Future Shock

I have seen the future, and it scares me.

We took C to see Cinderella at the high school this past weekend. It was the typical high school production (D had a critical eye on everything, until I told him to shush because the kids were so enthusiastic and when he was in high school plays I’m sure it wasn’t any better), with the high school orchestra providing the music.

No, being in a high school wasn’t what caused the shock. It was the reaction of the teenagers afterward that made me shudder to think of C in ten years. The girls were weeping (I’m assuming because they were seniors and this was their last show) and hugging each other like they were heading off to war, never to be seen again.

I’m not against emotion – heck, I even got a little misty eyed my senior year of high school during my last home game of the basketball season. But viewed through the lens of twenty years of perspective, it seems a bit misplaced. I realize, to those girls, this felt like the end of something special that would never be duplicated. And maybe it won’t. But for some, college should provide them different experiences that feel just as (if not more) special.

What really made me shudder was the thought that in 8 short years, C will be in high school. She’ll become one of those hormonal, overly emotional teenagers. And I will not know how to handle that phase. Oh sure, she promises she’ll still like us, but I was a teenager once, I know the drill. The eye rolls, the dramatic sighs, the Academy Award winning sad looks (although we get those sometimes now, should I be scared?)….and she’ll want nothing to do with D or me….

Tomorrow

Tomorrow at 11:30 am I get to see this movie...C has school all day (field day, and it's supposed to be 90. I won't be surprised if there's a note home today that field day is postponed until sometime next week. It's not usually 90 in CT this early!)

I read one review (the NY Times review), full of large SAT vocabulary words, and the reviewer just didn't "get" that this is not SUPPOSED to be a serious movie. It's just a fun movie. There's nothing wrong with that.

[edited to add - the Washington Post review was good]

It's kind of the way the English majors had to interpret literature. I never understood that. Let me get this straight - you think you KNOW what the author was trying to say? What if the author was saying exactly what was written? Ever think of that?

But anyway, tomorrow is Pirates, and this weekend is the unoffical kick off to summer, and I hope everyone has FUN!

Catch up

Hello? Anyone still out there? Sorry for neglecting the place for so long. Life has been rushing along, the days speeding by, and yet, nothing out of the ordinary…

A quick summary of things:

A day trip to NY to see Tarzan (including a stop at Columbia for t-shirts for D & C )

Star student for C last week which involved us going into her classroom to read a story

Open house at school for C – she got to show off her diorama

Flick n Float at the Y which was cancelled, yet no one remembered to tell us

Seeing Shrek the Third (C’s first movie at night! Ok, 6:45. Close enough for her)

Chatty Cathy on Saturday morning at 6:15 am (and yet, I have to wake her up during the week. WHY???)

C “cooking” with M&Ms on Sunday – M&M sandwich, and tropical drinks made of watered down M&Ms (and as a special flavor treat she used the laundry measuring cup to measure the water!)

A business trip to Pennsylvania for a few days (that was actually good – chocolate martinis and funky restaurants).

D wrote a post about wine for the Whinery - I was supposed to, but fell asleep after the first glass (c'mon, it was the same day chatty cathy showed up!)

And the usual assorted craziness that goes with being me.

How are things with you?

Happy Birthday D!

Today is D's 39th birthday....so below is a virtual present for him:

First, we'd take the train into NYC, where we'd have reservations for the weekend at a hotel. (We're going to assume we have someone who'd watch C for this particular weekend).

We'd head to some old favorite places:


Where we'd have pitchers of these (Harp for me, thanks!):


After spending far too much time there, we'd head down to:


And we'd end the night up here:


We'd probably need several days to recover, but it might be worth it!

Spring Break Day 6 - April 20

This was it – our last day in Disney. Not even a whole day even though our flight didn’t leave Orlando until 4:55 pm. Thursday morning we awoke to find the Magic Express paperwork for our return attached to our door – we had to be at the front of the resort for the bus to pick us up at 1:30 on Friday.

We decided to spend some time at Downtown Disney to get breakfast at the Earl of Sandwich, then D took C to look at the ‘pineapple’ which had fascinated her all week (it’s the Gloria Estefan restaurant. She was convinced it was Spongebob’s house). I ducked into the World of Disney for some last minute shopping (we had Disney reward dollars left that would expire in December. I know I could have used them at the Disney store in the mall, but it wouldn’t be the same.).

After meeting back up, we head back to finish packing and change into swimsuits for a final swim before lunch and getting Magical Express back to the airport.

We land in Westchester right on time and head home….dreaming of our next Disney vacation…

Spring Break Day 5 - April 19

This was it – what everyone was waiting for – a day at the Magic Kingdom. We arrived a little before 9 am; there were extra magic hours that morning, and it was open until midnight (don’t worry, we weren’t going to spend the entire day there). D likes to hear the opening song (which we somehow missed anyway) and we enjoyed many rides before the lines got too long. On our quick trip on Monday night we had enjoyed Mickey’s Philharmagic and Pirates of the Caribbean, so those rides were checked off the list already.

C was excited for Splash Mountain – it was all she had talked about all week. “Wanna go on Splash Mountain” was all we heard, no matter which park we were in. We got Fastpasses for Splash Mountain and went on some other rides (Pirates, Small World, Peter Pan) until it was time for Splash Mountain.

Right before we headed back to ride Splash Mountain, we checked the line for the teacups. Manageable, but probably not enough time to wait in line for that, ride, then get back to Splash Mountain before the FastPasses expired. Executive decision time. C and I waited in the shade, watching the cars on the Indy raceway while D went to get us FastPasses for Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin. Then we headed to Splash Mountain.

Poor D ended up sitting in the very front of the log – and he’s not a big fan of heights. Last year C and I shared that seat, but this year she didn’t want to sit in the very front. And she chose to ride with me. Splash Mountain is one of our favorite rides – for me I think because it’s longer than I feel most of the other rides are. C likes the big drop down the ‘mountain’. D likes it because of the Song of the South storyline.



After Splash we rode the teacups, then it was time for our Buzz Lightyear ride. That was a pretty cool ride too – like being in a videogame! After a disappointing lunch at Columbia Harbor House (near the Haunted Mansion), D went for a haircut at the barber shop (I think he should have told him it was his first haircut, but he didn’t want to play along). C and I got some postcards and wrote them out while we were waiting. When D was done with his haircut he took C back into the barbershop for some “pixie dust” for her hair. She was thrilled.



After a quick dip in the pool we got ready for dinner – Artist Point at the Wilderness Lodge. We really liked the way the Wilderness Lodge “felt” – it was comfortable and relaxing. (We were actually supposed to stay there this trip but switched to Saratoga when we bought into DVC). We wandered around a little until the restaurant was ready to seat us. What a cool place! And dinner was yummy – I had the salmon and D had the buffalo steak. Definitely would go back.

The only way from the Wilderness Lodge to the Magic Kingdom is via boat, so we waited for the one to MK (it stopped at the campground first before heading to the Magic Kingdom). Once we arrived at the Magic Kingdom we took the train to Mickey’s Toontown, where C had a blast playing in the little playground there and seeing Mickey and Minnie’s houses. She also got her face painted.



We caught the train back to Main Street and watched the tail end of the Spectromagic parade (we saw the entire parade back in August, and C didn’t complain too much about missing it). D decided he wanted a shirt he saw back at the Splash mountain gift shop, so C and I waited on Main Street for the fireworks to start. We watched the fireworks and waited for D to get back to us, then called it a night. C passed out on the bus ride home and we tucked her right into bed when we got there.

Spring Break Day 4 - April 18

Since we didn’t have the greatest time at Typhoon Lagoon the previous day, we decide to try again. The water park has extra magic hours in the morning, so we make sure we arrive there shortly after it opens to the resort guests.

We had a short wait for a raft on the family raft ride, and even got to ride it again since there was no one in line when we got to the bottom. From there we went to the tube rides, then over to the slides. C is having a blast, even on the slide (I would go down first and wait for her at the bottom, and D would follow.).

Then we went into the wave pool for awhile – C had a blast bodysurfing on the big waves…after a quick trip in the lazy river, it was already time for lunch. As we were walking to Typhoon Tilly’s (where we had lunch) C spied the tattoo person. Yes, my daughter loves tattoos. Not the permanent kind, but give her any kind of temporary tattoo and she is happy. After lunch we had to get her a tattoo. She chose Minnie Mouse. D chose Goofy on a surf board. I didn’t get one. Maybe next year.


After the lunch and tattoo’ing we caught the bus back to the resort to relax awhile before heading to Animal Kingdom. We had reservations for dinner at Jiko at the Animal Kingdom Lodge, and we got to Animal Kingdom with enough time to watch Mickey’s Jammin’ Jungle parade before catching the bus to the Lodge for dinner.


Dinner was interesting – I had steak with macaroni and cheese, C had macaroni and cheese and D had the pork tenderloin. While it was a very good dinner, I don’t think it’s a place we’d say we had to go back to. C had fun making s’mores for dessert, then we wandered around the Animal Kingdom Lodge before catching the bus back to Animal Kingdom for extra magic hours there.


We probably should have planned things a little better since C could only go on certain rides due to her height/interest, as only some of the rides were operating during extra magic hours. Obviously, even though she said she wanted to ride Expedition Everest, the height requirement was an obstacle she couldn’t get around. That, and the fact that she’d have been riding it by herself, since D doesn’t like roller coasters and I’m not too sure I’m ok with them anymore either.

But, we were able to ride our favorite ride – Kali River Rapids. We rode this twice in a row and got completely soaked. We had to buy a new shirt for C so she wouldn’t shiver to death. D and I thought about buying ourselves new shirts but when we realized we wouldn’t be there much longer decided against it. She and D rode the Triceratops Spin, and then we called it a night.