Hallmark Christmas Town

On November 26th I sent an Instagram post about Martini village to Callie and walked into the family room to tell Kerry about it. Somehow this was forgotten and I get no credit for suggesting we go check out Martini village in Abbotsford. It's a fake movie town set up for filming Hallmark movies complete with store fronts and a gazebo. This year they decorated it with Christmas lights, had food trucks and hot chocolate and you paid an entry fee of $26. I spent most of the time knocking on things to see how real things were. There was a stone bridge on the way in that was just wood painted to look like concrete. I'll have to ask how they keep it water proof.

The streets were all paved with asphalt and concrete and the buildings all had window scenes despite only being a few feet wide. They supported everything with wood telephone poles from the back. There was also a few food trucks and a craft market. On our way out we saw Corey and the family. Corey insisted it wasn't his idea to be there. Carter had his first brisket on a bun and was very happy he ordered it. I went with the pork ribs. I don't think we'd want to go here every year but it's definitely an interesting experience. Lots of photo opportunities and even some fake snow flowing from the roof tops. 

 

Christmas

Christmas started in late-November. Callie, Carter and I were out and stopped off at Home Depot and Carter and I found a 12 foot snowman. At $8 a foot it was cheaper than our Christmas Tree. We bought it and snuck it into the back of the car without letting Callie know. In early December when the family was all out at the mall I set it up so they saw it as they got home. Kerry was not impressed which was exactly the reaction Carter and I were going for. It's a blow up  one so I set it on 'Always On' electric wise as it's just as much fun to look at during the day as it is to look at in the evening. I noticed a 20 foot one was available after Christmas. Might have to check it out.

The rest of Christmas was pretty typical for us. Barb and Reg came down just before Christmas and we had our Christmas fondue on the 23rd. Ronnie brought his latest girlfriend and her daughter so with all family members attending we had 16 people and four dogs in attendance. It was a lot of dishes to clean up but was still fun. The tree was fully decorated with about 5 generations of Christmas lights and dozens of decorations collected over the years. There were lots of presents under the tree that I got to see opened, not knowing what they were. Even the kids knew what they got before I did. The day of Christmas was a bit odd this year. School got out on the 22nd and with the fondue on the 23rd, all major events were done three days into the holiday. I go back to work on January 2nd but the rest of the family is off until the 8th. Not sure what they're going to do with all that time post Christmas. Best that I go into work all next week.

German Christmas Market

Carter was upset that we didn't do enough Christmas last year. We had two big trips planned so we softened the spend in 2022. This year he wanted to make sure we hit all the important points for his Christmas traditions including the German Christmas Market. It's located downtown so it's a bit of a trek for us but still worth it. They keep it to a rather confined space which I guess adds to the ambiance but I would prefer if there was more room. It worked out well for us because we got there right when it opened so there was lots of room to move around. It was during the day but the weather was nice and there were no lineups for food.

We bought a few treats for family members for Christmas including 'Those Pretzels' which were definitely the best pretzels I've ever had. They are the ones in a bag and they were a bit software and had a distinct flavour to them. We discovered they are made in Surrey and sold at some local stores so we will have a source even after Christmas. For lunch I had a smoky and some Black Forest cake. I was very impressed by their ketchup and mustard dispenser. Easy to see when it needs to be filled, always ready to squeeze and at the perfect height. A few drips on the floor that people walk through was the only issue. Otherwise every place should have these. 

 

Christmas Tree Hunt

The first weekend for our Christmas Tree farm at Dogwood was November 25th/26th. We like to make sure we go the first weekend because they have a limited number of trees and will sometimes close after only the first few days. The weather was perfect for getting a tree as it was below zero meaning that the ground was frozen and not muddy. We tend to search the same area every year though I really feel we should just get one of the trees that are already cut. They were a bit small this year so we ended up cutting our own. I was mildly annoyed with the family as I have to crawl in the dirt to do the cutting and all they have to do is lean the tree in a way that the way doesn't bind. They failed this year.

We've been cutting our tree here for several years but I'm irritated at the inflation price. We were up to $20 a foot for our preferred tree type. Noble or Fraser Fir. We like these because they have lots of areas for hanging decorations. $20 is getting pretty steep especially since we have a vaulted ceiling and can handle a 9 foot tree. I was able to lean the tree a bit and Kerry knows the person doing the measuring so she was able to distract him. We ended up with an 8 1/2 foot tree. At $170, those $69 dollar trees at Rona are looking more appealing. I'm still in favour of a real tree but at these prices we could get one of those auto-raising trees from Costco.

This year we named our tree Katniss Evergreen in honour of the latest Hunger Games movie that was out just before Christmas. 

 

Halloween

We're not too many years away for skipping the pumpkin patch completely at Halloween. The last two years we've gone to the local patch in stead of Aldor Acres and this year it was only Kerry, Carter and I. Carter is very particular about his pumpkin so he likes to have a selection that's bigger than what you would get at Safeway or Superstore. Port Kell's is a good clean alternative to a full on pumpkin patch. I think they grow some of their own pumpkins but I think they buy some as well. The patch is just an overflow parking lot with lots of selection and there is no mud. There's also a covered indoor area for the kids to play.

I was considering not doing a Halloween decoration this year but I had a project in mind for the past few. years and decided at the last minute to see if I could pull it off. It starts with two 5x5 pieces of plywood cut into 30 inch squares. I then used the CNC to create four sections of each of Kang and Kodos. Once they are cut to shape and the lines are carved in 1/8 of an inch deep, it's a simple job to paint them. It has the appearance of taking talent to make with the reality of being veery precise due to the CNC. They turned out quite good. I had practiced with a Maggie. At least this year, I created things that store fairly easily in the shed.

I got lucky with the weather again. It was nice for a full week leading up to Halloween. This meant I could get everything out a few days in advance without having to worry about rain. The rain even held off until the day after so it was a clean job putting everything away. I don't plan on adding any more big items unless I win the lottery and can afford a storage unit. I may decide to continue to improve on certain things to make them look good during the day and allow them to get wet. Right now everything looks good in the dark but not great during the day and most of it can't get wet. The neighbourhood always has good things to say and some kids stick around for a while to take everything in. 

Weekend in Whistler

With all of our travel this year we ended up with a free hotel night through Hotels.com. It's a pretty good deal. For every 10 nights you get an additional night free based on the prices you paid. Coupled with free cancellations for most hotels, it's easy to become loyal to one company. We had a credit of about $400 and I think it expires so we decided to head to Whistler for a weekend. It was the in-between season with mountain biking ending and skiing not yet starting so we got a very good deal on a condo. It had two separate bedrooms plus another room with the couch bed and a full kitchen. The place had a hallway it was so big. You could probably sleep 20 during ski season.

We did typical Whistler things including a hike on the trails near the village and dinner. We were out early for a hike on the Sunday and almost ran into a bear. There was a couple walking ahead of us that were probably within 50 feet of it. We were a few hundred feet behind and were headed right to the trail where it ran down. We didn't really feel like being bear wary so we took a turn back towards the village. The weather was nice for the time of year and we avoided traffic in both directions so overall a great weekend. 
 

Raptors Game n Vancouver

In early October the Raptor's had an exhibition game against the Sacramento Kings. Vancouver once had its own team, The Grizzlies, but they only lasted a few years. I was listening to some people talk about them and they made a good point, that their timing for Vancouver wasn't very good. I think if a team was added today they would probably do okay with a lot of corporate sponsorship available and a different demographic. It would also help that the Seattle Sonics have since left so there is not team in the upper  west.

Funny story about getting the tickets. They went on sale at 10:00a and I was initially in the queue. After about 5 minutes I got let in and there were not very many blue dots left. I selected some tickets in the front row and purchased assuming they were available because someone else had dropped them. We arrived at the arena and it turns out the tickets were in the handicapped section. Nothing during the purchase indicated this was the case and we weren't the only people to make the mistake. The seats were very nice though. They had chairs for us and there was plenty of room with no one immediately behind us. 

The game itself was okay. 125 to 104 for the Kings so not the outcome we would have hoped for. I watched basketball more in the 90's where it wasn't typical to see such high scores. Lots of three pointers and not much defence. There were quite a few empty seats until about half time. Not sure why you would buy tickets to a game like this and not show up on time. The half time show was the cheerleaders and a giant blow up Raptor costume. Overall it was a good experience. Carter got another jersey and I think we would probably go regularly if the tickets were reasonable and we get a team again. 

Carter's Birthday

Looking back at the year's blogs I've noticed a trend that I seem to stop blogging for the year right around Carter's birthday which is September 17th. I then spend my Christmas break catching up on blogs from September through December. I don't usually do New Year's resolutions but perhaps this year I'll try to get blog posts out closer to when they actually happen. As an example, I couldn't figure out why I seemed to have two sets of dinner pictures for Carter's Birthday and then I remembered it was a birthday weekend. On the Saturday he had a party with his friends at our house with basketball and video games and then we went to D-Spot Dessert Cafe in Delta. It had a very large selection of tasty options.

After his friend festivities on the Saturday, his real birthday was on the Sunday. We started with Fly Over Canada which used to seem expensive but now that Disneyland has gone crazy with prices, the cost per ride is probably more than what we pay for this ride. It's in an old IMax theatre and takes you over top of the screen, suspended in your seat. They mix it up a bit each year so that it's worth going more than once. This year was Fly Over Iceland. Iceland isn't high on my places to travel to but it does look interesting. Lots of lava fields and volcanoes.

We finished the day off with a trip to the Cactus Club at Canada Place. It really is quite a spectacular location for a restaurant and Cactus Club is one of our favourites. I think Carter had been talking about this particular item for his birthday for several months. Food was excellent as usual and he got a piece of cake for free. The only issue was that the coke glass he got had.a crack in it. Not enough to not drink from it but enough that I let them know about it so they didn't send it through the wash again. I think we got comped the drink which was not really what we were trying to do but always welcome. 

One more year and it's time for Carter to learn to drive.

Ed Sheeran in Vancouver

Many months ago we purchased tickets for Ed Sheeran in Vancouver. It was a stressful event but at least we got tickets, unlike the Taylor Swift concert. Carter isn't a fan so it was Kerry, Callie, Myself, Melissa and Kathy attending. Callie had made us friendship bracelets before I left on my Denver trip. It's not really an Ed thing but she was still making hem for Taylor for the upcoming movie and wanted some for Ed. I CNC'd a wood portion with the five mathematics symbols. Last minute she also decided we should have matching t-shirts. She had a divid t-shirt from his last concert so we all got similar ones with the remaining symbols.

The concert was amazing. Last time was at GM Place and I had to go alone because Kerry couldn't make it and no one else know who he was. This one was in BC Place. I think Ed is purposely looking to get the record for every stadium he plany because he made his stage circular. This ensures every seat can be filled plus the floor. BC Place hit 65,000+. The other major difference was that he brought a band. He could do it without but there are a few songs that benefit. His band mates were off the stage in front of each of the pillars and were only on for a few songs. I felt the sound in Seattle was better but the lighting here was great. We also got to listen to Ed and Khalid do 'Beautiful People', one of my favourite songs.

 

A Work Trip to Denver

At the end of August I had the opportunity to attend a conference in Denver. As per usual I went down a day early so that I could take in some of the tourist spots. The flight there was uneventful and I got to my hotel around 1:00p. Unfortunately, most of the things I wanted to go to closed at 4:00p so I had to wait until the next day to go to the zoo. It's not a bad zoo as zoo's go. The habitats were all quite natural though I found them a bit small. It was also a little sad to hear all the kids talking about which animals had recently died. Not sure if it's above average but it was definitely on their mind.

My next destination was the Museum of Nature and Science. On the science side it was much like Science World with interactive exhibits on various topics including the human body, rocks and minerals and global warming. Was a pleasant surprise to find a US city like Colorado reporting on the science side of things instead of selling us on the 'we need oil for a while' message. On the nature side of the house there were hundred's of stuffed animals in vignettes of their natural habitat. It was very well done though I wonder how they got a hold of so many animals to stuff including polar bears, buffalo and eagles.

My favourite destination was the Denver Botanical Gardens. You can tell a lot of donation money went into this place. There were ponds, atriums and art galleries throughout the property. It would be a lovely location for a wedding though I think they cater to mostly larger groups. There was a permanent tent that was about 500 feet long with pinpoint lights throughout. The atrium was made of concrete which must of been fun to engineer. I finally got to see a Chihuly statue in person. It was an enormous sculpture in yellows and oranges. I'm surprised it manages to make it through the winter. It looks so delicate.

After my day on my own I headed to my other hotel to start the conference. It was being held on a golf course / retirement property where one of the founders of the company hosting the event lives. The whole area was very nice but definitely car centric. You would need to take a car just to get to the closest corner store. The conference was a bit of a different experience for me because there were only about 200 attendees. Most conferences I attend have thousands of participants so it's easy to hide and concentrate on the sessions. With so few people there was always someone that wanted to talk directly to you. Still fun though with some great food.

As a team we managed to break away from the conference for a team building event. The Atlanta Braves were in town to play the Colorado Rockies. It was effectively one of the top teams in the league against one of the worst teams in the league though it wasn't exactly a blowout. A few runs every couple innings and no major mistakes. The weather was perfect in the high twenties with sunny skies. The game goes quickly with the new pitch clock. I didn't bother getting any food but we did go out for wings afterwards. The whole trip was a lot of fun. I wouldn't recommend Denver as a destination but if you need to go there it's a very nice city. 

Callie's Final Dance Recital

It was a bitter sweet final dance recital for Callie this year. She's aged out of her dance school that she's been attending since she was a tiny sugar cube in kindergarten. As she's gotten older she's had to take classes at the nearby studio as well as the Ridge studio. This means she ends up having dances in multiple shows. Plus they have a special dance just for the graduates that gets performed at every show. I attended two of the shows including the one on Saturday that we would typically attend plus her final final dance. Kerry attended all four. It was also an honour for Callie to be asked to do the artwork for the show. The theme was "She's So Fierce". Each dance was themed around powerful woman and the studio owner picked a subset of them and asked for art work of here faces. The four chosen were Rosa Parks, Princess Diana, Michelle Obama and Celine Dion. The artwork came out great and it ended up on the programs plus a set of t-shirts for graduates and staff and for purchase.

Callie did great on all her dances. I still remember some of the earlier recitals where we were introduced to the idea of the 'Quick Change'. This was when a girl had only a song or two in-between to get dressed for the next song. We were very worried that it would be her turn and something would happen and she wouldn't come out. It took a few years before we realized how great dancing has been for her. The structure of regular classes helped her a lot and she never missed a quick change. To be honest I'm always amazed how none of the girls miss quick change. We might not miss the trips to take her to the Ridge but we will miss this annual recital. 

 

Callie's Grad Year

Callie is graduating from high school this year. <Insert comment about how time flies.> Grade 11 was not a lot of fun with Chemistry and PE but grade 12 seemed like a breeze in comparison. She did excellent in all of her classes with a highlight of weight training where she got 100%. It sounds like if you showed up to that one you were doing well compared to the rest of the kids. I'm proud to say she was excepted to SFU to pursue a career in teaching. For SFU you submit your expected grades for grade 12 and they judge you on that. I was mildly worried about English as it was tracking lower but she significantly increased her mid-term grade and hit her goal with eze.

I had expected it to be a costly year but I was still amazed at the number of things that came up. There was a number of fund raisers we contributed to, a grad dress, a winter formal dress, tickets to various things, grad clothes, limos, hair, makeup, dress fittings and more. I suspect that some kids didn't show up to things just because they couldn't afford it which is a shame. Kerry was on the grad committee and they raised money for their dry grad but a lot of the other items were left up to parents to cover. Carter will be slightly cheaper just because he's a boy but still won't be cheap. Score another one for the female tax. I'm not even going to try to guess at the actual cost. I suppose it was worth it because she did really seem to enjoy all the events. 

One of the unexpected events for me was the 'Winter Formal'. When I went to high school there seemed to be at least a few dances every year. Callie's high school only seemed to focus on dances for the graduation year and I'm sure covid impacted some things as well. The Winter Formal happened before Christmas and Callie said she went easy on us for the dress and didn't have anyone do her hair and makeup. Feeling blessed.

Full on grad activities got rolling with the grad dinner in June. There was an option for parents to come which was kind of useless. The kids came on their own via limo and we drove to the golf course on our own. We sat around until they were ready to sit down for dinner at which point we listened to a few speeches from the back of the room and then left. Cost was $5 per parent. I t think things would have been better if they let us focus on getting pictures of everyone. We got a few but everyone sat down for dinner before we had a chance to get any with her friends. I did get a watered down lemonade. 

After grad dinner the kids got bussed back to the school for their dry grad. Attendance was up from previous years which worked out well for the fund raising committee. They fund raised based on a certain number of kids so every kid above that was extra money to spend. They ended up giving the kids all a gift card. The grad was casino themed and Kerry volunteered for the event. She only really had to take tickets but ended up staying until 5:00 in the morning with the kids. Luckily it was a professional development day the next day which is good for the kids but Kerry still had to go to school. She managed to make it in to work. 

We had a family bbq after grad dinner weekend, prompted by Melissa who had arranged something similarly elaborate for her son and niece. She sent down the candy bar signs so we definitely had to do the same for Callie. Attendance was family and close friends including Kennedy who had technically finished school in December but had come back from university to attend the grad ceremonies.

We finished the year off at the Bell Centre with the graduation ceremony. I was very glad they had it there as they have nicer seats. I could not have sanded sitting through 300+ kids walking across the stage if we had to be on hard bleachers. The ceremony was a few speeches by administration, the valedictorian and then each kid had a short paragraph read as they walked across the state. They encouraged minimal cheating but didn't hold back their diploma if we did cheer. The main reason was to avoid overlap with cheering and the next kids description. 

Great work Callie!

 Grad Pictures

Spring Formal

Dress Shopping

Grad Dinner

Dry Grad

Grad Ceremony

Callie's Car Accident

Sporty go in its second car accident this spring. The first was a few years ago when it was side swiped while parked out on the street. This one was when Callie was driving home from school. It was a bit wet and the traffic was stop and go. She didn't do anything wrong and had just slowed due to traffic in front of her. The car behind her rear ended her. There wasn't too much damage to Sporty as we have a hitch which took the brunt of the hit but it did mean that several panels had to be replaced. The cost was more than I would have expected but I guess it's easier to just replace the entire panel rather than try to fix one.

The car that hit her took most of the damage. I felt sorry for the driver as he was a student at Callie's school and was working on the car himself. It ended up taking quite a bit of damage due to the hitch. When it happened Callie pulled over and then both drivers phoned their parents. I was at home just a few blocks away so I hopped on my bike to go and help. It took a bit to find her as she had sent me to the slightly wrong location but I did eventually get there. Our car was fine to drive but it was questionable for the other vehicle. He lived nearby so I followed him home to make sure he made it. Damage is all fixed on our car now. Sporty has lived a hard life. 

 

Carter's Band Year

Carter had another successful year of band. He is in band as a class which means every day is either band or PE. Many of his friends from elementary school chose to sign up for band as well which is good. He plays the saxophone and unlike Callie who brought her flute home with her all the time, he leaves his instrument at school and just does his practice during class. He is also in the Jazz band club which gets together twice a week after school which gives him additional playing time. Being on the saxophone for Jazz band is a bit more useful than the flute. Callie was in Jazz band for a year as well in grade 8 but you could tell the flutes didn't play a prominent part.

There were several concerts this year, some focused on the regular band classes and some focused on Jazz band. I typically try to only attend until Carter has finished playing. Many of the songs they play are not very popular and we are usually on hard bleachers. It does get harder as he gets older though because they play in order of grade. This means that by grade 12 I'll have to stick around until the end. At least the play gets better with each year. There was one fun event that had some Star Wars songs including the conductor in Jedi garb with a light sabre. Maybe next year I'll have R2 done enough that he can attend as well. Carter has gotten a lot better and had several solos during the year. Imagine if he practiced at home!

Carter's Basketball Year

Carter's grade 9 basketball coach organized a spring league team. Typically the team would only play in the fall half of the school year but there are opportunities to create teams that might be school based but aren't actually school supported. Cost was $250 for the year which doesn't sound too bad but we soon realized spring basketball gets expensive. Without school funding all the tournaments needed to pay for space and for refs. This was done by charging spectators anywhere from $10 to $115 per day for a weekend. That means if you have two parents going for all three days it's another $70. (There is a discount for three days.) I saw a set of grandparents getting in one game and they weren't happy about it.

Carter's team consisted of grade 8, 9 and some 10's and was 17 players at its peak. The coach was good about making sure everyone got fairly equal playing time. Not the best way of developing individuals but more fun for the kids. Carter has improved significantly considering basketball was his first organized sport. He scored 8 points in one game which is a new family record. (My highest game was six points.) The team did well in one tournament and decided to go up a league but should probably have spent more time developing in the lower league. They didn't win any games for the rest of the season. Hopefully they do better in the fall with this experience. 

Europe 2023 - Day 13 - Our Final Day in Disneyland Paris

Start time was the same as the day before. Up at 6:00a to the park for an 8:30a gate opening. We started at the main park this day and the line up was a bit longer though we were still at the front. As we were going in we saw Mickey and Minnie walking towards the front gate. Wherever they were going I feel they were late for the party. I would have expected to see them help open the park. No issue though as we are out of the character picture business. We didn't get any this trip. I think the lines are too long to bother getting pictures with grumpy looking teenagers.

Our first planned ride was Big Thunder Mountain but we were shut out again. More technical issues. Maybe we should be worried there were so many broken down rides. We went to Dumbo instead which was Dumbo like. This park just has the one so the line ups can get pretty long fast. I always try to keep Dumbo low to the ground because it's fun to see everyone flying above you but Carter insists on taking us to the top. I miss when we first went to Disneyland and you got a feather to indicate you had an elephant reserved for you.

Melissa found a popcorn bucket that she had to get. It was shaped like the carriage from Cinderella. Not a lot of room for actual popcorn. Even if we wanted such a thing we are out of room in our luggage. We have one large checked bag and then three carry on sized bags plus backpacks for everyone. Everyone was better than normal for packing because we kept to that space and didn't have extra bags on the way here. On the way back though we've added another large bag and we've checked too bags. We are filled to the brim.

Next up was Hyperspace Mountain. I had heard from a colleague at work that it was more intense than the ones in Disneyland or Disney World so I decided to sit this one out. Space Mountain has always been the peak of what I can handle. Turns out this one goes up side down three times. Callie was very much not impressed. She draws the line at upside down and no one noticed the signs indicating it until they went again a second time without her. Now the dilemma will be what the last ride will be since we typically do Space Mountain.

The line for Autopia was short so we headed there next. It can get quite hot waiting for this one and the cars are still gas powered so as they day drags on the area really starts to smell of exhaust. Not sure if they were just using more efficient engines or if there was a breeze but the whole ride was a lot less stinky. Carter got his first driving lesson from me. He gets his learners license in just 15 months. Driving on a track where you can't go anywhere but forward is a good place to start.

The group then split up for a bit. It can get exhausting trying to agree what to do next with seven people so it's nice go go into smaller groups once in a while. We went to do Star Tours. The rides at Disneyland Paris are interesting because they often have much of the writing in English, the verbal instructions can be in both English and French and you often hear both but when you're on the ride it seems sometimes you hit the loop at all English or at all French. We had C3PO translating for us and he does know 6,000,000 forms of communication.

We also took a walking tour of the Nautilus from 20,000 leagues under the sea. This is intended to be their submarine ride but rather than squeezing into a submarine and doing a tour you just have to walk through. This is way more efficient. The Nemo ride in Disneyland is often closed and it takes a long time to get everyone loaded and unloaded. I like the idea of walking through much better. This one isn't Nemo themed and was more about the ship then the fish.

After a few quick treats in the central square, we went to check out the dragon underneath the castle. This castle is intended to be Sleeping Beauty's castle and I'm not sure how the dragon fits in. It is fun to be able to walk underneath the castle though and into the dragons lair. The dragon is laying down across some water and is sleeping with just slight movements before coming alive and doing a bit of a show. No fire.

We had decided we would not try to do another 17 hour day. (I was only 15 hours as I went back early.) We headed back to our hotel after lunch for a nap and on the way out we got some pictures in front of Disneyland with the two graduates. We had bought them both graduate ears when we were in Disney World earlier this year and we brought them here for pictures together. Both Callie and Josh are now fully graduated from high school. Josh is already 18 and Callie turns 18 in August.

When we got back to the park our planned first ride was Pinocchio but once again it was broken down. Instead we did Sleeping Beauty and by the time that was done we Pinocchio was back up and running again. We had lunch on Main Street and then did Pirates, the Tree House and the Haunted Mansion. This park gets busy during the peak of the day but is pretty easy to navigate in the early morning and the evening. Ride times were getting much shorter for us.

Callie had not had anything for dinner yet so I was put in charge of finding her something to eat. We went to main street and had cheese cake at the bakery. It worked as she was able to make a decision on her Pandora bracelet addition. After that victory I headed back to the hotel and Kerry and the kids finished up at 11:00 with Big Thunder Mountain to replace Space Mountain as the last ride.

We were gone a total of 15 days with two travel days. Our average daily step count was 26,000 steps per day which works out to be about 20k. A great trip. Not looking forward to the credit card bill.