Dignan loves his Grandpa
Thursday, December 29, 2011
December 24
Our neighborhood does luminaries on Christmas Eve. We walked around a bit to see them but it was COLD outside.
This is our house. Notice our reindeer? So far this year, the local boys haven't put them in suggestive poses. There's still time, though.
December 23
Both sets of parents came to our house for Christmas.
Of course, we had to play Mexican Train.
December 22
Our tree
and my hundreds of ornaments
(at least it feels like hundreds when I'm trimming the tree)
December 20
My Rudolph Village has been up since the end of November. It's always the first decoration to come out of hibernation each year. I love it! I've said many times that I wish I could live there. It's so cute. No pollution, low crime rate, talking animals...what's not to love?
This is Hermey's Dentist office.
December 18
Lego Gee
It could have been more elaborate if I'd had more time.
This was just what I could do over 2 nights.
December 17
It's always hard to think of a new idea for my Christmas cards. This year, I actually had several ideas but they were all pretty difficult to realize. Lego Gee seemed like it would be the easiest...but I was sadly mistaken. I got a lot of great ideas from one of the workers at the Lego Store in Fashion Valley and we came up with a rough game plan while we were there. I was feeling confident until I got home. Then I was on my own. I can't tell you how many times I'd try to put on one lego and the entire thing would just break apart in my hands. There was a lot of cursing for a few nights in my house.December 16
I didn't take this photo obviously but I already returned the book to the library so this is the best I can do.
A co-worker recommended this book and Matt and I listened to the audiobook on our way to and from Ventura over Thanksgiving. It was pretty good and I picked up the actual book after we got home so I could finish it. I didn't love it as much as Ready Player One but it was still pretty interesting...and scary (think HAL from 2001: A Space Odyssey).
December 15
It's been so cold in the morning,
Dignan needs a sweater...
but he sheds so much, his hair comes through the sweater.
Wednesday, December 28, 2011
December 11
Another grave, actually 1 stacked on top of another.
You can see some of the other graves stacked behind it,
although there are areas where the graves are stacked 6 high.
December 10
There is an interesting cemetery in Key West. Because it is built on bedrock, it was hard to dig down very far. Therefore, as more and more people died, they had to stack the graves on top of each other. You can see a few in the background. There might be some more in my other pics. They also had a sense of humor down there and some of the gravestones are whimsical or comical. This one was a giant cactus wearing a holster.
December 8
I never shared the rest of my photos from Key West. First, I have a few from Mario's wedding at the Hemingway House.There is a funny story behind this fountain. Ernest Hemingway used to go to a bar down the street ALL the time. One night, he got really drunk and ripped the urinal off the wall of the bar's restroom. He told them that he spent enough money there so they owed it to him. He carried it, by himself, all the way home. He wanted to display it in the yard so his wife bought a big pot to perch above it and she turned it into a fountain.
December 7
Star Wars plant.
I saw this at the mansion and it's about
the only thing I can replicate at my house.
December 6
So, while the woman of the house spends her time gardening (or telling the gardener what to do), the man of the house collects old cars. My favorite was a replica of the car in To Catch a Thief. It was a beautiful blue color and it was absolutely gorgeous. However, I thought the cutest car was this old Thunderbird with the little drive-in food try. He also has a Ferrari and about 4 other cars. Matt was supposed to build a 10-car garage for him but the city wanted something crazy like $25K to rezone or put in a new water line. Whatever their reason, it cost Matt a job.December 5
Still in Rancho Santa Fe.
This is one of the rest areas along a hillside path.
It also has a view of the valley below.
December 4
Matt's clients had a Christmas open house today to showcase their fabulous new kitchen. It was in Rancho Santa Fe which is a pretty nice area and Matt said I'd really like the house. Of course, I thought the kitchen was gorgeous since Matt and crew always do beautiful work. But, I was more interested in the gardens. They have a huge property with winding paths down a hill, one of which leads to a little grotto that overlooks a valley. Spectacular. This is the grotto which was at the end of a walkway covered in vines. To the left was a little gravel area with chaise lounges so you could relax and enjoy the view. Plus there was music piped in everywhere. And did I mention that the woman and her husband each have their own wing in the house? So, that's what you do with too much money.
December 1
Speaking of Chocolate Frogs, this is a display in a window at Honeydukes. The big box in front opened up to show the frog and collectible card inside and then the frog croaked. All of those wizards on the card displays moved around too. Very cute. I haven't opened my box yet but I have a feeling that the frog won't hop away and the wizard will just stay on the card.
November 29
Ah, Butterbeer. You could order it frozen or regular. We got frozen and I liked it, although you can't drink that much because it's so sweet and you get brain freeze from the ice. Maybe I'll order regular next time. It's non-alcoholic and tastes kind of like butterscotch. Yummy.This particular cart was parked in front of Honeydukes Sweet Shop which you can see on the right. I bought a Chocolate Frog and some Fizzing Whizzbies, just because I could.
November 27
Back to vacation. I have a bunch of pics from Universal Islands of Adventure, more specifically the Wizarding World of Harry Potter.
This is us in front of the Hogwarts Express. And we didn't even have to find Platform 9 3/4 to get here!
Tuesday, December 27, 2011
November 26
Another pic from mini-golf yesterday.
It was a nice course and I had a lot of fun.
It had been years and years since I had played...and I won!
November 19
Tonight, we had a 40th birthday party for Matt. I was so busy, I forgot to feed Dignan this morning. I also forgot to take a single photo. I'm hoping to get a few from Matt's brother so maybe I'll post those later. In the meantime, I'm showing a couple of the photos his parents sent me from his childhood. It's totally Matt.
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
November 18
Matt, in front of the Mexico area at Epcot. This is another building with a restaurant inside that is made to look like it's outside. Once again, totally cute. We had lunch here and I like it because there is also a boat ride inside so you can eat near the water. They also have a Mexican marketplace and Tequila Bar packed into that pyramid. It doesn't look that big from the outside!
November 17
On the Spaceship Earth ride at Epcot, they take your picture at one point. I thought it had already been taken so I was making a weird face to be silly...when the flash went off. We assumed there would be a funny photo at the end which they'd try to get us to buy. Oh, no. They use the photo of your head and insert it onto a cartoon body which traipses around in a little video playing in your car. We thought we would die laughing. THEN, when you get off the ride, it spits you out into a big room...and there, on giant screens, are photos of your video for everyone to see. I snapped this photo of it before it disappeared forever. I was surprised that you couldn't buy it; or I just didn't see where you could. This is the one time I probably would have spent the money.
November 16
Happy Birthday, Matthew! We visited Epcot today and had dinner in the German Oktoberfest restaurant. I had eaten here with my family a long time ago and I knew he would love it. You can see the stage in the background but you can't really see that it's all decorated to look like you're outdoors in a little German village (even though you're inside). It is totally cute. They put on a show with different entertainers including an Oompah Band. Plus, they have an all-you-can-eat buffet which is pretty good. I love me some sausage and sauerkraut with mustard. Matt had a giant beer, just like at the Munich Oktoberfest, so I think he had a fun birthday. Even though it was just the two of us, we sat at a table with a bunch of other people so it still felt like a party.November 15
Finally! I had waited so patiently (over a year!) before visiting The Wizarding World of Harry Potter and it paid off. We stayed at the Royal Pacific which is a Universal property so they let us into the Islands of Adventure an hour early. There were only about 50 of us at the time they opened the gate. Yes, I was there at 8:00am. Unheard of! We all went straight to the Harry Potter ride which is housed inside Hogwarts and we got on the ride in about 5 minutes. I wasn't in love with it the first time I rode it...or the second. We rode this crazy Dragon Challenge ride after that. I don't know what possessed me to agree to it because it was the most hardcore roller-coaster I've ever ridden. Even Matt said it was like something at Magic Mountain. My legs were wobbly after that so we spent the rest of our free hour walking around Hogsmeade. It was fantastic. I'll have more pictures later. I wish the area was bigger but there was a lot of attention to detail. I loved every minute of it!
Turns out, the park just wasn't very busy that day. We rode every ride that we wanted to ride and a few of them twice, like Spiderman. We went back to Harry Potter later in the afternoon and had to wait 15 minutes but the line itself has a lot to see so I didn't mind waiting. The third time's the charm. I don't know if it was because we had done other 3-D rides or because my eyes had warmed up but our third time on the ride was SO much better. I went into it thinking "okay, I'm sitting on a magical bench" and that's exactly how I felt. So fun!
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
November 14
Today was a travel day but I took this photo last night at dinner. We ate at Smith & Wollensky which is at the southern tip of Miami Beach (south South Beach, I guess). Across the way is Fisher Island and you can see downtown Miami in the distance. The cruise ships set sail on Sunday evenings so we had a drink at the outdoor bar and watched them cruise by. By the way, Matt proclaimed his Martini to be the best he's ever had (high praise!). We ate dinner by the water also, which was expensive but worth every penny.
November 12
Today, Matt and I had lunch then walked around the local cemetery (photos from that later - I wish I'd had more time there). We met up with a bunch of people from the wedding for a sunset cruise. This was Mario, Tania and Joaquin before we set sail. It was pretty windy once we got on the open water and the food and drinks offered to us were pretty lame but it was still fun to hang out with everyone. I rarely get to see them so it was a treat.
November 11
We flew to Miami yesterday and spent this afternoon driving down to Key West. I had imagined the drive would be nicer than it was. I enjoyed all of the bridges but there wasn't much variety to the scenery and the highway didn't go past the nicest parts of the islands.Anyway, we made it in time for my friends' wedding. Mario and Tania got married at the Hemingway House. We couldn't go inside but the outdoor gardens, pool and lawn drew us back in time. It was fantastic and really conveyed the vibe you'd expect from Key West. They had everything set up so beautifully too. This is a shot of the dance floor on the lawn....and Mario and Tania's first dance.
Monday, December 19, 2011
November 10
We're leaving for vacation this morning. Dignan is staying home alone for a whole week. My baby! Luckily, my neighbor, Carol, loves to come hang out with him so he shouldn't be too lonely.
It was hard leaving him this morning, though. He looked so snuggly...and sad.
November 8
The day after we got engaged in Venice, we hopped on a train
and rode all the way to Munich. It was a long day but we met up
with my friends when we got there so it was worth it.
Here we're all enjoying a little beer at Oktoberfest. Prost!
November 7
I realized that most of my favorite pictures of Matt are from trips that we've taken. I'm using a few as filler because we're busy getting ready for vacation and I don't have time to take photos this week.This one was from St. Lucia. We were told there were these fabulous mountains on the other side of the island so we decided to rent a car and drive out to them one day while our cruise ship was docked. We never made it all the way out there and Matt almost got us killed because he's not used to driving on the left...but it was an adventure!
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