2005

A last minute business trip to Switzerland brings me to the city of Bern. The weather was perfect in contrast to the dire weather predictions, which was quite the pleasure.

We had a most excellent warm spell that convinced the plants it was time to start showing off their flowers. The tulips are looking great this year too.

Nick still enjoys creating his own custom creatures. I think he plans on submitting this design to Lego for some kind of contest.

Tonight is the big “Reach for the Stars” auction to raise money for Brook Knoll elementary school. Charlotte has been helping a lot with the event, though Valri’s sounds like she’s been putting in a huge effort on this one. Everything looks ready for the big crowd and there are plenty of truly awesome items people have donated or created. Charlotte and the SVEF crew also take the opportunity to plug our upcoming fundraising bicycle event. ...

This week’s day trip with Gordon is to the Filoli Center. Looks like a beautiful day and the flowers are in bloom.

While Gabe and Charlotte battled a stomach virus, we attempted to enjoy our last day at Disney World with a visit to MGM Studios. I didn’t get many photos as Nick and Monica started to come down with the sickness. We managed to squeeze in one trip to Space Mountain while everyone could keep their lunch down. The parade was a good chance to rest and take a few shots before heading back to embrace the horror of the worst stomach virus we’ve ever experienced. I did manage to keep well until our flight back the next morning, but did manage to keep it together for the flight. It really was a fun trip as long as I try to forget the last couple of days. ...

Today’s Disney World trip is to Epcot. Not a lot of photos, but we did really enjoy the Mission Space ride. Nothing like pulling some Gs to get your day going. In the waiting area after the ride, Gabe and I enjoy a team effort on a cool video game. Gabe and Kyle do a bit of bonding. The kids enjoy a bit of sombrero fun at the Mexico plaza at the World Showcase. This was unfortunately the last stop before the wave of sickness kicked in. Gabe started to complain he was feeling bad and needed to go home. Little did we know this was just the beginning of a cascade of stomach virus to hit everyone for the next week. I can’t say it was the best birthday of my life, but I loved being with Lynda and her family and we had a great dinner thanks to Mom. ...

Our first day at Disney World begins with an exciting shuttle bus trip from the Old Key West resort to the Animal Kingdom. Steve, Lynda, Rachel, and Monica look primed for a day of fun. There’s definitely something to be said for a park where you have a chance to actually interact with some living things other than a pile of tourists on a ride. The kids really enjoyed the python and the petting zoo. Gabe had a blast with a deranged cow that sounded as if he had seen enough people that day. ...

We’re off to Orlando to meet up with Lynda and Steve’s family at Disney World. They have a timeshare at the Old Key West resort, so it was hard to pass up on the opportunity for a first visit to Disney World and to see their cousins. We’ve been to Disneyland a few times, but never to the mother of all theme parks. We decided to spend the first day checking out the other coast, so we packed up the car and drove out to Cocoa Beach to see how it compares to the Santa Cruz scene. The beach was really beautiful, the waves were awesome, but I expected it to be warmer. It really was pretty much the same as back home, which was of course no problem for my kids. ...

Monica had a school play today she was really looking forward to. Her play was one of a few covering different historical religious stories. Her play was about the story of Purim and she was the narrator.