Hello from Africa...Disney Style

Well if you have read Monica's blog lately (if not - go there immediately before you come here again) you know that on Saturday we were at the Magic Kingdom. So on Sunday, after a lazy morning at 'home' we went to Disney's Animal Kingdom. Although we had been slightly disappointed with the rides at the M.K., we were blown away with the rides at the A.K. As we arrived later in the day, we didn't have time to go on a Safari - that is for Thursday- we did manage to go on Expedition Everest - amazing, and Dinosaur! - very cool but it made me jump. We also ate Mickey Mouse shaped ice cream treats because it was stinking hot outside and they were cool and refreshing. Unfortunately, as this is the down season, the A.K. closed down at 5 pm so we went back to EPCOT to try and finish the World Showcase. We had to see Italy and some of the other exhibits, after Spaceship Earth of course - we have done this so many times. Of course, because we were in EPCOT it started to rain again. Just out luck. We did not stick around for long.


On Monday - a bright and sunny day we decided to use the Water Park option on our ticket and we went to Typhoon Lagoon. We were both a little apprehensive about it, but it as it turned out we had a blast - literally and figuratively. There is a huge wave pool that can have both bobbing waves, or these really big surf waves. The big waves were sooo fun, provided you were ready for them. Monica almost lost her glasses, but we saved them.- Phew. We also did the Lazy River tube ride around the whole park, and several of the other tube rides. We decided that we only wanted to do tube rides, they were thrilling enough for us. We also got a bit too much sun. No pictures either - the camera did not want to go to a water park. In the evening we went to Medieval Times Dinner and show. It was a lot of fun, and the horses and riders really were amazing. Dinner was eaten entirely without silverware, an interesting experience to say the least. Well, that was our week so far, stay tuned.

Just can't stay outta the rain

It never failed, that just when we thought it was clearing up so we would venture out, it not only rained it poured (thanks, Fay!). We did Downtown Disney on Tues. and went to Disney's Hollywood Studio on Wednesday. (See Monica's BLOG if you haven't got the update yet). Our next park was EPCOT (Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow). We were there for parts of Thursday and Friday, so I am going to smush them together. We explored The Seas, saw some amazing fish, went on a Finding Nemo ride, and Talked Turtle with Crush - a funny, interactive, computerized show. Totally awesome, dude. We also toured The Land, and saw some beautiful flowers. We decided not to wait for 80 minutes to go Soaring (besides we've been there, done that in CA). Our favorite ride, however, turned out to be Spaceship Earth, inside 'The Ball'. It is very well done, and you get a little cartoon short of what life might be like in the future. Monica and I went on it four times, although the first time we did it we had to listen to it in Spanish because we missed the - choose English now- screen. We walked through part of the World Showcase, from Canada to Norway. We also walked through the Innoventions buildings, but they were more Science World type things and did not catch our attention as much. So enough of the typing, if you even got this far, here are the pictures.

Nemo! Or at least a clown fish. The pavilion was a giant aquarium with a variety of fish, including these cuties, dolphins, sea rays, sea turtles, and more.

And... we found Nemo! Or is this Marlin?

In Living with the Land, we saw some cool experiments with growing plants in different media, including air!

And you thought I would never blog!

So, day one of our amazing trip to Florida, storms notwithstanding, and we are safely in our hotel in Seattle.


We took about 90 minutes to cross the border - next time we are taking Zero Ave. and butting into the line- so we didn't have time to go to Pike's Place, as it closed at five and we arrived in Seattle at about 4pm.

Instead we ended up at Barnes & Noble and ended up cruising the aisles for our favourite authors. We both thought it was a great compromise. Then we went for supper at California Pizza Chicken...(I mean Kitchen). The food was amazing.



After checking into our hotel, we went for a delicious Oreo Cookie Milkshake at Jack in the Box. We have to get up crazy early for our flight tomorrow, so I am going now. Bye. Stay tuned. M and K

I won on Lotto 649...

...well at least $1000.00 worth of the lotto money. I typically buy a lottery ticket or two every couple of weeks, and I always make sure I 'play the extra' and this week it paid off. So I bought some chocolate milk and took it to Shannon's to celebrate with the girls. I guess our Bard trip this summer is on me. Yeah!

A Visit with my Cousins

Mark, Cheryl, and Andrew came up to Victoria for a visit this summer, so Amanda and I thought it would be fun to go over and visit them. While we were there we went to Sydney and visited most of the second hand book stores and some of the antique stores - my idea of a great day. We also decided that we would do what most visitors to Victoria do at some point in their visit and go for High Tea. Tracey had heard about this cute little tea room in the Oak Bay area called the White Heather Tea Room. Lovely tea, delicious food and terrific company made even a slightly grey and rainy day wonderful. As you can tell from the food on the table, there was no shortage of yummy treats, we even had enough to take home.


Another fun event was the Unbirthday Birthday party for the cousins. As it is hard for the cousins to visit on actual birthdays, Auntie Tracey decided to throw a little party while every one was together. We had some scrumptious cupcakes from a new bakery that specializes in cupcakes called Ooh La La Cupcakes, and lots of presents. - Well at least the kids did. (Even Amanda got in on presents with some great new earrings!)

Sammy, at almost two, made the cutest faces as he was allowed to eat his cupcake however he wanted.













On the last night together I made a French Silk pie for Mark, as it is one of his favorite desserts. I must say it turned out rather well, as you can tell from the smile on his face.