All Things Disney

So our Disney trip came and went and I still have not blogged about it!  No surprise there... I'm terrible at this blogging thing.  So, here are the highlights...

We arrived in Orlando on my birthday and had dinner reservations at The Rose & Crown, one of the restaurants in EPCOT's "United Kingdom" section of the World Showcase.  Outside the R&C was this Guy Fawkes effigy.  My b-day is Guy Fawkes Day in the UK (and in South Africa, where I grew up).  (For those of you who don't know - read "Americans"- Guy Fawkes was the leader of a group of Catholics who tried to overthrow the English King, King James, and parliament about 400 years ago.  Obviously, it didn't work.  And yes, I had to google some of that info.; I can't take credit for all of it!)  It was kinda cool to see the set-up... in SA if I told someone my birthday was November 5, they'd say, "Oh! Guy Fawkes Day!"  In the US they just say, "Really? Mine's _____."  

Dinner was bangers and mash (yum!) and a very tricky heart-shaped puzzle box from Pern that contained my birthday present.  I entertained the two girls at the table next to us who kept watching curiously to see if I would be able to open the box before their check came.  I did.  Inside was a diamond studded "K" pendant necklace... so pretty!  Nothing like a little bling for your birthday!  You might notice the round button that I'm sporting in the picture above.  That's my "Happy Birthday, Karen!" button that I was given upon check-in.  It's good for an average of one "Happy Birthday, Karen!" from a Disney cast member every 10 minutes.  I highly recommend getting one, whether it's your birthday or not!

On Thursday we went to Animal Kingdom (no really good pictures... all of the animal pics came sad and pathetic looking) and Disney's Hollywood Studios (formerly MGM).  We talked my mom into riding all of the major attractions / coasters!  She did Expedition Everest, Tower of Terror, Mission Space (3 times!), and Rockin' Roller Coaster!  She even bought the souvenir pins to prove it!

The Pixar section of Hollywood Studios was new since our last visit.  It was very cute.  Giant toys and games EVERYWHERE!  We waited 80 minutes to ride the newest attraction, "Toy Story Midway Mania."  It was a fun ride, but not worth the wait.  We went back on Saturday to get fast passes and they were all gone really early in the day.  The last we checked the wait was up to 110 minutes!  We weren't going to wait that long so we only did it once.  Oh well... next time.  

Because we waited in the Toy Story line for so long...

....I ended up with several pictures from our wait time!

We stayed at the Port Orleans French Quarter resort.  It was really nice!  The grounds were quiet and had an authentic New Orleans feel.  

That's according to my mom.  

I've never been to New Orleans.  

We now have 4 pictures that look just like this one: one from Disneyland in '03, one from Disney World in '04, another from '06, and this one from '08.  No... we're not going back in '010.  I mean, '10.  I think we'll wait a little longer between visits from now on.  Don't want to be the crazy people who go every other year or something.  Oh... wait.  Guilty. 

I love the little aliens from Toy Story!  This was outside the "Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin" attraction - fun ride, no wait!  My other favorite thing from this section of Magic Kingdom was the "Monster's Inc. Laugh Floor," a "live," interactive stand-up comedy show featuring some of the characters from the movie.  It was so funny!  Very clever.

The view from under the EPCOT dome, "Spaceship Earth".  They have redone the attraction and it now includes a fun little make-your-own video from the future!  Can't explain it, but it was fun!

Cinderella's castle at night.  So pretty.  

We had a great time!  Looking forward to going back.  In about 6-8 years or so.  I need to forget a lot of it so that I can rediscover it later on down the line, if that makes sense.  

Unless anyone wants to go with us sooner than that?  Any takers?  Anyone?  Just let me know!

LONDON, BABY!!!!

Lookout, London!  We're comin' to town!!!

That's right... we're hopping across the pond.  Pern and I are super excited about our rather spur-of-the-moment decision to go to the UK for a few days in December.  Pern's very good friend, Tim, is getting married and we got (and obviously accepted) an invite.  He's getting married outside of Manchester, so we will be flying into Manchester to attend the wedding and then getting a train to London for a few days before coming home.  Our December plans are as follows:

Before Christmas (date TBD): head to NC for Christmas with my fam.

Christmas day: celebrate Christmas with the fam.

Day after Christmas: fly from Raleigh to Chicago to Manchester, arrive Saturday morning

Saturday 12/27:  attend Tim's wedding

Sunday 12/28:  train to London in the morning/afternoon, Jack the Ripper walking tour in the evening

Monday 12/29: London in One Day guided bus tour - highlights include the changing of the guard, Tower of London, and Thames river cruise

Tuesday 12/30: London on our own using a Hop On Hop Off bus pass in the morning, ride in the London Eye in the afternoon, Picadilly Circus, Shakespeare's Globe

Wednesday 12/31: All day bus tour of Stonehenge, Bath, the Cotswolds, and Statford-Upon-Avon; New Year's Eve something TBD

Thursday 1/1:  Fly home to VA, sleep the whole way, sleep until Saturday!

We are soooooo excited!  

p.s.  I posted this in a bit of a rush... can you tell? :)

Claudia and Jeff's wedding

Yesterday was Claudia and Jeff's wedding!  I have known Claudia since 8th grade (a shocking 17 years! - OMG!) and this was a very special day!  She and Jeff started dating after our friends Linnea and Eli got married in June of 2004, which was a few months before Pern and I got married in October of the same year.  Can you believe it's been four years already?  We celebrated our anniversary on Thursday!  Wow...  Anyway, back to C&J.

The wedding was beautiful!  They were married at Whitehall Manor in Bluemont, which is about 25 minutes from Leesburg.  It was a morning ceremony and the weather was perfect.  Claudia was absolutely stunning!  And Jeff didn't look half bad, either!  The gnats threatened to make for a miserable day at the rehearsal on Friday, but stayed at bay thanks to cooler weather and a perimeter of citronella torches.  Here are some personal pictures... for more of the "pro" pics, go to the Blue Square blog.  

Our favorite high school teacher, Mrs Wood, was there!  She and her husband have come to all our our weddings!  This means that Claudia will make the Woods' annual holiday newsletter!  It's the Christmas card I look forward to most every year!

The three Musketeers are all married women now!  Holy crap!  When did that happen??

I love being crafty!

I love a good craft project.  A few months ago I decided I wanted to make a photo / memory board, but didn't know where I wanted to put it.  I was changing the sheets in the guest room after my father-in-law visited recently and there it was:  an expanse of blank wall that was screaming for something pretty and fun.  I made the board last night.  My mom and I went shopping yesterday afternoon and a quick stop into Michael's turned into a longer stop at Michael's and an extra stop at Jo-Ann Fabrics.  So the pictures are kind of random, but the board will continue to change as it is supposed to.  It was so easy... I might have to make some more :)

Apple Picking Trip

It wouldn't be fall without a trip to Stribling Orchard in Markham, VA!  Today was our school's annual Apple Picking Family Field Trip.  This is the fourth year we've scheduled a trip to Stribling and the third year we actually went!  The first year we were rained out, the second it rained a little and was freezing cold/miserable, but the third and now fourth years were beautiful!  The weather was perfect, the turn out was good, it was a little too busy for my liking (apparently the orchard had some press recently and was featured on Fox 5 News, so it was significantly busier than in previous years) but we all had a good time.  Pern is in Indiana with his dad so I was flying solo for this one.  I arrived early, bought my pumpkins and apples (no picking for me this year... just picking out of the pre-picked crates, if that counts!) and took some pictures.  As in the past, I won't post pictures of the children from my school, but here are some of my other favorites...  Happy Fall!!

Two of my favorite things...

Today we bought two of my favorite things: ice-cream from Coldstone Creamery...

...and a beautiful new Toyota Prius!!!!!!!!!

Isn't it the most beautiful car in the whole wide world??!!!  I love it!!!

Mmmmm... life is good :)

Is it fall yet?

Sigh.

Is it fall yet?  Summer sucked.  Is it over?  I feel like it's been non-stop drama since the end of June.  The last day of summer camp at school was on Friday.  Now we have one more week (teacher week - prepping the classrooms, etc) and then it's back to school on September 2.  I don't care what the calendar says, fall starts on the first day of school.  Yeah!

Fall is my favorite season.  Aside from the usual events like the school's apple-picking field trip, and Halloween (I've bought a new Halloween t-shirt at Target today!),  I've got some other good things to look forward to... My friends, Claudia and Jeff, are getting married two days after my and P's 4th anniversary.  I guess that counts as two good things!  I get to wear a (yes, I'm going to say it) really pretty bridesmaid dress, so that's number three.  And second to last and last but not least, my (gulp!) 31st birthday in a couple of months, which happens to coincide with a trip to Disney World.  I could do without the 31st birthday, but the trip should be fun.  

So?  Is it over yet?  Someone wake me when it's September...