Universal vacation part 1

 

Here we are the first day of our vacation.  Can you tell it was raining cats and dogs and everything else?!

 

We didn’t let that stop us though, the Hubs got us all ponchos and umbrellas and off we went.

 

It was a warm rain but at times came down so hard we had to get in out of it.  The park looked rather ghostly with so many in white ponchos.

 

 

Here we are waiting for the rest of the group to finish looking around in a gift shop.

The next morning it was still pouring so we decided to hit a mall that we like and hoped it would clear off by the afternoon.  We always go to Shelpler’s for boots, jeans and other horse attire and related things.

 

Here is Mr. D and Son.  Don’t tell Mr. D he is in the gal picture!

 

Here is Son and DIL.

Next we went to Ron Jon’s Surf Shop.  I like to get the kids Christmas things there and it’s a fun place.

Hey!  How did they get that picture of me????!!!!! Snicker, snort!!!!

 

I loved the surf board rugs, would be great for a place on the ocean.

Next we were off to Bass Pro Shop.  We hit it right as they had some fun things to see and do.

 

How do you suppose one of these little guys would like Maine?

 

Hey, I’d like to have this set up in my back yard although it would be a bit chilly in January.  :o)

 

After two days we finally got some wonderful sun.  My grand kids love to feed the ever present ducks and herons.  They especially like popcorn and Fruit Loops.

 

We grabbed a buggy ride over to Universal Islands of Adventure.

 

This poor guy had a BIG load with all of us! 

 

We decided on the way over to have lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe.  The food was good but it was much too loud for this grandmother!  :o(

OF COURSE the first ride they wanted to go on was The Hulk.  I was the camera holder as I don’t do big roller coasters……I thought of you Tina!

 

How would you like to do this at 65 mph??????

This isn’t a very good picture but it’s these extremely high towers that you go up in a seat and then it drops you like a rocket back down.  Once again I was the camera holder, do we seem to be getting a theme here?

I did do the Mummy ride, it was wild but you didn’t go way up in the air and turn upside down.  :o)  Then on to Spiderman, teacups, the Hulk again, and Jaws.

 

Jaws was fun and the fake shark was quite realistic looking, for a fake shark that is.  The ride was even supposed to be in Maine!  Yay!

 

Then we went to an animal show and it was adorable!  Now this is more my speed!

 

There were a bunch of dogs that did some cute things and the music was Who Let The Dogs Out and then the pig came out with this on.  He was the star of the show.

Look at the size of that skunk!

When pigs fly.

This was one of the 26 labs that played the part of Marley in the movie Marley and Me.  This young man was chosen out of the audience to help with some of the skits.

 

 

Mr. D went shopping with Grampie and bought mugs for everyone.

We always like to eat at Trex restaurant.  Amazing animatronics.  There were dinosaurs everywhere moving around!

We love Legos and what they do with them at Downtown Disney.  I can’t imagine how long it took to make these displays. These were all new since the last time we were there.

 

Continued next time.  :0)

To think I brought sunscreen.

Here we are in the soggy south! Sorry no pictures yet but I don't have them on my IPad yet. I have been enjoying getting caught up with a lot of you since we've been here at Universal in Orlando. one has to take a break from all the fun and kick back and just veg out a bit. I think we must have walked a dozen miles in the park, IN THE RAIN! Ihave been making plans to build an ark in my spare moments. In the almost 40 years of coming here we have never seen so much rain.

Come to think of it there was a ton of rain when we were in New York last month also when we were in Dallas last year.......I'm beginning to see a bit of a pattern don't you think? Maybe we should go to Texas again, I hear they need rain badly.

Can't wait to show you the pictures of all of us in our plastic ponchos and holding our cheap umbrellas. There were so many people with them on it was rather ghostly looking around the parks.To think I brought sunscreen! HahahaHahaha! We don't care though, we're all together and that's the main thing.

We are at the Portofino Bay Hotel. we stayed here a couple years ago and really liked it plus Miss. T likes to feed the ducks that are swimming around in the lake. We go over to the parks by boat, walking or my transportation of choice which is the little buggies that are powered by someone peddling. The kids love it and it's the fastest way to get there. I admire the men and women that do the peddling, it's not easy and they go rain or shine.

Monday morning was delightful with lots of blue sky showing through. It only got better as the day wore on. The sun was finally shining and we tossed aside our ponchos. We headed to the park and went on a few rides. My crowd likes roller coasters but I set those out. They are crazy high, fast, turn you upside down and inside out. D and I had fun feeding the little sparrows that are always around those places while we waited. We went on some more rides andthenheaded over to the new Harry Potter section. It is just amazing. I have never seen any of the movies or read the books but have seen exerpts on television and this looks just like that.

Son and the grand kids stood in line an hour or more to go on the main ride there but the Hubs and I set that one out as it has a lot of motion and makes me woozie. they were disappointed in it and said it was a rough ride. Today there was a two hour wait to get on it!

We came back to the hotel after lunch and went to the pool. The rest of the crowd came shortly after too as it was quite hot. DIL's parents are here with us so Mimi and I had fun swimming with the grands and coming down the water slides with them.

Tonight we went over to Downtown Disney for dinner at the T-Rex Restaurant. It is an amazing place that is something out of Jurassic Park. The food was good and the atmosphere fun.
We went to the Disney Store as I had built up quite a few Disney Dollars over the year and wanted to get some Christmas shopping done. The place was mobbed but we found a few things to put under the tree come Christmastime.

The kiddos fell asleep on the way back. I'm not surprised as they have gone nonstop since leaving Maine on Friday night. Guess I will publish this even though I don't have access to my pictures but I will put them in when we get home. :0)

Rain, rain, go away!

We picked the apples from our two trees on Friday and I made a yummy apple pie.  It was gone by morning so I guess I will make another one today.  We didn’t get many apples but more then usual, the deer didn’t seem to need them this year, usually they strip the trees as they aren’t very tall yet.  Nothing smells any better then an apple pie baking in the oven.  I know the Yankee Candles smell good but there is nothing like the real thing!

 

We had our Paws On Parade on Saturday morning.  I didn’t even take my camera as it was raining so hard!!!  Despite the rain over 300 people and their dogs showed up!  This is the back of my shirt, it actually says ‘18th’ Annual. 

You can go to  www.bangordailynews.com and see how hard it was raining and some of the cute dogs.  We raised $55,500.00! YaY!  It was a lot of hard work but well worth the result.  We raised $15,000.00 more then last year and with the economy the way it is I think that is pretty good!  It will sure feed and take care of lots of homeless animals, providing them with vet care and training if they need it.

 

Bangor Waterfront goes to wet, soggy dogs at humane society fundraiser

By Judy Harrison, BDN Staff

Posted Oct. 01, 2011, at 1:15 p.m.
Last modified Oct. 02, 2011, at 5:33 p.m.

Gabor Degre | BDN

Lucas Fowler of Dexter stands in the rain with his children Kelsey, 8, and Caleb, 6, as they were awaiting the start of the 18th annual Paws on Parade at the Bangor Waterfront Saturday. Buy Photo

BANGOR, Maine — The Bangor Waterfront went to the dogs Saturday morning for the Bangor Humane Society’s annual fundraiser.

Tall dogs, short dogs, skinny dogs, wide dogs, fluffy dogs, smooth dogs, rain-coated dogs and naked dogs participated in Paws on Parade. After their jaunt around downtown the dogs all had one thing in common — they were wet. Nearly every tail, however, was wagging.

More than 300 pet owners attended the event, according to Suzan Bell, executive director of the Bangor Humane Society. The event raised $55,500, about $15,000 more than last year, she said.

“This is our biggest year in 18 years despite the rain,” she said.

The money raised is essential, but it is only about 7 percent of the shelter’s $800,000 annual budget, Bell said. Over the past two years, the number of pets at the shelter has increased by 20 percent because of the recession.

“We have more animals in need of extended stays due to veterinary needs or behavioral issues,” she said of the challenges facing the Bangor Humane Society. “ We also have more animals who have had little or no training. We must use resources to train them before they can be adopted.”

In addition to staff from the shelter on Mount Hope Avenue, about 40 volunteers helped set up for the event and register participants.

Copied from Bangor Daily News website.

 

The highlight of our weekend was the wedding of our nephew Billy and his new wife Kaylin!!!  Once again the rain interfered and the outside wedding was inside but it didn’t for one minute diminish the joy and fun of the event. 

 

 

 

Three generations, my brother Bill, Dad and Billy.

The first dance.

Mom and Dad in the foreground.

Here’s a better shot of them.  :o)

I hope to have more pictures coming as my sister is going to send me what she took.  It was a lovely wedding with special touches that made it so personal for Billy and Kaylin.   Billy’s Mom made the cake and it was adorable so I hope my sister got a picture of it and more of the decorating.  Best wishes to the happy couple!

Hey, how about those Patriot’s?!  After last weeks debacle it was good to see Tom Brady back on his game.  My favorite guy Vince Wilfork made another good catch and run.  This guy is 350 lbs. but still can pick ‘em up and put ‘em down!  :o)  It was nice to have the big new sunroom to watch the game in with friends. There was plenty of room for everyone, including the cats!

 

Yep, that’s Vince’s autograph.

 

 

 

The boys are going back to the stable on Wednesday.  Waaaaaaaaaaaaaa!  It’s a little earlier then usual as we are going to Florida for a family vacation on Friday.  I HATE it when they go back and miss them terribly.  It’s only 5 or 6 minutes to the stable but it’s not like just looking out in my backyard and seeing them and walking out to the fence with apples and carrots for them any time I want.  Needless to say they will be extra spoiled this week!