Language Lessons...with Aidan

Anyone with young children will tell that you must be, at the least, bi-lingual in order to have any hope of communicating with your children as a toddler.

Below is a quick reference of Aidan-ese.

geacoo \'gē-ˈkü\ Cookie (rooted in speaking dyslexia)

goo gir \'gü ˈgər\ 1. "good girl" (used to praise the dog)
                        2. Sadie (also used to call the dog)

mamoo \ˈmä ˈmü\ Mommy (continues the "oo" sound fixation)

moe \ˈmō\ 1. Milk
               2. More
               3. Phone (every child has that one word
                   that gets used for everything)

wawa \ˈwȯ-ˈwȯ\ Boom Chicka Wah Wah (picked up from Amanda
                       from the commercials for the Chipmunks movie.)

yi \ˈyī\ Light(s) (Used excitedly with Christmas lights)

There are a few other common 'word' usages, "banana" and "bottle" for instance, that I'm not even going to try to spell...

In Her Own Words

On October 24th, Abby's 3rd grade class took a field trip to the Camden Aquarium. Below is her account of the trip. Word for word.

I have a feeling that you're going to like this story. It's about our field trip to an aquarium. First I'll say that it was raining. The bus ride was very fun! (Even when it took 1 hour) Kylie and Ashley were in my group. We took pictures of each other. Next I'll tell you about the aquarium. There is a tunnel with glass all around. All I saw were sharks swimming around me. That was probably my favorite place. Next I think we went to the gift shop. I got a gorgeous bracelet. Me, Kylie, and Ashley got dressed up in pirate costumes. It was funny to see all of us like that! We went to this place with just holes with fish and other creatures. There were jelly fish and they looked like they were glowing. And I saw a tank with these weird looking things. Over there, there were even ducks. When we had only a couple of minutes left, we went to the gift shop again. I got a necklace that said my name. Abby. Oh, and I forgot to tell you about the petting tanks! I was anxious for the time to come to pet fish! One petting tank had jellyfish in it. I did not want to touch them at all. Next, here comes the lobster. First I said, "No! I am not touching this!" And then my mom said, "Its claws aren't able to nip you." So then I finally touched it. I said, "Now that I touched this, I can touch anything." The shrimp are coming right up! They would not, and I mean would not let you touch them! They would go from one place to another! It was like they were magic! There was a giant tank with sharks. They were gooey on their sides and rough on the top. Kylie, I think was so scared, that she splashed me! Now I can tell you about coming home! We found Mrs. Gorgoni on our way to the buses. So we said, "Hey, Mrs. Gorgoni, come over here. We want to get your picture with us!" We did it. So you've got to say that was fun! Hope you liked my story! The End.

Iron Hill Field Trip

This past Monday, I played hookie from work for the morning and joined Amanda on her first 1st Grade field trip. Destination: Iron Hill Museum.

Partnered up with friends Juliana, Jackie, and Rebbecca, we got an education on the original inhabitants of our region: The Lenape Indians (pronounced len-o-pee).

We learned about their homes (wigwams and long houses), about their clothes (animal skins...which the girls all found gross), about the way they hunted (no bows and arrows yet; just spears thrown with a device called an atlatl) and we saw some of the holes that they had dug looking for Jasper stones.

Rounding the morning out, I stayed with the class for lunch which I think greatly amused all of the kids...as well as some of the teachers.

A Little Friendly Competition

At the close of each soccer season, the league we participate in holds a 3-on-3 Competition for those who wish to participate. We've never taken part, but this year, a few kids from Alex's team specifically asked if he would join them in the team they were assembling. Alex rose to the challenge and accepted. Game day was this past Saturday.

The morning kicked off with a 3-game Round Robin competition where each team faced off in 3 10-minutes games to determine the seeding for the competition. The first game was against some familiar faces from the GRPC league. Despite the imposing appearance of their pro-looking uniforms, our team, the All Stars pulled off a shut out. The following 2 games didn't go so well with our guys losing both.

Despite the setback, the All Stars were still in it for the actual competition. These are longer games with two 8-minute halves. The first game caught everyone off-guard when the opposing team never showed; apparently something was lost in translation and they left after the first round. So our guys walked away with a bi and got some much needed rest. The second and final game found the All Stars pitted against a comp team from MOT.

Now, keep in mind that, Alex's team was made up of a 5 kids who have only ever played in a non-comp league. And at least one had only played 1 year. Some of the teams that signed up, liked the team from MOT, were local comp teams who have been practicing and playing together for some time.

The All Stars were able to score 2 very impressive goals against the MOT team and held off some fierce charges on their goal. Despite this, they lost 4-2. But watching these kids grow as a team in such a short span of time was amazing.

The morning ended with the All Stars placing 6th overall. Congratulations Team.

One of Those Weeks

Ever have one of those weeks? You know the ones...

Ours began last week; indirectly. Grammy informed us that Hammy, her hamster had passed away suddenly. Hammy was originally intended to be a gift for Alex. Before giving her to Alex, we discovered her to by nippy. She was replaced with Squeaky and Grammy kept Hammy for herself. She was approximately 2 years old.

On Friday, things began to hit home for us. Mommy discovered that Sadie has round worms. This discovery was quickly followed on Saturday with the discovery that she also has flees.

Saturday evening, we suffered our second loss: Annie was a cat that Mommy had given to me for our first wedding anniversary (Get it? Annie? Anniversary?). About the time we moved into our current home, Mommy's allergies worsened and we were forced to have Annie live with Grammy and Granddad. In any event, Annie had become very sick over the past couple of days. Grammy took her to the vet on Saturday evening and the determination was quickly made that there was nothing that could be done for her. The difficult decision was made to have her put to sleep.

Continuing the trend: Over the course of the last couple of weeks, Squeaky, Alex's hamster has been slowing down. Last night, we discovered that she, too, had passed.

And finally, capping things off; this evening, Julie became very dizzy and sick to her stomach.

Its gonna get better soon. Right?

October Update

I know, I know; Its been a long time since I posted. Well, in my defense, for a bit there, we had just fallen into our routine of school, work, soccer, weddings, etc. Then...

A week ago Sunday, our clan hooked up with Nana and Poppop and Uncle Jason, Aunt Debbie, and cousin Nick to introduce Sadie to the rest of the extended family and go out for dinner. The intro went as was expected: Sadie practically leaps out of her skin when there's new people about. Dinner on the other hand, didn't go as expected: We waited close to an hour and a half for our food, with no explanation or apology from our waitress. Kind'a gives a new meaning to the term 'wait staff'.

Aidan is picking up some new words. Yay! His vocabulary formerly consisted of 'cracker', 'wow', and 'uh oh'. We've recently added 'mama', 'good girl', and 'yes'. He's also learned to ID most of his body; head, hair, mouth, eyes, ears, nose, shoulders, hands, tummy, etc.

While we're on the subject of body parts, it seems all of our youngsters are dealing with teeth issues. Alex is losing molars, Abigail is losing her K9's, Amanda is losing her front teeth, and Aidan is getting molars. All at the same time. The tooth fairy's been busy.

Speaking of Aidan, it seems the little tike is practicing sharing...with Sadie. He loves to share things with her when she's in her kennel: Magnets from the fridge, matchbox cars, his bib...and his cookies; which he'll then proceed to take a bite out of, only after she's licked them. We might need to keep a closer eye on these two...

In other pet news, Zeus is gone. When he had first shown up on our door step, Mommy had spoken to the son of one of our neighbors. He works for Concord Pet who, in turn, is partnered with a local no-kill shelter. He commented that he was going to catch Zeus one day and take him to the shelter. Well, so much time had passed that we figured this wasn't going to happen. But it did. And we didn't even have a chance to say 'goodbye'...

One final note; the soccer season ended this past Saturday. As always, being a non-competition league, all of the kids came away with trophies. On the horizon is a 3-on-3 soccer tournament that a team specifically requested Alex join. The tournament takes place on Saturday, November 10th.

Introducing Zoe...I mean Zeus...

"Why do I sense we've picked up another pathetic life form?"
~ Obi-Wan Kenobi

A little bit ago, before Sadie even arrived on campus, a stray cat appeared on our doorstep. Anyone who knows either Mommy's or my family, knows we have a weakness for stray animals (i.e. Puddy, Cali, etc).

The cat was clearly a lost pet: She was very friendly and wanted inside the house in the worst way. So I walked around the block and talked to a few neighbors hoping to find her home to no avail.

At that point, our mind-set was; Just ignore her and she find her way home. Yeah, that didn't work either.

Fast forward a few days, a few bowls of food, and a new name: Zoe. We still had no intention of keeping her: We couldn't take her in due to allergies and didn't think it fair to keep her outside with the impending winter.

Then the end of last week, one of our neighbors, who we learned was also feeding Zoe, had a vet friend take a look at her with the possible intention of adopting her. That's when we learned the truth: She's a he.

So now, for as long as he's here, we'd like to introduce you to Zeus.

Photo creds to Abby...

Two Weeks with Sadie

Our first couple of nights with Sadie were...challenging. She would wake-up almost hourly crying and barking. We had kinda expected this so we weren't too surprise...which doesn't negate the fact that, by Wednesday of last week, we were looking for a way to speed up this crate training thing.


The following Thursday, Mommy had the genius notion that, 'Hey, the hamsters are nocturnal. Perhaps they're disturbing her'. So Thursday night we moved Sadie's crate into the family room, away from Yoda and Squeaky. Wow, what a difference. Since that point, she has slept (or just been quiet), consistently, through the course of the night. And this without any messes in her kennel. Good girl!

Another neat little tidbit: Sadie plays fetch already. Toss a tennis ball down the length of the kitchen and she'll run to intercept it, usually sliding half the length of the kitchen, and bring it back. We're still working on releasing it once she returns, but, hey, its a start.

The kids are loving playing with Sadie. A little Tug-O-War here, a little fetch there. Alex will take her out in the back yard and the 2 of them will just run around in circles chasing each other. And with Aidan and Sadie being home together the brunt of the day, the 2 of them are bonding. They're also partners in crime: We've found Aidan rolling Matchbox cars under the gate to her - "Hey, Aidan. Roll me the one over there. You know, Alex's favorite. So I can taste it a little..."

Welcome Home Puppy

This evening, after dinner, we piled the clan in the van and headed back to Adonai Farms to pick up the puppy we picked out only 2 short weeks ago.

Upon our arrival, we found the remnants of the litter in the barn, clamoring for some attention. Now 8 weeks old, they had clearly grown and they were much more animated than our last visit.

After saying goodbye to her brothers and sisters, our little girl curled up in a towel in Mommy's lap for the ride home; still nameless at this point. Oh, we had a list of possible names, but finding consensus across 6 family members is...challenging.

However, by the time we hit Newark, we had done it (mostly). Welcome home, Sadie.

Once home, we all spent some time in the back yard under the warm glow of our new security light (thanks, Poppop) running around, tiring the little girl out.

An album of our most recent addition can be viewed by clicking here...

In Memory of Leia

Post updated on 5/9/11 due to shutdown of GoogleVideo.

Playing Catch-Up

So much has happened over the past week that I'm going to try to catch-up with a single post...

Last Monday was the kids first day of school. Yes, it's a bit early I know, but this will help them to get out for next summer a bit earlier. This marked Amanda's entrance into 1st grade and RLCA. Abby and Alex moved up to 3rd and 5th, respectively. So now the 3 school age children are in one place, saving Mommy some driving. Everyone loves their teachers and are looking forward to a great year.

This past Friday, we picked the kids up from school and immediately headed southward for one final hoorah at the shore. Saturday, with the temps being a bit cooler, we still headed over to Cape Henlopen State Park, but instead of going to the beach, we spent the afternoon having a picnic lunch (OK, it was in the van, but close enough) and exploring the park. Among the highlights of the day, we got the chance to climb up Fire Control Tower #7 (the only one open to the public) and enjoy the spectacular view. Afterwards, we wandered around Fort Miles looking at the old barracks and some of the artillery that's been restored. Finally, we headed to the north end of the park to see the light houses and the point. Lots of great history and beautiful views.

Sunday was a beach day with absolutely perfect weather. We couldn't have asked for a better day. We arrived fairly early and Alex immediately made a new friend; David from Annapolis. The 2 spent the majority of the day in the water boogie boarding and body surfing. The girls spent a lot of time digging holes in the sand before Abby got the urge to go boogie boarding herself and Amanda took a crack at body surfing which they ended up spending the balance of the day doing. And Daddy and Aidan? Yeah, we both got in a good nap. Perfect.

Sunday night, as we made our way home, we swung by Conowingo and Adonai Farms to choose a puppy from a litter of 6 wk old Golden Retrievers. Decisions, decisions. After spending close to an hour sitting in the pen, holding and cuddling with each pup, and fretting over the decision, we made a choice and our newest addition will be coming home in another 2 weeks. Now we just have to choose a name...

Fall Soccer 2007

This past Saturday, the GRPC Recreational Soccer League kicked off its Fall season. This year marks our 5th year of involvement with the league. As with past years, Alex, Abby, and Amanda are all participating.


We're seeing lots of development in the kids. Alex loves playing goalie and is getting really good at it. He's not afraid to pounce on the ball despite a rampaging mob of kids chasing it. Abby is starting to really pay attention when she's assigned a position; she really works to stick to it. And Amanda is coming out of her shell and is really starting to get into the mix.

This past Saturday was probably the hottest game day we've ever had with temps reaching into the mid-90's before the last game finished up. The funny part is that the Fall season goes from one extreme to the other; so we're expecting heavy snow before the season wraps.

All games take place at the church (click for map). They begin at 8:30 AM on Saturdays and the season runs through October 20th (no games September 3rd) . Come on out and cheer the kids on.

Busy Days

This past Saturday was crazy busy. I know, you're saying to yourself, 'Hows that different than any other Saturday?'

We started our morning off with a bowling birthday party at the Blue Hen Lanes in Newark in celebration of Amanda's 6th birthday. We also used the opportunity to have a belated friend-party for Alex's 10th.

We were the only birthday party there that morning and were allowed to spread out a bit more than usual. Plus, the staff was able to focus more attention on our party. In the end, everyone had a great time and Amanda was able to avoid doing the Chicken Dance...which she was very nervous about...for some reason.


An album of all the pictures can be viewed by clicking here.

From there I was off to cut the back yard...which hadn't been cut in 4 weeks. Yes, 4 weeks. Hey, I had a bunch of Cicada Killer wasps back there: They're scary.

After that, it was time for a little bit of Mommy and Daddy time as we made our way to Philly for the Keith Urban concert. Aside from getting some beer spilled on me from the crazed woman behind me, it was a perfect night with us getting a great parking spot, having good seats, seeing The Wreckers open, and Keith putting on a great show. He played for nearly 2 1/2 hours and is a great entertainer. One of the biggest surprises of the night was when the UD Marching Band Drumline appeared on stage to assist with I Told You So.

Trickle Down Tricks

Oh, the things your older siblings teach you...

Post edited on 5/9/2011 due to shutdown of GoogleVideo.

Happy 6th Birthday

This past weekend, Amanda celebrated her 6th birthday (Wow! Where does the time go?). Celebrations included mini-golf and pizza at Grammy's beach place and a 2nd celebration later at home.


Rumor has it a bowling party is forth coming. More on that later...

Virginia Beach 2007

As sure as the sun rises in the East, July means one thing for Nana and Poppop: Their yearly trek to Virginia Beach. This year our whole clan, along with Uncle Jason, Aunt Debbie, and cousin Nick, was fortunate enough to be able to tag along.

After an interesting lunch at the Laurel Dairy Queen (not all DQ's are created equal), a 5 hour drive (peppered with the periodic potty break), Alex's inaugural crossing of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge and Tunnel (Can you guess how excited he was?), and the navigating of a hotel parking garage (clearly designed by trolls...trolls are bad) we found ourselves on the 8th floor of the Clarion overlooking the wide sands of Virginia Beach and the Atlantic.

We were blessed with beautiful weather the vast majority of the week which allowed for long days spent on the beach, playing in the sand and swimming in the water. After each day on the beach, all 11 of us would gather for dinner at a local eatery; good times!

Despite the sweltering heat and the late-afternoon thunderstorm, one of the highlights of the week was our Thursday trip into Williamsburg to visit Busch Gardens Europe. In attendance were Uncle Jason, Aunt Debbie, and our entire clan: Yes, even Aidan. It was his first time in an amusement park. Some points worth mentioning include Aidan's first time on rides (he was kind'a indifferent), Alex's tackling of the Big Bad Wolf (he loved it), and Amanda's and Abigail's ride through Escape from Pompeii (Yeah, they may have been a little young for this. Now we know...). Oh! And Uncle Jason did get his chance to ride Griffon.

All in all, everyone had a great week and came away with all their internal organs intact.

Fun in the Sun

This past weekend afforded the family the first time this year to head to the shore.

Sunday morning, facing mild temps and loads of sunshine, the whole clan, along with cousins Allie and Joey, packed up early and headed out from Grammy and Granddad's beach place. A short drive later we made camp at Cape Henlopen.

This was only the second trip ever to the beach for Aidan and held may firsts for him: First time he stepped into the ocean, played in the sand, etc. The result: He loved it. The child has no fear and would have run full-bore into the ocean if given the chance.

Movin' On Up

Following in the footsteps of many a great American, not the least of which includes her older brother and sister, Amanda, on Wednesday, June 6th, celebrated her graduation from Kindergarten.

The ceremony included the graduating class's renditions of many patriotic songs as well as a little ditty called First Grade, First Grade (sung to the tune of New York, New York) and ended with each of the children being called up on stage and given their certificate and a new Bible.

Field Trip Trilogy Complete

Rounding out the field trip frenzy that was May, on Wednesday the 16th, Amanda, along with her GCA Kindergarten class and Mom, headed down to Filasky's farm in Middletown.



The morning started off with the kids following the story of "Cabby" the cabbage seed. During the course of the story, Mrs. Filasky, one of the operators of the farm, demonstrated a device that plants the cabbage seeds en masse.

As the morning progressed, the kids toured the greenhouse to see how plants grow, they planted their own basil plants to take home, and got some free time to play in the inflatable train.

And Ms. Abigail Goes to Bombay Hook

'Tis the season...for field trips. On Wednesday, May 9 (I know, that was almost a month ago; sorry.), Abby and her 2nd grade class, along with Mom, headed to Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge.


First, the class went to the saltwater pond. There, from a floating dock, the kids saw fish, a blue crab, an eel, and used nets to catch Grass Shrimp.

After lunch, they headed over to the freshwater pond. Unfortunately, outside from a few ticks, the kids didn't see much wildlife here.

Ultimately, Mom declared the day a success as none of her group fell in the water.

Mr. Alex Goes to Washington

On Friday, May 4th, Alex's 4th grade class, along with an army of parents, hitched a ride on 3 charter buses and headed for the nation's capital: Washington D.C.

After an uneventful 2hr bus ride, we landed smack in the middle of the mall; outside of the Museum of Natural History. Our primary interest for our limited free time lay elsewhere, though: The Air and Space Museum. After a short walk across the mall, we spent the majority of our time admiring things such as the 1903 Wright Flyer and the more recent SpaceShipOne.

When free-time ended, we re-boarded the buses for a guided tour of Arlington Cemetery. After a good deal of walking we viewed areas such as John F. Kennedy's grave and the memorials to both the Challenger and Columbia shuttle disasters. We were also able to view the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknowns. All of this was very interesting and very sobering at the same time.

From there, we boarded the buses again and headed back into D.C. for the WWII Memorial, the Vietnam Veterans War Memorial, and the Korean War Memorial. Each of these impacted the children as it did the parents and raised much good discussion.

Obi-Wan has taught you well...

The best memorable quotes from the kids tend to originate from their younger years. It's not often that Alex, now 10, comes up with something this notable.


Sunday night, over dinner, we were discussing future pet names. Currently, we have 3 hamsters; 2 of which (and their wayward siblings) share Star Wars themed names. So Alex says;

"If we had a hamster that could hover, we could name it R2D2."

And Daddy's thinking, "If we had a hamster that could hover; EBAY!!!"

Taking the High Road

The entire Tokarski clan partnered with some very dear friends on Saturday, April 28th, for the first annual Walk the High Road for Autism at Bellevue State Park, sponsored by the Autism Society of Delaware. This walk was organized to help fund the expansion of ASD's services to meet the needs of the growing number of families in Delaware coping with autism.

Blessed with beautiful weather and feeling bold, we chose to partake in the long route which consisted of a 3.25 mile trek around the park. After successfully completing the walk (and not having to carry any children), we got to meet Rocky Bluewinkle, eat lunch, and hang out with our friends.

In the end, the walk raised more than $90,000 for this very worthy cause.

Hair today, gone tomorrow

Two years ago, Mom donated 10 inches of her hair to Locks of Love. LoL is an organization which takes donated hair and transforms it into wigs for children who have lost their hair as a result conditions such as alopecia areata or cancer treatments and the like.



Since that time, Amanda has been anxiously awaiting the time that her hair would be long enough to donate. That time came Thursday night. Very nervously, Mom cut off 10 inches of her baby girl's curly locks.

Milestones

This post marks a milestone: It is the first video I've posted to the internet or this blog.

Oh! And I guess I should mention: Aidan learned a new trick this weekend... :)

BTW: We're still working on getting off the couch properly.

Post edited on 5/9/2011 due to shutdown of GoogleVideo.

Operation: Florida

Let me ‘splain. No, there is too much. Let me sum up.

Thursday:

We awoke unnaturally early and braved snow flurries and security check points to pile all 6 Tokarski's and the ensuing mountain of cargo aboard a 737 to head south for some much needed fun in the Sunshine State.

This was the first time that the girls had flown and they were a little nervous as the plane began to taxi but they eased up once we were airborne. Alex, of course, was fascinated with trying to ID landmarks as we flew over. And Aidan; he was very awake for the majority of the flight. It wasn’t until we began our decent to land in FL that he opted to fall asleep. Figures…

Once we got checked in at the resort, despite the cooler mid-70° temps, we found the pool water to be very nice and we promptly jumped in for the remainder of the day.

Friday:

Despite the still cooler temps, the majority of the day was spent at River Island: One of three pools at the resort which also has a couple of nice water slides and a lazy river. After the pool and dinner, we headed over to Downtown Disney for some evening shopping. Time quickly got away from us and we ended up getting the kids in bed after 10. Oops.

Saturday:

The morning kicked off with the resort being kind enough to take Mom and I on a brief tour, show us a movie, feed us some yummy cookies, and try to convince us that we really don’t understand our own finances and that we really should purchase our own place there. Once our salesman was fully convinced that he was trying to squeeze blood from a stone, we were free to go. Later that afternoon, Mom, Grammy, and the kids tackled the first of the 3 Putt-putt courses at the resort (victory to Grammy). Afterwards, we were off to the pool again.

Sunday:

Easter morning was beautiful with loads of sunshine and warmer temps. We kicked the morning off with worship at River of Life; a great little church we found in 2004. After lunch at Waffle House, where I discovered a great new Chicken sandwich (yes, at Waffle House), Mom took the big kids to Splash Lagoon: A 2nd pool at the resort which was closer to our condo. Splash Lagoon offered a smaller, Amanda-sized water slide that she was able to slide down by herself.

After dinner, we celebrated Alex’s 10th birthday with cake (sans candles as we couldn’t find a match) and ice-cream which we promptly followed up with an Easter Egg hunt around Grammy’s condo. Mmmm…chocolate bunny head.

Monday:

Despite the threat of showers this morning, we passed Aidan to Grammy, parked out in lot “Dopey 6000”, and headed for the place “Where Dreams Come True”: The Magic Kingdom. This was Amanda’s first time in Disney and she wasn’t disappointed. A bit soggy, perhaps, but not disappointed.

Upon entering the park, we made a B-line for Cinderella’s Castle and the land that lay beyond: Fantasyland; home to, among other things, the Tea Cups, Dumbo, and the Carousel. We kept good and busy here until lunch which we ate overlooking the entrance to It’s a Small World.

From there, we were off to Liberty Square and Frontierland. We kicked things off here by running all the kids through the Haunted Mansion. Alex and Abby thought it fun, though a bit lame, while Daddy had to cover Amanda's eyes the entire ride. After a ride on the Riverboat, we moved onto Big Thunder Mountain...with all the kids. Everyone loved it.

As the day progressed, we paid our respects at the Hall of Presidents, jammed at the Country Bear Jamboree, and rode the steam train to the Buzz Lightyear ride and the Indy Race Cars in Tomorrowland. Alex and I finished our ride time out by taking a spin on Space Mountain.

By this point it was past 9 o'clock and we had missed the first parade. As we began making our way to the front of the park we stumbled on a great spot to stop and watch the 10 o'clock fireworks show. This was pretty spectacular.

After the fireworks, we opted to not fight the flood of people making for the exit. Instead, we did what any sane person would do: We went shopping. Abby and Mom picked up some very nice earrings while Amanda picked up a very cute necklace. By the time the crowds had cleared, the 11 o'clock Spectromagic parade was bearing down on us. We had to stay for it.

In the end, periodic rain showers aside, everyone had a great day.

Tuesday:

After sleeping-in a bit due to our busy day prior, we headed out to a leisurely morning game of Putt-putt (victory to Mom). It was a good thing we started this early as it rained the rest of the day. We ended up chalking this one up as a recovery day.

Wednesday:

Now fully recovered and being faced with a day full of sun and high 80° temps (it's a hard life, I know), it was time to try something new: Typhoon Lagoon; a Disney-owned water park which is themed as a tropical paradise that has suffered a recent hit from, you guessed it, a typhoon. There are wrecked boats and cars, busted surf boards, etc., strewn about the park in typical Disney fashion.

The centerpiece of the park is the lagoon. A wave pool which boasts wave heights up to 6 feet. Surrounding the lagoon is Castaway Creek; a lazy river that takes about 20 minutes to fully circumnavigate (which we spent significant time on). Beyond the creek are a series of tube slides and body slides. These were all great fun.

The highlights of the day were Alex's foray into the world of speed slides (the Humunga Kowabunga, which he loved immensely) and our rides on the Crush'n Gusher. The Gusher is a water coaster; a tube slide featuring several notable drops during the ride. In order to accomplish this, there are a series of high pressure jets that propel you and your tube up hill to set you up for the next drop. This was tremendous fun.

I'll post pictures for this later as we used an under-water camera that we still need to get developed...

Thursday:

Worn out again (but in a good way), we arose a little late and headed out for another game of Putt-putt (victory: Tie - Grammy and myself). Afterwards, it was off to the pool again. Today, Abby took her first run down the water slide in the resort. Here initial reaction? "That was lame!" Hey, it's hard to compete with the Gusher.

Dinner was worth a note today as Granddad, Mom and myself headed out to Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse for dinner. In the famous words of Ruth Fertel, "Life's too short to eat anywhere else..."

Friday:

This was our last full day in FL. Packing aside, we spent time in both pools at the resort, had dinner at Waffle House, and headed back over to Downtown Disney so that Alex could pick something up for his birthday.