I Survived!

Walt Disney World was a blast. The only bad thing about a vacation like that is that you kind of need a vacation from your vacation when you get back home. Well, the kid was surprised and he had a great time and that was what I wanted. It will not be long before he will not want to go to The Magic Kingdom and he will not want to take a vacation with him mom so I had to seize the opportunity to do it. Here are a few of the highlights...

On the flight to Orlando, we had no seat assignments. I ended up sitting in an emergency exit row with lots of leg room. Yahoo! I got to sit next to a woman who's excess flesh swallowed up the armrest that contained my tray table. I tried to be polite when asking if I could retrieve the tray table to set my $7 mojito down. I don't want to recall how that tray table was extracted from the armrest. Our flight was late getting to Orlando (NO! Really???) and after picking up the rental car, we were so hungry that we made a "run for the boarder" to the first Taco Hell we saw and got some fast grub. The resort was in Celebration, FL and was a suite with a kitchen. Nice.

Day one was spent at Epcot. We did all the major attractions and hit some things we had not done in the past. I was there for the food. The Land pavilion has the best food. For lunch I had a roasted beet salad with goat cheese and candied walnuts. The kid had a seared Ahi tuna noodle salad. Later for dinner we had wonderful green salad and a sampling of grilled Mahi Mahi on a bed of rice pilaf with mango and red bell peppers, beef loin tip on braised kale, and turkey breast on rosemary mashed potatoes. YUM! Dessert was a nectarine and raspberry crisp with vanilla bean whipped cream. I did a little shopping in the Japan pavilion and got me a bunch of cool little things all with koi on them. I have a thing for koi. They are so peaceful to watch gliding through the water. The fireworks were over by 9:30 and it was time to head back to the resort and get some sleep.

Bud on Test Track

My delicious Grilled Beet Salad...

and our fantastic dinner at The Garden Grill.

Crush the Sea Turtle!

One day soon I will not be on the other side of the glass, I will be swimming with one of these.

Day two was spent at the Magic Kingdom. We hit the Fast Pass for Space Mountain and then the kid proceeded to get me nauseated and give me a headache on the spinning teacups in Fantasyland. Yay! We saw the parades and had dinner in the Crystal Palace with Winnie the Pooh, Piglet, Tigger, and Eore. I had some yummy prime rib there. After the sun went down, we saw the fireworks and then hit more rides. The park did not close until 1 am so we had time to rave out at a dance party with Chip and Dale, and Stitch in Tomorrowland, ride Space Mountain again, and hit Thunder Mountain Rail Road five times in a row before the park closed.

Ooo, those teacups made me feel bad.

Party Rockers in the House Tonight....

Day three was at Hollywood Studios and I needed serious coffee. I might have snoozed for a few moments during the Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular and possibly during the Muppets 3D movie. Not as many rides at this park so it was a bit more low key and after the Fantasmic laser light show and fireworks, we headed home to get some sleep.

Day four was at Animal Kingdom. Lunch was at the tasty Yak & Yeti (hehe, get it?) where I had a plate of tamarind chicken and a slice of mango pie and the kid had some lo mien, and a sorbet trio. We hit a few things we had not done before such as the Dinosaur ride and the Bird show. The Dinosaur ride was fun enough that we went on it two more times before we left around 7pm. The best part was doing the silly poses for the pictures and looking rather calm or goofy while everyone else in the picture was screaming their head off. The kid rode the Everest Expedition six times. I passed because I refuse to pay for cardiac arrest.

Tigger, is that you???

Would you like a snake with those fries?

Gigantic Fruit Bat

Sometimes this is how you have to feed them.

After Animal Kingdom, we went back to Magic Kingdom because it was open until midnight and we could get another 5 hours of WDW goodness in before the end of the trip. I stuck to my guns and bought myself one of those huge caramel apples that I always want but decline from getting. I ate the whole thing. It was delicious. It was good for me. It was an apple. It was justified.

Would you like an apple my pretty?

Yes, I would like the Minnie Mouse caramel apple please.

It began to thunder as rain clouds headed in and the outdoor rides were closed down. After seeing the line was too long at the Haunted Mansion, we got to Pirates of the Caribbean and saw that it was shut down. All the "Cast Members" were standing outside informing people of the tragic news. I looked at the kid and said, "You know what this means don't you?" "IT'S A SMALL WORLD!!!" I was met with groans from the kid and laughter and smiles from the "Cast Members" and we took off as it started to rain.

It's a Small World!

The rain seemed to send a lot of people home early and we were able to get into a bunch of rides that we had never done before because the lines were too long. That was fun. We had a late snack (and a cup of coffee) and saw the fireworks and ran to Space Mountain and were the last riders through the ride. Here is our silly photo.

Photobomb!

Thursday was time to pack and check out and we headed to Downtown Disney to do some last minute shopping for the kid and have some lunch before heading home. On the way to the airport the kid said, "This was a really fun trip." Yes, yes it was and we will have a bunch of memories for just the two of us. The plane was delayed four hours but what can you do. We got home late and it was straight to bed.

And it has been back to work, back to swim team, back to laundry, and back to 100 degree days in H-Town. I am ready to get back to training and I will be contacting Coach Woofie to get me some strength training and interval work to get started on. The gluttony and sloth are over and it is time to get busy again.

Shutting it down past midnight.

Stay tuned to find out what is in the works for the future. Trust me, it is exciting!

Later Gators,

Liz

Feeling Magical!

I was super sneaky and I managed to fool the kid big time! After his swim meet in the morning, I distracted him by running some errands and then making him take a shower. While he was in the shower, I took the opportunity to take our pre-packed and hidden carry-on bags out to the car. Not more than ten minutes out of the shower, he fell asleep on the floor and I hopped in the shower and got cleaned up and ready to go.

Waking up the kid, he was not wanting to go with me to "get something to eat" and he wanted to go back to sleep. I had to be persistent to get him to put his shoes on and get out to the car. He was a bit cranky, but I knew that would change. I told him that I forgot some kettlebells at a client's house where I do some training and I had to pick them up. That put us going in the direction of the airport without him thinking anything was strange. Then I missed the exit. Oops! I said I would head to the ramp near the airport to get us back on the tollway. Again, he suspected nothing. When we made the U-turn to get on the ramp, I fooled him again and looped around to head to the long term parking. I told him that I had lied and that I did not need to pick up the kettlebells. He gave me a strange look and asked if we were getting a dog and going to pick it up.

No...

Then I told him that we were going to Disney World....NOW....and our flight would be leaving in 90 minutes. The look on his face was priceless. He quickly looked in the back and asked where luggage was. I had hidden it behind seat behind him and he could not see it. When we parked and got out of the car, I got a big hug.

After a great day at Epcot, we are off to The Magic Kingdom tomorrow. A great birthday surprise for the banana and my last hurrah before starting my training again.

Have a magical day!

Later Gators,

Liz

Covert Ops

For those of you that read to the end of the last post, my Covert Ops Mission is about to commence. There are only three or four people who know about this mission. Of course, immediate family have been informed to the highest degree of accuracy. Co-workers have agreed to employ the cloak and dagger techniques they know so well as to not raise alarm. And then there is one more person who is sworn to secrecy.

This mission has absolutely nothing to do with swimming, biking, or running. Ok, some swimming and some running may take place. My dossiers are ready and my documents are prepared. I may meet with some initial resistance at the beginning of my mission to lure my target into the plan; however, I will not be armed and I do not anticipate extreme force to be used.

Until I receive my signal, it is business as usual. I will just blend in with the locals and try not to stand out, or raise suspicions. This may be my last opportunity to be Mrs. Incredible. Stay tuned to see how the events unfold.

Yes, Elastigirl is now sponsored by UnderArmor.

Later Gators,

Liz

Lazy Liz...That's My New Name!

I started running again this past week. My back hurt when I was standing around or walking, but it was pretty pain-free when I ran. Go figure. It was only short 30 minute runs, here and there and then I did an hour run yesterday. I hit the wall at mile 6. Not bad considering that I took no Shot Bloks with me, it was already 80 degrees at 7 am, and I only ate a half a piece of toast with Nutella on it before the run. I will probably go run here in a few minutes. It is not that I am training again, I am just trying to burn off some of the cookies and Dr. Pepper I have been indulging in over the past two weeks.

I have become "Swim Team Mom" the past few weeks. Not only am I shuttling Bud to two different workouts, but I have been volunteering at the weekend swim meets. I have done parking duty, computer room runner, and concessions. Last week, the neighborhood team took a loss against a team that just had more older girls than we did. They racked up the points pretty fast. This past weekend, we won by a landslide. It is a lot of hot work, but it is better to be moving around than just sitting around in the heat.
Bud had done VERY WELL and so far has qualified for the elite meet the first weekend of July in all of his individual events. The relays are hit and miss. Some of the other kids on his relay teams are not as fast as he is so it has been close for a first or second place finish. As you can see from the photo below, there is no one around him when he swims. No one. He is usually so far ahead it is silly.
We have another meet again this weekend and hopefully it will not be 105 degrees at the meet like it was here in H-Town yesterday. After that, I have a covert operation in the works that is right up there with a SEAL Team 6 operation. I can't say much more or I would have to start killing people to silence them. So your best bet is to stay tuned and see what happens.

Later Gators!

Liz