We're Back!

Whoa! I can't believe it's been 5 weeks since I've posted anything! Sorry for the long delay. Things were very busy right before we left for our Disney trip, and I was working 12+ hour days, and working more after the boys went to bed, and then of course we were on vacation for 8 days! Upon return, I had an appellate brief to finish in just a few days, and then this past weekend we had a small fire in our kitchen. So I've had my hands full! But I didn't mean to neglect my blog for so long.

The trip was wonderful, lots of fun and way too much to do. Disney offers so many opportunities and events, there is something for everyone and always more to do. I will try to post some pictures or memories for each day of our trip as we go along here.

But for today, an introduction. We flew on Wednesday, Sept 10, and it was practically an all-day travel day with the distance and the time change. Josh and I dropped Lucas off at school at 8 am, came home for our bags, and then literally ran to the bus stop to shuttle to the light rail, and then ride to the airport. Two flights later, we landed in Florida after 9 pm, and it was 10:30 before we were checked into our airport hotel. And it was HOT. And humid. From then forward, I was sweating and my hair was frizzy and in a ponytail, until about a day after we returned to the sweet 60s of Oregon.

We rose around 9 am the next day, and shuttled back to the airport to await the rest of the family. The Orlando airport is a kids paradise--there are several Disney stores, a Sea World store, a Space Shuttle store, an MGM store, all not only with lots of enticing merchandise, but with statues of Mickey, Goofy, Snow White, Superman, the space shuttle, etc. We could spend hours there (and did, waiting for our return flights, but that's another story...)

Josh and I met up with my aunt Pat first, and took some pictures with Spiderman and Goofy. Then we headed to the food court to eat while awaiting the rest of the Finches. This is one of my favorite stories. A man sitting a few booths away was bald and congenial looking, and Josh says to aunt Pat, very matter-of-factly: "That guy eats crazy foods." He thought it was Andrew Zimmern from Bizarre Foods on the Food Channel! He started telling Pat about the funny things the man eats: octopus, bugs, etc. I debated sharing the story with the man, but didn't know whether or not he'd take it as a compliment, so I kept it to myself.

After breakfast, everyone else arrived, and it was off to the Disney shuttle, which took us to the Disney World complex and to our hotel. The Disney World complex is HUGE--bigger than two Manhattans, I think they said. I was expecting a much smaller scale, but it is all so spread out. Our hotel was great. It was called the Beach Club, and you can guess the theme. The very large pool had a sand bottom, along with a lazy river and a vortex, and a great pirate ship slide. We were right next door to Epcot.

So, after checking in, we headed over to Epcot for a bite to eat, and then some rides. More on that to come...

In the meantime, here are two photos:
Josh and Monica with Mickey:

And the cruise ship:

Check back soon (probably not too soon though :) )!