Exhausted but Determined

I am almost caught up with posting my photos from summer and fall......and if I weren't on the computer posting photos I'd have to exercise or clean something....so blogging it is.

Here we go. Now in no particular order, are the remainder of our summer photos. and if I repeat something by accident or misspell more than normal, feel free to complain to the management (which coincidently is me).

If only more restaurants knew that balloon animals bring customers.

A happy child is a happy parent...on the other hand an unhappy child = a second margarita. 
Maybe the restaurants know what they are doing after all.

"J" and I walked 3 miles (round trip) to the local yogurt shop as part of our 5K training.
Surprisingly real 5K's don't have frozen yogurt.

Dixie has a hard life.

Make your own caption-you'll probably be right.

It likes me, it really likes me.

Wave Runner day at the lake.  I stayed in the car. I kept an eye on the cooler.

Parades are more fun when it isn't 90 degrees

Celebrating a friends birthday at Chuck E Cheese

All hail ChuckECheese

the look on "T's" face is priceless

A friend brought this to me after my "procedure"

We are "good" parents because we take our kids to the playground. 
Playgrounds don't hold much appeal for adults-thus our suffering makes us "good"

Last day at the pool for the season

wheee

"T" is fishing

Back at Disney-fun in 3D

Dixie is doing well

Quack

Do other kids love the Halloween store as much as mine do?

At the local parade (the one where they throw candy)

the morning of the family 5K

"T" doing a Scout thing (not sure what)

At the appropriately named Monster Golf with a friend

"T" gets higher each time he tries

kitten on zebra chair is cute

at the petting zoo

feeding the parakeets

Cousin Kiki gets into the action

"T" doesn't love the petting part as much as "J"

I stood here for 20 minutes while "J" talked to this duck.

your mission, should you choose to accept it....
get a parakeet on the stick
or you will never get to leave....
and there will be many tears

yum

Feed?  or Poke? that is the question

The Magic of Disney

A few posts back I quickly posted a few photos from our recent Disney Vacation.  I almost hesitated posting these because I’ve learned that people really give you a hard time if you visit Disney World more than once in your life.  We vacation at the beach once or twice a year and no one says a word abou it.  There is something very polarizing about Disney and I find myself firmly ensconced in the LOVE IT category.

I could wax poetic on my love of Disney but I’ll spare you.  Suffice it to say I do NOT own a Tinkerbelle T-shirt, or Minnie and Mickey Salt and Pepper Shakers.  What I like about Disney World is that it’s a vacation where we can all have fun. My kids LOVE rides more than about anything else in the world.  I don’t love rides, but at Disney there is so much that we can all do together.  I love that Disney is clean, organized, predictable, and pleasant (very German).  I love that if you work the system you can ride the biggest attractions multiple times during the day without waiting.   I love the look on my children’s faces as they shout “let’s do it again” “that was awesome” as they exit a roller-coaster. 

The following photos capture the "Magic of Disney" that I love so much.

Here is a section of the water ride at Animal Kingdom.  It is themed in an effort to promote tropical forest conservation.  As you wind through the "river" you happen upon an area of downed timber and you actaully see and smell smoke.
(this is not that area)

This is from a portion of the Expidition Everest queue.  A queue is a fancy word for line. 
This is a fabulously themed queue.  Here we see a camp site that has been attacked by a yeti.

Here is another part of the Expedition Everest queue.  It is like a museum exhibit with many interesting artifacts.  I was glad to finally stand in a line (every other time we walked sraight through) so I could take photos.

More from the Expedition Everest queue

Looking toward the Expedition Everst Ride

Inside the Kilimanjaro Safari ride queue

The loading area of the safari.  The attention to detail is astounding.

This topiary is about as tasteful as Minnie and Mickey will ever be.

Here is a view from inside the Big Thunder Mountain queue.  It is themed like an old mine.

Looking toward Splash Mountain

Back in Animal Kingdom and a closer look at the details in "Asia"

This is the detail they put into a "line" ...Six Flags has blue metal railing with peeling paint. 
Which is better.....You decide

I'm no fan of Disney Hotels.  As a matter of fact we left ours a day early.  I couldn't take the close quarters.  But there are a few fun and quirky things that are specific to Disney Hotels.  Where we stayed the housekeepers made these little animals out of towels.  Also the hotel guests went all out decorating their windows. 

As much as I researched, I missed the point about decorating the hotel window so I hastily made this impromptu display.

This is a stairway at the Hotel.   Each section of the hotel was decorated to represent a different decade.  Speaking of the hotel.....The room was clean, parking attrocious, transportation free, free transportation was slow, food was so-so, rooms were tiny, theming was fun, landscaping nice, overall verdict....unless you get a killer deal like we did-stay elsewhere.

Yes!  This is the room.  Two small beds and that's about it. 
Overall the entire room is smaller than my bedroom at home.

However, the entire hotel grounds are decorated like this-with huge pop icons.  The kids loved it.

Foosball anyone?

Everything is larger than life.

oops...how did this get here? 
This giant Butterfinger cupcake is one of the delicious treats I found at Hollywood Studios.  I swear I only ate half.

This is a look inside the Toy Story Mania ride. 
It's like you have been shrunk to the size of a toy.

Here is a peek inside the queue for the Hollywood Tower of Terror. 
The place looks like you have really walked into an abandoned haunted hotel.

More inside the Tower of Terror queue.

This is a lousy photo but I wanted to show you that even the backdrop of the bird show is elaborately designed.
(it looks like old ruins)

This is inside the boarding area for Splash Mountain. 
It looks as if (I think) you are underground.

Yes, Disney sells over-priced ride photos.  BUT at least the pick-up area is elaborately themed.
I mean that certainly justifies a 20 dollar 8X10...right?

This is the queue for the Dinosaur ride.  It's like being in a natural history museum....until you get on the ride.

Here are the restrooms between Africa and Asia.  They look very authentic from the outside but I assure you the inside is very modern.  I've heard that uninformed quests actually say things like "geesh Disney is really letting this place go" because they dont realize this is part of the theming.

looking up at a temple in Japan (Epcot World Showcase)

I have more photos but I think you get the point. 

We had a great time and maybe, just maybe, we will go again someday.