In just 20 days, B and I will be headed into New York City for BlogHer 2010. Now, B’s been to a blogging conference before, Disney Social Media Moms, but I’ve never been. I did go to PC Expo years ago but I’m guessing that a mid-90′s computer show will be very different than a 2010 blogging conference.

My Aloha Friday question for today is: Will you be at BlogHer? Have you ever gone to a blogging conference before?

Thanks to Kailani at An Island Life for starting this fun for Friday. Please be sure to head over to her blog to say hello and sign the MckLinky there if you are participating.

Aloha #47

We woke up on Saturday, February 13th to our last day of Disney World. Soon, we would be going on a plane and heading home. But first, we would go to Captain Cook’s, have a nice breakfast, and then head to Downtown Disney for some shopping.

Well, that was the plan anyway. Every parent knows that plans are meant to be broken.

JSL decided that our trip didn’t come with enough “fun” so he decided to throw up as we were getting ready. B stayed behind with him while NHL and I got breakfast from Captain Cook’s to go. Then, NHL and I caught a bus to downtown Disney with a list of items to find. We went from shop to shop, looking and occassionally buying some things. We even called B a few times to see what else she wanted.

Finally, full shopping bags in hand, we booked it back to the bus. At this point, I’d like to thank NHL. He will often complain that his feet hurt if pushed to walk for too fast, too long. He didn’t complain, though, and just soldiered on. Thanks, NHL!

Anyway, we got on the bus and it went off…. to the next stop (still at Downtown Disney). At this point, our bus driver looked back at us and informed us that his shift was over and we’d be getting a new driver. Ok, fine. We were cutting it close, but should still be fine. The minutes passed and our old driver was still sitting behind the wheel while we all waited. More minutes passed and I began getting upset. I asked what was taking so long and he finally radioed dispatch to get an update. A new driver was on the way, we were assured.

More minutes passed and *finally* someone arrived. This person wasn’t our new driver, though, but another off-his-shift driver who told our driver that he just had to wait a half hour for his replacement. Excuse me?!! I didn’t have time for this. I had to get back, get packed and get to the airport! I expressed my displeasure and we *finally* had a new driver. It might have only taken us 15 – 20 minutes, but I expect more of Disney. This was a rare slipup on their part, but it was an extremely frustrating way to end our vacation.

We got back to the hotel, got all our bags set and went to do some shopping. We still had some money left on a gift card we got from Disney (part of a deal they had when we booked our pre-DisneySMMoms portion of the trip) and needed to use it up. B went through the shops in the Polynesian and found some items she liked. Then it was on the bus and goodbye to Disney World.

At the airport, we ate lunch while killing time until our plane boarded. Of course, JSL took this moment to proclaim that he pooped. *sigh* Off I went to change him only to discover that he hadn’t done the deed. I took a second to answer nature’s call when I got another one from B. NHL had a potty emergency and B couldn’t take him because she was watching over our carry on luggage!

So I washed up and swapped kids. When NHL was done, another call. JSL was really going to need a change this time. I got out to see him hiding behind the bench. Apparently, he wanted privacy. He was going to be a few minutes, so B took her turn. Unfortunately, when she returned, she was running. Somehow, we had missed that they had called our plane. It was already boarding!

Now, silly us hadn’t eaten lunch by our terminal. No, we set up shop in the food court. Our terminal was at the end of a long hall. So B grabbed half of our bags and ran with NHL. I grabbed the other half and called at JSL to follow me.

Except JSL wasn’t.

He was behind the bench yelling “me pooped! me pooped!”

*sigh* Wonderful timing, huh?

So I scooped him up in my arms and half-ran/half-walked down to our terminal. I got to the end (out of breath) to meet up with B and NHL. We were allowed on the plane and took a seat at the back where B asked flight attendents about diaper changing. We opted to do the change on the plane’s seats despite some looks we were given to the other passengers. Sorry, everyone, but two year olds don’t always have the best timing!

Luckily, the rest of the flight wasn’t as exciting and we landed safely. Of course, while it was good to be home, we missed Disney World terribly. Until I land my dream job of being paid to take photos at Disney parks while riding the rides, eating the food and blogging about it all, we’ll just have to console ourselves with our memories, photos and planning when our next trip will be.

I’ll admit right off the bat that I’m not a big white chocolate fan. I’m more of a dark chocolate person, myself. Still, how can you resist a peanut butter called White Chocolate Wonderful?

I found a recipe online for Flourless White Chocolate Peanut Butter cookies and then went to work gathering my ingredients.

That’s brown sugar, white chocolate peanut butter, baking soda, vanilla, white chocolate peanut butter chips and egg whites. First, we combine the peanut butter, brown sugar, baking soda and vanilla.

Now, in a second bowl, lightly beat the egg whites. (Bad, egg whites!)

Pour the beaten egg whites into the first bowl and mix it all together.

Fold in the white chocolate chips.

Now, scoop onto a baking sheet and cook at 350 for 10 to 12 minutes.

When they come out, do NOT try to move them. The cookies will be way too soft. Instead, let them cool for about 5 minutes on the baking sheet before moving them to a cooling rack. Or do like I did and let them cool for 5 minutes on the tray and then remove the aluminum foil – cookies and all – to let them cool for another 5 minutes. You’ll be rewarded with delicious white chocolate peanut butter cookies.

The verdict? Well, these were good, but to be honest, I have another peanut butter cookie recipe that I like more. I guess I like that one more due to the greater peanut butter taste. Still, this white chocolate peanut butter’s good stuff!

Disclaimer: Peanut Butter & Co sent me the jars of peanut butter to try. The opinions about the peanut butter and the dishes I make with them are my own, though, and have in no way been influenced by Peanut Butter & Co.

While no the way to Buffalo (more on that later), NHL and JSL were excited to see cows out of their window as we passed a few farms.  NHL pointed and excitedly exclaimed: "Look! A gang of cows!"  B and I chuckled as we started discussing the existence of the Udders and Moos.  Do cow gangs roam the countryside terrorizing farms?  I knew farm life was difficult, but never knew how bad it was.

Of course, then I realized an even more horrible truth.  You might remember my Dear Kid Saturday post a month ago about how NHL declared he was a "Selective Vegetarian."  He was only going to eat animals that he didn’t like and he liked cows.  Is he, by refusing to eat potential cow gang members, supporting farm animal hoodlums?

Please, NHL, won’t you eat this burger so a farmer won’t have to live his life in fear of drive-by milk attacks?

Yesterday, I posted a nostalgic look at some of the toys/momentos that reside in my office. Today, I’m wondering whether I’m alone in collecting such items.

My Aloha Friday question for today is: Does your office contain toys/momentos from past trips or other memorable events? If you don’t have an office, do you have a special place where you place these kinds of things?

Thanks to Kailani at An Island Life for starting this fun for Friday. Please be sure to head over to her blog to say hello and sign the MckLinky there if you are participating.

Aloha #46

As you probably read on TheAngelForever.com, we saw Toy Story 3 on Sunday. It was a powerful movie and it is quite amazing how Pixar keeps topping themselves. I keep thinking "There’s no way they’ll beat this" and then they go and beat it. I won’t spoil anything but I don’t think that it’s a spoiler to mention that the movie is about Andy going to college and what happens to his once-beloved toys when he goes. The toys long for playtime and Andy just keeps them in a toy chest, forgotten and unplayed with.

A few days ago, I looked through my office. I have quite a collection of toys, momentos, pictures and other assorted items that I’ve collected over the years. Most of them have some sort of sentiment attached to them. Let’s go on a tour, shall we?

Starting from the left and heading right is the head of Dilbert’s boss. This is actually a "silly slammer." You hit it and it says things like "I’m the boss. It doesn’t have to make sense!" Then there’s Tigger and Pluto from our Disney World honeymoon. Behind them is Humphrey the Bear who was given to us by a Disney World tour guide upon finding out we were newlyweds on our honeymoon. Behind him is a canner penguin from a trip to Montreal we took prior to being married. Behind that is a Long Island Ducks rubber duckie. The Ducks are a baseball team near where my parents live.

Moving on we find the characters from Lilo and Stitch, another Disney movie I loved. Behind them is a Homer Simpson Pez dispenser, Mickey in a car, Dilbert and Dogbert. After them is a stuffed Hershey bar from when we visited Hershey, PA. The photos are B at our wedding and B and I with Mickey on our honeymoon. Finally, there’s the M&M guys from a trip to the M&Ms store in Las Vegas just before finding out B was pregnant with NHL.

Here we have a Mickey/Minnie wedding couple. You can wind them up and they dance. We got them at Disney during our honeymoon. Then there’s Winnie the Pooh in a cow costume. He was handed to us with Humphrey. In the back is Dr. Evil and Mini-Me along with Dr. Evil’s cat. Next to them is a box with Thing 1 and Thing 2. Besides being Dr. Seuss characters, they are also one of our nicknames for the boys. B and the boys gave me this. In the front are various snowglobes and momentos from trips to Mystic Seaport, Boston, Sesame Place, Hershey and Niagra Falls. There’s also a Disney World photo holder from our last Disney Trip (currently sans photo) and a Yoda/Darth Vader mirror toy. (You look in one end and it’s Yoda, look in the other and it’s Vader.)

That crystal and the little "eye guys" are from our trip to Howe Caverns while B was pregnant with NHL. Behind them is a penguin keepsake from our trip to Montreal. Next to them are my Farscape guys: John Crichton, Zhaan, Scorpious (with shrunken Hynerian head), Chianna, and D’Argo. They’re joined by Gandalf and Shrek. Quite the combination, huh?

Not pictured (mainly because he hasn’t been dusted in far too long) is a Spiderman toy perched on a Gargoyle affixed to my wall.  A web head covered in cobwebs is irony not laziness, right?

On top of my computer resides an Easy Button, Super Grover and Oscar from our trip to Sesame Place, a talking C-3PO that I picked up from a going-out-of-business KB Toys, Photographer Goofy from last year’s Disney World trip and a couple of DRDs who wandered away from the other Farscape guys.

Finally, there’s the front of my desk where I have my "Judge Me By My Size" Yoda from our most recent Disney World trip, the first photo of B that she sent me (along with the note she wrote me after we were engaged) and a pinscreen.

And that concludes my tour of my office toys/momentos. Getting back to Toy Story 3, I can’t help but wonder, when I shut the lights off at night, do my toys come alive and have parties?

After meeting up with B, it was time for our last dinner at Disney World. We arrived at the location early and waited while other bloggers began congregating. After some time chatting, it was time to go in. We got a seat right up front with Christina, Tom and TJ. We ate, enjoyed the music playing and NHL got to meet Mickey and Minnie one last time.

I also got to catch up with DaddyDigest again and explained to him what had happened the previous night. We talked for a bit before NHL came over and told me that he wanted some dessert and it was almost time to go to the second part of the night. I went with NHL, got some ice cream bars and then returned to B and JSL so we could head to the "second part."

As you might have guessed from the title of this post, the second part was Toy Story Mania. They were opening the ride just for the Disney Social Media Moms and their families. We got on line and had a blast. I rode with JSL and B rode with NHL. After we got off, we went right back on line. Unfortunately, just as we were to board the ride, NHL declared that he needed to use the restroom. I left JSL and B to ride the ride while NHL and I sought out a bathroom.

When we got back, I decided that I couldn’t let NHL leave Disney World without riding Toy Story Mania one more time. So we waited on line, talked a bit with some folks and then played Toy Story Mania again. We got out, met back up with B and, seeing as how it was extremely late, we needed to leave the next day, and JSL was already passed out, got on the bus back to the hotel.

JSL and NHL love superheroes. From Batman to Iron Man to Spiderman to Ben 10, they love watching and acting out the exploits of various superheroes. So they both loved it when I introduced them to Hero Machine. They each had a blast creating their own superhero identity.

First, JSL made himself into Fire Guy:

He was quite adament that Fire Guy be blue and have a cape. Those were non-negotiable. I’m guessing his powers include the ability to throw fire around.

Next up was NHL. He came up with Disco Man:

When I asked why "Disco", NHL replied that it was because of his eyes. They looked like disco balls. (I pointed out a disco ball one time when we bowled a month ago. Good recollection!) He also declared that Disco Man had the power "to die sharks." I’m not sure how useful that power is in the day-to-day life of a super hero. If there’s an evil Shark Dude villian out there, he’d better steer clear of Disco Man.

Of course, I couldn’t let them have all the fun. I designed a superhero for myself and B. Now, we’re a superhero family!

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I believe some evil needs to be vanquished! TechyDad, away!

As you might have guessed, I like peanut butter. I also like chocolate. Especially, Dark Chocolate. So how couldn’t I love this?

DARK CHOCOLATE PEANUT BUTTER!!!!

Excuse me while I clean up this drool puddle. Ok, much better. I keep thinking I should find a proper recipe to make this into but then I think that’d be a waste of Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter. (Cleans up more drool.) Especially when there’s a quick and easy recipe that I love making this into.

First, let’s gather our ingredients. All three of them.

For the record, that’s dark chocolate peanut butter, marshmallow fluff and graham crackers. Now place two halves of a graham cracker down

Open up your dark chocolate peanut butter.

(Oh dear, more drool to clean up.)

Now spread some dark chocolate peanut butter on one half. Spread some marshmallow fluff on the other half.

Next, comes a highly technical procedure which I call “squishing them together.”

Doesn’t that look good? Don’t you want to try a bite?

Sorry, this one’s mine. Get your own!!! (Insert Cookie Monster sounds as I devour my creation.)

Disclaimer: Peanut Butter & Co sent me the jars of peanut butter to try. The opinions about the peanut butter and the dishes I make with them are my own, though, and have in no way been influenced by Peanut Butter & Co.