Disney - Epcot

We finished off the Disney Vacation with a stop at Epcot.

Spaceship Earth was still an illuminating historical recap of where we've been and how our civilization developed: our alphabet dates back to the Phoenicians...we didn't know that.

The centrifuge driven "Mission: Space" ride was very realistic (not that I know what a mission to Mars feels like but they certainly got the g-force of a rocket launch down...nailed that one).

We somehow stumbled across a British Pub.  Great beer and conversation...

25 years ago I was here in EPCOT, thrilled that I could place a call in a real red British phone booth...

Not my photo (http://www.picstopin.com)

The evening ended with an impressive fireworks display after which Dylan shouted "I love you world!"

Disney World - Expedition Everest

This one section of the Wild Animal park deserves its own entry.  One of the more exciting rides in the park was the Expedition Everest roller coaster.

It was quite daunting for the little man...a huge mountain, the lore of the Yeti which inhabits that mountain.  After a couple minutes he decided that he would give it a try.  After a very steep climb up the mountain:

...the coaster then plunged into the snowy gorge:

Suddenly it all stopped as the tracks had been torn up my some unknown force...the Yeti perhaps!?

Dylan decides that he would scare the Yeti if he saw him...and we then plunged backwards into the darkened yeti mountain:

Once inside the mountain (after several backwards twists and turns) we saw the Yeti up ahead - pulling up more tracks!

We sped out of the mountain at break-neck speed, into the sun again and the twisting decent down Everest to the Himalayan town below:

When it all came to a stop I was wondering if Dylan would ever be the same again...he was a little shaken up, initially said he "didn't like it."

5 minutes later, as we were walking away he said..."let's do it again!" and so we did...6 more times!

Check out the complete experience here.

Disney World - Animal Kingdom

Perhaps the highlight of the entire Disney experience was the Animal Kingdom park.  Divided into several regions (Africa, Asia, Dinoland USA) and a conservation-focused area (Rafiki's Planet Watch) the park offered wild animal exposure within natural surroundings interspersed with a few rides.  The Kilimanjaro Safari was a real treat - it compared very well to the week-long safari we did in Kenya and Tanzania - except this one lasted 20 minutes.  We saw more rhinos in Florida than we did in Africa...kinda sad I suppose.

It was all very tastefully done (painstaking in it's accurate depiction of a Himalayan village and an African train station). Dylan enrolled in the Wilderness Explorer's program, in which he had numerous tasks to complete around the park to earn stickers.  Here he is learning about the difference between carnivores and herbivores: 

Rafiki's Planet Watch taught us all a few lessons about conservation and developing animal friendly habitats in our back yard...and Dylan got to meet Rafiki himself...very exciting for a young Lion King fan:

Dylan was even able to participate in a "real" dig, uncovering an ancient Woolly Mammoth...

Bull & Bear

This was a great experience...

The National Sailing Hall of Fame has (on loan) two circa-1860 replica Sandbagger wooden sailboats. They use these boats to take groups out sailing (at no cost) to promote the sport.  The origin of these boats was in New York Harbor where they moved oysters to market.  The original rigs (mast and sails) were much larger requiring the use of sandbag ballast which was moved from side to side to help stabilize these overpowered craft.  I joined a few other volunteers as we moved these beautiful boats to their winter home on Gibson Island...it was a great afternoon onboard a piece of American sailing history.

An interesting video about these boats is available here.

National Sailing Hall of Fame

I've become increasingly involved with the US National Sailing Hall of Fame (NSHoF) located here in Annapolis.  On October 27th I was honored to participate in the Class of 2013 Induction ceremony, which the Hall of Fame dedicated to the US Naval Academy.  Sharing the stage again with Gary Jobson and Mayor Cohen I gave a short speech which celebrated the joint ventures and common goals of the Naval Academy Sailing program and National Sailing Hall of Fame and our focus on leadership development.

Video of the event is available here (I'm introduced at minute 7:35)

Keystone Ski Trip

We were back out in Colorado for our annual ski trip.  The snow was much better this year and with potty training behind us Dylan was eligible for ski lessons...at 3 years old!  We had him out last year so this wasn't his first experience but you never know - we hoped for the best.

Dylan at Ski School

After a big dose of Warren Miller ski videos in the condo Dylan was pretty excited about getting out there, even asking if he could "ski over some cars."  Les told him that it was probably a few years off but..."yes, someday Daddy will let you ski over (somebody elses) car."

We couldn't have been more proud of the little man, he absolutely loved ski school (Keystone prides itself on making the experience fun for the kids).  They did a great job teaching him the fundamentals of the snow plow (pizza pie) which is enough to give him the confidence to tackle real hills.

So, after a few runs down the training hill we took him down a steeper run (and a real chair lift).  Dylan was awesome - we wish we had begun at his age!

We're already thinking about another spring trip out west to get the little man back on the slopes, looking forward to the day when Mummy and Daddy are chasing Dylan down the Black runs!  (I just hope he doesn't discover snow boards!).