SNAKES ALIVE ! ! !

The gang dropped by Bognor Marsh last week to welcome in the black flies and search for pollywogs, turtles, snakes and all things marshy. (That's Caleb's friend Reese & Reese's sister Page in the middle)

Water snakes were everywhere.

Here's one sunning in a tree...

A ball of about 6 snakes that were, um, well, being snakes...

I don't think we brought any home but I found this baby milk snake in the sunroom last night after everyone had crashed...

Nicole & Caleb took him to school to show the kindergartens & Caleb's gr. 1 class.

Easter bunny defeats Santa for causing greater sleepless anticipation !

Yes, our Caleb couldn't sleep last night because he was just too excited about the Easter Bunny visiting us today...several times he thought he saw "something white" outside his window, but when I started talking about "Pookah's" (see Harvey, starring Jimmy Stewart) he really started to wonder.

Needless to say Nicole & I had little sleep while our "wabbit hunter" thumped around above us (ALL NIGHT LONG!!!!)...but he was eager to roll early this a.m. while I slept....yes, the IKEA clock beside Caleb's head is correctly telling us that it is almost 4a.m and yes, Caleb has plundered his Easter Basket while we slept...



















Approx 7am Tommy was roused from his slumber (good for him for sleeping so well !!) and halfheartedly tried to keep up with Caleb as he scooped up loads of booty left by our furry friend...



The guy in his PJs and the video cam is not Steven Spielberg.



















Later, as a tribute to the Season 6 Premiere of The Trailer Park Boys showcase-ing later this eve and for the sheer fun of it I deep fried a turkey for Nicole's family....

After the fry we had another egg hunt in the backyard...it was a blast !





Caleb taught us how to hula . . .


Nicole was really happy that Spring has finally sprung...




Some eggs are hidden low...


Some eggs are hidden high...


Some are plain sight....

Thanks Alex !

Thanks Alex for having everyone up to the cottage last night...it was great to hang out and relax with friends.

The picture above is actually 6 individual pics I took this morning from the deck that have been "stitched" together using autostitch

In less time than I took to write this entry, you can download and use autostitch...it's that easy.

Cheers !

Downtown Disney - 2/3/2006 !

It rained on Friday as big weather started moving into Orlando...
...our style factor increased significantly with the purchase of our Disney ponchos which honestly made our morning at Downtown Disney decent.

Aside from Pleasure Island which is Disney's big adult playground, Downtown Disney is really just a big outdoor mall...lots of stuff to spend cabbage on.

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Here's a pic of Caleb with a gian Lego Sea Monster that is actually emerging from the lake below the pier.







Thomas really liked seeing all the cool things that had been built out of Lego and took a turn at building a truck.


Caleb deep in thought...

Disney...Round 2 ! 2/2/2006

Who's happy to be back at Disney ?

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Thomas is having a blast at Disney's Tomorrowland Indy Speedway...and at 10 minutes the lineup for this ride might have been our longest all week...

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Mid-afternoon we booked into Disney's Caribbean Beach Resort for the night as a surprise for the boyz and to check out what Disney considers a moderate resort, since Nicole & I have already stayed at deluxe resorts like Contemporary & Polynesian.

By far my #1 tip based on this experience is this: "If you plan to stay at disney, stay at a Deluxe resort."
If all moderate facilities are the same as Caribbean Beach, then here's what to expect:

• Disappointing rooms that belong in a motel, not a hotel
• Paperthin walls so you can hear way too much of your neighbours
• Hotel guest demographic that seems to require all adults to be gulping as much alcohol as possible poolside
• Shuttle bus service at close of Magic Kingdom to "resort" had a queue that lasted an hour before we got on the bus...

CR did have a nice pool that was perfectly heated and a good central "olde port royale" building with arcade, food court style dining and a well equipped gift shop.

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Seaworld ! 2/1/2006

Who knew that Shamu was still around ?!

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There's so much to do at Seaworld Orlando that we didn't have time to do it all with 3 1/2 year old Thomas in tow. We watched a few shows, toured most of the exhibits and had a perfect day.




Like all of the other parks so far, there were zero lineups...at times it felt like we had the place to ourselves.

Caleb & I proved that yes, the first 14 rows of the Shamu show are definitely part of the "Soak Zone"...YOU WILL GET WET ! And when four Killer Whales cut loose with their tails at the same time there is no where to hide !

I got a double shot of whale water because Caleb abandoned me after the first soaking and fled to higher ground with Nicole & Tom.

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Caleb ! Whatever you do, don't look behind you !

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If It's Tuesday It Must Be Disneyworld ! 1/31/2006

Your intrepid travellers used the Unofficial Guide to the Magic Kingdom and all of it's great suggestions to know that Tuesday is the best day to go to the Magic Kingdom...shorter lines, smaller crowds, etc.

What's really great is that almost every single popular ride (Pirates of the Caribbean, Splash Mountain, Thunder Mountain Railroad) was a 'walk-on' all day long....just awesome !

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Thomas isn't quite 40" yet so there were quite a few rides he couldn't go on yet. But we're already planning our next trip for the second he's tall enough. (We've added a "Florida Line" to the height marks on his bedroom door jamb so we can be ready at a moment's notice).
Everyone had a fantastic time...and the weather all week was between 72 & 82 degrees.

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Thomas' favourite ride was "Goofy's Barnstormer" a short little roller coaster in Mickey's Toon Town Fair...he rode it over and over and over to his heart's content. At left he's on Alladin's Flying Carpet ride.

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After a long day at the Kingdom we took a launch over to the Polynesian resort to wander through it and maybe get a room for the night. We passed on the room but we all got to ride up front in the monorail which means we all received official "Monorail Co-pilot Licenses" !

Mischief managed !

GATORLAND ! 1/30/2006

You can't go to Orlando without stopping by the world famous Gatorland. Home to about 4000 crocs & gators all native to Florida it is a fun way to spend half a day.

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I know what you're thinking...but really, it's okay to let your kids sit on the back of a 6' alligator while you take pictures from the other side of a 4-foot fence ! The boys loved the interactive nature of Gatorland...they fed fish, called gators, watched "gator-jumping" shows, and got to touch & feel a lot of neat stuff.

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Next stop on our self-guided tour of the park was the bird cage where some parrots who had grown too comfortable with humans (and too aggressive) went to town on my shirt. The little beggars were biters and refused to get off so I had to get a staff member to flick them off. It was a little to reminiscent of Hitchcock's The Birds for my liking.
Anyway, after a nice morning at the park we retreated to our house and chilled out for the afternoon...

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Animal Kingdom 1/29/2006 !

Our first day of activity centred around Disney's Animal Kingdom. What a blast...Caleb is all about animals so it was a great place to start. Lineups for rides were pretty much non-existant...I think we waited maybe 5-10 minutes at the most .

The first ride we went on was "Jungle Safari"... a two week foray through Africa where we saw rhino's, elephants, lions, etc. and even chased some ivory poachers into the hand of waiting park rangers.

Caleb still thinks we really were chasing real poachers ! What a guy !

They had to cut the 2 week safari short which was a good thing since we were only in Animal Kingdom one day and had lots of other stuff to see.

Of course there's more to Animal Kingdom than just animals...everybody loved the Primeval Whirl roller coaster that spun you around while rolling up & down the track.

Caleb and Grandpa Seaman (right) look like they're having a great time ! I'm right of the frame snapping pic after pic hoping at least one turns out. Bingo !

Some of the characters were lined up as we left and Caleb was more than happy to get some pics...Thomas on the other hand is notably absent. He wasn't a big fan of the characters.

Welcome to Buffalo !

Day 1 of our Adventure to Orlando began with a not so short drive to Buffalo to hang our hat at the Homewood Suites en route to flying BUF to MCO tomorrow. (Of course we stayed at a Hilton property...points&stays are everything!).

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Anyway...the route to BUF actually added at least 30min of travel time versus the route I normally would have taken...so I'll update on the return trip how it compares. Needless to say that 4 hours in van to BUF instead of 2 to YYZ is still worth it to save well over C$1000 on flights.

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After a quick swim in the pool, the lads settled in for some spongebob squarepants by the fireplace...

...and the muchachos still really, really, really have no idea what they are in store for tomorrow !

Snowy morning...

Winter returned last night ! A nice dusting of white stuff to make the farm look as perfect as a Christmas card...

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Here's another shot about an hour later going out the laneway...

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Alas, at the end of the lane a Cedar had fallen blocking our path forcing the resident stockbroker to do manual labour...



This makes three trees I've had to 'muscle' out of the way this winter and darling wife has informed me that I'm on "chainsaw duty" this weekend to get things straightened up....
Cheers !

Intrawest Blue Mountain & Westin Trillium House

For our 10th Anniversary, Nicole and I decided (okay, Nicole convinced me) to take two days out of our not-as-busy-as-we-think lifestyle and unwind at the Westin Trillium House at Blue Mountain for two nights.
Within 3 hours of our arrival we were so blown away that we are now talking crazy about coming back here every winter !
It's January here which means it's below freezing and snowy...but perfect for enjoying the Westin's two outdoor pools and two outdoor hottubs. With steam rising from them all the pools are heated to 92F and the hottub to 104F.
Absolutely perfect for tired muscles after a day on the slopes or to make Winter infinitely more tolerable.
Before booking at a Westin, make sure you are a memberof starwood preferred guest points program www.preferredguest.com and also check out www.flyertalk.com to get as much points bang for your buck as possible.
We used our autoclub discount and are rooms are in the $205/night range before tax. I tried to get an upgrade because it's our anniversary 'n all but no luck. Anyway, rooms are nice and have all amenities...wireless internet, dvd player, gas fireplace, wee kitchenette with toaster, microvwave, sink and a surprisingly broad range of dishes/cutlery including wine glasses.
Later gators!