Disney World - Animal Kingdom

Our second full day was at the Animal Kingdom. The park opened at 9:00a and we had every intention of being there when it opened. Unfortunately too much sun the day before caught up to Callie and she was showing all the signs of sun stroke. We managed to get her hydrated and on the bus by 9:00a and to the park for around 9:30a. Kerry had our day all planned out and we headed to the Safari ride as soon as we got there though we did have time for a few pictures in front of the 'Tree of Life'. It's a rather impressive concrete tree with dozens of animals carved into the trunk.

We got on the Safari ride and got great seats in the front row. Our tour guide made a few jokes but it wasn't the same sort of tour guide humor I was expecting. I think we saw all the major animals including lions, cheetahs, rhinos, elephants and monkeys. We even saw a giraffe thanks to Kerry. She has a poor track record of spotting animals when we travel. She usually sees things like stumps and says they are bears until we get closer and sees that they aren't. She excitedly reported the giraffe but no one else saw it so I was worried for a moment, however we turned the corner and there it was.

We've only been having very simple breakfasts each morning so we stopped by for a quick snack on our way to Dinoland for our next ride. There we met a duck that Carter named Popcorn. I'm not sure why but we always seem to make a duck friend on our family vacations. There was "Baby Duck's Cousin" the first trip to Maui and then "Ducky" on our second trip and now "Popcorn". I suppose the name Carter picked for him is a good indication of why we keep making friends with ducks.

Callie wasn't interested in the ride in Dinoland and with all the spinning it had I wasn't very excited about it either so we went on to "The Boneyard" which is a play structure for kids with ramps, slides and grottos. I sat in the parent area and Callie started to explore. At one point she was gone for about 10 minutes without me seeing her. Turns out she had found a nice little alcove behind a waterfall to take a rest. After all the sun yesterday, this was a very good idea.

We had lunch scheduled at "The Rain Forest Cafe" and headed there after Dinoland. To be honest, the food isn't that great but the atmosphere can't be beat, with vines and animatronic animals everywhere. There is even a thunderstorm every 15 minutes or so. I went with the Mojo Bones because you can't really mess up ribs. Kerry had a coupon for an appetizer and had the left overs from the kids. We seem to only really need to purchase two or three meals for the four of us and there is still food left over.

Animal Kingdom closes early at 7:00p so rather than leaving and coming back we stayed an extra hour or two before heading to our hotel for a nap and a dip in the pool. Kerry did a load of laundry and read by the pool and the rest of us were out like a light for at least an hour. We then headed to Downtown Disney in the late afternoon. It's not a park but it is a fun place to go for dinner and there was a Christmas Time shop with a great billboard for Callie to get her picture in front of. (I really need to see that movie.)

After dinner we headed to Ghiradelli for desert. Again, we only had two to share between the four of us. Between the Sea Salt Caramel Sunday that I wanted and the Banana Split that Carter insisted on we only finished the Sunday and about half the Banana Split. Disney is going to need to take as serious look at increasing the width of all the seats on their rides based on what we've seen so far and based on the food choices you have.

Disney World - The Magic Kingdom

After our long day of travel the day before we were a bit groggy when we got up at 7:30a local time. Our first day was going to be at the Magic Kingdom. There are hotels in some of the parks but ultimately to see all the parks you need to have a car or take advantage of the bus system. There are shuttles leaving every 5 to 20 minutes from each hotel going to each park. Our buses leave from the main lobby and we only had to wait a few minutes for the bus to arrive. Unfortunately there were a few scooters that had to be loaded and the bus had a bit of difficulty closing the ramp.

We eventually got going and after a 20 minute ride arrived at or destination. We  had continued our 'farthest' theme and were headed to the farthest park from our farthest hotel. The nice thing about this strategy is that everything will be shorter for the rest of our trip. The Magic Kingdom is much like Disneyland. Many of the same areas and many of the same rides. It was a little disconcerting as everything was the same except it was different.

Our first ride was 'The Magic Carpets of Aladdin'. A nice easy one for everyone to get their feet wet. It's much like the Dumbo ride where it goes in circles and you can control the height. Carter didn't want to go very high so of course Callie immediately took us to the top. He was okay with it because you could see much of the park. After that we headed to the Swiss Family Robinson tree house. Similar to the one in Disneyland except they kept it as Swiss Family Robinson instead of changing it to Tarzans tree house. I think I want to see one of the Swiss Family movies again.

Our first Fast Pass was for 'Big Thunder Mountain'. Kerry was both excited and irritated that she could book our Fast Passes months in advance. Although she was excited that she could plan everything in advance it meant she had to figure out where we were going each day without even knowing what the parks were like. So far it's worked out okay but we can't change them now so we're kind of set on where we go each day.

We attempted to get Callie to go on 'Big Thunder Mountain' however she was having none of that. We got up to the train and her and Kerry had to go out the other side. Carter and I went on and Kerry and Carter went immediately after that. He loved it. I didn't mind it but it was definitely more extreme than the one at Disneyland. There was an extra spiral in the middle that left your stomach in your throat for a few seconds.

Our next ride was the 'Seven Dwarfs Mine Train. This was a relatively new ride and been hyped up quite a bit over the past couple years. It was okay but it was much like 'Big Thunder'.

By now we were pretty hungry so we went our separate ways for food. There are only a couple items at each restaurant so we had to go to three different ones to all get what we wanted. Callie and I met up with Kerry and Carter at 'Splash Mountain'. We know Callie would love this but unfortunately couldn't convince her. Maybe later this week.

Even though it's about a 20 minute ride back to our hotel we figured we were too tired to keep going and it would be better if we headed back to the pool for a dip and a nap. Callie wanted to hit all three pools including the Cars pool where they got a 'Cozy Cone Cabana'. I took a nap and met up with them just as they were heading to the second pool. In hindsight perhaps it was a bad idea to be out in the sun for so long but I'll talk about that tomorrow.

We headed back to the park around 6:00p and went straight to the Teacups. Definitely not my favourite ride. Too much spinning. I held the centre wheel the whole time for the least amount of spinning. This one is covered since they get more rain here than at Disneyland. It was definitely a different experience. After that we headed over to Dumbo. There is a lot more space at Disney World so they have two of them. There was still a bit of a wait and when we got on we went about 10 times around before we were stuck at the top for about a minute. They had to get us all off the ride to reset it.

We had a quick dinner of chicken nuggets and waffle fries before going into the 'Tiki Room'. We knew Callie would love this one and we were right. We'll be hearing "In the Tiki, Tiki, Tiki, Tiki room...." for weeks. We also tried out Pirates of the Caribbean. The inside was similar but the line up was very different with it being inside the whole way. Our final destination was going to the the 'People Movers' but we got stuck by the 'Electrical Parade' and decided we would head out before the fireworks were over. Our first day felt very long and we were ready for bed.

Disney World - Travelling Across a Continent

The trip to Disneyland is about four hours and you stay in the same time zone. The trip to Disney World is much longer and you lose three hours as you cross the continent. To top things off we lost an extra hour the day before to Day Light Savings. Our day was intended to start at around 3:30a but instead Carter called out to us around 2:15a indicating he was tired of waiting and wanted to wake up. I fell back asleep but I think Kerry stayed up till her alarm went off. We were all packed so we were able to get out the door around 4:00a. Groggy but excited.

After a two hour drive we arrived in Seattle where we parked our car and hopped on the shuttle to the airport. This is where our first travel mistake happened when I left my phone in the car. We had some time to spare so I took the shuttle back, grabbed it and then met up with Kerry and the kids at the airport. Our second destination was Milwaukee. Can't say much about it since our lay over was only about an hour. We were worried that it was in snow country because any delays and we would miss our next flight.

Things worked out nicely however and we were in the air and on our way to Orlando. We flew Southwest the whole way which was a new experience because you don't have assigned seats. You board in groups based on when you checked in or in our case because Kerry paid an extra $10 per ticket to be in the first group. This worked out very well for our second flight because the plane was only half full. Carter and I took one row of three and Kerry and Callie took another row of three. Very nice having the extra room.

We arrived in our hotel to check in around 10:30p local time which was only 6:30p pre-daylight savings time on the west coast. (It's been very confusing trying to figure out what time it is.) Check in was somewhat slow but Carter, Callie and I passed the time by looking for Hidden Mickey's. Disney resorts tend to have the big eared mouse hidden in the architecture. Carter was the first to find one hidden in the doodles on one of the chairs. The hotel is called Art of Animation and there are doodles everywhere.

The hotel was one of the cheapest of the Disney hotels but it's only two years old so it's still very nice. The main issue with going with cheapest is distance. We're in the farthest resort, in the farthest building, in one of the farthest rooms from the front desk. It's probably a 1/2 km walk to our Arial building which is well marked with a 25 foot tall statue of her. Everything is clean and we're right near the pool so nothing else to complain about. We tried to go to sleep right away but took a while with the time change. We need to get up early tomorrow for our first day at the Magic Kingdom.

An Early Spring Garden

While the East coast has been socked in with record snow falls and cold weather, the rest of Canada and apparently the world have seen a different picture. In early February I was able to get out and get some gardening done. The lawn was already a foot high in some places so I had to get it cut. The garden was dry enough and warm enough to get tilled and prepped for planting. (I wasn't dumb enough to try to actually plant since there is definitely still a chance of frost in February.) All beds are cleaned and ready for the perennials to get a good start on the year.

It was also perfect timing for cleaning up the raspberries. I always clean out the old canes in the fall but the trellis I had keeping things up had seen better days and was always intended to be temporary. There was also a raised planter bed to the right of the strawberries that was rotted out and was more raspberries than strawberries anyways. I installed two 4x4 posts and strung string in between. I went with string for now but I think I'll replace with wire in the fall as it will be more stable and less stretchy. The canes to the left were transplanted from the raised bed. I should have an excellent crop this year.

Sledding at Seymour

In January we went with the cousins up to Seymour Mountain. Seymour is one of the three local ski hills and Kerry and I had never been though we heard it had excellent sledding. When we first arrived I was a bit disappointed. It had been a bad year for snow so far and as far as I could tell there was just two very short hills with long line ups that seemed designed for three and four year-old's. From what people had told me I was expecting some great sledding but even the tube park was closed. We went on the small hills for a few runs and then realized most people were walking in a different direction.

We looked up and there it was. Four very long hills with hundreds of people looking like they were having a lot of fun. I blame the fog but at least we found the good hills. I would have been very upset had we figured this out after we left. The kids went at least a half dozen times and would have gone more but it was nearing the end of the day. Callie had lot's of fun going in the bigger sled with Ryan. Even the big kids took a few runs with no injuries. We never got a chance to back again with the slow fall for 2015 but we will definitely go back next year.

Schwab Family Christmas

Christmas officially starts with the decorating. Usually this is as close to the beginning of December as possible but this year December started on a Monday and Kerry and I were both busy the weekend before so we didn't get going until December 6th. Lot's of decorating to do with not much time to do it. Our Christmas light display continues to expand. I wait until the second week and head to Rona to buy the lights when they are half off. I got three strings of 200 each this year plus a Snoopy that went on sale for the first time ever since he's usually sold before the sale starts.

When school ends and the the holiday begins we try to go skating at least once. Apparently we need to go skating a bit more often because I think Callie and Carter spent more time on the bench then on the ice. The bench is still fun though because we go to the Ice Palace in Cloverdale. They shut down a whole rink for most of December and decorate the ice with lights and trees. With the main lights turned off it's a great atmosphere.

About a year ago Canada Place replaced the IMAX theatre with Flyover Canada. It's similar to Soaring Over California at Disneyland. You sit in a seat and they suspend you over a curved screen making it seem like you're actually flying. For the rest of the year the scenes are of Canada and that remains for Christmas with a few twists. They add in a few elves in random spots but also add a couple minutes of the North Pole at the end. It was very well done and brought Santa's home to life for the kids.


For the past few years I've been eyeing the Vancouver Christmas market. Oddly enough I first heard about it when someone accidentally drilled into a propane tank a few years ago and there was a small explosion. It's not very big but that just adds to the fun. It's generally German and Polish themed and a majority of the booths are food. We had some great Bavarian sausages, waffles on a stick, hot chocolate and even got to ride on a carousel. We lucked out when someone leaving gave us some coupons for free rides that they had not used.

On the 23rd we went for dinner at the Kilden's and followed it up with an evening of Christmas light viewing. We found a route from someone on Facebook that took us past some great houses.  The really big ones haven't quite all converted to LED's but some of the houses with fewer lights have. I imagine they will continue to grow over the next few years. My favourite was one of the ones that had tuned their lights to music. They broadcast the music on a short range FM channel which I imagine is much less disruptive to the neighbours.

Christmas day was chaotic as usual. Uncle Ronnie slept over so we could get an early start. Callie came into our room at 1:30a which never happens. She didn't stay long because she said the bed was "too uncomfortable." After that they managed to stay asleep until about 6:45a. Gift opening was done by about 7:30a. So early it was still dark out. The kids had a great time opening their gifts though they are now getting old enough that they can guess many of them before they even get opened.

The rest of Christmas day was spent building lego sets. I think each kid got a big set, a medium set, a small set and a few mini sets. Callie enjoyed making her on her own but Carter insisted that I help him. He's perfectly capable of assembling all the sets he got but I think he enjoys the end result more than the process. We put together the Arctic Base Camp, a windmill and some construction equipment. Callie assembled her Heart Lake City Pool, Jungle Rescue Base and Barbie's Superstar Stage. We're running out of room for all these assembled sets.

Christmas Tree Hunting

I'm not sure what the trigger was but this year I decided it would be good if we got a real tree. I had real trees growing up because in Prince George you can't spit without hitting a tree that someone wants to cut down but since I'd moved to the lower mainland we've always had an artificial tree. Not one we bought ourselves but one that Kerry's parents had given us. I'm fairly certain they used it before us so it's probably seen 25 Christmas' by now. (Or maybe Kerry bought it when she moved down.) In any event, it was just not the same as a real tree.

I naively thought that the kids would be excited about a real tree and Carter was, however Callie was not. We couldn't quite get her to verbalize her issues but I think she thought the act of cutting a tree down would be traumatizing for the tree and wanted none of it. My back up plan was to find someplace that sold live trees in pots. We have a spot in the back yard that we could plant it and probably get a few seasons out of it since our living room is too tall. In the end we managed to convince her to take home one of the cut ones in the tree lot by telling her that if we didn't take it home it might not have a home for Christmas.

The Christmas tree lot we went to was much more than just a parking lot full of trees. It's the same location as the pumpkin patch we go to in the fall. I think it's only been doing it the past few seasons as they were probably jealous of a much larger tree farm that is just a few minutes away. The one nearby is quite hilly and looks fun but we decided to go to the pumpkin patch one since it had animals as well. It was a nice day with marsh mellows on the fire, a petting zoo and of course a beautiful "Noble Fir" that the kids named Firy Spike Spikefir. Now I just have to figure out how to get rid come January 1st.