A Random Find

Today I was helping Doug look for pieces for the current Lego that he was building. It was a big set that belonged to Cal and there were a lot of tiny pieces for us to find. After a while, I told Doug I would start looking for the mini-figures. Lego sets sell for the most when all of the mini-figures and accessories are included. Random building pieces do not seem to matter as much as the buyers can find those online inexpensively on the Lego store website. 

Today, while I was looking through the hundreds of Star Wars mini figures that we had, I ran across C-3PO‘s body. I couldn’t believe it. I had looked everywhere for this piece a few weeks ago. It went to a small Lego set that Brett had but we could never list it because we only had the droid’s head. I quickly checked the instructions and I was right. It was the missing body part that we had been looking for.  Shortly after I listed it, we had an offer for $20.  Not too bad for a set that had been stored away in the closet ten minutes earlier. What a great find and a nice reward for all of our searching. 

Mickey’s Not So Scary

Meg and Nick spent last night and tonight at the Boardwalk Inn.  They wanted to go to Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween party again this year, and this was the perfect time for them to do so.  Although it led to a disagreement between Cameron and Meg on when it's ok to celebrate fall, I was glad that they were able to start the Halloween season early with this annual event.  I had a lot of fond memories of taking our children to the party.  They always dressed up for it even when they were in high school and college, and they always came home with a lot more candy than they had ever received trick or treating.

Meg and Nick sounded like they had just as much fun at Mickey's as we did years ago.  They dressed up as Troy and Gabriella from High School Musical, picked up a lot of candy, rode Space Mountain in the dark, watched the Hocus Pocus show, videotaped the Headless Horseman riding down the street before the parade and met a few of their favorite characters dressed in their Halloween best.  I hope that Doug and I will be able to join them one day in the near future for this night of Halloween festivities, but until then I will enjoy the adorable pictures that they sent.

IU Soccer

Doug and I both were excited to hear that IU soccer was back in action tonight with a home game against Notre Dame. Doug had always loved watching IU soccer and once we found out during Cameron’s freshman year that we could watch the majority of the games on BTN+ we have both become loyal viewers. As an added bonus, we have even gotten to see Cameron on television a few times at the home games over the past few years.

Tonight‘s game was a great one against Notre Dame with the Hoosiers winning 3 to 1.  There were a lot of new players on IU's roster, so it was hard to keep track of who was who at first.  We didn't mind as the new players were awesome additions to the team. One of the guys that used to work at Champion with Doug has a son who is playing his last season with the team this year. He didn’t play as much as he did in the past, but he did still get in some minutes. We didn’t see Cameron this time on television, but that was OK. We enjoyed the game anyway. It was nice to know that fall sports were back and soon we would be enjoying many more games like tonight’s.

Indianapolis State Fair

While we were enjoying our weekend at Disney World, Cal, Maggie, Brett, and Karen were having a lot of fun at the Indiana State fair. One of Cal’s friends had gotten married this past Saturday in Indianapolis and he thought it would be the perfect place for the four of them to meet the next day. We got multiple texts from them throughout the day giving us updates on the foods that they had tried. Of course, there were some interesting flavors like corn dog beer and fried Twinkies, but there were also some traditional fair foods on their list, including one of my favorites - Elephant Ears.

I loved the picture that Karen sent of the four of them.  I also enjoyed all of their messages. Cal told us afterward that Maggie had never been to a fair before, so I was glad that they were able to show her what it is all about.  She liked it so much that she wants to take her family to one next summer. Cal and I thought that the Elkhart County Fair would be perfect for them. Either way, I was incredibly glad to hear that Brett, Karen, Cal and Maggie's get together on Sunday was a success. There is nothing better than being a mom to adult children and hearing about all of their adventures together.

Last Day

Cameron and I decided to sleep in this morning and spend a short day at Hollywood Studios before he had to leave to catch his flight back to Indiana.  I was sad that his week in Florida was over, but incredibly grateful for the time that we got to spend together.  It is the one nice thing about living hundred of miles apart.  When the boys visit, it is a lot of quality time together.

I let Cameron lead the way today as I wanted him to get the most out of his day.  He picked Twilight Tower of Terror for our first ride and we both enjoyed it very much.  I hadn’t ridden it in years and the yo-yo effect was even more fun than I remembered.  Our next few rides included Toy Story Mania, Alien Encounter Swirl and Rock N Roll Roller Coaster.  I actually didn’t ride the last one but I did have fun standing in the queue with Cameron checking out all of the changes from the new Muppets themed ride.  

Before we left the park, Cameron and I had lunch at Baseline Tap.  It has become one our favorite places to eat in Hollywood Studios and I was glad that they introduced new flat bread pizza on their menu as well.  We had enough time to do a little bit of shopping on our way out and even stop for Starbucks before Cameron had to catch his flight.  It was a wonderful end to a fantastic week.

Magic Kingdom

Meg left at 9 last night so that she could get to work early this morning.  She had kickball tonight, so we didn’t get to see her today.  Thus, I was really glad for the last three days with her.  It reminded me of all of the time that the four of us spent together years ago.  

While Doug was at work, Cameron and I spent the day Magic Kingdom.  Since everyone had gone to bed early last night, we decided to take advantage of the extra magic hour this morning and arrived at Magic Kingdom by 8:15 today.  Not only did we get to ride many of our favorite rides including Peter Pan, Big Thunder Railway, Tiana’s Bayou, Haunted Mansion, Jungle Cruise and Winnie the Pooh, we had banana maple beignets for breakfast and Casey’s Corner for lunch.  We even had time to do a little bit of shopping before we left to rest back at the hotel and get out of the hot Florida afternoon sun.

Doug, Cameron and I headed back toward Magic Kingdom once Doug returned from work, but instead of going straight to the park, we took a ride on the monorail to the Polynesian Resort for dinner.  Our first stop was Trader Sam’s, where we each had a drink and split a couple of appetizers. The bar was a lot of fun.  Every 10 minutes or so, the lights would dim and there would be a “tropical storm” followed by a talking Tikki god. Once we were finished there, we walked to the resort’s outside restaurant on the water for dinner.  Everything was absolutely delicious and our view was beautiful. The rest of our evening was spent at Magic Kingdom, where we rode Pirates of the Caribbean and then went to Beak and Barrel for a nightcap. We got to sit at the bar this time and absolutely loved being in the middle of all the action in the pirate bar.  It was a great day at Magic Kingdom and we were glad to have shared it with Cameron.

Epcot

My sadness from last night was completely gone this morning when we left for our three-day mini vacation at Disney World.  Cameron had asked to go while he was down here, and we thought it would be the perfect time to take him as Doug could enjoy today at Epcot and then have a shorter drive to work on Monday and Tuesday.  We arrived at Port Orleans Riverside at 10:30 and were pleased to see that our room was ready.  It had recently been remodeled and we absolutely loved it.  Once we unpacked, the four of us headed to French Quarter to pick up beignets.  Cameron had never had the haunted mansion inspired ones and thought they were just as delicious as we did.

Our next stop was Epcot.  Without a festival, the park was relatively quiet.  We were able to easily get on Soarin' and also enjoy Moana's Journey of Water, perfect for this extremely hot day before lunch.  Since there weren't any food booths in the countries, I made reservations at the new Geo Bar.  It was attached to the ball that housed Spaceship Earth and featured a galactic theme.  We loved it as we had a window right beside our table with a fantastic view of the park.  We split several appetizers and each one of us tried a drink. We were very impressed with the bar and enjoyed our time there. We didn't make it around all of the countries before we left, but we did walk through Canada and England.  We loved the shops on that side and enjoyed a few beverages from Rose N Crown as well.

Thanks to a really long bus ride back to our hotel, we didn't get a lot of time to rest before we had to leave for our dinner reservation.  None of us really minded, we were just glad to be out of the sun for a while.  Today's heat index was near the record high at 111 degrees.  Wine Bar George was wonderful.  We each tried a glass of wine with our meals -Meg had the roasted chicken while Doug, Cameron and I shared several small plates.  The Greek Saganaki (flaming cheese) appetizer was delicious as was the rest of our dinner.  While we were in Disney Springs, we did a little bit of shopping and then took the boat back to Port Orleans.  I told Cameron and Meg about the time that I saw otters in the river near our hotel.  They didn't know if I was serious or not even after I showed them the video, but the captain overheard us talking and confirmed that I was correct.  The rest of the evening was spent at the piano bar.  Piano Bob wasn't playing this evening, but we had a lot of fun anyway caping off an awesome day at Disney World.