Trip Reports

Overview:
March 19-28, 1999: Twenty-fifth wedding anniversary!
Airline/ National Rental Car (mini-van)
All Star Movie Resort, two connecting rooms, one adjoining room.
Three adults (Steve, Suzie & Lynn), two teenagers (Byron and Nicky), and two five year olds (Lenni and Lila) with visits from friends and their families.
Previous experience-one trip to Disneyland and at least two trips a year since 1983 for my family, rookie for Lynn and her daughter.
We started planning this trip while we were at WDW last year. My husband suggested that we make this special anniversary (25) a family affair by inviting some of our friends and family to either travel with us or meet us at WDW. Lots of people wanted to come but had other commitments or didn't have the money available (one of my dreams is to take all of my relatives and friends and pay all of their expenses for them someday!) so we ended up with a smaller group than we had originally planned for. But since then, some of them have made arrangements to meet us there for a day or two.

We used to stay in the Fort Wilderness trailers when the kids were all small because you couldn't beat opening the door and saying, "Go out and play!" and having the space for them to do it in away from other guests. For variety we started staying in a different resort each time and so we have now stayed at all of the resorts except the Grand Floridian. (My mother and father used to travel with us before they passed away and my mother never wanted to stay in a resort that you didn't feel comfortable in the lobby in your bathing suit!) This year we chose the All Star Movies and requested the Dalmatians building because our family and Lynn's have adopted Dalmatians that were abandoned. (Yes they are active dogs, but very good natured.) My husband and I also like the idea of two rooms and TWO bathrooms. We are used to having more than one bathroom for five people and find that even a suite that only has one is a problem for us. Lynn and Lila have their own room.

We started out planning to drive down from Ohio beginning on Fri. the 19th and arriving on Sunday afternoon. We finally ended up making plane reservations because the airfare was so good that we figure that it almost paid for the extra days. (My husband thought that since we originally planned on leaving Fri the 19 and departing from Orlando on Sat. the 27 that we would fly down on those days. I managed to convince him that arriving on Fri. and leaving on Sunday the 28 by plane would be an even better idea, heh-heh.) So as it stands now, we will have eight full days, one afternoon and one morning at WDW. And when we return, I'll start the plans for the autumn trip! I can't wait 'til March!!!!

Oh yeah, does anyone have any info about special things that Disney does for anniversaries? I read the trip report with the special dessert tray at one of the restaurants. Is there anything else? Thanks!

The Report

Players:

Suzie (40 something) Coordinator for The Ohio State University
Steve (40 something) Writer, researcher
Byron (17)
Nicky (12)
Lenni (5)
Lynn (40)dancer, on Board of Trustees for her father's Co.
Lila (5)
Friday March 19

We arrived on time via Delta Express from Columbus Ohio where it was 32 to sunny skies and 78 in Orlando. We picked up our rental mini van from National (Emerald service is great) and arrived at the All Star Sports by 3:30. Check-in was quick and we were in the Dalmatian building that we had requested. We did not get the requested first floor room (my husband has a bad knee) but the third floor was fine with an elevator that we were close to. We went straight to the food court and got mugs for everyone. I put up our computer-generated banner saying "Happy 25th Anniversary!" (it was Dalmatian themed in keeping with the decor)

Lynn and I left the kids and my husband at the pool and drove to the Publix store across from Celebration. We got groceries and Styrofoam coolers to have in the room. After a short rest upon our return, we got ready and went to dinner at Max's Cafe in Celebration. It was the best food that we had all week and walking around the "downtown" area was great. Celebration sure has grown since we visited it last.

We were back to the room, not early but early enough that we could get a good nights sleep and prepare for the morning.

Saturday March 20

This was when reality set in. I could not even think of being a theme park commando with six other people to appease. None of the kids would get up early and no one wanted me to go without them (my family always acts like I might just run out on them whenever I suggest going anywhere alone). We did eat breakfast in our room most days which saved time and this day we were scheduled to have breakfast at the Crystal Palace at 11:00 a.m. We arrived at the park at about eight which was okay because regular opening was 9:00. We activated our annual passes and Lynn and Lila used their 6 day all-in-one passes. (As it turned out, they could have used 5 day park-hoppers since they left for a while and never did make it to Pleasure Island or any of the Water Parks)

We did Fantasyland first because of the five year olds. Everyone else could afford to be patient but the little ones were eager. We did IASW, Peter Pan , Snow White, and the Carrousel. Dumbo was already too crowded so we waited for another day for him and went to line up for the rope drop. By the time that we got around to it, it was already down and so we walked to Splash Mountain. which appeared to have a huge line, it wasn't really, they just hadn't opened the queue yet and as soon as they did, we walked right in an on to the ride. We then went on the Jungle Cruise and it was time for breakfast. with Pooh and friends. The kids loved it and the breakfast wasn't bad either. I find that as a general rule, Disney does breakfasts better than any other meal. Anyway, having such a big breakfast at 11:00 served for lunch as well. After greeting all the characters (Pooh, Piglet, Tigger, and Eeyore) we returned to Adventureland and saw the Tiki Birds new show. I miss the flowers singing and Iago kind of gets on my nerves but the five year olds loved it. Then we went on the Pirates, a general favorite, and spent a lot of time and money in the gift shop. After that we decided to return to the rooms to rest. The buses were usually pretty reliable, but my husband commented that WDW has almost gotten too big for its current transportation system and they really need to add some more alternatives (like the boats and monorails) before they add any more parks or hotels.

After a rest and a swim, I met with my friend Melanie who had driven up from Miami to visit us for our anniversary. We sat at the pool bar and discussed OSU's chances in the Elite Eight game that evening. We went over to EPCOT and rode Spaceship Earth, and saw HISTA. Melanie took us all out to dinner for our anniversary at the Rose and Crown and Steve and I wore our matching t-shirts that I had ordered from the Disney Store on-line. They are Mickey and Minnie with our names and the occasion on them. (no one ever noticed or commented on them the whole trip except for one cast member cashier who asked me where I had gotten them) Just before we were seated, Melanie called her husband to check on the game and found our that OSU was in the Final Four., great rejoicing! The dinner was okay, my oldest son's meat was really too rare even after he had sent it back once (blood oozing) and my youngest son was very tired and he was sleeping partly on his chair and partly on me when he suddenly became very sick to his stomach and quietly threw up down my leg. I didn't mention it at first because everyone was eating but finally Melanie noticed that I was making a face and asked what was wrong. Lynn and Lila had gone outside to watch Illuminations and when they returned, we decided to leave. Poor Lenni was sick all the way back to the resort and collapsed just as we entered the doors of Cinema Hall. A cast member asked if anything was wrong and I told her that he was sick to his stomach and she walked away. We managed to support him back to the room since my husband and I both have bad backs and couldn't carry him. In retrospect, I should have asked them to find us a ride even though the distance was short. He fell asleep and was fine in the morning, I think that it was too much sun, too much excitement and too much swallowed pool water. (he swims with his mouth open!)

I felt much better after a shower.

Sunday March 21

We had planned to get up early and go to the Animal Kingdom but decided to take an easy morning since we still weren't sure at this time that Lenni was all right (even though his first request upon waking up was for a bologna sandwich.) Lynn and I decided to take Lila and go over to Belz to shop. This is a real novelty for me because since my mother died, I never get to shop with anyone but my husband and three boys and they hate it. I spent too much money but got some great things including some little charm holder necklaces that I later saw in a similar style at the park for three times the price (Minnie ears with a bow and the loop below for charms plus a necklace in sterling silver) They also had a lot to those Disney sweatshirts that have a stylized character for each letter. They were selling them for $9.00, I think they may have been misprints in some way but I couldn't see it and believe me the price at the parks was at least three times that, maybe four. I also got a backpack to help hold all this stuff I was buying.

When we returned, the kids went swimming again and this time I only let Lenni play on the whale and in the kiddie pool (no more swallowed water, in fact he would only drink bottled water from here on out, he was convinced that the water made him sick) Nicky spent all his time in the arcade. I can see it now, he'll be one of those people who spend all of their money in Vegas, he only likes games that are almost like gambling machines).

Anyway, even though we had not been to the parks yet, everyone had a great day so far including my husband who spent his time, as he does everyday, watching CNN. ( We were at WDW during the Gulf War and he never left the room, just watched TV the whole vacation!)

We went over to Epcot and rode The Living Seas, The Land boat ride, saw Food Rocks, Innoventions, and went over to the Wonders of Life and saw Cranium Command. In each of these places we spent quite a bit of time just looking around. We have a Sea World in Ohio but our kids love The Living Seas just as much because they like to just sit in the windows and watch the fish. They all fell in love with one little fish in on of the separate little tanks that I think was about fishes who wear disguises. It was bright yellow and kind of pyramid shaped with funny little fins that spun rather that waving back and forth. It seemed to look at us as much as we looked at it.

Lynn went back to the room and we walked around to World Showcase to look at Mexico and Norway. We had dinner at the San Angel Inn, our favorite place for the food and the atmosphere. My husband has spent time in Mexico and he says that the food is much closer to that he had in Mazitlan than say Chi Chi's, Don Pablo's or Taco Bell in Ohio. Anyway, we always know that our kids will eat it (unlike Morocco where my husband and I love the food but the kids hate it)

We returned to the room before Illuminations ended.

Monday March 23

We slept in again today and didn't get started until about 10:00. Since today was e-ticket night at the Magic Kingdom, we felt good about going over late and just riding those things that didn't have lines until regular closing time. We shopped and ate our way over to Tomorrowland and rode the TTA. Nicky and I went on the Alien Encounter. We walked over to Mickey's Toontown Fair and Lenni played around Donald's boat. We went to Tom Sawyers Island (Aunt Polly's closed right after we arrived at 4:00, boohoo) We ate at Pecos Bills. We took the train around the park and ended up back at Tomorrowland in time to ride the

Raceway before the park closed. My oldest son spent some time in the Arcade while the rest of us were doing that. They had one grabber machine there that had Classic Winnie the Pooh stuffed characters in it. (Years ago I wrote to Disney suggesting that they get these machines like the ones at Paramount's Kings Island in Ohio where they had them loaded with Tiny Toon characters, only suggesting that they fill the ones at Disney with Disney toys. Instead Disney got the machines but filled them with silly cheap stuff and later I noticed that Kings Island had changed theirs to the same. I was really pleased to see this new one with things that would be worthwhile to actually spend money on.) After e-ticket time started the park cleared out. I felt sorry for the people without wrist bands.

We rode Buzz Lightyear over and over. My five year old never did manage to get more than 10000 points but we all loved it anyway. (enough to come back another day and wait 15 minutes to ride.) We then went over to Splash Mountain, Lenni's favorite, and rode it at least four times in a row. Then Byron, Lenni and I rode Big Thunder Mountain and now Lenni has a new favorite. (Nicky, the 12 year old, does not like any roller coaster type rides, they make him sick.)

We skipped Country Bear Jamboree and it looked as though most other people were too (we have been there twice, once on our first trip and once more last year) just to see if it was still as bad as I had remembered. It was. We won't go again. ( I'm glad that some people seem to like it though, it's nice that we all have different tastes. We loved Journey Into Imagination and people were always dissing that. But CBJ reminds me of the Possum Park in A Goofy Movie.)

Tuesday March 23

We hung around a lot today. We had all had a bout of tummy troubles over the past few days and we wanted to just rest. Lynn and Lila had left their room yesterday to travel to Ft. Myers to visit her parents who winter there. She didn't intend to be gone as long as she was so her room remained unused until Friday. Kind of a waste of $$. We were supposed to have some other friends visit but their little girl was having some complications from brain surgery.

In the afternoon, Byron, Lenni and I went over to the Animal Kingdom and saw ITTBAB and admired the Tree of Life. Lenni loved the show partly because he loved the movie ABL and he wasn't frightened at all because I had prepared him for the wasp part. There was a nice breeze today and so it was quite comfortable here even thought the temp was around 84. We also rode CTE and I agree that there wasn't much to see in parts. It would seem that you should be driving consistently through jungle and not just have it lit in flashes. The kids loved it though. Lenni played in the Boneyard for a while. It struck me that a lot of the stuff at AK requires that you spend some time discovering it. You can't just walk through and jump on a ride and be entertained. Takes more "work" but is worth it. (But then my kids love Discovery Island too)

In the evening we had PS for Cinderella's Royal Table and we decided that we all felt like going. This is the only time where we had real troubles with the bus system. We know that it can take time to travel so even though our reservation wasn't until nearly 8:30, we left our rooms at 6:30 and waited . We waited through 4 EPCOT buses, 4 Animal Kingdom buses, 4 Studio buses, and 3 Downtown Disney buses and still no Magic Kingdom bus. It was 7:25 before we got on one. It took until 7:50 to arrive at the MK and everyone was on Main street for the parade. We had a terrible time getting through the crowd to the castle, in fact we had to go clear around through Tomorrowland. We arrived at the castle podium 15 minutes after our PS time. Just as we got to the door I heard a woman complaining loudly that they had been waiting 45 minutes for their PS and the CM told her that it was hard to get a table for 5 to free up for them. Our group was for 5 too so I expected a very long wait since they had told me that our PS had already been given away but we ended up being seated in about 5 minutes. The fireworks through the windows were beautiful, I love to watch them from here. The Fairy Godmother and Cinderella were circulating around the tables but they only stopped briefly at our table, 3 boys do not show much interest in them. We eat at this restaurant a lot because it is Nicky's favorite, he likes to cut the heads off of the Mickey butter and we think the food is fine. They do seem to have shrunk the menu though. (We noticed the same thing at the San Angel Inn in Mexico, the menu seems to have diminished over the years.)

By this time that we left the crowds had almost completely cleared out and the vacuumers were out on the street cleaning. Everything looked so pretty.

Wednesday March 24

We all went over to the Studios this morning and saw Muppets 3-D and the kids played in the HISTK playground. We saw the Hunchback show, I loved it! The pre-show was just okay. Byron, Nicky and I ate at the Sci-Fi restaurant (my favorite , even though I really wish that they could put together a different trailer group. If they had a few they could alternate them and spare the poor cast members from the endless repeats. ) Lenni declined to enter even though he has eaten there several times before. Steve took him back to the HISTK and they ate at the food court there. Lenni had one of those kids meals in the little lunch box and he loved it. (It turned out that he objected to the part at the restaurant film with the Colossal Man and the giant syringe where the CM's yell "Watch out!" and "Ouch!")

After lunch Steve and Byron decided to head back to the resort as they were feeling bad and so Nicky, Lenni and I rode Star Tours but Nicky passed on it as he had started to feel bad again. He went back to the resort and Lenni and I were left to go on the Animation Tour . I still like this but not quite as well since they have changed the films and procedure. Lenni wanted to see Indiana Jones so we went over to that and sat about just behind the box that holds the technicians. Lenni liked this but he thought that the explosions were hot!

Lenni and I returned to the resort thinking that we would come back for Fantasmic another day with the others but we never made it. Sniff. Oh well, something to see next time.

Thursday March 25

This was the day that we had planned to stay out of the parks but we hardly needed it as we hadn't spent as much time in the parks as I had planned. Anyway, today we got up and had a real breakfast (as opposed to having doughnuts, cereal, juice and coffee in the rooms) at the food court. Not bad.

We went over to DisneyQuest at 10:30. I already had the tickets from the first day when I had stopped by to find out if the deal was still on where if you use your tickets after 9 pm on one day, they will still let you in the next day on the same ticket, it wasn't. They had stopped that. DisneyQuest was a wow for all of us. Only complaint- the noise was so LOUD. I pity the CM's that have to spent all day there, they'll be hard of hearing soon. I don't know how to tell about all we liked there so I'll just give everyone's favorites.

Steve-The Cheesecake Factory where he got espressos and played on the internet while sitting on the comfy couch seats.
Suzie - The Create Zone with all the stuff that you could create and buy like animation drawings, Sid's Toys, and the computer paintings. Best thing were the sticker machines where you could get your face on a sticker. We went back 4 times, outside DQ the machines were charging $4., so my four different ones paid for $20. of my ticket right there. I also liked the grabber machines where you could try over and over again and it didn't cost you a quarter every time that you lost. I think that I got my tickets worth easy.
Byron- All the video games that he could play over and over including old ones that he liked trying. He liked the fact that you could play without limits. (I probably should mention here that it was not crowded when we were there but during peak times you would not be able to stay on things as long and still allow others to have a chance.)
Nicky- The Buzz Lightyear Astroblasters, I liked these too. Like bumper cars in hyper drive! Nicky also loved the games that let you win tickets. He just kept winning tickets and if we had stayed till closing, he might have had the 11000 that you needed to get the Mickey phone! He probably got his ticket cost back in playing these games. And no constant running to mom for quarters!
Lenni- he liked the family games/rides like the Virtual Jungle Cruise, Hercules in the Underworld, and the Aladdin adventure. Warning: The virtual reality headset rides made me ill, the big screen ones did not and I'm pretty prone to motion sickness (BTM totally does me in.) Lenni also loved the Create Zone area, especially the Face morphing and painting things.
All in all, DisneyQuest was a hit with us and we still didn't do some of the things that we wanted to and we didn't leave until 5:00! It seemed a shame to have spent all the beautiful day inside but as it was pretty hot, we really didn't mind. Lenni and I had taken a break around 1:00 and walked to the Marketplace to shop and play in the fountains so we really didn't spend ALL day inside.

We returned to the resort to rest and get ready to go to the Disney Sports Complex to see the Atlanta Braves in Spring training. My Husband is an old fan of the Braves from his childhood in Milwaukee and so this is his favorite thing to do and so we usually make it to a game when we go to WDW in the spring. The sports complex is really pretty at night and the atmosphere is fun. I'm not a sports fan at all but I have good time here watching my husband explaining things to our youngest. (He has done this with the older ones too but they still aren't interested in sports.) Byron didn't go with us choosing to stay in his room to listen to CD's , Nicky came along to eat popcorn and Italian ices .

Friday March 26

We got up early this morning and went over to the Animal Kingdom. This is a beautiful park. Walking the trails of the oasis we saw all kinds of birds, monkeys and lizards. But this was not a good day for us and the fault is mine.

I hadn't taken into account the fact that my husband had neck surgery about six months ago and most of the rides at AK are pretty rough. We went directly to the Safari and although the line appeared long it moves constantly and it only took about 15 minutes to board. We saw lots of animal including the new baby hippo (awww!) and the male and female lions, elephants, and ostriches. But I could hardly enjoy it because my husband was trying to keep his neck from snapping around.

We walked on the Gorilla trail and saw lots of them , including three young males who were playing a lot like my three boys do. They would run at each other and wrestle and roll down the hill.

We walked through Harambe and went to get in line for ITTBAB. The mistake here was that Byron told Steve that the wasp sting consisted or being poked in the back with a metal rod and Steve decided that he did not want to experience this. Byron made it sound like a terrible thing which of course it isn't! So Steve left the line and said he would meet us at the end. If he could find the end. Steve can get lost in our neighborhood where we have lived for 12 years and the AK is unfamiliar to him and laid out like a maze. He should have stayed in line with us because I had forgotten that there is a place toward the end of the line that passes right next to the exit, a kind of chicken exit for people who as just looking at the Tree of Life and who don't want to do the show. (You can also park your stroller here so take it with you this far in line ) We saw the show and Nicky enjoyed it. At the exit, no Steve so we waited for a while and then Nicky said that he thought that he might have just waited at the entrance thinking that we would come out somewhere near that instead of on the other side. So we walked around and still no sign of him. We returned to the exit side again and sat down and had some cool drinks. Still no Steve so finally we decided that he must have left the park because he was so angry about not being warned about the rides. We walked over to the Boneyard so that Lenni could show it no Nicky but no one wanted to go on the CTE, Nicky said that his stomach was still a little uncertain and Lenni and Byron had been there already and didn't want to do it again. They dug for a while on the mammoth bones. Byron went to use the restroom and found his father wandering around. I was glad to see him but he was mad at me, said that I hadn't waited line enough because he was right there all along. (This is our 25th anniversary trip, remember? At this point I was doubting that we would make 26.) Well CTE was definitely out for him as was the Asian Rapids ride that had just opened. The boys did not want to see Jungle Book or the Festival of the Lion King just then so we decided to leave. Animal Kingdom will have to wait for another trip later this year.

After a rest back at the rooms everyone was in a better mood and so we went over to Downtown Disney which really looks like a downtown at night. (I too miss the serenity of the old Marketplace when my father and I used to drive our golf cart over from the Village resorts area (now the Institute) and get breakfast pastries at the Gourmet Pantry in the early morning.) Nicky, Lenni and I got off there and Byron and Steve traveled on to the Westside to visit the Virgin Megastore. We met at the Lego Store, an attraction in itself to Nicky and Lenni. I shopped a the 2R's store and the WOD store. They weren't offering the 10% MKC club discount the days that we were there and I heard several guests complaining. They were giving the 20% discount to resort guests with an American express card. I liked that! ( BTW they also told us that they had discontinued the 10% for the Crystal Palace with the MKC when we tried to use that.)

After spending money that I will have to work all year to repay, we decided to get dinner. But as it was a Friday night most places were mobbed. We ate in the Rainforest Cafe last year and didn't care for it. We like Planet Hollywood well enough but had been there recently enough that even Byron didn't want to go again. (Lenni hates Planet Hollywood, the Terminator figure scares him and the monkey heads disturb him.) My husband won't eat Pizza or anything with tomato in or on it, we all hate seafood, I am a vegetarian so we are kind of pains about food. We just decided to go back to the food court at the ASMR . Steve had a really good "chefs choice" carved roast beef dinner with " skins on" mashed potatoes and green beans. Byron had a meatball sub, Nicky had chicken tenders, and Lenni and I had grilled cheese and French fries. The milkshakes were good as was the carrot cake and cheesecake deserts. We were happy now, blood sugar had been restored.

Lynn and Lila were back in their room when we arrived at ours. Tomorrow is our last day and it is packed! Early to bed.

Saturday March 27

I won't even think about this being our last day. Everyone feels so good and the weather is perfect and the sky is the clearest blue. We had no rain during our trip but they need it badly in Florida and you can tell, the grass even at Disney is brown in spots.

Up early and over to the Studios. Lynn, Lila and I went to see the Voyage of the Little Mermaid (yea, girls who will go on this with me!) while Nicky and Steve went to see Indiana Jones since Nicky had missed it the other day. Byron and Lenni sat them both out. We went over to Muppets and then Star Tours and finally back to the Great Movie Ride. (I think this could use some updates. The classic movies are okay but there aren't any current ones at all.) We missed the TOT guess I'll just have to ride it by myself. None of my family will go on it with me.

We took the boat over to Boardwalk (we visited this last year and didn't find much that we wanted to do.) and then the boat to EPCOT. We started at France, lingered at Morocco looking at the beautiful clothes, went to Japan for our third Kaki Gori this trip (yum!), passed America as we had done this already (it's my favorite and I am not a patriotic person, it just gives me hope.) We went to Italy and stopped for quite a while at the trains (Lenni and Lila loved this) shopped for toys at Germany, passed the outpost and China and went to Norway. Lenni, Nicky, Lila, Byron and I went on the boat ride. Lynn and Steve had coffee at the pastry shop. We walked to Mexico where Byron, Lynn and I had lunch at the Cantina. Steve and Lila road the boat and Nicky looked around.

We walked back to the front and took the monorail (road in front and got our licenses) and took the other monorail over to the MK. Lynn and I took Lenni and Lila on Dumbo. (the line was 30 min but it was in the shade and we knew that we wouldn't have another chance, besides Dumbo is worth it!)

We went to see Ariel in her grotto. Well, Lila went, my kids just played in the water. Then we went to Mickey's Toontown and did the houses and the Barnstormer. Everyone but Steve and I went on this- our only time alone together the whole trip. Steve and Lenni visited the characters. Lynn and Lila were tired after this and took the train back to Main street and went back to the resort. We stayed and did Tomorrowland again and Buzz Lightyear ( a really fun ride!) Finally we dragged ourselves back to All Star Movies and ate a late dinner at the food court. Bless them for leaving these open later than they did when they first started having food courts, CS used to be the only one that stayed open past 10:00.

Sunday March 28

Slept in, ate breakfast, finished packing three new bags to carry! We had express check out and dropped our car off at National in minutes. Made our flight at 1:00 and arrived home in Columbus at 3:15. Thank goodness the temp was in the 50's so it didn't seem too cool. We were at home to greet our dogs and cat by 4:00. Dirty clothes and where am I going to put all this stuff!!!!!

Comments:

Since I think kids are the prize and goal of life, I can't imagine going anywhere without them and I get rather annoyed at people who seem to think that kids are alien creatures sent to bother them. For all of you who think that babies should be left at home and that kids shouldn't be allowed to eat in restaurants, why don't you keep in your "assigned areas" then and not go on kiddie rides like Dumbo and Autopia and don't go to family parks if you want boring old adults only. There, that's my gripe, I really feel that everyone of all ages should enjoy Disney in all of its forms. That's what makes it magical.

Also , for all our banter, wearing matching shirts, and telling restaurants that we were celebrating our anniversary, no one ever noticed or congratulated us. Sigh. But we had fun anyway- WE knew that we had stuck it out for quarter century!

Suzan Bird-Conliff

bird-conliff.1@osu.edu

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