Feeling Hot Hot Hot! The Rain Curse is Broken! Two Weeks of Fun in the Sun! COMPLETE

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

This week is Lessa's birthday, I thought I would share a few pictures with you as we travel back in time. Please excuse the big gap, as there is a period of time where photos/slides have not been scanned into the computer. Where has time gone? I few old!

Happy Birthday Lessa​

Actually Mom, I have scanned all slides it is just that I didn't like getting my picture taken in my teen years, guess you don't remember that. ​

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

Wow Lessa I can't believe I didn't post as I read your updates !!Must got sidetracked and thought I did !!The Bros are sure living up to their Reputation !!!!!

I think you will be disappointed if you ever meet them, they will probably turn into polite and well behaved young men. I remember when Mom, Erich and I met DM in Syracuse she thought he was very polite and quiet!

 

[GeminiAngel]

Aww, so sweet!

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

Aww, so sweet!

She didn't even post the best pictures.

 

[teachermommy78]

Lessa, you were such a cute little girl! AWWWWWW! I'll have to be a proud mom and post sophie's baby pics on my TR for her on July 30th. Then Ethan was born 2 years later on July 31st, so I'll have to do his too!

Good idea, mom!!!

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

Lessa, you were such a cute little girl! AWWWWWW! I'll have to be a proud mom and post sophie's baby pics on my TR for her on July 30th. Then Ethan was born 2 years later on July 31st, so I'll have to do his too!

Good idea, mom!!!

Thanks, I do agree that I was an adorable child, what happened?

 

[IheartDDuck]

I'm dreadfully late, but oh well!

I'm hopping on board. You guys are so funny, I was just laughing the entire time I was reading. I've lurked on many of your other TR's, so I figured now would be the best time to come out of lurkdom.

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

I'm dreadfully late, but oh well!

I'm hopping on board. You guys are so funny, I was just laughing the entire time I was reading. I've lurked on many of your other TR's, so I figured now would be the best time to come out of lurkdom.

Welcome! I am so glad that you decided to delurk.

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

May 14th continued

It was Pixar Weekend and we were standing in line to meet Remy and Emile in France. We were lucky and were only a few people back from the front of the line. Remy and Emile were some of the rare characters out for this special occasion and we did not want to miss them! Back in 2007 Mom and I had the chance to meet Remy at Hollywood Studios, Alek and Erich were incensed when they found out that we "betrayed" them by meeting Remy without them. Not our fault they had wanted to go play in the arcade at Pizza Planet instead of staying with us!

I was happy that this occasion would allow them to finally get that Remy photo that they complained about so loudly all those years ago.

As we waited in line the sky started to darken and the wind began to pick up. We knew what that meant, a storm was a coming! We had a few choices before us and we had come to the park prepared with ponchos. That is a lesson we have learned from our past trips, never get caught without a poncho! Mom had gone to the dollar store before our trip and bought a few and we carried them around with us every day of the trip.

Our options: We could stay in line and hope that Remy and Emile would still come out as scheduled and we could get our photo before the rain began, we could shelter in the shops in France and wait it out, or we could seek shelter elsewhere since we had already looked through all the shops in France and Alek and Erich did not have a desire to see the movie in France.

Well we examined all those choices. We decided that staying in line was not an option. At the rate the storm was approaching we figured there was no way the characters would be coming out at the scheduled time. We ruled out option two as well since as stated we had already browsed through the shops and so they did not hold much interest. That left us with option three which was to seek shelter elsewhere. We were disappointed that we would miss Remy and Emile but we planned on returning to Epcot the next day so we figured we would just meet them then. I suggested that we quickly make our way to Japan. We made our way over to Japan completely skipping over Morocco for the time being. We arrived in Japan just as the first rain drops began to fall, that was close! I suggested Japan as I knew that we could kill lots of time there and we would not have to go outside to reach other attractions/shops in the pavilion.

I had decided before the trip that I wanted to do the Pick a Pearl. I had done it back in 2007 and enjoyed the experience so decided to try my luck again. Mom decided that she would get another pearl as well. We each paid for our pearl and then received our numbers. There were quite a few people ahead of us. Erich told me to fetch him once it was close to my turn as he wanted to record it. While waiting I closely examined all the oysters trying to decide which one I wanted to pick. I have read that you should pick the ugliest and hairiest one but they all looked pretty ugly to me! Once I decided on one I looked at the available settings to see if there was one that caught my eye. I saw a heart shaped cage that I really liked and I decided to get it even though it was a tad expensive.

Once it was close to my turn I went and found Erich.

Lucky me, my oyster was still in the tank when my turn came around, nobody else had picked it.

The Japanese girl who was helping me said that first we must bow so we did. Then we had to count down to cutting the oyster open, in Japanese! Erich knew the Japanese word for three which impressed the girl. I ended up with a nice pinkish white pearl.

Here is Erich's video of the experience. The first is the cutting open of the pearl and the second is the conclusion to the experience where she uses the drum.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O_8klfBlL2Q

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RvNJbrEiV1U

You can see how red my face was from the rash in certain spots in this picture, stupid sensitive skin!

My pearl was put in a little bag and then handed over to me. I could opt to have it put in a setting there or I could take it with me as is.

Alek and Erich got a real kick out of the girl who was helping me. They said they they could hear her throughout the store and she was a direct contrast to one of the other girl's who assisted Erich in another part of the store who was very demure and quiet.

Next it was Mom's turn and she got the same colour pearl as I did although her's was slightly bigger. While waiting for Mom I dropped my pearl on the ground and Erich stepped on it! He didn't press down on it as he realized it was there but what a close call!

We waited in line to order our setting and this took forever! There was a woman in front of us looking at the settings and she could not understand the poor Japanese girl who was helping her. I'm not sure what the problem was as I could understand her perfectly and she did not have a heavy accent or anything like that. I felt like stepping in to "interpret" to get things moving along as I was getting impatient but I did not want to be rude. FINALLY the lady managed to somewhat understand the poor CM and placed her order and Mom and I were helped. I had my pearl put in the heart shaped cage and Mom had her's set in a flower pendant.

The setting I chose did not take long to prepare as they simply had to pop it in. Mom's took much longer as they had to drill/glue the pearl on. I left Mom and wandered the store on my own.

I saw this really cute bag and would have loved to buy it and use it as a lunch bag but it was $40! Too pricey for a lunch bag especially as I had just dropped a fair amount of money on my new pearl necklace.

I wandered through the store and then went outside to escape the crowds for a moment. It was still pouring out there. At least it was flooding like in 2009 when the water got so high that it was threatening to get into the store.

I sat down on a window ledge and chatted with a grandma who was taking a break while her family shopped inside.

I eventually wandered back inside to find the rest of the family. Mom was still hanging out by the pearl station so I went looking for Alek and Erich. I wandered all through the store and into the "anime" museum. This is a nice hidden spot that not many people know about, it used to be a tin toy museum but now it has exhibits that talk about mythical Japanese creatures/people and shows how they are represented in Japanese culture (mostly anime). There was nobody in there and it was so nice and peaceful so I decided to sit and relax for a bit. They were playing music from the Nausicaa soundtrack which is one of my favourite Studio Ghibli movies. I did eventually leave my haven and found Alek and Erich. They were sitting outside in the shelter of the store.

What did they get up to while away from Mom and I?

Love all the Ghibli merchandise!

Erich received a lesson on how to properly wear a kimono and how tying it in different ways can signify many different things.

Eventually Mom joined us in our outdoor shelter. By the time she came out the rain was almost gone. We had spent over an hour in the store and we were now ready to move on as the rain storm faded away.

[post=41985632]Click here to continue[/post]

 

[IheartDDuck]

Pick a pearl looks like so much fun, I can't believe that I have never done it before.

Gotta love those Florida storms. I was there in May of '09 and I'm assuming that was when you were there. That was TERRIBLE! I think the worst vacation I've had a WDW just because of the sheer amount of storms and the amount of rain. Whenever we were in World Showcase I felt like I needed a boat.

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

Pick a pearl looks like so much fun, I can't believe that I have never done it before.

Gotta love those Florida storms. I was there in May of '09 and I'm assuming that was when you were there. That was TERRIBLE! I think the worst vacation I've had a WDW just because of the sheer amount of storms and the amount of rain. Whenever we were in World Showcase I felt like I needed a boat.

Yep, May 09, the amount of rain we had that trip was awful. It rivaled our August 08 trip during Tropical Storm Fay.

 

[jenbear123]

I adore the Japan pavilion. I'm so happy to find someone else who likes Nausicaa! I just recently saw the movie. I prefer the Japanese version instead of the American dub. Some of my other favourite anime films by the same director are Spirited Away and Princess Mononoke I can't believe how hard it was raining

 

[kaysmommie]

Yep, May 09, the amount of rain we had that trip was awful. It rivaled our August 08 trip during Tropical Storm Fay.

No kidding . I have a feeling the rain is waiting for us next week . I loved your update. The picture with Remy is too cute, wish we could have went during pixar weekend. I love the setting you choose for your pearl, very pretty. that pic of the rain outside looks like a photo from 2009 . I love the Japan store! So did Erich buy a Kimono? I love the adorable pics your mom posted of you in honor of your birthday coming up. I know it's not for a couple days but

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

I adore the Japan pavilion. I'm so happy to find someone else who likes Nausicaa! I just recently saw the movie. I prefer the Japanese version instead of the American dub. Some of my other favourite anime films by the same director are Spirited Away and Princess Mononoke I can't believe how hard it was raining

The Japanese version is always better in my opinion. I love almost all the Ghibli films. The first one we ever saw was Kiki's Delivery Service, then Princess Mononoke. Our reaction was pretty much "Woah!" at the complete contrast between the two. Both excellent films. Then of course we saw all the others and they are fantastic.

The rain was nuts but I was grateful that that was the only day it rained.

No kidding . I have a feeling the rain is waiting for us next week .

I sure hope not!

I loved your update. The picture with Remy is too cute, wish we could have went during pixar weekend.

Pixar weekend was cool but the lines for some of the characters was nuts! More on that later.

that pic of the rain outside looks like a photo from 2009 .

I do have a nearly identical photo from 2009!

I love the Japan store! So did Erich buy a Kimono?

Not that day.

I love the adorable pics your mom posted of you in honor of your birthday coming up. I know it's not for a couple days but

Thanks!

 

[KatMark]

What a great update. Sorry about the rain and not being able to get the pic the "boys" wanted. That will teach them not to roam off next time.

I love all the pics at the Japanese store -- such a fun store. I want to do the Pick a Pearl this trip...it's something I've never done before.

 

[Aussieprincess]

I love the idea of getting the pearl... this is the first time I have heard of it (very new to it all) Roughly how much does it cost? (if you don't mind me asking.)

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

What a great update. Sorry about the rain and not being able to get the pic the "boys" wanted. That will teach them not to roam off next time.

I won't lie, I was excited for the photo as well as I think Emile is adorable!

I love all the pics at the Japanese store -- such a fun store. I want to do the Pick a Pearl this trip...it's something I've never done before.

I love it too, there is so much neat stuff to look at.

I love the idea of getting the pearl... this is the first time I have heard of it (very new to it all) Roughly how much does it cost? (if you don't mind me asking.)

I believe the pearl cost $16, no more than $20. If you want to get a setting for it those range in price.

 

[jcc0621]

I think you will be disappointed if you ever meet them, they will probably turn into polite and well behaved young men. I remember when Mom, Erich and I met DM in Syracuse she thought he was very polite and quiet!

They were VERY nice and polite when we met in 08

Yep, May 09, the amount of rain we had that trip was awful. It rivaled our August 08 trip during Tropical Storm Fay.

As llong as you didn't have to walk back to the car in ankle deep water you are good to go!

Anime Area? Inside the store? Must take Jimmy here!

 

[ddstratton]

I'm all caught up again. Looks like a fun day, even if the Kim Possible mission was a bit of a flop. Too bad that the rain made you miss Remy and Emile, though. I want to try the pick-a-pearl on our next trip. It looks like fun!

 

[FauntleroyFAN07]

we really wanted to do the pearl the last trip but forgot all about it.

there is always next time though.



your pearl looked great and i liked your setting for it