What's for dinner?

"Bicycle Pasta, pasta with personality!"
Package includes both upright and racing style bikes; sorry, not available in recumbent style.

Bike spotting in Disney World

First, a brief explanation of my last few posts. Before we left for Disney World, I noticed a link on the Blogger dashboard inviting users to try mobile blogging from their cell phone or mobile device. Thinking it may be useful since I don’t own a laptop, I decided to give it a try, and followed the steps to coordinate my cell phone with my Blogger account (basically sending a text message and confirming an email). After arriving in Florida, my first attempt to send a photo to my blog failed for reasons unknown, but my husband confirmed that the next photo sent a few days later had appeared within minutes. Boy, did I feel like Techno-Mama then! Mobile blogging from Disney World, what could be easier?

Dealing with the massive crowds at Disney World, however, was not something that could be made easier with modern technology or gadgets. Only stamina, patience and comfortable footwear would get you through that endurance test. We expected heavy crowds during the week before Easter, since most schools are on vacation then, but no one was expecting record-breaking numbers this year. On Tuesday, the Magic Kingdom theme park reached its capacity at one point, and the gates had to be closed for a short time until enough visitors left. It is not easy to navigate through such crowds with a group of 7 people ranging in age from 9 to 76. But with a few early morning and late evening visits, we managed to get the kids on nearly all of their most-wanted rides.

Enough about the crowds, on to the bikes! The Disney decorators seem to have a fondness for bicycles in their still life arrangements. This scene greeted us on our first day as we walked to check-in at the reception:

We spent our second day enjoying the pool and water slide in the heat of 86F. I checked out the bike rental area and decided to wait until later in the week when I knew the layout of the resort better and temperatures would be cooler. Unfortunately, I never had time again. I only saw two people on rented bikes during our stay.

Animal Kingdom was my favorite park, and I must admit the bikes had something to do with it. I didn’t see any bikes in the African area of the park, although we didn’t get to see everything there, but the Asian area had plenty:







Taking these photos amidst the sea of people was not easy, and I was grateful to have my daughter’s assistance. Somewhere ahead of me, I heard her calling out, “Mommy, come here, it’s a Raleigh!” and she had the shot before I even caught up with her. Here's her photo:

And here's mine:

In Magic Kingdom, I could find only this sign near Main Street:

I saw no evidence of bikes anywhere in the countries represented in EPCOT, not even in China, although I admit the crowds prevented us from exploring every nook and cranny.
As the week was ending, we decided to skip the Hollywood Studios theme park completely, since none of the kids' top-listed rides were there. Anyone know if we missed any bikes there? Or anywhere else?
Back to life, back to reality.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Maybe I'll go for a Guinness tonight. Sláinte!



Hey, spring is almost here!

Supermarket Park It

Make-do
Make-believe

Okay, more than likely the riders of those six bikes were visiting the REI store to the right of the supermarket (as I was). Nearly every time I’m there, I see a bike or two parked outside, which is not surprising since the Schuylkill River Trail is nearby, but there isn’t a bike rack anywhere. This small shopping center got a makeover last year, but I guess nobody thought of adding a bike rack. Maybe I’ll ask someone at REI about it after the holidays when they have time to chat. Or maybe I’ll send an email since that worked wonders in my town. In the meantime, maybe Santa will leave that Playmobil bike rack in my stocking. It’s so small!

Everybody's Gone Smurfin'

“Bigger is better” has never been my motto. I’ve always been drawn to the smaller things in life, from toys to animals to cars to houses. So I guess it was only natural that the Smurfs captured my imagination when I first saw the figurines in a novelty shop in a beach resort town. A bunch of tiny blue people living in toadstool houses was right up my alley. I was a young teenager then, but couldn’t resist buying a few to keep on my dresser or bookshelf.

During one of our last trips to our favorite beach resort town this past summer, my daughter and I discovered a small (of course) boutique-style toy shop. It appeared to be a lovely little shop, but I never made it past the Smurf display just inside the door. There was a huge selection of Smurfs, and no one was surprised at the one I chose:

My daughter chose Smurfette and Baby Smurf.

As we left the shop, I commented on their lovely blue color and realized it was the same shade as our bikes. So I decided to name my bike Smurfy, and my daughter named hers Smurfette. My husband’s bike is black, so we christened it Gargamel, although he refuses to call it anything but “my bike”. Sadly, it was too late to go back and buy a little Gargamel for him.

I hope I never get too old to enjoy the little things. And I certainly hope I never get bigger.

Just a little more:
Here's a West Coast Smurfette (who inspired me to blog about mine).
Here's a Smurf saddle cover on Etsy to protect your saddle from the sun.

Rubber Stamp Redux

In my neverending search for all things bicycle, I found this lovely rubber stamp in my local A.C. Moore crafts store - a Dutch Gazelle bike complete with tulips in the basket and luggage on the rack. It's made by Inkadinkado, and they call it "Amsterdam Errands". I've used it to make a few birthday and thank you cards, sometimes with colored pencils to bring out the details.


Here's another bike design I found on the Inkadinkado website, with the simple name of "Bicycle":
Not nearly as charming as the Amsterdam model, but hey, those Dutch are a hard act to follow, aren't they?


(Don't forget to use your bicycle return address stamp on the envelope.)

One more reason to ride

Studies have shown that riding a bicycle improves your mood. It can also improve a bad hair day. That has been my experience since rediscovering the bike this year, so I made it my little motto when I started this blog (see right side). Apparently Farrah Fawcett knew that 30 years ago (1978):





Disclaimers:
*Individual results may vary. Mine sure did.
*Be sure to check with your life insurance agent before starting any new hair treatment.
*Side effects may include, but are not limited to, frizz, flyaways, and a reduction in the use of hairdryers.

Rainy Day Remedy

Cloudy with a chance of showers? Don’t forget your shower cap! Even if you forget to put it on your seat before it rains, you can always put it on afterwards. No one likes a soggy bottom. And what a bargain they are – we bought a package of three different colors for about $3 at the pharmacy.

You can even wear one as a lovely rain beret!

If you are a “serious cyclist” (what are you doing here?!), feel free to buy a real seat cover in serious black (Sirius Black!) from REI for about $15.


But if you prefer not to take life so seriously, spend your $15 on these three shower caps instead (only $5 each at drugstore.com):

Raspberry Beret

Little Devil

Frog


And don't forget to wear your swim goggles!

Rubber Stamp Approval

For those of us who still keep one finger in the paper world, check out this custom return address rubber stamp, available from thepaperprincess at Etsy. On second thought, I guess even those who have completely left the postal system behind in favor of online bill paying, email greeting cards and such could still have a use for it – have it customized with your email address or blog! (I haven't ordered mine yet.)