"When 2 humans have lived together for many years, ...they have tones of voice and expressions of face that are unendurably irritating to the other. Work on that. Let him assume the other is doing it to annoy,... but never let him suspect that he has tones that are irritating to her."
"As he can not see or hear himself, this is easily managed."
Screwtape
oh yeah. good one.
ps- I could use some help with chapter 4 on prayer. I have read it twice. Confusing. I am fuddled.
Monday, September 20, 2010
Sunday, September 19, 2010
Our Awesome Friday Night
Last Friday night, Kathy and I decided to invite Malik over for some much needed fun. Right after Malik showed up, he and Kathy took off to get provisions for the night in the form of Pringles, Pizza Rolls, Twinkies, a Kit-Kat and (of course) croutons. Kathy and I also enjoyed some very delicious pina coladas (sans rum). I'll remember for next time that Malik doesn't like coconut and make sure we have milkshakes instead.
Malik came armed with his own Wii-mote and ready to bring the pain in Mariokart. And he did! He won 2 out of the 3 Grand Prix we did before watching our movie and I only won the last one because I switched to a Nunchuck.
After our sweet MarioKart action, we watched "Diary of a Wimpy Kid".
Malik loves the books and the movie was pretty funny. We all enjoyed it. I enjoyed it enough that I'm putting them on my "to read" list. After the movie, we fit in a couple more MarioKart races and took Malik home exactly in time for bed. Okay, not really - it was way past his bedtime. But what do you expect on a party night?!? :-)
It was a very awesome night and I'm already looking forward to our next one since something that awesome has to happen more than once.
Interesting IQs & Numbers
Leonardo deVinci- 220
Mozart- 165
Einstein- 160
Abraham Lincoln- 128
George Washington- 118
Normal IQ- 90-110, with 120 being superior and over 140 Genius.
I have never known my IQ score.
ACT test scores, average nationwide- 21.9, average BYU -ID, 24 BYU - 28.2, Harvard- 33
Again, I have not taken this test either.
I guess my brain has never been measured. .
Any of you know your IQ? I don't even think they use that number for anything anymore, do they?
Mozart- 165
Einstein- 160
Abraham Lincoln- 128
George Washington- 118
Normal IQ- 90-110, with 120 being superior and over 140 Genius.
I have never known my IQ score.
ACT test scores, average nationwide- 21.9, average BYU -ID, 24 BYU - 28.2, Harvard- 33
Again, I have not taken this test either.
I guess my brain has never been measured. .
Any of you know your IQ? I don't even think they use that number for anything anymore, do they?
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
I hate to suggest it but...
should we consider moving the family book club to the end of October?
Reason #1: a LOT of us here in AZ haven't even started it yet (Jacob, me, Kathy, Jimmy, Hazel (j/k), etc.)
Reason #2: if we wait until the end of October, then Tommy will have time to read it and join in the discussion.
Reason #3: since we haven't officially blogged about the family book club, so everyone may not know about it yet, so if we push it back, we might get more involvement.
What does everyone think?
(In further explanation to reason #3: we decided we wanted to do a family bookclub every month or two and the book we're all reading now is The Screwtape Letters by C. S. Lewis - the more the merrier). :)
Reason #1: a LOT of us here in AZ haven't even started it yet (Jacob, me, Kathy, Jimmy, Hazel (j/k), etc.)
Reason #2: if we wait until the end of October, then Tommy will have time to read it and join in the discussion.
Reason #3: since we haven't officially blogged about the family book club, so everyone may not know about it yet, so if we push it back, we might get more involvement.
What does everyone think?
(In further explanation to reason #3: we decided we wanted to do a family bookclub every month or two and the book we're all reading now is The Screwtape Letters by C. S. Lewis - the more the merrier). :)
Monday, September 13, 2010
News of the Day
(1) Speed
He now rolls from his back to his stomach! He got the whole stomach-to-back thing down when he was 2 weeks old (yes, we know he's freakishly strong) but yesterday he finally got to rolling from the other side. Now if we could just keep him from doing it in his sleep and waking himself up... :) I took a video of it today - I'll try to get it posted soon.
(2) Hazel
No more diapers!! Well, I think we may end up using Pull-Ups at night, but no more regular diapers at least! So far she's at 3 accidents today vs. 3 times using the potty. Not too shabby. I'm extremely grateful to Kathy for being here and helping me through this lovely potty-training time. It's very nice to have a second adult around all day to help keep an eye on Hazel. I'm sure it'll be a long week, but I think we're off to a good start.
(3) Me
Well, right now I'm very disappointed. I sat down today to register for the Rock'n'Roll Half Marathon and set up my training schedule on NikePlus.com. However, it turns out that this year, it's on a Sunday. I'll be honest with you: I thought about it. I might have even been able to do the race and still make it to church since I think we'll have afternoon church next year. But the more I thought about it, the worse I felt. So I asked Jacob for his opinion, which was a quick and strong NO. I will always be grateful for my husband lending me strength and conviction when I waver. So I will not be running that half marathon in January after all. I'll try to look for another race to train for as my goal, though it looks already like all of the rest of the half marathons in the next 5 or 6 months are all on Sundays. Go figure.
(4) Jacob
There's really not much to report for Jacob. I think he was the only one with a normal day. Good for him. :-D
He now rolls from his back to his stomach! He got the whole stomach-to-back thing down when he was 2 weeks old (yes, we know he's freakishly strong) but yesterday he finally got to rolling from the other side. Now if we could just keep him from doing it in his sleep and waking himself up... :) I took a video of it today - I'll try to get it posted soon.
(2) Hazel
No more diapers!! Well, I think we may end up using Pull-Ups at night, but no more regular diapers at least! So far she's at 3 accidents today vs. 3 times using the potty. Not too shabby. I'm extremely grateful to Kathy for being here and helping me through this lovely potty-training time. It's very nice to have a second adult around all day to help keep an eye on Hazel. I'm sure it'll be a long week, but I think we're off to a good start.
(3) Me
Well, right now I'm very disappointed. I sat down today to register for the Rock'n'Roll Half Marathon and set up my training schedule on NikePlus.com. However, it turns out that this year, it's on a Sunday. I'll be honest with you: I thought about it. I might have even been able to do the race and still make it to church since I think we'll have afternoon church next year. But the more I thought about it, the worse I felt. So I asked Jacob for his opinion, which was a quick and strong NO. I will always be grateful for my husband lending me strength and conviction when I waver. So I will not be running that half marathon in January after all. I'll try to look for another race to train for as my goal, though it looks already like all of the rest of the half marathons in the next 5 or 6 months are all on Sundays. Go figure.
(4) Jacob
There's really not much to report for Jacob. I think he was the only one with a normal day. Good for him. :-D
Sunday, September 12, 2010
Families
"With the Lord, families are essential. He created the earth that we could gain physical bodies and form families. He established His Church to exalt families. He provides temples so that families can be together forever."
Russell M. Nelson, "Set in Order Thy House," Ensign, Nov. 2001, 69
In preparing for another Trek for our youth next summer, I was reading my spiritual journal. The creating and forming of the families was my duty, and one of the most sacred and spiritual responsibilities of the Trek that I experienced. According to my entry, I prayerfully and carefully read over all the names of the youth that would be attending. I then chose a physically strong young man for each family. Next, a mature young woman. I then looked for the youngest, newest youth, and newer members, and divided them up equally among families. I then chose any with slight disabilities, and mixed them with extra strong parents. I separated best friends. I then took the STYCs, ( our youth leaders), and put 1 or 2 in each family. I then mixed in all the rest. I checked, prayed, checked again, prayed again, till it all looked right. At that point, I then took the 3 hardest young men with bad attitudes who didn't even want to go, and put them with the strongest parents and families. After much pondering and reflection, it was done.
This past trip spending 2 weeks with my adult children was an eye opener for me. I had many epiphanies, and learned much about myself.
In the end, I realized how great you all are; and how I need to let you live your lives, with all the problems, sorrows, trials, and joys that will be a part of those lives.
Part of being a mother is to protect and support your children. After doing that for so long, it feels awkward to not be that person. I want to have a magic want and just solve everyone's problems. But my job now is to let you know that you are all perfectly capable to run your own lives, and solve your own problems. I cannot keep you from feeling pain or sorrow, but I can tell you that you will make it through. Your happiness is all in your own hands, and everyone's road with have its ups and downs. That is life.
Satan tires so hard to destroy families. God tries so hard to build them.
Be strong, and of good courage. I love you all and each, and support you in any way I can. Let us always work together to strengthen each other. I see the love you have for each other. I see the love you have for your spoused and children. I am grateful for each of you being in our family.
Friday, August 20, 2010
Kathy & Jimmy in NYI
I didn't get any photos, but Kathy did, so you can check hers out.
Like usual, we had to share K & J with his family, but they planned ahead and it worked out much better than last time. It is still hard to do for them. There are so many people they want to see while they are here.
They insisted on a Yankees game, which was fun, except for the ride down, which was stressful and I apologize again to K & J. The game was not the most exciting, as our only run was walked in, so the Yankees weren't hitting, but it was fun to be there.
She wanted to hike Mohonk, which didn't get done, but reminded me of Bret's hope to do the same.
We also fit in the temple, which was good to do, although we went to a later session, and that made it hard for them to walk around the city as much as we would have liked. We did take a brief walk through Central Park. We had a complicated plan on how to get us home and them to Long Island without driving 2 cars to the city. In hindsight, we chose the wrong plan, but it all worked out kind of miraculously. Dad & I didn't even have a ride home from the train station, as we forgot to leave a car there for us. (yes, that is true.) But low and behold, Linda Ketcheson was on our train, so Roger picked us all up and illegally squeezed us into his old Chevy truck.
Kathy really wanted dinner at the River Station, but that got bumped to NY pizza, twice. It was delicious!
Their last day was hard to plan, with so many ideas.. It ended up with one of the above pizzas for lunch, a game of Probe and Settlers, shopping with Kathy as Jimmy went to his family's, (Gallaria had to do instead of Pallisades), and a last minute ditch to throw everything in her suitcase and head down to his mom's for a big going away dinner. I ate way too much! She cooks amazingly, and the way she does it is tricky. She brings out a few little things at a time, so I take a few, not knowing that she is still brining out raviolis, manicotti, then they grilled kabobs, then ribs, then they ask everyone "who wants a cheeseburger? " Then, they bring out a dessert that she knew I liked and she bought it just for me. It was fun and dad and John hit it off amazingly with their hunting and fishing stories.
Dad went low on the way home, and I almost had to stop and call 911. Thankfully we had 2 juice boxes in the car, but he was out of it, scary like, for the whole time, telling me to pull over, stop the car, where are we, etc. Luckily he had let me drive.
I got to see Dash. He looks like a fox. He is cute.
I loved all the other stuff we managed to fit in, and just being with them.
It went by far too quickly, as did Bret & Tevia's trip for me.
For the record, Jimmy would have won Settlers if we stopped at 2 like we said we would. We went on with the game neck and neck and I pulled it off with the last minute purchase of a point card. hee hee
Like usual, we had to share K & J with his family, but they planned ahead and it worked out much better than last time. It is still hard to do for them. There are so many people they want to see while they are here.
They insisted on a Yankees game, which was fun, except for the ride down, which was stressful and I apologize again to K & J. The game was not the most exciting, as our only run was walked in, so the Yankees weren't hitting, but it was fun to be there.
She wanted to hike Mohonk, which didn't get done, but reminded me of Bret's hope to do the same.
We also fit in the temple, which was good to do, although we went to a later session, and that made it hard for them to walk around the city as much as we would have liked. We did take a brief walk through Central Park. We had a complicated plan on how to get us home and them to Long Island without driving 2 cars to the city. In hindsight, we chose the wrong plan, but it all worked out kind of miraculously. Dad & I didn't even have a ride home from the train station, as we forgot to leave a car there for us. (yes, that is true.) But low and behold, Linda Ketcheson was on our train, so Roger picked us all up and illegally squeezed us into his old Chevy truck.
Kathy really wanted dinner at the River Station, but that got bumped to NY pizza, twice. It was delicious!
Their last day was hard to plan, with so many ideas.. It ended up with one of the above pizzas for lunch, a game of Probe and Settlers, shopping with Kathy as Jimmy went to his family's, (Gallaria had to do instead of Pallisades), and a last minute ditch to throw everything in her suitcase and head down to his mom's for a big going away dinner. I ate way too much! She cooks amazingly, and the way she does it is tricky. She brings out a few little things at a time, so I take a few, not knowing that she is still brining out raviolis, manicotti, then they grilled kabobs, then ribs, then they ask everyone "who wants a cheeseburger? " Then, they bring out a dessert that she knew I liked and she bought it just for me. It was fun and dad and John hit it off amazingly with their hunting and fishing stories.
Dad went low on the way home, and I almost had to stop and call 911. Thankfully we had 2 juice boxes in the car, but he was out of it, scary like, for the whole time, telling me to pull over, stop the car, where are we, etc. Luckily he had let me drive.
I got to see Dash. He looks like a fox. He is cute.
I loved all the other stuff we managed to fit in, and just being with them.
It went by far too quickly, as did Bret & Tevia's trip for me.
For the record, Jimmy would have won Settlers if we stopped at 2 like we said we would. We went on with the game neck and neck and I pulled it off with the last minute purchase of a point card. hee hee
Friday, August 13, 2010
Peculiar People
Usually when I travel on business I am by myself. This is fine because I am adventurous and have learned to adapt to being alone. In fact, I'm to a point that I enjoy it (while traveling on business). This trip, along with my last trip to Hong Kong) was made with others from the company. And as fun as they are to hang out with, the reality is that everyone else in the world likes to do two things after work and on the weekends: Drink and Eat. And by drink, I mean drink alcohol. This is something I am used to, but when traveling with other people you feel obliged to spend time with them. But after several nights of just wanting to go out and drink, it starts to get tiring.
I've realized that people really must think that those of us that don't drink alcohol are really weird. Most of these people know I don't drink, but they still always ask, "Really, you don't drink at all?" It is like it is an impossible thing. And then they can't believe that I can actually be having fun without drinking. It gets to a point where they say things like, "I wouldn't even be out here tonight if I wasn't drinking." This always makes me feel even better.
So when the average guy (and I can almost say this of most women now, too) sees someone like me who doesn't drink, doesn't go to strip clubs, and is faithful to my wife (and WAITED for my wife) they can't believe it is true. It just doesn't compute. They really do think I am peculiar. And though to this point this hasn't affected me on a professional level, at some point I think it might. When the company here in London wants to celebrate the implementation of our new system they go down to the bar and pay for all drinks. NOT ONE PERSON MISSES THIS. It is the true celebration. Free beer! You'd think they were giving out money. And from a certain point of view they are; because beer costs a lot and they'd be buying it anyhow, so now they get it for free! As I sit there sipping my lemonade as people get further and further from sobriety the night gets more and more boring. But I often think management looks at me and thinks that this is a weakness in me. I don't know that - it just seems like it from time to time. I am somehow detracting from morale by not drinking.
So when it is time for the weekend, some time alone seems like a good idea. It seems refreshing and calming. Tonight after work I walked a few miles down the road, over the river Thames and found a great Indian place to eat. I then grabbed a bus and came back to the hotel. Had I gone out with my coworkers we'd still be in the pub. I'm not saying I don't enjoy being with these people. I can still have fun. It just starts to get old for me.
I can say that I am SO tired of traveling. I look forward to Paris only because Tevia will be there for most of the trip. And I like being with her - especially in Paris.
I've realized that people really must think that those of us that don't drink alcohol are really weird. Most of these people know I don't drink, but they still always ask, "Really, you don't drink at all?" It is like it is an impossible thing. And then they can't believe that I can actually be having fun without drinking. It gets to a point where they say things like, "I wouldn't even be out here tonight if I wasn't drinking." This always makes me feel even better.
So when the average guy (and I can almost say this of most women now, too) sees someone like me who doesn't drink, doesn't go to strip clubs, and is faithful to my wife (and WAITED for my wife) they can't believe it is true. It just doesn't compute. They really do think I am peculiar. And though to this point this hasn't affected me on a professional level, at some point I think it might. When the company here in London wants to celebrate the implementation of our new system they go down to the bar and pay for all drinks. NOT ONE PERSON MISSES THIS. It is the true celebration. Free beer! You'd think they were giving out money. And from a certain point of view they are; because beer costs a lot and they'd be buying it anyhow, so now they get it for free! As I sit there sipping my lemonade as people get further and further from sobriety the night gets more and more boring. But I often think management looks at me and thinks that this is a weakness in me. I don't know that - it just seems like it from time to time. I am somehow detracting from morale by not drinking.
So when it is time for the weekend, some time alone seems like a good idea. It seems refreshing and calming. Tonight after work I walked a few miles down the road, over the river Thames and found a great Indian place to eat. I then grabbed a bus and came back to the hotel. Had I gone out with my coworkers we'd still be in the pub. I'm not saying I don't enjoy being with these people. I can still have fun. It just starts to get old for me.
I can say that I am SO tired of traveling. I look forward to Paris only because Tevia will be there for most of the trip. And I like being with her - especially in Paris.
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
vocab
I know most of you love to learn new vocab words. I remember dad & I doing the Readers Digest word challenge, and making lists for our kids to learn.
I am reading a very interesting book called Bury me Standing. I feel like I am taking a class. It uses great vocab words, so I found myself taking on this new challenge and I read it with dictionary and notebook in hand. It is a slow read, but I am enjoying it. I had no idea how much I didn't know about Gypsies!
I thought maybe we could come up with a family 'word of the week' somehow. We could take turns finding a word, blog it, use it in a sentence, and then each person, including Jarek, has to use that word sometime that week in an email, google talk, blog, or in a conversation. It would be fun, and increase all of our vocab, like when we learned the word torpor and feccund.
:)
Any takers?
I am reading a very interesting book called Bury me Standing. I feel like I am taking a class. It uses great vocab words, so I found myself taking on this new challenge and I read it with dictionary and notebook in hand. It is a slow read, but I am enjoying it. I had no idea how much I didn't know about Gypsies!
I thought maybe we could come up with a family 'word of the week' somehow. We could take turns finding a word, blog it, use it in a sentence, and then each person, including Jarek, has to use that word sometime that week in an email, google talk, blog, or in a conversation. It would be fun, and increase all of our vocab, like when we learned the word torpor and feccund.
:)
Any takers?
Monday, August 09, 2010
Disneyworld: Part 3
Day 5, Thursday
Thursday we slept in and then headed over to Epcot - we took the boat over though when we left later, we realized how silly that was. It took a quarter of the time to walk back to the hotel. Who knew. We hit a random bunch of rides, but Hazel liked the Nemo ones the most.
There was one show, Turtle Talk with Crush, that was really fun. Hazel also really liked the various aquariums they had around. We even did the Spaceship Earth ride (that’s what’s in the giant shiny golf ball thing). Overall, I was a little sick of the greenie/tree hugging I felt was getting shoved in my face the entire time I was there, but maybe it was just me. We went back to the hotel to relax (and learned that it took much less time to just walk) and clean up for the TaxHawk get-together that night.
We met up with the rest of the company and their families for ice cream and then to watch the fireworks show they have at Epcot. It was also completely amazing. It was fun to see everyone, especially since I hadn’t gotten to see most of my co-workers since we moved in April. Big thanks again to TaxHawk for footing the bill for this whole vacation. :-)
Day 6, Friday
Animal Kingdom was the only one of the parks we had hit
yet (no, we’re not counting the waterparks) so that’s what we did on Friday. We headed out relatively early and went straight for the Safari since everyone said that was “the” thing to do at Animal Kingdom. Overall, I think we were not that impressed. It was cool, but I’ve seen zoos that are better. Also, they were having some kind of crowding problem, so when we were moving, the driver would never stop for us to take pictures, so as a result, most of my safari pictures are blurry. They were just animals, but still - it was a bummer. 
One of the cool things about Animal Kingdom was actually all the zoo parts. They have a bunch of walking trails, some for bird areas, some for big mammals, etc. We walked the one side (Africa) and then decided to go somewhere for lunch. I picked because I was feeling decisive and unfortunately, it was not my best decision of the vacation. We expected a sit-down restaurant in Disneyworld to be pricey, but the Yak and Yeti was even more than expected. I got a good drink, but everyone else’s was apparently pretty bad. The food was ok, but not worth the money honestly. On the upside, they seemed to be aware of some of their shortcomings and had us fill out a survey, so maybe they’ll improve in the future. After lunch, we walked through the other side of the walking trails (India) and got to see a bunch of tigers close up. Hazel really liked that and alternated between calling them tigers and tiggers. :-) Part way through that, it started to rain. Then it started to POUR. Maybe it’s just living in Arizona that’s got me to unused to rain but it seemed like a pretty heavy downpour to me. We started waiting it out under the trees, but that didn’t last for long. At least Hazel had fun splashing in the puddles.
The next thing we hit was the bird show. That was really fun to see. It really is amazing what you can train a bird to do. The coolest part by far was the bald eagle. That bird is just breathtaking. Hazel really liked the owl at the end. I’m guessing it’s because of Owl in Winnie the Pooh. :-)
After that, we decided to clear out before the afternoon parade and head up to the petting zoo area. Honestly, it was a pretty pathetic excuse for a petting zoo. They had goats, a llama, a pig and a small cow. We could get better petting zoo experiences down the street from our old condo in Utah. Oh well. We spent some time out of the rain and heat at the big building they had up there, so that was nice.
That night, we swam and then walked back over to Epcot to see that fireworks show again. The spot we got wasn’t as good as the spot we got with everyone from TaxHawk, but it was still pretty good.
Day 7, Saturday
Saturday was the Seveys last day, so we all just slept in and then the Walls relaxed while the Seveys got packed and checked out. They left Noah with us while they headed back over to Epcot to do Soarin’, which is a ride Alex likes from the California Adventure part of Disneyland. Then we just ate and hung out until it was time for them to leave. It was so good to have that week to be with them and Austin just isn’t close enough, in my opinion. We really miss you guys.
We (the Walls) just relaxed in our room the rest of Saturday afternoon and watched the very lame TV channels our hotel had to offer (6 Disney channels and not one was playing cartoons). We decided that for our last night in Florida that we wanted to go back and see the Magic Kingdom fireworks again. We went back a little earlier this time so we could get back to Fantasyland before the parade started and we were hoping that the lines would let up a little bit during the parade so we could do more rides. We’re not really sure if the lines did let up that much because it was a Saturday night, so it was probably going to be busy no matter what.
But Hazel and I rode the teacups and Dumbo and the carousel again. And then we all went on Winnie the Pooh again and the Snow White ride. We had wanted to go back to the front of the castle for the fireworks, but they ended up roping off the way we were planning to walk back because it was where all of the fireworks fell during the show. That and the overall crowd made us decide to watch the show from the back of the castle. It ended up being a very interesting decision.
The fireworks show is obviously orchestrated to be viewed from exactly where we were on Wednesday night. But from our location Saturday night, we got fireworks in surround. Most of them were actually set off from behind the park but a bunch are set off from the castle itself, so we were between the two sets. It was SO loud but really, really cool. Hazel loved the fireworks and I think she liked being able to see so many. After the fireworks show, we headed straight back to the hotel. We decided to wait for the second bus so that we could have our pick of seats and a place to put the stroller, but it still wasn’t a terrible wait.
Day 8, Sunday
Everything went pretty smoothly the next morning in getting packed up and checked out. We didn’t have to check out until 11, so we had most of the morning to take it easy. The Beach Club did have us fill out a survey before we left, so I felt somewhat vindicated being able to tell them exactly what was wrong with them. From the tenor of the questions, they are already aware of some of the more common complaints. Here’s hoping they actually make some improvements. Because the Magic Express (Disney’s airport shuttle service) gets you to the airport 3 hours before your flight time, we decided to go to a sit-down restaurant in the airport - it was so yummy!! And about half the price of any meal we ate at Disneyworld. :-) The flight back was pretty uneventful, though neither of the kids slept as much as they did on the flight out. Our pilot seemed drawn to turbulence though - I had a bigger stomach drop on the flight than I had for any ride I rode the entire week in Florida.
There was a bit of excitement when we got back to Phoenix. Some miscommunication happened with our ride home and the young man Jacob had arranged to pick us up came in his Suburban instead of in our Suburban. This wouldn’t have been an issue except that I forgot to take Hazel’s car seat out of our Suburban way back last Sunday. So, our ride showed up, but we didn’t have a car seat for Hazel. So Jacob rode back to the house with him and got our Suburban and came back for us while I camped out at the airport with the kids. They were both wonderfully behaved, so it really wasn’t as bad as it could have been.
As expected, Daisy about had a heart attack when we got home. We were all happy to be home.
A few more notes:
Again, a big thanks to TaxHawk for taking us all out there. We never would have done it ourselves, that’s for sure. Disneyworld is certainly an experience. I’ve never done anything quite like that. It’s all so big that it is pretty intimidating. Taking a trip like that with a two-month-old is not impossible.
I wouldn’t recommend it, but it’s not impossible. If you’ll notice, Speed and Noah got mentioned very little in these posts, mostly because they just ate and slept and sat in the strollers. They were both very good boys, which we were all very grateful for.
One of the really good things that came out of this trip is that Jacob has said that there’s a very good chance we’ll do a day trip to Disneyland in a few years when Hazel is older. :-) From talking to Alex (who’s been to Disneyland way more than the rest of us), Disneyland has most of the stuff we all really liked about Disneyworld, but in one park instead of five. It was a fun, crazy, stressful, memory-filled week. I’m glad we did it.
Thursday we slept in and then headed over to Epcot - we took the boat over though when we left later, we realized how silly that was. It took a quarter of the time to walk back to the hotel. Who knew. We hit a random bunch of rides, but Hazel liked the Nemo ones the most.
There was one show, Turtle Talk with Crush, that was really fun. Hazel also really liked the various aquariums they had around. We even did the Spaceship Earth ride (that’s what’s in the giant shiny golf ball thing). Overall, I was a little sick of the greenie/tree hugging I felt was getting shoved in my face the entire time I was there, but maybe it was just me. We went back to the hotel to relax (and learned that it took much less time to just walk) and clean up for the TaxHawk get-together that night.We met up with the rest of the company and their families for ice cream and then to watch the fireworks show they have at Epcot. It was also completely amazing. It was fun to see everyone, especially since I hadn’t gotten to see most of my co-workers since we moved in April. Big thanks again to TaxHawk for footing the bill for this whole vacation. :-)
Day 6, Friday
Animal Kingdom was the only one of the parks we had hit
yet (no, we’re not counting the waterparks) so that’s what we did on Friday. We headed out relatively early and went straight for the Safari since everyone said that was “the” thing to do at Animal Kingdom. Overall, I think we were not that impressed. It was cool, but I’ve seen zoos that are better. Also, they were having some kind of crowding problem, so when we were moving, the driver would never stop for us to take pictures, so as a result, most of my safari pictures are blurry. They were just animals, but still - it was a bummer. 
One of the cool things about Animal Kingdom was actually all the zoo parts. They have a bunch of walking trails, some for bird areas, some for big mammals, etc. We walked the one side (Africa) and then decided to go somewhere for lunch. I picked because I was feeling decisive and unfortunately, it was not my best decision of the vacation. We expected a sit-down restaurant in Disneyworld to be pricey, but the Yak and Yeti was even more than expected. I got a good drink, but everyone else’s was apparently pretty bad. The food was ok, but not worth the money honestly. On the upside, they seemed to be aware of some of their shortcomings and had us fill out a survey, so maybe they’ll improve in the future. After lunch, we walked through the other side of the walking trails (India) and got to see a bunch of tigers close up. Hazel really liked that and alternated between calling them tigers and tiggers. :-) Part way through that, it started to rain. Then it started to POUR. Maybe it’s just living in Arizona that’s got me to unused to rain but it seemed like a pretty heavy downpour to me. We started waiting it out under the trees, but that didn’t last for long. At least Hazel had fun splashing in the puddles.
The next thing we hit was the bird show. That was really fun to see. It really is amazing what you can train a bird to do. The coolest part by far was the bald eagle. That bird is just breathtaking. Hazel really liked the owl at the end. I’m guessing it’s because of Owl in Winnie the Pooh. :-)
After that, we decided to clear out before the afternoon parade and head up to the petting zoo area. Honestly, it was a pretty pathetic excuse for a petting zoo. They had goats, a llama, a pig and a small cow. We could get better petting zoo experiences down the street from our old condo in Utah. Oh well. We spent some time out of the rain and heat at the big building they had up there, so that was nice.
That night, we swam and then walked back over to Epcot to see that fireworks show again. The spot we got wasn’t as good as the spot we got with everyone from TaxHawk, but it was still pretty good.
Day 7, Saturday
Saturday was the Seveys last day, so we all just slept in and then the Walls relaxed while the Seveys got packed and checked out. They left Noah with us while they headed back over to Epcot to do Soarin’, which is a ride Alex likes from the California Adventure part of Disneyland. Then we just ate and hung out until it was time for them to leave. It was so good to have that week to be with them and Austin just isn’t close enough, in my opinion. We really miss you guys.
We (the Walls) just relaxed in our room the rest of Saturday afternoon and watched the very lame TV channels our hotel had to offer (6 Disney channels and not one was playing cartoons). We decided that for our last night in Florida that we wanted to go back and see the Magic Kingdom fireworks again. We went back a little earlier this time so we could get back to Fantasyland before the parade started and we were hoping that the lines would let up a little bit during the parade so we could do more rides. We’re not really sure if the lines did let up that much because it was a Saturday night, so it was probably going to be busy no matter what.
But Hazel and I rode the teacups and Dumbo and the carousel again. And then we all went on Winnie the Pooh again and the Snow White ride. We had wanted to go back to the front of the castle for the fireworks, but they ended up roping off the way we were planning to walk back because it was where all of the fireworks fell during the show. That and the overall crowd made us decide to watch the show from the back of the castle. It ended up being a very interesting decision.
The fireworks show is obviously orchestrated to be viewed from exactly where we were on Wednesday night. But from our location Saturday night, we got fireworks in surround. Most of them were actually set off from behind the park but a bunch are set off from the castle itself, so we were between the two sets. It was SO loud but really, really cool. Hazel loved the fireworks and I think she liked being able to see so many. After the fireworks show, we headed straight back to the hotel. We decided to wait for the second bus so that we could have our pick of seats and a place to put the stroller, but it still wasn’t a terrible wait.
Day 8, Sunday
Everything went pretty smoothly the next morning in getting packed up and checked out. We didn’t have to check out until 11, so we had most of the morning to take it easy. The Beach Club did have us fill out a survey before we left, so I felt somewhat vindicated being able to tell them exactly what was wrong with them. From the tenor of the questions, they are already aware of some of the more common complaints. Here’s hoping they actually make some improvements. Because the Magic Express (Disney’s airport shuttle service) gets you to the airport 3 hours before your flight time, we decided to go to a sit-down restaurant in the airport - it was so yummy!! And about half the price of any meal we ate at Disneyworld. :-) The flight back was pretty uneventful, though neither of the kids slept as much as they did on the flight out. Our pilot seemed drawn to turbulence though - I had a bigger stomach drop on the flight than I had for any ride I rode the entire week in Florida.
There was a bit of excitement when we got back to Phoenix. Some miscommunication happened with our ride home and the young man Jacob had arranged to pick us up came in his Suburban instead of in our Suburban. This wouldn’t have been an issue except that I forgot to take Hazel’s car seat out of our Suburban way back last Sunday. So, our ride showed up, but we didn’t have a car seat for Hazel. So Jacob rode back to the house with him and got our Suburban and came back for us while I camped out at the airport with the kids. They were both wonderfully behaved, so it really wasn’t as bad as it could have been.
As expected, Daisy about had a heart attack when we got home. We were all happy to be home.
A few more notes:
Again, a big thanks to TaxHawk for taking us all out there. We never would have done it ourselves, that’s for sure. Disneyworld is certainly an experience. I’ve never done anything quite like that. It’s all so big that it is pretty intimidating. Taking a trip like that with a two-month-old is not impossible.
I wouldn’t recommend it, but it’s not impossible. If you’ll notice, Speed and Noah got mentioned very little in these posts, mostly because they just ate and slept and sat in the strollers. They were both very good boys, which we were all very grateful for.
One of the really good things that came out of this trip is that Jacob has said that there’s a very good chance we’ll do a day trip to Disneyland in a few years when Hazel is older. :-) From talking to Alex (who’s been to Disneyland way more than the rest of us), Disneyland has most of the stuff we all really liked about Disneyworld, but in one park instead of five. It was a fun, crazy, stressful, memory-filled week. I’m glad we did it.
Disneyworld: Part 2
Day 4, Wednesday
The concierge at the hotel gave Jacob the number of a shuttle service that we scheduled to get us from the hotel to Universal and back. You will get dirty looks when you leave Disney property when you’re staying at one of their hotels. Consider yourself warned. The shuttle service was much cheaper than we’d hoped for and dropped us off as close to the park as it could. It’s a 10 minute hike to get into the park past the security checks, outside shops and ticket area. At least they had moving walkways for part of it.
So first we waited in lines to have our bags checked to get into the area of Universal Studios. Then we waited in line to buy our tickets. Then we waited in line to get into the park. THEN we waited in line to get into (drumroll please) The Wizarding World of Harry Potter (hereafter: Harry Potter World or HPW)!!I think we waited in that last line almost 90 minutes. It was INSANE. The masses of humanity they were packing into that small area HAD to be against some code. But it was SO COMPLETELY COOL!!
The first thing we hit in HPW was Hogwarts, which was also home to Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey, which was one of the coolest rides any of us have ever been on. The whole top floor is set up to be the line for the ride, but you walk through the Gryffindor common room, the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom, and Dumbledore’s office. Since Nicole and I were hanging out with the kids at first, we found out they have a separate walkway for those who just want to tour the castle without waiting in line for the ride. Jacob and Alex also found out that (at least right after the park opens) they don’t police the junction points between that walkway and the actual ride line very well. Let’s just say those two rode the ride 3 times in a row in very, very little time. :-)
We ate lunch at The Three Broomsticks and had butterbeer. Holy cow - that’s good stuff. The food was pretty good - better than most anything we’d had in Florida at that point. The inside of the restaurant looked just like the movie - it was really fun. Even the bathroom was cool - it was regular modern bathroom, but occasionally Moaning Myrtle will start talking to you. I only heard her voice, though there was a rumor that she occasionally appeared in some of the mirrors. Once we figured out that the other HUGE lines outside were to get in the shops, we sucked it up and started waiting in those lines.
Nicole stayed with the kids while the rest of us went through Honeyduke’s and Zonko’s Joke Shop and then Jacob stayed with them while the rest of us went into Dervish and Bang’s. The first two were candy and joke stuff (I know - shocking) and then the last store was the souvenir store. I loaded up on Bertie Bott’s Beans and even got a Chocolate Frog. Alex bought a sweet looking wand, which I'm pretty jealous of.
We hung out around HPW for a while longer because we weren’t sure we’d be allowed in once we left. After we’d decided we’d waited in enough lines, we took a few more pictures by the Hogwarts Express and headed out. The only other part of Universal we had any real interest in visiting was Suess Land. Nicole and I are both big Suess fans and Hazel’s on her way to becoming one as well. Her favorite ride was the carousel (not a surprise) and the One Fish, Two Fish ride (which is basically a Dumbo-redo). She had a lot of fun on both I think. We looked around in some of the stores and then I finally went and asked but they don’t carry any Sneetches merchandise anymore. I was very sad. By the time we were done in Suess Land, we still had about an hour until our return shuttle, so we just walked around and looked at different parts of the park and shopped at some of the out of the park shops. Jacob and I both finally got new sunglasses.
After we got back to the hotel and spent some time recovering, I managed to somehow convince everyone that it would be a good idea to go to Magic Kingdom that night to see the parade and fireworks show. And I’m sure it would have been a fantastic idea except that everyone else seemed to have the exact same idea. If we hadn’t seen such outrageous crowds at HPW that morning, I’m sure I would have been shocked by the crowds the parade and fireworks show drew. I will admit that I had a very bad attitude once we got to the park that lasted until partway through the parade. It was hot and crowded and Hazel was really unhappy which was making it harder for me to be happy. The parade was fun and would have been more fun if I could have relaxed about everyone shoving me from every side.
We repositioned ourselves for the fireworks show so we were right in front of the castle. The picture to the right shows our view. I think the videos are too big and too long to post on here but WOW - that was amazing. Probably the best fireworks show I’ve ever seen. They actually shot some fireworks off from the castle itself to make it look like it was being blown up - very cool. We decided to wait out the crowd before trying to get on the bus back to the hotel, mostly because the babies needed to eat. It ended up being a good idea because our bus back was not that crowded. We even caught the first little bit of the second go of the parade on our way out. It was a very long day, but probably my favorite of the whole week.
A few notes on HPW: It was so, so cool, especially for someone who likes to nerd-rage about Harry Potter. Like me, for example. I do have a couple of complaints though. (1) Probably the least baby-friendly place we visited. And Disneyworld is not the most baby-friendly theme/amusement park I've been too. (2) It should have been MUCH, MUCH bigger. In my opinion, it should have been it's own theme park, instead of one section of Universal. (3) I wish they would have had more. What was there was completely awesome. But it would have been nice to see more of Hogwarts castle or more of Hogsmeade. I think they could've made a fortune if Hogwarts had been a hotel and you could've actually stayed a night in Hogwarts.
The differences between how things at HPW were handled and how things at Disneyworld were handled is rather striking. Disneyworld has line traffic control down to a science, as well they should. Things were a bit messier at HPW, as shown by the "shortcut" the boys found when going on Forbidden Journey.
OH! Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey was SO cool! I'm not the biggest rollercoaster fan. And when Jacob starts off with "I won't tell you anything about it but you HAVE to go on this ride" - I get very nervous. It was really, really awesome. You very much feel a part of the movies. However, the ride did break while I was on it, so that kinda slowed down the experience a bit for me. But it was still really cool. It was actually the car Jacob was on that broke the ride that time, so he ended up going on it 5 times I think. Lucky.
The concierge at the hotel gave Jacob the number of a shuttle service that we scheduled to get us from the hotel to Universal and back. You will get dirty looks when you leave Disney property when you’re staying at one of their hotels. Consider yourself warned. The shuttle service was much cheaper than we’d hoped for and dropped us off as close to the park as it could. It’s a 10 minute hike to get into the park past the security checks, outside shops and ticket area. At least they had moving walkways for part of it.
So first we waited in lines to have our bags checked to get into the area of Universal Studios. Then we waited in line to buy our tickets. Then we waited in line to get into the park. THEN we waited in line to get into (drumroll please) The Wizarding World of Harry Potter (hereafter: Harry Potter World or HPW)!!I think we waited in that last line almost 90 minutes. It was INSANE. The masses of humanity they were packing into that small area HAD to be against some code. But it was SO COMPLETELY COOL!!
The first thing we hit in HPW was Hogwarts, which was also home to Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey, which was one of the coolest rides any of us have ever been on. The whole top floor is set up to be the line for the ride, but you walk through the Gryffindor common room, the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom, and Dumbledore’s office. Since Nicole and I were hanging out with the kids at first, we found out they have a separate walkway for those who just want to tour the castle without waiting in line for the ride. Jacob and Alex also found out that (at least right after the park opens) they don’t police the junction points between that walkway and the actual ride line very well. Let’s just say those two rode the ride 3 times in a row in very, very little time. :-)
We ate lunch at The Three Broomsticks and had butterbeer. Holy cow - that’s good stuff. The food was pretty good - better than most anything we’d had in Florida at that point. The inside of the restaurant looked just like the movie - it was really fun. Even the bathroom was cool - it was regular modern bathroom, but occasionally Moaning Myrtle will start talking to you. I only heard her voice, though there was a rumor that she occasionally appeared in some of the mirrors. Once we figured out that the other HUGE lines outside were to get in the shops, we sucked it up and started waiting in those lines.
Nicole stayed with the kids while the rest of us went through Honeyduke’s and Zonko’s Joke Shop and then Jacob stayed with them while the rest of us went into Dervish and Bang’s. The first two were candy and joke stuff (I know - shocking) and then the last store was the souvenir store. I loaded up on Bertie Bott’s Beans and even got a Chocolate Frog. Alex bought a sweet looking wand, which I'm pretty jealous of. We hung out around HPW for a while longer because we weren’t sure we’d be allowed in once we left. After we’d decided we’d waited in enough lines, we took a few more pictures by the Hogwarts Express and headed out. The only other part of Universal we had any real interest in visiting was Suess Land. Nicole and I are both big Suess fans and Hazel’s on her way to becoming one as well. Her favorite ride was the carousel (not a surprise) and the One Fish, Two Fish ride (which is basically a Dumbo-redo). She had a lot of fun on both I think. We looked around in some of the stores and then I finally went and asked but they don’t carry any Sneetches merchandise anymore. I was very sad. By the time we were done in Suess Land, we still had about an hour until our return shuttle, so we just walked around and looked at different parts of the park and shopped at some of the out of the park shops. Jacob and I both finally got new sunglasses.
After we got back to the hotel and spent some time recovering, I managed to somehow convince everyone that it would be a good idea to go to Magic Kingdom that night to see the parade and fireworks show. And I’m sure it would have been a fantastic idea except that everyone else seemed to have the exact same idea. If we hadn’t seen such outrageous crowds at HPW that morning, I’m sure I would have been shocked by the crowds the parade and fireworks show drew. I will admit that I had a very bad attitude once we got to the park that lasted until partway through the parade. It was hot and crowded and Hazel was really unhappy which was making it harder for me to be happy. The parade was fun and would have been more fun if I could have relaxed about everyone shoving me from every side.
We repositioned ourselves for the fireworks show so we were right in front of the castle. The picture to the right shows our view. I think the videos are too big and too long to post on here but WOW - that was amazing. Probably the best fireworks show I’ve ever seen. They actually shot some fireworks off from the castle itself to make it look like it was being blown up - very cool. We decided to wait out the crowd before trying to get on the bus back to the hotel, mostly because the babies needed to eat. It ended up being a good idea because our bus back was not that crowded. We even caught the first little bit of the second go of the parade on our way out. It was a very long day, but probably my favorite of the whole week.
A few notes on HPW: It was so, so cool, especially for someone who likes to nerd-rage about Harry Potter. Like me, for example. I do have a couple of complaints though. (1) Probably the least baby-friendly place we visited. And Disneyworld is not the most baby-friendly theme/amusement park I've been too. (2) It should have been MUCH, MUCH bigger. In my opinion, it should have been it's own theme park, instead of one section of Universal. (3) I wish they would have had more. What was there was completely awesome. But it would have been nice to see more of Hogwarts castle or more of Hogsmeade. I think they could've made a fortune if Hogwarts had been a hotel and you could've actually stayed a night in Hogwarts.
The differences between how things at HPW were handled and how things at Disneyworld were handled is rather striking. Disneyworld has line traffic control down to a science, as well they should. Things were a bit messier at HPW, as shown by the "shortcut" the boys found when going on Forbidden Journey.
OH! Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey was SO cool! I'm not the biggest rollercoaster fan. And when Jacob starts off with "I won't tell you anything about it but you HAVE to go on this ride" - I get very nervous. It was really, really awesome. You very much feel a part of the movies. However, the ride did break while I was on it, so that kinda slowed down the experience a bit for me. But it was still really cool. It was actually the car Jacob was on that broke the ride that time, so he ended up going on it 5 times I think. Lucky.
Disneyworld: Part 1
I just want to start this by saying I’m going to pretend Jacob Webb won’t be reading this so I don’t have to apologize every time I say something negative about Disneyworld. :-)
Day 1, Sunday
We (the Walls) flew out of Phoenix on Sunday morning. We’d only been at the airport about 10 minutes when I realized that I’d forgotten to take Hazel’s car seat out of Pink 5 before Bret drove off with it. Not the best way to start out a trip, but it wasn’t a huge deal. The flight to Florida was very uneventful, which is always good when you’re traveling with children. The Seveys were waiting in the hotel lobby when we got there and we were really excited to have more time to spend with them. On the downside, our room wasn’t ready, so that took a few extra minutes and we ended up with a smaller bed than had been booked for us. Strike one for the Beach Club. We (Seveys and Walls) had dinner that night at a buffet in the hotel that was very yummy but also very expensive. But at least we got to eat our fill of crab legs. :-) We stayed up “late” talking (still got to bed before midnight Phoenix time). Hazel slept in the closet that night - her choice, not our’s. She dragged her pillow and blankets in there and just feel asleep. Such a cute but weird little girl.
Day 2, Monday
The Walls slept in Monday morning, which was unintentional but obviously needed. We wanted to hit one of the closer parks this day and since the Seveys had already done most of Epcot on Sunday (they arrived a day earlier), we all decided to head over to Hollywood Studios. The first thing we all wanted to do was the Indiana Jones show, but we just missed it, so we decided to hit up the Star Wars ride while we waited for the next one. I remember going on the same ride the one time I went to Disneyland as a child and it was just as fun as I remembered. It’s a ride I’d love to go on with some of my nephews and nieces. :-) We did child swap since this one had a height requirement and when Nicole and I came out from our turn on the ride, Jacob pulled me over to the painting section of the Star Wars gift shop and asked me to pick a painting. I’ll be honest, I thought he was kidding at first but it didn’t take long before I realized he was completely serious. In the end, we actually bought one. I was tempted to ask the employees how often someone actually buys a painting there, but I think I got distracted by Hazel doing something. Seriously though, it’s completely awesome. You can all feel free to be jealous of its awesomeness.
Next was the Indiana Jones Stunt Show (not the official name because I don’t remember what the official name is). So cool!!! They showed us how they did a bunch of stunts in Raiders of the Lost Ark and I’m not completely sure but I think the guy that was doing the stunts may have actually been one of Harrison Ford’s stunt doubles. The show was one of Jacob’s favorite parts of the trip and one of mine as well. Hazel applauded along with everyone else, so I think it’s safe to say she also enjoyed it. They showed us the rolling bolder scene (somewhat scaled down, of course), the fight at the German airstrip and the fight in the Cairo marketplace where Marion gets kidnapped. There was a good dose of comedy in it as well - overall, a really fun time.
After that, it was time for the first of many visits to a Disneyworld Baby Center because the babies needed to eat. Then it was our turn for lunch and we had the first of many burgers. Seriously, I swear most of the places at Disneyworld serve either burgers or pizza. Anyway, we spent the rest of our time at Hollywood Studios checking out the great movie ride, which broke part way through and we had to walk off (so technically we started the ride but didn’t finish it), and then we hung out at the Honey, I Shrunk the Kids playground, which Hazel really liked. Somewhere in there, we fed the babies again and the dads took off to do the Tower of Terror.
After we headed back to the resort, we went to check out the pool, which ended up being one of the cooler things in the resort. It was huge and had lots of areas of different depths, though we spent most of our time in the 1 - 2 foot depth area for two reasons. (1) Hazel could stand up there and (2) the bottom was covered in sand there. It was really cool to have the sand bottom like you do in the ocean but without the waves to get sand in places you don’t want sand. The boys tried to go get us food at the closest food place that wasn’t just hamburgers, but they didn’t allow food to-go, only ice cream. So we had hamburgers again. Jacob and Alex also went to the concierge that night to ask if we could be moved into rooms next to each other, but nothing materialized out of that, which was a bummer. Strike two for the Beach Club.
Day 3, Tuesday
Tuesday we got up early to try to hit the Magic Kingdom “Magic Hours” - basically where you get in an hour early because you’re staying on Disney property. We got a room service breakfast, which was ok, not fantastic, but ok, and we still managed to get to the park before it opened. Let me tell you - being at the opening of a Disneyworld park, especially Magic Kingdom, is pretty nuts. It was fun to have Mickey come out and have the whole crowd count down but it was still crazy. We headed straight for Fantasyland where all of the kid rides are. We hit Dumbo, the carousel, Winnie the Pooh, the Tiki Room (which they changed according to Alex), Small World, Pirates of the Caribbean (which has also been changed apparently or is at least really different from Disneyland), and the Peter Pan ride. However, somewhere between walking from Pirates to Peter Pan, Hazel fell asleep in the stroller. Since she didn’t even wake up when we took her out of the stroller, we all headed back to the hotel after that one. I think Winnie the Pooh was Hazel's favorite and she certainly entertained us and everyone else when she'd point and shout out the characters' names. We spent the afternoon relaxing and swimming some more and getting everything set up for our big excursion on Wednesday: Universal Studios.
Day 1, Sunday
We (the Walls) flew out of Phoenix on Sunday morning. We’d only been at the airport about 10 minutes when I realized that I’d forgotten to take Hazel’s car seat out of Pink 5 before Bret drove off with it. Not the best way to start out a trip, but it wasn’t a huge deal. The flight to Florida was very uneventful, which is always good when you’re traveling with children. The Seveys were waiting in the hotel lobby when we got there and we were really excited to have more time to spend with them. On the downside, our room wasn’t ready, so that took a few extra minutes and we ended up with a smaller bed than had been booked for us. Strike one for the Beach Club. We (Seveys and Walls) had dinner that night at a buffet in the hotel that was very yummy but also very expensive. But at least we got to eat our fill of crab legs. :-) We stayed up “late” talking (still got to bed before midnight Phoenix time). Hazel slept in the closet that night - her choice, not our’s. She dragged her pillow and blankets in there and just feel asleep. Such a cute but weird little girl.
Day 2, Monday
The Walls slept in Monday morning, which was unintentional but obviously needed. We wanted to hit one of the closer parks this day and since the Seveys had already done most of Epcot on Sunday (they arrived a day earlier), we all decided to head over to Hollywood Studios. The first thing we all wanted to do was the Indiana Jones show, but we just missed it, so we decided to hit up the Star Wars ride while we waited for the next one. I remember going on the same ride the one time I went to Disneyland as a child and it was just as fun as I remembered. It’s a ride I’d love to go on with some of my nephews and nieces. :-) We did child swap since this one had a height requirement and when Nicole and I came out from our turn on the ride, Jacob pulled me over to the painting section of the Star Wars gift shop and asked me to pick a painting. I’ll be honest, I thought he was kidding at first but it didn’t take long before I realized he was completely serious. In the end, we actually bought one. I was tempted to ask the employees how often someone actually buys a painting there, but I think I got distracted by Hazel doing something. Seriously though, it’s completely awesome. You can all feel free to be jealous of its awesomeness.
Next was the Indiana Jones Stunt Show (not the official name because I don’t remember what the official name is). So cool!!! They showed us how they did a bunch of stunts in Raiders of the Lost Ark and I’m not completely sure but I think the guy that was doing the stunts may have actually been one of Harrison Ford’s stunt doubles. The show was one of Jacob’s favorite parts of the trip and one of mine as well. Hazel applauded along with everyone else, so I think it’s safe to say she also enjoyed it. They showed us the rolling bolder scene (somewhat scaled down, of course), the fight at the German airstrip and the fight in the Cairo marketplace where Marion gets kidnapped. There was a good dose of comedy in it as well - overall, a really fun time.
After that, it was time for the first of many visits to a Disneyworld Baby Center because the babies needed to eat. Then it was our turn for lunch and we had the first of many burgers. Seriously, I swear most of the places at Disneyworld serve either burgers or pizza. Anyway, we spent the rest of our time at Hollywood Studios checking out the great movie ride, which broke part way through and we had to walk off (so technically we started the ride but didn’t finish it), and then we hung out at the Honey, I Shrunk the Kids playground, which Hazel really liked. Somewhere in there, we fed the babies again and the dads took off to do the Tower of Terror.
After we headed back to the resort, we went to check out the pool, which ended up being one of the cooler things in the resort. It was huge and had lots of areas of different depths, though we spent most of our time in the 1 - 2 foot depth area for two reasons. (1) Hazel could stand up there and (2) the bottom was covered in sand there. It was really cool to have the sand bottom like you do in the ocean but without the waves to get sand in places you don’t want sand. The boys tried to go get us food at the closest food place that wasn’t just hamburgers, but they didn’t allow food to-go, only ice cream. So we had hamburgers again. Jacob and Alex also went to the concierge that night to ask if we could be moved into rooms next to each other, but nothing materialized out of that, which was a bummer. Strike two for the Beach Club.
Day 3, Tuesday
Tuesday we got up early to try to hit the Magic Kingdom “Magic Hours” - basically where you get in an hour early because you’re staying on Disney property. We got a room service breakfast, which was ok, not fantastic, but ok, and we still managed to get to the park before it opened. Let me tell you - being at the opening of a Disneyworld park, especially Magic Kingdom, is pretty nuts. It was fun to have Mickey come out and have the whole crowd count down but it was still crazy. We headed straight for Fantasyland where all of the kid rides are. We hit Dumbo, the carousel, Winnie the Pooh, the Tiki Room (which they changed according to Alex), Small World, Pirates of the Caribbean (which has also been changed apparently or is at least really different from Disneyland), and the Peter Pan ride. However, somewhere between walking from Pirates to Peter Pan, Hazel fell asleep in the stroller. Since she didn’t even wake up when we took her out of the stroller, we all headed back to the hotel after that one. I think Winnie the Pooh was Hazel's favorite and she certainly entertained us and everyone else when she'd point and shout out the characters' names. We spent the afternoon relaxing and swimming some more and getting everything set up for our big excursion on Wednesday: Universal Studios.
Monday, August 02, 2010
Inspiration
Years ago I took time on my blog to do more than string a few sentences together and mention what happened. I added some pizzazz and comedy and maybe even a picture or two. What led to the “I’m doing this just to chronicle an event” attitude I’ve taken the past few years? I’d attribute it to many things: I have 3 kids, my job takes more time, I get sick of working on the computer, etc. So let’s try and get a few more of my posts back like the old days. I was recently inspired as I was reading some of Bill Simmons’ articles on ESPN. I love that guy. He has the dream job. He writes about sports – all sports. Not just baseball or basketball, but sports in general. His article on why the World Cup was fantastic was spot on. And he’s funny. And clever. I want his job. I want to write fun, clever prose about things l love, which includes sports. But other topics, too, like when my son runs full speed from the bathroom with his underwear around his ankles screaming “scarey!”. These are events that bring life into focus. They are the moments that make us laugh and cry and get mad. So that is what I am going to try and do. Be more creative in my posts – but at the same time chronicle events. Maybe it will be practice for that elusive job out there which basically consists of watching and attending many different sports events, playing basketball, traveling the globe, and making people laugh. So here is my first post on a subject from this summer.
World Cup 2010
I have posted about the World Cup already. Every time there is a World Cup there is so much discussion on “will soccer take off in the US?” and “why aren’t Americans as obsessed with this sport as the rest of the globe (most of it)?” I think the basic answer to those questions is that it is difficult to compete with the other big sports in America. We already have hours of sports to watch and adding another in there just won’t fit. But Americans do like soccer. I think this World Cup proved that. And the reason they love soccer and the World Cup is that this thing only happens every 4 years and it is one of the only sports that we, as Americans, are underdogs. People love to root for underdogs. So even people who don’t know the rules of soccer are watching some of the games. No other moment in sports in 2010 will be more remembered (so far) more than Landon Donovan’s goal to take the USA to the second round. It was cheered by all, soccer fans or not. It was showed a million times on ESPN. You couldn’t be American and not get chills watching it on Youtube. And when they lost the next round to a team they should have beaten, there was legitimate disappointment – or even rage. I know I was ticked off. I instantly became the coach of the team and knew exactly why we lost. Blame it on Altidore and a coach that can’t get his team excited the first half – because I know how to win World Cup games. It is like the NCAA March Madness: it is a great tournament where anything can happen. People are drawn to that (can you hear me BCS? This is why college football is so aggravating!). And for a couple of weeks every four years it brings fun, joy and pain. After the loss of the USA and Brazil I was seriously depressed. I boycotted watching the next round (I may have broken that commitment). So even though soccer isn’t huge in the USA, the USA is catching on to the beauty of the World Cup. The USA bought more tickets to this world cup than any other country besides South Africa (host nation). I am already making plans to attend the next World Cup in Brazil – with two other people already committing to the trip (not including my wife, who I hope does accompany me).
Another reason I love soccer and the World Cup? It is fast. A game will finish in less than 2 hours. What other sport can claim that? And if I’m watching on TV I don’t even have to watch commercials! I don’t have time to watch other sports. It is a 3 to 4 hour commitment to watch any other sport – more if you actually go the game at the stadium and deal with parking. And to watch other sports on TV I am bombarded by sleazy, sometimes funny, rarely brilliant ads every five minutes. But once every four years I can slip out for an extended lunch from work and get most of a soccer match. I can enjoy seeing heartbreak and honor and joy. As I made my nearly daily pilgrimage to Fox Sports Grill each day I admit that the guys that went with me were not American-born. Most days I was with a Colombian, a Turk, a Spaniard, and a Parisian. But the bar was full. When Mexico played the place was full of Mexicans (don’t tell Sheriff Joe) cheering their mother country. But when the US played I was invited to parties, lunches, etc. I would get the FIFA flu and stay home in the morning watching the game on the Spanish channel (thank you Spanish channels! Dang you greedy American cable companies for not allowing most of the games to be broadcast on broadcast TV! Who watches the Today Show anyway?) with my brother who coincidentally suffered the same ailment. And millions of Americans did the same thing.
One might say it is like the Olympics. I agree. The time between each cup leads to a buildup of suspense and it is country against country. And Americans are catching on to the idea – because many of us are immigrants – that it is okay to cheer for other countries. I remember living in Brazil when the World Cup was about to start. I was asked who my favorite teams were. I said the USA, of course. “But who else?” the insisted. They proceeded to list various countries: Spain, Germany, Mexico, England, etc. They loved their team (Brazil) but also cheered for other countries. It was okay to do. Once again it reminded me of March Madness where I could fall in love with a small college I’d never heard of. Or learn to love a school that knocked out the Utes (don’t get me started on the PAC10 thing – that’s a whole post in itself). The Olympics, of course, do something similar. We love to see small countries win – and love to hate bully countries who cheat by using 12 year-old girls to win gold medals. I know the World Cup isn’t as big as the Olympics in the USA yet, but I think it is getting there. I know it is when I get a text from my boss who has never watched a game in his life with one word: GOOOOOOAAAAAAALLLLL.
In the end, though my two favorite teams did not meet expectations, I enjoyed the World Cup 2010. I enjoyed the vuvuzelas. I am glad Spain won (if one of my teams couldn’t). I enjoyed an event that bonded me to many people at my work and at home with something to talk about, complain about, argue about and an excuse to spend time together.
World Cup 2010
I have posted about the World Cup already. Every time there is a World Cup there is so much discussion on “will soccer take off in the US?” and “why aren’t Americans as obsessed with this sport as the rest of the globe (most of it)?” I think the basic answer to those questions is that it is difficult to compete with the other big sports in America. We already have hours of sports to watch and adding another in there just won’t fit. But Americans do like soccer. I think this World Cup proved that. And the reason they love soccer and the World Cup is that this thing only happens every 4 years and it is one of the only sports that we, as Americans, are underdogs. People love to root for underdogs. So even people who don’t know the rules of soccer are watching some of the games. No other moment in sports in 2010 will be more remembered (so far) more than Landon Donovan’s goal to take the USA to the second round. It was cheered by all, soccer fans or not. It was showed a million times on ESPN. You couldn’t be American and not get chills watching it on Youtube. And when they lost the next round to a team they should have beaten, there was legitimate disappointment – or even rage. I know I was ticked off. I instantly became the coach of the team and knew exactly why we lost. Blame it on Altidore and a coach that can’t get his team excited the first half – because I know how to win World Cup games. It is like the NCAA March Madness: it is a great tournament where anything can happen. People are drawn to that (can you hear me BCS? This is why college football is so aggravating!). And for a couple of weeks every four years it brings fun, joy and pain. After the loss of the USA and Brazil I was seriously depressed. I boycotted watching the next round (I may have broken that commitment). So even though soccer isn’t huge in the USA, the USA is catching on to the beauty of the World Cup. The USA bought more tickets to this world cup than any other country besides South Africa (host nation). I am already making plans to attend the next World Cup in Brazil – with two other people already committing to the trip (not including my wife, who I hope does accompany me).
Another reason I love soccer and the World Cup? It is fast. A game will finish in less than 2 hours. What other sport can claim that? And if I’m watching on TV I don’t even have to watch commercials! I don’t have time to watch other sports. It is a 3 to 4 hour commitment to watch any other sport – more if you actually go the game at the stadium and deal with parking. And to watch other sports on TV I am bombarded by sleazy, sometimes funny, rarely brilliant ads every five minutes. But once every four years I can slip out for an extended lunch from work and get most of a soccer match. I can enjoy seeing heartbreak and honor and joy. As I made my nearly daily pilgrimage to Fox Sports Grill each day I admit that the guys that went with me were not American-born. Most days I was with a Colombian, a Turk, a Spaniard, and a Parisian. But the bar was full. When Mexico played the place was full of Mexicans (don’t tell Sheriff Joe) cheering their mother country. But when the US played I was invited to parties, lunches, etc. I would get the FIFA flu and stay home in the morning watching the game on the Spanish channel (thank you Spanish channels! Dang you greedy American cable companies for not allowing most of the games to be broadcast on broadcast TV! Who watches the Today Show anyway?) with my brother who coincidentally suffered the same ailment. And millions of Americans did the same thing.
One might say it is like the Olympics. I agree. The time between each cup leads to a buildup of suspense and it is country against country. And Americans are catching on to the idea – because many of us are immigrants – that it is okay to cheer for other countries. I remember living in Brazil when the World Cup was about to start. I was asked who my favorite teams were. I said the USA, of course. “But who else?” the insisted. They proceeded to list various countries: Spain, Germany, Mexico, England, etc. They loved their team (Brazil) but also cheered for other countries. It was okay to do. Once again it reminded me of March Madness where I could fall in love with a small college I’d never heard of. Or learn to love a school that knocked out the Utes (don’t get me started on the PAC10 thing – that’s a whole post in itself). The Olympics, of course, do something similar. We love to see small countries win – and love to hate bully countries who cheat by using 12 year-old girls to win gold medals. I know the World Cup isn’t as big as the Olympics in the USA yet, but I think it is getting there. I know it is when I get a text from my boss who has never watched a game in his life with one word: GOOOOOOAAAAAAALLLLL.
In the end, though my two favorite teams did not meet expectations, I enjoyed the World Cup 2010. I enjoyed the vuvuzelas. I am glad Spain won (if one of my teams couldn’t). I enjoyed an event that bonded me to many people at my work and at home with something to talk about, complain about, argue about and an excuse to spend time together.
Mom, The Plumbers Helper
You guys would have loved seeing mom on Saturday. I had her on the end of a 4 foot cheater bar pulling one way to remove a defective 1 1/2" black nipple from a 90 deg elbow. I was backing up this applied shear stress with a 24" pipe wrench so that her efforts would not knock our poor furnace off its foundation. So working totally opposite to each other, but in perfect balance, we were able to remove a stubborn pipe successfully with out breaking anything. The furnace is fixed and the job is done and mom is proudly wearing a new hat. Plumbers helper. She is a keeper. I have been saying that for years.
Sunday, July 25, 2010
clouds, breezes, and front porch swing
Yes, this is just a silly post with no comments necessary.
I had the opportunity tonight to sit out on my beloved front porch as a beautiful breeze blew out the humidity, rolled gorgeous popcorn cumulus clouds by, and brought in a freshly scented air that was just delightful. Truly, it felt almost like the wind was bringing in a change of sorts, more than just physically. Not only was it picturesque, but it seemed spiritual and magical.
Dad was gone from 6:30 to 2:30, had an hour nap and grilled cheese, ran out to priesthood meeting, got home at 7:45, and had an hour long conference call from 8-9pm. Poor guy. Yet, he remains in a good mood and spiritual tonight.
I feel very blessed.
I had the opportunity tonight to sit out on my beloved front porch as a beautiful breeze blew out the humidity, rolled gorgeous popcorn cumulus clouds by, and brought in a freshly scented air that was just delightful. Truly, it felt almost like the wind was bringing in a change of sorts, more than just physically. Not only was it picturesque, but it seemed spiritual and magical.
Dad was gone from 6:30 to 2:30, had an hour nap and grilled cheese, ran out to priesthood meeting, got home at 7:45, and had an hour long conference call from 8-9pm. Poor guy. Yet, he remains in a good mood and spiritual tonight.
I feel very blessed.
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
NY/Rafting Trip
Our trip to New York was awesome. Tevia has posted a lot about the trip, so I won’t go into too much detail, but I will list some of the highlights for me.
The fireworks were fantastic; it was fun to sit by the river and enjoy the great view. The day at Freedom Park was so fun. I enjoyed playing in the water with the boys and diving with Jarek and Tevia. Enok and Malik looked like they had so much fun. It was a great day to spend a hot, NY day.
I absolutely love eating lunch at the Culinary Institute of America. This time I ate a fantastic Vietnamese sandwich on French bread with spicy sausage and pickled carrots. I’m glad Tevia finally got to eat there with us.
NYC was awesome as usual. Wicked was great. It was amazing to see Kipp and his family. The only things I missed was getting a great hot dog, a falafel and some nuts on the street. But we did get to eat at Pret!
Lunch at Aroma Osteria with Tevia was as good or even better than I remembered it. I enjoyed sitting outside alone with Tevia as we enjoyed some of the best food in the Hudson Valley. I did miss seeing some good thunderstorms; that would have been cool. But I enjoyed being with my parents and seeing my boys interact with them. It was fun to see Jarek play chess with grandpa and the boys play Settlers of Catan with grandma and grandpa. It is too bad NY is so far away and expensive to visit (with a family of five). I always enjoy being out there.
I came back a little earlier than Tevia and the boys in order to do the priests’ high adventure trip. This year I had planned a trip down the Colorado river with some other activities thrown in. Jacob (Wall) accompanied me and we left early with 8 boys on Friday. Our first stop was Slide Rock near Sedona. It took us 30 minutes to get in, but it was a perfect day with a little overcast sky and not too hot. We jumped off of some cliffs (which really weren’t deep enough to have fun, but nobody got hurt) and slid down the slide several times. The boys enjoyed it and it was much warmer than when Jake, Tommy and I went a couple of years ago.
Next we headed up past Flagstaff to the lava tube (cave). The boys enjoyed this as well. Several of them told me on the way back they wanted to go there again soon. Our boys (and Jake) scared some little kid in the cave as I was with the slower group and the kid told us to beware of mean boys up ahead that were scaring people. That made me laugh. I don’t think they were being too mean – but I think my brother’s laser pointer made him jumpy.
Afterwards we ate in Flagstaff at Bunhuggers – one of my favorite burger joints. The boys love this place, too, and it didn’t disappoint. Then we drove to Page to find a place to camp. In the end we camped in Wahweap on Lake Powell. Jake and I slept under the stars and I enjoyed talking with him about many things. I didn’t sleep much (as usual on camping trips for me these days), but the weather was enjoyable and the view of the lake in the morning was gorgeous. It reminded me of past Powell Trips and how fun they were.
We had to wake early to get to the rafting place. They put us on a bus and drove through a 2 mile tunnel through the mountain to the bottom of the dam (Glen Canyon). It was really cool. And being at the bottom of the dam was amazing. We then got on some blue rafts with a few other people and set off down the river. I was worried about it being hot and most of us had put on our swimsuits so we could get wet. In the end it was quite chilly. I was cold for the first hour at least – and only got warm when in the sun. But eventually the sun entered the canyon and then it warmed up quite a bit. I wouldn’t say I was ever hot, though. We stopped once to get out for a potty break and see some petroglyphs and swim if we wanted to. The water was 47 degreees. I jumped in. It was great – and very cold.
Soon the raft trip ended and we jumped on a bus to go back to Page (from Lee’s Ferry). Everyone fell asleep on the way back. At one point right before we stopped I woke up to find Jacob missing from the seat next to me. I looked up and down the bus and couldn’t see him anywhere. I was beginning to think he got abducted by aliens or something until I noticed his shoe out of the corner of my eye. He was sleeping on the floor under the seat in front of us! It made me laugh. That ended our trip – except the 4 hour drive home. I had a lot of fun, and most of the boys said they loved it. I’m glad Jake was able to come even though he was headed to Orlando the next day.
The fireworks were fantastic; it was fun to sit by the river and enjoy the great view. The day at Freedom Park was so fun. I enjoyed playing in the water with the boys and diving with Jarek and Tevia. Enok and Malik looked like they had so much fun. It was a great day to spend a hot, NY day.
I absolutely love eating lunch at the Culinary Institute of America. This time I ate a fantastic Vietnamese sandwich on French bread with spicy sausage and pickled carrots. I’m glad Tevia finally got to eat there with us.
NYC was awesome as usual. Wicked was great. It was amazing to see Kipp and his family. The only things I missed was getting a great hot dog, a falafel and some nuts on the street. But we did get to eat at Pret!
Lunch at Aroma Osteria with Tevia was as good or even better than I remembered it. I enjoyed sitting outside alone with Tevia as we enjoyed some of the best food in the Hudson Valley. I did miss seeing some good thunderstorms; that would have been cool. But I enjoyed being with my parents and seeing my boys interact with them. It was fun to see Jarek play chess with grandpa and the boys play Settlers of Catan with grandma and grandpa. It is too bad NY is so far away and expensive to visit (with a family of five). I always enjoy being out there.
I came back a little earlier than Tevia and the boys in order to do the priests’ high adventure trip. This year I had planned a trip down the Colorado river with some other activities thrown in. Jacob (Wall) accompanied me and we left early with 8 boys on Friday. Our first stop was Slide Rock near Sedona. It took us 30 minutes to get in, but it was a perfect day with a little overcast sky and not too hot. We jumped off of some cliffs (which really weren’t deep enough to have fun, but nobody got hurt) and slid down the slide several times. The boys enjoyed it and it was much warmer than when Jake, Tommy and I went a couple of years ago.
Next we headed up past Flagstaff to the lava tube (cave). The boys enjoyed this as well. Several of them told me on the way back they wanted to go there again soon. Our boys (and Jake) scared some little kid in the cave as I was with the slower group and the kid told us to beware of mean boys up ahead that were scaring people. That made me laugh. I don’t think they were being too mean – but I think my brother’s laser pointer made him jumpy.
Afterwards we ate in Flagstaff at Bunhuggers – one of my favorite burger joints. The boys love this place, too, and it didn’t disappoint. Then we drove to Page to find a place to camp. In the end we camped in Wahweap on Lake Powell. Jake and I slept under the stars and I enjoyed talking with him about many things. I didn’t sleep much (as usual on camping trips for me these days), but the weather was enjoyable and the view of the lake in the morning was gorgeous. It reminded me of past Powell Trips and how fun they were.
We had to wake early to get to the rafting place. They put us on a bus and drove through a 2 mile tunnel through the mountain to the bottom of the dam (Glen Canyon). It was really cool. And being at the bottom of the dam was amazing. We then got on some blue rafts with a few other people and set off down the river. I was worried about it being hot and most of us had put on our swimsuits so we could get wet. In the end it was quite chilly. I was cold for the first hour at least – and only got warm when in the sun. But eventually the sun entered the canyon and then it warmed up quite a bit. I wouldn’t say I was ever hot, though. We stopped once to get out for a potty break and see some petroglyphs and swim if we wanted to. The water was 47 degreees. I jumped in. It was great – and very cold.
Soon the raft trip ended and we jumped on a bus to go back to Page (from Lee’s Ferry). Everyone fell asleep on the way back. At one point right before we stopped I woke up to find Jacob missing from the seat next to me. I looked up and down the bus and couldn’t see him anywhere. I was beginning to think he got abducted by aliens or something until I noticed his shoe out of the corner of my eye. He was sleeping on the floor under the seat in front of us! It made me laugh. That ended our trip – except the 4 hour drive home. I had a lot of fun, and most of the boys said they loved it. I’m glad Jake was able to come even though he was headed to Orlando the next day.
Tuesday, July 06, 2010
Tag Teamed
I would LOVE to know how little kids know how to tag team their parents. As far as I can tell, they aren't planning anything in advance. Though to be honest, I don't understand a lot of Hazel's "conversation" still, so who knows what instructions she's giving Speed. As soon as I sit Hazel down to eat lunch, Speed wakes up. As soon as I start feeding Speed, Hazel wants to get down from the table. As soon as I get Hazel down for a nap, Speed wants to stay awake and play. And I'll bet you $5 that as soon as I get Speed down for his nap (whenever he decides he'd like to take one), Hazel will wake up.
Don't get me wrong - I'm not complaining (though in re-reading that first paragraph it kinda sounds like it). I'm just bewildered at how well they're organized! Of course, the fact that I've only gotten 5 hours of sleep each of the last 3 nights might be playing into my noticing things that may or may not be there. :) Can't deny they are stinking cute!!
Don't get me wrong - I'm not complaining (though in re-reading that first paragraph it kinda sounds like it). I'm just bewildered at how well they're organized! Of course, the fact that I've only gotten 5 hours of sleep each of the last 3 nights might be playing into my noticing things that may or may not be there. :) Can't deny they are stinking cute!!
Friday, July 02, 2010
Worst Sports Week Ever?
How ironic, after such a great day last week. One week later or so the US is out of the World Cup, Brazil is out of the World Cup and the University of Utah left the Mountain West to join the evil PAC10 while BYU was left behind. Am I upset? Yes. Am I disappointed? Yes. Did I almost cry today when Brazil lost? Yes. Next thing you know Lebron will sign with the Knicks and then sports will pretty much be ruined until about 2012 or so.
home sweet home
I am home, and was sitting on my front porch, eating my granola, while my hummingbird came by to say good morning. The breeze is cool, the sky blue.
I am sore just about everywhere, a crown fell out, 2 dead mice in my cabin, several racoons in girls garbage and tents, I backed into a tree with my Camry, my throat is sore and I can hardly talk; but...
It was AWESOME!
The weather was the best every for any girls camp I have been at.
The food was also the best!
The 60 girls were mostly super good,
The drama was there, but for some reason, whether age, wisdom, experience, or the Lord, or all the above, I handled it all so well, without a tear, stress, anger, or getting upset! Yeah!
The Lord strengthened me all week. My knees held out, my back was sore, but not too bad, and I very seldom sat down. I was amazed at the strength He gave me, both physically, emotionally, and mentally.
I am in awe, at nature, creation, and just the whole plan of salvation!
Love the girls!!!! love them truly, love the leaders! made many bffs!
Tired, but happy, and will rest up for the incoming love and fun on Sunday!
I am sore just about everywhere, a crown fell out, 2 dead mice in my cabin, several racoons in girls garbage and tents, I backed into a tree with my Camry, my throat is sore and I can hardly talk; but...
It was AWESOME!
The weather was the best every for any girls camp I have been at.
The food was also the best!
The 60 girls were mostly super good,
The drama was there, but for some reason, whether age, wisdom, experience, or the Lord, or all the above, I handled it all so well, without a tear, stress, anger, or getting upset! Yeah!
The Lord strengthened me all week. My knees held out, my back was sore, but not too bad, and I very seldom sat down. I was amazed at the strength He gave me, both physically, emotionally, and mentally.
I am in awe, at nature, creation, and just the whole plan of salvation!
Love the girls!!!! love them truly, love the leaders! made many bffs!
Tired, but happy, and will rest up for the incoming love and fun on Sunday!
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