5/27/06 "Il pochi il fiero i blabbermouths" We *will* sail again Part 13

[WDWLVR]

Good morning everyone!

Good luck to the Scuba family on all their athletic events this weekend.

Pam - that is great news about Dale and Texas A&M! Good luck with the scholarships!

 

[RachelTori]

Hey All, have been so busy lately that Ihaven't had time to check in. Sounds like Virgil's family had a good time in Arizona. Sorry about the OSU loss, was hoping they would pull it out.

We are looking forward to the Dallas game this weekend. Sure hope they show up to play and don't let the giants beat them.

I have just looked at my calendar and I have something going on every weekend now for the next two months. Tomorrow night is the high school all region orchestra. Dale went to Midland last week for the Area competition. He came in 6th chair and they only took the top 3 to State. But, he did move up 5 chairs from last year, so that was a good thing.
Next weekend we drive to Midland for a swim meet, the weekend after that is All-Region Band Concert weekend, then I fly to Houston for a two day meeting, then back home for a 3 day swim meet, then Solo and Ensemble the next weekend, then off to College Station for a prospective freshman student day, then back home for our Border Swim Championships at the end of Feb, then off to the State Championships first of March in Dallas.

We received some good news today. Dale has been accepted to Texas
A & M. This is where he wants to go, and were surprised to get the notification so early. He only submitted his application in December. One of the guys I work with said his son waited 3 months last year to get accepted and that they have several friends that have kids that have applied that haven't heard anything so far. We are thrilled. We can now send in the dorm deposit ($325) to guarantee him a dorm. Last year A&M received something like 26,000 freshman applications and accepted 8,000 new freshmen. We do have to wait until March to find out about any scholarship hopes. Keeping our fingers crossed.

I think I am off to lala land. Ashley has an early practice in the morning and I have had a brutal week at work.

Hope everyone has a great weekend.

Congrats to Dale!! How exciting!! Good luck on the scholarships!

Pam, I'm always exhausted after reading your posts!!!

(how do you do it?!!)

 

[mickeymo]

Good Morning All! A quick post before getting ready for Mike's confirmation. Cruise in 2010 anyone? IL's announced they would like us, including John's sister, husband and her now ds1 and ds21/2 to vacation together... I get the job of planning the vacation for us all! After 6+ hrs with our travel agent finalizing our reservations for '09 I'm not looking forward to coordinating plans for three families any time soon - To cruise with the mouse, I'll make that sacrifice!!!

Congrats to Dale, especially snagging housing!!! - Beware of the Aggie brainwashing...

 

[Dancind]

Pam, that's great news! No more worrying, now Dale can relax. But not too much, that Senioritis can be killer, I hear.

Yes, isn't A&M the original "Aggies"? The ones all the jokes are about? Not to worry, no jokes here.

And have you figured out yet when you will be able to go to WDW once Dale is at A&M?

 

[mickeymo]

Good Luck Jim and Matt, tomorrow!

Taking from an Old Irish Blessing:

May the road rise up to meet you.
May the wind always be at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face,
and rains fall soft upon your fields.
And until we meet again,
May God hold you in the palm of His hand.​

Houston Marathon is also tomorrow -John came very close to riding on the back of the leader motorcycle during the race tomorrow - but, his friend thought he already accepted an assignment assignment with another company and gave it to someone else. (John originally turned down working tomorrow because of the visiting parents - but, he would have been more than willing to change his mind to ride with the leaders )

 

[justmestace]

Hi all!!

 

[WDWLVR]

Good morning everyone! Hope everyone is having a great day.

 

[BWVPam]

Pam, that's great news! No more worrying, now Dale can relax. But not too much, that Senioritis can be killer, I hear.

Yes, isn't A&M the original "Aggies"? The ones all the jokes are about? Not to worry, no jokes here.

And have you figured out yet when you will be able to go to WDW once Dale is at A&M?

Yes, they are the original Aggies. However, it is amazing how "Aggies" stick together. They have a huge network of alumni worldwide that support each other. Dale has already been offered an internship after he gets started in college with a huge company based in New Hampshire that has offices in four places around the world by an Aggie alum. At freshman orientation, the Dean of Students gives out his home phone number to parents to call if there is ever a problem. Students are given lists of Alumni between College Station and wherever their home is so that if they are in route to home and have car problems, they can call whoever is closest on the list to help them out. They are a pretty conservative university with a strict honor code and heaps of tradition. Dale is ultra-conservative. His choice was between University of Texas, Texas A&M and Baylor. Baylor was just too expensive. After two visits to University of Texas and only one visit to Texas A & M, Dale decided he wanted to go to A&M. He actually didn't even apply to UT. UT is a great school, but it is definitely not conservative. Being at a school with a great sports program is not important to Dale, but being at a school that has many of the same values he has is.

Actually, about WDW, we probably won't go again until August 2009 at this point. The Southern Zones Swim Meet will be held in Orlando the first week of August and I think we will plan on that and combining it with a stay at WDW. this summer is just going to be too crazy with getting everything ready for him to go to College and Ashley's swimming schedule. He also wants to try to get in with the college program at WDW at least once while he is in school. My parents are thinking they would like to go and stay at OKW again during Christmas, possibly 2009. We will have to see about that.

We are hoping to get in a quick trip to DL this summer, but Charley's vacation ends before everyone meets up after the summer cruise. So, unless something changes, we will be gone before everyone else gets there, if we even end up going.

Gotta run and go get ready for church. Hope everyone has a great weekend.

GO COWBOYS!!

 

[scuba diver]

Thanks for all the well wishes. The Scubas are back home.

Lisa did fine and earned 4 medals. Sharon will have to post the details bacause I was not there. I was in bed.

I earned by Goofy by running the 1/2 marathon on Saturday with Matt and then running the full marathon today.

I'm heading to the coach with a glass of wine and will report later with some details, including the great meal at Artisian Point.

 

[Dancind]

Hi all!!

Hi Stacey! I think this might be your shortest post ever!

 

[Dancind]

He also wants to try to get in with the college program at WDW at least once while he is in school.

Alicia wants to do this too. I'm going to encourage her to wait until her Sophomore year though. Maybe she will be a little more mature!

Jim, I need a ranking. We are planning two Signature restaurant evenings during our May trip, and I'm waffling. California Grill is pretty much a must, but then there is Narcoosee's (lobster), Flying Fish, Bistro de Paris for the six course menu with wine, or maybe Artist Point. We have never been to the last two, and Kevin hasn't been to Narcoosee's. Have you been to all of the above?

Any other opinions would be appreciated.

 

[justmestace]

Checking in really quick again, having trouble with the broadband so am using dial up.

Hope everyone had a great weekend!

Good job, Jim and congrats to Lisa!

 

[chip&dale&fun]

***************

We received some good news today. Dale has been accepted to Texas
A & M. This is where he wants to go, and were surprised to get the notification so early. He only submitted his application in December. One of the guys I work with said his son waited 3 months last year to get accepted and that they have several friends that have kids that have applied that haven't heard anything so far. We are thrilled. We can now send in the dorm deposit ($325) to guarantee him a dorm. Last year A&M received something like 26,000 freshman applications and accepted 8,000 new freshmen. We do have to wait until March to find out about any scholarship hopes. Keeping our fingers crossed.

Good Morning all and a belated Congratulations to DALE

Finger crossed in Fla as well for good news in the future....

 

[chip&dale&fun]

Good Morning All - We are back as well and had a wonderful relaxing weekend..

Note - we did not run......

We did try the new Animal Kingdom resturant - Yak and Yedi - it is beautifully planned with lots of niches and pictures - very, very well done. I had the PHO - yummy - and then some, shrimp in a clear broth with rice noodles and Vientamese condiments including fish sauce and hot peppers - very very very good and way to much for one person. Sam had the duck - since it was "sweet" it was not to my liking, but I bet that is a personal choice. Their beer selection was varied with many specialty Asian beer. We sat upstairs, a welcome change.....I highly recommend this - but please get priority seating.

Then we dashed (ok - pun there) over to All Star Sports for a chat with the Scubas by the pool and I will attest I did see Sir Scuba's medal. We wished Lisa luck before checking in at Pop - then it was time to head to Artist Point with Jim for dinner. They offered a special pasta dish for the runners, a nice touch and a nice dinner - Jim can post.

I had 3 appetizers, high maintenance I guess with the wine pairings. Their mushroom soup - yummy - I could make a meal of it. After that, the duck and bok choy - this was well presented and very, very good...not sweet, but savory. Although it was an appetizer portion, I was full. For dessert, I had the cheese plate - as did Sam. Jim had the berry coobler. By the way, Sam had the buffulo for dinner.

We can report that Jim actually did finish the marathon. Either that or he mugged someone for the medal - but I think he did finish. I was not prepared for the event - it is huge - I heard there were 13000 participants - can you imagine.....Somehow we were able to pick Jim out of the crowd after he passed the line.....

Our local paper ran all the runners and finishing times for the local folks.

Impressive.

Must dash **** Later....

 

[scuba diver]

Alicia wants to do this too. I'm going to encourage her to wait until her Sophomore year though. Maybe she will be a little more mature!

Jim, I need a ranking. We are planning two Signature restaurant evenings during our May trip, and I'm waffling. California Grill is pretty much a must, but then there is Narcoosee's (lobster), Flying Fish, Bistro de Paris for the six course menu with wine, or maybe Artist Point. We have never been to the last two, and Kevin hasn't been to Narcoosee's. Have you been to all of the above?

Any other opinions would be appreciated.

Sorry, I can't rank the restaurants. They are all good, but just different. It depends on what you are looking for.

Artist Point has great Northwestern Food and a beautful setting. Not many kids. Good for a quieter night away from the parks.

Flying Fish has great seafood, but a little noisy.

Good luck in trying to decide. I wouldn't worry about picking the best restaurnat because they all will be good. Go for variety.

 

[scuba diver]

Weekend report......the short version is lots of running and getting up way to early in the morning every day.

Friday was packet pick up at Wide World of Sports. That gave an indication on the size of the event. It was packed. Parking was in overflow. The line was outside the Milkhouse, but moved quickly. Disney sure can handle a crowd. We tried to have dinner at the All-Star Cafe, but it is gone. They put in a fast food restaurant. We talked to the bartender and he recommended we go elsewhere. To bad because we enjoyed stopping by there many times when going from DB to Tampa.

Instead we ate at All-Star Sports where we spent Friday and Saturday night. The food was fine. The only thing that I noticed different was the soda mug. $12.95 for your lenght of stay. We got one and make it work for all of us over the weekend.

Sharon and Lisa came over to WDW Friday night after gym.

Matt and I ran the 1/2 marathon on Saturday morning. The start time was 6 am. In order to beat the crowds and road closures we were up at 2:45 am and on the road at 3 am. We were parked at 3:15 am. We saw people already walking to the starting area. They used the busses or monorail from the hotels. We drive because we want some place to sit until we have to move to the starting line at 5 am. We pulled out our sleeping bags and pillows and slept until 4:30. At 5 am we start the walk to the starting line, about 1 mile. Wait around some more and then off we go. The fireworks were great.

We took our time and lots of pictures. Had fun runnign throught Magic Kingdom and Epcot. Running up Mainstreet with lots of cheering people is fun.

Matt left me at mile 9 and ran it in. I kept taking my time since I had to run the next day. He finished 10 minutes before I did. Neither one of us had a great finish time, but we are okay with that. We had to much fun taking pictures.

back to work......

 

[RachelTori]

Hey Jim! Congrats to you and Matt for even getting up early and then running too!!!

All Star Cafe is GONE?!!! Never to be again? Our only memory of it will be the time we met up with your family.

 

[WDWLVR]

Sounds great Jim - would love to see some of the pictures!

 

[CajunGirl2]

Hi all!

Congrats to Dale on A&M!!!

Congrats to the Scuba family on their accomplishments this weekend. Jim, thanks for the report. Where did you put your sleeping bags to sleep? On the ground in the parking lot? I can't imagine getting up that early for a run ... no thanks!

My two cousins walked the marathon yesterday. It took them 7 hours.

Ang

 

[scuba diver]

And the rest of the story....

Saturday afternoon was filled with an ice bath, nap, and poolside drinks with Sam, Irene, and Heggie. Sharon, Matt, and Lisa left late afternoon for the gymnastics meet in Tampa. They got back after midnight.

Sam, Irene and I had dinner at Artisian Point. I had a great pasta dish. Pasta in a light olive oil, whole leaf spinach, wild mushrooms, sundried tomatos, and a chicken breast. They could put that on their main menu. It was excellant.

I was up again at 2:30 am and a repeat of Saturday....sleeping in the car.

The marathon actually has two starts that follow two different routes for the first 3 miles. I was in starting coral D which was the first coral on the red start. That means I was right up front for the fireworks. They sure do a great job, again.

We went throught Epcot, to MK, to AK, to MGM, to Epcot, to Finish. The best part of the marathon for me was who I ran with. At mile 4 I was beside Jeff Galloway. That is a running "superstar". He was running with his wife Barbara. She and I start talking and talked for the next 22 miles. The three of us crossed the line together. It was a great reminder of how much fun it is to run with other people.

Family, Sam and Irene, and I all meet up in the parking lot so I could have my reward....an ice cold beer. After that we went to dinner at Bahama Breeze to hear about the gym meet and celebrate.

This was a three t-shirt and three medal weekend.

Goofy....absolutely. Doing it again next year? Already signed up.