Some of that Disney Magic

 We started our Disney World adventure at Chef Mickey's.  What a great dinner and a fantastic way to meet characters without standing in a long, hot line.  We had a lot of fun here.  To those of you planning your own trip, Chef Mickey's is located in the Contemporary Resort.  You simply take the Monorail from Magic Kingdom there, but make your reservations as soon as you know you are headed to Disney.  It is very popular. 

 Mickey gave Buddy a smooch.  LOL.  I missed the actual smooch, but you can see he is a bit red in the face.

 Here we are waiting for the Electric Lights parade.  We have been up since 4 in the morning traveling.

Look!  We found Donald in Frontierland...what luck.  Buddy loved his raccoon hat.

 I really enjoyed Epcot's Home and Garden Festival.  The topiaries were really cool.

Buddy also enjoyed visiting some of the countries at Epcot.  We ate at an Italian restaurant.  He also got a super cool cellphone with video messages from Kim Possible.  It was a neat interactive spy mission that he really enjoyed.

 We really enjoyed the Finding Nemo ride and aquarium at Epcot.  We also had some firsts this trip:  Mission Space, Fast Track, and Soarin'.  All 3 were very cool rides.

 We did go to the Animal Kingdom.  We enjoyed the Safari Ride, the Finding Nemo Musical, and this character breakfast at the Tusker House. 

 We stayed at the Caribbean Beach Resort.  It was a total hit complete with pirate theme.  We did a lot of swimming as it in was in the high eighties most of the week.

 That is the short version of a fabulous vacation.  We enjoyed Hollywood Studios as well.  I guess I forgot to upload a picture from there.

Camping, A Visit with Friends, and a Trip to the Emergency Room

Well, some of you knew I was going camping. And although I admit I was a bit skeptical, we had great weather and a great trip. I truly enjoyed myself the 2 nights we camped. This was my first time camping, and we went with friends which added to the fun. The boys did the cooking, which is always a treat for me. Doesn't this sunset entice you to visit Michigan? Our state is very beautiful and although our economy isn't great right now, tourism still seems to be thriving. If you would love to see beautiful beaches, come to Michigan.

Buddy, as I knew he would, loved camping. He was busy the entire time and a happy camper. He even ate especially well.


When we left the campgrounds, we were not too far away from friends. So, we stopped by their house, and stayed with them through the weekend. We had a great time there, too, and even went to another beach.
I took this picture so you can all appreciate the length and thickness of Buddy's eye lashes and the cuteness of his nose with the freckles he has befriended. Isn't he just perfect?




The last day we were there, I misstepped coming out of their house, and down I went. By that night, I couldn't put any pressure on my left foot. So, on our way home, Mr. Dandelion suggested we needed to stop for an xray. Can I just say that the ER nurses were just the nicest group of people? We were in and out of there in less than an hour and a half....and the only reason that we were there that long was the x-rays? They said the x-rays looked fine, so off to home we went to unpack. Poor Mr. Dandelion ended up doing all of the unpacking, and starting the laundry. Mr. Dandelion even ended up carrying me over his shoulder down the hall to bed when I couldn't bear to stand on it at all. Then Mr. Dandelion banged my foot into the bedroom door...oh yes, he did. He told me I should have been watching it....and I asked him how I would watch it hanging backwards, upside down on his back. Good grief.

I was in a sour mood having just escaped the couch from that pneumonia episode, I was afraid I would return to it for some time. Luckily, when I woke up this morning I was actually able to walk a bit....I have taken it extremely easy and I hope the sprain continues to improve each day. Mr. Dandelion thinks I am a walking time bomb these days, perhaps he is right.

The Skinny on New York City

Okay, so I am back! We had a great trip with good weather, we missed most of the rain that was originally called for. On Tuesday, I realized that I was breathing easier, too, which was a great start to the vacation.

If you've never been to NYC, I highly recommend it. NYC was clean and the people were quite pleasant. I never felt unsafe. I think it is a great place to take a family, with older children or to spend the week with your gal pals. I plan to take Buddy in a few years. Here are some of the things I'd recommend doing and visiting:

We stayed at the Belvedere Hotel on 48th Street in a Double Executive Room. Our room easily accommodated the 4 of us, was very modern and clean. We payed $289 a night, in a very safe area. We were exactly 2 blocks away from Times Square, 4 blocks from Rockefeller Center, right in the heart of the theater district and all the Broadway shows, and lots of places to eat were nearby.

We took a tour with New York City OnBoard Tours which was WONDERFUL! First of all, we were on an air conditioned bus with water bottles for guests (and we did get caught in rain sprinkles that day, so we were lucky for the enclosed bus). Secondly, we had a VERY knowledgeable tour guide. He was FABULOUS. He was very knowledgeable on the history of the city, having lived there all of his life and attended NYU for his undergrad degree and his masters degree. He shared all sorts of personal stories that really made you feel you were there during different periods of history. We saw all kinds of sights from Central Park (Strawberry Fields pictured here with our tour guide giving the history of the mural), Times Square, Rockefeller Center, Statue of Liberty, the Twin Towers site (which he gave us a very personal account of the day, he worked in building number 7), and various other spots we would not otherwise have seen like Wall Street, SoHo, and lots of beautiful churches. I highly recommend this tour company, although there are lots of deals to be had on the streets, this one was worth every penny.




Mamma Mia was quite a hit for us. I would recommend that, although there are tons of great shows in NYC right now so it is very hard to choose. Be sure to hit the theater ticket booth in Times Square, for 50% tickets.

Another favorite part of the trip was a carriage ride around Central Park. That was fabulous and it was a beautiful day, so you cannot beat that.

We also enjoyed going to the Top of the Rock...the best view in NYC. I enjoyed getting a nice shot of the Empire State Building from here.


We did enjoy some shopping. Macy's had lots to see; plus, they have a great place to grab a quick bite in the basement. The food was quite good there.


We did ride the subway to SoHo where we went to a tiny quilt shop, Purl Patchwork. While it was small, it was obviously a very popular place. The staff was very helpful and they did carry a large number of Japanese fabrics along with some other lines that I do not see at my LQS. If you get to NY, you should check them out. We also went to the other shop, Purl Knitting. Beautiful yarns...BEAUTIFUL.

We enjoyed lots of great food. One of my favorite lunch spots was Bocca on 50th Street right in Rockefeller Center area. They had great sandwiches, salads, pizza, and pasta. Delicious and very affordable. I also thought Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. (located in Times Square) was a lot of fun with all of the movie memorabilia. I also answered all but 1 of the trivia questions right that our waiter asked us, not to mention that the food was terrific. This last shot is of the cupcakes from Crumbs Bake Shop on Broadway. The funny thing is that I enlarged this shot and asked Buddy which cupcake he would have picked and he picked the same one that I had picked. What can I say, the kid is just like his mama. Can you guess which one it was?

Vacation- Day 1

Well, you may have wondered where I have been. VACATION! We had a lot of family fun time. I thought I would break it down by day for you. We flew into Orlando and headed for Disney World. Little buddy was just thrilled about the plane and seeing Mickey Mouse.

It hit us about the time we landed that we should have a reality check and be ready to stand in some lines. Having this moment of clarity, helped us lower our expectations some and just have fun.

When we got to the Magic Kingdom, we started by taking a train ride. Then we went to the head cheese's house. That was cute. Then we stood in line for 45 minutes to wait for said mouse. Not so fun....but, it all seemed good in the end. Little man was brave and gave MM a hug, posed for a picture, and wasn't the least bit shy.

I will hit the FF button through the rest of the day, but among our favorites were:

• dinner with Winnie the Pooh and Friends
  


• Pirates of the Carribean ride, that's right, mate we are big pirate fans here
  


• the night time parade, a light spectacular event in my opinion
  


• the best fireworks show I have ever scene, including Tinker Belle flying from the top of the castle down into the park.....dinner with Winnie the Pooh and Friends
  Pirates of the Carribean ride, that's right, mate we are big pirate fans here
  the night time parade, a light spectacular event in my opinion
  the best fireworks show I have ever scene, including Tinker Belle flying from the top of the castle down into the park.....wow
  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  

  To be continued.....