Disney 2012 Part 1

Wow, what a great family trip! I hate that it's taken me so long to post it all here but life's been a whirlwind with almost weekly travel lately...
Anna is a real trooper, like her mom and dad. She rarely got tired and pounded the pavement from gates open to close on this trip: Orlando! In 4 days we covered Lego land, Universal Studios, Epcot, and Magic Kingdom. We even added the Disney night time Trick or Treat party and the Tower of Terror night time 10 mile run for myself and Paul (that was a true testament to how much physical torture we could place on ourselves before we mentally caved!!! Soon enough my feet realized I was doing nothing about their screams between parks and that run so they eventually quit hurting).
Anyway, here's a few photos from our awesome trip. So much fun to travel with these guys, and although Anna's done Disney before, it was like it was all brand new to her. It was really fun to watch her face on the new or forgotten stuff and then watch her recall the stuff we did remember. So really fun!!!
This time we stayed in a condo at Windsor Hills, off Disney site. Only $79/ night with three bedrooms and 2 baths! Uncle Corey and Aunt Myra and cousin Avery stayed with us and it was fun to catch up! It's the best way to go! We stayed in the Puff's Hideout condo. Awesome!!!
At Universal:




She's never seen this movie yet (Lorax) but wanted a picture anyway...




We got the picture with the Mystery Machine but Scooby was always on break!!!




Husband had to.








Spongebob's House: Anna's dream come true...












Squidward's house








Suddenly Spongebob himself came out of a nearby door and motioned to Anna to follow him (gasp!) Her response: "what does he want?" I told her to just follow....




Ta-Da! Her favorite character currently (I can't fathom why but she's not the only kid on the planet who loves him...) She was excited!




We caught an Animal show :) Birds buzzed our heads!








Back to the Future








Simpsons Ride. During the ride they spray baby powder scent for effect. Anna must have gotten a big dose right into her nose because she complained she could still smell it the rest of the day! And she hates the smell more than I do. I suspect she will forever link the Simpsons to that smell...
She watched her first Simpson episode the night before we went to Universal, just in time to learn who these guys were:




She spotted Shrek and had to have a picture. No lines!!








Anticipation over a much awaited parade....




















We rode Men In Black...




And back through Spongebob's house, this time to find Patrick too...












Onward that evening to Magic Kingdom's Halloween Party. Kids could dress up and trick or treat while riding rides and meeting Disney villains. It was crowded!!
We made it to bed around 1:30am!




Anna was a unicorn :)












On the boat to the MK.








Boo To You parade, hard to get good pictures!
















We covered lots of rides, including the new Dumbo (awesome!), tea cups, Haunted Mansion, Whinney the Pooh, and the Barnstormer roller coaster over and over and over (hands up, bc that's he she rolls!). She finally gave in around midnight...




Love!!






The next day at Epcot she anxiously awaits meeting princess Belle on her way into a princess lunch...





Autographing her book...










This is a picture of Anna as he was trying to answer the question, "what's YOUR name?". She choked. Literally. On her food. She was so scared she started crying a bit and Aurora turns to me: "Oh MY! Sometimes they can get a little overwhelmed! Are you ok?!" I suggest she moves on the the next table so we can figure out the problem. It turns out Anna went to answer her name to Aurora and choked on a mouthful of food, which scared her into tears :) She recovered and Aurora came back but Anna decided after that when she saw any princess at a nearby table, she was not going to put any food into her mouth!

















Anna working the camera.












After lunch: her old faves...lots of soft hugs :)








It's the same poses of the same child, 1.5 yrs later.


The rest of Epcot was rides with short lines and:



















...I'd better post this now before I never finish! More to come, next post, including the run!

Second tooth gone!

Anna lost her second tooth! Again, while I was out of town...October 6.

She wanted to meet the tooth fairy so she left this under her pillow with her tooth:





She already has another loose bottom tooth!!! The big guys keep pushing in before the babies are out, knocking them loose to make room.





Love her!!!

Toothless and in DC

On Wednesday Sep 12 our baby's first baby tooth fell out!!







But I was here in DC, at a course called Congressional Operations, learning how Congress really works.




So I missed it :( The thing had been pretty loose for about a month and Paul says that Wed morning when she was brushing her teeth it was just barely hanging on! Anna let him pull it out that morning and she did great :) No pain, just excitement as she headed out the door to school. He sent me this picture of the tooth:





Before I left for DC she promised not to let it fall out till I got home :) So much for that! Then she promised not to let the tooth fairy take it till I got home but she just couldn't wait so I missed that too!!! What a booger! :) But I can't blame her! This is the picture she left for the tooth fairy along with her tooth:





And this is what the tooth fairy left in exchange:





A bunch of quarters and 2 special 1 Dollar coins! I love her!!! What a big girl!!!

She is loving school! From day 1 they were doing site words and she nailed them. She loves the computer time so much. She hates the school food so we bring lunch (rats!). She got all smiley faces for behavior everyday again this week, her third week of school. All smiley faces = a prize from the treasure box. I and one other parent will be the room mothers this year. My first training meeting is right smack at 1:20pm on the 24th, already in conflict with a big work schedule that day when I am hosting some visitors from DC. But I will just have to make it work!

I had the best time at that class in DC! On trips I am usually ready to come home, but this one I was wishing I had just a few more days. There was so much to learn and see and if it weren't for Anna I'd love to do a 7 month fellowship up there. We heard from several key Republicans and Democrats on issues and bipartisanship problems and on how the process works. We learned why this 112th congress has passed the least amount of legislation in history. We heard from Rep Jeff Flake on how he got rid of ear marks. We heard from Dana Bush (CNN) on the role of media. We heard from former Speaker of the House Hastel, who gave us a history of what it was like to work a balanced budget under Clinton and then spend out of control without appropriation in response to 9/11 under Bush, while enacting the 01-03 tax cuts which started the deficit, snowballing g to what we have today. We learned that this congress cannot work together because of the incoming Republican freshmen who took around 87 seats, giving the Republicans control of the house in 2010 are people like us: small business owners, farmers, lawyers, teachers. People America voted for because we were tired of the beaurocrats on The Hill making their life suck. America voted for the people who would stand their ground and would not compromise!

So that's what America got. These people do not understand anything about the art o compromise, which drives how Congress legislates. Compromise and negotiation are the foundation of the quirky processes that drive legislation, and it has to be, for the sake of checks and balance. It takes an art of negotiation and a certain personality to work through issues, to give and take a little on both sides. It's not supposed to be easy!

Take a look. For the worst Congress in American history- the most polarized since right before the civil war. The process hasn't changed, but the people of America have. We voted in 2010 for these people who supposedly reflect our wants. We are the constituents. Our congressmen want their jobs we elected them for, and we elected them to represent us. If we want them to have a spine and do not compromise because we tell them to, this is what they will do, and this is what we will get. And we have heard this from top Republicans and Democrats all week, as well as from lessons and history we picked up. Our congress represents America. So America, what's wrong with this picture? Why aren't we encouraging negotiation and thought? Is it a good idea to keep electing freshmen who have zero idea how congress really works? One of the biggest setbacks for the huge freshman class (1/4 of the House is freshman. 1/3 of the Republican party alone is freshman!!) is that there's a huge learning curve in training these folks on what they can and can't do process-wise. I mean right down to the basics from our text books! On top of this these newly-elects have no drive to compromise. They were elected on their take-no-prisoners campaign. So let's bear with them for the first few years while they figure out what will and won't work. These people are hurting their own party and in turn we feel it as a whole country.

What's it going to take? Time and a crisis. Let's not get as extreme as the civil war but maybe "sequestration" will do it. Last year in order to pass a budget, both parties agreed to an amendment that basically says if they don't come up with a plan to balance the budget that both sides can agree to, then as of Jan 2013, we will have a sequester. This is that for the next 10 years, there will be an equal 10% cut each year across all federal agencies over the next 10 years, effectively gaining $ back over the deficit. This amounts to a whopping 50% cut in defense over 10 years and 50% in social programs. As federal employees we are scared for our jobs and programs and as an American, I am scared for the impacts I will feel at the state level daily. Most Americans have never heard of this but you can bet if you're like most Americans you're going to feel it somewhere. The state can't protect you!

Right now to avoid sequestration, and balance the budget, Democrats want to let the Bush tax cuts of 01-03 expire in Jan to gain revenue to balance the budget. The Republicans want to cut social programs. There's more to it than that certainly but that's the big idea. I frankly think you need both. We wanted this war, we put it on charge for 10 years, and now we have to pay for it! America, you can't spend for 10 years on a credit card and never expect to pay it back! Sorry, but we need to pay our share. And as well, there are several duplicate social programs (and defense!) that could stand a review and consolidation to save money there too.

Alas, both sides disagree and the leadership on both sides can't get it together. And they have no desire to until after the election. If it happens, sequestration will suck and hurt but I can't get entirely angry now that I know what "those idiots" are doing up there. Most all of them mean well and stand for what they think their constituents want. They represent America. So only America can fix it.

She talks too much

Well at least she's not being shy!!

Got her!

Way less busy day in class today :)