Wordless Wednesday: Twenty Photos From The Playground
Category: NHL
Dizzy Fun Times On The Playground
As a perk of the warmer weather, I took NHL and JSL to a local park two times over the weekend. Of course, I took my camera and video camera with me and took many, many photos as well as a few videos. I’ll run a few of the photos tomorrow for Wordless Wednesday. For now, I dare you to watch this video full screen and not get dizzy!
A (Semi-Gross) Journey Through The Body
Last year, we went to the Colonie Center mall to attend a Journey Through The Body program. The boys had fun, so we decided to try it again this year. We made our way over and started to fight the crowds to see the exhibits.
Each of us seemed to have different goals. NHL was focused on what “characters” he could see. As they did last year, volunteers dressed up as fruit and animals to highlight healthy eating habits. NHL acted as though meeting a girl dressed as grapes was as fun as meeting Beast in Disney World. (I blame it on a post-Disney crash where he’s looking for the Disney high again. Disney addiction can lead you to do crazy things… Luckily, there’s no cure!)
For the sake of brevity, I’m including all the characters here to get them out of the way. I won’t reference them again, but rest assured that NHL was constantly on the look for new characters to meet. Several times he would shout “I think I saw the apple! Over there! Is that the apple? No? Ok.” or “There goes the chicken! We need to go over there to see the chicken! We’re missing the chicken!!!!”
B, still not fully recovered from stand-on-line-at-Disney-World-itis, was clearly not having fun. So I decided to give her some time off. She headed to the Christmas Tree shop for some solo shopping time while I corralled the boys.
JSL, was taking it all in. He liked the free stuff and the characters, but he also liked the interactive nature of some things. Most of all, though, he liked the slide. He repeated over and over how he wanted to go to the slide. I had to reassure him that he would get to go on it eventually.
Me? I was in it for the educational nature of it all. That and photo opportunities. Especially photo opportunities of the gross out kind. Beware: Gross photos will be following. Those with sensitive stomachs might want to close their eyes. (Or, at least, not click on the photos to see larger versions.)
We first went over to the big mouth. The kids remembered this well from last year. They waited for a family to finish their photos and then went to work brushing the giant teeth and tongue.
After this, it was time for a journey into the ear. We were shown how the hairs in your ears keep germs out. If that’s the case for the nose too, no wonder I rarely get sick! Finally, a good thing to say about my ear and nose hair. (Hey, I said this post might be gross!) We also got to see the tiny bones in your ear and how the ear turns sound into electrical impulses. In this giant-sized example, we were told to clap and sound-activated lights blinked in response.
After the ear, we saw some displays on the human brain. Here, NHL and JSL worked on a brain puzzle and got to feel a realistic (not not real) brain.
Moving from the brain, we worked our way to the lungs. Here, NHL and JSL got to see a healthy lung and a lung that was affected by cigarette smoke. (Gross photos ahead!)
After a few more exhibits, the boys got to the section they were waiting for: The bone slide. Both NHL and JSL scaled the slide and rocketed down a few times. I’m not sure of the educational value here, but it sure was fun. To misquote Mary Poppins: A spoonful of fun helps the educational material go down.
We ended our journey with the heart. Well, that’s not quite true. We waited on line to see the heart, but when NHL saw the cow hearts sitting in ice water (tinted red, no doubt from residual blood leaking into the water), he declared he didn’t want to touch them. No problem. Then he saw that they had been cut open so people could see the insides. That was it. He had reached his gross-out point (he’s squeamish about blood in general) and wanted to get away. I took some quick photos before we left.
Just so I’m not leaving you with that image, here’s a shot of NHL and JSL as we stopped by the tooth exhibit again on the way out. They decided to brush some life-sized teeth this time.
All in all, it was a fun experience. The boys had a blast and learned a bit, B got some time to herself (a sanity essential) and I got to take some really gross photos. Wins all around!
Disney World Vacation 2011: Hidden (and Not So Hidden) Mickey and Friends #DisneySMMoms
B quite nicely explained our arrival in Disney World for the 2011 Disney Social Media Moms Celebration. As we checked in to our room and made our way around the hotel and parks, NHL and JSL began noticing things they hadn’t noticed before: Mickey Mouse.
No, not that Mickey. I’m talking about the more hidden variety. Like on the floors of the hotel in the tiles.
Of course, Mickey wasn’t alone there. His friends Pluto, Donald, Minnie and Goofy joined him.
In the room, the boys noticed a Mickey hidden (not so subtly) in our towels.
They also spotted his face in a lamp. (Again, this one was pretty obvious.)
Then, JSL made a discovery. There was a second Mickey on the desk. Not on the lamp, but hidden in the woodwork.
Later on, we discovered that the tiles by the elevator held a certain fairy.
I’d like an extra large order of pixie dust, please.
When it was time for us to join B for dinner (after her Disney’s Fairy Tale Weddings and Honeymoons Platinum Soiree), we spotted a few more Mickey-and-Friends in the rug.
We also noticed, in the Grand Floridian’s lobby, Chip, Mrs. Potts and a certain magical rose.
Our final Hidden Mickey of the night, though, was the proudest one. NHL and JSL looked at the floor and declared “Mickey!” Sure enough, there was a Mickey hidden in the pattern.
A family saw me taking this taking this photo and wondered why I was taking a photo of the floor. Then, they saw the Mickey. As we walked along the same path for awhile, their daughter kept pointing out Mickey’s appearance in every tile. I’d like to think we transferred a bit of Hidden Mickey Fever to her. (The only cure: More Mickey Mouse!)
Of course, that night the boys got to see the real Mickey Mouse along with Minnie, Goofy and Pluto:
Oh yes, and I also got this dessert, despite the fact that I had a full plate, because of Minnie’s appearance on it.
Memorable Hockey Firsts and Old Favorites
Last night, we took the boys to a hockey game. This wasn’t their first hockey game, but it did contain a lot of firsts and favorite moments. Of course, the main “first” was that this wasn’t an Albany River Rats game. The team name changed when the New Jersey Devils returned. Our team is now the Albany Devils.
This also means we have a new Mascot. Instead of Rowdy the Rat, we now have the Devil Dawg. I must admit that I thought this character looked a bit freaky when photos were first released. Luckily, it looks less scary in person. The boys headed right to him as B went to buy tickets and then loved spotting him where ever he appeared during the game.
As we watched the players practice, one of the players flipped a puck over the glass. I didn’t spot it at first, but NHL did. He and another boy shot off after the puck. NHL had luck on his side and the puck bounced so that NHL was able to grab it first. His first hockey puck!
After that came an old favorite of JSL’s: The zamboni. He loves seeing them go around and smooth out the ice. I’m convinced that he would drag us to an “ice show” that consisted of nothing but zambonis driving around for 30 minutes.
The hockey game commenced and NHL was into the game, yet distracted. He had heard that Dora would be at the game and he was determined to see her. We ended the first period down 0-1 and I figured out where Dora would be. Off we went. Of course, the line was outrageously long. I let the boys wait on line and told them that we might not get to see her. After all, there are only 20 minutes between periods and the line was huge. Slowly, the line shortened and we inched closer. The boys got excited as they caught glimpses of the famous Spanish-speaking explorer.
Finally, we were there. The boys received a Dora autograph and coloring page. Then, they got to see Dora.
Well, NHL did. JSL refused to go near her. I wasn’t about to let that much waiting time result in no JSL photo with Dora though. I handed the camera to B, scooped up JSL, and walked up to Dora.
Perfect shot! The boys were so happy at seeing Dora. (Skipping to later on, we turned on the TV when we got home and who do you think was on? DORA!)
Back to the hockey game we went. This was turning into a real nail-biter. We went from being down by 1 to being up by 2 to being tied. The tie game turned into overtime. The overtime turned into a shootout. This was a first for both my boys and for me. I’ve seen hockey games won and lost during regular play and overtime, but have never seen a shootout first hand.
We all cheered as our player rushed the opposing goal and jeered when the opponents rushed ours. One of the Albany Devils got a goal in and everyone cheered. The rest of the players (both ours and theirs) were being blocked. NHL could hardly stay in his seat. He was so excited. The last opposing player was up and we were on the edge of our seat. He approached the goal and… DENIED! The arena (minus a few opposing team fans who had journeyed to support their team) exploded into cheering. NHL and JSL were right there with them.
We got back home, stopping to pick up McDonald’s along the way as a special treat, and the boys were still loving their day out. There was so much that they loved about the night and so much excitement. They agreed with us that this was something we had to do again.