Disney Details - Day 4

Today was another day crammed full of activities. Thank goodness for the relaxing day and early bedtime yesterday! We were up by 6:30, showered and out the door for breakfast by 7:30, finished with breakfast by 8:15 and in a cab on our way to The Magic Kingdom by 8:20. We arrived at the Magic Kingdom by 8:45, hopped on the monorail for the quick trip to the park, and were waiting at the gates by 8:50 for the Opening Show! Whew!

The Opening Show was really cute with lots of people dressed in early 1900's garb singing a really happy "Good Morning!" song.
















Then they started with "Casey Jones" from Dumbo, and we could hear the train whistle as the big train arrived carrying a bunch of characters (including Pluto!!). Mickey Mouse was last off the train along with a family selected to participate in the opening. I have to say that the spectacle was exciting, and I even got chills during the countdown! Just call me Goofy....
















We counted down from 10, and at 0 the gates opened and the crowd pressed in. We got our stroller, and the girls and I went to Fantasyland while Kevin and Ryan headed over to get a FASTPASS for all of us from Big Thunder Mountain.
















Thanks to Tour Guide Mike, we only had a 5 minute wait to ride on Dumbo! Olivia rode it this time since she realized that it would be just like the Dinosaur ride she had enjoyed so much the day before. Pluto rode too... have I mentioned that Pluto came with us EVERYWHERE in WDW?
















After Dumbo, the girls hopped onto Cinderella's Carousel since it is right next to Dumbo and we were still waiting for the boys to get back with our FASTPASSES.
















Once we joined back up with the menfolk, we all rode on 'Peter Pan's Flight' and the ever classic, oh so cute 'It's a Small World.' It was almost time for our FASTPASS, so we headed over towards Frontierland.
















On our way to Frontierland, we passed 'The Haunted Mansion' and convinced Olivia that it would be so much fun to go ghost hunting... And we were right! It was a cool attraction with some neat special effects. Since we presented it as fun and "spooooooooooky" like Scooby Doo (thanks again, TGM!), Olivia enjoyed it too.
















As we continued our stroll to Frontierland, we encountered a momma and her babies, much to the kids' delight. They were so cute, and were completely oblivious to the people ogling them--reminded me a bit of "Make Way for Ducklings."
















Big Thunder Mountain was a lot of fun for most of us, but it went a little too fast for Olivia's taste. As you can see by her expression of distress, she did NOT want to ride again. We were so proud of her for giving it a try!
















After a little bit of convincing, we got Olivia onto the train that goes around the park. It's the same one that brought Pluto that morning (yes we did need to use that line to get her on it!)! We took a nice scenic trip to the front of the park. It was about 10:30 and we had already ridden on 7 of the major attractions with no crowds to even mention. It is so true--you've GOT to get there early. As we looked down on the entrance from the train platform, we were amazed at the number of people just getting to the park.
















We decided to head over to Tomorrowland to grab a FASTPASS for Space Mountain. Since you're entitled to a FASTPASS for every ticket you have, but only two people in our party were going to ride, we decided to go ahead and get 4 passes, and Kevin & Ryan would get to ride it twice, back-to-back.

While waiting for the FASTPASS time, we went to the Monster's Inc. show--very funny for all of us, and had a little bathroom break. Then, when the boys went for their ride, the girls and I went on a tour of Tomorrowland on the Tomorrowland Transit (you can just see part of the track below the planets in the picture). It was a fun ride, with enough speed and some curves to keep Katy interested, but still slow enough to keep Livvy happy enough to want to ride it twice. We even got to go inside Space Mountain and see the roller coaster!


























We had a quick lunch after meeting up with the guys, and then we went for another spin on the race cars--still Olivia's favorite ride. It was starting to get crowded, and we were all feeling a little tired, so we decided it was time for a mid-day break.
















We took a nice nap--at least the little girls did while the rest of us just relaxed. Then we headed over to Epcot for our dinner reservations at The Coral Reef--a restaurant that is inside the aquarium. It was looking a little threatening so we stopped and bought rain ponchos for the kids just in case. The restaurant had a great atmosphere--it was set up with tables on three raised platforms all facing four HUGE windows looking into the aquarium. Talk about a dinner show!

The kids had so much fun trying to identify the fish they were seeing (their placemats had pictures and names of all the fish in the tank). Their favorites were the stingrays, sharks and sea turtles. We even got to watch divers caring for the fish. Oh, and the food was delicious. Kevin and I both got the Mahi Mahi and I had a Bailey's/Jack Daniels mousse for dessert that was to die for...
















After dinner, we went into the Seas exhibit and rode on the 'Finding Nemo' attraction. Then we walked all through the aquarium and finally went to the 'Turtle Talk with Crush' show. The kids seemed to really get a kick out of how Crush was interacting with the audience. It was, like, totally awesome, duuuuuuuuude!

By the time we made it through the gift shop (with a little stuffed Crush for Olivia), it was pretty dark outside and getting close to the time for IllumiNations--the laser and fireworks show at Epcot. We followed Tour Guide Mike's suggestion to watch from a spot in France between two small green buildings. Once again, his advice was great, and we had a terrific view of the show.
















After the show, we followed TGM's directions for a back way out of the park. It would have been a very nice stroll if Olivia hadn't had a HUGE meltdown and cried most of the way... The route took us along one of the Disney lakes and down to the Boardwalk resorts. From the Boardwalk hotel we grabbed a cab and made a beeline back to our resort. The show had begun at 9 p.m., was over by 9:15 and we were back in our room by 9:45. I'd say TGM knows his stuff, n'est ce pas?

Disney Details - Day 3

Ahhh, we've made it to day 3, Tuesday. Yesterday was definitely the most grueling of all our days in WDW, so we were sure to schedule a relaxed, easy day today. We slept late--8:30! I don't know that I EVER remember my kids sleeping to 8:30. What a treat. After scrubbing them, we headed over to The Contemporary resort for our brunch reservations at Chef Mickey's.
















Chef Mickey's is a character meal, and it was a lot of fun. The restaurant is in a very open area on the 4th floor of the hotel, and the monorail runs through periodically just above, and to the left of the restaraunt! And since a fairly large opening is required to allow the monorail to come in, there are also some feathered friends flying around inside the hotel. They provided some amusement when several perched just above our table...
















Character meals are the ones where 4 or 5 characters circulate throughout the dining room during the course of the meal, stopping at each of the tables to sign autographs and take pictures with the guests. This is by FAR the best way to "meet" the characters. I was amazed by the number of people who would stand in lines for quite a long time inside the parks to meet characters, thus wasting valuable time that could be spent actually enjoying the park.

















At Chef Mickey's we got to meet Pluto, Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck, Goofy and..... Mickey Mouse, himself! It was quite exciting. Okay, maybe not exciting, but it was fun. And it's very low key, so even Olivia wasn't intimidated and allowed her picture to be taken.

















The food was good, as usual. The kids really got a kick out of the PB&J pizza! Lots of fresh fruit--yummy. And my favorite was an egg and veggie pie with tons of veggies and corn tortillas and some jack cheese and salsa over top. I would love to get the recipe.

After a very leisurely meal, we headed over to The Animal Kingdom for the afternoon. The kids really enjoyed the area when you first walk in, The Oasis. It is full of all types of tropical birds and other creatures tucked into nooks and crannies that you discover as you follow the meandering pathway. Then, as you emerge from a cave-like structure, you are greeted with your first sight of The Tree of Life

















The Tree of Life is the focal point for the entire park and sits in the center of Discovery Island. The "tree" is man-made, and is covered with intricate carvings of animals from all over the world. It is really beautiful, and the kids enjoyed discovering different carvings.

We went inside the Tree to watch the "It's a Bug's Life" movie. This is another of the amazing 3-D Disney movies. Olivia did not like this one because she found the bugs to be scary. And there are some scary parts like the hornet attack on us humans (complete with actual pokes in your back that come out of the seats). Fortunately Olivia was sitting on my lap, or she would have started screaming for sure!

Then we headed over to Dinosaur Land. The kids really enjoyed the "Dig" area that allowed them to explore and climb all over life-size dinosaur fossils. There was also a great area for climbing with slides in this attraction. And the best part was when we discovered the shaded spot that contained a life-size wooly mammoth "fossil" that is buried in tiny pebbles. All the kids just immediately set to work unearthing the fossil. It was a lot of fun for me, too. Kevin ran over to get a FASTPASS for the Dinosaur attraction while we were digging.
















Kevin convinced Olivia to get on the flying Dinosaur ride, and she realized that she did like this type of ride (exactly like flying Dumbo, but Dinosaurs). Then while he and Ryan rode a really cool roller coaster (the individual cars ride on tracks and the cars spin while they go over the tracks--ulp!), the girls and I played some of the arcade games.
















Kevin, Ryan and Katy went on the Dinosaur attraction while Livvy and I went back to the "dig" site to work on unearthing the wooly mammoth. Then we all headed over to Africa for our FASTPASS time to do the Safari. Thank goodness we had that FASTPASS, because the line was REALLY long. The best times to do the Safari are either first thing in the morning, or later in the afternoon (it was about 3:30 when we went). All of the animals were awake and visible except for those lazy lions.

After the Safari, we staked out our prime spot to watch the Jammin' Jungle parade. This was the best daytime parade we saw all week. Lots of characters, but the best parts to me were all the colorful and elaborate "animals" that were powered by people. They were a lot like the characters featured in the Broadway version of The Lion King.

















There were also lots of people in colorful costumes walking on stilts, and the kids thought this was really fascinating.

















We even got to slap hands (paws?) with the gorilla from Tarzan, Pluto (!), and Brer Rabbit.

























By this point in the day, we were all feeling a little tired, so we headed over a little early to The Rainforest Cafe for our dinner reservations. Kevin and I would have preferred the new Yak & Yeti, but the kid's menu there just wasn't going to interest our particular eaters. The kids had a lot of fun at the Rainforest Cafe, and even asked me to take pictures of them being silly:
















After dinner, it was back to our resort for an early (7:30) bedtime. Kevin and I laid down with the kids with the plans to watch a little TV once they fell asleep, but we both ended up crashing too...

It's a Boy!

Matthew Edward Monsey was born at 2:31 a.m. on February 13th weighing in at 9 lbs. 11 oz. and 21 inches long! Susan went through a long, difficult labor and delivery. She was induced at 7:30 a.m. on February 12th, and decided that she wanted to deliver naturally (like with no drugs--yikes!). She was in active labor for almost 8 hours, pushed for 3 hours, and then they gave her an epidural because they were going to try to use forceps to deliver. The forceps didn't work, so they had to perform a c-section to deliver him. So poor Susan is sore all over, but she's also quite happy and thrilled to be a mommy.

Congratulations!!!!

Disney Details - Day 2

On our second day in WDW, we had a laid back morning. The kids slept until 7--that's late for them! After breakfast we took the bus to Downtown Disney to check out Lego Land. It was so cool! I've got easily 35 photos of all these HUGE structures made entirely from legos. When Ryan first saw the replica of a Loch Ness kind of monster made of legos in the lake, he was impressed, but said it was just large legos. When we got close enough to see that everything was made from little, regular-sized legos, he was agog.

This whole family (including the dogs) is made of Legos! Can you find the three people who are only fans of Legos?


















We took the river boat cruise from Downtown Disney back to our resort. It was a fun and relaxing trip and we ate a light lunch on the way. Kevin and I would love to go back to Downtown Disney without kids some time--the restaurants look tempting, the shopping divine, and we'd both enjoy Cirque du Soleil and a night on Paradise Island at the clubs. Maybe next time?

We all laid down for a while and us girls actually took a nap before the excitement of the afternoon and evening. Then it was off to the Magic Kingdom for the girls to get their Princess Makeovers at the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique for Mia's birthday. They both seemed to enjoy the pampering, and the Fairy Godmothers-in-Training were so sweet! Even Olivia loosened up after a little bit and just enjoyed having her hair, make-up and nails done. And when they found out that they got to take home the makeup and nailpolish, they were even more excited!

















We then got to go across the corridor to Cinderella's Royal Table for dinner with the Shraga family. The food was excellent. The atmosphere was exactly what you would imagine to find inside Cinderella's castle. And the dinner show with the mice and the fairy godmother was really cute. We (the grownups) had a bit of a chuckle at the expense of our waiter. He was very polite in his manner and speech (always calling us m'lord and m'lady), but he seemed to be doing it with gritted teeth. Once we'd all made note of his attitude, we sent him on a few unnecessary 'errands' to get us fresh drinks, bread, etc. Silly, but funny!

Then it was time to say goodbye to the Shragas (their 3rd child was melting down), and time to sign in for the Pirate and Princess Party that night and get our special wristbands. The girls checked out the pirate map to find all the designated treasure spots (marked with large X's, naturally) while Kevin and Ryan rode Space Mountain.
















The park started emptying out before 7 p.m. because there was no parade or fireworks for the general public that night (just the special shows for the P&P Party). We headed up to FantasyLand and Toontown and started hopping on rides! Katy got to ride her very first roller coaster--Goofy's Barnstormer--five consecutive times! FIVE! The ride would end, there would be maybe 2 or 3 people waiting to get on, and the attendants would ask us if we wanted to stay on and go again! She LOVED it, and couldn't wait to ride more roller coasters. We could have ridden it a few more times, but after 5 times we were ready to find something a little tamer for Livvy to enjoy.
















Olivia really loved the Teacup ride. I remember that these were the types of rides I enjoyed most when I was younger (once I was finally brave enough to actually get on a ride!). We then went over to the Dumbo ride, but she refused to get on. Kevin took Katy and Ryan, and Olivia and I played on the stationary Dumbo outside the ride.
















We all enjoyed the Race Cars. Ryan and I drove one, and Kevin took the girls in another. I must say that I'm glad it's 7 more years before I have to ride with Ryan in a real car! His driving skills currently leave a bit to be desired...

After a few more rides (I mean attractions), we walked over to secure a spot for the parade. Olivia's favorite part of the parks was watching the parades. She was a little uncomfortable actually meeting any characters, but loved to watch them roll by and wave at her!

Cinderella's Castle is gorgeous at night. It's stunning during the day too, but at night with the lights and the reflections on the water, it's just awesome. There's a reason that it is one of the most photographed spots in the country! I was so proud of this picture--night time photos are awfully tricky.

























The parade was really neat--they had floats for each of the "major" princesses (Cinderella, Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, Belle, Ariel and Jasmine) accompanied by their princes. And each float was preceded by people dancing in attire that was appropriate to that particular fairy tale story. And then the pirates showed up! First it was Captain Hook's pirate ship, which was relatively tame, followed by the Tick-tocking Crocodile. But then the Pirates of the Caribbean showed up, and they were a bit rowdier and more "realistic." Olivia did NOT like the ghost pirate ship. It was rather creepy.
















But then the floats came carrying the Mickey Mouse crew dressed up in royal attire. And when Pluto--our much beloved Pluto--appeared, Olivia's smile was just huge! She LOVES Pluto. Katy really likes Pluto, but Olivia is gaga over him. He was the first character that she was willing to get close to for a picture, and by the end of the week, she was hugging him!

















We rode a few more rides, and then got in position for the fireworks show. Again, Disney really knows how to do fireworks! There were voices narrating the entire show piped over the entire park. And music. The fireworks were timed perfectly for the music and the ones they used were just spectacular. I know I'm gushing, but they were really, really good! And exciting! This show was themed for the P&P party so they first were talking about happy princess-related stuff, and then Captain Hook and some of the other pirates came on to take over the castle, so the music and fireworks became more exciting and violent. Finally, good won out over evil (this IS Disney, ya know!), and the finale was one of the best I've ever seen.

If you're going to Disney and they're doing a P&P night, I would highly recommend attending--it was so worth it! We left around 10:45 and were in bed just before midnight. Our little pumpkins were pooped, and so were we.

Sickie Blues

Get a good "blues" beat going in your head while you read this (you know the one: duh, DUH, da DAH in the tradition of "I'm a Woman").

Kevin woke up last Wednesday with fever, chills and body aches.
Not to mention some coughing and bronchial congestion, oh great.
Holed himself up in the attic in quarantine until Saturday.
Then Ryan woke up with the all the same symptoms on Sunday.

Ryan's been home from school for the past three days, he's miserable.
Kevin left for a trip to Denver yesterday afternoon.
After bathtime Olivia was whiny, she said she missed her dad.
But at 10 o'clock, she woke up crying, with a fever and feeling bad.

And I'm the Mommy
M-O-M-M and a Y
Come give it a try.
Yes I'm the Mommy
M-O-M-M hold the whine.
Or pass the wine?

Hopefully Katy and I will not succumb... And I wonder. If I get it, will I get to hole myself up in the attic for three whole days? Hmmmm. Almost sounds tempting. Almost.

Pins and Needles

I am waiting on pins and needles to hear from my childhood friend Susan's husband. Today is her induction day for her very first baby!

She hit 41 weeks yesterday, which was a total shock for her. She thought she might go early since her mom delivered her prematurely. I have done a good job of being sympathetic, but it is hard sometimes to be really sympathetic after enduring a twin pregnancy for 39 weeks...

She is (was?!?) huge considering that she is nearly 6 feet tall. The picture was taken nearly 2 weeks ago. They are expecting a boy, and it will be her husband's first son! They got there this morning at 6:30, and I haven't heard anything yet. I'll keep you posted when I hear something!

Disney Details - Day 1

Okay, so it has taken me a while to get this posted, but I took over 800 photos in the week we were there, so give me a break!! I have done some preliminary cutting and am down to 568 photos left that are all really good. Obviously I will only be putting a few up here. If you want to see the rest, guess you're going to have to come visit us!

Anyway, the trip was amazing. If you've never been to Disney World, you must go at least once in your life because it is just so much fun! The attention to detail of the Disney Imagineers really makes everywhere you go in any of the parks or resorts so special.

We did "Disney Magical Express" to get from the airport to our hotel. This meant that all we had to do when we deplaned was walk down to the Magical Express area and sign in. They directed us to the appropriate area for our resort and we hopped onto a bus and were whisked away. Seriously. And the TVs on the bus gave us a taste of all the things that were waiting for us in the parks, and in our resort. Our luggage was picked up by DME and delivered to our hotel room that evening. So nice to not wait at baggage claim and lug all those cases around ourselves!

We were a little late getting to Orlando thanks to the lovely (ahem) winter weather that was hitting the south that day. But we made it in time to make our dinner reservation that evening at our resort's restaurant called Boatwrights. The food and service were excellent! Kevin and I had amazing filet mignons and he had apple crisp with hard vanilla sauce for dessert and I had fresh berries. The kids were thrilled with their food which was served on plates shaped like Mickey with the ears holding their fruit and veggies. We later discovered that these plates are at all of the sit-down restaurants in WDW.

We got the kids in bed by 8 p.m. and once they were asleep, we unpacked and got settled in. The next morning we were up and at breakfast by 7:30. Again, the quick service restaurant at the hotel was fabulous with 6 different stations to choose from. The kids all opted for the Mickey waffles, Kevin got french toast, and I enjoyed the oatmeal bar where you could mix in all kinds of fresh berries and grains. We were at the bus for Disney Studios (used to be MGM Studios) by 8:15, and arrived there right before they opened.

We quickly discovered that Tour Guide Mike was spot on in his advice to be at the parks before they open. Number one, you are treated to some fun with the characters to celebrate the park opening. Number two, there is almost no one else there! We would spend the first hour and a half hopping on one ride (I mean "attraction") after another with little to no waiting. Number three, FASTPASSES rock. It was so cool to get a FASTPASS, then after your FASTPASS time arrives, you pop over to the next big thing you want to do, pick up a new FASTPASS, then go back to the ride where you have a current FASTPASS and breeze past all the people waiting in lines. Then we'd ride something else or see another show, or take a potty break, or enjoy the sites, or grab something to eat, and then our next FASTPASS would be ready. I know that part of the reason we had practically no waiting was the time of year we were there, but there were still some pretty big crowds by the afternoon. We never waited in a line for more than 15 minutes.

We also took the advice to rent a double stroller for the full week. We saved $2 a day by doing it this way, and it was so nice to just pop into the park each morning, show your voucher and pick up a stroller. Breezed right past all the other people waiting in line to fill out the paperwork to rent a stroller each day. And if you went to a different park, or to Downtown Disney later in the day, you just show your voucher and get a new one. The stroller was awesome for carrying drinks, jackets, blankets, towels (for after water rides), snacks, etc. And all three kids spent time throughout the day riding in the stroller--it is a LOT of walking.

















Katy got pulled up to participate in the High School Musical 2 performance. She was pretty excited! And a little bit nervous.
















While Kevin, Ryan and Katy rode the Star Wars ride, Olivia and I went to see the 3-D Muppet Movie. It was one of the best 3-D movies I've ever seen! Livvy was reaching out to try to grab the little bugs and other things that appeared to be floating right in front of us. It was so good that we took Kevin, Ryan and Katy to see it when they were done with Startours. Livvy wanted to pose by the Muppet fountain. Fortunately her smiling for pictures got better as the week progressed!

























Katy and Livvy's friend Mason from preschool was at Disney the same time as us. We ran into them on our way to see the Beauty and the Beast show and all sat together. They kept the giggling to a minimum.... Unfortunately Katy chose this week to begin experimenting with a new way of smiling with what I can only describe as "bunny teeth." Just wait til you see more of the photos.
















We had a terrific dinner at Hollywood and Vine. It was a buffet and we soon discovered that the buffets at Disney are outstanding! The food selection is really eclectic and the foods are all delicious. And there's always a kid's buffet area with things like pizza and nuggets and spaghetti and mac'n'cheese. Oh, and the desserts rock. After dinner, we went to the Honey I Shrunk the Kids playground filled with HUGE grass and mushrooms and flowers, etc. for the kids to climb on. Then we headed over to Oscar's for our backdoor entrance to Fantasmic--our amazing seats were reserved so that we only had to get there about 20 minutes before the show (folks who didn't do the Fantasmic dinner package had to get there nearly an hour beforehand to get comparable seats!).

The night was quite chilly (upper 40s)--the coldest of all the nights we were in Orlando. The kids were in their jackets and new fleece sweatshirts, but we still ended up buying a fleece blanket to snuggle under. The kids were troopers, but it was pretty chilly sitting there and there was a strong breeze at times.

I can not do justice to the Fantasmic show with words. You really have to see it--it is such a spectacle of lasers and lights and fountains and boats and characters and music and, and...

















We got back to our hotel around 9 p.m. and we all tumbled into bed. It was a great day, but we knew that Monday was going to be even more full....

Gap Toothed Grin

Finally, he's lost a TOP front tooth.

He's been waiting. And waiting. And when it finally got loose, he's been wiggling. And wiggling. And wiggling... And finally it popped out.

He looks so much older with that tooth missing--older than any of the other ones. And the new tooth is already showing coming down through his gum. The other front one is loose too, so it may not be long before he's sporting a BIG gap up front.

I can remember losing these teeth too--it's so weird to think that this is something he'll probably recall when he's older. I don't know why that's strange to me, but somehow it is.

And he's all proud--and loves sticking his tongue through that hole--something I can remember doing too. Man I love my little gap toothed grinner!

I Hate Winter

Bah. Snow stinks. I really do not like anything about it. And down here in NC when snow comes (thankfully hardly never), it is always a nasty, wet snow, frequently accompanied by rain and ice. Yes, that means it's good for snowmen and snowballs, but it makes the kids so wet so fast that by the time you've spent 30 minutes getting 3 of them into proper attire (or what has to pass for proper when you don't bother buying snowsuits anymore since they're a waste of $$ down here), they're back inside complaining of being cold less than 30 minutes later. Then there are puddles and piles of nasty, wet snow clothes all over the porch. Which require being washed and dried and put away.

And I'm BUSY right now! I'm supposed to be getting the house clean and all of the regular laundry clean and suitcases packed for myself and all 3 kids. I just don't have time for this.

I managed to keep them inside most of the day since it was raining. And I am NOT having them play in the snow while it rains on them and makes them wetter even faster. But now the stupid rain is over and the kids are out in the stupid snow. And I have to sit here and watch them so I'm not getting the stuff done that NEEDS to be DONE in less than 44 hours.

Have I mentioned how much I dislike snow? Perhaps we need to move even further south so that I never have to deal with it again...

OK. My rant is done. Happy *bleeping* winter. Only 64 days left.

Count Down to Disney...

We are down to just 2 1/2 days until we hop on a plane to go to Disney World for the kids and my very first time! Or as we describe it to the girls--3 more bedtimes (including tonight).

They are calling for a lovely ice storm late tonight and into tomorrow, but that shouldn't have any impact on us by Saturday. We'll be leaving daytime temps in the 40s and 50s and going to daytime temps in the 60s and 70s. Not too hot to need shorts or summer clothes, and also not too hot for standing on line for rides and attractions.

Tour Guide Mike has helped us to figure out where to stay (the Port Orleans River Watch) which is the only moderate resort with sleeping arrangements for a family of five. We thought about doing the deluxe resorts, but the price is just so high, and the weather's not going to be warm enough to enjoy all the themed pools, so we went moderate (less than half the cost!).

We also have a fairly detailed itinerary planned for each day thanks to Tour Guide Mike (I highly recommend the small fee for this service--he has all the inside information and has been so helpful in our planning).

Here's a brief idea of what's ahead for us in the next week:

Saturday - Arrive in Orlando around 4 p.m., and at our hotel around 5. Settle in, dinner at Downtown Disney and then off to bed.

Sunday - Hollywood Studios (used to be MGM) including Fantasmic that evening.

Monday - We're laying low this morning, exploring the resort, a nice breakfast and then a good nap. In the afternoon, the girls are going to our neighbor Mia's birthday party at the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique while Kevin and Ryan explore the LEGO Imagination Center. Then we're all off to dinner at Cinderella's Royal Table. THEN that evening we're staying up late to have big fun at the Pirate & Princess Party.

Tuesday - We're taking it slow again this morning, and hopefully sleeping a little late. We have brunch reservations at Chef Mickey's. Depending upon the moods of the kiddos, we will possibly take another nap before going to explore the Animal Kingdom that afternoon. Early Bedtimes!!!!

Wednesday - We're getting up bright and early this morning and heading to The Magic Kingdom. We will have had a fair amount of time there Monday night (hopefully without crowds and also with special parades and fireworks). We'll check things out during the day and I'll be busy snapping pictures! We'll be heading over to Epcot after the 3:00 parade for dinner at the Coral Reef - a restaurant inside (as in surrounded by!) an aquarium! We'll be up a little later that evening for the IllumiNations.

Thursday - Back to Epcot to ride rides and snap pictures this morning. Nap in the afternoon (if necessary), and then dinner at 1900 Park Fare - a Mary Poppins themed restaurant. That evening we're getting on a private pontoon boat for a family cruise over to the Magic Kingdom to watch the Wishes Fireworks show from the water.

Friday - Hopefully up fairly early to get to the Animal Kingdom. This is our day to take the morning safari and see all those animals! Depending on the kids, we may go to the SpectroMagic Parade that evening in the Magic Kingdom, or we may check out Downtown Disney again.

Saturday - We are having a character breakfast at the Polynesian resort this morning with a Lilo & Stitch theme--it should be wonderful because it's hyped as having all types of Hawaiian/tropical fruits and foods. We'll either spend the remaining few hours before heading to the airport at the resort or in Downtown Disney.

I can't wait!!!!

New Year Already?

How in the name of heaven did it get to be a new year already? I can remember hearing grown ups talking about how fast time went when I was a kid, and I thought they were nuts. Suddenly I am realizing that they were not as nuts as I had assumed (at least regarding the passage of time...)

We got home from our whirlwind tour of families and friends on January 1st thanks to sitting in traffic on the 31st (which delayed our arrival for what was supposed to be a quick hello at the McQuillans), and a good deal of begging and bargaining on the part of Stephanie. I got the kids loaded in the van (by myself, thanks to the aforementioned bargaining) by 7:25 a.m. on the 1st and we were homeward bound. The van was completely unloaded by 2:30 that afternoon, and I began the unpacking, laundry sorting process. I got a start on laundry that evening, but my good intentions were postponed thanks to a stomach bug that hit Katy, Ryan and me in the middle of the night. Yuck. My only consolation is that since I was sick too, I didn't have to take care of/clean up behind the kiddos.

The laundry is now done, folded and put away. The tree is undecorated and stored back in the attic. All of the Christmas decor is sitting in the living room awaiting Kevin having time to help get down all of the storage boxes. So all that remains to be done is loading up the decor, putting the boxes back in the garage, and cleaning the house.

Then it's time to pack for our week in Disney... Hooray!

And some gratuitous cuteness for good measure

What a Difference a Year Makes

It is amazing when I look back at where we were this time last year and compare it to where we are now. I know it's trite to bring this stuff up at THIS time of the year, but there's a reason why so many people do it now! And so up on the band wagon I hop...

Last year, our area had a record year for rainfall--not record-breaking, but still, a lot of rain. Lake Norman was up higher than I'd ever seen it . This year, we are almost breaking records for the dryest year on record. Lake Norman is over 10 feet below it's typical level. There are islands of dirt cropping up all over the lake, making it generally unsafe for boating.

Last year we were just starting to figure out our way around town. We hadn't really developed any favorites as far as restaurants, shopping areas, coffee spots, or grocery stores were concerned. This year, our family favorite restaurant is Brooklyn Boys (with Davinos a close second), our favorite Chinese place is the Golden Wok (yum!), the best Mexican can be found at Sauza's (with El Cerro Reyes a VERY close second), I prefer shopping at Birkdale Village, the best coffee can be found at The Human Bean--you've got to love the name, AND you get a yummy chocolate covered espresso bean with each cup! And I almost always do my grocery shopping at Lowes Foods--unless I have enough green points saved up and then I let them do my shopping for me with Lowes Foods To Go! Love that.

Last year we knew a couple of families in the area, but hadn't really made any real friends. This year we are blessed with three families who we are honored and privileged to call "friend." They have become a source of fun and amusement, and more importantly support as we've grown closer over this past year. And we are continuing to meet more people as our sphere increases--folks from Peninsula Baptist from basketball and baseball, the families of children in our classes at school, people I work out with at the Y... I don't feel so lonely anymore.

Last year I was feeling big and frumpy and didn't fit into my clothes. So I bought new clothes in a larger size. And then they started getting tight too. This September I started going to the YMCA 3 - 4 days a week and now my old clothes don't fit anymore! I've come down nearly 3 sizes, and counting... Oh, and I feel fabulous--my heart beats MUCH slower when I'm resting, and it takes it a lot longer to reach 80-85%.

There have been tons of other changes over the past year--Ryan's confidence, Olivia's communications skills, Katelyn's independence, oh, wait, she's always been independent! So how about Katelyn's obedience, yes, that is improving. Kevin's office location (to the attic), new teachers, trying new foods (my kids will eat broccoli now, as long as it's raw with dip), Ryan's reading ability (he's testing at the 5th grade level!), Olivia's patience at putting together puzzles, Katelyn's interest in writing and drawing neatly. Oh, the list could go on.

But the real reason I was doing this post was the change in decorating a gingerbread house! Last year, there was arguing. Ryan lost interest after about 15 minutes. Katelyn just squished candy (that she'd licked) wherever she could. Olivia enjoyed the process (this has not changed). Mom and I ended up doing most of the decorating once the kids lost interest.

This year Ryan did the front:

















Katelyn did one side wall (notice her careful patterning of green/orange and purple/orange around the windows) and worked on the roof on her side with Ryan's help:
















Olivia did the other side wall (notice her consistant use of mini gumdrops to do the outlines, and her red/green pattern on the roof) and also did most of the roof on her side with some help from Ryan:















And all three of them worked on parts of the back wall:

All I did was the icing, and other than the icing at the seams of the pieces, the kids told me how they wanted the icing to be applied to their respective sides. I was thoroughly impressed!

Who Knew?

So decorating the Christmas tree has been an evolving process for us the past 9 years. Before we had kids, we'd get a tree, set it up, and I would unwrap each ornament, thinking about the memories it held and would place it on the tree. Sure, we had to be a little careful about putting breakable ornaments down low because of the kitties, and also had to be sure that ornaments were attached securely (again, the cats).


























Things didn't change much for Ryan's first Christmas--he was only a few weeks old, so did not pose a threat. But then the next year we had to be more careful than before. Now it wasn't just a matter of breakability, we also had to be concerned about choking hazards. So only soft, stuffed ornaments went down low. Basically more of the same the next year (2001), but we were a bit less cautious. He understood not to take ornaments off the tree, and really didn't put tons of stuff in his mouth.

By 2002 we had pretty much come back to the same type of decorating as when we were just being kitty-cautious. Although, by 2002 Ryan wanted to help put the ornaments on the tree, so that was a bit of a change. He would generally put any ornament we gave him on one of 3 or 4 branches, so there was a lot of "clumping." Fortunately for this aesthetically-minded Type-A mommy, he didn't ever notice that the ornaments got spaced out a bit more after he went to bed that first night, and he never moved them around later.

But then in 2003, we took a giant step backward with two 8-month olds in the house. For most of that year we resorted to using a gate to surround the tree because even though we kept the un-safe ornaments low, and the more special ones up high, it just wasn't possible to keep our eyes on the girls ALL the time. And Katy was starting to pull up. I had all kinds of visions of the tree being pulled over...

In 2004 we weren't worried much by the pulling over of the tree, just the breakability and choking hazard issues--especially since Katy tended to put EVERYTHING in her mouth... Oh, and since Ryan was becoming quite the little ornament hanger, the girls wanted to get in on the fun about a year sooner than he had shown any interest. So then there was some fighting over who got to put an ornament on the tree. And some more fighting when my Type-A son would try to get the girls to spread the ornaments out, and not clump them all on one branch. I finally convinced him that it didn't matter where they put it at first, that he could help spread them out later (he'd come a long way in 2 short years!)

By 2005 we just worried about breakability and clumping. Oh, and the arguing over who got to put an ornament on...

Last year, we put ornaments wherever we wanted on the tree. Breakability was only a concern in who got to put an ornament on the tree. But the girls were no longer a threat for taking ornaments down once they were up, and Oreo had long ago lost any interest in playing with ornaments on the tree. As long as there was a soft skirt under the tree for him to doze on, he was a happy camper for the entire holiday season.


This year the decorating went very smoothly. The kids did a great job of getting in line and taking turns hanging ornaments. Ryan was terrific at de-clumping Olivia's clusters. And I actually had the chance to start telling the stories behind the ornaments--the ones from my first few Christmases, why we had bought certain family ornaments, where ornaments had come from, which ornaments belonged to each of the kids and who had gifted them, etc. After about 25 ornaments, each with a unique story, Ryan looked at our huge box of decorations and said:



"You mean that EVERY one of these ornaments has a story?"

"Yes, Ryan, every single one" was my reply.

And for the first time ever, I actually got to tell those stories. I can't wait until the year when they'll be able to re-tell those stories to me...

A Diverse Thanksgiving

This year we were Thanksgiving 'orphans' again. We knew that we would not be traveling because of Ryan's tonsilectomy, so at least we were prepared to be staying home. As it turned out, there were three other families in our neighborhood who were also going to be orphaned this year for various reasons (new baby, recent family reunions, travel at Christmas, etc.), so we decided to celebrate turkey day together. We all have different family backgrounds and traditions, so we each decided that we would bring several of our favorite traditional foods to the table.

It turned out to be quite a feast! The Shraga family always gets a fresh turkey which is prepared in a brine soak and then cooked with an apple brandy glaze. Wow. It was delicious! The Shragas also typically have asparagus with a parmesan breadcrumb topping that was also quite tasty and homemade cranberry sauce (I'll never eat canned again!). The Sedgleys brought their family's broccoli & rice casserole and bacon wrapped scallops--both delicious! The Kennedys always have a sausage stuffing, but it is not the kind of sausage stuffing I grew up with--it is made with sweet Italian sausage, golden raisins, apples and bread, and it was a taste sensation that was incredible. I brought our family's traditional cranberry apple bake and sweet potato casserole. It was quite a feast, to say the least.
For dessert we had pumpkin cheesecake, mile-high apple pie with crumb topping, homemade fudge, and bourbon chocolate pecan pie. And the kids had turkey cupcakes.

We had 11 children eating grown-up food (plus 2 more that were too young to partake), so Barbara set up a kid's table in the kitchen complete with brown paper covering the top as a tablecloth and crayons to decorate the paper. The kids loved that part. And the 9 adults ate together in the dining room on real china. We all took a moment to go around the tables and say what we were thankful for over the past year. And this was the very first Thanksgiving ever celebrated by one of the adults, Alma, who is the Kennedy family's au pair from Panama. She really seemed to enjoy the experience.

So, the food was wonderful. The company was enjoyable. The atmosphere was spot on. And yet, there was still something missing.... our extended family. It's just not the same without YOU! We're looking forward to seeing everyone in December!