Must Do's Part One

When you are a regular to the "world", there are a few things that you must check off your list, otherwise... you can't feel good about going home. Pirates of the Caribbean is a definite "Must-do". Even though it has changed from when we knew it as kids it is still swashbucklin' good fun. The Disneyland version is better but the queue for WDW is cooler as in temperature and themed a bit better. I dare you to leave the ride w/o humming "Yo Ho Yo Ho A pirates life for me"!

Yes my faint hearted friend this is a must-do...even for this lily livered mother. The queue is amazingly entertaining (those Imagineers had fun with this one!) The story is so clever and he ride is exhilarating...if you can make it through w/o having a panic attack. I am deathly...I repeat DEATHLY afraid of heights. When we were in Europe I repeatedly had panic attacks when we had to climb in the bell towers of old churches, and up onto Fortresses. I have no idea where this fear originated but it is very real to me....BUT, I could ride this ride over and over. Each time it is different because it is ran by a computer and you never know if you will go up or down, or how many times it will bring you up only to drop you again. I heart this ride!

Toy Story Mania. Never knew what the hype was all about but Shane and I gave it a try last Fall at California Adventure park in California. We ran onto this ride after our first time. We were addicted to it and the only thing that had us walk away on to a different ride was that our arms were so sore from pulling the rope trying to beat each others score. Yes I did beat Shane...once. That is all I needed to keep him humble and not claim that he is "Undefeatable!" Here we are in line as Mr. Potato head tells jokes. Yes I beat Spencer 2 outta 3. Probably won't happen again.

Must-do's most definitely include food. This magical elixir is known as a Dole Whip. You can find this sweet concoction in Adventureland at a hut called Aloha Isle. They sell it in three flavors but there might as well only be one...Pineapple. Ask anyone and they will agree it is a mighty refreshing way to cool down on a hot day,...or night as this case may be. MMMmmm good! Stay tuned for the next installment of WDW Must-do's. For me it is all a must do but I am trying to limit myself. Not. Easy.

Scopa Towers

Researching where we were going to call home on our visit to the world was pretty easy. We knew we had to get two rooms with the size of our family so it had to be a value resort. Let me back up...when we go to Disney World we stay in one of their resorts for a number of reasons 1. Usage of Extra Magic Hours 2. Usage of bus transportation
3. Once you have done both it is hard to go off property again. With the value resorts you have a few choices: All Star Music, All Star Sports, All Star Movies, or Pop Century. We chose Pop (or if you listen to the podcast WDWToday it is affectionately known as Scopa Towers), because it is the newest and has the best concessions hands down of all the others. The idea of Pop Century is that there is the 50's the 60's the 70's the 80's and the 90's buildings. The older decades are still under construction. We requested the 80's for the obvious reasons that the 80's were awesome...but also because it was close to the buses and the pool was the less populated. We wanted a quieter area to nap the kids midday (a must when you tour the smart way).

The stairs are cleverly disguised by an icon of that era. This is one from the 50's. The pool for the 50's had a giant Jukebox and was the shape of a bowling pin.

Here is our way cool staircase. Halley and I had to go up and down it each day because it was so cool. A side note...I still can't solve those w/o pulling off the stickers. Anyway we were on the third floor again to get a quieter area for napping. What you can't see is the Pac-man on the sides of the 80's buildings with the power dots and ghosts as well. Way fun! Our pool was shaped like a computer and there were fun sayings everywhere like: "Gag me", "Fer sure", "Don't have a cow", and "Preppy". Shane and I also enjoyed the 80's music that would play around the pool like good ol' Huey Lewis and the Bengals.

Each day the "mousekeeping" would make cute little animals out of wash clothes and playfully lay out our stuffed animals that we had purchased. Of coarse we had to leave them a little extra something for their extra effort. But when you know these poor gals are from Haiti trying to provide for a family you can't help but share what you have been blessed with. The clean, cool room was soo inviting after a long hot day at the park. Thumbs up for Pop!

Coolest Dad Award

How lucky was I to be able to spend Father's Day with my Dad. I can't tell you how many years it has been spent by a phone call and me trying to share through the Satellite how special I think he is. We came off of our WDW trip and got to spend the next day at Mill Creek Falls and Avenue of the Boulders. I loved that place as a kid so it was very fitting to go back with my parents. One thing my Dad gave me was a love for the outdoors. Fun to go back!
Unfortunately with L.J. coming off vacation with pneumonia we couldn't really do a whole lot more but even just being at home with my parents is soul food for me. I love waking up to see my Dad playing with one of my kids or tinkering on his laptop...and seeing my Mom start breakfast...a chore I admittedly never do. I loved waking up this morning to make creme brulee french toast for Shane and my Dad...although I was way too sleepy at church as a result. I also loved making a big dinner to honor the two Dad's in my life. A good day for all until I had to see them off at the airport...not fun :( Dad I love you and I am grateful for the role you play in my life.

Happiest Place on Earth

It all started with a car ride to Portland and a 4 1/2 hour plane ride to Atlanta then a 1 1/2 hour plane ride to Orlando. Kids did great but we still got stares where'ere we went. Must be something to do with 7 people, 2 strollers, 1 car seat, and 7 rolling bags.

The Orlando airport is such a fun airport to fly into. You can feel the magic as soon as you leave the plane.

We always begin our trip at the Magic Kingdom. If you have never been to the "world" this is the park that is most like Disneyland with Main Street, Fantasyland, Frontierland, Adventureland etc. My girls are feeling the magic walking through Frontierland as we hear a hoedown about to begin. All my kids got tagged to participate in the event. They got to square dance with Bear Country characters and cast.

This year WDW has the theme of "What Are You Celebrating?" Everywhere you went it felt like a party...even down to the flowers. We went simply celebrating being a family. What a party we had!!!

Travels to America

Well, since the weather was absolutely gorgeous in Petersburg, and we had nothing better to do, we decided to take a trip south so we could be there when Lindsay Schmidt was baptized.


To our surprise, there were many others who had the same idea. They had to hold the baptism in the chapel to accomodate all those who wanted to participate.

Along with the baptism, we attended impromptu piano recitals. Darren, Chris and Ken all contributed.

We also had a chance to watch world class softball. Justine protects home plate as she gets the put-out in her Babe Ruth softballl game.

Evan turned out to be a real animal lover, as he adopted each of Chris and Mary's many cats.

Here, the girls domonstrate both poise and balance, as they perform an amazing feat of ball ballet.

An appropriate amount of time was spent spoiling grandkids with toys and gifts and lots of food.

A lavish amount of time was dedicated to swimming in the Schmidt's new pool. Glen and Shane worked hard before our visit to get the deck ready for heavy use.

We found time to enjoy some serious beach time at Half Moon Bay, south of San Francisco. We caught jelly fish, lassoed kelp, and watched enormous waves devestate our beautiful sand castles.
Jenny and Naoki arranged for some serious horseback riding at a rodeo in Turlock, California. The horse Ken is riding competed in the calf roping in the rodeo.
Melanie found her a cowboy at the rodeo. She slid down next to this old cowpoke and started playing with his mustache and combing the hair on his arm. Luckily, he was good natured and enjoyed the attention from such a little sweetheart.

Ken took us bowling with some coupons he received for being an honor student. Here his little sister shows us how the real bowlers do it.