G's 4th birthday!

I can't believe the peanut was 3 yesterday, and 4 today. My how time flies. We celebrated over pizza tonight at the Brickhouse Tavern. Gregory didn't eat much other than the green icing off his cupcake. But who cares. It was his birthday.

Two out-takes

from our Christmas card photo shoot on one of the many bridges at Newport News Park.

Just say no

Niko and Lena came home from school chanting:

"No, no, we won't do drugs. Because we love our bodies too much."

Welcome to "Just say no" week at Hilton Elementary School.

The school will reinforce the message this week in a variety of ways, including allowing the kids to wear silly socks on Tuesday and their clothes backwards on Thursday.

And while I agree with the message, after listening to the chant for about an hour, I was ready for a new tune. So I asked Niko and Lena a question:

"What are drugs?"

"Umm. Well, umm. I don't know," Lena said.

Uh oh. What good is the message, if the kids have no idea what it's about, what they are supposed to say "no" too?

Is it a pill? A board game? A dance move? A powder? A piece of candy? Something you put in a pipe and smoke?

Now don't get me wrong. I don't think it's solely the school's responsibility to teach the kids about drugs. In fact, I think the responsibility lies squarely with the parents. And I did use this as an opening to talk with Niko and Lena about drugs, a conversation that will be ongoing for the next decade and a half at least. But if the school is going to send out a "just say no" message, it has to be more than a platitude. It has to mean something. Which means they have to back up the chants -- the easy part of the lesson -- with real solid and practical information about what to say no to, and how to do it.

Carpe Diem

Thomas Alan Gosser
January 1999 -- Oct. 6, 2008

I met Tommy when this picture was taken two years ago. He was 7.

No journalist I know actually wants to interview a 7-year-old, let alone interview a 7-year-old about his cancer.

But Tommy was different. This little first-grader comfortably answered questions about what he called his "exciting and traumatic adventure" with Ewing's sarcoma, a rare cancer of the bones and soft tissue. I still remember sitting there in the family's sun room that day praying that one day I wouldn't be back there talking about Tommy in the past tense.

It's a prayer that wasn't answered.

I was back in that sun room about 10 days ago, talking to Tommy's father for a story I would put in the paper after his son died. Young Tommy was asleep in a hospital bed that was the focus of the next room. And his dad, while talking about his son's death and his legacy, often looked away from me to that enormous bed and the tiny boy in it.

I talked to his father again yesterday after Tommy died. His mother was with him when he died at about 4 a.m. Monday.

So very sad. So many missed opportunities. Tommy will never go to college, never fall in love, never get married or have kids.

It reminds me how important it is to seize the day.

Proud mama

I am so proud of the twins. Today was their first swim meet. And while I don't know whether they won or placed or even qualified, they had fun and are already asking about the next meet.

It was a long day. It started out with a 15-year-old teammate falling down on her back on the slick wood floor and having to be taken out on a body board by EMTs. Luckily, while she cracked a vertebrae, I'm told her spinal chord is intact and she will be fine, albeit pretty uncomfortable for a while.

The meet (a tri-meet between three teams with a total of 200 swimmers) started late and was not quite over when we left five hours later. It was a long day, with a lot of down time sitting around between races.

I was able to see all three races for each of them. They both swam freestyle, the freestyle relay and backstroke. Lena actually came in second in her heat in back. And she even was willing to go off the starting block -- a first -- for the relay. I was so proud of her for that. Usually her personality is one that is quick to believe she can't do something before she even tries, most especially if there are people watching. So to see her take her mark and go (with a little nudge tap from me) made me so incredibly proud. And it got me choked up. These happy moments always bring the tears to my throat. What a sap.

The kids played nicely in the gym while they waited between events. Lena colored and did puzzles and played war with a girl from school, while Niko made friends with some of the boys on the team. At the end of the day, he and Noah hugged goodbye and added "see ya Tuesday!"

Finally -- some reflections on Disney World!

I said goodbye to the Magic Kingdom last week, and I must admit, it made me a little sad. When we left exactly two years ago, I had already decided I would save every penny I could scrape together to bring us back to Disney World in 2008. And I made it. But this time I’m not so sure when we’ll be back.

So I guess it’s good that we accomplished so much on this trip – visited all four theme parks and one water park, rode more than 40 attractions (some more than once) and met 27 of the kid's (especially Gregory’s) “character friends.”

At the risk of boring you, here’s the rundown of some of what we did each day (with a few cool nuggets and tips along the way):

First afternoon/evening: Even before our luggage caught up with us, we put on our suits and took the bus and the monorail to the Polynesian Resort to swim and have dinner. There’s no way we could afford to stay there now. But when I came here as a kid it was actually the affordable hotel, and being back there for the first time in decades brought back some strong memories for me. Some things never change. The trash cans still have the same designs. The pool is still fabulous. I almost felt like I could close my eyes and find my way to one of our old rooms (where we ate pb&j for breakfast and lunch to save money).
Insider tip: The pool at each hotel says it’s only for guests at that hotel. But no one checks your Disney pass.
Trivia: There are nine acres of employee passageways under the Magic Kingdom.

If it’s Sunday, it must be the Magic Kingdom!
I made my first trip to Disney World in 1972, back when the only park was the Magic Kingdom and even before Space Mountain and Pirates of the Caribbean. Which is probably why it remains my favorite park at Disney.
Here’s a rundown of what we did on our first day:
In Fantasy Land: It’s a Small World (straight from the 1964 Worlds Fair), Peter Pan’s Flight, Dumbo the Flying Elephant, Pooh’s Playful Spot (where G met Pooh, Tigger and Darby), The Many Adventures of Pooh, Arielle’s Grotto.
In Toontime: Mickey’s Country House, Mickey’s House (where G. met Mickey and Minnie) Toontime Hall of Fame Tent (where everyone met Cinderella, Auroa, and Belle) and Walt Disney World Railroad.
In Tomorrowland: Indy Speedway, Tomorrowland Transit Authority (I remember what it was called the WED People Mover) and Buzzlightyear’s Space Ranger (all N&L).
As we were leaving, we noticed the streets were lined with onlookers. We had happened upon the daily “Dreams Come True” parade. I have to admit, I’m not a big parade person. But again, I make exceptions for Disney. I almost got choked up watching the kids wave at the characters and the floats as they passed by.
Dinner: San Angel Inn Restaurante in Mexico (EPCOT). While we were there, we rode the Gran Fiesta Tour Staring the Three Caballeros (several of us rode it twice).
Insider tip: If you are planning a trip to WDW, the first full week after Labor Day is the week the least people visit. In fact, in the last few years Disney has offered their dining plan (it would have cost us more than $750) for free that week in an attempt to bring more guest in.
Trivia: Disney World is 47 square miles and has 55,000 employees.

Monday: Hollywood Studios
Here Gregory was thrilled – he got to meet so many of his “character friends” – Leo, June, Quincy, Jo Jo, Goliath, Handy Manny. And the twins got to meet the yellow, green, pink and blue Power Rangers. What a thrill! And we lucked into catching the beginning of the High School Musical show just after walking into the park.
Dinner: Probably our favorite from this trip: Boma, the African buffet at Animal Kingdom Lodge. It was kind of a pain to get to – had to take a bus to Animal Kingdom and then a second bus to the Lodge. But it was well worth it, if just for the chocolate mousse!

Insider tip: Make your dinner reservations as early as you can. Even during the off-season, reservations fill up quickly.
Trivia: Animal Kingdom is a member of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums. The park is 500 flat acres that were built up with 4.4 million cubic yards of dirt.

Tuesday: Blizzard Beach
After one day of traveling and two days of touring the parks, the “lazy rivah” (as Gregory took to calling it) was a great way for adults and kids to recharge. At first Gregory hung back. But he quickly remembered he could swim, and from then on it was hard to keep up with him. We spent an hour on the lazy river and rode the sky ride and the Teamboat Springs family raft twice. Then we headed back to the hotel early to rest up for our big evening out.


In 1972 my parents took my brother and I to the Luau at the Polynesian Village resort. Many things at Disney never change. This isn’t one of them. Thirty-five years ago it was an immersion in Hawaiian dance. Today it’s more like Hawaii meets High School Musical. But still, it brought back memories of my dad and a grass skirt.
Insider tip: The best way to get to the Polynesian Hotel Resort is the monorail. Most people don’t know that if you ask, and if there’s room, you can ride in the front with the driver. Riding up front changes the ride from transportation to an experience. But only four people are allowed in the front at a time. So if your group is bigger than that, figure out ahead of time who gets the experience, and who gets the transportation. But if you’re going more than one stop, you can always get out and switch spaces.
Insider tip: pack some soap and shampoo from your hotel room and you can clean up in the shower there before heading home.
Trivia: Waves in Melt-Away Bay run 45 minutes out of every hour.

Wednesday: Epcot
Once known as the EPCOT Center, or the Experimental Prototype City of Tomorrow Center, the park was new when I made my second trip to Disney in the 1970s. It’s kind of preachy and dated, but back in vogue now that we’re all talking about being green again.
We started our day at the park at Spaceship Earth (thankfully they upgraded the script) – which Gregory called the “Ball Ride” since it’s the ride through the big sphere that is the icon of the park. It was Gregory’s favorite – so much so that every time we came back to Epcot we had to ride the ball ride!
Other attractions: Test Track (actually, M, N and L were in line, when a fierce thunder storm popped up and they closed the ride), the Seas with Nemo and Friends, Turtle Talk with Crush, Soarin’, Living with the Land.
Autographs: Mickey, Minnie, Pluto, Chip and Dale, Goofy, Belle.
Dinner: Actually, we had a late lunch at Le Cellier Steakhouse (even though we called months in advance, this was the only reservation I could get). I pretended there wasn’t bacon in the cheddar cheese soup (it was fabulous, and what’s a vegetarian to do?). I had the salmon (again, I felt silly ordering seafood in a steak house, and I have to say I’ve had better) and chocolate mousse for dessert.
Insider tip: The only ride at Epcot closed for rain is Test Track (the kids experienced that in person).
Trivia: Construction of the 260-acre park was the largest private construction project in the U.S.

Thursday: Animal Kingdom.
While Disney is pretty much all about all things fake, there are actually real animals at the Animal Kingdom. Gregory was in heaven with all the monkeys and apes to visit. His favorite: the white-faced gibbon. But he loved the gorillas too.
Attractions (in addition to stopping to enjoy the animals along the way): Kilimanjaro Safari, Pengani Forest Exploration Trail, Maharajah Jungle Trek and Kali River Rapids.
Dinner: Tokyo restaurant in Epcot. I had the sushi platter – a beautifully presented sampler platter of a wide variety of individual packages of rice topped with fish, egg, crab or roe.
Autographs: Turk (from Jungle Book II)
Trivia: An average of 150 pairs of sunglasses are turned into lost and found every day. I wonder if one of those was the pair I overheard a guest tell a cast member that the giant bats in Animal Kingdom stole off his head and dropped in the greenery.

Friday: The vacation comes full circle: Magic Kingdom.
On Monday we did the right half of the park. On our last day we did the left half of the park. Magic Kingdom is so large that even without lines, you need a good two days to see all that there is to see.
Attractions: Pirates of the Caribbean (we almost missed this one – it was closed when we got there, but I checked back an hour or so later and luckily it had just re-opened and we walked right on), Swiss Family Robinson Tree House, Magic Carpets of Aladdin, Enchanted Tiki Room (Under New Management), Jungle Cruise, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Splash Mountain, Country Bear Jamboree, Haunted Mansion.
Dinner: Morocco. This is a fun restaurant – with live music, belly dancers and exotic foods.
Trivia: The hearse in front of the Haunted Mansion was built during the Civil War

Saturday: Final morning at the pool.
Everyone was tired, and we didn’t really have enough time to get to and enjoy a park before having to catch the bus to the airport. So instead the kids went swimming at the pool. Here Lena made friends with Amy from Scotland, Gregory strapped on a float and zoomed all around the pool and Niko played in the squirting fountains.
Lunch: This was the only time we ate at the restaurant at the All Star Music Hotel. And there was an amazingly nice selection of entrées, including pastas, sandwiches and salads.
Insider tip: The family suites at the All Star Music are fabulous. For little more than you would pay for a single room, you get two rooms that can sleep up to seven, two bathrooms and a kitchenette ('fridge, microwave, sink, counters).

Reason No. 1 to come to Disney in mid-September

When I told a teacher friend that I was taking the kids out of school the second week and taking a family trip to Disney World, her response was "You had all summer. Why didn't you go then?"
This sign says it all.
I was talking to another friend before we left. She and her family visited Disney during a school break last year. They waited 2 hours to ride the Dumbo ride in Fantasy Land in the Magic Kingdom. And I'd say Dumbo is one of the lamest rides in the park! The longest we've waited for any attraction was the 15 to 20 minute line at Soarin' -- easily one of the most popular rides in Epcot -- yesterday.