Duchess of Evil

*waves*

It feels like I've been gone forever!  Still in Disneyland (until Saturday) but finally have some time to check e-mail and that sort of thing.  Thought I'd do a vacation post from vacation.  Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

Usually Disney premieres it's Christmas parade today, but they did it on Monday this week because it was Mickey's 75th Birthday.  Regardless, today is (so we've been told) THE busiest day in the park for the entire year, so we're taking it slow, sleeping in, going to do some Disney shopping.  We've already seen the parade (which was fun) and the fireworks (three times) so we're feeling pretty good about missing them tonight and not fighting the crowds.  I do have to say that Disney at Christmastime is more special than Disney in the spring/summer.  Every night on Main Street, they do this thing where blowers blow fake snow out and it really, truly looks like real snow.  It is wonderful and magical and makes me wonder if that's how they do it in the movies (it's bubbles, the sudsy kind, and as stated, looks real.  Just don't taste it.)  And there are Christmas decorations everywhere, and the castle WOW!  They have it strung with lights that make it look like it's covered in snow and icicles and it is simply stunning!  I got an awesome pic of it I'll upload.

In short, we're having a great time.  Even if my feet did kill me for the first three days.  Like, literally.  Bad shoes!  I have inserts that are doing slightly better now, but I'm still sorta hobbling by evening. 

The nephews have had quite a few very cute moments.  The cutest so far actually isn't even Disney related.  Both boys like to ride on Grandpa's shoulders, though at eight, they're getting kinda big for it.  So Grandpa limits the number of times he'll carry them.  Two days ago, he told Riley "Ok, you only get one more time for the rest of the day, and then we're done with that."  So, Riley used it up fairly early.  What no one realized at the time was, both boys were wearing new jeans, and these jeans were rubbing the insides of their little legs raw!  By the time anyone knew what was going on, both boys were walking funny, and their poor little legs were all red.  So, they ride back to the hotel (we're staying at the Disneyland Hotel right by Downtown Disney) on the monorail, and when they get off to finish walking to the hotel, Riley says in the cutest, most wistful voice you can imagine:

"Papa, I know you're going to say no."  (Papa already knows what he's going to ask.)  "But do you think you could carry me the rest of the way?"

Awww.  Of course Papa did. Poor boys.  I think Michael carried Brennan, and the boys aren't wearing those jeans anymore.  Ah, to be young enough to heal that quickly!

We have today, and then tomorrow is our last!  Hope everyone is having a Happy Turkey Day, and I'll be back online Saturday after we get home.

(Oh, and we saw Hitman last night.  Not bad!  They did a pretty decent job, storywise, and Timothy Olyphant is very good.  I hope it does well enough that they make another.)

Damn it, and I just told my doctor last week that it had been months since my last migraine, and then I go and wake up with one this morning. 

Meds have finally kicked in, so at least now it's managable enough for me to function.  But it's really interfering with my TGIF happiness.

I guess it's time I posted those pics of Crater Lake.  Some history, for those of you who don't know much about it.  Crater Lake is a volcano that erupted roughly 7,000 years ago, and then collapsed in on itself, creating this huge natural lake that has a surface area of 21 square miles and is almost 2,000 feet deep at its deepest point.  That makes it the deepest lake in the United states, and the seventh deepest in the world.  The water is among the purest in nature, meaning it has a decided lack of pollutants and other contaminants.  Due to its depth and clarity, it's waters reflect an incredibly deep blue color that never fails to be beautiful.  Really, the water, the mountain, the trees - I think this has to be one of the most beautiful spots on earth.

I have often stated here that taking pictures is not a gift of mine - with that in mind, realize that the pictures I'm posting turned out as well as they did because Crater Lake is seriously just that gorgeous.  Imagine what they'd look like if a real photogrpaher took them.

Hmm, I haven't been able to resize these, so I'd imagine they won't be dial-up friendly (do people actually still use dial-up?)