magic happens here, too.

Disney's Magic Kingdom. What a place...

this is what florida looks like...

So all that marketing was accurate after all. This was the resort we stayed at. Our family friends own a time-share, and has been trying to get us to go with them for a while now. This is partially why we ended up in Florida for this trip (otherwise I have plenty of other spots I'd want to go to...)

Also, I started using the term "Floriday" to refer to here. It's Florida+Friday+Holiday, and totally sums up the general sentiment of this trip.

I took many more pictures of the palm trees, just for the heck of it. :P

Did I mention it was warm down there?

before takeoff...

Leaving Phoenix after being delayed, missing a connection and spending the night there. (Luckily they paid for our hotel).

vacation

We're going down to Orlando, FL for a family vacation. Its the first time in many many years that all 3 of us managed to book a trip together (usually its just my mom and dad, or me and mom, etc). To save on the flight, we got tickets that leave from Seattle instead of directly from Vancouver. This also means for a side road-trip down to Seattle, with a stop at the outlet mall. I'm not a huge fan of shopping for clothes, but it has to be done once in a while (as my mom keeps on reminding me..)

This was at the border crossing, after which we would be in the US for just over a week.

(It was also the last place I could have 3G connection without having to pay for roaming charges :P)

pork overload

ribs wrapped in ham wrapped in bacon. i inappropriately call it "kosher vegan delight".

ribs were slow cooked for about 6 hours. dipped them in my "standard" honey mustard recipe and then wrapped in ham, and then bacon. then cooked in oven until bacon was done.



i also made a batch of more "regular" ribs:

makeshift music stand

I helped out subbing for a big band that practices at the Scottish Cultural Centre. The upstairs room where they practice is used as a kindergarten during the day. I didn't have a music stand with me that day, and made one out of a stack of teeny chairs they had. Making good use of my engineering degree... :P