Friday,
February 8, 2008

It's a small, small world

And it really is -- there is a resident of Hegewisch doing her culinary apprenticeship at the Wilderness Lodge's cafeteria, and after discovering we were both graduates of Washington High School we compared histories and people we knew in common (turns out her cousin went to high school with me).

But I digress. Onto the Magic Kingdom -- this morning dawned overcast and cool, perfect walking weather as far as I'm concerned, so we took the boat over to the MK (or as a rather fey waiter quipped to Stacy and Mike a couple of years ago, "So, how was your day in the Tragic Kingdom?"). One of the nice things about Disneyworld is that they try to make it as easy as possible for disabled kids to enjoy the park, too, to the point of providing a special pass so that autistic kids can use the FastPass lanes and avoid meltdown territory.

After we stopped off and got Clara's pass, we rode/saw The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, Peter Pan's Flight, The Disney PhilharMagic (a very nice 3-D recreation of famous musical scenes from various Disney cartoons), and for my sins A Small, Small World (just...don't start, okay? I had to keep humming the theme from The Big Bang Theory just to avoid the ASSW earworm).

It was still a busy morning, however, and after lunch in the Pinocchio Village Haus Clara was working on a mild meltdown, so we went back to the hotel for some swimming and a nap. This, my friends, is where I made a grave, grave mistake. When prepping for the trip I couldn't find any sunblock I liked, so I figured I would pick it up down in Florida. However, I did not do this and proceeded to sit in the sun knitting and playing with Clara in the hotel pool for a goodish three hours.

Have I mentioned recently that I am pale? Not alabaster by any stretch, but distinctly Celtic and buttermilk-skinned except for my left arm which has a permanent tan from all my driving. The extent of the damage wouldn't show up until after we got back from the second trip to the Kingdom for our mandatory pilgrimage to the Haunted Mansion, Space Mountain and the fireworks show, but when it did -- sheesh. I'm an idiot.

And now, some pictures because it's my journal and I can do it, so there.

	Clara and Stacy on the way to the Tragic Kingdom.
	"Yeah, Auntie Mel, I love you too and all, but could you please get that freaking camera out of my face already?"
	The MK train station. I just liked the architecture.
	"Take the damn picture already, Mel."
	John Carpenter's next film with Kurt Russell: "Escape from It's A Small, Small World."
	"Okay, remind me again why it was a good idea to come on this ride?"
	By this point Clara was well and truly tired, hence the scowl.
	I was trying to take a picture of the Grand Floridian, when I heard: "Hey, take a picture of my thumb!" And yes, there's a little smiley face on it. Insanity runs in my family, you see.
	Stacy is holding onto the Cheerleader Minnie bobble statue because Clara has developed this little habit of pitching things into the nearest body of water. No, we don't know why. But man, the kid has a great arm.
	A shot of the main Wilderness Lodge courtyard from our room. It's supposed to look like a Rocky Mountain ski lodge, without the actual, you know, skiing.
	The rest of the courtyard, including the "stream" leading down to the pool with its waterslide, plus the poolside bar. Ah, I loved that bar, for it dispensed strawberry/mango margaritas.
	The obligatory shot of Cinderella's castle.
	The Niece in mid-ice cream consumption while we wait for the fireworks.
	Clara, Stacy, and Stitch's friend Plink, specially captured for Tony (who adores all things Stitch).

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