-chadley
G-G on Facebook - G-G on Twitter
3 months ago
November 25, 2008
Today's Ultrasound Photos
Here's the latest ultrasounds, including one that, yep, looks like a baby! Everyone is happy and healthy, and we appreciate your prayers.
-chadley
-chadley
November 22, 2008
November 19, 2008
A reminder to myself
Went to the Y this morning and worked out. I feel so focused and
refreshed afterwards..more than i have in weeks. Why do I ever let the
thought of sleeping in win over knowing how important if is to take
care of myself?
refreshed afterwards..more than i have in weeks. Why do I ever let the
thought of sleeping in win over knowing how important if is to take
care of myself?
I have to do better.
- Chad
Sent from my iPhone
November 18, 2008
Orlando Trip, Nov. 2008, Part 2
And now for the rest of my Orlando trip report:
The day after our Epcot trip, we had a day at the Kingdoms!
We got up and started the day at Disney's Animal Kingdom. This is Jen's favorite park and also one of Disney's more beautiful. It also helped that it was an unseasonably cool day, as that park seems to be one of the hottest places on WDW property year-round. We started the day getting FastPasses to the Kilimanjaro Safari and then making our way over to see the "Finding Nemo" musical. This is an original stage show performing only at Animal Kingdom, and it has a pretty big pedigree for a theme park stage show. The costumes are by the same designer who created the one's for The Lion King on Broadway. The songs were written by the same people who did the "Avenue Q" show that is on Broadway as well. It was a small show, but held the same quality of other musical productions I've seen touring the country. And it was a huge step above the usual dreck they call "stage shows" at Disney World - my least favorite things at the parks.
After that, we rode the safari, and took the two walking trails through the animal habitats. I don't know if it was the comfortable, un-muggy weather that brought the animals out, but I saw more animals in that trip than in 2 or 3 other trips combined and they were quite active. We saw several tigers, lions, meerkats, gazelles, giraffes and gorillas. I also took a quick ride on Expedition Everest, as the single rider line was very short and Jen didn't have to wait by herself for too long.
We wrapped up our time at AK by eating at "Yak & Yeti", a new Pan-Asian restaurant located in the Asia section. The restaurant was great - we got to sit on the second floor and do some great people-watching as crowds passed by. I got a salmon dish, while Jen got the ribs. As usual, Jen got the better meal of the two! The portion of ribs was so huge I actually ate half of it and we were both stuffed when we left. We returned to the hotel for a break after lunch.
That evening, we made our way to the original park at WDW, the Magic Kingdom. We had a bit of a surprise waiting on us, though - the Christmas decorations were up! The past couple of years, they have also covered Cinderella Castle in a sophisticated network of lights that resemble icicle lights on steroids. It really is mesmerizing to see them shimmer across the Castle's spires and turrets.
The first ride at MK was, naturally, the Haunted Mansion - probably my favorite ride at any Disney park. Then we rode the Mark Twain riverboat around Tom Sawyer's Island. You could tell this was more of a grown-up ride as it seemed to attract couples looking for a romantic place to spend a few minutes away from the hectic crowds. We then went and rode Pirates of the Caribbean, and then decided it was time to get something to eat. We went to Casey's Corner on Main Street, where they serve foot-long beef hotdogs and corn dog nuggets! We ate a quick dinner and made our way to Town Square where we had a front row view of the Spectromagic floats as they came out onstage. It was the perfect spot! Then we headed back down towards the Castle and picked out a spot for the Wishes fireworks show above the Castle. This takes place only about 15 minutes after the parade ends, so you have to find a good spot quick.
The fireworks were great, and afterwards, we found a bench and relaxed while the rest of the crowds made their way out of the park. Then we hopped on a practically empty monorail and made our way back to the car, closing out another fun day.
The next day was more of a laid-back day (which we needed). We had planned to meet with some friends of mine from the days when I worked at Universal Orlando. We got up early, got some Starbucks coffee and went to the office at Universal. I got to show Jen where I used to work, which was fun. Many of the people I knew were in a Monday meeting, but I did get to meet up with Wally Schumacher and Ali Snyder, both who worked there while I was there. We went to a Mexican restaurant close-by and had a great time catching up. Everyone had become parents since I had left so it was interesting to hear their take on how their lives had changed. One of my other coworkers, Todd Wineland, had left a couple of complimentary passes for Jen and I to use, so afterward we took those and made our way to the Universal parks.
Since Universal is mostly thrill-rides as compared to Disney, we did more sight-seeing than riding. First we wen to the Universal Studios park. Jen wanted to go see the "Animal Actors" show which I had never actually seen before. It was, as you might imagine, a very cute show. Then we went to Islands of Adventure and just walked around and took in the sights. The parks there are great, but it really is eye-opening to go there with someone who is restricted from doing so much. I didn't really feel like we had to miss out on too much when we were at Disney, but Universal was quite different.
Afterwards, we went back for the afternoon at the hotel. I planned a special evening for us, so we made sure and rested up. We had reservations for one of my favorite restaurants that night, so we got a little dressed up. On the 15th floor of the Contemporary Resort is the California Grille, a restaurant that overlooks the Magic Kingdom. I booked our reservation for 9 PM, optimal time to see the fireworks from the rooftop. But my expectations were exceeded as they gave us a table right by the window, so we were lucky enough to have an amazing view of "Holiday Wishes" from our table! That night, there was a special Christmas party at the Magic Kingdom, and the grand finale had fireworks going off from about 8 different locations around the Magic Kingdom - the sky was filled with fireworks and we were watching them at practically eye-level.
Not only did the view exceed expectations, but so did the food. For a starter we got the Chef's Garden Heirloom Tomato Flatbread with Roasted Garlic, Provolone, and Arugula. Then we split the Heirloom Tomato salad. For the main course I had the Grilled Pork Tenderloin with Goat Cheese Polenta and Jen had the Sonoma Goat Cheese Ravioli with Sun-dried Tomatoes. We also got the Valrhona Chocolate Cake and Apricots for dessert. This was a great meal and I would definitely love to go back again. After stuffing ourselves, we made our way back to the hotel.
The following morning was our last day there, so we decided to continue the eating parade and had breakfast at the Kona cafe at the Polynesian Village resort. I had my favorite, the "Tonga Toast", which is banana-stuffed sourdough bread, rolled in cinnamon sugar and served with Strawberry Compote. So good! Jen got the "Big Kahuna" - French toast, Macadamia-Pineapple pancakes, eggs, home fried potatoes. Needless to say, we were stuffed again and didn't eat again until we got home that night. We had a little time to kill before we needed to return to the airport, so we went to Downtown Disney, which is a shopping area on the edge of WDW property. We picked up a few souveniers, including one of the first things we've bought the baby - a Mickey Mouse t-shirt. After doing some shopping, we sat by the lake for awhile and eventually went back to the car, drove to the airport and flew home.
So I hope you enjoyed reading about our last "kid-free" trip to Disney World! We're looking forward to a future trip where the agenda won't be set by a pregnancy , but by a little one who will be seeing their Dad's favorite wonderland for the first time.
Oh, and did I mention we leave in less than two weeks for Chicago?
-chadley
The day after our Epcot trip, we had a day at the Kingdoms!
We got up and started the day at Disney's Animal Kingdom. This is Jen's favorite park and also one of Disney's more beautiful. It also helped that it was an unseasonably cool day, as that park seems to be one of the hottest places on WDW property year-round. We started the day getting FastPasses to the Kilimanjaro Safari and then making our way over to see the "Finding Nemo" musical. This is an original stage show performing only at Animal Kingdom, and it has a pretty big pedigree for a theme park stage show. The costumes are by the same designer who created the one's for The Lion King on Broadway. The songs were written by the same people who did the "Avenue Q" show that is on Broadway as well. It was a small show, but held the same quality of other musical productions I've seen touring the country. And it was a huge step above the usual dreck they call "stage shows" at Disney World - my least favorite things at the parks.
After that, we rode the safari, and took the two walking trails through the animal habitats. I don't know if it was the comfortable, un-muggy weather that brought the animals out, but I saw more animals in that trip than in 2 or 3 other trips combined and they were quite active. We saw several tigers, lions, meerkats, gazelles, giraffes and gorillas. I also took a quick ride on Expedition Everest, as the single rider line was very short and Jen didn't have to wait by herself for too long.
We wrapped up our time at AK by eating at "Yak & Yeti", a new Pan-Asian restaurant located in the Asia section. The restaurant was great - we got to sit on the second floor and do some great people-watching as crowds passed by. I got a salmon dish, while Jen got the ribs. As usual, Jen got the better meal of the two! The portion of ribs was so huge I actually ate half of it and we were both stuffed when we left. We returned to the hotel for a break after lunch.
That evening, we made our way to the original park at WDW, the Magic Kingdom. We had a bit of a surprise waiting on us, though - the Christmas decorations were up! The past couple of years, they have also covered Cinderella Castle in a sophisticated network of lights that resemble icicle lights on steroids. It really is mesmerizing to see them shimmer across the Castle's spires and turrets.
The first ride at MK was, naturally, the Haunted Mansion - probably my favorite ride at any Disney park. Then we rode the Mark Twain riverboat around Tom Sawyer's Island. You could tell this was more of a grown-up ride as it seemed to attract couples looking for a romantic place to spend a few minutes away from the hectic crowds. We then went and rode Pirates of the Caribbean, and then decided it was time to get something to eat. We went to Casey's Corner on Main Street, where they serve foot-long beef hotdogs and corn dog nuggets! We ate a quick dinner and made our way to Town Square where we had a front row view of the Spectromagic floats as they came out onstage. It was the perfect spot! Then we headed back down towards the Castle and picked out a spot for the Wishes fireworks show above the Castle. This takes place only about 15 minutes after the parade ends, so you have to find a good spot quick.
The fireworks were great, and afterwards, we found a bench and relaxed while the rest of the crowds made their way out of the park. Then we hopped on a practically empty monorail and made our way back to the car, closing out another fun day.
The next day was more of a laid-back day (which we needed). We had planned to meet with some friends of mine from the days when I worked at Universal Orlando. We got up early, got some Starbucks coffee and went to the office at Universal. I got to show Jen where I used to work, which was fun. Many of the people I knew were in a Monday meeting, but I did get to meet up with Wally Schumacher and Ali Snyder, both who worked there while I was there. We went to a Mexican restaurant close-by and had a great time catching up. Everyone had become parents since I had left so it was interesting to hear their take on how their lives had changed. One of my other coworkers, Todd Wineland, had left a couple of complimentary passes for Jen and I to use, so afterward we took those and made our way to the Universal parks.
Since Universal is mostly thrill-rides as compared to Disney, we did more sight-seeing than riding. First we wen to the Universal Studios park. Jen wanted to go see the "Animal Actors" show which I had never actually seen before. It was, as you might imagine, a very cute show. Then we went to Islands of Adventure and just walked around and took in the sights. The parks there are great, but it really is eye-opening to go there with someone who is restricted from doing so much. I didn't really feel like we had to miss out on too much when we were at Disney, but Universal was quite different.
Afterwards, we went back for the afternoon at the hotel. I planned a special evening for us, so we made sure and rested up. We had reservations for one of my favorite restaurants that night, so we got a little dressed up. On the 15th floor of the Contemporary Resort is the California Grille, a restaurant that overlooks the Magic Kingdom. I booked our reservation for 9 PM, optimal time to see the fireworks from the rooftop. But my expectations were exceeded as they gave us a table right by the window, so we were lucky enough to have an amazing view of "Holiday Wishes" from our table! That night, there was a special Christmas party at the Magic Kingdom, and the grand finale had fireworks going off from about 8 different locations around the Magic Kingdom - the sky was filled with fireworks and we were watching them at practically eye-level.
Not only did the view exceed expectations, but so did the food. For a starter we got the Chef's Garden Heirloom Tomato Flatbread with Roasted Garlic, Provolone, and Arugula. Then we split the Heirloom Tomato salad. For the main course I had the Grilled Pork Tenderloin with Goat Cheese Polenta and Jen had the Sonoma Goat Cheese Ravioli with Sun-dried Tomatoes. We also got the Valrhona Chocolate Cake and Apricots for dessert. This was a great meal and I would definitely love to go back again. After stuffing ourselves, we made our way back to the hotel.
The following morning was our last day there, so we decided to continue the eating parade and had breakfast at the Kona cafe at the Polynesian Village resort. I had my favorite, the "Tonga Toast", which is banana-stuffed sourdough bread, rolled in cinnamon sugar and served with Strawberry Compote. So good! Jen got the "Big Kahuna" - French toast, Macadamia-Pineapple pancakes, eggs, home fried potatoes. Needless to say, we were stuffed again and didn't eat again until we got home that night. We had a little time to kill before we needed to return to the airport, so we went to Downtown Disney, which is a shopping area on the edge of WDW property. We picked up a few souveniers, including one of the first things we've bought the baby - a Mickey Mouse t-shirt. After doing some shopping, we sat by the lake for awhile and eventually went back to the car, drove to the airport and flew home.
So I hope you enjoyed reading about our last "kid-free" trip to Disney World! We're looking forward to a future trip where the agenda won't be set by a pregnancy , but by a little one who will be seeing their Dad's favorite wonderland for the first time.
Oh, and did I mention we leave in less than two weeks for Chicago?
-chadley
November 15, 2008
Orlando Trip, Nov. 2008, Part 1
Okay, so we've been back from Orlando for a few days and, now that I've had a chance to catch up on some work I'll dive in and tell you about our trip.
First off, we had a great time! The weather in Orlando was amazing the entire trip. We had a lot of fun and surprisingly, we only went into the Disney Theme Parks for a couple of days. But I'm getting ahead of myself.
We were scheduled to fly out on Thursday evening at about 8:30 PM. It was a late flight, for sure, but we wanted to be able to settle in and have our travels out of the way so we could start the next day fresh and ready to go. Unfortunately, I didn't quite work out that way. We had a delay at the airport. Basically, our flight was the last flight out of Nashville that night and, due to some delays in other cities, they held our flight for about a dozen passengers who had been trying to get to Orlando all day. That was nice of the airline and only a minor inconvenience for us. We left about 10:00 PM and arrived about 1 1/2 hours later. We grabbed our luggage and made our way to the car rental stand. We opted to get a car this trip so we could go to places outside of Walt Disney World (WDW), like Universal, etc. When we got to the car rental stand, their computers were down, which slowed things down a bit. Fortunately, it was about 1 AM Orlando-time, so there wasn't a line! Lucky for us they upgraded us to an SUV! We got to drive a brand-new Nissan Rogue with only 6 miles on it when we left the garage.
After a trip down the 528/I-4 corridor, we were at WDW! We were staying at one of Disney's smaller resorts, the All-Star Resort, in the Music section. It's not nearly as "nice" as the Swan & Dolphin Resort that we stayed at last year, but it was clean and comfortable. For the first two nights, we had to stay in a room with two double beds (in the Broadway section, for those who know the resort very well). Fortunately, Disney accomodated our request for a King-size bed once one became available. As you can imagine, King-size beds are not the norm in a resort that's family-friendly. But once we got the bed, I have to say it was super comfortable - maybe even more so than the "heavenly beds" we had at the Westin resorts we've stayed at before.
But enough of the hotel! Our first day in Orlando we slept in, then went and got coffee at the Starbucks in the town of Celebration. For those of you unfamilar, Celebration is a town that Disney designed and developed in the mid-1990's. World renowned architects like Michael Graves, Robert AM Stern, and Robert Venturi designed many of the main buildings in the town center. The rest of the town is filled with nice, well manicured lawns and beautiful homes. For more information visit Celebration's official site.
After that, we drove a few miles down the road to Giordano's Pizza, a Chicago-based pizzeria with a few locations in the Orlando area. The pizza there was amazing, and even though we just got a small, we could only eat about 2/3 of it! After the lunch, we decided to go drive around the WDW Resort grounds a bit. In particular, I wanted to show Jen Disney's Wilderness Lodge, one of my favorite resorts at WDW. The whole resort is bult of logs and is very reminiscent of the Lodges found at National Parks in the west. The campground next door, Fort Wilderness, we drove through and checked out more for curiosity sake. Then we headed back to the room for a nap.
That evening, we headed out to IKEA, the Swedish superstore that specializes in well-designed home furnishings for affordable cost. We wanted to window-shop for furniture and decor for the new house. We found some things we really liked, particularly a rocker for Jen in the nursery and some mirrors and light fixtures for the home. We resisited in buying anything, hoping to visit the IKEA outside of Chicago later this month where we don't have to pay for any shipping! Then we had dinner at IKEA's cafeteria, where they have the best swedish meatballs on the planet. SO GOOD! After that, we hopped in the car and made our way to downtown Orlando to see Coldplay perform at the Amway Arena. The show was amazingly good, almost up to U2-quality staging and lighting. They played all the hits and were very energetic. The highlight of the show to me was when the rigging about the floor of the arena started blowing neon-colored confetti shaped like butterflies onto the crowd. Then, they flooded the arena with blacklight and all you could see was neon butterflies flying everywhere. The effect was simple but stunning and slightly surreal. Great show, and I'd love to see them agian!
The following day was our first day going to the WDW parks. Jen wanted to sleep in, so I left a little early to try to get FastPasses to the newest ride at Disney's Hollywood Studios, Toy Story Midway Mania. I was blocked from getting the passes (Jen's ticket hadn't been used yet, so it wasn't valid to get us a pass), but we were able to get back pretty quickly after opening and waited a reasonable amount of time. The ride is great! Imagine riding through a 3-D videogame where you are playing Midway games (ring toss, dart throw, baseball toss) with the Toy Story characters computer generated and rendered in 3-D. The games were fun, but the technology was very impressive. Imagine shooting 3-D objects into a 3-D movie and having effects on what you saw onscreen. That's exactly what happened in this game and it will be impressive to see where they go with this kind of technology in the future.
After strolling around and taking in the sights at the Studios, we took off for Epcot and the main event: Epcot's Food and Wine Festival! Before we did anything, I ran and got FastPasses for Jen and me to ride Soarin'. It was shortly after 12, but our Fastpasses were for 6:30! So glad we did that first thing. Then we took a ride through the iconic sphere at the entrance to Epcot, Spaceship Earth. The ride has been heavily renovated and, although very similar to what was there when Epcot opened in the early 1980's, it has been enhanced with the latest robotic figures and a new finale that takes place on interactive screens built into the ride vehicles. The overall impression is that the ride has been greatly improved, but I still miss the fiberoptic whirlpool you passed through in the finale that was in place in the 1990's/early 2000's.
After that, it was time to eat! We made our way to World Showcase, and picked up something new Disney was trying. They were selling small gift cards attached to wristbands that you could charge up with whatever amount you wanted. When you went up to one of the booths, instead of pulling out your wallet, you could swipe the gift card. It was a great idea, in that it keeps you aware of how much money you are spending and saves time at the individual food kiosks. I won't go into too much detail about the foods we ate (suffice it to say we tried almost everything on my "wish list" from the previous post). I will say it was all quite good, with the exception of the Milk Chocolate Crème Brûlée and the lemon tart. The exceptional dishes were the Roasted Beet Salad with Goat Cheese and the Seared Beef Medallion with Cheddar Cheese Polenta. After eating about halfway around the lagoon we took an afternoon break and returned to our hotel. We went back in time to use our FastPass for Soarin', then continued with the "dinner" stroll around the lagoon. At 9, we stopped for the grand finale fireworks "IllumiNations" over the lagoon and leisurely made our way back to the car and to the hotel to get some rest.
And that's where I'll stop things for now. I'll pick up later this week with the rest of our trip.
-chadley
First off, we had a great time! The weather in Orlando was amazing the entire trip. We had a lot of fun and surprisingly, we only went into the Disney Theme Parks for a couple of days. But I'm getting ahead of myself.
We were scheduled to fly out on Thursday evening at about 8:30 PM. It was a late flight, for sure, but we wanted to be able to settle in and have our travels out of the way so we could start the next day fresh and ready to go. Unfortunately, I didn't quite work out that way. We had a delay at the airport. Basically, our flight was the last flight out of Nashville that night and, due to some delays in other cities, they held our flight for about a dozen passengers who had been trying to get to Orlando all day. That was nice of the airline and only a minor inconvenience for us. We left about 10:00 PM and arrived about 1 1/2 hours later. We grabbed our luggage and made our way to the car rental stand. We opted to get a car this trip so we could go to places outside of Walt Disney World (WDW), like Universal, etc. When we got to the car rental stand, their computers were down, which slowed things down a bit. Fortunately, it was about 1 AM Orlando-time, so there wasn't a line! Lucky for us they upgraded us to an SUV! We got to drive a brand-new Nissan Rogue with only 6 miles on it when we left the garage.
After a trip down the 528/I-4 corridor, we were at WDW! We were staying at one of Disney's smaller resorts, the All-Star Resort, in the Music section. It's not nearly as "nice" as the Swan & Dolphin Resort that we stayed at last year, but it was clean and comfortable. For the first two nights, we had to stay in a room with two double beds (in the Broadway section, for those who know the resort very well). Fortunately, Disney accomodated our request for a King-size bed once one became available. As you can imagine, King-size beds are not the norm in a resort that's family-friendly. But once we got the bed, I have to say it was super comfortable - maybe even more so than the "heavenly beds" we had at the Westin resorts we've stayed at before.
But enough of the hotel! Our first day in Orlando we slept in, then went and got coffee at the Starbucks in the town of Celebration. For those of you unfamilar, Celebration is a town that Disney designed and developed in the mid-1990's. World renowned architects like Michael Graves, Robert AM Stern, and Robert Venturi designed many of the main buildings in the town center. The rest of the town is filled with nice, well manicured lawns and beautiful homes. For more information visit Celebration's official site.
After that, we drove a few miles down the road to Giordano's Pizza, a Chicago-based pizzeria with a few locations in the Orlando area. The pizza there was amazing, and even though we just got a small, we could only eat about 2/3 of it! After the lunch, we decided to go drive around the WDW Resort grounds a bit. In particular, I wanted to show Jen Disney's Wilderness Lodge, one of my favorite resorts at WDW. The whole resort is bult of logs and is very reminiscent of the Lodges found at National Parks in the west. The campground next door, Fort Wilderness, we drove through and checked out more for curiosity sake. Then we headed back to the room for a nap.
That evening, we headed out to IKEA, the Swedish superstore that specializes in well-designed home furnishings for affordable cost. We wanted to window-shop for furniture and decor for the new house. We found some things we really liked, particularly a rocker for Jen in the nursery and some mirrors and light fixtures for the home. We resisited in buying anything, hoping to visit the IKEA outside of Chicago later this month where we don't have to pay for any shipping! Then we had dinner at IKEA's cafeteria, where they have the best swedish meatballs on the planet. SO GOOD! After that, we hopped in the car and made our way to downtown Orlando to see Coldplay perform at the Amway Arena. The show was amazingly good, almost up to U2-quality staging and lighting. They played all the hits and were very energetic. The highlight of the show to me was when the rigging about the floor of the arena started blowing neon-colored confetti shaped like butterflies onto the crowd. Then, they flooded the arena with blacklight and all you could see was neon butterflies flying everywhere. The effect was simple but stunning and slightly surreal. Great show, and I'd love to see them agian!
The following day was our first day going to the WDW parks. Jen wanted to sleep in, so I left a little early to try to get FastPasses to the newest ride at Disney's Hollywood Studios, Toy Story Midway Mania. I was blocked from getting the passes (Jen's ticket hadn't been used yet, so it wasn't valid to get us a pass), but we were able to get back pretty quickly after opening and waited a reasonable amount of time. The ride is great! Imagine riding through a 3-D videogame where you are playing Midway games (ring toss, dart throw, baseball toss) with the Toy Story characters computer generated and rendered in 3-D. The games were fun, but the technology was very impressive. Imagine shooting 3-D objects into a 3-D movie and having effects on what you saw onscreen. That's exactly what happened in this game and it will be impressive to see where they go with this kind of technology in the future.
After strolling around and taking in the sights at the Studios, we took off for Epcot and the main event: Epcot's Food and Wine Festival! Before we did anything, I ran and got FastPasses for Jen and me to ride Soarin'. It was shortly after 12, but our Fastpasses were for 6:30! So glad we did that first thing. Then we took a ride through the iconic sphere at the entrance to Epcot, Spaceship Earth. The ride has been heavily renovated and, although very similar to what was there when Epcot opened in the early 1980's, it has been enhanced with the latest robotic figures and a new finale that takes place on interactive screens built into the ride vehicles. The overall impression is that the ride has been greatly improved, but I still miss the fiberoptic whirlpool you passed through in the finale that was in place in the 1990's/early 2000's.
After that, it was time to eat! We made our way to World Showcase, and picked up something new Disney was trying. They were selling small gift cards attached to wristbands that you could charge up with whatever amount you wanted. When you went up to one of the booths, instead of pulling out your wallet, you could swipe the gift card. It was a great idea, in that it keeps you aware of how much money you are spending and saves time at the individual food kiosks. I won't go into too much detail about the foods we ate (suffice it to say we tried almost everything on my "wish list" from the previous post). I will say it was all quite good, with the exception of the Milk Chocolate Crème Brûlée and the lemon tart. The exceptional dishes were the Roasted Beet Salad with Goat Cheese and the Seared Beef Medallion with Cheddar Cheese Polenta. After eating about halfway around the lagoon we took an afternoon break and returned to our hotel. We went back in time to use our FastPass for Soarin', then continued with the "dinner" stroll around the lagoon. At 9, we stopped for the grand finale fireworks "IllumiNations" over the lagoon and leisurely made our way back to the car and to the hotel to get some rest.
And that's where I'll stop things for now. I'll pick up later this week with the rest of our trip.
-chadley
November 11, 2008
...and we're back!
Okay... we made it back and had a great time. Photos and stories to come in the next few days.
-chadley
-chadley
November 06, 2008
Going to Disney World!
The day is finally here! Yay! We're off to Walt Disney World this evening!
Okay, so I didn't get to finish the "Disney World Countdown" thing this past month (I know some of you are grateful for that). But it is completely okay considering the thing that distracted us was the news of our pregnancy!
We're obviously very excited about the news, but it changes some things. If you've got a trip planned to a theme park, then stuff like roller coasters and other thrill rides are immediately out of the question. So what takes the place of coasters? Looking at our itinerary, apparently eating is the thrill for this trip!
We were planning on going down this weekend mostly because Disney is putting on the 13th Annual International Food and Wine Festival at Epcot. There you can try foods from around the world, as well as view culinary demonstrations all around World Showcase Lagoon. Jen and I downloaded a copy of the Festival Guide and put together a list of things we want to try. Here's what's on our "check list":
ARGENTINA: Grilled Beef with Chimichurri Sauce
CHILE: Spicy Beef Empanada
SPAIN: Seared Tuna Loin with Spicy Red Pepper Coulis and Garlic-Herb Ciabatta
SAN FRANSISCO, USA: Roasted Beet Salad with Goat Cheese, Seared Beef Medallion with Cheddar Cheese Polenta
INDIA: Samosa with Tamarind Sauce, Mango Mousse
SOUTH AFRICA: Durban Spiced Chicken with Coconut Milk-infused Root Vegetables, Bobotie with Mango Chutney
GERMANY: Regensburger Sausage with Sauerkraut in a Pretzel Roll
NEW ORLEANS, USA: Crawfish Etouffée
FRANCE: Goat Cheese and Leek Quiche, Milk Chocolate Crème Brûlée
TURKEY: Meze, Manti with Yogurt Sauce
CANADA: Cheddar Cheese Soup, Maple Glazed Salmon with Arugula and Roasted Corn
POLAND: Kielbasa and Potato Pierogies with Caramelized Onions and Sour Cream
PUERTO RICO: Plantain and Beef Casserole
The portions you get to try are small, but so is the price. And you can make a meal (or two) of wandering around the mile-long promenade and noshing on whatever you wish, until you run out of money in your wallet or room in your stomach. If you want to get a better look at what's going on down there, here's a link to the Festival Guide that Disney hands out at the front gate. Take a look and if there's any food you are interested in, email us and I'll try it (yeah, that's not as good as YOU eating it, but it's the best I can do)!
But I'm getting ahead of myself. The first day we're there, after a trip to show Jen the planned community of Celebration that Disney designed (and the TV show "The Office" mocked), we are going to Girodano's pizza in Kissimmee. This is a first for me, but I'm very much looking forward to it. I've heard lots of great things about their Chicago-style pizza and I can't wait to try it.
On our trip to Animal Kingdom, we're dining at "Yak & Yeti" (yeah, I know... why would anyone put the word "yak" in the name of a restaurant). It's a "Pan-Asian" restaurant with Thai, Indian, Chinese dishes. This is also a new one for me, and I'm interested in seeing what it's all about. As far as locale, it's actually IN the Animal Kingdom park, appropriately in the Asian section, overlooking the lake with the Everest coaster on the opposite shore.
The last night of our trip, we're dining at the California Grille, which is on the 13th floor of the Contemporary Resort. The view of the dining room overlooks the Magic Kingdom next door, and I've timed our reservations so (hopefully) we can see the fireworks over Cinderella Castle while we eat. There's also an observation platform where you can go outside and take in the view. As far as the food goes, the chef there is the chef who was formerly at Jiko, the African-inspired restaurant at Animal Kingdom Lodge that we enjoyed so much from our last trip. It's been years since I've eaten at the California Grille and I am very much looking forward to sharing the experience with Jen.
So wish us safe travels and I'm going to try to upload pictures to the site as often as I can, with an extensive "trip report" when we return.
Later!
-chadley
Okay, so I didn't get to finish the "Disney World Countdown" thing this past month (I know some of you are grateful for that). But it is completely okay considering the thing that distracted us was the news of our pregnancy!
We're obviously very excited about the news, but it changes some things. If you've got a trip planned to a theme park, then stuff like roller coasters and other thrill rides are immediately out of the question. So what takes the place of coasters? Looking at our itinerary, apparently eating is the thrill for this trip!
We were planning on going down this weekend mostly because Disney is putting on the 13th Annual International Food and Wine Festival at Epcot. There you can try foods from around the world, as well as view culinary demonstrations all around World Showcase Lagoon. Jen and I downloaded a copy of the Festival Guide and put together a list of things we want to try. Here's what's on our "check list":
ARGENTINA: Grilled Beef with Chimichurri Sauce
CHILE: Spicy Beef Empanada
SPAIN: Seared Tuna Loin with Spicy Red Pepper Coulis and Garlic-Herb Ciabatta
SAN FRANSISCO, USA: Roasted Beet Salad with Goat Cheese, Seared Beef Medallion with Cheddar Cheese Polenta
INDIA: Samosa with Tamarind Sauce, Mango Mousse
SOUTH AFRICA: Durban Spiced Chicken with Coconut Milk-infused Root Vegetables, Bobotie with Mango Chutney
GERMANY: Regensburger Sausage with Sauerkraut in a Pretzel Roll
NEW ORLEANS, USA: Crawfish Etouffée
FRANCE: Goat Cheese and Leek Quiche, Milk Chocolate Crème Brûlée
TURKEY: Meze, Manti with Yogurt Sauce
CANADA: Cheddar Cheese Soup, Maple Glazed Salmon with Arugula and Roasted Corn
POLAND: Kielbasa and Potato Pierogies with Caramelized Onions and Sour Cream
PUERTO RICO: Plantain and Beef Casserole
The portions you get to try are small, but so is the price. And you can make a meal (or two) of wandering around the mile-long promenade and noshing on whatever you wish, until you run out of money in your wallet or room in your stomach. If you want to get a better look at what's going on down there, here's a link to the Festival Guide that Disney hands out at the front gate. Take a look and if there's any food you are interested in, email us and I'll try it (yeah, that's not as good as YOU eating it, but it's the best I can do)!
But I'm getting ahead of myself. The first day we're there, after a trip to show Jen the planned community of Celebration that Disney designed (and the TV show "The Office" mocked), we are going to Girodano's pizza in Kissimmee. This is a first for me, but I'm very much looking forward to it. I've heard lots of great things about their Chicago-style pizza and I can't wait to try it.
On our trip to Animal Kingdom, we're dining at "Yak & Yeti" (yeah, I know... why would anyone put the word "yak" in the name of a restaurant). It's a "Pan-Asian" restaurant with Thai, Indian, Chinese dishes. This is also a new one for me, and I'm interested in seeing what it's all about. As far as locale, it's actually IN the Animal Kingdom park, appropriately in the Asian section, overlooking the lake with the Everest coaster on the opposite shore.
The last night of our trip, we're dining at the California Grille, which is on the 13th floor of the Contemporary Resort. The view of the dining room overlooks the Magic Kingdom next door, and I've timed our reservations so (hopefully) we can see the fireworks over Cinderella Castle while we eat. There's also an observation platform where you can go outside and take in the view. As far as the food goes, the chef there is the chef who was formerly at Jiko, the African-inspired restaurant at Animal Kingdom Lodge that we enjoyed so much from our last trip. It's been years since I've eaten at the California Grille and I am very much looking forward to sharing the experience with Jen.
So wish us safe travels and I'm going to try to upload pictures to the site as often as I can, with an extensive "trip report" when we return.
Later!
-chadley
Early Ultrasound Photos
We went in for our first ultrasound today. This is the first one that is used to determine the due date.
The baby was estimated to be about 7 weeks along give or take a little bit. We've heard varying things, but at this point the due date is estimated around June 21-23.
Hmmm.... that's right around Father's Day, isn't it?
-chadley
The baby was estimated to be about 7 weeks along give or take a little bit. We've heard varying things, but at this point the due date is estimated around June 21-23.
Hmmm.... that's right around Father's Day, isn't it?
-chadley
November 04, 2008
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