Universal Fun

Day 3 of our park fun (day 4 of vacation), was spent at Universal Studio's Island of Adventure. This park's big draw, though it does have some other offerings, is its great thrill rides and its new area, The Wizarding World of Harry Potter. After having spent so much time shopping, I was done and ready for some rides. We headed straight for one of the roller coasters - The Hulk!

While Emily would have loved to go on these rides with us, she didn't meet the height requirements...that means Dylan definitely didn't. Nana, not one for thrill rides, was more than happy to wait with them while all the adults and Patrick went on the roller coaster. For those of you that don't know this about me, I LOVE roller coasters and thrill rides. This love started at very young age. Every summer growing up, we visited, at least once, the Six Flags Over Texas amusement park. It was a day I looked forward to each year and enjoyed VERY much. In time, my appreciation for risk taking fun has not dwindled and I love these rides as much (or more) then I did. I was psyched!

The Hulk did not disappoint. Your normal click, click, click climb to the top of the first hill had a major twist in it on this ride. After clicking up the hill half way, you were then propelled at 60 miles an hour up to the top to drop down and take corkscrew twists for the duration. Great fun! Unfortunately for Patrick, his stomach was no match for the Hulk and he spent the next few hours not feeling great. Poor kid! So, taking a slower pace to help him recuperate, we split up the group and kept tabs on everyone to meet back up.

Just around the corner from The Hulk, there was a chance to meet Spider Man. I waited in line and had Mike and Dylan join me when I was at the front. Dylan kept pointing to Spidy's mask and saying "hat" then obsessing over the fact that his fan was "off." Not much interest in Spider Man himself but he was gaga over the little Spider Man stuff animal. Yep, it would be coming home with us.

We meandered, rode another ride and then joined the whole gang in toon town where Emily and Dylan had fun meeting some characters and climbing around the displays.


Extreme Cuteness



Popeye and Olive Oil

Emily, Dylan and Betty Boop

With Patrick still not feeling well and Dylan finally passed out in the stroller, Mike and I wandered off with Nana and Bumpa for our first sight of Hogsmeade! It was so exciting to see and did not disappoint. Universal did an incredibly job of recreating the sights and sounds of Hogwarts and Hogsmeade. No detail was overlooked and the experience was truly magical! As we didn't want to do too much without the rest of the group, Mike, Tom (aka Bumpa) and I went on the Dragon Challenge roller coaster. When Mike and I were at the park several years ago, it was called the Dueling Dragons and already had a castle that you wandered through to get to the front of the line. Very conveniently, a few Harry Potter decor was thrown in and, voila, it meshed with its new surroundings wonderfully.

After some resting and some food, poor Patrick finally got to feeling back to himself (yay!) the Hickey family came over to the Harry Potter area with us, bringing sleeping Dylan and our camera which was also in the stroller.

The First View of Hogsmeade

Enjoying a Butter Beer. Super Yum!
It had a slight butterscotch taste
mixed with cream soda flavor..very good.

Hogwarts!!!

With only a 30 minute wait for the Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey ride, Mike, Maureen and I hopped in what must be the coolest line at any part. First, you weave through the Hogwart's greenhouse.

Inside the building you weave through rooms including Dumbledore's office, the potions lab, the Griffyndor common room and some hallways. Within these rooms, you get to watch and listen to the paintings (which looked like actual oil paintings that moved and talked) and listened to holograms of Dumbledore as well as Harry, Ron and Hermione.

The ride was pretty interesting too. As a muggle, we got to fly through some adventures and got tossed about, spit on and made lots of near misses from dangerous creatures such as giant spiders and dragons. It was a fun experience.


Emily, Me and Dylan in Front of Hogwarts


Then it was on to checking out more of Hogsmeade. All the shop windows were fun to check out. Most of the store fronts are decoys but we did get to go inside and peruse Honeydukes and Zonko's.

Watching and Listening to the Mandrake Root

Three Broomsticks

Hogwarts Express

Self Family Portrait at Hogwarts

With a good chunk of our day enjoyed in Harry Potter land and time running short, we continued on through the park. Mike couldn't pass up the "midway" type games and stopped to play (and win!) the bottle toss game. Dylan got to pick out the prize. While none of the big winning prizes were small, Dylan, of course, picked out the most giant one available - the big blue bear. With the bear in the stroller and Dylan walking beside, we continued on to Seuss Landing.

Dylan, Me and Giant Blue Bear

This Seuss Door Was Just His Size!

The Caro-Seuss-el

With enough amusement park fun had for the day, we headed out to get some dinner away from the high expenses of Disney or Universal.

Headed Out of the Park

To keep things simple for all, we went to grab a bite at Olive Garden. A little ways into the meal, our seriously sleep deprived boy had had enough and had an uncharacteristic meltdown. So, Dylan and I left the restaurant and hung out in the parking lot\car while we waited for Mike to pay the bill and take us back to the hotel.

With Mike getting Dylan to bed, I met the family in the hotel bar again for our last night. It being Sunday night, it was a little quieter and we were able to chat more. We were also joined by one of the Disney "street" performers that is usually on the boardwalk outside. For Florida, it was really cold so he'd come inside to entertain. He chatted to us, generally, about himself and life as a Disney performer and then entertained us with a bit of his act. He had Emily spin a plate on her finger!

For our last night at Disney, we ended the day with a stuffed animal count of 5.

Flipping Over Epcot

Day 3 of our Disneyworld trip started in Epcot, then went to the Wide World of Sports and back to Epcot. Mike and I started the day with a workout and the the whole family quickly got ready for another full day.

Our hotel was just a hop, skip and a jump from Epcot so we took a quick stroll over to the gates just after the park opening. Mike and I were somewhat concerned that we wouldn't be able to fill our time in the park well with Dylan since most of the rides are geared toward and older, taller crowd. Worries were unnecessary thought because there was plenty to keep us entertained during our time there.

We rode the boat through The Land ride, explored Figment (of the imagination) where Dylan picked up a stuffed animal of that little purple dinosaur, and the went searching for and found Nemo (picked up another stuffed animal there). Through all the rides, even those I thought would be scary, Dylan showed no fear. Oddly, the only ride with no scary parts, Figment, was the only one he stood up, turned around and grabbed my neck on. Perhaps the loud, random noises on the ride bothered him or something.

Bruce Having a Lunch of Dylan, Patrick and Emily

All the kids loved seeing the Disney characters and Epcot had a great surprise in store for them - a one stop shop for photo ops with the most famous at Disney - Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Pluto and Goofy! We stood in line only for about 20 minutes for our turn with them.

Mickey, Mickey!

Dylan was very interested in all of Mickey's buttons.

The Hickey's with Mickey

Pluto's Whisker's Needed Pulling Apparently

Emily and Pluto

Minnie!

Donald - Dylan loved his hat

Goofy
He was the end of the line and I think
Dylan lost interest in getting his picture
with the Disney characters at this point.



Bumpa, Donald and Nana
Lots of autographs added to the cast at this stop.

 Then we headed off to tour the countries in Epcot. But first, more photo ops and characters.



Waiting to see Duffy. He had a lot of
fun playing on this railing.



Duffy - Disney's newest character and Epcot's mascot.
LOVE Dylan's expression in this pic!



Dylan like Duffy and wanted to hang out with him a while.

Emily had to head out to get ready for her meet and after balking at the outrageous cost of food in the countries ($19 for a panini sandwich in Italy), the rest of us stopped in the good ol' U.S. of A for burgers. Dylan got sick again here (why can't this child get sick in our room with easy clean up and wardrobe changes). After a good nap and a quick change, he was ready to go again. So, we regrouped with Mike's parents at the hotel and then went to Emily's meet.

At one point during the day, Mike, Patrick and I were having a discussion about how Dylan liked watching the girls in shiny outfits tumbling around (we went to a meet of Emily's when Dylan was a lot younger and he was mesmerized). With impeccable timing, the second we finished saying "girls in shiny outfits" Dylan sat up from his stroller, looked back at us and gave us the biggest grin! We all got a good chuckle.

We all enjoyed watching the girls perform. Dylan had a great time running around with his Daddy and cousin, Patrick, and pointing out each star they came across. Given that there was one on every carpet tile, he stayed very busy finding them all. We saw most of Emily's events - Mike didn't get back in time for her vault and I missed her bar routine because of another emergency diaper change for Dylan. That poor boy was just emptying out that day!


Emily Warming Up

Emily's Excellent Floor Routine

Emily The Winner!
She's on the left behind the 4 - that's for 4th all around.
In each event, she medaled:
4th on Floor
4th on Beam
5th on Vault
1st (tie) on Bars

With Dylan getting increasingly crazy with over tiredness, he was running around, flirting with all the gymnasts and getting out of control. After the awards ceremony, we made a quick exit to get him calmed down.

Somehow, he found his 4th wind of the day and, with no nap, was ready to go to dinner. We went back to Epcot to eat dinner with Patrick, Nana and Bumpa. Mike bought some light up Mickey ears. Nana and I got separated soon thereafter but easily caught up to the boys by following the flashy ears. We went to a Japanese restaurant and Mike and I were both very proud of Patrick for trying some new foods and we got to enjoy the Epcot firework show from the warmth of the restaurant. We had a great view of the show through the floor to ceiling windows.

Since Mike got a night out with the family the previous night, it was my turn. I left Mike and Dylan to watch Shrek and I went down to the hotel bar to have a drink with Nana, Bumpa and Patrick. Given that we'd all had a long day and the bar was super loud and crowded since it was Saturday night, we called it a day pretty quickly and headed up to our rooms.

Day 3, stuffed animal count at 3.

The Magic of the Magic Kingdom

Well, we missed a storm in Boston last week after we left for Disney, missed storms in Orlando yesterday because we were back but I guess we couldn't avoid bad weather forever. We're gearing up for our 4th snowstorm in Boston in 4 weeks so it's time to ignore shoveling for a while and reminisce about a great family vacation at Disneyworld. So, carve out some time because this is going to be a long, picture heavy post.

Mike's niece, Emily, is quite the gymnast. She's been competing a lot and lately in several far off destinations. When she signed up for a competition at the Disney resort in Orlando, we took that as a good excuse to join her family, the Hickey's, as well as Mike's parents, Nana and Bumpa, for a vacation.

We set out on Thursday morning with plenty of time for our flight. The car was parked at a lot just a little way from the airport and we were shuttling the to airport when Mike saw on the email he had received from our airline that our flight was a mere 50 minutes off.....the flight had been changed to 35 minutes earlier then when we booked the flight! We started stressing big time since they normally don't let you even check baggage within 45 minutes of a flight. After a major scramble to the counter, some talks with the staff there, we were expedited and sent to security where we got shuffled to the front. As we were running to the gate, we realized the car seat was still in our car back at the lot. Good thing you can rent them from the car company! On the flight, we realized that Dylan's must have night time lovey, "yaya," was also MIA. So much for being organized and together. Hopefully, this would not be indicative of the rest of the trip.

Once we landed, we got our luggage, a car and headed off to Disney. We did little to plan this trip and just rode the coat tails of what the Hickey's wanted to do. They picked the Boardwalk hotel on the Disney resort for our lodging. When we checked in there, we somehow got a free upgrade to their concierge level. Apparently, that meant we had access to free breakfast, unlimited snacks and drinks all day, wine and cheese service from 5-7 and cordials and deserts from 8-10. Awesome! Since Disney charges an arm and a leg for everything, this nice perk really helped keep my cheap self sane.

We took a different flight from the rest of the family and got in a couple of hours earlier. Since Dylan was going on virtually no nap time for the day (I think he got about 30 minutes on the plane), we decided to go for a walk, check out the resort area and see if we could get him to snooze in the stroller. Once the rest of the family arrived, all hopes for a nap would be gone.

The Boys Checking out the View from the Room

Well, no napping occurred. By the time everyone got in and settled, agreed on a place for dinner and got seated, it was well past Dylan's usually bed time. Unlike most kids, he doesn't get cranky when he's tired, he just gets crazy. Dealing with crazy was getting a little overwhelming for me when things got a lot more nutty - Dylan threw up at the table! Luckily it was a warm nice and we were just outside our hotel so I stripped him down and then carried him up to the room to get some new clothes. As time would tell, I think Dylan had (perhaps still has) a touch of a stomach bug. I tell ya though, I truly have the greatest kid in the world. Though he might have been a little sick, he was in great spirits the whole trip and didn't let a minor little bug get in his way.

Sleeping is always tough when we travel. Dylan being in the same room as us just doesn't work. He won't sleep unless there are no distractions.....and I mean none - no light, no movement, no parents he can see...not so easy when his crib is mere feet away from where we're sleeping and we don't exactly want to go to sleep at the same time a baby would. The first night was rough, it took him a while to fall asleep and he woke up every couple of hours until we finally brought him to bed with us. When we tried that on our trip to Bermuda, it meant no one slept. However, this time was different and he laid right down and slept very well with us.

The next morning, Friday, Dylan spent some time with the rest of the family while Mike and I got in a quick workout at the great gym facility they had at our hotel (fitness does not take vacations!). After that, breakfast, getting ready, getting a plan and getting everyone rallied and out of the hotel made for a late start. We finally got on the shuttle to the Magic Kingdom and in the park around 11...everyone but Emily and her dad, Joe. They were at a practice session.

Ready to Get to DisneyWorld

The rest of us were very excited to finally get to the park. The shops and photo ops at the entrance kept us busy for a while. Dylan got his first Disney stuffed animal - a Mickey Mouse dressed as Woody from Toy Story. Too cute.

Meeting Pluto
Dylan was cool with it at first but reached for me a
second after this picture was taken. He did well with
the other characters but had his legs clenched tightly
around my waist for all other meetings with cartoon folk.

After a ridiculous amount of pictures and strolling about, we finally set our sights on riding our first ride - Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin.The funny thing about this ride is that when Mike and I went to DisneyWorld 3.5 years ago, we went on it and didn't know about that sneaky photo op they put into some amusement park rides. When we got off and saw our picture, we had to spend the exorbitant amount of money on it. On the ride, you shoot your laser at targets and we looked ridiculously serious playing the game. This go round, it was a great picture of the family and got it because it will look great framed next to our other one.



Space Ranger Family

With the ride momentum going, the big kids (ie adults and Patrick) got in line for space mountain while Nana and Dylan hung out. Thanks to Nana's magical powers, Dylan fell asleep for a nice nap. Even though he really needed it and I was glad for him to have it, he wasn't awake to meet Stitch or Chip and Dale.



Nana Getting Stitch's Autograph on Her Cast

With Emily done with her practice, she and Joe met up and the whole gang was together....just in time to get some turkey legs for lunch and ride Thunder Mountain. Splash Mountain was closed for repairs, but it started raining (hard) as our roller coaster ride started so it was like we got Thunder and Splash Mountains in one ride. We were in the nick of time as they closed the ride due to weather just as we stepped off.

Crazy Turkey Leg Guy (aka Patrick)



While the rain continued, we went to visit Captain Jack Sparrow on the Pirates of the Caribbean ride which was indoors and did some more shopping. At that point the rain stopped and Mike Dylan and I split ways with the others and took Dylan on the kiddie rides - Snow White, the carousel, Peter Pan, Dumbo and the Mad Tea Party.

Night had fallen and we all met back up, headed to the hotel and went for some dinner. I got mine to go and took Dylan back to the hotel room. We were in for the night. Mike stayed out and had a fun time with his family while I officially gave up on the crib and snuggled down with Dylan. While he snoozed, I played on my iPhone a bit and then called it an early night with him. It had been a long day of fun and I was pooped! Plus, it was just the beginning of the vacation so I would need some energy for the days to come.

Dylan was very proud to have figured out how
to turn on his spinning Mickey light.

We were somewhat worried that Dylan was too young to get something out of this vacation. However, there is no doubt in my mind that he felt the magic of Disney. There truly is something wonderful about that park that makes adults feel like kids again and makes kids feel like they are on top of the world. Dylan loved all the sights and sounds and especially loved pointing out the millions of Mickey's he saw throughout the day. Plus, with virtually no lines, it was a hassle free day. Just perfect.

Day 2 stuffed animal count at 1. (This number will be growing in future postings.)

Disney Weight

There's something about special events that help me have super memory on specific details (a skill, as my husband can attest to, I generally really lack). So, although I can somehow forget full conversations I've had, I can remember, for example, what I wore (from outfit to accessories) to a particular wedding, party or special event.

As a part of my weight loss journey (which will be never ending), I can also remember the specific weight I was at certain events. I know precisely how much I weighed on my wedding day. I know exactly how much I weighed on the day of my brother's wedding 8 months later (10 pounds less). I also know how much I weighed (4 more pounds gone) when I first purchased a tiny size pair of jeans that I packed in a suitcase to take on a vacation to Disney World with Mike, the newlyweds and my parents a couple of months later.

While I generally don't need specific goals to keep me motivated on a day to day basis, having one in my immediate sights can definitely help me pump up my workouts and diet plan to try and reach for the stars. So, for our upcoming trip to Disney world, I was shooting for that "Disney weight" (the same weight I was on my previous visit there) yet again. What also helped me in trying to reach that weight was that Mike was using the trip as a goal for himself to shed some pounds. With both of us having additional motivation, we kept mostly on track through the holidays, but with necessary splurges, and jumped into full force diet and exercise in the new year to meet our goals.

The diet discipline was cranked tight and the workouts were given 120%. After stepping on the scale for our final weigh in this morning, the results are in. Mike surpassed his conservative goal and I met mine! And, for a couple of weeks now, I've been able to wear those same tiny sized jeans again. Pretty awesome!

We're off to the airport now. Dylan's been trained to recognize Mickey and can say his name so he's officially been brainwashed into being a Disney fan. Hopefully he won't be as terrified as the characters as some children are and we'll get some good pictures. And, if he is, I guess I'll have some entertaining stories to tell when we get back. Bon voyage to us!

Radiator Cover #2

I boosted my building confidence a bit building radiator cover #1 for our living room, so with the holidays behind us, it was time to take on a bigger project - a radiator cover with attached book shelves for Dylan's playroom.

Dylan loves books and his family loves him. He got so many books for Christmas that we literally didn't have anywhere to put them so I needed to whip out this project quickly. While I had thought it through for a very long time I just couldn't get it through to completion in my head. So, it was time to just start and work out the final steps once I got to that point. I think it was new years weekend, after we got back from our snow fun in NH, that I started working on the cover. With that part done, I put it into place, got the top piece fitted and then started working on the shelving that would go on either side.

It was tough to get everything perfect because 1) I was making it up as I went along (IE didn't really know what I was doing) and 2) it's an old house and I'm working with wavy floors around a radiator. After fitting all the pieces the best I could, I painted all the pieces while still deconstructed.

I have no idea what the total time spent on it was but I almost every spare moment for 2 weeks was dedicated to the project. Loud power tools and sleeping babies don't mix well so during the week, I would try to slip in wood cuts during the time before I went to work and the hour after I got home before he went to bed. I also had lots of pieces to paint during different portions of the project which is time consuming because it was a lot of hurry up and wait - prime, dry, paint one coat, wait for it to dry and then find time to add another coat.

Once I had the base of it all installed, the detailed work started - making the piece look nice, finished and built in with trimming it out. I was pretty proud of myself jumping in and taking on such a large scale project and actually figuring it out along the way. I finally finished it on Saturday night, touched up the paint and was able to fill it with all of Dylan's books Sunday morning.

Finished Product

Decorative Trim

Dylan "Helping" Me Put Books on the Shelves
(He took them off faster then I put them on.
The top shelf at his eye level was his immediate favorite.)

All Filled Up!

I learned some new woodworking skills along the way and got to use almost my entire collection of power tools - compound miter saw, circular saw, jigsaw, orbital sander, router, air gun - fun stuff! Most of Sunday morning was spent organizing and rearranging our sun room which is our office and play room space. Finishing up has given me a great sense of accomplishment and more importantly I'M DONE! Now I won't have to spend every moment at home figuring out how to find a few minutes for building.

Oh, and a very special shout out to my Aunt Pam. Not only was she a pivotal player in making Dylan's book collection awesomely large, but the Lowe's gift card she gave me for Christmas bought some of the lumber and brackets. Thanks Aunt Pam!