Here are some pix from Halloween a couple of weeks ago.

This past week was the start of another school year for the kiddos. Here are pictures from the first day.

Over the weekend we attended the annual family reunion for my wife’s side of the family. Here are the pictures.

I made some more progress on the shed this week. I managed to get the roof decking on, first the easy side (the one facing the yard), then the hard one (the side next to the fence). On the “hard” side, I had to place the ladder on the outside of the fence and reach over to nail the decking in place. However, once I had it in place (but not nailed down yet), I noticed that things weren’t quite square…

I got my framer’s square and checked the door framing, and sure enough, I was a little crooked. But it seemed that I was off by the same amount in opposite corners, then the other way in the other two corners. This indicated to me that I was square when I framed the door, but that something had shifted. I took some measurements with my level and found out that the front left footing had settled a little, causing the entire building to slightly warp.

I got out my hydraulic car jack (rated to lift 4,000 lbs.) and raised the front left of the building up 2.25 inches. Checking my square again, this time the door was dead-on square. I took some scrap 2×6 and cut two lengths to 2.25 inches, cranked the jack up one more notch and placed them under on the footings and under the floor joist. Click here to see. After releasing pressure on the jack, the building settled right into place and was square as could be. I checked all the joints and everything was still solid. Phew. I went ahead and nailed the left roof decking into place.

The next step was to cut and mount the sheathing under the gables. This took some measuring but went up pretty easily. Next was the facia trim, a little finish-out work where the eaves met and installation of the drip edge.

The fun part was installing the sheathing on the back side of the shed, where the vines are completely out of control and the fence is in the way. After some serious hacking like I was in the amazon rain forest, I was able to get to the back side of the shed and mount the sheathing. Tomorrow I’ll trim the back out and finish off the drip edge, and hopefully move on to the felt and shingles. I’ll finish off the roof with a ridge vent so that the shed won’t be sweltering hot in the summer.

New pictures have been added to the shed page.

About the only downside of trading in the old vehicle for the new one, is that some things in the garage are going to have to go so that it will fit. While there’s plenty that will go to the trash, a few things we need to keep, like the lawn equipment. Where to put it? Here’s the project to build a “barn” to house it all…

Click here to see.

We went to Beaver’s Bend, Oklahoma over Spring Break last week for a few days of cabin living on the river. Took along the new camera. Click on Michael over there to see some snaps.

My Birthday present arrived, a little early.

Wee, I’m going to have fun with this new toy!

We took a second trip to Walt Disney World in December, this time taking along my parents. We had an absolutely wonderful time. I managed to take just over 1,500 pictures (and about 12 hours of video). Click on the castle to see a sample.

There was lots we did this time around that we didn’t do back in February, and lots we did again. The main thing was that the entire resort and parks were dressed for the holidays, which really made things magical.

While we stayed at the Grand Floridian again this time around, we were on the lagoon side with a spectacular view. We also celebrated mom’s birthday while there, with a cake delivered right to her room.

I won’t go into all the detail as I did the last time around (that took way too long to write up), but I will paste in the highlights from the quick journal I kept while on the trip. Interesting point, I wore a pedometer all week and kept track of just how much we walked:

Day 1: (14,738 steps; 6.28 mi)
Woke up at 4:00
Left for airport at 5:10
parked in Remote North (C-40)
took shuttle to gate (C28)
Checked in - mom/dad were 2 minutes late checking in, so their bags went on the next plane
Took off 6:50
Landed at 10:00 local time
ate a light breakfast at airport
went down to bag claim B and checked in with DME
rode bus to Grand Floridian (stops at Wilderness Lodge and Contemporary first)
checked in (rooms not ready)
- we were upgraded to first floor, connecting rooms with lagoon view. In boca chica (8101/8103)
- i upgraded our park tickets to a 9th day
checked bags with bell services
rode monorail to Contemporary
ate lunch at Food & Fun _____
Went shopping at BVG and the other gift shop.
- Matthew / Madison got mickey/minnie santa hats
- all three got autograph books/pens
- Matthew found 9 cars he didn’t have from the movie Cars
- Michael bought a Jedi Mickey
- Cynthia bought Tori a necklace
- Mom bought a car decal
Rode monorail back to hotel
hotel called on the way to say our rooms were ready
checked in with front desk to get our room assignments
went to our rooms and rested
- luggage, bags, and package delivered
- unpacked and took a nap
rode boat to Magic Kingdom
walked down Main Street (very crowded) and had our picture taken twice with castle backdrop
went to tomorrowland
ate dinner at Cosmic Ray’s Starlight Cafe
- listened to Sonny Eclipse while eating
got a fastpass for Space Mountain (never used it)
rode TTA
walked to fantasyland
rode teacups
rode dumbo
- fireworks show started while on the ride
watched the rest of Wishes
walked to front of park (very very crowded)
rode monorail back to hotel
once back
- matthew/cynthia tried to find a swimsuit for matthew, no luck
- mom / dad stopped and got milk from the sundries store
- i carried madison back to room with michael
showers and bedtime

Day 2: (17,208 steps; 7.33 mi)
Breakfast in bedroom
Rode bus to Animal Kingdom
Bought hats at entrance
Got a stroller
Got a fast pass to Expedition Everest
Saw Flights of Wonder
Saw Finding Nemo show
Ate lunch at Tusker House
Got fast pass to Kilamanjaro safari
Rode Expedition Everest while Mama De sat with Madison
Rode Kilamanjaro Safari
Walked to exit
took bus to Fort Wilderness
Saw Hoop-De-Do revue and ate dinner
Rode boat to Contemporary resort
Rode Monorail to GF
Bought Matthew a new swimsuit / flipflops
Went swimming

Day 3: (23,215 steps; 9.89 mi)
Got breakfast to go at Gasparallias- ate in room/on veranda
Took monorail to TTC
switched monorails to Epcot
Went thru bag check, turnstiles
I went off to The Land to get fast passes for Soarin’
Cynthia/everyone else got a stroller, restrooms, waited at spaceship earth
I met back up with crew
Rode Spaceship Earth
Went to Imagination Pavilion
rode Journey into your Imagination
played with the Kodak Camera stuff
Went to Seas pavilion
Rode Seas with Nemo and Friends
saw Turtle Talk w/Crush
Went to the Land
Rode Living with the Land
Rode Soarin’
went to Electric Umbrella, ate chicken strips
went to Mouse Gear, bought lots of candy
Left Epcot, rode monorail back to TTC, switched and rode to GF
went back to rooms
Birthday cake had been delivered to mom’s room
sang Happy Birthday and ate cake
took naps
Rode monorail to Magic Kingdom for MVMCP
got stroller
Went to see Mickey’s twas the night….full
rode Buzz Lightyear
rode Space Mountain
went back to hub and waited on corner for show in front of castle
watched “Spirit of the Season” show in front of castle
saw Parade
went to Cosmic Ray’s to eat (burgers and chicken strips)
CD and kids and I went back to bridge to tomorrow land to watch Wishes fireworks
met mom/dad back in tomorrow land and went to see Mickey’s ’twas the night before christmas show
walked down mainstreet to exit
rode monorail back to GF
bed (11:50p)

Day 4: (20,307 steps; 8.65 mi)
slept in
rode monorail to epcot, got there around noon
got stroller, I went to get fastpasses to TestTrack
Met group back at mousegear - cynthia bought a new fannypack
went to Canada, poked around
went to UK, ate fish&chips
went to France, looked around
saw Impressions de France
went to Morocco, poked around
went to Japan
-saw Tycho drums
-saw Japanese storyteller, told story of new years in Japan
rode boat back to futureworld
rode test track
Michael got a remote-controlled test track car, had it sent to front
rode test track again (matthew & I)
walked back to boats
rode boat to Germany
saw trains
walked to American Adventure
listened to choir
poked around in the shops
got roasted pecans/almonds
went to japan
saw Miyuki (candy lady)
-matthew got dragon
-michael got eagle
-madison got horse
went back to American adventure
-got hot chocolate
-listened to choir
went to Teppanyaki for dinner
watched Illuminations from 2nd story in Japan
walked to front
picked up Michael’s car
tried to take a bus, no bus to GF from Epcot
got on Monorail
got back to hotel, bed at 11:45p

Day 5: (17,004 steps; 7.24 mi)
woke up early
monorail to polynesian
had breakfast at Ohana’s (mickey, pluto, lilo & stitch)
caught bus to MGM
got stroller
saw chip & dale
saw Ariel show
saw Beauty & the beast show
saw Indiana Jones show
saw Lightning McQueen and Mater
saw Sully and Mike from Monsters, Inc.
walked to back of park
saw Lights, Motors, Action stunt show
rode backlot tour
shopped, got pictures taken
ate dinner @ 50’s prime time cafe
rode great movie ride
got seats for fantasmic
Matthew and I went and bought tape, fudge
saw fantasmic
caught bus back to GF
saw water parade
bed

Day 6: (16,088 steps; 6.85 mi)
slept in, got up late
got breakfast from gasparillas
rode monorail to MK
tried to get ECV for mom, sold out
adventureland
-got fast pass for jungle cruise
-went to see pirates, ride closed down
walked around to frontierland
saw country bear jamboree
I went and got fastpasses for Big Thunder
saw hall of presidents
-mom,cynthia,madison went in before we caught up with them
-boys and I had churros while waiting
-saw HOP again
rode small world
got a seat for afternoon parade
Papa, michael, matthew, cynthia and I rode BTM
got hot dogs for parade
watched parade
went around to fantasyland
rode Haunted Mansion
saw Philharmagic
walked back around to liberty square
shopped in christmas store, bought stuff (sent back to hotel)
went to adventureland
rode jungle cruise
found spot for fireworks
saw mickey’s dream show in front of castle
saw wishes (fireworks)
rode monorail to GF
got a table at GF Cafe, had dinner (mom and I waited for table while everyone else went back to room for a little bit)
went back to room
saw water parade
saw MVMCP Holiday Wishes fireworks show from our back porches
bed

Day 7: (8,584 steps (partial - epcot only); 3.65 mi)
Mom, Mama De and Madison went to BBB
Matthew, Michael, Papa and I went to MK
got autographs from Fox and Cat from Pinnochio
Got fast pass for space mountain
got autograph from Buzz Lightyear
rode Astro Orbiters
rode Buzz Lightyear SRS
rode Space Mountain
went to Adventureland
rode Pirates of the Caribbean
took bus to Saratoga Springs
walked to Downtown Disney, met up with girls
went to Christmas store
went to Team Disney
went to Once upon a Toy
Ate lunch at McD’s
went to Lego store
went to World of Disney - bought a lot of stuff
rode bus to GF
dropped stuff off in room, repacked, rode monorail to TTC
rode monorail to Epcot (got stroller)
went to Norway
ate dinner at Akerhaus, princess storybook dinner
-saw Ariel, Belle, Princess Aurora, Cinderella, Jasmine
rode Maelstrom
shopped in Norway gift shop
went to Mexico
shopped around
rode El Rio De Tiempo
found spot outside mexican resturaunt for fireworks
got hot chocolate and churros
watched Illuminations
rode monorail to TTC
rode monorail to GF
washed a load of clothes

Day 8: (17,225 steps; 7.34 mi)
Commando day
got up early, breakfast in room from gasparallas
caught bus to AK
got mom a ECV, got stroller
saw festival of the lion king show
saw tough to be a bug
caught bus to Epcot
no ECVs available
went to Land pavilion
ate at Garden Grill
went to mousegear, shopped
caught bus to MGM-DS
got ECV, stroller
walked around
saw Muppets 3D
rode Star Tours
saw Osbourne Spectacle of Lights
caught bus to GF
went swimming/hot tub
packed, packed, packed
bed

Day 9: (15,508 steps; 6.60 mi)
got up early
finalized packing
called bell services to retrieve bags
checked bags with airline, got boarding passes
stored remaining bags with bell services
rode monorail to MK
got funnelcakes and milk in liberty square
went to adventureland
rode aladdin’s carpets
saw tiki room
went to liberty square, fantasyland
got fast pass for peter pan
saw philharmagic
got mom a coke,water
rode snow white
got fast pass for pooh ride
rode peter pan
rode haunted mansion
rode pooh ride
saw donald duck
went to toontown
rode barnstormer
walked thru minnie’s house
walked thru mickey’s house
rode train back to front
met up with mom
rode monorail back to GF
met up with mama de/papa
ate lunch at Gasparalla’s
took pictures in lobby
went to gift shops
got photopass cd
caught bus to airport
went thru security (snow globe incident)
sat at gate for 2 hours
boarded plane
flew back to dallas
wrangled bags to truck
drove home
arrived 9:30p
unload
bed

You may note that I’m actually posting this on April 2nd, 2007, 120 some-odd days after our trip (what can I say, I’m very slow about getting some of this stuff done). I’m backdating the posting, though, so it appears in the right calendar month in the archives.

Day 9 of our trip was upon us, and it was a bittersweet morning. Relaxing, but a little sad because our trip was coming to a close. We had had such a wonderful time, we didn’t want to go home. Ah, well.

We started the morning off with a takeout breakfast from Gasparilla’s Grill back in the room. After bacon, eggs, sausage, fruit and more, we started the process of packing. We packed. And we packed. I have no idea how we had brought that much stuff in the first place, but somehow it all had to go back on the plane.

After getting our things in order, I phoned down to the front desk to request a late checkout time, which they granted. Our plane wasn’t schedule to depart until 5:30, so we had some time to kill. We would catch the Magical Express bus back to the airport around 2:30, so we decided to go over to Downtown Disney to do a little last minute souvenir shopping.

After calling bell service to come get our bags and store them, we caught a bus to Downtown Disney. One of the primary goals was to visit the Lego store, which we located fairly quickly. They had remodeled it since we had been there last, it was larger and had some new features. One new feature was an area were they had just about every different basic lego piece you could think of individually categorized in little bins. The way things worked is you chose either a small cup for $7.99 or a large cup for $12.99 and filled it up with as many pieces as you could. Pretty cool.

The kids each picked out a Lego set and we made our purchases. Right outside of the store was a McDonald’s, so we took a break and got some fries and drinks. After that we spent a considerable amount of time wandering around in the largest Disney Store there is. Of course, we located a few souvenirs.

It was time to catch the bus back to the hotel, so we did, and made it back just in time to retrieve our bags from bell services and catch our Magical Express bus to the airport. We did have a few minutes to snap a few pictures in the garden area in front of the hotel lobby, and by the horse-drawn carriage and ‘38 cadillac they had parked out front. Our bus arrived and we loaded up and made the trip to the airport.

Once there, we checked in with the airline, went through security and hunted around to find something to eat. Turns out we didn’t need to rush, though… Our plane ended up being delayed just over 3 hours. During the long wait, the kids played with their new lego sets, and made some new friends with some other kids waiting for the same plane.

Finally we were allowed to board, and the flight back was uneventful. Once we had landed (around 10:30 Central time), we retrieved our bags and rode the shuttle to the parking lot, where we located the truck and headed home. We finally arrived, very sleepily, around midnight.

In retrospect, we had a tremendously enjoyable time. The kids loved the trip, and collectively we made some memories we will have for years to come. One of the neat things about WDW is you can go back at regular intervals, and still have a great balance of classic memorable things from the past and plenty of new things to experience. And while it is expensive as far as things go, I can’t think of many places where you get quite the bang for your buck, on the whole.

So all I have now is to edit some video together…