May 10, 2008 Ship of Thieves! Stealing the Magic..AGAIN!!! Panama Canal FL to CA!!! Part 4

[ibouncetoo]

Hey....I forgot to tell everybody...I BOUGHT NEW LUGGAGE yesterday!



nothing fancy...a set that was on sale at Bed Bath & Beyond. So, how many pieces can we have on the cruise?

ok....I'm going to go clean something now.....

 

[birkner]

Hope everyone has a beautiful Sunday. I get to go clean out my "storage" room at my office (oh, hope there aren't any of my "I bought that a long time ago" things in there ) because a new massage therapist is moving in on Tuesday The 3 we have right now are booked up for 3 weeks! This room is filled with all the stuff I am going to Ebay...yup, it's been sitting there for 3 year! Really, I will get around to it!

Don't feel bad about storage. After our last move, I still have 6 containers in storage that I need to go through. We are progressively scaling down our lifestyle toward retirement. With my Dad's passing in 2005, I accumulated a ton of stuff that I need to go through but have no place to store it here.

I am promising myself I will start taking stuff out of storage this summer and go through it but you know about the best laid plans of mice and men!!

 

[birkner]

Hey....I forgot to tell everybody...I BOUGHT NEW LUGGAGE yesterday!



nothing fancy...a set that was on sale at Bed Bath & Beyond. So, how many pieces can we have on the cruise?

ok....I'm going to go clean something now.....

I know it is really airline dependent if you are flying. SWA allows you three checked bags under 50lbs free. The trick is to keep them under 50lbs. It is amazing how fast the pounds accumulate when you are packing. If you are driving, I suppose the sky is the limit and storage in the cabin may be a problem

 

[ibouncetoo]

I know it is really airline dependent if you are flying. SWA allows you three checked bags under 50lbs free. The trick is to keep them under 50lbs. It is amazing how fast the pounds accumulate when you are packing. If you are driving, I suppose the sky is the limit and storage in the cabin may be a problem

Oh goodie, three checked bags is the answer I wanted! The two largest rolling and the tote. The tote is very rectangular and will hold a mess of shoes (something tells me I may be transporting and storing some of TiggersPal's shoes too!).

 

[nskjerven]

It was such a nice time at the anniverday party last night. They had a suite and at 5pm we all meet in their suite for drinks and snacks......looked out over the Blue Ridge and Sugar Loaf Mountain was right in front....so very beautiful. I was underdressed....most had on gowns and diamonds , But I have never felt comfortable dressing like that and I think I looked very nice.

Charley (the husband) had on a short sleeve shirt with a tie and no jacket....so at least I was more dressed up than him!!

At 7pm we went for dinner downstairs....lobster bisque, spinach salad, and then you could pick from 4 meals. I had salmon stuffed with scallops (still on my diet, so I am still trying to be careful).....dinner broke up at 11pm and I was exhausted. The entire group went to play pool and play darts (yes in the gowns) except me...I could not stay awake another minute and I had to get up at 3am to do the excursions for the Disney trip!!

My DH came into the room at 1:30am and I got up at 3am...It took me 1 hour to make the reservations and I did not get exactly what I wanted....many things were sold out. I had to reserve 3 staterooms for 6 excursions. I made 3Palo reservations ..... not much at all was left there.

We did not get VIP Pisa, so I may book a private excursion. It is the only one where you get to go up in the Leaning Tower....and my kids really want to do that.

Has anyone climbed the Tower of Pisa.......should this concern me?

The tower was closed when we went in October 2001. One month after 9/11 my parents took us for girls on our last family vacation. It now is a precious memory of time with my dad. The walk around PISA is beautiful.


Now it is 8:45am and we are usually up at 6am for church....so this is a very nice break for us!! DS17 is taking his sisters to church....and DH and DS17 have a charity golf tournament at 1pm.

Brunch is not till 11 and I am going in search of coffee now..

I really need coffee​

Lisa, sounds like a great overnight.

In California, you can call companies like these and have the inflatables set up in either your backyard or driveway. Don't they do anything like that in Lansing?

We have companies here who advertise all types of birthday celebrations choices in the local Parent magazine/newspaper.

We have had lots of blow up bounce houses for Wilson's parties, but we went to Pump it Up a few weeks ago and LOVED IT. The blow ups are bigger than the kind that you can bring to house sites and the activity is run for a certain time and then moved to the next "room" for different activity. Ending in a food room for cake and ice cream. It is rather pricey but so contained and well run. Wilson has asked for that for his party next year & yup okay by me, no fuss no muss at home during February, when it "can" rain in Sunny California.

However, some of us at the 'front' end of the baby boom have a hard time thinking of 'those 60's babies' as part of 'our' group...at least from a culture standpoint. I mean, please, they were just babies when the Beatles showed up! OF COURSE, if they had older siblings, they were still strongly impacted by the "kids in the 50's, teens in the 60's" culture...right TiggersPal? I remember the little boy who lived next door to us (it was '64 or 65) who's first word was 'stereo' and he could name all the Beatles (from the pictures on our bedroom wall) before he could name all his family members !

Hey I represent that comment! 'those 60's babies' as part of 'our' group...at least from a culture standpoint. I strongly idenify with the boomers not the Xers. More about lifestyle choices and less about the Beatles.

Well you are Generation X!! Typically, people born between 1963 and 1978 are generally considered "Generation X," while others use the term to describe anyone who was in their 20s some time during the 1990s

A bit of trivia. The term was first used in a 1964 study of British youth by Jane Deverson. Deverson was asked by the editor of the magazine Woman's Own to conduct a series of interviews with teenagers of the time. The study revealed a generation of teenagers who "sleep together before they are married, don't believe in God, dislike the Queen, and don't respect parents," which was deemed unsuitable for the magazine because it was a new phenomenon. Deverson, in an attempt to save her research, worked with Hollywood correspondent Charles Hamblett to create a book about the study. Hamblett decided to name it Generation X.

I love you finding all this background and educating us, thanks again wonderful

Laser Tag is sure better than the paintball tag I have played in team building exercises!!

http://paintball.com/

yup I agree it hurts, played once... in the 80's team building exercise at work. More like nail that person that makes you mad.

Congrats on all the chatting girls. Way to make 10K

 

[disneylover5]

What a wonderful evening you had!

Tower of Pisa: Yup, I climbed it. Nothing to be concerned about. I think I remember hearing that there was some restoration work done to add some sort of stabilizing braces or something to stop the tilting. This was after I went (I went in 1987 or 1988). But I do remember feeling slightly disoriented while climbing, but in a fun way.

So if I go to Pisa....should I really try to get a tour where the kids can climb it, in your opinion? Or is Pisa so cool it will be just fine to be able to pack a picture outside of it??

With the Euro at an all time record high, I am somewhat surprised that the excursions are selling out so quickly. But again, just as you posted this is a new deal for DCL so people are wanting to do more than they might normally do on a "regular" DCL cruise as they may not be getting back to Europe for some time. Just my thoughts...

Disney priced these excurions about 8 months ago....and when you do an excurion you pay in American $$$$...so no Euro exchange rates!! I don't think we will be spending many Euros...not sure though??

If we book a private tour, then we will pay and tip in Euros...I think we can do that in Pisa......so if anyone has an opinion on whether or not we need to climb the tower or just see it....I would love to hear about it!!

I think these excursions are selling out fast, as this is not a Caribean cruise....rest and relaxation...more of a sightseeing cruise. I did not understand this when I booked it......but I am glad I get to show my kids another part of the world...before they are gone out on there own!!

 

[disneylover5]

Brunch is not till 11 and I am going in search of coffee now..

I really need coffee​

Found coffee (YUMMY), watched golfers for 2 hours and read the newspaper (what a treat!!). Went to brunch (eat to much) they had oysters on the half shell and I think I had a dozen!!

Found out that the party moved back tot he suite at 1:30am when they were kicked out of the pool hall and at 3am the security had to close down the party....

They were so proud of themselves in ball gowns and having security knock on their door.!!

Don and Daniel are golfing and I am going to take a nap.....

 

[birkner]

So if I go to Pisa....should I really try to get a tour where the kids can climb it, in your opinion? Or is Pisa so cool it will be just fine to be able to pack a picture outside of it??



Disney priced these excursions about 8 months ago....and when you do an excursion you pay in American $$$$...so no Euro exchange rates!! I don't think we will be spending many Euros...not sure though??

If we book a private tour, then we will pay and tip in Euros...I think we can do that in Pisa......so if anyone has an opinion on whether or not we need to climb the tower or just see it....I would love to hear about it!!

I think these excursions are selling out fast, as this is not a Caribbean cruise....rest and relaxation...more of a sightseeing cruise. I did not understand this when I booked it......but I am glad I get to show my kids another part of the world...before they are gone out on there own!!

I think DCL is selling out quickly as you can pay in American dollars versus Euros. I would most definitely climb the stairs in Pisa!! What a great memory you will have. Check out the links I sent to you or call your TA for help.

Be sure you have REALLY comfortable walking shoes for sightseeing in Europe as you walk most of the time. I wore lightweight clothing with a sweater for most of our sightseeing. I used the Travelsmith website for Europe tips for clothing and packing.

http://www.travelsmith.com

 

[birkner]

Found coffee (YUMMY), watched golfers for 2 hours and read the newspaper (what a treat!!). Went to brunch (eat to much) they had oysters on the half shell and I think I had a dozen!!

Found out that the party moved back tot he suite at 1:30am when they were kicked out of the pool hall and at 3am the security had to close down the party....

They were so proud of themselves in ball gowns and having security knock on their door.!!

Don and Daniel are golfing and I am going to take a nap.....

Probably takes them back to the day when they were the last ones to close down a party!!

As for me, I wish I could be out golfing today with the kids but too much to do. They will be here in about an hour and a half so we shall see what is on the agenda.

 

[HollyTyler]

In California, you can call companies like these and have the inflatables set up in either your backyard or driveway. Don't they do anything like that in Lansing?

We have companies here who advertise all types of birthday celebrations choices in the local Parent magazine/newspaper.

I'm sure they probably do, but have never checked into it because we live on the edges of the city, where the houses are about 10 feet from each other, and my back yard would be way too small for something like that. It's a long back yard, but rather narrow.

 

[HollyTyler]

We have a similiar farm here in the SF Bay area called Ardenwood Historic Farms. Ardenwood Historic Farm which is home of the Patterson House and I quote:

Imagine 205 acres in the heart of Silicon Valley where time stopped about one hundred years ago. Imagine a fully functioning 1890's farm preserved in a modern world: a place for people to escape the stress of the modern daily grind.

The East Bay Regional Park District and the City of Fremont invite you to visit Ardenwood Historic Farm - home of the Patterson House. It's a place where people can:

Join in doing old fashioned farm chores.
Visit a cow or a sheep.
Try their hand at turn of the century crafts.
Sample a cookie freshly cooked in a wood burning stove.
Ride a horse drawn railroad.
Tour our fully restored Victorian farm house

The house itself is the site for many weddings.http://www.ardenwoodaffairs.com/

Here are a few websites to educate yourself about the house and grounds which are pretty interesting:
http://www.ebparks.org/parks/arden.htm
http://www.pattersonranch.net/about_patterson_ranch.html#Family

Ooooh, very nice!

 

[birkner]

A great video on Viddler for a day in the life type "A" mom and her family:

http://blog.viddler.com/cdevroe/heidiallen-tv/

 

[HollyTyler]

Glow In The Dark Mini Golf Party
Take your party on a mini-golf safari in Frank and Beans Putting Greens glow in the dark jungle. Their faces will light up with glow in the dark face paint as they play a round of mini-golf under our black lights and eat gourmet pizza in our private glow in the dark party room.
$275.00* Weekday (M-Th)
$320.00* Weekend (Fri-Sun)

Now that sounds super cool! Glow in the dark would be so fun!

 

[HollyTyler]

I've done Lazer Tag once (it was part of a team building (?) exercise from work). All I can say is....my many past lives as a warrior have totally burned me out on 'killing' people. So no need to worrry my fellow DISers...no internet axe murdered here! PEACE OUT!

 

[HollyTyler]

So if I go to Pisa....should I really try to get a tour where the kids can climb it, in your opinion? Or is Pisa so cool it will be just fine to be able to pack a picture outside of it??

Definitely climb it! It's something not many people can say they did. Looking back, I don't think I would have been satisfied just going to it and not going up, especially seeing others go up.

 

[birkner]

Funny thing just happened here a few minutes ago. DH was outside cleaning tables and bar-b-que by the pool. DD was taking a hot, hot shower. She opened the door from her room to the hall and set off the fire alarm. We scrambled and entered the code, shutting the system down.

In the interim, unbeknowst to us, the house phone rang. Of course, we could not hear the phone because of the fire alarm. The fire department shows up on our doorstep. DD is upset because firefighter is cute and she has no makeup on, so I have to answer door.

By the time she is presentable, firefighter is gone...morale of the story is put your makeup on before you set off the alarm.

Funniest part of all is I call alarm company who tells me is probably dust in fire alarm. They then tell us to get on a step ladder and blow the smoke detector out with the low setting on a blow dryer. DH says that probably causes more false alarms as most people probably use the heat setting.

I am going to let him deal with the smoke detector later today!!

 

[HollyTyler]

Funny thing just happened here a few minutes ago. DH was outside cleaning tables and bar-b-que by the pool. DD was taking a hot, hot shower. She opened the door from her room to the hall and set off the fire alarm. We scrambled and entered the code, shutting the system down.

In the interim, unbeknowst to us, the house phone rang. Of course, we could not hear the phone because of the fire alarm. The fire department shows up on our doorstep. DD is upset because firefighter is cute and she has no makeup on, so I have to answer door.

By the time she is presentable, firefighter is gone...morale of the story is put your makeup on before you set off the alarm.

Funniest part of all is I call alarm company who tells me is probably dust in fire alarm. They then tell us to get on a step ladder and blow the smoke detector out with the low setting on a blow dryer. DH says that probably causes more false alarms as most people probably use the heat setting.

I am going to let him deal with the smoke detector later today!!

I certainly understand your daughter's disappointment! Since Tyler likes to go to the fire station so often, I see TONS of cute firemen all the time. He used to ask me to take him once a week, since a little before he turned 2. Since last summer, he's mellowed out to about once or twice a month. But he still tells everybody he IS a firefighter.

Here's a picture of Tyler going for a short ride in a firetruck almost a year and a half ago:

And this is Tyler right before his birthday party last May:

Here are all the kids at his party on the firetruck that came. The kids all got to spray the fire hose....it was very cool!

 

[HollyTyler]

Another pic from Tyler's party last year. Tyler is the crazy one running through the spray from the hose! As you can see, the kids all had a blast!

 

[nskjerven]

Definitely climb it! It's something not many people can say they did. Looking back, I don't think I would have been satisfied just going to it and not going up, especially seeing others go up.

Since it was closed while I was there, we didn't have the chance, but to be honest while I was there I was a bit regretful, however now 6 years later I feel no regret.

There were lots of things to do while touring Italy the one thing I would have missed was the Gondolas in Venice. We loaded up the whole family mom, dad, and 4 daughters and had a lovely evening ride. It truely was a highlight to have mom & dad having been married for 53 years smootching at our request at the front of the boat.

Lisa, your trip is of course different in that your children are at the begining of their adventures and for us it was the enjoyment of the nearing end of my parents' life. Hindsight being what it is, seize the day and enjoy whatever you are presented climb if you can and if you can't you will nonetheless enjoy what you see there that day.

 

[lillygator]

We're back!


AND -------------------- DH ROCKS!!!

4 days of "training" and a bike his dad bought him when he was 20.....(now 42)......he WON his age group....and it's a BIG age group....I am so proud!!!

thats HOT!

no#1 baby!

this is the Olympian Hunter Kemper ---- will be there in 08...(my DH and Pat - my dad's GF)

my dad and hunter