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Originally uploaded by applegreensea

Cosmo-dog.

He'll be 10 years old this year, and you can definitely see his age in the gray on his muzzle. He's still pretty spry, though -- having a pesty younger brother keeps him on his toes (claws)?

Walt Disney World Trip Report - Day 1

For our 5th anniversary, Jon and I decided to splurge a bit and take a few days for ourselves at Walt Disney World.  It only made sense -- we were engaged there, and spent part of our honeymoon there.


So last Tuesday, 10/19, having deposited Ella at Grandma and Pop's, and the dogs at the vet's for boarding, we headed to Raleigh to catch our 1:00pm (direct!) flight to Orlando.  Our flight was somewhat late in leaving -- never a fun way to start off a trip.  But I guess the pilot was able to make up some time in the air, as we arrived only about 20 minutes later that originally planned.


When we arrived, we collected our luggage and made the long trek from Terminal A to B, so that we could catch our ride on Disney's Magical Express.  This was our first time using this service, and as it was free, I really have no complaints about it at all.  (I should mention that normally, when using the DME, you don't even have to worry about collecting your own luggage.  It's done for you and brought right to your room.  However, we waited 'til the 11th hour to sign up for it, as we were hoping to get a cheap rental car, and because we waited, we didn't get the special DME luggage tags in time.)  The bus was there waiting for us, so we were able to get right on (and in typical Disney fashion, the process was super-efficient and organized), and the ride went by quickly -- they showed a cute video with the characters all about the check-in process and whatnot, followed by an old Donald Duck cartoon.

Our home base for the next few days would be the All-Star Sports Resort -- crossing another resort off our list in our quest to eventually stay at all of them.  (So far, we are at 9.)  I had used the online check-in service, another first for this trip, which was wonderfully convenient.  There was no line at the check-in desk, so we had all of our documents and information in no time at all.   We had booked a standard room, but were upgraded to a preferred room, which turned out to be in the building right next to the main building -- a nice treat, and not expected at all.

Since we arrived so late in the afternoon, we opted not to hit a park that day, and instead killed a little time at Downtown Disney before heading over to the Boardwalk.  We had dinner booked that night at the Flying Fish Cafe, and I have to admit, I was leery.  I'd gotten *really* sick after eating here a few years ago, and was definitely nervous about going again.  However, Jon is a big fan of the place, and he finally talked me into it.

I wasn't disappointed.  In fact, it was one of the best meals I've had in a long time.

The "cafe" wouldn't light up for me at the right time.  Hmph.

I started out with the Fresh Mozzarella di Bufala, "Ugli Ripe" Beefsteak and Tiny Florida Grape Tomatoes -- your basic caprese salad, more or less, which is always hard for me to resist when I see it on the menu.   Deeeelicious.  Jon had the  Signature Flying Fish Cafe "Crispy Maine Coast Jonah Crab Cake" - Savory Vegetable Slaw, Roasted Red Pepper Coulis, and Ancho Chile Rémoulade" to start, and said it was quite good as well.  

For entrees, we did something we hardly EVER do --  we ordered the same thing: Oak-grilled Maine Diver Scallops - Pumpkin, Sage, Pecorino Romano and Mascarpone-laced Risotto di Carnarolli, with Proscuitto di Parma Cracklin'.  (When we were planning our meals, this was actually the dish on the menu that convinced me to give them another try.)

Oh my, oh my!  This was so, SO good.  The scallops were cooked perfectly -- they just seemed to melt in your mouth.  The risotto was amazing, and complemented the scallops perfectly.  And the cracklins!  Here's a bit of advice for you, my friends: if you ever have the chance to order a dish with ANY kind of "cracklin" listed as an ingredient -- DO IT.  If you don't, I might just hunt you down and smack you, because really, you've just done yourself a major disservice.  

L-R: Mozzarella Salad, Crab Cake, Scallops, Banana Napoleon

My dessert was the "Signature Flying Fish Café Caramelized Banana Napoleon - phyllo, banana mousse, creme caramel, exotic fruit coulis and bitter chocolate".  Very yummy, although I found it a little difficult to eat -- all the stuff in the phyllo keps squishing out, so it became kind of messy and hard to get a nice bite with everything on it.  I can't remember for the life of me what Jon had for his dessert -- I'll have to consult with him and get back with that one.  

We received personalized "Happy Anniversary" menus, which we got to keep, and a complimentary glass of champagne each -- both very nice touches that made the evening a little more special.



After a relaxing evening, and a delicious meal, we headed back to our resort.  The day of travelling had worn us down, and a good night's sleep was in order before we hit the parks the next day.

SO not what I was expecting.

Lately, there's been another neighbor dog that comes around outside our fence (we have woods on two sides of us) and Cosmo and Lukin will bark at him, but will come right in when I call them. Well, last night, I thought the other dog was out there again, since I heard a ruckus, but I couldn't get the dogs to come in, even when tempting them with a treat. Pretty unusual, and I thought maybe one or both of them had gotten on the other side of the fence somehow. They were behind the shed, so I couldn't see what was going on.

I got a flashlight, put on my flip flops, and traipsed back out across the yard, expecting just to see the neighbor dog -- instead, they had a nasty, hissing, yellow-toothed opossum cornered just on the other side of the fence!! Lukin was UNDER the shed, and Cosmo was about halfway under the fence, trying his damnedest to get in a rabies-filled tussle.  

I finally managed to haul the dogs out of the way a bit, and the opossum ran off. I hope he learned his lesson and stays away from our yard.

*shudder*

Snow day!

Just the kind of snow I like -- snows really hard, looks beautiful, and starts to melt the next day. Yeah.

They were calling for up to a foot here, but we probably wound up with about half that. But it was Ella's first experience with snow, so that was exciting! She loved looking at it come down out the window yesterday, and today, we bundled her up and took her out in it for a little bit. In fact, I bundled her up so much, she had trouble standing up. Oops. "I can't get up!"



Seriously, though, she really liked being out there in the cold...she must get that from her daddy. As soon as we brought her back inside, she turned right around, marched back over to the door, and put her hand on the doorknob! So we took her back out for a bit. Even after that round, she didn't want to come back in. Silly kid.



Ella isn't the only one who loves the snow around here...the dogs go NUTS for it, especially Lukin. Ella got a real kick out of him tearing through the snow chasing his Wubba.



Best of all -- we didn't lose power. It's a Christmas miracle!

Ella and her Muh

Pumpkin patch, pumpkin PJs, and pumpkin carving...

...all in that order.

After trying to get there for about the entire month of October, we finally made it out to the pumpkin patch today!



Ella wasn't entirely sure about all these orange things that seemed to be surrounding her...



...but they turned out to be harmless.



We bought a nice carving pumpkin, and when we got it home, Lukin decided it looked like a nice snack. Yes, he ate the pumpkin. Part of it anyway. Yeaaaah...he's not too bright. This is how he left it:



I was able to carve on the other side, so at least it was salvageable. For the carving party, Ella wore her most appropriate PJs:



And here's the finished pumpkin!



Creepy, no? :)

House of Pain

We're all falling apart.

I had a headache for about 3 days straight. That's finally dissipated.

Jon has been having horrible, immobilizing back pain for about 2 weeks. He went to the doctor yesterday, and he has a torn muscle. I don't have personal experience, but I'd say that's not something you'd want to deal with any place in your body, but particularly not in your back. He's on an anti-inflammatory and muscle relaxer, which seems to be giving him some relief.

A couple of weeks ago, I noticed Cosmo had a sizable growth on one of his front legs, and he had also developed a sporadic limp. We had the lump removed, and the vet's pretty certain that it's just a fatty growth and is unrelated to the limping (although he has pretty serious hip dysplasia and secondary arthritis in his back end), which is good news. He has a couple of stitches in his leg, though, and even though he's bandaged up, he wouldn't leave it alone and was trying to lick and chew at it. So poor Mo is doomed to the satellite dish for the next 9 days or so, until his stitches come out. He just crashes around, with no concept of how big the radius of his noggin now is. I feel bad for him, but it's sort of hard not to giggle.

I guess we're more or less on the mend, though.

And just for the sake of cuteness....

Cosmo in dreamland.

Lukin's new obsession

I ordered one of these Sophie the Giraffe teethers for Ella:



and it just got here today. Unbeknownst to me when I ordered it, Sophie squeaks. And that makes Lukin automatically think that the giraffe belongs to him.

He got ahold of it this morning, and he spent the afternoon staring up at the kitchen counter, where it was drying after I washed it off.

Now, as Ella is laying on the floor playing with the giraffe, among other toys, Lukin is laying right at the edge of the blanket, transfixed.

I guess the rule will be no Sophie if we are not in the room.

Idiots!

Well. Jon got a call on his cell phone a little while ago that the dogs were headed down the exit ramp behind the house and onto Bryan Boulevard!

!!!!!!!!!!

I was in the shower, so I didn't even know anything had happened till he got back just now.

We went out and walked the fence perimeter, and we can't figure out how the hell they got out... and it seems unlikely that they BOTH would have jumped the fence, especially since Lukin is a good bit smaller than Cosmo.

Thank goodness someone was kind enough to stop and catch them and wait for Jon to come and get them...otherwise they'd no doubt be who-knows-where or hit by a car.

Jon, in his rush to get out of the house, didn't put shoes on, and now has blisters on the bottoms of his feet from the hot asphalt. Oww.

The dogs are not on our happy list right now.

The dogs have evidently taken leave of their senses

Yesterday morning, Jon caught them trying to tunnel under the fence and out of the yard...which they've never attempted to do before.

Just now, I went into the nursery to find one of the drawer pulls on the chest we just finished putting together all chewed to hell.

These dogs are NOT puppies. They are 3.5 and 7. They know WAY better than this.

To say I am irritated right now is an understatement. >:(

Tossing cookies.

Lukin is paying the price for his indulging in a whole crapload of peanut butter cookies yesterday morning.

Somehow (I'm thinking one of the cats did it), the box of cookies got knocked to the floor early Sunday morning, and Cosmo and Lukin helped themselves.

They were both fine yesterday, but Jon just emailed me, and Lukin has commenced throwing up. He did call the vet, and they said he'd be fine... just keep him on a bland diet for awhile.

I have no idea who ate the bulk of the cookies, but if I had to guess, it would be Lukin (the pukin'), as he's much more of a food/treat snarfer than Cosmo, who tends to savor things a bit more.

Lesson learned... no cookies on the counter overnight.

Lukin has become obsessed w/the recycle bins.

The bins sit in the kitchen at the end of the counter, and up until today, both the dogs have left them alone. But this afternoon and evening, Lukin has been sniffing in and around them, trying to get in them, and most recently, dumping one of them over.

I checked all around, thinking one of his toys might have gotten wedged back behind somehow, but nothing was there. I let him look inside the bins to show him there was nothing in there, either.

The dog has clearly lost his mind.

It's been a quiet weekend. We had people over last night and played Guitar Hero... good times.

A few photos from today... and yes, we're back in NC. New blog title coming soon.