Vacation 2011 - Resort

We stayed at the POP Century Resort at Disney.
We knew going in that it was a value resort and being prepared for that - we were happy.

The staff was amazing - very upbeat and at times, VERY helpful (sorry, not sure why my son left his refillable mug at the restaurant yesterday and yes, my husband left his at the bus stop today - ohhh, Mickey returned them for us?? AWESOME!). . .
The buses ran directly from our resort to the parts without any other stops (which is why I picked it).
The food was good. . .Especially the ice cream station.

The pool was fun - shaped like a bowling pin (just like the stairs).
The monster rubics cube was interesting too.

Namaste.

Vacation 2011 - Magic Kingdom

I expected a quick in and out here.
Definitely wanted to see the fireworks, maybe the extended hours to ride rides at 2am.
I missed on this one too!

I think we all LOVED Space Mountain (rode it twice - love the Fast-passes). . .
Peter Pan was kewl too (heck any ride you hang and you fly is great).
But - we ran out of energy and never made it back to see the fireworks or stay late at night. If I had one disappointment, it was that I didn't head out on my own to see those fireworks and maybe ride Space Mountain one more time!

Namaste.

Vacation 2011 - Hollywood Studios

My planning / research for this vacation was pretty far off!
I thought that Hollywood Studios only needed a half day and wouldn't be a favorite of ours.
Wrong.
We all enjoyed this park and probably could have spent more time there.

The food was awesome. . .Rosa's American Dinner was one of our favorites of the trip.
The stunt show was great. The rides were good (according to my family, not me).
I had no desire to ride some of the rides (Tower of Terror? REALLY???) so I walked around with my camera (people watching - you wore that in public, really???) while they rode rides. . . Namaste.

Vacation 2011 - Animal Kingdom

Animal Kingdom was the other place that I thought we may need two days.
My kids love animals.
A lot.
Have I mentioned how much they like animals, except cows?

I don't know if it was the heat that day or what, but we left after a half day.
We had no desire to go back. . .

The shopping did come in handy (Hey honey - you may want to pack your belt next time!).
I did enjoy the safari and so did my camera. . .
Namaste.

Vacation 2011 - EPCOT

In planning this vacation, I thought that EPCOT would be a favorite of our family.
I wrong!
I disappointed!

EPCOT has a very adult section - the World Showcase and a very kiddy section - everything else.

I expected innovation, technology and lots of interesting, educational fun.
Nope.

There are a few rides worth trying. . .Soarin' and Test Track come to mind. . .
Getting someone else to try Beverly at Club Cool is a kodak moment (NOTE: An Exchange Student from that country said that they do NOT drink that there ). . .The Henna Tattoos were a hit. . .

I think that a half day would have been enough to check EPCOT off my kids' list. . .

Namaste.

Vacation 2011 - Walt Disney World

2011 found us with a trip to Walt Disney World.
This was the first time that both of the kids had been in the air, so it was a pretty big deal!

Probably the biggest part of the trip (at least the thing contributing the most to a biggening of our waist bands) was all of the desserts.

We ended up eating at our resort, POP Century, a lot:
Dirt and Worms. . .
Milkshakes from the ice cream station (or sundaes or apple pie fritters, etc, etc, etc). . .Mickey Mouse Rice Krispie Ears. . .Tie Die Cheesecake (which had a small amount of Velvet Cake at the bottom). . .Epcot found a few desserts that made it onto film:
From the World Showcase (Japan), Ginger Cake. . .
And from the Land (the restaurant that is in the same building as Soarin'),
Cheesecake, Rice Krispies and Tiramsu. . .
NOTE: For those who are going to eat at this restaurant - Cheesecake good, Tiramsu not.
Just about anywhere at Disney - you can find these ice cream treats. . .
I ended up with one at Animal Kingdom.Hollywood Studios found a vendor that had funnel cakes as snacks (on the meal plan). . .
BONUS!
We need to get our exercise room fully functional to recover from all of these treats!

Namaste.

Happy Dad's Day!

MBB got a nice surprise on Dad's Day. . . Luckily, no fingers were injured during the making of the gift!
Especially since we weren't home when the power tools were being used.

Namaste.

Moving the Remodeling Upstairs. . .

Thanks to a good coupon and sale price, we were able to get laminate for the upstairs floors.

Does anyone else find it interesting the different types of floor that we have in this house?
Hard wood. . .
Laminate. . .
Floating Vinyl Planks. . .
Ceramic Tile. . .
And a few more still TBD.
Okay, maybe I'm the only one amused by this. . .

Back to our regularly schedule (or not so regularly) blog post. . .

MBB and I are so excited to get rid of the carpet and the sneezes that go along with it!
I don't care how much you clean a carpet (and don't put shoes on it), it is still full of dust.
OB wasn't as happy with the change until he figured out he could slide on it with stocking feet. Namaste.

Slowly, But Surely

We are slowly planting perennials in the flower beds.
Aren't they pretty?
Not sure why this picture is posting sideways. . .Last fall, I planted 20 mini-lilies. . .
Three came up. . .
One bloomed. . .

Annuals don't care for our clay mixed soil (even with potting soil and fertilizer that I add when planting flowers), so I ended up making some pots with those. Namaste.