The Highs and Lows of 2011

I’ve decided to end out the 2011 blogging season with a compilation of the highs and lows of 2011.  These appear in no real significant order, except that this is the order in which they popped into my head.

High:  We are all, despite this cold that we’ve all had since sometime in October, in relatively good health.  No trips to the ER this year.  No one has swallowed anything they shouldn’t have.  And while John has had some discomfort due to the MS, he hasn’t had any major setbacks. 

Low:  While Anna had made a little improvement with her eyesight, the end of the year finds us, not at square one, but with no improvement since September.  The doctor says that she can have surgery to straighten out the right eye, but that unless she starts to use it, she will lose sight in it.  He wants us to start patching the “good” eye again.  I haven’t leapt into action with that one just yet simply because I know how it’s going to turn out.  I have asked her teacher to help us out because Anna loves Miss Diane and does everything that woman asks.

High:  Anna.  She is a completely different child from this time in 2010.  She really is.  I cannot believe it.  The behavior is much better.  Her attitude is much better.  She really is doing so well.  Miss Diane has given me hope that Anna will be able to go to kindergarten next year with little problem.  We’re holding off deciding whether that will be in a completely mainstreamed or in an inclusion classroom, but it WILL NOT be in a substantially separate classroom.  Yippeeeee!

High:  Family time.  We’ve had a lot of time this year to be just us—the four of us.  That has been pretty amazing actually.  The best thing about our trip to Disney was not necessarily the Disney part, so much as the US part.  Our time on the Cape, our time in Disney, our time around Christmas = Perfect.

High:  The kids’ teachers have definitely been high points.  Both last school year and this school year have provided my children with some amazing teachers and support staff.  I couldn’t have asked for better.  I think the people who make educational policy and put more and more of the blame on teachers for students not meeting ridiculous achievement goals should come see what these women do.  If they could just watch these women in action, they would know that even the most miraculous of teachers cannot fill the education gap (first, actually, they need someone to explain to them about the concept…).  I cannot thank these women enough for what they do for my children.

Low:  Jack got jumped in the bathroom last month.  Seriously.  First grade.  I guess the kid who jumped him has some issues, but it was probably one of my most frightened moments as a parent.  It upset John as much as it upset me, and it upset Jack a lot.

Low:  Work.  I can’t go into it.  I really can’t in this forum, but those of you who work with me know my frustration.

High:  The people I work with.  During this most recent work drama, I was given the support of pretty much everyone in the building.  People went out of their ways to find me out and give me support.  While things went exactly the way I thought they would have gone, I got a huge boost in my self-esteem.  It felt good to be me.  I felt validated on so many levels.  It’s almost worth doing this thing again, just for the way my co-workers made me feel appreciated.  Thank you, all.

High:  How cool is Netflix on PS3?

High:  How cool is the Nook Color?

High:  How cool is the iPhone 4s?  (Am I spoiled or what?)

High:  I did an absolutely amazingly friend thing this fall.  While I hated all of the things that led up to my doing this, I am happy that I did it.  One of my ultimate lows this year was when my friend Brian passed away.  After he had died, someone stole one of his most prized possessions.  I had that replaced for his parents, our friends, Judy and Darryl.

Low:  Brian died.  Not a day goes by that I don’t think about him and miss him.  Not a day goes by when I don’t get at least teary-eyed over his passing.  The potential that was lost is devastating.  I still can’t believe it.

High:  Pomegranate martinis. 

That’s really all my brain can come up with right now.  Perhaps, with the three days left of my vacation, I’ll come up with some kind of thought provoking, year-end blogging extravaganza.

In the meantime…Happy New Year!!

Worst Phone Call of my Life

We live in what educational professionals who classify communities call an "urban setting."  John and I refer to it as the 'hood.  When we first moved here, it didn't really matter to us.  We bought the house, honestly, for the garage.  We had planned on staying here for the short term and then moving on.  Well...we haven't moved on.  We aren't in a position to move on, and we have to take what we can get in terms of a lot of things, including schools.

I do think that Jack is being held back in school.  I think he's pretty stinkin' bright and that the school system is in no way prepared to provide what he needs because there are too many students who fall on the other end of the spectrum.  On the flipside, Anna is receiving some pretty incredible services.  If we lived in a smaller community or one that was a little more affluent, she wouldn't get all the things she gets.  There has been such an improvement in her that we'd be foolish to leave just now.  We can find ways to suppliment Jack's learning.  I mean, I am a teacher in an academically accelerated program afterall.

And, while he certainly isn't being challenged in the first grade, he's happy.  He's got an amazing teacher whom I cannot say enough about.  He had a great teacher last year.  There are adults in the building who care about him and, until today, he felt safe going there and I felt safe sending him there. 

Today, right at the start of ninth period I got a phone call.  It was from Jack's school.  I took the call because it was my kid's school.  I had to answer.  I expected it to be the nurse to tell me that Jack had fallen on the play ground or that maybe he was sick.  Instead, it was the principal who told me that something had happened to Jack today.

What she told me made my heart stop.  She said that Jack had been in the bathroom when a kid jumped on him and "put his [the other kid's] hands around Jack's neck."

Now, the woman's delivery was off.  She spoke slowly and deliberately.  My mind wasn't working slowly and deliberately.  So that I was in panic mode when she said "jumped on him." and I had LOTS of time betwen "hands around" and "Jack's neck" to jump to all sorts of conclusions.

The principal assured me that he was fine and that she had checked on him multiple times, that he had spoken with the school adjustment councilor, that he seemed fine. 

I started crying and left my classroom, asking my friend Caitlin to keep an eye and ear out.  I went and called John.  He was as upset as I was.  In my mind, some little brat had "jumped" my son in the bathroom.  John was ready to call the police. 

My principal found someone to cover (Thanks Kerry, and Colleen and Mark), and Caitlin handled both her class and mine until there was an adult (Thanks Cait) there.  John and I met in the parking lot of my school and we drove to school.  I had called the principal and told her that we would be coming in and wanted to speak with her and the school adjustment councilor.  Of course, everyone we were driving behind was driving slower than...well...than we wanted to go.

We met with the principal, the assistant principal, and the school adjustment councilor who worked with Jack last year when he was having trouble going to school.  The adults who handled the situation were confident that this wasn't an attack.  This kid is apparently exuberant and "handsy."  He would have done what he had done to anyone.  Jack was just in the bathroom at the wrong time.  What really happened was that Jack was just finishing washing his hands and this kid came out of a bathroom stall.  The kid saw Jack and then made some kind of movement with his hands kind of like he was aiming a bow and arrow and then jumped on Jack putting his hands on the back of Jack's neck giving him a push.

Jack ran from the bathroom and found the first adult, the assistant principal.  The assistant principal then looked for the kid, but based on what Jack had said, he and the people who were helping him had a pretty good description of who it was.  They found him.  They took "disciplinary action."  They talked to Jack about it and sent him to the nurse.  There were no marks on him.  Apparently, the mother of the other boy apologized to me through the principal saying that she wouldn't like it if someone had put their hands on her son.

I'm relatively satisfied with the way things went down.  I wasn't called immediately after it happened, but I was called after the "disciplinary action" was taken.  My son wasn't really hurt so I can live with that.  The principal did the right thing by calling me after the kid had left the building and after she had dealt with the mother. 

Jack's upset.  He's already talked about how he doesn't want to go to school tomorrow, but I've told him that since he doesn't have a fever he's got to go.  I'm a mean mama.  I know.  I've asked them to keep an eye on him because he's so anxious.  He's been so good about going to school every day that I would hate for him to start that crying thing again. 

We'll see how that goes.  Now I'm exhausted.  John's exhausted.  Emotionally drained.

Catching Up with the Common Cold

So this week has been off.  Let's just say that.  I haven't been this sick in a long time.

About three weeks ago, Jack came down with his regularly scheduled yearly cough that, while viral, warranted antibiotics.  I think he also developed an ear infection, but the antibiotics cleared it up.  Anna developed the cough, ear infection, and conjunctivitis.  We made it through that with little problem.  The kids missed a day of school, John missed a day of work, but we managed.



John got it next, but he coughed only a little.  Then I got it.  I haven't, honestly, been this sick in at least 14 years.  I remember it clearly, sleeping on the futon in the one room apartment in Lebanon.  I couldn't really take as much time as I needed because I only have so sick days banked, but it was miserable.  Absolutely miserable for two weeks, much of that time was spent lying on the couch coughing.  I kept thinking that it would go away, but it didn't, and it didn't.  And it didn't.  Finally, I had to take the day and this past Wednesday I went to the doctor.  I, too, was put on antibiotics.  It's clearing, finally.  I'm still coughing, but at least I have no desire to just lie on the couch to watch TV.  OK.  I'll admit that I do actually have the desire to lie on the couch and watch TV, but I can forgo that at the moment.



Cinderella



Zorro

Of course nothing slows down when you're sick.  Halloween came and dance class, tae kwon do, work, etc., etc.  Anna's school had a Halloween night.  There were crafts, dancing, stories and a parade around the first floor of the school.  It was all very cute, but the best part for me was when two girls from her class saw her, they waved Anna over to come dance with them.  That was awesome.  Then she and one of the girls played in the playground before we left.  It was more than nice to see that Anna is liked by other kids.  Sometimes, they don't take to well to her.  She's bigger than most of the kids her age and she bends down and gets in their little faces to talk to them.



John's tae kwon do place did a Halloween party for the younger kids who go there and their siblings.  Initially, I was going to keep Anna with me to hang out while John and Jack went, but I wasn't feeling well at all, so John brought Anna with them.  They had a good time.  I guess there was dancing and a little scary haunted "house" action going on.  They had fun, though.  It was nice just for me to just hang low.

Post trick or treating cookies

Trick or Treating at Grandma and Grandpa's

We went trick or treating, like we usually do, at my in-law's house.  Their street is pretty low-key, but the streets next to theirs are pretty family-filled and celebrate with style.  Most of the houses are lit up and a lot of the people sit out on their front porches.  Many people were thoughtful about their candy (putting a variety in festive bags) or just plain generous (multiple handfuls and/or full sized bars).  It's nice.  It was actually kind of warm out, so the kids were fine with just their costumes over their clothes.  We lasted about an hour and the kids were home and in bed by 8.  Not too shabby considering that they hauled in the candy and the next day was a school day.

Anna's been spending much of her time upstairs in her room.  I've been coughing pretty much non-stop for about two and a half weeks now, and she can't stand the noise.  She'll come downstairs to tell me that I need a cough drop, I need medicine, or I need to go to the doctor.  Then she'll hurry back upstairs.  She's been amusing herself so I haven't been too concerned until today.  Today she took her Halloween pumpkin upstairs with all her candy.  Not a good sign.  I'll lure her downstairs later.  Hopefully.  I haven't been coughing that much today.

John is away this weekend at a racing flea market in Thompson.  So it's just me and the kids.  I'm thinking of movie night and about throwing something in the crock pot for tomorrow.  Oh.  Maybe grocery shopping, grading papers, and cleaning up this dump after two weeks of not really caring about it one way or the other.



Sunday, August 21, 2011-- or Day From Hell Part Two

Dad was frustrated with the scooter.  Mom was even more frustrated.  When we got back to the hotel from Animal Kingdom, we were getting into the elevator.  I think I was with my parents while John and Anna walked up the stairs. There was room for two scooters in the elevators.  Dad went in first and then Marge.  I told her she had some room so to move up so the doors would close.  She gunned it and then hit the wall of the elevator and promptly started to cry.

I’m not a very patient person, and I was at my wits end with her and the scooter.  I really wanted to slap her and tell her to snap out of it, but I pulled myself together.  I gave her a hug and told her I was proud of her.  It obviously wasn’t easy to drive the scooter, I told her, and I certainly wouldn’t have done as well as she was doing.  That seemed to help.



resting before heading to Epcot



When we got to our rooms, I told them that we should meet at the bus stop at 4:15 because we were headed for Epcot for dinner.  Dad freaked out because he couldn’t remember how to get to the bus stop and when I tried to give him directions, he shut down.  So I told them to be outside their door in their scooters at 4.

They were.  We were able to get to the bus stop and were able to get on a bus.  There had been a glut of busses for the other parks, and a bus was re-routed to take us to Epcot.

The bus driver was…shall we say…interesting.  At first I thought he was joking around, but he really was Captain Safety.  He got out of his seat, opened up the rear door where the ramp was and started yelling, “Ramp coming out.  Ramp coming out.”  Seriously.  He just kept saying it until the ramp was up.  Then he went about this elaborate, time taking way of getting my parents and their scooters on the bus.  He talked about every step and got their permission to proceed before he did everything.  I thought my head was going to explode.

Once everyone was belted in and the other passengers were allowed to get on, the kids climbed up onto the scooters with their grandparents.  Captain Safety lost it.  He yelled at us, in a friendly way, but he was still yelling.  I’m pretty sure I told him to just relax, we’d move the kids.  It wasn’t a big deal.  Then he had to explain that it was a safety issue and why exactly it was a safety issue.  The other bus drivers were just so much more relaxed.  I don’t think they were less safe, just less rigid.

Then the guy got on the intercom and started to talk to us.  He explained to us that he was usually a driver to another place, but that he had been re-routed.  He just kept talking about it, too.  I seriously thought about winging my shoe at him, but honestly my aim isn’t that good.Besides which, it seemed like too much effort to get my shoe off and then just have to get up and put it back on again. 

Getting off the bus was just as bad.  “Ramp coming down!”  I thought I would die.  I thought my dad would die.  I thought the world was going to end.

Walking toward The Biergarten

We got to Epcot, and I was in my happy space.  Despite Captain Safety, we were had some time.  We took our time and walked slowly toward Germany where we were going to have dinner.  I made everyone stop and get out of their scooters and stroller so that we could take a lot of pictures as we went along.

Jack has always loved to figure out how things work.  I've tried to instill some magic into everyday events, but he always wants to know why things happen and how things happen.  Since he had been so fascinated with the giant globe, the night before, John wanted to show it to him during the day so he would understand how it worked.  We found where they parked the big globe during the day and showed it to Jack figuring that he would be really excited.  Not so much this time.  This one time he preferred the magic to the reality, and we ruined it for him.  Oh well.  I kind of hate that we burst his bubble, even though we were trying to get him information he would normally be interested in.  I think, though, that we'll all live.

Just as we were about to arrive at Germany, John realized that he didn’t have the back pack. He took it off for one of the pictures I made us all stop for and never put it back on.  He had to hoof it all the way back to the front of the park to get it at guest services.  Fortunately, someone had found it and given it to guest services.

We checked in at the Biergarten.  This was interesting.  OK.  Interesting is my "polite" word.  It was frustrating.  I just wanted to slap my mother and the cute German kid who was checking us in because he was aiding and abetting her.  My mother caused some confusion over whether or not she would be bringing in the scooters.  She said she needed to, so they found us a table that she could drive her scooter to.  But then she said she didn't want to bring it in.  And so she would say something, and I would have to tell the German guy because he didn't understand what she was saying.  Then he would say something, but she couldn't understand him.  Dad just stayed out of it.  The Disney staff handled it well. 

Our table was ready before John had come back from the front gate, and they wouldn't seat us without him.  Yet again, we were waiting for a table because we couldn't get our collective act together.  But once we sat down, it was OK.

If you've never been, the restaurant is set up as if it is at an outdoor, German beer fest.  There is a stage and a band.  Kids get up to dance.  The food is a buffet.  The tables are set up for parties of 8, so about half way through our meal, a couple came and sat with us.  My mother started talking to them about the size of the husband's beer.  I was wishing I had gotten a beer that size.



polka band



too much dessert



Anna got up to dance to the polka band.  Jack ate a lot of dessert.  My mother talked loudly about how they liked to tip a little extra, only to have the waitress come back and ask how my parents would like to pay the balance on the gratuity. That was John’s favorite part of the day.  I do think my parents meant to pay extra up front and the waitress didn’t understand and thought that they were trying to stiff her out of a tip.  It was just kind of funny. 

We left the restaurant and walked toward the exit.  We hit up the Giant Golf Ball one more time on our way out.  Anna actually agreed to sit with her dad.  Jack was glued to my dad, which made them both happy.  So my mom was my date, and happy to be so.  That made me happy, because I wasn’t really the nicest daughter all day.

We went back to the hotel.  Fortunately, Captain Safety was not our bus driver on the way home because I certainly would have winged him in the head with my shoe this time.  Since we were only going back to our rooms, I wouldn't need to put my shoe back on.

We watched the fireworks on the balcony with my parents, and then I met my sisters (among which is Geri) at the pool bar.  Over a very rummy drink, I shared the exploits of our parents.  I then bought a very rummy drink to bring to my much deserving husband who had put the kids to bed.

      

Again with the Random

OK, so I was just playing around with the new Blogger site and I found all of my all posts.  I've writtne 37, published 35.  Thanks to all of you who have read some, most and especially all.  My goodness do I ramble...

One of the posts I came across was my out and out love letter to The Hunger Games and Suzanne Collins.  In the posting, I said that I didn't want to teach it because the psychological damage was so haunting.  I didn't really change my mind, but my principal urged me to teach it.  We had bought a ton of copies so our eighth graders could do it as summer reading before they came into eighth grade.  The new eighth grade English teacher didn't like the book and didn't really want to do it.  The principal loves the book as much as I do, and she told me to go ahead with it.  When I told her how concerned I was about it, she said that she knew I could handle it and that were there any parent phone calls, she would deal with it.

So toward the end of the school year, my seventh graders and I read it together.  It was a great experience.  We talked a lot about the book and how the government was controlling the population.  We talked about reality television and some of the historical links.  It was really good.  Many of the students, even the ones who "hate" to read went on in the series and wanted to talk about it.  It was a pleasant experience.  There had been no parent complaints.  Nothing.  In fact, the parents ran out and read the books just as quickly as their kids did.

I was looking forward to teaching it again this year, and I brought it up at Open House.  Several of the parents were thrilled because they had either read the book or had heard of the book.  One parent though was not so thrilled.  She didn't really think it was appropriate.  So now I'm nervous again...

I'm also starting to brainstorm ways of getting more parents involved.  Maybe a giant seventh grade book club.  Maybe...I don't know what.  I'll get there.  Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.  Also, if anyone wants to talk about the books, let me know.

Today was a serious screw up at Anna's school.  It's frustrating.  Anna is on an IEP.  During the last school year, Anna attended four half days--Monday through Thursday, 8:10 - 10:40.  At the end of the school year, Anna's teacher approached me and asked if I would be willing to get Anna into a full day program so that she would be ready for kindergarten.  I thought that was a good idea.  Because it was so late in the school year, we had to let things stay as they were and would reconvene the team to make the ammendment to have her go full time--Monday through Thrusday 8:10 - 2:20 and Friday 8:10 - 10:40.  Since the teacher Anna had last year retired, she was placed in the teacher's room who does the full day class beginning in September.

The meeting was set to make the changes pretty soon in the school year, but we'd still have to wait about two weeks.  No big deal, right?  That first Friday, I didn't send her because, legally, she was operating under the initial IEP and she was only getting services for four day.  Monday, Anna came home with a note saying that she should have been in school on Friday.  So I sent a note back saying that I didn't send her due to the legality.  Since the IEP had not changed, I didn't think I could legally send her for time that was not noted in her IEP and Fridays were not part of the original IEP.  The teacher replied that Anna SHOULD be in school on Fridays.  So I sent her the following Friday.  Then we had the meeting and changed the plan.  There was a two day holiday at the end of September, so Anna didn't go to school on the Friday between the meeting and when I signed and returned the papers.

I signed and returned the papers on Wednesday, so she would start full day on Tuesday.  The teacher reminded our friend Judy who takes care of the kids for us that Tuesday was the day.  Judy asked her about today.  The teacher said that Anna absolutely could NOT go to school today.  I was floored.  Why not?  Legally, Anna had to be there.  I ended up not sending her.  I really should have, but the teacher specifically said not to.  I had to go to work.  I didn't want to send Judy to school with Anna only to have her turned away again.  That wouldn't be fair to Judy.   

So I called up the school and spoke to the teacher.  Of course she was in class when I called and when she was free I would have been in class.  I must have sounded desperate or something (or it's because I told the secretary that I was a teacher too and this was my plan period) because the teacher called me right back.  She asked why I called...um...duh.  Then when I questioned why Anna couldn't come to school, she apologized.  She realized when Anna didn't show up to school today that she had made a mistake.  Anna should have been in school.

I was pretty angry still.  This is the second time the teacher has screwed up Anna's schedule.  Second time.  The real kicker is this.  Today was apple sauce day.  They were going to make some apple sauce.  I donated the f'ing apples to the class and my daughter was specifically excluded from the event.  I hope they all choked on the apple sauce (not really, actually, but you know what I mean).

Anna really wasn't that put out by missing it, and if she was she didn't say anything.  She's really been too busy playing cat since I've come home to say that she is angry or sad at having missed apple sauce making.  But that's not really the point, is it?

Oooooh!  I'm still angry.

Sunday, August 20, 2011 Or The Day From Hell—Part One

On Sunday, Karen, Val, Geri and the girls went off to Universal Studios to see the Harry Potter exhibit. My parents were going to spend the whole day with us.

First up was breakfast at The Tusker House at Animal Kingdom.  We had 9:15 reservations.  I wanted to leave at 8:00 a.m.  I was very clear about wanting to leave at 8:00 because of the awful transportation we had had thus far in the trip.  Better to be early than late.  Better to take a slow, leisurely walk to the restaurant than to have to leg it.

Apparently 8:00 didn’t fit into Margie’s plan.  She dicked around for ages and we didn’t leave until 8:30.  That just drives me batty.  It really does.  Let’s just get going already folks.  Get the lead out!  We leave the room and make it downstairs, only for my parents to tool off in their matching red scooters in the opposite direction.  My blood pressure must have been skyrocketing.  They do this when they drive, too.  They don’t keep up, get lost and then make up their own directions.  You have to spend time waiting for them and finding them.  Fortunately, we met up with Kristy and Geri and Kristy ran off after them.

So of course, we arrived at the bus stop just the wrong time.  There was a crowd at the bus stop, standing on the spot where people are supposed to wait if they need assistance.  The bus stop cleared out--except for us and a few other soles--because busses arrived for every single one of the parks and other places to go--except Animal Kingdom.

When the bus finally arrived, it turned out that people in scooters got on the bus first.  It’s a long drawn out process involving the bus driver getting out of his seat and then having to help you drive your scooter up onto a ramp, then buckle you into a space.  One scooter takes about 7 or 8 minutes, depending on how much you can assist the driver by driving your scooter up the ramp and then parallel park into a tight spot.  We’re already running late, then we had to wait for a bus, and then we had to wait to get everyone on the bus all the while frustrated because they had waited, too.  Then the stupid bus went to Blizzard Beach first!!!

Once we were on the bus, John and I started talking with a family who happened to be from a couple of towns over.  That was one thing about this trip.  Everyone at Walt Disney World was either from Massachusetts, Connecticut or New York.  One of the men asked me about my dad’s hat.  My dad was wearing his First Armored Division hat.  The man said that he thought that was cool that my dad had served and had actually driven a tank.

We got to Animal Kingdom just at 9:30.  Fifteen minutes late for our reservation.  I thought I would just run for the restaurant and check us in and then wait for everyone else to join me.  Anna had to come with me because she was attached to me at the freakin’ hip for the whole trip.  I didn’t even stop for the stroller, I pulled her through the bag check and then through the turnstile.  Then we really ran.  She whined, of course, but I just pulled her along.

We got to the restaurant and checked in.  The sweat was pouring off of me in buckets; it was gross.  A table was ready for us pretty soon after, but they wouldn’t seat us until our entire party was there.  More blood pressure issues I'm sure.  I have a really hard time with waiting and with being late. It bothers me so much that it makes my stomach hurt.  But there was nothing else to do, so Anna and I waited and waited and waited.  It took them about 20 or so minutes to get from the front of the park to the restaurant.  The look on John’s face was pure agony.  He said that it was the most painful part of his trip.  They parked the scooters, and then we were ready to go.

We got our pictures taken with Donald, which was the highlight of the day as far as Anna was concerned. Then we were seated at our table.

The food was good.  The food was really good (particularly the juice they served), but the room was loud and chaotic.  My parents were overwhelmed.  My children were overwhelmed and all I wanted out of life was more caffeine.  Had I more caffeine, things would have been so much better, I think.  I was wound like a top.  Anna wouldn’t let me leave—not to go to the bathroom, not to go get food, not to do anything. I had to be right where she could see me and reach out to touch me if she needed to.

Tusker house is a buffet.  The food is in one room and there are at least three other rooms filled with tables.  The room we were in was large and the acoustics were uncomfortable.  And honestly, while I have some great pictures, I don’t think the character interactions were as good as at the other restaurants we ate at.  I don’t think that I would choose to eat here again.

We left the Tusker House and decided to do the Mount Kilimanjaro Safaris.  I figured we could all do that one and we would all enjoy it.  We did, but…

Before the accident...

The line for Kilimanjaro Safaris moved quickly, but the stroller and scooter parking was well down the line.  You could stroll and/or scoot pretty far through the queue, and you could bring the scooters all the way to the ride itself.  The queue twisted and turned between railings.  It was not really easy to navigate with the scooters.  Then there were small covered, walled sections made to look like little buildings along the way.  These posed a problem to my mother because as soon as she went under the covering, she couldn’t see.  She would stop dead.  This held up the people behind us and just made me tense.

Happy as a clam, both of them.

Close to where the ride started, a cast member called John over to park the stroller.  My mom was not paying attention and she followed John still in the stroller.  My dad and I called out to her, and the cast member told her to stop, but she just kept following John.

Two things happened at once.  The first was that Anna jumped out of the stroller and ran toward me, realizing that if she went with her dad, I would be out of sight.  The second was that my mother realized her mistake and was flustered.  In the process of being flustered, she turned the scooter and floored it, pinning Anna to a post in the railing.

Anna wasn’t hurt, crying or even upset by it, so we kind of brushed it off.  My mother was upset.  The cast member was concerned.  But really, there was nothing wrong with Anna.  We examined her, dusted her off and gave her a few kisses for good measure, but there was nothing the matter with her.  If I had yelled at my mother, like I really wanted to do, nothing would have been accomplished. It would have not only made a scene, but would have just thrown the day in the scrapper.  I was pretty sure we were headed that way anyway, but I wanted to prolong the even

We ventured forth onto our safari without any other incidents.  Both my kids and my parents really enjoyed the safari.  I got to sit next to Jack, which was nice.  He and I got to talk and point animals out the whole ride.  I forget all the animals we saw and in the order, but we saw giraffes, elephants, a white rhino, some kind of big cat (not the lion), flamingoes, some kind of monkeys, alligators, hippos, and an ostrich who came pretty much eye-to-eye with Jack.

After our safari, we split up.  Anna, my parents and I went to Rafiki’s Planet Watch.  Jack and John went off to Expedition Everest.  Both activities, it turns out, were huge mistakes. 

I got confused and thought I had to park my stroller to get on the train to Rafiki.  In reality I could have brought it because it folded up.  We got the scooters on the train and everything was good, but Anna was too hot and tired to want to walk around and there was no way I was going to let Anna ride with Margie on the scooter again, and she didn’t want to ride in the scooter with my dad.  I had to drag her down a particularly long path toward the train.  Once we got to the station, I didn’t see a lot of things there aside from a little petting zoo, but I didn't really look around.  Not big into the petting zoo because if we really wanted to pet animals, we’d drive out to see Auntie Karen and not go all the way to Disney World.  Anna soon tired of everything anyway.

I put my parents and my kids back on the train and back toward the main part of Animal Kingdom.  The best part of the whole thing was the train ride because we drove by where the animals at Animal Kingdom are kept at night time and when they’re just hanging around.  We saw a ton of white rhinos.  It was also a little break from the heat.

My parents, Anna and I found a place in the shade at our meeting place and just waited.  I bought Anna misting fan, which amused her greatly and bided the time while we waited for Jack and John.  Mom bought us sodas (which turned into an ordeal to watch as she shuffled across the pathway toward the little drinks stand a couple of times carting back sodas, but it kept her amused while we waited for Jack and John).  Dad and I just hung.  We were both a little tired and worn out from all this scooter drama.

While we were waiting, a guy came up to him.  The guy was wearing a Vietnam Veteran hat.  He came over, shook my dad’s hand and thanked him for his service.  Then he walked off.  Nothing else.  I thought I would cry.  He didn't even wait for us to return the favor.

John and Jack came back, and it turns out that Expedition Everest really shouldn’t be the first real roller coaster experience for particularly nervous and wary children.  They’d recovered by the time they got back to us, but Jack was kind of turned off roller coasters for the rest of the trip.  Apparently it goes backward in the pitch black at amazing speeds.  Oh, and there’s a Yeti.

I bought Jack a misting fan because Anna had one.  I gave him my soda because Anna had one, but his dad had bought him an ice pop.  Some children are just a little spoiled (deservedly so, though, in this case). I had wanted to get our pictures taken in front of the Tree of Life, but I didn’t do it.  I didn’t even have the energy to more than half suggest it to John.  We both thought better of the idea.

We went back to the hotel and we all climbed into bed.  The family we had talked to on the way to the park were actually on the bus on the way home, but we were all too tired and crabby to chat again.

Day Three of our Trip

Saturday, August 20^th, 2011

The kids had gone to bed right after we watched the Epcot fireworks from the balcony (and when I say balcony, it wasn’t really the balcony, but the walkway around the outside of the hotel that provided access to the rooms).  John and I weren’t that far behind them.  In fact, I think we put the kids to bed and then immediately John climbed into bed and I took a shower and climbed into bed.  We were pretty sound before too long.

At some point in the night, I became aware of someone walking through the room with a flashlight.  I figured that Anna had gotten out of bed and was walking around the room with the flashlight.  I kind of hoped that John would wake up to yell at her.  I felt safe because I had carefully bolted the door the night before, so I knew she wouldn’t be walking around outside the room.  I knew that I had packed a flashlight, but was vaguely aware that I hadn’t unpacked it.  She must have dragged it out of the suitcase.

I became vaguely aware that the light from the flashlight was not as bright as the light would have been from the one in the suitcase.  I also recognized that there were two sets of feet moving around the room.  One light, and one just a little less light and a little less sure.

It wasn’t until my mother spoke that I realized there were more than just the four of us in the room.

“Did you lose something?” my mother asked.  I finally opened my eyes to find a 76 year old pajammed woman standing over my bed with a tired flashlight.  As much as I love my mother, it was not a pleasant sight at four in the morning.

I saw, behind her, my daughter.  Apparently, with excitement that went on yesterday afternoon, we never locked the adjoining doors.  So apparently Anna woke up, got out of bed, went next door to see Grammy.  It was probably the highlight of the trip for my mother.  She's still talking about it.

We got everyone sorted into bed and the adjoining doors locked.  Then we went back to sleep.

We woke up and got moving around 8 a.m.  John went to the food court and came back with 4 orders of beignets and an order of biscuits and sausage gravy.  I had a slight little panic right then and there at him spending 5 of our snack credits at one go.  I was afraid we would run out of points.  The beignets were good, but not as good as my memory of them at Café Du Monde in New Orleans, but seriously, who would look a gift deep-fat fried pastry coated in powdered sugar in the mouth?  The biscuits and gravy were actually really good, though.

After we’d scraped the powdered sugar off the kids and got them dressed, we headed out for Epcot.

Here comes our big Disney complaint.  The trip was magical.  Truly.  It was probably our best family experience together.  The busses were horrific, especially the first couple of days.  It was enough to wind John up for at least an hour. 

Disney provides all kinds of transportation for its guests.  In the past, my experience has been good.  Things, however, this year were not as good.  I’m not sure why.  In the past, there would be a bus leaving our hotel for each destination about every 15 – 20 minutes.  It was great because it would start at our hotel, and then move on to the hotel next to us and then to the destination.  On the way back, the bus would stop at our hotel first and then move onto the neighboring hotel.

I guess the bus route has reversed in the five or six years since I’ve been at this hotel. 

By the time we got to the bus stop on Saturday morning, several other families were headed out to the parks at the same time.  We were headed for Epcot.  There were at least 4 Magic Kingdom busses, and at least 2 of every other kind of bus before an Epcot bus came.  We waited at least 45 minutes, if not an hour.  When the bus got there, it was already full, and there was quite a crowd assembled at our bus stop to go to Epcot.  We were packed on like sardines.

We were finally on our way, though, and Epcot is my all time favorite place to be.  I do now have a soft spot for Magic Kingdom because that is my children’s favorite, but I’ll always love Epcot.  During this trip, I didn’t get the chance to spend as much time there as I would have liked, but I was ready for the day.

We had a stroller, which we bought on line for $35.  We had two easy-to-manage strollers at home, but I wanted one that was rated for a higher weight.  My kids have really outgrown them.  Anna’s feet hang over hers and she runs her feet along the ground while she’s sitting and you’re pushing.  I figured that the kids could take turns and it would be cheaper than rent it.  Besides, since we were flying Southwest, we could check as much luggage as we wanted to.  It made a lot of sense.

Anna wouldn’t share the stroller, so poor Jack had to hoof it the whole trip.  While there was a little whining on his part, it was nothing compared to the whining (and screaming and hitting) we would have endured from Anna had she actually had to walk.  Jack was a definite trooper and I’m so proud of him for it.

We got to Epcot, got our bags checked, walked through the turnstiles, and then were in the park.  Of course, I made everyone stop for the obligatory picture in front of Spaceship Earth—or as Jack likes to call it “The Giant Golf Ball Ride.”

Then we went on the ride.  It was kind of a litmus test.  I knew it got dark and went backwards.  I used it as a measure to see what Jack would tolerate.  He loved it.  His favorite part was the very end of the ride when you get to see what life will be like for you in the future.  Then he thought it was cool that when you left the ride, you could see yourself on the wall.  It was actually a short line.  I don’t want to say that we walked right on, but it was pretty close

We headed for Nemo.  Again, we didn’t walk right on, but we didn’t really wait.  The kids liked this one, but didn’t love it.  They didn’t ask to do it again.  Jack definitely preferred the Giant Golf Ball Ride. 

We stayed at the Living Seas place to catch Turtle Talk with Crush.  This was almost a panic attack.  During the show, there is an opportunity for kids to go and sit in front of the screen.  There they are able to ask Crush some questions and he answers them.  It’s kind of cool.  Anna didn’t seem to want to, which was good because that would have been a mess.  Jack didn’t want to do it, and when I pressed him, he started to cry.  So he sat next to me on the bench.  When the show was over, he said that he wished Crush had talked to him.  I pointed out that maybe next time he could sit on the floor and talk to Crush.  Crush wasn’t able to see him from way back.  He’d have to sit on the floor.  Crush was only a sea turtle after all and couldn’t see that far.  We never went back, though; we found other things we liked better.

We went to Imagination! next.  Again, it wasn’t quite a walk on, but it wasn’t a long wait either.  And again, while the kids liked it, they didn’t love it.

We had lunch at the Electric Umbrella.  This was our first experience with the amount of food.  I forget what everyone else had, but I’m pretty sure that there was mac n’ cheese and grapes involved.  I had a cheeseburger with mushrooms that was pretty tasty.  Then for dessert, we shared chocolate and mango gelato (two different kinds, not mixed.  It was tasty, though, when you mixed it).  That was super yummy.  I would definitely eat there again.  My only complaint was the crowd was a little much—the tables a little too close.

After lunch, we went back to the hotel and swam in the pool.  It was pretty cool.

We got dressed and then headed back to Epcot.  There was another long wait for the bus.  We waited again for another 30 minutes for a bus to come.  In the meantime, multiple busses for all the other parks, including the water parks and Downtown Disney came and left empty.

Finally a bus driver stopped to ask us where we were headed, and John gave him an earful.  He actually told the guy that the transportation “sucks.”  He went on and on, but then apologized to the guy saying that he knew the driver himself wasn’t to blame.  The driver called in and a couple of minutes later an Epcot bus showed up.

After that, bus service was still not spectacular, but it was decidedly better.  An outside contractor was called in, Disney began using designated busses to our hotel, and they began using Magical Express busses to help out.  We still waited, but it wasn’t as bad.  Waiting for a second bus didn’t necessarily add hours onto our bus experience.

We got to Epcot in time to ride the Golf Ball Ride one more time.  We still had time before heading to dinner at the Garden Grill in the Land, so we stopped off at Club Cool to check out some soda from around the world. 

Once we got to the Land, we went and checked in at The Garden Grill for our table.  We had to wait for a bit, but not too long.  Then we got to our table.

The place was jumping which was a change from my previous experiences there.  It hadn’t ever been this crowded.  But the tables were filled and staff was jumping.

What hadn’t changed was the quality of the food.  It was really good.  Our waiter described it as a buffet brought to our table.  We had bread and salad.  Then the adults had a plate brought to us with steak and rice, turkey and mashed potatoes, and fish and veggies.  I forget what was on the kids’ plate, but it included mac n’ cheese, chicken legs, and broccoli.  We all cleaned our plates.  Anna chowed on the chicken and mac n’ cheese.  Jack nibbled on everything else, but really enjoyed the broccoli.  John and I both liked everything on the plate we had.  He especially liked the steak.  I liked the potatoes a lot.  The fish was nice, but I’ve had better.  We got seconds.  On everything.  Most of the food on our plates was grown at Disney, some of it specifically at the land.

This was one of our character meals.  Pluto, Chip, Dale, and Mickey all came to our table over the course of the meal.  It was actually pretty nice.  At first, Anna wanted nothing to do with the characters, but Dale was really good.  Pluto had come first and Jack went to him.  Anna would not.  Dale came next and he went to Anna and me.  After that, she was just as much as a character ham as her brother.

After dinner, we meandered down toward the lagoon to stake out a place to watch fireworks.  The kids made friends with other kids around them and with the ducks that were waiting for snacks.  We shared popcorn with the families around us, eating some and handing more off to the ducks who ate the popcorn out of our hands.  John and I shared a beer.  We sat on the ground and watched the fireworks show, Illuminations. 

It was amazing.  The fireworks were really, really good, but in the middle of it, a giant globe is sailed out to the middle of the lagoon and a little light show is played out on the continents.  Jack was absolutely amazed by that globe…for about 24 hours actually.

After the fireworks, we went off with the masses toward the bus to our hotel. 

We all collapsed in our beds and fell sound asleep.  There were no more night time visitations.