Nobody Here But Us ... Animals?

July 21, 2008 (Continued ...)

We jumped on a Disney bus and rode to Animal Kingdom. We both love the look of this park. It's so beautiful!

We try to figure out what to get Fast Passes for and someone gives us some extra passes for the Kilimanjaro Safari. This was something Whitney was dreading. She loves rides, but was sad to find out that she couldn't even go on the Safari ride because she's pregnant. So, Whitney parked herself on a bench with a book and the rest of us went on the Safari.

 

Jacob was a little disappointed though. Where Whitney and Jacob had seen animals in the past, there weren't any. The ride is simple. You and about twenty of your closest friends jump onto an oversized jeep and drive through a "wildlife preserve" until being derailed on an adventure to trap elephant poachers. It was sad though. There were animals at the end, but either way Whitney wasn't there and it just wasn't as much fun.

When we got off we found Whitney near the parade route for Mickey's Jammin' Jungle Parade. She needed some water, so Jacob went to get some for her. These are some of the pictures he took along the way.

We rode a train to our next stop. Kolbein helped us to get a deal on our trip because his boss' daughter works at Disney World. We went to see her at Rafiki's Planet Watch and to thank her for all she did. She told us about her job training small alligators. It was fascinating. She held it in her hands as we talked. Each of us got to touch the gator's tail.

The year before Animal Kingdom started showing Finding Nemo: The Musical. We hadn't seen it, but made sure to see it this year. It was something else! The music was fun and the theatricality was spectacular. We both have a fair degree of experience with theatre and we loved it.

The rest of the night we wandered around the park. We had some Chinese food for dinner and made our way around. Jacob kept trying to take pictures in the dark, but without any luck. All in all the day was a wonderful adventure and so, so much fun. Our first full day--what a wonderful day! A great start to an amazing vacation!

Back to Neverland!

Around 9pm on July 19th we jumped into a car with two of our friends and started the sixteen hour trek to the Happiest Celebration on Earth! It was our third trip to Disney World--once a year for the past few years. We love Disney, but this trip was different. Whitney is pregnant and we knew that was going to change everything.

The drive down was pretty uneventful. We (Whitney and Jacob, Ashley and Kolbein) got reasonable gas prices, the car worked fine, we didn't get caught in any construction.Kolbein and Jacob drove most of the way.

We stayed in the 1950's building of the resort. This was outside of our room.

 

July 20, 2008

We got to our hotel, the Pop Century Resort, around 2pm or so the next day and just relaxed. For dinner we rode the bus down to Downtown Disney and ate at the Rainforest Cafe. We were all starving. Jacob got a burger and promptly forgot what that meant so when he dropped his fork on the floor he asked the waiter for another one--even though he didn't need one. Embarrassed, he ate his whole burger with the replacement fork. Naturally, Whitney laughed and made fun of him and probably called him a "dork."

After dinner we made our way over to EPCOT to watch their firework show, IllumiNations. We got there a little late and so the best spot was sitting on the ground behind several large groups of tourists. Naturally, when the show started they all stood up so we couldn't really see anymore. Unfortunately part of Disney is having to accept that you aren't there alone. Oh well. We still had fun.

 

We slept well that night and got ready for the next day--the first full day of our adventure!

 

July 21, 2008

First on the schedule was going to Hollywood Studios (formerly Disney MGM Studios). Even though we'd been here several times before, this was one of the most enjoyable days we'd ever spent there! Once we arrived we headed straight over to Toy Story Mania, the newest Disney ride, to get fast passes. Then on to the rest of the park.

We did some of the classics like The Great Movie Ride and Muppet Vision 3D. While watching the 3D show Jacob was careless with his sunglasses and ended up leaving them behind. Someone found them and asked Kolbein if they were his. He didn't know Jacob had lost them, so he said no and they were lost in time. Jacob tried to find them, but no luck. We'd end up getting him new ones later.

After some shopping we went on to the Back Lot Tour. As we stood in line we were asked to be part of the special FX show. Jacob and Kolbein agreed and were taken back stage. As part of the show they dressed us up as crew members of a boat that was about to be attacked. They call this show, "Harbor Attack." Kolbein and Jacob played the Wild and Crazy Tech Crew. Our job was simple: react when water cannons shot up around us representing bombs and bullets, and then point to what was supposed to be a torpedo. We had a lot of fun, and got soaked enough to enjoy ourselves despite the heat.

One thing we wanted to do on this trip that we hadn't done before was eat at some of the nicer restaurants. For lunch we had a reservation at 50's Prime Time Cafe. The idea for this place was really fun. The place is designed so that every group feels like they're eating in their own kitchen and the servers are supposed to treat you like an overbearing parent. Whitney wanted me to encourage our waitress so I intentionally didn't eat the "greens" on my plate. After a few cracks, she finally got the attention of everyone around us and asked for their help. She asked everyone to make airplane noises as she flew the food around and into my mouth--like an airplane. It was fun and Whitney got a good laugh at it. The fried chicken wasn't that bad either!

To be continued ... 

It's about time we made this public ...

We've been trying to keep this hush hush, but felt it was about time that we let everyone know that Whitney is pregnant! We've known for a little while now (June 11th), but wanted to wait until Whitney was a little farther along. Well, she is, but there's still a long way to go. The baby is due on February 17, 2009! That's right we're having a digital baby! If you haven't watch TV in the last couple of months then you might not know that February 17th is also the day that TV switches from an analog to a digital signal so we're having a digital baby! Even though its funny to say that, Whitney will tell you that this baby is very real as she's experienced on two trips to the hospital and several doctors appointments. She's had a hard time with being nauseous, but she's got the good drugs now and is doing a lot better. We're hoping to post pictures from our recent trip to Disney World soon, but as you now know we've been preoccupied by other things--Little Baby Lauritzen!

That last post was supposed to have more pictures, but I (Whitney) decided that it was way past due, so I published it anyway. Maybe one of these days we'll put up some more pictures.

Sometimes people write on their blog to make some big announcement, like being pregnant, graduating, a new job, or something of the sort. This post, however, is related to none of the above, just me (Whitney) being bored on Friday night while Jacob is at work.

The weather has been absolutely beautiful the last week or so, and I've got a cold. How nice of those little kids to share their germs with me, again. I guess that's just one of the bonuses of dealing with two year olds. Oh well, it will go away, eventually.

Our plans for the summer keep changing. As of now, we are planning on going to Utah in June to spend time with Jacob's family. We will only be there for a couple of days, but it will be fun. This trip, of course, is pending, on approval for time off work for Jacob. Our other plans for the summer consist of our annual trip to Disney World. We have decided to keep this a tradition until we have kids, in which case it would be awhile before we could afford it, and they would remember it. We aren't the only adults that love Disney World...a little boy in my class went with his family, and when I asked his mom how she liked it (she had never been before) she said that it took all her self control to, while watching the last parade, not stick her thumb in her mouth and cry that she didn't want to leave Disney World. She can't wait to go back. At least Jacob and I aren't the only crazy people.

Snowed In!

So, we've had quite the year for snow here in Ohio! Jacob has missed two days of classes, one day of work, and now today we missed church due to it's being canceled! A little bit of a summary. For the past two days (Friday and Saturday) Ohio got slammed by a really big storm. On the news they kept referring to it as "The Big Storm." Not their most creative stroke, but all the channels seems to have come to a consensus on the name. Anyway, yesterday morning (Saturday), we both slept in--Whitney because she's been sick, and Jacob because ... he was lazy--and were woken up by a phone call. Jacob answered the phone and found out that JC Penney (where he works) was going to close at 1pm that day so he had the day off. That meant that we both had the day off!

So what did we do? Not much. Whitney was sick and Jacob was ... lazy. So, we just hung around the house. We watched Finding Nemo, Toy Story, and Whitney watched most of the first Harry Potter movie. Around 10 or so, Jacob braved the elements to check the mail. Whitney ordered the Disney World Planning DVD for 2008 and we had been hoping that it was waiting in the mail. It wasn't, but it was worth a shot we thought. Then we got the call that church had ben canceled.

So we slept and woke up to see that it was a beautiful day outside. After a wonderful pancake and egg breakfast we got bundled up and went on a walk. the walk didn't last long because it was cold (that usually comes with snow), but not before I got Whitney in the face with a snow ball. More like a snow grenade. We were getting ready to go inside and she packed up a ball of snow. Jacob hid behind a dumpster and packed up a ball of his own. He peaked up to see her ready to throw, so he threw his as well. Unfortunately he ducked dodging hers, but she didn't and got a big face full of snow. Jacob felt a little bad. Whitney just felt cold.

Whitney says she doesn't remember there ever being this much snow at once before. I'm not sure what the grand total for the storm was, but it's probably close to two feet in some places. We had maybe a foot and a half.

Still Breathing

Whew! Our lives our getting a little more intense now with school work, and life, and work, and life .... Whitney is working hard to finish her two independent study classes so she can graduate from BYU and Jacob is trying to survive all the reading that being a lit major entails. Whew!

We're also saddened by the passing of our beloved prophet, President Gordon B. Hinckley. We watched the funeral online; switching back and forth between video feeds when one would stall or go offline. It was neat to be able to do that from our home.

Listen to President Hinckley's funeral service here

We both loved President Hinckley and are excited to become better acquainted with the new First Presidency (President Thomas S. Monson--President of the Church, President Henry B. Eyring--First Counselor, and President Dieter F. Uchtdorf--Second Counselor).

At church, Whitney is still organizing musical numbers every week and Jacob is teaching the twelve and thirteen year olds. We both think it's fun to be able to see Whitney's parents each week--even though they've been so sick lately. We're enjoying Ohio and doing our best to make it through our hectic lives without too many bumps. We're still breathing!

Good Bye Holidays, Hello 2008!

We obviously aren't very good at this blogging thing, so we'll see if we can do better. But, since we don't have any kids or pets to post on, this really is just about us; in other words, not too exciting considering our lives are pretty uneventful at the moment.

For the holidays, we were lucky enough to go out to Arizona to visit with Jacob's family for the majority of the time and stay with Whitney's grandparents for a few days as well. As we packed, we filled four suitcases full. Gifts for others seemed to take up more room than what was originally planned. Anyway, we figured that on the way home we would just put an empty bag inside of another. Much to our surprise, we came home with more than we left with. Jacob's brother, Ammon, and his wife, Penny, had us for the gift exchange. They gave us their Game Cube and PS2, along with games, controllers, and a DDR dance pad. When we opened it, Whitney said to Ammon that he really didn't want Jacob to actually get through graduate school. Nobody really thought it was a very funny comment...Anyway, these large, heavy gifts were joined by two air mattresses for camping (to go along with the 3 room 8 man tent that Jacob's parents had shipped to our apartment), and lots of random little gifts. We had a great time with family, as well as thoroughly enjoying our time off work. We went to see Enchanted, and National Treasure 2 with Jacob's family, and took advantage of small town life in Thatcher, Arizona.

We flew back to Ohio and jumped right back into real life, again.

For the past week, we were babysitting for a friend from church. Jacob's schedule was pretty open which allowed him to play mom while the kid's parents were getting sun burned on their cruise around the Gulf of Mexico. Whitney enjoyed being able to watch Disney Channel on a regular basis, including catching up on the High School Musical Phenomenon (with a little prompting by Jacob). We hadn't seen either of the movies until this past week.

Jacob successfully finished his first semester as a grad student, leaving only 5 more to go! (Or 2 full years, whichever takes longer of course!) He is still working as a shoe salesman at JC Penney, albeit the end to the holidays took a toll on his hours. We just look at it as a chance for Jacob to really focus on his school work...we hope.

Whitney finally finished her senior thesis, which leaves only two online classes for her to finish before being able to graduate--finally! She plans on graduating in April, then only to get on with her life. She is still working full time at Kids Academy of Copley, potty training and fighting with kicking and screaming two year olds.

So Jacob didn't have to work today, but Whitney did. Since there were so few kids, Whitney got to leave a little more than an hour early. Yea for holidays! With his free time, Jacob cleaned up around the house, including finally putting the rest of the Christmas decorations away. After a little evening shopping, Jacob hung a new curtain in the bedroom and Whitney finished reading the Dan Brown novel, Deception Point.

And there you have it, the exciting lives of Jacob and Whitney Lauritzen for the last two months. Unbelievable excitement, we know! Wahoo!

A while ago, Whitney had made some signs ("I love you a bushel and a peck" and "Families are Forever") for our apartment, but we didn't have a way to hang them. Jacob used his new power drill (which Whitney gave him for Christmas) to make some holes to hang them with.

Now we just need someone to visit us!
(Hint Hint)