August 15th, 2010 | permalink

Disney World

I’ll admit, I was never much of a Disney person. We went once when I was about 12 because my sister was competing in the national high school cheerleading competition at Sea World. So the whole family went and I think we spent a day at the Magic Kingdom and a Day at EPCOT. I was at the age where I was more interested in looking cool in front of all of the cheerleaders rather than enjoy Disney. It was at the Magic Kingdom where I witnessed one of the few arguments that my parents had in front of the kids and it all stemmed from my brother’s need to have an invisible dog on a leash. Needless to say my father did not see this as a necessary souvenir.

We needed a family vacation this summer and after most of the summer passed, we finally decided on Disney World. We looked up the cost of a few other places including Cedar Point resorts and Virginia Beach, but when it came down to it, the price that we were getting for Disney won out. After all, traveling to Florida in August has to have some sort of incentive.

Erika did an excellent job of planning the vacation in 3 weeks. Many of our friends (thanks Rhea, Sam and Amy) had tips on what to do, where to go, how to navigate the parks, and many other helpful tips. She also read a couple of books on the topic. Then another friend gave her the number of a local travel agent that specializes in Disney World www.mousemadesimple.com. They handled making all of our reservations for our meals, character dinners, character lunches, the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique, the Pirates League and made a bunch of other recommendations. A lot of these reservations are made much further in advance, but she got us in and the kids loved it.

We stayed five nights at the French Quarter at Port Orleans. I liked the resort due to its proximity to Downtown Disney which we could hop on the river taxi and ride on over. There are also Disney buses that pick up and take you to the other resorts and parks. We never had to wait too long and it was very convenient for getting around. The resort had a nice pool with a slide that the kids enjoyed on our downtime. Liv loved that the resort was New Orleans themed since she is a big fan of Princess Tiana of The Princess and the Frog.

My Foursquare check ins from our trip:

View Disney World 2010 in a larger map

Here are some of the highlights of the trip:

We were able to get to three of the parks, Magic Kingdom (three days), EPCOT and Hollywood Studios. We passed up Animal Kingdom so that we could get the third day at the Magic Kingdom and get to some of the attractions that we hadn’t got in the first two days.

Kade was made up as a skeleton pirate in the Pirates League at Magic Kingdom. It is located right outside the Pirates of the Caribbean ride. He made his own costume at home and packed it for the trip so we only had to get the face painting package. He received his pirate name, James Calicocash, and took the Pirate Oath and was lead back to private chamber where he received some of Captain Jack Sparrow’s treasure.

Liv had an appointment to become a princess at Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique in Downtown Disney. Since her birthday is this coming weekend, she became a birthday princess. Her appointment included hair, nails and makeup. It was a very quick transformation but lacked the detail of Kade’s Pirate League experience.

After Liv was made up as a princess, we went to The Princess Lunch at Akershus in EPCOT’s Norway Pavilion was great. The kids got to meet Belle, Aurora, Cinderella, Snow White and Ariel. Kade even got a kiss from Ariel and I think he fell in love.

We had a character breakfast with Pooh, Tigger, Alice, the Mad Hatter and Mary Poppins at the Grand Floridian.

EPCOT has beer and wine!

We rode on Dumbo the Flying Elephant as the fireworks were going off all around us.

Liv was one of the stars of the show at the Monsters Inc Laugh Floor. She played the role of Boo in the interactive comedy show. She was pretty shy and preferred not to be on the big screen.

We rode most of the attractions, some multiple times. Pirates of the Caribbean, Space Mountain, The Mad Tea Party, Peter Pan’s Flight, Dumbo the Flying Elephant, Monsters Inc Laugh Floor, The Tiki Room, Mickey’s PhilharMagic, The Haunted Mansion, Swiss Family Treehouse, Jungle Cruise, Stitch’s Great Escape, Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin, Snow White’s Scary Adventures, Carousel of Progress, Soarin’, Spaceship Earth, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Splash Mountain, Tomorrowland Indy Speedway, The Great Movie Ride, Twilight Zone Tower of Terror, Voyage of the Little Mermaid, Star Tours, MuppetVision 3D and Toy Story Mania. Whew.

Some of the best advice we received and/or learned on our own:

Get the Fastpasses. Some of the rides had up to a 2hr wait which is not worth it. Let’s face it, the thrill rides are nowhere near Cedar Point’s caliber. We fastpassed a lot of the more popular rides which made them more enjoyable. It was nice to wait in line inside in air conditioned rooms on most of the rides.

Don’t do the meal plan. We did, but found that we were forcing ourselves to get to a certain place at a certain time. The meal plan we had included 1 snack, 1 counter service (entree, drink, dessert) and 1 table service meal (entree, drink, dessert) per person, per day. The plans do not include tip or alcoholic beverages. If it included an appetizer instead of a dessert at the meals it would be better.

Don’t go to the Magic Kingdom on the day you get there. We did but would not do it that way if we go again. Plan some days as “vacation” days. Plan some days to have no plans and sit at the pool or go shopping at Downtown Disney. We filled our itinerary with parks and it would have been nice to have some more relaxing days.

Have realistic expectations. If your kids have meltdowns at home, they will have them at Disney World. Don’t let it ruin the vacation. Easier said than done. Get to the parks early and ride or get fastpasses on the popular rides. It just gets more and more crowded at the parks as it gets later.

Have an escape plan. When leaving the Magic Kingdom at night after the fireworks, you can walk through all of the shops down Main Street. They open the adjoining doors. It is less crowded and air conditioned.

It is going to rain. It rained a little everyday we were there but it hardly effected anything because we were prepared with ponchos. Stay at one of the Disney resorts. The transportation from parks, attractions and other resorts is worth it alone.

Before this vacation, I thought that we would only do a Disney themed vacation once, but we had a great time and I can definitely see us doing another Disney vacation in the future. Maybe I am getting old, but seeing the kids faces light up at all of the amazement around them is worth it. All of the “cast members” or workers at the resorts and parks were amazing. The characters stayed in character and the staff was friendly and helpful ALL OF THE TIME. One instance was when we were leaving the Magic Kingdom, Kade bought a lollipop. When he opened it, he found it was cracked down the center into two pieces. He began to cry as a normal 6 year old would and before we could fix the situation, a woman walked up to us and explained if we go back in the store we could exchange it for a new one. The woman worked at the Magic Kingdom but was there on her day off and out of uniform. That is how friendly the people of Disney were.

If I had one complaint I would say the one thing they do need more of… craft beer at the resorts/parks. But Abita Turbodog and Yuengling Lager at our resort bar was a great sight.

View more photos.

April 12th, 2010 | permalink

Indians Home Opener

Less of a post, more of a series of phrases.

Opening day in Cleveland, Indians baseball, sun, hot dogs, Stadium Mustard, Great Lakes Burning River IPA, salty peanuts, Swedish Fish, Sour Patch Kids, Ketchup wins the hot dog race, Me, Kade.

And the Tribe lost 4-2 in 10 innings.

April 11th, 2010 | permalink

Thorna

Great Grandma Kraus performs a palm reading on Liv Ellen as Aunt Brittany assists and Erika and her father look on. The photo effect was applied via an iPhone app that randomly places a cool spot on the image which just so happened to be placed on her palm being read. It was part of a very emotional weekend in Sandusky visiting with the Kraus family. Many memories were recalled and made.

Listen to the audio: (recorded on iPhone, sorry for low quality)

The past few weeks have been tough on the entire Kraus family. The matriarch, Ellen Kraus, has become ill and we are all dealing with losing this wonderful part of our lives. She has impacted many lives for the better and will be missed by many, many people. With the kids spring break being last week, Erika and the kids were able to spend a lot of time up in Sandusky.

Since 1992, Erika’s grandmother operated the Tea Rose Tea Room Bed & Breakfast in Downtown Sandusky, OH where she was known as Thorna. She ran the tea room portion for over 15 years where visitors would schedule their afternoon tea party, get their crumpets, scones, cookies and have their tea leaves read by Thorna. Dinner parties were also performed with an extended menu and ending with the famous tea leaf readings. She also performed tarot readings, past life regressions, weddings and filled the role of therapist to many loyal customers. Over the years the tea room provided a workplace for both Erika and her sister Brittany. Having been featured in media outlets in Toledo and Cleveland, the tea room gained regional recognition as a landmark destination.

She is also a licensed minister and performed our wedding in 2001 and Brittany and Marc’s wedding in 2007.

It took three different medical ailments and her children and grandchildren changing the phone numbers and taking down her website to get her to finally hang it up. She did not “retire” without a fight, if you can call being forced into closing your business at the age of 78 due to health retiring. She is one of many strong women in my life and has had a huge impact on where I am in my life and what I am today. Her stories about her mother and father, her Danish and German roots and her one-liners always warm your heart. She never forgets to tell you how important you are to her. I hope that our children will remember all of these great attributes that their Great Grandmother embodies. With the time that we have with her, we plan on continuing to make memories that will carry on her legacy.

April 7th, 2010 | permalink

Thirteen years

Kyle & Erika photo set on Flickr

As of April 8, Erika and I have been together for 13 years. It is hard to believe it until I started to look through old photos the other night. It all began when she came up to the University of Toledo to come visit with my cousin, Keri (Kromer) Bechtel. We began dating at the end of her Senior year of High School. In the Fall she left for school at Washington University in St. Louis. A year later we both transferred to Pittsburgh, her to the University of Pittsburgh and I attended the Art Institute of Pittsburgh. She also studied abroad in Italy, was published multiple times for her medical research and for her work on the European Drawings 1500 to 1800 book and exhibition at the Frick Art and Historical Center, and finished post-bac pre-med program Duquesne University. We got our first apartment, graduated from college, got our first professional jobs, got married, honeymooned in Italy, rented our first house, vacationed in Hawaii, got our dogs, vacationed in the Caribbean, and decided to start our family all while we lived in Pittsburgh.

Then, it got interesting. We decided to start our family.

Just before the birth of our son, we moved to Sandusky. We lived in the apartment on the top floor of her Grandmother’s Tea Room. We loved the Tea Room but we knew that we could not stay in Sandusky.

After a year, I got my current job in Cleveland. It was a rough first few months as I commuted back and forth, but soon after, we bought our first home where we reside now. Here we had our second child and began to put down roots and embrace the city. Then, another turn, my Mother was diagnosed with Leukemia four years ago and Erika was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes three years ago. As with anything, it is not always easy, it is up to us to make our own path when there is not one.

It was Grandpa Kraus that told us when we asked him how he and Grandma Kraus made it last (now over 56 years married). He told us that you have to keep the romance. Those are the words that we try to live by.

It has been a long winding road and I am sure there will be more turns but I am glad that I have Erika every step of the way.

March 28th, 2010 | permalink

Kade is 6

Every year it seems like Kade’s birthday lasts a week, and this year was no different. We had his family party in Sandusky last Sunday on his actual birthday and then had his friends party this Sunday at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History. I think it is a great venue for a child’s birthday party. Throw in the scavenger hunt, and the kids are exploring the entire grounds of the museum to cross items off of their list. Kade loved the whole thing and was beyond excited about the masks they provided, the cake and ice cream, the scavenger hunt, the feeding time of the animals in the outdoors portion. Happy Birthday little buddy and thanks to all of the friends that came to help celebrate.

March 13th, 2010 | permalink

St. Malachi 5 Miler

No, I did not run it. But Erika did.

About a week or so ago, Erika told me that she was going to run a race, the St. Malachi 5-Mile Run. I was pretty surprised as it has been a while since she told me she wanted to run in an event. This was to be her first race since Chicago Marathon 2008, and most of you know how that turned out.

She woke up this morning, prepared for the race and tested her sugar… over 330. Not this again.

Her running mate, Andrea came to pick her up and she tested in the car. Her sugar was down in the low 200s. This is a good thing.

I prepared the kids, who were very excited to see Mama run. They made little running leprechaun signs and wore their St. Patrick’s Day garb. We picked up Adam, Andrea’s boyfriend, and headed downtown to see the finish of the race.

It was not the best of days, a little rainy, but we waited it out in anticipation of Erika and Andrea’s arrival. It was great to see Erika’s smile as she spotted us after she finished. I have never been more proud of her.

We stopped to have a celebratory drink with the running crew at McCarthy’s Downtown and continued the celebration with a great lunch at Bar Cento.

Congratulations, Erika, way to get back on the horse.

November 22nd, 2009 | permalink

Sausage Stuffing Balls

It would not be Thanksgiving without Grandma Kraus’ Sausage Stuffing Balls. This recipe has been passed down from her mother. Here is the recipe…

Sausage Stuffing Balls

3 lb. Fresh Pork Sausage
2 1/4 cup hot water
3 eggs, beaten
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
24 oz. seasoned stuffing mix
1 1/2 cup finely chopped onion
1 1/2 cup finely chopped celery

Combine stuffing mix with hot water. Break sausage into small pieces and add moistened stuffing mix. Stir in onion, celery, eggs and baking powder. Shape into balls (1/4 cup). Place on baking pan. Cover with foil, bake at 325° for 15 min. Remove foil; bake at 350° for 25 min or until done.

Serve hot, but also great as leftovers, cold.

November 11th, 2009 | permalink

A Very Cleveland Christmas

The follow is a list of things to do, places to go, things to buy and events to attend around Cleveland during the Holiday Season. After living here in Cleveland for almost five years, we have been lucky enough to do most of these things and are looking forward to some of these things that we have not tried or done yet.

Cultural Happenings
All sorts of activities in University Circle.

University Circle is one of our favorite areas of the city. We are truly lucky to have all of the great Arts and Cultural Institutions that we have all housed within its neighborhood. During the holidays, the area is bustling with activities. On Wade Oval an Ice Skating Rink is set up and the annual Holiday Circle Fest is the main event of the season. One of the best and most creative events is the Gingerbread House Display at the Cleveland Botanical Garden.

Old Timey
We have heard great things about these Country Lights tours at the Lake Farm Park. This year we got tickets to see for ourselves.
Our children love the Lake Farm Park (and all of the animals there, Sheldon is still in the prayers). We went to the Haunted Hayride for Halloween this year and decided that We could not miss the Country Lights. It entails horse drawn carriage rides, lots of lights and the kids even get to make their own wooden toy in Santa’s Workshop at the end.

Good Food
Cleveland is one of the best food cities in the country, support our local independent restaurants.

The holidays are a time to eat, drink and be merry, so why not help out fellow Clevelanders while you partake? Cleveland Independents makes it easy by offering gift certificates to these restaurants. Give them as gifts, or keep them for yourself. I can’t wait to hit The Greenhouse Tavern and L’Albatros and try some new local establishments.

Crafts & Shopping
There are a slew of local shops and craft fairs around the holidays with great gift ideas.

Mark your calendars for Made in the 216, Bazaar Bizarre and Shoparooni and mark your maps with Banyan Tree, Room Service. You can probably do 90% of your holiday shopping at these locations. I am sure that there are more events and shops that we should hit. Please feel free to add in the comments.

Decadence
Chocolate, Chocolate, Chocolate.
If you have not tried Lilly’s Handmade Chocolates in Tremont yet, you are missing out. This would be the perfect treat to take to a holiday gathering or to savor sitting by a fire with a nice port, wine, champagne or beer which they also sell at the shop. We will be picking up some of these little beauties for our holiday parties.

Light it up like Vegas
So many light-up nights and  holiday events. Here are my picks.

Last year, we were very pleasantly surprised by the events at Tower City Center. There are many events including a Toy Soldier and Fairy Godmother show, Higbee Window Holiday Display, Holiday Express Train Ride, The Twigbee Shop, Gingerbread Lane and Kringle’s Inventionasium. Kringle’s Inventionasium is an attraction that features visits and photos with Kris Kringle, and where you’ll also meet his entire staff of brilliant toy inventors and take a tour of their wacky and wonderful workshop.

We also plan on hitting the light-up night in Downtown Cleveland and Legacy Village.

Beverage
With many local breweries to choose, there is no shortage of beverages.

I think we may be the luckiest beer drinking region in America. Not only do we get the best beer from the east coast and the west coast, but we also have some of the best beer in the country here in the Great Lakes region. To top it all off, we have a good helping of local breweries: Great Lakes Brewing Company, Hoppin Frog, Thirsty Dog, The Brew Kettle, Brew Keeper, Buckeye Beer Engine and Indigo Imp. All of these beers and more are available locally at Warehouse Beverage and Heinen’s.

Offbeat
You’ll shoot your eye out.
We still have not gone to A Christmas Story House. This is the house that the movie was filmed in and it has been retrofitted to look like the set. I have heard mixed reviews but still think it would be a fun thing to do.

Clothing
All about the C.L.E.

The perfect gift idea for that ex-Clevelander on your gift list: t-shirts from C.L.E. Clothing Company. Nicely designed t-shirts that focus on everything from the Cavs to Dead Man’s Curve. I have to admit we own a few of these shirts. Looking forward to kids versions too. Strangely enough, met the founder at Lollapalooza in Chicago while wearing one of his shirts.

Well that is it, my Very Cleveland Christmas list. I am sure I have missed some items but I thought I would share some of the finer things that Cleveland has to offer. Again, please add anything that I may have missed in the comments. Happy Holidays.

October 10th, 2009 | permalink

Grandpa Kromer

I have to say I never really knew Grandpa Kromer too well. The memories that I have from my childhood include fishing trips on his boat, rare stops by our house with chocolate milk and ice cream treats, and our yearly trip to his home in Norwalk, Ohio. Every Christmas we would pile into the car and make the “long” drive from Sandusky to Norwalk. As we would make our way down to the basement there would be the usual batch of homemade Christmas cookies on the table that included some buckeyes and my favorite, the cornflake wreaths with red hots as holly berries. Then, we would make our way to the back room filled with hunting trophies, collectible beer cans, antique milk bottles and 70′s furniture. We would play pool on Grandpa’s pool table being very careful not to scratch the table or color the ceiling blue with the chalk from the cue.

Those holidays meant a lot to us. After shooting pool and playing with all of the Star Wars and castles, we would sit down to sing all of the songs from Grandpa’s “song book” before we could open the gifts. The gifts, to be honest, were an afterthought. As kids, we had fun just being at Grandpa’s house. To be there meant it was a special occasion. We would all gather together and celebrate the holidays as a family.

My Grandfather and Grandmother were divorced when I was a child. He remarried and moved to Norwalk with his new wife, Marge, and her family. There were a lot of children, step-children, grandchildren, great grandchildren in the family so I was not very close with him. He was a farmer, a fisherman, an outdoorsman. He worked for Toft’s Dairy and went around to the local farms and checked on the cows and the milk for the dairy. He worked hard and was “the rock” in the family in the eyes of my mother. Even though I did not have the closest relationship with him, he provided my mother with a sense of safety and comfort especially when she was going through her battle with leukemia.

Tonight, my Mother called to inform me that Grandpa Kromer had passed away. He had been sick, battling pancreatic cancer for the past few months. We knew he did not have much time, so I am glad we were able to go visit him one last time a couple weeks ago. It was surreal walking into his home, taking the kids down to the basement to try to share some of the memories that I had experienced in my childhood. As we all gathered around Grandpa, I think we all knew that this would be the last time that we would all be together with him. The great grandchildren probably wont remember much about this last visit with Grandpa, but it is up to us to share the stories and the memories so that they do remember him.

Rest in peace, Grandpa.

May 18th, 2009 | permalink

Not so silly

Great idea… silly putty in bed. All that I have to say is olive oil works well to get it out of hair, nothing helps to get it out of bedding, and Kade is very lucky that Ted survived the incident. His HULK jams were not as fortunate.