Spring Break in Orlando

One of my good friends, Beth, invited the boys and me to join her for Spring Break in Orlando. I did not want to take the boys to Disney World without Brett so we went to Sea World instead.

The boys attached themselves to Beth's daughter Tia and her friend Allison as much as they could. The girls were such good sports about it and had a great attitude towards my boys the whole week.

Todd and I referred to the park map often and tried to fit as much as we could into our time there. We visited Sea World twice during the week, and would have enjoyed a third visit.

One of the reasons I would have enjoyed a third visit is to catch all of the shows. I was so impressed with each of the shows we watched. I think the boys also appreciated the chance to give their feet a rest while we sat and were entertained.

I loved the dolphin show (on the right). It was fantastic! Live birds flying overhead, high divers, acrobatics, trainers riding the dolphins. . . Wow!

I'm not sure which show the boys enjoyed the most, but I know they got a kick out of the sea lion pirate show which was quite silly and fun.

We saw the Shamu show our first evening at Sea World, and the weather had not quite warmed up like it would be the rest of the week. The sun was going down and it was windy under the shelter. Ryan, silly and snuggly boy that he is, decided to warm up by sharing my sweatshirt with me. It is not an over-sized sweatshirt, but somehow we managed to fit the two of us inside it.

That was Ryan covering his own face in the photo above. You may notice that he was not always very cooperative when it came to me taking photos of him this week.

Todd turned out to be quite adventuresome when it came to the rides. Ryan, not so much. Todd loved the little roller coaster, Shamu Express. Ryan agreed to try it, and was in a good mood when we were in line (left photo). By the time we were sitting in the roller coaster Ryan was starting to rethink it. In the photo on the right he demonstrates how he feels about it before we got started.

As it turns out, Ryan freaked out during the ride. I put my arm around him and kept repeating, "You're safe. It's almost over." Thankfully, the ride was short. However, Ryan had no plans to go again. I couldn't wait to go with Todd a second time because I was so busy trying to comfort Ryan that I didn't get to enjoy it the first time.

Although Ryan didn't enjoy the little roller coaster, he loved these two rides: Jazzy Jellies and Ocean Commotion. We rode those a few times. Todd was having so much fun with the rides that he insisted on going solo whenever he had the chance.

The boys thought this Shamu car was so cool. I thought the mermaid character riding the dolphin was cool.

Beth and the girls spoiled the boys throughout the trip including buying them Dippin' Dots in a Shamu bowl that they got to keep.

I also introduced Beth and the girls to the penny press machines that were all around the park. After they saw the boys use the machine they were hooked. They brought back pennies for the boys from the Disney parks and even gave them a keepsake book to store their pennies. The boys loved that!

Todd lost a tooth on our second visit to Sea World. We were waiting in line for Ocean Commotion when Todd called my attention to how loose it had become. It had started bleeding a little, and next thing you know he popped it out. I think the lady next to us in line was a little freaked out at first, until she realized what had happened. She was very helpful and gave me a tissue to clean his face and another to save the tooth in, since I had found myself unprepared for this.

While Beth and the girls went to the Disney parks the boys and I stuck around the condo. It was a very nice resort with plenty to do.

We hit the playground, the pool, the paddle boat, and Todd's favorite . . .

Mini golf!

The mini golf course was a short walk from our unit and we didn't have to pay anything for it. It was quite a nice little dinosaur-themed course, and I think Todd would have played four times a day if he had the chance.

We also got to try the swan paddle boats with Beth and the girls before we left.

Beth and I had a nice visit to the temple in Orlando on Friday morning.

And, although we didn't hit the parks, we did make it to Downtown Disney while we were there.

These glasses may look cool in a photo (or not), but I can't imagine wearing them for more than a minute or two.

The highlight of Downtown Disney . . . the LEGO store! I let the boys get a small container to buy pick-a-brick Lego's from the wall. Todd and I took that very seriously and we crammed as many little pieces into that container as we possibly could. Todd said he planned to build a car with the Lego's he selected. They played with the Lego's outside and built vehicles to race on the ramp.

They also had fun just looking at the displays--both little and big--inside and outside of the store.

All in all, we had a great time. Thanks, Beth, for letting us tag along with you for a fun vacation.

Traveling Sand

After more than two years, I am still amazed by how much sand Todd brings home in his shoes. I would not be surprised if he brings home a quarter cup of sand each day. That's a lot of sand! It used to end up in little piles in my house. Occasionally it still does, though time and again I have reminded my boys that they must take their shoes off outside.

At least I know he is playing and having a good time at recess.

Fast! Go, Joe!

In the moments before I fall asleep I often pester Brett with some of the most random thoughts. A few nights ago, after getting up to put medicated chest rub on my coughing son I came back and asked Brett:

Me: Do you know what I love? . . . Fast Orange (which I sometimes refer to as "Agent Orange"). It is so great for cleaning hands. It worked great getting that slimy lotion off. Do you think the average Joe knows about Fast Orange?
Brett: I don't know.
Me: When did you discover Fast Orange?
Brett: Like when I was 14.
Me: I mean, it's great for washing your hands after gardening, and getting greasy things off . . .
Brett: Well, that's what it's marketed for. But Fast Orange isn't the only stuff out there.

By now I have started drifting back to sleep and am already in a car with my driver. Suddenly the driver hears someone call out, "Go, Joe!" He quickly opens the car door and rolls out in a very James-Bond-like maneuver.

Brett: GoJo.
Me: Huh?
Brett: GoJo. That's another big name.
Me: Weird.

Half-asleep or not, I love Fast Orange and am thankful to my husband for introducing it to me.

Windy Church Bells

A couple of months ago Brett completed one of his just-for-fun projects--a big wind chime. It may not look like much, but it really does have a deep, beautiful (and loud) sound. Shortly after Brett hung it up Donna and I were talking in the backyard. She stopped and asked, "Are those the church bells I hear?" I was happy to introduce her to the source of the sound, and have often since thought that they do sound like church bells.

We had a fairly windy winter and early spring, and even with the doors closed you could often hear the chimes ringing. I am a little sorry that now that the weather has warmed up and we have been able to keep the doors open all day, the wind has died down a bit and I hear the chimes less often. Not only do I hope for a little wind to keep the temperature in check, but I hope to continue hearing the music.

Thank you Brett for this surprise project which I have enjoyed more than I thought I would.

Snowshoe 2010

It's the moment you've all been waiting for--the report on our ski trip in February...
I am happy to report that we had no car troubles, no injuries, no pneumonia, and we made it safely through the blizzard on our drive home.
In addition to that, we had a great time!


Winter landscapes are so beautiful.

We skied for five days, and each day was a different skiing experience. Rainy and cool, Foggy and cool, clear and cold, and freezing cold blizzards. (Those are two cold noses on the right!)

Our best day of skiing was on Wednesday. At the beginning of the week I was still "warming up" and gaining confidence. It was foggy and sprinkling rain, and the snow wasn't the best. On Wednesday the conditions were really good. I was able to go back and conquer the black diamond that had gotten the best of me the day before (meaning I fell without injury--but still, I hate falls of any kind. I find it humiliating.)
[It may not look it, but this was a relatively steep black diamond I was so proud of skiing successfully.]

Although Brett pushed me to try some of the more difficult slopes, I still loved skiing some of the slower green slopes. Snowshoe has two trails that start at opposite ends of the mountain top and cross half-way down the mountain, ending at opposite ends at the bottom, essentially making an "x" as you look at the trail map. They are a little more narrow, and are often not too crowded. I find it so peaceful going down those trails when there are few skiers around.

Brett finds them boring, so we would often split up and meet at the bottom to go up one of the chair lifts together.

It worked out quite well that way. Sometimes we would ski a slope together, sometimes we would split up, but it was always nice being able to chat together on the lifts, enjoying each other's company.

We were on the slopes when they opened at 9:00 AM and were there when they closed at 4:30 PM, though we always came home for a lunch break. We also went night skiing a few times. We didn't make it the first night, because it was raining and after just one day of skiing we were already exhausted. (Advil was my friend that week!)

Like I said above, our best skiing was on Wednesday. On Thursday a storm started coming in, and the snow was a little more difficult to ski in. I was glad that we were able to get a few hours of skiing in on Friday before we left. It had snowed all night, and was still coming down in the morning. My calves felt bruised from all the skiing we had done. But Friday ended up being so much fun. The snow was so thick that you didn't pick up any speed. You couldn't see your skis as you went down, and often the snow was up to your knees.

It was the only time when falling wasn't humiliating. Instead, it was outright funny. We would be plowing through, come to a deep patch of snow, stop, and just fall over. [Funny for us, because we didn't attempt to ski the blue or black slopes that day. There were some who did sustain injuries from falls that day, which is never funny.] It was a perfect, easy day to end on.

There had been some snow on our balcony when we arrived, but by Friday morning it was covered.

Although we had a great day skiing on Friday morning, the conditions made us a little nervous on the ride home. A tractor trailer had jack-knifed on the road we were trying to get down on. It caused some delay, but were were able to make it down okay. There were a few times when we slid a bit, and I prayed hard more than once that we would be okay. When we finally made it through the worst of the weather and were safely in North Carolina I was able to offer a sincere prayer of gratitude for our safety. Skiing in the blizzard was fun for us--driving in the snow was not.

We spent many hours driving there and back. As usual, Brett and I were good travel buddies. We both agree that listening to NPR's Car Talk is a great way to pass the time. Click and Clack crack me up. I love their humor. I never thought I would enjoy listening to a public radio program about cars, but it's true. I love it.

I had hoped to spend a little time browsing the shops in the mountaintop village, but when we weren't skiing we were resting and warming up in the condo. So, instead of bringing home souvenirs for the boys (or anyone else), we filled our cooler up with snow and had a snowball fight with the boys in the driveway at home. So fun!

So, we made it safe and sound.

Thank you to all those who made this trip possible. I feel blessed that I am able to leave my children (and dog) at home under the loving care of my sister, sister-in-law, and for the most part with my in-laws. I never worried a moment about them, knowing that they were having a great time with their other family members having a vacation of their own.