Dis pt 5

This delay in our trip report was brought to you by...Sinus Surgery! After 10 years of being mis-diagnosed with allergies, I came down with vertigo and was at last referred to an ENT specialist. He had me get an MRI taken and said that it was obvious that I'd had an infection for many years.

Surgery was yesterday and when he got in there, what he thought was thickening of the bone turned out to be fungus! Yuck! I've been growing mushrooms in my head? Really? Well, not exactly but it had been there at least 5 years. Soooooo glad I went for the surgery or who knows how far this would have gone.

And now, back to those carefree days at Disney


9/7

The Magic Kingdom
My favorite place
I get as excited as any child there.

Ofcourse, we got there for rope drop and for the first time, saw the opening show!


Waiting for opening. You can see that some of the Halloween decorations were up already. We really are happy to be there, but looking into the sun was brutal!


A better angle.

I was again armed with a RideMax plan on the slow level. I think we started in Adventureland heading to Pirates.


The place was deserted and the ride was a walk on--just how I like it.

After that, I think the kids and Pete hit Splash Mtn while I picked up fast passes in Fantasyland. Then I met them at Big Thunder Mtn.


Splashing

Then over to Tom Sawyer Island. We just read the book, so Katie and Zack were able to recognize a lot more of the landmarks, which made it more fun. We miss Aunt Polly's cafe and the icecream sundaes you could get there. It's sad and deserted now. We looked for paint brushes but no luck.


Zack at the Fort

At some point, Pete realized he no longer had the spray bottle! Probably left on Splash Mtn. He went back to check, but they had just come to collect for lost and found, so we were told we could check at City Hall on our way out.

We were hot and tired and it was perfect timing to hit the Liberty Tree Tavern for lunch. I'd never been there and we liked it.

I think we hit the Haunted Mansion after lunch, but not sure. I do know that we headed back to Adventureland to get Pineapple whips--only the best dessert in the whole world! The kids and I fell in love with them at Disneyland and couldn't wait to have Pete try one. (although I think the ones in DL were better...)

Time to head out for the afternoon. I ran for Space Mtn FPs while Pete and the kids stopped in at City Hall to see about our spray bottle. We had picked one up at Walmart before our trip and had placed in an old water bottle holder for the strap. Well, they didn't have it but we gathered even more pixie dust when they gave us a brand new Disney spray bottle on the house! Yay!

Back to the hotel to rest up and relax. We were happy to discover that the music on the Beach Club buses was pretty subdued. The music on the Port Orleans buses on our last trip blasted and still rings through our heads. Not easy to take when you're tired.

I guess we swam at the hotel or maybe just hung around. Probably both.

Back to MK. This was Fantasyland and Tomorrowland. Peter Pan is a favorite for Katie and me, Pooh's Adventure cracks Pete's back in just the right place and we never seem to miss a 3-D movie at Disney, so we hit Mickey's Philharmagic.



Over to Tomorrowland. Buzz Lightyear, always a favorite was less exciting this time, I think because the Toy Story ride at DHS is so much better. I hope they give it an upgrade some time soon.

I had not ridden on Space Mtn since I was 13 and Katie had never gone on it. We decided to be brave this trip and try it.

Here we are:

Pete was actually in the same car with us, but the pictures must be set up for the three car system, weird.

We all had a great time! Once was fine for me, but there was no wait so the others went back on.

I have no idea what we did for dinner that night....but I think we had food with us when we found a spot to sit for the fireworks. We positioned ourselves on the bridge from TL to Main Street and had a very nice view. I cried, like I always do. This time Katie cried too!



Well, that would have been a lovely end to the evening, but I had one more brilliant idea--if only I'd read my notes correctly. I read that Epcot had evening hours. Pete likes the ride on the monorail from MK to Epcot, so I figured we'd take the monorail, then walk through Epcot back to our hotel.

We get to Epcot and encounter lots of people heading out the exit and no one going in. Uh oh. We ask a nice guard if there are evening hours and he tells us no. Uh oh. We explained our (my) mistake and asked if it was possible to cut through to the Int exit and our hotel. He asked to see our room keys and led us right through the entry gate! Whew! I love Disney. It was a very pleasant walk around the lagoon.



Unfortunately, my camera doesn't take very good night shots and there were no Photpass photographers around.


Next up: It's a jungle out there...

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Doctors

January and February were all about doctors.

I needed a breast issue checked out so saw a specialist before Christmas. She wanted an MRI in January, which led to a spot being found, which led to an MRI-led biopsy (ouch). The biopsy turned out to be in the wrong place, so she went in surgically to remove it.

Now our insurance company is questioning the MRI-led biopsy and they want a "letter of medical necessity." Uh....do they think I dropped in for a biopsy on a whim? I only went because my doctor ordered it. Hello? And let me tell you, if I was going to drop that much money just for fun on breast surgery they would be way perkier looking than they are now LOL!

So, two weeks of taking it easy and not lifting anything. That was not very easy. I had no idea just how much lifting I do. Especially when 2 feet of snow falls in VA!

Just over surgery and blizzards, my high school friends Nanci and Lorraine and I were able to find a day that we could all get together. We had a wonderful day shooting the breeze and then a leisurely dinner.

At around 11pm, we headed out to our cars when Nanci said "watch out for that ice." I step over some ice, but hit the next patch and BANG fall backwards and smack my head on the ground. Quite a few minutes laying on the ground and a trip to the ER for a CT scan later, they tell me I'm fine. Three days after that, my own doctor tells me it was definitely a concussion. Ouch--again!

A day in bed, and a week of dizziness and head/neck ache, I am just now feeling back to "normal." And really ready to be done with doctors (and insurance).

However, despite spending a awful lot of money lately to confirm I am fine, I am grateful to be healthy and here.

San Francisco

The trip started with a harrowing 4:30am ride to the airport in an ice storm. Upon arriving at the airport, we were informed that it had just closed down. That began an 11 hour wait for our flight to get off the ground.

Kate and Zack were troopers and kept themselves occupied around the empty sections of the terminal and doing some activities I brought to occupy them on the 6-hour flight. By the time we took off, my bag of tricks was empty so I just let them spend the flight watching TV--a plus about flying on Jet Blue.

So, we lost a day to the weather in VA, but got into the hotel and to bed to start fresh the next day, which we began on Alcatraz. I was wiped that morning so skipped the view from the ferry to grab a few more minutes of sleep and let the advil work on my pounding head and aching back. It worked! I was able to enjoy the gorgeous weather and the tour. Alcatraz was Zack's favorite part of the trip. The audio tour is great.


That night, we learned the news about Steve and took much of the evening pulling ourselves together while Katie and Zack slept. We took it easy the following day, trying to have a good time but not do too much.

Other places/sites seen on the trip, in no particular order since I can't remember:
Fisherman's Wharf--good chowder, wacky stores and the Bay. Also, a nice walk to Ghiradelli Square where the kids split a banana split and Pete and I had treats too. Yum.

A day taking a walking tour of Chinatown, Pete and I had never spent so much time down there and discovered the Asian Pacific Heritage museum, which used to a a US mint and was the only building the in vicinity to survive the 1906 earthquake/fire. We also went to the Golden Gate fortune cookie factory to see close up how those fortunes get into cookies.


Grace Cathedral, where we walked the labyrinth and got to see the organ player practice. We learned to our great disappointment that you can no longer ride the outdoor elevator to the top of the Fairmont :-( but we did get to chat with their harpist, who played several Disney tunes for Katie and Zack. Katie would now like to learn the harp in addition to the piano.

My birthday was spent in Berkeley in very mild weather. We walked around the campus and with no expectation of being able to get in, went to the carillon. Pete and I have been to this tower at least three time and it has never been open, but this time--yes! It was windy at the top but a great view and a look at the bells and clockworks too. We took a bus ride up the hilly roads to visit the Lawrence Hall of Science--free with our current science museum membership-nice. The afternoon was spent window shopping, which surprisingly, the kids enjoyed. We also ate at Pete's and my favorite place with giant sandwiches and salads.


We spent some time at the Metreon, playing the virtual kicking game in the halls, checking out the gaming store and the PlayStation store, where you can play the games in ten minute sessions.


We took many cable car rides--one to the cable car museum, where you can see the actual cables turning under the street! We also got good use out of our Muni passes, which covered the cable cars, and the buses and trains (except the BART train to Berkeley).

We went to the Golden Gate bridge, but I thought it was way too windy that day to walk across, so we investigated the base of the bridge a bit.

We went to the Cliff House and put our feet in the Pacific Ocean-a first for Zack and Kate and her favorite activity. I found the trash-canless littered (with trash and dog poo-yuck) beach a downer, but we all enjoyed the Sutro baths which are only ruins. They look ancient but are really only from the remnants of a fire in the 60s. OK, kind of ancient but not in the way we originally thought ;-)


We went to the Levi's welcome center which was interesting and they had a fountain outside that you could walk through which we all enjoyed.

The Exploratorium is the best Science museum ever. You can touch everything and we practically did touch everything. It's right next to the Palace of Fine Arts in the Presidio and again, the weather was great and we took our time perusing the Palace and the museum. Again, we were able to use our scince membership for free tickets--wow, that has paid for itself ten times over.

A trip to Golden Gate Park was poorly planned. We stopped at a playground where a local kindergarten was having an outing and the kids got to play with everyone, which they needed. The goal of getting to the Japanese tea garden should have been dropped. Too much walking and we got there too late. We were starving and there wasn't anywhere around to eat. That may have been the day we ended up at a Chinese bakery for lunch, which was quite a find. Fresh, hot out of the oven sponge cake was worth the trip.

The last day was the coldest but still mild and we decided to splurge on the Aquarium of the Bay, where you move through the fish tank and they swim all around you. They took our FONZ membership but it was still pricey. Then we really splurged on Ripley Believe or Not, a wax museum. I am crazy about wax museums, a guilty pleasure, and Zack had wanted to go ever since seeing it on our first day. VERY pricey but a good time and we had skipped splurging for most of the trip.

Dinners were the constant challenge. We skipped the meal on several nights. The only night that really worked out was Friday night. We made plans to meet with our friend Marion and her suggestion worked out great and it was terrific to see her too. But all the other nights ran too late for the kids and were pretty underwhelming. No biggie.

All in all a great trip and all of us want to go back again soon (or, win the lottery and move there!)

Back home again to math, music, Tae Kwon Do, piano, scouts and all the rest and as the snow melts is that a hint of spring in the air already?

A Post

I've been neglecting this blog for a while and have to say I don't much feel like writing now but feel like I have to before it goes completely dark.

I've been suffering from almost daily headaches for the past month or so and they have been wiping me out and making it very difficult to organize our days. Things are going fine with the kids, but I'm wiped by the end of the day, often with a pounding head. Pete has had to step in to make dinner several times while I lay down. This is becoming very depressing and so at last I've decided to do something about it. I have the names of a few acupuncturists and will be making an appointment soon. I got about two year's relief the last time I saw one, so it is definitely time to try it out again.

Some quick updates--

Had a playdate with the aptly named Goodharts. Sadly, our schedules don't mesh very well, so it was fairly short but very nice. Both Zack and Nick like to play alone, so they say hi and then play next to each other for a while. Katie and Becca play very nicely together and include the boys when they feel like being part of the group. Christopher is still little and so just enjoys the hubbub of everone running around. I'm getting to know Angela better and it's relaxing to sit and chat over tea and cookies while the kids play. I've also been spoiled since she's been nice enough to have us to their house and I don't have to prep anything.

Spent Super Bowl Sunday at the Marts' and enjoyed cheap fun at the bowling alley's $1 shoes and game day. Good thing it was only a dollar if I was going to play that badly! Nanci put us all to shame, although none of us were up to LI levels. Nathan is great too, but we didn't get to see his true form with no bumpers. There's definitely Island blood in that kid though.

Zack and Kate are now at the Red Cross level 3 swimming class and doing nicely in the deep end. Wish I had a picture of Zack's proud face when he finished doing laps in the 12' end. Katie has never had any fear in the water but now she has the skills to back up the confidence.

I got a new math curriculum called Math U See and so far I'm loving it. It's the first curriculum I could actually understand. (Most times curricula make me feel like I've walked into the middle of a conversation and have missed the crucial information on what everyone's talking about.) The kids like the manipulatives (blocks) and I like the way the lessons are organized.

We got to see the baby Panda again on Tuesday and he was in great form. Very visible and doing tons of cute baby-animal things. As a matter of fact, we got lucky all over the zoo. A huge orangutan came right up to the window to snack and the kids got to explore the reptile discovery room, which we have never seen open. It was a terrific day made all the better because our friends the McKinleys were able to join us.

Went on a nice field trip to the DC Aquarium where a class had been arranged for the kids. It's a tiny aquarium but nice and we were able to walk over to the Nat. History museum to see the new mammal exhibit again and take more time this time. Thanks go to Laurel for setting up the trip and for sharing some of her shark teeth with the kids.

Katie made a neat invention call The Drinker, which serves up water and cups to the thirsty masses. The tricky part was the lock, but she came up with a kind of buttonhole idea and I contributed an arrow-shaped tab to slip through.


It's hard to see it, but the tab is in Zack's hand and the hole for it is in the left side of the box. There are cups attached at the other side to grab and fill and extra cups and H2O inside.

That's all I can think of. Let us know what you're up to too. xoxoxoxo

Friday--already?

How did it get to be Friday again? The week, once again, flew.

This week was a bit more focused on academics and group meetings. I wanted to up the math and get back to more like our September schedule. The sked didn't exactly work out, but they did do a lot more math-related activities this week. They do amaze me with how far they come in-between "formal" lessons. They are getting the hang of carrying the one and Zack did very well with fractions in the math program. Katie is flying through the program again too. They both have a horror of making mistakes though. So, I've been insisting that they at least guess at an answer before I step in to help. Half they time they ending up telling me they don't need me after all.

For outings, we headed to church on Monday to celebrate MLK day. There was a combined service with our church, and Catholic and Baptist churches. The kids had spent the night with friends and were too tired to sit for the whole thing, but I'm glad they got to see some of it.

The zoo is our new regular Tuesday morning outing. This time we started at the top of the zoo and spent the morning in the bird house. We rarely go to the bird house and it was nice to take the time to do only that. After that, we got cold and hungry and went home for lunch.

Wednesday I headed to yoga, leaving the kids with Pete then they had swim. Instead of heading to the library we snuggled in bed and read books to each other until I came down with a grinding headache and had to have some sleep. While I slept, Kate and Zack read and played with his new slot car set, care of the Marts (thanks, it's great!). Katie has also been covered in sweet-smelling perfume which also came from the Marts (p-u?).
Zack's newest Lego creation:


Thursday we met with a newly forming game group with hopes that the kids would hone their chess playing skills, however, they were both too timid to play with anyone and bickered so much playing each other that it was hardly worth it. It was nice to meet the other two families but not sure what we'll do in the future if the kids won't play.

Thursday has also become Ivy-Pull Day! I'm LOVING my new hedge clippers, which make it a do-able job now. It's going pretty well. I think we'll be able to get the front-side of the house done by spring which will be a good time to plant in the grassy stuff and bulbs I want to put in its place and also give the azalea a chance to bloom without being strangled.
Here's our progress so far:


Today was our regular Arlington group. We now meet at a firehouse and the captain was nice enough to do a presentation for the kids. He put on all his gear, answered the many questions asked and showed us the firetruck. The kids got to sit inside the truck and once again I did not have my camera. Typical me.

In other news--they will start taking Spanish class over at the school starting next week. It seemed expensive at first glance and then I started to see prices of other classes go by and this one got very attractive. Found a lot of good science experiments to try on the ZOOM Web site and found a nice multiplication lesson plan site which we'll begin late next month.

Currently, Katie's working on the math program and Zack is tackling a clean up of the basement. I'll be sending them outside soon though, too gorgeous out to waste away indoors.