December Day 2 Vices

#resound11 Prompt 02: Vices

Yesterday we summed up 2011 in one word. Today we're going to talk about vices.

Vice - immoral habit, depravity, prostitution, gambling, drugs, mild  failing in character, in place  of.

When you put it that way I don't have any vices. There is nothing that holds me hostage, and makes me twitchy and anxious if I don't do it or have it. No there is nothing that is a compulsion to me, no obsessive thing I must have to feel whole and good. Well maybe just one "in place of" thing. 

I would rather replace working, cleaning, shopping, interaction with some people, cooking a full blown balanced meal, sitting and play a board game with Edik or going and playing catch with the dogs with..... Facebook. But is that really a vice? You betcha  it is. A substitute  is a vice. I will work on it in 2012...na that's a mild failing in character to say that...I have no intention of giving up Facebook.  Maybe it will treat me like Meth, and I will loose 50lb and get really wired and a menace to society. Doubtful but it will keep me mildly happy and entertained.

December Day 1 One Word

#resound11

Prompt 01: One Word

What is one word to describe your 2011? Why does that word sum up your year? 

Acceptance  - Acceptance is one word and it is the word I see summing up  2011. Acceptance and tolerance may go hand in hand. When I accept something or someone, generally there is a level of tolerance for what it is that I accept. Acceptance does not have to mean a joyful receiving. It can sometimes just mean that we are OK with the way things are, be it good or bad. 

I have learned or been broken down enough to realize I may never change some of the situations around me in my life and I might as well accept them for what they are an be OK with them. I have found that great peace follows this act. 

In this new trying stage of accepting the things I can not change (no reference to AA in that statement) I do find my self still longing for things to be different. However, I am no longer fighting myself or others to make them so.

Things I have accepted this year:

My son is who he is and he is not going to change. Even with all the help we get him, he is still going to be where he is at because of what has played out in his life.  I like him, I like that he has a different view on the world. A very simple and literal view on the world. The more I accept and understand that the easier our relationship is.

I have accepted that  Andy may live in our home for another year and a half and 3 weeks and 2 days and 16 hours and 23 min. But I accept that and embrace that it is more time with someone who is fun, funny a matched step to my likes and an all around wonderful person. He is the comic relief to a difficult situation I find myself in, I enjoy the diversion. He will get a full time job when he gets one.

Accepting Peter has a whole complete life full of other wonderful thing and people is another part of letting go. I can still feel the tug of that not wanting to let go. But there are just a few people in my life I like to have around constantly and they were born to me, but they must go and start their own lives, after all my parental goal was to teach up independence. I accept this but its one of those accepting of the bitter feeling, not bitter as in angry or mad but bitter as in you just swallowed some bile and it taste bad. Not something you wanted but it just happened naturally.

I accept that my business is fading and that I am emotionally and physically on the way out. It is still fun, and I love the interaction with people and I will miss it but I think it is something I have done, conquered and am satisfied with what I accomplished and can happily leave it. I have one more success that I need to complete and that will have been a 10 year process and that is to find Carol and Doug a new home. 

I accept the fact that I am dearly loved by my husband, and this is what keeps me going forward.

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 12^th, 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.

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.

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.

Busch Garden - The day we nearly froze to death

Once again we could not rouse ourselves out of bed early enough to get out of the house any sooner than noon. Considering we have nothing to do but get dressed, it is rather pathetic. We didn't really eat, maybe a yogurt for Edik and an apple, but Lori did burn through her pot of coffee to get going and that takes some time, that is one of the things I love about her, because I have to slow down and I do love to be
forced to slow down.

It was cold, usually I don't find it necessary to report on the weather but - it was cold!

Tampa is not that far away from Kissimmee, about an hour, the habitual cows that had grazed in the field beside the freeway for the past 4 days were absent, I was beginning to think they too were staged as everything is in the make believe places we have been visitng. The drive was a chatter box time noting the different types of cars that passed us (Edik) proclaiming, "Gator Ponds" (Edik and Beth), and noting what was a sketchy area and what was cool!

We always get hungry because we did not have much food at the Villa. By the time we left, we were in need of something to eat. We always drive past all the potential places and then not making a decision, once again this was true. Upon our arrival it ws windy and cool, there were very few "guests" visiting the park so we had our choice of a parking spot near the shuttle tram. The computers were down when we went to buy our tickets, they managed to produce us some and as we attempted to go through the you-scan-turn-style gates our tickets were rejected, the women at my turn-style was quick to accuse us all of using "used" tickets. It offended me that she would jump to conslusion and accuses us all. But I left the thought at the gate and proceeded to our fun day.

The unique thing about Busch Garden is the unnatural mixture of death defying roller coasters and zoo quality animals in manmade natural habitats. The "gators" were our first sighting, big lazy prehistoric killing machines. They looked charming and touchable as they slept. We saw all the baby animals and the snakes, spiders, frogs and stinky birds. The train ride bumped us through the make shift plains where we saw zebra, white rhinos, giraffes, gazelles. I think zebra wear the best outfits, they look sharp.


Brian and Edik braved the Sheikara ride. At two points the ride creeps to the edge of a straight down million foot drop and wait for it, wait for it(7 to 10 seconds each time, I timed it) wait for it, bam you are plummeting to your death, then it sweeps you up and throws you around and drops you again and flings you through some water. Here is the thing, I ride these rides purely to satisfy those that I am with. It is not for enjoyment, pleasure, fun or excitement, it is a strangling, fear for me that chokes me till I fear I will not be conscious, so I decided, I am a liberated Child of God who does not have to surcome to this incredible peer torturing. I proclaimed it loud and firm, when my small family chided me to come, "I am a liberated Child of God free from people pleasing pressure." I had fun the rest of the day.

The over head sky ride with the birds eye view of the park was a great tool to be able to choose where we wanted to go next. Swimming hippos will get me everytime. They are so graceful and interested in all of us and the things on the top and things on the bottom, I could tell because we were under water protected by glass, very cool. I had to think of my grand-dog Juno when I saw the hipppos hide. The lazy lion was pretty. The ring tailed lemurs were interesting in how they segregated themselves from the regular brown lemurs. The prairies dogs were comical and so cute to pose for us.

The roller coaster in Egypt had about 7 cork screws and that was just one too many for me. There was a net above us, I asked Edik what do you think the net is for? He said it is to catch the people that fall out. We roared with laughter. I asked him how many times he has fallen out? All the rides were walk on with no lines, no waiting, just get on and ride. So by the time Bruce and I had found the best place to take the photos of our crazy party, they were walking up behind us saying what are you taking a picture of?

This giant horse (Clydesdale) knew exactly what to do when taking a photo with me, I was standing too far over and he put his head beside mine and pushed me over into the right spot.



The flat roller coaster was fun for me, you zigzag back and forth feeling like your cart is going to fall off the edge of the track, it was good but there was one casualty, Lori's glasses jumped out of her shirt and flung themselves to a crackly death, she wanted to rescue these $5 glasses, the boys at the controls said to come back at 6pm and we will see if we can get them for you, we attempted it but decided the walk was too far.

Bruce, Lori and I all did the bumper cars, it was a slow go but there was some good bumping and I proclaimed myself the victor. When we were reunited with you know who we all did the bumper cars and once again I proclaimed myself the winner. Edik was very perplexed
when he asked how I won. As we walked away Edik was imaginitivly chased by a green tiger, and then shocked by a huge walking stick that suddenly came to life as we passed by. The pink bird larger than life sized puppet was intriguing. Edik said she was lovely, she batted her eyes and flirted with him. He reached up and loved on her and hugged her, it made tears come to my eyes, his ability to quickly love and his odd sense of reality.

The tigers were amazing you could go up in a lookout tower if a tiger were there you would be under him looking through a piece of glass at him. Lori got some amazing photos and was so excited and entertained by them. I love seeing everyone enthralled by the animal of their choice. The orange orangatans were fun to watch, one of them would go to the big steel door and sniff under it, I would assume that's where his food came from, then he would go to the corner and hug on an old orangatan by the door. They are couriously familiar.

As Brian and Edik cheated death again I bought souvenirs. In the dark we found our way out of the park, walking past things we did not get to see. Starving again because we never really ate, just a muffin and popcorn, our navigator Bruce used his Iphone to locate, at my request, an Outback and it was good!

Did I mention it was cold? when we got home we turned on the heat and cranked up the hot tub, Lori and I sat in it for 2 hours, later to be joined by our men, but only after they wooed their mistresses, (their computers). We had our last great chat time, just like old times, it made me wish we lived closer, but we always just pick up where we left off. Our goodbyes' and hugs were done because they were getting up too early for us, their flight was at 8 am.

It was a great trip, I have no complaints and wish it had been longer. I do miss my family and the dogs, so it is good to be home. But it is cold, did I mention that Oregon is cold.

Island of Adventure

Once again we started out with POOL TIME. Edik loves being a fish. Bruce

is teaching him how to dive and to stand on his hands with his feet out of the water. He is getting the hang of

it.

Today was Island of Adventure, it is all the comic book

caracters and Dudley Do Right, the Hulk and lots of others.

Dr. Seuss area was really cool, lots of color
and some of my favorite book characters. I loved Thing One and Thing Two. Brian felt that he related the most

to the Grinch. I think he was just sore that we did not ride the Incredible Hulk ride continuously.

Brian and Edik wrote the Duling Dragons ride. As Lori and I were walking up we chickened out. I just hate feeling dizzy and the ride made too many turns for my


likings. We stood at the viewing area and watched Edik and Brians dangling legs wiz by.

Jurasic Park water ride was a sampling of getting wet, but there were no lines so we did it again. We saw a high flying dinasour ride that we raced over to ride but were shut down as it was a ride just for parents of little
kids, Edik did not qualify us. There was a giant play area that was a series of nets and passage ways that we could run through, it was fun.

But the call of the Canadian wild was after us. We had to do the Dudley Do Right ride. Now it got us wet, my hair was soaked Edik was drenched. We all looked for ways to dry off. There were Human Dryers but they cost $5 and we did not want to spring for that so we got paper towels. We next

rode the ride that finaly drenched us and we were all soaked to the bone. There was a blower dryer in the mens room and one in the ladies, we tried to save our hair and shirts but decided it was not worth it so we walked around wet for the next hour. These are burgers we ate after the ride.

We raced through Spiderman again, Edik, Brian and Lori did the crazy shoot you to the top and drop you ride and once again the Hulk ride.

Grabbed a cup of coffee, raced home to change and go to the show. But a quick dinner at Cracker Barrel. Oh it was sooooo good. We ate lots of comfort food. We raced off to Cirque Du Soleil.

The only thing I can compare it to is the Moscow Circus. That was an incredible show but this one was amazing. The athleticism was incredible and the costumes were outstanding. We had second row seats thanks to Bruce and Lori's generousity!

We ended our evening with chocolate and

Mickey Mouse rice crispy treats. I have no complaints about this perfect day!

Gentlement Start Your Engines!!!

NASCAR DAY! After a long play in the pool we got in our not so much of a race car and zipped an hour over to Daytona Beach Florida. We had a nice sandwich in the Starbucks at Barns and Nobles, Then it was off to the races or maybe just the race museum.

What a great place, and I am not even a fan. Edik was in awe of all the cool cars. We saw a photo of how the cars use to race on Daytona Beach and on the road. There was a man with a dream to have people come and watch the races as a family. Thirty men got together at a local hotel and for 3 days hammered out the foundation of what now is the largest spectator sport in America, NASCAR.

THERE WERE INTERACTIVE THINGS TO DO. THE GUYS ALL DID A DAYTONA 500 RACE SIMULATOR. THEN BRUCE AND I HAD THE OPPORTUNITY TO WORK IN A PIT CREW. THEY DEMONSTATED HOW AND THEN WE WERE IN COMPETITON WITH THE REAL PIT CREWS TIME OF 16:30 SECONDS AND OUR FIST TIME WAS 18.20 SECONDS AND THEN WE DID IT AGAIN AND GOT OUR TIME DOWN TO 16.32 SECONDS. IT WAS FUN TO SEE WHAT TWO MEN IN THE PIT CREW DID. BRUCE WAS THE SUPERSTAR IN OUR TEAM!



We did a tour of the race track and really got to drive on the track, it was not at a high speed but none the less it was on the track. The banking ends of the track are at a 31 degree incline, very intimidating. The crazy thing was that the stands hold thousands of

fans. One side holds 50,000 and the other side holds 85,000 people. I had to ask where do all these people park, beause there really was not that much parking around the park. They park along the International Race Way Blvd. which runs along the ocean, they park in the Home Depot parking lot and any place they can find. then they walk to the park. The question also comes where do they all pee? They bring in thousands of Porta Potties - mmmm honey bucket city.

The girls in the gift shop told us the day of the 50th anniversary the gift shop was wiped out with in the first few hours of the day. There were leather jackets in there that were $1600 and they sold all of them. That is amazing!

Photo of where the winners stand and get sprayed with champagne!

We are all winners for having done this great tour! We drove back to the Villa, tired from our last few days. We decided to not do anything but order take out and get to bed before midnight. We were successful at that.

Disney Hollywood Studios - Take 3

Brian charged off after only 4.5 hours of sleep to his conference. It was well worth his time and he enjoyed every minute that he was there.

Edik on the other hand had his usual 12 hours of sleep. I was awakened by screaming, pleading kids playing in a pool next door. I moved to one of the other bedrooms to finish out my precious sleep. I think the lack of sleep

caught up with us we were kind of dragging today or maybe we really are just grama and grampa material now.



the park is decorated for the holidays already but they did not turn the lights on. We saw the strings of lights and thought that it would be so beautiful but no go.

Edik loved the roar of the engines and the squeel of the tires on the car demonstration. Herbie the Love Bug even showed up and did a splitting preformance. We rode the new attraction, Toy Story Midway ride, that was an interactive spinning ride, we got to shoot at targets in competition with each other. I think I won with 101,000 points Brian with 98,000 and Edik was 89,000. I am not going to lie it felt good to beat the men! No I am not competitive. It pained Edik to be beaten by his mom, a girl.

The Rockin Roller Coaster with Aerosmith was the first thing we did and the last, what a rush. It was fun, but my throat always gets dry and I

feel really afraid the first time because it starts out in a crazy cork screw move at about 1000 miles and hour. It was a rush and Edik was paniced but then decided he loved it. In all we did it 3 times today!

Disney did the Chronicals of Narnia so there was a back history on that and Edik and Brian got to go in and see Prince Caspian.


We did the back lot tour Edik was really terrified when the bridge was giving way under us and the torrents of water were coming at us and over us. He recovers quickly but still having a hard time determining what is real and what is pretend. You should have seen him squirming in his chair during the 3D presentation of Honey I Shrunk the Audience. It was a good oportunity for me to comfort him.

One of Ediks favorite movies is Cars, we lucked out and were able to get a photo shoot with them. I think Mater is so cool. Which reminds me I am trying to teach Edik to say, "Gator Pond" in a Getter-done-voice, he can't quite muster the gutteral grrr sound and its pretty cute. I have him convinced to teach Bruce and Lori how to say it. Every time we spot a body of water I belt out "Gatttor Pond".

As you remember the tree was just decorated in our first photo and here it is all lit up in its holiday splendor.

It was a fantastic day, we were worn out but knew what would revive us. Cracker Barrel. We had a piece of chocolate Coke cake that was amazing.

Lori and Bruce showed up around 10 p.m. with numerous texts about food, they showed up at the house around midnight and so of course we had to talk until 3 a.m. Brian wonders why he did not go to bed earlier when he had to wake up at 7 a.m. and go to his highly informative classes, the reason we came to Florida.

EPCOT-did you know they teach Evolution?

Day 2 - Epcot

How should I do this a laundry list or a diatribe?

1. Swimming in our own private pool

2. Speed game of Air Hockey

3. Odwalla Bar breakfast

4. Epcot

5.Cracker Barrel (Oh my Goodness I love this place)

I think I should have been born a Southern Gal.

6. Home to our Villa to tuck in our little boy and catch up on school work for Brian and keeping up with what we did for me.

I will elaborate on Epcot: First of all this is my third time coming, Brian's fourth and Edik's first (he got to wear a button saying so), the teaching themes are very obvious this time, save the earth and evolution. I don't have a problem with either one. I agree that man needs to protect and keep and subdue the earth that was entrusted to him by our God. And I love evolution, I love the science of it, the creativity, the theory and the fact that it is a beautiful opening to talk about Creation and what "we" believe.

I love Ellen Degenerates ride through her dream where she is learning about energy. It starts off with "The Big Bang Theory", the loud noise and flashes of light literally frightened Edik, but I think figuratively as well, he was confused about what they were say and what he had read in his school books. That was a great segueway into talking about creation.

At the end of the tour it talks about that the only renewable resource we have is Brain power. Another quote I saw during the day drove it home, "Creativity with knowledge is power". How true is that - that when we understand how things grow and what makes them grow, then we can be creative about where we want them to grow and how much crop we want them to yield and in that solve problems. I love the little ride that takes us through Disney's hydrophonic garden, and it talks about all the unconventional ways of growing food, now that is creativity with knowledge!

Enough of the educational stuff. We got a fast pass for Soaring, but it would not be until after 4pm and it was noon. We did the test track speeding car ride (total of 3 times). Brian and Edik did the simulator to outer space. I could not bring myself to get in that tiny simulator, I am sure I missed something amazing but ehh no biggy.

I did a entire recycling circuit that taught me about how much garbage Brian and Edik produce and how I have to recycle it all and put it in the right place. It let me burn some of the garbage so we did not have to put it in the landfill. It helped me build a golf course, (I named it Methane Greens, in honor of the gas it produced) over a full landfill. It was a really cool process that I hope people are really using.

While I was being "Green" Brian and Edik were creating their own ride in a robotic simulator, Edik has the card with the program on it so they could ride it again. We went and did the Finding Nemo ride and looked at all the cool fish tanks afterwards.

We did not eat much because we were busy but we got a sudden fatigue so we dashed off to Germany for Bratwurst and sauerkraut, no adult beverage however because of our young charge, but we longingly looked at other peoples beverages (Did I mention that it was international food and wine show?).

We saw a funny Japanese street performance then we saw some wondering English (they were real, bad teeth and all) minstrels and street theater.

The Soaring ride was over California and it was so fun, to smell the ocean air, the orange groves and the pine forest.

Most of the time we would introduce ourselves to someone standing in front of us, and strike up a conversation. We met a man from New York, who worked as a telephone switch technician for 35 years, he and his wife were from Brooklyn. There was the couple from Minnesota who owned a car rental place and rentals. The car rentals were high end sports cars, his main clientele were the Arab people going to the Mayo Clinic for treatment. Ardie from Cuba, living in Miami, he was our age and was born in Cuba but lived and worked and raised his family in Miami, he was an insurance sales man with a brokers license. Very personable and intelligent man. He was so excited to meet Edik, our little Russian. He mentioned that Cuba and Russia had an alliance at one point, I did not say that it was a scary one but I thought it.

I probably forgot to mention this but this is Ediks 2nd year anniversary of being our son. We are celebrating the whole week and reminding him of how blessed we feel to have him as our son. He has matured and is getting the hang of being in a family and learning what it is to be a real boy. We are having so much fun with him and just loving having someone who is in awe of everything to share our amazing country with! He got to say a Russian hi to a beautiful Russian girl at Epcot today.

Now just wait until tomorrow!