International Book Week

I'm in the hotel in Cocoa Beach and we are trying to figure out what to do today since it is not sunny and hot like we wanted (Today was supposed to be a pool/beach day). However I found out that today falls in International Book Week. So in honor of that I am linking up to a few of my favorite reads. Enjoy!

The Secret History

The Runestone Saga (Includes The Fetch, Vendetta, and Possession)

A Song of Ice and Fire (The Game of Thrones Series)






I have read all of the above books multiple times. That is how they get on my favorites list. So use the rest of International Book Week to curl up with a good book.

See Ya Real Soon!

Away

Sorry for the lack of posts y'all! I'm currently doing some time at Universal Studios with my mom before a cruise. I will be back to blogging normalcy in October. There may be a random post or two depending on the hotel's wifi but if not I will think of you in the Caribbean!

 

 See Ya Real Soon!

 

Disney Day 2: More Magic Kingdom

Today was our big meet and greet day. We had an early breakfast at the Crystal Palace. This place gets a lot of negative reviews for bad food, but neither Will nor I had any complaints. In fact I have a lovely photo of my breakfast to share with you!

We have yummy strawberries and cream, Pooh's french toast, a 'western' breakfast pizza, some corned beef hash, and my absolute favorite vacation breakfast treat: smoked salmon, capers and onions. YUM!

After we had eaten (barely) the characters began to come around. The first was my personal fave, Eeyore:

Then came Piglet:

Then came Tigger:

After Breakfast we ran over to Thunder Mountain and then Splash Mountain. Then we did the Shootin' Gallery and It's A Small World. Ready?

WHEW! That was fun. I just got the song out of my head! Next thing we did was peruse around a dump shop where Will found this lovely hat.

I won't tell him it's here if you won't. After that we had lunch somewhere (I don't remember) and Will had his first Dole Whip EVER!

Since I am so so so allergic to pineapple I did not have any of this amazing treat. Instead I had a regular old Coke float. After an unsuccessful trip back to the Lodge to go swimming we decided to go back over to the Kingdom and finish up a few rides.

We went on Buzz Lightyear and I SO WON!!! I have the photos to prove it too:

That will never happen again because I have NO IDEA what happened. None at all. Will still thinks that I know some secret target that I was able to hit, but nope no skill here just pure unadulterated luck. That's how I roll.


Next Up EPCOT!

See Ya Real Soon!

Disney Day 1: Evening in the Magic Kingdom

When we were almost to the Magic Kingdom, I noticed the ominous clouds that were starting to gather. I was a little worried that our jaunt to check out new Fantasyland was going to be cut short.

We got off the boat and we immediately headed to see Mickey and Minnie. Check out the banner for our sweet pics.

Then we went and did Pirates to see the new dog. It wouldn't be different if I hadn't of known that the dog at the end had been swithched out for a new dog. Oh well.

Then we went and had dinner at Columbia Harbour House. Yum! I got some ok pictures of the progress of the new Tangled-themed bathrooms and meet and greet.

After that was Peter Pan. This is Will's favorite ride so we were especially excited to see that there was no wait at all to ride! Usually there is at least a 40 minute wait.

Here is a super blurry cellphone photo of the gates to the New Fantasyland. They look almost done! We are so excited! You have to walk through the gates to get to the parts that are open. Will wanted to see the new Splash Pad so off we went!

By this time we were beginning to really worry that it was going to begin to storm. We ran over to Tomorrowland to ride the Peoplemover and then we went back to the boat dock and went back to the Lodge.

Stay tuned for Day 2!

See ya real soon!

Disney Day 1: Arrival to the Wilderness Lodge

WARNING: This post is long and photo heavy!

On September 5 we got up at 3am and were out the door by 4. We did our traditional stop for breakfast in Whiteville and then I promptly fell asleep. Boring looooong drive later we are arriving in Orlando right on schedule so we decided to stop at the Disney outlet on I-4 and see if there were any good deals (there were).

However what we thought would be a 5 minute detour ended up a 10mph 45 minute trip through the one road with every school in Orlando on it. Did I mention that it was the end of the school day when we were there? EVERY school had let out at the same time and there were children EVERYWHERE! They were just moseying down the middle of the street!!  Will got super excited when a bunch of what looked like elementary school students looked like they were starting their own version of Fight Club. But alas one of the dozens of crossing guards intervened and we were stuck without entertainment. I am still upset with myself for not taking any pictures, but I was too busy watching what was going out outside our car. I tell you it was unlike anything I had ever seen.

OK so after the outlet store we decided to head on over to Disney. I also didn't take any photos of the entry way this trip so you will have to make due with one from 2010. It still looks the same. Promise.

Arriving to the Wilderness Lodge was the most amazing thing ever! If you ever get a chance to stay there I highly recommend it! The Wilderness Lodge has the cutest Guardhouse ever!

All of the guards were very nice, and it was interesting to see that inside the house was a very homey area for them to work. They had their own microwave, coffeemaker and a water cooler. Just a random musing on my part. It's hard not to be nosy at Disney!

When you arrive at the Wilderness Lodge you feel like you are not in Florida, but you are in the middle of a National Park. You cannot see anything that would suggest that you are in the swamplands of the Southern United States.

 When we arrived at the entrance to the resort we were greeted by a cast member who took us to the check-in desk. We were in room 7127, which is to what I understand one of the greatest rooms on that floor. Only one other standard room has the view that we had. What view you may be asking? This one!

Would you be suprised that we never even used that pool once? Ugh, it's definitely one of my biggest regrets of the trip. Every time we would come back from the park specifically to swim AT THE POOL, I would be changing into my swimsuit and Will would be: "Don't bother it's raining now. They cleared the pool." Seriously, every time. Aaaand here's our view to the left:

Not much to look at here, but you can see the other side of the lodge. The lodge itself is so absolutely massive. I wish we had more time to just explore. The first thing we did after unpacking was head to the lounge for some snacks. I had a coffee and a magic bar. The coffee was good but I just didn't like the magic bar. Will had a Coke and some gummy bears. I swear he is just a big kid.

It was still somewhat early (about 5:30) so we decided to hop on the boat and ride over to the Magic Kingdom. The Wilderness Lodge makes it so easy to get there!

OK y'all seeing as how this post is super long I will end it here and take up tomorrow with our first trip to the Magic Kingdom of this trip!

See Ya Real Soon!

Thought For Today

I have been rather crafty lately. I made a skirt the day before yesterday, some scented rice bags yesterday for a sore back, and today I started a quilted pillowcase and I made some Disney-themed art for my home. My Pooh quote is below. Enjoy!!

 

See Ya Real Soon!

 

Mr Sandman, Bring Me A Dream

I am literally surrounded by sleeping people. My dog is asleep, my husband is asleep. I am not.

I don't know what's up but my sleep schedule has been non-existent since mid July. I've tried Tylenol PM, Chamomile tea, warm milk, staying up all night and then trying to reset myself the next night, nothing has worked. Oh the horrible late-night TV I've seen in the last month.

If circumstances were different (aka if I still had health insurance) I would just run over to the Dr and get fixed up, but alas I can't. Hubs will be purchasing the new NyQuil Sleep whatever today when we go to the grocery store. We'll see if that works.

I.Am.So.Tired!

See Ya Real Soon!

Handywoman

Hubby and I have a door that has never really worked properly since we moved in, in December. . . . Of 2009.  75% of the time I'm the only one that can get the door open.

It's easy, really, you only have to jiggle the knob while slightly tugging towards you and at the last minute pull the knob out of the socket and voila! You have one open door. Did I mention that it's loud? Really loud, especially at night when Beauty has to go out.


Step One 
Assemble Supplies

A Drill, having the bits that go with the drill is preferable, in our house we call this a miracle.

Also necessary is the new doorknob.






Step Two
Remove Old Hardware

PLEASE remember to OPEN the door before you take the knob off. Just sayin' a 5 minute panic is not worth the oversight... Plus it wasn't warned about in the directions, so it's not really my fault that I didn't do it, right?

PANIC!

 At least I figured out how to jimmy the door open. Just focus on getting all the old knob off.  The fun stuff is coming up!

TaDa!!






Step Three
Put New Hardware On


It's really just doing the reverse of what you just did.

Just don't forget the plate thing that is attached to the door frame.

BEFORE   

           

AFTER

And another shot of the final product:

YAY! All done! 

See Ya Real Soon!

 

31

I'm now at this weird point in trip planning where there is nothing left to do. It's too early to start packing (or so the hubby says) and there isn't anything that needs to be planned.

I'm just idly biding my time looking at photos from past trips. Like this one:

Or this one:

And this one:

I guess now I will go read some guide books and fill up on trivia to drive the hubs crazy while touring the parks :)

See Ya Real Soon!

35 Days...

We are officially 35 Days until Disney 2012! As a 35 Day treat I got DH a copy of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea as a surprise and cooked a meal that is one of our favorites at WDW. 

I made my version of the meal at Liberty Tree Tavern! Thanks to the World Wide Web I was able to find the marinade for the steak, and I improvised for everything else. The recipe for the marinade is as follows:

4 teaspoons salt

2 teaspoons black pepper

2 tablespoons curry powder

2 teaspoons cumin

2 tablespoons rosemary, fresh, chopped

4 teaspoons paprika

2 teaspoons coriander

2 tablespoons granulated garlic

2 teaspoons oregano, dried 

You put all the spices in a bag and shake your steak until fully covered in the marinade. You can cook after storing in the fridge for an hour but you can also wait up to 24 hours and cook then. 15 min in a 350 degree oven should do it, but adjust the cooking time to how you like your steak cooked. I let the steak rest for 10 minutes and then I sliced it thinly. Yummy!

DH commented that the seasoning was a little thick on top so next time I will shake off the steaks before cooking. It isn't exactly like the Liberty Tree Tavern but it sure is close!

See Ya Real Soon!