Out of the mouths of my babes

Darcy:  "I want to go on the Woody Woodpecker coaster.  It looks safe."

Me:  "That's the roller coaster that you all talked me into going on that I ended up crying on and breaking my sunglasses from squeezing them so tight."

Darcy:  "Ah, Mom, you can sit this one out then."

Me:  (laugh like Woody Woodpecker)

Darcy:  (looks at me blankly)

Me:  "You don't even know who Woody Woodpecker even is."

Darcy:  "I do too!  He's a chipmunk."

Wyndam's Orlando International Resort Club

Years ago my mother was offered a free stay in Orlando if she would also come and listen to a timeshare spiel.  She took the girls and me along, and despite my thinking I had written all of this down in my blog many years ago, I can not find it.  To cut through the very long and winded story we spent hours and hours in Orlando that day ending with my mother purchasing some points in what was then Fairfield Resorts.  She used these points at various resorts around the United States as she and her golf ladies made trips to different golf courses.  Along the travels she usually got talked into more points.  Eventually the property was purchased by Wyndham and Connie owned enough points to become a Presidential Reserve Member, adding my brother and I on the deed.

I have written about our stays at various resorts here, here, and here.  I'm wondering if perhaps I should start a site writing about the various Wyndham resorts of which I am a Presidential Reserve member so that other owners could check in and see information about the resort they are planning to travel to.  (Hmmm....note to self:  discuss that with entrepreneur cousin Jay).  This could be a future summer job for all of us.

Orlando is a big hub for timeshare companies.  Fairfield in the beginning had three resorts.  The first resort, Star Island, was old, run down and nasty.  I've been told that it has since been renovated, but I have not signed up to check on that.  The second resort, Cypress Palms, is more resort friendly.  I find the units spacious and enjoy the different pools on the property.  The third resort is actually on Disney property.  It was being built when Connie was staying at Cypress Palms with Rusty and his family and the two of them got to visit the property.  It is now finished, although buildings are still being built, and is one of the resorts that offers a separate building with Presidential Reserve suites.  It is called Bonnet Creek.  While the two bedroom units are newer I find them cramped compared to Cypress Palms, but the Presidential Reserve units are simply extraordinary.  Nothing compares to those units.  In the past months Wyndham has added two other resorts and it was one of these that I chose to check into.

This resort, Orlando International Resort Club, was the closest one to Universal just off International Drive.  In the pictures it looked like a motel, but since we really only needed a place to lay our head I signed us up.  Check in was at 4:00 pm, but my experience has been that if you arrive earlier check to see if your unit is available and so when we pulled into the parking lot it was only 2:00 pm.

The office was just an inconspicuous door that led into a small room with a desk to the left and a sitting area to the right.  On a table in the sitting area was a pretty tea service set and a dish of cookies.  Sitting behind the desk was a beautiful woman who checked me into the resort no problem.  She was very kind and helpful letting me know to pick up information on the resort and directions to the nearest grocery stores on my way back outside.  She did not direct me to another area to pick up my parking pass which is always the area where you are held hostage until you sign up to attend a "breakfast" and listen to a spiel to try and sell more points.   Instead she just handed me my keys and my pass and directed me to our unit.  (It was the door to the left of the upstairs door, behind the light pole)

Other than a resort in the North Carolina mountains our units have always been one level so my daughters were beyond excited to discover stairs upon entry.

The stairs led to the two bedrooms and two full baths.  At the bottom of the stairs was a third full bath that we discovered much later.  The kitchen was to the right of the entrance and the nice sized living area was directly in front as you entered.  The unit was painted in that 70's gold with the same color carpeting.  Had it been painted something more inviting I would have rated this unit a 10.  The drapes and the furniture all matched and had interesting greens and blues along with the gold that would have made the place look more homey had the decorator chosen to go with one of the blues or greens on the walls.  Tom said it reminded him of his grandparents' house.

Upstairs the walls were painted a different color.  That bed was the most comfortable thing I have slept on in a long time and I wish now I had investigated the manufacturer.  It seemed much larger than our king bed at home and the duvet and sheets were wonderful.  The bathroom was to the right and was just the right size for me, although Tom thought the separate toilet and shower area was very cramped, but he closes doors and I don't.

The girls' room was small, but the bathroom was attached to the room where most Wyndham's have it on the outside.  They liked their little room just fine because it had its own television, something they don't have in their rooms at home.  Also on the upper floor was a washer and dryer unit.  All of the bathrooms were stocked with plenty of towels, something not typical at these resorts.  We didn't even use all of them in our four days.

We did not use any of the amenities or attend any of the events on property as we were there to visit Universal twenty four / seven.  There was a poolside cookout on Friday night and a complimentary breakfast Sunday morning.  There was only one pool which I took a photo of the day we left.  It is small compared to other resorts, but would have suited us just fine had we needed to take a dip.

One of the most interesting things we found was the chess set that resided out our back balcony on the tennis / basketball court.  If we had known the rules of chess we would have definitely utilized this set at some point in our stay, but alas, we don't play chess. 

The employees at the resort that we encountered were some of the nicest I have been around.  Everyone we dealt with or passed by always asked us if we needed anything, if everything was satisfactory, and if there was anyway he could make our stay more enjoyable.  Everyone greeted us with smiles and good mornings and made us feel like they really gave a damn. 

I would highly recommend this resort to anyone visiting the Orlando area that needs a place to bunk while visiting theme parks.  I'm not sure it would fit the bill for families that want to hang at the resort all day, but it would fit for families with older kids such as mine.  I gave the resort a 9 when I filled out the survey, and I only gave them that because I didn't participate in the amenities.  I will be back.

Vacation - Day 1 - Islands of Adventure

For my youngest daughter's birthday this year I got the idea of taking her to a concert after reading a tweet from my niece about one of their idols coming to Orlando. It turned out upon further investigation that the entire cast of Nickelodeon's Victorious would be at Universal Studios to open its Summer Concert Series for 2012. With the price of admission to Universal Studios we would all be able to see the cast in concert - cue screaming - attend a Q & A session and screen an episode of the show. Because we are Florida residents we have the chance to purchase yearly passes and so we did so that we could spend this birthday gift with our daughter and count this as part of our family summer vacation. (I say part because I'm always hoping for more)

The concert was Saturday, but we made it a four day weekend, leaving on Thursday. We had had rain most of the week and the day we left was no different. We live about an hour and a half from the Orlando attractions area, and after checking in at a new Wyndham resort off of International Drive, we headed to Universal Studios to pick up our passes and survey the scene. My first experience at Universal was when my kids were tiny. The girls, my mother and I joined my sister-in-law, her kids, and her parents in Orlando for several days where we made the rounds of parks. It was February, rainy, and cold as I remember it and not much to do with a three year old and an 8 month old. The next time we traveled to the park the girls were older, but other than the Curious George part of the park, we didn't have any memories of the experience.

We went into this trip with an open mind and an excitement, on the part of the eldest members, to see the Harry Potter portion of the park. Universal has two parks; Islands of Adventure and Universal Studios. We opted for Islands of Adventure for Thursday and after securing our passes we immediately headed to Harry Potter's castle. It was late afternoon, overcast with intervals of misty rainfall, and the park was not full at all. The Harry Potter adventure is in the back of the park in a very small corner not fit for a large crowd. The central focus is on the Hogwarts' castle that looms high above the village of Hogsmeade. There are various shops from the book such as Dervish and Banges, Ollivander's, and Honeydukes that one can actually enter, but like a huge portion of Universal most of the shops are non-accessible and only facades of the front of a shop.

Darcy and I do not ride roller coasters, but having been told that we could tour the castle and exit before the ride began, we all entered Hogwarts. The wait was only 15 minutes and we discovered afterwards that that was actually a downside. Because there weren't any lines we moved rapidly through the castle and didn't get to stop and enjoy the nuances and authenticates from the book. If we stopped to listen and exam an area where wizards were moving from mirrors and pictures, the people behind us would stop and then the people behind them would stop and no one wanted to jump in front of us and the line behind us would grow. Figuring we would be coming back the next day, we didn't linger and moved through the castle at a faster pace than the attraction called for.

We exited the castle and wandered Hogsmeade while Tom and Madison rode the ride through the rest of the castle. Turns out that it wasn't a roller coaster after all, but a simulated ride high in the air. Again, thinking we would be back, we agreed to move on. We went into Hogs Head and told the tender behind the bar to draw us a pint of butterbeer. We opted for the frozen kind and only purchased one to make sure we would enjoy it. By our second sip of the beverage we sent Tom back into Hogs Head to get us another one. Darcy wasn't too keen on the drink, but the rest of us guzzled it down, licking the creamy butterscotch topping off of our upper lips.

By now the rain was really coming down and we stood in the line to Ollivander's hunkered down in our rain ponchos drinking our butterbeers.  Only thirty people at a time can enter Ollivander's where a wizard chooses one person from the small crowd to help select a wand. Or I should say he helps the wand chose the person wizard. Madison was chosen from our group.

The wizard was phenomenal.  He played the character perfectly giving her various wands to try that set off bells, lightning, and flashing of lights.  Eventually he found the right wand for her which happen to be over my shoulder.  The place is filled with wands from ceiling to floor and he came over to me and reached over me to get to the wand.  At that point my phone for some reason began playing Toby Keith's Red Solo Cup in a teeny voice.  He stayed in character, studied me intently, and finally told me I appeared to be quite musical.

The wand that eventually chose Madison was about $40 so we left it behind and continued on.  The rain was coming down steadily and despite our ponchos were were getting wet through the arm holes, the head hole, and below our knees.  The rain got worse as we made our way through the park and after a couple of stops along the way we decided to exit.  By the time we got to the safety of the exit we were all drenched on some part of our bodies.

We ended the night with groceries, showers, and some television. 

Family Vacation

We are heading out for a family vacation/birthday celebration for the next four days.  Our choice of venue is Universal in Orlando where Darcy will get to see some idols of hers from the TV show Victorious.  I will try to blog, but something tells me it will be more likely that that will happen upon my return.

Out of the mouths of my babes

This morning was Madison's last day of school before summer break.

Me: "If you could sum up your freshman year in one word, what would it be?"

Madison: "Short!"

I dropped her off and returned home where my youngest was already enjoying her summer break having completed her last day a week ago.

Me: "If you could sum up this school year in one word, what would it be?"

Darcy: "Long!"

Something told me that would be her answer!

Email Funny

Thanks to my Indiana buddy, Robin for this little gem:

Health Warning!

I don't know why I didn't figure this out sooner, but it involves the shampoo that everyone lets run down one's body when showering.  Please heed this shampoo warning!

I use shampoo in the shower.  I wash my hair and the shampoo runs down my whole body every night.  Recently I discovered this warning on my shampoo bottle: " FOR EXTRA BODY AND VOLUME"  Oh, my gosh, how could I have not seen this before?  No wonder I have been gaining weight!  I immediately got rid of that bottle of shampoo.  I now use Dawn dish soap instead.  It's label reads, "DISSOLVES FAT THAT IS OTHERWISE DIFFICULT TO REMOVE". 

I'm so thankful I have the opportunity to warn others.  Please pass this on to warn others, and if you try to call me and I don't answer, please don't worry...I'll be in the shower!

Unicorns, dirt and shovels, oh my

About three weeks ago my husband dug up a small section of our front yard; the area between our house and our neighbors, behind our mailbox.  He sectioned it off in a rectangle with string and left the shovel sticking out of the mound of sandy dirt that is Florida's soil.  Elliot spent three days barking and growling at the shovel, intruder that it was, before Tom put it away.  The section of dug up yard he ignored.  For weeks.

Me:  "Exactly what is it that you are doing out there in the yard?"
Tom:  "Burying a horse."

The mound of dirt welcomed me home each day as I pulled into my driveway.  My next door neighbor asked me what Tom had planned.  The neighbor across the street asked me what we were doing.  The neighbor catty corner to our house asked me what the hell we were doing.  I told them all what I knew.

Me:  "Tom is burying a horse."
Sid:  "A horse?"
Me:  "That's what he told me when I asked, but seriously, I think that area is too big for a horse."
Sid:  "I bet it's a unicorn and that's why he needs the extra space."

At some point a jacaranda tree was mentioned.  The girls and I voted for that as we love the purple blooming trees.  But nothing came of it.  Finally this past weekend I drove into my driveway to find assorted plants and flowers strewn over the lawn.  Tom spent two days working in the hot sun and the pouring down rain to finish his masterpiece.

While it is oddly just a random landscaped area in our yard, I have to admit it is a more welcome to the house then the mound of dirt and shovel.  Plus the fact that a unicorn is under all of that mulch makes me feel like we are protected by sparkly magic.

Birthday photos

One of two cakes

Her first pile of gifts

Opening gifts with family (Cousin Gabby is watching via Skype on the laptop from IN)

Her cool feather earrings

And sunglasses

 Dinner at the Macaroni Grill with family and friends

Blowing out her candles

All in all a good day for our teenager. 

My teenager

Once upon a time, long, long ago, a little girl was born.  She was the cutest little girl with no hair, and she loved to sleep, and as it turns out, suck only on her tongue.

This caused quite a few problems, but after spending three days in the children's hospital the little girl was finally sent home with her parents.  All the neighbors, family, and friends came to visit the new girl.    Everyone loved the new girl.  She was very happy and loved being around people.

The little girl grew (but not her hair) and grew.  She loved the water.

 Preferring to be under it...

She was a very quiet girl in the beginning because she sucked on a pacifier that she only removed from her mouth when eating or when she had something important to say.  She and her favorite doll, Molly, went along through life loving it and all the people around her.

As she grew she discovered new things.  She found that she loved mermaids like her sister and playing Barbies.

 

She liked dancing, and playing pretend, and wearing dress up clothes.

 

She liked sports of all kinds

 and standing on her head.

She got rid of the pacifier and sucked her thumb instead.

She enjoyed making funny faces like her Aunt Kelly.

and mugging for the camera like her cousin Gabby

And as she grew through the years and discovered new things, she also grew into a caring, kind, funny, loving 

 

teenager

Happy Birthday to my baby girl!

Culantro not cilantro

I love cilantro.  I love the smell of it and always say that I would love to just rub it all over my body and wear it like a perfume.  I love it in soups and pastas and chicken dishes and salsas.  I would it every day if I thought it would work with what I was cooking.  This spring when Tom began his annual gardening plans he decided to plant rosemary and basil.  When I saw that he had purchased the plants I made the comment that he should plant things I would use like cilantro.  I reminded him of how much I loved cilantro.  He told me I could use the rosemary and basil too.

Recently I was out with Elliot, trailing him as he wandered the yard sniffing things.  He ended up on the side of the house chasing lizards, and as I stood waiting for him to finish his game, I took in my surroundings since I rarely venture out to the side of the house.  Apparently, my husband had decided to plant his herbs on the side of the house this year instead of the front of the house.  I noticed that he had his yearly various pepper plants and several herbs, one of which I did not recognize.

Since the information card was stuck down in the soil next to the plant I reached down and plucked it out to see what in the world the pokey plant was.  It said, "culantro".  I stood for a moment reading and re-reading the card.  What the hell is culantro kept playing over and over in my head like a stuck record.  Seriously?  The man heard culantro when I said cilantro?  I supposed we were making progress in the communications department since he tells me he hears the ocean when I speak, but as I looked at the plant I was struck by the simple fact that I hadn't a clue what to use that herb in or if it was even an herb.  Later that night I asked him WTF.

Me:  "So what's with the culantro you planted outside?"
Tom:  "You said that's what you wanted me to plant."
Me:  "Uh, no, I said cilantro.  With an "i"."
Tom:  "That's what I planted."
Me:  "No, you planted culantro."
Tom:  "You read it wrong.  I planted cilantro."
Me:  "No, you planted culantro, with a "u".  It doesn't look a thing like cilantro."
Tom:  "Are you sure?"
Me:  "Oh, my god, are you serious?  I told you how much I love cilantro.  You don't think I know what it looks like?  You don't think I know how to spell it?  You got something I've never seen before or heard of before, but it isn't cilantro."
Tom:  "What is it then?"
Me:  "Culantro.  I was going to look it up, but I forgot."
Tom:  "Are you serious?  I can't believe that.  I couldn't find cilantro anywhere and then I saw it at this store and I was excited that they had it.  I read the card.  I thought it said cilantro.  I can't believe I got the wrong plant.  Maybe it's the same thing."
Me:  "I just told you it doesn't look anything like cilantro.  And Publix sells cilantro in the plant form so I'm not sure why you had so much trouble.  But trust me when I tell you that what you are growing out in our yard is not cilantro!"

Eventually I got around to researching culantro.  It wasn't easy.  I typed it into Yahoo search and although it finally popped up it was far down the list behind cilantro.  However, culantro is a herb and the article I found was titled, "Culantro:  A Much Utilized, Little Understood Herb".  No kidding.  I did, however, learn some things about this herb we have growing on the side of our house.

• Culantro is an herb native to Mexico, Central and South America.  
• The plant is  rich in calcium, iron, carotene, and riboflavin.
• It has  has a strong, aromatic scent much like cilantro, but its taste is much stronger than cilantro.
• Its harvested leaves are widely used as a food flavoring and seasoning herb for meat and many other foods. 
• Its medicinal value include its use as a tea for flu, diabetes, constipation, and fevers. 
• The plant looks very different than cilantro.
• One of its most popular use is in chutneys as an appetite stimulant. 
• The nickname fitweed is derived from its supposedly anti-convulsant property. 
• Large quantities are exported from Puerto Rico and Trinidad.
• It grows best in shaded areas. 

Next up will be researching recipes that use culantro.  If it makes it that far.

The simpliest things...

Sometimes

we should all

just take time to

find the joy in the simple things!