Destination Disney

Well… we finally did it. After my beautiful wife graduated with her Master’s Degree (I’m really proud of her!), we were ready to celebrate. So we packed up our belongings and took the gang to Disney World (just like the winners of the Super Bowl). However, we were not alone. Hurricane/Storm Fay was headed that way too! It’s never boring for the Wells family, no matter

where we go. We couldn’t have just a basic vacation visit. Nooooo…we had to have some drama.

Actually it began the night we hit town. After driving for almost nine hours, and checking it at our Disney hotel, we decided to go to the drug store to fill a prescription for one of the girls who was suffering with a sinus infection.

As we waited for the prescription to be filled, a voice over the store loudspeaker asked for the owner of the black mini-van to come to the front. This was our rental vehicle, so I headed for the front counter. A customer had witnessed our van being hit by someone’s vehicle. They were very kind to have copied the license number of the other car before they sped away. Long story short, the police were called, a report written and the officer was able to identify the owner of the guilty party and headed to their house to confront them.

This was another opportunity to walk in grace and patience, even though we were all dogged tired. But we were blessed that (a) no one was injured, (b) the damage was cosmetic and (c) that someone was thoughtful to have copied the license number for us.

We had a great day on Sunday and Monday visiting several of the parks, the rides and o-my-gosh, the food. We ate like we had never seen food before. We had purchased the Disney Dining Plan which allowed us to eat at a couple of different buffets. No diet plan in sight. Good thing we walked hundreds of miles during our three days. At the end of the second day, we began to here a report that Tropical Storm/Hurricane Fay was bearing down on us. I noticed bunches of people checking out and leaving. Did the Wells cut and run? Heck no! I went to Wal-Mart (cheaper than Disney) and purchased ponchos and we kept on riding!

The Poncho People

Let me say that we spent a great deal of time praying that the weather would cooperate. On Monday when I looked at the radar on TV, it was raining every where around Orlando, but not in the city. There was like a shield around our area. How cool!

Several times in our hotel room we would gather in a circle and pray that the storm would not affect our plans. My wife even prayed that the storm would move out to sea and that there would be no explanation for it. So…as we’re boarding the shuttle bus on Tuesday, the driver said that the weatherman commented that for some reason the storm has slowed down and had made a right turn HEADED OUT TO SEA! Just what my wife had prayed! We just laughed and thanked God.

I have to share to following pictures. We were headed in to see some kind of stunt show and a guy stopped and asked for volunteers to help set up the props. My wife knows I can’t resist an opportunity to help, so I raised my hand. The guy took me and another couple backstage, fitted us with rain suits and gave us stage directions. Here are the before, during and after shots of me in the production:

Yea…I’m really being drowned by a tidal wave of water. So now, the family joke is that I can say that I’ve been in a Disney movie!

All in all we had a great time. Lots of laughs, lots of food and most of all… lots of memories.

Classic Disney Shot

It’s Not Things or Money That Makes a Great Marriage

My wife and I just celebrated 27 years of marriage over the weekend. We are both in a career transition and as a result our finances are a bit tight. She is graduating this coming week with her Master’s and I’m in the middle of completing another Masters. So to celebrate our anniversary we had to be creative. No cruise or expensive restaurant would work for us this time.

First we talked about our expectations for our big day. When people ask about the secret to a long marriage, communication is a key component. By talking about it, we were both on the same page. So we decided to spend time rather than money.

My beautiful wife fixed (southern term) pancakes (blueberry for her, plain for me) for our breakfast. We exchanged cards. And the only allowance for gifts was a special candy treat for each other. She gave me a bag of my favorite and I gave her a new kind of chocolate candy.

After breakfast we both spent some time studying our school work. For lunch, we decided to take a picnic lunch to the park. We had a great time eating homemade sandwiches and sitting by a lily pond listening to a bull frog and talking.

Back home for an afternoon nap. Then I prepared dinner for the two of us complete with candle and our favorite Kenny G CD. Then off to a movie at the dollar theatre (now $1.50).

We had a wonderful day, did not spend a lot of money, but did spend a lot of quality time together. It’s not the things or the amount of money, but the heart behind all of it. There will be times in the future that we will take a cruise and have a great meal at a nice restaurant. But for now, our relationship is something that money cannot buy.