Three Things...Gratitude Thread

[flyingdumbo127]

Good to see you, 1420Elexismc

 

[gardenrooms]

Happy Thursday Friends!

#1 - Our Pool - My favorite place to relax

#2 - Our Gazebo & Outdoor Furniture - I love sitting outside at night and watching TV.

#3 - My Puzzles - Working on puzzles is very relaxing for me. I just bought my new one and it’ll be delivered tomorrow. I hang my puzzles when they are completed. I have one frame and switch them out - they are all themed to different seasons. The one I just bought is a new winter one with a snowman ️

That's cool, where did you get the frame? I love puzzles, but haven't been letting myself do them because I SHOULD be doing other things. I may as well admit I'm going ti stall ad not do the other stuff and enjoy a puzzle now and then.

 

[gardenrooms]

I also enjoyed Creamsicles as a kid. Orange Julius's too.

Amen to orange hues in sunrises and sunsets.

I enjoy using colored flair pens in cards and notes, orange included.

Memories of a young preschooler whose favorite color was orange and likewise with a late elderly church friend.

Dad and I God willing have an orange plastic envelope filled with Hidden Pictures and Word Searches to enjoy doing on our Disneyland trip next May.

Ah, Orange Julius, they were so good! I didn't know DQ (Treat) still offered them! I'll have to go find one. They've been around forever!

 

[flyingdumbo127]

Enjoy, Gardenrooms!

 

[gardenrooms]

Some great answers yesterday. I have to add my magnetic glasses frame toppers with jack-o-lanterns on them. I love these frames! (I've bought too many toppers...).

For today, it's
1. floating in my pool (until it gets too cold - I bought a cheap wetsuit, we'll see if it does any good)
2. music - beautiful classical music, familiar tunes that bring up old memories (I love what they play at the pool at The Candy Cane Inn), lively music that makes me want to dance around, music that makes me cry (Nessum Dorma and half the songs from Les Miz get me every time), I could go on.
3. playing games with my DS (and sometimes the grandkids join in)

 

[bluecastle]

What is relaxing for me, a person with high anxiety and ADHD? Well, I know it sounds weird, but any sorting activity that doesn’t require a lot of thinking, like going through the mail or sorting laundry, is very calming and relaxing for me.

Watching old familiar TV shows.

Walking, and sometimes singing, while listening to music. If I am singing, then I am not thinking!

I used to find planning a WDW trip relaxing, but unfortunately that is way more stressful than it used to be.

 

[SpaceMan5]

1. My bed—my favorite place to relax
2. A beach chair pulled up to the edge with my toes in the water.
3. Curled up on the couch in the fall/winter with a cozy throw, a fire in the fireplace and something good to watch on TV.

Wow, that hit home for me. DW and I will comment on how much we love our bed when lounging on a Sat or Sun morning.
Just digging my toes in the sand...you get the idea
Yes, looking forward to the fall/winter months and for me it is reading a good book
Cheers mum!

 

[AustinTink]

Had a crazy day Wednesday, so I missed Orange things. Mine would be:

1) Burnt Orange- We’re a longhorn family. Hook ‘Em!
2) Mimosa- yummmm
3) My daily shot of Turmeric. It makes my aches and pains bearable.

Thursday Relaxation:

1) Vacation- I’m counting down the days till our next beach vacation.
2) Singing- Sounds weird but it relaxes me. When I’m puttering around at home I’m always either singing or humming.
3) A bubble bath- preferably with one of those mimosas I mentioned for Orange Wednesday.

 

[PollyannaMom]

Today's Topic (Fri, 8/16) - 3 things you're grateful for in or about amusement parks

 

[slo]

That's cool, where did you get the frame? I love puzzles, but haven't been letting myself do them because I SHOULD be doing other things. I may as well admit I'm going ti stall ad not do the other stuff and enjoy a puzzle now and then.

I bought it online. Since I use the same frame over & over I have to make sure my puzzles are all the same finished size, so I only buy my puzzles from 2 companies. The finished size of my puzzles are 30x24

 

[slo]

TGIF EVERYONE!

The only amusement park I go to anymore is WDW, so I’ll base my answers on that today….

#1 - Thrill rides - I have a lot of fun on thrill rides. I just have to be careful on Space Mountain because that always jacks up my neck for the rest of the day - LOL!

#2 - Gift shops - we all love going through the gift shops, and I think my husband likes going through them more than anyone. We don’t buy much, we don’t need anything - I’m trying to get stuff out of my house more than bringing stuff into my house - LOL! We just like to meander around and look at everything.

#3 - The Food - when we go to WDW, we always have a list of different foods that we want to try. We enjoy different snacks, and different counter service options, more than we enjoy the table restaurants. I do think that this upcoming trip, I may make a few more table service ADRs than last trip, but we’ll see.

 

[flyingdumbo127]

Happy Friday everyone! I am not a thrill ride person at all. Some things I love about Disneyland are:

Dad and I God willing are planning a Disneyland trip next May. Just being at Disneyland brings me a smile. What a blessing to be able to celebrate healthier times and yes my birthday too with my beloved dad and too.

Simpler times and the joy of being able to see so many smiles especially on kid's faces.

Favorite rides such as Dumbo, Pooh, and Alice. God willing one December I will also get to view Candlelight again.

 

[newski_mom]

1. Our closest park is Six Flags over St Louis - it's about 1 hour and 10 minutes from our house. When the kids were growing up, we would get season passes most years and go 2 or 3 times. The season passes are very reasonable and it was always a fun treat! We usually went once during their Halloween or Christmas setup too.

2. I love people watching at amusement parks - most everyone is happy to be there!

3. I love the rides and how they have rides for people of all ages!

 

[TiggerTrigger]

The options where I grew up - There were many years where we had season passes to Six Flags Great Adventure. In fact, my parents took me when I was 4...going on 5, because I was begging for Disney and it was the only thing they could do at the time. It was a quick drive from my aunt's house and not too far from our house down the shore, but we also had a few other options. My home town used to have a small amusement park. It had more carnival style rides, mini golf, and an arcade. My parents used to take us when we were little and it was a hangout for us as teens. We also had a number of boardwalk amusement options. My maternal grandparents used to take us to Keansburg and Asbury Park. Our summer house was closer to the Point Pleasant boardwalk and Seaside Heights (Jersey Shore fame). It was also great when these places started realizing that water slides and water amusements would be a hit. We used to drive to Beach Haven for a treat to ride their slide until Seaside, Point Pleasant, and I think Manasquan put in slides/parks.

Amusements during travel - While we'd go to Disney and some other spots in FL for bigger trips, my parents often liked taking us to upstate NY and Pennsylvania. Dutch Wonderland in Lancaster County keeps jumping out in my mind. Not quite Disney, but they did have a castle.

Roller Coasters - I love a good coaster. Don't get me wrong...I love how well everything is themed at the Disney Parks, but I love a good drop and an intimidating steel structure. My body doesn't love it anymore, but it has always been a dream to ride some of the big ones at Cedar Point. Millennium Force still looks amazing. Years ago, we were driving in Nevada (pre kids) and DH and I decided to stop and spend the night at Buffalo Bill's in Primm just so I could get in a few rides on Desperado.

 

[WDWEPCOT]

I grew up with Sux Flags and thought it was the greatest thing in the world until I went to WDW and discovered they are worlds apart - that first trip I did WDW / Universal Studios & Sea World and thought WDW was far superior then Universal- I have known since I was little I can’t ride big thrill rides - I’m your hold my stuff person so I enjoy …

Meeting people - I chat up other hold my stuff peeps and have a wonderful time meeting people or I people watch and that can be very entertaining catching snatches of conversation- oh the things people say

Shopping - while I’m holding your stuff I go shopping - ship it home !! No one needs to know what awesome Disney items I purchased while you were riding something I can’t ride

Ride the peopkemover !! So relaxing!!! I got to see Space Mountain once with ALL the lights on as it broke ( my peeps were in line ) and they shut it down and turned the lights on !! So cool !!! My peeps didn’t get to see it as they had been turned away !!

Wander the Park - ran into Joe Rhodes once wandering around AK waiting on my peeps early one morning- so excited I adore him !! He’s a Disney Legend !!!

I’ve had fun times just wandering around the Parks waiting on my peeps met a lot of nice people and got to see celebrities done times too !! Some times I just ride a ride I like over and over if the line is short

 

[gardenrooms]

What is relaxing for me, a person with high anxiety and ADHD? Well, I know it sounds weird, but any sorting activity that doesn’t require a lot of thinking, like going through the mail or sorting laundry, is very calming and relaxing for me.

Watching old familiar TV shows.

Walking, and sometimes singing, while listening to music. If I am singing, then I am not thinking!

I used to find planning a WDW trip relaxing, but unfortunately that is way more stressful than it used to be.

I like how you brought up mindless sorting activities. That's how I feel about making making cookie balls (i.e., bourbon balls and Mexican Wedding Cakes/Russian Tea Cakes). I usually make 12 dozen of each (among a zillion other holiday cookies) every Christmas, and I find it "zen", rolling and dipping in powdered sugar over and over. Very relaxing!

 

[gardenrooms]

Thank you slo for the info about the frame.

How cool. I would not have known this is National Roller Coaster Day without reading this thread!

Ever since I overcame my fear of County Fair rides, I have loved roller coasters! I feel lucky to live near two parks - The Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk (which has the wonderful old authentic woodie, The Giant Dipper) and Great America (which sadly will close within the next 11 years - probably 10 now), and within driving distance (6 hours) of DL.

First, I love the sound of people having fun! When we are lucky enough to stay at the VGC overlooking the park, I leave my slider open when I'm home so I can hear the joy and laughter while the parks are open and I even love hearing the CMs get the park ready for the day. When they turn on the music, I light up! (I so wish they hadn't removed the balconies at the DLH!). "My" (it's still mine even though I'm retired) school is only 2 blocks away from Great America, so one year when they had a great deal I bought a season pass just so I could go over after school and enjoy the people having fun!

I love getting to spend time with my family at theme parks - usually DL, less frequently WDW, and for the first time in years Great America (even at 75, I went on all the coasters, though I always insist on sitting on the left, my neck seems to prefer it lol). When my son was young and my mom was no longer with us, we would go to Great America for Mothers' Day (my first choice would have been DL, but that wasn't possible). Disney wanted to make a park all ages could enjoy, and he sure did. Great America is more thrill rides, but our littlest, only 6, loved RailBlazer, which I think is the most intense ride there (some of my students have other ideas). lol the 9 year old wouldn't go on it!

I love the music! The Disney parks and Great America play great themed music. It really gets you in the mood (ah, RSR, coming around the curve hearing that familiar music, walking through the castle hearing Jimminy Cricket singing "When You Wish Upon a Star, Fantasmic!, plus all the background music...), and some of the songs that have words I catch myself singing along. I don't recall music at The Boardwalk (except the bands they used to have on Friday nights - those were great), but they do have Laughing Sal, so I always stop by and laugh with her (she used to scare me at Playland-at-the-Beach, another wonderful old seaside park that was razed for boxy housing). And The Boardwalk has summer movies on the beach, so I have to throw that in. I always go see "The Lost Boys" if I'm in the area and grab a ride on The Giant Dipper for good measure.

Thank you for another fun topic!!

 

[AustinTink]

Amusement Parks!

1) Family tradition. We have gone every year to Disney (minus 2020) since our kiddo was 4. It’s our thing, our happy place and a great source of bonding.
2) Escapism. No one does it better than Disney when it comes to forgetting the real world for a brief moment in time.
3) Parades. You don’t see parades too much in the real world anymore and I love the fact that Disney still has them almost all the time. Our town when I was growing up had an annual week long celebration that included parades. It was my and my mom’s favorite thing to do. Back then, a bag of roasted peanuts in the shell and a parade = heaven.

 

[leebee]

Roller Coasters - I love a good coaster. Don't get me wrong...I love how well everything is themed at the Disney Parks, but I love a good drop and an intimidating steel structure. My body doesn't love it anymore, but it has always been a dream to ride some of the big ones at Cedar Point. Millennium Force still looks amazing. Years ago, we were driving in Nevada (pre kids) and DH and I decided to stop and spend the night at Buffalo Bill's in Primm just so I could get in a few rides on Desperado.

Funny story. DH loves coasters. He grew up near Cedar Point so he's been on a few of the biggies, and is always happy to accompany DD on the coasters at WDW/Universal. We were at CP once right after Millennium Force opened, but it was closed when we arrived. As we were passing by, they opened. My BIL said OMG, we gotta get on this NOW, so off they went with the 2 kids. DH said it was the scariest, best coaster he'd ever been on. Now... DH has a height-thing, which is always weird when considering coasters, but he says they go so fast that he doesn't notice. Everyone loved Millenium Force, chatting away as we headed towards the next attraction. We went around a bend and you could see the entire first big hill of Millenium Force, and DH almost passed out! He literally dropped to his knees when he saw how tall that first hill is! The folks at first aid got a good chuckle out of this when we went to get bandaids for DH's knees!

 

[leebee]

My favorite "thing" at amusement parks? BONINE!!! I can get motion sick in a swimming pool or bath tub, so I have to be very selective with what I ride. Bonine makes it possible for me to do most of the rides (although I don't do stuff with big drops). I have to be very careful with things like Dumbo and would never consider tea cups or Astro Orbiter. However, I can ride Big Thunder Mountain- my own personal thrill ride- the safari, Kali River Rapids, Pirates, Pooh, etc... none of which are possible without motion sickness pills! (screens kill me, though- thought I was gonna die on FoP!)

The great variety of foods and beverages to try. WDW is pretty much the only theme park we frequent, and you all know how many great food/snack/beverage options are available!

Stage shows, especially the ones at Disney as I think they are over the top. They also don't involve going in circles, drops, or screens...