More LOST Talk

Okay, let's talk LOST. Apparently Desmond can see into the future but he doesn't necessarily seem to understand that. He's a strange cat for sure. Apparently Jack was taken hostage in order to save the life of Henry, Benjamin, leader of the "others" who has a huge tumor on his spine. And apparently Kate loves Sawyer, which I think we knew already, and he loves her. She also loves Jack, I think. Interesting. I liked the pace maker trick the others played on Sawyer. However, I don't like when the show gets so violent and I especially don't like when everyone is dirty! Time for a shower folks!! And for crying out loud, Sawyer needs a haircut! I guess we have two more weeks of new shows and then nothing until February. I hope some of these loose ends that LOST is so famous for are tied up before the long break.


Here's a couple more pictures from our trip. I love this one of the three girls peeking out from around this tree at MGM Studios. And the picture below of Buzz Lightyear with the girls is so cute. Allison LOVES Buzz. She loves Woody too but we didn't get to see him. Lately she wants me to sing the song from Toy Story 2 - Woody's Roundup. I don't know the song so I keep singing "Woody's Roundup" over and over. She doesn't care. She thinks I know all songs.

Cold, cold, cold, here in western MA. Cold I say. Have a great day!

Back Home

We're home. What a fun week we had, with great weather and manageable (mostly) crowds. Allison got to ride on just about everything so for the first time since we've had children all five Cooks could ride the fun rides together! Usually we have to settle for the "baby" rides but not this time! We saw LOTS of characters and got the autographs too. Ed and I loved seeing Katie, at 11 years old, enjoying the characters as much as her sisters! She had a blast!

Here's Rebecca (she wants me to call her Rebecca now, not Becky anymore, and I told her I'd try) and Makenzie. They LOVED being together! Makenzie is so sweet, I miss her, but I'm so thankful that we got to spend a couple of days with her!

This picture cracks me up because Ed is posing with one of Allison's imaginary friends, I think this one is Emily. Every once in awhile she gets on an imaginary friend kick where we'll hear about Olivia, Emily, or Jessie. What a hoot!

Ignore this picture as it is a repeat and I, of course, couldn't figure out how to delete it without deleting my whole post!...

Some things I observed while on vacation...Disney World is one place where being a family and being with your family is celebrated and appreciated! It's about being together and doing stuff together! Sometimes I feel like I'm being pulled in a hundred directions with one somebody saying we need more family time. Then another somebody telling me my kids need activities to enrich their lives, like ballet and piano. It's hard to know the balance. But this week it was about being with each other and I liked that very much!

Another observation...All children have meltdowns. Anytime and anyplace. From any country. You can't judge parents of children who are having a meltdown, that's not fair. Perfectly good parents have children who have meltdowns. Some children have them more frequently than others but, make no mistake, all children have them. Yesterday on the monorail, Allison was less than happy but not quite in meltdown mode. A very nice couple from Britain with two little boys, told me that their youngest boy had just had his meltdown right before we got on the monorail. It's good to be in the company of folks who understand this phenomenon of childhood. So next time you see a child in meltdown mode, give his mom a smile of understanding, and try not to judge her, she's doing her best.

I also noticed that I didn't see as many tattoos as I seem to notice here in Mass. Hmmm, interesting. Perhaps that means that tattoos are more popular in different parts of the country and world for that matter. I did notice some older women with small tattoos on their ankles or the back of their shoulders. I wondered if they were new tattoos or ones they've had a long time. Someone should do some sort of tattoo poll, don't you think.

We met a family from our town while we were in line to meet Buzz Lightyear! One of the little girls told her dad that Becky, excuse me, Rebecca goes to her school. So of course we got to chatting. Isn't it amazing what a small world it really can be sometimes.

I'm sure there will be more photos of our trip. I've given up the idea of putting them into an official scrapbook and have opted instead for the traditional photo album! By the way, the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique was the best! I don't know who enjoyed it more, me or the girls!

Disney Journal

It's day 3 of our trip and we're still having fun! Day 1 and 2 were spent with Ed's brother and our niece. It was so great to see them and spend time doing all kinds of cool stuff. The first day we went to the Animal Kingdom. We saw lots of animals and did a lot of walking. Animal Kingdom is not the park to head for if you're looking for rides. It's more of a seeing park, rather than a doing park. There are a couple of must try rides though. We did Expedition Everest which is the newest thrill ride in Disney World. All I can tell you is that it was way cool!! It's a roller coaster where you start out going forward, then as you head toward a mangled mess of track you stop, and reverse direction! The track actually shifts so you don't go back the way you came. Instead you head through some dark tunnels where, for me anyway, it was very disorienting! It was, as they say in Maine, wicked fun! The adults and Katie rode that one, Becky, Makenzie, and Allison sat it out. Becky had a blast being with her cousin. They really are the best of friends and it was awesome that it worked out for Keith and Makenzie to be here while we are!

Day 2 took us to the Magic Kingdom, which is my favorite park. There's just something about walking down Main Street USA and seeing Cinderella's castle, it's so impressive and beautiful, and magical! We went directly to Pirates of the Carribean which has been redone to include Captain Jack Sparrow a.k.a. Jonny Depp. It was okay. With so much hype surrounding the ride I expected it to be a little more interesting. From there we went to Big Thunder Mountain Railroad and Splash Mountain. Allison met the height requirements for both and had a blast riding them!! For the rest of the day she kept asking about going on more rides! There was more to 'do' at the Magic Kingdom and I think the kiddos enjoyed it more than Animal Kingdom. We said goodbye to Keith and Makenzie at the end of the day. We'll probably see them at Thanksgiving time.

Day 3 we stayed at the hotel and went fishing and swimming. Then we went to Downtown Disney and ate at Planet Hollywood. That was pretty cool! Lots and lots of movie memorabilia, including Dorothy's dress from the "Wizard of Oz" and the bus from "Speed". The food was really yummy too.

I have tried to post pictures but our internet connection runs way too slow and I'm not able to. When we get home I'll post the pictures for sure!

Some quotable quotes: As we're on the plane getting ready to take off Allison, thinking she's on some sort of ride, says, "I'm going to put my arms up and scream!" We talked her out of that! Then as we're beginning our descent into Orlando Becky says, "We're going down!" Ed says, "You mean to say we're landing." That statement could've caused a panic!

I'll try to post again before we head home until then, as they say at Disney World, "Have a magical day!"

Soccer Results

I forgot to mention in my earlier post this morning the results of the soccer tournament! Katie's team took first place! They are undefeated! Six straight wins during the tournament! Katie made some great plays and scored one goal! We were so proud of her! It's been fun to see her progress this season. Her confidence has grown so much. She's aggressive on the field and plays her wing position well. YAY! Katie.