Going on an Adventure

On Thursday morning my family and I shall leave on an adventure, two hours north of where I sit currently to one of the most commercialized areas in Wisconsin. Yes, I speak of the Wisconsin Dells where the waterparks are everywhere and traffic comes to a standstill on the interstate due to so many people heading to or from, in the summer.

But it's winter, Roger.

Indeed it is. We are going to be just south of there at Cascade Mountain, now being one that grew up in Colorado the use of the word mountain here does not mean what I think the word mountain means, I lived in a higher elevation that this massive peak of 1,270 feet. We are going on a skiing adventure. Why adventure you ask? Well, for me, it will be the first time I have been skiing in roughly 20 years and at least 50 pounds so it may be an adventure that leads to another one in the ER.

They have hospitals in Wisconsin, right?

Fun At the Park

Took the family to Six Flags Great America for our annual visit to this amusement park that tries really hard... At least the kids like the roller coasters. Anyway, there were four adults and, I believe it was fifteen kids. It's amazing how people find out when we're making our trip that want to tag along - we're fun that way.

Once we made it to the park, we separated into two distinct groups; those that can ride roller coasters, and those that cannot. Guess which one I was a part of. (It's not my fault that they make those seats so small... what's that? It is? Never mind then). Initially it was just me, Jenni and my three youngest (Maggie, Danny and Timmy), we were later joined by some friends which literally doubled our party. All-in-all we had a really good time and shocker of shockers, the older kids got bored and some even left before we did.

Below is a photographic journey through our day, enjoy.


In line for our first ride of the day - Balloons (note: I really don't know all of the names for the rides)

Danny ready for some flight time on the balloons (definitely 'ready for action')

Maggie sitting in the front car of the Spacely Sprockets roller coaster

Nap time for Timmy, and some 'Yabba Dabba Doo good times!

Timmy getting ready for the train ride!!

Yes, I did cram my rather large body inside this car with him. 

Okay, it's time to go now!

Hope you enjoyed the pictures!!

KC or Bust!

Mathematics, rightly viewed, possesses not only truth, but supreme beauty - a beauty cold and austere, like that of sculpture. - Bertrand Russell

I have a confession to make.

I have not always been the model of safe driving.

Shocked you are, no doubt. Let me share ...

(cue way back machine music)

Back in the summer of 1984, my buddies Ken and Brian and I thought it would be a good time to drive to Kansas City and spend a week out there with Brian's Uncle. We would drive interstate 70 west from Denver to Kansas City, Kansas or maybe it was Missouri. Either way, we decided that this would be one of those great bonding times for us best friends and didn't even think about the fact that we were three teens (17, 17 and 16) driving across two complete states; without parental supervision.

Yeah, we were cool like that.

The plan was for us to take Brian's baby, his 1969 black fastback Mustang - with a 351 Windsor under the hood. (That is about all I know about that car, and maybe the fact that it's not very comfortable to drive across two states, but I digress). The three of us would each take turns driving, and just having a grand old time.

First problem, Ken didn't know how to drive a manual transmission.

Okay, so Brian and I will drive across two states, no biggie. We were young and we knew that we could handle it.

Second problem, Colorado east of the Rockies is nothing but flat, boring prairie, and the entire state of Kansas is the same way. Driving across boring plains is well, boring, and can easily cause one to "doze off" while driving. So, we planned on switching every two to three hours, or whenever we stopped for gas. Makes sense, sounds logical right?

Fate can be a fickle little friend, or maybe that's fiend.

Now what it was that came over us to do the following is still up for debate, and who knows, maybe someday we will find the answer. Although it has been 26 years since, so I'm not expecting any new revelations to come across my conscious any time soon.

We were cruising along the highway, minding our own business, when some (expletive deleted) decided to play games, by riding our tail, passing us, and then slowing down. You have all experienced that kind of friendly driver, no doubt. I, of course, was driving and whining about the jerk, so Brian finally tells me to just go ahead an gun it. I mean we had a 351 Windsor in a muscle car that was made for these kinds of things, right.

Sure.

Problem was, I had never really driven anything that fast, and it wasn't my car, so I got nervous. However, we did have a deadline to meet and didn't feel like pulling over to switch drivers, so Brian could be responsible for his car, and our lives (like I said, we didn't think as clearly as we do now, back then). So we decided that the best course of action would be for us to switch places.

Yes, I said switch places.

While driving.

At 95MPH.

The plan was simple, Ken would hold the steering wheel, from the back seat, while Brian and I would switch seats. Oh, and we simply had to maintain our speed - didn't want the long forgotten four cylinder car that we smoked to get the satisfaction of catching up to us.

No, we didn't even consider the fact that we could have easily pulled over and switched seats and still been ahead of the other car, that would be just plain silly.

Back to the plan, I would maintain my foot on the gas pedal (to the metal) and crawl under Brian to the passenger seat. First up, switch to having my left foot on the gas pedal, while swinging my right foot/leg over to the passenger seat. I think I might have still had a little hold on the steering wheel at this point, but shortly our lives would be in Ken's capable hands. I will have you know, that the plan was working, perfectly, with the only flaw being when either Brian or I hit Ken's arm (the one steering), which made us all see our lives flash before our eyes, along with the cars on the right, and the shrubs, grass, I think there was a cow...

Obviously, we survived, but that was the absolute dumbest thing that I have ever done, in my entire life and I would not recommend anyone trying it.ever.

Funny thing, after having our lives flash before our eyes, we no longer cared about the dude in the car that we were trying to shake, and pulled over at the next exit to take a well-needed break from all the "action."

Again, the tortoise beat the hare by being slow and steady.



I have no idea why the quote mentioned above brought this story to my mind, but it did. Now you should try the same thing, go and find a quotation to use and see what comes from it. You will probably be amazed at what it inspires.

Or confused.

I should try and find the picture that we took before our trip with the sign that I got the title from. Remind me sometime to share our experience, from the same trip, while in Wichita. An incident, by the way, that we consider to be way more scary than the one mentioned above.

Also, I cannot imagine letting my kids do the same thing today (not the driver switching, the traveling with friends alone), it's a crazier world today, even with the invention of cell phones. Too many crazy people out there.

U-Ti-Ca, U-Ti-Ca, U-Ti-Ca

I'm told that the title is a The Office reference. I'll just have to trust my kids on that one.

We are here in lovely Utica, Illinois. Population 1,000, that's funny, my family just added .01% to their population. Cool.

So, why are we in lovely Utica, the land of sporadic cell signals? Glad you asked, because I really don't know. :) I knew that I was going to Dubuque, Iowa with Andy on Sunday and Monday, for college related stuff. Now for the rest of the story, maybe. Because my signal just died.

Now it's back, but I will have to finish this later, I think.

Blame it on Utica.

One Month Ago

Our little family, plus one, went to Disney World (Yay!) So, now is a good time to upload some pictures, don't you think?

Here the kids are posing in front of the Welcome to Florida sign. Trust me, it's there. We love this rest area/welcome center because it means that we are about two hours away from the House of Mouse, and they give you orange and grapefruit juice, for free even! The kids love it because they pick up all kinds of tourist fliers that will litter my car to this day.

Here Andy is getting a massage, from a chair. Doesn't that look comfortable?

One funny/creepy story from this rest area/welcome center. Now normally I don't partake in the finer study of bathroom stalls - I mean it just isn't something I enjoy doing. Everyone thinks I'm weird, but I'm sure others agree with me. Plus, they aren't always the cleanest of locations.

Anyway, last year I had no choice, and just HAD to use the facilities. So, I did my thing and I'm trying to get some paper, darn thing would give me two, maybe three sheets at a time, single-ply. Anyway, it took a while and had a noisy roll. Apparently, the noise attracted a crowd, well one guy. One guy standing right outside my stall. I mean right outside, as in I open the door and Hello!

"Uh, hi."

"So, did you use enough?"

"What?"

"Did you use enough paper?"

"Yes, thank you."

I almost didn't wash my hands. I mean, who does that?

As luck would have it, I had to do the two again, same place, same stall even. No creepy state of Florida employee. Yes, he was an employee of the state. Apparently concerned that a tourist used too much paper, which I didn't by the way, just so the record is straight on that.

The kids, minus our plus one, in front of one of the many Christmas trees at Disney World. This one was in Downtown Disney, near The Earl of Sandwich. Don't they look happy? Or maybe tired? I mean we did just spend some twenty plus hours in a car.

Here they are with Mr. Potato Head. I think they are still getting used to the sunshine, we hadn't seen it in a while, so they were kind of freaked out by it.

Here's Stitch spitting on us, no really, the kids love getting spit on by Stitch. At least I think that was why all the kids were congregating there. Either that or they didn't want to go shopping in the ginormous World of Disney store. Downtown Disney equals lots of shopping opportunities, and is a great place to start our little trip.

More later...

Working My Way Back To Reality

Bummer.

Vacation is over - well except for the drive home (currently we are between Atlanta and Chattanooga, in case you are keeping track).

Nine days of magic over in a flash.

Although some time seemed to last forever - when someone had a blow up (me, or the kids), those are never fun. You know the fatigue-driven moments of high anxiety and whatever. All I have to say is I wish those dang cups were a little more sturdy.

Other times it seemed to go by too fast - Mickey's Very Merry, and in this case Very Crowded, Christmas Party. Who knew that EVERYONE would want to go on a Tuesday night. For the record, our night was the only one that was sold out while we were there.

Then we received the sobering news about a friend of ours son getting killed in a car accident. He was seventeen. No one should have to ever bury their kids, and I can only pray for him and his family.

My daily blog bursts from Disney never happened, mostly because of crappy Internet access, and partly because of, well, fatigue. :) They'll be coming soon though, maybe even all on the same day.

Yeah right.

Okay, signal is weakening, so I must depart. Bye-bye, for now.

Plumb Tuckered Out

Or something like that. :)

Because I Don't Want To Forget

Me, Andy Benjy and Dominic all went to the ESPN Zone for a very late dinner tonight.

Okay, I went because I am an adult and one child wanted to see the Bears-Saints game. The other two just tagged along for fun, or something like that.

Anyway, I stood in line for over an hour and a half to get in to see two football teams, that I care nothing for, playing in a state that I really don't want to claim anymore thanks to some moronic governor.

You read that right, an hour and a half. And no, I did not vote for the moron, sorry.

To eat dinner.

At 10:30PM. At least that is what time it was when we finally got our food, maybe it was 10:15 but it really didn't matter because, well Benjy was able to shake the hand, not once but twice, of his favorite college football player - Graham Harrell (quarterback for the Texas Tech Red Raiders). The child rattles off stats for Harrell all the time and talks about how he got screwed in the Heisman voting (I agree completely with him there). So he is sitting just over there (three tables away) with his parents when I tell him. I think that he was still in a texting zone with Rene because he kind of mumbled something. After about the third time we mention it, he finally realizes what we are all talking about.

Andy goes and shakes Harrell's hand and tells him that he got screwed with the Heisman, and Benjy just sits there. To Benjy's credit though, he didn't want to bother Graham Harrell, so kudos to the kid for having some manners, right? Benjy did, eventually, finally go talk to him for a little bit - dragging me along for the ride.

To answer your question... No, I didn't have my camera. Figured I wouldn't need it at a restaurant, guessed I learned that lesson. :)

After meeting his favorite player (college), Benjy then, texts Rene. Hey the boy still has his priorities - cute blond girl versus a college football player. He is fourteen, remember.

Anyway, the Saints take the lead in the football game, and then let Chicago tie it up. I'm ready to go, since Jenni wants to be at the Magic Kingdom, when they open at 9AM, but my Bears fan, Andy, wants to stay.

UGH!

Turns out to have been a good thing though, because Benjy gets to meet Mike Leech, head coach of Texas Tech AND Jim McMahon, AND Fred Bilentikoff (he's a Raider so I don't care if his name is spelled wrong. :) ), and a few other famous, to some, football players and coaches. I guess staying for the rest of the game worked out after all.

Oh, and the Bears won; 24-21.

Best of plans...

So, I had this grand vision of posting a daily blog of our trip to Walt Disney World...

Guess what? It didn't happen. I am currently sitting in the resort watching the rain come pouring from the sky, listening to some Disney movie (Cheeteah Girls 2), watching the two youngest run around between the two rooms, Jenni sleep, Andy is frantically searching for his Cubs hat, Benjy and Dominic are playing football - at the beach, I did mention that it was pouring rain, right?

Whew. How's that for an update.

I would show you some photos, but... the USB cable that I brought along for the ride, is the WRONG USB cable. Yikes!

I am capable of uploading from the camera phone, but...

as you can see, the quality is, eh.

But it's still "magical."

More later, the rain is stopping and we have places to go. :)

Cruising on I-65

A new first for Roger and you all are witnessing it, first hand.

Pretty exciting, isn't it?

I am live blogging my trip to Disney World!!

Okay, that would be insanely boring, plus knowing how my head works, it would probably be pretty incriminating as well. :)

I will tell you though, at this moment we are two miles from the Kentucky/Tennessee border. Oh, and I'm not driving. :) Just thought I would make that clear.

Highlights so far:

Andy drove for 42 miles and then quit under the pressure of two crazy parental units. Sorry, but I was getting seasick in my car.

Interesting - my air card just crapped out. How is this going to work?

Oh and we're in Tennessee now.

Things overheard in the car,

"Why can't I lick your face, Dominick?"

Apparently the boys were playing a game that involved face-licking, on the Nintendo DS. Don't ask, as I have NO idea!

"I got a go Mom" and "I got a go Dad" So far Danny is doing EXCELLENT!! No accidents, and aside from the time when he refused to go number two again and again, all is good. Did I mention no accidents?

Wow! It is freaking dark out here - really dark, and I still don't have any service. I better save this work of art or, there will be nothing, because I can't repeat myself, don't ya know.

I have reconnected, but we'll see if it... Yes! We're back and cooking with gas!

So far the weather has been great as have the kids, and Jenni even just gave me a hard time about "rambling on my blog" she probably wants me to rest for my shift, or something.

Oh well, that's the update and now I must lay my computer to sleep, or at least plug it in.

See you from Disney, or the road again - who knows.

Holy Backup, Batman!

Why?

Why did I give this post a title like that? I mean, I'm not even a fan. Yet there it is, in my title no less. Now I have to have something about vigilante-ism, or whatever. Although I do look slimmer in black.

Oh well, as you can see and may have seen in the past - especially any long time readers, my mind like to do this to me and then I have to follow up with some fabulous words and knowledge and well I really don't know.

All I do know id that this post will have nothing to do with any sort of toilet backups. I promise.

Some of you may be aware that I am heading out on a trip, so now is your chance to stop by and pickup some snow from my driveway. Bet you thought I was going somewhere else with that, didn't you? I am serious though, especially since it is supposed to snow about every other day that we are gone. (no I do not have some crazy looking smirk on my face right now - I'm outwardly giggling)

Okay, it's like 18 degrees outside, I think it is time to head south.

Now.


P.S. - The backup refers to my Google Reader and all of your wonderful posts that will be unread, by me, until I am no longer mobile - unless I get a signal while Jenni is driving, of course. :)

Tootles.

How Do I Do It?

No really, I want the answer and I want it now?

How do I continue to come to this place day after day, spending countless hours doing a job that has become increasingly more boring with every passing minute, hour, day, week and month.

Ugh.

I don't know what to do. I don't know what I want to do. It is quite a quandry, and I don't like it. There really isn't much of a challenge here. I mean to be honest some of my kindergarteners behave better than the people I work with and they're five or six years old. So you would think that I would have a good example of this, but I don't. Why? Because I am just so tired of it and numb to it all that I cannot formulate anything to say about it.

It's all "she said," "she said," "he said," "I didn't do it," "it was them," "it wasn't me...."

You know what, just shut up and do your job, please.

Then I have someone that I need to apparently babysit. EL likes to be liked, and likes to try and impress everyone with their acumen when it comes to the job. The problem is EL doesn't like to take the time to do the job correctly, like checking serial numbers, and all that other stuff. So EL gets to stay on 100% checks for, life it appears, because EL doesn't want to invest in taking the time to do the job correctly.

Then there is the lying, and sticking with the lie even when EL knows that EL has been caught in the lie. Kind of like the five year old that tries to pull one over on Mom and Dad, never realizing that Mom and Dad were five once as well. Oh well, I really don't want to go any further with EL, who is some need of growing up and to quit trying to be someone that EL isn't.

Did I mention that the Broncos won last night? -- Whoo Hoo!!!!

I posted this picture on the family site, liked it so much over there, I'm posting it here as well. Thanks again to Allears.net for the pics. They are cool.

With that I will say, good night, until next time... who knows maybe that will be later tonight if ATT fix my darn internet problem - oh I am sure that they will claim that there isn't anything wrong on their end, but we all know better now, don't we. :-)

In Other News...

I/we really love to visit this place, any guesses as to where I speak? You got it. The World Showcase at Walt Disney's EPCOT.

Probably one of my favorite places to visit, especially with the kids.

This is my little Angel, or my "Cuddle Bug" Kaitlynn. She is a HUGE fan of, can you tell, Tinker Bell. Also commonly called "Tink"

Why everyone likes to shorten names nowadays is beyond me. Now granted calling Tinker Bell Tink, isn't as jarring to me as calling Christmas 'X-mas' - that is a travesty in my humble opinion. After all Christ is the reason for the season, as they say. So, why would you cut that part out? Of course, celebrating anything that has a 'Christian' connotation has suddenly - okay not so suddenly, more like steadily, become taboo. Now if you are a Catholic like myself, it actually gets worse. Just read the news someday and you will see what I mean.





I shall move on now.... To these 'Goofy's'... they are my number one and number three daughters; Jessie and Maggie. Jessie is on the right and the oldest of my girls, and Maggie is my 'baby girl.' They are quite fun to spend a day, or nine, at Disney World. Plus they know that Daddy loves Goofy, so maybe they were sucking up for some Ice Cream! Oh, I kid! Sheesh. Anyway, taking pictures of the kids in hats is far less expensive than buying hats that won't be worn at home, don't you think?



I think that is enough for now - I must return to the grindstone known as work. Gotta love it, right? At least that is what they tell me. :-)

Bye-bye.