And we're back

We are home and we hated leaving Disney World. We've been to Disney before and had wonderful times then, but this trip was just a tad bit different. Little Clover is in one of those in-between ages. He isn't a little kid anymore, but he isn't completely a big kid yet either. Sure we did the big kid rides like Big Thunder Mountain and the Primeval Whirl. We even went on a water coaster at Typhoon Lagoon, which is essentially a super charged water slide that you go down, and up. We still went on the little kid rides, too, like "It's a Small World" and the Animal Kingdom equivalent of the Dumbo ride. There were a few times when I even felt this little hand slide into mine while walking. I doubt I'll have many more moments of these with Little Clover, so I cherished each one with him this past week.



One of the best parts of Disney with this particular little person is visiting his favorite park, Epcot. Yep, my kid loves Epcot above all the others. He likes to walk around each country. He especially loves to eat the foods of each country. We sampled Japanese cuisine twice. The first night consistent of a little hibachi dinner,


where Little Clover displayed his mad chopstick skills.



The second trip to Japan consisted of a visit to the sushi bar where Little Clover order his usually: a seaweed salad and an order of flying fish roe sushi. The nights in Japan were the only times when he didn't eat Mac 'n Cheese or hot dogs.

A couple of nights later, we feasted in Germany while listening to a traditional band. Little Clover tested out his flirting skills with the older girls at our table. He got a few laughs telling them about how I almost stepped on a snake that morning and completely freaked out. I maintain the snake was huge and at least 10 feet long. Little Clover and Italian swear it was under 10 inches, but they weren't the ones who almost stepped on it. At least it gave Little Clover a great story to retell.

We also had the pleasure of visiting Norway were we spotted Dale of Norway sweaters. I've got to get one of these patterns. The shop had the Peace pattern from the 1994 Olympics and it was beautiful. One day, I'll be able to knit a beautiful Dale pattern.

Speaking of sweaters, did you know Disney World has sheep?

It was like a mini sheep and wool festival.

And in case you think I didn't knit a bit, let me tell you, you can get a lot of knitting done while waiting in line for rides. When we left for Disney, I had just turned the heel of the second sock and picked up stitches for the gusset. After waiting for buses and in several lines, I managed to knock out a good chunk of the foot.

I made the most progress while waiting in line for one ride for 2 hours. Yes, 2 hours was spent winding my way through a throng of people to go on a 6 minute ride and it was totally worth it. What was the ride? The new Toy Story Mania, and yes, it was worth the 2 hour wait. We had a blast and it was one of our favorite attractions.

As with all good things, the vacation came to end. I plowed my way through the front of the Shaped Tee on the plane.

Normally, I'd have plenty of time left to finish the top and wear it this season, but the weather has been oddly cool. Maybe I can layer it under a cute cardigan. (Guess I'm knitting a cardigan next).

Cool weather always makes me think of fall, as does the start of another school year. Today, Little Clover officially became a fourth grader. This is the last year of elementary school and I tried my best not to cry a single tear. I almost made it, too.

Happy first day of school, Little Guy. May you have a year of happy memories ahead of you.