Funroecation 16/17

We just returned from a great trip with lots of family!

Here are some random thoughts from our trip to Orlando

If you go to Disney and or Universal please make a plan.  It broke my heart to see frazzled parents and children at 1230 every single day trying to decide what they wanted to eat and by then the places were all so packed.

Pack snacks.  Alicia and Marisa and Kaitlin did this so well.  Your children and you will be hungry so throw in some cereal and peanut butter crackers etc.  William and Alicia had big carabiners on their stroller to hang snack cups on plus other necessities.

If you can read the newspaper through your stretch pants, don't wear them to Disney.  I was in a wheelchair and I saw lots of folks and I am so sorry I can't unsee some of those things.

There is a dragon on top of Gingotts in Harry Potter World and when he goes off and roars and the fire comes out, you will jump.  I jumped so high I scared the folks standing near me.

The child swap at Universal is usually a room to wait in which is nice.  At Disney it is a fast pass given which is a different kind of nice.

We were there the same weekend as the Disney marathon.  There is a 5K, 10K, a half and whole marathon.  The folks that wore their medals after the 5 and 10K cracked me up.  I got the feeling from them that they felt like they had beaten Usain Bolt at the Olympics.  Seriously.

Mr W loved watching the monorail.  We had no need to ride it.  Fairest had us ride it from EPCOT to MK one night so he could ride it. Heaven.  He was in heaven.

We rode the bus back to our motel one night with a group of runners from New Hampshire.  When the canned bus music played Sweet Caroline and they all sang with gusto, Carl and I joined in with them.  Thanks to Andrew we knew how the Bosox fans sing it!

We have lots more pictures!  Just ask if you want to see them.

Below is our Florida trip crew.  Several folks wondered how John could be in two places in one picture- John in the front and William is in the back.  William is John's cousin and they are often mistaken for each other.  They decided that for our next trip they will dress more alike to really mess with your mind!


Our first stop was to Atlanta to see Mr Precious and his parents.  Fairest enjoyed all the time she had playing with him.  The boy loves his vehicles!  We had a great time.  Lots of laughing and visiting and reading to Mr P.

My brothers came over with their wives and we celebrated Christmas.

We met up William and Alicia and ARose and Pandi and John and Marisa and Mr Wonderful and Miss Adorable at Universal.  We all loved the Butter Beer.

Some folks loved embracing their Slytheriness!  We bought wands and owls but no house robes.  Some of those folks take things real serious.

The Hogwarts ride was amazing.  You are sitting on a bench and Hermione casts a spell on it and you go for a ride.  Going through Dumbledore's office was too cool.  I closed my eyes lots so ask Kaitlin about the spiders and the dementors.

You get a marauders map with your wand purchase.  Here is Miss A checking it out.

We rode lots of roller coasters a Universal and ate lots of fun food then we headed to Animal Kingdom.  I took this pic as we were on the Safari ride and yes those guys are running right at us.  Our guide stopped our vehicle and they decided to go on the curved path----whew!  We all loved this ride.

My friend, Kathy Sawyer, made all the amazing Disney dresses for all the little girls and next time she may be making us all princess dresses.  If you need some sewing done contact me and I'll give you her info!

Anna and Elsa were due on the same day born two weeks apart two and 1/2 years ago.  It is fun to see their  cousin friendship grow.

The sheer joy that Mr W is feeling was so catching that I cried.  He loves Goofy and couldn't wait to have his picture made and to talk to him!

Our Fairest of them all got to meet another Fairest of them all.  Miss A loved her magic band which is your Disney room key, ticket into the parks and your fast pass.  In the picture below she is showing it to Snow White.  She showed it to everyone!

This was taken on our last day and it was very chilly and rainy.  Please notice my fashion statement of the socks and sandals.  My feet were so cold.  It was in the high 60's to start the day and after the rain it dropped to the 40's.  Marisa is holding Pandi in the carrier to keep them both warm.  That is the Beast's castle behind us.

French fries and hot dogs- yum!

 

 

Family Great Adventure 2015 1 of 63

Just kidding about 1/63.  I am not sure how many installments but it won't be 63.

I'm not sure when the idea for this vacation was born. My sister in law, Elaine, pictured below with Kaitlin knows all things Disney. A few years ago she said that she wanted to go on a Disney Cruise. I never really thought more about it until last year.  Elaine and I were talking in April of 2014 and we decided to make it happen!  We decided on Alaska and started looking at our options.  Before the end of April we had a travel agent, had booked our rooms, had downloaded the Disney app with the countdown map, had changed our week for our vacation to the following week and the excitement was building!!

We met up in April to plan our excursions.

 Suitcases were bought, passports were received and  Disney clothes were packed.   And then.....

We three left from our house at 3 on August 28th!

We met up with these four at the airport.  We were headed to Seattle via Dallas.

Andrew and Taylor couldn't join is on our trip but Andrew snapped this picture of Uncle John and Aunt Elaine before they boarded their flight to Seattle.

Fairest told Miss Adorable to hold on and she was very serious about this ride on the tram in Dallas

I forgot to ask Uncle Charles/Aunt Frances and my cousin Gary and his wife Lisa to snap a shot of them as they flew but we would meet them all on the ship in Vancouver!  Our party of 3 went to 7 then 9 then 13.  But first we did Seattle!!!!

Last Post on Dan and Becca

 On Tuesday of our trip we started with breakfast in Yountville at a wonderful bakery.  The pastry you see to the right was divine.  My mouth is watering just writing this.

 This was our Tuesday group.  Carl's boss set up an itinerary for activities for the day.  We shopped, ate, visited, ate some more and laughed.

 We met at 1 for a wine tasting at Silver Oak Winery.  I am not a wine drinker but I really enjoyed the tour.  Our guide was very knowledgable and answered all the questions our group had.













The Winery we visited stores its wine in Missouri white oak barrels.  The cooper who makes the barrels for the Silver Oak winery has an affiliation with SPP.

 On Wednesday several of us visited the spa at our motel.  It is a hard job but someone has to do it!  Here I am in the waiting room as I read and drink my water.  I had hand and foot reflexology done and then got my hair washed and curled.  It was two hours of painfreeness and that is magic.

 Here is the room where the reflexology was done.

 We had supper with the whole group that Carl was meeting with on Wednesday night out on the veranda.  I even met a man who works in NY but is from TN and knew someone who went to Woodlawn High School in Birmingham, AL.  I WENT TO WOODLAWN HIGH SCHOOL IN BIRMINGHAM, AL.  It is truly a small world.

 Rainier cherries.  We bought them at a fruit market in San Francisco.  They were wonderful.

 This is the meetings Carl was attending

 

Our tickets

 We ate here twice and mmmmmm.

 Carl and I getting ready to get on the cable car.

 The America's cup will be in San Francisco

 This is one end of the cable car line.  This man has a hook that he is pulling the car around to get it headed in the other direction.

 Coit Tower on the top of Telegraph Hill.

 When we were at Pier 39 the first time, we saw a cruise ship and I fondly remembered the cruise that my brother, Charles and his wife, Frances took Kaitlin and I on 10 years ago.  Kaitlin has decided that in 2 years, she and Carl need to celebrate a birthday year and as a part of it, we need to do another cruise.  We are thinking about a Disney Cruise.  Kaitlin, Aunt Elaine and I are reading all we can and watching every show we can on Disney Cruises.  The second time we were in San Francisco the cruise ship that was docked there WAS A DISNEY CRUISE SHIP. I wanted to get a picture of it for Kaitlin and Aunt Elaine.  Carl and I were up by Coit Tower when the ship pulled away.  Instead of the usual deep horn blows that most ships give off when they depart, the Disney ship sounded the first six notes of 'When you wish upon a star'!!!  I was a puddle!  Carl not so much!!!

 Here is where the Giants play!

 Carl and I had an uneventful trip home.  We didn't feel the earthquake at all.  I am so thankful! Now I plan to read up on my California history and learn about the wine making.

Here is a sign that I hadn't seen before!

Daniel and Rebecca Part III, going north

I was so excited to see an In-N-Out burger that we ate lunch there!  It was yummy!

My brother, John, enjoys segway tours. John, you could tour San Fran that way!

 Oh yes, we shared a sundae at Ghirardelli's.  It was so good.

 My cute date/ tour guide for our trip!

The Pacific Ocean!

















One of Rodin's Thinkers.

We drove all over the city.  We parked by the beach for a few minutes and watched the waves.  Not a lot of folks swimming because the water is so chilly.

 Here is the gate into China Town.

 This sign is for Carl and Kaitlin and all of you horn honkers out there!!!!!!!  I just laughed when I saw it!

More pictures of the Bay.

What you see out in the water is Alcatraz.  It looks ominous!

The tallest tower you see in the picture on the right is Coit Tower.   It is at the top of Telegraph Hill.

Scoma's is one of Carl's favorite restaurants.  It is a local restaurant and you have to know where you are going to get there.

Carl loves the clam chowder and the Cioppino.

I got Risotto with Prawns.  It was wonderful!











Here's is what Carl's Cioppion looked like.

After supper we headed to Napa Valley, California.  The reason for our trip was a business trip Carl had to Napa Valley.  His meetings were held at The Silverado.  It was really nice!!!!!

I don't know what I expected California to look like but I was delighted and surprised with every turn.  Everywhere we turned in Napa there were rows and rows of grapes.  We saw new sprigs, teenagers and full grown adult plants.  I learned at the wine tasting that we did, that Napa is a unique valley.  Because of it's location it gets cool every night- 40's or 50's, and the day time temps can get warm.  They have a few 100 temp days, a few more 90 degree days, many 80 and 70 degree days.  We also saw large fans in the fields.  Those are to blow away the frosty mist that would settle on the grapes and damage them.

The final picture is from our motel room.  We had a beautiful view.

Whenever we are out and folks are taking pictures I always try to offer to take pictures of groups who need someone to take a picture so the whole group can be in the picture.  Most folks let me but were stunned that I offered.  When we were in Napa, I offered and the lady with the camera asked if I was from the south.  I told her yes I was!  She said that she wasn't surprised because that seemed like good southern hospitality.  Way to go Southerners!