October 29, 2006
Tuesday: Stitch and Disney Quest
We had breakfast with Stitch at the Polynesian Resort ('Ohana's Best Friends Breakfast with Lilo & Stitch) on Tuesday morning. Mickey and Pluto were there too but Stitch is one of our favorite characters. Unfortunately I think he may also be Conor's role model at times.
Breakfast included scrambled eggs, biscuits, Mickey waffles, bacon, sausage, and fried potatoes. During the breakfast, the kids were able to join the characters in a parade around the restaurant. Emma was the only one of our group who did this.
This is a view of the waterfall in the lobby of the resort.
The kids spent most of the rest of the day at Disney Quest in Downtown Disney.
I stayed there long enough to build and ride a virtual rollercoaster then I went back to the hotel for a nap. We had already done three full days of park touring plus one waterpark so I was ready for some rest.
Nutrients and Nurturing
A new study has found that babies that are breastfed for longer than six months have significantly better mental health in childhood.
While I think that breastfeeding is the best choice for both the mother and infant, I'm not sure that this study actually proves what the reports on it say it shows. Since I'm unwilling too cheap to pay for access to the original study I can only go by the news reports on it and all of the articles I could find spoke of breastfeeding rather than the feeding of breastmilk. It's unclear to me if this is comparing breastmilk (breastfeeding and expressed milk) to formula or if it's breastfeeding versus any bottle feeding. Is it really the nutrients in the breastmilk or couldn't the study also show that having the mother as the primary caretaker of the child for this time be just as likely a reason for the improved mental health of the child?
October 28, 2006
Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party
We went to Mickey's Halloween Party on Monday night. Conor was a pirate (actually, an undead pirate) and Emma was Pocahontas.
We rode rides with very little wait time, saw the parade and fireworks, trick-or-treated for candy and danced with Stitch.
October 24, 2006
Walt's World
We arrived in Orlando on Friday and have been staying at the Wilderness Lodge. When we got here, Cast Members (Disney employees) greeted us with "Welcome home!". That's just silly. I can tell it's not home, the beds get made every day, my kids are willing to get up before noon on non-school days, and I don't have to cook any meals (or clean up afterwards).
Just as I predicted in the comments here, the weather is cooling off. "Unseasonably cool" with "record low temeratures for the day"...I don't know what it is about me and vacations but these seem to be the phrases I here on every single trip I take.
Gotta go, we're having breakfast with Stitch at the Poly. I'll post more trip reports and photos later.
October 15, 2006
Who Decides the Dress Code, the Employer or Employee?
A muslim woman in England who had been working as a teaching assistant in a school has been suspended for refusing to take off her veil in class.
She did not wear it when she was interviewed (by a man) for the job so I don't see how she can insist that she must wear it around men while she works. The school claims that wearing the veil makes it difficult for students for whom English is a second language to understand her. She says that it hasn't been a problem.
October 08, 2006
Playing With Sand
Draw lines with your mouse to redirect the falling sand. Erase lines (click one "eraser" at the bottom) or burn them ("fire") or try the "???".
October 05, 2006
October 02, 2006
Veni, Vidi, VISA (I Came, I Saw, I Bought the T-shirt)
On Saturday we went to Indianapolis to see the Roger Waters concert. It was an excellent show. The music was as good as I hoped and the political part not as bad...but that could be because that part was going on during the time I took my daughter to find a restroom and buy some t-shirts.
This also meant that we were back in our seats in time for "Sheep" and the intermission. I was looking around at the audience and the people who chose to remain in their seats rather than fight the crowds made it look more like an AARP convention than a rock concert.
In The Flesh
Mother
Set The Controls For the Heart Of The Sun
Shine On You Crazy Diamond
Have A Cigar
Wish You Were Here
Southampton Dock
The Fletcher Memorial Home
Perfect Sense parts 1 and 2
Leaving Beirut
Sheep
Dark Side of the Moon
The Happiest Days Of Our Lives
Another Brick In The Wall (Pt 2)
Vera
Bring the Boys back Home
Comfortably Numb
The pig.