26 December 2010 - Christmas Theme Parks

On Monday, we picked the kids up right after school, dropped their backpacks off at home, and headed south on I-79 toward Florida. We drove only about four hours or so that evening, stopping in southern Virginia for the night. On Tuesday, we continued south through North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia, arriving in Florida late Tuesday afternoon. Just south of Jacksonville, we diverted our course just a little to pay a brief visit to Ormond Beach. It was too cold to splash in the water, but hey, at least we saw the beach during our vacation in Florida.We then drove southwest to Orlando, meeting Grandma and Aunt Jennifer at our condo in Kissimmee. It had been a long travel day for all, so we got some pizza, arranged our things (including Christmas stockings), and went to bed. On Wednesday morning, we began the first of our five days at Disneyworld -- first stop: the Magic Kingdom.
You can see that I was tremendously excited to be there.
One of the first rides we hit was Dumbo's Flight, which was a big hit with all the girls. On our first day in the Magic Kingdom we rode Peter Pan, Small World, Snow White, Space Mountain, Buzz Lightyear, Mad Hatter's Tea Cups, and Jessica proved what a good driver she is on the Motor Speedway. I think we might have ridden a few other things too, can't remember. Oh, and we caught a couple shows.
On Thursday, we went to Hollywood Studios. Our family took time to hang out with Pooh and Piglet.
And here's everyone with Chip and Dale. I wanted to take my shirt off for this photo and flex my muscles.
And you can't go to Disneyworld and leave without a candid with Mickey himself.
Hollywood studios has one of the funnest rides ever. It is a 3-D Toy Story ride. While you wait in the very healthy line, a large animatronic Mr. Potato Head entertains you.
Madeline and I were paired for the Toy Story ride. Your car spins you around while you aim your cannon (which shoots plunger-style suction cups) at a variety of carnival type targets that move and shift in 3-D with the help of the glasses. The ride was a total blast. They also have a wicked fun Rockin' Roller Coaster at Hollywood Studios.
Friday was our day at Animal Kingdom. We started our day with an African safari, which was really cool. They had tons of animals, all of which where in very authentic settings. I've never been on a real African safari, but it almost felt like you were really there, and we got some great looks at the animals.
We also took in a 3-D Bug's Life show, rode the Expedition Everest roller coaster (very fun, several times), and spent a couple hours in Dinosaur Land. We attended a 45-minute musical performance of the Finding Nemo story and a Lion King show as well. Here are some Bug's Life 3-D glasses being modeled by Jessica and Aunt Jen.
On Christmas Day, Saturday, we awoke to find that Santa had found us in Florida. Madeline got Harry Potter's wand, Emily got Hermione Granger's wand, and Jessica got Ginny Weasley's wand.After presents, we headed back to the Magic Kingdom. We arrived there about 10:30, and found everyone in the whole world was also there. Yes, you may not realize it, but you were at the Magic Kingdom on Christmas Day, because I swear, every person in the entire world was there. We found we were fortunate, because less than an hour after we arrived, the park reached its capacity (which I have since found out is 100,000 people), so had we been even a little later arriving, we wouldn't have been allowed in. Here are the 'twins' on the tram between the parking area and the monorail station.
The crowds were bad throughout the day, but we still found time to do many, many things. We rode the Jungle Cruise, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Pirates of the Carribean, Buzz Lightyear (again), and we caught the Country Bears Jamboree. Grandma even found a little time to rest with the girls on a bench in Frontierland.
We rode Aladin's magic carpets in Adventureland too.
On Christmas night, we stayed for the 9 p.m. Main Street Electrical Parade. The castle was lit up with thousands of lights.
Despite the crowds, we were able to stake out an excellent spot to watch the parade, and it really was fun to watch the looks of pure delight on the kids' faces. When the parade was over, there were fireworks and then we made for the exit. It was a good thing too. As we reached the parking lot a cold, hard rain began to fall, and I read of short tempers and other unpleasantness amongst guests trying to leave the park later that night.
After four days in a row of theme parks, capped by a late Christmas night, there was only one thing to do: fall into bed, completely exhausted.

19 December 2010 - Caroling

Not satisfied with the collapsed gingerbread house at the ward party last week, Joanne set out to architect her own gingerbread village. The girls played a bit in the snow, but were around to help with some of the candy decorating, and certainly were available for a photo op.Here's a little of the detail on one of the houses.
Here is the front of the village.
On the 18th, we had our annual Christmas Carol singing activity at Giant Eagle grocery store. This is one we've done with the Salvation Army every year. We usually have a pretty good turn out despite the cold, and we have a fun time singing and drinking hot chocolate.
We've finished finals and tithing settlement now, and getting ready for our Christmas trip.

12 December 2010 - Swim Meet/Christmas Party

The girls had their first official swim meet as members of the Mon Valley YMCA swim team this week. It was an away meet at Sewickley, which is northwest of Pittsburgh. Both girls did an excellent job. Emily swam in four events while Jessica swam in three. She won the 100 meter freestyle for her age group. This photo is of Emily during the 100 meter backstroke, where she placed fourth for her age group.On Friday evening, we had our annual ward Christmas party. One of the activities was a gingerbread decorating activity. This was our table's entry. The icing wasn't setting up fast enough, so most of the houses fell down, and were subsequently eaten.
Our table included one of the girls' friends, Lauren Larsen. Emily is trying to provide some structural support in this photo.
Outside the church, the girls hastily constructed a small snowman using what little snow we had left on the ground.
Santa came to the ward party. Madeline asked for a baby brother.
Emily asked to be Hermione Granger. If you don't know who that is, read more Harry Potter books.
I don't know what Jessica asked Santa for, it was probably a secret anyway.
I continued with tithing settlement this week, and concluded classes for the semester. Lots of grading and prepping for finals too!

5 December 2010 - Christmas Decorations

The first week of December was very hectic. My dad and I went to Washington D.C. for the day on the Monday after Thanksgiving. While we were gone, the girls decorated the house for Christmas.Emily was apparently extra excited and decided to play Santa.
Although our weather was unseasonably cold through most of November, we didn't get our first real snow storm until this week.On Wednesday, my mom and dad had to finally say goodbye and return to Utah. It was great having them here with us, even though Joanne and I were gone for one of the two weeks they were here. Things worked out great though throughout their trip and we were grateful for all the help they gave us (including tuning the piano -- thanks Dad!)

28 November 2010 - Germany/Holland/Belgium

On Monday, I was working at the Technische Universität Dortmund, a technical university in Dortmund, Germany which has recently spun off a data mining software company called Rapid-I. I have been working with them and their software for some time now, and I am looking forward to incorporating many of their tools into my textbook on data mining. Here is a shot of part of the university.On Monday afternoon, I drove to Cologne to meet with one of the university's professors, Katerina Morik. We met in a very cool area of Cologne near the old cathedral, a Roman Catholic church near the banks of the Rhine River. Construction commenced in the 13th century, and the twin spires, at 157 meters tall, represent the second tallest church spires in the world, even to this day. My meeting with Dr. Morik was very beneficial, and getting to see the cathedral made the meeting place all-the-more ideal.
That evening, we drove north and west into Holland. We had a hotel reserved in Amsterdam. I didn't know a lot about Amsterdam, but it is a city built on canals an bills itself as the "Venice of the North". It certainly is of the north, it was freezing cold there. The city is very cool, like most European capitals full of architecture, and as the home of both Rembrandt and Van Gogh, boasted its share of art as well. Of course what Holland is most famous for is its windmills. We found several good ones near a small chocolate manufacturing town just outside Amsterdam.
After checking out Amsterdam for a day, we went on to Belgium on Tuesday evening. Brussels was one of the crazier cities to drive in, but I had bought Europe maps for our GPS, and it got us right where we needed to go. There is much to see in Brussels. At the heart of the city is Old Town Square where there is a main cathedral and a royal palace. This photo is of Grand Place, which is now a museum.
It wouldn't be Belgium without Belgian waffles and hot chocolate.
Joanne was pleased to find Aldi very plentiful in Europe, and we stopped to stock up on chocolate and other goodies as our trip drew to a close.
Our final stop was in the city of Compiègne. It was here in 1430 that Joan of Arc was captured by Burgundian soldiers at age 19. She was later sold to the English, tried for heresy, and executed. These are the remains of the castle where she was captured.
After our brief stop in Compiègne, we continued on to Roissy-en-France, which is the outskirt area of Paris where Charles de Gaulle Airport is located. We spent the night there, then returned our car to the airport and boarded our flight to Pittsburgh the next morning. My dad picked us up at just after 2 PM, and we came home to enjoy a Thanksgiving meal together, prepared by my mom.
We had an excellent time on our trip, and look forward to someday seeing other parts of Europe. For now, it's good to be home and to have a few days to rest before heading back to teaching.

21 November 2010 - France/Luxembourg/Birthday

On Wednesday, our trip to Europe finally arrived. We picked the girls up from school and dropped them off at piano lessons, then drove to Pittsburgh Airport. My mom and dad's flight arrived right on time at 4 PM, and they had their luggage and were ready to go when we arrive. We exchanged a few quick details and hugs, then they took my truck and drove to get the girls from piano while we boarded our flight to Paris. The flight was an overnight, 9 hour trip, and with Paris six hours ahead of Eastern time, we arrived at about 8:30 AM Thursday morning. We took the RER train into the city and went to our hotel a few blocks from the Eiffel Tower. We slept for a little while, then went exploring. Here's us at the Eiffel Tower Thursday night.On Friday, we went roving around the city. We walked over seven miles. First we went to the Arc de Triomphe.
Then down the Champs de Elysee (think 5th Avenue in New York, Rodeo Drive in L.A., or the Magnificent Mile in Chicago) to the Grand Palais/Petit Palais.
We caught a boat on the River Seine to Notre Dame Cathedral. We went inside, but pictures were a no-no.
Then we took the boat to the Louvre. Here's Joanne with Mona Lisa.
Here's Joanne with Venus de Milo.
After the Louvre, we were very tired, and our (my) feet and back hurt, so we went to take the boat back to the Eiffel Tower so we could rest at our hotel, but a guy said the boat wasn't coming anymore so we started to walk back. Then the boat came anyway and we missed it and I was sad. Finally we made it back to our hotel, and instead of resting, we went up inside the Eiffel Tower to the top so we could take pictures of the city at night.I was very sore Saturday morning, but there's no rest for the wicked. We took the train to Versailles to check out Louis XIV's palace, grounds, gardens, and Marie Antionette's place. I have not bothered to put in any of the hundred pictures we took at Versailles. If you want to see them, come visit us some time and we'll show them to you. It is a massive, unreal place with art, architecture, sculpture and luxury at every turn and in every corner. Here's Joanne at the entrance to Versailles.
The gardens were very green, but the colorful flowers we pretty much all gone for winter. It was a little warmer outside on Saturday than on most days of the trip, but still pretty cold. This shot gives you a little glimpse of how huge the palace's garden's are.
After Versailles, we checked out of our hotel and went to rent our car. This is our Fiat 500, which was an awesome car and reminded me of the truism that small is beautiful, especially when trying to find a parking spot in Europe's capital cities.
Saturday was also my 29th birthday. I've been 29 for nine years now. We drove our little car east toward Luxembourg, and stopped in the little town of Sedan in eastern France for a birthday dinner. It was most excellent, and this is my wicked chocolate birthday cake, which I devoured. After dinner we drove the rest of the way to Luxembourg, where we had a hotel for the night. On Sunday we drove the Valley of the Seven Castles in Luxembourg. The first is an ancient castle in the city of Luxembourg itself. The earliest parts were built starting in around 900 A.D. It was expanded over the centuries to stretch throughout the city. This is Joanne on the ramparts of one of the oldest surviving sections, with an old Roman arch stone bridge (still in use for trains) in the background.
These were the first four days of our trip. Next week will be the final three.