Cross Country - Day 2, Orlando

Day two started with a segway tour through Epcot.  First, we were given a training exam.  It was fun to ride on, but the burn that courses through your feet was hard to get used to, but get used to it I did.  

  

What fun it was to fly through the different countries learning "useless" information.  An invitation is open to any country to join in the Epcot family.  

Rock was my inspiration in how to wear my helmet.  Just so you know.

I've decided that these or a motorized cart are the way to see Disney World.

After our tour the girls wanted to go back to Japan for pearls.  This was a fun experience as the cute little girl did her job with such enthusiasm.   The girls bowed, they counted down for the unveiling of their pearls.

Three beautiful pearls that ended being set as necklaces.

It isn't Disney without a turkey leg.  One of the musts when we visit the parks.

A highlight for me was the Pledge of Allegiance led by the young men joining Yankee Doodle band.

I'm glad the United States portion of Epcot is from the colonist period.  After teaching this portion of US history for 12 years it got me excited.

Naps, dinner rounded out the afternoon.  That night we enjoyed Cirque du Soleil, La Nouba.  What a great demonstration of talent.  You laugh, gasp, scream, cry - about any emotion that shows how impressed you are with the talent.

One of my favorites is the gentleman above to the left.  He wraps his arms around this cloth attached to a cable.  He made it look so easy, but the strength he must have to hold on was incredible.

Jugglers, trapeze artists, trampoline performers, funny clowns, and lots more.  It's a circus amped up to a different degree.  AMAZING!!
Day 2 is over.

Cross Country - Day 1, Orlando

Marissa, Whitni and I flew out of Seattle to Orlando, Florida for a few days with Lindsea.  I was quite impressed with Lindsea's driving skills through the airport and Orlando.  

Our first big event was Universal Studios, aka Harry Potter World.  After over an hour waiting in the hot humid sun we were excited to share in the wonder of Hogwarts and Hogsmeade.

Viewing Hogwarts is actually part of a ride.  It also included an incredible amount of time waiting in line, but it was worth it to see talking pictures, be in Dumbledore's presence as he greets us, watch Hermione cast spells bringing snow to the room.  The ride?  I heard the girls scream next to me and enjoyed their enthusiasm.  The ride for me?  Simulators and me don't quite mix.  Halfway through after following Harry on his broom by dementers and spiders I closed my eyes and prayed for the ride to be over.

Hogsmeade, lots of fun shops from the books and movie.

Butterbeers!  Delicious!\

An upward glance at Hogwarts.

Hagrids house on the way to the Hippogriff ride which was a small, but enjoyable roller coaster.

Yes, there is more to Universal than Harry Potter.  We did Jurassic Park, which was a blast and a splash.  It freaked Whitni out a bit.

Dinner was at Ohanas.  This is a fun, delicious buffet.  The great part is that they bring the food to you and you eat buffet style.  Korean wings, Wontons, noodles, great pineapple bread, and then meats of all kinds on the skewers as shown above.  Dessert was pineapple bread pudding with vanilla bean ice cream and a caramel sauce dripping over it.

You all need to get reservations!

Our next activity was Fantasmic.  The best part was no lines, we just walked in and sat down in great seats.

This was a lot of fun with great special effects.

Good beats evil again.  Our first day is over.  We are all exhausted and sticky.  Back to the condo for great air conditioning!

Practice Makes Perfect

Rock came to visit us for a few days. After the obligatory hugs and hellos he proceeded to look for his "helidrome" which means his bike with training wheels. I think he is calling it his motorcycle, but we're not sure. At first he was paddling Flintstone style through the house. Then he got the feet on the pedals down, but was running into everything. Lots of practice later he can steer, pedal and move quite quickly. For his parents' viewing pleasure:

The Summer So Far

This has been the traveling summer.  I spent almost two weeks with my parents.  It was great to be with them in their relaxed atmosphere.  I did get in a shopping trip with Sherry, Ashley, TJ and KC.  We also all took in the great movie Toy Story 3D.  GREAT!!  One of the highlights was visiting with Kelli and her family.  I totally enjoyed playing with Carter.  It just left me with a longing to be with my own little guy about the same age with a bit more to love and cuddle.

The last day of my time in Utah I spent going to a wedding for an adopted niece.  I enjoyed my solo time before the ceremony walking the Salt Lake Temple grounds remembering my wedding there so many years ago.

They make a great couple who were smiling hugely from the time they walked into the sealing room to all the pictures they endured.

On my return to home I felt restless to play with my babies so I took advantage of them being close and drove on over to kiss, cuddle and spoil.

They both have a lot of personality that delights me to no end.

We had lots of laughs

and endless tricks.

A few more days were spent at home and then it was time to fly to Vegas with Dale for his birthday weekend.

We spent the weekend at the MGM Grand where the concert we were going to was to be held.  It was over 110 degrees the whole time so we weren't too excited to walk the Strip to discover its treasures.   The hotel was huge and it was well over a quarter mile walk to get to our room.  Once there we discovered our key didn't work.  I bailed out on the walk back to get new keys and plunked on the ground to read my Kindle.  The room is interesting.  Above you can see the outside door and to the right are glass doors to the toilet and shower.  No inviting friends over with that lack of privacy.

The cool thing with the room I've never seen before is as you are getting ready you can turn on the tv in the mirror.  I was blown away, actually I blew it all away as I plugged in my straightener and blew out the  circuit.  

We did walk across the street to New York New York.  The whole Vegas thing is unique.  You see all types of people in all types of dress and UNDRESS.  You see them having fun and looking very depressed.  

Dale insisted I pose with the King.  

Since the lion plays a big part in the MGM world they have real lions that visit the hotel daily.  It was quite fun to watch the lion and lioness run around.  I've never seen one that close.  It was impressive.

The real reason for our weekend was the Carole King/James Taylor concert.  Dale had mentioned he would like to see James Taylor so I concocted the whole weekend for his birthday (it was in April, so he had to wait awhile.)   

(This was borrowed from the Internet)

These pictures are from Dale's phone, don't ask me why I didn't take my camera.

This is a picture of James Taylor as he walked past us.  Use some imagination.  Carole King is 68 years old and was rocking around that stage like a teenager.  It was amazing.  There was not a teenager in sight or probably anyone under forty.  The crowd was more appreciative than at any other concert I've been at.  They are very talented, personable performers.  We left the next morning, ate a great lunch with Aaron and DeAndra and the boys then headed home. 

Until the next trip in a little over a week....