Let the Magic Begin

Well, the car is mostly packed.  Just a few last minute things to toss in (like the dvd player, snacks and the kid).  We leave for Owosso in about 11 hours and Cat and I head for Florida on Sunday morning.  In about 38 hours we'll be getting our first glimpse of Cinderella's Castle!

More Magic

We did a great thing today!  We added a day to our Disney trip.  Now we leave on Sunday instead of Monday.  Even better, we are flying out of Flint instead of Detroit.  The airport is much closer to my parent's home (where we will begin and end our vacation) and the flights leave earlier on Sunday (7am getting us into Orlando a bit after 9) and leaving later on Friday (leaving Orlando at 7pm)  We get nearly two extra days in the parks because of it!!  So very exciting!  We've already made our dinner reservations for Sunday night at Teppan Edo in the Japan Pavilion at Epcot.  This change takes a lot of the time constraints off of us and I think we'll enjoy it much more (not that we weren't going to enjoy ourselves in the first place)!!

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers out there. 

Today was a good day.  We got up and Jonah gave Mama his gift (some new mixing bowls, requested by her).  Cat's gift from me is rolled into our Disney trip.  We headed off to church and then had brunch with the Cases at Perkins.  The went well until Jonah said, "Papa I'm painting" and proceeded to use his crayon to draw on the wall!! 

We spent a little time at the park this afternoon and ran into Jonah's friend Caleb from daycare.  It was the first time we'd really me his parents and it turns out Cat did their pre-marriage prep 5 years ago but she doesn't remember.  I thought it was pretty funny. 

I broke in the grill this evening for Cat's requested meal....beer brats!!!!  Simmered in onions, peppers and beer then grilled.  We also had french fries and broccoli.  We played tag, running around the house, with Jonah and then it was off to bed for the little one.  I usually put him to bed but he wanted Mama and she just couldn't say no. 

Now we're just relaxing and then it'll be off to bed.  All in all a pretty good day (from the non-mother's point of view anyway).

180 Days

Today marks 180 days until our Disney trip.  This is a big milestone for Disney goers because it is the first day you can make Advanced Dining Reservations (ADR's).  Sit-down restaurants at Disney World usually require reservations, unless you want to wait a long time to eat, and they can be made starting 180 days from the start of your trip.  Some restaurants fill up within hours and others can be booked the same day, but better safe than sorry. 

I got up at 6:00 this morning to book our three sit-down meals. 
     Dinner at Flying Fish Cafe at Disney's Boardwalk Resort
     Dinner at Boma - Flavors of Africa at Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge
     Breakfast at Chef Mickey's at Disney's Contemporary Resort

We've spent a lot of time reading about all the restaurants and narrowing down which one's we'd like to eat at.  It wasn't easy to come up with this short list.  There are so many we'd like to try but we are only there for three full days (that was a scheduling mistake I won't make again).  We'll just have to plan more trips to try the one's that didn't make it!

Snow

In most of the country once the snow is gone (assuming you had any to begin with) its gone.  Not here it the great U.P.  The snow has been melted from my yard for about two weeks now and we haven't had significant snowfall for over a month.  Last night it started to snow.  Then it started to stick on the grass.  Then is started to stick to the pavement.  This morning I had had to SHOVEL.  Seriously Mother Nature?  I know that when the calendar reads spring on March 21 it doesn't mean spring has arrived in the U.P.  But now we are more than half way through April.  We have spring flowers blooming in the garden.  The hostas have started to poke out of the ground.  The robins are digging for worms.


Next week the city is supposed to pick up yard waste.  You aren't supposed to put it near the curb until one week before so this week I need to rake up the junk in the front yard.  The back yard is good but the trees in the front don't drop their leaves until after it snows in late fall so the yard is a mess.  I usually rake it up the week before pickup.  Not an issue.  This year...ISSUE.  My leaves are now covered with several inches of heavy, sloppy, wet snow.  It isn't supposed to warm up until Wednesday and we'll be lucky if the snow melts by the end of the week.  If it does I'll be raking on Easter.  YIPPIE!  Of course if the snow doesn't melt then we'll have to figure out how to haul it to the compost site.  Not that simple when you don't have a truck or a trailer. 


I guess I shouldn't complain.  Parts of the world are being ravaged by earthquakes and tsunamis.  Parts of the country are being torn apart by tornadoes, and hurricane season is just around the corner.  I should be thankful that the worst of our weather is just some rain and snow (and the rare flood). 

Yearly ER Visit...Check

So we took a trip to the ER this morning.  Jonah was goofing around, tripped and smacked into the coffee table.  It made a horrible sound.  He screamed and there was a bunch of blood.  We kicked into panicked emergency mood and were at the hospital in less than 10 minutes.

Aside from a few lacerations and a fat lip Jonah's just fine.  He bit his lip and there are two cuts inside and two cuts outside but none are very deep and they didn't need stitches.  He was really good and let the PA check him out without crying or whining.  I was really impressed with how he handled himself.  The PA even said "he can come back anytime" to which I replied "sorry, we don't like you people that much!"

Well enough about that.  Here's hoping we all stay out of the ER for another year (or preferably longer)

When the Cat's Away

Catherine has been gone for more than 36 hours and she won't be back for about 12 more.  We found out last weekend that her only uncle passed away.  The funeral is today but it is 5 hours from home and to beat yesterday's snowstorm she and Mary left on Tuesday evening.  So it's been just Jonah and I the last two nights (and tonight too).  We're doing good, though Jonah does go into "I waaaant my mama" mode when he gets in trouble for not listening. 

I think tonight we'll go grocery shopping.  That's a scary thought because I don't like grocery shopping and Jonah just likes to pull everything off the shelves.  But we have no milk, no bread and no...lots of stuff.  (Cat usually shops on Friday but we were out of town and she was only home 1 day before she left again).  I'll try not to buy too much junk food!

Disney World

I made a decision last month. We are going to Disney World.

Catherine and I have always talked about going but what were the odds it would really happen. We talk about saving, then spend the money. We dream, but then find excuses.  So I found a good deal on airfare and voila...October 17-21 we'll be in Florida!  The plane tickets are paid for.  The hotel is booked.  The planning has begun.

Jonah gets to spend a week with Grandma and Grandpa while we spend a week on a long overdue vacation.  We haven't take a trip by ourselves since our honeymoon (and that was only three days in the Keweenaw).  We will have been married for twelve years by then so it's about time.  Jonah would love it, but he can go next time when he'll be able to remember it.

Planning and preparing has taken up all our free time.  We have now purchased 3 books and subscribed to numerous web sites all about WDW.  I can't tell you how many late nights in the last three weeks we've spend discussing restaurants and "touring plans".

I hope you don't get sick of Disney because it appears to have taken over our lives and will probably show up here more often than not.  I've even added a new countdown on the blog!

A Year and Then Some....

It seems as though it's been a while since we updated this. Let's try again shall we.

We have a lot of fun things planned this year and hopefully we'll keep up on them.

Talk at ya soon!