So I promised a REAL update today.....and here it is. But first I must tell you that I did something unexpected this morning. Most of you know I like to run, but what you don't know is that I used to be a HUGE bike rider. I was passionate about it. That's how I met my DH. I used to ride every chance I got - short rides, long rides, century rides (that's 100 miles!), overnight rides. One of my fav rides I did before I even got married - it was a bike ride across Massachusetts. LL was probably about 6 when I did that ride!
The scenery was fabulous and the long uphills were challenging. Anyway, I get nostalgic about it during 4th of July because that's when it was. That memory, and all the back road driving I have been doing with my DS, made me want to go out on my bike. So, after not touching my bike for the past two years, I went on a ride this morning with DH. We rode about 16 miles. Really nothing compared to what I used to do, but still a good start. I think I could have handled more, but I don't want to be hugely sore tomorrow. Its really my arms that hurt the most now from gripping the handlebars for dear life!
On the morning of day 3 I got up around 6:50 am. Hey - that's late for me. Those room darkening curtains were certainly doing the trick. Everyone else was sleeping soundly. I decided I did not feel like making coffee by the light of the refrigerator again, so I went to find it elsewhere. Yesterday I did buy a resort mug. I like to have a new one when the patterns change. Don't flame me for this, but I really bought the mug for two reasons:
1. The cups in the villa were ridiculously small - child size! I wanted something bigger.
2. Don't flame me for this, but I figured I would buy the mug now and use it on my September trip. While DH and I may have decided to splurge for the DxDP, we decided to be cheap on the room. We are staying at POP. I promised him that no matter how much I want to upgrade, I will resist the urge. We will likely rent a car, so a quiet room away from the pool and close to the parking lot will be adequate. So.....of course staying at POP means I need a mug. I knew I wouldn't use it much on this trip. I planned to use it mostly for am coffee in the room and for carrying adult beverages to the pool. Then I was going to put it away and bring it back. It seemed like a good investment. Then we would only need to buy one when we returned. I liked my logic at the time, even though I know there are people who would hang me by the toes for doing this. As it turns out, now I don't even need the silly mug because we will be getting new ones. Now I can have one with each different color lid!
OK, so now I had the mug and even though I didn't intend to use it, it seemed prudent to just go get a bit of Nescafe coffee for my morning caffiene fix. That way I didn't have to wake anyone up or kill myself rummaging around in the dark. So I put my workout clothes on and headed to the gift shop only to find it closed until 7:30am! Whaaaaaaat?
I am one of those folks who must drink coffee ASAP in the morning. I got hooked on it in graduate school and I get a nasty headache if I wait too long to drink it.
Just as I realized the gift shop wouldn't be open for another, say, 25 minutes, I saw a man carrying a cup of take out coffee. When I asked him where he got it, he said "downstairs". At least, that's what I thought he said. I figured he meant Sanaa. Didn't make sense, but I was off to explore. When I walked in Sanaa I asked an employee where I could get a cup of coffee for my mug. Perhaps he did not speak English, but he motioned for me to follow him and started to take me to the kitchen of restuarant. There I met up with a manager type CM who informed me I was backstage. I said, "Can I get coffee to fill my mug?" I felt a little foolish, but I had already invested this amount of time, so why not? He was very nice, he brought me out a whole pot! At this point, I think I took it back to the room to add creamer. I can't really remember, not surprisingly. But once I had my mug filled I was off to take some pics........
My first pic of the morning was an inspirational saying....
Then I took pictures of this room that overlooks the savannah. It was completely empty. I was the only fool up so early. I had the place to myself.
An upclose shot of the fabric and wood:
A few light fixtures for LL:
This was in the lobby outside Sanaa, I think:
Lobby artwork:
Now in the halls outside of the lobby was an amazing display of artwork. Here is a sampling:
Fertility statues:
I felt like I was in a museum.
I also took pictures of Sanaa, but I have to go find them because it doesn't look like they got downloaded from computer. Crap! I better find them!
So- I guess I shouldn't keep you in suspense about the rash anymore. After my photo tour of the artwork of Kidani DH and I decided to go to the health club and run on the treadmills instead of outside. I'm not a huge fan of treadmills, but yesterday's run was hot and uninspiring. So I thought the treadmill might be a good alternative. It is a brand new health club with tons of weight machines which I know nothing about. There are also 3 treadmills, and 3 eliptical machines as well as 1 recumbant bike. The machines all have TV screens and close captioning. That would have been great except that my machine was stuck on ESPN news. Blech! I needed something more interesting, but try as I might I could not get the channel to change. So I endured my 25 minute run by looking out the window, checking my distance, and watching my calories burned. No matter how many calories I burned it wasn't going to be near enough to make up for all the calories I was consuming.
We got back to the room around 8:15 or so. LJ was already up watching TV. The big boys were sleeping. All was good until LJ said, My legs itch a little bit. I think have a rash".
Now you have seen enough of LJ to notice that he is very, very fair skinned. My first thought was sunburn, even though I had put tons of sun screen on him. But I looked at this nice red, bumpy rash on his legs, arms, chest, and back. Double crap! I had him get in the shower to clean his skin and cool down and then I put on the hydrocortisone. Then I called his mom. I was a little worried that this rash might be an allergy to something. My nurse practitioner sense told me that it was simply a contact dermatitis. But remember, I work in heart surgery, not primary care. What if he had eaten something that he was allergic to! My worst areas are dermatology and orthopedics. Blaahhh. Hate them both.
LJ's mom was pretty calm. She called her pediatrician who agreed with the hydrocortisone and a small dose of benadryl if he was really uncomfortable. LJ, true to form, took it in stride. I told him it was probably a combo of Florida sun, chlorine, and maybe something in the sunscreen. Unfortunately, that rash killed our outside plans for the day. I also ended up canceling our 10:30 adr at Ohana, just in case this rash got worse and I needed to go to a medical aide unit. That's when I realized I did not have of LJ's insurance info. Note to self - next trip bring insurance card copies, front and back!
So....stuck indoors.....what do we do to amuse ourselves?????? Actually, there was tons to do. We walked to the gift shop and LJ purchased his first Lanyard. We also looked at the list of the days activities. This is when I realized I could totally visit any of the deluxe resorts and not even set a foot in the park (well...maybe not ). We decided to visit community hall where they had some very inexpensive projects for kids to do. They also had Wii, foosball, pool, and computers. LJ decided to make a pin which cost all of $1. He was so pround of his pin and quickly put it on his laynard. The morning passed very quickly and soon it was time for lunch!
Up next.....lunch, a quiet afternoon, and an evening at Epcot!
Another reason for upgrading!
I hate that feeling when you are just going to sleep and someone wakes you. Its the worst. On top of that, DS jumps in our tub at midnight. Fortunately, I was so tired that I managed to drift off while DS was still in the tub. So fatigue won out over irritation!
Poor kid! He seems like such a mellow kid and takes everything in stride. Did your SIL panic when you called her? 
That is impressive! Isn't it fun re-discovering old favorites?
. Unfortunately, September was not working out date-wise for me -- Connor's birthday, rooms not available...
spectro, what a happy accident!
Sometimes a quiet day makes for a pleasant vacation, just not at the beginning of the trip.
