OK, when you’ve watched that, click on the marquee that says “Click Here to view the Muppet experience starring YOU!” Then you can see a little video devoted to you (it’s different from the Fozzie one above! Click over and see!).

Now that you’ve been thoroughly entertained by WDW and the Muppets, check out the guidelines for the promotion and start volunteering. What a great way to give and receive.

My favorite restaurant moment of 2009

In May we went home to Walt Disney World. Although I research the bejeebus out of Disney before each trip, we tend to like what we like and, though we know our options, we stick to the tried and true. This time we wanted to try several things we hadn’t done yet. One of those things was the Hoop-de-Doo Revue and I can’t recommend it enough. It’s a singing, dancing, slapstick extravaganza. Luckily, we were seated at the very back of the room, but since it’s Disney we’re talking about, there is no bad seat. I thought the back of the room would at least allow us to escape the eyes of the performers so we wouldn’t call attention to ourselves (being a family of introverts, this is important I assure you). Besides, if you’ve met my husband, you know he’s not big on audience participation. Throughout the show I’d catch him and Max chuckling a little so I knew they were having a good time. And then, near the end of the dinner, I look over at my husband and our son and they are waving their napkins like mad men. They are giggling. Giggling! How could I not follow suit? Chilihead, Jr. is always up for a laugh and taking part in the shenanigans, but my boys? Never. That’s why the Hoop-de-Doo Revue was my favorite restaurant moment this year.

When I was a teenager, I *loved* the end-of-year wrap-ups on various news shows. I enjoyed seeing the year unwrap itself with the benefit of 20/20 hindsight. It’s been a long time since I’ve sought out those kinds of year-end recaps. As an adult, I find I’m busy and preoccupied. No time to remember! That’s why I take pictures! I’m too busy living life to remember it! (Oh, wait. That may just be the early-onset dementia…) At any rate, just looking at Gwen’s first writing prompt (What was your best trip in 2009?) has me reminiscing and realizing that, wow! 2009 was a great year for travel in the Nelson home. So, even if I don’t go past today’s prompt, I’ve gotten more out of this challenge than I would have by adding it to my doomed to-do list.

What was your best trip of 2009?

My best trip of 2009? I don’t know. How can I choose? I mean, I loved every place I visited!

January: Disney Cruise. BSM Media and Disney invited me and several other bloggers (all of whom I’m proud to call real friends) on a cruise to the Bahamas.

February: Dallas. Every February my dear friend Emily and I hole ourselves up with a few hundred other die-hard movie fans and watch, back-to-back, all of the contenders for Best Picture of the Year. It’s a 12-hour ordeal that is not for the weak. It takes real stamina to sit on your booty for 12 hours and watch some of the finest acting and most interesting story lines of the year.

April: Dallas. We attended the Sally Ride Science Fair, an event geared to encourage girls to stick with math and science to be all they can be. Of course, we stayed with Emily’s family and they attended the fair with us. The next day Chili, Jr., Emily, and I stormed the American Girl store and had a lady-like lunch with very large, un-lady-like portions.

May: Walt Disney World. I wasn’t able to take my family on the Disney Cruise in January, so we had to make up for it with a family trip to The World in May. Come to think of it, I still owe y’all a recap of that one. While we were in Florida, we took a day and visited Husband’s old neighborhood, his dad’s grave, and the ocean. It was cathartic on many levels.

June: Dallas. My first WordCamp. My BFF Emily graciously watched my kids for me while I braved my introversion and aversion to crowds. Hmmm. I’m noticing that “introversion” and “aversion” are very similar words. I doubt that’s a coincidence. As an introvert I have an aversion to many things. Among those is the act of meeting new people in a crowd.

July: Colorado. My dad and Robin are the best hosts. This year Husband and I flew the kids out a week before we arrived. That maneuver was a huge hit, both for the kids and the grandparents. I look to try that again next year. When Husband and I did arrive, we had so much fun. I was already stressed about writing the TypePad for Dummies book (our first chapter was due asap and I had to write while I was on vacation!), but I found time for my first hot-stone massage and some reading. My dad treated us to fabulous seats for our first-ever MLB game. Since I detest sports, I was sure I wouldn’t enjoy myself and considered more than a few ways I could excuse myself. In the end, I went and–would you believe it?–enjoyed myself! I cheered and rooted and laughed and sang and danced and embarrassed my kids mightily. It was a sweet night.

August: Norman, Oklahoma. We traveled with friends to meet Emily and her crew at the Sam Noble Museum of Natural History. How is it that I’d not visited this museum before? It’s amazing. My kids love museums and this was one of their favorites. I wonder if it had anything to do with the fact that we had our best friends with us? Those kids have grown up together and, as we all grow older, it’s harder to find time for us all to connect. When we do, though, it’s like we never missed a beat.

October: Las Vegas. I attended Blog World Expo again this year and, though the conference itself was fine, I hated being away from my family for five days. I was the most miserable I’ve been all year. My depression can be seen in this photo:

November: Iowa. I attended the first annual I_Blog Conference and, I have to tell you, it was the best conference I’ve attended to date.  It was very small–about 30 women (and a few men) and those women reminded me why I started blogging in the first place. I enjoyed meeting them all and learning from them. It was fun to meet them (where was my introversion aversion?) and it was fun to see my extended family (who happened to live down the road).

Wow. I hadn’t realized that I’d done so much traveling this year–and I had been cutting back because Shannon and I were so busy writing the TypePad for Dummies book! How can I choose just one trip as my favorite? It’s impossible. I love my family and my friends. I love spending time with them and am just happy we have the means to do it as often as we can.

Thank you, Gwen, for being the brain behind this project. My writing is rusty; I hope this challenge will encourage me not only to remember the year behind me, but also to remember my narrative writing skills. For those of you who made it this far, I promise I’ll try to remember those skills sooner rather than later.

Good Morning, Nassau!

Segway Adventures

As you watch these videos, you’ll notice that any time I became too involved in filming and less involved with paying attention to my Segway and those around me, I had a tendency to shout “Woo!” then hit something.

Don’t Mean a Thing If You Ain’t Got That Bling

When I get dressed for an off-road Segway adventure, I reach for my denim capris, a t-shirt, and a ball cap. Makeup and jewelry do not enter the equation. Not so if you’re Katja or Arianne. It’s all about lookin’ good in the ‘hood. Fashion and bling, baby.

Selfish Mom Bites It

Amy is one of those women who lives life. If there’s a new opportunity, she’s the first in line. She took off on her Segway like she’d been riding one for years. She slalomed all morning, turned without using her hands, and basically shamed the rest of us into trying things we might not otherwise have done. Then I came along and tried to tape it. Jinx. (Can you see her shoe fly off?)

Conch Fritters (or Bahamian Comfort Food)

This particular video shows my knack for forgetting I have the zoom feature on and taking a picture of my nose hairs. Between that and the description of the conch, you may want to read this after you have your meal.

In this video I take you on a tour of my stateroom. The staterooms, by the way, are a very nice size. They are all the same size, but some have a balcony (like mine), some have a porthole, and some just have a wall with no window. The pricing is scaled according to those ammenities, so you can decide how important a porthole or balcony is for your family.

I want to thank Maria Bailey of MomSelect and Jonathan, Laura, and Leanne from Disney for inviting me to participate in this opportunity. It was truly a magical experience. Thank you to Jonathan for being such a gentleman and putting up with our antics. Thank you to Laura for your energy and for bailing us out of the karaoke pit (video to come). Thank you to Maria for choosing such a perfect group of women that clicked immediately. Leanne, I thank you for helping put this all together. I wish I could have had more time to talk with you! I guess you'll just have to invite me back.

I also want to give a quick shout-out to Posh Mama. They gave me a Flip camera last September so I could interview various bloggers on camera. Without the Flip, I wouldn't have been able to vlog so much of the Disney trip! Thanks Posh Mama!

In the mean time, I cannot stress how much I loved my travel companions. I know you will too. Please check out their blogs and follow them on Twitter. You will NOT regret it! They are some smart, savvy ladies.

• My Brown Baby – Denene (Twitter: @MyBrownBaby)
  
• Selfish Mom – Amy (Twitter: @selfishmom)
• Skimbaco Lifestyle – Katja (Twitter: @KatjaPresnal)
• Traveling Mom  – Kim (Twitter: @KimOrlando)
• To Think Is To Create – Arianne (Twitter: @ToThink)
• My Teen, The Alien – Maria (Twitter: @MomTalkRadio)

You may have heard about the Disney Mommy Blogger trips over the past 18 months. I think there have been at least three groups of women invited to spend the weekend at Walt Disney World where they are wined and dined and given backstage passes. So far, I had not been part of any of those groups. I was disgruntled and dismayed as you may well guess–especially since my love of Disney is deep. I held it together, though, and was happy for those other moms who scored the trips. After all, I've been to Walt Disney World and who am I to begrudge anyone that retreat? Every one of the ladies chosen deserved the trip and all the fun that came with it.

Then, a few weeks ago, I was contacted and asked if I would like to be part of the next Disney Mommy Blogger excursion. I was thrilled, of course, but wary because I've been to WDW without my family and I'm here to tell you it's no fun no matter how many other mommies are there without kids. No, no, no! they said. This time we are taking bloggers on a Disney cruise! And that my friends, is a whole different ball of wax.

You see, Husband and I have been debating whether to make our next WDW vacation part of a cruise. Now I can find out first-hand if this is something we should do. Somehow, for me, being on a cruise without my family isn't nearly as dastardly as riding the Tea Cups or Big Thunder Mountain Railroad without them. Sitting on a beach reading a book in peace? That I can do.

I'm going with these fine ladies:

• My Brown Baby – Denene
  
• Selfish Mom – Amy
• Skimbaco Lifestyle – Katja
• Traveling Mom  – Kim
  
• To Think Is To Create – Arianne
• My Teen, The Alien – Maria
  

I'm starting to feel the funk fade away.

I love Sea World, but I’ve only been to the one in San Diego. I have never been to Universal Studios. When my family travels to Orlando, we only do Disney World. We have discussed trying to visit those other parks, but when it comes down to it, we don’t want to take time away from Disney World.

If you have the good fortune of being able to visit Orlando for two weeks, you may want to try to visit Sea World and Universal Studios the first week, then spend the rest of the time at Disney World. My family doesn’t have that kind of time or money so we stick with Disney.

Disney World has so many attractions you can’t fit them in to one trip. There is never a shortage of things to do or see. For an idea of what you might be missing, read my article about ‘Secret’ Disney World Attractions.