Kidoctr's Progress Notes

Walt Disney World (Food and Wine Festival) and Disney Cruise Line (Dream)

2011-08-13T18:10:00.000-07:00

Planning for our WDW/DCL vacation in October this year started late last year. For booking our 2nd Adventure by Disney last summer (Golden Path to Yosemite), we received a certificate for a free DCL 3-night cruise. At the time of booking, our choices were pretty narrow for the cruise, so we elected to combine our Wine and Dine Half Marathon at WDW with a DCL cruise. Seth and I will be arriving WDW on Thursday, September 29th to run the 1/2 marathon on Saturday, the 1st. The kids will arrive with Mimi and Papa on Monday, October 3rd. We board the Disney Dream on Thursday, October 6th, and return to Port Canaveral to fly home on Sunday, October 9th.

We'll be hitting WDW during the start of the annual Food and Wine festival. Seth and I have been at the festival a number of times but this will be a first time event for Mimi, Papa, and the kids. Rhys is now 12 years old and Amina 14 years old so they will be more than able to take care of themselves at the parks on their own - another first in our long-time Disney family vacation tradition.

While anticipating the release of the Food and Wine festival guide, I was a little tardy in making our dinner reservations at the parks/hotel. I did finally get around to calling and got us a few tentative reservations and it looks like I will only have to cancel one of our reservations in favor of a Food and Wine Festival scheduled event. So our schedule looks like this so far:

Thursday, September 29th
Arrive Orlando around 1700 via Continental. Still need to arrange transportation from the airport to the Boardwalk villas. We are waitlisted for a studio at the Beach Club Villas. I wanted to book a reservation at the Flying Fish cafe for their Chef's Tasting Wine Dinner but it looks like the restaurant is closed the last week in September. :-( So dinner this evening will be at 1945, Kouzzina by Cat Cora on the Boardwalk for Mediterranean food (confirmation #412251791322

). This is a new restaurant that we have not yet tried.

Friday, September 30th

1000-1200 - Kitchen Memories –This 3-course lunch evokes joyful kitchen memories. A celebrated chef demonstrates how to prepare an appetizer, main course and dessert, while a winery representative pairs each course with a selection of their wines.

Scott Hunnel & Erich Herbitschek from Victoria & Albert's, Disney's Grand Floridian Resort & Spa

Where: Festival Welcome Center $110

1000-1900 Packet pick up at WWS
Dinner - World Showcase?

Saturday, October 1st - Race Day

10:30 - 11:45 Cheese Seminars

Say cheese! Learn more about cheese from experienced fromagers. Featured cheese will be tasted and paired with selected wines and/or beers.

France, Eastern

Max McCalman, Artisanal Premium Cheese Center in New York City

Where: Festival Welcome Center $75

1300-1430 - Mexico Tequila Lunch

Savor samples of tequila that complement a selected Mexican regional cuisine as you learn about tequila history and production.

Where: La Hacienda de San Angel, Mexico Pavilion $65

Dinner - Maybe just a cruise around the World Showcase to the ones we haven't tried from the night before.

2200 - Disney Wine and Dine Half Marathon - shuttle pick up at 1900 from the Beach Club

2230-0300 - After party

Sunday, October 2nd

1000-1200 - Sweet Sundays

Hosted by MARTINI® - Begin your day with a breakfast buffet, sparkling wines and decadent desserts. A highly acclaimed pastry chef or baker demonstrates the preparation of the 3 desserts.

John Hui from The Lodge at Pebble Beach in Pebble Beach, CA

Where: Festival Welcome Center $90

Dinner - 2045 - Victoria and Albert's at the Grand Floridian resort (confirmation DR # 411641027850)

Monday, October 3rd

Checkout of Boardwalk Villas and move to Animal Kingdom Lodge - Kidani Village where we have booked the Grand Villa for the next few nights.

1530-1700 - Food & Wine Pairings

Sample 3 regional wines paired with 3 tasting-size portions of cuisine from Japan and Morocco. Featured wines and menu selections change daily.

Tokyo Dining, Japan Pavilion $55

Mimi, Papa and the kids arrive Orlando around 1700.
Dinner - 1930 at Boma, Animal Kingdom Lodge (confirmation 411681246279)

Tuesday, October 4th

1530-1700 - Food & Wine Pairings

Sample 3 regional wines paired with 3 tasting-size portions of cuisine from Japan and Morocco. Featured wines and menu selections change daily.

Restaurant Marrakesh, Morocco Pavilion $55

Wednesday, October 5th

Magic Kingdom?

1825 - Jiko at AKL (confirmation 411681249316)

Thursday, October 6th - Port Canaveral

Check out of AKL and board the Disney Dream - cabin #2024
I still need to arrange for transportation from the resort to Port Canaveral and then back to the airport.

1830 - dinner at Palo restaurant $20

Friday, October 7th - Nassau, Bahamas
Noon - Bahamas Segway Tours

The FUN begins when you are taught how to ride your own personal X2 off-road Segway. After a quick orientation and a few moments to get used to the Segway, you will be amazed at how easy this battery operated bike is to ride for young and old. From here you will roll off with your tour guide. They will cruise you through hand cut trails that run along salt water lakes and canals, educate you about certain fauna, wildlife, and sea life that live in the area, and eventually bring you out onto a picturesque beach where you will be wowed at the view of the calm waters and small islands that reside here.

At this point, RELAXATION will set in. You'll have at least 30 minutes to sit down and relax in the sun and if that's not your style, then you may want to find the shady trees that adorn the beach. If the ocean is more your thing you can wade out into the shallow waters to get your feet wet or do some snorkeling. If you need to quench your thirst we have a free bottle of water for you.

From the beach, you are back on your Segway to finish out your tour. The only thing you will be wishing in the end, is that the tour wasn't over!

Tour Includes:

Helmet
Bottle of water
Transportation to and from location (Tour + Transportation = Approximately 3hrs)
Personal X2 off-road Segway
Beach Chairs
Secure location for your belongings(Please, no large bags)

The age limit was 9 so we booked! $65 pp

1850 - dinner at Remy $75 pp

Saturday, October 8th - Castaway Cay

Extreme Getaway Package

(C-18)

On this tour you will:

Enjoy this 4 in one package, which includes:

Snorkel Equipment Rental — Immerse yourself in an exciting snorkel adventure for the entire family – perfect for beginners and experts alike! Make your way to Gils' Fins and Boats or Flippers n Floats and receive your snorkel gear and instruction. Then, venture to a picturesque lagoon section of the island, located at Castaway's Family Beach.
One-hour Bicycle Rental — Take off on a delightful 2-wheeled adventure amidst Disney's private island oasis. Traverse tropical terrain and winding offshore paths at your own leisure as you pedal your way around the island in a fun-filled exploration like no other. Ride along the airstrip, turn off-road at one of 2 bike paths, stop by the picture-perfect vantage point at Serenity Bay and discover much more of Castaway Cay!
Float or Tube Rental — Move with the motion of the ocean as you bounce, bob and sway atop the gentle waves of the crystal-clear blue waters of the Caribbean in a cozy float or inner tube. Bask in the sun or bathe in the sea and enjoy the tropical view that surrounds you.
Castaway Ray's Stingray Adventure — Head for the Stingray Hut for the experience of a lifetime! After a 15-minute orientation including many educational fun facts, Guests will be divided into groups and enter the shallow waters of the Stingray Lagoon. Your friendly guide will be on hand as you get up-close and personal during a feeding session using specially designed feeding trays. Feel the rush as the stingray takes the food right from the palm of your hand and even pet these amazing fish as they go up and down the feeding ramp. Conclude this portion of your package with some snorkel time in the Stingray Lagoon.

$54 pp

Celebrity Equinox reservations and shore excursions - update

2009-10-01T19:38:00.000-07:00

Wednesday, December 23rd, 2009 - we arrive Ft Lauderdale via Houston on Southwest at about noon. We've booked the Embassy Suites Fort Lauderdale 17th Street through Celebrity for $233.09. 2 double beds, non-smoking. We'll be taking a shuttle to the port for the cruise.

Thursday, December 24th, 2009 - we board the Celebrity Equinox and set sail at 5 pm. We will be Concierge Class this time on resort deck #2147 with "traditional" dining at 8:30 pm.

Friday, December 25th, 2009 - At Sea on Christmas Day.

Saturday, December 26th, 2009 - Georgetown, Grand Cayman (0800-1700) . Celebrity's shore excursions are not yet available. Seth and I have been to this port before. Looks like we're going to just "wing it" in this port - probably walk around a bit and see if we can do some snorkeling because Seth really wants to snorkel with the kids,

Sunday, December 27th, 2009 - At sea.

Monday, December 28th, 2009 - Cartagena, Colombia (0700-1600). We've booked with Lee Miles aka "Mr Emerald" for a 5 hour tour with this itinerary:

8:00 to 8:15 Drive to San Felipe Fortress 0:15 H:Min
8:15 to 8:55 Visit San Felipe Fortress (*) 0:40 H:Min
8:55 to 9:10 Drive to Plaza Bolivar 0:15 H:Min
9:10 to 9:45 Precolumbian Gold Museum; walking Old City 0:35 H:Min
9:45 to 10:15 Visit Palace of the Inquisition (*) 0:30 H:Min
10:15 to 10:25 Walk to San Pedro Claver 0:10 H:Min
10:25 to 10:50 Visit San Pedro Claver Church&Monastery (*) 0:25 H:Min
10:50 to 11:05 Drive to New City and Pierino Gallo Center 0:15 H:Min
11:05 to 11:40 Shopping at Pierino Gallo Center 0:35 H:Min
11:40 to 11:50 Drive to La Olla Cartagenera 0:10 H:Min
11:50 to 13:00 Lunch at La Olla Cartagenera 1:10 H:Min
13:00 to 13:20 Drive to ship 0:20 H:Min

Lee recommended a traditional restaurant for lunch rather than the "pricier" restaurant if we want to taste local foods. Cost for this tour will be $70 pp for 6 passengers, $56 pp if there are 8 in the van. Lunch and tips will be extra.

Tuesday, December 29th, 2009 - Cristobal Pier, Panama (0900-1900) - we've booked with My Friend Mario (Viajes Almiza).

Code: CL007
Chagres River + Waterfall + Embera Indian Village + Canal: Gatun Locks
Category: Natural adventure and Cultural experience
Departure time: 9:40am approx. (SHIP TIME)
Return: 5pm approx. (SHIP TIME)

"First, it will take us 20 minutes to go to the Canal, here you will enter the Gatun locks observation deck, the Panama Canal is recognized as one of the most significant engineering feats in the world, you will now see why it deserves this reputation. At the verbal presentation you will learn about the incredible engineering it took to build them, and there operational significance for international commerce during the last 90 years. You will see the awesome sight of 10,000+ ton vessels carrying there cargo to ports of call around the world. Second, we will take a 40 minutes traditional indian canoe ride through the Changres River to arrive at the village. During this time, you will feel as if you were transported to the year 1492. Here the indians will welcome you warmly, and speak to you about there fascinating culture and way of life that has remained literaly unchanged for centuries. Later you will have the opportunity to see an authentic indian dance that represents these peoples great respect and love for the animals and environment of their world. You will also learn other incredible facets of there way of life. Forth, we will journey by canoe for 30 minutes to a trail that takes us 20 minutes later to a majestic waterfall, where you can swim in a beautiful natural spring pool, and take in the awesome natural beauty of this unique region. Then, we will return to the village for lunch and you will have the opportunity to buy some traditionaly carved artcrafts, and later, we will travel back to the indian pier. Finally, you will return to your cruise to continue with your travel, and share with others your incredible cultural experience!"

We booked this tour as a more private tour than the 20+ busload of passengers originally described (23 passenger minibus). The minimum for our van is 4 passengers. We have 6 of us booked so far for $95 pp - $10 more pp than the larger group which will be well worth it, ime.

Wednesday, December 23rd, 2009 - Puerto Limon, Costa Rica (0700-1900). We booked our tour with Charlie Soto of Okey Dokey tours. The A-2 tour is described as:

"Canopy Tour - 7 hours
Brisas De La Jungla Zipline 13 platforms (extra charge)
Tortugero Canal Tour - See exotic birds and animals of the Costa Rican jungle, Banana Plantation - Fasinating tour of plantation and processing plant,Bonita Beach & Restaurant (Lunch) Limon's most beautiful beach and good food, Viewpoint of Limon and countryside and Supermarket visit for wonderful Costa Rican Coffee, Vanilla, and much more at great prices."

Charlie describes this tour as: "7 hrs touring w me for only $99 each adult and $89 each children include:1st country side,there we can hold a baby sloth, 2nd Bananas plantation , to see the process, 3rd the wonderful tortuguero canal , ( Jungle river cruise) 4th Jungle Breeze canopy & rain forest to do the zip line 10 plattforms, 5th Bonita beach , 6th view point for pictures, city for coffee, vanilla souvenirs etc, full air conditioned van,i provide you some diet & reg soda, water, costarican beers, fresh fruits and costarican lunch at the rain forest,( wood cooking ), no extra charge, you can pay me cash at the end of the tour, wear : t shirt, short pants, hat, sneakers or tennis shoes".

Again, we asked Charlie for a more private tour and he will do this tour for $99 pp with a minimum of 6 passengers.

Thursday, December 31st, 2009 - At Sea. We booked dinner this evening at Murano with Wade and Charlie - the Equinox's fine dining restaurant. Unfortunately, though, none of the 3 specialty restaurants on board allow children under the age of 12. Even Wade calling the cruiseline did not change their minds - the rule is strictly enforced, for whatever reason. We're paying the extra $30 pp for this special treat and the kids will be "on their own" for dinner (which I assume will be room service and movie on the tv, lol).

January 1st, 2010 - Belize City, Belize (0900-1800). We're booked for an ATV jungle and Cave Tubing tour with cave-tubing.com.

ATV Jungle Tour

Our Exclusive ATV Jungle Tour is the perfect tour for those who love an adventure or a challenge. Anyone can do it, from the experienced ATV rider to the novice ATV rider. Children too young to ride on their own may ride with an adult. Adults too timid to ride on their own may ride with a partner. The trail is perfectly safe and the terrain is mostly flat. Our jungle trail is 5 miles of twists and turns through the Belize rain forest and offers loads of fun for everyone. Our ATV Jungle Tour property is located just five minutes (3 miles) before the Caves Branch Archaeological Reserve where you can also enjoy our very popular Belize Cave Tubing Tour.

Cave Tubing

Our Belize Cave Tubing tour is the most popular shore excursion in Belize. We offer you an unforgettable tour where you almost become one with nature while at the same time experiencing the mistry of the ancient Maya Underworld where the Mayas once performed many sacred rituals such as bloodletting and sacrifice to the gods.

Guided by our experienced Belizean tour guides, you will venture into the depths of the magical Belizean rainforest, tube down the refreshing Caves Branch River and through spectacular cave systems, which the Maya believed were the dwelling place of many Mayan gods known as the Lords of Death. This is an exciting adventure you'll never want to end and one you will never forget.

We'll be leaving for the 10:15 am tour and returning to the ship about 3:30-4 pm. The itinerary is:

1 hour drive to the site

1 hour coming back

45 mins to 1 hour ATV

1.5 hours at the cave tubing site

30 mins for changing rooms and refreshments.

The price for the ATV+cave tubing combo is $75us per person. Payment will be at the end of the tour.

January 2nd, 2010 - Cozumel, Mexico (0900-1800). This is the last port for me to research. Seth really wants to take the kids to the ruins.

January 3rd, 2010 - At sea.

January 4th, 2010 - Ft Lauderdale, arriving at 7 am. We catch a Southwest flight home at 12:10 pm arriving at about 4:30 pm.

Celebrity Equinox reservations and shore excursions - so far

2009-07-26T17:31:00.000-07:00

Our cruise on the Celebrity Equinox will be departing from Fort Lauderdale. Due to very recent travel experiences, Seth and I decided that we would be arriving Ft Lauderdale the day before our cruise is to leave. It just seems as though this past year we've run into far more problems with cancelled flights than we have ever experienced in our relatively extensive history of travelling. So here are the plans we have so far:

Wednesday, December 23rd, 2009 - we arrive Ft Lauderdale via Houston on Southwest at about noon. We currently have an inquiry in with my TA about pre-cruise packages available through Celebrity. We'd like to stay at a hotel on the beach so the kids can "play" but I think it's going to be pretty cool with average temps that time of year in the 60's. We've never done a pre-cruise package before through the cruiseline but I like the idea of having all of our transportation taken care of between airport, hotel and hotel, cruise terminal.

Thursday, December 24th, 2009 - we board the Celebrity Equinox and set sail at 5 pm. We will be Concierge Class this time on resort deck #2147 with "traditional" dining at 8:30 pm.

Friday, December 25th, 2009 - At Sea on Christmas Day. Surely they'll have some special events this day. I'm particularly looking forward to having a "lite" Christmas this year with minimal gifting and decorations. I will, of course, be bringing some holiday lights and such with us to decorate our cabin with.

Saturday, December 26th, 2009 - Georgetown, Grand Cayman (0800-1700) . Celebrity's shore excursions are not yet available. Seth and I have been to this port before. We'll probably book something with Celebrity for this port.

Sunday, December 27th, 2009 - At sea. We're considering joining Wade and Charlie for dinner at the Asian specialty restaurant this evening.

Monday, December 28th, 2009 - Cartagena, Colombia (0700-1600). We've booked with Lee Miles aka "Mr Emerald" for a 5 hour tour with this itinerary:

8:00 to 8:15 Drive to San Felipe Fortress 0:15 H:Min
8:15 to 8:55 Visit San Felipe Fortress (*) 0:40 H:Min
8:55 to 9:10 Drive to Plaza Bolivar 0:15 H:Min
9:10 to 9:45 Precolumbian Gold Museum; walking Old City 0:35 H:Min
9:45 to 10:15 Visit Palace of the Inquisition (*) 0:30 H:Min
10:15 to 10:25 Walk to San Pedro Claver 0:10 H:Min
10:25 to 10:50 Visit San Pedro Claver Church&Monastery (*) 0:25 H:Min
10:50 to 11:05 Drive to New City and Pierino Gallo Center 0:15 H:Min
11:05 to 11:40 Shopping at Pierino Gallo Center 0:35 H:Min
11:40 to 11:50 Drive to La Olla Cartagenera 0:10 H:Min
11:50 to 13:00 Lunch at La Olla Cartagenera 1:10 H:Min
13:00 to 13:20 Drive to ship 0:20 H:Min

We're going to change our lunch plans and have Lee book us at a more "upscale" restaurant because we're all foodies. Cost for this tour will be $70 pp for 6 passengers, $56 pp if there are 8 in the van. Lunch and tips will be extra.

Tuesday, December 29th, 2009 - Cristobal Pier, Panama (0900-1900) - we've booked with My Friend Mario (Viajes Almiza).

Code: CL007
Chagres River + Waterfall + Embera Indian Village + Canal: Gatun Locks
Category: Natural adventure and Cultural experience
Departure time: 9:40am approx. (SHIP TIME)
Return: 5pm approx. (SHIP TIME)

"First, it will take us 20 minutes to go to the Canal, here you will enter the Gatun locks observation deck, the Panama Canal is recognized as one of the most significant engineering feats in the world, you will now see why it deserves this reputation. At the verbal presentation you will learn about the incredible engineering it took to build them, and there operational significance for international commerce during the last 90 years. You will see the awesome sight of 10,000+ ton vessels carrying there cargo to ports of call around the world. Second, we will take a 40 minutes traditional indian canoe ride through the Changres River to arrive at the village. During this time, you will feel as if you were transported to the year 1492. Here the indians will welcome you warmly, and speak to you about there fascinating culture and way of life that has remained literaly unchanged for centuries. Later you will have the opportunity to see an authentic indian dance that represents these peoples great respect and love for the animals and environment of their world. You will also learn other incredible facets of there way of life. Forth, we will journey by canoe for 30 minutes to a trail that takes us 20 minutes later to a majestic waterfall, where you can swim in a beautiful natural spring pool, and take in the awesome natural beauty of this unique region. Then, we will return to the village for lunch and you will have the opportunity to buy some traditionaly carved artcrafts, and later, we will travel back to the indian pier. Finally, you will return to your cruise to continue with your travel, and share with others your incredible cultural experience!"

We booked this tour as a more private tour than the 20+ busload of passengers originally described (23 passenger minibus). The minimum for our van is 4 passengers. We have 6 of us booked so far for $95 pp - $10 more pp than the larger group which will be well worth it, ime.

Wednesday, December 23rd, 2009 - Puerto Limon, Costa Rica (0700-1900). We booked our tour with Charlie Soto of Okey Dokey tours. The A-2 tour is described as:

"Canopy Tour - 7 hours
Brisas De La Jungla Zipline 13 platforms (extra charge)
Tortugero Canal Tour - See exotic birds and animals of the Costa Rican jungle, Banana Plantation - Fasinating tour of plantation and processing plant,Bonita Beach & Restaurant (Lunch) Limon's most beautiful beach and good food, Viewpoint of Limon and countryside and Supermarket visit for wonderful Costa Rican Coffee, Vanilla, and much more at great prices."

Charlie describes this tour as: "7 hrs touring w me for only $99 each adult and $89 each children include:1st country side,there we can hold a baby sloth, 2nd Bananas plantation , to see the process, 3rd the wonderful tortuguero canal , ( Jungle river cruise) 4th Jungle Breeze canopy & rain forest to do the zip line 10 plattforms, 5th Bonita beach , 6th view point for pictures, city for coffee, vanilla souvenirs etc, full air conditioned van,i provide you some diet & reg soda, water, costarican beers, fresh fruits and costarican lunch at the rain forest,( wood cooking ), no extra charge, you can pay me cash at the end of the tour, wear : t shirt, short pants, hat, sneakers or tennis shoes".

Again, we asked Charlie for a more private tour and he will do this tour for $99 pp with a minimum of 6 passengers.

Thursday, December 31st, 2009 - At Sea. We booked dinner this evening at Murano with Wade and Charlie - the Equinox's fine dining restaurant. Unfortunately, though, none of the 3 specialty restaurants on board allow children under the age of 12. Even Wade calling the cruiseline did not change their minds - the rule is strictly enforced, for whatever reason. We're paying the extra $30 pp for this special treat and the kids will be "on their own" for dinner (which I assume will be room service and movie on the tv, lol).

January 1st, 2010 - Belize City, Belize. We haven't booked anything for this port yet.

January 2nd, 2010 - Cozumel, Mexico. Seth and I have been to this port before. We'll probably look first to see what Celebrity is offering for tours.

January 3rd, 2010 - At sea.

January 4th, 2010 - Ft Lauderdale, arriving at 7 am. We catch a flight home arriving at about 4:30.

Celebrity Equinox 11-night Ultimate Caribbean Holiday Cruise

2009-07-26T17:09:00.000-07:00

It's getting closer to our big family vacation this year - an 11-night Ultimate Caribbean cruise on Celebrity's brand new Equinox over Christmas and New Years' this winter. We booked this cruise last November after being invited by our Atlanta friends, Wade and Charlie, who we cruised with over Seth's birthday last August in the Mediterranean. We had such a fabulously great time we wanted to do it again but couldn't leave the kids behind this time so we're taking them with us!

The Equinox is the newest Solstice class ship for Celebrity - newly minted in August of this year. The ship is absolutely gorgeous: recent pictures ship details

The 11-night Ultimate Caribbean itinerary:

Thu, Dec 24 Fort Lauderdale, Florida depart 5 pm

Fri, Dec 25 At Sea

Sat, Dec 26 George Town, Grand Cayman Tendered
Arrive 8:00 AM Depart 5:00 PM

Sun, Dec 27 At Sea

Mon, Dec 28 Cartagena, Colombia Docked
Arrive 7:00 AM Depart 4:00 PM

Tue, Dec 29 Cristobal Pier, Panama Docked
Arrive 9:00 AM Depart 7:00 PM

Wed, Dec 30 Puerto Limon, Costa Rica Docked
Arrive 7:00 AM Depart 7:00 PM

Thu, Dec 31 At Sea

Fri, Jan 01 Belize City, Belize Tendered
Arrive 9:00 AM Depart 6:00 PM

Sat, Jan 02 Cozumel, Mexico Docked
Arrive 9:00 AM Depart 6:00 PM

Sun, Jan 03 At Sea

Mon, Jan 04 Fort Lauderdale, Florida Arrive 7:00 AM

...and so the planning begins....

Road to the 2009 Spring U12 Soccer Championships

2009-05-31T20:20:00.000-07:00

What an exciting weekend! Amina's soccer team, the Wizards, played their tournament this weekend starting in 3rd position out of 4 teams. Their spring season was hot and cold before the tournament:

Team, Score, win/loss

Tempest 3-1 win
Cheetah Girls 2-3 loss
Lady Chaos 1-2 loss
Cheetah Girls 1-3 loss
Tempest 3-3 tie
Cheetah Girls 1-1 tie
Tempest 1-1 tie
Lady Chaos 1-0 win
Lady Chaos 1-2 loss

On Saturday morning, their first game was against the Cheetah Girls at 10:30 am - the team ranked 1st going into the tournament. The girls played a great game but Amina made an error and a hand ball in the box was called on her which allowed the Cheetah Girls to score a point and win with a shut out (1-0). We headed out to the school's golf tournament and had lunch then hung out for a little bit until her next game at 2:30 against the Tempest. The Wizards did a phenomenal job dominating the Tempest throughout the game and shut them out with a score of 3-0 earning them all 10 points (6 for the win, 1 for each point scored up to 3, and 1 for the shut out). Amina scored the final point for her team. The Cheetah Girls and Lady Chaos played as well and tied, each earning 4 points. The Lady Chaos had played the Tempest that morning and had won 4-2 earning 9 points.

By Sunday, the standings by points were:

Lady Chaos 13
Cheetah Girls 12
Wizards 10
Tempest 2

The Wizards had to win their game against the Lady Chaos to move on to the finals - a tie wouldn't do. We watched the end of the game between the Cheetah Girls and Tempest and found out that they had actually tied 2-2 so the Cheetah Girls were guaranteed a spot in the finals while the Tempest had been knocked out.

The game against the Lady Chaos went much better than expected. Interestingly, the Cheetah Girls stayed to watch the game cheering for the Wizards because they didn't want to play the Lady Chaos in the finals - the Lady Chaos was the only team so far that had beaten them in a game. The Wizards scored a point and then kept the Lady Chaos at bay for the remainder of the game winning 1-0 and advancing to the finals against the Cheetah Girls. Amina was elated just by making it to the finals when the Wizards weren't expected to get that far.

The girls on the team were pretty exhausted and overheated. It had been 90+ degrees during the game and only 9 players from their team played on the 2nd day of the tournament which meant there was only 1 person to sub. The ref was very nice during the earlier game allowing the teams to take an extra break about 10 minutes before the end of the game allowing them to rehydrate. After the earlier game, we had about 45 minutes before Amina had to be back on the field for the finals. We rushed home where Amina had a bagel and tried to rehydrate then Seth brought her back to the field.

The Finals were brutal. The Wizards scored first but shortly after that, they were penalized for a high kick in the box which allowed the Cheetah Girls to score on a penalty kick. Another penalty kick later in the game was saved by the Wizard goalie. By the end of the game, the score was still 1-1. The girls were allowed to rest and hydrate 5 minutes then played two 5-minute halves but the score remained 1-1. Amina was sidelined because she was not on the field when the game ended and could not play during overtime. The game then moved on from overtime to penalty kicks. The Wizards kicked first and then the penalty kicks alternated between teams with 5 members from each team taking a turn. The Wizards ended up scoring 3 points, the Cheetah Girls scored 2 with their last kicker blocked by our goalie at the very end. The game that had started at 5 pm finally concluded at 6:45 pm.

The girls were ecstatic. I had told Amina that if her team won the championships that we would throw a big pool party at our house so the girls were very excited about this as well. It was definitely a memorable weekend - the Wizards had significantly improved this season and were the only team during the tournament to score 10 points in one game and have 0 points scored on their defense.

(left to right) Michelle, Tyler, Rita, Amina, Emma, Emily, Maria, Sierra, Megan

(back row) Coach Andy

Amina with her loot (finally - after four 2nd place trophies and one 3rd place)

Tulsa Full Moon 5k

2009-05-17T20:38:00.000-07:00

On a spur of the moment, I booked a quick trip to Tulsa for the weekend last week with 2 excuses in mind: the Tulsa Full Moon 5k and Mother's Day. I received an email from Fleet Feet sports about the Full Moon 5k and thought it would be a great event for the 4 of us because there was no minimum pace, an ideal first 5k for the kids to try before the Expedition Everest Challenge in September (where there will be a 15 minute/mile minimum pace).

I googled and googled and finally settled on an overnight stay at the Embassy Suites hotel off I-44. We had already missed the online registration for the 5k. After doing a little more googling, I came up with a plan by Friday evening: Amina's soccer game at 9 am, leave for Tulsa after the game, stop at Fuddrucker's for lunch, catch the 1:30 showing of the new Star Trek movie at a theater right across the street (tickets bought online), check-in at the Embassy Suites, change into our race/running clothes, get to Veteran's Park to register for the race, find something light for dinner, then run the race at 8pm. We also had Mother's Day brunch reservations at the Brasserie (10 am) but had to cancel because of Amina's soccer game at 1 pm.

Fortunately, our 9 am soccer game was cancelled due to rain so we headed for Tulsa at 9:30 am. We had plenty of time for lunch at Fuddrucker's then headed to the Cinemark movie theater across the street about 45 minutes before the movie was to start. We waited in line for the theater doors to open even though we had purchased tickets online. This seemed a bit silly to me - the only movie in the whole theater where we were made to wait outside the theater until about 15 minutes before the movie started.

The new Star Trek movie was excellent - even the kids, who begged us to be allowed to see a different movie, enjoyed it. Seth and I chuckled at the classic lines in the movie - along with the other true Trek geeks in the theater. I was particularly impressed with how cleverly the movie completely re-invented a show that's been around for 40+ years leaving the door wide open for further episodes or movies to start, literally, from scratch. I'm looking forward to more movies with the new cast.

After the movie, we checked into the Embassy Suites and thanked our lucky stars that the kids wouldn't have the time to swim in the hotel's pool - it was obscenely crowded with children - many were obviously attending other sporting events. We changed clothes and hung out for a bit before driving to Veterans Park. Race day registration was $30 but we were given vouchers for race t-shirts to be picked up after the middle of June or so at the Fleet Feet store in Tulsa. We pinned our race bibs on and attached the racing chips to our shoes then got back in the car and drove to Utica Square to do some shopping.

The kids did some last minute Mother's Day shopping at Williams-Sonoma and then we stopped at Petty's Fine Foods for some energy bars and sushi before driving back to find a parking spot near Veterans Park. We stretched before the race and watched the people who were doing the 1 mile fun run at 7:30 then made our way towards the back of the 5k crowd. We had decided that the kids' goal finish time would be under 45 minutes.

At the start of the race, the kids both did pretty well keeping a 10 to 10:30 pace but after not quite a mile, Rhys needed to stop and walk. Amina and Seth continued on without us. Rhys and I jogged and walked the rest of the way with a sprint in the last 1/10 of a mile or so. Amina and Seth's final time was 37:28 and our final time was 41:02. We should be in good shape for our race in September and now the kids have PRs to work on. We drank some water after the race then decided to go for dinner and stopped at the Cracker Barrel near the hotel. The following morning, Mother's Day, we went back to the Cracker Barrel for breakfast before heading back to Enid in time for Amina's 1 pm game. During breakfast, I received a mini-burger press and a cherry/olive pitter for Mother's Day.

2009 Oklahoma City Memorial Marathon

2009-04-26T19:15:00.000-07:00

Thankfully, this extremely busy weekend turned out to be "not quite" as busy. I left on Thursday afternoon for Tulsa to attend a board meeting of the Oklahoma AAP chapter. I arrived in Tulsa with enough time to stop by the Fleet Feet store and bought a pair of New Balance running shoes to replace my current NB shoes which probably have about 300 miles on them and were really starting to hurt my feet. I'm really bad about remembering to replace my shoes until the shoes (or, rather, my feet) remind me. The sales clerk mentioned a pasta party the night before the marathon so I signed up for myself as well as my running partner, Deborah. I squeezed in a 3 mile run that afternoon around a park near the hotel and then spent the next 1.5 days in Tulsa at my conference.

The original plan was to return to Enid on Saturday morning to make Amina's 11 am soccer game, a 3 pm Enid Symphony rehearsal, play in a concert at the ballpark on Saturday evening, then drive to OKC to spend the night at the Crowne Plaza. As luck would have it, Amina decided to go to a Girl Scout jamboree instead and the rehearsal/concert was rescheduled for June. So instead of heading back to Enid, I stayed in Tulsa for the rest of the conference on Saturday morning then drove straight to OKC with plenty of time to check-in, relax for a bit, then head to the Health & Fitness Expo at the Cox Center for packet pickup.

When I arrived at the Cox Convention center, the line to enter the expo was out the door and way down the hall. Luckily, the line moved quickly. It was about 4:30 and the packet pickup area was extremely congested.

After picking up a packet with race bib and chip, participants were directed to "chip check" where a volunteer scanned your chip to confirm your name/division. We were finally directed to t-shirt pickup where you also received your clear plastic gear bag with "goodies" (a lot of paper, a sample of pistachios and aquaphor, and some coupons).

This year's event was reportedly 18-20,000 participants. The relay was already sold out before the Expo started then, as the weekend progressed, the 5k walk also sold out, and eventually all of the events sold out.

I had time to look around and do some shopping before Deborah got to the conference center. I bought a 2009 memorial marathon cap (black this year) and an official pin; a Brooks shirt on sale; a "13.1" car magnet; and a pair of running sunglasses. I also spotted a new woodworking project for Seth...I definitely need one of these for Mother's Day:

I met up with Deborah who picked up her packet/tshirt and did some shopping. The expo ended at 6 pm so we dropped our stuff off at my car then walked to Bricktown for the pasta party at the Skky lounge above Mickey Mantle's steakhouse. The cost was $12 and I was a little surprised at how many people attended. Unfortunately, the pasta was cold and we decided that next time we would skip the pasta party and go, instead, to a nice restaurant for dinner.

When we returned to the Crowne Plaza, we got ready for the 6:30 am start time and I received a text message from a friend asking if everything was ok. At this point, we weren't even paying attention to the news or the weather so we turned the tv to the news and saw the storm cells moving towards Enid. The county was under a tornado warning so Deborah and I started calling our houses to find out if everyone was safe. Seth said it was raining heavily - Rhys was in bed already. I told him that they were under a tornado warning and needed to move to the safe room. He hadn't heard the tornado sirens going off yet. As the tv news progressed, they started mentioning streets nearby to my house: Purdue, highway 81, Phillips road, and Carrier - all within 5 miles of the house. We then started hearing about a tornado that had touched down near the Expo center. I called Seth back - the power was out at this point but he hadn't moved into the safe room yet - Rhys was still asleep in his room. He woke Rhys up and they moved over to the safe room where they spent most of the night as other storm cells made their way through from Fairview through Lahoma and right into Enid. Only north Enid was affected by the tornado.

I sat glued to the tv news until almost 11 pm but had to get some sleep before the race. Our alarm and wakeup call was set for 4:30 am so we could catch the 5 am shuttle to the race.

When the alarm went off, we quickly got ready for the race. I had already planned on taking 2 endurolytes and 1 anti-fatigue pill about an hour before the race and then again at miles 5 and 10 - I put these in a velcro wrist pouch. I put one packet of Luna Moons and 1 packet of Energy Beans in each pocket of my racing shorts. I was wearing the Brooks shirt that I had bought at the Expo the day before, my racing shorts, new running shoes, 2009 Memorial marathon cap, and my Garmin Forerunner GPS watch. I did decide to take my iPod Touch along as well.

In my clear check-in bag, I put one of those black shopping bags (so nobody could see what was actually in my bag) and added my phone, wallet, GoLean crunchy bar, a banana, 2 bottles of Powerade, my camera, and the race guide. Later, as we were waiting for the shuttle, I came back to the room to get my jacket. It was already 70 degrees but the wind was blowing and it was still cool. At least it wasn't raining.

We went downstairs to the lobby and there were probably about 30 people there already waiting for the shuttle. We got down there just past 5 am. As we waited, more and more people came downstairs and, at one point, there were probably 100 people waiting for the shuttle. 15 minutes came and went quickly - the schedule that the shuttles were supposed to be running on.

As 30 minutes dragged on to 45, people started getting nervous and some decided to drive themselves. Someone called a cab which the rest of us thought was a good idea so the poor hotel front desk started calling multiple cabs. As we waited for a cab, a group of four 1/2 marathoners had room in the front seat of their cab and offered it to us so Deborah and I, with the taxi cab driver's permission, both squeezed into the front seat.

As we were driven downtown, we passed a car accident involving what looked like several race participants just shy of the downtown exits.

The taxi dropped us off near 5th and Hudson and I hurriedly paid the $25 fare + tip ($30 total) as I was practically sitting in the driver's lap anyways. Deborah chipped in $5 but the other 4 passengers only chipped in $10 total but it was already 6:15 am and we had to hurry to get our gear checked and use the bathroom so we didn't quibble about it.

We jogged to gear check following a couple of guys who were also running late, then headed to the porta potty, waited in line for about 5 minutes listening to the National Anthem being sung, then made our way to the start corral. We couldn't even get into the corral - it was already packed full of people. When the gun went off, it was over 7 minutes later that we actually crossed the start line.

The weather prediction was for a high in the 70's but the wind was predicted to be 20-30 mph. It was humid but not overtly hot and the wind actually helped during the race cooling us off and being at our backs as the race got started. After we crossed the start line, we moved with the mass of people at a slow 11+ minute/mile pace: marathoners, half-marathoners, relay people, and people walking the 1/2 marathon. We made good time after the first mile or so and slowly made our way forward eventually catching up and passing the 2:30 pacer.

I skipped drinking at the first station - it had only been just over a mile. I did grab some powerade at the next 2 water stations then started having a mixture of water and powerade at all of the next water stations. By mile 5, we were slowing down at the water stations and, perhaps, in too much of a rush to get going, were still wearing about as much water as getting to drink it. I took my next 2 endurolytes and 1 anti-fatigue pill at the water station after mile 5 and started to eat some Luna Moons - sharing some with Deborah. The Luna Moons were softer than what I was expecting - maybe after being warmed up in my pocket for the past 5 miles. At one point, Deborah turned to me to ask if we had gone 3 miles yet...I replied that we were at 5.7 and asked where she had been this whole time. LOL.

The next few miles went smoothly but I could definitely feel some fatigue in my legs around mile 7. We had been keeping a 9:30-10:30 min/mile pace for most of the race so far except right at the start. Almost exactly at mile 10, the cramping started in my right calf. I went on for about 1/2 a mile then dropped back suddenly when it hit my left calf. I signalled for Deborah to keep going and not wait for me. From that point on through about mile 12.5, the cramping moved from calf to calf, down to the my left foot, up to my quads, and eventually to both hamstrings. When I stopped to stretch one muscle, another would start cramping. It was really frustrating because I had the energy and stamina to keep going but my legs were just not cooperating. I realized how much time I was losing when the 2:30 pacer went by. I did a combination of walking, brief stretches, and slow jogs for over 2 miles hoping at some point that the water, powerade, and electrolytes I had been taking would start to "kick in". Even through the last 1/2 mile of the course, some muscle in my leg was cramping. I finally decided that I was going to give the last 1/2 mile my all and increased my pace to under 9 min/mi determined to finish in under 2:30. At just before the finish line, my Garmin recorded a 6:51 min/mi pace. My final time was 2:27.11 with an overall pace of 11:15/mile. Deborah ran a great race with a final time of 2:18.37 with a pace of 10:35/mile.

After the race, we checked out the massage tent but the lines were long. We then visited the OKC Memorial before catching the shuttle back to the hotel.

Overall, I'm happy with my time for a first 1/2 marathon. I think without the cramping issues, my time would have been much closer to 2:15. I need to analyze my run some more and figure out a better strategy to minimize cramping. I have several theories at this point. I'm going to try and cut back on the Powerade and go with more straight water. I think I'm also going to try to increase my potassium and magnesium intake during a long run. I definitely could have eaten more the night before and probably should have increased my sodium consumption at least 1-2 days beforehand. I'm not a big fan of salty food and maybe that had something to do with it. I need to sit down sometime and add up how much electrolytes I think I got in before/during the race. I guess it's possible that I was a little overhydrated but I just don't think that's what it was. It's going to take some trial and error to figure this one out.

I was really disappointed at the shuttle service to the race. We had heard from other racers on our way back to the hotel via shuttle that the number of racers this year probably overwhelmed the shuttles which were supposed to run a circuit between each hotel. I'm guessing that the shuttles filled quickly "upstream" so they never made it to the Crowne Plaza. In the future, I hope they have just one bus per hotel to accomodate for so many out-of-town racers staying in the hotels. I also LOVE the Brooks shirt that I got the day before. By the time we finished, my shirt was almost completely dry despite sweating and inadvertantly (and on purpose, of course) dumping water and powerade all over it. I have to get online and order more of these shirts.

I'm looking forward to 2010 and considering trying the Disney Coast-to-Coast Challenge which would be either the Disneyworld 1/2 marathon in January or the Princess 1/2 marathon in March AND the Disneyland 1/2 marathon in September. For the remainder of 2009, I'm looking forward to the Enid Great Land Run 5k in September and a trip to Disneyworld at the end of September for the Expedition Everest Challenge at Animal Kingdom where Rhys and Seth will be a team and Amina and I will be a team - the kids' first 5k race.

April Teddy Bear Picnic Bunco

2009-04-14T20:59:00.001-07:00

April's Teddy Bear Picnic bunco was hosted by Beth and co-hosted by Karen. Our subs were: Nikki Johnston, Deborah Gungoll, Erica Taylor and Amina Switzer.

We snacked in our picnic wear on sandwiches, chips, fruit cups, teddy grahams, and gummy bears. We also had spiked lemonade (with vodka) and wine from the Las Vegas Bunco World Championships (Little Black Dress).

Players arrived with their favorite bears.

We had a bear audience during the game.

After the game, Beth awarded prizes to our bears:

Biggest Bear

Best Dressed Bear

Smallest Bear

Sweetest Face

Funniest Bear

Most Loved Bear

Game Stats

Most Buncos: Lisa and Erica each with TWO buncos had a roll-off and Erica won $20

Most Wins: Amina with TWELVE wins won $10

Most Losses: Evie, Connie, and Beth with ELEVEN losses had a roll-off and Connie won $10

Most Baby Buncos: Eve with EIGHT baby buncos won $10

Most Wipeouts: Nikki with THREE wipeouts won $5

Traveller: Evie, won $5

We added $15 to our bunco pot and currently have $314.00. Our next game will be on Tuesday, May 12th at Gwen's house. Gwen's co-host is Lisa. The theme will be "My Big Fat Greek Wedding".

2009 Bunco World Championships

2009-03-16T18:51:00.000-07:00

For the 2nd year, I had the opportunity to attend the Bunco World Championships in Las Vegas. We had 7 women from our bunco group attend last year and we had a fabulously fun time. This year, I attended with 1 other friend from our bunco group, Lisa, and we took our husbands with us.

We left for Vegas on 6 March 2009 with Lisa and I arriving first on United airlines. We had booked Seth and Tim's flight separately (after ours were booked) and they would arrive about 2 hours after us. We picked up our luggage and our rental car from Alamo then made our way to Bally's hotel and casino where the championships would be held. After a brief detour to the Paris hotel and casino parking line (eg we made a wrong turn, lol), we arrived at Bally's valet line. The line in the lobby to check-in was long and by the time we got to our room, our luggage arrived, and I changed clothes, it was already past 5 pm. We headed down to the ballroom where registration began at 4 pm and were surprised by how many women were crowded in line waiting to register.

As best as we can tell, there were 3 lines but the lines were moving extremely slowly. There must have been several hundred women waiting to register. We waited in line for about 15 minutes but, getting nowhere, we decided to register in the morning and leave to pick up Seth and Tim from the airport. We had to pick them up, grab some dinner at the In & Out burger, then get to the Luxor to pick up our show tickets to see Carrot Top.

The next morning, I went downstairs around 8:15 am to find about 30 people in line by the door to the ballroom. I got in line and waited but the doors didn't open until almost 9 am even though registration was supposed to start at 8:30.

A few people were let in to the ballroom at a time then a volunteer was sent down the line taking players' names. When she reached me, I gave her my name and Lisa's name then told her that Lisa and I had purchased the VIP specialty player packages and suggested that we had paid a lot of money ($225.00 each) to be waiting in line. She told me that she was just a volunteer and would check with someone regarding VIPs. Soon, though, she did come back to me and pulled me out of line to go into the ballroom for immediate registration. Just after I got into the ballroom, Lisa arrived and we found out why the registration process was taking so long. There were hundreds of nametags spread out on multiple tables in no particular order. Volunteers were literally hunting for player's nametags and trying to print out ones that they could not find. Registration was pretty disorganized.

My nametag was found but Lisa's nametag was not and someone gave Lisa a handwritten nametag. We were introduced to Leslie, the president of the World Bunco Association who searched high and low for our welcome baskets that were a part of the package price that we had paid (we were promised a bunco flag, chocolates, a t-shirt, etc). Our baskets were nowhere to be found. Leslie promised to find them for us and invited us to help ourselves to some snacks in their lounge. We helped ourselves to some orange juice and bananas while Leslie looked for our baskets. Still unable to find them, Leslie promised to put something together for us and to check back with her later.

We were both assigned to play in heat 2 which was to start at 2 pm. The first heat was to start at 11 am but even at almost 10 am, players were still being registered. We came back to the ballroom to see players' costumes and hung around until about 11:30 pm but the heat had not yet started. Some of the costumes were so clever - all related to a jungle/safari theme - and I took pictures of many of them.

I also snuck into the game room before players were let in to play to snap some pictures.

We left to get some lunch (Sensi at the Bellagio hotel) then returned to our rooms to change and got back to the ballroom at about 1:30 in our costumes that Lisa had made by hand and accessorized for us both (thanks Lisa!!).

Quite a few people from heat 1 were still hanging around. We checked with Leslie and our gift baskets were still nowhere to be found but she did give us raffle tickets so that we could enter the drawings. There was quite a bit of confusion regarding the raffle tickets. VIP players were given raffle tickets as part of their package. Players who just paid the $45 player's fee had to purchase raffle tickets for $2 each. This didn't make the "regular" players very unhappy and we heard more grumbling about the organization of this year's game. There was also confusion amongst the volunteers who had set up 2 boxes to put tickets in labelling them $1000 and $500 when, in the end, all of the raffle tickets were put into a bag for the drawings. We hoped our raffle tickets made it into that bag but we were never really sure that happened.

We stood around and snapped some more pictures and after an announcement by Leslie regarding when the raffle drawings would take place (after heat 2), we were eventually let into the game room where all of the VIPs were invited to sit at the head table. Here's where it really started to get weird. Lisa and I had each paid $225 to be "VIP specialty players" but some women had bought the top $350 VIP package. The top VIP players were supposed to sit at the head tables but Lisa and I both ended up sitting at the head tables as well. We compared notes with the other VIPs and some of them were upset that they were not receiving truly "VIP" treatment. I can't say that I blame them - we paid over $100 less than they did and were receiving the same "perks", so to speak. We met a group of women from the Cayman Islands, 2 women who were friends - Marie and Jessica (one from Georgia, and the other from Tennessee), as well as a first-time player named Katie and a woman from California whose husband bought her a VIP package for her birthday.

The game finally got underway nearly an hour late but despite the chaos of registration, the missing gift baskets, and the overall disorganized state of this year's championships, we still had a fabulously fun time playing. What made this year particularly fun was the group of women that we sat and played with - they were all the friendliest and most fun-loving women we could have hoped to meet. There was not one person in our group who was competitive, didn't cheer someone else on when they were on a roll, or celebrate with someone who rolled a bunco or won a set. Last year, most of us had people in our group that we would have rather not played with. I think that the extra VIP fee that we paid helped to select out for a really nice group of women.

This year's game was not put on by Proctor and Gamble (ie Prilosec) but, rather, by just the World Bunco Association. We had an MC named Daniel who was a talented singer and, instead of "Rocky", had Shawn the "tarzan boy" who turned out to be a family friend of the WBA's president, Leslie. We also learned that the WBA had a sponsor lined up that backed out at the last minute. Lisa and I also joked about the WBA's "security" to keep the players in line.

Neither Lisa nor I were particularly lucky this year. I did score one bunco this year which was exciting but was disappointed to find out that the wrist bands that we received for rolling a bunco had to be returned after the game was over. That just seemed cheap. After the game, Lisa and I went back upstairs to change and get ready for the dinner buffet. Apparently, after we had left, they drew some raffle tickets for the wildcard spots in tomorrow's game and for the $1000 prize. Neither of us were happy when we learned this later in the evening but then, neither of our numbers were drawn.

Dinner was amazing but not in a good way. Lisa had checked with Leslie about dinner and we were told that it would be a Mexican buffet which she stated would be safe for Lisa with her nut allergy. When we arrived, there were, again, no special arrangements made for the VIPs as was originally promised. We ended up pulling up tables and re-arranging chairs so we could sit with the other VIPs. When the food was uncovered, hordes of people immediately lined up and it became apparent that tonight's buffet made by "Bally's Executive Chefs" included beef/chicken tacos, nachos, and some pasta. Later, Leslie revealed to us that Bally's had charged the WBA $38,000 for the food at this year's game! We had even paid the extra $25 each for Seth and Tim to have dinner with us but the food choices were beyond disappointing. We had a little to eat and had some dessert but made plans to go elsewhere for dinner. To top it all off, the VIP drink tickets that the other players had received in their gift baskets were not being honored by the bartenders. After finding out that the drawings had already been held, we left the dinner and went to Hamada's Japanese restaurant down the street for a much nicer dinner.

The following morning, I wanted to go to the fitness center before the semi-finals got started but stopped by the ballroom first to find handwritten lists of people that would be moving on to the next game.

Lisa and I sat through the quarter-finals leaving at just before noon to have lunch with our husbands at Spago's located in Caesar's Palace. On Sunday, the VIPs were given special seating to watch the games and to cheer on teammates.

I wanted to buy some cute handmade bunco wine charms for $21 but Leslie happened to walk by and let us each have one for free. She still hadn't found our gift baskets yet.

We returned to the ballroom after lunch in time for the semi-finals, the finals, and then the final 4 roll-off. It took an enormous amount of time for the games to get underway let alone conclude. During one of the long waits for the next game to start, Lisa and I finally did get our gift baskets from Leslie and were very pleasantly surprised at what a nice bag of goodies we received: bottle of wine, one of the $350 VIP player custom limited t-shirts (I got one in medium but Leslie promised to send Lisa her t-shirt after the game), a bunco flag, some toffee, a necklace, a gift card for Girardelli's, and a gift certificate for See's candies. Leslie also asked us if we would be returning to play next year to which we both said we absolutely would. We thanked Leslie for all of her hard work - we could only imagine how difficult the last couple days had been for her with all the grumbling and complaining going on by other players. Leslie was extremely apologetic but assured us that the WBA had learned from this year's game and that next year's game would be different.

The final roll-off took about 1/2 an hour and we left the game at nearly 6 pm to make our 6:30 pm reservation at Le Cirque located in the Bellagio hotel.

Overall, I think Lisa and I both had a lot of FUN and do plan to go again next year with the hopes that the WBA makes a few changes to make the whole process and game go a little more smoothly. We really encouraged Leslie to offer VIP packages again next year. I think if we had not gone the VIP route, we would have seriously considered not attending next year. Fortunately, the other bunco players that we hung out with made the experience so much better and is what really persuaded us to want to attend again. We were disappointed that we never even had the time to do a little shopping on the strip because the different games and heats took so long and there was an excessive amount of waiting around with little to no entertainment. My husband was a bit put off by the amount of time I spent at the game rather than with him, too. Even with that said, though....a big thanks to Leslie and the WBA for taking on the tough task of putting together such a huge bunco game for everyone to enjoy.

Bunco For Backpacks - pictures and final results

2009-02-27T15:15:00.000-08:00

February's bunco game was a special game hosted by Amina, Hannah Esquibel, Eve, and Deborah as a fundraiser for Amina and Hannah's Girl Scout bronze award.

Instructions and FAQs were posted online before the game. We had a total of 48 players at Cimarron Montessori School's gymnasium. The theme was "Valentine" and tables were decorated with red table cloths and Valentine themed centerpieces. "Goody bags" were filled with Valentine candy and other table favors included mini backpacks and notepads from the Food Bank.

Rhys volunteered to sell girl scout cookies before and after the game.

Players snacked before the game on chicken salad sandwiches, salad, pinwheels, bacon swirls, chips/queso, seasoned pretzels, chex mix, brownies, cookies, veggies/dip, and lemonade.

Carla Burdick, field executive for the Tumbleweed Service Unit of Girl Scouts spoke followed by Gail Wynne, volunteer for the Food 4 Kids program.

A writer and photographer from eTown magazine also attended and interviewed Amina for an upcoming article.

The game started at about 7 pm with a single head table controlling all 12 tables.

Players sitting on specially marked chairs got to take home the table centerpiece.

Game Stats

Most Wins (winner of handmade trophy): Larry Janzen
Most Losses (winner of handmade trophy): Jina Kapka
Most Baby Buncos (winner of 2 boxes of girl scout cookies): LaDonna Long
Most Wipeouts (winner of 2 boxes of girl scout cookies): Nikki Johnston
Most Buncos (winner of the grand prize, home-cooked Chinese dinner for 2): Bev Schneider

Amina and Hannah raised almost $600 (after expenses) and will use the money to buy food items for the Regional Food Bank's Food 4 Kids backpack program and donate the items to the Food Bank. Special thanks to everyone who helped plan, buy, set-up and cook for our game and to everyone who donated extra money making this fundraiser even more successful than we had hoped!

In March, Eve and Lisa will be representing our bunco group at the World Bunco Championships in Las Vegas. Our next game will be on Tuesday, April 14th at Beth Young's house. Karen will be co-hosting. The theme will be "Teddy Bears' Picnic" so bring your favorite furry friend and dress "Casual, picnic wear".

Bunco for Backpacks - FAQs

2009-01-31T09:42:00.000-08:00

1. When is the big event?

Thursday, February 12th, 2009

2. Where will the game be held?

Cimarron Montessori School - 419 West Maple. The game will be held in the gym. The entrance is on the West side of the school. Limited parking is located on the North and West side of the school. Parking is also available on the South side of the school.

3. Why are we playing?

This event will be a fundraiser organized by Amina Switzer and Hannah Esquibel as a part of their Girl Scout Bronze Award.

The Girl Scout Bronze Award, the highest honor a Junior Girl Scout can earn, requires her to learn the leadership and planning skills necessary to follow through on a project that makes a positive impact on her community. Working towards this award demonstrates her commitment to helping others, improving her community and the world, and becoming the best she can be.

4. What will the money be used for?

The proceeds will be used to purchase food items used in the Food 4 Kids backpack program through the Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma.

An emergency food assistance program of the Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma, Food 4 Kids is designed especially for elementary age children. Chronically hungry children identified by school personnel receive a backpack filled with non-perishable, child-friendly food for over the weekend or a school holiday.

Amina and Hannah will purchase food items to be donated to the program and will travel to Oklahoma City to visit the Food Bank and to participate in assembling the backpacks for distribution.

5. What time does the game start/end?

Our event will start at 6:30 with light snacks and drinks. Game play will start at around 7 pm. We will likely play 3 games of 5 rounds each and hope to finish by 9 pm.

6. How do you play bunco?

The official game instructions/rules for our game are posted here: http://kidoctr.blogspot.com/2009/01/bunco-for-backpacks-official.html During the game, Amina and Hannah will be in charge of the Head Table and Eve will be the official referee.

7. How much will it cost?

Players are asked to make a minimum donation of $10 but may donate more if they wish. Even if you can't play, donations are certainly welcome.

8. What do I need to bring?

Just your donation and fun-loving excitement! Cash is preferred. We'll take care of the food, drinks, and game supplies. Bunco is an easy game to play and especially fun with an enthusiastic group.

9. Will there be prizes awarded?

Prizes will be awarded for the most wins, losses, baby buncos, and wipeouts. The grand prize of the evening will be a Chinese dinner for 2 at the home of Eve and Seth Switzer (date to be determined later) for the player who rolls the most buncos. In the event of a tie, there will be a roll-off.

10. How do I get on the confirmed players list?

Call 580-237-9939 to RSVP or email: kidoctr@hotmail.com

11. How many players will there be?

We will have 4 groups of 3 tables each - 48 players total.

12. What if I can't make it or have to cancel?

Please email Eve (kidoctr@hotmail.com) as soon as possible.

13. Can I bring a friend?

Game seats will be limited. Players are encouraged to bring friends but must have their friend's name confirmed as a player by 9 February 2009 to guarantee a seat. We may not be able to accomodate walk-up players.

Bunco for Backpacks - Official Instructions and Rules

2009-01-27T20:52:00.000-08:00

Bunco for Backpacks

12 February 2009

Rules of the Game

Players are seated 4 to a table. There will be 12 tables total: 4 groups of 3 tables each (high, middle, and low tables). One Head Table will control all 12 tables. Select a player to keep score for the entire table. A game will consist of 5 rounds (2's thru 6's). Players earn points by rolling the three dice. In each round, players are trying to roll the target number. During the first round you roll for 2's, second round 3's, etc. The OBJECTIVE is for you and your partner (the person sitting across from you) to roll more of the target number than the other team when the Head Table rings the bell.

To begin - someone at the Head Table rings the bell to start the round. All tables begin rolling for the target number.

One point is awarded to the TEAM for each target number rolled successfully. Five points are awarded to the TEAM for rolling three of a kind of any number except the current target number (a baby bunco). For example, rolling three 5's in round 3 earns 5 points. BUNCO! is called when rolling 3 of a kind of the target number. For example, rolling three 3's when the target number is 3. Rolling BUNCO is worth 21 points for the TEAM, but the player has to yell it out to get credit for it. Record all Buncos and baby Buncos on the bottom of only your scorecard (not your partner’s). Rolling three 1’s is a WIPEOUT. All points accumulated during that round for the TEAM are wiped out and play rotates to the next player. Record all wipeouts at the bottom of your scorecard.

A player’s turn ends when they no longer roll (1) a target number, (2) a baby bunco, (3) a bunco, or (4) when they roll a wipeout.

As soon as a team from the head table reaches 21 points, they ring the bell ending the round for EVERYONE. Players currently rolling finish their turn. The winning team is the team with the most points at the end of the round. Record the round as a win (W) or loss (L) on your scorecard.

Players will ROTATE after 5 rounds (after numbers 2 – 6 are played). The LOSING team from the HIGH TABLE leaves and goes to the low table. The WINNERS stay. The LOSING teams from the middle and low table STAY at their tables & the WINNERS move up a table.

You cannot have the same partner twice in a row. So switch when you switch tables.

Prizes will be awarded for the most wins, most losses, most baby buncos, and most wipeouts. The grand prize of the evening will be awarded for the most buncos. In the event of a tie, a roll-off with a single die for the highest number will determine the winner.

Bunco For Backpacks

2009-01-27T20:39:00.000-08:00

Plans for Amina's Bunco For Backpacks fundraiser are well underway! We currently have 26 of 48 players confirmed to play and have 1/2 a dozen people lined up to be "backup" players in case we have any empty seats. The big event will be on Thursday, February 12th, 6:30 pm at the Cimarron Montessori School gym. We're planning on 12 tables - 4 groups of 3 tables. Players will be asked to make a minimum $10 donation. We're planning on having snack foods (sandwiches, girl scout cookies, fruit/veggie trays, brownies, cookies, etc), punch, and water. Tables will be decorated with a Valentine theme and each player will receive a "goody bag". We're planning on playing 3 rounds. The grand prize for the most buncos will be a Chinese dinner for 2 at our house (Amina will help cook, of course). Boxes of Girl Scout cookies will be the prizes for the most wins, losses, baby buncos, and wipeouts.

Amina is planning on taking the proceeds from her fundraiser and buying food for the Backpacks for Kids program through the OKC Food Bank which also provides backpacks full of food for Enid area children. We're hoping to take the food to the Food Bank and then helping them put together the backpacks. Amina designed an invitation and invited our bunco group as well as teachers and students/parents from Cimarron. I've contacted 2 other bunco groups in town as well as my FaceBook friends and invited others via email. Amina and I have worked on her "game plan" and we still have a lot of planning/legwork to do before the big game. We also found out that Etown magazine is interested in attending Amina's event and doing a story in the March issue about bunco. Amina's pretty excited about that.

Update - 2008 Tulsa Marathon

2008-12-23T08:40:00.001-08:00

The results of the Tulsa Route 66 kids' marathon was released a couple weeks ago:

School Name/# Participants/ Elementary Enrollment/Percentage participating/Award

Cimarron Montessori/19/30/63.33%/ $500.00

Eisenhower/38/300/12.67%/ $250.00

Sequoyah/22/328/6.71%/ $150.00

Hoover/27/500/5.40%

Our school won $500 and a trophy!

2008 Route 66 Marathon Tulsa

2008-11-17T09:55:00.000-08:00

16 November 2008

The 3rd Annual Route 66 Marathon in Tulsa was a fun event that I took on to involve Amina and Rhys' school in a simple and healthy fundraiser. We had 18 children from Cimarron Montessori School registered for the event although a couple of kids couldn't make it in the end due to the Enid Soccer Club end-of-season tournament finals (Amina and Brock). The school also had a team running the 5-person full marathon relay.

The CMS students participating in the Route 66 Kids' Marathon logged 25 miles before race day doing a variety of activities including walking the school playground, walking at home, swimming, and soccer. They completed their last 1.2 miles on race day and received t-shirts and a medal for completing their first marathon. The elementary school with the highest registration based on total elementary enrollment would win $500. I'm sure we're in the running for this prize and will be contacting the coordinator to see who won the prizes. The students who participated in this year's Kids' Marathon were:

Kaitlyn Davis
McKenna Chatterji
Rachael Chatterji
Karson Cribley
Allison Hensley
Anne Kapka
Brock King
Chase King
Grace Reid
Ryan Reilly
Sara Reilly
Jackson Slayter
Jacob Slayter
Amina Switzer
Rhys Switzer
Chaney Tucker
Piper Tucker
Ryan Wilson

Our 5-person relay team included Robi Chatterji (10 km leg), Debbie Cribley (5 km leg), John Hensley (12 km leg), Seth (6 km leg), and myself (9 km leg). My personal goal was 50 minutes and our team goal was 3:30. Our final results:

bib number: 9514
location: Enid, OK
overall place: 16 out of 93
division place: 7 out of 40
gender place: 5 out of 52
time: 3:35:56
pace: 8:15
10k: 49:00
15k: 1:22:02
half: 1:46:46
27k: 2:11:04
33k: 2:42:55
net time: 3:35:35

ABD Spirit of America - Day 8, Williamsburg to OKC; summary

2008-10-17T17:27:00.001-07:00

Friday, October 17, 2008 – Day 8 –Williamsburg to OKC

Pictures to be added later.....

Breakfast was in the hotel this time – typical breakfast buffet fare with an omelet station – Rhys’ favorite. We returned to the room to gather the rest of our belongings and headed down to the lobby to meet everyone for the first run to the airport at 8:30. Other Adventurers who had later flights were on the 2nd motor coach run to Richmond at about 10 am. It was pouring rain outside – the first wet day in the whole week that we’d been here. Many Adventurers marveled at how Disney was able to arrange such good weather for us this last week.

We said goodbye to Maria at the hotel and settled in for the 45 minute drive to Richmond watching the rest of National Treasure on the way down. Gary had fixed the video monitors on our SDACMC. At the airport, we said our final goodbyes to Milca and hoped to catch her sometime working the front service center at Hollywood Studios.

In summary, it was a fabulous week. There were many pros and few cons to our trips. There was a little bit of family dissent with the earlier family photo ops with complaints that it was taking too long with 40 Adventurers and that we were doing a lot of waiting while pictures were being taken one by one. IMO, with the time saved with pre-check in, pre-ordering of our meals, and pre-purchasing of our tour tickets, we more than made up for the waiting around that we did while pictures were being taken. To their credit, Maria and Milca did a marvelous job with taking them and were always gracious about taking pictures with our own cameras as well. The only other “likes” that I have would be larger beds – we were not used to sleeping on double beds. Most of the time when we travel, I book a room with a queen or king and pull-out sofa bed for the kids. I’m not sure if this was even a possibility at each hotel but it would have been nicer.
I was a little worried because I had not booked a thing for this trip – a first for me. Going into a trip with free time and no dinner reservations made me uncomfortable but from what I had read, it didn’t seem to be a problem and I would now agree. In Philadelphia, we checked with the concierge who recommended Bookbinders for seafood and in Washington DC we again used the concierge who recommended the Trattu. Both restaurants were very good and we’re pretty critical about good food and wine. A few more random thoughts….no cup holders on the motor coach. It was great having the table in the back of the SDACMC for the kids but I still wonder how many things were left behind and what kind of condition the back of the bus was in after it was all said and done.

We had a really nice group of people with us on our Adventure. Could it be because everyone on this trip was, to some degree, a Disney fan which selects out for nicer people in general? Everyone was courteous and, unlike some other group tours that we’ve done, everyone was very attentive to our set meeting times. At some of the restaurants where we ate together as a group (City Tavern, B Smith’s), the food service was a bit off – inattentiveness, forgotten orders or requests, some waiters had abrupt personalities. We speculated that perhaps pre-paid gratuities was not such a good thing.

I really came to appreciate and understand the free time that we were given allowing us to explore some things in more detail that others might not be interested in. I was also impressed with how flexible Maria, Milca, and Gary were picking up and dropping off different groups, allowing some families/couples to go out on their own if they wished to, and, in particular, how accommodating they were to Deborah who was having some difficulty keeping up while walking and doing a lot stairs. It was a lot to keep track of but we never left anyone behind. There were other options for portions of the tour such as the scavenger hunt in Philadelphia, the National Zoo (some opted to go back to the Smithsonian museums instead), and offering a guided bus tour instead of riding the bikes. Snacks were also a little TOO plentiful, I don’t think I’ve ever seen the kids eat so much junk food in one week. Heck, I ate way more junk food than I have in a long time as well because it was JUST THERE, iykwim.

As mentioned earlier, I wish that I had taken some more dressy outfits to wear. I was envisioning just what Disney would have considered “resort wear” but would have changed into something nicer for a few of the places that we went to including Café Promenade and B Smith’s.
Finally, I had read on the DIS boards that bloggers who had taken this trip were sworn to secrecy about certain aspects of their trip - surprises that their Guides and ABD had arranged or given to them. We were never advised to keep anything secret so I've included just about every detail that I can think of and have blogged as I normally do.

Adventure by Disney - Day 7 - Williamsburg

2008-10-17T17:20:00.000-07:00

Thursday, October 16, 2008 – Day 7 –Williamsburg

Pictures to be added later.....

It really did sound like an alarm clock going off at first and it was at least 10-15 seconds before either of us realized that there was a light flashing indicating either a technologically advanced Great Wolf Lodge wakeup call or it was a fire alarm. It was about 6:15 am. Seth checked the front door and I looked out the back window and we were both thinking the same thing – surely it was a false alarm. Soon, Deborah knocked on our door to let us know it was a real fire alarm and that we had to leave the hotel. Flashbacks of elementary school fire drills went through my mind as we got the kids up and threw some clothes at them before going out the door. I later kicked myself for not grabbing my camera. We headed down the stairs and out of the hotel easily spotting our ABD group in the parking lot. We had a nice assortment of looks standing outside in the dark parking lot with some Adventurers fully dressed, some in their pajamas, and some were just somewhere in-between. I was honestly impressed that both Milca and Maria were wearing Disney pajamas – Grumpy and Mickey respectively.

We stood around outside for about ½ an hour when Seth and I decided to walk around the facility. The fire truck sirens had already been blaring but we were on the side of the hotel and could not see them. We made an almost complete circle around the hotel and saw nothing. By the time we reached the front of the hotel, there were 5 fire trucks and as many paramedic rescue vehicles parked in front. All of their county vehicles, I suspect. As Seth pointed out, it did not look like any of the firemen were moving with any real sense of urgency. We were soon updated by the hotel staff that there was an electrical shortage in the downstairs game room with a panel smoking and that we would be let back into the hotel soon. Breakfast in the café would be delayed by at least an hour so Maria was on the phone making alternate arrangements with our Williamsburg guide. To their credit (and something that I totally expected), Maria and Milca took this twist in complete Disney fashion. Our entire wonderful Adventure group also took everything in stride and joked about what a nice Disney surprise it was this morning marveling at how the entire hotel was in on the magic as well. The only thing missing was Mickey himself riding one of the fire trucks from Main Street USA.

At around 7:30, we were finally let back into the hotel. We agreed to meet in the lobby in about 40 minutes to board the SDACMC (super deluxe AC motor coach) to be taken elsewhere for breakfast. Milca gave us a rundown of the day’s plans and, in usual fashion, quizzed us on what the theme of the day was. “Fire drill!” everyone yelled. The word of the day was unanimously agreed upon to be “Alarm”. We also received our pin from yesterday. Gary drove us to a nearby Golden Corral and all 43 of us descended upon the restaurant which had not been crowded at all.

We re-boarded the SDACMC, met our Williamsburg guides and were given our tickets/stickers which allowed us into all of the various historical displays. We were divided up into 2 groups and headed first to the Capital building touring the various chambers where town business and trials were conducted by the Governor. Amina proudly pointed out that the Atlantic Ocean had been misspelled on the map (“Atlantick”).

The gunsmith was our next stop and it was very interesting to see the various tools used in the process of gun making. There were antique guns displayed and the gunsmith/interpreter explained that it was a working gunsmith and that it took about 400 hours to make a gun. Many of the buildings that we were visiting today were working/living museums producing their crafts in the same traditions as the 18th century craftsmen. We visited the apothecary next which would have housed the travelling physician as well as the various herbs and medications that he used. The practice of medicine was one of the few trades that did not allow girls/women to pursue at that time. The interpreter explained that most minor injuries or illnesses were cared for by the family who would come to the apothecary every so often to stock up on various supplies. The apothecary jars were interesting to see and a giant mortar/pestle sat on the counter as most of the herbs and remedies were ground up and compounded with wine.

The silversmith was next and the interpreter explained that, in lieu of a bank, a family’s silver money could be melted together and crafted into anything they wanted – usually something practical. She pointed out that a large silver coffee pot would have represented about a year’s worth of pay for a family. The silversmith was paid with the various pieces of scrap silver shaved off during the crafting process. Even the floor was covered with a wooden grate that could be lifted to sweep up the other smaller pieces of silver to be salvaged. Silver trinkets were for sale in the next room which were pretty pricey but understandably so given the amount of work that went into crafting them.

We gathered in front of the King’s Arms Tavern for lunch at about 11:30. Again, lunch had already been pre-ordered. I had the turkey sandwich which was actually a club sandwich with sun dried tomato and bacon. It was very good. We also had salad, curried cole slaw with raisins, and veggie chips. As we exited the Kings Arms Tavern we walked by the “Cure for the Refractory” which was the area where those who broke the law were tarred and feathered.

At this point, we broke away from the main group who continued on their walking tour with the guide. Amina and I went into the Barber and Peruke Maker shop where human hairs were imported to make wigs. The interpreter commented that our weather was too hot and dry to be conducive to nice hair so the hair was imported from abroad. We briefly visited a small gift shop and Amina hinted strongly that she wanted a straw hat and colonial costume to wear for Halloween.

At the blacksmith shop, Seth and Rhys stayed for a while watching the blacksmiths really working while Amina and I went to the DeWitt museum to catch the Fiddle show starting at 1:30 which was listed in the weekly program/map that Milca had given to us. The museum was a little farther than I thought it would be and we arrived just a little bit late. The fiddler was Dean Shostak who demonstrated various instruments including the hurdy-gurdy, the stroviol, and the saltry – none of which I had ever seen before. When we arrived he had just gotten done demonstrating the miniature violin (I forgot what he called it) which was a small violin with a normal sized neck, fingerboard, and pegs. He then demonstrated the hurdy-gurdy which was a giant stringed instrument resembling an oversized mandolin that was cranked with the right hand and played with the left hand. As an audience member pointed out, it sounded a lot like the music in the movie, “Last of the Mohicans”.

At this point, he told us that his favorite fiddle player was Davy Crockett and that he had been the one who restored Davy Crockett’s original fiddle in San Antonio and is the only artist to have recorded with the Davey Crockett fiddle. He didn’t have that fiddle with him but did play a few fiddle tunes for us on his regular violin. The next instrument he showed us was the cigar box violin which had only 2 strings tuned to D and A. The fingerboard was an old True Value ruler and the sound box was the cigar box complete with a hinge closing. No cigars, he told us after an audience member asked if there were any in the box. He then demonstrated a short tune on the cigar box violin.

Next was the stroviol which was a combination of a saxophone and violin on which he played a short tune that sounded like an old phonograph recording. The saltry was next which, he said, his daughters referred to as the “pizza box” instrument. It was played while resting on the right knee and both arms held a short bow which resembled more like the bow for an arrow rather than a violin bow. The sound was very delicate and sounded more like a music box. His last pieces were played on his regular violin and he ended, of course, with the Orange Blossom Special. The entire program was about 45 minutes long and we lingered a bit afterward to see the instruments up close. Mr Shostak also did a Crystal Concert on Monday, Wednesdays, and Fridays this month where he would demonstrate his glass violin and Glass Armonica – the instrument that Ben Franklin had invented with spinning crystal bowls threaded on their side through a spindle ranging from large to small and played similar to someone playing water filled glasses with their fingers. I would have liked to be able to attend that concert but our Adventure was sadly coming to a close tomorrow.

We browsed the museum store for a bit and I picked up one of Dean Shostak’s CDs of Celtic music, a small book with old fiddle tune music, and a book about the Willamsburg hospital for Seth. Amina and I then went upstairs to the hospital display. It was the Public Hospital of 1773 and was the first institution in America to be dedicated specifically for the treatment of the mentally ill. To be admitted to the hospital, you had to be deemed “A person of insane and disordered mind” by the court as the hospital was “For the support and maintenance of ideots [sic], lunatics, and other persons of unsound minds”. The displays were very interesting and we took a little time in the portion of the museum before walking to the Market Square.

We browsed a few shops and Amina was disappointed that I was not going to buy her a cape ($145) or colonial outfit (several hundred dollars) consisting of a top, skirt, and hat. We wandered into the Colonial shop where we picked up a Christmas present for Deborah. By this time it was almost 3:20 and we had to the Kings Arms Tavern where we were meeting the others to get back to the hotel at 3:45. We did have enough time to run into a small store where we picked up a red gingham apron for Amina for $24. She was satisfied with this and agreed to wear it for Halloween. I did promise to make her a ribbon decorated straw hat to go with her outfit.

We met up with the group in front of the tavern and watched for a short while the live performance in the street set at the very beginning of the revolution. We then re-boarded the SDACMC for the short drive back to the hotel.

We let the kids loose in the hotel when we got back – they were going to hit the arcade, Magiquest, as well as the water park for a little while but I made them swear to stay together the whole time, no running, and be back by 6 pm or suffer the consequences. Seth and I went for a run outside in the parking lot. One lap around the outside of the parking lot was approximately 0.65 miles. I was slow today running 5 km in about 29:30 – must have been all the yummy food on this trip.

At 6:30, we met with our group for one of the last times down in the lobby. Milca handed out small flags to each of us. I had already read about this part of the Farewell Dinner and knew what to expect. Soon, a flag bearer with a British flag and 2 Red Coat soldiers – one with a fife and the other with a drum - came up the stairs and a proclamation was made that the Adventures by Disney group would be escorted to dinner. We followed along behind, around, and in front of the parade snapping pictures and video along the way. Other people in the hotel were a little confused about what was going on – some of them joined in but soon realized it was a special event for our group. We marched together out the front door, turned left in the parking lot and headed down to the conference center while the band played. We were then invited to drop our things off in the conference room that had been set up with a buffet, bar, and nicely decorated tables, and return for family photos with the band. This time, even Milca and Maria posed for pictures.

The buffet included salad, corn on the cob, cole slaw, ribs, steak, salmon, and baked potatoes. The kids had a separate station set up outside with hamburgers and hot dogs. There was beer, wine, juice, and soda offered at the bar. While we ate dinner, one of the band members played his mandolin for us stopping for a little while at each table. After we finished dinner, we were invited outside to the courtyard to learn some dance steps. We were lined up with gentlemen on one side and ladies on the other and were taught dance steps that resembled square dancing. It was a lot of fun and very easy taking just a few rounds for some of the kids to catch on. Dessert was strawberry shortcake, brownies, and fruit.

We received our final pin: “Fare thee well” and went around to each person as we had that very first day sharing what we liked most about our trip. I really enjoyed the bike ride through the mall and knew that would be one of the highlights of our trip for me. I also really enjoyed the fiddle concert and expressed how much admiration I had for Milca and Maria. It was so reassuring to know that even after a long day doing what they do, doing the “Disney thing” all day long, that by the end of the day, they still put on Disney pajamas before going to bed. Now that’s a real belief in ones’ “product”. We also found out that 4 of our fellow Adventurers were actually Cast Members who were travelling with us to experience ABD. They each worked with the travel industry through Disney.

Our final portion of the evening was a beautiful slide show presentation that I had originally recorded with my camera but accidentally erased afterwards. There were many great pictures of all of us – surely ones that we will be purchasing when we receive our Photopass information later. We had also received a few more family postcards and an offer for a $100 per passenger discount on our next Adventures by Disney if booked by the end of November for 2009.
We each thanked Milca and Maria giving them their tip envelopes that I had filled earlier with cash from the ATM in the lobby and my business card in each one. I should have brought more cash with us for this portion and was just a little surprised that there was no option other than cash. Thank goodness the ATM’s cash withdrawal limit was just enough to cover the tips. Maria also passed out a form for each of us to enter our names and email addresses which would be copied and given to each family in the morning.

We said our goodbyes and I checked us in on our morning flight in the business center but the printer was out of order so we didn’t get our boarding passes. It was strange that we had free wi-fi in the rooms but I was charged for internet time in the business center ($3 for 30 minutes but it subtracted time when I tried to print out our boarding passes). We packed up our things and called it a night hoping we wouldn’t have another rude awakening in the morning.

Adventure by Disney - Day 6 - Washington DC to Williamsburg

2008-10-17T07:14:00.000-07:00

Wednesday, October 15, 2008 – Day 6 – Washington DC and Williamsburg

Pictures to be added later....

Luggage pull was at 7:30 this morning. It was a good thing that ABD gave us duffle bags because it came in handy today as our “swim bag”. We packed our suits, swimming accessories, water shoes, and Magiquest wands in it storing it in the overhead bin on the bus. We had breakfast one last time in the Café Promenade then returned to the room to hang out until it was time to board the bus. At just before 8:45 we headed downstairs and onto the bus. Our first stop this morning was the White House for a group photo and family photos. The small park near the White House was overrun with squirrels of all different sizes and colors. After taking pictures, we re-boarded the bus saying goodbye to some of our fellow Adventurers who were skipping the zoo this morning and going, instead, back to the Smithsonian area.

The National Zoo was very close to the Mayflower hotel – just up the street on Connecticut Avenue. We were let off and had a couple of hours before having to be back on the motor coach at 11:45. We also had to squeeze in lunch during this time. Maria and Milca recommended the pandas as well as the elephant bath at 10:30. We viewed the pandas both outside and inside then made our way over to the elephant house. We were a little confused at first as to where the elephants would get their baths but a staff member redirected us back into the elephant house where we just caught the beginning of the bathing event.

The elephant was hosed down by the staff worker and stood patiently as the staff member scrubbed the elephant with a giant brush with soap. The elephant handler then had the elephant lay down on different sides so that its legs, back, and rear end could be scrubbed. When the scrubbing was done, the elephant stood back up again to be rinsed off. All the while, the handler was giving the elephant treats to eat. The elephant was very entertaining.
We visited the ape house and reptile house then it was time to start heading back to the bus area. On the way, we stopped off like everyone else near the panda museum store to buy lunch before getting back on the motor coach – an assortment of hamburgers, hot dogs, boca burger, and chicken sandwiches with French fries. We got back on the motor coach and headed towards the Smithsonian’s Air and Space museum to pick up the other Adventurers singing along with Elvis as we headed over. Gary, our bus driver, had been married by Elvis in Vegas and we all passed around his wedding photos.

Just after we started on our way and the rest of the movie, National Treasure, started to play, Milca came back to adjust the video screen above our heads which wasn’t working but the unit popped off its bracket with Milca catching it just in time. Gary pulled the bus over for a while as Seth tried to fix the broken monitor’s brackets. In the end, it was easier to unscrew the wires and completely remove the monitor but then none of the other monitors worked either. So, we listened to Elvis again down to Williamsburg with one brief stop at a rest station for a biological break.

We arrived in Williamsburg at the Great Wolf Lodge at around 3:30 pm. We were already pre-checked in and after grabbing some lemonade and cookies from the nice GWL reception for us and a brief tour/orientation, we were on our way to our rooms. This Great Wolf Lodge was quite a bit different than the one in Grapevine which seemed larger. There were only 4 floors compared to the 10 or 11 floors at the Grapevine Lodge. The rooms were very roomy compared to our 2 previous hotels with 2 queen sized beds instead of doubles but I had to agree with Seth that the mattresses were not as comfortable as our previous hotels. There was free wi-fi internet and I spent the next couple days uploading all 500+ pictures that I had taken onto my Smugmug account.

We got our swim suits on and went down to the water park which was very similar to the one in Grapevine except that there were a couple fewer slides. This Lodge also had a Flow Rider and I was surprised that Rhys tried this ride a couple of times. The water park felt nearly deserted I assume because it was a little “off season” and it was the middle of the week.

Instead of another movie night, Maria and Milca brought pizza, drinks, and Krispy Kreme donuts to the water park. I suspect that was one of the reasons they had movie night in Washington DC instead of this evening. The turnout would have been very small compared to the water park and Magiquest. After dinner, the kids and a few adults rode the Howling Tornado together. At about 6 pm, the kids left the water park and went on the hotel’s Halloween scavenger hunt which, oddly enough, was all Disney characters (Maleficent, Jafar, Shrek, Cruella, et al.) stationed in different areas of the hotel giving out treats. The kids completed the scavenger hunt in no time.

Next, it was time for Magiquest. We went back to the room to change and get our wands. The Magiquest shop was located on the 2nd floor above the check-in counter. The cost was the same: $9.99 for a game and $14.99 for a wand with additional charges for other accessories. Since we had brought our own wands, we just had them activated and we were off playing after receiving our guide books. This Magiquest was somewhat different than the one in Grapevine with most of the Magiquest items being located on floors 3 and 4 flanking each side of the central elevator with stairs on either end. This made for a much quicker game. The quest trees were located centrally on the 3rd floor. The kids and I did a couple of rune quests together and then split off to do our own quests. Within a couple of hours, I had the quests completed and had started the Pixie Adventure compared to the Grapevine Magiquest which took probably twice that long to get to an Adventure. By about 9 pm, we called it a night with Amina questioning why we couldn’t play until 11 pm as we had in Grapevine. “Because I said so” came to mind but we did actually have to be ready for an 8:15 am departure in the morning.

Adventure by Disney - Day 5 - Washington DC

2008-10-16T19:44:00.001-07:00

Tuesday, October 14, 2008 – Day 5 – Washington DC

Pictures to be added later......

I was up this morning before 6 am and went out for a run. I had asked for suggestions from the concierge for running routes and he highlighted a map that seemed pretty straight forward. Unfortunately, navigating the streets of Washington DC is not as easy as the maps make it look. I got lost and a 3 mile run became an almost 5 mile run because I had trouble finding my way back to the hotel. What was interesting to me was that I had stopped to ask a few business people making their way to work how to get back to Connecticut Avenue and a couple of them did not know.

I got back to the hotel at just after 7 am. We had breakfast in the Café Promenade again – thank goodness Ron and Deb had gotten a big table, by the time we got to the Café, there was a long line. We met the rest of the Adventurers in the lobby at 8:15 am and boarded the bus for Mount Vernon. Greg was with us for one more day and reviewed the history of both Mount Vernon and Alexandria on our way to the Estate. We walked to the information center and looked around a little snapping pictures with the life-sized bronze figures of the Washington family. George was of average size but Martha was very short. We looked at the color map of the grounds and Ron pointed out that the last time he was here, they arrived right at the mansion. Indeed, the information center had just been built and opened in 2006. I stopped by the small souvenir stand and found a Mount Vernon magnet for our collection. The group met down by the model of the mansion and then went into the theater for a showing of the film “We Fight to be Free” which was a very good re-enacted account of Washington and the crossing of the Delaware in the middle of winter.

After the film, we left the information center and walked the grounds towards the mansion. When we reached the bowling green, Gary pointed out interesting facts about the grounds and then directed us towards the figures sitting on a far bench. We walked around the bowling green and met the costumed characters portraying their roles as servants – sewing a hat and knitting. We continued on to the mansion and were divided into 2 groups to tour the mansion. We saw the “newer” part of the mansion – the dining hall which, at the time, was a huge room and ornately decorated on every wall and on the ceiling. We moved on to the older portion of the house and saw the other dining areas, sitting rooms, and bedrooms. The kitchen area was last and then we moved out on to the grounds and took family pictures by the river.

We strolled leisurely back to the information center and went immediately into a private area of the Mount Vernon Inn restaurant where we were to have one of our pre-ordered lunches but before we were served, we were introduced to our “special guest”: Dr. Crain. The interaction with Dr Crain was very interesting and entertaining – he was one of George Washington’s closest friends and was trained in Edinburgh as a surgeon. Dr Crain served as the country’s first “surgeon general”. He answered questions for quite a while with a good amount of humor sprinkled in on top of his Scottish accent. When he finished, he then passed out our pins with the theme for the day: “Proudly we Hail”.

We all had the honey fried chicken which was very good served along with vegetables (squash, onion) and mashed potatoes. For dessert, we had the cherry pie. We thoroughly enjoyed our lunch and were given about an hour after lunch to explore the grounds. Gary took a group on a walking tour, Ron and Seth went to the gardens, and I took the kids to the interactive museum where we saw more about the life of George Washington and then watched the multimedia film about him complete with vibrating chairs and “snow” falling. We shopped the gift shop for a bit where Rhys bought a pop gun and Amina bought a small liberty bell before meeting the group in the lobby at 1:30.

We re-boarded the bus and went to the Capitol building where we posed for a group picture and then family pictures. From there, Deb went back on the bus back to the hotel and the rest of us walked to the Smithsonian museums. Amina and Ron went to the American Indian museum while Rhys, Seth, and I went next door to the Air and Space museum. We had agreed to meet at 5:15 to take the metro back to the hotel.

The air and space museum was very interesting but I would have liked to see one of the Imax films if we had had more time. After visiting most of the exhibits, we visited the museum store where Seth bought a couple of t-shirts and cap. Rhys got a spaceship pen and water toy that drips different colored oils – he was very entertained by this toy. We got Amina patriotic earrings (flag design painted on wood). We met up with Ron and Amina then made our way down to the metro station. Ron had bought Amina a beaded necklace at the American Indian museum gift shop as well.

The metro was pretty easy to navigate – we could take either the blue or orange line to the Farragut West stop – about 5 stations down the line. We got back to the hotel at about 5:40 and went back to the room to drop things off and freshen up. At just before 6, we met the other Junior Adventurers down in the lobby for their special pizza and movie night. Maria and Milca took us downstairs where they had tables/chairs and a pizza/drink station set up. In the room next door, they had a popcorn/drink station, large screen television, and plenty of blankets and large pillows on the floor. The kids were very excited and would spend 6-9 pm with Maria and Milca this evening.

We had made reservations at Café Promenade at 6:30 but didn’t really need them – the restaurant was not very crowded. For appetizer, I tried the avocado and crab meat which was lump crab meat mixed with avocado and a couple triangular pieces of flour tortilla crisps with more crab and black caviar on top. This was followed by the clam chowder and for the entrée, I tried the pan fried duck breast with figs and teriyaki reduction. We also ordered a bottle of malbec wine which, of course, was not going to be covered by Disney. Otherwise, the entire meal was Disney’s treat. The food was delicious and the service was very good. My only regret was that I had not anticipated needing anything “nice” to wear so I had nothing but running shoes and tennis shoes with me. We finished dinner just before 9 pm and picked the kids up sending them back up to the room to get ready for bed while Seth and I stepped out quickly to the CVS pharmacy looking for a Washington DC magnet but we never did find one. We decided to leave the packing for in the morning and turned lights off at around 10 pm.

Adventure by Disney - Day 4 - Washington DC

2008-10-16T19:42:00.000-07:00

Monday, October 13, 2008 (Columbus Day) – Day 4 – Washington DC

Breakfast this morning was in the Café Promenade downstairs which was already very crowded by 8 am. We were shown to our tables and jumped right in to the buffet which wasn’t quite as varied as the one at the Hyatt. I had granola with lowfat yogurt and fresh fruit. After breakfast, I went to the concierge for their recommendation regarding dinner reservations. The concierge recommended an Italian restaurant within walking distance of the hotel – Giovanni Trattu and offered to make reservations for the 6 of us.

At 8:45, our group had gathered in the lobby and we boarded our “Super Deluxe A/C Motor Coach” headed to Arlington National Cemetery. The drive was pretty short and we walked from the parking lot to the information center while Greg kept a running commentary about more monuments and sights. He also went into great detail about the relationship between Robert E Lee and George Washington and more about the person who had owned Arlington (George Washington’s step-grandson, George Washington Custis). As we entered the information center, Milca passed out carnations to each of us to place wherever we wanted. We had other tourists asking us where we had purchased our carnations.

We milled around in the info center for a while reading the information on the walls, examining the pictures, the television monitors and the replicas.

Rhys found the computer station that allowed for searches within the cemetery and entered in our last name. Interestingly, about 9 names popped up but neither Ron nor Deb recognized any of them.

Soon, Greg gathered us up at the model of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and explained how the changing of the guard ceremony would be performed.

We then headed out of the information center and boarded a tour bus which took us to the Kennedy gravesite.

Along the way, we marveled at the differences in sizes and shapes of the headstones – some were ornately designed and very large, some were obelisks, others were very small, plain grave markers. Each grave marker or head stone included the soldier’s name, rank, branch, and dates of service. If a soldier had a spouse buried with them, it was noted on the back of the grave marker. There were areas for “special” people including an area where the Supreme Court Justices were born as well as a few movie stars.

We walked from the Kennedy graves to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and arrived just before 11 am when the next guard change ceremony was to be. Gary advised us all to stay as close as possible to the right side of the Tomb where most of the interesting changing of the guard will take place. Within minutes, the inspector came out and, in a very precise and mechanical fashion, checked the new guard’s weapon thoroughly and then his uniform.

Following the changing of the guard, there were also 2 other wreath hanging ceremonies for which we stayed and watched. Milca had told us that it was “off-season” for the cemetery so guard changing was only once an hour instead of every half hour. During the summer months, the Adventurers usually watched the 10:30 am changing but we were the first group to do an 11 am changing which then also included the wreath hanging ceremonies. Apparently, we were the first group to get to see everything.

After the changing of the guard, we explored the nearby grounds and visited the USS Maine memorial as well as the memorial for the space shuttles Challenger and Columbia. We left our carnations at these memorials.

Most of the group decided to walk back to the information center rather than try to squeeze on the next shuttle. Along the way, Gary pointed out the gravesites of Lee Marvin and the Brown Bomber.

After reaching the info center and taking a brief “biological break”, we boarded the bus, were given our “National Treasures” pins, and drove a very short distance to the Columbia Island Marina where we were to have lunch.

We were seated under a large white tent outside at a buffet style lunch. Across the way we could see the Pentagon. The day was perfect for a lunch outside. We dined on BBQ chicken, ribs, hamburgers, hot dogs, beans, cole slaw, and watermelon. The food was delicious and for dessert, we were offered different types of popsicles. The kids got done early with their lunch and played on the grass for a bit.

After finishing lunch, we re-boarded the motor coach and drove past the memorial at the Pentagon located on the side that the United airplane had collided. We also drove by the Navy overflow offices and hotel that the low-flying United airplane almost hit as it descended on the Pentagon. The Air Force memorial was not yet constructed or it would have certainly been hit as well. Next, we were taken to the Iwo Jima memorial which was a real sight to see – the memorial was gigantic – much larger than what I had imagined. We did our typical family pictures in front of the memorial.

We were then taken back to the Mall area and the motor coach made several stops dropping different Adventurers off at different locations. We were dropped off at the Natural History museum where we saw the Hope diamond as well as the dinosaur display but we were running short on time so we left the natural history museum, walked through the nearby sculpture garden stopping for a bit at the unusual optical illusion house and the beautiful fountain then continuing on our way past the Navy memorial and up the street to the International Spy Museum.

Deborah waited in the café while we went through the museum which was actually very interesting showcasing everything from famous spies to essential spy equipment, to bugging devices, etc. Rhys really enjoyed this museum stopping at every single display and reading every single word but we didn’t finish the last 2 areas so that the kids could browse through the museum store. Rhys bought an intruder alarm and secret spy pen while Amina bought a book.

We headed back to the hotel at about 5:30 to make our 6:30 dinner reservation. We walked to the nearby metro station and easily navigated our way back to the Mayflower hotel via the Farragut West metro station taking the red line towards Shady Grove. The fare was only $1.65 per person. We walked back to the hotel, took another bathroom break, and I checked with the concierge about our reservations which had been made at Giovanni Trattu’s just 1 ½ blocks away. It was an Italian restaurant which came highly recommended by the concierge for homemade pasta, unpretentious atmosphere with reasonably priced dinner wine. I had some of Seth’s Kobe beef carpaccio, followed by the Caprese salad, and the Osso Buco. We also had a bottle of Sangiovese wine which was delicious with the Osso Buco.

While we ate dinner, Milca and Maria also came by the restaurant to have dinner – they had been to this restaurant before and really enjoyed it. For dessert, Rhys and I shared the marinated pears with vanilla ice cream which was not nearly as good as Amina’s white truffle ice cream. We walked home and went immediately to bed after a long day.

Adventure by Disney - Day 3 - Philadelphia to Washington DC

2008-10-16T19:41:00.000-07:00

Sunday, October 12, 2008 – Day 3 – Washington DC

Seth and I were up at 5:30 this morning to go on a run. It was Sunday and I needed to get in my long run for the week – at least 6 miles. I had gotten directions for a 6 mile run through downtown Philadelphia but Seth didn’t think it was safe to run in the dark in that area. The turn-around point for this run was the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art a la “Rocky”. We opted, instead, to run by the Delaware River. We ran together for about 4 miles then I ran another 3.1 miles by myself for a total of 7.1 miles in about 1:10. Our Tower of Terror 13 km race was in less than 2 weeks and it was looking good for finishing in under 1:20 – my goal.

I showered and we packed up our things for luggage pick up at 7:30. We were instructed to put our luggage by the door and they would be picked up by Milca and the bellman. We went downstairs for breakfast then met everyone in the lobby at 8:45. I snapped a few pictures of the kids who had planned on a Nintendo-fest while on the bus. Almost every single child in our group had a Nintendo DS and they shared games and made plans to “link up”.

The bus ride (aka “Deluxe Motor Coach”) to Washington DC was very pleasant. Maria and Milca gave us our instructions for the trip in airplane flight attendant fashion and everyone chuckled. After a bit of technical difficulty, the movie National Treasure was played for us. The children were remarkably quiet at the back of the bus where there was a table for them to play on. We stopped at about 10 at a rest stop just after Milca handed out some sweet and savory snacks. We visited the bathroom for a “biological break”, as Milca put it, and then picked up some Starbuck’s coffee. We resumed our bus ride and finished watching National Treasure. Milca was up and down the bus frequently with a garbage bag to pick up trash.

We arrived Washington DC at just before noon and drove by Union Station where we would be having dinner later in the week. Our first stop in DC was the ESPN zone where we had lunch buffet style including 2 kinds of salad, fresh fruit, mini hamburgers, pasta, chicken strips, and dessert.

The kids were particularly excited to learn that they would each get a $10 card to play the games downstairs which were primarily, of course, sport related video games. After a few games of air hockey, basketball, and playing a few rounds of various car driving games, we gathered again in front of the ESPN zone to put away our things on the bus that we would not need for our bike ride.

6 Adventurers, including Ron and Deb, decided to remain on the motor coach for the deluxe coach tour of the monuments. We then walked down the street to the Bike and Roll store where we were each fitted with helmets and a bicycle. They had small sacs to attach to the handlebars to put personal belongings in as well as bottles of water. We posed for pictures then met our tour guide, Dan, who gave us a safety talk and then headed on our way with about 12 Adventurers in our group. We were instructed to ride single file with another Bike and Roll guide bringing up the rear.

The day was perfect for riding – sunny and warm but cool in the shade and once we started riding, the breeze felt wonderful. We rode for a short distance and stopped to look at the White House then rode around to the other side of the park and stopped for Dan to give some history about the area as well as answer questions.

We re-mounted our bikes and rode to the World War II memorial which was Dan’s favorite memorial. A beautiful fountain spouted water in the middle of this memorial and was surrounded by pillars – one for each state.

We then made our way to the Lincoln Memorial and stopped to take pictures of the Reflection Pool on the way to the bathroom. The bicycle ride was very easy but a teensy bit challenging when crossing streets, riding around pedestrians, or negotiating between poles. A couple of girls in our group wiped out on their bikes but were not really injured. Amina and I went up to see the Lincoln memorial and took time to see the inscriptions on either side of the memorial as well.

When we headed back to our group at 3:15 pm, we were told that Milca was at the ice cream cart treating everyone to a cold treat. We walked over and ran into Ron and Deb as well.

We didn’t have time to finish our cherry Italian ice treats when the group was ready to move on. Some of the Adventurers in our group requested to see the Jefferson memorial so we had to move along and get going as this monument was a bit farther away. We stopped briefly in front of the Roosevelt memorial and then biked on.

We spent a little bit of time at the Jefferson memorial then rode back to the Mall and stopped to talk about the Capitol building before riding the rest of the way to the shop. This concluded our bike tour.

We boarded our motor coach again and were taken to our hotel – the Mayflower which had been described as the second best address in DC next to the White House. The lobby of the hotel was gorgeous with chandeliers, ornate railings, gold leaf, and huge fresh flower arrangements.

The kids were a bit disappointed that there was no pool but there was a fitness center on the mezzanine level. After a slight snafu with our room keys, we finally got into our rooms and hung out for a bit unpacking and resting. Maria had given us an envelope with some pictures they had taken made into postcards. We had also been told that our group would be getting a special surprise – dinner on Disney. The kids would have an extra movie night on Tuesday night and the adults were invited to dine at the Café Promenade for dinner either on Monday or Tuesday evening compliments of ABD. At 6 pm, we met downstairs in the lobby to head out for dinner at B Smith’s at Union Station.

Along the way to the restaurant, Greg, our tour guide, pointed out many interesting historical areas, monuments, and told us a lot of historical facts. We reached Union Station and the bus parked in the underground parking lot. We walked through Union Station and out the front entrance around to B Smith’s restaurant.

There was a brief wait out in the lobby of the restaurant, then we were shown into the Cabinet Room.

We were served salad followed by our pre-ordered entrees. I had the salmon which had a maple glaze and was delicious.

The service was a bit off – they kept running out of bread, butter, and didn’t do a very great job filling water glasses and such. Milca and Maria kept having to run out to get things and check up on things. For dessert, we had bread pudding with lots of raisins – yummy.

Rhys and Daniel handed out our pins for the day before we left the restaurant and headed back to the hotel.

On our way back to the hotel, Greg again pointed out more sights and their historical significance. Once we reached the hotel, it was time for lights out immediately. Everyone was asleep in no time.

Adventure by Disney - Day 2 - Philadelphia

2008-10-16T19:38:00.000-07:00

Saturday, October 11, 2008 – Day 2 – Philadelphia

We slept in this morning until 7:30 and slowly got ready for our first full day in Philadelphia. We had breakfast in the hotel restaurant which was very good – a breakfast buffet with cereal, dried fruit, different types of milk (including fat free!), the traditional breakfast fare (eggs, sausage, bacon, pancakes, etc), fruit, and pastries. The selection was very good and I was particularly happy to see that they offered boxes of Kashi Heart Healthy cereal. We ate our leisurely breakfast and Milca came by to give us an update and have us fill out 2 more menus for later meals. We were also quizzed about the theme for the day (Let Freedom Ring) and the word of the day (Liberty).

We met in the lobby of the hotel at 8:45 excited to be taking our first official tour on this trip but before we boarded, Milca and Maria shared their “surprise” with the Junior Adventurers. The photos that they had taken the night before had been printed out and put into special ABD books with blank pages for the kids to take notes in. There were also places to put stamps from each place that we visited. It was very cool for the kids to receive their personalized books.

We were given bottles of water and boarded our trolley meeting our tour guide, Colonial Kay who was dressed in period clothing with a bright pink parasol. Through the day, we had no trouble finding Kay and her parasol.

The trolley was not quite big enough to accommodate all 40 of us – there were at least 2 Adventurers who had to stand in the trolley..

The kids made a beeline for the back of the trolley. Kay was very entertaining and knowledgeable pointing out a few sites as we made our way downtown. Our first stop was Elfreth's Alley – the oldest continuously inhabited street in the US. The trolley let us off so we could walk down the alley. Kay pointed out some interesting things including the boot scrapers next to some of the residences as well as the “spy” mirrors – these were situated on the 2nd floor so that a person could peek out the window at the mirror and could see who was at the front door as well as who was up and down the alley.

We walked at a leisurely pace to the house of Betsy Ross which wasn’t opened yet. Kay told us some history about Betsy Ross, her 3 husbands and 3 sets of children. Betsy and her husband were buried in the garden next to her house.

We re-boarded the trolley and headed to our next stop, Constitution Center. It was about 10 am and we had about an hour to spend in the center – we were to meet at 11 am in front. Kay pointed out the exhibit on the front lawn – signs that were similar to a Snellen eye chart with a large word on top and lines with gradually smaller words further down. There was one sign per US president and the word at the top was the word that had been used the most by the president during their inaugural speech. It was a very interesting exhibit and we made a mental note to take a closer look at it after we visited the center.

We took a quick bathroom break after receiving our admission bracelets (our admission had already been arranged by our Guides), then got in line for the next showing of Freedom Rising. We were shown into a circular theater and watched a combination of live narration, a light show, and projected images as the story of the Constitution was told. The show was very good and poignant. There was an elevator in the theater that brought people up to be seated at the top as everyone exited from the top of the theater into the exhibition hall. We wandered the exhibition hall for a while looking at the many interesting displays which combined signs, artifacts, video monitors, and interactive displays about every conceivable thing the Constitution represented. We were not allowed to take any pictures while in the show or exhibit hall. At around 10:45, we left the exhibition hall and headed downstairs for another bathroom break and a quick peek in the gift shop where I picked up a Constitution Center magnet for our collection. Amina also bought a copy of the Constitution.

We visited the outside exhibit called “Hindsight is Always 20/20” for a short while and marveled at what an interesting experiment was being displayed. Each president had, of course, their own agenda coming into their presidency but to see the most commonly used words in the inaugural speech and remembering the issues at that time was particularly striking. Bush Junior’s most frequently used words were terror and Al Qaida. I think this exhibit as well as the Freedom Rising show were the highlight of the day for me.

From the Constitution Center, we walked down and across the street to Christ Church Burial Ground where Benjamin Franklin was buried. Our Guides had handed out pennies to each of us as we gathered outside of the Constitution Center so that we could place a penny on Ben Franklin’s grave for good luck.

We walked past the Free Quaker meeting place peeking into the windows as we went by then crossed the street again and walked to the Liberty Bell center.

Our bags were checked again as we entered and we bypassed the exhibit and went straight to the Liberty Bell where we went to the backside of the bell and our Guides took pictures of each family in front of the bell with both their camera and ours.

There was a bit of a wait to take all of these pictures then we headed out the back door and walked to Independence Hall. Kay pointed out famous sites and shared history with us and we detoured into an adjacent building to see the “Great Essentials” – copies of the Declaration of Independence, Articles of Confederation, and Constitution were housed here. We then got in line for the noon tour of Independence Hall.

We were led into a room with chairs where a Park Service Interpreter explained about our tour. We were then taken into Independence Hall and listened to the history of the Hall and learned about the process of writing the Declaration of Independence. Although the Declaration was written on July 4th, 1776, it was not actually read publicly until July 8th and an “official” copy was not printed/signed until August of 1776.

After our Independence Hall tour, our Guides had yet another surprise planned for us. Each family signed their very own copy of the Declaration which we were allowed to keep along with a patriotic pen. We snapped pictures of each other as we signed our copy.

The Junior Adventurers were then gathered on the steps by Independence Hall and we snapped a few pictures of them.

Kay then gave out our pins for the day: Pluto with the Liberty Bell with our theme phrase. We said goodbye to Kay and were then taken to the Bourse for lunch on our own.

The Bourse was a building with different places to eat and a few shops – seating was plentiful. We found the bathrooms first then I shared an East Coast Cobb salad with Amina and some sushi with Seth and Rhys.

After lunch, we did a little shopping finding a few more nice magnets for our collection. Rhys got a Philadelphia magnet clip while Amina got a blue Philadelphia bear to keep Chicago company. They also each spent their own money to buy a toy car (Rhys) and earrings (Amina). We then went downstairs to meet up with our fellow Adventurers at 2 pm to do our scheduled scavenger hunt. The family of grandparents and their 4 grandkids skipped the scavenger hunt and opted to go to the Mint instead but Milca informed us that the Mint was only open with limited hours during the week and was closed on weekends. We would have liked to have seen the Mint as well but the timing didn’t allow. Just about everyone else on our tour attended the scavenger hunt.

We walked a short distance to the Independence Living History Center and sat outside to wait for our scavenger hunt guide.

I had read on the DIS boards that the scavenger hunt was not to be missed but had no idea what to expect. The kids kept themselves busy by running round and round on the benches in front of the Center. Milca soon came out of the Center with large trifold Colonial hats that we were to wear to participate in our scavenger hunt.

We waited for about ½ an hour outside the Center when our scavenger hunt guide finally joined us.

We crossed the street to the park and soon saw a man running towards us shouting “Freedom!”. He ran up the pathway and came back around jumping the wall and pretending to fall down which really made the kids giggle and warm up to him. He introduced himself as Phinneas Bell and he was looking for his dog, Freedom, that he described as a white dog “this big, well, actually, only this big” as he motioned with his hands. Apparently, Freedom had run off with his ruck sack which contained a quill pen from Benjamin Franklin, a copy of the Declaration of Independence, and some parchment paper from Thomas Jefferson. He enlisted the children to help find his missing things and dog which the children were extremely excited to do.

Phinneas pointed out the woman on the bridge and recommended asking her to see if she had seen Freedom run by. The children took off running towards the woman on the bridge while the adults walked slowly across the park with one parent reassuring everyone that “the children are on top of it – they’ll take care of it”. When we reached the bridge, the woman had a frog puppet and interacted cleverly with the children.

Eventually, the woman suggested that the children look around for items that may have been dropped in the bushes. Phinneas did his best to steer the children away from the muddy area under the bridge. With a little help, the children found the quill pen in a bush. The woman with the frog then pointed out that she had seen Freedom run towards the garden and the children took off like a shot running to the garden before Phinneas even had a chance to explain further. The parents chuckled and walked leisurely over to the garden.

In the garden, a woman with a puppet goose introduced herself as a cook from the City Tavern.

She pulled out a piece of parchment paper to wipe the goose’s nose and Phinneas recognized it as one of his missing pieces of parchment paper. When asked where she found it, she pointed towards the other end of the garden. Again, the children raced over and began searching for the rest of the pieces of parchment paper. One by one, the children found the pieces and at this point, we took a break and were offered water and snacks (fruit snacks). We resumed our scavenger hunt and found Ben Franklin sitting on a bench.

His quill pen was returned and he instructed Phinneas to return the Declaration to the Colonel. Phinneas then spotted his old school teacher in the park and told the children that he was supposed to have a reading lesson that morning but that he had skipped it. The old school teacher had a mouse puppet that she interpreted for and with their help, Phinneas was able to read the parchment paper.

She also suggested that Freedom was near the pine trees and the children ran off looking for him. They eventually found Freedom and celebrated but we still had to get the Declaration to the Colonel so that it could be publicly read that afternoon. We walked a bit further and the children instantly found the soldier who was the funniest actor of all.

We were all awarded medals (gold star stickers) at the conclusion of our guided scavenger hunt and the actors stopped to pose for pictures with us.

We all felt that the scavenger hunt was very cleverly run and enjoyed it a great deal. The actors posed for pictures afterwards. After final instructions were given for baggage pick up in the morning (at 7:30 am) and meeting for our trip to DC, we headed off.

The rest of our day was free. We had stopped by concierge in the morning to make reservations for dinner at the Old Philadelphia Bookbinders – a seafood restaurant, at 6:30 pm. It was about 4 pm when we finished with the scavenger hunt and split from the rest of the group. Ron and Deb returned to the hotel with a few other people and Milca. We headed back to Carpenter’s Hall, then visited the Military museum at New Hall. We walked down the street and stopped by the 2nd National Bank where we saw a portrait exhibit. The kids really wanted to take a carriage ride so we hired a woman with her horse, Rex, to take us on a 30 minute (“medium”) tour for $40. Along the way to the carriage ride, I was stopped numerous times by people asking where we had gotten our Colonial hats.

After our carriage ride, we walked towards the Independence Visitor center but the main doors had just been closed so we walked on back to the Constitution Center.

It was about 5:15 and the Center was scheduled to close at 6 pm. We went back upstairs to the exhibit hall then over to the Signer’s Hall that we had missed before snapping pictures with cast metal life-sized replicas of every person who signed the Declaration. We also signed the copy of the Declaration in Signer’s Hall.

We made our way back downstairs to the gift shop and then headed back to the hotel arriving at just past 6 pm. We dumped some stuff in our room and picked up Ron and Deb for our dinner reservation at Bookbinders which was just across the street from the City Tavern that we ate dinner at the night before.

We started with the Seafood Sampler for 4 which was reminiscent of the seafood sampler we had with the kids when we were in San Diego over Spring Break: clams, mussels, oysters, lump crab meat, lobster, and “oyster shooters”.

We also tried the calamari which was very good. I ordered the striped sea bass with basil and balsamic vinegar but was very disappointed at how dry the fish was, it was obviously overcooked – enough that I even sent it back to the kitchen. Not even 5 minutes later, I received another sea bass which was much better and moist. I also tried Seth’s scallops which were just a teensy bit overcooked and Rhys’ filet which was delicious. The best part of dinner, though, was Ron’s butternut squash which tasted like butter and sugar. For dessert, Amina, Deb, and I shared the coconut cake which was HUGE and delicious.

Seth’s warm brownie a la mode was also huge. We walked back to the hotel at about 8:15 and the kids quickly put on their swimsuits and we headed for the pool to meet up with some of the other Junior Adventurers that the kids had made friends with. The adults gathered at a table and chatted while I downloaded my pictures and Amina’s pictures. At 9:30, I got the kids out of the pool, got them into bed, and did some packing and preparing for our check-out in the morning.

Adventure by Disney - Day 1 - Oklahoma City to Philadelphia

2008-10-16T19:35:00.000-07:00

Friday, October 10, 2008 – Day 1 – OKC, Philadelphia

Cast: Eve (myself), Seth (DH), Amina (aged 11), Rhys (aged 9), Deb (Mimi) and Ron (Papa)

It was the closest call we’ve ever had at the airport. We left the house by 4:30 am for our 7:10 am flight from OKC – we were pros by now, or so we thought. The drive down to the airport is just over 1 ½ hours but when we arrived at the off-airport parking facility, we waited and waited and waited some more for the shuttle. We finally boarded the shuttle just as 2 other cars pulled up to valet park and the driver crammed their suitcases in as well. The Delta ticket counter was the last stop in the terminal so at the first stop, I got off the shuttle and just walked down to the Delta ticket counter to check us in. It was 26 minutes before our flight and the check-in kiosk would not let me check our luggage in because we were outside of the “30 minute window”. The woman at the kiosk was very unhelpful suggesting that the only way we would be able to get to Philadelphia was to book another flight. I got in line and waited just as the rest of the family arrived with all of our luggage in tow.

The 2 women in front of me were in the same predicament but they apparently had a change in their flight time and were on our 7:10 am flight instead of 7:25. Their luggage was checked in and, fortunately, the gentleman at the ticket counter checked our baggage in as well. We lucked out and hurried through inspection and walked right on to the plane.

Our trip to Philadelphia was otherwise unremarkable. After arriving at the Philadelphia airport, we made our way down to the baggage claim area and waited for our luggage. We were in such a rush to board the airplane in OKC that I was worried about our luggage making it with us to PA but felt much better when I saw at least 4 of our bags being off-loaded from the plane before our connection in Atlanta. Our Adventures by Disney rep, Maria, found us at baggage claim and warmly welcomed us to Philly introducing herself to each of us. From there, Maria, our driver, Gary, and a tour agent whisked our luggage away to the shuttle. We met another couple – Richard and Susan, who had also been on our flight. We picked up a few more passengers along the way to the shuttle.

Once we boarded, Maria again welcomed us and stopped to take pictures of us on the bus….”no, not the bus, the DELUXE MOTOR COACH”, she corrected herself. Maria would be staying behind at the airport to greet other Adventurers and sent us on our way with our shuttle driver but not before reminding us that all tips had been “taken care of“ by ABD. Along the way to the hotel, the driver pointed out a few sights to us including the USS United States, the USS New Jersey, aquarium, football stadium, baseball stadium, and the building gargoyles that had been used in the movie “Ghostbusters”.

We arrived at the Hyatt Regency right on the waterfront and gathered in the lobby to meet our other ABD guide, Milca. Again, Milca emphasized that all of our gratuities had already been taken care of and also told us about her “rules”: we were allowed to touch our luggage as much as we wanted to while in our hotel room, but once our luggage left our hotel room, they were HERS. Touching our luggage after leaving our hotel rooms would be a no-no. We were to leave a credit card number with the front desk for incidentals but we were otherwise already checked in.

Ron and Deb were in room 1113 while we and the kids were in room 1112. It was a room with 2 double beds, flat screen TV, good sized bathroom, and nice view of the river front. I only wished our beds were bigger. I had packed our suitcases the night before and split up our clothing and items into different bags “just to be safe”. In retrospect, I should have just packed one suitcase per person and divided them up by days in large gallon baggies as I had done in the past. We’ve never travelled as a family before where we would be packing and unpacking every couple of days. I’m sure there would have been a smarter way to pack all of our things in a more organized manner.

When we went upstairs, our room was not quite ready so Seth and I went down to the Concierge to try and make dinner reservations for tomorrow night but waited for quite a while for our turn so we went back upstairs. By this time, our luggage had arrived and our room was ready. There were many gifts from ABD on the desk – cooldannas, personal battery operated fans, another ABD bag (more like a duffle bag), pens, a can of body cooling mist, and ABD luggage tags. We quickly gathered our things and went out to find someplace to get a bite to eat. By this time, it was almost 3 pm.

We walked across the street from the hotel and made our way to Chestnut Street where we decided to eat at a restaurant called Rotten Ralph’s. We just thought the name was really funny.

We made our way up the winding staircase and the waitress acted almost surprised that there were 6 of us to be seated. I ordered an eggplant, broccoli rabe sandwich but liked Amina’s Philly Cheese steak better. My sandwich was really just eggplant parmesan (breaded) on a hoagie with cheese and broccoli rabe. The broccoli rabe gave the sandwich a bitter, strange taste. The waitress was awful - disappearing after serving our food, not filling up our water glasses, forgetting to bring mustard, and messing up Ron’s order. I had intended to leave a very small tip but was dismayed that an 18% tip had already been added on to our bill. Fortunately, lunch was on Disney as we used our Disney Visa Check Card to pay for lunch.

After lunch, we walked back to the hotel and the kids quickly put on their swimsuits to go swimming while I worked out on the elliptical machine in the fitness center. It was after 4:15 by the time we got to the fitness center/pool so I only worked out for about 20 minutes before taking the kids back upstairs and getting ready for our 5:15 ABD orientation.

We met the rest of our ABD group on the 3rd floor and were served drinks, wine, beer, fruit, cheese, crackers, and coffee/tea. We also received our ABD lanyards with our first pin – the official ABD pin. Maria and Milca gave us more instructions after making introductions. There were 40 on our tour – 10 were children with the youngest being 6 years old. Milca made it a point to describe what the Disney Photopass system was and that pictures she took would be for sale at the end of our tour. She also assured everyone that she would be more than happy to take our cameras and take pictures for us if we wanted. This was different than what I had read on the DIS boards regarding picture taking. We were also reminded that each day of our tour, we would have a specific theme and special word of the day. Today, our theme was “We the People” and the word of the day was “Constitution”. Each family was also given a list of everyone on our tour.

Maria then went around the room and asked each person to describe their reasons for being on the Spirit of America tour. Most of the kids were most looking forward to the water park at the Great Wolf Lodge but Rhys surprised me when he said that he was very interested in seeing the White House. The Guides passed out special pins to several people in our group who were repeat Adventurers – one family having done the Hawaii adventure, another couple having done the Quest for the West, and a third couple who had gone to Costa Rica. Then we were given a piece of paper to fill out things like what we were most looking forward to on our trip, what our favorite Disney ride/event was, which Disney movie/TV show we wanted to star in, etc. We were then to go around the room and find other Adventurers who had been in the Armed Forces, been to all 50 states, liked to ride bikes, had dressed up as a pilgrim before, etc. Of course, afterwards, Milca collected everyone’s sheet to read. That’s so “Disney-like” to be constantly surveying the guests. We were also quizzed on the theme for the day (We the People) and the word of the day (Constitution).

We met in the lobby and followed Milca with the ABD sign then walked as a group the short distance to the City Tavern at about 6:30.

Each family stopped to pose in front of the restaurant on the steps for a picture. As promised, Milca was more than happy to take a picture with our own cameras.

We then walked around to the back of the restaurant where we were seated outside at 2 long tables.

The weather was nice for eating outside but I put on my jacket because it was just a teeny bit chilly and I felt as though I was being eaten up by the insects. Our servers introduced themselves and gave us a quick run down of the menu. We were served 3 types of bread – a white bread, dark bread made of cornmeal and molasses, and a small biscuit that they called a “Thomas Jefferson sweet potato biscuit”. They were all very good.

I also had a glass of Merlot with dinner. We were served a hearts of romaine salad and then chose from a selection of entrees. I had the filet of salmon with buerre blanc sauce which was some of the best salmon that I’ve ever had. It was served over a bed of mashed potatoes. While we ate our salads, Benjamin Franklin told a few stories and then posed for pictures with each family.

I was unimpressed with the way he hurried everyone along while taking pictures. I guess I was expecting dinner with Benjamin Franklin to be more interesting but his time with us was very brief – he left before we had even been served our drinks. During dinner, our guides passed around a menu for a later meal that we would be having and we each put our name by our entrée and dessert selection. A great idea, in my opinion, as oftentimes it’s just downright painful to watch Rhys trying to decide what he wants at mealtime.

Our guides then had 2 of our Junior Adventurers pass out our pin for the day – a We the People pin with Goofy riding a horse. Then the JA’s went to the back courtyard to pose for pictures that would be a part of a “surprise” in the morning. For dessert, we were served warm apple cobbler with a walnut and oatmeal crumb topping.

We made our way back to the hotel and the kids were asleep in no time. We had met a gentleman who was a family medicine physician in Iowa and a couple who were travelling with ABD for the first time (and alone) with their 4 grandchildren. It was lights out just before 10 pm.

Enid Great Land Run 2008

2008-09-17T20:51:00.000-07:00

For the 2nd year, I did the Great Land Run 5K this past Saturday morning. For the $15 entry fee, we received nice Brooks wicking shirts. This year, the race was put on by Continental Resources. I was on call for the weekend but figured I would be done in about 1/2 an hour. My PA student, Abby, ran the race with me. The week had been mostly rainy before the race but when the race started, it was relatively dry. In the last few minutes before reaching the finish line, it started pouring rain. I had my personal best time for a 5K: 28:24 (gun time)/ 28:17 (chip time) with a 9:10 pace. Surprisingly, I placed 2nd in my age division (35-39) and received both a finisher's medal and a special age division medal. My next race will be the Disney World Tower of Terror 13K at the end of October during the EPCOT Food and Wine Festival. In November, Seth and I will be running the Route 66 full marathon relay in Tulsa and the kids will be doing the Kids' Marathon.

Referenced in a journal - we're famous!!

2008-09-09T19:35:00.001-07:00

So I was looking up information about mammary duct ectasia while answering a post on my iVillage Child Health message board that I moderate when I found out that in 2006, Seth and I were referenced in a case report in the journal Clinical Pediatrics. The article was entitled "Painless Bloody Nipple Discharge in a 16-month-old Infant" and we are reference #12 which is an email reply archived on Pedtalk - a pediatric-focused email discussion group that I've been a member of for many many years. I described a patient from a long while back with bilateral mammary duct ectasia and bleeding in response to someone else's inquiry. How cool! It just made my day! LOL.

Celebrity Mediterranean Cruise - Sea Day

2008-09-08T11:25:00.001-07:00

The phone rang at 9 am – it was Wade calling to see if I had RSVP’d for the Captain’s table as the invitation asked for RSVP’s by 9:30 am. Thank goodness he called, we would have slept right through 9:30. Not 10 minutes after I called the concierge service to RSVP, there was a knock on the door. I answered the door to find a woman holding a vase of a ½ dozen peach colored roses – from Wade and Charlie saying happy “early” birthday. What a wonderful and thoughtful surprise from them.

We went to the Oasis Café for breakfast again and then went over to poolside for the Mediterranean market. I bought a bunch of Greek, hand painted ceramic containers with a variety of scented oils – one for each of my staff members. There was even a container with Anais scented oil – the perfume that I’ve been using forever. It took a while to open each box to find the ceramic containers with tight fitting lids and without chips in the paint. As I finished shopping, Seth bought a Greece cap and then took our receipt to the Stratosphere lounge to pick up our passports.

I returned to the cabin to drop off my goods and picked up my laptop to try and catch up on some of my journal entries. I went to the Stratosphere lounge and found a comfy place to sit and type. I worked for a bit then chatted briefly with Linda who will be on our Naples tour. Later, a gentleman from Fort Worth struck up a conversation with me when he found out that the passports were no longer being handed out. I chatted for a while with the inebriated gentleman who then moved on to Guest Services to get his passports. I caught up quite a bit and then at about 2:15, went back to the cabin to pick Seth up for our food/wine tasting in the restaurant.
Our sommelier last night mentioned the food/wine tasting at 2:30 in the restaurant and signed us up. It was $10 per person. We were seated at a table for 8 with 4 wine glasses set up in front of us. There was also a plate with small samples of chicken, basil pesto chicken, 2 types of chocolate, lemon, salt, parmesan cheese, olives, and sundried tomatoes.

The Cellar Master conducted the tasting and went through the usual wine tasting instruction: examining the wine’s color, legs, nose, and taste. We then tried each of the wines: a white meritage, a chardonnay, a syrah, and a red meritage. The mertiages were from Wente vineyards in San Francisco Bay and the other 2 wines were from Murrietta’s Well in Livermore valley. We then tried each food item with each of the wines appreciating the blending of tastes. The chardonnay was very good considering we don’t like chardonnay but my favorite was the syrah.
After the food and wine tasting, we went to the Cova Café for pastries and ran into Wade who invited us to his cabin at 5 for a pre-Captain’s table party. We talked briefly and I mentioned to him that we went to see David Fisher, the violinist, last night and I thought he was extremely talented. We then went to the grill and I had a hot dog and French fries for lunch.

As we were heading upstairs to Wade and Charlie’s cabin, one of our tablemates from the food and wine tasting event mentioned that the sommelier had picked up my camera that I had left on the table. I thanked him and went downstairs to guest services but they had not received my camera yet. I went back up to deck 12 and spoke with the man from the wine/food tasting who described which sommelier had picked up my camera. I was a little worried but went on ahead to Wade and Charlie’s cabin. When I got there, Peter and Joyce were already there as well as Shiyan and Jazzlin whom we had met the other day at brunch. They all wished me a happy birthday and admitted that our pre-dinner get together was actually a birthday celebration. Wade and Charlie had gotten me a wall hanging with a caduceus on it. I was so touched that they went to such troubles for my birthday. Seth had even ordered me a peach dacquiri that I had commented earlier to him that I would be ordering for cocktails that night. I sat out on their veranda talking with Charlie and Peter when Wade came back in to tell me that a special guest had arrived. When I went back in to their suite, there stood David Fisher – the awesome violinist that we had seen performing the night before. He played happy birthday for me on his violin – twice. I was so shocked, surprised, and blown away that I immediately teared up and missed the first time that he played happy birthday. He stuck around and chatted with us for a while and even gave me his address, phone number, email address, cell number, and websites after I wondered aloud how awesome it would be if he was a guest artist with the Enid symphony. Mr Fisher was very nice and friendly and I just loved listening to his British accent. Wade said that he was in the internet center sending an email when he saw Mr Fisher sitting behind him on the computer. He invited him to drop by which is exactly what he did. I was thrilled and shocked at how special my birthday had been made.

We returned to our cabin to get ready for dinner but I did stop by the dining room and spoke with the sommelier and then the Cellar Master who had turned my camera in to guest services. I went back down to guest services one more time and this time my camera was there. I was so relieved.

We got ready for our dinner at the Captain’s table and after stopping by guest services to change our departure time (0630 instead of 0700), met everyone at Michael’s piano bar running into Steven and Elaine and we let them know that we wouldn’t be having dinner with them this evening. Soon we were joined by Joyce and Peter who said that Wade was not feeling well having probable sun exhaustion. We were so disappointed that they would missing our special dinner together. We ordered drinks – this time I ordered a glass of Asti when Daniela – the Captain’s Club coordinator invited us back to the reserved section of Michael’s.

We were soon joined by Nad and his wife, Huda from Cruise Critic; another couple from England where the wife was a physician; Elaine and Nan from Cruise Critic as well (and who were the cousin and grandmother of the hotel manager, Damien, whom we would be having dinner with this evening);

and Ursula.

We sipped on our drinks which were all compliments of the Captain and were offered hors d’oeuvres. We soon moved into the dining room and had an absolutely wonderful evening. I had the shrimp cocktail, Caesar salad, and the lobster tail.

The Cellar Master and sommeliers were especially generous with the Sauvignon Blanc and Merlot during dinner. I enjoyed chatting with the couple from England especially with the wife who was a GP with a special interest in pediatrics. We compared notes through the evening. The staff did their traditional Baked Alaska show and each lady was given a single rose – compliments of the captain. We saw Lucy and her husband from our dinner table waving to us from upstairs. What an unforgettable evening and we especially thanked Peter and Joyce for inviting us. We snapped some pictures then returned to the cabin and called it a wonderful night.

Celebrity Mediterranean Cruise - Santorini, Greece

2008-09-08T11:24:00.003-07:00

Even after almost a whole day of laying around yesterday, I still slept soundly through the night and awoke at 8:15 this morning feeling much better than I had felt the night before. We were anchored already and I could see the town of Skala where our tenders would drop us off. The winding donkey path was easily visible from our veranda and the cable cars were tougher to see but we could make them out in the distance.

We packed our things to go ashore and had breakfast at the Oasis café where I avoided anything with milk or cream in it. After breakfast, we headed to the Celebrity Theater to pick up our tender tickets and, as last time, there was no wait and we immediately headed down to the deck 3 to exit the ship and board the tender. The tenders for this port were larger than the ones in Mykonos.

Once we arrived in Skala, we turned right and headed towards the donkey trail having already decided that we would climb the 600+ steps to the town of Fira. We walked by the donkeys who were all huddled together and we carefully spent the next 20 minutes or so sidestepping donkey puddles and piles as we made our way up the steps.

Occasionally, loose donkeys would make their way down and we hugged the walls to avoid being stepped on. We made good time on the steps stopping occasionally to catch our breaths, take pictures, or wait for donkeys to amble by. We actually made it to the top in better time than some of the donkeys who would stop midway up to eat or relieve themselves while their riders waited for them, unsure what to do when they came to a standstill. The donkey handlers were no help letting riders go with their donkeys up the steps unescorted.

The view at the top was beautiful and we looked back proudly having ascended some 900 feet amidst donkey stuff and strange donkey smells. We looked briefly in a few stores for a souvenir magnet and walked in what we assumed was the general direction towards the main street which is very difficult to tell with the narrow, winding walkways that are so common here in Greece.

We found our first street and walked down another alleyway where we were talked into renting an ATV for only 20 Euros. The woman at the desk of the Moto Kostas rental agency made a copy of my driver’s license and an imprint of my credit card for a deposit. The 20 Euros I had to pay in cash. After being given a map, selecting helmets and a brief rundown of how to work the ATV, we were on our way and immediately met our first challenge – turning right into traffic. The ATV reached about 40 km/hr on a straight road and only about 20 km/hr on a steep hill. Drivers who were in a hurry passed us including a few buses.

We headed towards Megalochori to the South of Fira stopping first at the Santos Winery along the way. The setting was breathtaking and after a few tour buses left, we approached the winery staff about sampling wine but, not being a part of a tour, we were told it would cost 1 Euro per tasting. We paid our 2 Euros and tried their table red and their Vinsanto (sweet) wines. The table red was ok – nothing to write home about but we both liked the Vinsanto and picked up a few small bottles of Vinsanto shaped like the island, a bottle of liqueur made from cinnamon and cloves, and some olive oil soap.

We stopped to take a picture of us on our ATVs then headed to Megalochori where we easily found the sign pointing towards the Boutari winery.

Here, again, a couple of tour groups kept the winery staff busy and when they finally all left, we were able to sample some wines. We had joked about disguising ourselves as tour groupies but we didn’t have the requisite numbered stickers so we waited until they all left. The down side to not being on a tour is that we did not get snacks with our wine tasting, had to wait, and had to pay for the wine tastings but the upside is that it was a heck of a lot less expensive to tour this way. While we waited, we walked around the winery for a bit noting the smell of “overripe” grapes and watched as some winery staff were scooping grapes into buckets. These were the grapes that had been drying in the sun for 10 days and would be used to make their sweet wines.

We paid 6.50 Euros to taste 6 wines (the medium tasting). The first white wine, simply named “Santorini” was very good and of the white wines that we tasted, was our favorite. Our second white wine was named “Selladio” and seemed drier and earthier than the first tasting. Next was the Kallisti Reserve – another white wine that were really didn’t care for. Our first red tasting was the Sec Rose which had a wonderful strawberry bouquet and would be wonderful with chocolate dipped strawberries. We tried a red table wine next and loved it. The staff member doing our pouring also mentioned that this was his favorite red wine as well. Lastly, we tried the Vinsanto dessert wine which was also very good. We purchased a case of wine to be shipped home: 2 bottles of the Santorini white, 2 of the red, 1 of the sec Rose, and 1 of the Vinsanto. We paid about 150 Euros total for all the wine and shipping.

Our next stop was in Kamari on the Southeast side of the island where we easily found the Koutsoyannopolous winery and museum that the woman working at the ATV rental store highly recommended.

For 6 Euros each, we did a self-guided tour of the museum which was informative and cute with animated figures and authentic equipment housed underground followed by a tasting of 3 wines. This was the best deal of the day.

We sampled a white wine, the Nichteri Koutsoyannopoulos which was very very mild as was the red wine, Abelones. The 3rd tasting, however, was a dessert wine, Kamaritis, that is not available for purchase outside of the winery. We loved this dessert wine and bought 2 bottles to bring home.

By this time, it was about 2:30 and we needed to think about lunch. It’s customary in much of Europe to eat both lunch and dinner very late. We headed towards Monolithos to the north after taking a brief unintended detour into the airport and found the Monolithos beach where we parked and walked a short distance to a taverna called Skaramagas. The taverna was pretty busy even at around 2:30 in the afternoon. We ordered Tzatziki, a Greek salad, and souvlaki which were all very good.

We spent 22 Euros on lunch then hopped on the ATV for our final ride back into Fira stopping off at a gas station to put a couple Euros worth of gas in the tank. We got a little lost trying to remember where to turn to get back to the rental agency and, thankfully, another couple on an ATV pulled up next to us and showed us the street that the rental agency was on. We drove the wrong way up a one-way street without getting killed (but did get some dirty looks) and returned the ATV in one piece before 4 pm.

We easily found the donkey path and, this time, made very good time getting down to Skala passing a lot of worn out passengers on the way and now feeling comfortable shoving the donkeys out of the way as we made our way down. At first, I was afraid of walking behind the donkeys and spooking them but it was very obvious that these donkeys were very used to activity around them. Each port day as we returned to the ship, Celebrity would have water and punch for us to drink as well as cold, wet towels to cool off with. We really looked forward to those cool towels and wiping the dust and sweat off our arms and neck.

We got back to the ship, dumped our stuff in our cabin, and then ran down to the Tastings Café to pick up a few snacks – I especially like their little chocolate meringue cookies. The pastries disappear at 5 pm every afternoon, though, so we just slipped in under the wire and snagged a few pastries. The crew member tending the pastries asked us if we had ridden the donkeys and it dawned on us that we must still have “Eau de Donkey” despite carefully wiping our shoes on the floor mat before getting back on the ship. When we returned to the cabin, I kicked my shoes off out on the veranda to let them “air out”. We really did enjoy walking up and down the donkey path and can now add it to our list of “brags” for this cruise although most everyone that we know would not have been caught dead doing that. I had a brilliant idea later for marketing a new item at the foot of those donkey steps: rubberized, disposable, slip-on shoe covers. What a hit those would be.

The shower I took had to be one that I looked most forward to on the entire cruise. I swear I caught a whiff of “Eau de Donkey” for most of the day that we were in Santorini. We met Wade, Charlie, Peter, and Joyce again outside the Cova Café for cocktails at 6 pm and shared stories and compared notes. I had another Flirtini. Charlie had slept in today and didn’t make it out to Santorini while Wade explored it on his own taking the cable cars to the top. Peter and Joyce had taken a Celebrity tour. When they left to go to early seating dinner, Seth and I went to look at the specials in the Galaxy shops and then went to the Celebrity Theater for Peter Fisher billed as a British virtuoso violinist at 7:15. Seth was a little reluctant to go but I insisted.

At 7:10, there were still fewer than a half dozen couples in the theater but the seats filled in pretty nicely in the last 5 minutes or so. I’ve never heard of Peter Fisher before but he really was fantastic. He played Paganini, Sarasate, Meditation from Thais, and even did The Devil Goes Down to Georgia as well as some jazz. For an encore, he played Oh Danny Boy which was just wonderful. I thoroughly enjoyed his music and couldn’t help but wonder why he was playing on a cruise ship which seems almost beneath any classically trained violinist but I was glad to know that Celebrity really did provide high quality entertainment and not just cheesy lounge acts.
We decided to skip bingo tonight and wandered around for a little while looking in the art gallery, considered doing some gambling in the casino but then reconsidered, and found a place in the lounge to sit and people watch. At 8:50, we headed to the Orion restaurant for dinner and were soon joined by Steven and Elaine. We hadn’t eaten dinner at our table in 3 days and our sommelier, Oana, did give us a bit of a hard time in good humor. We ordered another bottle of wine at Oana’s encouragement – she even offered to let us use our other Captain’s Club wine coupon for $5 off without ordering another bottle. I just had to promise to bring the coupon with me to dinner tomorrow.

I’d been feeling much better since swearing off milk and dairy products the night before last. I got the tuna tartar, declined the avocado soup (cream based) and opted for the beef consommé instead, had the spring leaves with fried potatoes and onion, then the veal marsala which came highly recommended by Alexander who was particularly chatty tonight. I had to skip the bananas foster and got the chocolate meringue instead which was very sweet but very good. We chatted with Steven and Elaine again resuming our comparison of US vs England and shared with them our triumphant lunch the other day in Mykonos where we ran off without leaving a tip remembering our conversation about the tipping practices (or lack thereof) in England. We all got a good chuckle out of that. At 10:45, we said good night to our table mates and called it a night. When we arrived back in our cabin, an invitation was sitting on our bed for the Captain’s table tomorrow night. Joyce had somehow arranged for the 6 of us to have dinner on our last formal night at the captain’s table.

Celebrity Mediterranean Cruise - Rhodes, Greece

2008-09-08T11:24:00.001-07:00

I awoke before 8 am today and headed to the Fitness Center where I ran 4 miles in just over 39 minutes. I felt pretty good at the time but then shortly after returning to our cabin, started feeling queasy with an upset tummy. I was really hoping it was just overindulgence of dairy products (milk, ice cream, etc) rather than gastroenteritis so for breakfast, I stuck with potatoes, fruit, and pastries instead of the milk and cereal I’d been having every morning. I was still not feeling well when we left the ship to explore Rhodes. We walked through the port and across the street to the walled off portion of the city looking through some shops and stopping to admire an old courtyard with great arches. We picked up a chess set for Rhys made of alabaster stone with the Spartans fighting the Persians for 60 Euros. We then climbed some steps up to a lookout point but by this time I was really not feeling well and we decided to return to the ship. We walked back to the ship and immediately went back to our cabin – it was only about 10:30 am. I lay on the bed with waves of cramps and got up to use the bathroom intermittently. I fell asleep about 11:30 am and didn’t get out of bed until late that afternoon – around 3:30. I was feeling a little better – the cramps were gone. I sipped on some water which didn’t seem to make me nauseous – a good sign, so we stopped by the Tastings Café to get some snacks. I had a canapé with ham and cantaloupe and a chocolate meringue cookie. We sat for a while until about 6 and then met our cocktail friends but decided to head back to the cabin again still feeling queasy. I took another nap and when I awoke, Seth suggested getting some sushi which turned out to be a good idea. I also had some rice noodles with chicken and mushrooms. We returned to the cabin and watched “Mr Brooks” on my computer then went to bed. Maybe someday we’ll come back again to Rhodes and explore.

Celebrity Mediterranean Cruise - Kusadasi, Turkey

2008-09-08T11:23:00.001-07:00

We were woken by a phone call telling us our breakfast was on its way just before my Centro alarm went off. We ate our continental breakfast of raisin bran, milk, coffee, croissants, and danishes as we got ready for our private tour of Kusadasi booked through Ekol Tours of Turkey.

We met Wade, Charlie, Steve, Marcy, Stan, and Claire on deck 6 and headed down to deck 3 to exit the ship (we were docked today). We made our way to the terminal and once we exited the terminal, we easily saw our Ekol tour guide, Inan, holding a sign with my name on it.

He led us to another mini-bus – this one a bit smaller than the one we had in Athens but still very comfortable.

We also had a driver for our tour so that Inan spoke to us with a microphone and also guided us through the various sites. Inan had graduated from college with a major in archaeology and art history so he really knew his stuff. Our first stop this morning, he explained, would be the House of the Virgin Mary so that we could avoid some crowds in this small site.

Inan described the history of Turkey referring to us frequently as “Dear Guests”, and pointed out various interesting sites on our way to the House of Virgin Mary. There were few buses in the parking lot when we arrived and the weather was still cool. Inan pointed out the baptism pool as we made our way to the house walking past a post office and the souvenir stands. There was a religious ceremony being conducted as we walked by. Photos were allowed outside but once within the house, guests were asked to remain silent and no photography was allowed.

There was a short line into the house and we silently filed in and out of the house then lit candles outside.

We made our way down the steps and saw other tourists pull out small bottles to put the blessed spring water into. Further down the way was the wish area where anyone who wrote a wish on a piece of paper or fabric could tie their wish to the wall. Seth and I each put a wish on the wall.

We walked back to the front area and purchased some post cards then took some time to address them and write short messages to loved ones. Inan had pointed out to us that post cards mailed from this post office would be stamped with a unique Virgin Mary stamp. I sent a postcard home to the kids and one to the office although I suspect that we’ll be home before the postcards make it there. We waited around for the post office to open at 9 am and I bought a cute purse at the souvenir stand for 10 Euros. After mailing our postcards (about 3 Euros for 5 postcards) and exchanging some Euros for Liras to take home to the kids, we boarded the bus to head for the ruins at Ephesus.

I had already read on the Cruise Critic website how amazing Ephesus was but to see it for ourselves and to walk the pathways that ancient people had also walked really gives you a true understanding of how magnificent this place is.

I’m sooooo glad that we also opted for the Terrace Houses. I had not seen any pictures of Ephesus or the Terrace Houses before our trip (not that I hadn’t looked) and, for some reason, had envisioned something different for the Terrace Houses but was wonderfully surprised during our tour. I have to give credit to Inan whose background in archaeology and art history gave him a passion which was evident in his explanation of the ruins as he led us around to specific areas describing what life was like thousands of years ago and how to read the clues in the ruins. He commented on how unhappy he was that tourists in other tour groups were taken right up to the odeon and were allowed to climb all over it. Inan really avoided taking us to any part of the ruins where others were climbing and pawing around out of respect for the ancient sites. We took a zillion pictures and marveled at the craftsmanship and genius of these ancient people and wondered about the dedication they had to their gods and goddesses immortalizing them in marble and stone and honoring them with temples at every turn. We saw Medusa, the guardian of temples, Athena Nike, Aescepulus, and snapped pictures by the very earliest caduceus carving.

Even after being amazed by the ruins we had seen so far, we were furthered impressed by the Terrace Houses which are a separate area within Ephesus. Our tour was $10 USD per person more for this part but well worth the added expense. In fact, another tourist had slipped into the entrance of the Terrace Houses in front of us and was asked to pay 15 Euros for entry. This part of the tour was also a little more arduous with a lot of stair climbing but the entire ruins were covered/sheltered from the sun and the walkways that we took were clear so that we could see the ruins below our feet. We explored room after room from above and saw detailed drawings, stone inlays, marble walls, clever plumbing, and wonderful architectural feats.

We left the Terrace Houses and climbed down the stairs, walked past the Library of Celsus (although Seth and I stopped to examine it and take pictures including one of the token cat sleeping in the Library), and met back up with Inan near the exit of Ephesus within the gauntlet of tourist shops.

We chuckled at the signs advertising “genuine fake watches”.

We reboarded the mini-bus and were taken to what remained of the Temple of Artemis – one of the 2 Wonders of the Ancient World in Turkey Inan proudly pointed out. The temple was in ruins with only one column remaining. The site had once held over 120 columns and was one of the largest temples ever built. Inan told us that a lot of the temple ruins were taken and used to build St John’s basilica. We walked around briefly and admired the column and ruins complete with a huge stork’s nest at the top of the column.

Our next stop was a Turkish carpet weaving facility. We were warmly welcomed by our host/owner who showed us a woman working at a weaving loom tying wool knots with incredible speed. He demonstrated how the knots were tied and I was even given a chance to sit at the loom and tie a knot. It was a good thing that I was paying attention – I didn’t realize there would be a test! He showed us the tools that the weaver used – huge shears to trim the knot fibers and a heavy device used to knock the knots down and compact them. Depending on the carpet pattern, a carpet can take 3-6 months to weave.

We were then shown into the facility and stopped by a large machine that turned out to be a silk extractor. It was fascinating to see the silk cocoons and our host pointed out that every cocoon contained a dead insect. The insects were sacrificed before they could burrow their way out of the cocoon and disrupt the silk fibers. A woman demonstrated the tool she used to stir the cocoons floating in a vat of water to find the beginning of each silk fiber. The machine was then hand-cranked and pulled the silk fibers together into a thread which was wound onto a spindle. The thread was then collected and dyed with natural dyes. We saw a beautiful silk carpet on the weaving loom and our host pointed out that carpet quality was, of course, dependent on the number of knots per square centimeter – the more the better. Some of the silk carpets had thousands of knots per square centimeter.

The next room we were taken to was the show room where we sat, were served tea or coffee, and enjoyed what resembled cheese spring rolls made with Lore cheese.

They were delicious as was the tea served in their traditional Turkish tea cups with a small saucer and spoon. We were given more education about the differences in carpets: size, wool on wool, wool on cotton, and silk on wool. He gave us tips on what to look for in quality carpets and even invited us to take our shoes off to walk barefoot on the carpets to appreciate the way they felt. The carpets were luxurious and we learned quite a bit about carpet fibers and the way true Turkish carpets change colors depending on what side you view them from – the “dark” side and the “light” side.

Seth and I had already discussed getting a carpet for our great room in front of the fire place. After the demonstration, we split up from the other passengers into separate rooms for the hard sell from the owner’s staff. We described the colors that we were interested in and were immediately shown a large variety of carpets and we settled on a 6 ft by 9 ft carpet with reds, blues, black, and some green with a design somewhat resembling a southwestern style with what I called “bugs” – designs that, to me, look like scorpions. We paid 2300 Euros for the carpet which included shipping.

Our last stop was a leather factory where we were taken into a small room with a runway, were served apple tea, and watched models with a wide range of leather coats, shoes, and jackets parade by to strobe lights and loud dance music. It was kind of funny to watch until Seth and I were pulled up to the stage to be “models”. This will be the only time in my life, I’m sure, where I’ll see Seth dressed in a leather jacket and beret.

For me, I was given a beige leather jacket to wear. The models were not the friendliest people on the planet – they never said a word to either of us and really seemed to give off the vibe: “I just want to get this over with”.

We were shown in to the showroom and were allowed to browse around a bit after a brief lesson by one of the staff who showed us the “silk leather” line which was incredibly, buttery soft and strong as well. Apparently, the leather making process has not added a new part that renders the jackets waterproof. If I hadn’t just bought a leather jacket in Toronto this past spring, I may have considered buying a new jacket.

At this point, we were driven back to the port terminal where we paid Inan and posed together for a group photo. The group split up and went our separate ways with Seth and I heading to the Grand Bazaar just down and across the street from the terminal.

Celebrity Mediterranean Cruise - Mykonos, Greece

2008-09-08T11:22:00.000-07:00

I woke up at 7 am and immediately headed up to the fitness center to get in a run before breakfast and Mykonos. Having been very well-fed over the past few days, I found myself running longer and faster than I usually do completing 4 miles in 38 minutes. After a shower, I woke Seth up and wished him a happy 40th birthday. I called Wade and Charlie to let them know that we hadn’t had breakfast yet – it was almost 9 am - but Charlie thought maybe they would stick around on the ship today. While eating breakfast, Wade wandered by and we chatted for a little bit including a lesson on who Dorothy is. He and Charlie were planning on going into Mykonos with Peter and Joyce.

We returned to our cabin to collect our things and headed to the theater to receive our tender tickets. It was about 10 am and there was no wait for the tender. We boarded immediately and were taken right into the main area of Mykonos.

After stopping to take a few pictures of the gorgeous scenery, we wandered into a jewelry store that Celebrity highly recommended and ended up walking out with a gorgeous Cabana necklace of white gold with the Greek key symbol encircling diamonds that encircled a ring of black onyx. I was thrilled that Seth insisted on buying this piece of jewelry for me even though it was HIS birthday today (although mine is in 5 days while we’re in Naples).

We wandered the town and saw cute cathedrals, the windmills, and Little Venice finding the scenery so beautiful except for the odd sewer smell as we walked the alleyways.

The wind was incredibly strong especially facing north. We picked up a few more gifts in the various shops down narrow winding alleyways heeding the advice we were given about buying what we wanted right away because going back to find a particular store would be extremely difficult to do. We had intended on renting an ATV to explore the island but decided against it because we were afraid that we wouldn’t be able to find our way back to the rental agency once we needed to return it. The streets of Mykonos were designed to confuse invaders and allow the locals to escape so they were extremely difficult for us to navigate. We, literally, wandered around and walked into shops that looked interesting to us.

We bought some Greek liqueur, a brown top for me and a coral colored one for Amina, 2 shirts for Seth, as well as a souvenir magnet, some honey, olive oil, and a Pashmina shawl for Mimi.

We originally went to Babulas Tavern on the waterfront for lunch but the menu did not appeal to us so we moved downstairs to the Kavos Café instead.

We seated ourselves and soon a large man offered us menus and then, in a little while, begrudgingly took our orders: pita sampler with 4 dips (tzatziki sauce, olive pate, taramasalata – fish roe dip, and melisanasalata – eggplant dip),meat gyro for Seth, and souvlaki for me.

The food was delicious but the service was terrible. We watched our waiter talking on his cell phone for over 30 minutes as we waited for our bill. Another waiter passed us 3 times as I waved my credit card at him hoping he would let us pay for our meal – each time he mumbled “please wait”. When our waiter finally came back to our table, he informed us that they did not take credit cards and that our bill would be 42 Euros. We only had 10 Euros and no USD. I walked up the hill to the EuroBank and made a cash advance on my credit card and returned to the café where we watched as our waiter talked on his cell phone again. I finally became impatient and gave 42 Euros to the other waiter telling him that we would no longer wait for our waiter. We left no tip and it felt good.

We did a little bit more shopping and found Amina a necklace to match her coral colored top then headed for the tender back to the ship. It was only 3 pm (last tender at 4:15) but the line for the tender was pretty long. As we tendered back to the ship, the waves were incredibly choppy probably due to the winds. At about 5:30, the Galaxy pulled out of Mykonos and started heading for Turkey.

When we returned to the cabin, Charlie had called and left a message to join the 2 of them along with Joyce and Peter for cocktails at 6 pm. After showering and freshening up, we made our way down to deck 6 and enjoyed drinks with them – I tried a chocolate martini which was very good. When they headed to early seating dinner, Seth and I went up to the Galaxy shops but when we found nothing of interest, we made our way down to the Celebrity movie theater to watch Pan’s Labyrinth showing at 7 pm. There was one other couple in the theater with us and at 7:10, one of them went out to ask about the movie. He came back in and then 15 minutes later, went to ask again about the movie. The movie finally got started after 7:30 but when it finished (it was a very good movie that I had seen before but Seth had not), it was past 9:30 pm – too late to make it to our late dinner seating.We wandered the ship for a bit looking for someplace to have dinner but the dinner in the Oasis Café was by reservation only so we ended up at the pizza/pasta bar and took food back to our cabin for dinner. We ordered apple pie from room service via the television monitor system and room service called us to confirm our order – making sure that all we wanted was just pie. We finished eating our dinner/dessert and called it a night setting our alarms for 6:30. We ordered a continental breakfast for the morning as our shore excursion group would be meeting at 7:15 am for Kusadasi/Ephesus tomorrow.

Celebrity Mediterranean Cruise - Athens, Greece

2008-09-08T11:21:00.002-07:00

Monday, Aug 25 – Athens, Greece

I woke up at 5:10 am to use the bathroom and never did get back to sleep again. The alarm went off at 6:30 and we got ready for our shore excursion then went to the Oasis Café for breakfast. At just before7:15, we met Wade, Charlie, Steve, Marcy, Tony, and Claire outside of Michael’s Bar. We headed downstairs to the gangway and, after just a bit of confusion, found out that we were to take a bus from the ship to the port terminal but the ride was extremely short and we could have walked it without any difficulty. At the terminal, we easily found the guide from Spiros Taxi Service – his name was George and he walked us to a surprisingly large blue mini-bus which could have accommodated 10 more people than just the 8 of us. What a nice luxury to have the whole mini-bus to ourselves
George was originally born in Zambia but his family was from Greece and he spoke impeccable English. The traffic in Athens this morning wasn’t very bad according to George as he drove us straight to the Acropolis this morning to “beat the crowd” narrating along the way and pointing out interesting facts and structures including some of the buildings used in the 2004 Olympic Games. George dropped us off at the foot of the walkway to the entrance. There were already other tour groups making their way up the hill along pathways that were lined on either side by olive trees. When we reached the gate, it was a bit confusing but the men made their way down the hill and found the ticket booth purchasing Acropolis entrance tickets for 12 euros each. While we were waiting, a group of soldiers marched out and did a few somewhat sloppy drills then boarded a car.
The tickets for the Acropolis also include admission to the Ancient Agora, Roman Agora, Kerameikos, Temple of Olympian Zeus, and Hadrian’s Library. We headed up the hill and passed by the Theater of Dionysos then walked over to the Propylaia which, just like each of the other structures, was undergoing restoration. We walked through this grand hallway and immediately marveled at the Parthenon. It was interesting to note the natural marble that punctuated the pathway and had been worn down and polished by so many people walking this same path making the climb very slippery at times.

We circled the Parthenon in awe and snapped a zillion pictures then walked about for quite some time looking at the other structures, the Temple of Athena Nike, the Erechtheion and finally climbing up Aeropagus Hill. Climbing up the hill was an adventure as slippery marble combined with jagged rock but the view was beautiful.

We spent about 2 hours at the Acropolis then George took us to the Temple of Olympian Zeus with its massive columns of which many were still standing but one column had fallen over. We were also able to view Hadrian’s Arch pretty well.

Next, we briefly visited the Olympic Stadium where the original Olympic Games were held. George told us the only event that resulted in an award of a medal back then was the marathon and the very first winner was a young boy who ran the marathon with no shoes on.

At this point, George asked us to decide on which tour we would like to do: the Temple of Poseidon in Sounion which would be a 3 hour round trip on the mini-bus or staying in Athens to see the archaeological museum and the Plaka shopping district. The group decided to stay in Athens so our next stop was the Plaka shopping area where we (Wade, Charlie, Seth and I) walked to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier while the rest of the group went shopping for black platinum. George had told us that the guards were chosen based on their height (at least 180 meters), the “shapeliness” of their legs, and whether they were “good-looking” enough to be specially trained guards at this location. For an hour, 2 guards stood at attention in their traditional Greek military costumes before being relieved by another set of guards who took over after a traditional changing of the guard ceremony at the top of the hour. Unfortunately, we arrived at the Tomb at just past 11 am and missed the changing.

We headed back to the Plaka area and found a small taverna called Milton’s to have lunch. Other tavernas were not even opened yet as it wasn’t quite noon. We shared their version of hummus and I had the Mousaka – baked ground lamb with potato and eggplant. This was the first time I had this dish and although I don’t care for lamb, I thought the Mousaka was very good. Seth had a traditional Greek salad which included onion, olives, and huge chunks of feta cheese. We lingered over lunch for quite a while enjoying the company of our new gay friends who have a wonderful sense of humor and a really refreshing sense of themselves.

After lunch, we shopped briefly but didn’t bother to really buy anything.

We headed back towards the cathedral and quickly made our way to the bakery to pick up some baklava before boarding the mini-bus again.

Our next destination was the archaeological museum where we spent about 2 hours exploring the artifacts and sculptures. As a note, all bags must be checked in prior to entering the museum. 2 hours was barely enough time to see the first floor but we did make it up to the 2nd floor and quickly explored some of the rooms before we made our way back to the mini-bus.

Our last stop was at a lookout point near a cathedral at the top of a hill. We could view all of Athens and really appreciated how crammed in the city is.

We were taken back to the pier terminal where George dropped us off and we walked back to the ship and re-boarded. Along the way, Seth noticed the cigarettes for sale in the duty-free shop. Each box carried an interesting warning about the adverse health effects of cigarette smoking – quite a bit different than the generic surgeon general warning on US cigarette packages.

After packing our laundry in the Celebrity laundry bag and tagging it with our special Captain’s Club $20 coupon inside, we met Charlie and Wade at their cabin for drinks at the Sky Bar. Tom was working again and, as usual, was very liberal with the alcohol. I tried a mojito which was very good. At around 6 pm, we moved down to deck 6 to have drinks with Joyce and Peter. Seth and I tried a Messicano coffee with tequila, kahlua, and cream. It wasn’t sweet enough for me – I had to add Splenda. As Charlie, Wade, Joyce, and Peter headed off to early seating dinner, we went to the Celebrity Theater to see the comic for the evening who was really pretty good. We even stayed after the show to play a round of bingo but did not win the $500 prize.

We were about 5 minutes late to dinner but were still the first ones to arrive at our table. We were soon joined by the couple from England but the Kiwi family did not dine with us this night. I had the baked goat cheese with potato, Cream of broccoli soup (which I did not care for), Roquefort salad, teriyaki salmon (a little overcooked, imo) and an apple tart with butter pecan ice cream which was very good. Alexander, our waiter, seemed very rushed this evening. We did finish before 10:30 but lingered to compare notes with our English companions until well after 11 pm. Alexander waited for a little while for us to finish but ended up excusing himself and leaving which I found to be a bit of a disappointment.

Celebrity Mediterranean Cruise - Sea Day

2008-09-08T11:21:00.001-07:00

Sunday, August 24th, 2008

I was up at 8 am today and quickly got ready to go to the fitness center – I had to squeeze in my long run this morning and finish up before my massage appointment at 10:30. I toyed with the idea of running outside on the track (12 laps = 1 mile) but realized how hot it was already and opted for the treadmill in the fitness center instead. I ran 7 miles in 69 minutes today – a personal best. After cooling off for a bit, I returned to the cabin to shower and get ready for my appointment – there was no time to grab breakfast.

After a short wait and filling out the usual paperwork/release in the AquaSpa, I met with my masseuse and had a deep tissue massage. My calves were particularly sore today and, as usual, there were a couple of “knots” around my shoulders and scapula that always seem to be there. I was done in about an hour and went back to the cabin to get Seth for lunch – the Sunday brunch only ran until 1 pm and it was already past 11:30 am.

Brunch was held in the Orion restaurant – lower level. The buffet was huge with a pasta station, warm dishes including duck with a cherry sauce, eggs benedict, fresh fruit, a huge dessert area, ice cream, and various types of salads including cous cous, etc. The food was good but the service was awful. We wandered for a bit with our plates wondering where we should sit and several waiters pointed in a general direction but didn’t really go out of their way to get us seats. I had returned to our stateroom to get some Lactaid and when I got back to the dining room, we hadn’t even gotten any water yet. I flagged down a waiter for some water and asked for some coffee and ketchup as well. After a bit, I went over to the service station and helped myself to some ketchup and then asked a 2nd time for a cup of coffee. Even the clearing away of plates was a very very slow process. We chatted with a couple from Minnesota who were here on board as part of the cardiology CME seminar – he was a PhD in physiology lecturing during the conference. The other young couple was from Jersey City where he worked as financial trader.

After we finished lunch, Seth returned to the cabin and I headed to the Stratosphere lounge to work on my journal. At 3 pm, we attended the wines around the world event which Seth had reserved the evening before through our wine steward. This event was different than the previous wine events we’ve been to resembling a walk-around wine festival moreso than a wine tasting class. We were given a wine glass and a list of the wines that we would be sampling. 1-3 wines were available from each of the countries sampled including Spain, France, Italy, South Africa, Australia, and the USA. We tried a bit of each wine rinsing our glass out with water after each sampling. There were also various canapés available. We noted our favorites from this wine experience and left the event with Wade and Charlie who brought us up to the Sky Bar for a cocktail. They especially liked Tom, the bartender, who manned the Sky Bar and was very generous with the tequila and vodka. I had one of the pina colada specials in a souvenir glass.

It was very hot outside on the deck with very little wind so we soon headed back to the cabin for a rest before dinner. I ended up taking a 2.5 hour nap and then got ready for our first formal night. We skipped the formal portrait sessions and headed to the dining room noting the truly awful dresses/outfits that some were wearing as they headed to their table. I enjoyed the crab cocktail, French onion soup (delicious, not too salty as most usually are), sautéed shrimp with goose liver pate that Alexander brought to me as an extra side, and for dessert, the spring roll with coconut sorbet. I could easily make this spring roll dessert – stuffed with mangoes and pineapple, deep fried, then taken and rolled in sugar. We headed back to the cabin and I repeated what was to become a nightly ritual – downloading pictures, updating the journal, charging all the electronic accessories, etc. We have a very early morning where we will meet the rest of our tour group and leave for Athens by 7:45 am.

Celebrity Mediterranean Cruise - Sicily/Messina, Italy

2008-09-08T11:20:00.002-07:00

Saturday, August 23, 2008

The first time I woke up, it was about 6 am. The second time I woke up, it was about 7:30. I finally decided to get out of bed at 8:45 and left Seth sawing away as I sat on our veranda and finished last night’s blog entry. It was a beautiful day outside with a slight breeze and sitting on the veranda was just priceless as we made our way to our first port of call, Sicily/Messina. At 9:45, I finally went back inside but knocked over the small glass table as I made my way in and broke a champagne glass. This woke Seth up and we finally got dressed and out the door just before 10 am. Waiting on our door was a note about the Cruise Critic Connections party to be held in the Stratosphere lounge at 10:30. We only had 30 minutes for late breakfast in the Oasis café: fresh fruit, cold smoked salmon, cereal, and yogurt for me.

When we finished breakfast, I headed to the Connections party while Seth returned to the cabin. I went from aft to forward on deck 12 which took me outside to the deck that overlooked the pool. We were just pulling in to Sicily and there were many passengers along the railing and laying around in the sun. I later commented to Seth how I should have gone another way as there were a large number of frightening sights on this deck – people in bikinis and Speedos that had no business wearing them.

It was almost 10:45 when I arrived at the Connections party and I immediately saw Wade. Charlie had also elected to stay in his cabin during the party. We mingled for quite a while making so many connections between faces and screen names. We also confirmed with other passengers whom we were sharing tours with agreeing to meet in Michael’s bar about 15 minutes prior to our scheduled private tours. Stewart, our cruise director, made introductions and afterwards, we gathered for a group photo. We mingled for a little longer and then it was time to return to the cabin to get ready for our Messina wine tour. I headed back to our cabin at about 11:30 am.

We quickly packed our things and headed down to the Rendezvous Lounge at noon for our 12:15 tour. We brought along our passport copies since Celebrity had kept our passports when we checked in for the cruise. There was a copy of our passports slipped under our cabin door this morning but I had brought along color copies of our passports and credit cards. We checked in for our tour, were given a green #4 sticker and told to wait in the Lounge until we were called. It was almost 12:45 by the time our number was called. Wade and Charlie joined us as we waited to leave the ship.

We left the ship and skipped past the photo op with the Roman guard boarding a Mercedes bus just a short walk from the pier. The bus was very comfortable but we had been warned earlier that “Italian regulations” prevented the buses from being cooled off as much as some would have liked. The scenery was gorgeous and our tour guide kept up a running and informative commentary about the countryside dotted with exclamations of “Mama Mia” when we ran into traffic or when she noticed something surprising. When we finally came into view of Mount Etna – it was pretty amazing watching the steam pour out of this active volcano.

The drive took about 1.5 hours ending after a twisting and turning route up steep hills to reach the Barone di Villagrande. After we got off the bus and headed into the winery’s courtyard, the view was gorgeous and we took turns taking pictures with the vineyard in the background. We were first treated to olives, salami, cheese, and bruschetta served along with our first white wine: Etna Bianco (7 Euros/bottle) out in the courtyard. We sat on the steps and sipped on our wine taking more pictures of each other.

Soon we were invited into the “barn” and were treated to an Italian buffet with sautéed eggplant, olives, roasted peppers, percorina cheese, sausage, and macaroni pasta which looked a lot different than the macaroni we had at home. The pasta was cooked al dente which isn’t actually my favorite but it was delicious, nonetheless.
We sampled another white wine, Fiore followed by 2 red wines: Etna Rosso (7 Euros/bottle) and Sciara (13 Euros/bottle). Our favorite was the Sciara. The wine was poured very generously. The ladies serving the food and pouring the wine were hit-and-miss with their English. Apparently in Italy, “Thank you, I’m fine” meant that you wanted more wine.

After our plates were cleared, they served a biscuit which was a type of almond cookie with a good serving of their sweet wine, the Passito. This was my hands down favorite – I had 2 glassfuls. After we finished, we were invited back out into the courtyard where we were given espresso, more biscuits, and the opportunity to try their Grappa (18 Euros/bottle). We were served a teeny amount of Grappa in glasses which was more than enough for me. Grappa smelled like hard liquor and a small amount goes a long way.
We took more pictures and bought a bottle of Etna Rosso (13 euros) as well as a bottle of Passito (20 euros) to take home. The winery didn’t take credit cards but they did accept either Euros or USD. The bus ride back to the pier was mostly quiet and we dozed off after having so much wine.

We then went back to our cabin and changed into our workout clothes. I did 30 minutes on the stair climber in the fitness center and finished up after the ship had started pulling away from Sicily. We returned to our cabin and showered/changed then left the cabin which was getting pretty warm. That's one thing that I really disliked about our cabin - the thermostat was set at the lowest setting - 65F - but it never got even close to that cool in our cabin. We wandered the ship a bit checking out the art gallery, the casino, and the shops but we didn’t find anything of interest so we went out to the pool deck and sat on some loungers until dinner time at 8:45.

We were the first to our dinner table again but were soon joined by the family of 6 and the couple from England. We exchanged stories about our day and I enjoyed escargot, creamy mushroom soup, a young chicken and tiramisu for dessert. We learned a lot this evening about New Zealand and should really consider taking a vacation there. We finished our pinot grigio from last night and ordered a bottle of Merlot. This was the most alcohol we’d had in a very long time. We returned to the cabin, watched tv for a bit, then called it a night. We have a day at sea tomorrow and set our clocks ahead an hour in anticipation of reaching Greece on Monday.

Celebrity Mediterranean Cruise - Rome/Embarkation

2008-09-08T11:20:00.001-07:00

Thurs, Aug 21 – Friday, Aug 22, 2008

It seemed like the longest single day ever although we were about 6 hours shy of a 48 hour day. We said goodbye to the kids as they left for school and ran by Kmart to pick up a few things for our trip (Lactaid, Downy wrinkle releaser, and luggage locks). We got on the road right on time and reached the airport uneventfully. Our flight to Washington DC arrived early and we stopped in at Vino Volo in Dulles to have a bite to eat. We hadn’t had lunch except for a protein bar and water so we were starving by the time we reached Dulles. Vino Volo is a wine bar in the DC airport where we each ordered a “wine flight” (red for Seth and rose for me) sampling 3 different wines each. We also had a large order of 2 “tapas” type dishes – pork tacos and sausage/chickpea chili. The food was good as well as the wine.

We stopped by Dunkin’ Donuts for dessert and the guy behind the counter had a hard time understanding that we wanted chocolate crème filled donuts. We also ordered a berry smoothie but it was absolutely awful tasting so we threw it away.

After a while, our Rome flight finally appeared on the departure monitor and we made our way to the gate where we met our first Cruise Critic friends: Tony and Trudy from Florida (Daytonams). We had exchanged pictures on line and recognized each other right away waving at each other from across the gate area. Our flight finally started to board and after settling into our United Economy Plus seats, we were on our way to Rome – only a little bit late.

I was surprised on the flight that not only were we entertained with many different movies shown on personal tv monitors but we were also actually served dinner (meatloaf, potatoes, salad) and breakfast the following morning (yogurt, bear claw). After watching Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, it was lights out on the plane and we tried our best to get some sleep. By this time, it was about 2 am, Rome time. I did manage to get some sleep on the plane but don’t remember having so much difficulty with my legs/knees hurting. I finally gave up on getting anymore sleep at about 5:30 am and watched a few more episodes of “Grey’s Anatomy, the first season” before packing it in for our landing. For a long 8 hour flight, it did go by relatively quickly and we landed right on time in Rome at 8:50 am local time.

Arriving in Rome, I was surprised at how simple customs was. There was one checkpoint – “passport control” where our passports were stamped with the agent barely looking up at us. We made our way to the baggage claim and waited, waited, and then waited some more. Italians really do seem to operate on a slower/more relaxed schedule than the rest of us. Tony and Trudy got their luggage pretty quickly and went to meet up with a Celebrity agent – there were many scattered around the baggage claim area. After waiting an eternity until almost 9:45 am, we finally received our bags – all 4 of them. It looks like we’ll finally have a Celebrity trip without lost bags.

After gathering our luggage, we met up with Fabio of Rome in Limo who was dutifully holding up a sign with “Switzer” on it as we exited the baggage claim area. Fabio introduced himself in near-perfect English and immediately took one of my suitcases.

We walked the short distance to the parking garage, noting the proximity of the train station that I had read about as an option of getting to the port. I really couldn’t imagine negotiating the train with all of our luggage in tow. We boarded Fabio’s van – a large Mercedes van – and headed to the Rome Hilton which was, literally, less than 5 minutes away.

We arrived at the hotel at just past 10 am to find Steve, Marcy, Stan, and Claire waiting in the lobby – 2 couples we had also met on Cruise Critic who would be also sharing our Athens and Kusadasi tours.

After having a brief lesson on the proper pronunciation of “Civitavecchia” (chi-veet-a-vek-ia), we were on our way to the port to board our ship. We chatted all the way for the approximately one hour that it took to get there with Fabio giving us a constant commentary about life in Italy and the countryside all the while expertly negotiating some hairy traffic as we entered the port area.

We thanked Fabio as he dropped us off and each couple paid $65 Euros for the service ($59 Euros plus tip per couple). Our tagged luggage was whisked away to the ship immediately and after a brief panic looking for my passport that I thought had fallen out of my pocket, we headed to the passenger check-in area. We stopped to take a picture in front of the ship but were hurried along by the ship staff. As we entered the large tent, we were given health questionnaires to fill out – are you having diarrhea? Are you having fever? Etc, etc. We were then shown to the check-in lane and were quickly checked in after being handed a number 7 card. This is the first time that we’ve ever been on a cruise where the cruise line kept our passports.

After the obligatory embarkation photo (having just spent over 12 hours travelling, we were a little on the scruffy side), we were directed to a holding area to await our number to be called to board. The boarding area was a little crowded when we first arrived but numbers 2-6 were boarded pretty quickly and eventually it was our turn to board. We stopped to hand over our room key/charge cards and a picture was taken quickly. We were given glasses of champagne as we entered – it was about 11:30 am.

Our rooms would not be ready until about 1 pm so we spent a little time exploring the ship and taking a few pictures even stumbling upon the (empty) topless sunbathing deck. The Oasis café buffet was calling our name by about 12:30 and after having some salad, a samosa, pad thai (which neither of us thought was very good), and ice cream, we headed to our cabin (1102) just shy of 1 pm. A steward was just finishing up vacuuming our cabin. We gladly dumped our things off and took a 3 hour nap punctuated with intermittent knocks on the door as our luggage arrived one piece at a time and, finally, a fruit basket was delivered (one of the perks of Concierge Class).

After putting most of our things away, we donned our life jackets at about 5:15 and headed to muster station D (the casino) negotiating our way past the crowd gathered at the door after our names were checked off the list. The life boat drill took a total of about 30 minutes as we listened to the drill announced over the loud speaker in English and everyone groaned as we listened to it again in Spanish. Fortunately, we were on the side of the ship where the deck was shady. I was waiting for the version in Italian but, luckily, we were spared a 3rd version. We lumbered back to our cabin and put our life jackets away when Charlie called from their cabin to introduce himself and Wade – yet another couple we had met on Cruise Critic and whom we would be sharing our Athens, Kusadasi, and Naples tours. We agreed to pick them up at their suite (1226) and go for drinks in the lounge.

We knocked on Wade and Charlie’s door at about 6:10 and got a quick peek at their Sky suite with a larger bedroom, MUCH larger veranda, and bathroom with marble countertops and a bathtub. We headed to Michael’s Club and sat for a while chatting in large, blue, comfortable seats. Another couple from Scotland, Peter and Joyce, that Charlie and Wade had met the night before at their hotel in Civitavecchia, joined us as well. The bartender made a very good Flirtini for me after being asked to make something “fruity” by Wade. We enjoyed our drinks with them a great deal and chatted until about 7 pm when they had to get to the dining room for their early seating dinner. Seth and I finished our drinks then headed back to the cabin after thanking the bartender whose name was “Isaac – like the Love Boat”. I went to the fitness center and used the elliptical trainer for about 30 minutes. There were about ½ a dozen other people in the gym working out as well.

When I returned to the cabin, we got ready for our late seating dinner at 8:45 pm. I showered, changed, and quickly dried my hair with a hair dryer that I found in the bathroom – better than the usual hair dryer attached to the wall. We arrived at the Orion dining room at just about 8:45 pm but the doors were still shut. We wandered around briefly in the shops then headed back down to the dining room waiting in line for a bit to be seated. We were shown to table 600 which turned out to be a large table for 10 right by the starboard aft window. Soon our tablemates arrived – a couple from England, Steve (decorator and soccer ref)and Elaine, and a family of 6 from New Zealand living in Scotland and Prague. The woman sitting next to me, Lucy, had been a head waiter on Carnival cruise lines and carefully inspected all the plates and silverware before our food arrived.

Our head waiter, Alexander from Serbia, introduced himself and expertly took our orders, served our courses, and answered questions with a smile. The food was delicious as expected – Seth ordered the Chef’s recommendation for the evening. I ordered the baked goat cheese with red peppers, tomato and garlic soup, classic Caesar salad, and herb encrusted white fish.

For dessert we had the vanilla crème brulee. After saying good night to our table mates, we headed back to the cabin and called it a night. I downloaded my pictures from the camera, synched my ipod, and started my blog but could barely keep my eyes open. It was about 11 pm when the lights went out.

Oklahoma YMCA State Swim Meet

2008-08-11T16:12:00.000-07:00

This past Saturday, the 9th of August, I attended for the first time in my life a YMCA state swim meet. The meet was in Stillwater and was to start at 9:15 am so Rhys had to be "on deck" by 8 am to warm up. We left our house at 6:45 am to be at the Stillwater YMCA.

Rhys is new to the swim team having just started at the end of the Spring semester this year. He attended 3 other meets to qualify for the State Meet. He's been attending swim practice at the Enid YMCA about 1-3 times a week for the most part and really seems to have a knack for it with some coaching from Seth.

It's been an educational experience for me having no idea what the difference was between a breaststroke and a butterfly nor the order of an individual medley vs a team medley relay. I still get the medleys confused.

So, to summarize, here are Rhys' times this summer:

14 June 2008 Enid YMCA swim meet #1

50 yd fly: 1:05.59 (1:12.80)
50 yd back: 1:03.03 (1:09.96)
50 yd breast: 1:05.85 (1:13.09)
100 yd free: 2:03.17 (2:16.72)

(Converted to meters just to make the numbers comparable)

12 July 2008 Enid YMCA swim meet #2

50 yd fly: 1:04.43 (1:11.52)
50 yd back: 1:05.27 (1:12.45)
50 yd free: 50.52 (56.08)
100 yd IM: 2:33.48 (2:50.36) - DQ'd

26 July 2008 Stillwater YMCA swim meet

50 m fly:
50 m back:
50 m free:
100 m free:

9 August 2008 State swim meet, Stillwater

200 m medley relay (back): 1:09.65/4:20.44 (2)
50 m fly: 1:06.65 (2)
50 m back: 1:10.46 (4)
50 m free: 53.77 (2)
100 m IM: 2:25.71 (1)
200 m free relay: 55.37/3:28.78 (1)

The state meet was a LONG day (we got done at around 3 pm) and Rhys swam a lot more events than he had at other meets but seemed to be just fine. He improved all of his times and is looking forward to the swim team party this week.

Edited to add: I made it just in time to Rhys' swim party at the Y for the awards presentations. Of all the age groups, the only "sure" high points winner was Rhys in the 7-8 age category. For this he received a trophy. Rhys also received 2 gold, 3 silver, and 1 bronze medal for each of his races and did not receive any DQs.

Med Tours - Preparing Payment

2008-08-02T09:27:00.000-07:00

I really need to sort out what we will owe in both Euros and USD for our various tours and such while on our cruise in the Mediterranean. I'm ready to buy Euros from our bank but the cost hasn't dropped as much as I would have liked. The current rate is about $1.55 USD for 1 Euro. I don't know what our bank's current rate is - probably in the $1.65 USD range.

Here's the breakdown that I've figured based on an exchange rate of $1.55 USD per 1 Euro:

ROME: Rome in Limo transfer from FCO to Civitavecchia (6 passengers): 28.33 Euros per person + tip ($3 USD per person) = 66 Euros
Roma shuttle private transfer from Civitavecchia to FCO (2 passengers): 120 Euros + tip ($3 USD per person) = 130 Euros

SICILY: Celebrity tour already paid for. Tip ($3 USD per person) = 10 Euros

ATHENS: Spiros taxi service (8 passengers): 56.25 Euros per person + tip ($5 USD per person) = 128 Euros

EPHESUS: Ekol tours (6 passengers): $55 USD per person + $10 USD per person + tip ($5 USD per person) = $140 USD. Ekol will take USD or credit card and we also paid the $130 USD deposit for this tour for all 6 of us.

NAPLES: Italy Limousine service (6 passengers): 66.67 Euros per person + tip ($5 USD per person) = 148.83 Euros

Total: $140 USD + $482.83 Euros

I plan on picking up some envelopes at Staples today and labelling each envelope with the info for each tour and putting the amount that we need in them in Euros once we receive them from the bank. Hopefully this will make it very easy to keep things sorted out. Of course, we'll also need some pocket money but I'm thinking we'll need to use an ATM or 2 while we're out there. Looks like I need to order at least 500 Euros from the bank.

Too good to pass up - DVC

2008-08-01T15:18:00.001-07:00

It really was a deal that was too good to pass up. DH and I had discussed briefly buying more DVC points after I had received an email with the latest "deal" DVC was offering at their newest addition: Kidani Village at the Animal Kingdom Lodge Villas. I called our guide, Amil Arroyo, and spoke with him just catching him before he left for his next trip (DCL to Mexico this weekend). We already own 350 points at SSR. Here's the deal:

$104 per point with an $8 per point credit applied to the downpayment. So for 100 points, it would cost $10,400. Down payment would be $1300 - $800 credit = $500 down (Disney Visa). The remainder of the balance has 30 days no interest then 10.75% for a 10 year contract. I'll be putting that balance on our Disney Visa and paying it over 6 months with 0% interest. No closing costs with first payment due about October 1st. Here's the real bonus: we are allotted 100 points for March '08 use year (not '09) AND we receive 100 bonus points AND we receive a $500 Disney gift card. The downsides: Our annual dues go up by $471.32 and the 100 bonus points must be used at SSR, Disneyland, or through interval international within 12 months of purchase (by August of '09). So, if I'm doing the math right, $10,400 for 100 points - $800 ($8 per point credit) - $1000 (approx value of 100 points if I sold them) - $500 (gift card) = $8100 which amounts to $81 per point. 3 years ago when we first bought in to DVC, we ended up (after incentives) paying $90 per point.

For next year, then, we'll have 120 points banked from this year + 450 points = 570 points. We are soon-to-be-owners of Kidani Village at the Animal Kingdom Lodge Villas! Woohoo! We will be able to book either SSR or AKL 11 months out, otherwise, all other resorts we can book 7 months out.

Disney Cruise Line Trip Report, Aug 6-13, 2005

2008-07-30T15:43:00.000-07:00

I totally forgot that I had posted this TR to the DIS Board before I started blogging so I thought I'd put a copy here to future reference. I can't believe it's been 3 years since we sailed on the Magic - it's time to book another cruise with DCL soon!

6 August 2005, Saturday - Downtown Disney, Disney Cruise Line Embarkation Day

This morning was much more relaxed since we didn't have to check out until 11 am and would not be picked up for the cruise until after noon. We were up around 7:30 am and packed up the rest of our stuff to be checked in leaving the suitcases by the door (inside the room). Breakfast was at Storyteller's cafe which we had enjoyed that first morning. Many of the same characters were there with a couple of new ones - Koda instead of Kenai, and Meeko for instance. The funniest moment on the trip so far was when Rhys was examining the menu trying to decide what he wanted to eat and sat back stating "I want Beaver Eggs". (Keep in mind that he's just turned 6.) DH and I both looked at each other and couldn't remember seeing them on the menu last time but thinking that this was a frontier themed restaurant, Beaver Eggs seemed to fit right in. I asked Rhys to show me where the description was for Beaver Eggs and Rhys pointed them out to me...."See, right here......'Beverages'....it says Beaver Eggs!". ROTFLOL! Well, instead of Beaver Eggs, Rhys had the Toad in the Hole (hey, doesn't any more weird than Beaver Eggs) which is a fried egg cooked in the middle of a piece of toast on top of a piece of ham. Amina had the Mickey waffles which was 3 or 4 small Mickey head shaped waffles. DH had the bran something-or-other with a side of bacon and I had the fruit with cottage cheese and carrot bread again - that was just perfect for me last time.

After we finished breakfast and met with some of the characters, we headed out to Downtown Disney right before 10 am. Amina and I went into Club Libby Lu while DH and DS walked over to check out the Lego store and the "Star Wars" store (as DS called it) which was actually the store that sells old memorabilia and just happens to sell some Star Wars memorabilia too. Amina walked around in a daze picking up every other thing in the store trying to decide what she wanted and admiring the girls having their hair done. She had seen the little girls walking around the parks earlier sporting jewel stars on their faces, sparkling lip gloss, and wild hair do's and was in total envy. We asked the girls working at the store how much it was to be transormed into a rock diva and found out it was just $20. Amina rips her purse open and fumbles through it counting her Disney dollars to see if she has enough money to do it. LOL. I tell her that I will treat her to the up-do and we make our way over to the cash register to make an "appointment" after DD gives me a great big hug. The wait was only about 15 minutes and DD was given a large pink back sack and instructed to pick out 5 items from the Mix and Match section. She selected a small purse shaped make up case with a mirror, shimmer lip gloss, and a few fancy feather pens. Soon, it was her turn to be worked on and she sat down on the seat in front of the giant heart shaped mirror like the princess that she is and the Libby Lu gal applied eye shadow and shimmer lip gloss. DD had already had her nails done before we left for the trip so she turned down having her nails done again with glitter polish. Her hair was parted in rows and then twisted with the bottom ends flipped up like a fan along the back of her head. Glitter hair spray went flying everywhere, a black and silver earphone/microphone set was applied, and her transformation was complete. While I was waiting for DD to get done, I started chatting with an oriental woman next to me who commented on how cute the girls look. We were admiring a little oriental girl - probably about 2 years old - being done up and sitting so perfectly still for the Libby Lu gal. Each of us was thinking that little girl was the other's. Turns out her name was Linda and that she had 2 older boys, Kai and Lee, but no girls. She was commenting on how she would love to have a girl. We joked a bit about having more kids - neither of us were the least bit interested. I took a few pictures of Amina after her transformation and met rest of Linda's family including her DH, Doug.

DH and DS returned from the World of Disney with a pirate sword and cool Buzz Lightyear sunglasses. More pictures of the kids in their respective outfits. We walked over to the tattoo cart where the guy touched up both DD and my rose ankle tattoos at no charge. DH gets a multicolored dragon applied to his forearm. We stop by the jewelry cart and DH surprises me by purchasing a brown and tan tropical looking necklace. In over 10 years of marriage, I have NEVER seen DH wear a necklace. He's really gotten into this vacation now it seems. We have enough time to run back over to World of Disney and look around. I find a really cute golden sandal with crystal Mickey heads necklace, and a black Mickey head crystal toe ring while DH finds a Disneyland magnet (we always buy one when we travel for our fridge), DD gets a pair of sunglasses and a Sleeping Beauty locket necklace. It's getting close to check out time so DH and the kids head back to the room to get the remainder of our stuff while I make our purchases. I stop by the front desk to check out (which really wasn't necessary but I was just checking to make sure everything was in order since we had time) while DH and the kids wait in the same lobby seats that they waited in while I had checked in, stopped by the stamp machine for a stamp to put on the Cast Member appreciation card that I had made and addressed to Ryan at Town Hall Guest Services to thank him after the Fantasmic fiasco last night. I dropped the envelope off at Guest Services where they said it would be delivered as is (had to have a stamp on it though) with no other address other than "Town Hall Guest Services". Very cool.

We head over to the hotel's conference center front desk which is where we are supposed to meet for the bus to the port. We check in with the cruise CMs. It's strange and not very Disney but there were quite a few people waiting around this area and there were NO seats. Everyone was sitting on the floors around the front desk. We have about a 1/2 hour wait when they announce that we are ready to board the bus. Our luggage had already been picked up from our room and was on its way to the port ahead of us. The bus was very large - a luxury touring bus painted with Disney characters and "50th anniversary" all over it. We selected a few comfy seats and met our bus driver then we were finally off. I just can't describe how nice a feeling it was that even though the land portion of our vacation was over, we were not disappointed because we still had a week on the cruise to go so it wasn't sad to leave the Disneyland Resort. We watched a cruise promo video during the 40 minute bus ride to the port. As we cross over the bridge to the port we can just make out the smoke stacks of the Magic. I snapped a few pics of the the kids looking out the window of the bus and the Magic's red smoke stacks in the background.

We arrive at the port and are tortured with a small delay as we wait for the bus in front of us to pull out. The kids are off the bus lickety split and we wait very briefly in line as we head into the building. We make our way up the escalator and I pull out my camera but am reminded by a CM that photos in the terminal are not allowed. Oops, I forgot. We are directed to bypass the regular check-in line and get in the shorter Concierge/Resort Guests line. Nice. We turn over our documents and receive our Key to the World cards and head for the dock stopping by once in the terminal and once on the gangway to have pictures done. As we enter, our names are announced by the CM and all the other CMs lined up along the hall start clapping. That's such a nice Disney touch. We locate Parrot Cay for lunch and sit down to the buffet which was pretty good. I had the chicken, some fruit, and, of course, the peel-and-eat shrimp which was awesome - very big shrimp. Yummy and it really hit the spot because it's almost 2 o'clock now. We find our stateroom - no luggage yet, and drop off our stuff. We stop by guest services to drop off my pillow cases and t-shirt for autographs, pick up Tea with Wendy tickets, check out the Oceaneer Lab and Club (had a hard time getting the kids to leave there already), order the wine package for dinner, and make it back to our cabin to find 2 of our pieces of luggage waiting for us. We start some unpacking and then grab our life jackets for the drill. We make our way up the stairs to the Walt Disney Theater and have a seat (nicer than other cruise lines where we stood out on deck waiting for the drill to be over). They counted and notated cabin numbers and gave a brief speech then off we went to put our stuff away and head for the sailing away party.

One more bag has shown up near our door. Later, as we returned from the sailing away party, we found one of our bags near a cabin DOWN THE HALL. Yikes. I'm glad we were walking over from foreward rather than aft and saw it. After stowing our stuff in the cabin (there are plenty of hangers in the closet), we head up to deck 10 for the sailing away party and to meet some DISers. We bumped into Linda and her family and finally started putting some names to faces. We met Vickie, Wick, Kenney, and Sara first and then Jenny with Brynee. DD was really itching to go downstairs to the pool deck to dance so we head down the stairs after DH gets us some strawberry/pina colada/rum type drinks in DCL glasses. The sailing away party was a blast and Amina was having so much fun dancing (heck so was I) - even DH and DS were getting into it. They had bubble blowing machines and a band followed by the Fab 5 doing a quick dance routine and then the cruise director started the countdown to launch and we were off as the ship's whistle blew that wonderful tune. We stayed until the party was over dancing, chasing bubbles, and having a great time.

Back in the cabin, the kids are watching tv while we try to get some more unpacking done. Our last piece of luggage has arrived - whew! Our stateroom attendant had turned down the beds and brought out the pull down bunk. There was a towel shaped like a swan sitting on our bed with a few pieces of chocolate. We caught the Welcome Aboard show which included some singing/dancing, an award winning juggler, and a guy who did some comedy/magic/ventriloquism. Dinner this night is at Animator's Palate. We didn't get the dining rotation that we had requested, bummer. There's a long line to get in to the restaurant and we finally get to our table - #18. Vickie and her family are already seated - we're just a little late. We meet Noel our server and Karim, the asst server/beverage server. The kids order off the childrens' menu which has a set menu including cheese pizza, chicken fingers, Minnie's mini burger, etc along with a changing menu each night. It was almost 9 pm by the time we started eating dinner and I can't even remember at this point what I had for dinner. Rhys fell asleep after eating 3/4 of a slice of pizza. The restaurant's "show" was ok - I guess I was anticipating more. We sat by a picture of Ariel which lit up then became black/white again a couple of times. The dinner was enjoyable but we were all pooped out. Seth carried Rhys back to the room half-asleep and we were all asleep as soon as our heads hit the pillows.

7 August 2005, Sunday - Day at Sea

Our clocks had moved forward an hour so it seems like we slept in this morning. We had our character breakfast scheduled at 9:45 am which, at first, seemed really late for breakfast but it worked out great for us as we got to sleep in. The kids went straight to bed the night before so they really needed a shower this morning. Amina didn't want to "mess up" her hairdo so she just "rinsed", lol. We took our time getting ready and headed for our character breakfast at Parrot Cay. I even toted laundry and threw them into the washers on deck 2 - just 2 loads. Most of the washers were free. A few people came in and out to iron their clothes.

We were seated at our usual table with our usual servers - Vickie and her family were there minus Kenney who sounded like he had a great time until very late and was sleeping in a bit. Vickie and Wick were just having coffee - they had reservations for brunch at Palo this morning. I ordered the fruit cup and lox/bagel which was fine - just the right amount of food. DD had the chocolate pancake and Mickey waffle. Rhys ordered a "regular" breakfast with scrambled eggs, sausage, etc. Each Disney character came around to the table dressed in tropical wear - the kids got a few more autographs after I ran back to the cabin to get their books. I did stop and snap a picture of the cute vacuum cleaner in the hallway with the smiley face on it. We got some great pictures of us with Goofy and Chip that the CM took for us. Chip and Dale led the room in a couple of dances which included some napkin waving. DH and I thought that their laughs (giggles, really) sounded almost a little naughty as though they were up to no good. After breakfast, we dropped the kids off at the Oceaneer Lab and Club which they were REALLY looking forward to. DH and I then found the Cove Cafe to have a cup of coffee. The DCL travel coffee mugs were really nice - pricey ($22 filled with coffee), but nice so we bought a couple. I had the frozen mochaccino which was delicious and they did put it in the coffee mug for me. We sat for a little while and then wanted to get some good seats at the Michael Harrison magic/comedy/ventriloquist show at noon so we headed over there.

The show was really funny - geared more towards families and Seth enjoyed it a lot. I thought he was pretty funny and entertaining too. We had seen him the night before at the Welcome Aboard show. After the show, we attended the art auction which was being hosted by the Auction at Sea folks that I had seen on another cruise. As we were headed over there, though, I noticed that my beeper had gone off stating that Amina wanted to be picked up. I found them at a lounge and asked Amina what happened - she said she was "bored" and didn't want to stay. Later, we found out that she had had a disagreement with another little girl and her play microphone (part of her rock diva outfit from Libby Lu) had gotten broken. We previewed some pieces - nothing really stood out at me but DH was curious to see what the Muhammed Ali/Beatles picture would go for so he marked it with his small stickey tag. In the meantime, Amina decided that she would try the Lab again as the next activity sounded more interesting so I checked her in again. We had fun at the auction - bidding on some of the "mystery" pieces. When the Ali/Beatles picture came up, DH bid on it - the first and opening bid (for $2600!) and won. Yowza!! He was so proud of himself for finding such a "treasure" and commented on what a great investment it would be as Ali is having more and more trouble signing autographs. We left the auction right after winning that piece to go over to the Stem to Stern wine tasting. There are 4 sommeliers on the ship and they each "coached" us on a glass of wine. There were 5 wine glasses - 3 white, 2 red set out and a champagne glass. We did the "S" approach: see, swirl, sniff, savor, and swallow with each wine. They were quite good.

We didn't stay for the sparkling wine as we had 3 pm reservations for Palo's High Tea so we headed up to that and arrived slightly late. We were immediately seated and given a plate of finger sandwiches: salmon, a mild curry chicken, cucumber, and prawns. There was a tiered dish with raspberry macaroons (my favorite), eclairs, and fruit cake. I ordered the chamomile tea and Seth had the blackberry tea. They brought the most delicious scones I have ever had with clotted cream, strawberry jam, as well as apricot jam. Everything was delicious. They also brought us a trifle dessert which neither of us tried - we were too full!

Seth went to the fitness center next while I picked up the kids and ordered them room service - the All Hands on Deck plate (cheese, crackers, fruit) and the fruit plate which only took 15 minutes. I got ready for the formal evening while the kids ate then I got them dressed as well. We wanted to get to the Walt Disney theater to get good seats for the Golden Mickeys show. We watched on screens as they held live "interviews" from the red carpet (which was just outside of the theater) - they interviewed kids as they were coming into the theater for the show. I wish my kids were braver and willing to do something like that but I knew better than to try and get them interviewed on camera. The Golden Mickeys show was absolutely wonderful. Although DH had been commenting on how some parts of the ship smelled funny (sometimes like dirty sea water, other times like a dirty diaper), you really can't beat Disney entertainment - they really have it down. They gave Golden Mickeys to the best friends, the best couple, the best villains, etc. The music was wonderful, the actors/dancers/singers were very very good. The whole show concept was awesome. It's close to one of the best shows I have ever seen. When Amina squealed at the sight of her favorite princess, Aurora, tears came to my eyes at her pure joy. Rhys got scared during the villain part (especially when the villain of The Little Mermaid dangled her huge glowing tentacles over the sides of the stage) and held his hands up to his ears. After the show, we stopped by the shops to pick up some toiletries that we needed then got in line in the lobby for pictures. We had dinner in Parrot Cay where I had the BBQ pork that was different, but good. For some reason, I'm having a lot of trouble remembering exactly what we ate each night. I think overall we've been more impresed with the food on other cruise lines.

Rhys did stay awake through dinner this time. We dropped the kids off at the Oceaneer club/lab and went to another Michael Harrison show which was for adults only. He was very funny and his routine was quite different (obvious why it was adults only though there was no profanity or anything). Afterwards, we picked the kids up and returned to the cabin where there was a turtle waiting for us on our bed made out of towels. We were in bed around midnight. What a long day!

8 August 2005, Monday - Day at Sea

Our clocks went forward an hour again. This was probably just one of 4 reasons why we all slept in so late this morning.....staying up late, no nap, and a very very DARK cabin probably also contributed to why we didn't roll out of bed until after 10 am. We finally got Amina to take her hair down and wash the curls and glitter out and that was only after swearing to her that she did have an appointment for hair braiding on Wednesday. Another tip: many many people just assumed that you could "stop by" for hair braiding but you must have a reservation. We made them on the first sea day and by the next day, the appointments were booked up for most of the early part of the week already. I can't remember the kids EVER sleeping in so late - I woke up before they did and worked on my trip report for about an hour before they even woke up. By the time we finally got going and out of the cabin, they were serving lunch! LOL! We caught Daisy at the character signing in the lobby and got her autograph. The buffet at Topsiders was Asian which was ok. We took our food out on to the deck and watched the wake of the ship. I did have a really good dessert, though, a pear and almond tart as well as a slice of a hazelnut tart. Those were REALLY good.

DH took DS to the Oceaneer Club while Amina and went to the shops to do a little shopping before checking her in to the Lab. Amina bought Minnie bride ears with a veil. One thing I found a little irritating with the Oceaneer programming for the kids was that check-in/check-out followed the schedule and if the kids were up on deck 10, you had to go up there to "check-in". If they were eating dinner, you had to wait until the next scheduled activity before you could check them in. I guess I was expecting to be able to just drop them in at any time at the Lab/Club. A few times, we were ready to drop them off but had to delay for 30-45 minutes until the "right" time.

I met DH at the 2nd wine tasting event at Sessions after dropping DD off at the Lab. On my way, I bumped into Jenny, Brynee, Cathy, and her DD who had gotten her hair braided. I didn't know that they did just regular braiding as well and found out that some girls don't tolerate having corn rows put in their hair because of the pullling and pain. I took a picture of her braids to show Amina and make sure that she knew about the corn rows and that they involved hair pulling.

DH had gotten coffee at Cove Cafe and they had filled his coffee mug again. The wine tasting was slightly different than the first one with the same 4 sommeliers. This time, we stayed through to the end and got to watch one of the sommeliers open a bottle of sparkling wine by using the base of wine glass and running it up the seam of the bottle and popping the top off - glass and cork together. It was really interesting. After the wine tasting, Seth went to the cabin for a nap and I tried my hand at Bingo. I'm not very lucky at Bingo but you never know and I figured it would be fun. For $25 I got to play 3 cards during each of the 4 games. I came very close to bingo with the first game but the rest weren't even close. The lady sitting next to me won $400. Afterwards, I stopped by the cabin to pick up my laptop and worked some more on my trip report. DH was asleep in the cabin. I sat out on deck which was only a little bit windy and typed for about an hour and then went to pick the kids up before they went for dinner. We stopped by Scoops for ice cream (which was actually low fat frozen yogurt) and had vanilla/chocolate swirled in a cone with sprinkles on top. We returned to the cabin where I ordered room service - 2 fruit plates and another All Hands on Deck plate. We wanted to take the kids to the 6 pm showing of The Pacifier in the Buena Vista theater. The food had not arrived yet to our cabin - this time it took about 30 minutes - so I waited while DH took the kids to the theater. I took the food with me and we watched the movie which I thought was so-so. Seth thought it was cute.

After the movie, we dropped the kids off at the Lab/Club again so that we could enjoy dinner without them at Lumiere's tonight. I stopped by the shops to do a little pin trading and found some nice pins for the kids. I also went back to Sessions to see if DH's coffee mug was there - he had left it after the wine tasting demonstration. Unfortunately, his mug was nowhere to be found and the bartenders even called guest services to see if one was turned in. No luck. The bartenders were so sweet - they said that if we came back later that night, they would get us a new one. I was surprised that they did this - it was so nice of them.

It was also nice to be able to have a conversation with our table mates during dinner without being interrupted and, besides, Amina wanted to go to the girls' pajama party tonight. The decor of Lumiere's was very nice with the roses in the glass cases hanging from the ceiling and the mural with Belle and Beast. I had the cauliflower soup which was very good and the duck that was also very good. For dessert, I had the apple tart with vanilla ice cream and Seth and I shared a Creme Brulee. Dinner was quite good this night. After dinner which was nice and unrushed, we picked up Rhys and went back to the cabin where a crab was waiting on our bed. Amina's pj party didn't end until 11 pm so I went and got her a little later after picking up a new DCL/Cove Cafe coffee mug for DH at Sessions. We ordered room service again - cheese pizza - because the kids were hungry. They were eating pizza, drinking soda, and watching cartoons at 11:30 pm! Don't know when we'll ever do that again! Another long but enjoyable day.

9 August 2005, Tuesday - Puerto Vallarta

No time change this time but we still got up quite late - about 9:30 am. Thankfully, our shore excursion didn't leave until 12:40 pm. We got our bathing suits on and went up to Parrot Cay for the breakfast buffet at about 10:30 am. It was kinda cool to walk out and see the port through the windows. Suddenly there were buildings and trees instead of just water. After breakfast, we went up to deck 10 to snap some pics and the kids bugged us to death about swimming in the Mickey pool so we went down there and they played in the pool and went down the slide a gazillion times We had a quick bite to eat from Pluto's Dog House - hot dogs, of course, and some fries. We then headed down to Rockin' Bar D where we were to meet the group for our shore excursion to Paradise Village and the beach.

We picked up a few towels and signed our waivers. We got Timon stickers to wear when we turned in our signed waivers and were reminded to have Key to the World cards as well as picture IDs before leaving for our excursion. We headed down the stairs to the gangway located on Deck 1 forward. We each had our card swiped as we exited. The ship was docked right at the pier and we just walked down a little way and were divided into busloads. We were the first to board our bus and took the front row. I snapped a few pictures of the ship as we drove past it on our way to Nuevo Vallarta where the beach resort was. There must have been at least 3 busloads of people going on this excursion. The resort was ok - the layout was kind of quirky. After we were oriented by the activity staff, filled out info for a drawing (free week's stay at the resort), and had our free beverage (there was a choice of alcoholic drink vs non-alcoholic - we chose the former), we found a shady spot with a few loungers and I walked back through the lobby, out past the "zoo" (couple of tigers, mountain lions, black panthers, and some spider monkeys), and around the corner to the activity center to rent a couple of pails, shovels, and other beach toys for the kids. The guy at the activity center kept my Key to the World card, otherwise there was no charge. I walked back and was sweating quite profusely - it was really hot since we docked at this port. Getting near the water felt much better and the kids had an absolute blast playing in the sand, playing with a couple of boogie boards we also "rented" with a Key to the World card, and finding sand dollars. The sand was blackish with lots of gold specks - beautiful. The water was very very dark, though. We spent 3 hours just playing in the water and sun - didn't take the time to explore the rest of the resort. At about 3:40 pm, we gathered our stuff, rinsed the sand off as best as we could at the outdoor showers, and stopped for gelato. We got back on the bus (after I had run the boogie boards and then the beach toys back and retrieved our Key to the World cards). The ride back to the ship was pretty quiet - everyone took a brief nap on the bus. I even felt drowsy after being out in the sun and water all afternoon.

Our bags were searched prior to getting on the gangway and our cards were swiped. We headed straight for our cabin and took showers - I wondered if the kids had left any sand at the beach there was so much in the tub. After we showered and were feeling much more refreshed, we got the kids dressed in their pirate t-shirts and black pants. I had bought gray t-shirts from Hobby Lobby and inkjet printable iron-on transfers. The fronts of our t-shirts said: "Yo ho! Yo ho! A Pirate's Life For Me!......Pirate Night, Disney Magic Mexican Riviera Cruise, August 9th, 2005" with the picture of a skull/crossbones on a black flag. On the back: "Arrrrgh...." and our names along with our pirate names that I had gotten from a website that generated pirate names when you put in your real name. I had a lot of fun making those. We went upstairs to the beverage center and got something to drink then played ping pong for a little while. We took the kids, who reluctantly went, to the Lab/Club and grabbed our coffee cups to get something to drink at the Cove Cafe. I had another Mochaccino which was yummy and caught up on my trip report some more.

We returned to our cabin to find a snake on our bed wearing Amina's red sunglasses and a note reminding us to turn our clocks back an hour. We changed into our pirate t-shirts and grabbed our pirate party stuff and went to pick up the kids. We stopped by the lobby and had our pictures done then headed to Animator's Palate for dinner. The waiters looked so cute in their pirate outfits. I passed out the flashing pirate skull pins that I had gotten from Oriental Trading company - and gave one to our server, asst server, and head server as well. There were so many items on the menu that it was so hard to choose. The menu was printed like an old treasure map and were ours to keep. We put on our red bandanas that were sitting on the table and wore our flashing skull pins. I had the chicken wings for an appetizer and they were very good - Rhys ate more of my appetizer than he did his (the pineapple with coconut covered banana which I thought was also delicious). I had the cold honeydew/mango soup which was very good and the pasta with scallops and shrimp although I thought the scallops and shrimp were way over cooked. For dessert, it was basically bananas foster called something else. During dessert they did a dance in the dining room which included a limbo and the kids got up and danced when Noel, our server, grabbed them.

After dinner, I passed out the glow necklaces and bracelets to all the DISers and we all headed towards the deck party. I also finally met Renegade (Joanna) and her dad. We had a blast dancing and watching the fireworks on deck 9. Captain Hook, Mr Smee, Minnie and Mickey, Goofy, Chip and Dale, and Stitch were all dressed as pirates. It was really hot on the deck and we were sweating like crazy. When the ship really got going, a breeze cooled things off slightly. We stopped for some drinks at the beverage station and headed back to our cabin to get some sleep. Mazatlan was on the schedule for tomorrow and we have a 9:15 am excursion to catch.

10 August 2005, Wednesday - Mazatlan

We had to set the alarm this morning as our excursion - the Mexican Family Ranch Party - was at 9:15 am. We woke the kids up and after a very slow start, headed up to Topsiders for breakfast. We were already docked at the Mazatlan pier - it was going to be a HOT day again. I had a bagel with lox and salmon cream cheese, some fruit, and sausage. It was typical breakfast fare. While we were eating, the Carnival Pride pulled up alongside us and we watched it, literally, parallel park in front of us. It was really interesting to watch. Why can't we have lateral thrusters like that in our cars? LOL. We then headed down to Diversions to check in for our excursion. There weren't as many people waiting for this excursion as the Paradise Village beach excursion yesterday. We turned in our signed waivers and got Donald stickers, grabbed a few towels and waited. Soon, we headed down to deck 1 and boarded buses for the 45 minute drive to the ranch. Along the way, Josephine, our tour guide, explained about the history of Mazatlan and about the ranch. The bus stopped at the nearby chapel first for pictures. Amina fell asleep on the bus. Rhys and I got off and looked around, took a few pictures, and visited the chapel. I caught sight of a very long iguana rounding the corner of the chapel before it ducked into a hole. We re-boarded the bus and were taken down to the ranch which looked beautiful and quite large from the chapel. Josephine handed out drink tickets as we got off the bus - we each got 2 complimentary drinks which included beer, lemonade, bottled water, and soft drinks.

The first thing we saw upon arriving at the ranch was a goat and her baby in the front yard. The kids called it the "burping" goat as every time she opened her mouth to say something, it sounded just like a burp. There were baby bunnies in a small pen too. We headed straight for the pool along with everyone else. There was also a bus from the Carnival there and an earlier excursion from the Magic which was the horseback riding excursion. The kids jumped into the pool and before I even had a chance to settle down on a lounger and order some drinks, Rhys was sitting along the side of the pool examining his foot. Of course, when he realized that his foot was bleeding from a shallow laceration, he started crying. DH picked him up and handed him to me and I parked him on a lounger and went off to look for something to clean up his foot. Apparently, he had sliced the bottom of his foot on a piece of tile while in the pool - the gash was not too deep but pretty long and bleeding briskly. I asked the bartender for some first aid supplies and mopped up the blood with some napkins. One of the tour guides came up to us with a bandaid and neosporin. We had lots of people check on him to make sure things were ok and one of the tour guides had me fill out an incident report. Rhys wouldn't get back in the water again so we went back to look at the bunnies and goat until lunch was ready.

At about 11:30, they seated us for lunch in the dining area right near the pool. We were seated with another family from California. We ordered more drinks from the nearby bar and each got a bowl of tortilla soup which was a bit plain. We then waited, and waited, and waited....and finally when we realized that the other tables were getting their dessert we flagged down a waiter who finally took our order. We could either order beef or chicken so I opted for the beef while DH got the chicken. The waiters were terribly disorganized and brought us soup, again. We declined the soup and waited for our lunch which, when it finally arrived, was pretty awful. The beef was like leather. I did eat the 1/2 chile relleno although they were stuffed with more onions than cheese and ate Amina's chile relleno too as she had filled up on tortilla chips and soup and wasn't interested in eating her lunch. She had gone off to go swimming in the pool again. For dessert we had flan which was pretty good. When we finally got done with lunch it was almost 1 pm. DH did let one of the tour guides know that we were unhappy with how long it took for us to get our lunch.

The kids played in the pool for a little while longer then got out to get ready for the pinata. Amina also had a shallow paper-cut like laceration on one of her toes that we had to put a bandaid on. We walked over and looked at the horses and goats and then went to the pinata breaking. They lined the kids up - boys on one side and girls on the other. The pinata was huge in the shape of a flower basket. The kids broke 2 pinatas open and scrambled for candy which was mostly gum. Afterwards, we boarded the bus for the ride back to Mazatlan.

This time the bus stopped in the shopping district before dropping us off at the pier terminal. I even fell asleep and took a nap on the bus along with Rhys. At the terminal, we had to walk through a bunch of shops to get to the trolley that took us to the ship. We did stop by a shopping stall and bought 3 bottles of vanilla for $20 US. We got back to our cabin and DD took a shower and washed her hair really well to get ready for her hair braiding appointment. We dropped off laundry at the launderette but all of the washers were full so we headed up to deck 9 and stopped by the arcade to pick up another arcade card. I had been stopping by each day to pick up spent arcade cards to keep as a souvenir - each day's arcade card had a different design on it and I thought it was the least expensive (free!) and one of the coolest souvenirs on the ship. We ran into Dolores and her DD, Rebeca, outside the arcade and formally introduced ourselves and chatted for a little bit. Our DD's had already met in the lab. We then had DD's hair braided - she chose straight braids instead of corn rows and picked out blue/pink/white beads. This took less than 15 minutes as another little girl was getting her corn rows with tears streaming down her face and sobbing cries as the CM braided her hair. I guess I never realized how much it hurt to pull on those hairs.

When we got back to the cabin, DH went upstairs to take care of the item we had won at the art auction. I ordered room service for the kids (fruit bowl, chicken noodle soup which DS loved, cheeseburger and the mexican fiesta pizza) and then threw some clothes in the laundry which was still pretty busy. I left my detergent in the launderette for others to use and it was all used up by the time I returned to put my clothes in the dryer. One woman told a horror story where her clothes (and apparently others' clothes as well) this morning were removed from a dryer and left on the floor by someone else. I returned later to pick up our clothes and we quickly folded them and headed out to see Twice Charmed.

The show was very cute and innovative with a combination of live acting/singing, movie magic, and pyrotechnics. The story was very good and the cast is quite talented. I did like the Golden Mickeys better, though. After the show, we dropped the kids of at the lab/club and headed back to the cabin to get ready for dinner at Palo's at 8:30 pm. We arrived about 5 minutes early and were seated. Our server's name was Florencia and she was excellent - so attentive and friendly. She worked so hard to make everything just perfect for us. The menu selection was incredible - it was so hard to decide on what to have. Florencia made some excellent suggestions and even told us that we could order 1/2 sizes if we wanted to try more than one thing.

I had a sparkling wine/white peach bellini as a cocktail. There were a selection of breads and bread sticks that came with dipping sauces (garlic, roasted pepper, and olives), and antipasta: prosciutto ham, fresh parmesan cheese, olives, roasted garlic, and sundried tomatoes. For an appetizer, we ordered the pizza with prosciutto ham and pesto to share and I had the portobello mushroom which was excellent. My main course was just so-so, salmon which was overcooked for my tastes. I dug around the middle of the huge piece of salmon to get the part which was less cooked and more to my liking. Florencia asked me what happened to my dinner and I shared with her that I thought the salmon was overcooked. She took the salmon right away to the chef and gave him my comment and offered to bring me some of the tuna. I was stuffed but curious and willing to sample it. It wasn't what I expected and although cooked well (ie basically raw) it wasn't like the sashimi grade tuna that I was used to. I passed on it after a few bites. For dessert, I ordered the tiramisu and DH had the souffle. We also ordered a souffle for the kids to go. They brought both of us a souffle just so I could try it. Chocolate souffle is not my favorite but DH said it was quite good and ate mine too. The tiramisu was excellent but I was just to full to finish it. Florencia then brought us palate cleansers - lemon sorbet mixed with vodka and champagne. It was really good.

We finally left Palo after about 2.5 hours. We didn't make the 10:15 pm magician/illusionist show that we wanted to opting instead to pick up the kids and heading back to the cabin. DH picked up Rhys and headed back to the cabin to have some souffle and I had to wait around for Amina to get done as they were filming a commerical and she wanted to stay and watch it. We finally got back to the cabin at almost 11:30 where DD finished the rest of the souffle and we all got to bed.

11 August 2005, Thursday - Cabo San Lucas

The phone rang at about 7:45 am to let us know that our breakfast that we had ordered the night before was on its way. We had ordered it for between 8 and 8:30 but they were a litte early. We had cereal, milk, coffee, doughnuts, and oj. We got ready for the day and headed for the Buena Vista theater to get our tender tickets and to wait for the next tender. We didn't wait long at all and boarded the tender for Cabo San Lucas - it was just about 9:15 am. It was already warm out and we took the short tender ride to the pier and then started walking. We went on the first glass-bottom boat/land's end tour we ran into and negotiated a 45 minute tour for the 4 of us for $36. There was one other family on the boat. As we were making our way to where the Dos Mares boat was, Rhys had dropped his sunglasses off the pier into the rocks. Fortunately, the natives were very nice and hopped down onto the rocks and fished his sunglasses out of the water. We boarded the Dos Mares and were taken out to see the fish, Lover's beach (which is between the 2 oceans - the Pacific and the Sea of Cortez), a colony of seals laying on the rocks, and around the Los Arcos rock formations. The captain of the boat was nice, informative, and let the kids each take a turn at "driving" the boat while we took pictures. We were dropped off at the pier again and by now, it's REALLY hot. We walk along the pier and stop at the first bar we see to get some water and drinks. I picked out 2 bottles of water and 2 cans of 7-up. I gave the guy 50 pesos (worth about $5) and he asked for $8 US more! I was floored and left him standing there with the water and drinks - it was ridiculous. We made our way into a shopping strip and stopped at another place to get a couple of bottes of Fanta and a large bottle of water. This time, it only cost 35 pesos. We then walked into a souvenir shop and picked out some t-shirts and a tank/shorts set for Amina. The total was $53 according to the guy helping us for only 2 t-shirts (one child sized) and the outfit for DD. I talked him down to $45 but still felt like I didn't get my money's worth. In retrospect, we paid WAY too much for those shirts. Ah well, live and learn.

We went outside and walked to the Plaza Paradaiso shopping mall which was indoors and air conditioned. It was a nice place to shop and had a nice bathroom. We walked around for quite a while and finally found a souvenir store where most everything was $5 or less. I had to borrow cash from Rhys since I had used everything I had for the boat ride and t-shirts. We picked up a magnet, few packages of khalua and tequila chocolates, a necklace for me, and candle/shot glass for our Au Pair. We were given the Disney Magic discount too and paid only $15 for everything. Amina got a sandalwood fan and a morroco. Rhys got a set of pan flutes for $3.50. We were getting hungry so we headed back to the ship listening to the kids complaining the whole way. It was really really hot at this point and we were all sweating profusely when we finally got back on the ship. The kids were really dragging...

We went to Lumiere's for lunch and had the 2 most attentive waiters so far outside of Palo's. I had the potato skins for an appetizer and the chicken casserole followed by the fruit compote/white cake for dessert. At this point, the kids were SO tired, DH took them back to the cabin for a nap which I'm sure he was really looking forward to as well. I took the opportunity to catch up on my trip report at this point and then joined another family that I had met in the launderette in a game of Cruisin' for Trivia at the Promenade Lounge. We were close - had scored 21 out of 25 but the winner correctly guessed 22 out of 25. He won a DCL bag. Who would've known that the most common name for a street in the US was "second" (not Main) and that the most recorded Beatles song was "Yesterday". LOL. I picked up another arcade card - this one actually said "Castaway Cay" on it and then went to the Cove Cafe to watch some tv (using wireless headphones) and relax while waiting for DH and the kids to wake up. It's hard to believe that our cruise is almost over. We have our last day at sea tomorrow and return to LA in 2 days. At least we gain an hour tonight. DD really really wants to watch Sky High which shows tomorrow in the Buena Vista theater at 3 pm.

When I get back to the cabin, the kids are up. I ask them if they each would like a chocolate chip cookie that we had gotten earlier from room service. It should have been my first clue, in retrospect, that something was up with Rhys as he actually declined the cookie. He lay on the sofa and complained of a stomach ache for a little while. He felt very warm and was complaining of being "seasick". DH had gotten up and gone to the fitness center so I took the kids up to deck 10 to get DS some fresh air and to get his bearings figuring maybe it was a combo of being overheated, tired, dehydrated and a little motion sick. Our morning water taxi ride did take us over to the Pacific side which was pretty rough water and the kids got very hot walking back to the pier from the shopping mall. Sitting up on deck 10 and sipping some water didn't help so I took DS back down to the cabin and put him in the bath tub to sponge him down. He drank a cup of ice water and after sitting in the tub shivering, said that he felt a bit better. He felt cooler and we got ready to go to the 6:30 pm show - Twice Charmed. He also drank a glass of orange juice.

Well, it was mostly downhill from here and probably (unfortunately, lol) one of the most memorable nights we have on the entire cruise. Still figuring that DS had a bit of heat exhaustion, we picked up some Chip and Dale crackers that resembled goldfish crackers and found some seats closer to the front of the theater. As the show started, DS looked like he was falling asleep so I picked him up and put him in my lap. The show had barely started when DS threw up all over me. I hissed at DH to take him and the 3 of us snuck out - DH holding DS and me cradling my tank top and skirt to keep the vomit from hitting the floor. I tried to rinse myself off as best I could clogging up the sink - thank goodness there was a bathroom just outside of the theater. DH was in the other bathroom rinsing DS off who was crying now and apologizing. I led him back to our cabin still holding my top and skirt up without being too revealing and put him in the bath tub. I won't go into the other gory details here but suffice it to say that I rinsed off DS and put him to bed. DH had gone back to DD and watched the rest of the show. A cast member was sent immediately to our seat with a bucket to clean up but DH said that there really wasn't anything to wipe up. I had pretty much caught it all on my top and skirt. As DS slept, I watched the Twice Charmed show on the cabin's tv. DH and DD returned to the cabin after the show was over and we decided that DH would stay with DS and I would take DD up to dinner at Lumiere's and bring back something for DH.

We enjoyed dinner at Lumiere's - it was semi-formal night so I put on the outfit that I had worn to Palo's as my semi-formal outfit was drip drying in the bathroom. I had the grilled shrimp appetizer and the lobster tail which was quite good. Dessert was a mango ice cream sundae with a coconut macaroon (which was more like a piece of meringue cookie) and Noel, our server from India, had already sent over the shrimp/lobster tail/ and chocolate dessert to DH in the cabin which was very sweet of him. After dinner, DD and I headed back to the cabin and called it a night - a very eventful night.

12 August 2005, Friday - Our Last Day at Sea

Fortunately, DS slept all night and when he woke up in the morning - he was feeling a lot better. DH and I were looking at each other when DS got up, got himself dressed, brushed his teeth, and put his shoes on all without being told to. He was waiting by the door ready for breakfast, lol. It was about 8:30 and we headed to Lumiere's for breakfast. DH and I had reservations for Palo's brunch at 10:30 so we just sipped on some coffee while the kids ate breakfast. We then dropped the kids off at the club and lab after agreeing to meet at Diversions for the DVC presentation at 9:30. DH stopped off at the gift shop to get DS a sweatshirt and dropped by the cabin to give him an ibuprofen just in case. We watched the DVC presentation and were quite impressed with the on-board incentives to join. I had a colleague and friend of mine already contact DVC last year and they sent us a large brochure and DVD but we just never got around to joining. I really wanted to meet with someone face to face and to get a tour of the facility before committing but we just never had the time. After 3 major trips to WDW, a few small trips to WDW, this trip to DL and on DCL, we should have joined DVC a LONG time ago! We left a bit early to make our 10:30 reservations at Palo's but did sign up for a private consultation at 1:30 with Amil. People were booking these consultations quickly after we got up and booked ours.

We headed to Palo's and were seated in Florencia's section again. She gave us the "tour" of the buffet which was wonderful. A seafood area with huge crab claws, crab legs, large shrimp, sevruga caviar, cold smoked salmon, sun dried tomatoes, roasted garlic, etc. A cheese area, a bread area with fresh whipped cream and fruit (blueberries, strawberries, raspberries). The pizza chef was cooking up pepperoni, mushroom, cheese, and sweet pizzas (raspberry sauce, mango slices, fresh blueberries, and mascarpone cheese). The dessert area had huge chocolate dipped strawberries, slices of tiramisu, cheesecake, key lime pie, etc. There were also made to order eggs (benedict, florentine, etc) and some pasta dishes - we didn't have time nor room to try these. I think I liked the brunch even better than the dinner. Regular and honeydew champagne was also incuded. I also had a glass of Martinelli's sparkling cider which did cost extra. Jenny was seated at the table next to us with someone she had met (I think it was Susanna) and I got to try a piece of the mushroom pizza when they ordered one.

We thoroughly enjoyed our brunch and found out from Florencia (originally from Argentina) that she has been on the Magic for a very long time - the other staff call her "Mama". Apparently, Florencia had been on the Magic when it left Italy after being constructed. She then served on the Magic for 2 contracts and then went to the Wonder when it left Italy for another contract. At the end of that term, she returned to the Magic and has been on it ever since. Her husband is the head chef at Lumiere's. What a totally awesome arrangement. We didn't ask about kids. I highly recommend asking for Florencia if anyone is planning on Palo's - she is very knowledgeable, sweet, and has a wonderful personality (and I got such a kick out of all of the crew members' different accents).

After brunch, I went to check on DS who was just finishing lunch at Animator's Palate. He looked a little worn out but was no longer warm and wanted to stay with the group to watch Finding Nemo at the Buena Vista theater. DH had gone up to Wide World of Sports to check on DD who we had given signing out privileges today so that she could go and meet her favorite princess, Aurora, who was in the atrium at 11 am. DD was thrilled to be able to sign herself out and holding her own room key but I made her swear that she would see Aurora and then go right back to the sports deck and rejoin the kids from the Oceaneer Lab.

We then met at the DVC desk and waited briefly for Amil Arroyo who took us down to deck 2 into a converted inside state room designated as a "conference room". We had looked over the available DVC destinations during brunch and had formulated a few questions but Amil really anticipated all of our questions. We had decided beforehand that DVC was really something that we wanted to invest in. The onboard incentives were an $8 per point credit to be applied towards the downpayment (saved us about $2400) which, effectively, brought the price per point down from $98 to $90; a March Use Year which means that the points we would have received on Mar 1 of THIS year we would get to use or bank for next year even though it was the middle of August; pro-rated dues; and no closing costs. We were already sold after the initial presentation, lol. Amil welcomed us as new DVC "family" and we were to return later that night to sign the contracts as Amil was running way behind.

DH headed off to the fitness center/nap that he usually does in the afternoon while I went to the spa for my 3 pm appointment for a foot ritual and pedicure. Joanna from England did my pedicure and there was no sales pressure whatsoever as I had indicated on my check-in form: "No Sales Please. Thanks!". It was relaxing and Joanna did a great job. We didn't take the kids to see Sky High after all since their Disney Sea University graduation rehearsal was at 4 pm where they would receive their DSU t-shirts and caps and the graduation was at 5 pm in the Walt Disney theater. DH and I headed to the theater early to get good seats but the last jackpot bingo game was still in session and the theater was PACKED. I did find 2 seats near the middle in the 4th row. I'm so glad that I didn't try to get closer as those who were playing bingo or had come into the theater and sat in the first 2 rows had to move after the game was over - the first two rows were "reserved". The graduation was so cute! We were absolutely amazed at how the counsellors handled SO MANY kids. The older kids (including DD) came down the stairs through the theater and the younger kids came in from the side doors. They just kept coming and coming and coming all wearing their DSU t-shirts and graduation caps which were really NICE with the DSU patch on it and, of course, mouse ears. It was a photo-taking mad house - especially when Mickey Mouse himself came into the theater wearing a graduation outfit. Mickey and Minnie recited the DSU alma mater and they showed a video with picture slide show of lots of kids at various activities. It was close to being a tear-jerker. The kids were then herded off the stage and we went up to the Lab and Club to pick them up. The line into the Club was out the door and around the corner so it took us quite a while to get DS. We then went down to the atrium to meet the other DIS folks as we had decided the night before to meet for a group picture at around 6-6:15 pm. Let's see if I can remember everybody's nick: Me (kidoctr), Vickie (Schultzfamily), Cathy (Catnip0113), Barb (Jilljill), Jenny (Itinkso), Kazu (hzj77hv), Jinny (Jasak), and Wongmao (Lisa).....and all of our families. We got situated around the statue of Mickey Mouse at the wheel of the ship and I just grabbed the first CM that came by who was very very gracious to agree to take our picture. It was hilarious since soon he was inundated with about 8 cameras and another CM came by to help him take some pictures. Afterwards, he pretended to walk off with all of our cameras. We wished we had a picture of the CMs taking our picture! Unfortunately, my group picture came out too dark so, hopefully, one of the other DISers will email me a copy of the group pic.

We finished up and rushed to the theater for tonight's performance - 'Til We Meet Again which was some singing, dancing, conclusions of the skits from the first show, a magician who was very good, and a rock-n-roll comic who was so-so. DS seemed to be feeling a lot better during the show and did not throw up again though I was watching him like a hawk and we sat waaaay in the back this time, lol. Since it was the last night, we let the kids buy some candy for the show - sour cherry balls for DD and sour gummy worms for DS from the little snack shop right by the theater. After the show, we went back to our cabin to finish packing as we had to have our bags out before 10 pm which meant that we wouldn't be returning from dinner in time to finish packing. While we were packing, DS fell asleep on the bed. DH scooped him up and we went to meet with Amil after getting a call that he was available. We went over the final details of our DVC membership, signed a couple of contracts (we bought 350 points and split them up into 2 contracts with the intention of giving them to our kids someday). We got a huge bag full of gifts - a scrapbook, DVC member caps, member lanyards, a travel portfolio, etc. and snapped a photo with Amil who would be our new personal DVC consultant in case we had questions in the future. He gave us each his card with all of his phone numbers including his cell phone number. The kids got some exclusive DCL pins. He's been with DVC for quite some time and he, along with his partner Mike, were brought aboard the Magic to be available to meet with the Disney CEO who was supposed to be on the next cruise. He made us promise to stop by and visit him the next time we were at WDW.

During our meeting, DS woke up but sat quietly and looked very bleary-eyed. He was warm again and DH had given him some ibuprofen before we left the cabin. Poor little guy. We went to our final dinner at Animator's Palate and he had a few bites of pineapple before falling asleep on DH's lap. I had the garlic/artichoke dip, mushroom soup, and seafood pasta (angel hair with scallops, shrimp, and clams) - delicious. The waiters did the baked Alaska thing and we handed out our pre-printed, pre-stuffed thank you envelopes that I had put a personalized thank you card and their gratuities in. I'm so so glad I did that before leaving having gone to the bank to get exact change and putting cash into each envelope so that all I had to do was put their names on the envelopes. I added some extra money for Noel, our server, who did a fantastic job and was so friendly and accomodating. Nazim, the asst server, seemed to warm up as the cruise got going but he doesn't really strike me as terribly comfortable with kids. For dessert, I had the creme brulee with sauteed bananas and, just because I hadn't had a chance to get one yet, a Mickey ice cream bar. DH had already taken DS back to the cabin before dessert was served so I ordered the chocolate cake for him to take to the cabin. It was almost 10:30 when we got back to the cabin and our bags were already gone. I dropped off dessert and then took DD to the gift shops to spend her last Disney dollars. She selected an Aurora play set and we picked out one of those light up, twirling wands for DS. Earlier, DH and I had shopped a little and I got a Wishes CD, a pair of black Mickey slippers, and a keychain with the Mexican Riviera cruise logo on it that we thought would convert easily to a fridge magnet to add to our collection. We had also ordered some Christmas cards from Shutters and purchased a few prints that came out nicely earlier during the day. We finally headed back to the cabin and got to bed.

13 August 2005, Saturday - Disembarkation

We had breakfast scheduled for 8 am at Animator's Palate. It was nice to get together with everyone again before leaving although Cathy (Catnip0113) and her family had already disembarked to catch an early flight. One of the benefits of 2nd dinner seating - we had breakfast on the late side - breakfast for the first group of early dinner seating was at 6:15 am! We ate a leisurely breakfast, were given Donald stickers to wear, and snapped a few pictures before getting off the ship. That was my 2nd and last lox and bagel breakfast. As we got off the ship, CMs were waving with Mickey gloves on. At first, we were surprised to see that the passport line was much longer than the passport/birth certificate line. I had read the opposite on DIS but it turns out that most of the people in the passport line also had birth certificates for their kids and had to move to the other line. The passport line really did move a LOT faster than the BC line.

We went down the escalators and were directed to where our bags were - we had Pluto tags on our bags and there were rooms clearly marked by character so finding our bags was easy. There were plenty of porters around to help. We then went outside to the buses which were all lined up and marked with destinations. Our bus was pretty full and we waited for a little while before we left - at around 9:40 am. I had read about pre-checking our bags at the pier but there was no such service available - I had even asked a CM and was told that there was no pre-check. It would have been nice because by the time we got to LAX, it was incredibly crowded and busy.

We arrived at LAX about 10 and there was mass confusion. DH and I are completely disenchanted with American Airlines right now - it was completely disorganized with a bunch of airport people standing around doing who knows what when they should have been at the doors directing people where to go. Many many people were tired and irate. The line to use the self check-in kiosks was like getting in line to get on Peter Pan at about 1 pm. We thought we were in the wrong line since I had tried to check-in online yesterday while still on the Magic and it wouldn't let me so we moved over to the regular AA line which wound back and forth a few times in the terminal, then went OUT the doors, down the sidewalk, and wound back UP the sidewalk. People were in line for hours and some even missed their flights. We had heard that there was a bomb scare earlier and the terminal was shut down for about 45 minutes. I went BACK to the self check-in line and waited there, which moved much faster than the line DH was in and asked the American Airlines agent who was checking itineraries of everyone in line if I was in the right line. She said yes so I called DH to come over with the kids and our bags. When we reached the kiosk, it would NOT let us check in. We waited and waited for an agent to help us and she ended up being the rudest person we had seen for the last 10 days. One of our bags exceeded the weight limit by 6 pounds so we shuffled our stuff around. Thank goodness our flight wasn't scheduled to leave until 2:45 pm. Once we got our boarding passes, this nasty woman wouldn't take our bags! We were directed to take our bags to the opposite end of the terminal to be x-rayed so we haul our stuff across the room and get in another line just to drop off our bags in a holding area. We tried to take the first escalators we saw but, nope, it was for first class passengers only. Where were the escalators? At the other end of the terminal, of course. We found the right escalators and went up to get in yet another line to pass through security. At the top of the escalators were 2 airport workers gossiping when there was mass pandamonioum going on downstairs. I commented to DH that if the airport was handed over to Disney, we'd all be a lot happier and the lines would have been waaaay more efficient. We stop for lunch at Chili's which, thankfully, was only a short wait for a table. After lunch, we find our gate and find out that the flight is delayed. After a gate switch, we finally get off the ground almost an hour late amidst feelings of doom and gloom as our connecting flight window of time was about 45 minutes. Sure enough, we arrive in Dallas and the agent at the gate calls our gate to find out that they had just shut the door of our connecting flight. We are directed to another gate to wait as stand by passengers on a later flight. We basically wait for another hour only to be told that there was no more room on the flight and that we would have to spend the night in Dallas. What a nightmare. We get to the hotel at around 10:30 pm with dinner vouchers from American Airlines only to find out the hotel has NO dining facilities. We're so fed up when we get to bed only to be up at 5 am to make a 7:44 am flight to OK city. What a terrible ending to an otherwise wonderful trip. We did make it home this morning at about 10:30. DS has been asleep since we got home, lol.

MagiQuest

2008-07-11T18:54:00.000-07:00

One of the attractions at the Great Wolf Lodge in Grapevine is the MagiQuest game. I could find very little about this interactive game on the internet - the MagiQuest website is not terribly informative as far as the "rules" of the game or any game-playing tips.

When we arrived at GWL, the kids immediately went downstairs to the 1st floor to check out the MagiQuest store as well as the arcade. My sister went ahead and bought them each a MagiQuest wand. After checking in and finding our room, we went back down to the Magiquest store where I bought myself a wand and also bought the kids "toppers" for their wands.

Each of us had a different topper representing different clans. My "clan" was the healing clan but that's all I remember about the clan. I should have remembered to take a picture of the clan descriptions on the walls of the store. Each of our wands had to be activated and you pick a name to associate with your wand. Amina chose "Angel", Rhys chose "RhysTS" and I chose "Kidoctr". The wands were $14.99, it was $9.99 to play the game, and each topper was $14.99, I believe. Each player is given 4 days to complete their game. Each player is also given "the Ancient Book of Wisdom" which is your guide to the game - you really should read pages 2 and 3 of the book. We didn't take the time to read it and learned the hard way by trial and error how to play the game.

To "activate" your wand, you jiggle the wand a bit and you can see the light in the topper light up then when you point the wand at the "Q" symbol on any item, it will activate that particular item. The Ancient Book of Wisdom lists the "Key to MagiQuest Locations", aka the hotel floors' names. For example, the 1st floor (where the MagiQuest store is located) is called "Dragon's Hall". There are 8 floors total in GWL Grapevine and every floor must be visited multiple times to complete Quests, collect "runes", and complete Adventures. Each time you use your wand, you collect gold pieces and experience points, aka XP. Some quests require you to have a certain number of gold pieces.

The kids were told by other players that during the game, you must use the stairs. Taking a wand into the elevator apparently subtracts XP from your score although I haven't confirmed this to be true. The stairs are called the "Hidden Stairwell" and tell you which floor is above and which is below your current floor.

You can go around and wave your wand at everything to see what happens - we did this for a while before figuring out how to start a quest. There is a training room to get started in on the 1st floor in Dragon's Hall.

To start, you must find a Quest tree. There are only 2 floors where the trees are located: Floor 1, Dragon's Hall and floor 6, Pixie's Perch. To move on to other quests and adventures, you must return to a tree, wave your wand at it to start, then choose the quest or adventure you wish to try. Listen carefully to what the Quest Master says and be sure to "accept" the quest that you have chosen otherwise everything you do won't count on you wand.

Each rune quest is listed in the the Ancient Book of Wisdom and are ranked in order of difficulty. The quests become more difficult because the descriptions in the Book become more vague. There are 10 runes in total to collect and it takes completing 11 quests to collect all of them. There are 3 adventures to complete as well but each adventure requires a certain set of runes in your possession in order to complete the adventure. We just completed the rune quests pretty much in order and then went on to complete the adventures.

The game worked well in terms of all the computers and such. There was only one quest (the Wolf Rune quest) that was malfunctioning.

When we got to this quest, we simply went to the MagiQuest store and this rune quest was "uploaded" into the wand as completed. Oddly, the entire hotel with all 8 floors only had 4 elevators which were constantly busy with guests going up and down between their rooms, the restaurants, the waterpark, etc.

The stairwells were also constantly busy with kids going up and down the stairs doing quests. I was particularly irritated by the numerous unsupervised children running up and down the stairs, yelling and screaming (and at one point even asked a little girl to refrain from screaming in the stairwell) but had to chuckle at the out-of-shape parents/grandparents who were trying to keep up with some of the the children on the stairs. Some quest and adventure items were also located inside the stairwells.

The stairs connected each floor's "lobby" area and the game did not extend past this lobby area as there were guest rooms down either side of the lobby.

Items needed for the quests are located everywhere on either side of the lobby area around the elevators as well as the long hallways leading from the elevators to the waterpark entrance/MagiQuest store (floor 1, Dragon's Hall), the main lobby area (floor 2, shopkeeper's hall) and the Camp Critter Bar and Grill (floor 4, Enchanted woods).

Some items are hidden around the corner in an alcove:

Other items are located on the celing:

To check what items and runes you have collected, and how many gold pieces/XP you have, consult the Status Stations located on various floors:

Once we finished collecting all the runes - which took several hours the first day and about an hour the next day (we got the hang of it and did these quests on our own - Amina and Rhys finishing theirs and me finishing mine in very good time), we started the 3 Adventures one by one at the Quest Tree. The Adventures are trickier as there are no clues in the Ancient Book of Wisdom and we had to frequently consult the Status Stations to find out what our next item was. As you found each item, you had to oftentimes listen carefully for important instructions from that item- where the next item was located, how to use the runes/symbols properly, etc.

As I was finishing up the last few quests on my own, I started keeping track of some of the items I hadn't used yet as I found them by writing them down in the Book and notating which floor they were on. This came in handy later when we were searching for these items to complete Adventures and we finished the Adventures much more quickly than the Quests. Some of the quests and all of the Adventures require the use of the Hover Crystals. These crystals were located near the Quest Trees and had to be charmed (eg waving your wand at it) in order to complete some of the quests and adventures. We learned a lot about the game just by watching other players. Kids were also frequently looking for a specific item and would stop to ask each other.

Here are the kids completing the Amulet Adventure:

The last Adventure we did was the most difficult - it was the Dragon Adventure where we had to battle the Red Dragon. After many tries and watching others try, I finally figured out how to time the game and defeat the dragon. I defeated the dragon with my wand then went on to defeat the dragon with both kids' wands as well. I also ended up helping 2 other little boys finish their adventures too.

The game was really fun and the kids really enjoyed it too. We got to keep our wands and hope to use them when we stay at the GWL in Williamsburg in October while we're on our Adventure by Disney Spirit of America tour. Each of us are "Master Magi" now.

Rhys' 9th Birthday in Grapevine's Great Wolf Lodge

2008-07-08T20:10:00.000-07:00

It was not hard to convince Rhys to spend his birthday at the Great Wolf Lodge in Grapevine. As his birthday approached, he got more excited than he has ever been in the past in anticipation of our trip. The kids talked me into leaving on our trip one night early. I booked a room in Norman, OK for Friday evening at the Hampton Inn so that we could take our time on Saturday morning driving the rest of the way to Dallas/Grapevine. I really dislike long-distance driving as the monotony practically puts me to sleep.

We left for Norman after I got off work and had dinner at Cheeseburger in Paradise in OKC. Rhys ate almost an entire hamburger and the kids enjoyed the guy on the stilts who made balloon animals for Rhys (a puppy who had eaten a "burger" and a rabbit - Rhys' favorite animal). We checked in to the Hampton Inn at around 9:30 pm. It took about 45 minutes to realize that the A/C in our hotel room was not working properly. The thermostat was set at 65 degrees but the room still felt like it was 80 degrees. The A/C would kick on for about 10 minutes then turn back off again just as the room started to cool down. I called down to the front desk and was assured that the temperature would improve within 20-30 minutes. It didn't. After a couple more phone calls, I finally went downstairs to complain about the heat in our room and pointed out that we were not staying in a cheap $40 hotel. The hotel was almost completely booked up and we were offered either single smoking rooms or one handicapped room on the ground floor with a double bed for all 3 of us. I was also told that the Fairfield Inn across the parking lot was also booked up. I finally had to REQUEST a fan be put in our room.

It sounded like a plane taking off all night but it did cool the room down a bit. The following morning, we had breakfast and moved our things to the car. I returned back to the front desk to check out and decided that I would test the hotel's "100% satisfaction guarantee". I told the front desk clerk that our stay was not in the least bit satisfactory because of the malfunctioning A/C. She apologized immediately and acknowledged that we would not be responsible for the room charge. I filled out a small form with information and signed it. The room rate was credited back to my credit card. I have to admit that the Hampton Inn really does honor their policy and I was not made to feel guilty in the least bit. My experiences at Hampton Inn has always been good - this was the first time that I've been dissatisfied and they did make it right.

We drove to Dallas and stopped by to pick up my sister, BIL, and mom. My mom did mention that she was having dizzy spells because she mistakenly doubled up on a blood pressure medication that she mistook for her thyroid pill. I didn't think much about this. We then followed my BIL to the Rainforest Cafe at the Grapevine Mills Mall for lunch.

Rhys had an enormous pizza for lunch and we all shared the Volcano Cake to celebrate his birthday.

We left the restaurant and headed straight for the hotel which was just down the street.

There was a short wait at the reception desk to check-in. I chatted for a moment with the guy behind me in line who was at the GWL for the second time. He had brought his family to the lodge in March but they were turned away because the hotel had been overbooked by about 100 rooms. He thought that the internet reservations were not matched with the other room reservations and there were simply no rooms to offer them. They were not given gift certificates or any sort of apology despite having come from Little Rock, Arkansas. This had happened shortly after the hotel had opened for business and he described many very very angry people in the lobby that day. Check-in went smoothly for us, though. While I checked in, Jason, Dee, and the kids went downstairs to check out MagiQuest.

I booked a Wolf Den suite as a party of 2 adults and 2 children even though Seth was in Las Vegas at a Board review course. The cost was the same with 1 vs 2 adults. Guests could bring friends to the water park for a fee of $30 so I figured the extra "guest" in our room might come in handy - it did. As the kids were looking around downstairs, I took some of our luggage to our room. I was given 2 "room key" wristbands and 2 regular wristbands at check-in which was really ingenious, imo. The wristband got you into the water park and also acted as your room key by waving the wristband in front of the door handle where you would normally "swipe" a room key card.

Our room was very spacious and we had a nice view of the outdoor water park from our window.

Everyone soon came up to the room where Dee and Mom rested while Jason, the kids, and I went back down to play MagiQuest. I'm going to blog separately about MagiQuest and the waterparks. After playing MagiQuest for a bit, the kids wanted to visit the waterpark before dinner so Jason ran Dee home so she could rest and he could get his swim trunks, while my Mom waited in the room. Jason got to use the other wristband to get into the water park for free.

After a bit, we went back to the room and got ready for dinner. We decided to have dinner at the Camp Critter Bar and Grill rather than the buffet (Loose Moose Cottage). Rhys had opened a few birthday presents in the room already (from Amina).

Dinner at Camp Critter was really pretty good. It was unreal how many guests were celebrating birthdays this evening. By the time we finally got done with dinner, we had already overheard about 1/2 a dozen other birthdays. I had ordered another caked from Cher-Den's in Enid - this time chocolate in the shape of a computer to represent the laptop computer that Rhys asked for but didn't get for his birthday.

The restaurant staff sang him a birthday song and he opened the rest of his presents.

After dinner, Jason took my mom home and wanted to go back to the water park with us in the morning. The kids and I played MagiQuest right up until it closed for the evening - 11 pm.

Med Cruise Expenses

2008-06-23T20:02:00.001-07:00

As of today, we're also booked with Rome in Limo for transfer from the airport to the port. The driver will pick us up at the airport then stop by the Rome Hilton to pick up the other 2 couples that are sharing this ride with us. No deposit was required but it is guaranteed on my business Capital One Mastercard. Payment in Euros will be due when we arrive at the port. I'm waiting to hear back on whether or not these same couples will share a ride back to the airport with us.

I also received confirmation and an itinerary from Italy Limousine Luxury Car Service: "first to the pasta making factory that make the pasta the old way by hand /then Mozerella
( MARIO knows some really great local resturants where we go to eat they do not have internet sites as they work mainly with us locals but real italian cuisine like our gradmothers used to prepare and cook then onto Pompeii then onto Positano (if there is time ravello ) need se how mach time in pompii etc ". Well, typos aside, this excursion sounds like a lot of fun...

Here are the expenses thus far for our Med cruise:

Cost of cruise for 2 adults, Celebrity, Galaxy, concierge class, cabin 1102 booked in January 2008 (8 months prior to departure): $5146.74

Cost of air for 2 adults, United airlines, coach class, round trip OKC/Rome booked in January 2008: $2916.30

Rome to Civitavecchia transport, Rome in Limo, 6 adults sharing: $28.33 Euros per person = $87.87

Messina wine tour through Celebrity: $94 per person = $188.00

Athens private tour, Spiros taxi service, 8 adults sharing: $56.25 Euros per person = $174.44

Ephesus private tour, Ekol travel, 8 adults sharing: $65 per person = $130.00

Naples private tour, Italy Limousine Luxury Car Service, 6 adults sharing: 63.33 Euros per person = $196.33

Cruise gratuity: $11 per person, per day = $220.00

Private tour gratuities: $3 per person/half day or $5 per person/full day = $42.00

2 Mobal GSM phones: $373.00 (-$60 call credit) = $313.00

Total (not including meals, souvenirs, etc): $9414.68

I probably shouldn't count this as a Med cruise expense but I did just invest in a new ultra compact digital camera today to replace my Fuji Finepix A820 which has been driving me bananas for the last year or so. I just purchased a Panasonic Lumix TZ5 for $264.90 and free shipping. 9.1 megapixels with 10X optical zoom and a 3" LCD, intelligent auto mode, HD output, digital red eye correction, face detection, and optical image stabilization. Woo hoo! Can't wait to get my hands on this new camera and try it out on our Santa Fe backpacking trip!

A few more links that I've been reading planning for this trip:

6 most popular ways to call home while travelling

8 top tips for travel packing and luggage

79 travel tips

Turkey, Wine, and Razors

2008-06-18T21:32:00.000-07:00

Our tour to Ephesus is booked! I faxed the booking form to Turkey this morning (my first international fax that I've ever sent) and received an almost instantaneous confirmation from Ekol. I had called to check with my Capital One mastercard and confirmed that there would be no fees for the conversion of USD to Turkish Liras. I also received a confirmation from Ekol that our tour group members (tour groupies?) would be able to pay the balance of the tour cost in USD, Turkish Liras, or even by credit card at the beginning of the tour. The $130 USD deposit (25%) went on my Capital One mastercard.

I've been researching tonight for ways to bring wine home with us from the Mediterranean. This will be a given that we will be purchasing wine abroad. It would be wonderful to bring back a representative sample of wine from each country that we are visiting. One option is the Bottlewise wine bag but this option is pretty expensive. I also looked into an Ultimate Wine Cradle made by Naylor winery. Maybe we'll consider a combination of both strategies.

Our new Razrs arrived today from Mobal. I haven't had a chance to play with them yet but these phones are an investment for our upcoming trip and all of the international trips that we plan on making in the future. I'd looked into AT&T international calling plans but have no interest in upgrading our service for a monthly fee. It would be nice to just have one phone number while we are abroad but AT&T's international calling plans are a bit convoluted.

Mediterranean planning - transfers and tours

2008-06-17T18:58:00.000-07:00

Plans are moving right along. I remember thinking that our round trip transfers from the Rome airport to Civitavecchia port and back was pretty expensive through our TA: $340 USD for the both of us. I'm not sure if this is Celebrity transport or not. I've got an inquiry in to my TA about cancelling this transfer in favor of a shared transfer with 2 other couples on the morning that we arrive Rome. So here's the current update on our transfers and scheduled tours:

Rome - Thinking about booking with Rome in Limo which came highly recommended on the Cruise Critic message boards. For 6 passengers, we were quoted 170 Euros total (28.33 Euros per person). The driver will pick Seth and I up from the airport (we arrive at 8:50 am) then swing by and pick up Steve/Marci and Stan/Clare from the Rome Hilton right by the airport. I hope they'll share a ride back to the airport with us but our flight was changed to 10:40 am rather than 3:15 pm and their flight doesn't leave until 2 pm. I was hoping for a nice leisurely breakfast the morning we dock and then taking our time getting off the ship, but that's not to be.

Sicily - Seth and I booked Celebrity's Messina wine tour for $94 USD per person and paid with our Disney Visa. Wade and Charlie also booked this one.

Athens - Spiros taxi service. There are 8 of us booked so far (myself, Seth, Wade and Charlie, Steve and Marci, Stan and Clare). The cost is 450 Euros total (56.25 Euros per person). The booking did not require a deposit.

Mykonos - I've been reading a lot about this port and have seen suggestions ranging from renting a scooter or ATV, seeing the windmills, Petros the Pelican, Little Venice, and having an Uzo or Ouzo drink. From what I've read, there are plenty of rental places near the pier and advance reservations are probably unnecessary. Rentals run about 20-30 Euros and are described as very straight-forward/easy. A google search turned up OK Rent a Car & Moto. We'll be touring this island on our own.

Ephesus - We're in the process of booking with Ekol Travel but I'm sorting out the deposit, Turkish Lira stuff right now. The private, Ephesus/House of Virgin Mary/Temple of Artemis tour is described as: Met by your private guide at Kusadasi port with your name sign and start for Ephesus trip. Drive to the Temple of Artemis, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. Ephesus was undoubtedly one of the most important cultural centers of the ancient world. Impressive structures we will see include the Library of Celsus, Temple of Hadrian, Theatre and Odeon. We also visit the House of the Virgin Mary where she is believed to have spent her last years. On August 18th, 1961, Pope John XXll proclaimed the House of Virgin Mary at Ephesus to be sacred. Drive back to Kusadasi. Some free time for shopping. The cost is $55 USD per person. We'll also be adding on the Terrace houses for an extra $10 USD per person. This tour requires either a full payment or 25% deposit with the deposit being exchanged into Turkish Liras. It's unclear to me right now if the balance due at the time of the tour will also be in Turkish Liras. I will probably book this one with my business Capital One mastercard as I've read that it doesn't charge a conversion or service fee.

Rhodes - I've read a little about this island but need to read more including the Rhodes (island) travel guide. We're planning to tour this island on our own.

Santorini - From what I've read, the choices are to take the tram, ride a donkey, or to hike up the mountain. We'll be touring on our own and probably taking the tram. I've read that there are concerns with the way that the donkeys are treated and hiking up the mountain is difficult between donkey-doo and dodging the donkeys on the path. A taxi to Fira or Oia should be less than $10 USD one way. It's recommended to check out the wineries (including the Boutari winery) and to not bother with Akrotini.

Naples- this one is booked with Italy Limousine Luxury Car Service - a food and wine tour including a visit to Pompeii and lunch in Positano. I've requested pasta making, mozzarella farm, and olive oil mill. They are currently putting together a proposed itinerary for us. There are 4 of us booked for this tour (myself, Seth, Wade, and Charlie, Linda and her husband). The cost is 380 Euros total (63.33 Euros per person).

I think we'll try and buy Euros from our bank prior to our trip. It looks like for our transfers and tours that I'll need at least 450 Euros. After checking with the Bank of Oklahoma's website, it looks like they will do foreign currency exchanges for free at current exchange rates! They will also buy paper foreign currency at current exchange rates with no fees. This is great news and takes a great weight off my mind! Now, to figure out when to buy Euros. Google to the rescue again....this Euro Currency Exchange Forecast suggests that August will be a good time to buy Euros at about $1.47. Today's currency exchange is at about $1.55.

Planning for the Mediterranean

2008-06-11T21:10:00.000-07:00

I've finally started getting serious about planning for our Mediterranean cruise coming up in August. For private tours in the different ports, this is what I've researched so far:

ROME: Rome cabs contact: Stefano Costantini
Tour duration: 4 hours, 2 people
Tour description: pick up/transfer to/from airport and pier;
"The standard tour I provide in Rome is designed to cover the city major sites . Additional off the beaten path tours can be arranged upon request of the client.
The drive will continue along Ostiense Road and arrive at the Pyramid built for Caius Cestio .At this stage of the tour we will be inside the ancient Roman Wall built by
Emperor Aureliano. We will then arrive at the Circus Maximus, the large ancient stadium for chariot races. Behind the stadium you will see the Palatine Hill where the villas and the domus of the emperors were built. At this point you will be able to see the Arch of Constantine and the Coloseum. We will stop here, and you will be able to visit the Colosseum and the Roman Forum on your own if you wish. In order to avoid lengthy, and time consuming queues, I will obtain the entry tickets in advance as a complimentary service for my clients. The fees for the entry tickets will be added to the final bill (the Colosseum charges 11 Euros per ticket). Following the Colosseum, we will stop at the Piazza Venezia where you will see the Vittorio Emanuele Monument, dedicated to the first king of Italy. Our next destination will be the Pantheon, once the temple of all Roman gods, then a church and burial place for kings and artists (Raphael). Near by are the piazzas and fountains that are famous in Rome. Trevi fountain will follow. Here you can toss a coin in the fountain to ensure a return visit to Italy. Finally, you can rest and have a seat on the Spanish Steps.
Please note that the order in which we will visit the sites may vary pending traffic conditions or other third party act. The tour can be altered to personalize your desires. Additional costs for entry tickets are not included in the tour fee, and the costs for entry tickets purchased in advance will be added to the final bill. The fees for the tours
include tolls and parking, and are required in Euro funds."
Tour cost: 330 Euros, not booked yet
Tour notes: Not sure if we'll do this one. Awfully expensive but what a shame to be in Rome and not get to SEE it! We're not arriving early to Rome or staying late. Our flight leaves at 3:15 pm the day we dock. Seth wants me to check into changing this to the day we arrive in Rome and touring before the ship leaves - we won't be quite as rushed for time (flight arrives Rome at 8:50 am and we depart on the cruise at 6 pm).

SICILY/MESSINA: Cellar Tours Contact: Genevieve McCarthy
Tour duration/details: Still waiting for quote and itinerary

Private Shore Trips Contact: Ken Diaz
Tour duration: 4 hours, 4-6 people
Tour description: "For Food and Wine tours in August, our Messina office recommends a transfer to a wonderful restaurant / winery estate. It is located in a very scenic area over a small hill and is surrounded by vineyards. They specialize in traditional Sicilian foods and wine. Your visit to the Wine Estate will include a tour of the cellar with tasting of local products (wine, oil and cold cuts). The cost is 10 Euro per person. If you would like to eat at the restaurant, the medium price is 25 Euro each plus wine. Your tour will include minivan vehicle and English speaking driver (not a guide) who will take you to the location of the restaurant. Messina port - Santa Venerina: 45-60 minutes (traffic pending) Wine and food tasting at winery estate: 2 hour 30 min Santa Venerina – Messina port: 45-60 minutes (traffic pending)"
Tour cost: 445 Euro, not booked yet
Tour notes: This one also seems expensive for only 4 hours. Should we stick with a food/wine tour or see more sights? Also waiting for the quote from Cellar Tours.

ATHENS/PIRAEUS: Spiros Taxi Service contact: Spiros
Tour duration: full day, 6 people
Tour description: "The Athens & Sounion tour is a full day tour. This tour includes: the Acropolis, the Kalimarmaro stadium (which is our national stadium), the changing the of the guards, shopping at the Plaka area, the Greek & Roman agora, the stills of Olympian Zeus. Then we drive along the coastline of Athens down to the temple of Poseidon at cape Sounion (here we will have lunch by the seaside). For the Athens & Sounion tour there are 2 options: 1) You can choose to do just Athens and take the time you want to see everything there. 2) You can choose Athens + Sounion but please note that the ride down to Sounion takes some time (about 1 hour + 15 min). The choice is yours."
Tour cost: 450 Euros, already booked
Tour notes: Wade and Charlie (swh&cv) booked this for 8 of us in a van and have confirmation.

MYKONOS: nothing booked, haven't looked yet

EPHESUS/KUSADASI: ATB Holidays Contact: not contacted yet
Tour duration: full day, 1-4 or 5-10 people
Tour description: Full Day, Ephesus and the House of Virgin Mary. Meeting your bus and tour guide in the peer at Kusadasi port to take a full day tour of Ephesus and Virgin Mary's House. First, visit the the Temple of Artemis Ion. Then prceed with ancient city of Ephesus where you will explore some of the best preserved theatres, fountains and buildings in the world. A definite must while in Turkey. Not to be forgotten is the House of the Virgin Mary on the top of the Mountain, a pilgrimage site for many people of all denominations. After visits, we will be transfered to your cruise ship.
Special instructions: Tour includes transportation by comfortable, non smoking, air conditioned vehicle, exclusive services of a qualified English-speaking guide, admission fees to the visited sites and museums, and parking fees.
Restrictions: Ephesus gets very crowded and extremely hot in the summer months, so take plenty of water, sunscreen, and head covers. It is not allowed to take photos inside of the Virgin Mary House.
What's included: Admission fees to the museums as mentioned in the itinerary. All sightseeing tours as described in the itinerary. Local taxes and service fees. Lunch. Pick up from ship and drop off services. Private and exclusive services of ATB Holidays; transportation and guidance. Transportation by air-conditioned, nonsmoking vehicles.
Tour cost: 1-4 people, 80 Euros per person; 5-10 people, 70 Euros per person.
Tour notes: Wade and Charlie are interested in this one too.

RHODES: nothing booked, haven't looked yet

SANTORINI: nothing booked, haven't looked yet

NAPLES/CAPRI: Italy Limousine Luxury Car Service Contact: Josephine
Tour duration: full day, up to 6 people
Tour description: "Enogastronomic Wine Tour. the cost is for car and driver english speaking. naples port we do pasta making/mozerella making wine would be out of season. naples you should visit this typr of area then stop at a local resturant to sample real cooked from from the old tradition (this cost is not included but no more than 20,00 to 25 euros)" She also wrote back (can't find the email) that they would recommend touring an olive oil facility too - they have a driver that is very knowledgeable about olives.
Tour cost: 400 Euros
Tour notes: Sounds like a lot of fun if we can find more people to join this tour to help bring the cost down. Wade and Charlie are interested.

More helpful links that I found:

Europe Port Reviews

Italy Sightseeing Guides

Cruise Ship Calendar

Kidoctr's Progress Notes

Walt Disney World (Food and Wine Festival) and Disney Cruise Line (Dream)

Extreme Getaway Package

Celebrity Equinox reservations and shore excursions - update

Celebrity Equinox reservations and shore excursions - so far

Celebrity Equinox 11-night Ultimate Caribbean Holiday Cruise

Road to the 2009 Spring U12 Soccer Championships

Tulsa Full Moon 5k

2009 Oklahoma City Memorial Marathon

April Teddy Bear Picnic Bunco

2009 Bunco World Championships

Bunco For Backpacks - pictures and final results

Bunco for Backpacks - FAQs

Bunco for Backpacks - Official Instructions and Rules

Bunco For Backpacks

Update - 2008 Tulsa Marathon

2008 Route 66 Marathon Tulsa

ABD Spirit of America - Day 8, Williamsburg to OKC; summary

Adventure by Disney - Day 7 - Williamsburg

Adventure by Disney - Day 6 - Washington DC to Williamsburg

Adventure by Disney - Day 5 - Washington DC

Adventure by Disney - Day 4 - Washington DC

Adventure by Disney - Day 3 - Philadelphia to Washington DC

Adventure by Disney - Day 2 - Philadelphia

Adventure by Disney - Day 1 - Oklahoma City to Philadelphia

Enid Great Land Run 2008

Referenced in a journal - we're famous!!

Celebrity Mediterranean Cruise - Sea Day

Celebrity Mediterranean Cruise - Santorini, Greece

Celebrity Mediterranean Cruise - Rhodes, Greece

Celebrity Mediterranean Cruise - Kusadasi, Turkey

Celebrity Mediterranean Cruise - Mykonos, Greece

Celebrity Mediterranean Cruise - Athens, Greece

Celebrity Mediterranean Cruise - Sea Day

Celebrity Mediterranean Cruise - Sicily/Messina, Italy

Celebrity Mediterranean Cruise - Rome/Embarkation

Oklahoma YMCA State Swim Meet

Med Tours - Preparing Payment

Too good to pass up - DVC

Disney Cruise Line Trip Report, Aug 6-13, 2005

MagiQuest

Rhys' 9th Birthday in Grapevine's Great Wolf Lodge

Med Cruise Expenses

Turkey, Wine, and Razors

Mediterranean planning - transfers and tours

More Mediterranean plans and links

Planning for the Mediterranean