Ah, home on the 4th!

We have arrived at home. We enjoyed our trip to KC and Mark's house, and it was certainly wonderful to spend some time my entire family. We left KC at 2.33 p.m., intent on arriving at an outlet mall close to St. Louis in time to shop before 6 p.m.

We did. Arrived at 5.31 p.m., after over 200 miles and one stop.

Horrible rain from Wentzville to Chesterfield.

Dinner at cracker barrel, home to watch the explosions on our street. I love the 4th.

Good night, gentle reader, and I'm sure you'll read more. This next week, without our child, is work in our room week.

Kansas City, 4th of July

st="on">Kansas City, July 2009

Dateline: Thursday, 2 July

Departure was delayed from our abode this evening due to work, packing, dinner, forgetfulness. We finally got on the road somewhere around 6.30. MacKenzie had already left St. Louis with my parents and sister earlier today, and had arrived safely at her uncle’s house.

Our trip, thankfully, was not very busy with traffic. We stopped at a Wendy’s in Lake St. Louis, got some dinner, and headed west on 70. A very uneventful trip for us – a quiet trip, with no daughter in the car. It was rather nice, being able to spend time talking to my wife tonight.

We got to my brother’s house about 10.40. MacKenzie was already asleep, and we spent some time exploring the work that my brother did in his living and dining room. Floor sanded, stained and re-sealed, new drywall, removed popcorn ceiling, arts & crafts style trim, and new windows.

Time for bed. More tomorrow.

Friday, 3 July

Today’s venture into the joy of eastern Kansas takes us to Bonner Springs, Kansas. Our final destination in Bonner Springs is the Moon Marble Factory. It’s less a factory and more a store with tons of vintage toys and marbles.

We took a side detour to a local produce stand for tomatoes and corn for dinner tonight. After arriving at the Moon Marble, we found parking. The Moon Marble is located between 2 east-west NS tracks with a sidling and the road. Not lots of parking, and since it had just rained, the parking area was rather wet.

Buckets of marbles, tubs of all different sizes. Pretty cool. We got to see a demonstration of an art glass marble being made. That was neat. Darcy wanted to get an art-glass marble, but I informed her that the price was a bit too high.

Then it was off to Leavenworth to the Carousel Museum. Lunch was had at the High Noon Saloon. Excellent food, and their amber ale is very tasty, I might add. My father and brother experienced the stout and said it was very good as well.

If you’re ever in Leavenworth, stop and see the carousel. It’s the fastest one I’ve ever seen, and it’s pretty cool. Very old, enclosed so inclement weather doesn’t bother you. The horses are all vintage, and the tail popped out of one horse yesterday. Quite funny, actually.

Departed Leavenworth to head back to my brother’s house for a dinner of grilled ribs, fresh corn, carrots.

Finished dinner rather late, got MacKenzie to bed, and then it was off to bed for us.

More tomorrow.

Disney Vacation - the departure

Saturday morning dawns prepared for our trip. We get ready, pack our stuff, and depart for the Magical express to the Orlando airport.

We had to wait and wait for lots of others to arrive. We got to the airport, check in (awesomely fast - thanks American Airlines), got through security (icky -socks on floor) and found some lunch. We had 20 minutes to eat before our plane boarded. We ate, got to the bathrooms and to our gate in time. Seated on a 757.

Got home at 3.15 ish. Unpacked some stuff, and collapsed from exhaustion. It felt good to rest in my chair last night, and to sleep in my bed, and to shower in my own shower.

Disney Vacation, Day 4 Epcot part deux

Friday. The last day of our stay in Florida. We had a lunch reservation at Teppan Edo in the Japan area of Epcot, so we went to Epcot. This time, we didn't have a place to go or make sure we saw everything. This gave us the opportunity to take our time. And we did.

Friday dawns a beautiful, clear day in Orlando. Of course, we packed our wetgear, knowing that the weather in Orlando will provide rain showers whether you want them or not. A lovely walk to the park, walking through Canada to get to MacKenzie's favorite ride - Spaceship Earth. We rode it again, but decided against a 3rd time. After that, it was back to the world area to finish getting Mackenzie's stamps and things.

Enjoyable, it was. During our wonderful meal at Teppan Edo, it poured. We were most fortunate, because it didn't rain at all the rest of the day. We enjoyed French pastries (not creamy enough in the horn for Darcy), the ambience of Italy and France and England.

We also got some great character shots. Here they are.










I'm sure I don't have to explain who these characters are. It's very difficult to get pictures taken with any costumed characters (unless it's one which is very unknown). We happened upon both of these groups when they first started. Very fortunate, too, since the Beast doesn't stay out long. It was warm, and he was in the shade, but as you can imagine, it's awfully hot in those costumes






Enjoyed a beautiful evening there at Epcot, decided to go back to the hotel and enjoy our pool. While the Yacht & Beach Clubs have the best pool in the whole resort, we found our enjoyment in the smaller Yacht pool. A lovely experience.

Went to bed Friday night prepared for our trip home on Saturday.

Disney Vacation, Day 3 - Where's the Magic Kingdom?

Day 3. The third day. This is when family vacation begins to run it's course. Family fun. Family togetherness. Nothing tests familial bonds like the "Magic Kingdom" on day 3.

We left the comforts of our lovely lodging at 9.15. We watched as 5 buses came and went for Animal Kingdom and Blizzard Beach. No buses for us at the Magic Kingdom. An ominous sign for day #3.

A bus arrived. We sat and scrunched as our driver ignored all sensibilities and continued to visit each and every Disney Resort to pick up as many people as possible. Our bus was overloaded by at least 15 people. When we arrived at the MK, we were not far from the entrance, and we were able to get right in. Good sign.

Lunch reservations were for 11.45 a.m., so after wasting plenty of time waiting for the bus, visiting every hotel in a 15 square mile radius, we were left with precious little time to spend before lunch. Some minor shopping, MacKenzie got her picture taken with Pluto. The dog, not the planet.

Lunch was at Tony's. It's a really nice place to eat. I enjoyed my food immensely. Our waiter, Parvis (Iranian) was excellent. He anticipated every move we made. Then it was off to get our fast pass for the Jungle cruise. We had an hour to wait, so it was Swiss Family Robinson tree house time, then Pirates of the Caribbean ride time, then jungle cruise. We went to the back in Adventure land and found the potties. All better. MacKenzie and Molly rode the magic carpet ride.

Then over to spend some time in Ariel's grotto - small water park. Tickets to Pooh's adventure (snoozer) and we got complimentary tickets to the Magic Symphony. It was really good. Spinning tea cups for MacKenzie and I - that was great fun. Small world after that and lots of rain. Did I mention that it rained again? Poured. Lightning and Thunder. We wanted to ride the train, but because of lightning, it wasn't running. Some old lady was incredibly rude to the poor young lady who was at the train station.

Tomorrow land was mostly closed - space mountain for renovation. Darcy and MacKenzie enjoyed a cream cheese pretzel that "they" said was really good. Molly and I beg to differ with "their" culinary tastes.

Oh, Darcy informs me, that yet again, I'm wrong and forgot to add that we all rode the carousel. It went round and round and round and round and then stopped. Short ride.

We finally got on the train and rode 1.3 revolutions around MK. There was a very rude man who stood next to Molly on the seat (yes, stood. Evidently his country doesn't have benches) to take pictures of his extended family. They were all on vacation from Dell's technical support company. Then some poor lady sat right where he stood.

Some more shopping, watching very cool glass blower - off-hand glass to be exact. A monstrous storm came in and while we waited and waited and waited and waited for the super-special fireworks show to finally get cancelled.


Yeah, that was lovely. So, with the rest of the population of the southeastern United States, we attempted to sardine on the buses back to our hotels. I felt bad for the poor people who were on the boats. Those boats were sitting low in the water.

Got back here, everybody's in bed except for me, because I'm finishing this so you can read it and know those details about our vacation that I'm sure you really want to know. Sheesh.

Oh, and here are some pictures.

Here she is in the Swiss Family Robinson Tree House, posing. Yes, she's a poser.










This is MacKenzie on the train platform looking north down Main Street to the castle. Not her, she's looking south at the camera.

Disney Vacation, Day 2 - Animal Kingdom

See, we learn from our mistakes. Tuesday night we didn't take the rain gear - the weather people said it wasn't going to rain, the radar had no rain, so, no rain gear.

Dumb. We got really wet.

Today we decided that it would be most beneficial for us to actually go prepared to the Animal Kingdom (read glorified zoo). Packed up the backpack with all the necessary items for our trip, including breakfast sandwiches and beverages for Darcy and MacKenzie. Molly and I enjoyed our hot coffee and tea in the room.

We arrive by bus at the AK and enter with 600 Billion people. Went immediately to the Safari ride in the back of the park. We got in the queue, stood for a while and finally got in the ride. I can compare this ride to driving a pickup trip perpendicular to a freshly plowed field. All while trying to take pictures. Here is an example of our shooting ability on this "safari". The subject is a hippopotamus, but it is nearly impossible to see in this shot because we were moving near the speed of light.

Very sad for us.







As we progressed our day at the AK, we took in the Nemo and Friends Musical Theatre. My family enjoyed it immensely. We got there 30 minutes ahead of time and sat on our backsides on some very uncomfortable benches and waiting. My rear was used as a test-kicking device for a child behind me. Of course his father didn't realize that when the boy's legs moved they were bouncing off my posterior. At one point, I grabbed the kid's foot, held it, then shoved it back at him. Still no clue. Oh well.

The skies broke and rain fell during the show. We quickly dressed in our ponchos and exited the building, heading toward the tree of life. That was a great show - no wait to get in. We thoroughly enjoyed it.

Then it was time for the Lion King show. We got there 5 minutes before showtime, no wait, right in. Lovely. The production was excellent, except for the deaf person running the sound. It was almost 15 dB too high - distortion happening at all frequencies. I was able to get a very bad headache from it in less than 10 minutes. I couldn't hear the soloists because they were covered up in the mid-range.

Thankfully, it was time to depart from the AK. As we headed to the bus (sardine can) for the return trip, we were relieved. OUr driver, however, thought that if there was floor space on the bus and we were not yet becoming friendly with everyone, then there was room for more!! NO THERE ISN'T!!!!.

Got home, went swimming. Finally, swimming. lazy river, sandy pool (seriously, there's sand in our pool), hot tub (ooohh). Dinner at the Yachtsmen Steakhouse last night - I had a 24 oz Porterhouse. It was excellent. The spices were delicious. Got dessert to go, came home and we all went to sleep.

Thursday is Magic Kingdom day. We have lunch reservations, so that will be fun. We're planning on being at the park almost all day today. We'll pull our bedraggled selves home tonight in a stupor, I'm sure.

Have a great day, gentle reader.

Disney Vacation, Day 1 - Epcot

We chose today to experience the magical world of Epcot, the Experimental Community of Tomorrow. This morning was absolutely beautiful - there were no clouds in the sky, there was a light wind prevailing from the west. As the day progressed, the sky became slightly cloudy. This is my lovely family on the Yacht Club Resort Boat Dock waiting for our water taxi to arrive.


We visited Universe of Energy with Ellen DeGeneres and Bill Nye the Science Guy. It was a cool ride with nifty dinosaurs. I was glad that Bill didn't harp on the global warming stuff. We then journeyed to Mission Space and talked Darcy into riding a simulator. All 4 of us fit in one simulator, and while we took the "green" or easy mission, the pilot in our group couldn't look up at the screen. She couldn't complete her part of the mission. Otherwise, we had a blast.

Here am I.

Then it was lunch at the Electric Umbrella. The meal plan is certainly working out well for our benefit. Lunch was tasty - the fresh fruit was excellent. We then talked Darcy into riding spaceship earth (the big silver ball) and she agreed. Both she and MacKenzie enjoyed the ride very much. As we left Spaceship Earth, we noticed cumulonimbus clouds forming on the western horizon. Molly and I wished to depart to our hotel soon. It was not to be, as MacKenzie wished to play in a playground. We did make it to the Friendship boat to our hotel, but as soon as we sat on the boat, they were deemed unsafe because of lightning. Of course, we stayed on board. That's the safest place in a storm, right?

We got off the boat after the rain quit and walked to the hotel, finding it much closer than we had originally imagined. 30 minutes of rest and recuperation followed, then a sojourn back into Epcot. This time we walked and looked at the World Pavilion. It was awesome until in China it began to rain and MacKenzie stated her need for yet another visit to the potty. Not having our ponchos or our umbrellas, we made a mad dash for Germany and the toilets.

Got wet. That sums up our evening. Wet. Still pouring rain here at 10pm. We're wet, tired, bedraggled and really sleepy. Good night, gentle readers. Good night. Pictures in the morning.