The Rest of the Trip

Space Shuttle Launch Pad in the background.

Gator at space center. About 10 feet long.

I figured out one thing on this trip. Those people who blog while on vacation are nutty. No time to do it and before you know it, the end of the trip is here. Today we have nothing to do. Relax, wash clothes, start to pack, let kids play at the pool, and maybe a little shopping. Tomorrow our flight is not until 6:20 so we will probably explore Downtown Disney to kill time. So this is the last blog from this trip. I will add a few photos. I did find the Space Center pictures. Not sure what the computer did wrong!


Saturn V. Largest rocket ever made.

Logan in the Tree of Life. 325 animals are carved into this artificial tree.  Hmm... a long lost twin?

Mt. Everest roller coaster.

Getting wet. Raft ride at Universal is better, but this was still fun.

Sunset at Epcot

Looking across at China area.

Waiting for fireworks.

Magic Kingdom

I just love the cloud formations.

With clouds comes rain. Time for ice cream!



  

Waiting out the rain at Thunder Mt. Railroad. At least we were inside!

Yep, ponchos are a popular fashion statement.

Plastic grocery bags, not so much in fashion. Some times you just need to ask, "Why?"

Twirling the camera!

Laser show on the castle. Pretty amazing what they did during this show.

The end of the day. Fireworks over the castle.

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 All in all a great trip. Kids did fine and got along well. Only on one day did the rain really slow us down. Now to start getting ready for the next adventure. Washington DC. Educational trip for the kids before they get too old. If only I could find a way to make it a tax write-off! 

Tampa Bay and Canaveral.

 Thursday was a trip to Clearwater, which is by Tampa Bay. A 2 hour drive but worth it. Beautiful beach. Soft, white sand that felt like powder. Small shells galore for the kids to collect. Water was so warm and calm.




Actually stayed in it for about an hour straight. Nice to relax and not do all that walking that happens at the theme parks. Not too crowded. Even saw 3 dolphins swimming within 15 yards of the shore!



No inside seating. The place is small!!! That's Danny in the blue.

On the way back we stopped at a triple D, Danny's All American Dinner and Dairy Bar just north of Tampa. Great food. The owners were very nice and we talked to them for quite awhile. We asked what it has been like since he was featured on triple D and he said it was a blessing. Before he was just getting by, paying the bills. Ever since he has been able to actually make some money.

Friday was the Kennedy Space Center. Very interesting. Lots of history. Ummm...... not sure where the pictures are. The computer must have lost them. Only an hour drive. The buildings and equipment are just so massive. Saw a gator while we were there so that made Logan's day.

Just a little tired! Vacationing is hard work.

                                                                          

Off to Orlando

The Resort

Looking towards the pool

Castle in Harry Potter area. Pretty neat.

Nicole and her friend Lexi

Well, made it to Orlando without any problems. Direct flight which was nice. Just had to eat the crappy food though.  Rented the car and made it to the resort, Hilton Grand Vacation Suites, without getting lost. A major accomplishment for me!!  First day we stayed in, grocery shopped and played in the pool. Day 2 was Universal Studios Island of Adventure. Great time. Cool roller coaster, 

The Hulk

The Hulk. Day 3, Universal Studios Florida. It was ok. Lots of 3D simulator rides. The BEST ride was the Rip Ride Rockit. Biggest thrill ride I have been on. Later we went to the Blue Man Group show. It was excellent.  Day 4 was a hangout day and recharge the batteries. Today, Epcot at DisneyWorld. It was ok. Slow paced but we still put 12 and 1/2 hours in at the park. Tomorrow, going to Tampa Bay to hang at the beach.

Rip Ride Rockit.  Straight up 17 stories and then down. Up to 65 mph. AWESOME

A Quick Update

Been a while so I figured I would post new information.  I have started to move into my new room. All my stuff and boxes are there, just waiting for the previous teacher to finish cleaning out. I did unpack my desk stuff today.  My new Smartboard arrived. My new principal has put in a work order for the other whiteboards to be moved around, install the Smartboard AND a ceiling mounted short throw projector!!  So cool. 

Just got back from Spokane yesterday. My wife had a conference over there so figured take the kids and let them enjoy the weather. First day was good. 2nd day was wonderful. Yesterday...not so good. 55 degrees and raining hard, all day. Weird.  We did manage to find 3 triple D's to eat at though!

Logan made the all-star team for baseball so he has been practicing every single night. Now to see how they do this weekend and beyond. The district tournament goes until the 7th - if they play for the championship to go to state. Problem is we leave the 6th for Orlando.  So I hope we don't end up with a dilema at the end. 

One thing I have figure out about summer. Too much time on my hands to think about next year's vacations.  So in my spare time I have found great deals for Washington DC.  We have always wanted to take the kids to give them a better appreciation of our nation's history and culture. They are now old enough (we hope) to appreciate this adventure.  Already put in the paper work to apply for a White House tour. And then I decided to treat myself and my wife to a cruise. No kids on this one!  Again going with friends to cruise the Southern Caribbean.  New cruise line so we can compare to what we have experienced before.  My present to myself for completing the hoop jumping.

I will try to remember to post from Orlando and hopefully have some fun things to report. At the moment I am preparing for 85 - 90 degree weather, rain showers daily, and humidity right around 90 percent or higher.  Hopefully no hurricanes will hit Florida while we are there. What the heck was I thinking when I decided to go to Orlando in July???????

A New Begining

So I thought I was going to have a relaxing, restful summer. Master's Program hoop jumping done. My Mom's place pretty much under control to start this spring after cleaning up from the snow/ice storm. No huge home projects to tackle, besides the continuous battle of moss in the lawn. Could pretty much stay on auto-pilot teaching first grade. Then I got stupid again. ( I do this often and I do it well.) An opening at Grand Mound Elementary School, next door to my school, for  3rd and 4th grade teaching positions came open due to retirements. I applied and interviewed and holy toledo they offered me the 3rd grade job.  So next year a new chapter in my teaching career begins.

I have taught K and 1st so now I am skipping a grade and going up. I have always been intrigued with teaching older, more self sufficient students, who probably have more attitude then I am used to dealing with (maybe!)  But GMES has a new principal who I have heard nothing but great things about so I figured it is a good time to try something new. So back to packing boxes and setting up a new classroom.

Change is nothing new to me. A quick run down of my teaching life by year.

Year 1 - 1st/2nd Hi-Cap at RPS/GMES
Year 2  - 1st/2nd Hi-Cap at RPS/GMES but moved to new RPS and also coordinated after school program at RMS.
Year 3- Taught first grade at RPS.
Year 4 - RIF'ed from RPS and went to Oakville Elementary to teach all day Kindergarten.
Year 5 - Back to RPS to teach 1st, in a different classroom from before. A portable.
Year 6 - Same thing!!!
Year 7 - Teach full day kindergarten at RPS, in a different portable.
Year 8 - Teach full day kindergarten at RPS, but moved to a classroom in the building.
Year 9 - Back to 1st at RPS!!! Back to the classroom that I started with in year 3!
Year 10 - Same thing!!!!
Year 11 - I will move to GMES and start 3rd.

I guess I like change. One huge advantage to all my moving is that I have already gotten rid of a bunch of junk so not so much to move. Bad news. Completely different grade so I need to find out what the heck  I need to get for the classroom.

Scared and excited at the same time. I hope the hell I didn't get too stupid this time.

Computer Withdrawals

Well, finished with the masters program. Just waiting for that piece of paper that tells me I graduated. Problem is now I get online to check email and I feel that I need to spend a couple of hours on the computer. I hope this feeling goes away soon!

Last night was a great night seeing all of the cohort who endured this masters program with me. Nice dinner and lots of laughs as we reminisced about our various classes. 

Great weather today!  Nice to be able to enjoy the day and not worry about having an assignment due.  Cutting firewood, thatching the yard, mowing, cleaning the garage. So nice to have the time but I have a feeling tomorrow my old body will be a little sore.

Next adventure, July trip to Orlando, FL. with the friends who went on the cruise with us. Disney World, Universal Studios, Cape Canaveral, and ?????  Spending two weeks so we will have lots of time to explore and relax.  Best part... 5 dollar plane tickets. After years of using that credit card it finally has paid off. 

So if anyone has been to Orlando and has suggestions, please send them my way.

Until next time... 

Cozumel - The End

After a wonderful day in Grand Cayman we cruised on to Cozumel the next day. Cozumel is a nice place to visit. Last time there, adults only, we walked around town and then went for a little beach time. This time with the kids, we went to the beach only and just let the kids play. It was pure relaxation for them to just play in the ocean or pool. I carefully watched out for them with drink in hand. Hey, someone has to do it! The grandparents walked around town a little bit but it was about 86 and a little humid so they only spent about 3 hours in town and went back onto the ship.

Swim buddies!

The girls on water toys at Cozumel

Lido Deck Pool on a sea day.

Early morning - so peaceful

The Crew

Sunrise on the sports deck

Looking at the water park and slides - the bucket is dumping

My favorite time on the ship - early. So peaceful at 5:30

After Cozumel we had a day at sea. Then it was time to pack and get ready to head home. We pulled into Galveston at about 4:30 am but did not disembark until about 9:30. Ride back to the airport, a 2 hour wait and fly home.  Our trip was fantastic, especially considering how it started off. Our friends and there two girls, who we travel with often are fantastic to share these fun memories with. The grandparents seemed to enjoy the experience. An update on my mom. She went in for testing today and all looks good. The doctors think that they know what the problem is (I can't spell it) and do not think it is serious at all. That news today along with the fact that my last master's class finishes today makes it a good reason to celebrate. So now I am dreaming about my next cruise. Adults only I think. So do I want an 8 day with only 4 ports or do a 7 day with 6 ports.  Decisions, Decisions.

Beautiful Grand Cayman

Logan on the rope course.

When we returned to the ship after Dunns River Falls, my son and I went to the top deck and did the rope course which was fun. Great views from up there. Mom was doing better, even joined us for dinner despite the fact she couldn't eat much. So things were looking up.

The following day, at Grand Cayman, we had arranged to hire a 35 foot sailboat for the day. The captain and his deckhand were wonderful. It was the best excursion I have been on in the caribbean. We tendered to shore and took a van ride to the marina and headed out to Stingray City.  Stingray City is a natural sand bar proteced by the island on 3 sides and a reef on the fourth. The water is only about 4 feet deep. The southern stingray lives here. They are wild but domesticated. In years past fisherman would clean their catches here and dump the waste over the side. So the stingrays had a great habitat full of free food and safe from their main predator, the shark. Eventually someone started playing with the stingrays and feeding them. Now, hundreds, and on some days thousands, of people go out there to see them. It is just so cool to be a mile or so from land and stand in the ocean. The stingrays are swimming around your feet. Makes you jump when they brush against you and you didn't see them coming.

The gang at Stingray City

Brain coral

Kids at Rum Point

While out there we fed the stingrays, held them, had them give us a back rub. They are so soft. Kids had a great time. After the stingrays we went to the reef and snorkeled for about 45 minutes. While we snorkeled the deckhand cleaned out some conch shells, which he dove for the day before, and created a tasty conch snack which we ate on our cruise over to Rum Point. Had rum punch and beer along the way. Good lunch at Rum Point, let the kids play in the water and an hour cruise back to the harbor. Just a great day!  I was happy my mom made it out their, really made the cruise worthwhile for her. The kids even got to keep the conch shell! 

Relaxing on the boat!

So back to the ship we go.  And I get to prepare for the second formal night. Wearing a tie again. There is always something that has to go wrong no matter what!  Probably worse than the tie is that if you wear the tie on the ship, you are going to take a picture, if you take one picture, you are going to take at least two. At this point I change and head to the Red Frog Pub. Next stop, Cozumel.