thanks to everyone for the kind wishes and inquiries about marissa. she is doing well and returned to school today-although she fell asleep on the reading sofa during lunch and did'nt awake until school let out at 3 p.m. (her teacher was forewarned this morning that marissa's energy level expectations far exceeded reality, and given that it's a one room school with less than 30 kids they willingly accommodated her
. she's bummed that she will have to miss out on her week at summer camp, but our neighbor with a new beautiful built in pool brightened her up with an offer of evening swims once the orthopedist gives the green light. we're also going to try and get in a short trip to santa cruz beach/boardwalk in august, so she will have some fun before school starts up again. now i just have to start researching the internet for
travel insurance and plan on paying for the policies that exclude preexisting conditions (since we were told it would take at least 6 months for the bone to get to a point of normal density, i'm not taking any chances of having to deal with an out of state or out of country emergency).
thanks for the info. on wdw, and the various excursions- i will surely have more questions. i don't anticipate doing any character meals, we'll get our fill of characters on board (although on both our prior wdw trips we found "chef mickeys" at the contemporary a relaxing and enjoyable meal. i think both times we booked for the last seating in the evening so the crowds were minimal, and the characters were alot more accessable. i do want to check out animal kingdom lodge, and sounds from your posting that it could offer some good non theme park activities (marissa will try any food, spencer on the other hand is definatly in the mac n cheese crowd).
DISNEYLAND? SOMEONE WANTS INFO. ON DISNEYLAND? finaly a subject a westcoaster can help with. anything in particular that you want to know? will you being staying on site or off? the major difference you will find is that disneyland is what wdw calls "the magic kingdom" on a larger scale (in fact our first trip to wdw's magic kingdom left us referring to it as "honey, i shrunk the kingdom") with some of the rides that are at mgm and epcot. there is fairly recent addition of california adventure and the downtown disney area, but disneyland proper is still the orignal portion of the park. you will find that some of the rides are the same but larger in scale (it's a small world is massive in comparison with wdw's, and the haunted mansion is more spread out-also a completly different architectural design on the outside). sleeping beauty's castle unlike wdw does not have a restaurant area, however there is the matterhorn mountain which you will go inside and have a great ride.
fantasmic is another experience at disneyland unlike wdw's-it's not in a stadium, it's done on the waters that surround tom sawyer island and bank up near bear country. people sit on the grassy areas and watch the projections appear on huge sprays of water and mist (very nice on a hot summer night since we are of the dry heat climate). as far as tips go-i'll give you my top, and let me know any areas of specific interest for which i will do my best. here it is-at disneyland the pirates of the caribean ride begins in bayoo country, floating past shacks and a large patio with twinkling lights. the twinkling lights are the candles on the tables of one of the most popular restaurants at disneyland-the blue bayoo. it has wonderful food (both for adults and kids) and because it shares the space with pirates-the ceiling looks like a star filled sky (you also get to watch people floating along on the pirates ride). it is wonderfully cool, and is a must for us on every trip. the restaurant does not take advance reservations, so people immediatly upon entering the park go to make their same day reservations.
enuf for tonight-glad to hear that dis nurse will have sufficient bedding in her cabin (we too have "bed hoppers" but have found that disney smartly locates their in cabin t.v.'s with a better view from the kid's beds, so they tend to stay put on these trips).
barkely
Me too! 
I picked mine up hot off the belated (Oregon) press today and I have never seen anything so cool! I am headed to work for the holiday weekend......yup...someone's got to take care of the precious premies in the NICU!. I plan on scouring the new 3rd edition from cover to cover on my "down" time in the next few weeks.
When times are tough and things seems a little "off", I just think of our DCL cruise and everything seems okay, somehow! 
but based on my 2 pregnancies, i can say that as far as comfort goes i would much rather be at the tail end of a pregnancy in the winter or spring months rather than in the full heat of summer (i can still recall wondering if our first child would be born rainbow tinted due to the number of boxes of popcicles i went through in the last month of my pregnancy 
).
.
Just a few thoughts Barkley......we are very interested in Captain Nautica's (speed bost) snorkel adventure on St.Thomas. I have read and heard lots about it.....no chance for sea sickness (catamarans swaying in the sea made us so sick in Hawaii!) and they take you to two or three PRIMO snorkel spots and the times are early or noonish. I am up against the age thing....DCL wants 8 yo and up but I have already contacted the owner of Captain Nautica and he said he can get me by that rule if DCL hears from him directly and my DS is a strong swimmer. Either way, everyone wears a life vest the entire time and he said I wouldn't believe the crazy poor swimmers that freak out in open waters his crew deals with!
I'm sending some more pixie dust her way 
!
Everyone -- Which is an idea for those of you whose kids know about the cruise, (and us adults that won't grow up) why not grab post cards from your summer trips and write them to a secret pal to exchange on the ship. (We can at least get the geography 
lesson in while they are out of school....
