No princess makeover would be complete without dinner at Cinderella's Royal Table (in Cinderella's Castle). Our dinner reservation was for 4:15pm, because our little prince has to go to bed early. It actually worked out well, we had a big breakfast, a nibble for lunch, and were quite hungry by the time our dinner reservation came around.
First you enter the castle, and have your picture taken with Cinderella. The staff refers to each family as a 'Royal Family'. The day we were there, the royal families had all been drenched in the park and royal was not what we felt. We could have all had our picture taken with Cinderella, but the adults agreed that just Sydney and Drew should be in the picture.
After your picture is taken, you go upstairs to the dining room. Your choices are to go up a winding staircase or take a small elevator. Dad and I opted for the elevator. The dining room is a huge room with big stone pillars. The walls are paneled in dark wood. The chairs are upholstered in a tapestry of purples, roses, and blues. You really feel like you have been whisked away to some medieval castle. There are large windows that I presume overlook the park, but we weren't seated by them so I'm not sure.
My sister had made arrangements for a special birthday celebration for Sydney during dinner. It was to include a keepsake glass slipper, a crown, a balloon, and a cake decorated like the princess of her choice (Belle). After we finished at the BBB, Laura and my mom went to check on our reservations to make sure everything was in order. I guess maybe it was woman's intuition. Turns out, Disney had LOST the reservation for the birthday celebration. They had our reservation for dinner, but not the 'add-on'. I don't know whether it was the wrath of my mother and sister, or some miracle in customer service, but they were able to make amends for most of it. The only thing they weren't able to do was the cake, but Sydney was given a special dessert and she never knew what was missing.
Dining in Cinderella's castle is really a production. The serving staff knows exactly what to do. They seat the children on the ends of the tables and the aisle so that they can easily get up to see the princesses. Autograph books are piled on the edge of the table, so each princess can sign her name when she arrives. The serving staff explained that even though we sat near where the princesses came in, they would make their way all around the room and then come back, so each princess would come to our table.
Our waitress was phenomenal. Since Drew was so young, he was supposed to just eat off his parents' plates. She brought him out a little meal of chicken fingers and mashed potatoes. She brought him out a sword when she brought Sydney a wand. After we placed our order, she came out with a balloon for Sydney and told her "Princess Sydney, Cinderella has asked me to bring this to you." A few minutes later, a 'real' crown was brought out on a pillow. Our waitress said "Princess Sydney, Cinderella heard it was your birthday and asked me to make you an official princess." The waitress then asked the 'king' of our family (my Dad) to crown the new princess. As you can probably imagine, Sydney was beside herself. Dad sort of looked like 'isn't someone else better to handle the crown?' He put the crown on her, and Sydney was happy. Except she had a major problem. She was still wearing her Belle crown from the boutique, so now she had two crowns. Dad was not much help, so she went to her mom, who removed the Belle crown and left Sydney with the real crown.
As we dined, various princesses wandered through the dining room, stopping and talking to each table. Before each princess enters the dining room, their story is told over the loudspeaker. Then you have all of these excited children twittering about who is coming in. We sat near the princess entrance, so we were able to see them as they walked in. Eventually they made their way to our table. The princesses talked to Sydney, asking her what her name was or where she was from. They signed the autograph books, and then posed for pictures with Sydney and Drew. I don't know who had more fun- Sydney or Drew. Sydney enjoyed meeting all of the princesses. Drew flirted with all of them. He waved at them with his hand, and then when he was with them he batted his baby blue eyes at them. Sydney would finish talking with the princess and Drew would go in for another hug. I know there was at least one princess whom Drew wanted to kiss, and she offered him her cheek. My nephew went for the lips! I've always said he was going to be a heartbreaker!
When Ariel came to our table, she asked Sydney what she liked to do. Sydney said she liked to read. Ariel told her "You should talk to my best friend, Belle. She loves to read!" Sydney responded that she knew that. And then Belle came in! She was wearing her 'country' dress, the blue and white one. I have to hand it to her... when she came to our table, she took one look at Sydney and said "Now I know why I couldn't find my yellow dress... you have it!" Sydney thought it was wonderful that Belle can never wear her yellow dress because Sydney has it!
It was very exciting for the adults to have the Princesses come to the table. It was easy to get caught up in the magic and forget that these are actresses. I can only imagine how absolutely cool it was to the children, who think these are the real princesses. I don't think Sydney's feet touched the ground for a week!
Of course, the entertainment was only part of the meal. The food was exquisite! You have your choice of appetizers, entree, and dessert. Our choices for an appetizer were a Castle Salad (mixed greens, apples, cucumbers, candied walnuts in an herb vinaigrette with shaved Romano cheese on top), a Cheese Plate, Shrimp Cocktail, or the soup of the day. I opted for the Castle Salad, but without the dressing. It was delicious. So simple, yet the flavors worked well together. I actually tried to recreate it at home after the trip. I didn't have a lot of success with the candied walnuts, but I will be trying again. Perhaps in the summer. I love cucumbers, apples, and walnuts, and putting them all together in a salad was very refreshing.
For dinner, while we had the choice of six options, all of the adults chose the Beef Tenderloin. The five of us all like our beef cooked differently from rare to well done. Each of us had the most perfect serving of beef tenderloin. The chefs managed to cook each meal exactly as it should have been. I don't think I've ever had so many people in my family eat beef at once without any complaints about how it's cooked. The beef melted in your mouth. The 'gravy' (ok, according to the menu it was a demi-glace, but to us, it was gravy) was amazing! I do not like gravy, or many sauces for that matter. But this was just heavenly. I could have eaten it daily. Our meals came with potatoes and asparagus. We all cleaned our plates.
For dessert, we had our choice of a Flourless Chocolate Cake, An Espresso Cheesecake, some sort of an ice cream or mousse (I forget now which it was) or a chef's sampling of each. The non cheesecake eaters (my dad and Laura) went for the chocolate cake. Andy and I opted for the cheesecake. My mom went with the sampler. I ended up taking my cheesecake home and eating it later that night in the condo. It was wonderful though.
Sydney received a special dessert. She received Cinderella's slipper made out of white chocolate, filled with chocolate mousse. It was surrounded by fresh berries. On the edge of the plate the chef wrote 'Happy Birthday Princess Sydney' in chocolate. When the waitress brought it, she also brought a real glass slipper which Cinderella had sent as a special birthday surprise for Princess Sydney. The glass slipper was delivered on a plate of rose petals. Sydney enjoyed the chocolate mousse, although she made sure to tell us that the berries were just as delicious as the mousse! I guess that is what you would expect at Cinderella's Royal Table- only the best!
Every girl, whether she she is 6, 36, or almost 60 deserves to be treated like a princess at least once in her life. It was a meal none of us are likely to forget!
Monday, November 5, 2012
Wednesday, October 31, 2012
Princess Makeover
Part of Sydney's birthday present from my parents was a Princess Makeover at Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique. The BBB, as I'm going to call it from here on out, is like a salon for little girls located inside Cinderella's Castle at Magic Kingdom. It wasn't there when I was a child- in fact, it's only been there for five years. You have to have a reservations- they don't take walk-ins. It was quite an experience, even for the oldest girls in our group.
As I mentioned in a previous post, we went to the boutique an hour early, because it was raining mice and ducks, and Drew was asleep in his stroller. There really was nothing else for us to do. From the moment you walk in the door, your little girl is referred to as 'Princess'. 'Princess Sydney, come this way'. There's quite a bit of saccharin in the air, but the little girls eat it up!
You can choose to bring a dress with you, or buy one there. Little girls get to keep everything, including the makeup and nail polish that was used on them. This way, they can have a mini princess makeover any time and recreate the magic. Each girl is assigned her own 'Fairy Godmother', the person who will do her hair and make her over from an ordinary little girl to an extraordinary mini princess.
While we waited for Sydney's Fairy Godmother, and for a chair to open up for her, Sydney looked at the dresses. She had gone in saying she wanted to be Belle (from Beauty and the Beast). She looked at all the dresses available and decided 'oh yes, I want to be Belle'. Other girls were having a hard time deciding between Rapunzel and Cinderella, but not Sydney. She was very sure. When it was time to take her back into the fitting room to change from her non-princess clothes into her dress, they told her 'we're going to put you into the big room'. Sydney was certain this was because she was also going to have dinner in the Castle that night. It had nothing to do with the fact that Sydney, her mom, my mom, and I would not all fit into the small dressing room! She changed into her dress (we bought it big enough so she'll be able to wear it for a little bit) then we were sent back to the 'waiting room'. Finally, her Godmother was ready. Sydney's Fairy Godmother was Carmen, who according to her name tag was from Springfield, MA- about an hour and a half away from Mom's house. It's a small world. Oh wait, that's another part of the park!
The BBB is hard to describe. Picture the salon where you get your hair done. Then miniaturize it. All of the chairs are geared for small girls. You have to be at least 3 to go to the BBB. I would say the oldest girl was about 8. There are at least a dozen stations in the salon- maybe 20. I didn't think to count. All I know is there were little girls everywhere. Moms (and Aunts!) were standing around with cameras. Makeup and hairspray were plentiful. And glitter! It was like an explosion in a glitter factory! The funniest part for me was how the little girls looked at each other. I usually go to the salon on Saturday, which of course is a prime day for weddings. The salon I go to is kind of high end (it's my way to treat myself), and many times there are Bridezillas in the salon. Yet, as bad as these women can get- they had nothing on the dozens of girls in the salon. The girls did not look at each other with understanding or kindness. It was outright cattiness. Each of these little girls were checking out the others and you could read what they were thinking on their faces "I'm prettier than SHE is!" It really was hilarious to watch them check each other out.
Once Princess Sydney was assigned her Fairy Godmother, Carmen, she was given the opportunity to choose how she wanted her hair to be styled. My mom had told Sydney she could have whatever she wanted, there was no budget (a dangerous thing to say to a 6 year old...). Sydney chose an elaborate style which involved hair extensions. Then she was allowed to choose what color hair extensions- blond, red, pink, or brown. Sydney seemed to think this was a silly choice. Belle's hair is brown, why would Sydney want pink hair extensions?
Sydney has a lot of hair, but it is very fine so it tangles easily. (Correction- at the time she was at BBB, she had a lot of hair. Since then, she's cut it off and donated it to Locks of Love.) Carmen had to work and work on Sydney's hair to get the tangles out. Sydney argued with her mother and father about brushing her hair, and it was always an ordeal in the morning. But she never said a word as Carmen brushed and brushed. She was so good, just sitting there with a smile.
As Carmen worked on her hair, another Fairy Godmother came over to do her nails and makeup. Sydney had gotten her nails done in NY before the trip, but she was still able to choose her nail polish and they sent it home with her. She choose her makeup, and for a minute had the ultimate Princess experience- one person doing her hair and another her makeup. There were rhinestone appliques they could apply to her face. Next thing I knew, one of the Fairy Godmothers was putting rhinestones on the faces of my sister, my mom, and I. I think if you sit at BBB too long, you're bound to get covered in rhinestones or glitter.
Glitter. The Fairy Godmothers have this wand which is supposed to be pixie dust. But it's glitter. Someone had told us to tell them to go easy on the glitter. We didn't understand what this meant. Four days later, after several baths, Sydney still had glitter embedded in her scalp.
The girls are kept facing away from the mirror until the makeover is complete. Then the Fairy Godmother's make a big deal of the 'reveal'. They call over one of the Disney camera people to take pictures. The little girls are told to close their eyes. I think they chanted something (maybe Bibbidi Bobbidi Boo?), and with a flourish, Carmen spun Sydney's chair around to face the mirror. After probably more than a hour at the boutique, our little girl was a mini version of Belle. Even as we sat there, watching every step, the end result was amazing. I didn't recognize my niece! Her ensemble was finished off with a sash that said 'Birthday Princess'. Then it was off to get her pictures taken at the studio.
It was really a cool thing. Not cheap, but if you could afford it, I do recommend treating your Princess to it. Sydney's feet didn't touch the ground for a couple of days!
As I mentioned in a previous post, we went to the boutique an hour early, because it was raining mice and ducks, and Drew was asleep in his stroller. There really was nothing else for us to do. From the moment you walk in the door, your little girl is referred to as 'Princess'. 'Princess Sydney, come this way'. There's quite a bit of saccharin in the air, but the little girls eat it up!
You can choose to bring a dress with you, or buy one there. Little girls get to keep everything, including the makeup and nail polish that was used on them. This way, they can have a mini princess makeover any time and recreate the magic. Each girl is assigned her own 'Fairy Godmother', the person who will do her hair and make her over from an ordinary little girl to an extraordinary mini princess.
While we waited for Sydney's Fairy Godmother, and for a chair to open up for her, Sydney looked at the dresses. She had gone in saying she wanted to be Belle (from Beauty and the Beast). She looked at all the dresses available and decided 'oh yes, I want to be Belle'. Other girls were having a hard time deciding between Rapunzel and Cinderella, but not Sydney. She was very sure. When it was time to take her back into the fitting room to change from her non-princess clothes into her dress, they told her 'we're going to put you into the big room'. Sydney was certain this was because she was also going to have dinner in the Castle that night. It had nothing to do with the fact that Sydney, her mom, my mom, and I would not all fit into the small dressing room! She changed into her dress (we bought it big enough so she'll be able to wear it for a little bit) then we were sent back to the 'waiting room'. Finally, her Godmother was ready. Sydney's Fairy Godmother was Carmen, who according to her name tag was from Springfield, MA- about an hour and a half away from Mom's house. It's a small world. Oh wait, that's another part of the park!
The BBB is hard to describe. Picture the salon where you get your hair done. Then miniaturize it. All of the chairs are geared for small girls. You have to be at least 3 to go to the BBB. I would say the oldest girl was about 8. There are at least a dozen stations in the salon- maybe 20. I didn't think to count. All I know is there were little girls everywhere. Moms (and Aunts!) were standing around with cameras. Makeup and hairspray were plentiful. And glitter! It was like an explosion in a glitter factory! The funniest part for me was how the little girls looked at each other. I usually go to the salon on Saturday, which of course is a prime day for weddings. The salon I go to is kind of high end (it's my way to treat myself), and many times there are Bridezillas in the salon. Yet, as bad as these women can get- they had nothing on the dozens of girls in the salon. The girls did not look at each other with understanding or kindness. It was outright cattiness. Each of these little girls were checking out the others and you could read what they were thinking on their faces "I'm prettier than SHE is!" It really was hilarious to watch them check each other out.
Once Princess Sydney was assigned her Fairy Godmother, Carmen, she was given the opportunity to choose how she wanted her hair to be styled. My mom had told Sydney she could have whatever she wanted, there was no budget (a dangerous thing to say to a 6 year old...). Sydney chose an elaborate style which involved hair extensions. Then she was allowed to choose what color hair extensions- blond, red, pink, or brown. Sydney seemed to think this was a silly choice. Belle's hair is brown, why would Sydney want pink hair extensions?
Sydney has a lot of hair, but it is very fine so it tangles easily. (Correction- at the time she was at BBB, she had a lot of hair. Since then, she's cut it off and donated it to Locks of Love.) Carmen had to work and work on Sydney's hair to get the tangles out. Sydney argued with her mother and father about brushing her hair, and it was always an ordeal in the morning. But she never said a word as Carmen brushed and brushed. She was so good, just sitting there with a smile.
As Carmen worked on her hair, another Fairy Godmother came over to do her nails and makeup. Sydney had gotten her nails done in NY before the trip, but she was still able to choose her nail polish and they sent it home with her. She choose her makeup, and for a minute had the ultimate Princess experience- one person doing her hair and another her makeup. There were rhinestone appliques they could apply to her face. Next thing I knew, one of the Fairy Godmothers was putting rhinestones on the faces of my sister, my mom, and I. I think if you sit at BBB too long, you're bound to get covered in rhinestones or glitter.
Glitter. The Fairy Godmothers have this wand which is supposed to be pixie dust. But it's glitter. Someone had told us to tell them to go easy on the glitter. We didn't understand what this meant. Four days later, after several baths, Sydney still had glitter embedded in her scalp.
The girls are kept facing away from the mirror until the makeover is complete. Then the Fairy Godmother's make a big deal of the 'reveal'. They call over one of the Disney camera people to take pictures. The little girls are told to close their eyes. I think they chanted something (maybe Bibbidi Bobbidi Boo?), and with a flourish, Carmen spun Sydney's chair around to face the mirror. After probably more than a hour at the boutique, our little girl was a mini version of Belle. Even as we sat there, watching every step, the end result was amazing. I didn't recognize my niece! Her ensemble was finished off with a sash that said 'Birthday Princess'. Then it was off to get her pictures taken at the studio.
It was really a cool thing. Not cheap, but if you could afford it, I do recommend treating your Princess to it. Sydney's feet didn't touch the ground for a couple of days!
Monday, October 22, 2012
The Happiest, Wettest Place on Earth
Slowly, I am getting through the posts about the vacation. There was so much to tell, but there's just not enough time in the day (or lately, energy) for me to do everything. I am SO very thankful I took that notebook with me, because at this rate, I may finish the posts about the 2012 vacation just before we take the next one in four or five years!
Tuesday, September 18 was our Magic Kingdom day. This time for real! See, when we were trying to find the resort on Saturday, we took a wrong turn and ended up on the road that leads to the Magic Kingdom. Sydney was extremely excited as we drove through the gates, and we had to explain to her that we were lost and were just turning around. So Tuesday, it was off to Magic Kingdom for real.
People have asked me how often I've been to Disney World. I have no idea how many times I've been. I think it's between 20-30 times. Yet it was still exciting to ride the monorail, especially as it goes through the hotels and you can look down on the people inside. We arrived just as the gates opened, and as we left the monorail station, all of the Disney characters were lined up in the train station to welcome people to the park. That was pretty cool. I had never seen that before. Of course, by the time I dug my camera out of my purse it was over so there are no pictures of it!
Inside the gates is my favorite part of Disney World- Main Street, USA. I have always loved the old-timey feel of Main Street USA. Plus, it's all shops- what's not to love? Our first stop was The Chapeau, or hat store. Drew needed his first set of ears, Sydney had outgrown her ears, and the adults thought we'd look around. There, I found perhaps my favorite souvenir ever! For those who may not know, I do not like Mickey Mouse. I'm not fond of Minnie either. I have always been a Donald Duck fan. I LOVE the duck! I like that he blows up and gets angry. I like that you can't understand a word he says. And especially, I love that he screws up Mickey's perfect little world.
When I was a child, the only ears you could get were Mickey ears or Minnie ears. I know at one point I had the requisite ears with 'Amy' stitched on them. That of course, was before I was old enough to speak my own mind. I remember having a hat as a teenager which was a white baseball cap, with a big plastic yellow bill on it to represent Donald's beak. I also remember it being a very hot hat to wear.
I took a look through The Chapeau, thinking if I couldn't find something with Donald, perhaps I could find another character (such as Tigger, another of my favorites). There are ears for almost everything now. And there it was- like a chorus of angels singing- a set of ears, but the hat part was done to look like Donald's shirt. It even has a tuft of feathers for a tail! Sydney was still looking for her perfect ears, but I had just found mine. I put them on and surveyed my reflection in the mirror. From across the store, Dad saw me, and I caught his eye in the mirror. He cracked up laughing. Well, I might get older, but I will never completely grow up.
I went to checkout with my hat, and thought I'd go for gold- I asked if I could have my name embroidered on the hat. "Sure!" said the perky salesgirl. She suggested yellow embroidery as it would look nice on the blue of the hat. I paid for my hat and it was sent to the stitching machine. People behind me received their hats and I kept waiting. My sister paid for Syd's and Drew's ears, had Drew's embroidered, and was done before I was. Then the girl apologized and said that the needle broke on my hat, so she was going to try again. She got another hat and started again. This time, the machine jammed and printed my name crooked. My name is short- and yet, it took three tries to get three letters embroidered on a hat. I stood there watching as out on Main Street, Sydney met Snow White, and then Laura and Sydney met Mary Poppins. After what seemed like an eternity, but was more likely about 30 minutes, I was the proud owner of Donald Duck ears that say 'Amy' in a nice, straight embroidery.
Some things have changed since I was last at Disney World. For example, you no longer have to risk a chance sighting of your favorite character, and then run frantically to them to get your picture taken with them. Now they have a schedule, and you check the schedule to find out when and where you can find your Disney favorites. It takes some of the fun out of it! In the middle of Main Street, Pluto and Daisy were greeting guests. We hopped in line for Pluto- I thought perhaps we'd see Pluto and then go see Daisy, but oh no, it was two separate lines. Drew sat there, with his ears on, still unsure about this place. Then he had the chance to meet the real live Pluto! His face lit up. He went over and gave Pluto's nose a hug. It was such a sweet and tender moment. This is what we went for- to see it again through the youngest eyes.
Disney World is building a new Fantasyland, so there was construction equipment all around. Unfortunately, when they took that iconic photo of our group in front of Cinderella's castle, there were cranes in the background. Not quite the picturesque scene I had in mind when I bought Mom and 8x10" photo frame for her birthday!
I was disappointed to find that Disney has changed the Pirates of the Caribbean ride so that it is more in line with the Johnny Depp movies- which I have never seen. It had a much darker, scarier feel than it used to. One day after our visit, it was on the news that they had changed the ride yet again, adding something else from the movie. The Jungle Cruise had not changed much, and Drew enjoyed looking at the 'animals'. Sydney was so excited all day that she kept making this sound. It was 'eeeee'. Said in a high pitched, overly-excited way. Much of the day she couldn't express her happiness in any other way than to say 'eeeeee', with a big smile.
Laura, Andy, and Syd went to ride Big Thunder Mountain and Splash Mountain. My fibro was bothering me a bit, so I opted not to bounce around on roller coasters, even though it would have felt heavenly to get soaked on Splash Mountain. As Mom, Dad, and I walked around with Drew, we heard a noise that could have been thunder, but since we were also standing next to a roller coaster, it could have been the roller coaster. A couple minutes later, we heard it again, and there was no doubt- it was thunder. We started walking, looking for someplace we could get inside and sit down. We found ourselves at Pecos Bills. It was almost lunch time, and even though we had a 4pm reservation in Cinderella's Castle for dinner, we decided to grab a table and get some drinks and snacks. Dad went to get the table while Mom and I stood in line. We were first in line, shortly after it opened. As the weather started moving in, there was a coordinated effort throughout the park to close all outdoor rides. Hordes of people started looking for a place to get inside. By the time our order was done (a few drinks, a couple of orders of french fries), mom and I had to elbow our way through a thick crowd to get to the table. Then we waited for Laura and Andy and Syd to find us. We tried calling them, but all of us had a hard time getting calls in the Kingdom.
We waited out the storm in Pecos Bills. Or rather, round one of the storm. Looking back, it feels like we spent the rest of the day waiting out storms. I know that wasn't quite the case, but it was close. We darted back and forth from building to building, seeking shelter (by the way, when there's a downpour in the park, there's not a lot of places for all those people to go!) Laura and I went to the Haunted Mansion because we both really enjoy that one. When we came out, it was another downpour, and people were stopped at the end of the walkway, under the awning. The helpful Disney staff told everyone to keep moving. "You must go out into the rain". Laura and I were decked out in our handy $5 ponchos Mom bought at Walmart before the trip (they came in handy, let me tell you!), and since we are tall, we have a long stride anyway. We looked at each other, nodded, and said 'make our way to the castle'. We had told the rest of the family to meet us there when we went to the Haunted Mansion. We kind of walked, mostly ran, to another covered place (I forget now what it was) and took shelter with a group of strangers between a couple of shops. By this point, there was a lot of lightning around, so we stayed put. Even the construction workers were sitting it out. The staff from the stores came out and stood in the sheltered area. They watched it rain as if they had never seen it rain so hard. When the construction workers picked up their lead hammers again, my sister motioned for me to follow. We knew the danger of lightning had passed if they were working with metal!
We made our way through puddles and a soggy Magic Kingdom to the castle, where we found- surprise- a large crowd of people huddled together seeking shelter. There in the crowd we found the rest of our family, with Drew sound asleep in his stroller. Sydney had an appointment at the Bibbidy Bobbidy Boutique to get made over as a princess. There really was not much we could do in the rain, and since Drew was asleep, we went to the Boutique an hour early. Really, we were looking for someplace to sit down (As an adult, I am highly disappointed in the accommodations at all of the Disney parks. Smokers had lovely smoking areas, but there is a serious lack of shaded seating for non-smokers). I'll blog about Syd's Boutique experience later- it is worthy of a separate post.
After Sydney was made over into a Princess, we met back up with the guys. Part of the princess package is to get professional pictures taken in her Princess attire. While Laura and Andy were doing that with Syd, Mom, Dad and I took Drew to find something that was open that he could enjoy. Dad and Andy had taken him on a couple of rides while we were all in the salon. Drew loves carousels. Sydney used to enjoy them a lot too. It was still raining a little, but not lightning, so I took Drew onto the carousel. I let him pick his horse. I knew when it was getting ready to start, so just before the carousel started moving, I told him "tell your horsey to go". He slapped the reins and said "Go Horsey!" His look of amazement was priceless when his horsey went just as he told it to! A little Aunt Amy magic! Next we took him to the Silly Symphony. Turns out, the guys had already taken him once, but he had so much fun he didn't mind seeing it again.
A 4pm dinner reservation comes early, so before long we were all gathering again at the Castle for dinner. That was also a special experience, so there will be a separate post about it. After dinner, the adults were worn out. Disney can be an exhausting place, and when you add the rude people shoving and pushing you, plus getting soaked in a downpour, it just left all of us feeling a bit deflated. By that time, we knew we'd be using our remaining day on our passes to come back on Friday. The park was closing at 7pm for the Halloween party anyway. We made our way down Main Street and were taking our time through the shops. Dad said he was going to take Drew outside. I thought maybe it was just too much to push the stroller through the crowded shops. Then I heard music, and as I had been summoned by the Pied Piper, I wandered outside to see what was going on. There was a small parade going by. Four floats, with Disney characters on each float. And there was Drew, dancing on the edge of the street as the parade went by. He was perhaps the happiest little boy in the park.
Neither of the kids seemed to mind that most of the day had been a washout. They had a good time regardless. Maybe that's why it's called the 'Happiest Place on Earth'.
Tuesday, September 18 was our Magic Kingdom day. This time for real! See, when we were trying to find the resort on Saturday, we took a wrong turn and ended up on the road that leads to the Magic Kingdom. Sydney was extremely excited as we drove through the gates, and we had to explain to her that we were lost and were just turning around. So Tuesday, it was off to Magic Kingdom for real.
People have asked me how often I've been to Disney World. I have no idea how many times I've been. I think it's between 20-30 times. Yet it was still exciting to ride the monorail, especially as it goes through the hotels and you can look down on the people inside. We arrived just as the gates opened, and as we left the monorail station, all of the Disney characters were lined up in the train station to welcome people to the park. That was pretty cool. I had never seen that before. Of course, by the time I dug my camera out of my purse it was over so there are no pictures of it!
Inside the gates is my favorite part of Disney World- Main Street, USA. I have always loved the old-timey feel of Main Street USA. Plus, it's all shops- what's not to love? Our first stop was The Chapeau, or hat store. Drew needed his first set of ears, Sydney had outgrown her ears, and the adults thought we'd look around. There, I found perhaps my favorite souvenir ever! For those who may not know, I do not like Mickey Mouse. I'm not fond of Minnie either. I have always been a Donald Duck fan. I LOVE the duck! I like that he blows up and gets angry. I like that you can't understand a word he says. And especially, I love that he screws up Mickey's perfect little world.
When I was a child, the only ears you could get were Mickey ears or Minnie ears. I know at one point I had the requisite ears with 'Amy' stitched on them. That of course, was before I was old enough to speak my own mind. I remember having a hat as a teenager which was a white baseball cap, with a big plastic yellow bill on it to represent Donald's beak. I also remember it being a very hot hat to wear.
I took a look through The Chapeau, thinking if I couldn't find something with Donald, perhaps I could find another character (such as Tigger, another of my favorites). There are ears for almost everything now. And there it was- like a chorus of angels singing- a set of ears, but the hat part was done to look like Donald's shirt. It even has a tuft of feathers for a tail! Sydney was still looking for her perfect ears, but I had just found mine. I put them on and surveyed my reflection in the mirror. From across the store, Dad saw me, and I caught his eye in the mirror. He cracked up laughing. Well, I might get older, but I will never completely grow up.
I went to checkout with my hat, and thought I'd go for gold- I asked if I could have my name embroidered on the hat. "Sure!" said the perky salesgirl. She suggested yellow embroidery as it would look nice on the blue of the hat. I paid for my hat and it was sent to the stitching machine. People behind me received their hats and I kept waiting. My sister paid for Syd's and Drew's ears, had Drew's embroidered, and was done before I was. Then the girl apologized and said that the needle broke on my hat, so she was going to try again. She got another hat and started again. This time, the machine jammed and printed my name crooked. My name is short- and yet, it took three tries to get three letters embroidered on a hat. I stood there watching as out on Main Street, Sydney met Snow White, and then Laura and Sydney met Mary Poppins. After what seemed like an eternity, but was more likely about 30 minutes, I was the proud owner of Donald Duck ears that say 'Amy' in a nice, straight embroidery.
Some things have changed since I was last at Disney World. For example, you no longer have to risk a chance sighting of your favorite character, and then run frantically to them to get your picture taken with them. Now they have a schedule, and you check the schedule to find out when and where you can find your Disney favorites. It takes some of the fun out of it! In the middle of Main Street, Pluto and Daisy were greeting guests. We hopped in line for Pluto- I thought perhaps we'd see Pluto and then go see Daisy, but oh no, it was two separate lines. Drew sat there, with his ears on, still unsure about this place. Then he had the chance to meet the real live Pluto! His face lit up. He went over and gave Pluto's nose a hug. It was such a sweet and tender moment. This is what we went for- to see it again through the youngest eyes.
Disney World is building a new Fantasyland, so there was construction equipment all around. Unfortunately, when they took that iconic photo of our group in front of Cinderella's castle, there were cranes in the background. Not quite the picturesque scene I had in mind when I bought Mom and 8x10" photo frame for her birthday!
I was disappointed to find that Disney has changed the Pirates of the Caribbean ride so that it is more in line with the Johnny Depp movies- which I have never seen. It had a much darker, scarier feel than it used to. One day after our visit, it was on the news that they had changed the ride yet again, adding something else from the movie. The Jungle Cruise had not changed much, and Drew enjoyed looking at the 'animals'. Sydney was so excited all day that she kept making this sound. It was 'eeeee'. Said in a high pitched, overly-excited way. Much of the day she couldn't express her happiness in any other way than to say 'eeeeee', with a big smile.
Laura, Andy, and Syd went to ride Big Thunder Mountain and Splash Mountain. My fibro was bothering me a bit, so I opted not to bounce around on roller coasters, even though it would have felt heavenly to get soaked on Splash Mountain. As Mom, Dad, and I walked around with Drew, we heard a noise that could have been thunder, but since we were also standing next to a roller coaster, it could have been the roller coaster. A couple minutes later, we heard it again, and there was no doubt- it was thunder. We started walking, looking for someplace we could get inside and sit down. We found ourselves at Pecos Bills. It was almost lunch time, and even though we had a 4pm reservation in Cinderella's Castle for dinner, we decided to grab a table and get some drinks and snacks. Dad went to get the table while Mom and I stood in line. We were first in line, shortly after it opened. As the weather started moving in, there was a coordinated effort throughout the park to close all outdoor rides. Hordes of people started looking for a place to get inside. By the time our order was done (a few drinks, a couple of orders of french fries), mom and I had to elbow our way through a thick crowd to get to the table. Then we waited for Laura and Andy and Syd to find us. We tried calling them, but all of us had a hard time getting calls in the Kingdom.
We waited out the storm in Pecos Bills. Or rather, round one of the storm. Looking back, it feels like we spent the rest of the day waiting out storms. I know that wasn't quite the case, but it was close. We darted back and forth from building to building, seeking shelter (by the way, when there's a downpour in the park, there's not a lot of places for all those people to go!) Laura and I went to the Haunted Mansion because we both really enjoy that one. When we came out, it was another downpour, and people were stopped at the end of the walkway, under the awning. The helpful Disney staff told everyone to keep moving. "You must go out into the rain". Laura and I were decked out in our handy $5 ponchos Mom bought at Walmart before the trip (they came in handy, let me tell you!), and since we are tall, we have a long stride anyway. We looked at each other, nodded, and said 'make our way to the castle'. We had told the rest of the family to meet us there when we went to the Haunted Mansion. We kind of walked, mostly ran, to another covered place (I forget now what it was) and took shelter with a group of strangers between a couple of shops. By this point, there was a lot of lightning around, so we stayed put. Even the construction workers were sitting it out. The staff from the stores came out and stood in the sheltered area. They watched it rain as if they had never seen it rain so hard. When the construction workers picked up their lead hammers again, my sister motioned for me to follow. We knew the danger of lightning had passed if they were working with metal!
We made our way through puddles and a soggy Magic Kingdom to the castle, where we found- surprise- a large crowd of people huddled together seeking shelter. There in the crowd we found the rest of our family, with Drew sound asleep in his stroller. Sydney had an appointment at the Bibbidy Bobbidy Boutique to get made over as a princess. There really was not much we could do in the rain, and since Drew was asleep, we went to the Boutique an hour early. Really, we were looking for someplace to sit down (As an adult, I am highly disappointed in the accommodations at all of the Disney parks. Smokers had lovely smoking areas, but there is a serious lack of shaded seating for non-smokers). I'll blog about Syd's Boutique experience later- it is worthy of a separate post.
After Sydney was made over into a Princess, we met back up with the guys. Part of the princess package is to get professional pictures taken in her Princess attire. While Laura and Andy were doing that with Syd, Mom, Dad and I took Drew to find something that was open that he could enjoy. Dad and Andy had taken him on a couple of rides while we were all in the salon. Drew loves carousels. Sydney used to enjoy them a lot too. It was still raining a little, but not lightning, so I took Drew onto the carousel. I let him pick his horse. I knew when it was getting ready to start, so just before the carousel started moving, I told him "tell your horsey to go". He slapped the reins and said "Go Horsey!" His look of amazement was priceless when his horsey went just as he told it to! A little Aunt Amy magic! Next we took him to the Silly Symphony. Turns out, the guys had already taken him once, but he had so much fun he didn't mind seeing it again.
A 4pm dinner reservation comes early, so before long we were all gathering again at the Castle for dinner. That was also a special experience, so there will be a separate post about it. After dinner, the adults were worn out. Disney can be an exhausting place, and when you add the rude people shoving and pushing you, plus getting soaked in a downpour, it just left all of us feeling a bit deflated. By that time, we knew we'd be using our remaining day on our passes to come back on Friday. The park was closing at 7pm for the Halloween party anyway. We made our way down Main Street and were taking our time through the shops. Dad said he was going to take Drew outside. I thought maybe it was just too much to push the stroller through the crowded shops. Then I heard music, and as I had been summoned by the Pied Piper, I wandered outside to see what was going on. There was a small parade going by. Four floats, with Disney characters on each float. And there was Drew, dancing on the edge of the street as the parade went by. He was perhaps the happiest little boy in the park.
Neither of the kids seemed to mind that most of the day had been a washout. They had a good time regardless. Maybe that's why it's called the 'Happiest Place on Earth'.
Sunday, October 14, 2012
To See The Sea
Our third day of vacation, Monday, was one of our scheduled 'down' days. However, on our vacations, often even our down days tend to be packed. This was really no exception. We just had a more flexible schedule. We planned to go to Daytona to take the kids to the beach.
Our morning once again started somewhere around 6 or 6:30am. By the second morning of being woken up by Drew so early in the morning, I figured out this was something he really enjoyed. Dad confirmed this. Dad said Drew would stand up in his crib and say "PopPop I'm up". He then would hand out his stuffed animals to Dad (by the end of the trip he had quite a collection), hand Dad his blanket, and then reach for Dad to get him out of the crib. Then he climbed into bed with my Mom, poking her shoulder and getting her to wake up. Once he was certain he had succeeded, he said "Go get Aunt Amy" and he scrambled off the bed, down the hall to my room, opened the door, flipped on the light and said "Aunt Amy get up!" It is hard to argue with such a handsome alarm clock!
We spent a somewhat leisurely morning around the condo, eating breakfast and taking our time getting ready. Andy helped Sydney with some of her homework. As we were getting ready to leave, Sydney came in my room and said we needed to have a discussion. I thought "Oh what have I done?" Mom came in and sat down to chat while I was getting ready, and Sydney told her "I want to have a discussion with Aunt Amy." Mom said "Ok" and remained in her seat. Sydney looked at her, rolled her eyes, and said "PRIVATELY". Mom apologized and left, chuckling. Sydney closed the door so no one else could come in. Then she came over and told me that Andy thought she might need glasses, because when she was doing her homework she had to pull the paper really close to her face. Andy told my sister that when they got home, they needed to get Sydney's eyes checked.
Sydney was very upset about this. Apparently, while I had been showering and getting dressed, she had this conversation with the other adults, but now she had to have it with me. It was a very serious topic for her, weighing very heavily on her little heart. I tried to reassure her and told her that it wasn't scary to get your eyes checked. I told her what to expect in the exam. I asked if she had problems seeing the board in school, and she said she didn't, it was just when she reads she has to have everything close to her. She's getting good grades in school, so obviously she's not having enough problems to affect her work. I told her that her Mom had to have glasses as a young girl, Sydney said "Yes, she was not much older than me. And MeMe too." I said yes, MeMe (my mom) had to have glasses when she was young too. She said PopPop has glasses, and her Dad wears them for driving, and even I wear glasses, but why don't I wear them all the time? I told her I needed mine mostly for reading. She took this as a glimmer of hope for herself and said "Maybe I would only need them for reading!" I assured her that it could be. I also tried to make her feel a little better by telling her that if she did need glasses, she could probably get pink ones. By the time we finished our discussion, she was smiling and happy again. I gave her a big hug and told her not to worry, and we went to the car to join the family.
At some point, and I can't remember if it was this day or a previous day, my sister warned us that when Drew says 'Truck', the t actually sounds like an f. Since we had to drive more than an hour to get to Daytona, we passed a lot of trucks, which Drew happily pointed out. Of course, being the mature adults we all are, we cracked up laughing each time. In true kid form, he did something that made us laugh, so he did it again. We kept trying to get him to say it as a T, but at the end of the week he was still saying it as an f.
We spent about an hour at the beach, which was just enough. There were dangerous riptides. I had heard on the news that they had a riptide problem on the beach over the weekend. They also said they had a shark problem. I was trying to tell the family this at breakfast, and I knew I could tell them about riptides without the kids getting it. But we had been to Sea World the day before and walked through the Shark Encounter, so I knew I couldn't say 'shark' without alarming Sydney. So I mimicked a shark, by putting my hand on the top of my head, so that it looked kind of like a triangle on the top of my head. The adults understood. The kids did not but thought it was hilarious, so they mimicked me. Thankfully though, we did not see any sharks at the beach.
Drew and Sydney really enjoyed the ocean. Or the Sea as Sydney referred to it. Drew thought it was so awesome. They played in the sand briefly, but they really enjoyed playing in the water. Laura had told both of them they could not go in the water without holding onto one of the adults' hands. As Mom and I stood on the water's edge, the waves would roll in and as they rolled back out, you felt the sand underneath your feet being sucked away, and suddenly, you weren't standing on any kind of firm ground. For the first time I really understood riptides. Mom and I were stone cold sober, and we kept reaching for the other one to steady ourselves, and our legs felt like jello.
We had lunch at Joe's Crab Shack with an old friend of Laura's, Owen. They went to high school together. Well, actually, they have known each other since they were 4 or 5. Growing up, Owen was like the brother I never had, he was frequently at our house and going along with us if we went shopping or on day trips. He now lives outside Daytona, and is the event coordinator at the Daytona Hilton (if you're in the area planning a wedding, he's your man!). It was nice to catch up with him.
Of course, spending a lot of time in the car gave us some Sydney gems. We stopped on the way back for Mom to make a pit stop. Mom had not been feeling well, and my sister and I were concerned about her. My sister works in a dr's office, so she started grilling Dad. Of course, Dad didn't really have any answers. When Mom got back in the car, Sydney said "They were talking about you, MeMe!" Little snitch! Then she told Mom "But don't worry, I'll tell you later what they said". My sister and I saved her the trouble and filled Mom in.
I think I've already mentioned that the roads in Orlando are a tangled mess. As we neared our resort, we took a wrong turn and stumbled onto another way into the resort. But before we realized where we would end up, Mom asked the guys if we were lost. Dad said no. This is Dad's typical answer to that question. Mom said 'Do we know where we are?' and before Dad could answer, I told her no. I've taken enough road trips with my family, and I was usually Dad's copilot- so I can read him pretty well. I knew that he wasn't quite sure where we were at that moment. From the backseat, Sydney said "Oh my god! We're lost again!" Well, at least it took the tension out of the vehicle, because we all just laughed, including Dad.
Back at the resort that night, Dad wasn't feeling well. Sydney was a very good little nurse. She made toast and took it in to Dad, and she kept checking on him. At one point, Dad came out and said what he had eaten for lunch hadn't agreed with him. Sydney looked up at him and matter-of-factly said "Well, don't eat that again!" Dad told her he wouldn't. It amazes me how very clearly she sees things.
We planned to go back to the pool after dinner, but thunderstorms rolled in. Sydney was greatly disappointed. Mom told her that Sydney could put her bathing suit on and go in the jacuzzi tub in Mom & Dad's bathroom. I knew she had to read books for school, so I tried to help and told her she could read one of her school books to me, and then I'd let her read books on my Nook. That seemed to satisfy her and she had a full evening in the tub and playing on my nook (not at the same time). If she missed the pool, she never let on.
Our morning once again started somewhere around 6 or 6:30am. By the second morning of being woken up by Drew so early in the morning, I figured out this was something he really enjoyed. Dad confirmed this. Dad said Drew would stand up in his crib and say "PopPop I'm up". He then would hand out his stuffed animals to Dad (by the end of the trip he had quite a collection), hand Dad his blanket, and then reach for Dad to get him out of the crib. Then he climbed into bed with my Mom, poking her shoulder and getting her to wake up. Once he was certain he had succeeded, he said "Go get Aunt Amy" and he scrambled off the bed, down the hall to my room, opened the door, flipped on the light and said "Aunt Amy get up!" It is hard to argue with such a handsome alarm clock!
We spent a somewhat leisurely morning around the condo, eating breakfast and taking our time getting ready. Andy helped Sydney with some of her homework. As we were getting ready to leave, Sydney came in my room and said we needed to have a discussion. I thought "Oh what have I done?" Mom came in and sat down to chat while I was getting ready, and Sydney told her "I want to have a discussion with Aunt Amy." Mom said "Ok" and remained in her seat. Sydney looked at her, rolled her eyes, and said "PRIVATELY". Mom apologized and left, chuckling. Sydney closed the door so no one else could come in. Then she came over and told me that Andy thought she might need glasses, because when she was doing her homework she had to pull the paper really close to her face. Andy told my sister that when they got home, they needed to get Sydney's eyes checked.
Sydney was very upset about this. Apparently, while I had been showering and getting dressed, she had this conversation with the other adults, but now she had to have it with me. It was a very serious topic for her, weighing very heavily on her little heart. I tried to reassure her and told her that it wasn't scary to get your eyes checked. I told her what to expect in the exam. I asked if she had problems seeing the board in school, and she said she didn't, it was just when she reads she has to have everything close to her. She's getting good grades in school, so obviously she's not having enough problems to affect her work. I told her that her Mom had to have glasses as a young girl, Sydney said "Yes, she was not much older than me. And MeMe too." I said yes, MeMe (my mom) had to have glasses when she was young too. She said PopPop has glasses, and her Dad wears them for driving, and even I wear glasses, but why don't I wear them all the time? I told her I needed mine mostly for reading. She took this as a glimmer of hope for herself and said "Maybe I would only need them for reading!" I assured her that it could be. I also tried to make her feel a little better by telling her that if she did need glasses, she could probably get pink ones. By the time we finished our discussion, she was smiling and happy again. I gave her a big hug and told her not to worry, and we went to the car to join the family.
At some point, and I can't remember if it was this day or a previous day, my sister warned us that when Drew says 'Truck', the t actually sounds like an f. Since we had to drive more than an hour to get to Daytona, we passed a lot of trucks, which Drew happily pointed out. Of course, being the mature adults we all are, we cracked up laughing each time. In true kid form, he did something that made us laugh, so he did it again. We kept trying to get him to say it as a T, but at the end of the week he was still saying it as an f.
We spent about an hour at the beach, which was just enough. There were dangerous riptides. I had heard on the news that they had a riptide problem on the beach over the weekend. They also said they had a shark problem. I was trying to tell the family this at breakfast, and I knew I could tell them about riptides without the kids getting it. But we had been to Sea World the day before and walked through the Shark Encounter, so I knew I couldn't say 'shark' without alarming Sydney. So I mimicked a shark, by putting my hand on the top of my head, so that it looked kind of like a triangle on the top of my head. The adults understood. The kids did not but thought it was hilarious, so they mimicked me. Thankfully though, we did not see any sharks at the beach.
Drew and Sydney really enjoyed the ocean. Or the Sea as Sydney referred to it. Drew thought it was so awesome. They played in the sand briefly, but they really enjoyed playing in the water. Laura had told both of them they could not go in the water without holding onto one of the adults' hands. As Mom and I stood on the water's edge, the waves would roll in and as they rolled back out, you felt the sand underneath your feet being sucked away, and suddenly, you weren't standing on any kind of firm ground. For the first time I really understood riptides. Mom and I were stone cold sober, and we kept reaching for the other one to steady ourselves, and our legs felt like jello.
We had lunch at Joe's Crab Shack with an old friend of Laura's, Owen. They went to high school together. Well, actually, they have known each other since they were 4 or 5. Growing up, Owen was like the brother I never had, he was frequently at our house and going along with us if we went shopping or on day trips. He now lives outside Daytona, and is the event coordinator at the Daytona Hilton (if you're in the area planning a wedding, he's your man!). It was nice to catch up with him.
Of course, spending a lot of time in the car gave us some Sydney gems. We stopped on the way back for Mom to make a pit stop. Mom had not been feeling well, and my sister and I were concerned about her. My sister works in a dr's office, so she started grilling Dad. Of course, Dad didn't really have any answers. When Mom got back in the car, Sydney said "They were talking about you, MeMe!" Little snitch! Then she told Mom "But don't worry, I'll tell you later what they said". My sister and I saved her the trouble and filled Mom in.
I think I've already mentioned that the roads in Orlando are a tangled mess. As we neared our resort, we took a wrong turn and stumbled onto another way into the resort. But before we realized where we would end up, Mom asked the guys if we were lost. Dad said no. This is Dad's typical answer to that question. Mom said 'Do we know where we are?' and before Dad could answer, I told her no. I've taken enough road trips with my family, and I was usually Dad's copilot- so I can read him pretty well. I knew that he wasn't quite sure where we were at that moment. From the backseat, Sydney said "Oh my god! We're lost again!" Well, at least it took the tension out of the vehicle, because we all just laughed, including Dad.
Back at the resort that night, Dad wasn't feeling well. Sydney was a very good little nurse. She made toast and took it in to Dad, and she kept checking on him. At one point, Dad came out and said what he had eaten for lunch hadn't agreed with him. Sydney looked up at him and matter-of-factly said "Well, don't eat that again!" Dad told her he wouldn't. It amazes me how very clearly she sees things.
We planned to go back to the pool after dinner, but thunderstorms rolled in. Sydney was greatly disappointed. Mom told her that Sydney could put her bathing suit on and go in the jacuzzi tub in Mom & Dad's bathroom. I knew she had to read books for school, so I tried to help and told her she could read one of her school books to me, and then I'd let her read books on my Nook. That seemed to satisfy her and she had a full evening in the tub and playing on my nook (not at the same time). If she missed the pool, she never let on.
Tuesday, October 9, 2012
Not Your Mother's Sea World
I have long known that I was the odd night owl born into a family of morning people. Not just morning people. Perky morning people. The next generation seems to be carrying on the tradition. Both of my sister's children are early risers. From the moment their feet hit the floor they are running, tumbling, balls of overflowing energy.
Most people sleep in on their vacation. If I'm on vacation with my family, I am up earlier than I would be if I were working. This was no different. I had heard noises coming from other parts of the condo shortly after 6am. At 6:23am, the door to my room opened, the light was flipped on and there were lots of giggles. Small children trying to be quiet and giggling but really being anything but quiet. I opened my eyes and looked at them and they both gave up any pretense of being quiet and started cheering and giggling. Then they were off through the condo. My sister walked out of her room, looked at her children and said 'Really? It's vacation!' and went back into her room. While I was in the restroom, Sydney and Drew came into my room looking for me. Through the closed door I could hear Drew saying 'Where is she?' They didn't realize I knew they were there (and it's a very good thing they were not quiet- I don't think I would have handled being startled very well at that time of morning). When I went out, they were hiding next to the side of the couch in my room. I saw them before they saw me, which prompted them to scream that I was a monster.
With peals of laughter they ran out of my room, through the condo screaming that they were being chased by a monster. For much of the morning, the kids were monster hunters, running away from any adult that they deemed a monster (fortunately, we shared that roll). It did keep them occupied until it was time for the main event of the day, Sea World.
Sea World was a place we went often when we were visiting my Grandparents. When I was a kid, Sea World was the Shamu show, the dolphin show, the sea lion and walrus show, a pool to pet/feed the dolphins, and a couple other things. It was, other than the drive to Orlando, a pretty easy day for everyone. My sister had told me Sea World was very different from what I remembered, but I was still blown away.
Ambient music plays as you walk through the park. Drew loves to dance, and as we walked along, he was shaking his hips and boogieing. I took a video of him, and I really need to send it in to Ellen. The way he was dancing looked just the way Ellen does.
We spent some time feeding sea lions and seals. Sydney was very eager to feed them, so Mom bought five trays of fish. Then Sydney saw that we were feeding them actual fish, and she got a little squeamish. But only a little. She quickly got the hang of it and both of the munchkins enjoyed it. I was very glad to see that Sea World has hand washing stations throughout the park. I also always carry hand sanitizer in my purse, so after washing hands, we used the sanitizer.
Drew loved the shows. Sydney did too, but it was hysterical to watch Drew. I'm not sure how much he really understood, but he laughed and clapped as the animals performed. Syd was able to understand the shows a little more. People who sat near us were laughing watching Drew enjoy the shows. While there are a lot of changes, some aspects of the shows were the same as they were when I was a kid. And whomever writes the lines really needs to have several lashings with a wet noodle, because the jokes and puns were so corny.
We grabbed a brief lunch. I do not do well in the heat, and it was SO hot that day (ok, the whole week). It was somewhere in the 90's, and extremely humid. I had covered myself in sunblock that morning, but because it was so hot I was sticky with sweat, and didn't want to add another layer of disgusting by adding more sunblock as the day went on. So at lunch I was feeling a little off. I opted for a small bowl of macaroni and cheese, and a bowl of watermelon slices. When I got to the table, Drew saw my tray and said "melon". He LOVES fruit, but especially melon. I gave him one of the wedges of watermelon. He ate it and came back for more. I know how to make friends!
Mom, Laura and Sydney did the pearl diving- well, they didn't dive, but the divers went down, brought up oysters for them to choose, and then they opened the oysters for pearls. Sydney thought this was very spectacular. She got a keepsake box shaped like a dolphin and put her pearl in that to keep it forever. She kept checking on it, and was convinced the pearl got bigger each time. You might ask why I didn't do the pearl thing. Well, my birthday is in June, which means pearl is my birthstone. I love them, but over 36 years, I have accumulated quite a few pieces of pearl jewelry.
Then it was time for the most special part of the day. As part of Sydney's birthday, I gave her the Dolphin Experience. Laura, Sydney, and I went on it together. It's a behind the scenes tour of the dolphins. You start out in the dolphin nursery, and the tour guide tells you about the dolphins in the nursery. It's not all baby dolphins- it is also pregnant dolphins. Because dolphins are social creatures, if one dolphin is pregnant, they bring her whole group to the nursery. Our tour guide described it as 'a giant baby shower for dolphins'. The trainers come out and each trainer works with a certain group of dolphins, feeding them. At the end, they allow you to feed them. Laura and I stayed back to take pictures, but Sydney got right in there and threw fish into the pool for the dolphins.
After another stop to wash our hands, it was off to Dolphin Cove. This is a place where you can watch the dolphins. As part of the tour, however, we had special access. Each family group was paired with a trainer, and then we were given certain dolphins. We were paired with three male dolphins, ages 3-5. The trainer showed us hand signals to use, and the dolphins responded with different actions based on our signals. They came up to the edge of the pool and we could lean in and pet them. We stood there, about a foot away from these majestic creatures, staring into their soft eyes. It was one of those moments in life that I will never forget. A time when you feel so small, so insignificant in the scheme of the world.
Sydney talked about the dolphin experience for the rest of the trip. My sister and I did too. We both came home saying we highly recommend it. If you are going to Sea World, spend the $50 per person and take the Dolphin Encounter. It is amazing!
My second favorite part of the day was the Wild Arctic. I think I enjoyed that because it was COLD! There was an ice wall inside, which was supposed to be like an iceberg. It was so cool and refreshing, even Drew enjoyed it. As you walked through the exhibit, you could see into the pools, so the animals were at the same level as you. There was a walrus which was swimming around. Drew stood by the glass and the walrus came over and kissed him through the glass. You leave the exhibit through the gift shop, of course. There was a huge polar bear 'statue' in the store, it had to be 8 feet tall. Dad picked Drew up so he could see it, and Dad roared, like the bear was roaring at Drew. Drew roared back at the bear. This went on for a couple of minutes. It was hilarious, watching this two year old roar at a huge polar bear.
After Sea World, it was time for dinner. I went to visit my friend, Birgit and her Mom for dinner. I'll blog about our adventures later. Everyone else in my family went to an all you can eat buffet restaurant. My BIL ate 8 lobsters. Yes. Eight. He claims they were small ones. When the family came back to get me, it was after 8pm. The adults were all dog tired. I incorrectly assumed since it was getting late that the munchkins would be asleep in their car seats. They were NOT! I climbed into the car and was met with a chorus of "YAY!!! Aunt Amy's Back!" from the back seat. Aww! I felt so loved. Then Sydney and Drew started arguing about who's Aunt Amy I was. Sydney said "She's my Aunt Amy" and Drew said "My Aunt Amy". They went back and forth, voices getting louder, until finally my sister asked them to stop. Sydney said 'We'll agree that she's both of our Aunt Amy" and Drew said "Ok". They were quiet for a minute, and then Sydney very quietly said "But really, she's MY Aunt Amy!"
The kids did fall asleep in the car on the way back to the condo, and Andy and Dad had to carry them upstairs. The adults were not far behind!
Most people sleep in on their vacation. If I'm on vacation with my family, I am up earlier than I would be if I were working. This was no different. I had heard noises coming from other parts of the condo shortly after 6am. At 6:23am, the door to my room opened, the light was flipped on and there were lots of giggles. Small children trying to be quiet and giggling but really being anything but quiet. I opened my eyes and looked at them and they both gave up any pretense of being quiet and started cheering and giggling. Then they were off through the condo. My sister walked out of her room, looked at her children and said 'Really? It's vacation!' and went back into her room. While I was in the restroom, Sydney and Drew came into my room looking for me. Through the closed door I could hear Drew saying 'Where is she?' They didn't realize I knew they were there (and it's a very good thing they were not quiet- I don't think I would have handled being startled very well at that time of morning). When I went out, they were hiding next to the side of the couch in my room. I saw them before they saw me, which prompted them to scream that I was a monster.
With peals of laughter they ran out of my room, through the condo screaming that they were being chased by a monster. For much of the morning, the kids were monster hunters, running away from any adult that they deemed a monster (fortunately, we shared that roll). It did keep them occupied until it was time for the main event of the day, Sea World.
Sea World was a place we went often when we were visiting my Grandparents. When I was a kid, Sea World was the Shamu show, the dolphin show, the sea lion and walrus show, a pool to pet/feed the dolphins, and a couple other things. It was, other than the drive to Orlando, a pretty easy day for everyone. My sister had told me Sea World was very different from what I remembered, but I was still blown away.
Ambient music plays as you walk through the park. Drew loves to dance, and as we walked along, he was shaking his hips and boogieing. I took a video of him, and I really need to send it in to Ellen. The way he was dancing looked just the way Ellen does.
We spent some time feeding sea lions and seals. Sydney was very eager to feed them, so Mom bought five trays of fish. Then Sydney saw that we were feeding them actual fish, and she got a little squeamish. But only a little. She quickly got the hang of it and both of the munchkins enjoyed it. I was very glad to see that Sea World has hand washing stations throughout the park. I also always carry hand sanitizer in my purse, so after washing hands, we used the sanitizer.
Drew loved the shows. Sydney did too, but it was hysterical to watch Drew. I'm not sure how much he really understood, but he laughed and clapped as the animals performed. Syd was able to understand the shows a little more. People who sat near us were laughing watching Drew enjoy the shows. While there are a lot of changes, some aspects of the shows were the same as they were when I was a kid. And whomever writes the lines really needs to have several lashings with a wet noodle, because the jokes and puns were so corny.
We grabbed a brief lunch. I do not do well in the heat, and it was SO hot that day (ok, the whole week). It was somewhere in the 90's, and extremely humid. I had covered myself in sunblock that morning, but because it was so hot I was sticky with sweat, and didn't want to add another layer of disgusting by adding more sunblock as the day went on. So at lunch I was feeling a little off. I opted for a small bowl of macaroni and cheese, and a bowl of watermelon slices. When I got to the table, Drew saw my tray and said "melon". He LOVES fruit, but especially melon. I gave him one of the wedges of watermelon. He ate it and came back for more. I know how to make friends!
Mom, Laura and Sydney did the pearl diving- well, they didn't dive, but the divers went down, brought up oysters for them to choose, and then they opened the oysters for pearls. Sydney thought this was very spectacular. She got a keepsake box shaped like a dolphin and put her pearl in that to keep it forever. She kept checking on it, and was convinced the pearl got bigger each time. You might ask why I didn't do the pearl thing. Well, my birthday is in June, which means pearl is my birthstone. I love them, but over 36 years, I have accumulated quite a few pieces of pearl jewelry.
Then it was time for the most special part of the day. As part of Sydney's birthday, I gave her the Dolphin Experience. Laura, Sydney, and I went on it together. It's a behind the scenes tour of the dolphins. You start out in the dolphin nursery, and the tour guide tells you about the dolphins in the nursery. It's not all baby dolphins- it is also pregnant dolphins. Because dolphins are social creatures, if one dolphin is pregnant, they bring her whole group to the nursery. Our tour guide described it as 'a giant baby shower for dolphins'. The trainers come out and each trainer works with a certain group of dolphins, feeding them. At the end, they allow you to feed them. Laura and I stayed back to take pictures, but Sydney got right in there and threw fish into the pool for the dolphins.
After another stop to wash our hands, it was off to Dolphin Cove. This is a place where you can watch the dolphins. As part of the tour, however, we had special access. Each family group was paired with a trainer, and then we were given certain dolphins. We were paired with three male dolphins, ages 3-5. The trainer showed us hand signals to use, and the dolphins responded with different actions based on our signals. They came up to the edge of the pool and we could lean in and pet them. We stood there, about a foot away from these majestic creatures, staring into their soft eyes. It was one of those moments in life that I will never forget. A time when you feel so small, so insignificant in the scheme of the world.
Sydney talked about the dolphin experience for the rest of the trip. My sister and I did too. We both came home saying we highly recommend it. If you are going to Sea World, spend the $50 per person and take the Dolphin Encounter. It is amazing!
My second favorite part of the day was the Wild Arctic. I think I enjoyed that because it was COLD! There was an ice wall inside, which was supposed to be like an iceberg. It was so cool and refreshing, even Drew enjoyed it. As you walked through the exhibit, you could see into the pools, so the animals were at the same level as you. There was a walrus which was swimming around. Drew stood by the glass and the walrus came over and kissed him through the glass. You leave the exhibit through the gift shop, of course. There was a huge polar bear 'statue' in the store, it had to be 8 feet tall. Dad picked Drew up so he could see it, and Dad roared, like the bear was roaring at Drew. Drew roared back at the bear. This went on for a couple of minutes. It was hilarious, watching this two year old roar at a huge polar bear.
After Sea World, it was time for dinner. I went to visit my friend, Birgit and her Mom for dinner. I'll blog about our adventures later. Everyone else in my family went to an all you can eat buffet restaurant. My BIL ate 8 lobsters. Yes. Eight. He claims they were small ones. When the family came back to get me, it was after 8pm. The adults were all dog tired. I incorrectly assumed since it was getting late that the munchkins would be asleep in their car seats. They were NOT! I climbed into the car and was met with a chorus of "YAY!!! Aunt Amy's Back!" from the back seat. Aww! I felt so loved. Then Sydney and Drew started arguing about who's Aunt Amy I was. Sydney said "She's my Aunt Amy" and Drew said "My Aunt Amy". They went back and forth, voices getting louder, until finally my sister asked them to stop. Sydney said 'We'll agree that she's both of our Aunt Amy" and Drew said "Ok". They were quiet for a minute, and then Sydney very quietly said "But really, she's MY Aunt Amy!"
The kids did fall asleep in the car on the way back to the condo, and Andy and Dad had to carry them upstairs. The adults were not far behind!
Friday, October 5, 2012
We're All Together With a Slice of Lemon
Our vacation started on Saturday, September 15. Amazingly, even though we were traveling from two different locations, we were able to get flights that arrived in Orlando fairly close to each other. My family left Albany at 7:20am. I left Dayton at 7:50am. When Sydney was telling me about the trip, she told me that her flight was early in the morning. She had to be up "so early you wouldn't believe it!"
The adults had planned the vacation for a year and a half. The children found out about the vacation about 2 weeks before, at their birthday party. Except they didn't find out the WHOLE story. The children knew they were going to Disney World with their parents, and my parents. They didn't know that I was going to meet them in Orlando for the week. If the flights were on time (and if you have flown at all, you know that can be a big if), I was supposed to arrive in Orlando 30 minutes before they did.
Before the trip, Mom designed special t-shirts for everyone in the family. She went for a royal blue shirt, with hot pink lettering. The shirt had a picture of a castle, and read 'Our Family Vacation, Florida 2012'. The shirts were, well, a little loud. I was certain we'd have no trouble spotting each other. The only thing is, the blue was actually the same color blue as the shirts the TSA agents wear, so it was hard to spot them in the airport.
Mom and my sister decided everyone was wearing their shirts through the airport. I was given a reprieve though, and told I could change into mine at the Orlando airport before they arrived. I was grateful for this, because I thought I'd get some pretty strange looks traveling as a party of one wearing a shirt that said 'Our Family Vacation'. As it turned out, my flight into Orlando was a few minutes early. When I came out of the gate, the ladies' room was right there, so I popped in and changed into my tshirt and shorts (it was 45* that morning when I left Dayton, there was no way I could wear shorts out of Dayton). I stepped out of the ladies room and checked the monitor which showed the arrivals. The Albany flight was listed as 'arriving'. Wow- looks like we both got a tailwind. I left my Dad a message on his phone and told him to call me when he was there. I went off to find baggage claim. While I was waiting for my bag, Dad called to say they were on the ground. Once I had my bag, I returned to just outside the security checkpoint to wait for the family.
When I saw them, I tried to get a picture. When Sydney saw me she said "YES! I knew you'd be here!" This was complete with a fist pump. Mom said they told her on the plane that she had one more surprise waiting at the airport in Florida. Sydney said "Yes, it's Aunt Amy." Mom asked her why she thought that, and Sydney said "We couldn't have this much fun without Aunt Amy!" She kept hugging me and giving me big smiles while we waited for our luggage. Drew was in his stroller, wearing his Mater hat that I bought for his birthday. He reached his arms out of the stroller and said "Hugs Aunt Amy", so I half-crawled into the stroller to give him a big hug.
Once we had the bags, it was off to get the rental cars. We had reservations for two cars, but saved quite a bit of money by getting one large car. While the rest of the adults went to the car rental counter, I was appointed keeper of the luggage and children. Drew, who was so wound up, wanted out of his stroller and unbuckled himself. I helped him climb out and then he proceeded to climb all over his sister and I. Sydney had a lot of energy when she was two, but I swear Drew has four times the energy she did.
With the reservation settled, it was time to get our car. Or our motorcade. We rented a charcoal gray suburban. We joked throughout the week that it looked like the President was visiting. We stopped for lunch at Bob Evans, because we knew it was a place everyone would like. Several of us ordered iced tea to drink, so the waitress just brought us a bowl of lemon wedges. Drew reached for the lemon wedges and popped one into his mouth. Probably other people would have stopped him from trying to eat a lemon, but we were curious. My Grandpa Wager used to suck on lemon wedges. Drew is named in part for my Grandpa; Drew's middle name is Lewis, which was Grandpa's first name. So when this little boy reached for a lemon, we wondered how much like his namesake he is. He sucked the lemon wedge for a couple of seconds and made that inevitable pucker face. Then he took the lemon out, set it next to his plate, grabbed another wedge and put it into his mouth. He grinned and batted those big baby blues at us, with the same twinkle my Grandpa had in his eyes. Perhaps the exhaustion of travel had set in, but we all erupted in laughter. It seems Drew was aptly named!
After lunch we drove to the resort and checked into our condo. The kids ran from one room to another exploring the place. Mom and Dad had the master bedroom, which had a king sized bed and a huge bathroom. It also had the most extra room, so Drew's crib went into their room. Another room had two queen beds, and the third room was more of a little suite, with a queen bed, a couch that opened into a sofa bed, a sitting area, and a bathroom. Sydney wanted her own bed, so she took the room with two queen beds, and declared that her parents were going to share the room with her. That left Aunt Amy with the mini suite! It worked out well, I didn't have to worry that my night-owlness would keep anyone else up.
One of the reasons my parents have a timeshare is so that when we go on vacations, we can cut on some of the expense of eating out. The condo has a full kitchen. The girls headed to Publix to go grocery shopping and the boys stayed home so Drew could take a nap (turns out, all the boys took a nap!). The grocery store was just off the resort, not even five minutes from our condo. My sister was the only one of the girls who was authorized to drive the rental car (Mom and I both said 'no way!' at the thought of driving the behemoth in Orlando traffic), so she climbed in behind the wheel. Just as we started out, the heavens opened up and it started pouring. Torrential downpour. The wipers were going so fast it was throwing the water about 3 feet off the car. Mom and I both said that even if we were driving our own vehicles, we likely would have pulled over in that rain. My sister did an awesome job and got us to the store. We sat in the car and waited for probably 15 or 20 minutes until the rain let up. Then we went into the store and started gathering the things 7 people with different likes/tastes/ and needs would use for a week.
When we checked out, we were asked the same question we had been asked several times that day. "Are ya'll together?" Now why they would think we were all together just because we were a party of 4-7 people (depending on what point in the day it was) wearing the SAME t-shirt?? Maybe we all just shopped at the same place! I really wish I'd had a sign with me so I could hand it to some of these people.
After grocery shopping, and getting all the groceries to our condo on the fourth floor (let's just say it's a good thing there was an elevator!), we spent the rest of the afternoon/evening unwinding and settling in. We made homemade pizza, with Drew and Syd's assistance. While we were eating we talked about the plans for the next day. Sydney wanted to know how early we had to be up. She said "I bet the girls will be up before the boys". I had to tell her that the girls would NOT win that race, as they had Aunt Amy on their team.
Andy got a head start on the next morning's breakfast by pre-cooking some bacon and sausage Saturday night. The smell of bacon filled the condo. Drew came into the living room, dancing and screaming 'Bacon!' He was so excited that his Dad was cooking bacon. He jumped up and down, waving his arms around and yelling 'Bacon, bacon, bacon!' I wish I had thought to videotape it, it was hilarious.
Eventually everyone else went to bed. I went to my suite and tried to browse facebook before reading on my nook. My eyes were so heavy, I never even opened the book. I quickly crawled into bed and fell fast asleep. It's a good thing- because the next morning would come much earlier than I expected!
The adults had planned the vacation for a year and a half. The children found out about the vacation about 2 weeks before, at their birthday party. Except they didn't find out the WHOLE story. The children knew they were going to Disney World with their parents, and my parents. They didn't know that I was going to meet them in Orlando for the week. If the flights were on time (and if you have flown at all, you know that can be a big if), I was supposed to arrive in Orlando 30 minutes before they did.
Before the trip, Mom designed special t-shirts for everyone in the family. She went for a royal blue shirt, with hot pink lettering. The shirt had a picture of a castle, and read 'Our Family Vacation, Florida 2012'. The shirts were, well, a little loud. I was certain we'd have no trouble spotting each other. The only thing is, the blue was actually the same color blue as the shirts the TSA agents wear, so it was hard to spot them in the airport.
Mom and my sister decided everyone was wearing their shirts through the airport. I was given a reprieve though, and told I could change into mine at the Orlando airport before they arrived. I was grateful for this, because I thought I'd get some pretty strange looks traveling as a party of one wearing a shirt that said 'Our Family Vacation'. As it turned out, my flight into Orlando was a few minutes early. When I came out of the gate, the ladies' room was right there, so I popped in and changed into my tshirt and shorts (it was 45* that morning when I left Dayton, there was no way I could wear shorts out of Dayton). I stepped out of the ladies room and checked the monitor which showed the arrivals. The Albany flight was listed as 'arriving'. Wow- looks like we both got a tailwind. I left my Dad a message on his phone and told him to call me when he was there. I went off to find baggage claim. While I was waiting for my bag, Dad called to say they were on the ground. Once I had my bag, I returned to just outside the security checkpoint to wait for the family.
When I saw them, I tried to get a picture. When Sydney saw me she said "YES! I knew you'd be here!" This was complete with a fist pump. Mom said they told her on the plane that she had one more surprise waiting at the airport in Florida. Sydney said "Yes, it's Aunt Amy." Mom asked her why she thought that, and Sydney said "We couldn't have this much fun without Aunt Amy!" She kept hugging me and giving me big smiles while we waited for our luggage. Drew was in his stroller, wearing his Mater hat that I bought for his birthday. He reached his arms out of the stroller and said "Hugs Aunt Amy", so I half-crawled into the stroller to give him a big hug.
Once we had the bags, it was off to get the rental cars. We had reservations for two cars, but saved quite a bit of money by getting one large car. While the rest of the adults went to the car rental counter, I was appointed keeper of the luggage and children. Drew, who was so wound up, wanted out of his stroller and unbuckled himself. I helped him climb out and then he proceeded to climb all over his sister and I. Sydney had a lot of energy when she was two, but I swear Drew has four times the energy she did.
With the reservation settled, it was time to get our car. Or our motorcade. We rented a charcoal gray suburban. We joked throughout the week that it looked like the President was visiting. We stopped for lunch at Bob Evans, because we knew it was a place everyone would like. Several of us ordered iced tea to drink, so the waitress just brought us a bowl of lemon wedges. Drew reached for the lemon wedges and popped one into his mouth. Probably other people would have stopped him from trying to eat a lemon, but we were curious. My Grandpa Wager used to suck on lemon wedges. Drew is named in part for my Grandpa; Drew's middle name is Lewis, which was Grandpa's first name. So when this little boy reached for a lemon, we wondered how much like his namesake he is. He sucked the lemon wedge for a couple of seconds and made that inevitable pucker face. Then he took the lemon out, set it next to his plate, grabbed another wedge and put it into his mouth. He grinned and batted those big baby blues at us, with the same twinkle my Grandpa had in his eyes. Perhaps the exhaustion of travel had set in, but we all erupted in laughter. It seems Drew was aptly named!
After lunch we drove to the resort and checked into our condo. The kids ran from one room to another exploring the place. Mom and Dad had the master bedroom, which had a king sized bed and a huge bathroom. It also had the most extra room, so Drew's crib went into their room. Another room had two queen beds, and the third room was more of a little suite, with a queen bed, a couch that opened into a sofa bed, a sitting area, and a bathroom. Sydney wanted her own bed, so she took the room with two queen beds, and declared that her parents were going to share the room with her. That left Aunt Amy with the mini suite! It worked out well, I didn't have to worry that my night-owlness would keep anyone else up.
One of the reasons my parents have a timeshare is so that when we go on vacations, we can cut on some of the expense of eating out. The condo has a full kitchen. The girls headed to Publix to go grocery shopping and the boys stayed home so Drew could take a nap (turns out, all the boys took a nap!). The grocery store was just off the resort, not even five minutes from our condo. My sister was the only one of the girls who was authorized to drive the rental car (Mom and I both said 'no way!' at the thought of driving the behemoth in Orlando traffic), so she climbed in behind the wheel. Just as we started out, the heavens opened up and it started pouring. Torrential downpour. The wipers were going so fast it was throwing the water about 3 feet off the car. Mom and I both said that even if we were driving our own vehicles, we likely would have pulled over in that rain. My sister did an awesome job and got us to the store. We sat in the car and waited for probably 15 or 20 minutes until the rain let up. Then we went into the store and started gathering the things 7 people with different likes/tastes/ and needs would use for a week.
When we checked out, we were asked the same question we had been asked several times that day. "Are ya'll together?" Now why they would think we were all together just because we were a party of 4-7 people (depending on what point in the day it was) wearing the SAME t-shirt?? Maybe we all just shopped at the same place! I really wish I'd had a sign with me so I could hand it to some of these people.
After grocery shopping, and getting all the groceries to our condo on the fourth floor (let's just say it's a good thing there was an elevator!), we spent the rest of the afternoon/evening unwinding and settling in. We made homemade pizza, with Drew and Syd's assistance. While we were eating we talked about the plans for the next day. Sydney wanted to know how early we had to be up. She said "I bet the girls will be up before the boys". I had to tell her that the girls would NOT win that race, as they had Aunt Amy on their team.
Andy got a head start on the next morning's breakfast by pre-cooking some bacon and sausage Saturday night. The smell of bacon filled the condo. Drew came into the living room, dancing and screaming 'Bacon!' He was so excited that his Dad was cooking bacon. He jumped up and down, waving his arms around and yelling 'Bacon, bacon, bacon!' I wish I had thought to videotape it, it was hilarious.
Eventually everyone else went to bed. I went to my suite and tried to browse facebook before reading on my nook. My eyes were so heavy, I never even opened the book. I quickly crawled into bed and fell fast asleep. It's a good thing- because the next morning would come much earlier than I expected!
Saturday, September 29, 2012
Weaving Memories
I've been back from my latest vacation for a week, so it's probably time I start blogging about it. I did think to carry a little notebook with me while I was gone, and I wrote down memorable things I wanted to write about. Because I know sometimes, my memory fails me. Not all the time. Sometimes, it's just as sharp as an elephant's.
This latest vacation was our big family trip to Florida. The adults (my parents, sister, brother in law, and I) had been planning it for a year and a half. The children found out about the trip about two weeks before we left. We stayed at my parents' timeshare just off the Disney property. We hit the theme parks and took a day and went to Daytona. It was a very busy week.
Florida used to be almost like a second home to us. My grandparents moved to Florida when I was four. We first went to Florida a few months after they moved, and we went at least once a year after that. My grandparents lived in Volusia County, conveniently located between Daytona and Orlando. I was in college the last time I visited Florida. Since that time, both of my beloved grandparents have passed away. I have always known the time would come that I would go to Florida and they wouldn't be there. I just wasn't prepared for the torrent of emotions that flooded me.
So much of the area has grown up and been developed since I was last there more than 15 years ago. I couldn't have found my way around Orlando if my life depended on it- the roads criss cross onto each other and it's just a big jumble. However on the day we headed to Daytona, it didn't take long to get my bearings. Driving down I-4 we started seeing exit signs for Sanford. I knew where I was then. Sanford was where Grandma used to take us to the zoo. We rode the elephants there. It was also where you could get the boats to cruise down the St. John's River, which we did several times. We drove a little further and my sister said she knew where she was, because that was the exit we took to Grandma's house. It looked a lot different, as I would expect it would. But my mind traced the route from the exit to Grandma's ranch house in the cul de sac. I was almost amazed at how much I remembered.
We drove into Daytona, which was instantly both as familiar as ever and yet someplace I had never seen before. Dad and I used to go to the Daytona 500 every year. I started going around the age of 9 or 10, and went all through high school. My freshman year of college I watched the race in the basement of my dorm, crying my eyes out because I missed my Dad so much. Race days were always a special ritual for Dad and I. We got up early and drove to Daytona. He pointed out the place where we used to park. It was mid morning, but I could see the sun coming up over the track. I pointed out the strip mall where 'our' muffin place was. It was actually an ice cream shop, but on race days you could go there and get the most wonderful muffins. Dad and I always ordered poppy seed muffins. There was the track, and our seats. Still two steps out of heaven. That's how Mom always referred to our seats.
We drove past the mall, which seemed much smaller than it used to. We remembered going shopping there with Grandma and Grandpa. Grandpa always excused himself to go to the bookstore, which conveniently was next to the bikini shop. We always found Grandpa, sitting 'outside' the bookstore. Mom said she'd ask him what he saw, and he said 'some sights you wouldn't believe'. We drove past the Bob Evans that was our place to stop for lunch after a trip to the mall. My grandparents always ordered pancakes because my aunt didn't like the smell of pancakes so Grandma didn't make them at home.
It was impossible to be in this area and not talk about our grandparents. For so long, Florida was our vacation spot. It was where our Grandparents lived. This area held as many memories for us as our hometown in NY does.
A couple of weeks before the trip, one of my bear friends was killed in a motorcycle accident. I had never had the pleasure of meeting her in person, but she had such a tremendous impact on my life. I felt her loss very deeply. To honor her memory, other bear friends decided to release balloons on Sunday, September 16 at 2pm. I was not able to do it at that time, but I wanted to participate. I knew Char loved being by the water, and I decided releasing a balloon on Daytona Beach would be perfect. So we stopped at KMart on the way to the beach and I bought a balloon. Sydney wanted to help me pick out the balloon, so of course she picked the princess one. I explained to her that we were not keeping the balloon, we were sending it to my friend who went to Heaven. She asked how we were going to do that. I told her we would let the balloon go at the beach, and the wind would carry it to Heaven. It was the easiest way to explain it to a 6 year old. She held the balloon at the beach and when I told her to, she let it go. It took a couple of seconds, but the wind quickly picked it up and carried it off.
On our way home from the beach, we stopped at Hobby Lobby to get flowers for my grandparents' grave. Mom and I were the only two to go in, so it was up to us to pick the flowers. Mom didn't want anything season specific, because she didn't want the arrangement to look outdated. We knew we wanted something with bright colors, because both of my Grandparents loved bright colors. We found some beautiful silk azaleas. The colors were so vivid. At my grandparents' first home in Florida, their walkway was lined with huge azalea bushes. My grandfather had an amazing green thumb- he could grow anything. Grandma took great pride in the azaleas. As we stood there in the store aisle, I told Mom I felt like I was standing on their front step surrounded by the azaleas. We knew we found the flowers. We chose a vibrant hot pink, and then accented it with white silk roses.
With flowers in hand, it was time to pay our respects to Grandma & Grandpa. I knew where the cemetery was, but I had not been there since either of them passed away. I had tried to prepare myself ahead of time. I failed. They are interred in a mausoleum, which is a small building. It is climate controlled, with doors that lock. You walk into this building, and the side walls are large blocks of marble (or at least it looked like marble). Each block is a burial 'plot'- for lack of a better word. And there, on one of these walls, are my grandparents names. There are two couches in this room, and a few chairs. There are tables on each side. Each table holds a group of metal vases, one vase per one block of marble. We found my grandparents' vase and took out the old flowers. I carefully arranged the new ones and we made sure their pictures were with the flowers. We stayed for a couple of minutes, then it was back to the car to make the long drive back to Orlando.
I tried to keep my emotions in check, and I almost succeeded. But by the time we were back to our condo, I couldn't keep it in any longer. I went to my room and the tears just flowed. My Dad came in and I told him what was bothering me. Apparently everyone else forgot that I had not been to the mausoleum since Grandma & Grandpa passed away. Everyone else had been there before. Dad wrapped me in his arms and I cried on his shoulder. It took me back to when I was a child and Dad comforted me. Even at 36 years old, Dad's strong arms around me are comforting. Dad went out and talked to Mom, and she came in. We talked about where my grandparents are interred. It bothers both of us that they were not buried in NY, near their family. The mausoleum is so cold, so impersonal. It made me feel like no one cares. There are no other 'Wagers' on the wall. How will anyone know how wonderful these two people were? How loved they were?
Of course, I know my Grandparents are not IN the wall. It wasn't just the indignity of their final resting place. I was also missing them. Florida for me always meant my Grandparents, and now it doesn't. I had to come to terms with that; another step in the grieving process which I don't think ever ends.
The rest of the family went to the pool. I told them I just needed some time. I took that time to cry my eyes out. I rested for a bit, watched tv, and called Erich. By the time the family came back an hour or so later, I felt better.
As the vacation went on, we kept talking about Grandma and Grandpa. It was hard not to, because so much of what we were doing we had previously done with them. The heartache lessened though. I realized we were making new memories with the next generation. It seemed in fact, that the memories of the past and the present were weaving together. If I needed confirmation of this, it came the night we had dinner in Cinderella's castle. Sydney was given this huge helium Princess balloon at dinner (part of the special birthday celebration for her). We tied the balloon to the stroller on our way out. The ribbon holding the end of the balloon was not secured tightly, and as we walked along, the balloon slipped from the ribbon and took off over Cinderella's castle. All of the adults tried to jump and catch it, but we couldn't. Sydney at first was upset that her balloon was gone, and we promised her we would find another one. We saw a balloon vendor and Dad and my brother in law took off to catch him. Sydney watched her balloon float over the castle and said "You know what, Aunt Amy?" I asked her "what, honey?" She said "It's ok. I think your friend wanted that one too." She's right. Life goes on, but we carry the past in our hearts always.
This post has been heavy on my heart, but I knew I needed to write it. Now that I have, I can write about the fun parts of the vacation.
This latest vacation was our big family trip to Florida. The adults (my parents, sister, brother in law, and I) had been planning it for a year and a half. The children found out about the trip about two weeks before we left. We stayed at my parents' timeshare just off the Disney property. We hit the theme parks and took a day and went to Daytona. It was a very busy week.
Florida used to be almost like a second home to us. My grandparents moved to Florida when I was four. We first went to Florida a few months after they moved, and we went at least once a year after that. My grandparents lived in Volusia County, conveniently located between Daytona and Orlando. I was in college the last time I visited Florida. Since that time, both of my beloved grandparents have passed away. I have always known the time would come that I would go to Florida and they wouldn't be there. I just wasn't prepared for the torrent of emotions that flooded me.
So much of the area has grown up and been developed since I was last there more than 15 years ago. I couldn't have found my way around Orlando if my life depended on it- the roads criss cross onto each other and it's just a big jumble. However on the day we headed to Daytona, it didn't take long to get my bearings. Driving down I-4 we started seeing exit signs for Sanford. I knew where I was then. Sanford was where Grandma used to take us to the zoo. We rode the elephants there. It was also where you could get the boats to cruise down the St. John's River, which we did several times. We drove a little further and my sister said she knew where she was, because that was the exit we took to Grandma's house. It looked a lot different, as I would expect it would. But my mind traced the route from the exit to Grandma's ranch house in the cul de sac. I was almost amazed at how much I remembered.
We drove into Daytona, which was instantly both as familiar as ever and yet someplace I had never seen before. Dad and I used to go to the Daytona 500 every year. I started going around the age of 9 or 10, and went all through high school. My freshman year of college I watched the race in the basement of my dorm, crying my eyes out because I missed my Dad so much. Race days were always a special ritual for Dad and I. We got up early and drove to Daytona. He pointed out the place where we used to park. It was mid morning, but I could see the sun coming up over the track. I pointed out the strip mall where 'our' muffin place was. It was actually an ice cream shop, but on race days you could go there and get the most wonderful muffins. Dad and I always ordered poppy seed muffins. There was the track, and our seats. Still two steps out of heaven. That's how Mom always referred to our seats.
We drove past the mall, which seemed much smaller than it used to. We remembered going shopping there with Grandma and Grandpa. Grandpa always excused himself to go to the bookstore, which conveniently was next to the bikini shop. We always found Grandpa, sitting 'outside' the bookstore. Mom said she'd ask him what he saw, and he said 'some sights you wouldn't believe'. We drove past the Bob Evans that was our place to stop for lunch after a trip to the mall. My grandparents always ordered pancakes because my aunt didn't like the smell of pancakes so Grandma didn't make them at home.
It was impossible to be in this area and not talk about our grandparents. For so long, Florida was our vacation spot. It was where our Grandparents lived. This area held as many memories for us as our hometown in NY does.
A couple of weeks before the trip, one of my bear friends was killed in a motorcycle accident. I had never had the pleasure of meeting her in person, but she had such a tremendous impact on my life. I felt her loss very deeply. To honor her memory, other bear friends decided to release balloons on Sunday, September 16 at 2pm. I was not able to do it at that time, but I wanted to participate. I knew Char loved being by the water, and I decided releasing a balloon on Daytona Beach would be perfect. So we stopped at KMart on the way to the beach and I bought a balloon. Sydney wanted to help me pick out the balloon, so of course she picked the princess one. I explained to her that we were not keeping the balloon, we were sending it to my friend who went to Heaven. She asked how we were going to do that. I told her we would let the balloon go at the beach, and the wind would carry it to Heaven. It was the easiest way to explain it to a 6 year old. She held the balloon at the beach and when I told her to, she let it go. It took a couple of seconds, but the wind quickly picked it up and carried it off.
On our way home from the beach, we stopped at Hobby Lobby to get flowers for my grandparents' grave. Mom and I were the only two to go in, so it was up to us to pick the flowers. Mom didn't want anything season specific, because she didn't want the arrangement to look outdated. We knew we wanted something with bright colors, because both of my Grandparents loved bright colors. We found some beautiful silk azaleas. The colors were so vivid. At my grandparents' first home in Florida, their walkway was lined with huge azalea bushes. My grandfather had an amazing green thumb- he could grow anything. Grandma took great pride in the azaleas. As we stood there in the store aisle, I told Mom I felt like I was standing on their front step surrounded by the azaleas. We knew we found the flowers. We chose a vibrant hot pink, and then accented it with white silk roses.
With flowers in hand, it was time to pay our respects to Grandma & Grandpa. I knew where the cemetery was, but I had not been there since either of them passed away. I had tried to prepare myself ahead of time. I failed. They are interred in a mausoleum, which is a small building. It is climate controlled, with doors that lock. You walk into this building, and the side walls are large blocks of marble (or at least it looked like marble). Each block is a burial 'plot'- for lack of a better word. And there, on one of these walls, are my grandparents names. There are two couches in this room, and a few chairs. There are tables on each side. Each table holds a group of metal vases, one vase per one block of marble. We found my grandparents' vase and took out the old flowers. I carefully arranged the new ones and we made sure their pictures were with the flowers. We stayed for a couple of minutes, then it was back to the car to make the long drive back to Orlando.
I tried to keep my emotions in check, and I almost succeeded. But by the time we were back to our condo, I couldn't keep it in any longer. I went to my room and the tears just flowed. My Dad came in and I told him what was bothering me. Apparently everyone else forgot that I had not been to the mausoleum since Grandma & Grandpa passed away. Everyone else had been there before. Dad wrapped me in his arms and I cried on his shoulder. It took me back to when I was a child and Dad comforted me. Even at 36 years old, Dad's strong arms around me are comforting. Dad went out and talked to Mom, and she came in. We talked about where my grandparents are interred. It bothers both of us that they were not buried in NY, near their family. The mausoleum is so cold, so impersonal. It made me feel like no one cares. There are no other 'Wagers' on the wall. How will anyone know how wonderful these two people were? How loved they were?
Of course, I know my Grandparents are not IN the wall. It wasn't just the indignity of their final resting place. I was also missing them. Florida for me always meant my Grandparents, and now it doesn't. I had to come to terms with that; another step in the grieving process which I don't think ever ends.
The rest of the family went to the pool. I told them I just needed some time. I took that time to cry my eyes out. I rested for a bit, watched tv, and called Erich. By the time the family came back an hour or so later, I felt better.
As the vacation went on, we kept talking about Grandma and Grandpa. It was hard not to, because so much of what we were doing we had previously done with them. The heartache lessened though. I realized we were making new memories with the next generation. It seemed in fact, that the memories of the past and the present were weaving together. If I needed confirmation of this, it came the night we had dinner in Cinderella's castle. Sydney was given this huge helium Princess balloon at dinner (part of the special birthday celebration for her). We tied the balloon to the stroller on our way out. The ribbon holding the end of the balloon was not secured tightly, and as we walked along, the balloon slipped from the ribbon and took off over Cinderella's castle. All of the adults tried to jump and catch it, but we couldn't. Sydney at first was upset that her balloon was gone, and we promised her we would find another one. We saw a balloon vendor and Dad and my brother in law took off to catch him. Sydney watched her balloon float over the castle and said "You know what, Aunt Amy?" I asked her "what, honey?" She said "It's ok. I think your friend wanted that one too." She's right. Life goes on, but we carry the past in our hearts always.
This post has been heavy on my heart, but I knew I needed to write it. Now that I have, I can write about the fun parts of the vacation.
Tuesday, August 14, 2012
Mix Tape Memories
Do you remember Mix Tapes? You bought a cassette tape, and then recorded your favorite songs onto the tape. This frequently meant listening for sometimes hours on end to the radio, waiting for the song to come on. Or, if you were a little more impatient, you could call the radio station and ask them to play the song. You'd have your tape all cued up, with the 'rec/play/pause' buttons all pushed, and then as soon as it came on (or if you got really lucky- the DJ gave an introduction alerting you to the song) you hit 'pause' and started recording. There was also the heartbreak- after waiting for weeks, you turn on the radio just in the middle of the song you wanted to record. Too late to get it on tape.
Eventually, we moved from radios with a single tape deck to boom boxes. Dual tape decks plus a radio. This meant you could record songs off of the tapes you already had, rather than waiting for them on the radio. You still had to fast forward to the song you wanted, then press pause while you got the recording tape ready. It was easier than the radio though. I was in high school when CDs became popular. It was easier to create mix tapes from CDs- because you could advance to the next song without the fast-forwarding and rewinding required on a cassette. Which meant my boom box was upgraded to a different boom box which had a cd player and two tape decks (plus the radio). Man, I was stylin'! It also had detachable speakers. They were still connected with wires, but each speaker could be about 6" away from the actual body of the boom box. As a teenager, most of my dresser was taken up with my boombox.
Mix tapes were given to others. Maybe to your friends because you liked the same songs. Maybe to boyfriends or girlfriends. I often made them for myself because it was easier than carrying around all my tapes just for one or two songs on each one.
After college, the 'new' format was MP3s. I had a lot of computer techie friends and well, lets just say I loved Napster. I didn't have to buy the whole album for one song. I could find the song, burn it to a CD and create mix CDs. I still have some of those. Now we rip music from our CD's to create playlists for our MP3 players. Many of the songs on my MP3 player were ripped from my mix CDs.
While the CDs had a clearer sound, there was a difference between the CDs and the cassettes. You could record your voice on the cassette tape, and record messages to the recipient. I thought of this today as I listened to my MP3 player at work. The song 'Wind Beneath My Wings' came on. Bette Midler's version. I know it's not the original, but it is probably the most known. It was also the one that was popular when I was in high school since the movie 'Beaches' had come out in 1988. I heard the song, and it was as if I was on a conveyor belt on a fast track to my past. It took me back 18 years in a heartbeat.
I went to college in Indiana, some 800 miles away from my home in New York. By the time I graduated high school, my relationship with my sister had evolved from constant fighting to being best friends. It was hard to leave my family, but I knew I had to do it. I promised to call frequently and write often. Laura and I decided to make each other a mix tape of our favorite songs- that way when we were lonely, we could play the songs and think of the other one. Our musical tastes were about as different as you could get at the time. I was all about country music (with a few exceptions- like 'Sweet Home Alabama' was one of my favorites as was 'Total Eclipse of the Heart'). My sister was all about whatever was popular. Debbie Gibson, Tiffany, New Kids on the Block. As much as I loved ALABAMA, my sister was three times as gaga for New Kids on the Block.
We didn't tell each other what was on the tapes. The idea was it was supposed to be a surprise. I think we both ended up using two tapes, but I don't really remember. I only remember the ending. I had carefully selected the songs, and in between the songs I said little things like why I chose the song. Memories it created. Before the last song, I recorded a message to my sister telling her how much she meant to me. I told her that the last song explained how I felt. The last song on my mix tape to her was 'Wind Beneath My Wings'.
We switched tapes when my family dropped me off at college in Indiana. I think I started playing mine that same night. As the end of the tape neared, there was a message from my sister- telling me how much I meant to her. The last song on the tape she made for me? 'Wind Beneath My Wings'. The first time we talked, we laughed and cried over the coincidence. We danced together to the song at each of our wedding receptions. It will always be the song that reminds me of my sister.
When I heard it today, I have to say I fell apart. My sister has had a very serious health scare- we've been waiting for a week for the results. She finally got the results this afternoon (after I heard the song) and everything is fine. For the past week, that c word has been a specter over our lives. I sat there listening to the song and found myself filled with sadness, wondering what I would do if something were wrong with her. Probably, if I had heard the song after she found out the results, I would have been crying tears of relief.
I also felt sadness though over mix tapes. The next generation will never make a mix tape. They look at our cassettes (if we still have any) the way we looked at our parents' 8-tracks. How will they use music to tell someone how they feel? "I made a playlist for you" just doesn't have the same ring to it.
Eventually, we moved from radios with a single tape deck to boom boxes. Dual tape decks plus a radio. This meant you could record songs off of the tapes you already had, rather than waiting for them on the radio. You still had to fast forward to the song you wanted, then press pause while you got the recording tape ready. It was easier than the radio though. I was in high school when CDs became popular. It was easier to create mix tapes from CDs- because you could advance to the next song without the fast-forwarding and rewinding required on a cassette. Which meant my boom box was upgraded to a different boom box which had a cd player and two tape decks (plus the radio). Man, I was stylin'! It also had detachable speakers. They were still connected with wires, but each speaker could be about 6" away from the actual body of the boom box. As a teenager, most of my dresser was taken up with my boombox.
Mix tapes were given to others. Maybe to your friends because you liked the same songs. Maybe to boyfriends or girlfriends. I often made them for myself because it was easier than carrying around all my tapes just for one or two songs on each one.
After college, the 'new' format was MP3s. I had a lot of computer techie friends and well, lets just say I loved Napster. I didn't have to buy the whole album for one song. I could find the song, burn it to a CD and create mix CDs. I still have some of those. Now we rip music from our CD's to create playlists for our MP3 players. Many of the songs on my MP3 player were ripped from my mix CDs.
While the CDs had a clearer sound, there was a difference between the CDs and the cassettes. You could record your voice on the cassette tape, and record messages to the recipient. I thought of this today as I listened to my MP3 player at work. The song 'Wind Beneath My Wings' came on. Bette Midler's version. I know it's not the original, but it is probably the most known. It was also the one that was popular when I was in high school since the movie 'Beaches' had come out in 1988. I heard the song, and it was as if I was on a conveyor belt on a fast track to my past. It took me back 18 years in a heartbeat.
I went to college in Indiana, some 800 miles away from my home in New York. By the time I graduated high school, my relationship with my sister had evolved from constant fighting to being best friends. It was hard to leave my family, but I knew I had to do it. I promised to call frequently and write often. Laura and I decided to make each other a mix tape of our favorite songs- that way when we were lonely, we could play the songs and think of the other one. Our musical tastes were about as different as you could get at the time. I was all about country music (with a few exceptions- like 'Sweet Home Alabama' was one of my favorites as was 'Total Eclipse of the Heart'). My sister was all about whatever was popular. Debbie Gibson, Tiffany, New Kids on the Block. As much as I loved ALABAMA, my sister was three times as gaga for New Kids on the Block.
We didn't tell each other what was on the tapes. The idea was it was supposed to be a surprise. I think we both ended up using two tapes, but I don't really remember. I only remember the ending. I had carefully selected the songs, and in between the songs I said little things like why I chose the song. Memories it created. Before the last song, I recorded a message to my sister telling her how much she meant to me. I told her that the last song explained how I felt. The last song on my mix tape to her was 'Wind Beneath My Wings'.
We switched tapes when my family dropped me off at college in Indiana. I think I started playing mine that same night. As the end of the tape neared, there was a message from my sister- telling me how much I meant to her. The last song on the tape she made for me? 'Wind Beneath My Wings'. The first time we talked, we laughed and cried over the coincidence. We danced together to the song at each of our wedding receptions. It will always be the song that reminds me of my sister.
When I heard it today, I have to say I fell apart. My sister has had a very serious health scare- we've been waiting for a week for the results. She finally got the results this afternoon (after I heard the song) and everything is fine. For the past week, that c word has been a specter over our lives. I sat there listening to the song and found myself filled with sadness, wondering what I would do if something were wrong with her. Probably, if I had heard the song after she found out the results, I would have been crying tears of relief.
I also felt sadness though over mix tapes. The next generation will never make a mix tape. They look at our cassettes (if we still have any) the way we looked at our parents' 8-tracks. How will they use music to tell someone how they feel? "I made a playlist for you" just doesn't have the same ring to it.
Saturday, July 28, 2012
A Grim Anniversary
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| Berlin, NY after the propane truck explosion |
This past Wednesday, July 25, my hometown marked a grim anniversary. Fifty years ago, on Wednesday, July 25, 1962, a propane tanker crashed coming down the mountain into town; turning Berlin into an inferno. The incident was so horrific that people who experienced it still don't talk about it much. At least not those who were right in the middle of it. Even though it happened some 14 years before my birth, it has on more than one occasion been a source of nightmares for me. I don't know how many nightmares were had by those who lived through it. Anyone who has lived in Berlin for any period of time has heard about it at one point or another. My mother was not quite 9 years old, she would celebrate her 9th birthday three weeks later. People who were 'newcomers' to Berlin- as in, those who moved there after The Disaster, have asked my mother to talk about it. What they don't understand is even after all this time, it is so painful for her to talk about. When she does talk about it, I get chills.
There was a lot of talk this year because it was the 50th anniversary. There was an article in the Albany paper, plus the local paper. Mom was contacted by a reporter from the Albany paper who wanted to interview her. My sister and I encouraged her to talk to him. When you hear other people talk about it, you get a feel for what it was like. But to hear a woman who was 8 years old at the time, it's chilling. I know. I've already said that. But it is. The summer I was 8, I imagine my biggest concerns were how long we could play outside with our friends before bedtime. How far we were allowed to ride our bikes. I just cannot imagine being 8 and witnessing what my mother witnessed. I was home when she talked with the reporter by phone. She talked for nearly half an hour. When the article came out, he used only two sentences of what she said. I knew her story needed to be told. I have asked for Mom's permission to share it, even though she doesn't read my blog. She has given me her blessing. This post is a compilation of what I have read in newspapers since the event, stories others have told me, and thanks to Ancestry.com, I have also been able to draw on newspaper articles from the time. But mostly, it is Mom's memories. My apologies if I get any of it wrong. This will be long, so I hope the reader will bear with me.
The story starts with the truck. The driver, out of Pennsylvania, was driving a load of propane to Bennington, Vermont. He had never driven this route before. It is believed that he either took a wrong turn in Poestenkill, or that he was given the wrong directions. I don't know that they ever confirmed which it was. The way he should have gone would still have taken him over a mountain, as there is no way to get from Albany to Bennington without crossing a mountain- but it would have been a less severe drop. Coming over Plank Road (or the mountain, as locals call it) into Berlin means making a very steep 2 mile descent into the town. You come down about 2/3 of the way down, which is the 'big hill'. Then you round a bend and it levels off for a little bit, before you make another turn and come down the final approach into the center of Main Street. It is, even today, a narrow, winding road. As the driver came down the mountain his brakes failed. (In the picture above, there is a curve in the upper left of the picture. This is Plank Rd and this curve is about where the truck crashed) People in town talk of hearing an air horn. As the driver came down the mountain with no brakes, he was on the horn trying to warn the people in the town. People recall seeing him waving them out of the way.
Mom has always described July 25, 1962 as a hot summer night. People this year have compared the summer of 1962 to the summer of 2012: hot and dry. The water levels in the reservoirs and creeks were really low. Mom had been visiting the neighbors who lived behind them. She described them as another set of grandparents. She was always at their house, visiting, or working on projects. This Wednesday night, like so many other summer nights, Grandma called for her to come to dinner. "Kathleen Ann, time for supper!" Mom went home from the neighbors' house to have supper with her family. My Grandparents lived in a large Victorian house on Main Street (circled in yellow in the picture above), near the center of town. They lived in the upstairs apartment, while a couple of Grandpa's elderly aunts lived in the main level apartment. Mom said they had just sat down for supper when they heard the air horn of the truck. She even remembers what they were having for supper. She said it was a typical summer meal: hamburgers, corn, tomatoes. A couple of days earlier, one of Grandpa's friends, who was a contractor, had hit something coming off the mountain (and I forget what she said it was) and Grandpa had helped him get the truck out. When they heard the horn, Grandpa said 'Not again, Jack!' and then they heard a boom.
My grandmother stepped outside to see what had happened. When she came back in, her eyebrows and eyelashes were gone, her hair singed. Mom said she has never forgotten the look of horror on Grandma's face when she came back inside. At first, they didn't know what had happened. The family went back outside. My mother said everything was on fire. Their neighbors, the ones that Mom had been visiting just a few minutes before, came through the yard on fire. My grandparents helped extinguish them, then loaded them into Grandma's car. Berlin was a busier town in 1962 than it is now. They even had a town doctor. Grandma drove the neighbors down to the doctor, which was maybe a block away.
Grandma had a new car at the time. As she got to the doctor, someone else came in with more injured people. In all the chaos, the other person hit Grandma's car. The other driver was apologizing profusely to Grandma. Grandma told him not to worry, they might all be dead tomorrow. While Grandma was helping the neighbors, Grandpa started trying to save the house. He alternated between putting the hose on the house and the garage. The house had a slate roof. Mom said you could watch the fire hit the roof and just fizzle out. I also remember her telling me that her father handed her the hose and told her to keep it on the house.
There were several fires. There was the initial explosion, where the truck crashed. That happened in front of a house that had two apartments. In that house, a young husband and wife were eating dinner with their 16 month old son. The mother grabbed the baby and used her body to shield him. She would die a couple days later. The son lived, but has had extensive surgeries throughout his life as a result of his injuries. After the initial explosion, there were secondary fires. Mom said you stood there, watching fire balls fly across the sky and land on something, setting something else on fire.
One of the buildings that burned was the First Baptist Church, on the corner of Main Street and Maple Ave. In the picture above, you see a church in the lower right corner. That is the Catholic Church. Across Maple Ave (the road running to the left of the Catholic Church) is where the Baptist Church set. It was 162 years old when it burned. Mom remembers the church having a very tall steeple. She said she stood in her driveway and watched a fireball hit the top of the steeple. The fire spiraled around the steeple down to the roof, then the steeple fell in on the alter and the whole church was gone almost instantly. This picture is from Easter, 1961. My mom is standing next to the car. You can see the church in the background. This would have been the similar viewpoint to what she had on that July night. My grandparents were part of the Rescue Squad in town. Actually, they were founding members of the Rescue Squad (which later became the ambulance). The rescue squad was formed not long before The Disaster, if I remember correctly. Together with another couple, Grandma and Grandpa pooled their money and bought a used ambulance from a neighboring fire company for Berlin. So as the neighborhood around them burned, my grandparents were doing what they would normally do- help others.
Grandpa left the house on Main Street to check on his parents. In the aerial photo above, there is a blue star on the right side of the picture. Slightly to the right of the blue star and out of the frame of this picture is the house that my Great-Grandparents lived in. To the right a little further is the house that I grew up in. The red star in the photo represents where my Grandfather's brother, my Uncle Sid, lived with his family. Uncle Sid's house was the first one in the neighborhood that didn't burn. Although they had to put siding on the house afterwards because the wood siding would never hold paint again- it just blisters off due to the damage from the propane.
Mom remembers that her Aunt Emily (Grandpa's sister) and her husband were visiting at the time. Mom's grandmother, Mabel, had Rheumatoid Arthritis. By 1962, she was 77 years old and confined to a wheelchair. Mom said as the neighborhood burned, Uncle Ed (Aunt Emily's husband) drove his red VW Beetle to the door of her grandparents' house and loaded Mabel into the car. Knowing he couldn't go back out the road because everything was on fire, he drove through the yard behind the Catholic Church. She remembers that her grandparents had two large bushes at the edge of their property, bordering a sidewalk. The little car just fit through the opening between the two bushes.
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| Reginald and Mabel Wager, 1959. |
Fire departments came from all over the county, as well as from neighboring Massachusetts and Vermont. The firemen would think they had the fires out and another one would start. The following day someone realized that the bus garage had been hit. The bus garage was a half mile away from the crash area. A fireball had jumped the area where my house was, and hit the school bus garage. The town lost all their school buses.
Mom said it looked like a war zone. The papers from the next morning showed a picture and said you might think it was Berlin, Germany after WWII, but no, it was Berlin, NY. This part of town was cut off from the rest of civilization. She said the state troopers arrived and blocked off the area with cement barricades. Sightseers had come from miles around to see what was going on. I read in one of the articles this week that people put up milk cans in town for donations. They collected a total of $20,000 from people wanting to help. Help was offered from near and far- even as far as Berlin, Ohio offered to help.
In 1962, Berlin not only had a doctor, but also a funeral home. The funeral home was on the south end of town. My great-grandmother's funeral was held there. Mom remembers being all dressed up for the funeral, and then having to climb over concrete barriers to get to the funeral home. She said they had to prove to the police who they were and where they were going, and why.
All total, 10 people died, including my great-grandmother and the truck driver. The members of the rescue squad who took the truck driver to the hospital said he begged for forgiveness the entire way to the hospital. He left a wife and young family. Most of the people who died didn't die instantly. They died over the course of the next several days.
The neighborhood that was destroyed became my neighborhood. Most of the neighbors rebuilt in the same location. When my parents married, they moved into the house next door to the house that had been mom's Grandparents. My mother drives the Plank Road nearly every day. She lives with the reminders daily. In the summer growing up, there were days she couldn't stand the air. I don't know of anyone who loves the fresh air flapping the curtains more than my mother. But she has always said on a hot summer day, she can still smell the burning. The burning of homes, and worse- the burning of flesh.
My mother has never cooked over a gas stove. She has always had an electric stove. Dad's mother always had a gas stove. My mother would never cook on it. If she was there and had to cook something, she made my father use the stove. She has also never grilled. Dad has had numerous propane gas grills. She will buy them for him, and she loves to have a meal cooked on the grill. But she won't go anywhere near it. She remains terrified of fire.
Good things came of The Disaster, too. The accident investigation found that the crash did not cause the explosion. The tanker was constructed poorly, with thinner metal as a cost savings measure. As a result of The Disaster, federal officials strengthened regulations on carrying propane, including what the tank must be made of. Fire departments learned how to handle a catastrophic event, and communication channels were greatly improved. Fire departments are better able to communicate not only among themselves, but with other departments due to it.
Still, for those of us who grew up in Berlin after The Disaster, it remains the stuff of nightmares. And for our family, it remains very personal. There was a lot of hoopla this week. At 5:27pm Wednesday night, they sounded the siren in town to commemorate the exact moment of impact. My sister had mom stay at her house later than usual. We didn't want mom on the road, that same road, at that time. There was a memorial service at the 'new' Baptist Church Wednesday night. Mom said she couldn't go. There was another service today at the fire house. Mom was going out of town shopping with my sister. As Dad said, she lives with the memories every day. She didn't need the extra drama.
Friday, July 27, 2012
Girls and Pottery
The last non-travel day of my visit to NY was girls day. Originally, it was going to be my special day with Sydney. She spent Thursday night at Mom's, and was not going to camp on Friday so we could have our day. Mom had planned to be off that week, but her coworker had emergency surgery, so Mom ended up working most of the week. Mom and I hadn't been able to spend a lot of time together, so I invited her to come with us. She had Friday off, and was planning to stay home and clean house. I told her she could clean when I was gone. Sydney jumped on the idea and insisted Mom come along.
Sydney had previously decided we would go to The Pottery Place. It is a 'store' where you can paint your own pottery. None of us had ever been before. Sydney saw a commercial for the store and decided since she and I are crafty people, it would be a good thing for us to do. It was very hot that day, so it was nice to have something inside planned. Other than shopping. I don't want her to think all we do is shop and spend money. I like to find other activities with her.
We left Mom's around 11 or so and drove to Albany. Sydney entertained us on the way with songs and stories. It takes a while to get to Albany from Mom's house. I'm sure it seemed like an eternity to Sydney. We were about 10 minutes from the store when she said to Mom "Are you sure you're going the right way?" Mom asked her if she wanted to drive, and Sydney laughed and said "I'm just a little kid!"
We arrived at the shopping center just about at lunch time. We all decided it was best to eat first then go to the Pottery Place. Sydney explained it best "If we start painting, and then we get hungry, we'll have to rush and we won't be able to do our best." This shopping center is a higher-end shopping center. Among the food options were a Sushi restaurant, a Panera- type bread place, and a TGIFridays. TGIFridays it was! We had a nice lunch with Sydney carrying much of the conversation.
Once our bellies were full, it was time to paint! Conveniently, the Pottery Place was practically next door to TGIFriday's, so we didn't have to move the car. We were greeted by a very nice young woman at the Pottery Place, who happily explained the process. We were given our own table. Then it was time to pick out our pottery. Having never been to a paint your own pottery place, I thought perhaps you chose between a plate and a mug. Oh no! There were hundreds of items to choose from. Sure, you could go with a basic mug or plate. But there were also salt & pepper shakers, cookie jars, very detailed statues of princesses, and all sorts of shapes. I think you would have a hard time NOT finding something you liked.
We walked down the pottery aisle once, with Sydney coming up with all kinds of projects. Finally, she decided on a dog statue which seemed to be a very ambitious project. Although, I had actually been eying the same statue. I was feeling a little blue, worried about my beagles who had both been sick while I was gone. I found a pair of dog salt & pepper shakers, and decided that was perfect- I could do one to look like each dog. Mom decided to play it safe and went with a small plate shaped like a sunflower. Mom chose it with some prodding from Sydney, who told her that if she painted it in purples, my sister would love it! (In the end, Sydney decided she wanted the dish Mom made.) Sydney said she was going to paint the dog to look like Patterson for her Mommy. She told me 'and you can make whatever you like for you'. Gee, thanks!
Once we had our pieces selected, we were given a lesson in painting- colors, how many coats to use, and techniques. The shop staff were very thorough and very helpful. Which Mom and I greatly appreciated. While I can turn yarn into very pretty things, I have always been out of my element if you put a paintbrush in my hand. Mom can make the prettiest meals and baked goods, but she always limited her painting to painting the house or rooms inside it. The staff made us feel like anyone can be an artist. It was really very pleasant.
Then it was time to pick your colors. Sydney very carefully chose colors that matched Patterson. She also helped Mom pick out purples for her dish. I was trying to figure out what colors to use, and then I saw on the paint sample wall that they had taupe! And it was the perfect color for Cobalt. I am convinced they had every color imaginable.
We had selected our pieces, had lessons on painting, and selected our colors. Now it was time for the fun- painting! The store provides all the tools- paints, paint brushes, sponges, even aprons to protect your clothing. Sydney felt that in order to get the full experience, she needed to wear an apron. Before she started painting, she surveyed our pieces and offered her advice. She asked what I was doing, and I told her painting one shaker to look like Cobalt and one to look like Onyx. She said "Cobalt will be easy, but Onyx will be difficult." She's spent just a couple of days with my dogs and she remembered that Onyx's coloring is more complicated- she is varying shades of black, brown, and white, and sometimes the colors blend together.
We worked diligently on our pieces. I asked if it was ok to take pictures, and the staff said absolutely! They also offered to take a picture of the three of us, but as you know, I prefer to be behind the camera. Mom and I were afraid that Sydney would get bored and not finish her piece. We didn't need to worry. Sydney was so into painting. Mom and I commented on how much fun we were having, and Sydney agreed. She asked Mom to bring her back. Sydney said she was making this Patterson dog for her Mom as a surprise. Mom told her she could come back and make another one that looked like Chesney and give it to her Dad. Sydney thought that was a great idea! She started looking at other pieces, getting ideas for her and Mom to do Christmas gifts. She was so content, and so happy. But very serious. I had a pictures of my dogs on my camera that I kept referring to when I got stuck. I also had one of Patterson, and every so often she would ask to see the picture again. Then she would study it carefully and go back to her statue.
Perhaps the best part of this was the staff told us 'nothing is final until it is fired'. They showed us how to 'erase' mistakes by using a wet sponge. I loved that. It was very helpful knowing that I really couldn't screw up. Ok, no doubt my slat & pepper shakers will not look like they were done by a master artist. But I didn't think they looked too bad! Mom & Sydney are going to pick up our pieces next week, and I can't wait to see what they look like after they have been fired in the kiln.
I lost track of time in the Pottery Place, but I think we were there a couple of hours. When Mom and I were done, the staff stopped our timer. This allowed Sydney to finish up, but they didn't charge us for her extra time. I thought that was nice.
After painting our masterpieces, we decided we deserved an ice cream. Yeah, it was 3pm. But some days are special days, and on those special days it's ok to eat ice cream at 3pm. Before dinner. Next door to the Pottery Place is a Coldstone Creamery. We went inside the store and Sydney watched other people choose their ice cream, then their 'toppings' and then the staff mixed it up. This did NOT please her. She watched and shook her head no. She said "They mix up your ice cream and then just plop it in a dish. No, this isn't what I want. I want to go to TCBY!" The store was packed, but she just marched her little self through the people (she did say 'excuse me'), with Mom and I close on her heels. We got in the car and headed across the street to TCBY.
I love TCBY. But I haven't had it in years. We walked in and I was shocked to find that it's a self-serve place now. The staff welcomed us to TCBY and asked if we had been there before. Sydney said 'Oh yes!' Mom and I said we hadn't. The lady working there asked Sydney if she wanted to explain to us how it worked, and Sydney said 'no, you can do it'. She was already headed towards the wall which dispenses the frozen yogurt. I helped her put her yogurt in the cup, and then she was off to the toppings bar. She put gummy bears, m&ms, nerds, cookie dough (I found someone else in the family who shares my love of cookie dough!), chocolate chips, cherries, and I can't tell you what else on that yogurt. She was very happy. We sat down and enjoyed our yogurt- which was quite refreshing on a hot day.
Then it was off for dinner. It was my final night at home, so that meant another trip to Kay's. Dad had picked up Drew and they were waiting for us when we got there. Laura and Andy came separately from work. Despite her sugar-coma inducing yogurt, Sydney did eat a really good dinner- chicken wings, pizza, mozzarella sticks. We said our goodbyes in the parking lot. Dad went to the baseball game, Laura and Andy and the kids went home, and Mom and I meandered our way down the mountain, taking roads we haven't taken in a while.
A little later that night, Sydney called. She asked my Mom something, and Mom told her she would have to ask me. I took the phone and Syd asked "What time is your flight tomorrow, Aunt Amy?" I told her, and she said "Ok. Byeiloveyou." She handed the phone to my sister who said "Wait! Sydney! What did you want to do with that information?" Sydney said she wanted to go to the airport. We had not asked, because we weren't sure how she would handle me leaving. My sister decided to come along. At the airport, Sydney was very chipper. She danced as they waited for me to wind my way through security. She waved and said 'Bye, Aunt Amy! I love you'. Mom told me that night that once I was through security and they turned to go, Sydney broke down into tears and my sister had to carry her. That's the thing about hellos. And visits home. There's always a goodbye.
I don't want to leave on a down note. So I will leave you with this. If you have a paint your own pottery studio near you, I highly recommend it. It is a great activity for little girls ( I don't know that Drew would have done as well!), but it was also a lot of fun for adults. We have a studio in Middletown, and I intend to become a regular. Yeah- that's what I need, *another* craft outlet!
Sydney had previously decided we would go to The Pottery Place. It is a 'store' where you can paint your own pottery. None of us had ever been before. Sydney saw a commercial for the store and decided since she and I are crafty people, it would be a good thing for us to do. It was very hot that day, so it was nice to have something inside planned. Other than shopping. I don't want her to think all we do is shop and spend money. I like to find other activities with her.
We left Mom's around 11 or so and drove to Albany. Sydney entertained us on the way with songs and stories. It takes a while to get to Albany from Mom's house. I'm sure it seemed like an eternity to Sydney. We were about 10 minutes from the store when she said to Mom "Are you sure you're going the right way?" Mom asked her if she wanted to drive, and Sydney laughed and said "I'm just a little kid!"
We arrived at the shopping center just about at lunch time. We all decided it was best to eat first then go to the Pottery Place. Sydney explained it best "If we start painting, and then we get hungry, we'll have to rush and we won't be able to do our best." This shopping center is a higher-end shopping center. Among the food options were a Sushi restaurant, a Panera- type bread place, and a TGIFridays. TGIFridays it was! We had a nice lunch with Sydney carrying much of the conversation.
Once our bellies were full, it was time to paint! Conveniently, the Pottery Place was practically next door to TGIFriday's, so we didn't have to move the car. We were greeted by a very nice young woman at the Pottery Place, who happily explained the process. We were given our own table. Then it was time to pick out our pottery. Having never been to a paint your own pottery place, I thought perhaps you chose between a plate and a mug. Oh no! There were hundreds of items to choose from. Sure, you could go with a basic mug or plate. But there were also salt & pepper shakers, cookie jars, very detailed statues of princesses, and all sorts of shapes. I think you would have a hard time NOT finding something you liked.
We walked down the pottery aisle once, with Sydney coming up with all kinds of projects. Finally, she decided on a dog statue which seemed to be a very ambitious project. Although, I had actually been eying the same statue. I was feeling a little blue, worried about my beagles who had both been sick while I was gone. I found a pair of dog salt & pepper shakers, and decided that was perfect- I could do one to look like each dog. Mom decided to play it safe and went with a small plate shaped like a sunflower. Mom chose it with some prodding from Sydney, who told her that if she painted it in purples, my sister would love it! (In the end, Sydney decided she wanted the dish Mom made.) Sydney said she was going to paint the dog to look like Patterson for her Mommy. She told me 'and you can make whatever you like for you'. Gee, thanks!
Once we had our pieces selected, we were given a lesson in painting- colors, how many coats to use, and techniques. The shop staff were very thorough and very helpful. Which Mom and I greatly appreciated. While I can turn yarn into very pretty things, I have always been out of my element if you put a paintbrush in my hand. Mom can make the prettiest meals and baked goods, but she always limited her painting to painting the house or rooms inside it. The staff made us feel like anyone can be an artist. It was really very pleasant.
Then it was time to pick your colors. Sydney very carefully chose colors that matched Patterson. She also helped Mom pick out purples for her dish. I was trying to figure out what colors to use, and then I saw on the paint sample wall that they had taupe! And it was the perfect color for Cobalt. I am convinced they had every color imaginable.
We had selected our pieces, had lessons on painting, and selected our colors. Now it was time for the fun- painting! The store provides all the tools- paints, paint brushes, sponges, even aprons to protect your clothing. Sydney felt that in order to get the full experience, she needed to wear an apron. Before she started painting, she surveyed our pieces and offered her advice. She asked what I was doing, and I told her painting one shaker to look like Cobalt and one to look like Onyx. She said "Cobalt will be easy, but Onyx will be difficult." She's spent just a couple of days with my dogs and she remembered that Onyx's coloring is more complicated- she is varying shades of black, brown, and white, and sometimes the colors blend together.
We worked diligently on our pieces. I asked if it was ok to take pictures, and the staff said absolutely! They also offered to take a picture of the three of us, but as you know, I prefer to be behind the camera. Mom and I were afraid that Sydney would get bored and not finish her piece. We didn't need to worry. Sydney was so into painting. Mom and I commented on how much fun we were having, and Sydney agreed. She asked Mom to bring her back. Sydney said she was making this Patterson dog for her Mom as a surprise. Mom told her she could come back and make another one that looked like Chesney and give it to her Dad. Sydney thought that was a great idea! She started looking at other pieces, getting ideas for her and Mom to do Christmas gifts. She was so content, and so happy. But very serious. I had a pictures of my dogs on my camera that I kept referring to when I got stuck. I also had one of Patterson, and every so often she would ask to see the picture again. Then she would study it carefully and go back to her statue.
Perhaps the best part of this was the staff told us 'nothing is final until it is fired'. They showed us how to 'erase' mistakes by using a wet sponge. I loved that. It was very helpful knowing that I really couldn't screw up. Ok, no doubt my slat & pepper shakers will not look like they were done by a master artist. But I didn't think they looked too bad! Mom & Sydney are going to pick up our pieces next week, and I can't wait to see what they look like after they have been fired in the kiln.
I lost track of time in the Pottery Place, but I think we were there a couple of hours. When Mom and I were done, the staff stopped our timer. This allowed Sydney to finish up, but they didn't charge us for her extra time. I thought that was nice.
After painting our masterpieces, we decided we deserved an ice cream. Yeah, it was 3pm. But some days are special days, and on those special days it's ok to eat ice cream at 3pm. Before dinner. Next door to the Pottery Place is a Coldstone Creamery. We went inside the store and Sydney watched other people choose their ice cream, then their 'toppings' and then the staff mixed it up. This did NOT please her. She watched and shook her head no. She said "They mix up your ice cream and then just plop it in a dish. No, this isn't what I want. I want to go to TCBY!" The store was packed, but she just marched her little self through the people (she did say 'excuse me'), with Mom and I close on her heels. We got in the car and headed across the street to TCBY.
I love TCBY. But I haven't had it in years. We walked in and I was shocked to find that it's a self-serve place now. The staff welcomed us to TCBY and asked if we had been there before. Sydney said 'Oh yes!' Mom and I said we hadn't. The lady working there asked Sydney if she wanted to explain to us how it worked, and Sydney said 'no, you can do it'. She was already headed towards the wall which dispenses the frozen yogurt. I helped her put her yogurt in the cup, and then she was off to the toppings bar. She put gummy bears, m&ms, nerds, cookie dough (I found someone else in the family who shares my love of cookie dough!), chocolate chips, cherries, and I can't tell you what else on that yogurt. She was very happy. We sat down and enjoyed our yogurt- which was quite refreshing on a hot day.
Then it was off for dinner. It was my final night at home, so that meant another trip to Kay's. Dad had picked up Drew and they were waiting for us when we got there. Laura and Andy came separately from work. Despite her sugar-coma inducing yogurt, Sydney did eat a really good dinner- chicken wings, pizza, mozzarella sticks. We said our goodbyes in the parking lot. Dad went to the baseball game, Laura and Andy and the kids went home, and Mom and I meandered our way down the mountain, taking roads we haven't taken in a while.
A little later that night, Sydney called. She asked my Mom something, and Mom told her she would have to ask me. I took the phone and Syd asked "What time is your flight tomorrow, Aunt Amy?" I told her, and she said "Ok. Byeiloveyou." She handed the phone to my sister who said "Wait! Sydney! What did you want to do with that information?" Sydney said she wanted to go to the airport. We had not asked, because we weren't sure how she would handle me leaving. My sister decided to come along. At the airport, Sydney was very chipper. She danced as they waited for me to wind my way through security. She waved and said 'Bye, Aunt Amy! I love you'. Mom told me that night that once I was through security and they turned to go, Sydney broke down into tears and my sister had to carry her. That's the thing about hellos. And visits home. There's always a goodbye.
I don't want to leave on a down note. So I will leave you with this. If you have a paint your own pottery studio near you, I highly recommend it. It is a great activity for little girls ( I don't know that Drew would have done as well!), but it was also a lot of fun for adults. We have a studio in Middletown, and I intend to become a regular. Yeah- that's what I need, *another* craft outlet!
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