“How Rude!”
Full House…. One of DC’s favorite TV shows. He especially enjoys Stephanie’s classic line; “How Rude!” It must be the delivery because DC really doesn’t have any notion of “rude” or what it means. He says what he says, the way it makes sense to him. He has no concept of what rudeness is. {Continue….}
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There’s No Place Like Home
I am fortunate that DC loves to travel. This was not always the case and for a time I believed we would never be able to go anywhere at all, especially by plane. But now he loves to go everywhere and anywhere.
As much as he loves to go away, he always knows when it’s time to go home.{Continue….}
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Cinderella, Haunted Houses and other scary stuff…
A few years back…. well, probably more than just a few, we took a trip to Lake George. I remember going there as a kid. I remember Story Town, which we discovered when we arrived was now just a small part of The Great Escape Amusement Park. I remembered the North Pole that was quite a drive from Lake George, but worth the trip. Specifically, I remembered that in Story Town there was a Cinderella’s Pumpkin Carriage ride. My son was a Cinderella fanatic. He was obsessed, still is at 22. “Citronelle” was one of his very first words. {Continue….}
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Looking Handsome in the Princess Room
Let’s begin by saying that DC does not like to keep anything in his pockets. He will put his cell phone and wallet in his pockets; but they come out the second he gets inside the house…… nothing else. So much so that about a year ago when I asked him to put his gum wrapper in his pocket so he could use it when he was finished (instead of handing it to me straight out of his mouth or sticking it to the console in my car), he immediately threw away said piece of gum and hasn’t had a piece of gum since; all because I asked him to put the wrapper in his pocket. {Continue….}
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#TravelingWithDC – Puerto Rico with a side of Disney and Harry Potter
The plan was not go to Disney. I did not want DC to think that every airplane lands in Disney, but….
it always happens…
“How can we be this close and not go?”
We headed to Orlando specifically to go to Universal for the new (at the time) Wizarding World of Harry Potter, then onto Puerto Rico. Disney was not to be in the mix.
But….. knowing how much he loves Disney, we couldn’t skip it. { Continue …}
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File under: “Rules I thought I would never have to make”
As promised in “Looking Handsome in the Princess Room”, here is the story about the next time DC met Snow White.
Right around this time last year we decided to go on a Disney Cruise. DC as you can imagine, was very excited. He loved the cruise, the shows, the mountain of bacon he tried to sneak every morning and of course, the characters on board, specifically the Princesses. {Continue…..}
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Baltimore, Over the Rainbow and Back – Part 1
I really couldn’t write about this trip without including this part of it. This part, Part 1 is a little bit “cranky” – my apologies, in advance.
In early February, we set off for DC’s third cruise, his second on Royal Caribbean. We didn’t have to fly for a change because the ship was leaving from Baltimore.
We drove down on Thursday night for Fridays boarding.
There are not many things DC loves more than staying in a hotel, so he was very happy that we were staying overnight. He was even more excited to be in Baltimore, because, of course….. “Hairspray”. I am sure he was expecting Tracy Turnblad (Nikki Blonsky) to be dancing in the streets (I prefer the Ricky Lake version, but that’s just me) {Continue….}
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Baltimore, Over the Rainbow and Back – Part 2
After the fun-filled experience boarding the ship (Baltimore, Over the Rainbow and Back – Pt 1) things were looking up. DC had his cheese burger, I had my wine, everything was calm.
The remainder of the day (Friday) was spent exploring the ship. DC as usual, loved the cabin, as small as a ship cabin is, in his mind it is a “hotel room” and a hotel room is way up there on his list of favorite things.{Continue….}
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The Honorary Swamp Guard
Some time ago, I wrote about our Disney Cruise, in January, 2013 – where the rule, “Don’t pick up the Princesses” was born. At the end of that post I mentioned that there was another great story to be told from the end of that trip….. so finally, here it is.
After spending 5 days on the Disney ship, our plan was to stay in Orlando for an additional 3 days to visit Disney World and Universal Studios, because, you know, we didn’t get enough Disney on the ship…… {Continue….}
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Baltimore, Over the Rainbow and Back – Part 3
Now that is was permissible to speak the name of “Island that must not be named”, the Bahamas, I was able to tell DC that Coco Cay, our next stop was also in the Bahamas.
Before I get to that – the evening after we came back from Atlantis, we decided to give the dining room a try for dinner. I am usually not a big fan of eating in the dining room with DC. The tables are crowded with strangers. I get anxious because DC, although pretty well-behaved in restaurants, can get a little bit loud and chewing with his mouth closed does not come naturally to him, he has to be reminded continuously. When he does remember on his own, he feels the need to point it out to me throughout the entire dinner. He likes to bring a book with him whenever we go out to eat, but at these crowded tables, it is not always possible, there just isn’t enough room.{Continue….}
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Second Star to the Right……… and hang a left.
DC and I were driving to the store this past weekend. He was listening to the Peter Pan CD that he had checked out of the library a few days earlier. Like many of the books he borrows each week, he already owns this CD, but still he must check it out from the library. The “library” CD’s are to be listened to in the car only – this is one of those “official DC rules” that he makes up in his head. I’m sure there are very good reasons for the rules he comes up with, but I really don’t know what these reasons are or where these rules come from, but he follows them to the letter – always. {Continue….}
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Hello Dolly!
Every October, we try to take a weekend trip – our Halloween trip – somewhere Halloween themed of course. Usually we go to Salem, MA. Two years ago, just to take a break from Salem (there is never really a break from Salem as we tend to end up there quite often during the year), we decided to try Sleepy Hollow, NY. It was fun. It was no Salem, but DC had his best friend BB, along so he had an exceptional time. Last year, we opted for NY ComicCon and a weekend in NY – DC’s favorite place. ComicCon – Costumes, Characters – close enough to qualify as our Halloween weekend away. Last year, I also discovered a festival in Kansas called, you guessed it – The OZ Fest. The OZ fest is held in late September, not October, but still close enough to count. The OZ fest was the plan for this year’s Halloween get-away. That WAS the plan….. until we calculated the cost of the flights, rental car and hotel for the weekend and realized that it was almost equivalent to booking a cruise for a week. {Continue…}
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Because, Because, Because, Because….BEEEE CAUSE
Right up there on DC’s ‘fandom’ meter with all things Disney is the Wizard of Oz. I cannot really put my finger on how, when or where this fixation developed as it is not a Disney production, but it certainly did. DC owns every version of every book, movie and soundtrack of The Wizard of Oz. {Continue….}
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Christmas Vacation Dilemma
A few days before Christmas, I read a post from another favorite blogger of mine, Mother O’ Jim, titled “When Delaying is Enhancing…”. The blog was about her son’s Christmas anxiety over a gift he knew he was going to receive (give it a read if you have a minute) and the steps taken to minimize his anxiety.
While I was reading this post I was thinking about DC. Although he does get very excited and anxious around Christmas-time, reminding me many times every day that “Christmas is coming soon” – he does not seem to get as anxious as Jim from the blog.
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Off we go….. (almost) (May 2015)
I just finished reading a post from Autism-Mom, PREPARATION AND PANIC about the preparations for their big trip coming up – or should I say the “mind-race while one is trying to sleep” -preparations she is making for her family trip.
I had to laugh out loud as I have been doing the same thing. Our trip is just a couple of days away and along with the “mind-race” and the anxiety about being the absolute worst packer in the world, there is work to contend with.
“We are leaving on Friday, so my last day in the office will be Thursday”{Continue….}
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Clarification, The Mighty and Airport Security
A little over a week ago as I was preparing for a trip to Paris and London, I wrote a post about the preparations and the issue we had with my son during a security check on one of our recent trips. The original post, “Off we go….. almost” can be read here.
At the same time, the Mighty was asking for travel, airline and airport stories. I submitted a portion of the story I had just written about DC and the TSA Agent at the Charlotte Airport back in October. I did not submit a photo because really, what kind of photo would I have to go with that story? The Mighty replied and said that the photo would not be a problem – they would just use clip art.{Continue…..}
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I see London, I see France…. (Part One – France)
My intention was to write another installment in the “Everything is Related” Series from our most recent vacation, and I probably will eventually, but there were so many other things I wanted to say about our trip that I decided to put those off for now. There were tips I found and received before we left that came in handy and I wanted to pass them on along with some of my own observations (and maybe a little bit of whining and/or venting) for anyone else that may be heading out to Paris, Disney and/or London. {Continue….}
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I see London, I see France…… (Part 2 – London)
I should first explain that I have an aversion to subways. This began back in the 80’s when a group of 8 or 9 of us went to NYC to see Phantom of The Opera. It was Good Friday and we all had the day off from the bank. We went into the city early to spend the day there before the show. At some point during the day, we had to take the subway. We started through the doors and because there were so many of us there was not enough time for all of us to get in before the doors closed – my friend Linda was left on the platform as the doors were closing. Two other friends, Lee and Michael pried the door open so she would not be left behind. That was it for me! I am still to this day terrified that the doors will close leaving someone behind…. So my complaints about the Underground may be just my problem….. {Continue….}
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Everything is Related – Dr. Who
Relating the things that DC loves to anything else just helps to make it more enjoyable for him. DC loves to travel, but if we are not traveling to Disney World I usually rack my brain to come up with something to make the trip more interesting and exciting for him. Recently we took a trip to London and Paris.
One of the items on our agenda would be a trip to Cardiff and the Dr. Who Experience – have I mentioned that before? . DC loves Dr. Who, but he gravitates more to the David Tennant Doctor and Rose combo. He eventually warmed up to Matt Smith, but he is having trouble relating to the Peter Capaldi Doctor. {Continue….}
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#TravelingWithDC – Cruisin’
If you were to ask DC about his trip, any trip for that matter; you would probably hear about what he ate and the bookstores he visited. Unless he met a Disney Character, saw a show, or visited an amusement park, food and books are all you are going to be told about. Below is a collection of Facebook statuses and photos from our recent trip from DC’s perspective – or maybe from my perspective of DC’s perspective – either way, I know that these were the highlights for him.
I was nervous the first time we took DC on a cruise, but my worry was for nothing.
DC’s third cruise was a little more difficult than the others but he sucked it up eventually and had a good time. {Continue..}
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#TravelingWithDC – Niagara Falls and Toronto
(A Collection of Facebook Statuses) What you must understand is that a Big Waterfall means nothing to him {Continue..}
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#TravelingWithDC – In Search of the Wizard
On our way back from Niagara Falls we stopped in the little town of Chittenango, the birthplace of L. Frank Baum. {Continue..}
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#TravelingWithDC – New Brunswick & Nova Scotia
Instead of our usual October “Halloween Trip”, we decided to venture back into Canada – to visit New Brunswick and Nova Scotia…….
If you were to ask DC about his trip, any trip for that matter; you would probably hear about what he ate and the bookstores he visited. Unless he met a Disney Character, saw a show, or visited an amusement park, food and books are all you are going to be told about.
Below is a collection of Facebook statuses and photos from our recent trip from DC’s perspective – or maybe from my perspective of DC’s perspective – either way, I know that these were the highlights for him. {Continue….}
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#TravelingWithDC – Christmas Quick Trips
DC loves Christmas as much as he loves Halloween.
He loves getting to see Santa, but even more than Santa, he LOVES the rare occasions when he gets to see Mrs. Claus.
His Mrs. Claus cup runneth over this year…..
Me, not having the happiest year this year, needed a boost and set out looking for some Christmas Spirit. Although, I did not really find it – DC sure did. {Continue….}
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#TravelingWithDC – Mom’s Birfday – Catskills
DC: Mom’s 17th Birfday on Monday!
ME: Yes, but I am not going to be 17.
DC: (Ignoring that) Going on a little ‘twip’ tomorrow!
ME: Yes, just a short one.
DC: For Mom’s 17th Birfday …. coming home Monday (we haven’t even left and he is worried about when we are coming home) {Continue..}
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#TravelingWithDC – Newport, The Cape and The Party
Our annual trip to Cape Cod for my very old friend, Allison’s mother’s birthday bash happened to fall on Easter weekend this year.
This year…… COSTUMES!!!!
Normally because Doug does not like these sort of events and DC would not get through the entire night AND so I can have some time with my friends uninterrupted, I attend with my other friend, Rhonda. DC and Doug have a boy’s night out while the party is going on. He usually makes an appearance toward the end of the evening when things are winding down. {Continue…}
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#TravelingWithDC: The Way Home, Easter, Mystic and a Severed Arm
Our annual trip to the Cape fell on Easter weekend this year. My friend’s, mother’s birthday bash was on Saturday night so we were still at the hotel on Easter morning.
Fortunately, the Easter Bunny knew that we were away and delivered to the hotel instead of at home. { Continue… }
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#TravelingWithDC Our search for that Hallmark Christmas Town Continues in 2017
For the past 3 or 4 years we have opted to have Thanksgiving at the Griswald Inn in Essex CT with my brother and sister-in-law, after which we spend the weekend in Essex (or close-by) to make our annual visit to Toys Ahoy (for DC, of course) and to kick the Christmas season into gear.
(This post is not as long as it appears, it is made up of many photos)
Oh! But I do have to mention that DC skipped the turkey on Thanksgiving (they did not have it on “the bones”) and opted for the prime rib, which is something in itself! {Continue…}
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#TravelingWithDC – Star Trek Cruise
Taking a break from the virus, lock-down, Quarantine Diaries and everything involving it to write about our last vacation.
At this point, our trip seems as if it happened centuries ago, but it has really only been a couple of months. Please forgive any typos, run-on sentences or just utter incoherence as I seem to have lost all ability to concentrate on any one thing for any length of time during this quarantine. {Continue}
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Taking it a Step at a Time 