green girl still has pixie dust in her hair

Yes, yes we do lead a charmed life here at Chez Green Girl.  So, we go to Disney World last Tuesday and stay at the Kidani Village at Animal Kingdom Lodge and everything is all peaches and roses.  My hair cooperates.  The weather is gorgeous.  The view from our room looks like this:

We saw giraffes, wildebeests, ostriches, zebras and some crazy kind of horned cows every single day.

We ride all nature of rides because that's who we are.  We don't really care about princesses, although we trip over one every 20 paces or so.  We're here for the thrills--sharp turns, steep drops, that sort of thing.

Except for me, I skipped the Tower of Terror.  But I totally rode Space Mountain and Big Thunder Mountain Railroad multiple times.

Hands down, Magic Kingdom is the best park of the four.  (We don't count Downtown Disney because it's basically a large shopping mall.  Ick.)  We love Adventureland and Frontier Land the most of all.

Team Testosterone ready for Jungle Cruising and pirate spotting.

 The beauty of this end of the park is all the space for climbing and running around.  (And buffets loaded with delicious meals that this mama didn't have to plan, prepare or pick up afterward.  That ranked pretty high on my list.)
 

That giant treehouse is beyond cool. 

 We spent almost 2 hours on Tom Sawyer's Island.  While the boys explored the caves and old mills and played war games in a fort, I took in the views.  Mr. D speculated that building our very own replica might cost about what another trip to Disney World might cost.

Kid heaven.  Yes, I appreciate the irony of flying all day to a place where my kids can run around on trails in a wooded area.

 Even though we don't give a rip about the characters, Mr. G enjoys hamming it up when we pass one between rides.

Pluto and Goofy, Goofy and Goofy.

 So, we're minding our own business in Animal Kingdom and next thing you know, they throw us in a parade--on this amazing float where we ride past the crowds and wave.  We smiled and waved as we toured the park with Mickey and the gang.  Mr. B claimed his face hurt afterwards.

That's right, smile and wave, boys.

 We took a detour one day to Sea World, which is not so magical.  Still, we saw a walrus, a manatee, amazing shows and a great shark exhibit.  I have opinions on Sea World and how it could rival other theme parks, but that's a post for another day.

Mr. B thinking that a Great White Shark has one awfully large mouth.

 We rode on stuff there, too.  Sadly, two of the main attractions were not the right size for our whole family.  

So we strapped Mr. G in this handy seat while we rode the Manta roller coaster.  KIDDING!  I sat with him and bribed him with a stuffed animal and frozen treats until his brothers and dad got done riding it.

 When you go to Disney World in October you can trick or treat at Magic Kingdom and enjoy a great Halloween party.  Fireworks, another parade, music, and treats?  We're in!  Plus, going on the rides at night is super-cool.  The Haunted Mansion was doubly spooky in the dark.

The Blues Brothers....or Men in Black...depending on your frame of reference, could not WAIT to get to Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween party. 

Because we're those people living a charmed life, it only rained an hour one day.  That wicked hurricane skipped us and I never pulled out the rain ponchos except while watching Shamu splash.  Superstorm Sandy caused a bit of turbulence on our flight home, that was all.  We had sunshine and short sleeves all week.  We hardly fought, we barely stood in line, we learned, laughed and smiled almost constantly.

All good things must come to an eventual end.  It's tough to leave a magical place where the politicians can't bother you.  It's hard to say goodbye to flying in outer space, soaring over California, floating past the Briar patch, and chewing your way through the world.

I'm going to use the remaining pixie dust to zoom through the grocery store and restock the cupboards now.  Reality kind of bites after such a fine vacation, but we came home to some goodness--like TB's football team making it to the playoffs and another shot at trick-or-treating.  Even in a cold place without a cast taking care of your every need and nonstop entertainment I find myself appreciating being back home.

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devious plans

Your comments were SO funny yesterday--honestly, people. And now I'm sorely tempted to get this summer's manny to dress up in a big furry costume and scare the begeezus out of a pack of little boys this Saturday morning. Mr. D has a huge fake fur coat from way back in the day--it would work to great effect on overactive imaginations. Or I could just go out in the woods wearing my bathing suit--I have't grown a full winter coat of hair on my legs yet, but if I don't shave for the rest of the week I would resemble my Sasquatchian ancestry from a distance ... Thanks for the brilliant idea, Shelly!

Today I'm off to the doctor's office to finally get these injuries checked out. It's probably a bad thing when the pain begins radiating to areas outside of the original injury. Plus, I like to make sure I have full prescriptions for my asthma meds before all the holiday traveling. Heck, if I can get my pap smeared and my mammos grammed while I'm there, I should be good to go for another 7,000 miles.

In other news, I'm continuing to whittle away at the stuff bogging me down. On the physical end, I have a goal of culling one pile of stuff per week. We have all these random corners filled with things of no use or value. Old catalogs, books I've read but will never read again, missing parts to defunct toys and games--the kind of clutter that impairs my quest for serenity. Today I dug around the edges of our bedroom and chucked a good-sized pile of junk. I know I go through life unaware of these things, they aren't pressing matters, but I do believe they subconsciously register as "One More Thing To Do." By clearing those piles and putting things where they belong (gone, in drawers, wherever), I get more mental clarity.

I've also deleted a few websites that I used to read daily. Eliminating that sort of mental clutter is good--it gives me more quality time and reduces the amount of negative or useless information I'm packing into my brain.

I went grocery shopping without the boys yesterday and bought a lot of good, healthy food. I'm making an honest attempt at eating more vegetables and fruits, more whole grains, less dairy and meat. Not a radical change, but if I eat better, I tend to feel less sluggish and more positive.

Spill it, reader. What devious plans do you have up your sleeve today?

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a tale of yeti sightings in the back 40

Long-time readers know two facts about life at Chez Green Girl:
1) we live on about 60 acres, mostly uncultivated space for running wild and free in nature
2) we have imaginations that also run wild and free.

Bearing these facts in mind, none of you should be too shocked by the story I'm about to divulge.

Mr. B and Mr. G are in a Saturday morning flag football league that takes place on Happyland Elementary's playground, adjacent to our property. Mr. G's league plays first, and afterwards he and a bunch of his cronies amuse themselves running around the trails and in the woods on our property while their older brothers play in Mr. B's league. Mr. T participates, but his main job is to keep a bunch of 1st grade boys out of my house while I watch Mr. B play. There's really nothing to get hurt on or get in trouble with--it's nature. They shout, run and shoot Nerf guns, general boy fun.The worst thing I've seen come out of their Saturday morning romps is their clothes--muddy and full of brambles and burrs. In my world, that's okay because Saturdays are for getting messed up while playing outside. I don't ask too many questions because I feel pretty strongly about letting kids have freedom to creatively play without a bunch of nosy grown ups bugging them about it.

Cue to a couple weekends ago when a buddy asked Mr. G to go home with him for a play date after flag football. Off he went, I returned home to finish washing dishes for 10 minutes before returning to the field to watch Mr. B play his game. The doorbell rang and I answered it--to discover a posse of boys on my front porch wanting Mr. G.

Aw, guys, I'm sorry--he went over to M's today after the game. You'll have to come over and play next week.

What about your other son?

He's busy playing football right now.

What about your other son--the oldest?

He's got some Boy Scout stuff going on today. Gosh, guys, I'm really sorry.

But we want to hunt for the yeti in your woods.

Ah. The yeti. That's trademark Team Testosterone--making up a storyline to add to their adventures in the woods. And that explains what they're doing every Saturday--and why the ranks of boys back there each week keeps increasing.

Yeah, we need to hunt for him and Mr. G knows where to go. We've seen his tracks.

Really?

Is it true that Mr. B has seen the yeti 10 times?

Ummm...is that what they told you? These kids know my sons are making this up, right?

Is it true that he's been living back there for a hundred years?

That seems to be the story... Part of me wants to perpetuate the myth and verify Team Testosterone's story, but I'm starting to worry that these kids are pretty gullible.

Is it true there was once a bear back in your woods?

Well, our neighbor thought so--he saw some scat.

Is there really a secret hideout where the yeti lives?

Is it true that the yeti is 8 feet tall?

Then one boy lowers his voice and looks at me with solemn eyes. Is it true that you had another son and when he was a baby he wandered into the woods and the yeti ate him?

I can't help laughing. Oh, honey, you know my boys are just making that up. Right? RIGHT?

We'll be back next week. Mr. G will be here, right? Then we can hunt for the yeti again.

And they were.

What really tickled me is when another mother told me how much fun her kids have at our place, hunting for a yeti. I didn't think I needed to tell her the yeti was only a legend ...

But still, I can't help asking her, "Did your sons tell you how the yeti ate my other son?"

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the woods are alive!

Mr. B pointed across a field the other day and told me, "That's my favorite tree in the whole world because I think it looks like a monster."

Now every time I look at a weeping willow, I see this:

That made me think of how when I was young I'd see the sparkling snow under the moonlight and imagine a faerie's ball was taking place beneath the piles of flakes. The sparkles were their tiny chandeliers and glittering gowns.

Spill it, reader. What magic did you see in nature as a child?

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