The Vacation Is Over - Bah Hum Bug!!!

     So here I am home.  As we speak I am doing laundry and cleaning my dishwasher.  I have to unpack, put things away, think about the week ahead, in other words back to real life.  I became a little used to having someone come and clean my room while I am away.  Yesterday I left the house and when I came back home my bed was still unmade.  I was about to call down to front desk, when I realized... Oh wait, I am the "staff".  I became spoiled.  Someone made my bed, I picked out what I wanted for dinner, and did no dishes.  And now it's all over, boo hooo hooo.
    We had an amazing vacation.  In retrospect I may have packed too much in, but it was an awesome vacation.  We did a small tour of Savannah, Georgia, saw alligators in their natural habitat (from the safety of our car), 4 days at Disney, 1 day at Universal, we visited a dolphin place, played in the ocean, visited North America's oldest city, picked oranges and played a the Nickelodeon resort.  To top it all off to take a little driving break near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania we stopped by Hershey World.  That is a lot to pack in.
    For those of you who have never been to Hershey, Pennsylvania, why haven't you?  It's free.  We took the tour.  A lot of years ago Hershey stopped their actual factory tours, but built a really fun ride.  My guys loved it.  We boarded our little car and were taken around the chocolate making process and were serenaded by anamotronic cows.  After the ride ended we were given a chocolate sample.  It was the great cap off of our vacation.
     Now my real life resumes.  My days will be filled with "have to's".  At least I had a two week break from reality.  I really do feel refreshed, and maybe it will make the have to's easier, I'll let you know.

Picking Our Own Oranges!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  Every year for the last 15 years we have gone to Campbell's Orchards in Prince Edward County and picked our own apples.  It is a family tradition that we love.  There is something to be said for eating an apple that has just been picked that second.  We have not missed a year yet.  We love it so much that 7 years ago we planted an Empire Apple tree in our back yard.  5 years ago we planted a Macintosh Apple tree in beside it.
    How could we go to Florida and not pick oranges?  As you enter the Florida Welcome Centre they hand out free glasses of orange juice (of course when we arrived it was on a Sunday, so they did not have samples).  Oranges are synonymous with Florida.  Having said all of this, try to get someone in Florida to tell you where you can pick some.  Every single person we asked had that same blank face and replied "I have no idea".  In the end I found a place online just up from Orlando called "Showcase of Citrus".  This "pick your own" place boasts over 50 different types of citrus.  I sat in the car as we pulled up clapping my hands with excitement like I was 3.  When we were there they were finishing picking grapefruit, and valencia oranges as well as tangerines.
    We picked valencia oranges.  I was so excited.  As you leave the little store there are stacks of what look like lacrosse rackets at the door.   Apparently these are what you use to pick the tall oranges.  In the apple orchard they use ladders.  The first thing that I noticed as a skipped, yes you read that correctly, I skipped like a little girl, was the smell.  Growing up my mother wore orange blossom perfume.  For me the smell of orange blossom perfume is synonymous with my mother.  I stood still, eyes closed breathing in that smell.  At first I could not place that smell.  Was it honey suckle?  No, wait... ORANGE BLOSSOM.  The perfume smelled exactly like the real thing.  I just stood there in one place inhaling the smell of my childhood. The kids all ran around me, Christopher, who knows what he was doing, I just stood there, eyes closed, like the world around me ceased to exist.
    When we pick apples there are always windfalls.  There the apple are just lying beneath the tree.  I was shocked to see oranges on the ground.  It seemed so alien to me.  I felt like someone should be in trouble for wasting all of those oranges.  I wonder if they use the windfall oranges for juice like they do with the windfall apples?  Did I mention that they sold fresh squeezed orange juice like they do apple cider here?
    As we left to pick our oranges there was a sign at the door "please do not eat oranges in the grove, pay first."  When we were out in the grove I was excitedly picking all the oranges my arms could hold, when I look over at my husband standing there peeling an orange.  "You're not supposed to do that !" I tell him.  He looks sheepish and replies, "but I always eat the apples right off the tree, I just want to see what an orange right off the tree tastes like."  He gets his orange peeled and puts it in his mouth.  He has that expectant look on his face like he knows that this is going to be the experience of his life.  I am standing there waiting for the earth to move.  "and?"  his reply "this orange is really hot.  Turns out it's better chilled."  They really are better chilled.  In fact these are the most delicious oranges I have ever eaten.  The juice runs down your arm.  They look a little sickly, with their brown and orange skin.  I know that the oranges I buy in the grocery store have been sprayed to be orange, but still it takes a while to process that fact when I look at my fresh off the tree oranges.
    All and all, if you find yourself in Florida during orange season (November - April) find yourself a grove.  It is a great adventure that ends with orange juice running down your arm.

St. Augustine... Our Vacation Is Coming To An End.

    I can't believe it.  After our hundreds of hours of planning.  Months of scrimping and saving, our vacation is dwindling down to it's last days.  It seems unfair that something that has taken so long to come should end so quickly.  We leave Florida to return home tomorrow.

    After disney the rest of the vacation was planned around the things that I love, well some of it (if you take away the Nick Resort).  I love history.  You can't get too much better than St. Augustine a city that celebrates 450 years, also boasting to be North America's oldest continuously inhabited city.

    One of the nicest things about this trip was meeting up with my cousin Sandy and her husband Joe.  Sandy teaches (she's a professor) medieval history at the University of Florida.  She has also been to St. Augustine several times, she was a really great tour guide.  She made a point of pointing out to the kids the gates to the old city.  Riley thought that they looked like hardened oatmeal.  In fact it was seal shells that had been poured into the masonry. 

    What a beautiful place.  It was like stepping into the 1500's, well minus the cars and modern dressed people walking around.  I made a comment to Sandy that I was amazed that all of the old buildings were still intact.  There was a time when everything old needed to be demolished to make way for the future.  Sandy's reply was that what saved St. Augustine was it's lack of wealth at the time.  Because it was not an up and coming city, it was spared.  I am very thankful that it was not an up and coming city, therefore allowing us a glimpse into the past. 

    The city has seen it's more than fair share of blood shed.  It was settled by the Spanish, then the French came and were eradicated by the Spanish.  Then the English, each killing each other.  It comes as no surprise that "ghost tours" are everywhere.  It has not only been named "North America's oldest city", but also "North America's most haunted city".  One author states that "St. Augustine in the day is not the same St. Augustine at night."  This intrigues my husband.  He would love to a ghost hunt.  That is most certainly not this afraid of her own shadow's ideal trip.

     We ate a fabulous lunch at a beautiful place called "Harry's".  It was so nice to sit and catch up.  Because Sandy lives in Florida I only get see her every five years or so. We did not have a long visit, but it was a lovely visit.  We parted ways at the "Pirate Museum". 

        The pirate museum was fascinating.  It was reasonably priced too, which was a nice bonus.  The kids really enjoyed it, as did Christopher and myself.  We learned some really interesting information.  It turns out that Sir. Francis Drake, the man we know as an explorer, was also infact a pirate.  He was hired as a "privateer" by Queen Elizabeth.  A privateer is essentially a sanctioned pirate, as long as they steal from the enemy.  He was knighted for stealing from and killing the Spanish. Who knew. We were able to see one of only two original "Jolly Roger" flags in existence.  We saw real pirate treasure, and real gold deb-looms.  For a history nerd like myself it was fascinating.  They also had several pirate movie artifacts.  I highly recommend going if you find yourself in the area.

    It was a great day.  Oh I hate the fact that our vacation is winding down, it feels like it just started.

 

My Moral Dilemma

 

     Every time the Marine Land commercial comes on the T.V. and sings "Everyone loves Marine Land", my kids shout "Not our mom!".  They then follow with, "We'll never go".  The reason that they say this is because I am strongly against making animals that have an ocean in which to live, caputured, put into too small tanks and then forced to perform tricks for our entertainment.  It bothers me.  I am not a big animal lover.  You will never ever hear me ask if I can pet your dog, or ask you anything about your dog.  I may pet your dog out of obligation, but never by personal choice.  Having said that, I am very much against animal cruelty, well any kind of cruelty to anyone or anything.

Whenever I see the Marine Land commercial I shake my head.  My kids stopped asking if they could go, years ago.
    So here is where the moral dilemma comes in.  We are in Florida.  My Gracie loves dolphins.  She has loved dolphins since she first spied one in the ocean far off in the distance on a Myrtle Beach vacation.  That visit we went to Build a Bear Workshop and she selected a dolphin to make, and named it "Myrtle Beach".  Dolphins are her favourite animal in the entire world.  When I was researching our vacation online I came across this place ironically called "Marineland" in Florida.  They offer dolphin interactions at a reasonable prices.  Most dolphin interaction places cost the earth.  This was an opportunity that we may never have again.  I felt like such a hippocrite.
    Yesterday afternoon we went to Marineland and paid our money for our dolphin interaction.  I walked through the double doors and saw large tanks full of blue water and dolphins.  It stuck in my throat.  Were they happy?  Were these tanks too small?  By giving my child a thrill of a lifetime I had sacrificed both my morals and my humanity.  It felt like a very bitter pill to swallow.  Poor Christopher, I kept telling him how conflicted I felt.  To his credit he humoured me, "Why don't you ask them how they came to have the dophins?'.  I approached the woman at the desk with trepidation, afraid of her answer.
I tried to sound casual, to take the sting of accusation out of my voice..." How did you collect all of the dolphins, did you have them caught in the ocean?"  I take a deep breath afaid of the answer.
"Most of our dolphins are really old.  Alvin is the world's oldest dolphin.  Some of our dolphins have been born here, and some of our dolphins have been rescued.  The government no longer allows the catching of dolphins".  I exhale.  I still am morally conflicted.  I convince myself that the young dolphins do not suffer, because they have never known any different.  The real stinger is that their tank sits on a hill not 200 feet from the ocean.  The dolphins would be able to smell the salt, perhaps see their ocean.
    They called us for our dolphin interaction.  Gracie, Riley and I walked over to the tank.  Alvin was our dolphin.  He was beautiful.  The trainer told us not to touch Alvin until he had asked Alvin's permission, and told us where to touch him.  He gave Alvin a hand signal and told us we could touch his head.  I was expecting him to feel like warm marble.  He felt like a pool noodle.  I did not want to take my hand from him.  I felt a calm like I have never felt.  It was a quasi - religious experience.  I felt a blanket of calm warmth envelop me.  I was completely in the moment.  Then the trainer asked Alvin to flip over and let us feel his tail.  His tail felt like warm stone.  I looked at my girls and they had the same look in their eyes that I felt in my soul. 
     I thought that it would be a "cool" experience to see a dolphin up close, but I had no idea it would have such an impact on me.  It feels so bogus to hear myself say that it was the closest thing I have ever had to a religious experience that I have ever felt, and yet it is the truth. I am still morally conflicted about the small tanks and holding these beautiful creatures hostage, and yet I am thankful for the experience.

My Disney Wisdom

    I am writing this post from Palm Coast, Florida.  We are on to the next leg of our adventure.  We loved Disney, but it was a lot.  Apparently there really is too much of a good thing.  We ended our stay at Epcot, and the kids kept asking when we could go back to the hotel.  They just wanted to play in the pool.  It re-affirms that we are not a go- go family.  We are quite slow paced and the kids were longing for this, who knew?
    I am going to now share my disney wisdom....

  #1  Don't wait until you think you can afford to go to Disney.  For years the kids have begged to go to Disney, and we would tell them "When we win the lottery" followed by ha ha ha.  Then a friend of ours went and told me what it cost for her family of five to go, I could not believe it.  For our family of 6 to stay at the resort for 4 nights, have park tickets for 5 days, and have dinner, lunch/ breakfast and a snack for 4 days, unlimited pop at the resort it cost us $3100.00.  You can book it a year in advance, and make payments all year.  You can lay away for your vacation! 

#2  Stay at the Disney Resort.  No it is not as cheap as staying off site.  The convenience is invaluable.  The attention to detail at the resort is amazing.  Every morning the housekeeper would arrrange the kids toys in a fun way, or make a Mickey Mouse with towels. It was all of the little touches. One morning Elly had a sore eye and was crying, one of the employees ran up with a balloon for her.  In other words they cater to children.  That is a rare thing.  Every day there are tons of activities at the resort for the kids.  In the evenings they showed movies at the pool.  There was no shortage of activities for them to do.
    The other plus is that Disney has it's own transportation system.  There are bus stops in front of the hotel that go to every park, as well as Downtown Disney.  The buses leave every twenty minutes.  You just park your car, and they take care of everything else!

 #3 Purchase the dining plan.  Sure you could save money and bring in your meals, but why would you pack lunches, when for a fraction more you can eat your meals there and not have to cook or clean?  It cost us $300.00 for our dining plan for 6 of us.  That includes one quick serve, and one sit down dining, plus one snack each day.  The sit down meals are the Character meals or nice restaurants.  We found that with the sit down dining, places were reserved, and because of that the restaurant was not as busy as the quick serve places.  Our first sit down meal was at The Crystal Palace.  It was a buffet charater meal.  Winnie the Pooh, Tigger, Eeyore,and Piglette walked around the restaurant.  At one point there was a parade around the restaurant and the kids were invited to join in.  My kids sooooo loved it.  The buffet line had grown up height and kids size so that the food was at a child's height allowing them to select their own meals.  At the end of the meal they brought us a bill, the total, $200.00.  Our dining plan in one day had paid for it's self.

  #4 Book ahead!  I thought that they were being overly dramatic when they told me that you should reserve 6 months ahead for dining and experiences, they were not.  Rowan had really wanted to take part in the pirate experience, but we could not fit him in.  Elly decided that she would really like to have a tea party with one of the princesses, I called three weeks before we left... completely booked solid.   I booked our sit down dining in November, it was really smart of me.  I booked the other hotels I knew we were going to stay at, and consiequently saved us a lot of money.  I discovered that in Orlando their rates change daily.  I booked our hotel stay at the Four Point Sheridan for the first Sunday of our vacation, I booked it two months ago for $100.00.  That same room cost $150.00 for the Friday of the same week when we inquired Sunday.

   #5  Plan Plan Plan!!!!  We booked our trip last October.  I have been compiling a trip bible that has been invaluable.  I put mapquest directions, important phone numbers, confirmation numbers.  It has been invaluable.

    I really enjoyed Disney and I did not think that I would.  The crowds were terrible, and yet the experience was great.  It is not a cheap vacation, but it was worth every single penny.  I was amazed at every single detail that they look after.  Everyone is super friendly.  The staff all call the little girls "Princess" and the boys "Prince".  There is not a speck of garbage to be seen anywhere.  They have crews out cleaning all the time.  The bathrooms have sinks at little children's heights.  Everything is geared toward children.  It truly is magical.  I have already started planning our vacation back to Disney in two years.  I asked the staff, and they say come in February, not as busy.  I think I will!

Day One of Disney - The Magic Kingdom

    All of the months of scrimping and saving and planning and counting down were here.  Day one of our Disney vacaction was here at last.  We arrived Monday night to our hotel at the Disney All Star Music Resort.  Let me just say that Disney is like it's own city.  I have never seen anything quite like it.  They have their own transportation system for heaven's sake!  This place is HUGE!!!!!  Of course we got lost several times and asked for directions from at least three park staff before we found our hotel.
    The resort is amazing.  Our room is like a little apartment.  The kids were so excited.  There were all kinds of neat little touches.  The kid's let out a squeal when they saw the Mickey head made from towels on the bed.
    We began our day on Tueday morning by heading to the food court.  I felt pretty spoiled just telling someone what I would like for breakfast.  I had nothing to do.  No cooking, no cleaning, just ordering.

    We boarded our bus outside the resort and headed for the Magic Kingdom.  The crowds were horrendous.  Who knew when we booked our vacation all of those months ago that we were booking at the time when many of the states have their spring break.  I had that sinking feeling of deja vu, were we going to have a repeat of the day before?  We had spent so much money, and now we would be unable to enjoy any of this.  I got more and more irritated as the day went on.  It was two hour waits t o go on the rides.  You had to push to make your way everywhere.  I was hot, my feet hurt, I was not happy.  I decided then and there to just endure it, and pretend that I did not want to take a flame thrower to everyone that got in my way.
    We decided to find a spot early and watch the Main Street Parade.  At least I could find somewhere to sit and rest my feet.  It took forever for the parade to get to us.  How much more of this could I take?  Then the parade started.  A funny thing happened when the parade started, my heart got ten times larger.  I felt like the Grinch when he discovered Christmas.  I looked at my kids.  Their little faces were alive with pure joy.  I looked over and saw Gracie, she had her hand out to shake hands wit hthe characters as they passed her.  She is entering that age soon where she will be too cool to embrace joy.  I looked at little Elly perched on her daddy shoulders waving her little hand off to everyone who passed.  Riley and Rowan's face's showed that wonder.  How could I have been so selfish?  So what if it was crowded, this was the Magic Kingdom.  I think that it might truly be magic.

 
    After the parade I left my bad attitude on Main Street.  I enjoyed myself.  I saw the world through my children's eyes, and then cried a little.  In the end they are only little for the blink of an eye.  They will remember this vacation for the rest of their lives.  Every single penny we had to save away for this vacation was worth it.

Our Not So Awesome Adventure At Univeral Studios

    Sorry for the delay, I had a heck of a time finding a wi fi connection at our hotel, but I have now, and here we go.  So when I last wrote we had a wonderful time in Georgia and were headed into Orlando.  We stayed at the Four Season's at the Universal gates.  The hotel was wonderful, and we thought that we were off to a flying start.  That was until the next day when we entered Universal.
    I hate crowds.  If I were a billionare, I would just rent a whole amusement park for myself, but alas, we are poor folk, and had to endure the stinking crowds.  So we entered Univeral Studios Islands of Adventure Park.  It looked great.  As we got futher into the park, the crowds got thicker and thicker. The sole reason for our visiting Universal was to see The Wizarding World of Harry Potter.  I mentioned before that we are huge Harry Potter fans.  How could we go to Orlando, but not go?  I was going to try Butter Beer, and Pumpkin Juice.  I was going to explore Hogworts, it was going to be awesome.  At no point when I was planning out how awesome The Wizarding World of Harry Potter was going to be, at no point did I ever fantasize about people elbowing me in the throat.  There was no room to even breath.  People had no respect and were pushing the kids.  I thought that I would loose my mind.  I could enjoy nothing!  The line to buy Butter Beer was an hour long.  In the end I could not take the heat, could not take the crowds, nor the complete lack of humanity.  We had to leave that part of the park.
    We took the kids to the Dr. Seuss park.  They had fun, but my feet hurt, and I was cranky, and I was ready to go (I sound like one of my kids).  After I had endured the Lorax retelling by a crazing sounding old woman, I asked Christopher if he thought we had our money's worth of the park.  He had that crazed look in his eyes that mirrored my own, "Oh I think we can leave".
    We set off for the car.  Someone had parked so close to the back of the van that there was no way we could open the back hatch.  For that matter I am surprised that their license plate was not imprinted into our back bumper.  I packed the kids into the van and let Christopher put the stroller in the car.  We got half way out of the parking garage when I asked Christopher if he had packed the stroller.  He then replied, "No, I thought you had."  I then checked to count the kids and make sure that we had not forgotten one of them.  So he walked off to get the stroller because we could not figure out how to retrace our steps in the car.  Off my exhausted husband trucked, returning with at red face and a stroller.  The stroller was whipped into the already full to the brim hatch.  Off we drove.  "Where are my sunglasses?" Christopher asked.  I had no idea.  He stopped the car, put his hand on the roof, took his glasses off the roof and drove off.  That was the kind of day it was!
    Moral of the story, Universal Studios, is not for us.  It's more of a teenagers park.  I guess if there's an upside to this story.... hmmmm let me get back to you on that one.

Day One Of Our Adventure

    After months and months of planning the day finally came, we were ready to leave for our trip to Florida / Disney.  I spent most of the morning packing the car so that everyone could travel in comfort, and it was undone before we even got over the American border in New York.
    Our plan was to take naps during the day and drive all night long while the kids slept.  It was great plan that has done us right on many family vacations.  As you may have already guessed, our plan did not quite go according to plan.  My procrastination ate up quite a bit of my nap time, then I got a call from the school at 12:00, Riley was having chest pains, could I come and get her? Riley has a heart defect and I could hear the paniced tone in her lovely teacher.  She has a Pulmenary Stenosis which is completely stable.  She could be an athelete and be fine her cardioligist told me at our last visit.  Having said that, we still worry.  Well it turns out she had indigestion and was fine withing minutes of taking a Tums.  She did however succeed in destroying my nap.
  We did still head out at 4:00.  Mom and Dad came over to drop off Elly (they were kind enough to watch her so that we could nap) and send us off.  Christopher had squeezed in an hour nap, and we werere hoping that it would help. 
    Off we road on our adventure.  We all cheered as we passed through the border into New York.  Everyone was so anxious to get on with our adventure.  The kids however were frustrated with our progress when it took us four hours to get to the Pennsylania border which none of them were even awake to see.  Maryland went by in minutes, as did West Virginia, but Virginia I am sure is the largest state that there is (I know it isn't really).  It's funny, but after Pennsylania and Maryland they all somehow woke out of their sleeps at the borders and were ready for their pictures to be taken. 
    As per plan, we drove all night.  We took turns napping while the other drove, and made it to Savannah, Georgia where I sit and type this as we speak.  Here is what I have learned so far...
I love an adventure.  I do not mean the adventure where we go parchuting or hang gliding, or something that might get me killed or maimed for life.  I like to explore the unknown.  I love seeing plants that we don't have at home.  I love seeing new things, and meeting new people along the way.
    I was most taken with the wild wisteria that was growing along the sides of the interstate in North Carolina and South Carolina.  I made my poor husband pull over at the side of the road so that I could take a picture of it.  I love the rest stops and grabbing brochures for new places.
I love pretty much everything about travel.

    I also learned something in my teachable moment yesterday when we were checking into our hotel.  Christopher had run in to check rates, and see if there was a room available.  As we sat in the car waiting, the kids noticed this little hunched old couple.  Riley asked why some old people have hunched over backs.  I explained to her (as best as I could with my limited medical knowledge) that our spines look like tiny frisbees that are held in the middle by a post.  In between these frisbees are gel.  As you get older the gel starts to go away sometimes.  She was satisfied with my answer.  Then the inevitable, will Popa get a hunched back?  Will you?  Will we?  Finally Riley asked if Daddy would get one.  I told her I didn't know.  "Would you still love Daddy if he had a hunched over back Mommy?"  "Oh heaven's no!" I laughed.  This is where the teacher was taught.  "You know Mommy,  it might be o.k. if Daddy got a hunch when he got old.  Then when you always kiss, Daddy wouldn't have to bend so much, and you wouldn't have to reach."  My husband is six foot four and I am five foot five.  It stuck me in two ways, Riley's comment.  The first was that I was glad she had noticed that her father and I still kiss and are affectionate.  I think that will help them find good marriages when they come from a home where their parents love each other.  The second thing that struck me was a child's view.  To her it was not tragic that the old people would have hunched backs, it was a blessing to help them more easily kiss.

       I'm sure that you have noticed my dreadful spelling.  Forgive me, the laptop does not seem to have spell check and I am lost without it!  Ill fix it when I get home.  Well that's all folks, we're off on our next leg of the adventure!

Off We Go!!!!!!!!!

   After nearly a year, the day has finally come.  We are ready to leave on our trip... Florida!!!!!   I wonder if we should call ahead and warn the state that the Lindsay's are on their way.  The car is packed, snacks are ready, and inevitably I will have forgotten something.  You will be glad to know that I double checked that I packed everyone underwear!  I had these great plans, but as usual, I did not do any of them.  Christopher and I were going to take naps before we left, but when you procrastinate, there is not time for things like sleep.

    Part of the trip preparation is decorating the car.  I go to the Dollar Store and buy window clings for everyone's windows.  The kid's love it.  They think of it as part of trip.  So here we go.  I wonder how long it will take me to yell at someone in the car?( I bet Christopher's fingers are crossed that it's not him).  The next blog I write will be in the USA.  Wish us luck.

For the Love of Harry Potter

    Last night Riley and Rowan begged me to read them a chapter of Harry Potter.  We are on the third book and they look forward to it every night.  It got me thinking what an important part Harry Potter has played in our lives these last 10 years.
     You might think that the above cake belongs to one of my children, but you would be mistaken, that was my 40th birthday cake.  At our house we love all things Harry Potter.  I mean I don't take it to the extreme, you will not see any shrines.  Before Elly was born, we had contemplated turning Gabe's room into a Harry Potter room, but that was more of a shrine to Gabe, rather than to our love of Harry Potter.
   It all began when Gabe was 7.  That was when the first Harry Potter movie was coming out.  I am a firm believer that you should read the book before you see the movie, it's better that way.  So before the movie came out, Gabe and I read the book.  We would sit and read a chapter every night, most nights he would beg for more.  One week-end we had the use of a cottage that had no television.  We played games and read Harry Potter.  We had invited my parents to come up and join us for the week-end.  We put Gracie to bed (she was only tiny) and all sat in the kitchen and began to read Harry Potter.  It truly was a magical time.  There we were, all of the adults sat just as transfixed on the story as the little boy.  There were times in the reading of the story where everyone was doubled over with laughter.  I closed the book after two chapters and told Gabe it was time for bed, what came next was a surprise.  It was not Gabe who begged for just one more chapter, it was my father.  From that week-end on my parents would arrive religiously at bed time.  It was weird how they would stop by just at the right time to hear a chapter of Harry Potter.  Dad would cozy himself into the couch, an arm wrapped around Gabe "we're ready".
    One night I could not read to Gabe, so Christopher did.  When I read the story, each character has their own accent, and their own way of talking.  When I got home that night Gabe looked at me disgusted, "Well, Dad's never allowed to read me Harry Potter again!"  I was wondering how his poor father could have screwed it up.  "He did it all wrong mom!  He didn't even know how they talked!"
    When the movie finally came out, Gabe and I waited in line for hours so that we could be the first ones in.  We were so excited.  He came out of the movie so excited.  As we drove home we discussed the movie, and how was it different from the book.  Did the characters look the way they did in his head when we read the book?  His answer was "Yes they looked the same, but Hagrid did not speak properly!"  My Hagrid had a Scottish accent.  Gabe and I never missed a Harry Potter premiere.
    When Gabe died, Harry Potter let me still feel like we were still connected.  That might sound crazy, but grief is.  I purchased each new book as they came out, and read them in a few days.  I might not still have my little boy to read to, but I still could read his favourite books, we still had that.  I could not take Gabe to the movie premiere, so I took his best friend instead.
    When Gracie became old enough, I read the books to her.  Now I read them to Riley and Rowan, and when Elly is old enough, I will read them to her too.  I won't let them see the movie until we are done the book.  I ask them the same question that I asked to Gabe, and the really funny thing was that they essentially answer the same way.  Rowan even said that "Hagrid did not speak right" after he saw the film (all of "my" characters still have the same voices and accents).  It has become a right of passage at our house.
    I may have mentioned that we are going to Florida this March (only a thousand or so times), but what I did not mention is that we are going to Universal to The Wizarding Worlds of Harry Potter.  Not so much for the kids, but for me.  I will also be bringing Gabe back a souvenir for the cemetery.
    Who knew that a series of books could bring such comfort and love to a family?

Towel Wrap/ Fancy Flip Flops

Towel Wrap/ Matching Flip Flops...
    I may have mentioned a few hundred times that we are going to Disney / Florida, and I am trying to put things into place.  This week's project was a towel/ bathing suit cover and matching flip flops.  It was really easy to make and the kids are excited about it.
    I took an old towel and simply covered it in bright material that I already had.  If I can issue a word or warning, the towel stretches (who knew), and it was a bit of work getting them to match up.  I sewed velcro at the top to close it.  This was a really easy sewing project.  I then took scraps of the same material and cut them into strips (shades of the rag valentines wreath).  I tied them to some dollar store flip flops, and Bob's your uncle.
    I really like it because I like the kids covered up at the pool, and this does double duty.  I have two done and two to go.  By the time we leave on our trip, I am pretty sure that Disney / Florida are going to be dirty words.

Planning our Disney / Florida Trip

Planning Disney / Florida ...
   For a few years my kids have been harassing us to go to Disney.  In my mind the cost was astronomical, and we would tell them "sure when we win the lottery".  I would tell my husband Christopher that if we were going to spend that kind of money, I would like to go to Scotland or Italy.  Then a friend of mine went to Disney with her family of 5.  She told me that it did not cost nearly as much as she thought it would, she then told me what it cost them.  I then went onto the Disney website, and discovered that she was right, it was not cheap, but it was not astronomical, we could do it.  I also found out through our CAA travel agent that we could make payments a year in advance, in other words, we could lay away our trip.  That sealed the deal.  I am happy to tell you that we made the last and final payment this past Wednesday.  Disney here we come!   When we booked the trip it seemed like years away, but time is really creeping up, we leave at the end of March!
    I am a PLANNER, I hate schedules, but I LOVE planning (I guess I am just a riddle wrapped in an enigma).  I picked up an inexpensive binder, some stickers, and some clear page protectors and a snap page protector.  This has become the trip bible.  It contains our trip itinerary, map quest directions to and from each destination, our trip budget, and our hotel reservation numbers, as well as maps of the different states that we will pass through (the snap page protector).
    We have our trip completely planned out.  We have set a budget.  We have guesstimated our gas costs in a very scientific manner ( it takes us a full tank of gas to get to Acton, we then divided the total miles to Florida by the miles to Acton, which told us the amount of times we would have to refuel, and then figured a tank of gas costs $100.00 and multiplied the amount of stops by $100.00 and then added a cushion to that).  We have decided that we will need 8 hotel rooms on top of our Disney Resort, and figured $100.00 each stay.  You get the drift.  We have also investigated the costs of the other attractions that we will be visiting.  Inevitably there will be something that we will not have taken into consideration.
    We are now have just a little over a month until we leave and there is still so much to do to get ready.  We are not new to the long distance road trip.  We have made a few family vacations to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.  I consider myself to be an expert packer, and I think I am ready for this one.
I will keep you up to date with the preparations.  Now if anyone can suggest ideas that I can use to hypnotize my husband into buying me a laptop so that I can blog every day on the trip.