Books and succulents Oct-Dec 2017

Books and succulents Oct-Dec 2017

-by Mariko and Jillian Tamaki
This One Summer:  Graphic novel about real life events.  From the POV of the young teen most of the time.  I like graphic novels that most people would think should be plain novels.

Moriarty:  I will always read another retelling of anything Sherlock.  Not amazing but fast and fun enough to be worth it.

-by Ann Liecke
Provenance:  Not as awesome as the previous serious, but set in the same world, which I like.   We know some things about the world but see the info from a different perspective.

-by Charlie Jane Anders
All the Birds in the Sky:  Science + Magic?  Science vs. Magic?  Can recommend for sci-fi and fantasy folks.

-by Jonas Karlsson
The Invoice:  Cannot at all remember who recommended this to me but glad I read it.  A reminder to enjoy life and be in the moment.

-by Patrick O'Brien
Master and Commander:  I listened to this on audio book and found it was a great way to not worry about the nautical details of rigging and sails.

-by Lemony Snicket
All The Wrong Questions, Who Could That Be At This Hour?, When Did You See Her Last?, and Shouldn't You Be In School?:  His latest set of children living in a world of incompetent and malicious adults.

-by Gary Chapman
5 Love Languages: Super great concept that is easy to understand and implement and can make a difference in any relationship you want to improve.  Some of the perspective, especially the last chapter is troubling because it is written by an old white guy who doesn't understand his privilege, but was easy for me to ignore.

-by Robin Sloan
Sourdough:  Loved this!  But it is set in Silicon Valley, filled with foodies and technology and I have recently been making sourdough bread, so it hits all the right spots for me.  I like stories that are set in almost the real world-recognizable but a bit fantastic too.

-by Gregory Maguire
Egg and Spoon:  I liked this more than many of his others.  Maybe because it is less complicated and I usually feel bogged down by his secondary plots?  Loved this version of Baba Yagae.

My succulents are a random grab bag-many are cuttings from other folks.  Even if I never get around to putting them together in some sort of organized way they are fun to have around.

WDW Girls Trip March 2018, Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom Lodge

WDW Girls Trip March 2018, Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom Lodge

Day 3 and bonus day Magic Kingdom

Meet those same nice people on the bus again-learn that the Seven Dwarfs Mountain Train is the ride to go to during the Magic Hour.  Sure enough, we go straight there and have a 45 min wait-every other time we check it is over 90 min! 

 Glad we did it but it turns out to be just a little too much for our group. 

Proof we were in the Magic Kingdom at 7 am.  We were on the first bus out of our hotel!

We have to ride the Winnie the Pooh ride, which is adorable and later on also has crazy long wait times.  Much nicer play area for the waiting kids-they must have checked out Legoland which has great play areas for the kids while they are in line.

We also got in Dumbo and the Barnstormer roller coaster before it got busy.  On our bonus day trip to the Magic Kingdom we get in three Dumbos and 3 Barn Stormers-woo hoo! 

We cleverly got our fast passes for Aladdin's Magic Carpets, Peter Pan and It's a Small World, which all have long lines.  We are those people who love Small World and sing the entire way through :)

We did a lot of pin trading on this trip.  We are no where near expert level, in fact we learned a lot of tips.  Like cast members can keep pins upside down and you have to answer a trivia question correctly to look at them-otherwise you pick blindly-big fun!!  

I am more of a 'buy the one you like and hoard it'  but I learned it can be fun to just swap a bunch of them in and out through out the day. I did buy the set of some of my favorites and then traded a few.

A couple rides are special because they are different from Disneyland in California.  The tree house is still the Swiss Family Robinson's and the Orange (not pineapple) Whip stand is nearby.  The Carousel of Progress, the People Mover and the Hall of of Presidents still exist and are great for hot days.  Don't miss the Muppets explaining Great Moments in History (just the American Ones, says Sam Eagle-he cracks me up!)


We did our first swap with other guests-the two little girls checked out each others pins and made a successful trade.

Had a great time running around Tom Sawyer Island.
The Jungle Cruise is still one of the best, an added bonus is the Jungle Canteen across the way.  I didn't even know it existed, but I got a reservation on our bonus day and am so glad we went!  The dishes are different from all the other restaurants and the servers have the same light, pun-y atmosphere as the Jungle Boat captains.  Had a fantastic trip on the Jungle Cruise-lot so new material.


Inside the castle we found a free trading pin on the ground!!

The single best thing we did was the Fireworks dessert party.  All you care to eat dessert, in super reasonable tiny portions so you can try everything followed by a special viewing area for the fireworks.  The most special of our park food treats!

They've really improved the experience by adding a 'layer' on top of the castle.  Super cool effect!

Day off!
Walt Disney World is so huge and overwhelming that there should be at least one day in the middle where you don't go to a park.  We spent the day at our hotel but we were still busy.

Lunch with an animal specialist-you literally have a small group lunch with folks who work with the animals.  We learned so much and had a great time.

After lunch we met the tortoises and did a training session-so cute!!

The park has a flock of ostriches and the eggs are collected.  After removing the insides most of the eggs go to an artist who paints them with safari type pictures and they are for sale in the gift shop.  But they have a few left over and they save them up for Easter.  For a donation to the conservation fund you get to paint one!  So amazing-we carefully took turns painting then drying the shiny silver layer to make a Star Wars themed egg.

We spent more time checking out the animals.

Every room has a balcony that looks onto the savanna where the animals are roaming freely.

There was always some animal out and about.  In the room you get a checklist of animals so we tried to learn them all.  The similar looking birds are hard, but not the ostrich.  

It is worth it to spend time in the lobby area.  The installations are interesting and informative.  

There are a number of hosts from Africa to tell you about the animals and culture.  We actually talked to the same young man a couple times during our trip-a nice way to almost get to know someone and I'm convinced that if I make a trip to Africa, it should be to Botswana.

Spent the afternoon at the pool

and on to a big buffet dinner and s'mores at the fire pit.

We were too tired to stay up for movie night and instead used some night vision goggles to view the animals.

Best pin of the trip is on the left.  We spotted it very early on and asked the cast member what it meant.  They weren't sure but said someone told them it was a shower curtain?!?  Well!  Turns out that it is the design on the shower curtains in the Animal Kingdom hotel where we were staying!  We were so pleased with ourselves to trade one into our collection-sweet!

Disneyland 2017 Mickey Sink Pants Sundae and GWBR

Disneyland 2017 Mickey Sink Pants Sundae and GWBR

Mickey Sink Pants Sundae?!?  Yes, Mickey Sink Pants Sundae!

What are you taking a picture of?

A wall of Mickey sink pants of course.  Uh what?  Well, you obviously want your sundae in a mash-up of Mickey's pants and a kitchen sink.

In between the chocolate ears? That is a kitchen sink faucet.

To be fair it is a very tasty sundae!  For my friends it has become a ritual-must eat Sink Pants Sundae!!  

I'm so glad I learned about the sink pants, but the waffle cone with the Mickey detail is good too.

Anyway!  Eating the Sink Pants Sundae was not the ONLY reason we went to Disneyland, but it was an important one.

The other best sweet treat of the trip were the gold sparkle dusted churros-wow, too fun!  It is some sort of limited time offer and we had to hunt it down.

We gave ourselves a fancy treat and had dinner at the Napa Rose chef table.  We were paired up with the pastry chef so I got to talk to her about the amazing gingerbread rendition of the Grand Californian I had just seen in December!

The best ride in California Adventure is Heimlich's Chew-Chew train!!

But is it really?  Well, I admit that it is the slowest ride ever.  But there is a certain style you get no where else-it is hilarious and pun filled.  And it is even better if you can make all your friends ride it ;)

This is more like it!

My favorite line of all time is the Radiator Springs Racers

A whole wall of bottles that let in the light.

The best cacti

I took a succulents class where I learned that cacti can be 'monstous'.  That is they grow in mutated shapes.  It can't be bred so they are especially rare-love that Disney puts them here even though hardly anyone will care.  I would love to work for Disney gardening!

Treats for Trivia:  When you stay at the hotel you can play their trivia in the park game-it should be listed on the daily activities info sheet. You get to do silly things like count the number of chickens in the Pirates of the Caribbean ride.

We got the cutest luggage tags!

Previously I got some fun pins

during the trip where we race-walked the 5K.  Fantastic fun-after dark we ran around California Adventure.

Shortly after this trip a group of bicycle lovers spent Memorial Day Weekend at GWBR (gwub-er)  The Great Western Bicycle Rally.  A weekend of all things bicycle, in a chill and relaxed fashion.

Somehow I took no photos except

a completely random pic of the inside of our rental RV-LOL!  The best thing was we rented from an individual rather than a company so the RV itself was fancier, newer, well stocked and completely functional.  

And yet it was an amazing weekend and one I want to do again.  The set up is at the Paso Robles fairgrounds and you can RV it or camp (including inside the fort-best spot obviously).  We were there to be casual cyclists and did not want to do the 100 mile ride-still on my to do list someday.

Instead we went for the passport ride.  This ~30 mile route took us past local businesses like coffee shops, bakeries, ice creamery, winery/brewery and the bike store.  We stop inside to get a stamp....and possibly purchase/consume whatever they sell.  Fantastic!  Had a lovely day full of biking and goodies and hanging out.