We took a quick trip through the Christmas shop at Liberty Square while we watied for my parents to return from the Haunted Mansion. This is always a dangerous stop, because we usually end up seeing about 8 or 9 ornaments that we wouldn't mind taking home with us. Although we have enough ornaments at home that our tree would most likely collapse under its own weight if we added any more, it's hard to resist adding to the collection. In this case, my wife fell in love with an ornament featuring the 3-eyed Green Alien Guy (GAG) from Toy Story. She has an unhealthy love for this creature, dating back to the first Toy Story movie. A single mention of "the Claw" will send her into hysterics. In fact, I think when she saw the ornament, she said, "Ooooooooo...."
(No points for that one. I already gave it away)
So we got it, of course. Maybe it can replace the dumb cow-in-a-bikini ornament she had to get a couple of years ago. You think I'm making this up, don't you?
We headed into Liberty Tree Tavern and were seated fairly promptly. This was an old favorite from 2006, although we were sad to see that the characters had disappeared. Still, we like the menu quite a bit. If you're going to serve ham, turkey, flank steak, mashed potatoes, mac-and-cheese, salad, bread and apple cobbler with ice cream, you might as well sign me up for every trip. It's a hearty family meal that feels like a good break from burgers and pizza.
Truth be told, I like a flaky crispy pie crust on the cobbler more than the oatmeal-type stuff they serve here, but my mother informed me that this is a traditional colonial-type dish. Whatever. I drowned it in melted vanilla ice cream, which usually makes anything taste good. How come they don't serve vegetables that way?
Here's the family sitting around the table:
Note the 2 cameras hanging on the chair as well as the camcorder on the floor, not including the camera that was used to take the picture. This may have been the most well-documented family vacation in history. Actually, those 2 cameras on the chairs are hand-me-downs that we let the kids use. And doesn't Scotty just look overjoyed to be there? How much did we pay for his ticket again?
Another satisfying meal was done, and we were 2-for-2 with good table-service experiences at WDW.
It was getting to be dusk, and we started to make our way out. No Wishes tonight--they were gearing up for the
MNSSHP, which we were too cheap to buy tickets for. (Look at me, ending sentences with prepositions. That is something up with which I will not put.)
We wandered through the Emporium, making the sorts of wish lists every family has to make: namely, what to get as a souvenir for immediate enjoyment, and what to subtly* mention to each other as good Christmas ideas.
*In our family, this means taking something off the rack, handing it to your significant other, and saying, "Here, buy me this for Christmas."
I found a hoodie I liked, and Julie had her eye on a Mickey necklace. The kids appeared to like (and want) everything in the store. They have different ways of telling us, though.
Sarah will see something, but wait until we ask her if she saw anything she liked. Then, she'll point it out in an almost embarrassed fashion, as if she's too modest to ask for it. Dave will attempt manipulation: "Boy, I really wish I could get..." whatever. Scotty is more direct: "Can we buy this now?"
Scotty found a Naked Chip & Dale stuffed animal set and asked for it immediately. Sensing a means to coerce him in to getting on more rides through the week (they teach you this stuff in Cruel Parenting 101), we told him we'd get our souvenirs later.
It was time to retire for the evening, but not before a few picture opportunities. I had bought a Canon Rebel XSi (our first digital SLR) for my wife for her birthday, as she had always had an interest in photography and wanted to jump into a more sophisticated camera than our point-and-shoot. Up to this point in the day, we'd felt that the pictures we had taken were fairly ho-hum. We'd bought a travel tripod just before our trip, and I think the nighttime pictures on this night were where we finally hit our stride with the camera. We took a few on Main St. as darkness fell:
We got back to POR and put the kids in bed. Then we went out to play with our tripod some more.
We wandered through Fulton's General Store and--surprise, surprise, found that it had exactly the same stuff as the Emporium. Count me among those who are disappointed in Disney moving away from resort-specific merchandise.
In any case, 2 days were in the books already, and we could tell that the vacation was going to be a blur, as usual. But we'd fulfilled the first rule of family vacations: be sure when your day is over, you go home alive. Here endeth the lesson.
Coming Up Next: We invade the Animal Kingdom. Will any of the kids dare to conquer Expedition Everest? Or Kali River Rapids? Or even the Pangani Forest Exploration Trail?
for the compliments! My wife really has a good eye for the pictures, I think. I have to arm-wrestle to have any time with the camera ("her baby", as she calls it).
when dd was small we would hall the camcorder, camera around also. and in the early 90s the camcaorders didnt fit in your pocket.
