Carl Hutzler's Blog

Over the valentines day weekend, the family made our second annual pilgrimidge to the big apple to attend our good friends Kenny and Michelle’s first annual valentines party. We met up with the inlaws (Rylan’s sister’s family) to double the fun.

On Saturday we drove up. (made it in 3:45 from DC to Brookly – not bad!) It was a nice day so we got a bite to eat at the mexican resturaunt at the intersection of Union and 4th Ave in Brooklyn. We ordered the guacamole and they made it fresh on the table:

2.5 Guacs
1-2 Chopped Jalapenos
Pinch of Cumin
TSP of Salt
1 Lime
Chopped Cilantro
Chopped Onion (at the end)
Chopped Tomato (at the end)

It was the best most everyone at the table had ever had. We went back again the next day to get more!

After lunch we walked up to Prospect Park and explored. We found plenty of trees for the boys to climb on and many half frozen ponds worth of a rock throw or two. And there was a nice little outdoor market with fresh vegies and apples and stuff right at the entrance to the park.

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Some of you may have read my post back in October that Rylan and I ripped out our aging pressure treated deck and put in a new deck and screened porch (hate those tiger mosquitos). They were about 80% complete back then and I promised to update my blog with the final results and my feelings on the work completed.

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OK, most everyone loves Disney. But I am not a big fan. I just don’t like rides that much nor crowds nor all the pretend stuff. I mean, if you want to experience white water rafting, they have the technology and it is a lot more fun when you are on an actual river! And if you want to experience driving a formula I car at 100 miles an hour, well they have a lot of places where you can do just that (including Disney World!). Along with sky diving, balloon riding and more, why not just do it instead of a 50 minute wait in a line and a 38 second ride. And if you need to feel zero g’s or 2 g’s, well they got better roller coasters in Kings Dominion which is an hour from most everyone’s house and a heck of a lot cheaper.

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We did Epcot center today. The test track was so much fun that the kids wanted to do it twice! And the “flight ride” was very well done too. Below is a video from the test track and a quick pic of Anna and Mom with Sleeping Beauty.

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…one night’s stay at the Nick Hotel, $160. Winning the Nick Talent Show and seeing your kid get slimed on stage in front of 100 people…. Read more

My buddy Phil just sent me this video…don’t know why he sent it today….maybe he found it on a long lost memory card? Fun.

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The family went downtown today for a little walking around. We went to the US Botanical Gardens and saw the amazing model train exhibit. We have gone pretty much every year, but this year they really expanded it a lot. Something to see if you are in DC for the holidays next year…or maybe catch it before it closes for this year on Sunday the 4th.

Then we walked up to the Whitehouse to see the national christmas tree. But just as we got there, we noticed the police were moving everyone off the elipse and not letting anyone walk around near the Whitehouse’s south lawn. We asked a guard what was going on and they would only say it would be closed for a short time.

So we walked to the north side of the Whitehouse and saw the viewing stand for Obama’s innauguration that was mostly complete. As we walked back towards Constitution we saw the helicopters (three of them) coming in and two of them leaving (one landed on the whitehouse lawn). One of George’s last flights in Marine One :-)

On to the mall again for one last look at the US Capitol where the stands are well underway for the big event on January 20th. Very exciting.

… Desnil Wodry??!?!

Well, not really true. This is my friend Kenny who stopped down for the holiday with his lovely wife Michelle. Still a fun picture :-)

Rylan made arrangements for a trip to Longwood Gardens last weekend. They are having their annual Christmas Lights Festival which was quite impressive. We took in the ice skating show which was well done if not a little “eery” on our somewhat foggy evening. And then we ate at the Yuletide Buffet before touring the grounds and returning to Wilmington and our hotel. All in all, I would recommend the visit to anyone in the local area….Longwood is just 30 minutes west of Wilmington, DE.