Friday, October 15, 2010

Vegas and Disney



Wouldn’t you know that as soon as our vacation is quickly approaching I would write an offer. So that would leave me doing a home inspection and taking a new listing the day before we leave on vacation. The home inspection would start at 4pm and end at 8 pm getting me home at 8:30 to begin packing. October 12th, after a frenzied two days of trying to get everything done so I could leave on my vacation, which is a misnomer, because I always have to work on my vacations we are up at 6:30 and out of the house by 8:45 to take Amy to her pregnancy check up. Well not being a part of that appointment Edik and I went over to mail a package for Peter and Amy. We zipped off to Tualatin to deliver some fliers, then up to Portland to mom and dad Keysers so they could take Malachi, Edik, Peter, Amy and I to the airport.

Brian had left two days prior for his conference. Two days of peace and quiet for him! He has this bi-annual conference for NECA which is something to do with accounting for rural telephone companies. I guess it really is the Nerds flocking to Las Vegas to converge and talk nerd talk for a week. He usually skips out on most of the conference because I am with him but this time was different.

Our flight from Portland to Las Vegas was uneventful other than the fact that I got to hold Malachi and play with him and keep him entertained for most of the trip. Then the other part of the trip I listened to Ironman in Russian with Edik, I have still not seen that entire movie! Once on the ground, we gathered up our stuff and got in a taxi, the driver was great, from Croatia, he had lived in South Africa, England and now Las Vegas, because of the women he met and married. He had a personality not something you find in Las Vegas cabbies, they usually barely have a command of the English language.

Daddy was waiting for us at the entrance to The Hotel, he had arrange for our rooms, he had to get us upgrades so that we had rooms with a living room, that way our two kids could sleep there while we had the luxurious master suite.

The Hotel, is spectacular, dreamy, hip, fabulous and just my style! I love this place, with its sleek lines and its modern architecture and trendy surfaces. They have enormous displays of fresh flowers. Very modern style of arranging, usually monochromatic, this time it was white lily’s and white roses, an white Rubrum lily’s in clear glass vases on huge round glass tables at all the entrances, the fragrance of the lily’s filled all the hall ways. Devine! We love the pool that The Hotel shares with Madalay Bay. The lazy river with its 85 degree flowing water is divine to float in for hours. But having to buy the inner tube was a little ridiculous but we did it anyway!

We dined with Carrie J, one of dads business associates. We ate at the Red White and Blue Grill, while we watched the trapped Chilean miners be extracted from 2000 feet below the surface of the earth. It was a wonderful sight and I wanted to clap but didn’t. We were old fuddy duddy’s and went back to our room and went to bed around 10 pm. Then we were up at the crack of 9 am. I love vacation!

Peter and I raced off to the Excalaber to get Krispy Kream Doughnuts and Aunt Annies pretzels for breakfast. The off to the pool for a few hours in the sun and the water! After and adequate nnnap time for Malachi and getting cleaned up we trecked off to the Bellagiiio for a dinner Buffet. It was ok, we spent a lot of money to eat ther and can really only say that the desserts were good. It is mainly a seafood buffet and Edik is the only one that appreciated that. We manage to eat until we were full. We met some people from a job placement firm in Nashville, they noticed Malachi and were curious about him because a co-worker adopted from Ethiopia too.

Thursday morning we got up pretty early, Brian went to the airport to pick up our rental Van so that we could pack up and drive to LA. We packed it up with one space to spare, not sure it would have held Andy. The drive over was dull. But when we dropped down into the valley, the smog was outstanding and extremely noticeable, its hard to believe that we are in it and feel ok.

The Howard Johnson (HoJo) is where we are staying, the contrast in hotels is remarkable, but at least the HoJo tries, it is tidy and pretty clean. The freeway noise is loud but it’s a constant. We ate dinner at the Knott’s Berry farm kitchen, great pot pies, tons of food. It took us two rounds the parking lot to get a spot but finally we did it, hardest thing we did all day.

Friday morning the father squirrels got up and took the rental van back before 7:30 am so that we would not be charged another day. Then we all left for DISNEYLAND it is just a short walk over to the park maybe two blocks.

We had pre-purchased our tickets so they were in our hands and we walked right in. Got a locker and went to Small World. This was Malachi’s first ride! He loved it, looking around at everything and tracking with the music and all the movement. It was a real Kodak moment. Peter had run over to get us fast passes for Indiana Jones ride. We raced over and rode it, very fun, my favorite ride in the park. We went on to the Winney the Pooh ride, Malachi loved it as well. We had rice crispy treats and a banana. Thunder Mountain was fun, but seemed kind of weak compared to what we usually ride.

We went into the Hill Billy Saloon to sit and eat some lunch and watch a show that Peter likes. We had a great time playing with Mal when he woke up form his nap. He was a lot of fun, so much we forgot to feed him which kind of set him up for having to leave the park sooner than expected. The fiddling show was fun and toe tapping. That was a nice break.

On Main street I sat and took care of some business on the phone and Mal had a bottle. We raced off to use our fast pass for Space Mountain, very fun. One of the fun thing si running to the front of the line when using your fast pass. The ride was a rush and the new Halloween graphics are good.

California Adventure was another place for Malachi to take a nap. We saw all the new construction going on there and saw the changes they had made to the lagoon, where the world of color show will be. Screamin beconed the guys and they could not contain themselves. I declined as did Amy so we walked with Mal to keep him happy. The swings were fun if you kept your eyes closed, but the round and round makes an old lady dizzy.

Peter, Amy and Malachi, had to leave the park because he was hungry and tired. We went on, did the It’s Hard to Be a Bug show, lots of spooky things happen during that show, we rode a giant catapillar, and drove bumper cars. The guys went back and did two runs on Screamin again as I shot picures. The tour of the tortilla factory and the sour dough bakery were fun with the little samples they gave.

The culmination of our day was going back to Disneyland to get our stuff out of our locker and catching a glips of the Dance Parade. It was a relaxing good day, seeing the joy on Malachi’s face was such a treasure. I hear we have to be back at the park by 7am and at 10 am we have a Breakfast with the characters. I am having Disney dreams awaiting that time.

Sunday, June 27, 2010

Spokandy Day 2

Oddly enough we just hung out in Spokane. We went garage sailing and explored the neighborhoods. They are so pretty; everyone takes care of their huge lawns and keeps their places looking nice. The neighborhoods are so Brady Bunch-esk!

We did find Spokandy the candy store and got some really good truffles and some chocolate salt caramels my favorites.

We played at a great park on the South Hill, it was huge, there was a swimming facility there that looked fun. We did a little stranger danger education to Edik. Not sure if he got it we will play again. Sad to say if he got separated from us I am not sure where he would end up. But the park made a nice place to play. We worked on summersaults, cartwheels and playing wheel barrow. The swings were fun and Edik learned how to jump out of a swing while still going pretty high.


The rope bridge at the Bowl and Pitcher state park was fun, it moved as you walked across it. That is an eerie feeling only when looking down river however. Once across the Spokane River we played in the water at a little beach, and then proceeded to walk the, “well-groomed-don’t-deviate-from-the-path” trail. There were lots of people walking and riding bikes along it. But at about 5:30 the mosquito’s came out so we decided it was time to turn back. We really hadn’t walked that far. But it felt good to be in wilderness.

At dinner we heard that there was a shooting at the carousel down at the river front park in Spokane during the Hoop Fest. Turns out it was two gangs fighting and one idiot pulled a gun and shot and hit two innocent by-standers. They all had criminal records, two of them out on parole. Idiots! Reading the on line comments from the Spokanites was hilarious!

Andy and I watched Rush Hour 3 until I fell asleep, while dad did his school work. We were exhausted from our day of exploring.

Saturday, June 26, 2010

Could Be Spokane Ahead!

Could be Spokane Ahead

Four days off, might as well make it a vacation. All a vacation is, is time off from work right? There doesn’t have to be a great, exotic destination. So we might as well treat our 4 days in Spokane as a vacation, it’s all in your attitude about what you are doing anyhow. So here we are off to our great summer vacation.

Road trip, this involves music, junk food, and lots of stops. Leaving at noon from Newberg to head to Spokane, not the quick start we hoped for but no worries and no stress. We chose to not stop at Stump Town in lovely down town Portland like we usually do, because we now brew our own special Ethiopian coffee, supporting Peter and Amy all the way. We grabbed our travel mugs and set off.


We had to put the Michael Jacksons greatest hits CD in first because today is the first anniversary of his death. It set a great tone to start the trip. All singing along and enjoying it kept Edik’s nose out of the DS until after Multnomah Falls.

We stopped at the fish hatchery for a break, walking around we saw lots of fry salmon growing and getting ready to be released. It was odd for us to see all the flowers in bloom, and feel the warm breeze from the river, and to see the long cement tanks full of water. Our usual visit is in the fall after the fish have left and we have done the Fruit Loop.

Soon after our first stop we decided to cross the river at Cascade Locks on the Bridge of the Gods. The one dollar trip took us over the river. I popped out the sun roof snapped several photos as Andy took them out the side window. Once into Washington, we went through Stevenson, slowly, I of course wanted to stop, but the guys couldn’t understand me so we drove on. Brian took us up to Skamania Lodge where he has had several conferences, I have never been able to attend with him, but after seeing the lodge I think I might make a stronger effort.

We crossed back over to Oregon at Hood River, stopping in at Cousins and sharing a nice plate of pot roast and biscuits. We used my Droid to give the restaurant a good review. It is a fun place, they welcome you buy saying, “welcome cousins”. We love the taste of the food, the friendly waitresses, and the rustic atmosphere.
We crossed back over to Washington at Biggs Junction, so that we could go to the Maryhill Museum. The peacocks were beautiful and tame as we approached the mansion. The 1920 stone building was built as Samuel Hills home, but a bad real estate investment kept him from living there, and he donated it to hold his friend Queen Marie of Romania’s house hold furnishings and some of her trinkets. Rodin’s sculptures were downstairs, they were incredible, sculpture was his forte’ no doubt because his drawings left much to the imagination. The display of chess sets spanned the globe. We saw one from Alaska, China, Japan, India and even the Congo. The Native American display of woven baskets, beading and tools was fascinating. But the Papoose packs confused Edik; he thought they were large shoes.

Once we got to the “Tri-Cities” we bailed at the KFC/A&W so that we could have a break and get a root beer float. Good choice! From this point on out it was flat dull driving. Andy kept pestering his brother who had escaped into his John Wayne movies to alleviate his boredom. So finally I dug out of the glove box some of the old CD’s that Andy and Peter had mixed when they were in their early teens, instantly we were enjoying ourselves again, singing at the top of our lungs.

Once in Spokandy, as I like to call it, because Andy lives here, we found Andy’s room in disarray because his friend had been staying here; quickly getting it in order we made space in the walk-in closet for Edik to bed down, sanitized the bathroom and set our stuff in order. The computers are set up, the phones and camera batteries are charging all to be ready to record tomorrow’s great exploration.