Cats as Protectors and Pottiers

There was a noise outside the RV tonight. Luckily, Chatfield, our watch cat, was there. Sammy looked on as Chatfield bravely investigated the sound and assured us there was nothing to fear.

One of our favorite things about living in our motorhome has to be cleaning up after our favorite pets...NOT. They leave their hair everywhere, as well as hairballs and ,sometimes, both digested and undigested food.

On top of that...they go to the bathroom a lot. Cleaning the litter box is one of our least favorite chores around the house. So we decided maybe we could train them to use the toilet.

So far, as you can see, we have gotten Chatfield to sit on the toilet. But he can't figure out how to open the lid or what that roll of paper is used for.

Sammy, on the other hand, wasn't interested at all in potty training.

But she did decide a little cleaning was in order.

She likely followed that with a little cat nap.

Are we fascinated by our cats or what? More pictures at http://public.fotki.com/Marlonfleenor/1/2008/march/our-cats-1/ .

To be continued...

Marlon, Frank, Joyce, Aron & Austin Visit Epcot

While Doug worked at MouseGear, the largest store at Epcot, Marlon and Frank's family came to visit the park.

Aron, Joyce, Frank and Austin take a moment in front of the park icon, Spaceship Earth.

Joyce shows off her new Tinkerbell hoodie purchased today because it was windy and cool.

Austin and Aron are building a robot in Future World's Innoventions East. They are in the Design Studio of Fantastic Plastics Works presented by the Society of the Plastics Industry, Inc. (SPI).

Now father and sons are racing their robot against other guests' robots in a virtual roadrace.

After guests race their robots, they get a chance to physically assemble a robot from its various parts.

The Epcot International Flower & Garden Festival was getting ready to debut on March 19th. Some of the topiary featured in the Festival was already on display.

From the 1955 Disney movie, here's that famous cocker spaniel, Lady...

and her love, the lock-picking mutt himself, Tramp.

Marlon also ran into The Three Caballeros.

Here's Panchito Pistoles who lives in Mexico and rides a horse named Senor Martinez. He is also known for having fallen for Clara Cluck.

Jose Carioca remains very famous to this day, starring in his own Brazilian comic book. He appears alongside Mickey and Donald in Brazilian Disney comics.

Donald Duck was also on hand...he was preparing for his birthday which was five days later on March 13th. Happy Birthday Donald! How old are you anyway?

For a sneak peek of the newly refurbished Spaceship Earth's conclusion, click on the video below. For a few more pictures, go to http://public.fotki.com/Marlonfleenor/1/2008/march/epcot-with-franks-family/ .

To be continued...

Disney's Typhoon Lagoon February 25, 2008

Today was our day off and was to be the nicest day of the week, so we decided to go enjoy Disney's Typhoon Lagoon for the day.

Typhoon Lagoon is the remains of a tropical paradise after the destruction of a huge typhoon, as legend goes.

Mount Mayday can be seen in the distance. The famous shrimp boat, Miss Tilly, is impaled on the top and erupts regularly with a 50-foot geyser of water.

The lazy river of Typhoon Lagoon is Castaway Creek, a 2,100 foot long relaxing trip through the park.

The world's largest outdoor wave pool can be found right here at Typhoon Lagoon. Watch out! This ain't no ordinary wave pool!

The remains of Typhoon Boatworks serves as a reminder of the legend.

It's always a good time to cruise down the creek in a tube.

Marlon dares to stand in the largest shark mouth ever found near Typhoon Lagoon.

It may have been found in Typhoon Lagoon's Shark Reef. At the Shark Reef, all guests get the opportunity to snorkel with sting rays, two types of sharks and a variety of tropical fish.

The Crush 'n' Gusher is a "water coaster" like none we have ever experienced before. Three different slides-Banana Blaster, Coconut Crusher and Pineapple Plunger-take you on a waterslide experience like no other.

Doug takes the opportunity to visit with park mascot Lagoona Gator while heading out of the park at the end of the day.

For a video of brief video of some of the fun at Typhoon Lagoon, click below.
For more pictures, go to http://public.fotki.com/Marlonfleenor/1/2008/february/typhoon-lagoon-disn/ .

To be continued...

Epcot with David and Bobby

Today we took David and Bobby to Epcot.

While there, we observed Epcot's Fountain of Nations. On opening day in 1982, representatives from 22 nations each brought one gallon of water from their homeland to pour into the fountain as a symbolic gesture of unity. At the 25th anniversary of Epcot in 2007, this ceremony was repeated.

Then we ventured on to see if and how Marlon, David and Bobby could learn to be better at Living with the Land.

They could grow eggplant...would they then eat it?

They could grow tomato trees like this one previously featured on the blog which has yielded over 30,000 tomatoes. They would have to give away at least 20,000 of them to friends!
I think David thought it was Dale encouraging him to be kind and learn to Live with the Land while we dined at Chip and Dale's Harvest Feast Garden Grill. Little did he know it was REALLY Chip (the black nose gives him away, David!).

Chip then tried to help Doug decide what to order but had the last laugh when all the food on the menu was served family style.

These are some of the animals waiting to be served as marinated flank steak as seen from our table in the rotating restaurant.

These particular ones probably won't make it to the table if the Disney Imagineers have anything to say about it. They would probably be kind of tough anyway.

Bobby, David and Marlon are stuffed. Man, they're good at getting their plates clean. Their parents taught them well.

Pluto was so surprised because even HE can't clean his plate that good...and he has a big tongue!

Mickey stopped by between all the parades and all the autographs to show off his new hay baling outfit.

After filling up, we went to see if we could lose it all on Test Track. Here Marlon tries out acting like a test dummy.

Pretty good, huh?

Then on our way to find Donald in The Three Caballeros Marlon proved his neck wouldn't snap under the weight of a 10-gallon hat.

A little trivia: The Three Caballeros, who star in the ride at the Mexico Pavilion, starred in a 1945 animated feature of the same name. It was one of Disney's first movies to combine animation with live-action.

Similar to the Fountain of Nations, water from major rivers around the world was emptied into the World Showcase Lagoon in a ceremony on Opening Day in 1982.

The Celtic band, Off Kilter, performs in the Canada Pavilion of the World Showcase in the video below.
For more pictures, go to http://public.fotki.com/Marlonfleenor/1/2008/february/epcot-with-david-an/ .

To be continued...

Magic Kingdom with David and Bobby Part 2

The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh showcases scenes from the many movies and books featuring Disney's favorite bear.

Pooh uses a blue balloon in order to reach the honey in the tree. Let's hope there are no bees in that honey as there were in the 1966 featurette Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree.

Reminiscent of the 1968 film Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day, Piglet gets trapped by a raging flood and must be saved by his friends.

These are Woozles, which along with the Heffalumps-which were purple elephants, first appeared in Pooh's dreams in Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day.

They are both scary creatures of the Hundred Acre Wood where Pooh lives.

After saving Piglet, Pooh celebrates with a huge feast of honey.

We then decided to go visit Madame Leota and her many husbands in our very own Doom Buggy at The Haunted Mansion.

After picking up some hitchhiking ghosts we headed over to get a great view of the Disney Dreams Come True Parade.

Always remember, and don't ever forget, It Was All Started By A Mouse.

There's that little wooden fibber again-Pinocchio-LIVE and his father Geppetto. One of Snow White's famous dwarf friends, Doc, walks close by.

Bobby then went to explore the Swiss Family Treehouse. One of the original attractions of The Magic Kingdom, this attraction is based on the 1960 movie Swiss Family Robinson featuring the future Hawaii Five-O star James MacArthur.

Coincidentally, James MacArthur was adopted as an infant by another future Disney star-the legendary Helen Hayes (Herbie Rides Again).

Next David, Bobby and Marlon were looking forward to being entertained by Tiki birds in The Enchanted Tiki Room (Under New Management) starring comedian Gilbert Gottfried as lago, the big cele-birdy.

There are some of the Tiki-birds now.

Jasper, Horace and Cruella prepare to kidnap Pongo and Perdita---two of the 101 Dalmations. Meanwhile, their favorite TV show "What's My Crime?" plays on the big screen.

These malformed LGMs (Little Green Men) only have two eyes instead of the usual three. Scary!

Walt and Minnie converse in this classic picture of Main Street.

For more pictures, go to http://public.fotki.com/Marlonfleenor/1/2008/february/magic-kingdom-with-/ .

To be continued...