Disney, Mea Culpa

Like with most people my childhood experiences framed my prejudices and opinions. And for the most part I was right. Some of these opinions include the following: no matter how often you watch it Ghostbusters is always funny, radishes are the worst vegetables God created, and don't get too attached to your animals because your dad just might make them your next meal.

While the above are true, I was wrong when it came to Disney. I always thought that Michael Eisner would reveal himself to be the anti-Christ, and that Disney's goal was to subvert the world of cinema and create a child army to overthrow the government. In my early year's Disney's only redeeming quality was that their animated heroines were always scantily clad.

How wrong was I! Disneyworld is the greatest place on earth! I know that he told me I was wrong but I still am surprised that Waldo was right. As I'm the "Hobbit" version of him, I should have guessed he was right.

For the record no this was not a staged photo, we just happened to be wearing identical outfits.

By far the best part of the trip was the Tower of Terror...or was it Aerosmith Rockin' Rollercoaster....or was it the Safari? I loved it all, and the German beer-garden was tremendous. Thanks Waldo and Jen.


Here's some more pics:

If only we'd been in costume. Though I don't think the rebel alliance made uniforms to fit my fat butt.

However I could have given the midget in the R2-D2 suit a run for his money

How can you resist that smile. Jooj was very well behaved the entire time she was with us. What a camper.




Not to be out done the Eng kids were equally cute, although I don't think anyone would think any of the children belonged to us.

I guess there are three morals to our trip: 1. It is possible for me to be wrong!!! (I know, right?) 2. Vacationing is best when done with good friends! 3. People think a gringo in a Mexican Wedding Shirt is funny.

And since I'm waxing Latin in my Mexican Wedding Shirt here's a little Buena Vista Social Club.

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My Conversion Story

No, I am not going to get all churchy on all of our readers--I leave that to husband. I'm talking about a whole nother sort of conversion.

The thought of a trip to a Disney park has never appealed to me in the least. I thought I would end up paying a bunch of money to stand in line with other people's whiny children. The food would be expensive and not up to par for my tastes. The rides would not be worth however long I would have to wait before I got a turn. It was for all of these reasons that, though I was excited to see the Galans I was not thrilled that they wanted to meet in Orlando.

Until last Wednesday. I was right about one thing about Disneyworld. We did end up nearly breaking the bank on admission alone, but Jen explained that when at Disney, the dollar is like play money. But I was way wrong about the rest. Because of the fast pass that was available at most rides and the single rider line, the longest I had to wait in line was 1.25 hours for the brand new Toy Story Ride but the talking Mr. Potato head kept up entertained for much of that wait. We went to Animal Kingdom and Epcot on Wednesday and Hollywood Studios and Magic Kingdom on Thursday. Then we spent Friday at the pool at the condo and Alissa even brought the kids down to join us. My skin is now peeling off my shoulders.

I know that this post is getting close to being as long as some of husband's but here are some of the highlights from the trip as far as I can remember (in no particular order):
1. Seeing old friends who could never be replaced. I don't think we will ever have a social circle as great as the one while we were newly married in Utah.
2. The Eng children calling husband George.
3. Guitar Hero even though I suck and husband is only serviceable at the game.
4. The condo we stayed at, pretty much the greatest way to travel.
5. Going to the Orlando Temple.
6. Reminiscing about the good old days both from growing up times and the days in Provo when we were newly married.
7. Playing the game "Who's checking out Danielle" (the teen the Galans brought to babysit while we went out just the grownups at night.)
8. The fact that husband rode (and enjoyed!) the rides with me--even the fast ones.

We have not taken the photos off the camera yet so you'll have to wait for those.
We're already planning our next trip.

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Happy Summer

Our summer is fixin' to be absolutely crazy so for fear of not being in touch until the fall, here is a little update of recent happenings and what we'll be about over the next six weeks or so.Our most recent set of fosters are now gone. I'm always a little sad and a lot relieved.

We chaperoned a youth temple trip in Palmyra yesterday and now we are known as the cool couple in the ward. This will certainly be an asset and liability in the future. Today we went out the Cooperstown area to visit friends. We leave Tuesday after work for Florida to see the Galans (including their 3 year old daughter we have never met) and the Engs (whose three youngest children we have never met). The weekend after that it is off to Boston to say farewell to John and Mia and boys. For Independence Day we are again going to State College PA for the best hamburgers I have found, EVER. And to see the Collins. The weekend after that we will be in NYC for a Mets game with my folks and to visit the Vogelmans. After that we will spend a weekend in the Palmyra area with friends from the Paris mission, circa 1996-1998.
A week after we get home from that I take off for my annual week in Syracuse.
All this while I am taking a class. Can't wait until I'm done after November.
And we're finally putting the deck on the back of the house. A deck party will be had once we are home enough.
I made my German Chocolate Cake from scratch just a few weeks ago. I will be doing more cooking come December.

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