Bob’s parents are here this week and while our schedule is hectic, we have had some time to talk, laugh and stroll down memory lane. Tonight over a quick and early dinner they told stories of the times they would ski with their young kids and how those were some of the happiest family times they had. They had some great stories to tell of kids skiing off into tree areas, lift ‘incidents’ and a hysterical one about someone (who shall remain nameless) tried to stop someone else from losing control by sticking a poll between their skis. Think on that one for a minute…

That conversation left me thinking about our family trips and how I have always held them as sacred. We have had some real ups and downs on family trips, from panic attacks on the plane (me! Stupid stewardess burned the pilots dinner and I was SURE the plane was on fire) to memories that will, hopefully, last a life time (Carter taking his first steps right down the middle of Main Street, USA). Family trips have bonded us all with common experiences that we have all learned from.

Will my kids someday sit around the dinner table and laugh about when Dad fell off the ski lift, or commiserate over the day I drug them through NASA instead of taking them to Disneyworld????

I hope so….

*Sony’s Open Season 3 will be released on DVD Jan. 25. I able to review the movie early for this TravelingMom.com-sponsored post. We’ll be talking about sweet family travel memories and giving away prizes during our Jan. 24 TravelingMom Monday Twitter party. If you’d like a chance to win, please click here to get the details on how to enter. And, if you’ve still got little ones, they can get a taste of the Open Season characters Boog and his friends with online games Cannonball and Jamboree.

11 days ago, 14 days of family time sounded glorious. Yeah, I’m over it. We all are. But we did have a really nice holiday. Christmas was quiet after our return from Park City. Here are the trip diaries posted on the Snowmamas site if you would like to read about the trip:

• Park City Day 1
• Park City Day 2
• Park City Day 3
• Park City Day 4
• Park City Day 5

Below is video of Carter trying out the new Kart-ski if you missed it on Facebook. He really liked this new ski and I am thinking he will want to stick with this.

I’m happy to report because of our experience at Gorgoza Park, Park City Mountain Resort has taken steps to make the area wheelchair accessible. YAY!

It was a techie Christmas around here and among the presents under the tree were the XBOX Kinect, a new laptop, cell phones, Nook, and plenty of video games. Lots of money spent and it didn’t amount to a whole lot of ‘stuff’ under the tree. I actually miss the days when we could spend $100 on big plastic toys that made the house look like it was going to explode.

I decided not to send Christmas cards this year and I am not feeling guilty about it.

Disclaimer: I am compensated in a variety of ways to participate in the Park City Mountain Resorts Snowmamas program. Yay me!

Oh wow. Where to start? Two weeks ago I went to Phoenix and helped my mom move here to CO. It was a long, hard week on us all. My family has been in that house close to 70 years and every square inch of it shows it. From the spices from Grandma that were never thrown away~she died in 1976 (GROSS!) to the handprints in the cement of me as a kid and my boys too as things were added on. That house was full of ghosts. Both my great uncle and aunt died in the living room in the same spot years apart. They were peaceful and watchful ghosts and it was hard to send them on their way. But is was time. We spent time visiting all the graves, even driving down to Ajo, AZ where I had my car checked and identity questioned by border patrol because seriously what is a good reason to give a border patrol guard for visiting Ajo?

I passed a digital sign at one point from my moms to my in laws that showed the temperature as 122 degrees. I only pray that was wrong. It felt it.

We attended a retirement party for my mom. Yes, at 81 she finally retired. I hope I have that kind of stamina at her age. I don’t think I will though. I think that comes from a generation that fought so hard for everything. Lets face it, our generation is kinda wimpy. I am OK with that. Shoot, get me a rocking chair now!

Carter had an awesome birthday party thrown by Grandma with his cousins. It was so so wonderful to spend time with our family.

Things are still buzzing with school starting and doctors appointments and the mountains and mountains of boxes from AZ. But we are good. I am exhausted, we all are, but happy and that is all that matters.

Miss everyone!
B

Ah, the mystery, the allure, the exclusivity, the food I sent back. WHAT? OK, yes, I did not like my order of monk fish and they noticed, took it back and brought me mac&cheese. Does it make me sound classier if I say it was “Truffle Mac&Cheese”?

Disney’s Club 33 is a private club inside the original part of Disneyland. There are many stories about the who, what, when, where and why’s behind Walt’s creation of Club 33. It is a legendary place among Disney fans and it is rare to get the opportunity to visit. The general consensus is that Club 33 was opened by Walt as a place to entertain the original 33 investors of Disneyland. However, it says on the menus that is named simply because of its address. Believe what you will. It is the only place within the main (old) park that serves alcohol to this day. It is said the waitlist for membership is about 15 years long. The fee’s are quite steep. Most families that I know who have had the chance to visit work for one of the companies that have a corporate membership.

So, what is a visit to Club 33 really like and what is the hype all about?

You start your day by going to guest services outside of the park. You pick up day passes for your family to the park. These don’t have your name on it and since we had park hopper tickets that came with our package, we walked up to a family that was in line to give them away. If I had known they wouldn’t have our names on them I would have totally had my friend Laura come visit. SORRY LAURA! The attendant at the ticket area saw me trying to give the tickets away and was all “you can’t sell tickets” and I told him I was “not selling, just giving them away”. He said “well, you can’t do that either”. Bob went the other way and found a family. They were so surprised. We felt all warm and gooey inside.

So, you have a reservation for Club33 that is a specific time. DO NOT attempt to get in 5 mins early. Trust me. I know. I was informed of this by the lady inside. There is a little speak easy type box inside the door frame of 33. You push it and tell them your name. Just don’t do it before your appointed time or you will get swallowed up by a big rabbit hole that transports you to Small World and makes you ride it over and over again.

If you don’t fall down the rabbit hole the lady lets you in. You have the choice to go up to this lift that they make a big deal about. It was pretty.  I am not really into stuff like that. But if you are, they say this is an amazing example. If you are in a wheelchair you get to go in a special entrance. You get the privilege of going through the Cafe kitchen across the way. You get to experience all the sights, sounds and smells of the dishwashing area of a cafeteria. Needless to say, I think access for wheelchair users needs to be improved.

Anywho, once your family gets to the second floor you are seated. We went for a late lunch. They ask you to order the entree and you get to go to the buffet for both appetizers and dessert. With the exception of the crab, shrimp and rock lobster tails all the food on the buffet we had already seen at the Paradise Pier concierge room. It is the same stuff.

At first we were all really nervous because you hear so much about how fabulous this place is. I warned the kids not to breathe wrong! Being nervous was unnecessary though. Our waitress was very sweet and very accommodating. She saw that I didn’t eat the monk fish I ordered and offered me something else. I asked for the same mac and cheese the kids had. It was yummy. I don’t know why I didn’t like the meal. There was nothing wrong with it. I just did not like it.

Bob and ordered a bottle of wine. I LOVED the balcony. It was the best part. It was a beautiful day and the views are really pretty from out there through the trees. It was a very relaxing oasis on a crazy Sat. at Disney.

Your bill has to be equal to what the tickets for the day would have cost you. So it is a pretty pricey meal ~ $404 for our family to be exact.

There is a small cabinet that sells souvenirs. Apparently the merchandise in the cabinet changes frequently. It is stuff like golf shirts, pens and rings. We didn’t get anything but now I kind of regret that.

You leave the sanctuary of Disney’s Club 33 and join the masses. The craziness is a little disorienting (or was that the wine?) of becoming one of the ‘regular people’ visiting Disney that day.

I was really glad we finally went. We have talked about going since the kids were little and we knew we had the option. But I am really glad we waited til the boys were older and had more experience eating in ‘fancier’ restaurants. I don’t think the food was any more impressive than your run of the mill upscale restaurant. There are a ton of antiques that were completely lost on the boys. If we could just order a bottle of wine and sit out on the patio I would consider going back but barring that I doubt we would. It is nice to say you have been but not necessarily something you need to do twice.

Here are some insider photos for all of you still curious

Since this is above all an educational blog (no, not really) I thought you might find this debunkers quite enlightening (no, not really, but it is funny)

And now for something true (really) that may be educational (or at least fun).

Did you know that the Denver Museum of Nature & Science has little leprechauns hidden in the paintings? It’s true, I swear. The artist hid them around the exhibits and was even fired for it at one point. Here is one we found. Have you ever seen it? Have the kids look really hard next time. Here is a cheat sheet for you grownups.

*This post was originally written in 3-17-2008. I wanted to re-post it for those of you looking for a fun way to celebrate this year My kiddos still talk about it.

Those tricky leprechauns somehow turned all the water in our faucets green this AM! The toilets flushed green water, too! It was a big mystery for a while but then the boys started to figure bits and pieces of it out. They guessed that the Leprechauns must have put green paint or something in the faucets. After a lot of fun and teasing I brought out the fizzy tablets from Steve Spangler that does this. They had fun mixing the colors…Carter did not know that yellow and blue make green…I just assumed he learned that in Kindergarten (maybe he was absent that day, lol). Connor remembered back to 4th grade where I taught him chromatography and made black with the primary colors. Thank you Leprechauns for the fun color reminder and for leaving us extra fizzy tabs to play with!

Today’s Sunday Comic comes direct from my kids mouths.

We were discussing recent world events the other night. We typically do this at dinner.

Connor rolls his eyes and says: “Geez, mom, the next thing I know you will be adopting kids from Heidi”

then Carter laughs and says “No, she will be buying children from a-freek-a”

*No, they were not trying to be funny. Yes, they watch the news. No, I have no idea why they apparently are geographically-phonetically challenged. No, I do not plan to  have any more children much less by buying them.

Want to join in on Sunday Comic? Join the Sunday Comic fun!

Have a Sunday Comic post? Join the Mr. Linky below and let us all know about it!

The boys last Saturday skiing at Breckenridge. Enjoy!

Today I wanted to share my favorite photo since moving to CO. This is Carter, my son, who is a full time wheelchair user enjoying being a ‘typical kid’ on an alpine slide. I love this because it embodies so much of the freeing experiences he has had since moving to a town that is so inclusive.