Insert obscure reference to maybe Sandy Denny and The Strawbs here.
It’s not that the need or desire to write has diminished at all, but with the start of the school year in September we’ve been running virtually non-stop at home and work. Seriously – work @ B-MS has been one thing after another, working on across multiple projects, research topics in BI strategy, Governance, Risk Management and Compliance, and Operational Excellence. Outside of work, I’ve been immersed in running Cub Scout Pack 59 events, the annual popcorn program, monthly leadership meetings, maintaining the Pack web site, attending Saturday morning rocket launches and Scouting For Food drives, planning a hiking trip to Morristown, scheduling Council presentations at Pack meetings, and on, and on… Add to that taking care of stuff around the house, cleaning up the yard of leaves, cleaning out the flower beds and vegetable garden, storing the patio furniture, and on, and on…
Hey, I understand, there’s really no need to go into all of this detail, it’s not that much different from what a lot of other folks are doing and I shouldn’t feel so special. I’m not. I’m feeling exhausted, and even though I get a million and one ideas in my head about something that I want to post, I never get the time to sit down here at the PC until late in the evening, when I need to take care of a million and one emails before I even think about posting, and by then whatever ideas I can remember are ragged and without structure…
It took me over a month before I was able to simply post our family’s DisneyWorld and Harry Potter photos!
DisneyWorld was great – it had been 20 years since I was there, and the first time the kids had been there. Katie was all about the princesses, and Will was all about everything else. We stayed at the Dolphin hotel, which is incredibly conveniently located next to EPCOT and Hollywood Studios. Edith took the kids over to the Magic Kingdom, where they got their first glimpse of Cinderella castle, and were immediately introduced to the entire Disney experience by dancing in the Celebration parade on Main Street. I bought an after hours pass for later that evening to take advantage of Magic Hours in EPCOT until midnight, and we all had incredible fun enjoying the park without any of the daytime crowds. Thursday I met everyone in the Magic Kingdom around 1:00 PM, and immediately hopped on the Runaway train with Will – followed by Pirates of the Caribbean, the Haunted Mansion, and more magical fun.
Anyway, we all had a lot of fun, and it was nice to be able to visit DisneyWorld as a family; I’m positive the kids will always remember it as a special vacation (they’re still talking about it, and want to go back!)
The Wizarding World of Harry Potter was also pretty cool. We woke up early on Friday morning and drove to Universal Islands of Adventure and made a beeline for WWoHP. The major attraction is Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey which takes you on a tour of the must-see rooms in Hogwarts: Dumbledore’s office, the Portrait Gallery, the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom, the Room of Requirement. and many more. The Forbidden Journey and Dragon Challenge rides were exciting, and afterward we grabbed Butterbeers at the Three Broomsticks (where we later also ate dinner.) We were selected by our wands at Ollivanders, mailed postcards to be delivered by Owl Post, picked up some chocolate frogs and Bertie Botts Every Flavour Beans in Honeydukes, and hung our on Hogsmeade until the park closed at 7:00 PM.
We also found time to get soaked on The Jurassic Park River Adventure, Dudley Do-Right’s Ripsaw Falls, and Popeye & Bluto’s Bilge-Rat Barges; thanks to the child-swap option, Will was able to get doubly soaked as he rode each ride once each with Mom and Dad! Katie enjoyed Dr. Seuss-land, and did not miss any of the fun.