thing they notice about a woman is their eyes, and women say the first thing they notice about men is they're a bunch of liars.
8. Whenever I feel blue, I start breathing again.
9. All of us could take a lesson from the weather. It pays no attention to criticism!
10. Have you noticed that a slight tax increase costs you two hundred dollars and a substantial tax cut saves you thirty cents?
11. In the 60's people took acid to make the world weird. Now the world is weird and people take Prozac to make it normal.
12. Politics is supposed to be the second oldest profession. I have come to realize that it bears a very close resemblance to the first.
13. There is a theory which states that if ever anybody discovers exactly what the Universe is for and why it is here, it will instantly disappear and be replaced by something even more bizarre and inexplicable. There is another theory which states that this has already happened.
14. How is it one careless match can start a forest fire, but it takes a whole box to start a campfire?
15. You read about all these terrorists--most of them came here legally, but they hung around on these expired visas, some for as long as 10-15 years. Now, compare that to Blockbuster: you're two days late with a video and those people are all over you. Let's put Blockbuster in charge of immigration.
2. Some people are like Slinkies ... not really good for anything, but you still can't help but smile when you see one tumble down the stairs.
3. I read recipes the same way I read science fiction. I get to the end and I think, "Well, that's not going to happen."
4. Health nuts are going to feel stupid someday, lying in hospitals dying of nothing.
5. The other night I ate at a real family restaurant. Every table had an argument going.
6. Have you noticed since everyone has a camcorder these days no one talks about seeing UFOs like they used to.
7. According to a recent survey, men say the first thing they notice about a woman is their eyes, and women say the first thing they notice about men is they're a bunch of liars.
8. Whenever I feel blue, I start breathing again.
9. All of us could take a lesson from the weather. It pays no attention to criticism!
10. Have you noticed that a slight tax increase costs you two hundred dollars and a substantial tax cut saves you thirty cents?
11. In the 60's people took acid to make the world weird. Now the world is weird and people take Prozac to make it normal.
12. Politics is supposed to be the second oldest profession. I have come to realize that it bears a very close resemblance to the first.
13. There is a theory which states that if ever anybody discovers exactly what the Universe is for and why it is here, it will instantly disappear and be replaced by something even more bizarre and inexplicable. There is another theory which states that this has already happened.
14. How is it one careless match can start a forest fire, but it takes a whole box to start a campfire?
15. You read about all these terrorists--most of them came here legally, but they hung around on these expired visas, some for as long as 10-15 years. Now, compare that to Blockbuster: you're two days late with a video and those people are all over you. Let's put Blockbuster in charge of immigration.
Rebelling
I'm rebelling against a blank page. I'll post a real post some other time.
Yes it is after midnight. Ben just whooped us in a game of Phase 10. It is against nature to allow me not to lose at that game. Time for bed.
Yes it is after midnight. Ben just whooped us in a game of Phase 10. It is against nature to allow me not to lose at that game. Time for bed.
Thursday, July 29, 2004
Railroad Tracks
The U.S. standard railroad gauge (distance between the rails) is 4 feet, 8.5 inches. That is an exceedingly odd number. Why was that gauge used?
Because that's the way they built them in England and the U.S. railroads were built by English expatriates. Why did the English build them that way?
Because the first rail lines were built by the same people who built the pre-railroad tramways and that's the gauge they used. Why did "they" use that gauge then?
Because the people who built the tramways used the same jigs and tools that they used for building wagons, which used that wheel spacing. So why did the wagons have that particular odd spacing?
Well, if they tried to use any other spacing, the wagon wheels would break on some of the old, long distance roads in England, because that's the spacing of the wheel ruts. So who built those old rutted roads?
The first long distance roads in Europe (and England) were built by Imperial Rome for their legions. the roads have been used ever since. And the ruts in the roads? The ruts in the roads, which everyone had to match for fear of destroying their wagon wheels, were first formed by Roman was chariots.
Since the chariots were made for (or by) Imperial Rome, they were all alike in the matter of wheel spacing. The U.S. standard railroad gauge of 4 feet 8.5 inches derives from the original specification for an Imperial Roman war chariot. The Imperial Roman war chariots were made just wide enough to accommodate the back end of two war horses. Thus we have the answer to the original question. Now the twist to the story...........
When we see a space shuttle sitting on it's launch pad, there are two booster rockets attached to the side of the main fuel tank. These are solid rocket boosters, or SRB's. The SRB's are made by Thiokol at their factory in Utah. The engineers who designed the SRB's might have preferred to make them a bit fatter, but the SRB's had to be shipped by train from the factory to the launch site. The railroad line from the factory had to run thru a tunnel in the mountains. The tunnel is slightly wider than the railroad track and the railroad track is about as wide a two horses' behinds.
So, the major design feature of what is arguably the world's most advanced transportation system was determined over two thousand years ago by the width of a horse's behind!!!!
Don't you just love engineering?
Because that's the way they built them in England and the U.S. railroads were built by English expatriates. Why did the English build them that way?
Because the first rail lines were built by the same people who built the pre-railroad tramways and that's the gauge they used. Why did "they" use that gauge then?
Because the people who built the tramways used the same jigs and tools that they used for building wagons, which used that wheel spacing. So why did the wagons have that particular odd spacing?
Well, if they tried to use any other spacing, the wagon wheels would break on some of the old, long distance roads in England, because that's the spacing of the wheel ruts. So who built those old rutted roads?
The first long distance roads in Europe (and England) were built by Imperial Rome for their legions. the roads have been used ever since. And the ruts in the roads? The ruts in the roads, which everyone had to match for fear of destroying their wagon wheels, were first formed by Roman was chariots.
Since the chariots were made for (or by) Imperial Rome, they were all alike in the matter of wheel spacing. The U.S. standard railroad gauge of 4 feet 8.5 inches derives from the original specification for an Imperial Roman war chariot. The Imperial Roman war chariots were made just wide enough to accommodate the back end of two war horses. Thus we have the answer to the original question. Now the twist to the story...........
When we see a space shuttle sitting on it's launch pad, there are two booster rockets attached to the side of the main fuel tank. These are solid rocket boosters, or SRB's. The SRB's are made by Thiokol at their factory in Utah. The engineers who designed the SRB's might have preferred to make them a bit fatter, but the SRB's had to be shipped by train from the factory to the launch site. The railroad line from the factory had to run thru a tunnel in the mountains. The tunnel is slightly wider than the railroad track and the railroad track is about as wide a two horses' behinds.
So, the major design feature of what is arguably the world's most advanced transportation system was determined over two thousand years ago by the width of a horse's behind!!!!
Don't you just love engineering?
Responsibility
Sometimes I wish I wasn't so responsible. I see other people not being responsible all the time. They have more fun. They don't care, why should I? But everyone expects me to be responsible and it is such a big deal if I'm not.
My advice is never be responsible, then no one will expect you to do anything. That way you can just do what you want and make all the other "responsible" people do all the things that need to be done.
My advice is never be responsible, then no one will expect you to do anything. That way you can just do what you want and make all the other "responsible" people do all the things that need to be done.
Saturday, July 24, 2004
Another First for Me!
Yesterday we did actually do something! :lol: We packed a lunch and headed to San Francisco to walk the Golden Gate Bridge (round trip is about 4 miles). Once I thought about it, I was surprised I had never done this before. Growing up in Sacramento with frequent trips to San Fran with family, friends, and church groups, I wonder why we never did it before?
We got there and it was much cooler than Sac! (Thank Goodness!) And the wind made it even chillier. We had an easy walk except that about 1/2 way across the first pass, my ears started to hurt from the cold wind blowing at them. Fortunately the coat I was borrowing (uh, thanks Miriam - hehehe) had a hood, so I just covered up a little more.
We made it all the way across and took a break as we sat on the grass and ate granola bars. Acadia got to visit with a cute little dog that was there. They tried to tell us the name, but it wasn't in English. There were many different languages being spoken around us. It made me think of Disney World again (I have never heard so many different languages at one time like there were there!)
The walk back was easier on my ears because the wind was behind us. My feet were starting to get sore on my heels because I was wearing sandals. But I survived. It was neat to see the huge barges come in under the bridge. We were standing right above them. We also caught a little row boat! Who would be so crazy?
I caught lots of stuff on my camcorder and was planning on grabbing pictures from the video. Then I realized that I didn't have a memory stick in the camcorder, so these pictures will also have to wait until I get home. I'm sorry. I was hoping to steal a picture or two from my mom, but her's didn't turn out well apparently. If you have access to Debi's site, she put a picture of the bridge up, but none of us on it.
After the fun walk across the bridge, we headed home. Uh...slowly. It should only have taken about an hour and a half. But us being the brilliant ones we are, were leaving the bay area at rush hour! We were in stop and go traffic almost the entire way home! It took us 3 1/2 hours!!! We were so tired when we got back!
We did manage to head over to Ruth and Tom's for awhile were we barely helped at all, but did visit a bit. My head was hurting and I finally made Debi and Miriam go home about 11.
Today we will be back over at Ruth and Tom's for 1) a Stamp Party and B) Esther's First Birthday Party. Of course I'll take video, but of course you'll have to wait til I get home for the photos.
Ryan's work schedule changed slightly today. He is off today and works tonight. So he is taking the day to go on a BIG hike!!! He loves hiking, especially in the Northwest where it is just so dang beautiful! I hope he is safe and has a good time. The later is almost guaranteed, so I'm really just praying for his safety!
Time to go get ready for the parties!
We got there and it was much cooler than Sac! (Thank Goodness!) And the wind made it even chillier. We had an easy walk except that about 1/2 way across the first pass, my ears started to hurt from the cold wind blowing at them. Fortunately the coat I was borrowing (uh, thanks Miriam - hehehe) had a hood, so I just covered up a little more.
We made it all the way across and took a break as we sat on the grass and ate granola bars. Acadia got to visit with a cute little dog that was there. They tried to tell us the name, but it wasn't in English. There were many different languages being spoken around us. It made me think of Disney World again (I have never heard so many different languages at one time like there were there!)
The walk back was easier on my ears because the wind was behind us. My feet were starting to get sore on my heels because I was wearing sandals. But I survived. It was neat to see the huge barges come in under the bridge. We were standing right above them. We also caught a little row boat! Who would be so crazy?
I caught lots of stuff on my camcorder and was planning on grabbing pictures from the video. Then I realized that I didn't have a memory stick in the camcorder, so these pictures will also have to wait until I get home. I'm sorry. I was hoping to steal a picture or two from my mom, but her's didn't turn out well apparently. If you have access to Debi's site, she put a picture of the bridge up, but none of us on it.
After the fun walk across the bridge, we headed home. Uh...slowly. It should only have taken about an hour and a half. But us being the brilliant ones we are, were leaving the bay area at rush hour! We were in stop and go traffic almost the entire way home! It took us 3 1/2 hours!!! We were so tired when we got back!
We did manage to head over to Ruth and Tom's for awhile were we barely helped at all, but did visit a bit. My head was hurting and I finally made Debi and Miriam go home about 11.
Today we will be back over at Ruth and Tom's for 1) a Stamp Party and B) Esther's First Birthday Party. Of course I'll take video, but of course you'll have to wait til I get home for the photos.
Ryan's work schedule changed slightly today. He is off today and works tonight. So he is taking the day to go on a BIG hike!!! He loves hiking, especially in the Northwest where it is just so dang beautiful! I hope he is safe and has a good time. The later is almost guaranteed, so I'm really just praying for his safety!
Time to go get ready for the parties!
Friday, July 23, 2004
Dummy Me!
As I posted our photos on Photobucket, I wasn't able to post the pictures from the water cameras we took to Discovery Cove and Typhoon Lagoon because they weren't digital. But yesterday I realized that Ryan had gotten the photos on CD when he developed the pictures! Duh! Of course I can put them up!
So I worked on it this morning. Unfortunately I think I need to wait til we get home to really do it. Whenever I tried to put them on-line, they showed up up-side down. Even after saving them right-side up! Huh? Oh well. So check back on Tuesday to see if they are up or not.
In other news...
We (Debi, Cadi. and I) are in Sacramento for a couple of days. We had a pretty good drive here, except that Debi got a little sick. (Poor Debi!) And had a nice visit with the fam (at least the ones here - Dad and the boys are on a campout). Tomorrow Ruth has a stamp show we're going to and then Esther's birthday party! That will be fun. We haven't decided what to do today though. It's going to be HOT!!!
I really miss Ryan! I think he misses us too! Funny how some people would love to have just a couple days of peace and quiet alone in a house to do what they want, but others prefer the chaos of loved ones. I'm glad he misses us, but I also hope he can find some enjoyment in some quiet time.
If we do anything really exciting I'll post it! :lol: TTFN: Ta Ta For Now!
So I worked on it this morning. Unfortunately I think I need to wait til we get home to really do it. Whenever I tried to put them on-line, they showed up up-side down. Even after saving them right-side up! Huh? Oh well. So check back on Tuesday to see if they are up or not.
In other news...
We (Debi, Cadi. and I) are in Sacramento for a couple of days. We had a pretty good drive here, except that Debi got a little sick. (Poor Debi!) And had a nice visit with the fam (at least the ones here - Dad and the boys are on a campout). Tomorrow Ruth has a stamp show we're going to and then Esther's birthday party! That will be fun. We haven't decided what to do today though. It's going to be HOT!!!
I really miss Ryan! I think he misses us too! Funny how some people would love to have just a couple days of peace and quiet alone in a house to do what they want, but others prefer the chaos of loved ones. I'm glad he misses us, but I also hope he can find some enjoyment in some quiet time.
If we do anything really exciting I'll post it! :lol: TTFN: Ta Ta For Now!
Wednesday, July 21, 2004
I almost can't believe it!
Today Acadia got a package in the mail from Disney World, her lost autograph book!!! We are so happy that she has it back! Now she has them all back! We were hopeful it would be turned in, but not too optomistic. The nice thing is that Disney sent it back and didn't charge us for postage or anything!
They also returned someone else's things. A camera, some badges from rides, and a group of keyring cards you get from stores to swipe for discounts. The only store we might have around here is Petco. We'll go there and see if they can tell us the address that they belong to, then we can mail the stuff to that person.
Boy am I glad Ryan reminded me to write Acadia's name, address, and phone number in that book. If we hadn't, there is no way it could have been returned to us. And boy am I glad that Disney checks everything turned in for an address and sends it to that person realizing how special it might be to them.
In other news...
We are getting ready to go to Sac for a couple of days. It will be me, Cadi, and Debi. We can only stay this weekend, then have to get back on Monday. I wish Ryan could come. He has to work and has NO MORE vacation time left. In fact, I think he's in the negative by about 4 hours. oops.
We are going for Esther's birthday. She turns one!!! Yeah, Essie!
I'll try to post while I'm there. I should be able to, but there are so many people fighting for computer time, I just can't guarantee it.
Everyone needs to send Ryan a card or e-mail or something cause he's going to be lonely here by himself. We love you Ryan! I'll miss you!
They also returned someone else's things. A camera, some badges from rides, and a group of keyring cards you get from stores to swipe for discounts. The only store we might have around here is Petco. We'll go there and see if they can tell us the address that they belong to, then we can mail the stuff to that person.
Boy am I glad Ryan reminded me to write Acadia's name, address, and phone number in that book. If we hadn't, there is no way it could have been returned to us. And boy am I glad that Disney checks everything turned in for an address and sends it to that person realizing how special it might be to them.
In other news...
We are getting ready to go to Sac for a couple of days. It will be me, Cadi, and Debi. We can only stay this weekend, then have to get back on Monday. I wish Ryan could come. He has to work and has NO MORE vacation time left. In fact, I think he's in the negative by about 4 hours. oops.
We are going for Esther's birthday. She turns one!!! Yeah, Essie!
I'll try to post while I'm there. I should be able to, but there are so many people fighting for computer time, I just can't guarantee it.
Everyone needs to send Ryan a card or e-mail or something cause he's going to be lonely here by himself. We love you Ryan! I'll miss you!
Tuesday, July 20, 2004
How I spent my day.
Early this morning, I went to my orthodontist to get my invisalign braces. I have my first three aligners and have been wearing the first one all day. I am supposed to wear each aligner for 2 weeks, then switch to the new one. I should be completely finished with them in less than one year, then I get to wear a retainer.
I only have the aligners for my bottom teeth. I had braces when I was younger but in recent years, my lower teeth have moved again and now one of them has been pushed back quite a bit. It is making it very difficult to clean and my gums are becoming unhealthy. Since I have always had "perfect teeth" :grin: (so says every dentist I go to! :thumb:), this is ruining my record! I am anxious to start correcting it. And since I'm doing Invisalign, it is less time consuming, less painful, and less obvious to everyone else! The only thing it isn't "less" of is price...OUCH!!! But that's okay. Fortunately we have 50% covered by insurance.
However, while it isn't quite as painful as normal braces, it does still hurt a little. My teeth are sore. In a day or two it should be fine. I'll live.
The rest of the day, I've spent putting all our vacation photos up on-line. I've gone through all our video and taken digital photos from it, plus there's all the pictures from the digital camera that Ryan used. I organized them all, made albums on Photobucket, downloaded all the pictures, resized and renamed everything, and now they are ready to go.
Now I need to go to bed!
I only have the aligners for my bottom teeth. I had braces when I was younger but in recent years, my lower teeth have moved again and now one of them has been pushed back quite a bit. It is making it very difficult to clean and my gums are becoming unhealthy. Since I have always had "perfect teeth" :grin: (so says every dentist I go to! :thumb:), this is ruining my record! I am anxious to start correcting it. And since I'm doing Invisalign, it is less time consuming, less painful, and less obvious to everyone else! The only thing it isn't "less" of is price...OUCH!!! But that's okay. Fortunately we have 50% covered by insurance.
However, while it isn't quite as painful as normal braces, it does still hurt a little. My teeth are sore. In a day or two it should be fine. I'll live.
The rest of the day, I've spent putting all our vacation photos up on-line. I've gone through all our video and taken digital photos from it, plus there's all the pictures from the digital camera that Ryan used. I organized them all, made albums on Photobucket, downloaded all the pictures, resized and renamed everything, and now they are ready to go.
Now I need to go to bed!
Saturday, July 17, 2004
Day Nine
Was long!!!
We woke up and finished packing, checked out, and headed to the airport. We dropped Ruth, Tom, and Esther off and then drove around to the other side of the airport to drop off Miriam for their flights home.
Once we were rid of them (:lol:) we went to Sea World. When we purchased our Discovery Cove tickets, we automatically got 7 consecutive days free at Sea World. We only had a few hours, so we first went by the Dolphin Cove, where you can pet the dolphins. Unfortunately, none of the dolphins came close enough to us. They teased us by coming just out of arms reach and we saw that across the cove some other people got to pet them. Oh well.
Then we quickly made our way to the killer whale show. Of course that was fun. When is it not? We tried to see the underwater viewing afterwards, but the whales weren't in that tank.
Instead we had strawberry banana smoothies. Then we walked around and looked at stuff. We saw the dolphin nursery that had an 11 day old baby! (Awwww.) We also saw sting rays, the tropical reef, sea turtles, flamingos, other birds, and just a bunch of miscellanous stuff. We finished off with ice cream and headed back to the airport.
We got there early to get good placement in the boarding line. We were flying Southwest and it's first come, first serve. We had some food in the food court while sitting in a comfy couch looking at an aquarium. Then we moved to the gate, sat on the floor in line, and played cards while waiting to board.
The flight crew was fun! We were laughing. The were teasing each other on the intercom, playing with the passengers, even making up and singing songs over the intercom! We did manage to sleep a bit but while we awake we were entertained.
And finally, we were home. It is 2:30 Florida time...:sleep: So I'll post more later...including photos.:thumb:
And here they are, one last time... All of the Floriday Pictures. Navigate all of the subalbums in the side bar to see each day and each event!
We woke up and finished packing, checked out, and headed to the airport. We dropped Ruth, Tom, and Esther off and then drove around to the other side of the airport to drop off Miriam for their flights home.
Once we were rid of them (:lol:) we went to Sea World. When we purchased our Discovery Cove tickets, we automatically got 7 consecutive days free at Sea World. We only had a few hours, so we first went by the Dolphin Cove, where you can pet the dolphins. Unfortunately, none of the dolphins came close enough to us. They teased us by coming just out of arms reach and we saw that across the cove some other people got to pet them. Oh well.
Then we quickly made our way to the killer whale show. Of course that was fun. When is it not? We tried to see the underwater viewing afterwards, but the whales weren't in that tank.
Instead we had strawberry banana smoothies. Then we walked around and looked at stuff. We saw the dolphin nursery that had an 11 day old baby! (Awwww.) We also saw sting rays, the tropical reef, sea turtles, flamingos, other birds, and just a bunch of miscellanous stuff. We finished off with ice cream and headed back to the airport.
We got there early to get good placement in the boarding line. We were flying Southwest and it's first come, first serve. We had some food in the food court while sitting in a comfy couch looking at an aquarium. Then we moved to the gate, sat on the floor in line, and played cards while waiting to board.
The flight crew was fun! We were laughing. The were teasing each other on the intercom, playing with the passengers, even making up and singing songs over the intercom! We did manage to sleep a bit but while we awake we were entertained.
And finally, we were home. It is 2:30 Florida time...:sleep: So I'll post more later...including photos.:thumb:
And here they are, one last time... All of the Floriday Pictures. Navigate all of the subalbums in the side bar to see each day and each event!
Friday, July 16, 2004
Day Eight
Was a roller coaster.
As we were getting things together to go to Magic Kingdom, we realized that Acadia's autograph book was missing. The last time we remember seeing it was during ice cream with Mickey, Pluto, Chip, and Dale at Epcot. We checked the bags, apartment, and car, then we checked DisneyWorld's lost and found...no luck. :sad: They did say that since we had our address on it, if it gets turned in, they will mail it to us. Keep your fingers crossed. We had everyone's signature!!! I really hope we get it back!
Well, we moved on and started our day at Magic Kingdom. We lucked out and saw Cinderella so we got her autograph on the Cinderella book I forgot to get signed during breakfast last week.
Acadia and I went to Belle's Storytime and met Belle afterwards to have her sign her book. (We never got Sleeping Beauty's signature on her book, but shhh, don't tell Cadi...I might get a signature somehow.)
Once we all met up again, we went to Thunder Mountain. While we waited for the fast pass time for Splash Mountain, we headed across to Tom and Huck's island and did a little exporing in caves and forts. It was time to go to Splash Mountain and just as we were crossing back over the river we learned that all outdoor rides were closed temporarily as a lightening storm passed.
Ryan and Tom saw this as a good time to jet over to Epcot to do some returns and more shopping. Miriam, Cadi and I stayed and went to the Enchanted Tiki Room to stay out of the rain. When we got out, it was mostly cleared up. Miriam and Cadi rode Aladdin's Flying Carpets. I had just one more thing to buy so we did that shopping then went to get ice cream. As we continued waiting for the guys to get back, we watched Cinderella's Surprise. The guys still hadn't come back so we went to the Swiss Family Tree House. At that point, we decided to just get over to Splash Mountain still hoping to hear from the boys. Finally, the guys joined us and Tom and Miriam rode Splash Mountain while Cadi played and Ryan and I watched her and Esther.
Miriam was more interested in seeing Fantasmic at MGM Studios than seeing the SpectroMagic Parade and Fireworks at Magic Kingdom. So...we park hopped over.
I needed to exchange one thing and then we headed to Fantasmic. After the long wait to just get in (they were waiting for updates from weather...lightening means delayed or canceled show), we got seats then sent out the guys for food. Fortunately we had good weather there on out and we had another great show! (Though, we were baffled as to why the wicked witch didn't turn into a dragon this time? hmmm...don't know...oh well.)
But here is all the other stuff that threw in the roller coaster (besides the actual roller coasters we rode)...
We somehow, somewhere lost Acadia's Safari hat.:sad: And when we got home, Tom found a purchase he made was missing. It's kind of a big purchase, we're still hoping he finds it. I'm bummed about the hat, but not super bummed. I am really bummed about the autograph book. Fortunately we have video of every character meet she had in addition to the actual autographs! I love modern technology! Camcorders are really cool!
Tomorrow we go home! We are tired and ready to get back to our normal lives, but still...who ever wants to leave DisneyWorld?
Once again, here are all of the Florida Pictures.
As we were getting things together to go to Magic Kingdom, we realized that Acadia's autograph book was missing. The last time we remember seeing it was during ice cream with Mickey, Pluto, Chip, and Dale at Epcot. We checked the bags, apartment, and car, then we checked DisneyWorld's lost and found...no luck. :sad: They did say that since we had our address on it, if it gets turned in, they will mail it to us. Keep your fingers crossed. We had everyone's signature!!! I really hope we get it back!
Well, we moved on and started our day at Magic Kingdom. We lucked out and saw Cinderella so we got her autograph on the Cinderella book I forgot to get signed during breakfast last week.
Acadia and I went to Belle's Storytime and met Belle afterwards to have her sign her book. (We never got Sleeping Beauty's signature on her book, but shhh, don't tell Cadi...I might get a signature somehow.)
Once we all met up again, we went to Thunder Mountain. While we waited for the fast pass time for Splash Mountain, we headed across to Tom and Huck's island and did a little exporing in caves and forts. It was time to go to Splash Mountain and just as we were crossing back over the river we learned that all outdoor rides were closed temporarily as a lightening storm passed.
Ryan and Tom saw this as a good time to jet over to Epcot to do some returns and more shopping. Miriam, Cadi and I stayed and went to the Enchanted Tiki Room to stay out of the rain. When we got out, it was mostly cleared up. Miriam and Cadi rode Aladdin's Flying Carpets. I had just one more thing to buy so we did that shopping then went to get ice cream. As we continued waiting for the guys to get back, we watched Cinderella's Surprise. The guys still hadn't come back so we went to the Swiss Family Tree House. At that point, we decided to just get over to Splash Mountain still hoping to hear from the boys. Finally, the guys joined us and Tom and Miriam rode Splash Mountain while Cadi played and Ryan and I watched her and Esther.
Miriam was more interested in seeing Fantasmic at MGM Studios than seeing the SpectroMagic Parade and Fireworks at Magic Kingdom. So...we park hopped over.
I needed to exchange one thing and then we headed to Fantasmic. After the long wait to just get in (they were waiting for updates from weather...lightening means delayed or canceled show), we got seats then sent out the guys for food. Fortunately we had good weather there on out and we had another great show! (Though, we were baffled as to why the wicked witch didn't turn into a dragon this time? hmmm...don't know...oh well.)
But here is all the other stuff that threw in the roller coaster (besides the actual roller coasters we rode)...
We somehow, somewhere lost Acadia's Safari hat.:sad: And when we got home, Tom found a purchase he made was missing. It's kind of a big purchase, we're still hoping he finds it. I'm bummed about the hat, but not super bummed. I am really bummed about the autograph book. Fortunately we have video of every character meet she had in addition to the actual autographs! I love modern technology! Camcorders are really cool!
Tomorrow we go home! We are tired and ready to get back to our normal lives, but still...who ever wants to leave DisneyWorld?
Once again, here are all of the Florida Pictures.
Thursday, July 15, 2004
Day Seven
Was wet!
We went to Typhoon Lagoon today. It is one of DisneyWorld's water parks. As soon as we got there, Acadia and Miriam started playing in Ketchakiddee Creek (the children's play area). Acadia especially loved the little tube ride. While they were playing and Tom was caring for Esther, Ryan and I went on a water slide. It was fun and when we got back to the group, Ryan watched Acadia so Miriam and I could go on the slides.
Miriam and I met up with Ryan and Acadia at the kiddie water slides and we all stuck around the wave pool for a little while. The waves in this pool were HUGE!!! I've never seen a wave pool this big with waves this big! Acadia needed to use the little girl's room so we headed that way. On the way, we saw Chip and Dale in their swimsuits! We grabbed them for a quick photo and finished our mission.
We ate lunch and just as we were finishing, a lightening storm came up. The water attractions closed and everyone was instructed to stay under shelter. We were lucky that we were still at our table when this announcement was made so we had seats. About an hour later we were given the all clear and went back out to swim.
One of the attractions at Typhoon Lagoon is a place where you can swim with sharks. They had snorkeling equipment to borrow and a small pool with fish and sharks. We were instructed to slowly swim across without stopping or turning around. Just straight through. But it was still cool. We saw different kinds of sharks, including hammerheads. Supposedly there was an eel, but I didn't see it. It was such a short swim that we went again.
Afterwards, we all went on a raft ride. That was fun...and wet! We just wished it had been a little longer. The next thing we did was to jump in the lazy river. We grabbed tubes and just floated along. After one lap Miriam, Tom, and Esther got out but Ryan, Acadia and I stayed in for another lap. On the second lap, Ryan saw and caught a frog. He gave it to Acadia to hold and the good little thing just sat there in her hand and even let her pet it. Eventually, she put him back down in the water and he swam away, but we saw a bunch of kids go after him. I hope he made it alright!
That was it for me. My thieghs were rubbed completely raw at this point from the swimming shorts I had been wearing over my suit. So for the last couple of hours I just sat and dried off while everyone else kept on swimming.
When everyone was done and ready to go, we stopped by an ice cream shop and got sundaes. I got a regular sundae that ended up being way to huge for even me to finish! Ryan decided to try the "Garbage Pail" sundae which was served in a beach pail and with a shovel to eat with. Miriam helped him eat it and it was a good thing because the pail was filled and mounded up an additional 1/2 pail high! Trust me, it was huge!
All in all it was a great day! Ryan and Tom are taking the water cameras to a one hour photo to get developed. I've borrowed Esther's Balmex to use on my "swimsuit rash" and now I need to go sort laundry and get things cleaned up and gathered. It's hard to believe our trip is almost over. When we got here it felt like we had forever to see and do everything but now that we are down the last couple of days it seems the time just flew by!
Tomorrow is our last day in DisneyWorld! We better make the most of it then, right? Plus, Ryan and I have decided that since we have about 6 hours from the time we drop off the Hinds and Miriam til the time we go to the airport on Saturday, we are going to go to Sea World. We have free passes from our Discovery Cove trip (you get 7 days free when you go to Discovery Cove). So now we have one more thing to look forward to.
Here are all of the Florida Pictures.
We went to Typhoon Lagoon today. It is one of DisneyWorld's water parks. As soon as we got there, Acadia and Miriam started playing in Ketchakiddee Creek (the children's play area). Acadia especially loved the little tube ride. While they were playing and Tom was caring for Esther, Ryan and I went on a water slide. It was fun and when we got back to the group, Ryan watched Acadia so Miriam and I could go on the slides.
Miriam and I met up with Ryan and Acadia at the kiddie water slides and we all stuck around the wave pool for a little while. The waves in this pool were HUGE!!! I've never seen a wave pool this big with waves this big! Acadia needed to use the little girl's room so we headed that way. On the way, we saw Chip and Dale in their swimsuits! We grabbed them for a quick photo and finished our mission.
We ate lunch and just as we were finishing, a lightening storm came up. The water attractions closed and everyone was instructed to stay under shelter. We were lucky that we were still at our table when this announcement was made so we had seats. About an hour later we were given the all clear and went back out to swim.
One of the attractions at Typhoon Lagoon is a place where you can swim with sharks. They had snorkeling equipment to borrow and a small pool with fish and sharks. We were instructed to slowly swim across without stopping or turning around. Just straight through. But it was still cool. We saw different kinds of sharks, including hammerheads. Supposedly there was an eel, but I didn't see it. It was such a short swim that we went again.
Afterwards, we all went on a raft ride. That was fun...and wet! We just wished it had been a little longer. The next thing we did was to jump in the lazy river. We grabbed tubes and just floated along. After one lap Miriam, Tom, and Esther got out but Ryan, Acadia and I stayed in for another lap. On the second lap, Ryan saw and caught a frog. He gave it to Acadia to hold and the good little thing just sat there in her hand and even let her pet it. Eventually, she put him back down in the water and he swam away, but we saw a bunch of kids go after him. I hope he made it alright!
That was it for me. My thieghs were rubbed completely raw at this point from the swimming shorts I had been wearing over my suit. So for the last couple of hours I just sat and dried off while everyone else kept on swimming.
When everyone was done and ready to go, we stopped by an ice cream shop and got sundaes. I got a regular sundae that ended up being way to huge for even me to finish! Ryan decided to try the "Garbage Pail" sundae which was served in a beach pail and with a shovel to eat with. Miriam helped him eat it and it was a good thing because the pail was filled and mounded up an additional 1/2 pail high! Trust me, it was huge!
All in all it was a great day! Ryan and Tom are taking the water cameras to a one hour photo to get developed. I've borrowed Esther's Balmex to use on my "swimsuit rash" and now I need to go sort laundry and get things cleaned up and gathered. It's hard to believe our trip is almost over. When we got here it felt like we had forever to see and do everything but now that we are down the last couple of days it seems the time just flew by!
Tomorrow is our last day in DisneyWorld! We better make the most of it then, right? Plus, Ryan and I have decided that since we have about 6 hours from the time we drop off the Hinds and Miriam til the time we go to the airport on Saturday, we are going to go to Sea World. We have free passes from our Discovery Cove trip (you get 7 days free when you go to Discovery Cove). So now we have one more thing to look forward to.
Here are all of the Florida Pictures.
Wednesday, July 14, 2004
Day Six
Was educational! We spent our day in Epcot. There is just no way you can do all of Epcot in less than 2 full days!!! We didn't get to do everything we wanted, but we still had fun.
We first got fast passes for "Mission: Space" for everyone but me. It is a simulator and I knew I'd get sick. Then we went shopping while we waited. The first thing we learned was that Ryan sweats ALOT when he feels very ill and is about to throw up! But we also learned that when he took deep breaths and didn't really look at the screen, he managed not to "lose it". Acadia decided at the last minute not to ride this one so she got to play in the play area while we waited.
The next thing we learned was that "Test Track" runs out of fast passes as fast as it's ride goes! We got fast passes in the morning that weren't good until after 6 in the evening! (Most fast passes are about an hour or sometimes a couple hours later.) Turns out that when we returned in the evening, the ride was down so we ended up not getting to ride it at all.
Another thing we learned was that dolphins at Epcot's The Living Seas eat squid so that their trainers can monitor how much water they are getting everyday. Kind of like how we are supposed to drink 8 glasses a day, they give the dolphins so much squid a day because it is a good source of water for them. In the same exhibit, we learned that dolphins on the East coast respond to combs on glass the same way that dolphins on the West coast do. Very cool to have them come right up to us and give us all their attention!
As we had ice cream with Mickey Mouse in the Garden Grill, we learned that once Ryan gets queasy, he is pretty sensitive for the rest of the day. The restaurant rotates very slowly as you eat. Every now and then even that slight movement made his stomach uneasy. We also learned that Chip (of Chip and Dale) is a prankster! He caught Pluto and tied his tail in a knot!!! Poor Pluto! But later Tom told Chip that he liked that trick and it got Chip to spend extra time with us instead of going in to a break room when he was going to. Oh, and one more thing we learned...it does you no good to get all the characters to sign your souvenir cup if you leave it at the restaurant when you leave! Oops.
In Japan we learned that "tree" is (key) in Japanese. (I don't know the spelling, but this is how it sounds.) And fire is (he... as in "he and she"). We watched some drummers in Japan, they were cool. We did alot of shopping too...mostly window shopping because their prices were quite high!
When we had dinner in a castle in Norway, we learned that to say hello in Norwegian, you say "Hello". Again, I don't know if that's spelled right, but that's how it sounded. We also learned that thankyou is "Takk". We had a delicious all-you-can-eat dinner. We learned that all the people in the countries were "imported":lol:. Disney went to all these countries and interviewed lots of people, chose the ones they wanted, got them a work visa, and brought them here for one year to work in that country at Epcot. In Norway, they estimated there were 100 Norwegians hired.
We stayed for "Illuminations", the firework and laser show. That was cool. It wasn't nearly as spectacular as Fantasmic or even the fireworks at Magic Kingdom, but it was nice.
It was a fun day! Now I am tired and want to go to bed.
Oh, one more thing learned...Mom and Debi's e-mail addresses end in .com, not .org. :sad: And when you send a free 10 second e-postcard to the wrong e-mail address, the recipients don't receive it! :cry:
Here are all of the Florida Pictures.
We first got fast passes for "Mission: Space" for everyone but me. It is a simulator and I knew I'd get sick. Then we went shopping while we waited. The first thing we learned was that Ryan sweats ALOT when he feels very ill and is about to throw up! But we also learned that when he took deep breaths and didn't really look at the screen, he managed not to "lose it". Acadia decided at the last minute not to ride this one so she got to play in the play area while we waited.
The next thing we learned was that "Test Track" runs out of fast passes as fast as it's ride goes! We got fast passes in the morning that weren't good until after 6 in the evening! (Most fast passes are about an hour or sometimes a couple hours later.) Turns out that when we returned in the evening, the ride was down so we ended up not getting to ride it at all.
Another thing we learned was that dolphins at Epcot's The Living Seas eat squid so that their trainers can monitor how much water they are getting everyday. Kind of like how we are supposed to drink 8 glasses a day, they give the dolphins so much squid a day because it is a good source of water for them. In the same exhibit, we learned that dolphins on the East coast respond to combs on glass the same way that dolphins on the West coast do. Very cool to have them come right up to us and give us all their attention!
As we had ice cream with Mickey Mouse in the Garden Grill, we learned that once Ryan gets queasy, he is pretty sensitive for the rest of the day. The restaurant rotates very slowly as you eat. Every now and then even that slight movement made his stomach uneasy. We also learned that Chip (of Chip and Dale) is a prankster! He caught Pluto and tied his tail in a knot!!! Poor Pluto! But later Tom told Chip that he liked that trick and it got Chip to spend extra time with us instead of going in to a break room when he was going to. Oh, and one more thing we learned...it does you no good to get all the characters to sign your souvenir cup if you leave it at the restaurant when you leave! Oops.
In Japan we learned that "tree" is (key) in Japanese. (I don't know the spelling, but this is how it sounds.) And fire is (he... as in "he and she"). We watched some drummers in Japan, they were cool. We did alot of shopping too...mostly window shopping because their prices were quite high!
When we had dinner in a castle in Norway, we learned that to say hello in Norwegian, you say "Hello". Again, I don't know if that's spelled right, but that's how it sounded. We also learned that thankyou is "Takk". We had a delicious all-you-can-eat dinner. We learned that all the people in the countries were "imported":lol:. Disney went to all these countries and interviewed lots of people, chose the ones they wanted, got them a work visa, and brought them here for one year to work in that country at Epcot. In Norway, they estimated there were 100 Norwegians hired.
We stayed for "Illuminations", the firework and laser show. That was cool. It wasn't nearly as spectacular as Fantasmic or even the fireworks at Magic Kingdom, but it was nice.
It was a fun day! Now I am tired and want to go to bed.
Oh, one more thing learned...Mom and Debi's e-mail addresses end in .com, not .org. :sad: And when you send a free 10 second e-postcard to the wrong e-mail address, the recipients don't receive it! :cry:
Here are all of the Florida Pictures.
Tuesday, July 13, 2004
Day Five
Was a life-long dream come true!!!
Today was incredible!!! We arrived at Discovery Cove right about 8 am and checked in. I was assigned my swim time and location for the dolphins. They made photo ID's for each of us and set up an account so we could just add any purchases to our bill instead of carrying money or a wallet around. It was also used to organized photos taken of us while we were in the park. Then we had a little orientation of the park and were given bags with animal-safe sunscreen and snorkel gear. We were given our vests and assigned a locker to use throughout the day and quickly changed into our suits. We had just a few minutes before the dolphin swim so we swam around in a pool teaching Acadia how to snorkel.
Before we knew it, it was time! There was a little "instruction" first and then we were divided into small groups and taken down to the water to meet our dolphins.
The first dolphin I met was Sharky who is the dominent female at Discovery Cove. She is an Atlantic Bottlenose Dolphin, 27 and very sweet. She's pretty vocal too. We got to touch her a few times and gave her hand signals to do different behaviors. I even got to kiss her!
After Sharky went to the back, CJ came out. He is only 11 years old and weighs 450 lbs. He is a hybrid, a cross between Atlantic Bottlenose Dolphin and a Common Dolphin. We were able to give him hand signals too. One of the best parts however, was getting a ride from him. It was awesome!
Ryan and Acadia watched from the shore. Unfortunately, the age requirement for the dolphin swim is 6 years old. But hopefully we'll get to do this again someday and then Acadia will get to do it too.
After swimming with the dolphins, we went back to the pool to practice some more. Then we went down the "Lazy River" that runs around the park. Acadia did great "swimming" with the help of a life jacket. She did really well snorkeling too, but often opted not to. The river took about 1/2 hour, it was fun. There were even a couple of waterfalls to go under. Though we decided we didn't "love" those. The water falling was kind of hard. But we survived!
After we conquered the river, we went to the Sting Ray pool. It was awesome too! There was a huge reef-like pool with just tons of fish (even a puffer!) and several sting rays. There were some shallow parts and some deep parts and the fish and sting rays swam everywhere! There were also adjoining pools of sharks and baracudas that had glass windows allowing us to view them while we were swimming. It sometimes looked like we were all in the same pool! We were able to touch many sting rays and Acadia managed to touch a couple of fish too.
Next we took a break from swimming and went to the grill to eat. Lunch was included in our day. We each got to choose one entree (with side), salad, dessert, and drink. Ryan had a burger, Acadia had chicken strips, and I had fajitas. It was very good and extremely filling!
After lunch we went back out to the sting rays. After swimming for awhile with them, we had time to take a small trip on the river. We only went a short way then got out and visited the aviary. In the aviary, we fed some birds. That was cool. There were several different kinds. And then we had to hurry back to get ready to come home.
I was even amazed in the showers! They had dispensers with shampoo, conditioner, and soap!!! So we were able to take a real shower and get all the salt water off of us and out of our hair! It felt good to have our hair untangled and clean again.
Discovery Cove was expensive, but well worth it! It was the best birthday I've ever had!!! We all had a great time (although I think I got the best end of the deal!). It was a special experience that we all will remember and cherish. The dolphins were beautiful! And swimming with them was the highlight of my entire trip! They are amazing creatures and just being in the water with them is magical. I hope this isn't a "once in a lifetime" experience for me, but for now it might be. Like I said, this was a life long dream come true and today lived up to every expectation!
Pictures from Discovery Cove. Don't forget to check out the subalbums, where there are LOTS more pics!
Also, here are all of the Florida Pics.
Today was incredible!!! We arrived at Discovery Cove right about 8 am and checked in. I was assigned my swim time and location for the dolphins. They made photo ID's for each of us and set up an account so we could just add any purchases to our bill instead of carrying money or a wallet around. It was also used to organized photos taken of us while we were in the park. Then we had a little orientation of the park and were given bags with animal-safe sunscreen and snorkel gear. We were given our vests and assigned a locker to use throughout the day and quickly changed into our suits. We had just a few minutes before the dolphin swim so we swam around in a pool teaching Acadia how to snorkel.
Before we knew it, it was time! There was a little "instruction" first and then we were divided into small groups and taken down to the water to meet our dolphins.
The first dolphin I met was Sharky who is the dominent female at Discovery Cove. She is an Atlantic Bottlenose Dolphin, 27 and very sweet. She's pretty vocal too. We got to touch her a few times and gave her hand signals to do different behaviors. I even got to kiss her!
After Sharky went to the back, CJ came out. He is only 11 years old and weighs 450 lbs. He is a hybrid, a cross between Atlantic Bottlenose Dolphin and a Common Dolphin. We were able to give him hand signals too. One of the best parts however, was getting a ride from him. It was awesome!
Ryan and Acadia watched from the shore. Unfortunately, the age requirement for the dolphin swim is 6 years old. But hopefully we'll get to do this again someday and then Acadia will get to do it too.
After swimming with the dolphins, we went back to the pool to practice some more. Then we went down the "Lazy River" that runs around the park. Acadia did great "swimming" with the help of a life jacket. She did really well snorkeling too, but often opted not to. The river took about 1/2 hour, it was fun. There were even a couple of waterfalls to go under. Though we decided we didn't "love" those. The water falling was kind of hard. But we survived!
After we conquered the river, we went to the Sting Ray pool. It was awesome too! There was a huge reef-like pool with just tons of fish (even a puffer!) and several sting rays. There were some shallow parts and some deep parts and the fish and sting rays swam everywhere! There were also adjoining pools of sharks and baracudas that had glass windows allowing us to view them while we were swimming. It sometimes looked like we were all in the same pool! We were able to touch many sting rays and Acadia managed to touch a couple of fish too.
Next we took a break from swimming and went to the grill to eat. Lunch was included in our day. We each got to choose one entree (with side), salad, dessert, and drink. Ryan had a burger, Acadia had chicken strips, and I had fajitas. It was very good and extremely filling!
After lunch we went back out to the sting rays. After swimming for awhile with them, we had time to take a small trip on the river. We only went a short way then got out and visited the aviary. In the aviary, we fed some birds. That was cool. There were several different kinds. And then we had to hurry back to get ready to come home.
I was even amazed in the showers! They had dispensers with shampoo, conditioner, and soap!!! So we were able to take a real shower and get all the salt water off of us and out of our hair! It felt good to have our hair untangled and clean again.
Discovery Cove was expensive, but well worth it! It was the best birthday I've ever had!!! We all had a great time (although I think I got the best end of the deal!). It was a special experience that we all will remember and cherish. The dolphins were beautiful! And swimming with them was the highlight of my entire trip! They are amazing creatures and just being in the water with them is magical. I hope this isn't a "once in a lifetime" experience for me, but for now it might be. Like I said, this was a life long dream come true and today lived up to every expectation!
Pictures from Discovery Cove. Don't forget to check out the subalbums, where there are LOTS more pics!
Also, here are all of the Florida Pics.
Monday, July 12, 2004
Day Four
Was my Birthday!!! :grin:
We arrived at MGM Studios at opening time and took our (now) traditional photo at the front. The first thing we did was to see the Muppet 3-D movie. That was fun and it wasn't very crowded which was nice. Afterwards, we split up a bit. Acadia and I took Esther, who was asleep in her stroller and headed out to find characters to meet while Ryan, Ruth, and Tom went on Star Tours (a simulator which makes me sick) and watched the Indiana Jones Show (stunts and explosions - been there, done that).
Here is who we got to meet: Pooh, Eyore, Tigger, Piglet, Minnie (again), Mickey (again), Timon, Pluto, Goofy, Donald, Lilo, Stitch (again), Sully (Monster's Inc), Woody, Jessie, and Meeko (Pocahontas). We also so the green men (soldiers from Toy Story) but Acadia didn't want to "meet" them.
Afterwards, we met up with the gang and went on the Backlot Tour. Then we had lunch at an Italian Restaurant: Mama Melrose's. Ryan "suprised" me by telling the waiter (while he covered my ears with his hands so I "couldn't hear") that it was my birthday so after we ate, they brought out a piece of Tiramisu with a candle on it and sang "Happy Birthday". What a sweet surprise! :wink:
Next we saw the Beauty and the Beast Live Show. That was pretty good, basically the movie in a Reader's Digest version. Esther liked it too! After the show we did some shopping. We thought that Princesses might be out to meet, but then found out it was only Snow White (not that she isn't special or anything, we just expected more and we are looking for 3 specific ones to sign books I forgot to take to the Castle on Saturday) so we ditched that plan.
Instead Ruth and Esther saved us places in line at Playhouse Disney Live while Ryan, Tom, Acadia and I rode the Tower of Terror! Ryan and I had riden it before. Tom was excited, and Acadia was scared! We told her she didn't have to. (In fact, I didn't expect her to at all, but she said she wanted to.) I offered to sit out with her. But she was determined to try it. She was so brave!!! I think I would have backed out! She almost did and I again told her I'd sit out with her and wouldn't mind. But she decided to go forward and try it...once. I don't think she'll try it again. She didn't freak out, she didn't cry, but she didn't like it. We have learned she LOVES roller coasters...even with drops, but she doesn't like rides that are only drops...especially dark, scary, and very HIGH ones!
We quickly made our way to Ruth and Esther just in time to get inside the theater for Playhouse Disney which was very fun! Esther and Acadia both loved it! It is fun to see things that Esther can have fun doing. Acadia is loving all the rides (well, according to the previous paragraph...most of the rides) but poor Esther doesn't have as much to do on her level. So the music shows are great for her. Since Bear doens't make it out to the park to sign autographs, someone offered to take Acadia's autograph book backstage and get him to sign it back there for her while we waited outside. That was nice of them! :wink: (I might have to have something like that happen with those princess books! :lol:)
After the show, we shopped some more, got ice cream and made our way to Fantasmic. Okay, this is how awesome Fantasmic is. It starts at 9pm...at 7pm, there was a huge crowd waiting to get into the stadium. Keep in mind, once you're in, you stay in. They were all willing to wait for 2 hours on metal bleachers to watch a 25 minute program. And we were with them! We did it too. We took our dinner (yeah so we had dessert first!) and got our spot and stayed put for 2 hours. And was it worth it?
OH YEAH!!!
I have seen Fantasmic at Disneyland a couple of times and I really liked it, but I had either forgotten just how awesome it is or it's gotten even better. Really cool!!!
And that was our day at MGM.
We just got home a little bit ago and now Ryan and Tom are going to pick up Miriam from the airport and stop by Walmart for some restocking on various items. Including Mini-DV tapes for my camcorder. I have already filled up almost 5 hours of video!!! And we're only half way through our trip! Good stuff!
In the meantime...Happy Birthday to me!!! I've decided I'm pretending tomorrow is my birthday too since we're doing what I want to do for my birthday tomorrow...Discover Cove! And that means...swimming with dolphins!!!
:thumb:
Here are the Florida Pictures.
We arrived at MGM Studios at opening time and took our (now) traditional photo at the front. The first thing we did was to see the Muppet 3-D movie. That was fun and it wasn't very crowded which was nice. Afterwards, we split up a bit. Acadia and I took Esther, who was asleep in her stroller and headed out to find characters to meet while Ryan, Ruth, and Tom went on Star Tours (a simulator which makes me sick) and watched the Indiana Jones Show (stunts and explosions - been there, done that).
Here is who we got to meet: Pooh, Eyore, Tigger, Piglet, Minnie (again), Mickey (again), Timon, Pluto, Goofy, Donald, Lilo, Stitch (again), Sully (Monster's Inc), Woody, Jessie, and Meeko (Pocahontas). We also so the green men (soldiers from Toy Story) but Acadia didn't want to "meet" them.
Afterwards, we met up with the gang and went on the Backlot Tour. Then we had lunch at an Italian Restaurant: Mama Melrose's. Ryan "suprised" me by telling the waiter (while he covered my ears with his hands so I "couldn't hear") that it was my birthday so after we ate, they brought out a piece of Tiramisu with a candle on it and sang "Happy Birthday". What a sweet surprise! :wink:
Next we saw the Beauty and the Beast Live Show. That was pretty good, basically the movie in a Reader's Digest version. Esther liked it too! After the show we did some shopping. We thought that Princesses might be out to meet, but then found out it was only Snow White (not that she isn't special or anything, we just expected more and we are looking for 3 specific ones to sign books I forgot to take to the Castle on Saturday) so we ditched that plan.
Instead Ruth and Esther saved us places in line at Playhouse Disney Live while Ryan, Tom, Acadia and I rode the Tower of Terror! Ryan and I had riden it before. Tom was excited, and Acadia was scared! We told her she didn't have to. (In fact, I didn't expect her to at all, but she said she wanted to.) I offered to sit out with her. But she was determined to try it. She was so brave!!! I think I would have backed out! She almost did and I again told her I'd sit out with her and wouldn't mind. But she decided to go forward and try it...once. I don't think she'll try it again. She didn't freak out, she didn't cry, but she didn't like it. We have learned she LOVES roller coasters...even with drops, but she doesn't like rides that are only drops...especially dark, scary, and very HIGH ones!
We quickly made our way to Ruth and Esther just in time to get inside the theater for Playhouse Disney which was very fun! Esther and Acadia both loved it! It is fun to see things that Esther can have fun doing. Acadia is loving all the rides (well, according to the previous paragraph...most of the rides) but poor Esther doesn't have as much to do on her level. So the music shows are great for her. Since Bear doens't make it out to the park to sign autographs, someone offered to take Acadia's autograph book backstage and get him to sign it back there for her while we waited outside. That was nice of them! :wink: (I might have to have something like that happen with those princess books! :lol:)
After the show, we shopped some more, got ice cream and made our way to Fantasmic. Okay, this is how awesome Fantasmic is. It starts at 9pm...at 7pm, there was a huge crowd waiting to get into the stadium. Keep in mind, once you're in, you stay in. They were all willing to wait for 2 hours on metal bleachers to watch a 25 minute program. And we were with them! We did it too. We took our dinner (yeah so we had dessert first!) and got our spot and stayed put for 2 hours. And was it worth it?
OH YEAH!!!
I have seen Fantasmic at Disneyland a couple of times and I really liked it, but I had either forgotten just how awesome it is or it's gotten even better. Really cool!!!
And that was our day at MGM.
We just got home a little bit ago and now Ryan and Tom are going to pick up Miriam from the airport and stop by Walmart for some restocking on various items. Including Mini-DV tapes for my camcorder. I have already filled up almost 5 hours of video!!! And we're only half way through our trip! Good stuff!
In the meantime...Happy Birthday to me!!! I've decided I'm pretending tomorrow is my birthday too since we're doing what I want to do for my birthday tomorrow...Discover Cove! And that means...swimming with dolphins!!!
:thumb:
Here are the Florida Pictures.
Sunday, July 11, 2004
Day Three
Has been relaxing.
We slept in. :sleep: And that was really nice! When we got up, Ryan, Acadia and I watched Esther while Ruth and Tom had to go on a tour for the resort we are staying at. It's a time share and the only way we got the great deal we did was because they want to convince the Hinds to purchase one. That took longer than expected. So, we have ended up bumming around here instead of getting to a meeting house for church. We are watching the first Thunderstorm since we arrived here. It is impressive and we are glad we're not out in it! While the cooler air is nice, the torrential downpore is not as desirable. Not to mention the lightening strikes!
I've got a lasagna in the oven and later we'll have a spiritual discussion. I tried to use the computer room to get pictures on the internet, but the modems were out because they got struck by lightening. Maybe another day. I've gone through the video so far and grabbed some great pictures off of it, plus we've viewed the photos Ryan took with the camera and they are all great! YEAH!!!
:thumb:
We slept in. :sleep: And that was really nice! When we got up, Ryan, Acadia and I watched Esther while Ruth and Tom had to go on a tour for the resort we are staying at. It's a time share and the only way we got the great deal we did was because they want to convince the Hinds to purchase one. That took longer than expected. So, we have ended up bumming around here instead of getting to a meeting house for church. We are watching the first Thunderstorm since we arrived here. It is impressive and we are glad we're not out in it! While the cooler air is nice, the torrential downpore is not as desirable. Not to mention the lightening strikes!
I've got a lasagna in the oven and later we'll have a spiritual discussion. I tried to use the computer room to get pictures on the internet, but the modems were out because they got struck by lightening. Maybe another day. I've gone through the video so far and grabbed some great pictures off of it, plus we've viewed the photos Ryan took with the camera and they are all great! YEAH!!!
:thumb:
Saturday, July 10, 2004
Day Two
Was Magical!!!
First Ryan, Cadi, and I went to breakfast early at Cinderella's Castle in Magic Kingdom. WOW!!! OK, to start: the castle is so neat. We walked up a winding tower staircase complete with a stained glass window (picture of Cinderella of course). At the top was a beautiful room with more stained glass windows and a view of Magic Kingdom. No sooner had we sat down and started our juice, fruit, and muffins when Princesses started entering the room, one by one. The way it works is that you stay at your table and they come to you. Soon our breakfast arrived: sausage, bacon, eggs, a cheesy potatoe casserole, and a pastry with cream cheese filling and blueberry topping. As we ate a Princess would stop at our table, talk to Acadia personally, sign her autograph book, and take a picture. We saw Snow White, Aurora, Belle, Mary Poppins, and of course Cinderella. We heard Cinderella tell another family that they wanted to invite Ariel, but would have had to flood the castle and that would have soaked breakfast. The food was great and all you can eat!:lick: The Princesses were awesome. So beautiful, friendly, and princess-y! Oh, I forgot to mention that Acadia was dressed up as Cinderella so she got lots of comments like "You must be Cinderella's sister" or "Cinderella is going to love your dress". After we finished eating we went back down the staircase and found the Fairy Godmother at the bottom. She was meeting people there, signing books, and taking photos.
As we left the castle to meet Ruth, Tom, and Esther, Cadi was still dressed as Cinderella. She was treated so nicely by so many people! Everyone told her how pretty she was and called her either "Princess" or "Cinderella". It got to a point that Cadi turned to me and asked me if her name really was Acadia still!:lol: Some people actually took pictures of her! Someone asked us if we were in a commercial! It was fun. After we met up with the Hinds, Cadi changed back into her regular clothes and our day in Magic Kingdom began.
We wanted to get professional pictures together again because yesterday they turned out so great! So we did that first. Then we went to ToonTown to meet Mickey Mouse. We went through his house and then met him and of course took pictures and got his autograph. I have to say that Disney World has got this whole business down! They have you go through a tent on the way to meet him then as you leave the tent area the usher you into a room % s notice, but kids wouldn't notice the other closed doors in this area) and all of a sudden you are in a small room with only about 3 families in front of you! The door behind you closes and you can meet Mickey without feeling rushed while 4-6 other families are doing the same thing at the same time! SMART!
After meeting Mickey, we tried to see Minnie, but she wasn't home. Instead Acadia and I went on Barnstormer (a rollercoaster at Goofy's barn). Acadia LOVED the roller coaster so later in the day we kept going on bigger ones. There wasn't any that she didn't like! She went on Thunder Mountain, Space Mountain and Splash Mountain! She is a dare devil for sure!
Today we also made sure to see the parade, go on the Robinson Tree House, Pirates of the Carribean, see the Philharmagic 3-D film, the Winnie the Pooh ride, ride the "people mover", and visit Ariel in her Grotto. I might be forgetting something. At the end of the night Ryan and Acadia went on the Astro Orbiter while Ruth and I picked up our pictures that had been taken earlier in the day. Then I reserved us some spots to watch the fireworks while Ruth and Tom shopped.
The fireworks were even better from inside the park (like...duh!). There's a whole story and music that go with it. Plus there are lower fireworks you don't see from far away. And the castle is lit up differently at different times and that was really neat. It was a good move to stay and watch them, even though we were all at least a little sore and tired.
I almost forgot to mention that other characters Acadia got autographs and pictures with were: Robin Hood, Friar Tuck, Prince John, and Daisy. That is in addition to all the princesses, the fairy godmother and Mickey.
Tomorrow will be a more relaxing day. And now, I'm going to sign off!
Again, here are the Florida Pics.
First Ryan, Cadi, and I went to breakfast early at Cinderella's Castle in Magic Kingdom. WOW!!! OK, to start: the castle is so neat. We walked up a winding tower staircase complete with a stained glass window (picture of Cinderella of course). At the top was a beautiful room with more stained glass windows and a view of Magic Kingdom. No sooner had we sat down and started our juice, fruit, and muffins when Princesses started entering the room, one by one. The way it works is that you stay at your table and they come to you. Soon our breakfast arrived: sausage, bacon, eggs, a cheesy potatoe casserole, and a pastry with cream cheese filling and blueberry topping. As we ate a Princess would stop at our table, talk to Acadia personally, sign her autograph book, and take a picture. We saw Snow White, Aurora, Belle, Mary Poppins, and of course Cinderella. We heard Cinderella tell another family that they wanted to invite Ariel, but would have had to flood the castle and that would have soaked breakfast. The food was great and all you can eat!:lick: The Princesses were awesome. So beautiful, friendly, and princess-y! Oh, I forgot to mention that Acadia was dressed up as Cinderella so she got lots of comments like "You must be Cinderella's sister" or "Cinderella is going to love your dress". After we finished eating we went back down the staircase and found the Fairy Godmother at the bottom. She was meeting people there, signing books, and taking photos.
As we left the castle to meet Ruth, Tom, and Esther, Cadi was still dressed as Cinderella. She was treated so nicely by so many people! Everyone told her how pretty she was and called her either "Princess" or "Cinderella". It got to a point that Cadi turned to me and asked me if her name really was Acadia still!:lol: Some people actually took pictures of her! Someone asked us if we were in a commercial! It was fun. After we met up with the Hinds, Cadi changed back into her regular clothes and our day in Magic Kingdom began.
We wanted to get professional pictures together again because yesterday they turned out so great! So we did that first. Then we went to ToonTown to meet Mickey Mouse. We went through his house and then met him and of course took pictures and got his autograph. I have to say that Disney World has got this whole business down! They have you go through a tent on the way to meet him then as you leave the tent area the usher you into a room % s notice, but kids wouldn't notice the other closed doors in this area) and all of a sudden you are in a small room with only about 3 families in front of you! The door behind you closes and you can meet Mickey without feeling rushed while 4-6 other families are doing the same thing at the same time! SMART!
After meeting Mickey, we tried to see Minnie, but she wasn't home. Instead Acadia and I went on Barnstormer (a rollercoaster at Goofy's barn). Acadia LOVED the roller coaster so later in the day we kept going on bigger ones. There wasn't any that she didn't like! She went on Thunder Mountain, Space Mountain and Splash Mountain! She is a dare devil for sure!
Today we also made sure to see the parade, go on the Robinson Tree House, Pirates of the Carribean, see the Philharmagic 3-D film, the Winnie the Pooh ride, ride the "people mover", and visit Ariel in her Grotto. I might be forgetting something. At the end of the night Ryan and Acadia went on the Astro Orbiter while Ruth and I picked up our pictures that had been taken earlier in the day. Then I reserved us some spots to watch the fireworks while Ruth and Tom shopped.
The fireworks were even better from inside the park (like...duh!). There's a whole story and music that go with it. Plus there are lower fireworks you don't see from far away. And the castle is lit up differently at different times and that was really neat. It was a good move to stay and watch them, even though we were all at least a little sore and tired.
I almost forgot to mention that other characters Acadia got autographs and pictures with were: Robin Hood, Friar Tuck, Prince John, and Daisy. That is in addition to all the princesses, the fairy godmother and Mickey.
Tomorrow will be a more relaxing day. And now, I'm going to sign off!
Again, here are the Florida Pics.
Friday, July 9, 2004
Day One
Was AWESOME!!! Here are some highlights of the day...
We started out at Animal Kingdom. That was just neat! Totally and completely neat! We loved the Kilimanjaro Safari Ride! It was fun, funny, and saw lots of animals! We also really enjoyed the River Rapids Ride. The water was refreshing since it is QUITE humid and warm here! We drank tons of water and used a myster fan, but still felt sticky and uncomfortable. But, it is a small price to pay and we still managed to thoroughly enjoy our day. We met lots of characters. Acadia got autographs and photos with: Raffiki, Baloo Bear (King Louie was there, but doesn't sign autographs just takes photos), STITCH :thumb:, Chip and Dale, and Minnie Mouse. We saw tons others that either weren't "meeting" people at the time or we didn't have the time to stop. There will be more tomorrow.
We stayed at Animal Kingdom until after the afternoon parade. Then we "hopped" over to Magic Kingdom. We arrived just in time for Cinderella's Surprise Celebration at her castle so we watched that. I hesitated to admit that when Cinderella came on stage, I got choked up. And then when Belle came out I did again! But Ruth admitted that she did when Mickey came out, so at least I wasn't alone! :wink: After that we headed to the Haunted Mansion. Ruth and the kids sat that one out. Then we went to the Carousell and Peter Pan. We finished in time to stake out a spot for the SpectroMagic Light Parade then strategically planned to leave the park and have a spot on the ferry going back to the parking lot in time to see the fireworks from the lagoon. We had to stay on the ferry for an extra round trip to make it work, but we were glad we did.
We LOVE the Fast Pass system they have here. It makes seeing the favorite attractions so much quicker!
Everything is just bigger than life here. The sights, sounds, smells! It is awesome and we are having a wonderful time!
Basically the only down point today is my feet HURT!!! But by morning they will be fine and we start all over again! Tomorrow is breakfast with Cinderella in her castle! :smile:
I'll try to post again soon!
Here are all of the pictures from our trip - just use the subalbums to navigate through the days and events: Florida Pics
We started out at Animal Kingdom. That was just neat! Totally and completely neat! We loved the Kilimanjaro Safari Ride! It was fun, funny, and saw lots of animals! We also really enjoyed the River Rapids Ride. The water was refreshing since it is QUITE humid and warm here! We drank tons of water and used a myster fan, but still felt sticky and uncomfortable. But, it is a small price to pay and we still managed to thoroughly enjoy our day. We met lots of characters. Acadia got autographs and photos with: Raffiki, Baloo Bear (King Louie was there, but doesn't sign autographs just takes photos), STITCH :thumb:, Chip and Dale, and Minnie Mouse. We saw tons others that either weren't "meeting" people at the time or we didn't have the time to stop. There will be more tomorrow.
We stayed at Animal Kingdom until after the afternoon parade. Then we "hopped" over to Magic Kingdom. We arrived just in time for Cinderella's Surprise Celebration at her castle so we watched that. I hesitated to admit that when Cinderella came on stage, I got choked up. And then when Belle came out I did again! But Ruth admitted that she did when Mickey came out, so at least I wasn't alone! :wink: After that we headed to the Haunted Mansion. Ruth and the kids sat that one out. Then we went to the Carousell and Peter Pan. We finished in time to stake out a spot for the SpectroMagic Light Parade then strategically planned to leave the park and have a spot on the ferry going back to the parking lot in time to see the fireworks from the lagoon. We had to stay on the ferry for an extra round trip to make it work, but we were glad we did.
We LOVE the Fast Pass system they have here. It makes seeing the favorite attractions so much quicker!
Everything is just bigger than life here. The sights, sounds, smells! It is awesome and we are having a wonderful time!
Basically the only down point today is my feet HURT!!! But by morning they will be fine and we start all over again! Tomorrow is breakfast with Cinderella in her castle! :smile:
I'll try to post again soon!
Here are all of the pictures from our trip - just use the subalbums to navigate through the days and events: Florida Pics
Wednesday, July 7, 2004
We're leaving on a jet plane...
:tunes:
Fortunately we do know when we'll be back again!
Today is crazy busy! But it has been eased a little by Acadia's playdate at a neighbors house. We are scrambling to get everything together and ready to leave tomorrow morning.
While we will have access to computers, I do not know how realistic it will be to actually post much while we are there. I will do what I can, so check in now and then.
1 day until....DisneyWorld!!!
Fortunately we do know when we'll be back again!
Today is crazy busy! But it has been eased a little by Acadia's playdate at a neighbors house. We are scrambling to get everything together and ready to leave tomorrow morning.
While we will have access to computers, I do not know how realistic it will be to actually post much while we are there. I will do what I can, so check in now and then.
1 day until....DisneyWorld!!!
Tuesday, July 6, 2004
Tuesday
Today was a work day. Just getting everything ready for our trip. Tonight I finished my cardfronts to have swapped at the Stampin' Up! convention. I originally had planned on having 300 to swap but now that I'm not actually going, I just finished the ones that I had started and I have just under 100. It will still get me lots of swaps with lots of new ideas. :thumb:
Acadia and Debi went to the zoo though. They had fun, but Acadia got blisters from wearing bad walking shoes. Hopefully they heal soon. And thankfully they are in places that won't be bothered by her sneakers.
2 Days Left!
Acadia and Debi went to the zoo though. They had fun, but Acadia got blisters from wearing bad walking shoes. Hopefully they heal soon. And thankfully they are in places that won't be bothered by her sneakers.
2 Days Left!
Monday, July 5, 2004
Pictures from the Fourth
We had lots of fun last night at Mary Jane and Matthew's house!!! Kris, Adam, and Alisha were there too. Plus Mary Jane and Matthew's parents and some neighbors. We had BBQ with some great side salads for dinner. Then we got our tails kicked at a game of Phase 10 by Mary Jane's mom. As it started to get dark, a bunch of us went down to a park to play. Acadia played with Sam and Victoria (Victoria is one of Matthew's kids) on the playground. The rest of us played soccer. The team I was on won, not due at all or in part because of me! But it was fun. Then we headed back up to the house for fireworks!
To see pictures, click here.
This was the first year that Acadia really enjoyed the fireworks. Even last year she was frightened by the noise...she didn't even like the sparklers last year. But this year she proved she is definitely over it!!! She danced around with the sparklers and wasn't phased at all by all the loud noises and huge fireworks. She kept saying that they remind her of the pictures of Cinderella's Castle.
And that brings me to my next item of business...
3 Days Left!!!
To see pictures, click here.
This was the first year that Acadia really enjoyed the fireworks. Even last year she was frightened by the noise...she didn't even like the sparklers last year. But this year she proved she is definitely over it!!! She danced around with the sparklers and wasn't phased at all by all the loud noises and huge fireworks. She kept saying that they remind her of the pictures of Cinderella's Castle.
And that brings me to my next item of business...
3 Days Left!!!
Sunday, July 4, 2004
Happy Inpendance Day!
Today I feel especially grateful for the freedoms and liberties I've been given. I am grateful to the many men and women who have sacrificed so much, even their lives to ensure that we live in a free and safe country. I am grateful to my Savior who suffered and died to free me from my sins.
As you celebrate today think about what you are celebrating and all those who made it possible.
One of my favorite songs is called "What Did He Die For?" and I would like to share the words with you. It is written by a Christian artist named Twila Paris but sung and recorded by Hilary Weeks on her "I Will Not Forget" album.
"What Did He Die For?"
He was 21 in 1944
He was hope and he was courage on a lonely shore
Sent there by a mother, with love beyond her tears
Just a young American, who chose to rise abouve his fears
And as I watch him struggle up that hill
Without a thought of turning back
I cannot help but wonder...
What did he die for
When he died for you and me?
Made the sacrifice
So that we could all be free
I believe we will answer each to heaven
For the way we spend a priceless liberty
Look inside and ask the question:
What did he die for
When he died for me?
To the darkest day in A.D. 33
Came the mercy and compasion of eternity
Sent there by a Father, with love beyond His tears
Blameless One, the Only Son, to bear the guilt of all these years
And as I watch Him struggle up that hill
Without a thought of turning back
I cannot help but wonder...
What did He die for
When He died for you and me?
Made the sacrifice
So that we could all be free
I believe we will answer each to heaven
For the way we spend a priceless liberty
Look inside and ask the question:
What did He die for?
He died for freedom
He died for love
And all the things we do to pay Him back
Will never be enough!
What did He die for
When He died for you and me?
Made the sacrifice
So that we could all be free
I believe we will answer each to heaven
For the way we spend a priceless liberty
Look inside and ask the question:
What did He die for, when He died for me?
Also today: Happy Birthday to my best friend, Heather!
And you don't think I forgot, do you?!? ... Only 4 more days left!!!
As you celebrate today think about what you are celebrating and all those who made it possible.
One of my favorite songs is called "What Did He Die For?" and I would like to share the words with you. It is written by a Christian artist named Twila Paris but sung and recorded by Hilary Weeks on her "I Will Not Forget" album.
"What Did He Die For?"
He was 21 in 1944
He was hope and he was courage on a lonely shore
Sent there by a mother, with love beyond her tears
Just a young American, who chose to rise abouve his fears
And as I watch him struggle up that hill
Without a thought of turning back
I cannot help but wonder...
What did he die for
When he died for you and me?
Made the sacrifice
So that we could all be free
I believe we will answer each to heaven
For the way we spend a priceless liberty
Look inside and ask the question:
What did he die for
When he died for me?
To the darkest day in A.D. 33
Came the mercy and compasion of eternity
Sent there by a Father, with love beyond His tears
Blameless One, the Only Son, to bear the guilt of all these years
And as I watch Him struggle up that hill
Without a thought of turning back
I cannot help but wonder...
What did He die for
When He died for you and me?
Made the sacrifice
So that we could all be free
I believe we will answer each to heaven
For the way we spend a priceless liberty
Look inside and ask the question:
What did He die for?
He died for freedom
He died for love
And all the things we do to pay Him back
Will never be enough!
What did He die for
When He died for you and me?
Made the sacrifice
So that we could all be free
I believe we will answer each to heaven
For the way we spend a priceless liberty
Look inside and ask the question:
What did He die for, when He died for me?
Also today: Happy Birthday to my best friend, Heather!
And you don't think I forgot, do you?!? ... Only 4 more days left!!!
Saturday, July 3, 2004
A change in plans...
As I posted this morning, we had decided to purchase a Sony Mini Dv DCR-HC30 Digital Camcorder today. When I got to Sears however, I found that they had the original camcorder we had been looking for but had been told was no longer available. It was on sale PLUS the floor model was all they had left which was another 10% off. And to top it off, we had just been handed a 5% off coupon to use in the electronics department. So today I bought a Sony DCR-TRV33 HandyCam Mini DV Digital Camera.
The TRV33 is the same camcorder that Ryan's mom has which we really like. It has more megapixels than the one we were about to buy, plus it uses the same memory stick as our digital camera. Good bonus for us!:thumb: Since it was the last one available and we had an additional coupon, it ended up costing us less than the DCR-HC30. The only downside of this camcorder is that the DCR-HC30 is slimmer. But the TRV33 is much smaller than our old camcorder and the other features are better. So we are happy!
Now I need to go "charge my batteries".:lol:
The TRV33 is the same camcorder that Ryan's mom has which we really like. It has more megapixels than the one we were about to buy, plus it uses the same memory stick as our digital camera. Good bonus for us!:thumb: Since it was the last one available and we had an additional coupon, it ended up costing us less than the DCR-HC30. The only downside of this camcorder is that the DCR-HC30 is slimmer. But the TRV33 is much smaller than our old camcorder and the other features are better. So we are happy!
Now I need to go "charge my batteries".:lol:
Shop til you drop!
Yesterday I spent most of the day shopping for a new Digital Camcorder. I drug Debi and Acadia with me to a couple of stores then spent the rest of my day on-line or on the phone getting more info and finding out where the best price is.
We've decided on a Sony Mini DV DCRHC 30. We knew we wanted a Mini DV as opposed to Hi 8 or even DVD because with the Mini DV, you can not only take digital video and digital pictures with the camcorder. You can also take pictures from the video you take after you've taken it. It's a super cool feature that not all of the camcorders have. Plus, Sony has great low-light recording. (Which will be wonderful when we are at the Disney parks late watching fireworks or the Parade of Lights!!!)
So, now that I've done all my research, today I will go buy it! I'm gonna be "bad" and run down to Portland to get it tax free! :naughty: I am so excited about this purchase! This year for our "Christmas Video" we will still have VHS tapes because we've already recorded so much on our camcorder. But next year we will be mailing out DVD's!
Yesterday I didn't post so I missed another countdown day! So, here we stand now...5 days left!!!
We've decided on a Sony Mini DV DCRHC 30. We knew we wanted a Mini DV as opposed to Hi 8 or even DVD because with the Mini DV, you can not only take digital video and digital pictures with the camcorder. You can also take pictures from the video you take after you've taken it. It's a super cool feature that not all of the camcorders have. Plus, Sony has great low-light recording. (Which will be wonderful when we are at the Disney parks late watching fireworks or the Parade of Lights!!!)
So, now that I've done all my research, today I will go buy it! I'm gonna be "bad" and run down to Portland to get it tax free! :naughty: I am so excited about this purchase! This year for our "Christmas Video" we will still have VHS tapes because we've already recorded so much on our camcorder. But next year we will be mailing out DVD's!
Yesterday I didn't post so I missed another countdown day! So, here we stand now...5 days left!!!
Thursday, July 1, 2004
One week left
until DisneyWorld!!! And I have soooooo much to do!
Believe me, I'm sure there's more. But that's enough for now and I don't want to think about all that anymore! It's making me stressed out and very tired!
I did my 3 miles again today! FYI: Moleskin is GREAT!!! Note to Ruth, Tom, and Miriam: GET MOLESKIN for the trip!!! It works great on blisters.
So today my to do list includes the shopping for groceries, some of the cleaning and laundry, paying bills, and ENRICHMENT. It isn't going to be a very "fun" day, but hopefully somewhat productive.
7 Days Left!!!
- Go shopping for both regular groceries AND a bunch of stuff for the trip
- Figure out what to get my Dad for his birthday (tomorrow) that I can send over the internet so he gets it in time!
- Cook meals for leftovers for Debi. But not too much cause she hasn't been eating alot and I already bought her a bunch of frozen meals.
- Clean the house.
- DO LAUNDRY
- PACK
- Finish making card fronts for Ruth to swap for me at Stampin' Up!'s Convention
- Find out where to go and then go exchange Yen to use for spending money.
- Get Traveler's Checks from the credit union
- Research and buy a new DVD Camcorder
- Find out what is wrong with the memory stick for my Digital Camera and get it replaced/fixed.
- But a disposable underwater camera for when I SWIM WITH THE DOLPHINS!!!:grin:
- Confirm all of our reservations
- Pay Bills
- Get stamps to use while in DisneyWorld to send post cards out.
- Finish writing up my notes, tips, and a list of things we want to make sure to do for each of the parks we'll be visiting.
- Mail out Landon's "sword" to him. lol
- Tonight I need to make it through Enrichment.
- Get ready for our Enrichment Committee planning meeting next week.
- Go visiting teaching
- Seal the grout in the bathroom
- Make sure Ryan fixes leaky pipes in the bathroom.
Believe me, I'm sure there's more. But that's enough for now and I don't want to think about all that anymore! It's making me stressed out and very tired!
I did my 3 miles again today! FYI: Moleskin is GREAT!!! Note to Ruth, Tom, and Miriam: GET MOLESKIN for the trip!!! It works great on blisters.
So today my to do list includes the shopping for groceries, some of the cleaning and laundry, paying bills, and ENRICHMENT. It isn't going to be a very "fun" day, but hopefully somewhat productive.
7 Days Left!!!
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