Disney Thursdays: The Parks

Here's my brief rundown on the 4 main parks:

Magic Kingdom:  

First Park built.   Opened October 1971.  Dubbed "The Most Magical Place on Earth," it is themed and inspired by California's Disneyland.  Walt Disney felt the Disneyland layout and potential or expansion was limited.  The park is divided into 8 lands (Main Street U.S.A., Frontierland, Andventureland, Frontierland, Liberty Square, Fantasyland, Tomorrowland, Mickey's Toontown Fair).  It It's the "can't miss" park.  If you had only one day to go and/or could only afford one park. 

Iconic Structure: Cinderella's Castle

Signature Attractions (The three Mountains)

Space:  Indoor Roller Coaster

Thunder: Railroad themed Roller Coaster

Splash:  Water Flume drop

Parades:  Currently running Celebrate a Dream Come True Parade during the day and Main Street Electrical Parade during evenings.

Fireworks:  Wishes... A fantastic nightly show in the background of the castle.

EPCOT

Experimental Prototype Community Of Tomorrow, Epcot was originally dreamed (by Walt Disney) to be a model community to 20,000 residents.  Walt's death put an end to this dream.  Now a theme park,  it's divided into two sections... Future World: Multiple pavilions that explore innovation and technology. World Showcase: Pavilions representing 11 countries. Personally, this may be the Prenkert's least favorite park.  But, with Disney, "least favorite" is still fantastic.

Iconic Structure:  Spaceship Earth.

Signature Attractions

Soarin': A "Flyover" of California

Mission: Space:  A Space Shuttle similuation trip to Mars (I call it the Vomit Comet... can't do it)

Test Track:  A driving simulator.

Fireworks:  Illuminations.  Set over the Lake of the World Showcase, a great show.

Disney Hollywood Studios (formerly MGM Studios)

This TV/Movie theme Park has the majority of its attractions themed around the television shows and movies.  When it opened, it was a full-operating television and movie production studio.  Eventually, Disney downsized their productions and moved everything to California. Probably the least kid-friendly park, it does have the most Katylynn-beloved show in Playhouse Disney Live featuring the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.

Iconic Structure:  The Sorcerer's Hat (was formerly the Earful Tower)

Signature Attractions:

Toy Story Mania: An 3D interactive shooting game featuring the characters of the Toy Story Film.

Twilight Zone: Tower Of Terror:  A drop tower thrill ride.

Rock n' Roller Coaster: A full throttle indoor Roller Coaster featuring the music of Aerosmith.

Parade:  Block Party Bash

Evening Show:  Fantasmic is a stage and water show featuring many of the classic animated Disney characters.

Disney's Animal Kingdom:

Dubbed by many a zoo, it is much more than that.   It does contain nearly every animal you would hope to see in a zoo (exception for me would be polar bears and aquatic life [aquatic life is at EPCOT]).  It also has some great attractions and shows that have no live animals involved at all.  It's the largest of the four parks in acreage (500).  Voted by many as their least favorite park, it is probably the Prenkert's 2nd favorite.  It is not a park you need to spend an entire day at, but possesses several "can't miss" attractions for us.

Iconic Structure:  The Tree of Lie

Signature Attractions:

Kilimanjaro Safaris - An African Sahara themed safari that contains live animals from the African planes.

Expedition Everest - A forward and backward moving Roller Coaster.

Dinosaur - A time traveling thrill ride adventure.

Parade:  Jammin' Jungle Parade

No Fireworks or shows in order to not frighten animals.

I dressed myself today...
Striped pants. polka dotted shirt and flower print hat. It's all the craze.

NFL Pick 'em: Week 3

Last week: 7-9
Total: 15-17

This Week's Picks (my selections in bold):
San Francisco 49ers at K.C. Chiefs
Cleveland Browns at Baltimore Ravens
Dallas Cowboys at Houston Texans - Houston is for real and I'd say a better team, but I'm giving the Cowboys the motivational and homefield edge.
Detroit Lions at Minnesota Vikings - I expect this to be a VERY close game.

Buffalo Bills at New England Patriots - I hate picking the Patriots.
Atlanta Falcons at New Orleans Saints
Tennessee Titans at New York Giants
Pittsburgh Steelers at Tampa Bay Buccaneers - The Bucs are this year's Broncos. I see a great start and a major cooling off.
Cincinnati Bengals at Carolina Panthers
Philadelphia Eagles at Jacksonville Jaguars
Washington Redskins at St Louis Rams
Indianapolis Colts at Denver Broncos - I expect to see more of what i saw in week 2 from the Colts than what I saw in week 1.
Oakland Raiders at Arizona Cardinals - My predictions on a comeback year for Derek Anderson are not panning out so far.
San Diego Chargers at Seattle Seahawks
New York Jets at Miami Dolphins - Rex Ryan is everything I dislike about sports, but I'm making picks on who I think will win

Disney Thursdays: Website Research

The world wide web is full of valuable tools to help you in planning a Walt Disney World Vacation. Here's a list of some of my favorites.

First Trip Planner: http://yourfirstvisit.net/ This is a great site filled with all kinds of practical advice for all things Disney planning.

Trip Booking: The obvious site to book a trip is the Disney World site (http://waltdisneyworld.com). Note: pay attention to the special offers page, located on the Tickets & Packages tab at the top right hand corner (or just click here). This is where you can see the current special deals Disney is offering. For instance, right now, they are offering free dining, $500 gift cards, or room discounts on certain stays.

Learning the ins and outs of "The World":

http://allears.net - Full of information, articles, reviews, and advice on how to make the most of your Disney Vacation.

http://wdwinfo.com - Much like allears, but a little different layout (probably prefer the layout of this site better, but have enjoyed the reviews and advice on allears more.)

http://disboards.com - This is a discussion board on all things Disney.  The folks of wdwinfo are the minds behind this one.  The beauty of this site is that it's full of information of the people and for the people interested in Walt Disney World.  It takes  a little time to learn to navigate and get the info you're looking for, but it's chucked full of great thoughts, ideas, etc.  You don't have to be a member to view the content.  Membership is free, all you have to do is setup a username and password (recommend you don't use your name for your username), and you can post thoughts or questions yourself.

Planning your visit:

http://touringplans.com - I LOVE this site.  The freaks (in the complimentary sense of the word) behind this site have done significant research on crowd levels and event offerings.  They offer Crowd level predictors for all 365 days.  There's an overall crowd level rating, a daily recommendation for best park(s) to visit and park(s) to avoid, and crowd level predictions for each park.  They also offer an app for smart phone owners.

Some of the content on this site is free, but the best stuff costs.

Youtubesday: 2 Guys 600 Pillows

Fantastic!



Forwards version of the Backward Video:

Two Things:

1. Apple Festival Parade.
2. There's always room for ice cream.

NFL Pick 'em Week 2

Last week: 8-8
Overall: 8-8

This week's predictions (winners in bold):
Arizona Cardinals at Atlanta Falcons - My upset of the week.
Baltimore Ravens at Cincinnati Bengals
Kansas City Chiefs at Cleveland Browns
Chicago Bears at Dallas Cowboys
Philadelphia Eagles at Detroit Lions
Buffalo Bills at Green Bay Packers
Pittsburgh Steelers at Tennessee Titans
Miami Dolphins at Minnesota Vikings
Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Carolina Panthers
Seattle Seahawks at Denver Broncos
St. Louis Rams at Oakland Raiders
New England Patriots at New York Jets
Jacksonville Jaguars at San Diego Chargers
Houston Texans at Washington Redskins
New York Giants at Indianapolis Colts
New Orleans Saints at San Francisco 49ers

We Know You Hurt, Because We Hurt

Geoff has been doing a fantastic job at utilizing media on our Senior High Wednesday Night gatherings. This video was used in correlation with our current "To Save a Life" series. It was to set up his message called "Is Life worth living? Is life worth Giving?" It featured our leaders walking through the reality that they have had to face hurts in their life.

Disney Thursdays: Lodging

This was supposed to post yesterday, but didn't... sorry to the two of you who care about Disney Thursdays!

A vacation to Orlando has a RIDICULOUS amount of options for lodging. From the chain hotels to timeshare resorts to home rentals to theme park resorts, one can find themselves overwhelmed in the choices. In our multiple trips, we've actually stayed at every option mentioned. Here was our experiences.


Chain Hotel: We did a 3 night stop en route to Fort Lauderdale. Our goal was to spend a ton of time at the parks. We were simply looking for a place to clean up and lay our heads on a pillow. A simple search at Orbitz or hotels.com will show you availability of nearly every chain you can think of within miles of entry to the Disney Resorts.

Timshare Resort: We've stayed at multiple ones. This has been made possible through the generosity of a friend making a one week rental available through his/her timeshare ownership. Timeshares tend to offer 1,2, or 3 bedroom suite options with living room area, full kitchen, and often have a jacuzzi tub in room. On-site amenities tend to be plentiful (themed pools, ponds, shuffle board, Again, there are a HUGE amount of options, but finding the best deal can take some work or "connections".

Home Rental: We tried it once. There are 2-6 bedroom homes available and the drive is close. Homes often include their very own pool. It's more expensive but a great option if going with multiple families.

Theme Park Resorts: Disney has a variety of lodging options on site. They vary from deluxe hotels to villas to camping and cabins. Prices range from aroun $70 a night (camping) to $350 a night (deluxe villas/hotels). The main options that a Disney traveller will take advantage of are nothing more than Disney themed hotel rooms. There are plenty of perks for staying at an on-site Disney Hotel. Here's my list of pros and cons.

Pros: Extra Magic Hours: Those staying on site get into select parks 1 hour early or stay 3 hours late each day. This creates opportunity to get the parks to yourselves in a sense, especially on the early morning ones.
Disney Transportation: If staying on site, you can get to any Walt Disney Resort spot by using their buses, monorails, and boats. The Magical Express is also a system that takes you from the Orlando Airport to the Disney Hotel you are staying at. This makes it entirely possible to do a full vacation at Walt Disney World without needing to rent a car. Also, if you drive your own car, you don't have to pay to park at the parks.
All out Disney Theming: If you want to do a "Disney Vacation" over an Orlando vacation (meaning Universal Studios, Sea World, Medieval Times, etc.), on-site takes the Disney vacation to another level.

Cons:
Price: It's expensive. A double/double room at Disney can cost twice to three times as much as a similar room off-site.
Rooms/Beds: Comparing the actual room amenities of a timeshare/rental home and a disney hotel room, the disney hotel room is weak.

We have stayed on site three times and are heading into our fourth stay on site. For us, once we started staying this way, we fell in love with the convenience and possibilities. So be warned, if you stay on site, you may have trouble doing a Disney Vacation any other way. There are key ways to get "deals" on the rooms on site (another post on that soon).

Feed My Starving Children

I'm very excited for September 30-October 1 at NMC. Our Kids In Need focus last year found me frustrated at the level of active ways to do something to fight global poverty outside of giving money to organizations who are doing things.

Feed My Starving Children looks to be a fantastic opportunity for the body of Christ to not only financially come behind the issue of world hunger, but also take part in preparing the meals that will go to those literally starving.

Our goal is to prepare 300,000 meals that will go toward those who are hungry.

You can sign up right now by going here and registering for a two-hour time slot (other than the 9:30-midnight slot, Student Ministries is claiming that time and seeking to get 240 who will own that time. Sign ups for that are on Wednesdays and Sundays through Student Ministries programming).

Youtubesday: Made Me Laugh... a lot

Inception trailer a capella


Talk Show Host Loses it:

Week 1 NFL

3-1 in my fantasy teams.
8-8 on my pick 'am.
Colts lost.
Bears should have lost. Stupid rule. Right call, but stupid rule.

1. Tore it up in the Fantasy world.
2. I'm glad I don't bet on football (for multiple reasons).
   
3. I'm in too many fantasy leagues. It gets really confusing. Some very cool people asked me to be in several different leagues and I just couldn't turn them down.
4. I'm not overly worried about the Colts. The O-line has me nervous, but a.) It's week 1. b.) the worries of an undefeated season are done. c.) the Texans are legit.
   

The Wall

A great study was started up by our Senior Pastor at NMC this Sunday.

THE WALL is our Fall Study geared on helping us move toward Spiritual Breakthrough.

In Pastor Dave's own words, this is what the study is about:

Again ... and again ... and again! Why is that we find ourselves repeating the same mistakes again and again? Why is that most people who lose weight regain it ; most prisoners return to prison with repeat offenses? Why is it that spiritually we often repeat the same “year” over and over again? There is a wall. But there is hope; a way to go “through the wall.”

It was great stuff. The audio and video should be up here very soon.

Dear Stoic Dad,

I ran into you a couple weeks ago. I was taking my daughter to the splash pad (you know, that thing that concrete area that has a bunch of contraptions spraying water). There were only 4 of us there... you, your daughter, my daughter, me. I would think you might remember me, but I'm not sure you would.

See, you were sitting back about 40 feet from the pad, looking as though you were enduring the pain of the moment. I mean, it may have been painful to you, or it may have been joyful. I really wasn't sure.

Your daughter wasn't in pain though. She was in heaven... giggling as she ran through the sprayers and the buckets of water dumped on her. She was loving it most of the time. There were those 5-6 times she paused to look over at you, though. The emotion in her eyes was clear in that moment too... hope and anticipation. Her eyes were clearly saying, "Is my daddy watching me? Does he care?"

Here's the thing stoic dad, I had no idea from your composure, expression, and engagement of the moment if you did or didn't care. Thus, I'm fairly certain your 4 year old little girl didn't have a clue either.

So, what's the point to my letter? I just wanted to say thanks. Thanks for pushing me past my own insecurities in that moment. Thanks for reminding me what this pasty 33 year old dad is not going to let happen. Thanks for giving me the extra desire to rip my shirt off and run through the sprayers with my little girl. Thanks for setting a tone for a great afternoon with my daughter through not following your example.

Stoic dad, I guess what I'm saying is that when I grow up, I want to be nothing like you.

Sincerely,
A Dad trying to show his daughter a Father's love

NFL Pick 'em: Week 1

I've done this for the past couple years. I'm a part of a Pig Skin Pick 'em league on ESPN, and I'll try to post my picks here weekly:

Minnesota Vikings at New Orleans Saints - The game is already underway as I type this, but I made my pick last week. Based of each teams 1st drives, I made a good pick. We'll see in two hours.

Miami Dolphins at Buffalo Bills - I think this will be a close game. C.J. Spiller is going to have a big game and lots of talk about him after this weekend.

Detroit Lions at Chicago Bears - Bears win big. Bears fans start talking big. Bears fans get disappointed as the weeks go on.

Oakland Raiders at Tennessee Titans - It's the Raiders.

Cincinnati Bengals at New England Patriots - I see good things from the Bengals this year. I also hate picking the Patriots to win.

Carolina Panthers at New York Giants - Should go with Giants, but I always pick the Panthers. I really like Deangelo Williams. I think that's why.

Atlanta Falcons at Pittsburgh Steelers - Steelers are going to really struggle for their first 4 weeks.

Cleveland Browns at T.B. Bucs - Would you rather throw up or have diarrhea? Similar choices here.

Denver Broncos at Jacksonville Jaguars - Jags don't look good, but neither do the Broncos. I give Jags the edge because they're at home and will likely struggle with the time zones.

Indianapolis Colts at Houston Texans - Won't be shocked if the Texans win. If my predictions are right, Texans are the only team in their conference with a loss in week 1. Texans will have a winning record by the end of the season.

San Francisco 49ers at Seattle Seahawks - I just can't pick against Mike Singletary.

Green Bay Packers at Philadelphia Eagles - Step 1 in the Kevin Kolb experiment fail.

Arizona Cardinals at St. Louis Rams - Derek Anderson, my sleeper of the year.

Dallas Cowboys at Washington Redskins - Shanahan... underrated. All things Cowboys... overrated.

Baltimore Ravens at New York Jets - In my book, best game of the week. I want to see the Ravens make the Jets and Rex Ryan look real dumb.

San Diego Chargers at Kansas City Chiefs - Chiefs could be better than expected. Not this week.

Disney Thursdays: When to Go

Every Thursday on the blog has been deemed "Disney Thursdays" where I'll be sharing tips, thoughts, and memories on vacationing at Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando Florida.

Walt Disney World draws an estimated 20 million tourists a year. Magic Kingdom's daily attendance can range from 20,000 to 90,000 on a given day. Obviously, if planning to go, you would prefer to attend on a 20,000 day rather than a 90,000 day. The internet is filled with sites and resources to help you discover which days/weeks/parks have the lowest crowds or best days to visit.

For my sake of fun, I will give a quick primer on things to consider...

yourfirstvisit.net offers the following chart concerning Disney Crowd Levels.
Some general things to keep in mind with crowd size:

• The Schools: An obvious rule of thumb is crowd size increases whenever there is a major break in schooling... Summer, Winter, and Spring breaks, Presidents Day Weekend create major spikes.
  
• Major Holidays create a double whammy as it means breaks in school and work. The week between Christmas and New Years is considered an absolute nightmare as far as crowds.

Obviously, families planning to travel with school age kids face a dilemma... either pull the kids out of school or go at a larger crowd time. Larger crowd times can still be a good time to go, they just may require a little more planning in order to make the most of the trip... very doable.

Yet, there are some other things to consider when choosing when to go.

• Weather: Summers are stupid-hot. December cools down. January-February can get downright cold (we've had to wear gloves and stocking caps on a couple days). Those wanting a guaranteed sunny/warm Florida vacation would be best to avoid these three months. September/October runs a risk with it being Hurricane Season. Want to know what your temps are like, check out weather.com's monthly/daily averages for WDW.
• Ride Rehabs: January is considered to be the lowest crowd month by far, but it also equals a time where parks will close down various attractions to for fixes. For example, our trip the first week in February had Typhoon Lagoon Water Park, Splash Mountain, Hall of Presidents, Living with the Land, and Honey I Shrunk the Audience were all closed. The main castle moat in Magic Kingdom was drained and there was scaffolding around the base of it to do some repainting. They cleverly disguised the scaffolding with a scrim that looked like castle walls.
• Holiday Decor/Events: Christmas Decorations go up the first week in November and create a very different feel around the park. There are special Halloween and Christmas themed events at Magic Kingdom during their respective times, a Food & Wine Festival that takes place in EPCOT through October and November, a Star Wars Weekend, ESPN themed Weekend, Marathon Weekend, and Night of Joy (a Christian Music Festival in Magic Kingdom). For a complete list of special events, check here. (note: some events have special admission costs, while others are included in regular park admission).
• Park Hours. When crowds are lower, the hours are less. When there are special events (like private groups that rent out a park, Halloween or Christmas Events) the park hours are less. Summer hours can run as late as 3 a.m. at Magic Kingdom if staying on site. So, this is worth taking into account. Disney World publishes park hours 6 months out on their site, but also you can see the past year's park hours here.
  
• When with the ages: A common question is at what age to take your kids. Is there too young of an age or when do they get too old to enjoy the "magic." From a cost saving end, all kids under 3 are free on park admission and restaurant buffets. Opinions vary on the appropriate age. We have taken our daughter at 13 months, 26 months, and will again right over her 3rd birthday. She had a blast the first two times, and has told us multiple times she wants to "go to Minnie's Castle, meet friends, ride Dumbo, and go on the Merry Go Round."
  My personal opinion, any age is a great time to go, but you have to plan accordingly for that age. If you're going to only make one trip ever, I'd venture a guess that ages 5-12 are most ideal for memories and taking advantage of the most offerings.

God As Father

I'm sharing with the Preteens tonight. We're doing a 4 week series with them called "Pictures of God." Each "picture" is really looking at a metaphor that explains who God is...

... God is a Captain.
... God is a Guide.
... God is a Judge.

Tonight, we look at God as a Father.

It's been a tricky one to think through. First off, as we try to take a concept and bring it home in the mind of a 5th/6th Grade student. Object Lessons are the way to bring things home with Preteens. Conceptual teaching can run the risk of disconnect.

The other tough part is for the varying understanding of the word "Father" present in the room. If I stand up before these preteens and say God plays a similar role in their lives to what their dads play, I may be painting a fantastic picture of a loving God who is present, sharing his wisdom, insight and inheritance with his children. To others, I may be presenting a picture of a physcially, emotionally, or spiritually absent presence in their lives.

Messages like this challenge me to communicate clearly and applicably to the crowd I'm presenting to. At the same time, and maybe more significantly I'm challenged to be a good example of a Father. Not just so my children will live a good life, but so they'll be able to better understand who God.

I Love Fall

I love the weather.
I love the color.
I love the sunsets.
I love the sports.
I love the premieres.
I love the pace.
I love the opportunities.

I LOVE FALL.

Some More Season Thoughts

Continuing on from last post... Some further predictions:

Receivers:
Everyone is very high on Andre Johnson, and it's hard not to be... quality QB and great stats that are building every year. Although he's going to hold his own, my predictions for a breakout from Jacoby Jones has me thinking he'll take some looks from Johnson. So, here's my thoughts:

Most receiving yards: Roddy White, Calvin Johnson, and Andre Johnson (in that order)
Most Receiving TDS: A tie between Randy Moss and Reggie Wayne (I say 12).
Most Receptions: Wes Welker and Larry Fitzgerald.
Best Receiving Tandem: Johnson/Jones (HOU) and Johnson/Owens (CIN) as a dark horse.

DEFENSE: I don't follow Defensive stats or individual Defensive players too much. But, here's my picks for top 3 Defenses (as far as points allowed and takeaways).

1. Pittsburgh - Everyone wants to go with the Jets, but there's this guy named Troy Palamalu who is back and healthy, and he makes that big of difference.
2. San Francisco - If Mike Singletary is your coach, you're set.
3. NY Jets - They're really good. The Revis holdout means slow start to me.
   

One More Sunday

Here's some of my predictions for this year concerning players:

MVP:
My heart says Peyton Manning due to my man crush on him. I would put him as leading contender just for sheer odds.
Everyone is so high on Aaron Rodgers this year. I put him in second.
My dark horse is going to Matt Schaub.


Rushing Leader:
Chris Johnson eclipsed 2k last year, but I don't see him doing it again this year.
I think Adrian Peterson is going to carry the yardage load of the offense for the Vikings this year as Brett Favre will struggle with the injury bug and miss his 1st game ever.
On the TD front, I think Frank Gore goes crazy on TDs this year in a tight race with Ryan Matthews.

Comeback Player:
Carson Palmer is poised for a great season. I say 25+ TDs and 4,000 yards.
Also, Derek Anderson is going to turn a few heads. Look for 3,000 and 20 TDs.

Rookie Impact:
It's going to be a battle for Ryan Matthews and C.J. Spiller on the headlines and newstalk, but Ndahmukong Suh will be the true rookie of the year.

Breakout Player:
Jermichael Finley (TE for Green Bay) and Jacoby Jones (WR from Houston) will be the ones that turn heads this.

That's my guesses for now...

Disney Thursdays: My top 10 Attractions

(click on attraction for link to explanation/pics)

10. Turtle Talk with Crush (EPCOT)*
9. Playhouse Disney Live (HollyWood Studios)*
8. Dumbo the flying Elephant (Magic Kingdom)*
7. Flights of Wonder (Animal Kingdom)
6. Finding Nemo: The Musical (Animal Kingdom)
5. Kilimanjaro Safari(Animal Kingdom)
4. Toy Story Mania! (HollyWood Studios)
3. Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin (Magic Kingdom)
2. Twilight Zone Tower of Terror (HollyWood Studios)
1. Mickey's Philharmagic (Magic Kingdom)

*due in large part to the enjoyment Katylynn finds in these attractions.

Disney Thursdays - Why Not/ Why?

(click on image for larger view)

Let me start of by stating a few things I clearly understand.

1. Walt Disney World is not for everyone.
2. Multiple trips to Walt Disney World is for even less people.

Now, I will say that point #1 is where I think many will falsely believe. It could come from multiple reasons. Here's just a few.

• "We're not crowd people." A legitimate reason enough. In all honesty, Janelle and I are far from "crowd people." We are able to live with the "crowds" of Disney through some things we've learned. One is planning our visits at less crowded times. Another is finding how to "beat the lines." Because I'm not a crowd person, I find great joy in anything that makes me feel like I'm getting around the crowds. Above all, the fun, entertainment, creativity, and opportunity to be a kid win out over the presence of a crowd.
• "It's too expensive." The WDW rumor mill has the resort considering organ donations as a new form of payment. It is expensive, but again, there are ways around this. I also laugh at those who tell me it's too expensive as they play around on their new cell phone with a $150 a month payment plan before hopping into their SUV to go watch NFL ticket on their giant plasma T.V. Expensive is a relative term. More on cost-cutting and the economics of Disney in a later post.
• "We're not amusement park/rides people." For those who've never been and are basing their conclusions under this comparison to Cedar Point, Six Flags, Indiana Beach or the Midway at the Elkhart County Fair are making some fairly poor comparisons. WDW is much more than an Amusement Park. In fact, thrill rides are probably one of the the World's weaker points. The shows, smells, parades, fireworks, and food are really my personal favorites. The theming on rides cannot be compared, and there is such a variety of rides that nearly everyone can find something enjoyable.
• "We went, it was miserable, and we're not going back." It's been interesting to me as I've talked with those who have gone and not enjoyed their time. More times than not, those sharing this with me went into the parks with little or no preperation or plan in place. 4 massive theme parks, 2 water parks, a shopping/entertainment complex, multiple golf courses, and a plethora of resorts w/ dining options is a place worthy of coming up with some sort of game plan. Much time can be lost, and many great experiences can be missed without research and a game plan (more tips and tools on planning in a later post).

So, these are some of the reasons why not. In the end, these reasons listed above may end up being legitimate enough reasons why not. So, let me tell you 10 reasons WHY we love going to Disney World.

1. It brings the kids out in Janelle and I.
2. From parking to parks to food, everything is done with excessive creativity and excellence.
3. We laugh a lot.
4. We seem to lose site of all else around us, and focus in on each other when there.
5. Memories are created, and returning to thos memories create more memories.
6. Sun and warmth in not-so-sunny and warm times at home.
7. Bringing movies/ stories/ shows to "life" that we have enjoyed all our life.
8. Seeing our daughter light up when she meets Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Princesses, etc.
9. Some of the best food I've ever eaten.
10. The self-contained vacation it creates while there.

Dear Husband/Dads,

Watch and listen to this song:


Then watch the story behind the song here:


Be challenged. I am.

Excited about December... err November 8

We'll be at Disney, It's Katylynn's Birthday, and now this!
Could there be a better day ahead for us?

Theory of Relative-ity

My Grandpa's passing has brought back a lot.
It's brought back a lot of fantastic memories.
It's brought back a lot of memories of tough times.
It's brought back a lot of family members from across the U.S.

They're coming from Southern Indiana, Massachusetts, Ohio, Colorado, and Montana. They're arriving bit by bit, so basically every night has become another get together to welcome another aunt & uncle or cousins that come rolling in.

My mom's side of the family has 7 kids.
From those 7 (w/ 6 living spouses) kids there are 18 Grandkids (12 Married).
Those 18 Grandkids have produced 20 Great Grandkids.

So, lot's of relatives. Really, these relatives genuinely love each other. The fact is that several live within 1 mile of each other. There's a special heritage here. There's a long history of highs, lows, and all the in betweens, and there's great comfort as we pull together to remember, mourn, and celebrate.

I sit under the shade of a tree planted by the generations before me.