Where in the World Isn't Bob Saget?

[MinnieM123]

Hard cheese is fine in the carry on. I checked before I bought it. I also checked the UK as I fly from there. But modern architecture in the business district in Amsterdam is next level. Of course, some buildings need a little love.

Really enjoying all the photos you've been sharing, while on your vacation. Some of that architecture is wild!

 

[donaldtoo]

They take biking serious here. I never learned how. My parents didn't force me to learn after falling.View attachment 857295

When I was a kid, we rode our BMX-type bicycles into the foothills, 3 miles away from our No Cal San Jose neighborhood, many times. On weekends during the school year and on summer days. We’d leave after breakfast and not return ‘til dinner time. We always had enough lawn mowing/chore money in our pockets for a coupla’ spicy bean burritos from Taco Bell, a small burger and fries from McD’s, etc. for lunch.
Good times…!!!

 

[donaldtoo]

I went to Disneyland when I was less than a year old, I guess, but of course I don't remember it. And I went to WDW for the first time when I was 3, I guess....we went to Florida for my great aunt and uncle's anniversary party. I have a very vague memory from our drive there, that we had stopped at "Little America" or "Great America"....something America, and they had a ball pit, and I remember not being big enough to get in it, but my brother was, and I was very upset that he got to go in and I didn't. And I think my Uncle took me to do something else, but I don't remember what. I remember nothing from Disneyworld on that trip, but there are pictures somewhere.

Then we went to Disneyworld when I was around 8 or 9. And I think again maybe when I was 13? Then I started taking my kids when E was 4 and A was 2.

We didn’t take our first family trip to WDW ‘til July of 2001. Sarah was 6, Matthew was 8 and Megan turned 10 while we were there.
For a time, we averaged a WDW trip about every 3 years. But, we did a lot of smaller trips earlier and in between our WDW trips…Six Flags Fiesta Texas, Sea World San Antonio, the San Antonio Zoo, Schlitterbahn, the Texas coast, etc.
We never really sat around the house with our kids, we were always trying to be doing something…!!!

 

[Songbird76]

I’ve done everything in red…!!!

View attachment 857401

Have you really never done Hoop-dee-doo? I thought you had mentioned that once. Your granddaughters would probably love it.

 

[Songbird76]

So, it was an interesting morning/afternoon. Got a call from Pop about 9:30a that Mom had fallen in the foyer of their home and busted the back of her head against the door. He said she was bleeding a lot, at first, but got it to stop.
He wanted me to come over to check her out. I tried to get him to call 911, but he said she was OK. I asked all the typical questions…is she dizzy, is she nauseous, does she look like she wants to doze off…she answered in the background that she was fine. I still knew I needed to go check them out. I had Matt get ready early and go with me, as he wasn’t due into work until noon.
Got there and saw this…
View attachment 857409
Yea, we’re goin’ to the ER.
All is well now though.
They put 2 staples in her head (she didn’t want a local anesthetic, mind you), did a CT scan that turned out fine, but while we were waiting for the results I had to get Matt to work, through one of the craziest deluges I’ve seen here in a few years. I was driving 15 mph and still could barely see in front of me.
Fortunately, by the time I got back to the hospital, the results from the CT scan were in, and there were no issues whatsoever.
I got off the phone a little while ago with them to check in and Mom was up making tea.
She just turned 86 and Pop is 92.
It’s hard to watch their decline because we love them so very much, but, as Pop said to Mom in the ER earlier, life is life, and we’ve had a great one.

---

Goodness, if all the scans and such came back fine, I'd say she's very lucky!! That looks AWFUL!! I would guess it might be hard to sleep tonight....I can't imagine there's a position that won't put some pressure on that wound. Glad she's ok!!

 

[Figgy1]

Really enjoying all the photos you've been sharing, while on your vacation. Some of that architecture is wild!

X2 thank you

 

[FutureCEO]

X2 thank you

It unfortunately comes to an end when I fly back Sunday but I would love to stay. A few sprinkes of rain if you call it that but that's it. I also have more pictures on my camera camera. Not phone camera

 

[Songbird76]

We didn’t take our first family trip to WDW ‘til July of 2001. Sarah was 6, Matthew was 8 and Megan turned 10 while we were there.
For a time, we averaged a WDW trip about every 3 years. But, we did a lot of smaller trips earlier and in between our WDW trips…Six Flags Fiesta Texas, Sea World San Antonio, the San Antonio Zoo, Schlitterbahn, the Texas coast, etc.
We never really sat around the house with our kids, we were always trying to be doing something…!!!

Most of my trips growing up were going to Illinois to visit mom's family, or they were camping trips to the black hills etc. We always drove....we only flew to Florida once that I remember, and the rest of our trips were all in the car. We would start around 5:00 am, and we'd drive for a few hours, stop at a museum or historical site, then go until lunch, then stop for the night around 5pm, grab dinner, and maybe another museum or something. We saw a lot of the US without spending a whole lot of money. We always packed sandwich fixings and snacks in a cooler in the back seat, and we usually ate our warm meal at lunch because a lot of restaurants back then had a cheaper lunch menu, then we'd eat sandwiches and snacks for dinner.

Now, with our kids, we do a lot of educational stuff. Museums, historical sites, monuments, etc...we do the theme parks once in a while, too, but obviously Disney is not somewhere we can get to really easily or inexpensively. Last year, we went to Austria and saw an old castle, the Mozart Museum, the gardens where the Sound of Music was filmed, and some "trick" fountains. This year, we'll go to the Efteling, but my cousin is also coming for a couple of days. Her boyfriend's father passed away last month and he's from Norway, so they are going to have a funeral in Norway this summer, and while they are in Europe, they are going to hop over here and we'll do some touristy stuff....Maybe the Anne Frank house, or the Open Air museum, etc. But we've always done a lot of that stuff with the kids.

 

[donaldtoo]

Glad you found "Emy and the cats" -- it's one of my favorites with Emy!

Thanks, Minnie…!!!
Definitely one of my fave Emmy videos, as well…!!!!!
I’ve got so many videos uploaded to my private YouTube account. I go back and watch them from time to time, and smile or laugh or even get a bit misty. I’m so glad I have it all, as it is all priceless…!!!!!!!

 

[donaldtoo]

Have you really never done Hoop-dee-doo? I thought you had mentioned that once. Your granddaughters would probably love it.

Nope, we’ve never done it, but I’m sure they would, indeed, love it.
We’ve done Whispering Canyon Cafe a coupla’ times with our kids, and, more recently, the ‘Ohana Character Breakfast with Emmy and Audrey on our last two trips. Maybe you’re getting it confused with one of those…?
I think we had Hoop-Dee-doo booked for our 2007 family trip, but we cancelled for some reason, that I can’t now remember.
Anyway, hopefully someday…!!!

 

[donaldtoo]

Goodness, if all the scans and such came back fine, I'd say she's very lucky!! That looks AWFUL!! I would guess it might be hard to sleep tonight....I can't imagine there's a position that won't put some pressure on that wound. Glad she's ok!!

Thank you so very much…!!!
Yea, it looked bad, but I called earlier and she said she’s feelin’ fine.
Thank you again for your concern…!!!

 

[donaldtoo]

Most of my trips growing up were going to Illinois to visit mom's family, or they were camping trips to the black hills etc. We always drove....we only flew to Florida once that I remember, and the rest of our trips were all in the car. We would start around 5:00 am, and we'd drive for a few hours, stop at a museum or historical site, then go until lunch, then stop for the night around 5pm, grab dinner, and maybe another museum or something. We saw a lot of the US without spending a whole lot of money. We always packed sandwich fixings and snacks in a cooler in the back seat, and we usually ate our warm meal at lunch because a lot of restaurants back then had a cheaper lunch menu, then we'd eat sandwiches and snacks for dinner.

Now, with our kids, we do a lot of educational stuff. Museums, historical sites, monuments, etc...we do the theme parks once in a while, too, but obviously Disney is not somewhere we can get to really easily or inexpensively. Last year, we went to Austria and saw an old castle, the Mozart Museum, the gardens where the Sound of Music was filmed, and some "trick" fountains. This year, we'll go to the Efteling, but my cousin is also coming for a couple of days. Her boyfriend's father passed away last month and he's from Norway, so they are going to have a funeral in Norway this summer, and while they are in Europe, they are going to hop over here and we'll do some touristy stuff....Maybe the Anne Frank house, or the Open Air museum, etc. But we've always done a lot of that stuff with the kids.

Yes, we did many museums with our kids, as well.
The natural history museum at UT, the Bullock Museum, the Museum of the Pacific War in Fredericksburg, TX, the Alamo (which is, essentially, a museum), etc.
There were so many weekend days where we would just say “Hey, let’s go to *insert destination*…!!!”…!!!!!

 

[rshell68]

Most of my trips growing up were going to Illinois to visit mom's family,

Where in Illinois??

 

[Goofyernmost]

Most of my trips growing up were going to Illinois to visit mom's family, or they were camping trips to the black hills etc. We always drove....we only flew to Florida once that I remember, and the rest of our trips were all in the car. We would start around 5:00 am, and we'd drive for a few hours, stop at a museum or historical site, then go until lunch, then stop for the night around 5pm, grab dinner, and maybe another museum or something. We saw a lot of the US without spending a whole lot of money. We always packed sandwich fixings and snacks in a cooler in the back seat, and we usually ate our warm meal at lunch because a lot of restaurants back then had a cheaper lunch menu, then we'd eat sandwiches and snacks for dinner.

Now, with our kids, we do a lot of educational stuff. Museums, historical sites, monuments, etc...we do the theme parks once in a while, too, but obviously Disney is not somewhere we can get to really easily or inexpensively. Last year, we went to Austria and saw an old castle, the Mozart Museum, the gardens where the Sound of Music was filmed, and some "trick" fountains. This year, we'll go to the Efteling, but my cousin is also coming for a couple of days. Her boyfriend's father passed away last month and he's from Norway, so they are going to have a funeral in Norway this summer, and while they are in Europe, they are going to hop over here and we'll do some touristy stuff....Maybe the Anne Frank house, or the Open Air museum, etc. But we've always done a lot of that stuff with the kids.

On our first road trip to WDW and a few subsequent ones, there were a number of restaurants that had a free kids meal for every adult meal purchased. We had two kids both under 12 and we took advantage of that whenever we saw that offer. I think one was Big Bob's (is that correct, that did exist didn't it?) and I think Denny's, but there also was a large number of buffet/cafeteria restaurants in the 80's so between the special offers and the buffets we managed to save a lot of money on food. I wish I could remember the name of the one that was on 192 east of Old Town that we went to at least once a day. The only significant thing I remember about it is that Marty Robbins, El Paso was always playing when we got there. "Out in that west Texas town of El Paso, I fell in love with a Mexican Girl...."

 

[donaldtoo]

Nice day here again, but it looks like we may have some more needed rain heading this way, although everything is green again…!!!

 

[donaldtoo]

 

[donaldtoo]

Today’s trip down Memory Lane…!!!

Emmy on her first Jungle Cruise…!!!!!!!

 

[JenniferS]

I have a bad mom/museum story.

Picture it … Toronto, September 2001. The boys were 5 and 6 1/2 - this part is important.

We took my parents and the boys and drove to the ROM. We took the boys on their first ever subway ride, grabbed a completely unmemorable lunch (as in, I have no idea what we ate) and then went to the museum. This was not their first time there.

There was a special Auguste Rodin exhibit in one of the galleries, and of course, it was an upcharge. For me, that’s why we went on this particular day. My parents also wanted to see it, so of course the boys came to the special exhibit with us. They really didn’t want to leave the Egyptology stuff, but them’s the breaks.

My dad knew I wanted to relax and enjoy the exhibit so he said he and my mom would mind the boys and I could just wander around.

All is well for a while, and then I swear I felt the atmosphere in the gallery change - a palpable tension.

I hear my dad softly calling “Jen. Jen. Jeeeeeeeeeen.” The atmosphere in the gallery got more intense, the voice a little louder, “JEN. JEN. JEEEEEEEEEEN.”

Mike and I decided we’d better figure out what’s going on so we headed toward my father’s plaintive cries to witness my idiot kids running from statue to statue … kissing their bare butts. I think my mom had popped out for a smoke, because there’s my poor dad by himself trying to corral my two morons.

Other museum goers are horrified, shooting daggers at my poor hapless father, while I pretended I didn’t know them, hadn’t seen anything, and high-tailed it in the opposite direction.

From there, the details are fuzzy, but everyone is still alive (well not my parents, but that’s unrelated), so I’m assuming Mike rescued my dad (and mom who surely regretted returning), and didn’t kill the kids.

To be fair, the sculptures were not cordoned off and touching them was encouraged. Run your fingers over muscles of the finely crafted torso, absolutely. Run from statue to statue kissing butts, probably not.

Moral of the story … yeah, I don’t have one.

 

[PUSH]

Teacher friends... anything exciting going on for Teacher Appreciation this week?

Our Parent Teacher Circle has been amazing (as always). They've had families provide snacks and treats for us all week. Monday was popcorn, Tuesday was chips & dip, Wednesday was coffee and donuts, today was meats, cheese, and salad, and tomorrow they're catering from a local Mexican restaurant. And these aren't just a couple bags of chips... it's a whole spread.

They also got local businesses to donate for a raffle, where we can put three tickets in per day. There is golf, a pool pass, a $100 gift card to a popular local restaurant, movie theater gift card, cafe gift cards, boutique gift cards, spa gift cards, and more. I've been putting all my tickets in for a state park sticker, as well as a 4 hour boat rental and four single-scoops of ice cream from the state park right outside our town. My strategy has been to load up on one that doesn't have as many tickets, so I have one strong chance to win, versus spreading them out into more popular baskets and have a lot of very minimal chances to win.

This has definitely been the best teacher appreciation of my career, but it's also by far been the most challenging year for all of us. We've had two failed referendums, have had to let teachers go because of it, etc. So the PTC is going above and beyond.

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

Teacher friends... anything exciting going on for Teacher Appreciation this week?

Our Parent Teacher Circle has been amazing (as always). They've had families provide snacks and treats for us all week. Monday was popcorn, Tuesday was chips & dip, Wednesday was coffee and donuts, today was meats, cheese, and salad, and tomorrow they're catering from a local Mexican restaurant. And these aren't just a couple bags of chips... it's a whole spread.

They also got local businesses to donate for a raffle, where we can put three tickets in per day. There is golf, a pool pass, a $100 gift card to a popular local restaurant, movie theater gift card, cafe gift cards, boutique gift cards, spa gift cards, and more. I've been putting all my tickets in for a state park sticker, as well as a 4 hour boat rental and four single-scoops of ice cream from the state park right outside our town. My strategy has been to load up on one that doesn't have as many tickets, so I have one strong chance to win, versus spreading them out into more popular baskets and have a lot of very minimal chances to win.

This has definitely been the best teacher appreciation of my career, but it's also by far been the most challenging year for all of us. We've had two failed referendums, have had to let teachers go because of it, etc. So the PTC is going above and beyond.

Sounds like you have a great PTC. Our district gave us all gift cards to a local business of our choice. A few students said something to me (which is awesome for middle school students to acknowledge it). Donuts for breakfast (sponsored by church my husband is the pastor of), and pizza for lunch tomorrow from our principal and office staff.