Happy New Year!

We headed down to Florida to spend the Christmas holidays with our loved ones. I ran out of the office with my hair on fire on Wednesday and high tailed down to see my in-laws before we took off for Florida bright and early on Christmas Eve. We arrived in time for our dinner reservations and had a delightful dinner at Flying Fish Cafe.

Christmas day we were on a very lazy schedule. Actually, we didn't really have a schedule. We just wandered around to do our thing and then headed to our Christmas meal at Fulton Crab House at Downtown Disney. Matthew enjoyed the crab legs and prime rib as a way to ear mark the holidays. Tony and I were a bit more conservative with our consumption of food.

May and the kids came down to join us and we marked the reunion with a fabulous dinner at California Grill. Good food, good company and most of all, a fabulous view of the fireworks from the veranda.

Sandi, Jeff and Nicholas arrived on Monday and our clan was complete. Four kids, six adults and lots of chattering. Like Noah's Ark, the kids paired up together and were joined at the hip. It's pretty funny to watch their interactions. The weather has been cooperating though in the beginning, it was kind of weird. The weather was pretty cold even for this part of Florida. It felt as if we never left Connecticut.

We're going to spend our last day together and close out the year with dinner at The Wave and then watch the fireworks before we pack up our circus and return to our homes tomorrow.

Wishing all our friends and loved ones, a very Happy New Year. May it be filled with peace, love, joy and happiness.

More snow........ah crap!

Well, we're about to get dumped on with another ton of snow. What the hell? It's not even officially winter yet and they're projecting 8 to 12 inches. Okay, I hear you, "But it's almost Christmas. Don't you want a white Christmas?" No, and do you know why? Because I'll have to shovel the crap. My driveway is 125 feet long and down hill. Do you know how hard it is to shovel that much snow? Okay, going down is easy but coming back is a whole different story. "Get a snow thrower" you say, got one. "Get a bigger one", it's pretty damn big.

Boy I must be getting old. When I was my sons age I loved the stuff. I would play in the snow all day making forts, having snow ball fights and making snow men until my fingers froze, notice that shoveling was not one of the things I did as a kid, that duty was left for my father who, by the way, HATED SNOW. I know I shouldn't complain. Susan helps me shovel and Matthew.... well, he plays video games. I'm hoping that this is the only snow storm we get in the coming months. Hopefully, it's the only snow we get, period! I can dream can't I? In the meantime, I will be out there freezing my butt off while shoveling and salting the driveway.

Now I know why old people move to Florida.










Merry Christmas....

Slavery

Matthew is at the age where I can leave him to do things without having to worry that he'll do something stupid like ... lick the wall socket, plug a fork into an outlet or even burn the house down. Not that he's ever tried to do any of the above, but it's nice to know he's at the age where common sense rules and he won't even try to pull stupid stunts like that since he knows how bad the consequences would be. Those who know me have a pretty good idea what that would be. He's pretty self sufficient and can even prepare little meals for himself. If I can only get him to do his own laundry and iron his own clothes. Then again, it shows that he still needs me.


We have been home for the Thanksgiving holiday and got into the spirit of decorating the house for the upcoming Christmas season. We went down to get the tree and all the decorations. Tony assembled the tree and we let Matthew take over. It was quite nice to be able to sit back and watch Matthew decorate the whole entire tree with the ornaments that we've managed to collect over the years. When you put a 12 year old in charge, the tree will be pretty skewed as to what his favorite ornaments are. The tree is completely covered with Star Wars, Star Trek, Spiderman, Ironman, Batman and lots of Toy Story ornaments. You will find the occasional family ornament up there but for the most part, its a tree that any 12 year old boy would take pride in. What ever happened to the conventional Christmas balls and tinsel?

So, there is something to be said about having children. If I had known the benefits would be this great, I'd have about two more to even out the work load in the house. Tony and I can sit back and start delegating.

Organs for sale

About two months ago, an invitation arrived in the mail from the People to People Ambassador Program. The letter was formal, bore the presidential seal on it and was addressed to Matthew. As the parent, I opened the letter and read through it. My first thought, it was a scam. Hey, I'm from New York. I suspect everything is a scam until I am able to verify the information. Armed with the letter, I logged into the website, read the information. I did further due diligence (did I not tell you that I am in the legal field as well?), called the number furnished in the letter and peppered the representative on the phone with a ton of questions.

I made some other phone calls, found out that the organization is in fact, legit and has been around for about 50 years. It was started by President Dwight D. Eisenhower for children to learn about different cultures. It was his effort to promote world peace if children can learn to understand and appreciate different cultures. Each year, children are nominated by teachers or other means and go through a rigorous process. We received the invitation to go to the open house and meet some of the kids who have participated in the program. I took Tony and Matthew with me and to my surprise, Matthew was very excited about being invited and really wanted to participate.

Wait. Not so fast. There was a whole process that needed to be completed before you even find out if you have been selected to be one of the 40 delegates from the Connecticut area.

I reached out to Mr. Monteith, Matthew's favorite teacher from Shanghai, reached out to a teacher at his current school and roped an adult (who shall remain nameless - and no, it wasn't Tony or me) into writing letters of recommendations for Matthew. Matthew had to write an essay about his favorite activities and then had to appear before the review board for his interview.

We found out that he has been formally accepted into the program. Thus is why my organs are now up for sale. This will be a 20 day journey through Europe for Matthew and 39 other delegates. He will have the chance to visit France, Switzerland, Austria and Italy. That is 20 days without my child in the house. Tony and I will be experiencing the empty nest syndrome early. The cost of this nomination, quite costly. I'm trying to figure out how to squeeze the budget in order to make this trip a reality for my child. As a parent, you will do anything for your child. I mean anything. So if you know anyone who is in need for very healthy organs, give me a call. The next sale will be my vast collection of designer shoes and bags. Look for the signs leading up to my house for the yard sale.

Food Coma

I have worked with Terry at Duracell for seven years. In these years, we have become friends and our families have occasionally, gone out to eat together. The strange thing is Terry and Tanya have never been physically inside my house. Terry has made it to the door a couple of times, but has never physically entered my house, not even to use the rest room. So yesterday, we decided to finally invite him and his wife Tanya over for dinner. Of course, dinner alone would not suffice. Anyone who knows us, knows that it's usually a food orgy that leads to a coma by the end of the evening. We started in the morning by going to a restaurant in White Plains, New York where you can get traditional Hong Kong style dim sum. Terry and Tanya love good dim sum as much as Susan and I do so that was a no - brainer. After a quick stop at the Chinese and Japanese market to pick up the necessities, we then headed back to my house for drinks, cheese and hors d'oeuvres followed by dinner. We decided to make it a full blown party, so invited Al and Dawn as well. Well, as you can imagine, it was a non-stop food fest that started in the morning and ended late in the evening. I really enjoy having good friends over to eat drink and of course, be merry.

Changing

I came across this picture the other day of me and father in Rome in 1982. I was 20 years old. What struck me about this picture was how much I've physically changed over the years. You could almost say this picture is a "before and after" shot of my body. My father was about my age when this picture was taken. I now look more like him on the left and less like me on the right. Boy, life is cruel! I am not saying that I don't want to look my father...... well, okay that's what I'm saying, hey who doesn't want to be bald and fat? . I know I've changed over the years but because it happened so gradual, I didn't realize how much of a change it was until I saw this picture. Okay, so now I've depressed myself but hopefully it will push me into improving my look. Only time will tell.

Brawl at the cash register

Let me lay out the scene for you. Running errands one night and I'm getting ready to check out at the register. There is a woman in front of me. It's pretty obvious to me that she's getting ready to put her items on the belt. There is a space between the cart and the register. She's fishing through her handbag for her membership card and credit card. A man comes from the side and proceeds to put his items right onto the conveyor belt. The woman tells the man,"Excuse me, I was on line." Which means, take your stuff off the conveyor belt and get in line. The man proceeds to say .. "Dui bu qi, wo bu shuo ying wen. Wo bu dong." Well, that moment brings me right back to the days of living in China. Locals cutting in front of me and giving me that toothy grin. Well, hell no. We're not in China now. That's where I come in. Obviously, the man speaks Mandarin. What do you know, I can speak Mandarin too! I proceed to tell him in Mandarin, that he cut the line and he needs to get in back of the line. Well, ALL HELL BROKE LOOSE. The woman who is at the center of all this, doesn't understand what is happening because the man is now yelling at me in full blown Mandarin Chinese. He proceeds to spit out the following " Wo mei yao cha dui. Wei she me ni shuo wo cha dui? Ni bu ming bai." Translation, "I didn't cut the line. Why are you saying that I cut the line? You don't understand."

Hmmmm,uh, hullo....I know what I saw. He clearly cut the line and pulled the I don't speak English card. Hey, I understand. I pull that card out when I'm walking through the mall and don't want to deal with the vendors who are hawking their goods. I proceeded to reiterate in Mandarin, "Yes, you cut the line and you need to follow the rules here in the U.S., you are not in China." As if on cue, a child is having a meltdown two registers over, the man is yelling at me and a store manager comes to ask what has happened. The woman proceeds to tell the manager that the man cut in front and I must have obviously translated and then the man started yelling at me. She doesn't understand what happened since she doesn't speak Chinese but it's pretty obvious that the man is very ANGRY with me.

Long story short, the screaming child was removed from the store (by the parent, not the store manager), the store management removed the mans items from the belt and asked him to pay at a different register, the woman in front thanked me for helping and I was hit with dagger eyes - three registers away from the man. As I was walking by his register, he was pretty much yelling at me. I was waiting for him to jump me in the parking lot.

So, I am glad that I still have my Mandarin skills and can hold my own. If he did want to jump me, I would have hit him with the paper towels and practiced some cool kung fu moves that Matthew has taught me.

Don't know if I would be banned from the market going forward but I know I did the right thing. Who said I can't go anywhere without causing a scene?

Maturity

Sandi and her family came up to spend the weekend with us. The last time we were all together was Christmas 2008. The kids had a great time together and it was really nice to watch them interact with each other. We all remember how they used to fight when they were much younger. It was a welcome to see them have a great time together.

They arrived on Thursday night along with the snow. The weather was dreary on Saturday so we decided to spend the day at the Stamford Nature Center. The kids went on a hay ride, hung out at the pumpkin patch and spent the afternoon at the playground. Jeff's parents - Ruby and Wilson came up from New York to spend the day with the kids and we ended the day with a fabulous meal at Matteos.

Sandi and I can't believe how much they have grown and matured. Nicholas slept in the room across the hall from Matthew and we would wake up to find them both hanging out on the coach watching television.

We ended the visit with dim sum at one of our favorite places before they had to leave to return to Florida. The kids were inhaling the food as it was coming off the carts. Two hours at the place and to sum it up, it was a wonderful weekend filled with great meals and laughs. We'll see each other again in December when we have our family reunion at Disney.

Weekend Getaway

Last week, I took off and left Tony and Matthew to fend for themselves. Ran down to meet my sister Sandi in Puerto Rico. It was a mommy get away weekend. It was really nice. I had a flight first thing on Friday morning and arrived into San Juan at about 1:00 p.m. My sister landed shortly afterwards and we took off to the hotel. We checked in and were ready to go.

Problem was that the areas we wanted to see closed down by 6:00 p.m. Oh well. We decided to hold off on the sight-seeing and wander around the hotel and walk on the beach. Decided to visit the spa before we headed to dinner at Il Mulino. We had a great dinner followed by some jet fuel grappa. We loved the dinner, didn't like the grappa too much. After dinner, we wandered over to the casino where we plunked down some cash and my sister was the winner of a whopping $.30! Whoo Hoo! Who said that we didn't know how to live life on the edge? We're really big spenders. Didn't you know that?

Following morning, after breakfast, we decided to take the bus down to the piers to catch the ferry to Catano Island where the Bacardi distillery is located. We joined the tour and learned all about the history of Bacardi. The origins of the logo and the different types of rums available. We even had some mojitos (really good mojitos) and then took the ferry back to the San Juan side of the island. The skies opened up while we were waiting for the ferry and we were caught in the torrential downpour without umbrellas. Not like us. We normally would have umbrellas but we left it the hotel. A lot of good that did us.

We made it to a trolley that happened to be passing when we got off the ferry and took refuge until the rain stopped. We were able to take in some sights and decided to walk down to the plaza where there were vendors. As if it didn't rain enough, the skies opened up again. We were soaked to the bone but were laughing our butts off! We found a local cafe and had some great Puerto Rican cuisine for lunch while waiting for the rain to let up. The rains finally stopped and it allowed us to do some quick shopping for the kids. We found it odd that the stores closed at 6:00 p.m. the latest. We ran through the streets quickly before the vendors would slide their gates down for the night. Just in time for us to look for dinner. Headed over to another restaurant and sampled some more Puerto Rican cuisine. We did nothing this whole trip but eat. One of our favorite pastimes.

Sunday, final morning in Puerto Rico before we had to head back to our respective families. We had breakfast and just spent the morning lounging. I was reading the newspaper on the veranda and was busy giving blood to the mosquitos of the island. I didn't need to buy any souvenirs since I got all my mosquito bites for free. It was a carefree weekend spent with my kid sister. It was fun, we laughed a lot and we'll see each again soon. This time, families will be involved. We can't leave them behind again.

Celebrations

Tony's birthday is the official end of summer for us. I usually throw a bash for him and we invite the usual suspects to help close out the summer and celebrate another year. It was great that the driveway was finished off and we were able to accommodate all the cars. We had gorgeous weather and to top it all off, we all had a great time. I spent the past few days preparing for this event. Shopping, cooking and cleaning up the place. People arrived, two gas grills were going full speed, as well as a charcoal grill going for the lamb kebobs. Since Tony and Anthony (Matthew's Godfather) share the same birthday, I felt it was appropriate to celebrate his birthday at the same time. So, in the usual style, we had not one, not two, but three cakes. We never know when to stop and we seem to do things in excess. I always believe in having too much than too little. We can't help it.

After all the food, the coffee and the cake, Tony broke out his stash of cigars and shared it with all his friends. The men stayed outside to enjoy their cigars with either Port or Jack Daniels while the women, went inside to clean up. But that didn't stop us from doing our own shots. We did Bek Sei Ju shots. Korean ginseng wine. Who said they can have all the fun?

The kids were busy outside with their little bonfire and dancing around it. It was a shame that I didn't have any marshmallows. They could have been making smores outside. As the day came to a close, the men came in to end the night with a few rounds of Blackjack at the kitchen table. Anthony was the dealer and everybody was gathered around the table. Not too sure if teaching Matthew how to play Blackjack is such a great idea. Then again, he's shot a BB gun, drove an ATV this month. Why not let him have a chance to play Blackjack? I draw the line when he starts to learn to chew and spit out tobacco.

Growing Up

We packed up the family and travelled to my Uncle John's farm yesterday. We always have a great time eating, laughing and, well, doing farm things. There is something visceral about being on a farm, mountains, lakes, clean air, whatever, that makes men want to pitch a tent and live off the land. My father and uncle have always been avid hunters and fishermen and have lived the lifestyle. Me, not so much but I grew up with it so I understand.

There were three generations of Malgioglio men on the farm that day so you know there was going to be some muscle flexing. Matthew is now at that age where a boy transitions into a man. On the farm that means shooting guns and driving some heavy equipment, so, that's what he did.

It wasn't really planned, it just happened. It stared innocently enough with some BB guns. Malgioglio men have always been good at shooting and Matthew is no exception. Since he was doing so well, we decided to break out the heavy artillery, the .22 rifle. Okay, it's not really "heavy artillery" but it is to a 12 year old boy.

After 20 minutes of safety instructions from all of us, it was time. He loaded the rifle, took aim and hit the target. Well that opened up the flood gates. Guns came out from every where. Shot guns, pistol, rifles, it was the wild, wild west all over again. I'm sure the neighbors were thrilled about that but we didn't care, we're men. After we shot up the place, we moved to the vehicles. In particular, my uncle's ATV.


Matt looks forward to riding on it ever since he was a little guy. It was the main reason that he wanted to go to the farm. One year, the ATV was broken and when Matt found out, he decided it was time to go home. No ATV, his day was done. Anyway, we rode the ATV as usual, me driving and Matt holding onto my fat as I jiggle down the rode. This year, I let him drive, with me on the back telling him what to do. I'm not sure why I decided it was time. Maybe it was the smell of gun powder in the air or my man's intuition, (yes, men have intuition too). He did a great job driving us around, we were laughing so hard that we almost puked. This trip was definitely a testosterone fest and Matt loved every minute of it. Maybe next year I will teach him how to chew tobacco. On second thought, maybe not.

Destiny

I believe that people are destined to meet for one reason or another. We have certain factors that are out of our control. Family members, for instance, we do not have any control over who we get. We just have to deal with the good and the bad. Friends on the other hand, we have control over. We may not understand the reason for the friendship, but we each serve a purpose for one another. Sometimes, the friendship is meant to be short lived and sometimes it is meant to be for a lifetime.

I met my friends Suzy, Liza and Evelyn when Matthew was a wee tot attending Chinese school out in Long Island. Yes, Tony and I would schlep our child on a Sunday morning for the 45 minute ride from Connecticut out to Nassau County, Long Island. Technically, this ride would take longer on a normal day, but on a Sunday, the roads are pretty clear. This was a weekly excursion that comprised of our arrival at the school by 8:55 a.m. Since we traveled from the furthest point, we were always the first to arrive at school. This of course, included the mandatory pit stop at Dunkin' Donuts on the way.

Over the years, more kids have been added to the families and low and behold, we have been friends now for almost 10 years. Amazing how this chance meeting has created a wonderful support system for all of us. Since we've been back, Tony will often catch me on the phone with Suzy or Evelyn late at night until the early hours of the morning. No matter where we are, we are always there for one another. We laugh together, eat together and cry together.

One of the nice perks of this relationship is we would manage to see each other every summer. These reunions take place somewhere in the tri-state area. Sometimes, we would have surprise reunions. Matthew and I had an opportunity to visit Liza and her children in Qingdao when we were living in China. We had a wonderful time and memories that will last a life time. She came back to the States to spend the summer with the kids at their home in Long Island. After weeks of coordinating, we were finally able to have a reunion at Suzy's place. Complete with food, drinks, kids running around in circles and Ollie, the new family pet, we had a wonderful time catching up.

Liza's going to leave with the kids to return to Qingdao and Suzy and I will probably have another eating festival planned soon. Then we'll do this again next summer when Liza returns again.

Look Ma....No Holes

After enduring months of waiting, endless delays due to rainy weather conditions and miscommunication, I am very pleased to say that the driveway saga is finally over. The paving company finally showed up and paved, and filled the large eyesore of a hole in the driveway. We were starting to think that though the rock was long gone, the hole was here to stay in place of it. Some coordination had to be done in order to get them to come and seal the driveway. We were displaced for a weekend and came home to find it done. Who said that miracles can't happen?

We have gained lots of extra space in the driveway. We're very pleased with the results and know that the next party we have, people will have an easier time maneuvering around the driveway.

Persuasive Writing

Remember when we were in school and had to write a persuasive essay for English? It was the start of my love with the legal field. It seems that my two nephews, Justin & Johnny are currently campaigning for a family dog. They have taken the time to write a persuasive essay appealing their desire for a family pet. It was pretty funny with the statements included in this letter addressed to my cousin. We had a few good laughs over this. I've decided to recapture the entire essay since it would be hard for you to read. I think Johnny may have a future in doing legal work. A child after my own heart!

Happy reading.

"1) It's not like you're allergic to dogs.
2) You had a crap load of animals growing up. And even though we admit you were ten times more responsible than us, we promise to you that we will take care of this dog. I, your eldest son, promises to take full responsibility of this pet if Justin should fail or becomes too lazy. (Which he won't). Both Justin and I also agree to help around the house, (free of charge) like the way it should be without any fuss or argument.

* Also, Justin, believe it or not, agreed to get a full haircut like me (Johnny), and not grow out his hair anymore unless you permit it. This is NO JOKE, ask him. And you know how bad I'd like him to get a full haircut.

We are also very sympathetic to any and all sins we have committed to hurt you. We will do our best to be better children and maybe even purchase real gifts ourselves for your birthday and Christmas.

And if all of this had not changed your mind or maybe left you confused on whether or not you should allow us to get a dog, ask yourself this question, "What would Jesus have done?"

N.B. The essay is still being pondered upon by Dinah. A decision on whether a dog will be included in the family has yet to be made. I will keep you updated on the status.

Te Aworo Aruba (See you later Aruba)

We had a fabulous reunion with our friends from Shanghai at Marty & Irene's crib in Aruba. We left New York City bright and early Saturday morning and arrived into balmy, sunny Aruba early Saturday afternoon. Marty greeted us at the airport and we headed straight to their home. It was great for me to finally see Irene after a year. We picked up as if we never left off. Andrea, Foster, and Tanner were supposed to arrive in Aruba later in the evening. They experienced mechanical problems on their flight from Michigan and were delayed until Sunday afternoon. Not a problem for Zahra and Matthew since they were in the pool the entire afternoon until we had to pull them out of the water for a sunset dinner out on the veranda.

Marty was kind to take us out on Sunday morning to catch some sights before Andrea's arrival on Sunday afternoon. We went up to the North side of the island to the Alto Vista Chapel. This is the island's oldest church. It dates back to 1750 and it continues to perform masses for the population. Standing at the chapel, you get a spectacular view of the water. We headed over to the California Lighthouse, Fisherman's Hut, and Moomba Beach before Marty had to run out and pick up Andrea.

Matthew and Zahra were joined by Andrea and her children on Sunday afternoon. Tanner (age 5) was busy following Matthew around while Matthew being the oldest of the group was busy keeping an eye on all the kids. Being the oldest does have its advantages. We experienced marvelous weather and we were really bummed that Anne couldn't make it in from England. We'll have to find a venue for the next reunion that would be easy for Anne to travel to. She was there with us in spirit.

We visited the Butterfly Farm, the Donkey Sanctuary for retired donkeys, the Ostrich Farm and even got to tour the Aruba Aloe factory and learned about the product. The trip to the Ostrich Farm was quite interesting. We each had a chance to feed the ostriches. It was kind of freaky to have their heads bobbing around you like snakes as they were trying to get their heads into the bucket of feed.

Of course, because gambling is legal in Aruba, no visit would be complete without a trip to the casino. Andrea, Irene, and I ventured off after we put the kids to bed and we each won money at the Stellaris Casino at the Marriott Hotel. Irene had the golden touch and racked up quite bit of cash, Andrea won some money and I walked away with a whopping $22 net. Since we're not professional gamblers, we walked out of the casino after an hour and made our way home.

The week went by very quickly and we really had a great time catching up with our hosts and Andrea and the kids. We're anxiously looking to book the next reunion sometime next year. This time, it may only be the ladies sans families.

Ajo Aruba for now until the next trip when we shake the town up again!

What the HELL is this thing??????

Okay, I've seem some funky things in my day but this spider/octopus thingie scared the poop out of me. The picture does not do it justice. It is big, REALLY big and it has these weird proboscis like appendages that gave me the willies. I found it in corner of my garage waiting for it's prey. The strange thing was that there was no web so I assumed that it scared it's prey to death. As a side note, when I smashed it with my wife's shoe, (I was not going to use mine), it spattered guts and I assume fly remains everywhere. I almost puked. Click on the picture to get a better view but get ready to get grossed out!

Railroad Tracks

Matthew has now embarked on the passage that marks the beginning of "tween" years. Wednesday marked the day with a visit to the orthodontist. He's got braces on and it'll probably stay on for about 1.5 years. Besides the fact that Tony and I will be making car payments into his mouth, he's been whining about how uncomfortable it is. I don't know how this feels since I didn't have braces growing up but Tony certainly can empathize. Matthew's diet has consisted of anything that can fit through a straw, pastina soup and mashed potatoes. As of today, he's still uncomfortable but I trust in time, the pain will subside.

Community Service

Matthew has to perform 30 hours of community service. I know, you're asking, "What did he do to deserve that"?, driving his bicycle under the influence or maybe a brawl at the local pub. No, my friends, it's all part of going to Catholic school. He needs to complete the community service to prepare for confirmation by the end of eighth grade. I know, it's weird but it's the truth.

Anyway, Matt completed 3 hours of his requirement by volunteering to help with a charity Harley Davidson motorcycle ride for the American Cancer Society today. He spent the morning coloring posters, inflating balloons and registered bikers for the ride. It was a bit surreal to say the least. My kid who is barely a teenager with a bunch of hard core burly bikers.

The bikers that arrived were the ones you typically see portrayed in movies. The ones that are complete with tattoos, head bandanas, chains, denim and leather everywhere. Apparently they are nicer people then you think. Who knows, maybe they are probably doctors and lawyers during the week but come the weekend they're hog riders. While Matt and Sue helped out, I was busy checking out the bikes.  I really miss riding my motorcycle but I was not about to spend $30,000 for a new one, a sports car maybe but not a bike. Anyway, he enjoyed it a lot more then I thought he would. He even met some of his classmates there which really made it more enjoyable. So what's next? He still has 27 hours to go. Maybe I'll have him trim toe nails at the local old folks home. Yeah, now that's community service. 

Domo arigato...Mr. Roboto

Hard to believe, we've been back almost a year now. We've done lots of projects around the house, I've organized the place, cleaned up and hey, even found a job. The one thing that has always been a bother to Tony and I is the rock that takes up valuable parking space in our driveway. Persistence does pay off. I finally found someone who was adept in getting that rock out of the driveway. What the heck, we decided to remove all the rocks on the property. In particular, there is a rock that sits in the driveway straddling the space between my driveway and my neighbors. This past winter proved to be pretty hair raising. If we skidded, we would hit that monster rock going down the driveway and cause mega dollars worth of damage to the car. Nope. That's it... no more. All the rocks have to go.

Today was the day of reckoning. Mr. Roboto, the machine came with two other huge pieces of excavation machinery up the driveway. The rock that defeated the last contractor, was gone in a mere 20 minutes. Shows you all you need to have is the right equipment. Mr. Roboto was a 40,000 pound jackhammering machine that pulverized everything. Nothing could stand in its way. Once that persistent rock was taken out, Rob our new contractor proceeded to work on all the other rocks in the driveway. 7 hours later, 150 tons of rock (now pulverized) were driven off the property. What a beautiful sight to have the rocks gone. We'll have so much more parking once I get the paving company to come and do its job.

Magic Kingdom / Vegas for Kids

Disney is like a football game, there is a lot of waiting for a little bit of action. You wait for the monorail or the crappy bus, wait to get into the parks, wait to go on the rides, wait for your food and for what?, two minutes of entertainment. So why do we like it so much? Because Disney knows how to do it right. Everything is top notch and you could not piss them off even if you punched them in the face, (I swear they are all hypnotized). Personally,  I enjoy it because Matthew loves it so much. There is nothing worse than spending a boat load of money and the kids hating it. Okay, maybe I like it too. Test Track, Rocking Roller Coaster and Mission Space are very high on the puke scale and just a few of my favorites. Susan was not able to attend this trip so it was just the boys this time but she was there in spirit.  Matthew planned out all the park rides and Susan did all the meal planning and reservations. It was more like a military assignment then a vacation but it really made us much more efficient. Anyway, on to the vacation.

Day 1/2 - Check in and Dinner

We arrived in the evening  so after checking in we only had time for dinner at Chef Mickey's, (let's just say that I hate this place and leave it at that).

Day 1 - Animal Kingdom    

The first day was Animal Kingdom. This park is the runt in the Disney litter. Few people go to the  park because it is very far away, which means you have to take the bloody bus, and there is not much to see once you get there. Disney has been trying to change this by opening some new rides, in particular, Expedition Everest.
 

This ride was a blast. The premise is that you are on a train in Tibet and you encounter a giant Yeti that destroys the track and sends you on a wild roller coaster ride down the mountain. You can see the mountain in the background of this picture. This is not a forced perspective here it really is that big!There is also an amazing structure called the "Tree of Life" a huge man made tree covered with carvings of different animals.  

We ate at BOMA at the Animal Kingdom Lodge. This is a buffet style restaurant that is extremely difficult to get a reservation at. Food and atmosphere is very good  but it took us two hours to get back to the hotel. Boy I hate those buses. 

Day 2 - Disney's Hollywood Studios

The second day was Disney's Hollywood Studios, formerly known as MGM Studios. Now we are talking. This is one of my favorite places.  There are a lot of exciting rides and attractions in this park. So much so that I didn't even mind taking the bus. This location houses some of my aforementioned favorites and some new attractions. The one that Matt was itching to go on was "Toy Story Mania". It is a virtual reality arcade style game and its a blast. The thing that I wanted to see was the Lights Motors Action stunt show. An automobile stunt spectacular that was incredible to watch. There was lots of burn outs and flame, tailor made for the gear head in me. We had a great day, it was really hot but we had fun.  We had dinner with Marty, Irene and Zahra at a local restaurant. These are the same friends that lived in the same compound as us in Shanghai and are now living 20 minutes away from Disney World. It was great seeing them again and a bit surreal to be eating together on the other side of the planet.  It truly is a small world.

Day 3 - EPCOT Center

EPCOT is another great park. There are lots of high speed roller coasters, bone rattling drops and enough loop de loops  to make you toss your cookies. (It's not common knowledge but E.P.C.O.T was Walt Disney's vision  of a futuristic community.  In fact, EPCOT stands for Experimental, Prototype, Community, Of Tomorrow. His vision was a utopian community where people lived at Disney, a Mickey condo if you will. This idea was later changed to the world theme park because the Disney brass thought Walt's idea was too cultish for Disney).

  

Matt met up with one of his friends from school, 

Anthony. He is a really good kid and Matt gets along with him very well.  Before meeting up with him, Matt and I did the Rocking Roller Coaster, Test Track, Soaring and the Tower of Terror (I think the names explain the rides for themselves).   These are the must do rides and we had a great time. The other reason I like this park is because you can get to it with the monorail, no bus required, (I guess by now you figured out that I hate the 30 minute wait for the bus in 90 degree weather). The monorail goes right into the Disney hotels located in the park. This definitely enhances the whole Disney experience. 

We had dinner at Le Cellier in the Canadian pavilion. This is a Zagat's rated steak house.  Susan had to book these reservations months ago but it was definitely one of my favorites.

Day 4 - Magic Kingdom

By day four we were pooping out a bit. Matthew's feet were hurting and I wasn't fairing any better. We've been to the Magic Kingdom many times so we focused on hitting our favorite rides such as the Pirates of the Caribbean, Jungle River Cruise, Buzz Light Year, Haunted Mansion and of course, Splash Mountain.

Matt told the Disney people that it was his birthday and they made him a birthday pin. It was not his birthday but he thought it would be fun to have people think so. All day long people were wishing him a Happy Birthday and by the end of the day we almost believed it ourselves.



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We decided to go back to the hotel for a few hours before dinner and hit the pool. Of course, I could not get Matt out of the pool and we had early dinner reservations at the California Grill. This is really the best restaurant in Disney. The food was phenomenal with a view of the Magic Kingdom to match. Word of caution, this place ain't cheap. Dinner for the both of us was $120.00.  After dinner we went back to the hotel and started packing for our return. Our flight was at 7:30 pm the next day so we would have another full day at Hollywood Studios. Around 10:15 pm I get a phone call from an irate women who was in room below me. She wanted me to explain all the noise I was making at this late hour. Matt was asleep and I was packing luggage and I assure you I had no idea what she was talking about. Finally it hit me, I said "Lady the noise you are hearing is the fireworks that Disney closes the Magic Kingdom park with every night". Now you have to understand, the fireworks are so loud that it rattles the windows in the hotel room. How could she think that I was making that much noise? Anyway, she was throughly embarrassed and apparently not too bright either. I had to laugh.

Day 5 - Back to Hollywood Studios

We met with  Anthony  and his mom again and headed back to Hollywood Studios. We hit the same rides as before. The crowning jewel of the trip was Matthew being selected for the Jedi Academy where he got the opportunity have a light saber fight with Darth Vader. Let me give you some background information here. Matt is a Star Wars fanatic to say the least. He has every toy, video game and book related to Star Wars. His email address is Darthvadermatt so you can understand how excited he was to get picked to fight Vader, (watch the video and see for yourself).

We had to leave the park by 3:20 to make it back to the hotel in time to catch the Magical Bus back to the airport. Disney actually checked my luggage and issued my boarding passes for the plane right at the hotel, I told you they know how to do things right. The only problem was that we had to take the @#$*ing bus back to the hotel. Well to make a painful event as short as possible, the bus was late, it was really hot and if we did not make it back in time we would miss the only transportation back to the airport. We made it with 10 minutes to spare, way outside my comfort zone but we made it and that is all that counts. Dinner was airport food and snacks on the plane. By the time we got home it was 11:00 pm so Matt and I were really tired. 

To summarize, we had a great time. We wished that Susan could have come but we understood. Our next stop is Aruba in July and yes, Disney again for Christmas. This time we will meet up with May, Sandi, Jeff and the kids and I am sure it will be a blast.