2009-03-14

No, I don't have a picture of pie for Pi Day (3/14, get it?). I actually don't have many pictures from this day, believe it or not. We were all hot and tired, and the park was *packed* with people. Everything had an hour or more wait, one of the main things we wanted to do was closed, and the other one broke down before we had a chance to do it. Not a good day at all, especially for our last day. When we were at the Studios the previous Saturday, I noticed this survey marker on the ground right outside the Backlot Express. I meant to go back and get a picture but forgot. DH reminded me as we returned to the Backlot for lunch on our last day, and I thought it would be fun to show us actually standing on a real officially marked "spot" at Disney.

2009-03-13

The only thing that disappointed Luke about Test Track is that he wasn't allowed to drive, so we decided to fulfill his wish and let him on the Tomorrowland Speedway. DH and Luke did this while Mom and I rode Space Mountain (which is about to go down for an extensive rehab). Our only mistake was not sending DH with a camera! He did take some pictures with his camera phone (such a smart husband!), but since I didn't take them, I can't post them as my POD. The line was actually pretty short, which is rare for the Speedway, so they met us as we got off Space Mountain and asked to ride again, this time with Mom and me taking pictures to commemorate the moment.

2009-03-12

I really thought I was going to post a photo from the baseball game for today. After all, the whole reason for annual March trips to Disney was (originally) so we could catch some spring training games. When we booked our package this year, though, Disney included some extras, like a free round of mini golf. I had no idea when we might fit that in, but it worked out to be a great thing to do in the morning before the ballgame in the afternoon. It was Luke's first time playing, and I'm pretty sure it was mine and DH's first time playing each other together (sad, I know!). He's no Tiger Woods, but he still seemed to have fun. I will be able to recall this part of the trip long after the boring ballgame has faded from memory.

2009-03-11

This was sort of an accidental shot. It was my first time riding this coaster, and all of the good things I had heard about the queue theming were true. It was wonderful! I was trying to get a good shot of the Tibetan prayer flags in the queue for Expedition Everest, and I wanted some of the top and bottom rows of flags. I hadn't even realized that the mountain was in the shot when I took it, but I think it turned out really great. (As my father would say, I'd rather be lucky than good.) Luke also rode Everest. 3 times! He loved it. I definitely think we have a true coaster junkie on our hands.

2009-03-10

This is one of the things he has been asking to do ever since we told him we were going back to Disney. "I want to ride the horsey again!" I don't know why the carousel has stuck with him so specifically, but here he is. And like the true child of two engineers, he spends most of the ride staring up at the mechanism that makes the horses go up and down! LOL He was pretty distressed when the ride stopped with his horse at the very apex of its "jump." It was a long way down!

2009-03-09

I absolutely *love* this photo! It sums up the best part of this day. Luke got to ride Test Track for the first time, and he had a total blast. (This was actually taken on his his 3rd ride.) And let me tell you, this picture was hard to get. We are outside in an open car, going around a banked curve at 60+ mph. You try holding your arm fully extended, pulling a few extra Gs, while pointing the camera at him with no way to see the viewscreen, and actually getting him in frame! And that is pure joy on his face, let me tell you. It may well be my favorite picture from the trip (out of over 1800).

2009-03-08

Tomorrowland and Fantasyland (behind the castle). All I needed was Big Thunder Mountain in this shot, and it would have covered almost everything we need at the Magic Kingdom. I should mention that this was taken while moving on the Tomorrowland Transit Authority (formerly WEDway Peoplemover) while dodging support columns, so I'm pretty thrilled with how it turned out. (Yes, it is cropped, but I'm still happy with it.)

2009-03-07

Annual speederbike photo! See 2007 and 2008.

2009-03-06

Luke inspired me to take this picture. We stopped to eat at Golden Corral on the way out of town, and Luke noticed that he could see DH and me in these brass spheres. He laughed, he waved, he had all kinds of fun. I couldn't get a good shot of the three of us, so you'll have to settle for DH and Luke on the left, and the camera covering me on the right. (I tried to get me in the picture, I promise! It just didn't work out.)

2009-03-05

Countdown complete! This is the sticker chart we have been using to count the days until our Disney trip. As you can see, we leave tomorrow, though we won't make it all the way there. We'll stop at my parents' house to stay the night, then Mom will go with us when we leave first thing Saturday morning. Dad has to work. :-\ Not sure if I will be able to update while I am gone or not. We'll just have to see how we decide to handle the internet situation while we're there ($10 for every 24 hour block per computer, ouch). I'm sure there will be plenty of pictures to choose from for the next 10 days or so! Just not sure when I'll get them up. For trip updates, feel free to follow me on Twitter: http://twitter.com/moviemuse

2009-03-04

Cleo got her own little photo shoot today. I was wandering around downstairs during a conference call today when I saw her sitting in the sun on the stairs, and I just had to run and grab my camera. She is definitely the sunbather of the group. Sure, all of them lay in the sun from time to time, but she can almost always be found in a patch of light somewhere. Usually, they are in very inconvenient places for picture taking, but not today. I wish she would let me get a good picture of her right ear so I could tell the story of how she got her name. I've tried a couple of times, but they never turn out. I'll keep trying.

2009-03-03

This is the scissor fob that my friend Shalini made for me. I designed it and provided the beads, and she put it together for me. It arrived a few days ago, but I have been remiss in taking a photo and publicly thanking her for doing this for me. You can read the story of how and why this fob came to be on my regular blog tomorrow morning.

2009-03-02

The roads were still icy and/or slushy after Sunday's snow, and I'm a great big chicken about driving on slippery roads. I don't know how to do it, and I know most of my fellow Atlantans don't either, and we really can't afford to wreck the car 5 days before we leave for Florida. Monday is usually a light work day for me, so I just kept Luke home with me. He was pretty good about playing by himself or watching television most of the day, but right around 10 AM, he was being silly and wanted attention. "Picture me, Mommy, I clap with my feet!" LOL How could I resist?

2009-03-01

We had 3 inches of snow fall in about 3 hours today. That is simply unheard of for Atlanta! It was also Luke's first significant snowfall, and he had a blast playing in it.