Magic Kingdom - February 23, 2011

Our son was feeling much better after a good night's sleep, so we headed off to the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World for the day.  The kids were excited, which made the hour-long ride a bit challenging, and they kept asking about what they'd see and what we were going to do once we got to the park.  After parking the car (telling our older daughter to remember we parked in Daisy 31 - she always keeps track of our parking spots), we took the tram to the Transportation and Ticket Center to catch the monorail to the Magic Kingdom.  Honestly, the monorail is one of my favorite parts of Disney, so I would have been happy to ride around the circuit and head home, but there probably would have been a mutiny if I'd tried, so we followed the crowd to the park entrance when the train stopped.

We headed for Space Mountain first and while we waited, my mom took our youngest on the other rides in Tomorrowland.  Our line was supposed to be 40 minutes, but when we were about halfway through, there was a "meteor shower" and they shut down the ride.  We got Fastpasses to go back later, hoping that they'd get the ride fixed by then, and then went to meet my mom when she and our little one got off of the race cars.  It was time for lunch at that point, so we grabbed a bite before heading out for the rest of the park.

Splash Mountain was next on the agenda.  My dad offered to stay with our little one, hoping she'd go on the train with him while the rest of us waited for the ride.  She was, to be polite, less than accommodating, so they ended up hanging out by the bottom of the main hill watching for us to come down.  The wait was pretty long, but worth it, especially since it was our older daughter's first time to ride it  and she absolutely loved it. 

For the rest of the afternoon, we split up and got back together off and on, with my mom and the girls mainly staying in Fantasyland and our son and I doing the bigger rides, like Big Thunder Mountain Railroad and then heading back to Space Mountain after meeting up with my dad.  We did get to ride it this time, and with no wait since we had the Fastpasses.  Our son loved it and it was fun to be on the ride with him when he rode it for the first time.

We all got back together and did Pirates of the Carribbean, the girls and I did the Magic Carpets, and we all did the Jungle Cruise.  By then, it was time to go back to Splash Mountain to use those Fastpasses, and the kids and I challenged each other to go down the big hill with our hands in the air (our son and I did it) and I managed to stay dry this time.  My mom and dad and our youngest were waiting for us along the parade route, so we met up with them and waited to see the Electrical Light Parade.

I love that parade, but it was really magical to watch the girls see it for the first time.  They were entranced - you could see the wonder on their faces - and they kept exclaiming over which character was coming down the street next.  Our son was fading at that point, so he wasn't as excited as his sisters.  When the parade ended, we started to head for the exit, and as we got to Cinderella's castle, a light show on the outside of the castle started.  It was really amazing - the effects made it look like the outside of the castle was changing brick by brick at times - and our little one turned to me at one point and said, "Mom, the castle is magic!".  That moment made the whole day worthwhile.

The fireworks started right after that, so we stayed for those, too, and then made our way - with the rest of the throng - to the exit.  We took the monorail back to the ticket center and then the tram to the car to finally get ourselves out.  We hadn't eaten yet, so we stopped at McDonald's on the way out and then headed for home.  Our youngest was asleep by the time we got out of the parking lot and the other two dozed as we drove.  The little one didn't completely wake up when we got home and had a massive meltdown when I tried to get her changed for bed - it was like trying to put a nightgown on an octopus.  I finally got her, and the other two, to bed and ended a wonderful, but exhausting day.

Orlando - February 22, 2011

The kids have their winter break this week and since it had been five years since our last trip to Florida, we decided it was time to take everyone down there again.  The kids and I had a non-stop flight from San Francisco to Orlando, which went very well.  They got kind of sick of just watching TV, so the girls made about a hundred trips to the bathroom to entertain themselves, but aside from that, it was a fairly easy flight.  My parents picked us up at the airport and we headed toward their house, stopping for dinner on the way.  The two older kids are still recovering from a miserable virus that hit both of them and me last week, so they were fading quickly by the time we got to dinner.  We ate as quickly as we could and got them home to bed right away, with the hope that they would get a good night's sleep and feel better the next day.

It was a long night.  Our son shared a bed with me and every time he woke up coughing, he woke me up.  Our little one was up twice, not sure where she was or what was going on, so she was crying and unhappy.  Our older daughter woke up with a headache and cough at one point, so I gave her meds for those in the middle of the night.  They were all up at about 8:00 this morning and my mom was up with them, so I finally went to sleep for a bit while she gave them breakfast and kept them entertained.

Our son was still feeling under the weather, so we decided to hang out at my parents' house for the day to let him rest and hopefully get his strength back so we can do some fun stuff in the next few days.  The kids all tried going in the pool, but the water is still pretty chilly since this is the first warm weather they've had all winter.  Our son gave up and went back inside to play with his planes and watch TV, while the girls entertained themselves "rescuing" things from the pool with the net and brush and playing with the hose on the screens.  The weather this afternoon was so lovely that I had to get outside, so my mom and I took the girls to the park for a little while to let them burn off a bit of energy before dinner.

Our son was the first one to bed tonight and I'm hoping he'll sleep well and have more energy for tomorrow.  Our little one managed to snooker my dad into letting her out of bed for a trip to their bathroom, but then fell asleep quickly, too.  Our older daughter got to spend some time reading with my mom and then she was off to bed.  We're hoping everyone will wake up feeling well because we're planning on doing the Magic Kingdom for the day tomorrow and it would not be fun to be dragging sick kids around there all day.

Yosemite

Mike got the chance to go to a conference that was being held in Yosemite.  When he found out about it, he asked me if I wanted to go and if I thought I could find a babysitter for the kids for the weekend.  I got in touch with our long-time sitter to see if she was going to be in town for the weekend, and she was able to work out her travel schedule to be in the area - and she was willing to stay with our crazy crew for two days.  It also happened to fall on the weekend before my birthday, so we had the chance to make it a celebration as well.

We left Friday morning to drive to the park, which took about 3 hours.  It had been ten years since my last trip to Yosemite, and we were only able to spend a couple of hours then, so I didn't really remember a lot about the area.  Driving down into the valley was once again overwhelmingly beautiful and the weather was simply gorgeous on top of it.  We grabbed a quick lunch at the Yosemite Lodge, since that was where Mike's conference was being held, and then he went off to his afternoon meetings, leaving me to my own devices for a few hours.

I checked out the shops at the Lodge and then went to the Ahwahnee, where we were staying.  It's one of the historic, old National Park lodges and is a beautiful building with stunning views.  I changed into my running clothes and took off on the trails that led from the hotel to Yosemite Falls for the most incredibly beautiful run I've ever done.  It was probably not the best workout I've ever had because I kept stopping to take pictures with my phone, but it was amazing to be running up the trail to the bottom of the falls and back through the trees with views of Half Dome and waterfalls and cliffs all around me.

I got cleaned up and then picked Mike up when he was done with his meetings and we went back to our hotel for the evening.  There was a cocktail reception which gave Mike the chance to meet a bunch of the speakers and participants in the conference and then we had a late dinner in the Ahwahnee dining room.  Mike gave me my birthday present just before we went down for the reception - a beautiful multi-colored sapphire bracelet that matches my earrings and necklace.  I absolutely love it and will wear it often, I'm sure.

On Saturday, Mike had meetings all morning, so the wife of one of his partners and I had breakfast together and then went out for a hike.  We left from the hotel and followed a trail to Mirror Lake, which is normally a fairly easy walk, but was treacherous this time because of the the snow and ice covering it.  We managed to get out to the lake without falling and were treated to a beautiful view of the back side of Half Dome and the lake and meadows covered in snow and ice.  We followed a different path back, which ended up being even more slippery than the one on the way out, but ran alongside Tenaya Creek, so we got to see small rapids and hear the water rushing most of the way back.  In all, it took us about two hours and was a wonderful way to spend the morning.

Mike came back to the hotel with the other partner from his firm and the two of them, his wife, and I all had lunch in the bar.  We then went back to our rooms for some down time before meeting up for the afternoon hike.  When we got back together, the four of us drove to Curry Village and then walked to the trailhead for a hike to Vernal Falls.  We were expecting to be picking our way through snow and ice again, and we did have to do a bit of that on the way from the parking lot, but the trail itself was completely clear and dry.  The way up to the falls was a fairly steep, but paved path, so it wasn't too bad a hike.  The views were just stunning and the trail ran on a cliff up above a river that was flowing fast from the recent snow melt, so we were constantly looking both up and down trying to take it all in.  We met up with a bunch of other people from the conference on a bridge below the falls where we got our first view of Vernal Falls itself.  We decided to continue up to the bottom of the falls as long as the trail continued to be clear.  There were a few spots where the snow covered portions of the trial, but we were able to make our way around it and up the steps cut out of the rock to the bottom of the falls.

The hike back down was much easier than going up and we eventually made it back to the car and then the hotel.  After taking a break and cleaning up, we went down to the cocktail reception and then to dinner in the dining room again.  We skipped dessert and had truffles in the room instead, a lovely and relaxing way to end an action-packed day.

We woke up the next morning and looked out the window to discover that five inches of snow had fallen overnight!  It was still snowing, so we decided that since we weren't hungry yet after last night's dinner, we'd skip the buffet and head back home early.  We made a quick stop at the Village Store for some doughnuts to get us going and then started the slow drive out of the valley.  The scenery was only enhanced by the snow and it was overwhelmingly beautiful to see the valley and the falls covered in the new snow.  Unfortunately, the National Parks Service plows were not particularly effective, so driving up the hill was treacherous at times.  As soon as we passed through the park exit, the roads were clear and the rest of the drive was easy.  We stopped for lunch at the Oakdale Cheese Company and picked up grilled ham and gouda sandwiches and some fantastic cheese curds that were super squeaky!

We got home without a problem and the kids were happy to see us.  It was a wonderful weekend, a great way to celebrate my birthday, and a much-needed break from ordinary life.  We're hoping we can go back some time soon - even for a day trip - and take the kids so that they can see this amazing place that is right in our backyard.  It's truly a national treasure and one we want to be sure to explore and share with them.