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.
Friday, November 26, 2010
Thanksgiving - Blizzard Beach / Magic Kingdom
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!
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
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.
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.
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
Disney Studios
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!
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!
Monday, November 22, 2010
Magic Kingdom - Monday
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!
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
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!
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!
Monday, September 06, 2010
Norwegian Epic - August 2010
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.
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.
Sunday, September 05, 2010
Weeee!
On the way home, we hit some turbulence landing in Denver. All the way down, Geoff was going "weee! weeee!" SO CUTE!!!!
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Disney's Hollywood Studios (Tuesday)
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!
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!
Monday, August 23, 2010
EPCOT / Magic Kingdom (Monday)
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.
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!
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
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
Sunday, August 22, 2010
Animal Kingdom (Saturday)
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!
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)
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!
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!
Friday, August 20, 2010
Blizzard beach (Thursday)
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.
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)
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!
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)
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!
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)
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.
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.
Monday, August 16, 2010
Animal Kingdom / Swimming at WIndsor
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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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
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!
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!
Friday, August 13, 2010
Typhoon Lagoon
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!
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!
Thursday, August 12, 2010
pool / animal kingdom / magic kingdom
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!
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
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!
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!
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Tuesday, August 10th - Journey to Orlando
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.
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.
Sunday, July 18, 2010
Las Vegas 2010, Part 2
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!
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!
Wednesday, July 07, 2010
Las Vegas - July 2010
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!
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!
Friday, April 23, 2010
Saturday - Day at Sea
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.
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.
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Sea Day
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!
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!
Sunday, April 18, 2010
Thursday - April 15th - Puerto Vallerta
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!
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
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.
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
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!
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
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,.
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
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.
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.
Tuesday, April 06, 2010
Saturday and Sunday
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!
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, April 02, 2010
Friday in San Diego
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!
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
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!
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!
Saturday, February 27, 2010
Las Vegas - 2010
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!
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!
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