Rocket Launch

The first big Cub Scout event of the school year was the rocket launch.   William and John assembled three rockets for launching.  This was my first year to attend, and it was a lot of fun!   John's dad was also in town that weekend and got to watch a few launches before he had to head home.

 

The boys each put their first rocket on the launch pad.  They each got to stand next to the operator and launch his own rocket when it was his turn.  William's first rocket landed right next to the launch table!  His other ones (with more powerful engines) landed in the weeds and were an effort for the boys to retrieve.   It ended up being an unseasonably warm day, so once William was covered in thistles from his venture into the overgrowth to retrieve his last rocket, he shed his t-shirt for the drive home.

Palm Desert

My first ever trip to Palm Desert/Palm Springs was wonderful!  The best part was that I got to bring John on a business trip; that never happens!  Not only was it "ok" to bring a spouse; they were an integral part of the program.  This meeting was called LEAD - and it was the kick-off meeting for Deloitte's new U.S. partners and managing directors.   It was part celebration of our admission/promotion and part "what you need to know in your new role."  And our spouses deserve to celebrate, and had things they needed to learn about. . . .a consequence of being married to a CPA working in public accounting is that the governing bodies and ethics commissions care about spouses and dependents, too!  The short version is:  if I can't own it, he can't own it.

 

The hotel was decked out in our logo for the meeting.  The coolest were the posters lining the hallway to the convention center than had each of our photos.   I don't remember the number, but I think there were about 350 new partners and managing directors.  With guests, facilitators, and leadership,  we were over 700 people.

  

Our dinner the first night was at Tommy Bahama's in Palm Springs.    We were excited to meet up with K-State friends Danielle and Chad.  Danielle and I started together in September 2011.  Our little start class of two both made it to the partner/director ranks, which as you can imagine is a little unusual.   The class that started in January 2011 was 7 people - one is a partner, two are senior managers, and the others have left for a variety of other careers (law firm, brokerage firm, corporate accounting, and a farmer's wife/stay-at-home mom)! 

Our dinner the second night was our formal gala - which was an amazing dinner, but really just a chance to get dressed up and hang out with friends.    I tried my first Rent the Runway dress (and necklace) and loved it!  John looked amazing in his tuxedo, and I was very proud of his bow tie tying skills! We shared a table with the other new female tax partners.  It was fun to meet everyone's husband, too, after hearing about them over the years.

 

 

On our last night of the program, we went to the Palm Springs Polo Fields (also host to Coachella) for an exhibition match and dinner.   It was fun to watch!  There was a play-by-play announcer so you could actually tell what was happening. . .mostly.

 

 

After three nights and four days of work, we finally got to enjoy the beautiful resort!   We stayed an extra night on our own, and it was well worth it.  We hit the pool (very important on a 113 degree day), booked spa appointments and had one last dinner with a few different friends who had also stayed over.   The only low of the entire week was the last hour - when our rental car had no air conditioning on the way back to the airport.   We had to drive down the freeway with the windows down.  We left early in the morning before it really heated up!  It also meant we had to spend a few extra hours in tiny Ontario airport which didn't have many amenities.  My clever husband found us a bar with beers and nachos and a table that he could set up his laptop to stream college football for us to watch.  Another way he saves the day!  I wouldn't have wanted to spend the week with anyone else..

Wind farm near the edit to Joshua Tree National Park - a strange contrast

Labor Day Weekend

For the long weekend, we drove the 8 hours to Kansas City to visit our best friends, the Koudeles.  We're always so happy to get to spend time with them!  William was thrilled to have doggies to play with again!   Of course the big event of the weekend (besides the inevitable Nerf wars with all the kids) was a trip to Clinton Lake to swim and tube.   The weather was perfect and the lake was "refreshingly" cool.  The kids and I all enjoyed tubing, and John also did a few runs on his slalom ski.   We figured out he hadn't been up on that since before we moved 9 years ago!   Luckily the Koudeles have been storing it in their garage all this time, and he popped back up easily enough.  It was fun to watch him!   My camera doesn't have any photos of me on the tube, but one of my turns was the most spectacular of the day:  we crossed some sort of wake - going pretty fast - and the tube and I flew about 6 feet in the air before I fell off.  It flew another 6 feet into the air before coming down.  I made a pretty splashtastic landing from 6 feet.   Lost my breath and almost my tankini bottoms on the crash down, but all was well.

 

 Contemplating life over sandwiches and chips on the sun deck

 Swimming to land to explore

 Three out of three kids say tubing is great!

 

The Koudeles were gracious enough to indulge me in my favorite Kansas City cuisine:  Joe's KC barbecue (love some Carolina turkey and those French fries!) and Mexican food.  We also enjoyed a spectacular steak dinner compliments of Chef Keith.

Our Quick Weekend Getaway

I just couldn't resist the pull of one more trip to Disney before our annual passes expire in September!   I'm not entirely sure how it started (maybe a Southwest ad on Facebook?) but I was sitting at my computer on Thursday night and got the idea to do a weekend getaway to Disney World since William had an in service day on Monday.  I took a quick peek at flights and saw an awesome deal so just booked them!  30,000 Southwest points and $34.50 of taxes later, and we had three tickets to Orlando departing in 36 hours!   Luckily since it is hurricane season, I also got a steal of a passholder rate at the resort I wanted!  

We stayed at Disney's Yacht Club Resort, which is where we stayed on our very first trip in September 2012.   I chose this resort because of the pool which has a sand bottom and play area, as well as an amazing slide.   That was our first stop when we arrived on Saturday.   We even enjoyed our lunch (amazing chicken sandwich, chicken nuggets, beer and margarita at our lounge chairs. . . .seriously, we were in heaven). 

 

 

Over the course of the weekend we ate two times at the Crew Cup Lounge which had an AMAZING cheeseburger (as I'd read about on various blogs) and beer selection.  It was there we learned cheeseburgers are William's newest favorite food.  We also got a "to go" No Way Jose sundae from Beaches and Cream to eat at the pool.  Chocolate and vanilla ice creams, peanut butter and hot fudge, chocolate and peanut butter chips, and whipped cream.  Oh yum!

 

After a few hours at the pool on Saturday afternoon, we cleaned up and walked over the Hollywood Studios to use our Fast Passes, have dinner and watch the new since our June vacation Star Wars fireworks.  It did rain on us as we were walking, but that gave us a chance to walk through the stores before our Tower of Terror ride.   Now that William is out of the stroller we pack very lightly (the boys carry nothing, and I have a small purse), but I always remember a "purse poncho" i.e. gallon size Ziploc bag to cover my purse in the rain or water rides.  You can see it below.

When the Studios closed we waited in an incredibly long and slow bus line to take us to Animal Kingdom to ride Everest.  We got a few rides in, then did Kali River Rapids (all was pure walk on), and then got sweet treats to eat before bed.  I only shared one slice of my caramel apple!

Sunday we spent most of the day at EPCOT.  We didn't wait in line to see Baymax but did get this picture as he was coming back on to meet people.  The big draw for EPCOT was to see the new Soarin' Around the World that the guys had not seen yet.    And of course we had to ride Spaceship Earth.  William always rides in the front by himself while John and I nap in the backseat!

 

 

For dinner we went to Disney Springs to eat at Art Smith's new restaurant, which was only ok.   I expected more from Oprah's buddy!  We did enjoy shopping at the Lego store (where we saw the new Cinderella's Castle set) and World of Disney store.  I stocked up on more Christmas ornaments (my tree will be full of all things Disney soon!) and used my internet sleuthing skills to hand-pick the "right" blind bags of Disney mini-figs.   We ended up with Donald and Daisy Duck on accident but Stitch, Buzz, Maleficent and Hook were all intentional picks.

 

 

 

Monday was our last day, so we got up early for Magic Kingdom rope drop.  The Seven Dwarves Mine Train was the only "must ride" that I couldn't get a Fast Pass for on such short notice, so we had to be among the first in the park on Monday morning to ride it with a short line.  We were! After riding it, we rode Space Mountain walk on twice with no lines and then retired to Starbucks for breakfast. It was a good thing we got our Space fill, because when our Fast Pass time rolled around it was closed, so we swapped it for the Speedway.   We did get some pictures of Space Mountain with the light on though by riding the People Mover through it twice.  

 

 

 

As we were leaving, the tropical storm was approaching.  I got this photo from the castle looking toward the front of the park.  We got out of Orlando before the storms hit, and made it home without any issues.  I usually labor and plan over our Disney trips months in advance, but this trip - booked on 36 hours notice - was really one of the most relaxing and fun trips we've ever had.  Probably because we were just so giddy to get away and spend time together!