Grant and Bobbi's Family Vacation Page

Brisbane & Our trip home

2011-08-23T13:22:00.001-07:00

We arrived in Brisbane around noon and checked into our Marriott. Once settled, we walked to a nearby mall and ate lunch in the food court.

Next, we walked through the botanical gardens - we visited the ponds and saw an eel and a huge lizard, we saw lots of pretty flowers, and we did a pretty walk along boardwalks through a mangrove area. We found a playground, where Geoffrey had a blast playing.

Next, we took the public ferries up and down the river just to see a different view of the city.

For dinner, we ate at a BBQ restaurant across the street from our hotel. Geoffrey liked this place because they had free popcorn!

On Saturday morning, we dropped off our rental car and checked in to the airport. Our flight was long, but went well. Geoffrey watched some TV, ate dinner, and then took a nap for about two hours. When he woke up, he did some coloring, watched a little more tv, and then played with play-do for a long time! After which, breakfast was served, and then Geoffrey fell asleep for the last our of our flight.

We arrived in LA at 7 AM Saturday morning, 4 hours before we left Australia!

What an amazing trip. I feel so fortunate to have had this opportunity to spend time with Grant, Geoff, Gary, and Blake. Thank you so much, Gary and Donna, for this amazing trip of a lifetime!

Last few days in Coolangatta

2011-08-23T13:07:00.001-07:00

On Wednesday we had a nice easy day, sticking close to home. We went down to the beach, swam, and played in the sand. We warmed up in the jacuzzi. We walked to the mall and did some shopping. Geoffrey napped. We had dinner at the surf club (or maybe tonight was the night we did the repeat of the macadamia nut snapper, and tuna - and Blake made mashed potatoes and I made sauteed spinach with garlic and macadamia nuts.) Just a nice, relaxing day!

On Thursday we went to the North end of the gold coast, the touristy area known as Surfer's Paradise. We bought some souvenirs, had some lunch, and walked around looking at the area.

We stopped at a meat market and got some food for the teppenyaki grill that we have access to back at the apartment we are staying at.

For dinner, we had chicken, steak, lamb, rice, and noodles all grilled up by Blake and Grant on the teppanyaki. So good!

On Friday we left Coolangatta and drove north to Brisbane!

Lamington National Park

2011-08-16T23:59:00.001-07:00

On Tuesday, we visited Lamington National Park. The drive was about an hour and a half, with about half the drive taking us on windy mountain roads. We arrived around eleven at O'Reilly's Rainforest retreat. We did the sky walk, which was a fun elevated walk through the tree tops on shaky suspension bridges! Fun! In the middle there was a ladder that took us up even higher into a tree on a platform to take some more photographs. We took turns on the ladders, while Geoff had fun on the bridges.

Next, we went in to the botanical forest garden, which had lots of winding paths. We let Geoff take the lead on this one, and he roamed about the garden, leading us all over!

After this walk, we stopped for lunch at O'Reilly's. We ate out on the patio where lots of parrots (and the occasional bush turkey) flew up to try to get snacks from patrons' lunches. Geoffrey enjoyed feeding his french fries to the parrots.

Before heading back, we took a 3km hike through the rainforest to a scenic overlook of a valley and a waterfall. The hike was beautiful, with thick trees, hanging ferns, and chirping birds.

We finished our hike and then headed back to our condo. After a brief rest, we went to the Coolangatta Surf Club for dinner - Geoff had a corndog, Gary and Grant had dishes with fishes, and Blake and I had bacon wrapped scallops. Then Grant and I took Geoff to the playground while Gary and Blake played slot machines in the gaming room for awhile.

Walking back to our unit, Blake pointed out that Glee! the 3-d movie concert was starting at the movie theater in 5 minutes. So I took Grant's wallet and went to watch the film (I was the ONLY PERSON in the theater! Ha ha!) The boys went back to the condo and watched tv and put Geoffrey to bed while I sang along and enjoyed my private screening.

Monday - Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary

2011-08-15T03:18:00.001-07:00

Today we went to Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary. We set off around 11 and looked at some of the exhibits, like the snakes, gliders, and turtles. Next we looked at Koalas. There are tons of Koalas here! And they were very active, too!

After lunch, we walked into the main part of the park, where we stopped to play at a fun playground. Then, we walked over to the kangaroo area where we got to feed the kangaroos! It was this large enclosure where you can walk around with free roaming kangaroos! Grant, Geoffrey, and Blake enjoyed feeding the kangaroos and I pet one. Such an awesome experience!

We hopped on the cute little train and took it a few stops. We got off and looked at dingos, wallabees, and tazmanian devils.

Back through the kangaroo enclosure, we went up into the rainforest aviary, walking by the crocodiles and more free roaming emus.

On our way to the big Lorikeet feeding, Gary and Blake stopped to get their picture taken holding a koala. Their koala's name was Barbosa. Unfortunately, Geoff was sleeping, so we couldn't take our pic. We went over to the lorikeet feeding and watched as hundreds of lorikeets flew in to feed nectar out of pans all the visitors held. We all took a turn holding the pans as lorikeets landed on our heads, arms and pans to eat! At 4:30, we woke Geoff up. To get him in a decent mood, we stayed for about ten minutes with the lorikeets nefore heading over to the koala pics. Our koala was named Abby. She was so soft! She was as cuddly as she looked! We got a decent picture with Geoffrey at least looking towards the camera! (o:

On our way home, we stopped at a fish market and got some snapper and some baramundi, which we grilled at home. The snapper was delicious - Grant and Blake coated it in macadamia nut crust. It was so good! We also had green beans and rice. Yum!

Now, we're going to drag Geoff away from the TV and walk over to the playground to play a bit before we go to bed! Night!

Sunday in Coolangatta

2011-08-14T16:51:00.001-07:00

I think I have spelled Coolangatta 100 different ways! Ha!

On Sunday, we had a fun, relaxing day. We walked down to the beach where there was a farmer's market set up. It was busy! THe stands were similar to the swap meet. We got some produce, and Geoffrey played at the playground. There was a small group of Hare Kirshnas walking around playing music, and another couple that looked like they very much missed The Carpenters - they were maybe around 40 and they were rolling around with a microphone and speaker on a cart singing songs... classic.

We went to lunch at a pizza place and enjoyed the open air dining area and atmosphere. The weather was nice - low 70s, and sunny. WE decided to go down to the beach for a bit.

The area in front of our hotel is neat - the low tide made a large area where the water was less than an inch deep - a wonderful place to play with gloopy wet sand, and almost no surf. We played for a bit (we had bought some sand toys at a nearby mall) but shortly after we arrived the sun went behind the clouds and it got cool pretty quickly. Geoff got really cold, so we headed back to the hotel and warmed up in the jacuzzi.

We decided to bbq at home tonight, so Gary, Grant, and Blake went to get food while I attempted to put Geoffrey down for a nap. Although he had some quiet time, he never did nap!

For dinner, we had steak, chicken, sausage and shrimp, pineapple, beans, and yams. Delicious! It was a good thing we ate at home, because while we were eating, it started raining - then pouring - then we even had some thunder and lightning! We enjoyed watching the rain and watching movies.

I put Geoff to bed a little early - I was tired, too, and the room we are in gets bright in the morning so I didn't think Geoff would sleep in long (I was correct, by the way!)

Friday / Saturday Port Macquarie to Coolangatta

2011-08-13T04:42:00.001-07:00

On Friday morning, we found out we would not be able to check into our Coolangata apartment early, so we made arrangements to stay another night at the Wyndham Vacation Club. There were no one bedrooms available for the night, however - but there was a three bedroom, so we all ended up moving down a few doors. It was nice, because we got to see a one, two, and three bedroom unit! (Trying to look on the brightside of having to move.)

After moving, we picked up some subway to have a picnic in a nearby national park. As we drove closer, the rain started. By the time we got up there, it was pretty wet. There were picnic tables with covering, so we still ate, and Geoffrey got soaking wet splashing in the puddles and playing in the rain. It passed quickly, but stayed cloudy and foggy - very poor visibility - but we went ahead and did a short loop hike anyway, and got a quick view of the beach far below between patches of thick fog. THere was a peaceful, mystic quality to the foggy, wet rainforest.

Next, we drove to Grant's beach to see the view, and then went to a totally awesome playground. The playground had this swing that was a large blue disk that was on bearings so it kept going and going - so fun. It also had an old-school merry-go-round that we had fun spinning on.

Next, we drove to a light house, (Geoffrey fell asleep on the way). It was super windy, and we saw a double rainbow (actually, the third rainbow we'd seen today!)

Back at the apartment, Geoffrey finished his nap. While he slept, Grant and I took a walk down to the beach (stopping at a book store where I got a couple of used books). After our walk we went back to wait for Geoff to wake up, and we watched the rest of Indiana Jones with Blake. For dinner, we had Italian take-away. Then we watched Wall-E and went to bed.

The next day, we did the long drive (5 1/2 hours) to Coolangata. Not much to say about the drive. We learned that a milk shake is pretty milky, and you have to order a "thick shake" if you want what we would consider a shake in America.

We finally arrived and checked into our apartment. The unit is beautiful - Blake has a room with two double beds, Gary has a queen, and Grant, Geoff and I are sharing the master which has a king - it has two bathrooms, a full kitchen, and a very open layout. Unfortunately, it is on the third floor - the lowest floor possible - (the pool and gym is on the second floor just outside our windows, which means that at night, anyone out there can see right in if we haveour blinds open, which we do, becaue we have the windows open.) Gary is not happy about the low floor, so we're not unpacking tonight because Gary is going to see if we can move higher tomorrow....

We went to dinner at a Malaysian restaurant which was really good. Then we played at a playground and got some ice cream on our way back. The weather here is very nice - warmer then south, of course - cool but not cold. Similar to HB.

Thursday

2011-08-11T04:51:00.001-07:00

Today we left Sydney and drove to Port Macquarie.

When the bell hop came to get our bags, Geoff was throwing a little fit. The bellman (Abdul) said he would try to find Geoffrey a kangaroo to take with him. When we got down to the lobby, he gave Geoffrey a cute little kangaroo and a koala bear to "remember Australia." These stuffed animals were nice, too! They are small, almost like beannie babies. He is amassing quite a souvenir collection just from hotel bell men!

The minivan we got is the same kind we had before - a kia carnival.

Our drive was 4 1/2 hours, ish. Blake drove about 2 hours and then stopped at a gas station / rest area for lunch (subway). Grant drove the 2 hours ish left into Port Macquerie, where we checked Wyndham Vacation Club - Geoff, Grant, and I have a one bedroom unit and Blake and Gary have a two bedroom unit next door. The units are nice - kitchens, sitting rooms, separate bedrooms - a washer and drier!!!!

We really like this location. We had scheduled an extra day to get to Coolangata, but we agreed we'd rather lump the driving and get there faster - so we're going to drive the last 5+ hours in one day. If we can get our Coolangata apartment for an extra night, we'll drive tomorrow and settle in for a week. If we can't get in, we'll stay here another night (rather than pack up and move again) and drive up on Saturday.

Once Geoff woke up from his nap, we ate Italian take away in Gary and Blake's room and then went to swim in the jacuzzi. The pool was really nice - a zero entry, huge baja reef, a little island - but of course it was freezing cold. The jacuzzi wasn't too warm (maybe 90?) so I could stay in as long as I wanted (I was hoping for warmer, but of course of it was too hot I would have had to get out after 10-15 min). It was about 50 degrees outside.

We just got out of the shower and we're watching Mary Poppins - the boys are so cute sitting on the couch, eating popcorn, Geoffrey bobbing his head along to the music. It is a precious sight.

Tuesday and Wednesday in Sydney

2011-08-11T04:29:00.000-07:00

Tuesday -

Today we toodled around the city. We started by walking around the Sydney Opera House and through the beautiful botanic gardens.

We then hopped on the ferry to have lunch at the Sydney fish market. Out on the wharf, where we ate, there were a ton of seagulls trying to get at everyone's lunch! One couple got up and LEFT THERE TRASH ont he table - it was immediately swarmed by seagulls. The guy keeping the wharf clean ran over and told them to get back and clean up there trash - it was ridiculous!

Next, we took the Manly Ferry out to Manly beach. We walked along the pedestrian area, called the Corsco, and down the boardwalk, watching the surfers and the volleyball players. Half way down the beach we found a playground which had a cool spinning thing - a big circle that you could sit on and it spun like a merry go round. Geoff had fun playing on this, the slide, and the also the spinning poles. We went farther down the beach and watched the surfers catch waves on this insane patch of beach where the waves crashed right on the shore! Geoff played in the sand and we watched the ocean as the sun set and the sky faded!

We walked back towards the Corsco, stopping again at the playground for Geoff to play. (He hadn't fallen asleep yet for a nap, and he was starting to nod off - at this point, we wanted him to stay up for dinner). We ate dinner at the Steyne Hotel at the Corsco before heading back on the Manly Ferry - Geoff fell asleep on his way to the ferry, which was about 7:30 PM.

Back at the hotel, we all made it an early night because we planned to get up early in the morning. Geoff never woke up, so we hoped he would sleep until at least 6:45.

Wednesday

He did. He slept until I woke him up at 6:45. We got up and out early - got McDonalds by 7:45, on the subway by 8:00, at central station by 8:10, and on our train to the ZigZag railway in the blue mountains by 8:24. The train ride was 2 1/2 hours there - but it went pretty quickly, actually.

It was 42 degrees in the mountains. The train was shorter then we expected, but fun. Parked near the station was a James engine from Thomas the Tank Engine, so that was fun to see. We enjoyed hot chocolate and ate lunch on the train.

After the zig zag, we hopped back on the city train (after Grandpa Gary got to wave it down with the green sign) and took it about 45 minutes back towards the city to Katoomba. Katoomba is very touristy. There is a hop on hop off bus that is $25 a person - no way were we going to pay that for an hour and a half. We thought we'd take a taxi, which was reasonable ($10), but it only held four of us, and we would have had to wait for a taxi with a car seat to be called for us. We walked a bit into town and sure enough there was a city bus - $2 per person per trip. Perfect. A nice lady (a retired nun and teacher) spent time helping us with the busses, and then, once Geoff fell asleep and the boys went to a bar to wait for the bus, spent some time talking with me about teaching and her order of nuns.

We took the bus to Echo Point, and then a hike across the canyon rim (with me, and then grandpa, and then uncle blake carrying a sleeping Geoffrey and Grant carrying the stroller ) to Scenic World. We took an ariel tram with glass floors across a section of the canyon 1000 feet high! The views of the blue mountains here was spectacular - covered in amazing trees, an amazing waterfall - just beautiful.

After a trip to the bathroom (and a free game of frogger on an old school video machine) we took the bus back to town. We had about 40 minutes before our train to Sydney left, so we stopped at a woodfire pizza place and shared a small garlic and cheese pizza to tide us over (we weren't due back in the city until 7:30.)

After a long train ride back to the city, we walked back to "The Rocks" to find a place for dinner. WE decided on a kitchy German beer hall, complete with an oom-pah band!!! We dined on pretzels and schnitzel, and Geoffrey bobbed his head along in time to the loud music. Fun!

After a loooong day, we decided to hit the hay, and pack in the morning!

Sydney Sunday / Monday

2011-08-11T00:50:00.001-07:00

When last we met, this traveling group of Benedicts had just left Cockatoo Island (Should have been called seagull island) and were settling into our digs at the Sydney Marriott.

Once Geofferton woke up, we headed for dinner at "Fish on the Rocks," which was a seafood resteraunt in "the Rocks," a section of Sydney... (not just a clever name.) The food was delicious - I had snapper on a bed of spinach and potato salad. Very tasty. While we were waiting for our food, a firetruck parked in front of the restaurant and they let Geoffrey look in the cab. He was shy, but talked a lot about it afterwards.

After dinner, we took a ferry round trip from circle quay just to see the harbor at night time.

Monday

On Monday, we took the ferry to Toronga Zoo - Probably one of the best zoos I've ever been to. I really liked it! Now, of course, it is a Monday in winter when schools are in session, so the zoo was practically ours - but wow - great exhibits, and the views of the Sydney Harbor provided an amazing backdrop to this lovely zoo.

The animals were active and easy to see for the most part. This is the first time that Geoffrey was really into seeing the animals at a zoo - he was very into the exhibits, (the fact that they were active and easy to see helped!) and several times we had to hurry him along because he was so into what he was looking at!

Some of our favorite spots included the reptile area (Geoff got to pet a snake and a lizard, and there was a huge python there, as well!), the Giraffe enclosure (they were so close, and the Sydney Harbor was right behind them! Plus, some zebras came out to join them while we were there), The chimps (one young one was intrigued by Geoffrey and kept jumping up to see him in the window!) The Australian outback (which included a free roam area that you could walk in that had a giant emu that had Geoff intrigued, as well as exhibits on kangaroos, wallabees, koalas, and tazmanian devils!), and the kid zoo (play ground and petting zoo).

We had lunch at a cafe overlooking (what else?) the harbor, and were visited by several brave and apparently hungry lorikeets. One took a chip right out of Geoff's hand! Geoff fell asleep shortly after lunch, but we enjoyed the rest of the zoo - the elephants, the big cats (lions, foxes, etc. The male lion was right up next to the glass and you could see him beautifully!) the gorillas- Just a great day all in all.

For dinner, we ate at a Churascaria - Brazilian BBQ. We got to take a bus to get there and a train to get back, which made Geoffrey very happy! The food was good - my favorite was this grilled pineapple that was dusted in a cinnamon (and perhaps nutmeg?) mixture - so good - and of course, the meats were delicious. At one point, they brought out a macaroni dish that was essentially mac and cheese - a staple of Geoffrey's diet that he had not had since we arrived in Australia! I even tried a chicken heart (too salty, thank you.) Geoff ate one, too, but I noticed he didn't eat the second.

After our oh-so-filling dinner, we walked to the train station which was a bit farther away than the bus stop. As we walked through Hyde Park, we saw that there was a winter festival in front of a church. (Everytime Geoff sees one of those big fancy churches, he calls it a castle. Adamantly. (Geoff, that's a church. No its a CASTLE! Very reminiscent of his insistence that trash trucks are trash trucks - not garbage trucks or rubbage trucks. It is a Ter-ash Ter-uck!)

We went to check it out - they had a lot of German/chalet style booths (despite being way too full, I got an apple struedal - thank goodness i took that zantac before dinner - sorry baby #2!) as well as a large ice skating rink set up. We stayed for about 20 minutes before heading back through Hyde Park to the subway stop. As we made our way down the steps, we were greeted by the bright lights of the subway station and loud music pouring out of the station. We were greeted by about 5 or 6 bums, in what was apparently their living room - complete with a double bed, a couch and a TV! The gates to the main part of the station were closed and they kindly directed us to the other entrance on the other side of the park. Friendly bunch.

Sydney - sort of

2011-08-06T22:59:00.001-07:00

We found a deal at a Courtyard 8 miles outside of Sydney, so instead of breaking up our driving we decided to do it all at once. SO on Sunday we drove 3 1/2 hours from Canburra to Sydney. Geoff fell asleep around 3 as we pulled into the Marriott, so we checked in and rested while Geoff napped. There was a rib place called "Ribs and Rumps" in the parking lot, so we ate there - which was really good. We made some tentative plans for the next few days and then headed to bed.

On SUnday, we checked out of the courtyard and into the Sydney Harbor Marriott. Our location is awesome - less then a city block from the ferry terminals! Our rooms were not ready, so we ate breakfast and returned the rental car, and then took the ferry to Cockatoo Island (which shoulrd have been called seagull island - the place was covered with them!) Cockatoo Island was once a prison, then a reformatory school. We roamed around for about an hour before taking the ferry back.

The ferry is fun - it is public transportation, but it offers great views of Sydney Harbor - we saw the Opera House, the bridge, Luna park and lots of neat buildings and charming houses. Geoff thought it was great fun to watch all of the big boats in the harbor!

We are back at the hotel now. Our rooms were ready, so we got our bags and Geoffrey is now napping!! More later!

Canberra

2011-08-05T04:13:00.001-07:00

Today we spent the day in Canberra, Australia's capital. We got a later start and were on our way around 11. We headed for the capitol and visited the House of Representatives and Senate chambers - they were not in session today. You can also go on the roof of the capitol building and get views of the city, which was very neat.

Next, we had lunch at Red Rooster, a fast food place here in Australia. Molly Ellett had suggested I go and get the chicken parm sandwich and I was excited because it sounded good - but they didn't sell them anymore (and hadn't for, like, 10 years... ahem...) Oh well, it was pretty good anyway!

We spent the afternoon at the National Museum exploring the history of the Australian people.

The museum closed at 5, and we were back at our hotel by 5:15 - and still, no nap for Geoffrey. Yikes! So we went back to the room, but by 6:15, it was clear he was NOT going to nap, so we decided to brave dinner. My stress level was through the roof at thinking of managing Geoff's behavior at dinner and finding a loud enough place without making everyone eat crappy food court food. Luckily, he fell asleep at 7, just as we were looking for a place. We ended up eating at Babar, this Italian place two places down from Sammy's (where we ate last night.) It was delicious also! I got pumpkin gnocchi, Grant and Blake shared pizza, and Gary got calamari. We walked around the mall - Geoff woke up briefly and cried for about 10 minutes but then went back to sleep.

We went to the grocery store for more milk and my yummy fruit and nut cadbury candy bars, and then to Target for diapers. We headed back at 8:30, and woke Geoff up by putting his stroller chair vertical - and he woke up happy. Back at the hotel, he ate some pizza and apple and he's watching TV now - he's pretty mellow so I think he'll fall asleep normal time... here is hoping!

Tomorrow, we head to Sydney!!!

Wednesday / Thursday Drive to Canburra

2011-08-05T01:20:00.001-07:00

On Wednesday, we set set out for our long trek to Canburra.

We started out having lunch at McDonalds - so that Geoffrey could play in the play place. We at lunch, again, at McD's for the play place, and finally made it to Corryong, where we spent the night.

It was neat watching all of the changing landscapes out the windows - from rolling green farmlands, to tree lined forests, to the grassy footlands of the hills and mountains. We saw lots of sheep and cows and really pretty birds.

Corryong was 1500 feet. It was a small town, with two hotels. We stayed at the Corryong country inn. Our room had a double bed and three twins, and Gary and Blake's had a double and a twin.

When we first got to town, after checking in, we walked to the park so Geoff could play for the last 30 minutes or so of daylight. Grant and Gary checked out the information building. We then took a walk down to one of the restaurants - which was located much farther than we thought, and then ended up walking back to the other one in town because Gary said it was better. Dinner was hard tonight - it took over 45 minutes to get our food, by which time Geoffrey was so tired and frustrated that he wouldn't even touch his food.

Back at the hotel, Blake, Gary, and I went out to look at the stars, in particular, the southern cross, which you can only see in the southern hemisphere. Then we relaxed in the hotel - enjoying the fact that our room had a bath tub!!!

The next day, we finished our drive to Camburra. We drove through the mountains to a ski resort called Thredbo and had lunch. The weather was nice, (despite all the skiing on the mountain) and we spent about an hour playing on the playground while Gary and Grant made some phone calls. (Incidentally, I didn't feel great this day, probably a combo of the pregnancy and the mountain driving - I feel very fortunate that I've mostly felt pretty well pregnancy-wise on this trip!)

We reached our hotel - the Novotel in Canburra at around 5:30. Geoff was happy to play with some blocks they had in the lobby for kids, and a bellman came by with a box of toys and let Geoffrey pick one- he picked a stuffed panda. After settling into our rooms (right next door to each other) we headed out to dinner - Sammy's - a Chinese restaurant a few blocks away. The food was DELICIOUS - even Geoff at a ton of it - and the food came out quickly. The bill - not so much.

After dinner, we went to - get this - a chocolate restaurant for dessert. Gary got an ice cream martini, which was basically a sundae, Blake got hot chocolate and a chocolate plate sampler, and Grant and I got a chocolate sampler for two that came with two drinks as well - I got a chai hot chocolate and Grant got an iced chocolate that came with espresso, icecream, chocolate shavings and chocolate sauce. Geoff loved the ice cream that came with ours, and the mousse was heavenly!

After that, Grant and Blake went to watch Harry Potter in 3d (they said the seats were huge and comfortable, assigned, by the way, and the popcorn and soda were reasonable. We have noticed that places that have an admission - like the movies or Sovereign Hill, for example, don't jack up the prices because you are stuck inside like, say DIsneyland or other such places at home. Which is nice because things are super expensive here. Sodas are $3.50 - 4.00 (for a bottle, no refills), most entrees for dinner are around $15 - $30. Candy bars cost $1.50 - $3.00. Everything costs twice as much as you'd think it would. (And of course, in the first time in forever, the American DOllar is weaker here!)

Anyways, Gary, Geoff and I headed back to the hotel and settled in for the night!

Tuesday - Sovereign Hill

2011-08-02T05:42:00.000-07:00

Today we visited Sovereign Hill, which is like an amusement park that recreates life in the gold mining camps during their gold rush era (late 1800s). In a sense it reminded me a lot of Greenfield Village. We started out looking at some of the camps that were set up including tent shelters and mining cabins. Geoffrey's favorite activity was fining rocks and various locations to throw them, such as the creek, at trees, down wells, or in mining carts. We did a self guided tour through a mine where one of the largest gold nuggets in the world was found. Geoffrey wasn't sure about the dark tunnels at first, especially with all the special effects (sounds, voices, etc piped in) but he enjoyed it as we went on.

Next we checked out the Chinese mining camp before going to watch a gold smelting presentation. At the presentation, the gold smith showed process by which gold was separated from mined rock, purified and then melted down into gold bricks. He actually poured a brick of molten gold worth $140,000USD at the end.

We looked a some of the shops along the main street and were pleasantly surprised at the prices. In most places in Australia, we are blown over by how expensive things are, but here we found them to be quite reasonable which is ironic considering we are inside a theme park. No complaints from us! We bought some chocolate covered licorice and some hard boiled candy from the candy store.

Next we went on our 45 minute guided mine tour. In order to get into the mine, we took an inclined tram about 100 meters down into the mine. It took about 60 seconds and was pitch dark the entire time. We thought Geoffrey might get nervous about the dark, but he did great considering we WERE on a train. Because we had already done the self guided mine tour Geoffrey was used to the tunnels and this tour was led by live people (as opposed to audio piped in through speakers). This tour focused on describing what life was like in the mines for miners that worked for mining companies including the dangers they faced. Then they contrasted it with independent miners and how their lives and mining experiences differed. The tour was quite interesting and of course Geoffrey was happy that it ended with another train ride up to the surface.

After a quick lunch at the cafeteria, we walked around to look at some of the other buildings. There were houses recreated to show what miners, mine owners, etc. looked like, including their farms. barns, and gardens. There was a boiler room, churches, schools, and places of business like wheel makers, tin smiths, and candle makers. We bought candles and a brass money clip, as well as more candy - those boiled candies were very tasty!

Another cool thing about Sovereign Hill is the field trips they offer for classes who visit. Of course, rhere is the standard tour, but there is also an option where students come and dress in period pieces (authentic, provided by Sovereign Hill). They wander about the village touring it in small groups, after receiving lessons in how to deal with the other guests that visit (to greet us politely, etc.) They add a whole dimension of ambiance for visitors like us becasue they increase the number of people we see dressed in period costumes, making the experience more authentic. Also, when you visit the school houses, there are often whole classes of children int here doing "lessons," which you don't often get to see. What an awesome experience for those kids - a win-win for all!

We finished our adventure mining for gold. Geoff had a blast playing witht he shovels and the pans and the rocks and the water. Both Gary and Blake found a few gold flakes each. We really had fun here!

Across the street, there was a gold museum included with our admission- we popped in but didn't spend too much time as it was already four. Geoff fell asleep here, and we had driving to do so we hopped int he car and drove an hour and a half to Bendigo.

In Bendigo, we checked into two rooms at the Quality Inn. We drove downtown and had dinner at "Grill'd Burgers," and then walked around the quiant downtown area - lots of pedestrian only areas to walk in, cute fountains, statures, and charming buildings (we encountered this in many of the towns we drove through!)

Back at our hotel, Grant, Blake, Geoff, and I went to the indoor pool/jacuzzi and swam for a bit before heading off to bed!

Sunday/Monday - The Great Ocean Road

2011-08-02T05:17:00.001-07:00

On Sunday, we checked out of our hotel in Melbourne and headed west on the Great Ocean Road. Along the way, we stopped at various view points to marvel at the amazingly beautiful Australian coastline.

Our mini van is a Kia Carnival. It has plenty of room for us and all of our stuff. Grant and Blake are doing an amazing job driving - staying on the left side of the road, navigating turn-abouts. I am impressed. Blake is doing the bulk of the driving.

We stopped in Anglesea and had lunch at a bakery. I am loving the meat pies at the bakeries, but Grant is finding them tasty but too salty. We got some ice cream at the grocery store before continuing on our way.

On Sunday we spent the night in Port Campbell. We had a two room loft set up - Downstairs, Grant and I slept in a queen bed, Geoff in a twin, and Blake in a twin. Upstairs, Gary had a queen plus there was a kitchen and a small living area. Conveniently, there was a playground (a slide and two swings) right nect to our unit - like in our "side yard" which was nice for Geoff after our long drive.

Dinner was at the Room Six Cafe, located next to our hotel. We all agreed that this was one of our best meals in Australia so far.

On Monday we explored the coastline some more. The limestone cliffs are soft and the ocean waves carve pillars, caves, inlets and all sorts of interesting formations. We visited the Arch, the London Bridge and the Grotto among other sites. We also visited the 12 Apostles, which are another series of pillars.

All the stops took much longer than we anticipated so by the time we were actually ready to get to our next destination it was already late in the afternoon. We fed Geoffrey a snack and he promptly fell asleep in the car. We enjoyed watching the ocean scenery fade away into hilly farmland and forest landscapes as we made our way north.

We stopped at a small town and grabbed a quick snack to tide Grant, Blake and I over until dinner then we headed towards Ballarat. Here we stayed at a 3 bedroom serviced apartment (larger apartments that are run like a hotel) and the unit had a kitchen and a living area. Despite being 3 bedrooms there was only 1 bathroom. We ate dinner at the Ballarat Steakhouse and the Grant and Blake did all of our laundry. Woohoo!

Saturday - Scienceworks

2011-08-02T04:56:00.001-07:00

On Saturday we had rain scheduled, so we took the train out to the scienceworks kids museum. We saw the lightening room show, and geoff really had fun running around looking at the exhibits! There was an exhibit on how things work in the house, a sports exhibit, and a large play area called kid city. Geoff had a blast building sculptures out of large tinker toys, lifting cargo onto a ship, putting bricks in buckets, and watching-over and over again- a video of the trash truck picking up a trash can.

On he metro ride to the museum, there was a drunk/crazy man pestering a very patient and very nice Australian man sitting near us. Geoffrey kept laughing because he thought the loud crazy man was being purposely funny. He kept asking me, "is that man funny? Is that a funny man?"

After resting at the hotel, we went to the casino down along the river. We walked along the river and then ate dinner at the strangest buffet ever - the line to get food took 20 min! Needless to say, we piled our plates high since we were only going through once!

The men checked out the casino while I waited with Geoffrey, who was not allowed to go on the gaming floor. They said the casino was smoke free and completely packed!

We are checking out tomorrow and heading north.

Friday - St. Kilda

2011-07-29T04:26:00.000-07:00

This morning, we headed out to St. Kilda. We took a stroll along the pier and Geoffrey enjoyed throwing rocks into the ocean. We walked along the boardwalk and found a playground, where Geoffrey enjoyed playing. Luna Park, the amusement park, was closed, but we got a peak inside. We had lunch outside at one of the restaurants before heading back into the city.

We found a grocery store and got some snacks and some more milk for Geoffrey. Geoffrey took a loooong nap, and we actually had to wake him to get to dinner on time (Gary and Blake had tickets to an Australian Rules football game). He had napped for two and a half hours so he needed to get up anyway - but boy, was he fussy! He finally started to mellow out an hour and a half later - yikes!!! Luckily, we had just gotten seated when he started to calm down so he wasn't too bad in the restaurant.

Also, shortly after we ordered, there was a frieworks disply on the water just outside the restaurant. We went out to watch it - it was really good! That passed the time, and our food arrived just as the fireworks were ending. WE ate quickly and left so that Gary and Blake could make their game.

On our way back to the hotel, Geoff, Grant and I had a small adventure - the tram three in front of ours got hit by a car which effectively stopped tram traffic on our line for a while. We had to leave our tram and find another way of getting there. A few blocks away we found a bus that took us directly to our stop - sweet. We stopped at the grocery store again and got some ice cream and a candy bar (Cadbury fruit and nut bar - yummers!) before making it back to our hotel for the night!!!

City Walk - Thursday

2011-07-28T22:45:00.000-07:00

Today we took a walk through some of Melbourne's gardens/parks. We walked from Federation Square (stopping to take a peek in St. Paul's cathedral) down the Yarra river and into Treasury Gardens and Fitzroy Gardens. We saw Cook's cottage, the mini Tudor village, the fairy tree, and Geoff had some playground time.

Next we took the trolley to the Queen Victoria Market, where we ate lunch and bought some produce.

After a rest back at the hotel, we headed out to dinner on Little Bourke street, a little Chinatown of sorts - but not CHinese - a variety of Asian restaurants - Korean, Mongolian, Chinese, Japanese... we had Japanese, with Blake and Grant sharing sushi, Gary getting Katsu, and Geoff and I sharing beef and noodles sukiyaki. Delicious!

After dinner, Gery and Geoffrey headed back for a fun filled evening of trains and CHuggington in the hotel while Grant, Blake, and I went to the theater to see "Love Never Dies," AKA Phantom #2. It was... interesting, to say the least. The sets and costumes were amazing, the music was pretty good, but the story left something to be desired. Grant described it as "Phantom of the Opera" meets "Days of Our Lives."

Puffing Billy Steam Train

2011-07-27T15:47:00.000-07:00

On Wednesday, we decided to ride the puffing Billy steam train. After grabbing breakfast at McDonalds (THe Mates Brekkie box - included two breakfast sandwiches, two hash browns and two drinks) we hopped on the metro for our one hour ride out of the city. It was very cool to watch the city give way to the suburbs, and eventually the more rural homes at the base of the Dandedong mountains.

Upon arrival we had about an hour before our train left. The engineer invited us right up into the engine and showed Geoffrey how he shoveled coal into the hot fire box (cool and a bit scary!) He and Gary talked steam trains and that was fun. We also enjoyed the signs in the bathrooms illustrating the appropriate and inappropriate ways to use western toilets. (I took a picture of the sign in the bathroom because I thought it amusing, and then Blake came out to show me the picture he took in his bathroom - um, his sign was way cooler and more in depth. Guess guys need more instruction...

The Puffing Billy was neat - you could sit on the window if you want with your arms and legs hanging out. So cool. Geoffrey fell asleep about 10 minutes after the train left, and took his nap all the way up - from about 12:45 - 1:45. The scenery through the mountains was beautiful!

We had about 45 minutes at the top before heading back down. The conductor told us to wait a moment and he came out with sunflower seeds so that Grant could feed the parrots that were right there at the station. One came out and was super tame and landed right on Grant's hand!

We grabbed a quick lunch at the lakeside cafe and then took the train back down. Geoffrey was awake this time and enjoyed sitting with Grandpa and looking at the scenery. We saw Kookaburras!

Back on the metro, we were back at our hotel by around 5:30.

We headed out for dinner around 7:00, taking the trolley to a fish and chips shop. Geoff fell asleep on the warm trolley and didn't wake back up.

Apparently, they use shark in their fish and chips, which we didn't know until we were about half way done eating - not that it matters, it was very tasty, but shark is high in mercury so it is on the avoid list for preggos like me - so, good to know that I should not eat fish and chips too much here!!!

Drinks are so expensive!!! $3.50 - $4.00 for a soda or a bottle of water!!! yikes!!! Everywhere! 6 packs of soda are 12$ in the grocery store!

(Geoff slept until 5:00. At 5:45 he gave up trying to wake us up (I had also given him his milk at 5:15) and fell asleep for another 45 minutes or so...) sigh...

Australia! - Arrival in Melbourne

2011-07-27T15:34:00.001-07:00

Grant, Geoffrey, Gary, Blake, and I are in Australia!

Of course, a journey this epic must begin with a long... looooong flight - 15 hours of flying time plus a an hour and a half delay taking off - sigh. Flight was due to depart at 11:30. Poor Geoff was so tired by the time it did that he fell asleep just after take off and didn't eat dinner. He slept for about 9 hours or so - Grant and I off and on during that time. The flight was pretty full so we didn't get to spread out at all. Once he woke up, he watched some TV (yet wasn't as fixated by it as he is at home, sigh) We ate breakfast, and actually the only present we opened was a coloring book - he did really well, all things considering!

We arrived in Melbourne at 9:00 Tuesday morning, and we were all checked in to our Marriott by 10:30. We settled in, and then took a walk around the Central Business Districy - we got Sim cards for the phones - I can use my iphone to connect to the internet just like at home which means I can make skype calls. My phone is also a wifi hot spot that Blake and Grant can connect to.

We ate lunch at a Thai restaurant located in a narrow arcade that was packed with locals. The food was delicious! We also stopped at the visitors center to pick up some brochures and such.

We came back to the hotel to rest - hoping that Geoff would nap - not so much. After an hour and a half, we gave up and decided the best thing to do to combat jet lag was to get back out in the sun light. There is a park close by, so we walked there and Geoff had a blast playing for an hour.

Unfortunately, it being winter here, the sun set at 6:00, and Geoff fell asleep shortly after! We walked from the park to a little Italian place where Geoff fell asleep just as they brought our pizza. The waiter had a blast chatting it up with Gary and Blake - he was a 49's fan and was thrilled to discuss American rules football with us.

We all fell asleep pretty early, me at 8:30 and Grant at 9:00. Geoff slept until 6:00 - Huzzah! - and so we all got a pretty good night's sleep.

Vegas - Excalibur

2011-07-02T14:05:00.000-07:00

We just got back from a week in Las Vegas. We stayed at the Excalibur with Angie, Andrew, and Cori. We rented a mini van and drove up on Sunday, with no traffic. We dd buffets every day (The Fiesta, Mandalay Bay, The Mirage... very enjoyable. The kids loved the pool - one pool had a nice bg ledge that was a foot deep - and another one had waterfalls and a water slide that this kids loved.

Grant and I saw Viva Elvis - it is labeled as a Cirque show, but it wasn't really a Cirque-sh, it was like a souped up tribute show. Over all we weren't terribly impressed. I also saw Ka with Angie ad the kids - that show is amazing as always.

We spent some time in the midway and saw some of the hotels. All in all, we had a nice time!

Spring Break - NCL Star

2011-05-27T11:15:00.000-07:00

SO BAD this cruise - I did not blog as much as I should have - we had fun though!

Here's what I got -

Cruise

Saturday, April 16

Today we boarded the Norwegian Star. We got on board at about 2:30 and quickly stopped at our rooms. Grant, Geo and I have a great cabin on deck eight. It has an obstructed view window, and it is wheelchair accessible, so it has lots of room. Danny is down the hall in an inside cabin. Mom and bobby are on deck 10 in a balcony cabin, it is smaller then most other cruise lines, but has a small loveseat. Gary, Donna, and heather are sharing a junior suite, but he junior suites on this ship are the size of he regular balcony cabins we are used to on carnival or royal.

We went up to the buffet for a quick lunch before the muster drill, then we went up on deck for the sailaway.

Next we tried to put Geo down for a nap, but that took awhile, so he didn't actually fall asleep until 6. He napped until 7:30. Meanwhile, I ran up to sign him up for the kids club.

When geoff woke up, we went to the main dining room for dinner. There was a 30 min wait for aqua, the main dining room, so we decided to just do the buffet since Geo was a fussy butt. Good thing because they didn't actually page us for an hour!

NCL has some nice kids facilities. There is a kids buffet, and low tables nearby for the kids to sit at.

After dinner, we took Geo to the kids club. They wisked him away pretty quickly so I was a bit nervous about not saying goodbye. I made the classic mom mistake and went back to check on him. He didn't see me, but the counselor said he was crying, so I signed him out. In retrospect, I don't know if he would have warmed up or if they would have just paged us, but it was pretty late and he was tired. There is a huge jungle gym in there that he wanted to play in so that may also be why he was crying- it wasn't opened yet. But we will try again!

Mom, bobby, and danny took Geo for a walk so grant and I could unpack. Then we put him to bed. I haven't heard a peep from him all night! He is tired! I went to bed when he did- I was tired too!

Sunday April 17

Today was our first sea day. Geoff slept like a rock last night. When he woke up, we went to breakfast/lunch in the buffet. We tried ti sign Geo into the kids club, but he wanted nothing of it. They were having the under two zoo right next door, so we played for awhile with the toys together.

We walked around a bit, then we put Geo down for a nap. Grant stayed while I went out and walked around the ship, listening to the newly released Glee warbler album and finding my way around. I also started reading "the time travelers wife. "

We had dinner at LaCucina, which was delicious. Then we went to see the show - a production show with 70s music.

I put Geo to bed and grant went out to watch the hypnotist and enjoy the 24 hour resteraunt with mom, bobby, and danny!

Monday, April 18 - and Tuesday, April 19 - Cabo San Lucas

Friday - Animal Kingdom and Downtown Disney

2010-11-26T21:29:00.000-08:00

Today we went to Animal Kingdom. We took it really easy and we didn't get to the park until about 2:30. Of course, this being Animal Kingdom, it started to rain as soon as we arrived.

We watched Legend of the Lion King, first. Next, we did the Safari. Although there weren't many animals out, we did get to see the lions and cheetahs, which we don't often get to see.

We went back to the character trails since they were decorated for Christmas - and we met Goofy, Pluto, Donald, and a bunny whose name I don't know - she kind of looked like Thumper's sister. We didn't see Mickey because his line was ridiculously long.

Next, Grant and I took turns riding Expedition Everest while Geoffrey ate a snack. The single rider line made the ride a walk-on.

At 6:15 we saw "Finding Nemo, the Musical." We had never seen the park at night before, so it was cool to see the park lit up when we left the show. We walked through the Dinosaur area and hopped on the Triceratop Spin (basically the Flying Dumbos) just before the park closed.

After we left the park, we went to Downtown Disney for dinner. We parked behind Cirque Du Soleil, and walked all the way to the Marketplace and back. We had dinner at Wolfgang Puck Express (on the West Side) and browsed a few shops. We shared an ice cream sundae and a hot chocolate at Ghiredelli, and played a bit at the lego store. Geoffrey was pretty fussy all day. We've been busy, but he seems to be getting plenty of sleep - more then usual, almost. He seems to have a little cough so he might not be feeling that great.

Thanksgiving - Blizzard Beach / Magic Kingdom

2010-11-26T21:14:00.002-08:00

Today we went to Blizzard Beach. We got there around noon and stayed until closing at 5:00. The park was very uncrowded - we were able to do everything we wanted with minimal wait. I was even able to do Summit Plummit.

We spent plenty of time in the lazy river and the wave pool. We took the chair lift up and rode the family raft ride down - although the 2nd time, Geoffrey refused to sit. (He's not allowed to sit on our lap). Since he wouldn't sit he couldn't ride, so he and I walked down while Grant rode with the family they had put us with (you have to have four in the raft so if Grant had left that family would have waited for someone else...) Later in the day, we tried again and Geoffrey sat, but he wasn't happy. Once the ride started going Geoffrey started to cry and tried to get in my lap - so I went ahead and put him in my lap. He wasn't happy on the ride at all this time. :o(

Otherwise, we had fun - as I said, we got to do any slide we wanted, we could easily get innertubes in the wave pool, and we had fun.

We headed back to our condo and showered before heading out in search of dinner. WE ended up at the Golden Corral, which had almost all of the fixings for a good Thanksgiving dinner (the only thing missing was cranberries!) The meal was actually quite tasty and we left completely stuffed.

After dinner we headed towards the Magic Kingdom. We parked at the .... Polynesian (did you guess?) and took the monorail, arriving in the park at about 9:00. The park was scheduled to close at 1 AM, but of course we didn't have to stay until closing - heh heh. We went to Tomorrowland and got Buzz fast passes. We rode the People Mover. Then Grant rode Space Mountain while I took Geoffrey on the Tomorrowland SPeedway. Then I rode Space Mountain whild the boys rode the People Mover again. We spent some time dancing at the Tomorrowland dance party and then rode Buzz.

Next we headed over to Fantasyland and rode the carousel (horse!!!) and Small World. Since by this time the park was considerably empty, we decided to take turns doing Splash and Big Thunder - we wanted Geoffrey to fall asleep in his stroller anyway. So we headed over there and each of us took a turns riding Splash Mountain and Big Thunder Mountain until the park closed. Geoffrey didn't fall asleep . Ha! He stayed awake until we left the park - but he snoozed on the monorail back to the car. It was a loooong day, and we were beat!

Wednesday - EPCOT

2010-11-26T21:14:00.001-08:00

Wednesday

We went back to EPCOT today to hit some of the stuff we hadn’t seen yet. We started out at the Imagination Pavilion and saw Figment and then watched Captain EO.

Next, we headed towards the The Land pavillion. We rode Living with the Land, and then stopped to eat. We bought a tuna and asian noodle salad and shared that as well as snacks we had brought ourselves - an orange, cheese, and crackers.

Next, we headed over to Mission Space - I rode while Geoffrey and Grant played in the Training Lab. Then we saw Universe of Energy, just in time for Geoffrey’s nap. When we got off, Geoffrey slept while Grant rode Test Track. Then we strolled around World Showcase. We shared a chocolate pretzel in Norway, a German pretzel in Germany, A quiche, a chocolate croissant, and a creme brulee from France. Meanwhile, we read about some of the holiday traditions from around the world. We walked all the way around the showcase and then back to Mexico where we rode the boat ride there, follwed by Maelstrom in Norway.

We took some photo pass pics and then rode Spaceship Earth just as the park closed.

Disney Studios

2010-11-24T10:03:00.001-08:00

Tuesday

We can’t seem to get off of California time, but we are still getting plenty of park time, and we’re all well rested and in good spirits, which is a nice way to feel at WDW, where people can easily overdo it!

Today we went to Disney Studios. We ate lunch at Brown Derby - sharing a cobb salad and a steak entrée. After lunch, we went to watch Playhouse Disney live on stage - Geoffrey loved seeing “Mouse!”

Next, we saw the Lights, Motors, Action Stunt show. Geoffrey liked this in August because of all of the cars. He enjoyed it this time, as well, but he was getting sleepy, and fell asleep in his stroller right after we left the show.

While he napped, Grant and I took turns riding our beloved Tower of Terror. When he woke up, we went to watch The Voyage of the Little Mermaid.

We spent the next 45 minutes strolling through the amazing Osborne Spectacle of Lights. We enjoyed watching the dancing lights to the music, and Geoffrey really liked the light up train.

We finished our evening riding the Great Movie Ride.

We had dinner at Giordanno’s where we enjoyed their ridiculously delicious pizza. Then we swung by walmart. We checked out their big Disney section and Geoffrey asked to get a “Mouse” - a cute little Mickey Mouse. So cute!

Magic Kingdom - Monday

2010-11-22T23:28:00.001-08:00

Monday

We had breakfast again at our condo and left later then we intended (because Geoffrey slept in! - Good boy!)

We went to the outlet center - hoping to get some more of the dressy crocs I like. Sadly, they didn’t have my size, but we did visit the character outlet - WOW! They had some of the same stuff that Company D had but even cheaper! On an amazing note, they had these shorts that I really wanted (plaid mickey mouse) that they were no longer selling at home. The shorts were on sale for $18.99, but they rang up for $4.99!!! Such a deal!)

We went to Sweet Tomatoes for lunch, and then headed to the Magic Kingdom. We parked at the Polynesian and took the monorail.

Main Street looked fantastic - beautifully decorated. I really liked the tin soldiers that filled Town Square! Geoffrey had fallen asleep on the way, so we didn’t take any pictures at this point. Of course, he woke just as we passed Main Street. It was about 6:45 when we arrived and pretty crowded, but the crowds thinned throughout the evening.

We went on Pirates first, followed by Haunted Mansion, Snow White, Mickey’s Philharmagic, King Arthur’s Carousel, it’s a small world, and Winnie the Pooh (with fast pass.) The Winnie the Pooh queue was being redone while we were here in August, and the results were awesome. It looks fantastic - very woodsy - and it has a play area inside while parents wait in line. It also has these cool touch screens that look like dripping honey, but you can push the honey aside and make pictures. Well done all around.

We were getting pretty hungry at this point, so we found some tables by Cosmic Rays and had a snack - cheese, salami, crackers, etc. We had a nice view of the fireworks and enjoyed our snack while they went off over our heads.

Next, we conquered Tomorrowland, riding Tomorrowland Speedway “Cars?” The People Mover, and Buzz Lightyear “Buzz?”

Then we went on the teacups, “cup?” Grant spun so fast Geoffrey couldn’t stop laughing , his poor eyes rolling around - “more! More - peese?” and, by request, we went on Dumbos. “Dumbo! Dumbo! Oh!”

We finished our night by riding The Magic Carpets, twice, and then getting on the last Jungle Cruise of the evening. Our skipper was hilarious!

We took some pictures on Main Street and then hopped on the monorail and headed home.

We’re trying the harness on Geoffrey since he wants to walk more. I have mixed feelings on if it is working well!

Disney World Thanksgiving 2010

2010-11-22T23:27:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving 2010 - at Disney World!

This year, my district had to take 4 budget cut days as a result of the lack of money we are receiving from California. Three of the days were scheduled during Thanksgiving week, giving us the whole week off!

That, combined with the fact that we already had purchased the premier annual pass, gave us the notion that we just might be able to swing a tip to Disney World this Fall. And here we are!

We flew out on Saturday, November 20th. We departed from LAX on a Delta flight. The good news was that our flight was non stop. The bad news was that it was Delta, so we had to pack and bring only carry-ons since we didn’t want to pay for bags. Getting through security with three carry on suitcases, two back packs, a diaper bag, a stroller and a car seat, one ziplock of liquids, one laptop, and a one year old was certainly an interesting feet, and one of my personal prouder moments as a traveler. (Come on, airline, lose the extra fees already! You are just making it an extra hassle for everyone - including TSA and your own employees!)

Also making news this traveling season is the new body scan machines that are appearing throughout airports (and the pat downs you receive if you opt not to go through the scanners!) Grant himself got a pat down - probably because of the cargo pants he was wearing.

Anyway - our flight was fine - it was full, with lots of kids. We bought Geoffrey his own seat and brought his car seat on the plane. This was very helpful for most of the flight keeping him in his seat, and especially when he napped, making him more comfortable and giving me the ability to actually do something other then hold him. We got him some new headphones that are really nice, but even sitting on the plane with my iphone full of Mickey Mouse clubhouse and Thomas and Friends he really isn’t much interested in watching TV.

We arrived in Florida after a four and a half hours at about 6. We flew in to Tampa airport this time. We picked up our rental car - they were all out of midsize, so we got the next one up - but it was a bright red, ugly thing - it looked like a clown car. (The car itself was oddly shaped, and the red was, well, RED, and when you put the two together - yikes!) But it had lots of space in the back and it was comfortable, so off we went on our drive to Orlando.

We are staying at Windsor Palms this week in a condo unit. These are the same builders as Windsor Hills, but the community is a few years older. It is located a couple of miles south west of Windsor Hills, so still pretty close to the WDW property. Our condo is nice! It is on the first floor of the building just across from the community center - the pool and play ground are no more then a two minute walk away.

Our unit has a washer and dryer, a kitchen, a large family room / dining area, and two bedrooms, on with a king bed and one with two twins. It also has two bathrooms, each with a shower/tub combo. It also has a small, screened it porch. It is a very comfortable condo, and we are happy with it - especially at $50 a night (including all taxes!!!!)

After scoping the scene and playing for a bit on the playground (and watching the basketball players at the community center “basket ball! Basket ball!” we went to Cracker Barrel for dinner. WE were hungry! Then we went to get provisions from Publix and Walmart - food and liquids that we couldn’t carry on the plane with us. Geoffrey got a 10 inch bouncy ball - which he LOVES! We headed back to our condo and unpacked.

There was no pack n play in our unit. We called and they said they would bring one out - we said the next day would be fine (Sunday). So that night Geoffrey slept with us (we didn’t think he would stay in the other room without the pack n play.

Yikes, what a night! He would not fall asleep - despite being in the dark room between me and Grant - he stayed up trying to play with us for an hour and a half! Then, when he did go to sleep, he woke up four hours later and stayed up for another hour! Oy! Needless to say, not the best night sleep, ever. He probably slept all of 8 hours.

On Sunday we had breakfast at home and played a bit before heading out. The rental car we had (It was a Chevrolet HHR) badly needed an alignment and kept pulling to one side. Grant’s arm was sore from holding it straight driving from Tampa. We headed to the Car Care Center near the Magic Kingdom and exchanged our car for a white Chevrolet Cobalt. Although the car is smaller, it runs better and isn’t so outlandish to look at!

WE had reservations for Boma, so we went to the Animal Kingdom lodge. We were early, so we headed back past the pool to the Hakuna Matata playground. It was a nice playground with two jungle gyms and a view of some of the savannah animals from the top of the jungle gyms.

Lunch at (technically dinner hours, but our 4:05 reservation served as our lunch!) Boma was delicious! I zigged on all the sides, mostly, while Grant ate repeat servings of the African spiced strip loin (with the delicious Boma mustard sauce.) Geoffrey, not in an adventurous mood, was qite happy with pitas, flat bread, chicken nuggets, and fruit. Oh - and his cookie for dessert…”oh oh, oh boy!”

We spent the evening at EPCOT. I was very excited to see the Christmas decorations. However, it didn’t seem very decorated. I am hoping that they are not finished yet and there will be more by the end of the week. However, there were some great topiaries of the Disney characters dressed in their holiday best, and lots of trees and poinsettias. In addition, there is one large Christmas Tree at the center of EPCOT, where Future World meets World showcase.

We rode Spaceship Earth - Geoffrey stayed engaged the whole time - and then headed over to Nemo and Friends. We spent some time looking at the fish in the Aquarium - Geoff loves running around the observation rings. The dolphins were cool today - they were sort of dancing - one was swimming upside down underneath the other one, who was swimming right side up, and they were sort of swimming in side to side waves. It was neat!

Next, we headed to the World showcase where we watched Off Kilter in Canada, visited with Winnie the Pooh and Tigger in England, and then watched some of the British Invasion. (Sadly, it was the same set of songs we heard in August!) We strolled around the showcase, walking through Morocco n detail while waiting for their band to set up, and then we listened to them for a bit. We continued over to Norway and rode Maelstrom twice while Geoff took a little snooze. We finished the evening at the parks watching Illuminations.

After we left, we went to pick up Taco Bell for dinner. We had been at this Taco Bell on a previous visit, and the service was exceptionally awful. We waited in line for about 40 minutes and they screwed up our order. But that was on a previous visit . It couldn’t be that bad again, could it? Famous last words, huh? Anyway, 30 minutes (and a messed up order that I had to walk up to the drive through window to fix because the dining room was closed) later , we finally get home. Fantastic.

At bedtime, Geoff slept in his pack n play. He cried for 20 minutes - and then slept for almost 13 hours without a peep! (Grant and I went to sleep after him and we BOTH woke up before he did!

Norwegian Epic - August 2010

2010-09-06T15:31:00.000-07:00

SO here it is, October 31st, and I am finishing up my August / September blog. (o:

We spent a few more days at Disney World - and then headed out for our drive down to Miami. We dropped Danny off at the airport in West Palm Beach and then checked in to the Marriott in Miami. We had dinner at a sea food restaurant and then headed out to the Port of Miami.

The Norwegian Epic is a huge ship. You actually board in two terminals - odd floors in one terminal, even floors in another. Luckily, we were all staying on even decks so we could stick together.

Once onboard, we went to try to get to our cabins. Ours and Mom and Bobby's weren't ready yet, but we were able to get to Gary's studio. It was small, truly, but really awesome for single travelers, and the different colored mood lighting inside was a fun touch. We had lunch in the buffet, which was really nice and had plenty of seating.

Our cabins were on deck 10 (10205 and 10209). They really were small, and we were tripping over each other at times. Our cabin had the couch first, then the bed. The first night, the steward turned down the couch into a bed for Geoffrey. We couldn't have Geoff sleep on the bed - he would fall off, so we made a little nest on the floor. It worked ok, but the next day we were able to get a pack in play. It fit between the bed and the couch - but we had to push the couch a bit into the toilet area - but it worked ok.

We loved the shower - nice and big - and the toilet area was fine and didn't bother us. We were able to open the divider between our balcony and Mom and Bobby's, so that was really nice.

Dinner on the first night was in La Cucina. This was the upcharge Italian restaurant. It was really good - it turned out it was our favorite of the whole night. The ambiance was beautiful, and the food was delicious. We spent some time exploring the ship before heading to bed.

The ship: There were two main areas of the ship that we got the most use of. Our favorite area was the pool deck. Here, at the aqua park, there were three really fun water slides - and a great splash zone for little kids. Geoffrey had so much fun here!

The other area that was pretty neat were the middle decks. Here was really where the Vegas feel came out. Three floors of restaurants, night clubs, and the huge casino. This would have been really awesome - but unfortunately, the casino dominates the whole middle of this section and makes it very smoky, and not pleasant to walk around.

Honestly, this made evenings the least pleasant part of the cruise, as there was virtually nothing to do as a family. Everything was adult oriented, indeed, even the evening movies were shown in Spice H2O, which was for adults only. I guess if your kids enjoy the kids club, you're fine, but if not, those nights could really drag!

Sunday was an at sea day. Mom, Bobby, and I went to a Murder Mystery lunch in the Cirque Dreams theater. This was put on by the Second City improv group. It was pretty funny. We met Grant, Gary, and Geoffrey out at the aqua park, where the boys were playing. We spent the afternoon reading, splashing, and enjoying the slides. We had dinner at Moderno, the Brazillian Chuscaria. The salad bar here was delicious - and the meat was good, but not the best ever. Still, bringing this concept to the ocean at such a fairly reasonable price.

After dinner, we went to watch Blue Man Group. We sat all the way in the back, in case Geoffrey got busy - but the theater was a nice size - not too big, not too small, so we were able to see fine. The Blue Man Group was the exact show as in Vegas, except a little shorter. Luckily, the shortened some of the parts that felt excessively long, so I liked the show better.

On Monday, we went to Cozumel. Unfortunately, due to the hurricane, so did something like 6 other ships. We went to Paradise Beach and did not have a great time. It was way crowded, and they charged $2 to use the chairs. They didn't come around to take a single food order, but the came around several times to make sure we had paid for chairs.

Back on board, Mom, Bobby, Grant and I saw the Cirque Dreams dinner theater. This was, by far, one of the best things we saw on ship - A two hour circus show while dinner was served. We paid the lower price tier and sat on the balcony - which is where we would have wanted to sit, anyway! Geoffrey hung out with Grandpa Gary.

We spent the evening walking around the ship, snacking, and checking out the sports court.

On Thursday, we went to Roatan (another port that was exchanged due to the hurricane). Here, we rented a private tour with Victor Boat and Tours, which we had read about. Our driver, Ron, was a nice young man who had lots of information to give us. He was willing to drive us anywhere for the whole day. We took some pictures but mostly we spent the day at West Bay beach - one of the most beautiful beaches we've ever been to. The water was crystal clear, and a perfect temperature. The sand was white powder perfect. This is seriously one of the best beaches I've ever been to! (I was so glad that I decided to go - after the day at Paradise Beach, I almost didn't want to go). Ron just hung out and took us back to the ship when we were ready - stopping to get us some cookies on the way home.

WE ate dinner tonight at Taste, one of the free main dining rooms. The meal was subpar. The food was not great, the service was poor.

Grant, Mom, and Bobby went to the improv comedy show while Geoff and I played in the room and had an early night.

On Wednesday we had another sea day. After brunch in the buffet, Mom and Bobby took Geoffrey to the pool while Grant and I went to the spa for a Rasul. Here again, we just had an okay experience. We waited a long time to be helped. The clerk at the counter was all, "Is the ONLY service you're getting a rasul?" When the lady came back to help us, she was very nice - she was going to take us in to get us robes, but the lady behind the counter was all, "They're only getting a rasul..." Our lady got them for us anyway, but I was feeling a bit uncomfortable at this point. The rasul chamber was all right - not very "spa" atmosphere - it felt just like a large bathroom.

Afterwards, we went to the pool and splashed and read and had fun.

Dinner tonight was at Le Bistro. The French food was delicious! Geoff had a rougher night, though, and it was harder to enjoy.

After dinner, we went to see Howl at the Moon - these sing-along piano players. This was AWESOME! The songs were great, and there was NO SMOKING! Geoffrey liked dancing along and we had fun. Later, Mom and Bobby took Geoffrey back to the room while Grant and I had a date night. We went for sushi (upcharge, but reasonable) and then saw the magician - freaking hilarious!

On Thursday, we had lunch at O'Sheehan's, an Applebees type restaurant that is open 24 hours. Grant, on his late night strolls, had been there often, but I had not. The food here was good, and I really liked the environment. Sort of a pub feel. One of the bowling alleys was here (we never did get to bowl!)

After lunch, we went to the pools and lazed the afternoon away reading, sliding, and splashing!

Dinner tonight was in the Manhattan room, the other free dining room. Again, the service was poor and the food was mediocre.

Dining was probably the most irritating part to me about the Epic. Although Norwegian fans will argue that you can eat in the main dining rooms every night, if you choose, just like any other cruise ship, it is NOT the same experience. The service int he main dining rooms was awful and the food was poor (and mostly the same dishes offered each night). Dining (for free) on other ships are the high light of my trip. If I ate in the main dining room nightly here, it would just be something to get through (and I probably would mostly eat in the buffet instead.) Now, the upcharge restaurants were delicious and the service was usually good - but you had to pay - so in my opinion, it is not on par with other ships.

After dinner, we went to see Legends in Concert - Tina Turner, Madonna, and Elvis. Madonna chose an audience member to come on stage with her during one of her songs - She chose Gary! Ha! It was great - we could not stop laughing as she brought him on the stage, put him in a chair, unbutton on his shirt and dance around - and on - him! The BEST! We could not stop laughing. Gut busting.

Next we popped in next door to watch Howl at the Moon for a little bit, and then sent Mom and Bobby in to see that hilarious magician/comedian from the night before. Grant took Geoffrey to bed and I stayed at Howl at the Moon for a while. When Mom and Bobby were finished, Bobby went back with Geoffrey while Grant, Mom, and I went to Sushi!

On Friday, our ship docked in Nassau. While the ship emptied, we spent the morning hanging out on a practically empty pool deck. We enjoyed all the water slides - eve the inner tube slide - with minimal wait, and Geoffrey had the splash pool to himself. Bobby, meanwhile, visited the Spa and had a massage.

After lunch, we took a quick walk around town, just to say that we did.

For dinner, we went back to La Cucina, our favorite dining venue on the ship. We spent the evening packing in our cabins, and I went down to Second City to watch them perform.

Debarkation was very smooth and quick… except that I forgot to pick up Geoffrey’s car seat before going through custody. That turned out to be a much bigger deal then we had originally anticipated - since apparently the car seat had to clear customs. Originally they were telling us that we would have to wait a few hours for the entire ship to empty, but an NCL agent really tried to help us out and we ended up waiting about 45 minutes.

All in all, we enjoyed our adventure aboard the Norwegian Epic.

Weeee!

2010-09-05T16:36:00.001-07:00

On the way home, we hit some turbulence landing in Denver. All the way down, Geoff was going "weee! weeee!" SO CUTE!!!!

Disney's Hollywood Studios (Tuesday)

2010-08-25T08:19:00.001-07:00

WE had lots of rain this morning. It sounded so cool in the treehouse! We had a delicious Bobby G breakfast and enjoyed the rain.

In the afternoon, we headed to Disney's Hollywood Studios. We went to see the Lights! Motors! Action! car stunt show, which everyone enjoyed.

Next, we went to the Honey I shrunk the Audience playground, and Geoffrey had a blast walking up the stairs and sliding down the slides.

We saw the American Idol experience, and one of the guys that performed could actually sing! That was fun!

We went to do the Backlot TOur, which really sucks now that it is so short. They took our the residential street (where the Golden Girls home use to be) to build the Lights Motors Action set. Also, the Studios is no longer and actual working studio. SO it is kind of lame.

Oh well. We finished off the evening riding Tower of Terror and Aerosmith's Rockin Roller Coaster.

By the time we left, it was almost 10, so we went ti IHOP for dinner. Service was awful. We were seated at 9:50, and other then one round of drinks, not a drop of food was given to us until 10:50. Granted, a big crowd had come in, but it was ridiculous.

Oh well. All in all, it was a fun day!

EPCOT / Magic Kingdom (Monday)

2010-08-23T22:17:00.001-07:00

Today we headed to EPCOT for lunch at Les Chefs de France. WE got a later start then expected due to a downpour, but by the time we arrived at EPCOT, it was a steady, gentle rain that stopped completely while we were at lunch, leaving us with a beautiful, overcast, relatively "cool" day. (mid 70s).

Lunch was delicious, (and peaceful - Geoff slept through the whole meal!) and we had a nice view of the French street performers outside. Plus, Remy, from Ratatouille came by our table.

After lunch, we finished up the things we hadn't seen yet with Danny at EPCOT: Journey into Imagination, Living with the Land, and Finding Nemo and the aquarium.

WE took the monorail over to Magic Kingdom and headed to Tomorrowland. We got Space Mountain fast passes, and then did Stitch's Great Escape. We did the People Mover, and then rode Buzz Lightyear. Next, we used our Space Mountain fast passes while Bobby and Geoff went on the People Mover again. Geoff fell asleep towards the end and got in another nap.

Fantasyland was next. Grant, Mom, Bobby, and Danny went to see Mickey's Philharmagic while Geoff finished his nap. Then Danny, Geoff, Grant and I rode the Flying Dumbos together. Danny left at this point to go back to the treehouse and watch the baseball game. The rest of us stayed and rode the carousel, Snow White, and The Haunted Mansion before watching the fireworks.

WE waited a bit for the crowds to subside before exiting the park. The monorail line was super long, so we took the boat to the TTA instead. The queue for the boat was awful - there were about a million gnats swarming to the lights. I had never seen anything like it. It was awful waiting for the boat - the gnats were everywhere! They flew all over - everyone was waving there arms and keeping their mouth shut. Even now, I can feel them flying in and bouncing off of me. Yuck.

Anyway - the wait wasn't bad - we got on the boat pretty quickly, thank goodness. There was a family close by with two wheel chairs, and a young boy was pushing one of the wheelchairs, so we helped him get the chair on and off the boat because the dock was uneven and partly uphill.

The monorail to EPCOT was empty and we were to our car before we knew it. We ordered pizza and it was delivered to our treehouse shortly after we arrived.

On our first night in WDW, I noticed that the moon was just a tiny sliver - like a clipped fingernail. Now, it is a full moon. Wild.

Sunday - A day of rest... sort of! - DVC!

2010-08-23T21:59:00.001-07:00

So today, we moved hotels. We got up and finished packing to move out of our town home. Mom and I took Geoffrey to the playground while Danny, Grant, and Bobby loaded up the van.

We headed over to Saratoga Springs Resort to check in to our Treehouse Villa - our first DVC resort! We checked in and dropped off our refrigerated groceries for them to store until we were able to move them into our villa. The villa wasn't ready yet, so we went to Downtown Disney and ate lunch at Wolfgang Puck Express. They texted us our room number during lunch so we headed over to the treehouse to unload our stuff.

We had stayed at the treehouse when we came in 2000. Then, the treehouses were part of the Disney Institute. They have since been torn down and rebuilt as part of the Saratoga Springs Disney Vacation Club Resort. Now, the entire villa is on the upper floor.

The villa has three bedrooms. Grant and I have a queen bed, and our bathroom has a unique set up - the glass door leads to the shower, and past the shower is a bath tub. I've never quite seen a bathroom set up that way - but it works really well - Geoff can take a bath and I can take a shower right next to him - in the same section of the bathroom - without the shower splashing on Geoff.

Danny's room is small and holds a bunk bed, while Mom and Bobby have a room with a queen bed as well. Those two rooms have another bathroom with a shower/tub combo. The main room has a kitchen with a bar/island in the middle, a table with three chairs and a bench, a couch and another oversized chair. (the couch and the oversized chair technically open up to a double bed and a twin bed.)

Everything is really modern - flat screen tvs in each room, marble counters, etc.

We are in unit 7026 - and we are RIGHT ON THE WATER. I can't imagine a better view - or a better location - right between a bus stop and the boat transportation, and relatively near the pool. We got our groceries and then headed back to our villa and unpacked. While there, we had a huge storm - it poured - so we decided not to go to the parks.

Grant and I picked up dinner for Mom, Bobby, Danny, and Geoff, then we headed to Downtown Disney for a date. We wanted to go to Disney Quest since we could use our pass to get in. We did the big stuff - Virtual Jungle Cruise, Pirates, etc. It closed at 10, so we then went to have dinner at Portabellos, an Italian restaurant at Downtown Disney, before taking the bus back to our treehouse!

After we unloaded the car, we drove back to the main lobby of Saratoga Springs. We walked around the lobby and checked out the cool main feature pool - it had a zero entry section, a big slide, a small slide, and a splash zone - featuring Donald Duck. We h

Animal Kingdom (Saturday)

2010-08-22T15:00:00.001-07:00

We decided to make today a short day because we needed to pack, also.

We arrived at the Animal Kingdom sometime in the early afternoon. We watched Finding Nemo the Musical, first.

After the show, Geoffrey spent some time playing at the Boneyard, and excavation themed playground. He had SO MUCH FUN! He wore himself out!

WHen we moved on, he fell promptly asleep in his stroller. Mom, Grant, and I rode Expedition Everest three times. Then Mom and Grant rode Kali River Rapids. When they got off, they were going to ride again, but a storm had moved in and the rides were closed due to lightning.

We headed for home and spent some time packing. We had dinner at The Golden Corral - it was CROWDED. We went back home and finished packing.

Tomorrow, we check out of our town home and into the Treehouse Villas at Saratoga Springs!

Magic Kingdom (Friday)

2010-08-22T14:45:00.001-07:00

On Friday, we started out our day by heading to the Outlet center to get some Crocs. Mom had some blisters and people swear by them. They had some $5 sales, and Grant asked the sales lady if there were any men's on sale. She said that they only had pink in men's on sale. He said, "Great, that's my favorite color!" She said, "They are kind of bright, more like a fushia." ANd Grant said, "Even better!" He and Bobby both got a pair.

We went to Sweet Tomatoes for dinner - it is Souplantation with a different name. They just opened at the Crossroads shopping center. They were really cool - they let Geoffrey have a free milk or juice.

Next, we went to the Magic Kingdom. We got there at about 8 in the evening, and parked at the Polynesian per usual. The Magic Kingdom was super crowded. Geoff had fallen asleep, so Grant, Mom, and Bobby went to see the Hall of Presidents while I waited outside with Geoffrey. Then Grant stayed with him while Mom, Bobby, and I saw Mickey's Philharmagic.

Geoffrey had woken up by then, so we all rode The Haunted Mansion together. Then we rode The Jungle Cruise and Pirates of the Caribbean before watching the Country Bear Jamboree.

Next we used our Peter Pan fast pass and avoided a 45 minute wait - and finished off the evening by riding Winnie the Pooh. Not bad for four hours!

Blizzard beach (Thursday)

2010-08-20T10:06:00.001-07:00

Today we went to Blizzard Beach.

We had breakfast at the house, first. Geoff was sort of playing with his food, so Bobby took his plate, thinking Geoffrey was done. Geoffrey looked at Bobby, pointed at his plate, and adamantly said "EAT!" Guess he wasn't done! SO funny!

We got to Blizzard Beach around one. We had so much fun in the lazy river. They had a family raft ride that all six of us could ride together. It was really long and a lot of fun! But quite a hike to get to the top! Geoff took a nap while we ate snacks and then he spent some time in the toddler play area - he had fun there! We took turns playing with Geoffrey in the wave pool and riding slides.

Later, we decided to take the chair lift to the top and do the family raft ride again. The height limit was 32 inches - same as Tomorrowland Speedway - so Geoff was just tall enough. I was a little nervous, but Geoffrey did really well. He was very careful, and held on tight to me with one hand and to the side of the chair with his other hand. About halfway up, he relaxed a bit, but still held on and set nicely for the whole ride!

We wanted to do it again, but at 6:30 they had to close the park due to thunder. The park was supposed to close at 7, anyway. We left and headed back to dry off and change, before heading for dinner at Whispering Canyon Cafe at the Wilderness Lodge.

The people who work at Whispering Canyon Cafe are real characters. They love to tease the guests. If you ask for ketchup (which we had Danny do) you have to stand in the middle of the room and shout "Anybody have ketchup?" Then anyone who has it on there table has to bring it to you - we ended up with 8 bottles of ketchup on our table! The food was pretty good - we did an all you can eat family style bbq meal.

We were also lucky enough to run into Mom and Bobby's neighbor and her family. They are visiting at the same time and staying at the Wilderness Lodge. It was fun seeing them.

EPCOT (Wednesday)

2010-08-20T09:52:00.001-07:00

On Wednesday, we spent all day at EPCOT. Danny went with us. We started out at World Showcase and rode Maelstrom and Gran Fiesta. We swung by First Aid and the Baby Care center to get some band-aids and change Geoff's diaper. WHile in the baby care center, I pointed to a picture of Mickey and Minnie, and I said "Ther'y Mickey Mouse! There is Minnie Mouse!" And Geoff pointed and said "Mi Mouse!"

We wanted to use our Disney rewards perk to get pictures with the characters, but just as we got there, Geoff fell asleep. Instead, we went to ride Ellen's Energy Adventure - 45 minutes in the cool darkness.

After that, Geoffrey woke up, so we went to the character experience. It took us about 10 minutes, and then we were in a room with Mickey and Pluto! SO cool! I thought only Minnie and Goofy were there, so it was a nice surprise. This was the first time Geoffrey has met Mickey Mouse! We took some pictures, and then Mickey sat down and tried to get a picture of Geoffrey by himself. Mickey put his arm around Geoff and put him on his knee. We got some pics of just the two of them! THEN, they continued to play with Geoffrey! They stayed on the floor and played with him! When Geoffrey gets shy, or sees new people, he reaches down to touch his shoes. So he was doing that, and Mickey and Pluto started imitating him! It was such a neat experience. We probably spent 10 minutes there. I was wondering if we were taking too long, but the picture lady kept snapping away, and Mickey and Pluto stayed on the floor with Geoffrey. I thought maybe there wasn't much of a line, but when we left, there was actually quite a long line. I think Mickey was having so much fun with Geoff that he was ok just having some play time. It was really cool, and I felt very fortunate to have such a special experience with Mickey and Pluto. They made it really special for us!

After that, we headed over to over to Italy and ate dinner at the brand new pizza place that is in soft opening. We shared a huge appetizer of fried cheese, fried veggies )mushrooms, asparagus, zucchini, etc.) and calamari. Then we shared a huge pizza - half four cheese and half prosciutto and melon.

We followed our delicious lunch by rides on Test Track and Mission Space. (Bobby rode Mission Space on the Green Team (less intense) with Mom, Danny, and Grant, and then I swapped with Bobby and we did the Orange Team.)

We had planned to head over to the Magic Kingdom but it was getting late, so we just finished the evening at EPCOT. We rode Spaceship Earth, and then saw Captain EO - Bobby's first time! Then we spent some time watching the jumping fountains at the Imagination pavilion. Geoffrey loved watching the water jump from pod to pod. He had so much fun running from one section to another!

Disney Studios (Tuesday)

2010-08-20T09:29:00.001-07:00

Today we got up and made a Wal-mart run to stock up on groceries.

Then we headed to Disney Studios. We rode the Tower of Terror, and the Great Movie Ride, Saw the Voyage of the Little Mermaid and Journey into Narnia (LAME!), rode a double ride on star tours (it hasn't closed here yet - after our first ride, they made an announcement that the cabin was not full for the next ride and we could stay on and ride again if we wanted.) Then we saw (listened?) to Sounds Dangerous, before watching Fantasmic.

Geoffrey's vocabulary is really growing. He repeats a lot of what he hears, and he's saying lots of words now. We're making a list that we'll post later. Here's a preview:

When he drops his cars down the track, we say "ready, set, go!" Now he says "set, go!" himself, both when he drops his cars down the track and when he's about to go down a slide. He says tractor, eat, butt, book... lots of stuff. So cute!

Magic Kingdom (Monday)

2010-08-20T09:20:00.001-07:00

Well, I know I have been slacking on my posts - I've been reading "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo" in my free time instead of blogging - now I've finished it, and I think I will wait until the cruise (or at least, the drive to the cruise) to start the next book.

On Monday, Grant, Geoff, and I went to The Magic Kingdom. It was pouring when we got there, and Geoff had just fallen asleep, so we let him finish his nap and we waited out the storm.

We had parked at the Polynesian again, so we took the monorail to the parks. It was a nice day, weather-wise, because it stayed overcast and relatively cool all day. We road the train all around the park, and then Grant rode Splash Mountain while Geoff and I played in the Winnie the Pooh playground. There was a kid there who was a terror! He kept pushing kids out of his way down the slide. He was, maybe, 3 years old. I never saw the adult that was supervising him. He pushed Geoff out of the way several times. Once, Geoff was waiting at the top of the slide and this kid walked up the slide and then proceeded to hit Geoff in the face! I walked over, took his hand, and said, "Don't hit. That's not nice." I expected, at this point, to be yelled at by the brats mom - but no adult appeared! I still didn't know who was supposed to be watching him by the time we left!

Anyways, next, I rode on Big Thunder Mountain while Grant and Geoff headed over to Toon Town to play in the park there. I met them there and watched Geoff play happily for awhile. Then we headed over to Tomorrowland and watched the Carousel of Progress, the Peple Mover, and then Buzz Lightyear. By the way, I like the Buzz ride better in Florida, but the game play is far superior in California. Finally, we rode Pirates of the Caribbean before leaving the park at around 7:30.

We swung by the house and picked up Danny, and then headed to the airport to pick up Mom and Bobby!

We needed to exchange our rental van. The one that we had, well, had issues. Every time you opened the back tail gate, it jerked open with a repeating loud thunk, thunk, thunk. About half the time when you opened the side door, it would open all the way and then close right away. Freakin crazy. Worst of all, it was getting like 13 miles per gallon.

Danny and Grant exchanged the van while Geoff and I went to meet Mom and Bobby at the baggage claim. Our timing was perfect. We couldn't have been there 5 minutes when Mom and Bobby came down the escalator. There bags were already on the carousel, so we grabbed them, met Danny and Grant at the rental car pick up, and we were on our way! We stopped at Steak and Shake for dinner and then headed home.

Animal Kingdom / Swimming at WIndsor

2010-08-16T10:00:00.001-07:00

Yesterday, we went to Kidani Village, which is the DVC portion of the Animal Kingdom Lodge. WE really liked it - the lobby was much more intimate then the main lodge (Jambo), and it was very easy to see animals from the lobby. (The pool complex blocks your initial view at Jambo, where as at Kidani, the pool is built in front and off to the side.)

We had lunch at Saana. The food had very Indian flavors - I didn't love it, although I could tell it was fresh and well made. Grant really liked it. I LOVED the view - there were two giraffes eating just outside our window!

After lunch, we took the bus to Animal Kingdom. Geoffrey fell asleep, so Grant rode Kali River Rapids, and then we took turns riding Expedition Everest. Geoffrey woke up an hour later, and we were able to catch the 5:45 showing of Legend of the Lion King!

We decided to head home after that. Magic Kingdom had Extra Magic Hours, and Disney Studios had Star Wars weekend. Instead, we went back to Windsor and swam in the community pool, and then went to Cici's pizza for dinner.

Geoff is so cute in the pool. He loves to jump in - and he is just as busy in the water as out of it. He loved running over to the dancing waters, and then running back into the pool.

*´¨)
¸.·´¸.·*´¨) ¸.·*¨)
(¸.·´ (¸.·´*Bobbi Jo*
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EPCOT / Cape May Cafe

2010-08-16T09:48:00.001-07:00

On Saturday, the weather was forcasted to be 95 degrees, feeling like 107 with humidity. Fun! It actually didn't feel as bad as the weather channel said - at least I didn't think so.

We parked at the Beach Club, because we were eating dinner there later. The Beach Club is a short walk to the International Gate entrance into EPCOT. WE headed straight to Ellen's Energy Adventure in the Universe of Energy pavilion, and enjoyed 45 minutes of air conditioning. Geoffrey fell asleep, so I rode on Spaceship Earth and Grant went to see Captain EO. Geoffrey woke up about 10 minutes before Grant got back, and promptly searched the stroller for the bag of popcorn. Then he walked up to the lady next to us to say hello. She gave him a velcro frog from one of the Innoventions pavilions, and he gripped it all day long!

Once Grant got back, we swung through Club Cool to drink some International soda, and then rode Journey into the Imagination.

We took the boat back to the Beach Club and enjoyed the Clambake buffet. I gorged myself on crab legs, fried shrimp, lobster ravioli, and more crab legs. Grant enjoyed the steak, the house salad, and the clam chowder. We both loved the chocolate melting cake desert.

We walked back to EPCOT and hung out in the UK pavilion. Geoffrey explored the hedge maze for a while, and then we got our pictures taken with Winnie-the-Pooh and Tigger, too. At 8:00, The British Invasion came out and we watched them do some Beatles numbers.

We decided to stay for Illuminations, so we walked over to France and watched Impressions de France. The film ended just a few minutes before Illuminations began. We watched between France and Morocco with a great, uncrowded view. Leaving through the International gateway was quick and easy and we didn't have to fight crowds all the way to the main entrance!

Typhoon Lagoon

2010-08-13T20:20:00.001-07:00

Today, we headed to Typhoon Lagoon. We got there just after lunch and dropped off our stuff by the kid play area, then took a float in the lazy river. About half way around it started to pour, and just as we made a complete circuit, they cleared the water due to lightening storms. We went back to our stuff and sat for about 30 minutes before they reopened the water areas.

We played in the wave pool for a while, and then Danny and Grant went to ride some slides while I took Geoff for a nap. Right after he fell asleep, Grant came to watch him and Danny and I went to ride a different slide - bit just as we arrived, they closed the water rides again due to more lightning. This storm lasted two hours - heavy rain, lots of thunder and lightening. Geoff slept through half of it, and then woke up and had a snack. At 6:00, they reopened the park, and from 6 - 8, we basically had the park to ourselves. We rode all the slides we wanted to, including Crush n Gusher and the family raft ride with absolutely no wait, Geoffrey played in the toddler splash area (and had a blast!) and we got to do the river and wave pool some more.

Once the park closed, we swung by home to change and then went to Cracker Barrel for dinner. Now we're playing and watching tv - relaxing and aiming for an early night!

pool / animal kingdom / magic kingdom

2010-08-12T22:36:00.001-07:00

We started Thursday morning with breakfast at our town home, and then we went out to the clubhouse pool to swim for a while. I went down the water slide a few times. Geoffrey enjoyed the dancing waters and the zero entry into the pool.

Geoffrey took a little snooze and we headed back to our unit. We showered and had lunch, and then Danny headed over to the movie theater, while Grant, Geoff and I headed to The Animal Kingdom. Today was HOT - 95 degrees. We went straight to Finding Nemo the musical and enjoyed the AC... and the show. While we were waiting for it to start, Geoff and I walked up and down the steps of the theater. Then Geoff headed outside and heard the calypso band playing, and he started dancing along in his cute, head bobbing, feet stopping way.

After the show, we headed to the Safari - it was a walk on. The guy in front of us asked annoying questions to the driver - some of which he answered, and some he ignored. The guy didn't seem to be aware that the driver was telling the safari story. Anyway, towards the end of the safari, three rhinos came right up to our safari vehicle. Two crossed right behind us, and one was right up next to us (you could probably have touched him!) The stupid girl belonging to stupid question man started CLAPPING HER HANDS at the animal to try to get it to react - the driver had to ask her not to spook the rhino (and she was old enough to know better.) You could tell from the driver's reaction that the fact that these rhinos were so close was a rare and awesome event.

Geoff fell asleep on the safari. The park closed at 6, and it was about 6:15 when we got off the safari, so we headed to Magic Kingdom. Since Geoff was asleep, we decided to get a snack at McDonalds so that he could sleep longer without risk of him waking too early on the transfer from the car seat to the stroller.

We parked at the Polynesian, took the monorail, and arrived at the Magic Kingdom at about 8:00. We got fast passes for Peter Pan, and then rode The Haunted Mansion. By this time, the lines were getting really short due to the 9:00 electrical parade. We walked on Winnie the Pooh, the Tea Cups, and the People Mover (which officially changed its name from Tomorrowland Transit Authority).

Disney World is doing a Summer Nightastic promotion and they have a new firework show. The fireworks were AWESOME! They are so much bigger, and they launch from a few different places across the sky. VERY COOL.

The fireworks were at 10, and the park closed at 11. We headed back into Tomorrowland and road the Tomorrowland Speedway - this is the first attraction Geoffrey has ridden where he stood up and measures up to the height limit - 32 inches!!! My big boy!!!

We went to Peter Pan to use our fast passes next, and then headed over to The Magic Carpets of Aladdin. When we got off, we decided to see if we could possibly make it on the Jungle Cruise - and we did - the last boat of the night. As we got on, we were deemed the world's strongest family - capable of holding up a WDW attraction. ha ha ha. They held the boayt for a few more minutes to let on about 10 more people and then we enjoyed our tour of the jungle.

We caught the monorail back to the Polynesian. The monorail was crowded and Geoffrey was in his stroller - he couldn't see anything so he played "I Hear Ewe" on Grant's iphone. (It is a program where he selects an item and it says "This is the sound a frog makes... ribbit ribbit"
As we were getting ready to pull out of the TTA, The monorail driver made an announcement that they would need to reboot the system and it would just be a minute. The lights dimmed, and the engines and AC went off. All of a sudden we all heard an alarm going off. Everyone started looking around - and then laughed when we realized it was the "I Hear Ewe" game on the transportation mode... "This is the sound a police car makes... WOOwooWOOwoo..." SO funny!

Geoffrey fell asleep in the car. Back home, he drank his milk while I changed his diaper and put on his PJs., then listened to me read a story and went down without a peep. Good boy!

Windsor Hills / EPCOT

2010-08-12T22:08:00.001-07:00

On Wednesday, Geoffrey and I woke up first. We went out to swim in our little splash pool on our patio attached to our town home. Grant woke up and joined us. After we were done, Danny joined us to check out the club house. The pool looks fun, with a zero entry section, a toddler "dancing fountains" section, and a cool water slide. The game room has a few video games, and pool tables, and a nice movie theater. We stopped by the welcome center and browsed the list of movies. They play movies every day at 10, 1, 4, and 7, and you can request movies if there are none scheduled.

Next, we walked to the playground - it is very cool. It is themed like a castle, and has teeter totters, a merry-go-round, a giant checkers game, swings, and a jungle gym in the center that looks like a castle. Geoffrey was napping, so we'll have to go back so he can play on it!

Back at our townhome, Geoffrey finished his nap and we had some lunch. Grant cooked up some chicken breasts for Danny's dinners, too.

Around 4:00, Grant, Geoff, and I headed for EPCOT (yeah for annual passes!) My pass had some issues, but they resolved it pretty quickly at guest relations and we were on our way. The first ride we did was Spaceship Earth. In the dark, Geoffrey went to nurse, but started looking around and realized there was interesting stuff to look at. He paid attention during most of the ride!

We continued to tour future world - visiting The Living Seas and Nemo. Geoffrey enjoyed looking at the dolphins and the fish. We also saw a really cool old sea turtle!

Next, we went to visit The Land, and road the Living with the Land boat ride, which was closed last summer.

Then we went to the Imagination pavilion and went on Journey into your Imagination with Figment. Captain EO is playing at WDW right now, so we saw that. The theater is so much bigger than at home - their lighting effects were cool, and I thought there use of motion during the show was much more effective then outs. They incorporated some other effects - *spoiler* for example, they used the physical effect of the mice running through the theater from Honey I Shrunk the Audience during the whip warrior scene. *end spoiler.*

Geoffrey fell asleep during the show, so Grant and I went over to the other side of Future World. I rode Mission Space, and then Grant rode Test Track while I played one of my favorite WDW people watching games: Is he gay or European?

We headed to world show case, and had walked around clockwise. We stopped at Norway and had a chocolate pretzel snack, visited Italy and looked at the menu for the new pizza restaurant, and then walked around the UK pavilion a bit. Geoffrey woke up just as Illuminations started, and he watched it while we walked out of the park.

We went to Five Guys for dinner and then got home around 11:00. Geoff fell asleep with little trouble last night!

Tuesday, August 10th - Journey to Orlando

2010-08-11T21:35:00.001-07:00

Our flight to Orlando on Jet Blue via Austin was quick and painless. The second half of the flight was half empty, so we had the while back row - both sides, for the four of us!

Once we arrived in Orlando, grant went to get the rental car while Danny, Geoff and I got our luggage. We drove our red dodge caravan to Windsor hills, and checked out our wonderful town home. Some differences from last year's: the table is in the kitchen now instead of in the living room, and the guest bedrooms are arranged differently: the upstairs room has a queen bed ( which fits much better than in the downstairs room) and the down stairs room has two twin beds. Danny is sleeping downstairs, and mom and Bobby will be sleeping upstairs when they arrive next Monday. Grant, Geoff and I are sleeping in the master bedroom - Geoffrey is having a Harry potter experience because we set up his pack and play in the closet (with the door opened, of course!) Other than a little trouble initially falling asleep, he slept through the night just fine!

Anyway. After we dropped off our bags, went to the grocery store, and then ordered pizza for dinner. Grant and Danny then went for a midnight run to walmart, while Geoffrey and I wound down and went to bed.

Las Vegas 2010, Part 2

2010-07-18T12:18:00.000-07:00

The sushi place we found was great. It was in a little strip mall and the place was small - but the sushi was delicious and very reasonably priced!

On Thursday, we had lunch at the Border Grill. This place was delicious. It was Mexican, but authentic - even Grant liked it! He had this sweet cinnamon pork with plantains, and I had these pork, beef, and chicken tacos with pineapple salsa. Even Geoff pigged out! Dessert was great, too, because you could get half portions of two things on the menu - perfect!

After Geoff's nap, we went back to the pool for one last swim. We enjoyed the Lazy River and the wave pool, and just being with each other.

After a bath in our huge bath tub, we started packing, and then headed to Grand Lux for dinner. Geoff was in an obnoxious mood and service was slow, so it wasn't the greatest evening. Ah well... he is a toddler!

We drove home on Friday. After check out, we went to the South Pointe Casino and had lunch at the buffet. The majority of the drive home was smooth sailing! We stopped by Jessica's, (conveniently, she lives just past where we hit traffic!) hung out, and had dinner.

Another great trip!

Las Vegas - July 2010

2010-07-07T21:04:00.001-07:00

Grant, Geoffrey, and I are in Vegas for our first vacation of summer, 2010! We drove out on Sunday, the 4th of July, and made it in 4 hours, including 2 quick bathroom stops. We left around 5:30 and could see the strip (and the fireworks bursting above and around the strip) by 9:15! It made for an exciting and dramatic entrance into Vegas!

We spent our first night at Marriott's Springhill Suites, located across from the convention center. The room was large and modern.

On Monday, we checked in to The Hotel at Mandalay Bay. Our room here is on the 37th floor. It is a one bedroom suite. It has a living area with a couch, a desk, a chair, and a mini bar, and a separate bedroom. The bathroom has a lovely large tub that we've had fun bathing in.

After we settled in, we headed down to the pool - or "Mandalay Beach" as it is called. I was not impressed. My impression? It was overcrowded, there was little to no shade, the staff was not particularly helpful, the wave pool was poorly designed, and the lazy river was small. Grant liked it better then I did - and I admit, I could be judging it harshly - it is just that I had heard so many great things about it and it just didn't live up to my expectations. Oh well, we still had a blast. We found two chairs by the lazy river and enjoyed swimming there and alternating going in the wave pool (the wave pool has a height limit so Geoffrey could not go in it.)

After the pool, we went up to our room for a rest. Geoffrey and I took a bath and watched TV on the TV that is located in the bathroom.

For dinner, we went to the Bay Side Buffet. Yum!

On Tuesday, we had McDonalds for lunch before heading back to the pool. We totally lucked out at the pool - as we were walking around the lazy river, looking for chairs that had some shade, a family saw us and said they were leaving in about 10 minutes and we could have their chairs! SCORE!

We also found out that there is a toddler pool. It is adjacent to the lazy river so when the waves come, you get small waves here. The water ranges from 1 foot to 4 feet, so there was plenty of places for Geoffrey to walk around himself. Grant went out to the wave pool for a while, and then we headed back to the lazy river.

When we finished at the pool, we went back to our room for a bath and a rest.

For dinner, we went to the Burger Bar. I had my signature asparagus, bacon, and blue cheese. Grant had swiss cheese, peppered bacon, and dijon. He also had a coffee ice cream and cookie dough shake.

Next, we walked to the Monte Carlo and took the tram to the Bellagio, where watched the fountain show a few times. There were a ton of impersonators in front of the Bellagio - I guess they needed some place to go since they got kicked off of Hollywood Blvd!

After our long walk back (the tram between Excalibur and Mandalay Bay wasn't running!) Geoff went to sleep and Grant and I played some Red Dead Redemption before hitting the hay ourselves.

On Wednesday, we took a break from the pool. We drove over to Paris and had lunch at Mon Ami Gabi - Steak and frittes for Grant and a chicken, brie, and apple crepe for me.

After Geoffrey's nap, we headed over to the Shark Reef Aquarium. It was very well done, but very small. It took us an hour to tour the whole thing, and that was with Grant and I switching off with the audio guide and watching Geoffrey (who was exceptionally busy and not very interested in the fish.) Had we gone straight through - it probably would have taken - at the most - 45 minutes. Therefore, it is overpriced in our opinion, but we're glad we had the hotel credit and that we were able to check it out.

Geoff's favorite attraction was the automatic paper towel dispenser next to the sting ray touch pool. Every time we set him down in the shark room he turned around and ran back to that paper towel dispenser!

Now we're just about to head out to get dinner at a sushi place we found on yelp!

Saturday - Day at Sea

2010-04-23T09:51:00.001-07:00

How did it get to be Saturday already? The order of the day was to get to that rock wall! We met up at the rock wall at 11:30 and just made the cut off for the morning climbing session. Dad and I both climbed and we both made it to the top to ring the bell. Woohoo!

Next, we went to lunch in the windjammer, followed by Geoffrey's fisher price class - it was music day! Fun! Geoffrey had a really good time in his class, but he was ready for a nap when it was over. He napped in Dad and Delaine's cabin while Grant and I went to Studio B for the open ice skating session. It was very odd to skate on such a small rink - but very fun!

We headed back to our cabin and got ready for dinner. Just before dinner there was a parade on the Promenade deck - we watched that before going to see Saurab and Maria for the last time in the dining room.

Dinner was fantastic, as usual. We went to the show at 7:45 - the goodbye show. DId I mention how awesome our Captain is? Captain Johnny is easily the most entertaining captain I have ever had the pleasure of sailing with. He is funny and personable, and made several appearances throughout the cruise. He said once that he would probably be moving to the Allure of the Seas. Cool!

After the show, we headed back to our cabins to pack. ::sniff sniff::

Sunday morning debarkation was pretty easy. They didn't make announcements all over the ship, so it was not very stressful. We met at the Cafe Promenade (which only had a few pastries - no fruit, no juice - I was not pleased - the windjammer breakfast was only served until 9.) Then we went to Studio B where we waited about 15 minutes to be called to disembark. There was no immigration to go through - all we had to do is drop off our blue forms - sweet!

All in all, we had a fantastic time aboard the Mariner of the Seas.

Sea Day

2010-04-22T09:30:00.001-07:00

The great thing about this cruise is that it ended with two wonderful, relaxing sea days. The ocean was pretty smooth - for the Pacific - and we had plenty of time to have fun.

On Friday, we slept in and then met up with Dad and Delaine to try lunch in the dining room. They had a pretty good menu, but they also had an amazing salad bar, where you could pick from a whole bunch of toppings and then the waiters would chop it up for you. Delicious!

After lunch, we headed to Geoffrey's fisher price class. Today was baby gym day. They had a foam slide, a soccer goal, a basketball hoop, and a zebra that Geoffrey could ride and spin on. That was pretty fun! Geoffrey had a good time, but he was ready for a nap when the class ended.

Dad and I spent some time reading in his cabin while Geoffrey napped, and Grant and Delaine went to win-a-cruise Bingo. Unfortunately, we didn't win a cruise.

When Geoff woke up, we tried to do the rock wall, but it had closed for the day, putting it on the must do priority list for Saturday. Instead, we went down to deck four and played some shuffleboard on the promenade deck.

Tonight was formal night (did I hear somebody say lobster?). Dinner was delicious - Delaine and I enjoying the Lobster and Dad and Grant enjoying the prime rib, and Geoffrey enjoying his fruit bowl. After dinner, we took some pictures, both with our camera and a few formal shots.

The show tonight was a production show. I don'tt know what was wrong with me, but I was so tired, I kept nodding off and slept through most of it! Luckily, Geoffrey did too so everyone else could enjoy the show. I am sure it was a good show - I was just sleepy!

Afterwards I headed back to the cabin for bed. Grant went to a sing-a-long led by our cruise director. I wanted to go, but I was so tired, and I had been to them before and they hadn't been as fun as I'd hoped. Grant said that this one was awesome! No smoking, first of all. The songs were all awesome and everyone had fun. Sigh. Oh well - if I ever end up on a ship with Kieron again I'll make sure to go to this sing-a-long! I am glad Grant enjoyed it!

Thursday - April 15th - Puerto Vallerta

2010-04-18T12:33:00.002-07:00

Oh how I've been looking forward to this day! After lunch in the Windjammer, we headed off the ship and walked to the Krystal Resort. We dropped off the boys and our stuff by the pool and Delaine and I headed over to the spa for our massages. 75 minutes of PURE HEAVEN. I loved every moment of it. The massages were in the new spa facility - not on the beach. But the massage itself was the same as I remember - very caring and very relaxing. It felt amazing!

When our massage ended we headed back to the pool where we found Geoffrey sleeping on Grandpa Bob. Geoffrey had spent most of the time swimming and had tired himself out! We spent the rest of the afternoon swimming - the pool was heated to a delightfully comfortable temperature - and was huge. There were many places set up for sunbathing in the pool that were only a few inches deep that Geoffrey could play on and splash around in.

We got back on the ship at around 5:15, and decided to meet for dinner at 6:15. After dinner, I was still hungry - go figure - so we went up to the pool deck. I got some sushi and seconds (and then thirds) on dessert.

The show was a singer. Geoffrey was ready for a nap but couldn't settle during the show so we went out to the promenade deck while the others watched the show. Afterwards, we headed back to our cabins. Grant went out to explore the ship while Geoffrey played and I finally caught up on blogging. Night night!

Wednesday - April 14th - Mazatlan

2010-04-18T12:33:00.001-07:00

We decided to make Mazatlan a short port day. We took a taxi to the Historic District and walked around for about an hour and a half - through the cathedral, and around the rebuilt theater area. We found a cute little shop that sells crafts made by local artisans - this charming old building was like a diamond in the rough. We stopped at a grocery store and met up with some crew members who worked in the casino on our ship. They walked back to the dock with us, so that we didn't have to take a cab.

Back on board, we blew up Geoffrey's pool and he played in that for a while before dinner. Then we headed back to our room to meet up with Geoffrey's baby sitters.

Royal Caribbean is one of the few cruise lines that offer babysitting. It is 12$ an hour and that pays for two baby sitters who work together. Two very nice ladies showed up, and off we went. We had an amazing meal at Portofino's. They started us with an antipasto plate and a crustini plate. I ordered a shrimp risotto appetizer, a beef carpaccio appetizer, and a seafood kebob with scallop, salmon, shrimp and lobster tail. Grant ordered a tuna carpaccio and a beef carpaccio appetizer and the filet mignon entrée. Dad ordered an endive and proscuitto salad, and the filet mignon entrée. Delaine ordered a sampler appetizer and the seafood kebob entrée. For dessert, everyone got the tiramisu except for me - I got the dessert sampler.

Between dinner and the show, we called the room to check on Geoffrey but no one answered. We took it as a good sign - if he was out and about it probably meant he was having a good time. Right? RIGHT?

We went to the ice show - "Big Top Under the Ice," which was absolutely amazing. After the show we went up to get Geoffrey - who was VERY unhappy. The poor babysitters! Geoffrey had apparently been very unhappy the whole evening! Poor baby! They spent a lot of time walking him in his stroller and feeding him goldfish crackers. (Later on our cabin steward commented that she heard Geoffrey crying - he just was not happy!) I am glad we had ended up canceling the babysitters for the next night when we canceled Chops. Sigh. Oh well.

We headed up to the Love and Marriage game show. Geoffrey was too energetic to watch any of the show she he and I walked around while the others watched the show. After the show, we went up to the pool deck to check out the deck party for a bit before going to bed.

Tuesday, April 13th - Cabo San Lucas

2010-04-18T12:32:00.001-07:00

On Tuesday, after lunch in the Windjammer, we headed out to Cabo. We decided to head to Swimmer's Beach this time instead of Lover's Beach, because the waves were pretty rough and we thought it would be easier to get out of the water taxi with Geoffrey at Swimmer's Beach. We took a water taxi out to the arch (the waves, as I mentioned, were rough so we couldn't get too close.) WE saw some seals just cruising along near our boat as well.

On the beach we swam for a bit. Then Grant and I rented a Sea-doo while Geoff stayed with Grandpa Bob and Grandma Dee Dee. Oh my gosh - the wave runner was SO FUN! I could hardly wipe the smile off of my face the whole time! At one point we saw a pair of seals (the same ones?_) swimming very near us.

When we finished, we found Geoffrey sleeping on Grandpa Bob's shoulder. So cute! We took the water taxi back and then walked along the docks to a little outdoor restaurant where we got some nachos and chips and salsa.

Back onboard, we took showers and got dressed before heading to dinner. Tonight's show was a production show called "Front Row," a tribute to Broadway, television, and the movies. We went up to the lounge and had a snack while waiting for the evening's gameshow, but after a night in the sun, we decided to just call it a night. We also decided to cancel our reservation for Chops since we enjoyed our dining room service so much.

Cute things:
Geoffrey loves playing in the shower. He goes in there and closes the doors. He's been doing a LOT of walking on this trip as well! Big boy!

Monday, April 12th - At Sea on the Mariner of the Seas

2010-04-18T12:31:00.001-07:00

We in cabin 9202 enjoyed our first leisurely morning sleeping in. We finally headed up to the windjammer for lunch. After lunch, we roamed the ship for a bit and then went to the Royal Babies play group sponsored by Fisher Price. It was animal day, so they put out a whole bunch of farm sets and play animals for the kids to play with. After the play group was over, we checked out a couple of toys to take back to our cabin.

Geoffrey was pretty tired, and we were all feeling pretty relaxed, so we headed back to our cabins. Geoffrey napped and Grant and I read and watched TV. Tonight was formal night, so we got all dressed up and headed to dinner. We took a few formal shots - which all turned out awful - and then headed to the promenade for the Captain's welcome. The captain - Captain Johnny Faevelan - is a real personality.. He loves to talk to the guests and make jokes - a real personable guy! After his speech, we went to the show - a singer/impersonator. After the show we went to the game show - "Finish that lyric" in the Lotus Lounge before heading to bed,.

Sunday, April 11th - Mariner of the Seas

2010-04-18T12:30:00.000-07:00

Spring Break is here and Grant, Geoffrey, Bob, Delaine, and I are enjoying it on a 7 night cruise on Royal Caribbean's Mariner of the Seas with stops at Cabo San Lucas, Mazatlan, and Puerto Vallerta.

We arrived at the terminal at about 1:30 in the afternoon, dropped off our bags, checked in, and boarded the ship by 2:00. We stopped at Dad and Delaine's cabin, a balcony on deck 6 port side (cabin 6572.) Next we went to our cabin on the front of the ship on deck 9 - cabin 9202. Our cabin is an ocean view that faces forward. Because it is on the very front of the ship, it is larger then the regular cabins. It is only a few extra feet, but it makes a HUGE difference. Geoffrey's pack and play fits in the corner between our bed and the window with plenty of room. SUCH a difference from our last cruise when the crib went in front of the couch and took up so much room!

Before we left the cabin we made reservations for Portofino's for night 4 and Chops for night 5. Then we went to the Windjammer for lunch and walked around the ship checking out the pools, the rock climbing wall, and the promenade deck. By this time, our bags had been delivered. Dad and Delaine unpacked while Geoffrey and I went to make reservations for a baby sitter for Geoffrey for the nights we scheduled Portofino's and Chops.

The muster drill was quick and painless and we were on our way. We went to dinner at 6:00. We have anytime dining, but we liked our table and servers on our first night Saurab and Maria, so we went ahead and reserved them every night at 6:00. After dinner, we went back to our rooms and Grant and I unpacked. We met Dad and Delaine for the Welcome Aboard show. Finally, we went to Kids Club to look into checking out toys, but the club was closed, so we headed back to our cabins. I dropped off my book crossing books at the library. Then, we ordered room service, watched some tv, and went to bed.

Saturday and Sunday

2010-04-06T19:10:00.001-07:00

On Saturday, we woke up and headed to the Gaslamp District for a delicious brunch at the Broken Yolk cafe. After we ate, we walked around a bit before heading back to our hotel for an afternoon swim while Grandpa Gary watched some basketball games.

After our swim, Grant Geoff and I headed back out to dinner at Sammy's Woodfire Pizza. Geoffrey ate a whole duck mini-taco (part of our appetizer) by himself! After dinner we went to Ghiredelli and had delicious ice cream sundaes. Then we walked down by the water and around the marina park before heading back to the hotel for the night.

On Sunday, we checked out of our hotel and walked back to the train station. We took the 12 o'clock train back home to Santa Ana. Geoffrey had fun on the train looking out the window.

Back home we celebrated Easter Sunday at Nana and Grandpa Gary's house. Geoffrey did an Easter egg hunt and learned very quickly how to put the eggs back into the basket. When one accidentally broke open, he was excited to find cereal puffs, an animal cracker and marshmallow candy inside. Yum!

Also interesting was that we had an earthquake hit around 3 in the afternoon. The earthquake lasted a good 45 seconds. It scared Nana, but everyone else thought it was fun. The earthquake was a 7.2 centered near Mexicali.

We had lots of fun!

Friday in San Diego

2010-04-02T23:13:00.000-07:00

Today we went to the Santa Ana zoo. WE saw lots of fun animals. The first animals we saw were pigs - a Mam and her two babies. SO cute! WE saw monkeys, lions, tigers, elephants, meerkats, birds, pandas and polar bears! The weather was perfect - a bit on the cool side - great for walking. We also took the sky way and the bus tour. Geoff didn't seem to overly react to any of the animals - but you could really tell that he did notice them and that he was staring at them.

After the zoo closed, we took the bus to Blue Water fish grill, a place Grant had read about on Trip Advisor and saw on Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives. It was delicious! I had a Mahi Mahi sandwich. Even Geoffrey had some fish - and he totally ate a bunch of coleslaw! I have never seen him eat so many veggies in one sitting! After dinner, we walked back to the trolley and settled in for a 20 minute wait for the next trolley to come in. 5 minutes later, a trolley rolls it - one of the special red line trolleys that only runs when there are special events down town. Advantage? This trolley went straight to our stop and we didn't have to transfer! Thank goodness! I am BEAT!

San Diego - Easter weekend

2010-04-02T23:05:00.001-07:00

This weekend, we are having a mini spring break in San Diego! On Thursday evening, Grant, Geoffrey, Gary, and I took the 5:00 train from Santa Ana to San Diego! The conductor who took our tickets was impatient and had major attitude. Other than that, our trip was wonderful! Geoffrey loved looking at he window, and he happily sat on Grandpa's lap for much of the trip!

We arrived in San Diego at 7 o'clock, and walked to our hotel - the San Diego Marina Marriott. It was nice evening, if not a little cool, and the 20 minute walk felt nice after getting off the train!

We checked in and got rooms in the north tower. These rooms have balconies. Our room is on the 17 th floor and gary's is on the 22nd. We called house keeping to get a pack n play for Geoffrey (which he has happily slept in all night! Woohoo!) and then checked out our view of downtown San diego! Our room is a corner unit so it isn't shaped like a traditional rectangle. More like a square with a pie wedge triangle attached to the side. It has a king bed and a small couch. Gary's room is shaped similar, but he actually has two balconies - a second smaller one.

We took a stroll down to the gaslamp quarter and ate dinner at an Italian restaurant. We were able to snag the last available outside table, which was pleasant with thee ine coming from the street and the heat lamps. The staff was super friendly and loved Geoffrey! Gary had a pork dish while grant and i shared a chicken parmigiana and a pasta dish with caramelized onions and bacon - so delicious! They were celebrating their twentieth anniversary (the restaurant) so we also got a dessert sampler on the house! We also found a ghiradelli ice cream shop near by -we were too full to eat there tonight, but I hope we can get sundaes one day this weekend! They are the only place I know that makes sundaes like swensons used to.

On the way back we stopped at ralph's for some snackins and then headed back to our hotel for the night!

Las Vegas - 2010

2010-02-27T17:04:00.001-08:00

Grandma Patty and Grandpa Bobby came out to California to celebrate Geoffrey's first birthday. The weekend before his birthday, we went out to Vegas for a long weekend. We left on Thursday afternoon and arrived in Vegas at around 10:00 PM. We checked in to the Excalibur for one night.

The next day we went to the Hilton to check in for the next three nights. We checked in early and we were able to get two rooms right next to each other. The rooms would be ready around 3. We headed to IHOP for breakfast and then headed back to Excalibur to use some free game coupons we had. We won some cute monkeys playing one of those racing games. Then Mom, Bobby, and Grant played some poker while Geoffrey and I hung out by the pool. The weather was nice, high 60s.

We headed back to Hilton at around 4 but the rooms were not ready yet. Grant hung out in the room with our luggage waiting for house keeping while the rest of us hung out by the Hilton pool. Geoffrey just wanted to explore and kept crawling all over the place - particularly over to a big fountain that was pretty far away.

Our room was finally ready at 5:30 (seriously annoying) and so we unpacked and watched some of the Olympics. Geoffrey went down for a nap. Grandma stayed with him while Bobby, Grant, and I went to Walmart to get some snackins. About 15 minutes after we left, Geoffrey woke up and started wailing. His head was planted firmly into the bed but his legs kept thrashing about. He finally fell back asleep, and when he woke up, we looked him over and realized his knees were bruised and cut from all of the crawling earlier on the pavement. Poor guy! We put some ointment on his knees and kept him off of the floor for the next few days as much as possible.

On Saturday, we checked out the new City Center. It was alright, but we didn't love it. The shopping was stark - and except for this cool display of cylinders filled with spinning water, there wasn't really much that we enjoyed very much. We took the tram to the Bellagio and watched the fountains from this cool walkway that we'd never seen before.

We headed to Mandalay and had dinner at The Burger Bar. Geoffrey loved listening to the Mariachi band from the Mexican place next door while we waited to be seated. After dinner, we went back to the hotel and watched more of the Olympics.

On Sunday we headed over to Cesear's Palace. We took turns walking around the forum shops and playing in the casino.

Our drive home on Monday was looong. Lots of traffic. We spent some time at the Outlets and did some good shopping. Otherwise, it was a looong drive. Geoff was a real trooper, but towards the last hour he got really fussy. I pulled out a Doctor Demento Christmas CD and played the track of the dogs barking "Jingle Bells." We played it over and over on repeat and it calmed him down and put him back to sleep.

All in all, we had a nice, relaxing vacation!

2 Days at Sea, and the return Home

2009-09-13T14:57:00.001-07:00

The next two days were sea days, which was a really nice way to end our trip. Plenty of time to relax and pack, with no need to feel rushed. On the first sea day, we did a pool day. Geoff swam in his inflatable pool, and I enjoyed the warmth of the Caribbean while reading on a lounger. Grant went to the auction with Bobby, and Gary stopped by for a while, but mostly it was Mom, Bobby, Grant and I just relaxing.

Dinner was nice. This was our 2nd formal night. Geoff looked super snazzy in his little sweater vest. The show tonight was awesome. It was called "Ticket to Ride" and it featured all Beatles music. It was so good that we decided to watch the 2nd showing of it. It had great music and cool effects. This was one of the best shows we've seen at sea.

The next day, we slept in and started packing. Packing turned out to be rather tedious - there was not a lot of room in the cabin with Geoff's crib. I personally think I would prefer to not even get a crib in the future and to just let him sleep with us all night. I think the added space would be really helpful. Plus, Geoffrey had a short period of pain with his teethign, but again, the tylenol seemed to help pretty quickly.

Dinner was delicious, again, but rather emotional as we had to say goodbye to Niar and Mudi - who were awesome. Luckily, we exchanged email addresses, so who knows - we may keep in touch!

We skipped the show tonight as it was just the Carnival Legends and wasn't until 10:30. That gave us time to finish packing. Geoff and I went to sleep to get ready for the early morning, but Mom, Bobby, and Grant went to the casino!

Bright and early the next morning we docked in Ft. Lauderdale. Grant got off the ship with Mom and Bobby and Gary. Geoff and I went up to the Lido and had some breakfast and chatted with Pedro.

(If I told this story already I am sorry - Pedro is a waiter from India. We met him in the Lido buffet. One afternoon I was there feeding Geoffrey. After we were done, he asked what nationality we were and I said American. He was impressed becasue he doesn't know many AMericans who breastfeed past a few months. It made me feel quite proud. After that, he always came over to talk to us and the "big strong American boy." Very nice man!)

Heather and Donna came up and we sat there until Grant called. Grant, meanwhile, had dropped Mom and Bobby off at the airport and picked up the rental car. We were off the ship at around 11. We headed to Sawgrass Mall. We had lunch at Grand Luxe... mmmm... Asian Nachos.... and then walked around the mall. We left at 3 and headed back to the airport. Grant dropped us off and returned the rental car and then we checked in.

Our flight home was fine. Geoff had his own seat, and he napped quite a bit. We got home at 9 - home sweet home!

*´¨)
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(¸.·´ (¸.·´*Bobbi Jo*
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Panama

2009-09-13T13:56:00.001-07:00

Our excursion today was awesome. We did "Two Oceans by Train." The highlight of this tour was taking the Panam Canal Railroad from the Caribbean Sea to the Pacific Ocean. It was very cool getting to actually see Panama - and what a difference from Costa Rica!
You could really tell that America had poured some bucks into the place - the standard of living was much higher and the buildings looked as though they were part of a normal American town. Not all of Panama was like this - in fact the Caribbean side where we docked was much shabbier - but still, you can tell that Panama is a very nice place to live.

It rained most of the day. The train was very nice - the cars had been found and refurbished in the last 10 years, and the seats were comfortable. They were arranged in booths around a table. Also, our group was the last to leave so our bus - and train car - were only about 1/3 full. Awesome!

In Panama, we went to the visitor center at the Mira Flores locks and then drove around town. Since we were the only ship in town and there was so much rain, we got to take the train back, as well, instead of the bus. The train spent a lot of time along Lake Guton but the trip was only 1 hour by train. It was very nice to see Panama from this angle!

Back on the ship, we showered and sat on the balcony, watching the ship sail away. Geoff had another teething episode, by a little tylenol seemed to help pretty quickly. Dinner was yummy, as usual. We watched the show - and then Geoff and I went to bed - I was pretty tired!

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(¸.·´ (¸.·´*Bobbi Jo*
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Costa Rica

2009-09-13T13:00:00.000-07:00

On Wednesday, we stopped in Costa Rica. We took a ship tour called "Costa Rica by bus, train, and boat." The tour was interesting. We did a bus tour through town and to a banana plantation where we got to see how bananas are grown, harvested and prepared for shipping. Then we took a short train ride where we were able to stop and see monkeys and sloths. Finally, we took a boat ride through a jugle where we were able to spot even more wildlife - birds, lizards, and another sloth. Our tour ended with a fruit buffet of pineapple, banana, coconut, and watermelon - all were delicious! Everyone did this tour except Donna, who relaxed on the ship.

The tour was ok - I love these kinds of tours to get a broad glimpse of the country (which you don't get when you, say, snorkel) but I would have preferred more time on the water and skipped the train.

We got back on board at 5:50 - It was really run upstairs, get changed, and run straight to dinner. The show tonight was a phyisical comedian - he was really good. He did this trick where he climbed a ladder without anyone holding it by rocking it back and forth. He also rode a unicycle with someone on his shoulders. Very funny!

We went right to bed after the show because we had an even EARLIER excursion the next day!

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(¸.·´ (¸.·´*Bobbi Jo*
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Tuesday At Sea

2009-09-13T12:39:00.001-07:00

Today was another relaxing day at sea. We spent some time wandering around the ship, and checking out some of the activites they had. We watched the Newlywed - Not-So-Newlywed Game and played Bingo, and just spent time together. This was one of the reasons that we chose this itinerary - because it had so many relaxing sea days!

We met in Donna, Gary, and Heather's room before dinner to chat for a while and then went up to see Niar and Mudi at dinner.

The show tonight was... eh. It was a singer, trained in opera. She started with Phantom and cracked badly on the last note - so it sort of started off badly. It did improve, but it wasn't great.

We made it an early night because we had an excursion planned for the next day.

Cozumel

2009-09-13T12:24:00.001-07:00

On Monday, we docked in Cozumel. Grant, Geoff, Mom, Bobby, and I took a taxi to Paradise beach, the same beach we went to last year. It was, again, lovely. The beach is so well kept, and the people were nice. We swam, napped, and ate delicious food.

At one point, though, poor Geoffrey started screaming, and took him quite some time to calm down. Poor guy - teething can be tough! I vowed from that point on to always carry tylenol just in case. He wouldn't eat, and just cried and cried. He finally fell asleep. When he woke up, he seemed to be feeling better. Poor guy!

We headed back to the ship at around 3, with plenty of time to take showers and relax before dinner. At dinner, we got to hear about Gary's adventures snorkeling and Donna and Heather's adventures in the submersible boat.

After dinner we watched the show - I think it was a sort of mini production show - dancing and singing but no sets - it was pretty good. Then Grant watched Geoffrey while Mom, Bobby, Donna, Heather and I went to the piano bar for the sing - a - long. The music was ok, but it was one of the bars that allows smoking, so I only lasted about an hour. It was still fun, though!

Sunday - Day at Sea!

2009-09-04T15:25:00.001-07:00

Sunday was a Day at Sea. After breakfast at the buffet, we walked a bit around the ship. We found a great spot on the aft, port side of the ship, near camp carnival, that was in the shade. We went down to get our bathing suits and then came back up and settled in. We brought a small inflatable pool for Geoffrey since he can't use Carnival pools. The spot we picked turned out to be perfect because it was near the sink for Camp Carnival's water balloon games. It was really easy to fill up Geoff's pool. SO MANY people walked by and commented on how great an idea it was for us to bring the pool for him.

Geoff - in fact - gets LOTS of attention! So many people have come by and said how cute and sweet he is, and have stopped to talk with him. The crew LOVES him. He is doing so well.

Especially since…. Drum roll….. Geoffrey cut his first tooth! We sort of thought maybe one was coming up - he was particularly fussy in the car on the way to Ft. Lauderdale - not that crying on long car trips is particularly unusual for Mr. Geofferson, but we also thought that maybe we felt something… so this morning, (Sunday, Aug. 30^th) I put my finger in and there it was - I could feel it and see it. Wow. My baby boy has a tooth.

Back to the pool deck. So Geoffrey played in his pool, napped with Grandma Patty, and played some more. Gary, Donna, and Heather came by and hung out for a while. Grant and I did the waterslide a few times and played. It was a beautiful, relaxing afternoon.

Tonight was our first elegant night. Geoffrey looked very snazzy in a collared shirt, pin striped pants and vest, and a cute blue tie. So handsome! Dinner was, of course, delicious. (Lobster night!) After dinner was the production show, "The Big Easy," and it was REALLY good - much better then I expected after the luke warm Welcome Aboard show. We also found a section we liked to sit in - towards the back of the main level of the theater. This has become our meeting place for shows - it is really nice because the seats are comfy, it is near the exit if Geoff decides to have a nice loud conversation, and it isn't super crowded so it is easy for me to nurse.

That night, Mom, Bobby, and Grant went to the adult midnight comedy show while Geoff and I played and went to bed early. Tomorrow…. Cozumel!!!!

Saturday - Cruising

2009-09-04T15:24:00.001-07:00

Onboard the Carnival Freedom, we went to the Lido deck for lunch in the buffet. We saw Donna and Heather on the way - they had just finished eating, and we found Gary in the buffet. After we ate, we went by our cabins to drop off our stuff - our cabin wasn't quite finished yet but Mom and Bobby's was. Mom and Bobby's cabin was right next door to ours - the cabin steward was able to unlock the divider between our balconies so we could go back and forth via the balcony as well as the hall. We could also open the divider and have one big balcony - but the divider has to cover one of our doors because of the way our cabins are configured.

You'll also note that I haven't mentioned my cabin stewards name - that's because I don't know what it is. Although he does his job fine - anything we ask for (via notes) is taken care of, he never really introduced himself, and I don't think I would recognize him if I passed him in the hallway. First time for me to have that happen!

We swung by our dining room to see where our table was - we were happy to see we had a table for 8 for just our group. Then we went up to see Donna, Gary, and Heather's suite on the 7^th deck. There cabin was very nice - large, with a big bathroom. They had plenty of room for the three of them.

Our muster drill was quick and easy - Geoff got a camp carnival muster bracelet on his ankle, and we set sail! We watched the sail away from our balconies and then unpacked as our suitcases were delivered.

Our dinner was at 6:00 in the Chic dining room - the smaller of the two - on the 2^nd floor. Our wait staff, Niar and Mudi, (both shortened versions of their longer names) are both awesome. They are from Indonesia. They think Geoffrey is awesome and they LOVE talking to him. Niar, especially. She was so happy when I let her hold Geoffrey. They have been super sweet. Once you order something, they have it ready to go each night - for example, our Arnold Palmers. Niar remembers are names. They are very welcoming. Whenever they see us on the ship they are so sweet - but if they see one of us without Geoffrey they always say, "Where's the baby? Where is Geoffrey?" Niar even asked if she could get a picture with Geoffrey. Heather is in heaven because she is getting the warm chocolate melting cake almost every night. The food is delicious here on Carnival. One night, I got all of the appetizers and no entrée. So good!.

After dinner, we went back to our cabin to finish unpacking - there was only one "Welcome Aboard Show," which was ok but not great. Our cruise director is Wee Jimmy, the same director that we had on the Carnival Glory in 2007. When we got back to our cabin, Geoffrey's crib was delivered, which was good because I was tired…

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(¸.·´ (¸.·´*Bobbi Jo*
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Friday - Ft. Lauderdale

2009-09-04T15:21:00.001-07:00

We checked in to our hotel in Ft. Lauderdale on Thursday night. We had dinner at Hooters and then relaxed until Donna, Gary and Heather arrived at about 11:00 PM.

Mom was getting a chest cold / infection. She got a prescription from her doctor and the pharmacist downstairs was super helpful. Mom took it easy and rested at the hotel while Bobby, Grant, Geoff, and I ran to Target to get some odds and ends. We had eaten lunch already - but imagine my surprise when we found a Skyline Chili! Man - I wish I would have known! Anyways - back at our hotel, we went down to the beach - literally right across the street - steps from our elevator. It was a really nice location. The water was nice and warm - probably 92 degrees, and very calm and clear. Geoff liked it. Gary came out and swam with us, and Mom and Bobby came out for a little bit, too.

For dinner, we all went to Tom Jenkins BBQ place Grant had read about. It was delicious! Then we went back to the hotel to finish laundry and pack.

Saturday morning, we woke up and checked out. Mom, Bobby, Grant, Geoff, and I swung by Target to get some shirts for Bobby (he had accidentally washed his with chap stick and it was not coming out!). Then we met Gary at the cruise terminal. Gary and Grant took back their rental cars and we were ready to check in! Carnival Freedom, here we come!

Sunday - Wednesday WDW

2009-08-27T19:35:00.001-07:00

Sunday - Animal Kingdom and EPCOT

On Sunday, Mom (Patty), Bobby, Geoff, Grant, and I went to the Animal Kingdom. We ate lunch at the Dinosaur restaurant, and then took turns riding Dinosaur and staying with Mr. Jefferson.

Although we wold have preferred to do Kilimanjaro Safari later in the day, we were sort of on time schedule due to shows and dinner resies, so we did it next. Fortunately, there were lucky and able to see lots of animals - in fact, it was the best view of the lions Grant, Geoff and I had seen the whole trip! After our Safari, we crossed the park again to watch Finding Nemo, the musical. Merciful air conditioning. Then Patty, Grant and I rode Expedition Everest while Bobby and Geoff took a walk. We finished our afternoon by seeing The Legend of the Lion King - such an awesome show!

We drove over to EPCOT and hiked back to Japan to eat at Tepan Edo - a Tepan dining experience. Our chef was awesome - he came out all serious but ended up having a great sense of humor. Our waitress was sweet - she wrote Geoffrey's name in Japanese for him, and made us a pair of "kid" chop sticks - you know, with the rubber band and the chopstick wrapper. When we asked for a clean set to take with us so we could learn how to make those chopsticks ourself, she brought a bag out of like 8 premade sets! Cool! Geoff did pretty well at this diner because I kept him in my carrier - so he did well.

After dinner, we walked back to Future World. Patty, Grant and I rode Mission Space (Patty loved it!). Then Bobby, Patty, and Grant rode Test Track while I fed Geoffers. We left just as Innoventions was finishing! A very good day!

Monday - EPCOT & Magic Kingdom

This morning, I went online to see if I could change our Boma Reservations to a later time. Our current reservation was for Tuesday at 5:15 . Our plan was to go to Typhoon Lagoon that day - but a 5:15 reservation meant we would have needed to leave Typhoon Lagoon at, like 3 ish - however, as we learned with Blizzard Beach, the afternoon is the best time to be at the parks! I had tried several times to change it, but wasn't holding out much hope with it being free dining and all. However, I checked today and someone must have canceled because I got a 7:40 dining time - PERFECT because Typhoon Lagoon closed at 6! We were set for Tuesday!

We started out at EPCOT. Eating lunch at The Land. After lunch, we went to the Universe of Energy to watch Ellen's Energy Adventure - love that attraction! After Ellen, we rode Mission Space again while Bobby and Geoff looked at the GM exhibit at the exit to Test Track.

We stopped at Club Cool to taste sodas from around the world - I still love China's watermelon soda and Mexico's apple manzinata. Then we rode Journey into the Imagination so that Geoff could see Figment again - he LOVES Figment. We spend some time in the Imagination lab - walking on the musical squares and conducting Figment in the digital orchestra.

We had dinner at Le Cellier in Canada, eating delicious cheddar cheese soup and yummy steaks. Geoff slept at the beginning and then was pretty antsy for the rest of it - luckily, though there were 4 of us to pass him too, so that helped a lot!

After dinner, we showed our appreciation to Canada by watching the circle vision O Canada!. On our way out of the park, we rode Mission Space - Bobby and Grant were in moods and made ridiculous faces into the camera - and Bobby selected Portuguese as their language, so Mom was stuck listening to a Portuguese narration and trying to do the end survey in another language. Nice.

We hopped over to the Magic Kingdom next. We rode the Haunted Mansion, and Pirates of the Caribbean. Next, I fed Geoffers while everyone else rode The Jungle Cruise. I had fun watching people "drive" the mini Jungle Cruise boats at the exit to the attraction. Next we had Dole Whip floats - Yum!

We rode it's a small world next, followed by Winnie the Pooh. We finished the night watching Mickey's Philharmagic. Since everyone was exiting the park at once, we swung by the bakery to get some pastries with our snack credits from our dining plan. We still had, like, 25 snacks left and we were leaving in two days! We swung by Pop Century on the way home to make our room look used and then headed back to our town home.

Tuesday - Typhoon Lagoon.

Typhoon Lagoon is my favorite water park. I wished I had remembered that from last time. I am glad Grant and I got to see both water parks, but let it be said here - Typhoon Lagoon - absolutely my favorite of the two. It has my favorite type of rides - curvy body slides, and tube slides, and a beautiful setting.

After a quick lunch we parked our stuff and took off with a float around Castaway Creek - the Lazy River. Next, Mom, Bobby, and Grant did the inner tube slides while I fed Geoffrey. Then Bobby and Grant took Geoff to the wave pool while Mom and I did the tube slides. We met the boys in the wave pool and Grant, Patty, and I swam out and rode a couple of the big waves (one broke my sunglasses!)

We headed over to Crush 'n Gusher, the water coaster, and we each did that ride twice - first Patty, Grant and I did a triple tube, then Bobby, Patty and I did a triple tube, and then Bobby and Grant did a double tube while I fed Geoff. Crush 'n Gusher is sort of off to the side, but it had a nice little wading pool attached for people to wait in if other family members are on the ride (it has a height limit,)

Next, Mom, Bobby, and Grant did the snorkeling - I sat that one out with Geoff - although fun, I didn't particularly have a desire to get in 75 degree salt water. Then we went over to the body slides and took turns riding them and waiting with Geoffers. The lines were short at this point so it was pretty easy - Grant waited first while the other three of us went, then Bobby waited, then I waited, then Patty waited - perfect.

We went back over to where the tube slides were because they have a family slide there with a long wait earlier in the day. Also, Grant saw another family go on with a baby so we thought we'd try. Yes - Geoff was allowed! So we took him on twice - he went once with me and Grant and once with grandma and grandpa! What fun to be able to take him on a tame, fun water slide! We spent the last 40 minutes floating in the lazy river and just relaxing!!!

We got to our car just in time because a HUGE thunder storm hit us right overhead. We made a mad dash into our town home. The rain wasn't as heavy as I'd seen it in the past, but the lightning was really close! We took showers and changed our clothes. By the time we were ready to head to dinner, the thunder had mostly passed, but there was still a steady rain. We arrived at the Animal Kingdom Lodge at about 7:40 and checked in for dinner. They didn't call us until 8:30 - they were BUSY! But - oh - how I love Boma. The food was delicious! I didn't have any main dishes - I just filled up on sides - corn and spinach pudding, humus, cous cous, salads, chicken chowder, butternut squash soup…yum yum yum!!!! I LOVE Boma.

Wednesday - EPCOT

This is our last day in the parks. Boo hoo!!!! Our original plan was to hop to Magic Kingdom in the evening, but we changed our minds because we still had to pack - so we ended up doing EPCOT all day. We started out in World Showcase with an international lunch. Chicken and lamb from Morocco, Fish and Chips from the UK, and Sushi from Japan that we all shared. After lunch, we watched The American Adventure.

We headed back towards Future World. After a stop in Club Cool for soda, we rode Spaceship Earth - this time, Mom rode with Geoff and I so that Grant and Bobbi could be goofy without bugging us!
We went to Innoventions West next to take advantage of our Visa Magical Rewards perk - we waited in a short line (about 10 minutes - way better then the 45 minute line for the character stop!) and got to spend a good 5 minutes in a private room with Minnie Mouse and Goofy! It was so nice - just us and the photographers. Minnie was awesome - she was so attentive to everyone! Goofy came straight up to the baby, so Minnie went over to greet Mom and Bobby and Grant. Then she came over and spent like 5 minutes dancing and tickeling Geoffrey. So much fun! She let him suck on her nose and really spent time with him! The photographers took photo pass pictures and pictures with our cameras. It was REALLY special and I am so glad that we were able to do it!

After our special character encounter, we went over to The Living Seas to ride Finding Nemo and Friends and visit the aquariums. Then it was time for dinner in Mexico. This is a restaurant that we wanted to try - one that we probably wouldn't pay for , because Grant is not a Mexican food fan, but the setting was beautiful - inside next to the volcano on the Grand Fiesta boat ride. Before dinner, we rode the boat ride, and then had dinner.

After dinner, we went to Norway and rode Maelstrom. Then we stopped in the bakery to use some of our snack credits on pastries to take with us. We continued on through the World Showcase, stopping to see the Wonders of China Circle vision. They had an awesome exhibit on the terra cotta soldiers, too. We continues around the showcase to Paris to get a few more pastries to go.

We finished our evening with a ride on Spaceship Earth. We got off the ride just as Illuminations was starting - which was perfect. We slipped into the photo store to get our free 5x7 photo of the earlier character visit (thanks again, Disney Rewards!) while there was no line, and we were able to exit the park just as Illuminations was ending.

We headed over to Pop Century to clean out our room and check the folio so we could use the express check out.. Mom bought some post cards and I had more food. (A yummy Mediterranean flat bread.) We were back to our town home by 10:30 and we got mostly packed before bed!

Thursday - Ft. Lauderdale

This morning, we checked out of our town home. We stopped at Downtown Disney for lunch - we ate at Wolfgang Puck Express - delicious and an excellent use of our counter service credits. Then I fed Geoff while everyone else looked around the stores. Sitting there feeding Geoff I felt like Snow White - all these animals just came out of the bushes and got up really close to me - birds, lizards, squirrels… and the music playing was classic Disney music - I loved it! (Although the squirrel got a little closer then I would have liked!)

We stopped at Goofy's Candy Company to use our remaining snack credits on chocolate covered pretzels, fudge, etc. We also had 2 remaining counter service credits, so Grant and Bobby went back to Wolfgang Puck's and bought two meals for a family. Saved them $40! Fun! Then we got in the car to head to Ft. Lauderdale.

Saturday!

2009-08-23T08:28:00.001-07:00

Today, we picked up Mom and Bobby from the airport! We switched out rental cars to get a mini van. Then we headed over to Pop Century for lunch. After lunch, we came back to the town home and went swimming. That evening, We went to the Polynesian to see the Spirit of Aloha dinner show. The food was delicious - and the show was very entertaining. We also had a great table, in the back of the middle section, but over to the side. It was nice because we had our own table and we could walk over to the side if Geoff got fussy - but I brought my carrier and he did well!

After the show, we swung by Walmart and then headed home!

Friday - Animal Kingdom and EPCOT

2009-08-23T08:23:00.001-07:00

On Friday, we began our day at Animal Kingdom - and guess what? It rained! (Surprised?) However, it didn't rain until later in the afternoon and it didn't rain hard, so it was actually a pretty enjoyable day!

We had lunch at Pizzafari, and I went to the baby care center to feed Geoff while Grant did a couple of spins on Expedition Everest. Then we watched "The Legend of the Lion King" which Geoff enjoyed until he fell asleep. Next, we tried to use our DInosaur fast passes, but Dinosaur broke down, so I rode Everest and then we went on the Safari. We had dinner at Yak and Yeti and it was DELICIOUS! I had a miso skirt steak and fried shrimp and Grant had a breaded mahi mahi with plum sauce. We shared a dim sum basket, and then had creme cheese wontons with vanilla sauce, pineapple, and strawberries for dessert.

Next we headed over to EPCOT. We rode Spaceship Earth and Test Track, and then watched Illuminations. We ended the evening over at Pop Century, eating a late dinner and then swimming before heading home.

Thursday

2009-08-21T08:49:00.001-07:00

We started our day at the very very hot Disney Studios. We had lunch at pizza planet, and then took turns riding Tower of Terror. We saw the American Idol experience - which was lound, thank goodness, because Geoff was in his pre-nap scream-fussy stage and I almost had to get up and leave! I really liked the American Idol experience - I thought they did a good job, although the judges were kind of cheesy.

Next, we rode the Great Movie Ride, before heading out.

Geoff did not fall asleep on the way to dinner, but we tried the carrier again anyway. It wasn't the easiest meal, but way better then previous nights. I don't think he is quite comfortable enough for the high chair and the stroller is so low, so when possible, carrier it will be! He did ok, playing with toys, etc. I did great, enjoying a whole maine lobster!!! YUMMY! Grant had filet, and we went halvsies on dessert - chocolate cake with orange sauce and (surprise) key lime creme brulee.

We went back to EPCOT for the evening - Grant ride Test Track, and then we all rode Finding Nemo and looked at the fishies in the Living Seas. Grant took Geoff on Journey into Imagination while I rode Mission Space. Grant said that Geoff really reacted to the ride, even laughing out loud at Figment during one part of the ride!

It was extra magic hours, so we walked over to France for our late night snack instead of going to pop century. I had a quiche and a creme brulee (can't get enough!) and Grant had a ham and cheese croissant and a creme brulee. On the way out, we rode Journey into the Imagination again, and then bought Geoffrey a Figment doll - his first WDW toy - to celebrate his 6- month "birthday!"

EPCOT & Magic Kingdom

2009-08-21T08:33:00.000-07:00

On Wednesday we started our day at EPCOT. We arrived in time for lunch and headed back towards the Japan pavilion. I had sushi and Grant had beef and chicken with rice. I loves the sushi but Grant was not crazy about his. Next we went to France and got a chocolate croissant and a creme brulee. This made Grant feel better! Next, we watched Impressions of France, and then wandered through Morocco. We watched The American Adventure and then headed back to Future World. We rode Spaceship Earth before leaving.

We had dinner at Citricos at the Grand Floridian. SO far, this has been one of our easiest meals. Geoffrey fell asleep, so we brought him in the carseat/carrier, and he slept through most of dinner. The waiter was very helpful, too, because he had our whole meal - appetizer (goatcheese and pear salad and tuna carpachio) entree (lamb shank for both) and dessert (tropical fruit creme brulee and tiramisu) and the check out to us within an hour. He actually LISTENED when we requested a fast meal. He was very nice and understanding. Geoffrey woke up around dessert and was content to plat with a toy while we finished. Huzzah!

We went to The Magic Kingdom for the evening. We rode Carousel of Progress, and then Grant and I switched off, taking Geoff on Buzz Lightyear while the other of us went on Stitch's Great Escape. Trying to make it an early night, we left Magic Kingdom and headed over to Pop Century, messed up our room so it looked used, picked up a shirt Grant had bought me at Animal Kingdom that we had delivered here, and then had nachos and ice cream in their food court.

Back at the town home we took a short swim before heading to bed!

Tuesday Animal Kingdom / Magic Kingdom

2009-08-19T20:53:00.001-07:00

The first park we went to today was Animal Kingdom, so of course, it rained. We ate lunch at Flame Tree BBQ, and then headed towards Expedition Everest. At Animal Kingdom, they have a central fast pass distribution center, where there are fast pass machines for all the rides in one place - we went ahead and got fast passes for Kilimanjaro Safari. Grant rode Expedition Everest and then Kali River Rapids, while Geoff and I walked through one of the jungle walks. Then I rode Expedition Everest, although I did not ride Kali River Rapids - heavy drenching did not sound appealing to me.

Next, we watched Finding Nemo, the musical, before heading over to the Safari. Our Safari ride was really cool - we saw lots of animals this time, including the lions!

After our safari, we did the other forest walk and then went to the new Tusker House buffet. Geoff was again Mr. fuss budget during dinner, but it was a buffet, so it was easier to alternate, plus it was really loud. They had some good food - an apple walnut blue cheese salad, cous cous, salmon... and really yummy desserts!!!!

After dinner we went to the Magic Kingdom - apparently it was crowded because they extended the closing from 10 to 11. We rode the Magic Carpets of Agrabah. We were going to watch the Hall of Presidents, but the next show was 17 minutes later, and I was able to feed Geoffrey in the lobby before the show started. We instead went out and watched Spectromagic and ate Dole Whips. Then we rode Jungle Cruise, Haunted Mansion, Winnie the Pooh, Snow White, and Mickey's Philharmagic before heading home!

We were pretty sleepy - even Mommy fell asleep on the drive home!

Monday - EPCOT

2009-08-18T08:27:00.001-07:00

On Monday, we went to EPCOT. We started in The Land for lunch in the Sunshine food court. Then we rode Finding Nemo and Friends and Spaceship Earth.

We decided to take a break so we headed over to Pop Century for a swim in the pool.

Back at EPCOT, we headed to World Showcase and spent some time in Mexico, riding the revamped boat ride featuring the Three Cabelleros, and in Norway, eating pastries and riding Maelstrom.

For dinner, we made our way to the 15th floor of the Contemporary Resort to eat at the California Grill. We timed it so that we could watch the Magic Kingdom's fireworks from the rooftop observation deck.

Dinner was delicious - blt flatbread, summer salad, filet of beef for both of us, and banana chocolate creme brulee and melting chocolate cake with cherry ice cream,

Tomorrow.... Animal Kingdom!

Sunday - Pop Check in and Disney Studios

2009-08-17T08:32:00.001-07:00

Today, we checked in to the Pop Century Hotel. We're not actually staying there, but we did bring bathing suits over so that we can swim mid day if we want. We booked the hotel so that we could get the dining plan that comes with it.

After we checked in we had lunch at Pop Century, using our dining plan. I'm excited because they have lots of good things you can use for snack credits and those I am the most concerned about using up.

Then we swam for a little bit before heading over to the Animal Kingdom Lodge for dinner. We ate dinner at Jiko - an Africa restaurant. We shared: an ostrich with yogurt curry sauce appetizer, a summer peach salad, spicy crusted tuna with a cucumber tomato salad, filet mignon with macaroni and cheese, a pistachio/chocolate creme brulee, and fresh doughnuts with coffee ice cream. Everything was included on the dining plan except for the appetizer and summer salad. SO DELICIOUS! Geoff was SOOOOO tired, but he just wanted to see everything that was going on! Which meant that he was pretty fussy. However, he did finally fall asleep when dessert was brought out. Luckily, he wasn't loud at all, just antsy, and it wasn't too busy at that point.

After dinner we went over to Disney Studios. Grant rode Tower of Terror while I fed Geoff at the baby care center (not my favorite - small and messy and smelly). He also tried to ride Midway Mania, but apparently they don't have single rider there anymore - boo! We met up and rode The Great Movie Ride and then saw Voyage of the Little Mermaid.

After we left, we went back to Animal Kingdom to share another counter service meal as part of our dining plan at there quick service location, Mara.

Saturday - Magic Kingdom

2009-08-16T09:43:00.001-07:00

Yesterday we went to the Magic Kingdom. We arrived in the early afternoon. We parked at the Polynesian and took the monorail so that we wouldn't have to deal with the Ticket and Transportation Center.

Although there were some big storms moving through Florida, they mostly missed us, and we had a warm, mostly dry day!

First, we got fast passes for Peter Pan - which weren't available to use until 7 PM - almost 5 hours later! That is always one long line - Geoff hasn't even ridden it at home yet! We rode its a small world, which Geoff loved, of course, despite the fact that he was getting hungry. We then watched the Hall of Presidents, a wonderful, dark, air conditioned, 25 minute presentation. Perfect! Geoffrey happily ate while we happily enjoyed the new show (which now concludes with a brand new audio-animatronic Barack Obama.)

Next, we rode The Haunted Mansion, which has a cool new winding staircase room that reminds me a bit of Hogwarts. Next, we saw Donald Duck taking pictures so we swung in to get our photopass started. Photopass is honestly one of the greatest recent inventions Disney came up with for park operations - that and fast pass.

We thought Country Bear Jamboree would be a nice break, which it was, although not as cool (AC) as we would have liked. Geoff fell asleep during the show and took a nice little nap. While he napped, Grant rode Splash Mountain. I was going to ride Big Thunder next, but the ride was closed for a bit. We got fast passes for each, though, for later.

Geoff was awake again and getting hungry, so we went to Pirates, our old stand by. The only problem is that WDW's Pirated is woefully short - 7 minutes - less then half the length of ours at home. So Geoff got a snack. We went to Cosmic Rays to share the BBQ combo plate for dinner (our meal plan doesn't come into effect until today). I tried to feed Geoff there, but he would not focus, so I gave up and took him to the baby care center. It sprinkled a little bit on the way there. At the baby care center, they have a very nice nursing room, with four rockers. It was dimly lit and peaceful, although Geoff was fascinated by the Victorian lamp next to us. However, he finally did hunker down and get a nice feeding. The rockers here form a sort of circle, so it was nice to be able to chat quietly with some of the other nursing mommies.

We met Grant outside and went back to use our fast passes - I rode Splash and Big Thunder, and then he rode Big Thunder. While he rode, Geoff and I found the perfect spot to watch Spectromagic, right in front of Country Bear. I probably should have kept Geoff in his stroller, but I didn't want to block anyone's view so I held him on my lap - it was pretty warm for that and he got kind of fussy between each float. But when the floats were in front of us, he was mesmerized. We also got attention from a lot of the characters (Smee, a butterfly) who came up to say hello to Geoff (he is a people-stopper - people always comment on how cute he is!). We were also close to some cast members who knew people in the parade, which often caused parade characters to interact with them and each other in funny ways - for example, the two ostriches that had a bird-fight. So funny!

After the parade, we used our Peter Pan fastpass. While we were on the ride, we had one of those Florida 30 second down pours. We stayed dry on the ride. Our stroller, however, did not. Luckily, I had brought the carrier, so Geoff hung out on the carrier with me. We exited the ride at 10, which is when the fireworks were supposed to start - however due to the storm, they were delayed until about 10:15, which gave us a chance to get Geoff in the carrier, grab our stuff, and find a place to watch Wishes.

After the fireworks (Geoff did pretty well - they were loud and he got a bit fussy towards the end - not sure if the sound bothered him or my attempt to cover his ears did) we went to watch Mickey's Philharmagic. We talked to the cast members and they let us stay for two shows in a row (since it was not crowded at this point and it was the last two shows of there evening) so I could nurse Geoff during the shows. We left the park at about 11:15, taking the monorail back to our car at the Polynesian and heading home.

Fun fun fun!!!!

Friday, Aug. 14th - Blizzard Beach

2009-08-14T17:49:00.001-07:00

Today, we went to Blizzard Beach. We got there around 1:30, hoping that the afternoon would bering thinning crowds but also that we'd get a few hours before any storms came in.

After finding a spot for our stuff, We hopped in the lazy river for two rotations - The river is long and each complete circuit takes about 30 minutes! They have these cool "baby" innertubs that don't have holes in the middle - just plastic - so little ones can't fall through. It was perfect for Geoffrey!

Next, I fed Geoffrey while Grant went and rode a slide. Then, while Geoff napped, we went to ride more slides. Blizzard Beach is nice because it was quite east to navigate his stroller to the bottom of the slides, so we could switch off watching him and riding. Some of the lines weren't very long, so we got to ride those slides a few times. Geoff didn't nap for very long, but he played happily in his stroller.

After a while, we headed to the wave pool. Here, Geoff wore a life jacket. He LOVED floating on his back in the waves, and he also loved when Grant or I bounced him up and down in the water! Then Geoff and I got out so I could feed him again, and then Grant and I did a few more slides. We finished off our wonderful day with a few more revolutions in the now - pretty much empty - lazy river!

We stayed until park close at 7:30. The crowds really thinned out, the weather was overcast and not too warm (78 when we left) and no lightning forcing us out of the water. We were VERY lucky and had a fantastic time!

Now, Geoff is napping, and Grant is picking up pizza for dinner. Yummy!

Dowtown Disney

2009-08-14T17:39:00.001-07:00

Last night, we went to Downtown Disney. The pouring rain stopped, so a lot of people came back out - it was pretty crowded. First I went to guest relations to add the water parks fun and more option to our tickets. Then, we saw that on the stage by the World of Disney, there was going to be a Yo-Yo show starting in 5 minutes! That was fun to watch.

We had dinner at Fulton's Crab House - I got dungeness crab and Grant had mahi mahi. After dinner, we did some browsing in the stores and then headed for home. Geoff had another good sleeping night!

Aug. 12 and 13th

2009-08-13T14:46:00.001-07:00

On Wednesday, we started our day with a quick swim in the pool. Then we ran some errands. We find a lady selling baby stuff on Craig's List, and bought an exersaucer and a play mat/gym for Geoff for $30. So glad we did as he has used them both lots already! We went to Costco, Verizon (my phone crapped out), and Target as well. Back at our town home, we rested (Geoff did not sleep well last night) and washed his new toys before heading out to dinner at Texas Road House - Way yummy!

Our plan for Thursday was to go to the community pool in the afternoon, and Downtown DIsney in the evening. We went to lunch at Five Brothers Burgers, which was really good, but sort of pricier then we expected. On the way back, this huge storm started up - we sat in our car in the driveway for 20 minutes while buckets poured down (you know we're not afraid of rain, and yes, the door was maybe 10 steps away - but it was POURING and the lightning was right over head!) Now we're inside, listening to the storm. According to the weather channel, 4 inches fell in the last hour, as well as 11,000 lightning strikes. And it looks like it is going to be the worse right here over Kissimmee for the next 2 hours. I guess we'll put off our pool plans... Stay Tuned....

Orlando/Kissimmee - Arrival Tuesday, Aug. 11th

2009-08-13T14:32:00.001-07:00

On Tuesday, Aug. 11, we left for Florida. We took Jet Blue out of Long Beach. On this flight, the plane seats are 2 and 2, and the flight was expensive, so we only bought 2 tickets, and took Geoffrey as a lap baby.

The first leg of the flight (Long Beach to Austin) was pretty full. We gate checked Geoff's stroller and car seat, as well as one of our carry-on suitcases (the plans is small, so the larger carryons can't fit.)

I nursed Geoff on the way up to prevent ear problems, and he fell asleep. He slept for the first 45 minutes of the flight. When he woke up, he played quietly for awhile and then got a little antsy. Grant walked with him to the front of the plane and Geoff was happy up there for about 20 minutes. He fell asleep again, and slept and nursed for most of the descent into Austin.

Our plane only stopped in Austin for about 40 minutes, so those of us continuing on to Orlando were asked to stay on. Geoffrey was happy watching people get off and then laying on the seats while Grant stood and stretched. The flight to Orlando was only half full, with many empty rows in the back. Although we planned to move back, conveniently, the row directly across from us was empty, so Grant moved there and we each had our own row. Geoff followed a similar schedule of napping on the way up, playing in the air (this time, I walked him to the back, and he and I talked with a nice flight attendant), and then napping just before we landed. All in all, he did very well on the flights - no crying at all, and just a little bit of antsy fussing!

At the airport, Grant got the bags and rented the car while Geoff and I sat with the bags. We were directed to take any car in the midsize row... so we walked all the way down to the end and found a Kia Rondo - woohoo! Plenty of room!

We swung by the rental office and got our welcome packet and then came to our townhome. Our town home is at Windsor Hills in Kissimmee - this is the closest off-property place to WDW I've ever stayed! The town home is nice - it has a driveway right out front, steps from the door. On the first floor is a bedroom with a queen bed, a bathroom with a shower, a big kitchen, and a big family room. Beyond that is a screened in lanai with a small (12 x 12) pool that has one corner that is about 5 feet deep. Upstairs is a washer/drier, a bedroom with two twin beds and bathroom with a tub/shower combo, and a master bedroom with a king bed and bathrom with a shower/tub combo. The town home is awesome - we'd stay here again. The bedrooms are a little small, but otherwise, the place is great!

We went to walmart to get some needed supplies and then headed back for the night!

Camping

2009-08-02T13:12:00.001-07:00

We just returned from a camping trip at Lake Edison.

On Sunday, Angie, Andrew, Cori, and Andrew's friend AJ, and Grant, Geoffrey, and I drove to Fresno. We ate at John's Incredible Pizza, and then spent the night at a Marriott Residence Inn. The next day, we drove up to the campground. The last 18 miles heads up over the Kaiser Pass on a one lane road that I thought was pretty scary. It took an hour and a half to travel those last 18 miles. Poor Geoffrey's ears hurt!

The campground was beautiful. They had two sites reserved for us (Gary and Belle drove up on Monday and met us at the Marriott.) The sites were both in a small valley, so it was like we had one big campsite.

We spent our days walking around, playing, and relaxing. We found two geocaches - one at our camp site and one across the lake. We went swimming in the lake (which we estimated to be high 50s/low 60s). Angie brought a telescope and we went down to the lake to stargaze.

Geoff did very well - as Grandpa Gary said, he was a happy camper! He slept in his pack n play for most of the night, but once the sun came up, he slept with mommy and daddy under the sleeping bag. He loved being in the carrier and walking around!

Of course - there was the bear visit! A bear broke the window on our van and got away with some of our dry food goods! I didn't hear it, but poor Angie did - didn't exactly make for a good night's sleep!

Camping dinners are, of course, yummy. We had hamburgers and hotdogs, beef stew, chicken and dumplings, and pot roast. We also had campfire pie, finally, which everyone agreed was a hit! (We used apples and blueberries.)

We camped for five nights, and drove home on Saturday. We followed eachother down the mountain, and then separated. Grant and I had to stop a few times to adjust the tarp that was covering the back broken window, and to feed Geoffrey. We ate at The Elephant Bar - so yummy! I would LOVE if they opened one closer to us!

All in all, we had a great vacation! I love summer! I love Grant! I love Geoff! I love Belle!

Las Vegas Friday/Sasturday - Heading Home.

2009-06-30T11:03:00.001-07:00

This morning we mostly focused on moving. Mom and Bobby went early to check in to the MGM Signature. Grant and I called the bell men and we were assured that they were able to deliver our bags to the Signature for us. (We were checking out of MGM because our deal was over, and the room would be $300 if we wanted to stay one more night.)

Once we checked out, we drove over to Mandalay Bay to try their new buffet - which was really good. They had a diverse offering, and the setting was very tropical. After lunch, we took turns playing in the casino a bit and sitting with Geoffrey in the shopping area. Then we headed up to Lush where we bought incredibly expensive bath bombs to use in the jacuzzi tub that night.

Back at the Signature, we checked in and headed up to our room to await the arrival of our luggage so we could go swimming one more time. Unfortunately, our luggage arrived 3 hours later, and we were unable to swim. Oh well. It was nice just relaxing and spending time with Mom and Bobby. While watching tv, we saw an add for Outback Steakhouse and decided to go there for dinner - we found one off the strip so it wasn't crowded.

Back at the hotel, we said goodnight. Grant, Geoff, and I took a bath in our huge jacuzzi bath tub using one of the bath bombs. Geoffrey LOVES the water, so he enjoyed it!

The next morning, Grant and I checked our stuff with the bellmen and packed up Mom and Bobby's stuff. We went to breakfast at IHOP. As we were pulling in I noticed that if you presented a receipt from the outlet mall across the parking lot from that day, you would get 20% off of the bill. So we sent Grant and Bobby to Carter's to get a $4 clearance onesie for Mr. Geofferson which ended up getting us $8 off our bill.

After breakfast, we went back over to Carter's and did a little more shopping. Then we drove Mom and Bobby to the airport and said goodbye :o(

Grant, Geoff, and I went back to the hotel and got our stuff and headed home. Geoffrey did well for the first two hours, but then he started wailing. I got in the back wit him and fed him a bottle. Between that and me playing with him, he was pretty much fine for the rest of the trip home. We made it back in four hours (only stopping once at a rest stop and once for me to get in the back) and we returned the rental car with time to spare. Mom and Bobby got home at almost the same time we did!

Our first vacation with Geoffrey was awesome! Things I learned:

1) Vegas is not exactly baby friendly. Not all restrooms had changing tables and it was hard to find places to nurse. However, it can be done, and I would do it again.

2) Help is always wonderful!

Las Vegas - Thursday

2009-06-30T10:49:00.001-07:00

Finally! A break from the MGM buffet. Today, we went to eat at Le Village Buffet at Paris. When we arrived, I tried to find a bathroom with a changing table (the one next to the lobby) while Mom, Bobby, and Grant paid. I got back just as we were seated.

Wile we were eating, Grant got the text that Michael Jackson had had a heart attack, and then that he died. I couldn't believe it! I was really in shock. Poor MJ. All the money in the world and he couldn't get the help he needed. Sounds like so many celebrities I know of...

After lunch, we headed back to the hotel, enjoying a stroll down the strip. It wasn't too hot most of the time. Back at the hotel, we watched some of the Michael Jackson footage, and Mom and Bobby got ready to see Ka. While they were at the show, we did some packing. We met them down in the casino after their show was over and we walked to Fat Burger for dinner, enjoying a nice evening on the strip, and taking some pictures. It was a pretty relaxing day.

Las Vegas - Wed. June 24

2009-06-25T11:51:00.001-07:00

Wednesday June 24

Today, Grant and I woke up in time to get breakfast at the buffet. Hee hee. Mom and Bobby had already gone, so they spent the morning with a very happy Geoffrey while Grant and I had breakfast, and then drove over to the Venetian to exchange vouchers for their Phantom tickets.

After that, Mom and Bobby went to do the TV research thing they have at MGM. They watched an episode of CSI and then rated it. Mom. Because of her age, got asked to participate in a further study – which took her an extra hour and earned her $50! In the mean time, Grant and I hung out with Geoffrey and watched the wind and rain outside our windows, and then met Bobby to play slots. When it was my turn (while Grant walked around with Geoffers) I got a straight flush on one of the poker machines! Fun! I ended up walking away $10 richer. Hey big spender!

When Mom was finished, we had lunch before heading upstairs to get ready for the show.

While I was changing Geoffrey's diaper, I did a raspberry on his tummy and he started LAUGHING! It was so cute! I had given him raspberries before and he didn't really react, so this time it was adorable! So fun!

Geoffrey and I had a fun evening playing together. He even took a nap long enough for me to get a majority of this blogging finished! Meanwhile, Grant, Mom, and Bobby thoroughly enjoyed seeing Phantom of the Opera. It happened to be the 3 year anniversary of the show, so the guy who played the Phantom came out and spoke, and there was a big cake for the cast! This makes Phantom the longest running Las Vegas musical. They had great seats - 3^rd row center or the mezzanine.

Geoff and I met them for dinner at – you guessed it – the MGM buffet. Yum. Did I mention that I've been eating a lot of sushi? Oh... and sugar free desserts... hee hee.

Vegas - Tuesday June 23

2009-06-25T11:50:00.003-07:00

Tuesday June 23

We all slept in this morning, so we went to lunch together at the buffet. Most of the food was pretty similar to the day before, and the lines were still long. After lunch, we strolled down to the half price ticket booth to get a discount coupon for the Village buffet at Paris as well as Mom, Bobby, and Grant's tickets for Phantom.

Mom and Bobby walked over to New York New York to check out the new casino, while Grant, Geoff and I went to the pool. Geoff had fallen asleep but woke up early and cranky. He wasn't as happy in the water – it wasn't that he disliked the water, but he was still sleepy. I put him on my shoulder and we walked around the river, and Geoff fell asleep. He slept on my shoulder for about a half an hour as Grant and I went 'round and 'round the pool! When he did wake up, he was in a better mood. We went around a few more times before I got out to feed him.

We headed up to our room and met up with Mom and Bobby. After dinner at – you guessed it, the buffet – we went out for a walk. Geoff was so tired from swimming, that he napped for three hours – from 9:00 – 12:00! We were afraid that he wouldn't sleep at night, but he did! He fell asleep while we were finishing dinner, and slept as we walked over to New York New York (we were very disappointed in the new casino – very plain – it lost must of its character,) on to the Bellagio where we watched the fountain show at 10:45 and 11:00, and then walked back to the hotel. He finally woke up as we approached the hotel, so we took a few minutes to look at the Rain forest Cafe. We visited the aquarium (although Geoff was more interested in the bubbles) and the alligator. Back at the room, he ate and then went right to bed! What a good boy!

Las Vegas Monday 6/22

2009-06-25T11:50:00.001-07:00

Monday, June 22

This morning, Mom and Bobby woke up before we did, so they headed down the the MGM buffet for breakfast. Then they played in the casino a bit while Grant and I had lunch with Geoffrey. The buffet had good food, but had a very poor lay out. I've eaten SO MUCH sushi at this buffet!

After lunch, we went out to the pool. We found a shady spot near the lazy river and settled in. Geoff was sound asleep, so Mom (Grandma) held him while Grant and I took a lap in the river. Then, Bobby and Grant took a lap while I sat with Mom and Geoff. Once Geoff woke up, we all went in the lazy river. He loved it! We started out in the shallow pool so he could get used to the water, and then we went to the river. Mom and Bobby had found an inner tube, so we took turns riding it with Geoff sitting on our lap. He was fine going under the waterfalls and everything! People kept commenting on how cute he looked with his swimming trunks, swim shirt, hat, and sun glasses. Mr. Cool.

After a while, we got out, and I fed Geoffrey. This was the easiest place (other than the hotel rooms, of course) to feed Geoffrey. He's been pretty good about sleeping when he needs to. He is talking lots of little naps throughout the day – and sleeping from about 1AM to about 10 or 11 AM, with one night feeding. He's doing really well!

After our day in the pool, we went down to dinner at the buffet. We were a little bummed that the food at dinner was almost identical to the food at lunch, with a few small exceptions (crab legs and shrimp, for example.) The lines were horrendous.

After dinner, we went up to the room and realized that we had left our diaper bag at the buffet. Bobby called down and they located it and gave it to the cashier. Meanwhile, Grant and I were talking to a manager. The manager checked his office but it wasn't there (because it was with the cashier). We tried to explain that to the manager, and although he was very friendly and was trying to be helpful, he was severely overwhelmed by the long lines – the buffet was not set up to handle the crowds there promotions were bringing in (besides the deal we had – free buffets included with the rooms) they also had an all day pass anyone could buy for $30. IN any case, Grant left to drop off Mom and Bobby for he Blue Man Group while I waited around for the manager to call me back to tell me he had located the bag.

Once I got the bag, I went upstairs and waited for Grant. We had a nice evening with Geoffrey. We went to pick up Mom and Bobby from their show, and then went to Wal-mart for drinks and moleskin for blisters. They had some adorable Disney onesies that we got for Mr. Geofferson!

June 21 - Father's Day

2009-06-25T11:46:00.001-07:00

Sunday, June 21^st.

Father's Day!

On Sunday, we packed up and moved to the MGM.

First, Geoff and I gave Grant his Father's day present – a picture frame with pictures of Grant and Geoff and a poem from Geoffrey. Then, Geoffrey wished Daddy a Happy Father's Day by spitting up all over Daddy's shorts. With only about 30 minuted left until check out, Grant decided to throw his shorts in the washer and at least get them washed – figuring they could hang dry at the MGM. Unfortunately, he forgot to take his iphone out of his pocket – so he washed his phone too! Of course, it was completely ruined – but at least he still had the accidental insurance, so he was able to get it replaced.

Bobby and Grant loaded the car up with all of our bags and drove over to the MGM, while Mom, Geoff, and I walked and met them there. There was no way we'd all fit in the car with all of our stuff!

We checked into the MGM – one room was ready, so we brought all of our bags in the room. Our room faced South-east, with a view of the airport and Hooters hotel. The room was large and very nice – It has a couch, table, and chair, and a king bed – the room is split into a sitting area and a sleeping area by a large wardrobe / TV chest. The room also has a fridge, a shower with a tub, and a separate shower. We really like it! Mom and Bobby's room is directly across the hall (11306 / 11305). There room faced south west – you could see New York, New York, Excalibur, Luxor, and Mandalay Bay from there room.

We had lunch to celebrate Grant's first Father's Day at Mon Ami Gabi, his favorite restaurant at the Paris hotel. We gave both Bobby and Grant Father's Day cards and enjoyed a lovely meal in the Atrium. Grant and I split the French Onion Soup and an Endive, Blue Cheese and melon salad, and we all split a Pate appetizer. For entrees, Mom had a Spinach salad with Salmon and blueberries, Grant and Bobby had steak and frittes, and I had a fried green tomato grilled cheese sandwich. Delicious!

After lunch, we walked back to MGM, stopping at the Half Price Ticket booth. They had Bette Middler tickets for $64! We didn't think we'd be able to get into the Colosseum for that price, so we decided to get tickets for Mom, Bobby, and me. Later in the week, Grant, Mom, and Bobby would be seeing Phantom, but we decided to get Bette tickets since we'd never seen them for such a reasonable price!

Once we got back to the hotel, Mom and Bobby's room was ready, so we took some time to unpack. Bobby and Grant went to exchange our vouchers for our Bette tickets at Ceasers Palace, and went to the Venetian to get Mom and Bobby's Blue Man Group tickets for Monday night (these are the tickets they got from Dr. Phil.) Then Grant went to replace his iphone.

That night, Daddy and Geoffrey got to spend the evening together, while Mom, Bobby, and I got to see the Divine Miss M in concert! What an amazing experience. Bette Middler! THE Bette Middler! The show was everything I expected – hilarious and beautiful, with great music, great dancing, and comedy in a beautiful theater.

The show started late, and didn't end until 9:30, so we couldn't make it back to our hotel in time for dinner at the buffet. Our package includes breakfast, lunch, and dinner at the MGM buffet. However, since the buffet closed at 10, we ended up going to The Burger Bar for dinner. Geoff, again, was great, sleeping through most of the meal. He got fussy at the end, because he was pretty hungry, so I left while they paid the bill and fed Geoffrey in the car.

(As a side note – that is the only really difficult part about having Geoff here – it is not a friendly place for nursing at all – hot outside, smoky inside with not a lot of quiet places to sit. Not a surprise, and easy enough to work around – just a comment.)

We joked about what people must think of us walking through the casino at midnight with such a little baby! I am sure there were some that didn't approve. On the other hand, we did see other families out, too! How your perspective changes when you have kiddos of your own, huh?

Saturday, June 20

2009-06-25T11:45:00.001-07:00

Saturday, June 20^th

Geoffrey slept well in his pack and play. He did wake up for a night feeding, but considering the heat and how dry it is here in Vegas, I am actually glad he's eating at night to stay hydrated.

We picked up Mom and Bobby from the airport. It was so fun to watch Geoffrey play with Grandma and Grandpa! We went to the Mirage and had lunch at Cravings before heading back to the Marriott.

That night, Geoffrey got to spend the evening with Grandma and Grandpa, while Grant and I went to Bellagio to see Cirque Du Soleil "O," which we had not seen yet. This show is so cool – a traditional Cirque but with an amazing water stage! There were lots of excellent acts, including some great diving acts! We both really enjoyed it!

Geoff had a good time with Grandma and Grandpa. He ate almost 12 ounces when they fed him! He slept well again – waking up for one feeding.

Las Vegas - Geoffrey's First Vacation!

2009-06-25T11:44:00.001-07:00

SO - I am way behind on my vacation blogging - 5 days in and I haven't even started! I must say, though, that it is harder now with Geoffrey to find time to sit down and blog. Typically I like to do a big chunk all at once - but I may just have to adjust to blogging about small bits here and there.... Hee hee -

Away we go!

Friday June 19

We left on Friday morning to drive to Vegas. We rented a car from LB airport and were on our way by noon. There was a lot of traffic until we got on the 15, and then it was smooth sailing. We stopped at Barstow for lunch, as well as at a rest stop for some stretching. Geoffrey did well for most of the ride - but towards the end, he couldn't sleep any more and was ready for a change from the car seat and some social time.

We checked into the Marriott Grand Chateau at about 6:00 PM, and we all enjoyed some stretch out time. The room we stayed in was a one bedroom – but it had a very odd lay out and was not an effective use of space. However, we certainly enjoyed the washer and dryer in our room!

After we settled in, we headed back out to dinner. We ate at Grand Lux at the Venetian. Geoff was very good – he slept through most of dinner and was pretty happy when he woke up.

We swung by Wal-mart to get some snackins before heading back to our hotel for the night.

Our weekend in Vegas

2009-01-19T10:20:00.001-08:00

We arrived in Vegas late on Friday night - pulling into the walmart by the airport at about 11:30 to get some snacks and then checking into our hotel at around 12:30. We are staying at the MGM Signature, this time in Tower 2, and our room is on a penthouse floor - floor 29!

Saturday:

We started our day on Saturday by heading to the 1/2 price ticket booth. I was surprised by the crowds and obnoxious behavior (yes, I know, this is Vegas, but it seemed excessive...). Later, I pointed this out to Grant, and he reminded me that we were here on a weekend, and the last few times we'd been here were mid week - duh!

Anywho, at the ticket booth, we tried to get Love tickets, but they were sold out, so we chose Phatom seats instead. Cool! In addition, we got a 1 hour gameworks discount card and a voucher for the Village buffet in Paris.

Next, we headed to Paris to eat at Mon Ami Gabi, the cute little French bistro on the front of the Paris casino. We've eaten here before and it is SO good! After lunch, we continued down the strip to the Venetian to exchange our vouchers. We got seats in the 5th or 6th row of the orchestra section, on the right side - sweet! We were also able to pick up our tickets for Blue Man Group for the following night - these tickets were free from when Mom and Bobby and Grant and Danny went to see Dr. Phil being taped.

We took the monorail back to the MGM (but were very dissapointed to find that they'd done away with the 10 ride ticket - now your only choices are one ride $5 a person, or 13$ day pass. Usually, we use the monorail 3 or 4 times a trip, so the ten ride ticket worked for us as it didn't expire. Now, we feel the prices are too excessive - a taxi would probably have been cheaper! Don't know if we'll be using the monorail much anymore)

Anywho - we watched some tv and took it easy back at the hotel before heading out to see Phantom. The show was awesome, the cast rocked. After the show, we drove to Mandalay Bay to eat dinner at The Burger Bar. (Yes, today was a day of doing a lot of our regular favorite things!) I think, by the way, that I finally perfected my Burger Bar burger - blue cheese, bacon, and asparagus. Yum!

Sunday:

Today we had lunch at the buffet at Mirage - I totally ate too much! But it was SO GOOD! That is one of my all time favorite buffets. We went to Gameworks to use our one hour cards - that was fun - we played a lot of the racing games - and I even played Dance Dance Revolution a lot, which I am sure was hilarious to people watching - this big old pregnant chick bouncing around on a dance dance machine! Ha! Can you picture it? Well, Grant took pictures if you can't!

Anyway, when we had about 20 minutes left, some glitch in the system amde our cards innactive - so they gave us new 30 minute cards - which was perfect, because I really had to pee, so we could take a break without running down our time cards!

Back to the hotel we went to rest before heading out to see the 10:00 showing of Blue Man Group. We thought the show was - interesting. Some of the sequences were funny and really cool. Some were a bit odd and unneeded, and made the show feel long in parts. But all in all we enjoyed it - and it is a great show for kids - they'd love it! (Baby G, for his part, was a bit confused, I think by all the percussion - he seemed to be trying to tunnel his way deeper into my belly! Poor kid! (o: ) He definately enjoyed Phantom more - probably becasue he remembered the music.

After the show, we had dinner at Grand Luxe. I had been wanting their Asian Nachos all day long, but when we were seated - it was 12:05, and they were serving the late night menu, which didn't have Asian Nachos on it! I asked my server and they were able to make them for me anyway! Hurrah!

Monday:

Today, we'll pack and eat at the Village buffet before we take off for home. ALl in all, it was a fantastic time, and I am so glad we did it. Grant is so wonderful - we took things at a nice slow pace and did everything we wanted to do. He is the best husband ever!

Las Vegas

2009-01-17T10:57:00.001-08:00

Last week, I asked Grant when his next days off were, and he said Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday. Sweet - because I have Monday off too for MLK day! (Hence the reason he had requested the block of days off) So on Tuesday, he sent me an email: "Found a good deal in Vegas - wanna go?"

Sigh - who knows how long it will be before we can take a sponataneous trip like this once Baby G arrives? Did I want to go to Vegas? Heck yeah! Thus - we had our babymoon.

Grant thinks that "babymoon" is a funny name. Originally, Babymoon referred to the period of time after a baby was born to allow for the parents and baby to bond. More recently, it has evolved (thank you, travel industry) into a word describing a last rip before the baby comes for the couple to be together as a couple before all those sleepless nights with a newborn!

So, anyway, Vegas it is - no flying involved - yummy food, good shows (we have free tickets for the Blue Man Group from when Mom and the boys went to see Dr. Phil) and a great place to stay.

Originally, we were booked at the Marriott Reniassance, but yesterday monring, Grant emailed a bunch o people who still had unrented rooms for the MGM Signature and offered them a final deal (A - would you rather rent us the room for this much or have it go empty?)- and a bunch of people accepted - so he picked the highest floor = penthouse - floor 29. I do believe the MGM Signature is Grant's favorite. I love the access to the MGM pool, although I doubt it will be warm enough to use - and I also love the huge spa tub and the mini kitchenette with fridge and microwave. Plus, although "attached" to MGM, there is no casino in the lobby so it is not very smoky.

Anywho - not much to say about the actual trip yet. We didn't levae home till 7:30 to avoid traffic, and we rolled into Vegas around 11:30 - I slpet for about half of the drive... hee hee... We sung by Walmart to get some snackins' and then checked in! Plans for this trip? Eat at our favorite places (We have 3 in mind) Probably get tickets for a show tonight, Blue Man group tomorrow, and relax and be together!

Have I mentioned how much I love Grant lately?

Going Home from Disney Magic

2008-10-19T11:45:00.000-07:00

The final morning, Grant got off the ship pretty quickly and went to get the rental car. Mom, Bobby, and I were planning to get off a little later, to meet Grant when he got back to the ship.

Well, there was a huge hold up and they didn't let anyone off the ship until like 9:00. Grant had gone down really early, so although he didn't get off early, he was one of the first off. Unfortunately, becasue of the hold up, EVERYONE wanted off the ship at the exact same time, which made Mom, Bobby, and I got caught in a huge crunch.

But all was well. We finally got off the beautiful Disney Magic and headed towards Orlando. Our flight was scheduled to leave at 6:00. We swung by the airport and checked in at noon, dropping off our checked bags. Then we went to Disney World and had lunch at the Polynesian hotel at the Kona Kafe.

After lunch, we took the monorail to the TTA, taking a peak at the Magic Kingdom and at the DVC construction at the Contemporary. At the TTA we switched and took the monorail to EPCOT just to see the park from above. Sigh - so close yet so far. We returned to TTA and then the Polynesian. We headed back to the airport and flew home.

Disney Magic - Sunday - Castaway Cay

2008-10-19T10:58:00.000-07:00

Castaway Cay - our last day on the cruise - and really, other than the Panama Canal - probably one of the most anticipated ports of the cruise. We, of course, were very excited, having never been before - but I was surprised at how excited the repeat cruisers were. I mean - they'd been before. I knew it was supposed to be an amazing place, but still, I was a bit surprised that many of these people had never been to, say, Aruba or Cartegena, but they were most thrilled about being back on Castaway Cay.

However, I get it now. First of all, it is like when I visit Disney parks - there is something great about just going to somewhere familiar - especially if the place is awesome - and Castaway Cay is truly awesome.

It is landscaped, beautiful. It is a Bahama Island that meets every expectation of what you imagine in your mind, without the detractors. It is just paradise- with truly, no worries. The beach is nice - the snorkeling, not great, but excellent for a first snorkeing experience for kids. The lunch bbq is delicious. I mean, for real, just an amazing place. My only complaint was their fee for snorkel rentals. I thought the $25 rental fee was above and beyond expensive. I will always bring my own snorkel eqipment - or probably not rent it at all.

When we first got off the ship, it was a little drizzly, and very humid. We walked towards the beach and stopped in the shops to buy some post cards (Yeah, the post cards were also very expensive, and really, they didn't have a lot of good choices for post cards.) We also got some other merchandise. I was feeling really dizzy - which was odd, so I sat for a few minutes on the bench while Bobby went back to the post office to mail our post cards.

Then we found a spot on the beach. We actually sat right on the end near the snorkel shack, under a nice umbrella with plenty of loungers. We got two rafts and two sets of snorkeling equipment to share. We alternated and enjoyed just swimming and floating.

Lunch was delicious - ribs, corn bread, hot dogs, salads - so delicious! Honestly, this was probably the best meal of the whole cruise.

After lunch, we went back to the beach. Towards the end of the day, we took the tram over to Serenity Bay just to take a look. It was pretty closed up by the time we had arrived, but it looked nice.

Finally, we headed back to the ship. Dinner was at Parrot Cay. We said goodbye to our servers. We packed our bags, went to the "Remember the Magic" Farewell show, and got ready to go back to reality.

So after the perfect beach day, we headed back to the ship. Grant and I got started packing and we went to our last dinner at Parrot Cay.

Disney Magic - Saturday - At Sea

2008-10-19T10:25:00.000-07:00

Well, yes, it is October. And yes, I am now finishing my vacation blog. But ghads - those last few days - you just want to enjoy you know? Then back to school and... well - here it is. The last two installments of my blog.

On Saturday, we had our last at sea day. I had hoped to do some packing today - but I didn't. Mom and Bobby did though- very impressive. Instead, we relaxed. We caught the matinee performance of Disney Dreams - another spectacular Disney stage show. What stood out here is how immersive and impressive the sets and special effects were - I mean, seriously, they were another character! Very impressive - especially considering this all took place on a cruise ship!

We hung out by the pool and walked around the ship - sort of taking in everything, as this would be our last day at sea.

Dinner tonight was our last night in Animator's Palate, and it was formal night. We took some really nice pictures. We took care of some business, watching the debarkation talk on the tv and wrapping up our photo packages.

We also went to watch Disney Dreams again - really - the show was that good.

Overall, the excitement about being at Castaway Cay the next day overruled the sadness about our trip being almost ever.

Disney Magic - Friday - At Sea

2008-08-30T18:51:00.000-07:00

I can’t believe we are approaching the last few days of our cruise! I am typing this on Saturday - and Mom is almost completely packed. :o(

Anywho, Friday was kind of my yuckiest day - especially at dinner, I could eat very little (heartburn? Indigestion? Whatever it was, I just felt bluchy - )

We got up and went to the last installment of Desperate Shipmates to figure out Who Dunnit. I guessed the motive and where it was hidden, but not the correct suspect. After that, we had lunch at Lumiere’s, and then walked around ship for a bit. There was a huge line for the Ally and AJ autograph session! Next, we headed to the Buena Vista Theater (the movie theater) for the afternoon showing of National Treasure: Book of Secrets.

Dinner tonight was in Lumiere’s - here is a sad thought - this is our last dinner in Lumiere’s! The dinner theme was Pirate’s IN the Caribbean - as it was the night for the big Pirates Deck Party. Dinner was tasty, I was told, although I didn’t eat much. I had the pineapple/banana appetizer which was good, and soup - although I can’t remember what it was. I couldn’t touch my shrimp and scallop pasta - which made me feel really guilty. Grant had Sirloin, Bobby had Chicken, and mom had Mahi Mahi.

We went to the family cabaret at 7:30 and saw a magician, and then headed to the Walt Disney Theater for the main show - The Crew Talent Show and Dancing with the Officers. It was actually a pretty good show! Then we headed up to starboard, deck 10, for the Pirates IN the Caribbean party - which was awesome - complete with repelling pirates, Mickey on a Zip Line, and topped off with fireworks - the only cruise line that does fireworks at sea! I had heard that the fireworks were weak and not very good - but I thought they were awesome and was not at all disappointed - on the contrary, I was pleasantly surprised and pleased by the show!

We enjoyed a bit of the buffet - they had turkey legs like in the park and Grant got one of the last ones. I had a red apple. Yum! (hee hee) Then we headed up to bed.

Disney Magic - Thursday - Aruba

2008-08-28T21:33:00.000-07:00

This morning we got up and had brunch on the ship before heading to our Snorkeling excursion - which was probably our favorite excursion so far. The catamaran was nice, and the beverage service was excellent. We stopped at a reef - about 8 - 15 feet in depth - and snorkeled for about a half an hour. Then we headed out to the Antilla, the best wreck in the Caribbean to snorkel. The boat sunk in only about 60 feet of water, and part of it rises above the water. This was SO COOL! Grant and I had never snorkeled a wreck before - the water was so clear and you could see everything . The ship sunk in the 40’s. It was really awesome. Also this was mom and Bobby’s first snorkeling experience. Bobby was a little unsure but Mom really loved it!

We got back and took showers and then got ready for dinner. Tonight’s menu was International. I had a crab and sushi rice roll, a Greek salad, a lobster bisque, and Hawaiian curry scallops. (Way too much curry - I didn’t eat much of it.) Other things that were enjoyed - chicken drumettes prepared Mongolian style, Prime rib, and desserts - butter pecan sundaes, chocolate torte, and bread pudding.

Still tired from earlier, we headed back to our staterooms. A movie, Music and Lyrics, was just starting and we decided to watch it. We had decided earlier that we were going to skip the show tonight anyway - it was Aj and Aly, this hugely popular group among the preteens, and the shows were so full that they were stamping people’s hands to make sure they didn’t try to see both shows. We figured that there were SO many people that wanted to see it, and we didn’t really care, so we’d just sort of watch from the back for a few minutes and then take off. As it turns out, we just watched the movie and didn’t go to the concert at all.

At ten, we headed up to the Goofy Pool, where we watched National Treasure from lounge chairs on the Ariel view screen. It was cool - like being at a drive through, only all of the food and drinks were free. It was a nice evening, warm but not too hot or humid. Now we are pulling out of Aruba! Good night!

Disney Magic - Wednesday - Day at Sea

2008-08-28T21:32:00.002-07:00

We started our day by going to the next “Who Dunnit” event, where we met with a detective and made a list of questions to ask our suspects later in the week. That was cool because we got some interesting clues from other people’s questions, but really not a whole lot of information. After lunch (Asian themed,) we headed down to the promenade deck, found four chairs together, and lazed away the afternoon - reading, snoozing, playing ds, playing sudoku, and watching the crystal blue ocean.

Dinner tonight was the Master Chef Menu. What was really funny is that Grant and I were looking at our menus, and Bobby starts talking about what dishes he wants , and Grant and I are like…. “huh?” Turns out, Adrian had accidentally given us two different menus - they had the same covers, but different food. So we played a trick on Dennis - Mom, Grant, and I ordered off of the correct menu, and then Bobby ordered off of the incorrect menu - first Dennis nods and starts to write it down, and then Dennis gets this quizzical look on his face and walks over to look at the menu - we were laughing so hard!

The show tonight was “Siegfried and Roy present Darren Romeo: The Voice of Magic.” This was a magician that sang while he did magic. It was an interesting combination, but the problem with it, in my opinion, was that doing the songs took up time so he didn’t do as much magic. However, it was a good show - and we really enjoyed it!

After the show, we watched a few rounds of “Who Wants to be a Mousketeer,” before heading down to Rockin Bar D to watch Heath Hyche do stand up for the adult cabaret before heading up to bed.

Disney Magic - Tuesday - Cartegena, Columbia

2008-08-28T21:32:00.001-07:00

Cartegena was not at all what I expected. I guess I expected old, run down - I don’t know - like Progresso, Mexico. Instead, Much of Cartegena is actually very nice - it feels colonial, and reminded me a lot of Macau or Fredricksted in St. Croix, or like a combination of an old European town and a Caribbean town. It was very pretty!

We started our tour at the pier and headed through town into the walled part of the city where we did a walking tour for about an hour and a half/ 2 hours. Our guide was very knowledgeable and knew a lot about the history of his country and of the city. We looked at many of the residences and government buildings, and of course, their beautiful balconies (every year they have a contest to see which balcony is the most beautiful!), we learned about their important figures, such as saints, and visited some of their churches.
Our tour guide spoke English very well - the only thing I had trouble understanding was names. But the saint the talked about most was called “the slave of slaves.” This man would store food and supplies and meet every incoming slave ship. Slaves coming to Cartegena were often afraid that they were going to be eaten - a rumor that was persistent. So this saint would always reassure them - by telling them they were not going to be eaten, but that they would have to work very very hard, and that he would do what he could to help them. He would give them food and clothing and whatever else he could.

There were vendors on the streets everywhere that would walk up to you and try to sell you stuff - which was rather annoying, but I know not uncommon.

Next we got back on the bus and headed to some shopping centers (two of them - boring!!!!) Then we drove to the fortress and took pictures in front of the statue of the “half man,” another Cartegena hero, who was 14 when he had lost a leg, and by the end of his life, also lost an eye and the use of one of his arms, but still managed to lead troops and father 17 children. Half man indeed.

Finally, we drove up to the tallest point in the city, “la Popa,” which had a great view of the city and the port, and also another church. On the way up the hill, there were many poorer shacks - I guess more what I was expecting. Quite a range of lifestyles in this city.

Our tour guide, Duran Duran, (no joke), talked a lot about the new president, and how Columbia was really becoming a safer place to visit. He acknowledged the drug problem and showed us on a map where it was being grown. He mentioned (while we were pulling into port and groaning about the long line to get back on the ship because the Columbian guards were searching our bags) that while Columbia has a long way to go, with out demand, there would be no supply, etc. All in all, I think that I felt pretty safe and was pleasantly surprised and pleased with my visit.

Back on the ship, we showered and went down to dinner in Lumiere’s, where we had the Taste of the Caribbean menu. The show tonight was “Disney on Broadway,” with Sarah Litzsinger, the longest running Belle in Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, and David Devries, who played Lumiere on Broadway and in several national and international productions. They performed a concert - lots of Disney of course, but also Wicked (as David Devries is currently staring in LA in Wicked - we saw him in June…) Evita (Sarah Litzsinger had recently starred as Eva Peron,) and a few others. They also shared thoughts and memories of being on stage together. In all honesty, I would have preferred more singing and less talking, but - eh - what can you do? The concert was great - they were fabulous - and seriously - Broadway? Right up my alley!

Next we headed up to the Tropicalifragilisticexpialidocious Deck Party and watched the characters come out and dance. Then we went back to the quiet cove pool where another band was playing - before finally heading off to bed. Tonight, we turned our clocks forward one last time, so we are officially on eastern time.

Disney Magic - Monday - Panama Canal!

2008-08-28T21:31:00.001-07:00

Well, today was the big day - the day we traveled through the Panama Canal! Our pilot got aboard at about 6:30, and we passed under the Bridge of the Americas at about 7:00. Going through the locks was fun. We had a container ship next to us, and it was fun waving to the workers on the ground and on the other ship. Up on deck 6 on the balcony, it was hard to really tell when we were moving up (and later, down) in the locks, because we were so high up.

After the first set of locks, we went up to eat at the deck bbq. It was HOT AND HUMID. The bbq was really tasty, though. Passing through Gatun lake was really neat - you could hear (from our balcony - not up on deck) the sounds of the jungle - the chirping and tweeting. It was neat. Then, a huge thunderstorm moved in. We got to watch lightening all around us and then the rain moved in right over us and came down in torrents!

The last set of locks (the Gatun locks) had a bit of a back up. Our dining time was moved to 6:00 PM to accommodate the planned timing of the locks, but we just barely moved into the first lock by 6 (we were supposed to be through much earlier.) We decided to go to dinner anyway, which was cool, because you could really see from the windows in Parrot Cay (which is down on deck 3) when we were moving down and when we were sliding into the next set of locks. Plus, we had a crab leg appetizer and a lobster entrée which was freaking awesome!

So we did it! We passed through the Panama Canal! What an awesome, amazing experience!

Getting up so early, we were pretty tired. There was no show tonight - instead, they showed Wall-e in the big theater. Grant and I opted out and instead, just walked around the upper decks of the ship and did some shopping. Mom and Bobby did go, but slept through a lot of it.

Now I am back in the room, blogging. As we flipped channels on the teeny tiny tv (yeah, big complaint - the tv in our stateroom is 13 inches. Which sucks because they have great programming!) we found a channel playing - more clues for our Who Dunnit! So we watched the loop and too some notes - good thing we caught it!

Tomorrow - Cartagena, Columbia! After tomorrow, I can officially say that I have been to South America!

Disney Magic - Sunday - At Sea

2008-08-28T21:28:00.000-07:00

One thing I wanted to share - I don’t remember if I mentioned it, so if I did, well, skip this paragraph. When we were coming back to the ship from our tour in Acapulco, Minnie Mouse was up on the deck waving. Now, this was very neat, because yes, it is always neat to see the characters, but Minnie was out on deck waving to the Mexican families who were walking by - the little kids were just so happy to really see Minnie Mouse in person! It was such a nice touch. Mickey was out today (Monday), too, when we were going through Panama Canal.

Observations about the ship - in the hallways and stairwells, there is a constant soundtrack of Disney songs playing - the neat thing, though, is that the play list is so extensive, I rarely, if ever, hear the same song twice - and I’ve been aboard the ship for over a week! They play songs from all of the animated movies, of course, songs from the musical movies (Summer Magic, Parent Trap, etc.) and songs from the parks - like the Pirates of the Caribbean soundtrack. Very cool.

Also, it is neat that there are always characters out and about. Mostly, you see them in the atrium posing for pictures. Also, certain dinners have cool show moments that involve visiting characters. However, they’ll pop up in crazy places, too - for example, when we were waiting in line for our Galley tour, Peter Pan ran up and said, “Let’s go, folks! I’m ready to take you on the tour!” The host said, “But Peter, do you even know your way around the galley?” and Peter said, “Of course I do! Tink and I fly in there every once in a while and get some cupcakes! Speaking of which, I better go find her - see you later!” And he took off down the hall. Another time, it was like 9:00 at night, and the four of us were sitting in some lounge chairs outside of the Buena Vista theater, feeling tired and trying to decide what to do next. Next thing we know, Cinderella comes walking by, all by herself. Now, you know she’s walking to take her break, so we expected a quick little hello, but she came over and had a short little conversation with us! She could have just said, you know, “Hello, have a lovely evening!” as she passed, but instead she stopped and backtracked and asked us how we were doing and if we were enjoying ourselves. It was really nice! Mom says it is almost like all of these characters are just cruising with us - you see them walking as if they are heading back to their cabins. So cool! Also, there are quite a variety of characters aboard!

Also, the casts for the shows are quite large - like, I expect that they do a bunch of costume changes and one actor plays several characters, and I am sure that happens to some extent, but it is really amazing how at the end, during he curtain call, how many of the characters come out - meaning that their casts are quite large!

Ok - so Sunday - This morning, we started our day with brunch at Palo. What a spread! I loved the crab legs, of course, and just snacking on the cheese and bread. They also had this dish called “Stolen Bread” which is this sweet bread that you top with whipped cream and fresh berries - so good! There was a lot of sea food - salmon mouse, etc. We had a blue cheese and grape pizza, and an Italian sausage pizza, eggs benedict, eggs Julia, and this amazing chicken parmigiana. Just so yummy!

After that, we went to see the matinee of “Twice Charmed: An Original Twist on the Cinderella Story.” This was a stage musical with the step mother and the step sisters meeting their evil fairy godfather, who helped them go back in time and steal Cinderella’s glass slipper. It had new music, a good story, and amazing sets - amazing how they keep all of these sets on the ship! Also, I love that they do matinees of their big production shows, because it frees up the evenings to do other things.

After the matinee, we had to head to a few different places on the ship to watch scenarios and gather clues for our Who Dunnit? At sea. We saw a scenario with Francie and Urie in the Promenade lounge, and a scenario with Storme and Trixie at the forward elevators on deck 9.

Then we met Mom and Bobby back at the cabin to compare clues (they had gone to the same scenarios, but to split up the large group, they presented the scenarios at various times, so we went to different “performances” to see what clues we picked up on.

The menu for dinner was Prince and Princess. My favorite things were the crispy ravioli and the blue cheese and apple salad.

After dinner, we headed to Diversions. Bobby and Grant played a game of wii golf, while mom and I played Trivial Pursuit and Pictionary. Then we all played a game of Pirates of the Caribbean: The Game of Life.

At 10:30, we went to the adult hypnotist show. The participants were hilarious and much more into it this time, and the show was really great. After that, we went to bed - because tomorrow we had to get p early for the Panama Canal!!!!!

Panama Canal Transit Information:

2008-08-24T22:03:00.001-07:00

Check out our updated FLICKR photos from our cruise: Flickr

As we write this, we are at 7 degrees north lattitude...the closest to the equator either of us has been. To give you an idea how close to the equator we are, sunrise is at 5:54AM and sunset is at 6:14PM!

This is our tentative schedule, but it may change. Please not that the time is equivalent to CST - 2 hours ahead of Pacific, 1 hour behind Eastern.

7:00AM - Passing under the Bridge of the Americas
8:40AM - Arriving at Miraflores locks
10:20AM - Departing Miraflores locks
10:50AM - Arriving Pedro Miguel locks
11:50AM - Departing Pedro Miguel locks
1:00PM - Passing Gamboa
3:00PM - Arriving Gatun Locks
5:20 - Departing Gatun Locks

You can check the Panama Canal Website for webcams to watch us go through. If you know how to catch a screenshot (alt - prt scrn) please do so and email to us.

Website for Panama
www.pancanal.com

Go to multimedia /webcams
Panama Canal Webcams

Disney Magic - Saturday - Sea Day

2008-08-24T14:56:00.001-07:00

Thank goodness it was a sea day, because Saturday I did not feel very well all day long. Heartburn, headache, just kinda yucky.

We started our morning by going to see the kick off of “Desperate Shipmates,” which is a multi-day Who Dunnit? at sea. We got clue notebooks and saw the drama play out as we were introduced to our main characters - Francie, Yuri, Storme, and Trixie.

Next we went to pick up our specialty merchandise that we ordered - Grant and I got ours first and we got a complete set of pins, plus a couple of doubles that we wanted, plus we got one of the 55 ornaments! I was so excited - and kind of nervous, because the lady next to us didn’t get the ornament she ordered, so I thought maybe we wouldn’t, either. Then, I got nervous that Mo and Bobby wouldn’t get one - but they did, as well! They got a full set of pins, and an ornament. We didn’t get the painting that we wanted, but that’s okay! There were only ten of those. But we were very happy.

Next, we watched a little bit of the art auction, before heading through the galley tour. Our galley tour started in Lumiere’s galley and headed straight through to Parrot Cay’s galley. A nice touch is that they gave us chocolate chip cookies towards the end of the tour.

After that, we went up to the Buena Vista theater and watched a movie called “College Road Trip,” which was a cute movie about a father having to accept that his daughter is growing up. The movie was very cute and very funny - Raven and Martin Lawrence stared as the father and daughter, and Donny Osmond was hilarious as the annoying family they meet along the way.

We had to get dressed pretty quickly for dinner - the French menu in Lumiere’s. During dinner, Belle and Beast came out and danced for us! It was so neat! I ate lightly- having escargot, tomato basil soup, and a salad (but no entrée), and crème brulee for dessert. Mom had a shrimp appetizer, the tomato basil soup, and the duck entrée, with an apple and pear tart. Bobby had the tomato basil soup, duck appetizer, and the beef tenderloin for dinner, and the crepe suzette for dessert. Grant had duck appetizer, as well as sharing an escargot with mom and Bobby, a salad, and the duck entrée, with crème brulee for dessert.

We went up to see “Think you know your Family?” which is like the newlywed game, but with asking questions to kids and parents. Then we went to the show, which was Ricky Kalmon, a hypnotist. That was pretty funny!

We were going to swim in the goofy pool and watch National Treasure, but due to a conflict with the kids club camp out under the stars, the movie was canceled. (We’ve had a few conflicts and misprints, probably due to the unusual itinerary.) So instead, we went to swim in the Quiet Cove pool for a while, before heading back to our rooms to order a midnight snack from room service and going to bed.