Monday, June 29, 2009
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Our Magical Week
A week after Jordan graduated from high school, we all got on a plane bound for Orlando. At the very end of January, I'd received a certified letter from Alamo car rental announcing that we had won a trip for four to Disney World. I would have much preferred to travel to Florida in the spring or fall, but juggling the contest's policies and procedures and everyone's work and school schedules made that impossible, so it became a graduation trip for Jordan, which was something I had promised the family about two years ago anyway.
We stayed at the Pop Century resort, one of the "budget" hotels for Disney World. The week was pretty stinkin' hot so we were glad to have the swimming pool right outside our room . . .
. . . except, of course, for the fact that the pool doesn't close until midnight (and they don't enforce this at all) so we had to deal with laughter, screaming and talking echoing outside our room until late at night, which made it pretty hard to sleep. If you ever stay at Pop Century, the buildings that represent the 1960s are located very conveniently, but make sure you ask for a room that doesn't face the pool.
We stayed at the Pop Century resort, one of the "budget" hotels for Disney World. The week was pretty stinkin' hot so we were glad to have the swimming pool right outside our room . . .
. . . except, of course, for the fact that the pool doesn't close until midnight (and they don't enforce this at all) so we had to deal with laughter, screaming and talking echoing outside our room until late at night, which made it pretty hard to sleep. If you ever stay at Pop Century, the buildings that represent the 1960s are located very conveniently, but make sure you ask for a room that doesn't face the pool.Since the resort celebrates the decades of the second half of the 20th century, Jordan had to pose on his birth year . . .
Our first night, we managed to get reservations for Chef Mickey's character dinner at the Contemporary Resort. I spent over an hour on the phone a couple days before we left and apparently Chef Mickey's had had a cancellation so I was able to get a last minute reservation. The food was very good and we thought it would be a great way to introduce MelodyJoy to the characters, which seemed to prove true at first. She was pretty interested in Mickey and Minnie but then wanted nothing to do with Goofy and Pluto and then would not go near any of the characters at all for the rest of the trip, not even Mulan. This was a mixed blessing . . . we didn't have to stand in the stifling heat waiting for her to get autographs from everyone wearing a funny costume but we also didn't get some of the photos that every family puts in their album after a trip to Disney.
Our first night, we managed to get reservations for Chef Mickey's character dinner at the Contemporary Resort. I spent over an hour on the phone a couple days before we left and apparently Chef Mickey's had had a cancellation so I was able to get a last minute reservation. The food was very good and we thought it would be a great way to introduce MelodyJoy to the characters, which seemed to prove true at first. She was pretty interested in Mickey and Minnie but then wanted nothing to do with Goofy and Pluto and then would not go near any of the characters at all for the rest of the trip, not even Mulan. This was a mixed blessing . . . we didn't have to stand in the stifling heat waiting for her to get autographs from everyone wearing a funny costume but we also didn't get some of the photos that every family puts in their album after a trip to Disney.
Magic Kingdom was our first day's destination. Here's a photo of us on Big Thunder Mountain. Note Phillip throwing a gang sign, Jameson throwing a clueless sign, and Melody looking quite happy . . .
And then there is this photo from just a few minutes later . . .
I had tried to gear Melody up for the roller coasters, thinking she is a pretty adventurous child. Um, no. She hated every single one. The only "thrill" ride she liked was Test Track in Epcot.
At Epcot, we got a family picture with the crew from the House at Pooh Corner. Note that Tigger is throwing a gang sign, Eeyore is throwing a clueless sign and Melody looks quite happy, which wasn't necessarily the case about five minutes earlier . . .
Another family photo, from the waiting area by the Walt Disney World Railroad . . .
And this picture tells you everything you need to know about Miss Melody . . .
And this picture tells you everything you need to know about Miss Melody . . .
Coincidentally, Disney Hollywood Studios was holding its last Star Wars Weekend of the year while we were there.
Actually, Jeannette, Melody and I avoided the true Star Wars Weekend, visiting the park on a different day, but the three boys made a point of spending almost a full day there while the festivities were in full swing. Jordan got autographs from several minor Star Wars celebrities (not pictured here) and Phillip and Jameson bought custom made light sabres. 
Jordan decided it would be fun to find all the fountains in the parks and take photos of them. This is probably an impossible task but he gave it a good shot. I love the look on the face of the girl at the bottom right of this photo . . .
One evening, Jeannette and I left the kids behind and went out to dinner by ourselves. We ate at Spoodles, on the Boardwalk . . .
Jordan decided it would be fun to find all the fountains in the parks and take photos of them. This is probably an impossible task but he gave it a good shot. I love the look on the face of the girl at the bottom right of this photo . . .
One evening, Jeannette and I left the kids behind and went out to dinner by ourselves. We ate at Spoodles, on the Boardwalk . . .
The two Buzz Lightyear rides, one in Magic Kingdom and one at Disney Hollywood Studios, were probably Melody's favorite rides. Both are shooting games. The one at DHS is 3D and was the only 3D attraction she would put up with during the whole trip. At the end, she and I were incarcerated with Emperor Zurg . . .
This is a photo from the Magic Kingdom ride. Look carefully: I love the look on Buzz Lightyear's face in the background . . .
Our last evening was spent at Epcot, our second stop there, as we returned for the fireworks. We crashed briefly in Moracco, where we also listened to a band called Mo Rockin' . . .
As we left that night, one of the security guards offered to take our picture in front of the big fountain . . .
That is but a small sampling of the 120 or so photos that I ordered today from Walmart for our photo album. I hope you appreciate my self-control in posting only this many.
This is a photo from the Magic Kingdom ride. Look carefully: I love the look on Buzz Lightyear's face in the background . . .
Our last evening was spent at Epcot, our second stop there, as we returned for the fireworks. We crashed briefly in Moracco, where we also listened to a band called Mo Rockin' . . .
As we left that night, one of the security guards offered to take our picture in front of the big fountain . . .
That is but a small sampling of the 120 or so photos that I ordered today from Walmart for our photo album. I hope you appreciate my self-control in posting only this many. Saturday, June 27, 2009
NACCAP '09
Since about 1991, NACCAP has been a big part of my professional--and even personal--life. NACCAP stands for the North American Coalition of Christian Admissions Professionals. I've missed only two NACCAP conferences in the last fifteen years or so.
This year's conference was held in early June on the campus of Cedarville University, which was kind of cool since that's where Jordan will be for college in the fall. They repainted "the rock" for our week on campus . . .
Of course, one of the best things about NACCAP is reconnecting with old friends. As the conference has gotten bigger and some of my friends have stopped attending regularly, this has gotten harder to do, but I can always count on getting together with Dan Crabtree, my friend from Wheaton Academy outside of Chicago. Dan and I first met at NACCAP, where my first words to him were "You don't have a clue what it's like in the real world." The next year, at Messiah College, we had a couple of long conversations and have been friends ever since. Here's a photo of Dan just before the "NACCAP Games," an annual highlight of the conference . . .
Here is LaVaughn Ricci, one of Cedarville's admissions counselors, trying to explain one of the games while James Townsend from LeTourneau University does nothing to help . . .
Most of the game were fairly low-key this year, but this next one was kind of brutal. It started with two team members running to midcourt, putting their heads on the end of a baseball bat and spinning themselves around it. Then they had to wheelbarrow their way to a little plastic wading pool filled with water and apples. The "wheelbarrow" had to get an apple in his mouth and then get pushed over to a bucket where the apple was deposited. And then two more people repeated the process. It was pretty tough. I kept waiting for someone to get seriously hurt or have a heart attack but all injuries seemed to be minor . . .
Here, Dan and I are strategizing about how to do our part of a relay race that involved having our ankles tied together, putting on a sports coat and then waddling our way along to the next stop, where a bottle of soda water had to be consumed . . .
At the far left of this picture is Alex, one of my admissions counselors at Lincoln Christian, trying to catch balls launched from a slingshot . . .
This year's conference was held in early June on the campus of Cedarville University, which was kind of cool since that's where Jordan will be for college in the fall. They repainted "the rock" for our week on campus . . .
Of course, one of the best things about NACCAP is reconnecting with old friends. As the conference has gotten bigger and some of my friends have stopped attending regularly, this has gotten harder to do, but I can always count on getting together with Dan Crabtree, my friend from Wheaton Academy outside of Chicago. Dan and I first met at NACCAP, where my first words to him were "You don't have a clue what it's like in the real world." The next year, at Messiah College, we had a couple of long conversations and have been friends ever since. Here's a photo of Dan just before the "NACCAP Games," an annual highlight of the conference . . .
Here is LaVaughn Ricci, one of Cedarville's admissions counselors, trying to explain one of the games while James Townsend from LeTourneau University does nothing to help . . .
Most of the game were fairly low-key this year, but this next one was kind of brutal. It started with two team members running to midcourt, putting their heads on the end of a baseball bat and spinning themselves around it. Then they had to wheelbarrow their way to a little plastic wading pool filled with water and apples. The "wheelbarrow" had to get an apple in his mouth and then get pushed over to a bucket where the apple was deposited. And then two more people repeated the process. It was pretty tough. I kept waiting for someone to get seriously hurt or have a heart attack but all injuries seemed to be minor . . .Here are Lindsey Clark, from my office, and Andre Stephens from Biola University cheering on their team in the wheelbarrow race. Lindsey had a good excuse not to take part, she was about seven months pregnant at that point in June. And Andre was just smart to somehow squirm out of doing it . . .
Here, Dan and I are strategizing about how to do our part of a relay race that involved having our ankles tied together, putting on a sports coat and then waddling our way along to the next stop, where a bottle of soda water had to be consumed . . .
At the far left of this picture is Alex, one of my admissions counselors at Lincoln Christian, trying to catch balls launched from a slingshot . . .
One Down, Three to Go
I haven't been very good about updating the blog lately, to say the least. When I'm in Lincoln, my time is pretty much consumed with work. When I'm home, I sometimes don't want to spend too much time on the computer because Jeannette assumes I'm working whenever I'm on the keyboard, even if I'm not. Nonetheless, here are a few, very belated photos from Jordan's graduation from Blackhawk Christian School in May.
MelodyJoy is proud of her brother . . .
I hadn't ever seen a graduation where a school official actually turned each graduate's tassel as they crossed the stage . . .
MelodyJoy is proud of her brother . . .
I hadn't ever seen a graduation where a school official actually turned each graduate's tassel as they crossed the stage . . .
These are some of Jordan's good friends. The fact that most of them are wearing yellow sashes indicates that he hangs out with pretty good students. Jordan could have had one himself but we figured since he was inducted into National Honor Society at Hosanna Christian in Oregon, it wasn't worth the effort to do it again here. At commencement, I was kind of wishing we had gone through the extra hassle . . .
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