Tag / MDM

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GlobalFit III: Week 23

Y3Week23

Ah, we return to early December, which runs us into a bit of a problem.  For reasons I don’t entirely understand, the totals for parts of Thursday and all of Friday, Saturday, and Sunday were lost.  For the earlier part of the week, my last before going on vacation for the remainder of the year, the highlight was Wednesday, which included a trip to the Glen and Von Maur to but gifts for co-workers.  Thursday was the holiday party at GameWorks, followed by a trip to the movie theater.  Friday would have included a nice trip to the mall, while the weekend would have included snowblowing and a trip to Michael’s swim meet.

Total steps: 26,424

Weekly average: 3774.9

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Ringing In The New Year

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2014 is upon us and it is time to kick off the new year with the first photo from this year’s calendar that I made for my mom, dad, and sister for Christmas.  The picture isn’t exactly date appropriate, since young Mr. Michael is outside and wearing a light fleece, but beggars can’t be choosers.  This photo is from one of Danny’s Little League games in May of last year.

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2014 Calendar

Cover

Now that Christmas has come and gone, we can unveil the cover to this year’s calendar gift made up of pictures I have taken throughout the year.  This year’s calendar was once again produced by the good folks at Shutterfly, which has allowed for some new creative flourishes.  For each of the kid’s birthday month, they have a current photo surrounded by smaller pictures of them from year’s past.  Time surely moves quickly when you see them grow up in picture form.

This year’s cover is from our trip to Disney World last summer.  On our second day at Hollywood Studios, we were able to get some dry pictures with everybody’s favorite duck character, Ducky Momo, from the Phineas & Ferb cartoon.  As in year’s past, we will unveil each month’s photo on the first of the month throughout 2014.

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GlobalFit III: Week 21

Y3Week21Thanksgiving week was mostly a bust.  Monday and Tuesday were mostly spent with Danny and Michael, who had the whole week off from school.  Monday we went to Enchanted Castle, where our dreams of indoor miniature golf were dashed by recent renovations that removed the indoor miniature golf.  Tuesday was spent at the Museum of Science & Industry, as we previously discussed.  Wednesday’s big trip was to the grocery store in preparation of Thanksgiving.  The day itself was spent at home watching a 3 Stooges marathon.  Friday and Saturday seem pretty similar, though there was still very little activity.

Total steps: 24,468

Weekly average: 3495.4

by jim

Where Free Equals $95

msi_teslaWith both myself and Danny and Michael having the whole week off, we headed down to the Museum of Science and Industry today.  Due to my employer’s generous donations, our entrance to the museum was supposed to be gratis.  However, there seems to have been some changes at the museum since my last visit.  I expected to have to pay an additional fee for the visiting Disney exhibit, and the U-505 submarine tour was last minute audible that also added an additional cost.  Needing a ticket for the coal mine exhibit, however, was an unexpected change.  The three tickets for the three of us totaled $75.  Not to mention parking, which added another $20, and our free trip the museum was now just under $100.

That said, I can say that we all had a good time exploring the museum.  The time saved in not having to wait in a huge line for the coal mine may have even been worth the added cost.  The weather exhibit, sponsored by my employer, continued to be a big hit with the younger crowd, especially the Tesla coil demonstration.  The tour of the captured German U-boat was my first time on the submarine since I was in grade school, and the guided tour was performed flawlessly.  In our trip through the chick hatchery, we even got to see a newly hatched chicken, which was causing quite a ruckus among the crowd.

The Walt Disney exhibit, sadly, might have been the big disappointment of the day, though through no fault of its own.  There was a very similar exhibit at Disney World which we saw earlier this year, so most of the information and memorabilia were of the same vein, if not exactly the same.  For anyone who hasn’t taken a trip to Orlando within the past 6 months, it might be more exciting.

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Vacation Recap: Hollywood Studios

hollywood-studios-iconAfter spending Saturday morning at Animal Kingdom, we headed over to Hollywood Studios to finish off the day.  Our first ride was The Great Movie Ride, followed by the Lights, Motors, Action! Extreme Stunt Show.  And then, the skies opened up and a torrential rain fell.  The next hour or so was spent hiding out under cover, until time was running out for our Fast Passes for Star Tours.  We braved the elements to head over to Star Wars land for the ride, which, of course, broke down as we were seated.  After switching to a different car and experiencing all that C3PO had to offer, we headed over to the MuppetVision 3D show before a long wait for dinner at Mama Melrose’s Ristorante Italiano.

After dinner, the rains were still coming, which put the evening’s Fantasmic! show in doubt.  While waiting for that, we went on The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror… twice.  As the rain died down, Fantasmic! went off without a hitch and it was time to call it a day.

Sunday featured a return trip to the park, where we finished off most of the rides, including the Studio Backlot Tour, a showing of Walt Disney: One Man’s Dream, and the final ride of the trip, Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster starring Aerosmith.  The kids got to meet Phineas and Ferb and Ralph & Vanellope, while we all enjoyed the end of Star Wars weekend by meeting Darth Vader.  As the night drew closer, the kids stayed to enjoy a Toy Story ride while I went back to the hotel to enjoy the pool one last time.

by jim

GFY2 – Week 44

Y2Week44Another week with 4 days over the 5000 step mark.  Monday included a trip to the local junior high for Angelina’s final band concert.  Wednesday included some time outside meandering around the house with a ball and glove.  Saturday included two baseball games, one Danny’s and one professional, and a trip to, of all places, church for Michael’s communion.