Anything Boys Can Do!

Dark and early this morning...4:40a.m....I drove my husband and son to the airport.  They are heading out to Montana for a father/son canoe trip.  They will be meeting up with 16 other friends; all dads and sons.  The organizer of this event has three boys and this is his third time to do this trip.  His youngest is four years old and this is really because of him.  This is HIS first big adventure.  Everyone else is just lucky enough to be allowed to tag along!  

When the initial invitation to go on this trip came to my husband our daughter was very put out. She is an adventurous soul.  She'd LOVE an opportunity to show all the boys that girls can do anything boys can do.  In her attempt to make her point she had my husband help her set up our tent the other night.  She invited three friends over to camp out in the backyard.   

The girls arrived at about 4 p.m.  Two of the three teens were in my old Brownie Girl Scout troop with my daughter.  I took them camping on several occasions, so I know they can handle a little over night in a tent in our backyard.  

The girls went out to the tent at 10:15 p.m.  Our backyard is a bit like a park.  There are deep woods right off the back.  If you read my blog then you are familiar with the variety of wildlife we have strolling by on a regular basis.  My daughter's goal was to try to get as far away from the house as possible.  To make a long story short, a neighbors dog jingled by with his tags piquing nervous ears.  Then, the same dog must have found our resident skunk.  At 11 p.m. my cell phone rang and I was asked to turn on the backyard lights.  The chickens wanted to come inside!  My daughter assured me she wasn't scared.  I do believe her.  She's a tough cookie and has a great sense of adventure about her.  

The tent pictured above was the next morning.  You can't really tell, but it was pouring rain.  The girls were inside our house sleeping in the basement.  Good thing for them because later in the day my daughter and I found a huge puddle inside the tent.  Not sure what's up with that. 

Last night my daughter tried another camp out with a different friend.  When I got up to take my boys to the airport I didn't find the girls in the house!  Arriving home this morning before 7 I did find that the girls had company out back!  

The picture is horrible.  My boys have my camera for the next week and I couldn't find my daughter's camera.  I had to use my cell phone and take this picture through my living room window.  Still, I can't wait to show my daughter this morning when she wakes up!  

Hunting!

Pampered Pets!  

Lily and Jack; aka Lily-Olay or Lilsbury and Capt. Jack

Lily and Jack are 7 years old, 

but Jack has about 6 months over Lily.  

Both were animal shelter adoptees.  Lily (black and white) was a kitten and 

Jack (orange and white) came into our lives when he was 2 1/2.  

Jack was originally named "Spicy,"  no offense, but YUCK!  

He likes the name Jack much more than Spicy.  

Jack was named after my favorite movie character: Capt. Jack Sparrow.  

Incidentally, Did you know...Johnny Depp's children 

happened to be named Lily and Jack!  

What a funny coincidence.  

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Our babies are indoor cats, usually.  When I am out in my flower beds working, they will sit in the windows and meow like crazy.  I am a big softy and most of the time will let them out with me.  Jack is a big scaredy cat - afraid of his own shadow, and he usually hangs really close to me.  Lily on the other hand would take on any animal.  Even one 10 times her own size.  She knows no fear and needs to be watched because she is curious and will wander.    She's also diabetic!  

Being felines, they do have natural instincts.  

They are always on the prowl for something to catch.  Lily has been watched chasing butterflies, but can easily catch voles.  Impressive skills for an indoor, de-clawed cat! Jack still has his claws.  That's another story though. 

I do not know Jack's history.  I think he may have originally been an outdoor cat.  He quickly adapted to the indoor pampering he gets.  But last week he brought me a treat while I was out gardening!  He is a gentle giant.  He proudly came to show me the chipmunk he caught.  What a mouthful!  I did dote on him with a serious amount of praise.  After a good five minutes he decided to set his treasure down and reposition it in his mouth.  Unfortunately it was just playing dead and quickly took the loose opportunity to leap to safety.  Poor Jacky, lost his toy!  

I don't mean to sound heartless.  I do think all animals, 

who live around the Burrow, are cute and serve a purpose.  

But, since my cats are cats, they are just doing what comes naturally.  

A few nights ago, I went down into my basement and found Jack and Lily playing tag team with this little cutie-pie mouse.  It too was trying it's hardest to "play dead" and get away when it could.  Having two hunters on it's tail, its odds did not look good.  

After I scooped it up in this glass, I took it out to the flower bed farthest from my house.  I think I heard it breathing a sigh of relief!  :)

I am glad my hunters are looking out for me inside my house.  

Evenings at the Magic Kingdom

Definitely one should plan on seeing the nighttime parade in the Magic Kingdom.  My suggestion is to pick your spot early.  This March was the first year we did NOT plan to see the parade.  In the past, we would be ready for a break from all the walking of the day at about 1 1/2 to 2 hours before the parade would start.  Surveying the parade route I knew we wanted to be near Cinderella's Castle.  After the parade there are fireworks which are very Disney-ish; I love fireworks too!  (Disney-ish defined by me = perfect, over the top, little details attended to, the icing on the cake, etc.).  

When we wait for the parade, usually we camp out for a bit on the edge of the sidewalk.  One parent goes to get dinner for the rest of us, brings it back and then we eat in our spot.  Vendor's do come by, but only with snack foods and colorful trinkets.  

This year we were able to take advantage of the Extra Magic Hours offered by Disney.  Extra Magic Hours are a few hours either before the park officially opens or closes that allow guests staying on site extra access.  On this particular day we used our Park Hopper Passes and started the day at Animal Kingdom, went to Epcot for our dinner reservations and then met up with some friends at the Magic Kingdom at about 9 pm.  Thank goodness for caffeine and teenagers who can run on little sleep when necessary.  Magic Kingdom normally closed this time of the year at 11 pm.  The Extra Magic Hours kept the park open until 2 am!  That morning we returned to our resort at about 3:15 am!  :)  

When we arrived at the Magic Kingdom the parade had just started.  I tried to capture a bit of the color and sounds with my camera.  The first two pictures are good examples of just how dark the parade route can get.  Each float can change from white lights only to bursting with loads of color!  

Look closely above.  Can you see Cinderella's pumpkin carriage outlined in white lights?  The blurry picture below was the best example I could snap of the color transformation.  

Each Disney film is highlighted by a float or two during the parade.  Below is a video with a tiny bit from The Little Mermaid, Night on Bald Mountain (from Fantasia) and looking down Main Street towards the castle.  Try to imagine being on Splash Mountain as I described in my last posting as you watch this video!  

~Your Disney World Connoisseur, Hootie

Laughing Places...

"Every body's got a laughing place, a laughing place to go-o-o.  Take a frown turn it upside down, and you'll find yours I know-o-o." 

~from, The Song of the South, 

circa 1946

There is so much I LOVE about Disney World!  Each park has too much for me to single out any one thing.  I am going to try to highlight the many things I like about Disney World and all of it's four parks over this summer.  

My most recent trip to Disney World in Florida:  March 2009. 

Number of times in my life that I have been to Disney World:  11, I think.  

Tonight I will highlight the roller coaster ride: Splash Mountain.  You are just about guaranteed to get wet (and likely soaking wet) on this ride.  

Random facts:  Well, I can't recall if Mary Poppins or The Song of the South was the first movie my parents let myself and a girlfriend go to alone in the early 70's, but I recall going to both and totally loving them.  Splash Mountain is based on the animated parts of the controversial film, The Song of the South.  Due to its racial content, this movie has never been re-released here in the United States.  It's such a shame that people can't separate history and unjusts from the past with the current day.*  I loved Uncle Remus and wished he was in my life to tell me stories.  Of course I loved Mary Poppins too.  I wished she would come and visit and take me to her magical carousel horses.  Or to her uncle's house so we could have tea up in the rafters.  A child's mind...I loved everyone and believed in magic.  

Best time to ride Splash Mountain:  at night!  Especially during SpectroMagic's Electric Parade.  While on this ride, just before you climb the last hill to the top of the five story drop, you float outdoors, all ready three stories high, and look out over the park.  You can see Cinderella's castle glowing, the twinkle lights in the trees matching the stars over head and hear the music being piped through the park.  You won't see all the water your "log" has kicked up coming your way in that final plunge and no one in the park will really be able to see just how wet your bottom is as you walk around the rest of the night!  

Of course I recommend seeing the parade too, but serious parade viewers will want to grab their spot at least two hours BEFORE the parade.  This making it difficult to see the parade and do Splash Mountain at the same time.  

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*Please do not comment about current day unjusts.  I am not claiming we live in a perfect world.  Yes, we as a society have come a long way, but we do still have a long way to go.  

The Humming in my Yard

Male Ruby-Throated Hummingbirds
My grandma, who really knew a ton about birds, used to tell me when I was growing up that hummingbird feeders needed to be put out around Mother's Day.  It's a good general rule to follow...if you live in Northern Indiana.  

In Southern Indiana I can have my feeders out longer!  If the spring weather breaks by mid-April I can put out my feeders by the last week in April.  By Halloween I can take my feeders down for the season.  
I love the hum these little birds make as they buzz up to my feeders.  In the past several years I have become more aware of the behaviors of hummers.  The male, when courting a female, will make fly in arcs, like the smiles of a smiley face.  Each arc getting bigger and bigger.  

I have not found any hummingbird nests at my house, yet.  But I have seen excellent sites on the web from others.  Our local newspaper had a wonderful link last week:  Hummingbird Nest, where one can see, in great detail, a nest and babies from these tiny fliers.  

Once a week I take down my feeders, clean them in bleach water and refill them with my homemade syrup.  
Hummingbird Syrup Recipe  - 4 parts water to 1 part sugar.  

Stir to mix and bring to a boil.  Boil for 1 minute, then allow to cool.  

Fill clean feeders and store extra syrup in the refrigerator.  Change syrup in feeders once a week or as soon as feeder becomes cloudy.  

Vicarious Living!

One of my favorite places in the world:  Disney World.  

My brother has his family down at Disney World this week.  I am living vicariously through him right now.  He's been sending me an e-mail photo from his cell phone each day.  I love postcards, but I am totally digging the instant gratification of his e-mails.  

I love modern technology!  :)

I'm Thinkin' Pink, Too!

I am so glad for another Tuesday to be here!  I have been playing along with Steph who has been encouraging others to think about colors in their lives for the past several weeks.  Check out her blog for more details:  Steph's Cup of Tea.  This week's color is Petal Pink!  

I checked out Angela's posting this morning, and was inspired by her title.  It made me recall a song my daughter owns.  It came with a Barbie she received one year.  The song is on a cassette - my daughter is only 14 and she all ready owns ancient artifacts! - so I had to go to iTunes and purchase it for my video.  

Some notes to share about my video:  

*I married a guy who doesn't really like fru-fru stuff in the house.  Like blankets, sheets, towels, dishes, wall paper...you get the point.  Not a lot of personal stuff to share.

*I do have a son too, but he's almost 17, hates having his picture taken and I value my life!  He is trained in Tae Kwon Do.  :)  

* The tea cup is from a pattern I inherited a few years ago.  I have a service for 8, but still need to replace two broken cups, I am registered on Replacements.com.  Although my honey doesn't particularly like flowery plates, he gave in to my needing this set.  He must be mellowing after 22 years together!  

*The cake was made by Sweetcakes for a baby shower we had for a friend.  It was chocolate and raspberry and tasted as good as it looked!  

*The T-bird is from a car show from my adventures in Augusta, GA a few weeks ago.  

*Lots of Disney World photos, dances and parties included, and flowers from nearby.  

Let me know if you have any questions.  

Enjoy!  :)

photos mostly by me

music by: Beyond Pink and called, "Think Pink"