Farm, Ice, Fish and Halloween

I need to get better about posting on a daily basis again so that the post is more focused and not so scatterbrained. On Monday evening I had a College of Agriculture Faculty and Staff picnic. The picnic is always held at the WVU Livestock farm. The kids love it because when we are done eating and visiting we head up the hill to the barns to look at all of the animals. We went through the dairy cow, cattle, sheep and pig barns. The kids really enjoyed seeing and petting the baby Holsteins.




Today was a great day. I came home early from work and I brought dry ice home from my lab. The kids enjoyed playing with it while they were doing their homework.


After dinner, Michael, Sam and I went out to the WVU Agronomy Farm (this is the farm where I do my research) for a cub scout activity that I had arranged to go fishing at our pond. This pond is the perfect kid fishing pond, we keep it stocked with bluegills, bass and catfish. Basically every cast, you catch a fish which keeps the kids excited about fishing. Sam caught his first fish tonight and Michael had no luck, the fish kept eating his worms off from his hook. All of the boys from pack 74 had a blast.



Today we were able to get most of the cemetary fence up in our side lot. That's right, Halloween is right around the corner and I am getting ready for my favorite non-Christian holiday. I made a fence that runs nearly 40 feet across our front lot and then curves toward the house with a gate in the front yard. I plan on making 15 - 20 tombstones to go into the graveyard. I also received my pneumatic scarecrow in the mail which when activated lunges toward people passing by. I am thinking about converting it to be a skeleton and placing it on the edge of the cemetery so it fits with the theme more. I am very excited about Halloween and I hope to get a few more screams this year.

Vote Obama '08, Just Kidding!

We were at Kmart yesterday and we found Obama campaigning there and we caught him picking his nose. I don't think I can vote for a candidate that spends his day picking his nose at Kmart. We also found Hillary walking about as well. I don't think she has accepted the fact that Obama did not pick her for VP.

Last Bit of Magic

Thursday, Sept 11th was our last day at the Magic Kingdom and our last day going to the parks. We tried to get going early because it was an Extra Magic Hour for the Magic Kingdom. Going to the parks was fun, we met a lot of people from all over the US and the world. We met a nice family from Cedar Rapids, IA who had a daughter Sam's age. We briefly spoke with them while waiting for the bus a few days before. We ended up waiting for the bus again on Thursday and decided to go around a bit of the park together. It was fun watching the kids make friends while at Disney. It truly is a magical place.

As we were walking into the park we were able to meet Mary Poppins and Bert. It is so cool to interact with the characters, especially 'live' people and not ones in full body costumes. Mary and Bert both spoke with British accents and asked how our holiday was. We also met the Mayor of Main Street, U.S.A and Dan really wanted to get his picture taken with him. He cried as we walked pass him and I had to run back with him so he could get it. It cracked me up. The Mayor and Dan really hit if off.



We went straight to Tomorrow Land since we had been through the entire park the previous two days. We asked each of the kids what their favorite rides were so that everyone would be able to ride their favorite one more time. Everyone's favorite rides were in Tomorrow Land and Fantasy Land. We rode Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin and I was able to get the highest score that is possible on the ride. We then headed back to the Indy Speedway because I didn't get tossed around enough by the kids driving the first time. Again, we did the rider switch so we were able to go around the track twice without getting out of the cars. We went on Mad Tea Party a couple more times. Again, while we were on the tea cups, Alice and the Mad Hatter got on the ride and road with us. Prefect timing. Dan and I road together and he is a great spinner because he doesn't turn it much. We had a late lunch scheduled which was perfectly timed to be right after the parade so we headed over to Frontier Land. As we entered Frontier Land we ran into Woody and his gang. The kids really love Toy Story so they enjoyed seeing everyone. After the Round-up we went on Splash Mountain and Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. Becca loved both of these rides and she was the only one that would ride them a second time when Jen and I did the rider swap pass. I was able to get a great picture of Jen and Becca going down the big plunge on Splash Mountain. We also took a stroll over to Tom Sawyer's Island. I really could have done without this but I was able to get a great picture of the Haunted Mansion (one of the Magic Kingdom's best rides of all time) from the island. After this we headed back to Main Street U.S.A. to find a seat for the parade. The parade was great, it is always a treat to remember how fun a parade really is (we can be seen in the reflection of the mirrors from the float below Chip). During the parade, Goofy spotted Michael with his Goofy hat on and pointed to his own hat and gave Michael two big thumbs up and a huge wave. Michael was so happy to see that Goofy noticed him and interacted with him from a parade float going by. After the parade we headed over to lunch with Winnie the Pooh and Friends at the Crystal Palace.

Again, lunch was outstanding. The food was great, the service was great and best of all we met all of the Hundred Acre Woods characters. Sam was ecstatic (see his face in the first picture below when Tigger came out to meet everyone, a priceless picture) because he finally was going to meet Tigger, his favorite character. He had purchased a Tigger hat just for this meeting so he could get it signed by him.








While we were eating it began to rain. This time it didn't finish while we were eating. We looked for a few placed to go so that Dan and Becca would get a nap and we could stay dry. We ended up riding two of my least favorite rides at Disney, Torrowland Transit Authority and Carousel of Progress. At least we stayed dry and the kids enjoyed the ride.

We stayed late for the Spectromagic Parade which was really beautiful and for the fireworks. This time we followed the advice that I found online and watched the fireworks from behind the castle. This was the perfect spot. Instead of 30,000 people standing shoulder to shoulder there were a couple hundred of people watching them there. Becca fell asleep but Dan was wide awake since he had a nap earlier. We bought ice cream sundaes and sat waiting for the fireworks to start. While we were waiting I asked the boys if they wanted to ride Dumbo one last time and they all were excited. We timed it perfectly because while we were riding, the fireworks started and we had fireworks going off over our heads while we were on the ride. Jen and I both agreed that this was one of the best firework displays we had ever seen especially with the lack of people as well. It was an absolutely perfect way to end the day and our trip to Disney World.

Another Magical Day

Wednesday, Sept 10th was our second day in the Magic Kingdom. We made sure we woke up early so we could see the opening ceremony for the Magic Kingdom. Being there for the opening ceremony made this day very special. The kids really loved seeing their favorite characters welcome them into the park. They enjoyed picking up the Mickey confetti that was blasted out toward the crowd when the park opening countdown zero from ten. Dan carried a pocket of it around all day.



Today we decided to go the opposite way in the park and start with Adventure Land. It was a great choice because again we walked onto every ride and even stayed on rides to go a second time. We rode The Magic Carpets of Aladdin several times, we walked right on with 0 minutes wait time for the Jungle Cruise and Pirates of the Caribbean. I was able to get a nice picture of the kids outside of the Pirates of the Caribbean pretending to be pirates. We did have to wait about 10 minutes to get into the Enchanted Tiki Room. The kids really enjoyed running through the Swiss Family Treehouse. When we came out of the Swiss Family Treehouse we ran into Captain Hook and Smee. It was fun watching the Captain sign his autograph with only one hand. The kids were able to meet Peter Pan and Wendy and get their autographs as well. From Adventure Land we headed toward the front gates of the Magic Kingdom because we had lunch reservations at Chef Mickey's in the Contemporay Resort. On the way out of the park we were able to watch the new 'Dream Along with Mickey' musical stage show that they have on stage in front of the castle. Becca really enjoyed this because it had all of the princesses in the show as well as Peter Pan (also one of her most favorite characters).








We took the Monorail to the Contemporary Resort from the Magic Kingdom to go to Chef Mickey's. This restaurant was a lot of fun. It was a buffet where we were able to meet Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Pluto and Goofy at our table. Each character interacted which each one of the kids and then posed for a picture. Our waitress informed the Executive Chef at the Contemporary Resort that we were from WV and he stopped by our table to chat because he was from Morgantown, WV. He asked where we lived and he knew exactly where our house is even though he left Morgantown in 1979. As the song goes from my most favorite ride (this is sarcasm), 'It's a small world after all, It's a small world after all, It's a small, small world'. While we were at Chef Mickey's the rain clouds opened up and dropped a big rain shower. We decided that since the fireworks were not until 9 PM that we would hop back to the resort and let everyone have some downtime. We went back for about 2 hours and then headed back to the park which was now fairly empty because of the rain.








We finished off the rest of Fanatasy Land including Michey's PhilharMagic which is a 4-d movie (you use 3-d glasses and they blow air, water and smells at you during the movie). The kids loved this movie, everyone but Dan. Dan didn't quite understand that the items flying at his face were not real and he was not amused with this concept. We went on Cinderella's Golden Carrousel again, this time I was able to get a picture of Becca riding Cinderella's horse (her horse is the one with the gold ribbon on the tail which is the only one on the carrousel with one). We were able to make it all awake to see the 'Wishes' Fireworks but Becca was begining to melt down. I was able to get some neat night pictures of the castle just before the fireworks began. And this was the end of another magical day.