Florida Vacation - Day 2 EPCOT

Our first full day in Florida was Sunday, and we went to Epcot. We got there just after 8 a.m., purchased our tickets, and then got in line (which was already about 20+ deep). The park opened at 9 a.m., and the lines for entry were getting long. About 8:45 a.m., a cast member came along and asked my kids if they wanted to be pirate and princess for the day and open the park! Well of course they did, so we followed the cast member into the park before it opened, and there they got to sign Mickey's autograph book (good thing Charlotte has been practicing writing her name - she did it all by herself!!) Click on any photo to view it larger for more detail.





....and then they received a special Tinkerbelle Wishes Do Come True pin, and got to hold a sword/wand to assist in the countdown to opening the park.

(Uh, Charlotte, it's a wand, not a sword, lol.)

Ten, Nine, Eight.....

And the next best part was the cast member gave us this yellow pass for one free "fast pass" on any ride or show we wanted to use it on (you get to pass up the long lines and go to the head of the line without actually getting a fast pass.) Awesome!! We hit Test Track first thing and got on right away. Both kids loved this ride, so much so, that we went on it again later in the day. We also loved Turtle Talk with Crush (an interactive talk with Crush from Finding Nemo), Living in the Land (educational boat type ride), and of course, Soarin'. That was absolutely my favorite ride out of both parks. You really feel like you're flying through the air like a bird or something. Awesome. Charlotte really enjoyed Journey into the Imagination (all except getting sprayed with the skunk smell, lol.) I thought the Honey I Shrunk the Audience show was pretty cool, and actually screamed out loud when the rats got loose (I don't know how they do it, but you feel like there's a rat brushing past your feet. Creepy effect!)

Spaceship Earth was really cool too (Eric loved this.) We also sent our Spaceship Earth postcards home after the ride, and here they are:

Close up of Spaceship Earth

We got out of Future Land around 2 p.m. having finished up everything there we wanted to do and see, and headed into World Showcase (different countries.) They had their Food & Wine Festival going on, so we sampled some treats along the way. We ate in Canada, France, Germany, and Morocco. The pastries in France were incredible, as was the Grand Marnier slush drink. I had a couple people even ask me where I got it! Actually, all the food in World Showcase was very good! A few scenic shots.....






While in one of the shops in England, we just happened to be in the right place at the right time when Winnie the Pooh, Eeyore, and Tigger walked in and were third in line to get photos and autographs (and we still waited nearly 15 minutes!) Eric really seemed to get into it more so than Charlotte. I think their size or something sort of freaked her out. She's not the first, I'm sure.




We hung on long enough to view the grand finale fireworks/laser/water show over the lagoon. That was cool, but it was hard for the kids to see without us lifting them up (we refused to stake out a viewing spot 1+ hours ahead of time, but instead spent the time going on Test Track again and sampling more food, lol!)

And thus ends our second day in Florida. Tune in tomorrow for more stories of adventure and of course, more photos!

Florida Vacation - Day 1

We arrived around lunch time on Saturday and headed to Downtown Disney for some lunch and shopping. Here's Charlotte posing with Cinderella before we went into the store (wait time for photo with a princess was a minute, not hours, lol.)




Charlotte posing with Aurora aka Sleeping Beauty after we left the store (with a purchase with her own spending money - a "princess Minnie Mouse")



The Once Upon A Toy store has one of the few bargains available at Disney; for Eric, who is a Star Wars fan, he was able to build his own light saber, which makes noise when you smack it against something. It came with a couple different chips to make different noises, plus you picked what color you wanted it to glow, different handles, etc. And when paying for it, Eric was given a JEDI pin, which you can only get when buying the light saber (Disney pin trading is really crazy! People buy lanyards and then put all these Disney pins on them, trade with cast members and other guests. With pins going for $7-12 each, plus a lanyard, you're talking a pretty steep investment!) The light saber and pin cost $19.95, which quite honestly, has got to be one of the best deals at Disney.





Another cool thing at Disney, suggested to me by my friend Christine, who is also recently returned from a Disney trip, was a trip to Goofy's Candy Store. You fill out a little order sheet picking your treat (large oreo, marshmallows, pretzel sticks and other stuff), then choose toppings and coatings with NO limit. Charlotte chose the marshmallows with white chocolate coating, mini M&Ms, and a milk chocolate drizzle. Eric got the large oreo with dark chocolate and loads of different sprinkles and a caramel drizzle. Shockingly, it took them 2 days to finish these treats.





My big purchase at Downtown Disney was a Christmas Ornament that says "Our Disney Vacation 2008". My only other Disney souvenir was purchased at Walmart for half the price, lol. I'm so cheap! It's a fridge magnet.

To be continued tomorrow......

We're Back From Florida!

We got back from our week in Florida on Saturday evening (and no, I didn't get on the computer once while gone! I did schedule some blog posts before I left, though.) We were all exhausted (Eric even fell asleep in the taxi on the way back from O'Hare!) I've transferred all the photos from the memory cards to my computer....all 775 of them (I actually didn't take as many at Disney as I thought I would. More than half of those photos are from the 3 days we spent at St. Pete Beach!)

We had a wonderful time, though, and the kids experienced a lot of "firsts" (first plane ride, first time to Disney, first time to see the ocean, first time playing miniature golf, etc.) Disney was a lot of fun and there were some awesome moments that even I couldn't have planned! As I was wandering around Epcot, it dawned on me that I had gotten too caught up in the planning and didn't realize that it's a lot of fun just to be there. The few days we spent in Orlando were just enough for us. We spent full days at both Epcot on Sunday and Magic Kingdom on Tuesday (sooooo glad we took Monday as a "day off", lol! As it turned out, Monday was a rainy day - on and off all day, so it was perfect for souvenir shopping, mini gulf, swimming and relaxing. At one point we were the only ones out in the hot tub when it started pouring rain - it felt so awesome to have the cool rain fall on us while soaking in the jacuzzi!)

But I tell ya, Disney paled in comparison to the natural beauty, serenity and general relaxation of St. Pete Beach. I was worried the kids would find the St. Pete Beach portion of the trip boring in comparison to the fantasy of Disney. But I think they loved SPB as much, if not more, than Disney! Not only was I a bit relieved by this, but also happy-proud that they could enjoy vacation without needing to be entertained non-stop by rides, characters, treats, and shows.

More vacation details will follow, along with a "few" photos (no, I won't bore you with all 775 of them). Sadly, I haven't even finished editing all the photos from our Labor Day trip up to "The Big Woods" (sorry Heidi. I haven't forgotten to burn a CD for you; just haven't finished with the photos yet! Soon, soon.....) Hopefully after the kids are in bed tonight I can take a closer look at the Florida photos and pick a few favorites to share.

Ford Fiesta

A few months ago I heard on the radio that Ford is bringing their Fiesta back. They'll launch it in Europe this year, but it won't make an appearance in the US until 2010. I think this is one of their answers to the rising costs of gas.

The news blurb about the Fiesta instantly brought back a funny memory I have of my friend, Lynda's, first car. I don't recall what year the car was, but I do know it was a Ford Fiesta. I think it was yellow or maybe red?? I'm a little foggy on some details, but I do remember getting in her car one day senior year of high school, and we were headed off who knows where. We wanted to listen to the radio. What teenager doesn't want to listen to some tunes while they're rolling down the highway? Instead, we got windshield wipers. OK, turn off the radio to get the wipers to stop swooshing back and forth. Maybe turn on the wipers to get the radio? No, I think that lit up the headlights. And on it went. We were rolling down the highway in fits of laughter that day. And honestly, I can't think of a better way to travel. But it's always that way with my friend Lynda and me. We've had some interesting road trips over the years, and about the only thing that's changed.......is the transportation.

Long Live The Ford Fiesta

Abnormal Feet Go Shoe Shopping

It's true. People with foot issues have to buy shoes. And it's not pretty either. I have low arches which causes me to over-pronate (I have a very flexible arch.)

It's actually not freakish to over-pronate; a decent percentage of the population have feet like this. It's just that the shoe manufacturers cater to people who have normal arches (which is over 50% of people). If you want to find out if you have a normal arch - get your feet wet and step onto a dark towel or paper bag (or cement). If the wet print has a dry spot where your arch is (the center inside of foot), you have normal arches.



If the print is totally flat, you have a low arch and tend to over-pronate.



If you have a huge dry spot where the arch is, you have a very high arch and under-pronate (roll feet outwards). It's important to know this stuff when buying shoes so you wind up with a good fit.




Listen to me.....like I knew any of this more than a year ago.

So back to me and my shoe shopping. I was getting a bit stressed out thinking I'd be walking for 14 hours at Disney with my current athletic shoes (shoes that got demoted to gardening duty earlier this summer because they're OK for short periods of time, but not comfy for long-term wear.) In mid-September I started hitting the stores in search of comfortable shoes. Normal people do this all the time without much effort. Maybe you have to go to a few stores, but eventually you find a pair, bring them home and wear them. Story over.

Of course it can't be that way with me. My feet aren't "normal" feet, as I've already established, and they need shoes that offer a little bit of support in the right areas. Combine that with the fact that most manufacturers of shoes cater to those folks who have an average or normal arch, and shoe shopping gets complicated for the rest of us. Shoes for normal arches are uncomfortable for me - either they don't have enough arch support, or there's too much.

I've tried on dozens and dozens of shoes at I don't even know how many stores. At one point, Mike was convinced the store thought I was planning on ripping them off. Of course, he hits one store and finds what he wants, buys them, and will pack them up for vacation without any breaking in period and they'll be perfect for him. Forgive me, but I hate his feet right now because on two occasions I thought I'd found the right pair, brought them home to wear around the house to "make sure" they were the right ones, only to have issues with one foot or the other (so on top of my low arch situation, they're not the same "low", I guess.) So back to the stores they went.

Monday night my search came to an end. I found a comfortable pair of shoes, and I'm so relieved! Finally, a pair of shoes that both of my feet can agree on! Woohoo! The winner is a pair of Privo Tequini's which came in black, brown and white. I sort of wanted the brown, but I settled for white because they look more like athletic shoes and won't look dorky when I wear them with shorts while on vacation. They're sort of cute in a way. Kinda.....earthy. But my feet don't care....they both like very much.

I Have A Problem

I'm a planner. No, make that a plan-a-holic. I planned every detail of how to afford to buy a house. Planned every detail of a wedding single-handedly, with Mike just sort of nodding his head every once in a while. Planned my children and how close together they would be born. I've planned several vacations as well. So it's natural that I'm in charge of our household budget and keeping things humming along relatively smoothly.

Along with all this planning comes mega research, both online and at the library. I read and read till I can't find anything new on the subject. And then I read it again. I take notes, print off interesting tidbits and place them in folders. I have designated spiral notebooks for collecting information. I jot down reminders and new ideas in my daily planner. If there's something I'm planning, you can bet your next pay check that I'm all over it.

I realized tonight, though, that it's sometimes a burden to be this phobic about flying by the seat of your pants. If life throws me a curve ball, I'm like, "Man, didn't see THAT coming, cause it wasn't in my day planner!!!" I know it's good to have a plan in many instances, but there are times I work myself into a tizzy over things that just aren't earth shattering. For instance, we're leaving shortly on a long-awaited trip to Florida (a trip that I've been researching and planning for two years.). During part of this trip, we'll be in Orlando, and of course we're spending a couple days at the Disney parks. Most people would just pick the park and possibly the days they'd like to go to those parks and let 'er rip. Me? Uh, well, I've read numerous Disney guides, perused Disney forums, peppered friends with questions, and have taken to designing The Perfect Tour Plan.

What's a Tour Plan (TP) you ask? This is a plan of attack once you get inside the park.....step 1 - go to this ride, step 2 go to that ride, step 3 see this show, etc. It's designed to help you see the best rides and shows with the least amount of standing around in lines, or worse, standing around asking, "Where do you want to go now?" It sounds worse than it is, like if I can't plan in the spontaneity then it ain't happening. No, I'm not going to be a drill sergeant about the plan, but there is this innate drive in me that requires I have a plan nonetheless. You'd think I'd just take a tour plan from one of the many guides I've read. But no, that's not enough for me. I need to combine several of the tours into one new one because the authors didn't create one that was specific enough for my family, so I need to do better. I need to make it perfect because the trip will be ruined if it's not. I stay up late in the evenings to rework and rework the Magic Kingdom TP. I've created and chucked no less than a dozen tour plans, I kid you not, and I keep on tweaking. I think it won't be done till the night before we leave.....and it'll only be "done" because I've run out of time. I'm quite certain that if I had a lap top, I would take it with me and keep on planning till it was time to drive to the park.

So back to tonight's revelation about this aspect of my personality being burdensome. I'm compulsive about planning things to perfection. No detail can be overlooked. I must do my job as planner of every major event in my life. I'm not sure if it's harder to be like this or if it would be harder on me to just let the chips fall where they may. I'm sure there's some psychological reason I'm like this.....beyond my Type-A-Control-Freakishness.....what issues lurk beneath my surface that are being masked by my relentless pursuit of the perfect plan?