First Day of School Pictures

I can't believe how fast these girls are growing up!! A is almost as tall as I am (and almost the same shoe size) and B is growing like a weed. Time needs to slow down....

The 2007-08 school year is underway....back to regular (crazy) schedules, homework, and all of the fun that goes along with it!

Disney Pics

For your viewing pleasure, here are two pictures from our trip -- EPCOT, Day 2. More coming!

Meeting The Mouse himself in the Character Connection.

This was the day they started dismantling the wand and Mickey's hand around Spaceship Earth ("the big ball") at EPCOT Center. When we went back a few days later, it was more than half gone. I'm glad we got a picture before it was totally dismantled.

Day 2

Sorry this installment has taken so long…still waiting on pictures!! This is going to be long, so grab a snack and settle in!

Day 2 of the trip was Day 1 in the parks. As per guidance from the Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World (a must read if you’re going to WDW!), the Unofficial Guide’s planning website (www.touringplans.com) and Tour Guide Mike’s website (can’t remember the link), plus advice from a fabulous Disney World planning board (www.disboards.com), we knew that EPCOT was the park to do today.

We got up early, ate breakfast in the room, made sure we had everything we needed in the trusty backpack, and headed out the door. We only waited a few minutes for the bus to EPCOT and we were off! We arrived at EPCOT about 35 minutes before it opened, got right through the bag check line, and were almost at the front of the line for entrance.

We were there on the day they started dismantling the wand and Mickey’s arm from around the “ball” (Spaceship Earth). We got a picture of it that morning…I’m glad we did because when we went back on Friday those were more than 50% dismantled.

I don’t have my notes with me on what order we did the rides in, but I will tell you that we followed the touring plan pretty closely, only omitting rides we knew the girls wouldn’t like (Mission Space), rides that were closed (Spaceship Earth), and things the girls weren’t interested in seeing (Innovations – although I really want to go back and see this!). We also inserted an afternoon break (more on that later). Other than Soarin’ and Character Connection, the longest line we stood in was about 15 minutes, thanks to the touring plans and using FastPass on everything we could. Instead of doing a play-by-play, I’ll just tell you what we thought of the rides we did…

Soarin’ – the first ride we did. We loved it! It is really neat – love the smell of the oranges and the feeling of gliding through the air. This was B’s favorite ride.

TestTrack – DH did this one himself and really loved it. He convinced us all to go on it by the end of the week, as you will see on Day 6!

Finding Nemo – cute ride, very similar in nature to the “classic” Disney World rides. The theming in the waiting area is really fun – beachy, looks like you’re underwater in part of it.

Turtle Talk with Crush – very fun. The kids loved it. It was really neat how Crush interacted with the audience – very cool technology.

Character Connection – the girls told us before the trip that they weren’t interested in meeting characters…they told us before we got in the gates at EPCOT that they weren’t interested in meeting characters. And then B saw the Character Connection and we HAD to meet the characters! LOL We met, Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Pluto, and Chip and Dale. It was cute, although the 35 minute wait was a bit long (I thought).

Living with the Land – very interesting. This is where we saw watermelons, cucumbers, tomatoes, and other melons growing on trees and growing suspended from the ceiling. It was really neat! And 9 pound lemons – they were huge! We enjoyed this ride. It was one of the few that we did twice.

Cool Station – tried different Coke products, some good and some not. I had been warned at Beverly (Italian drink) so I didn’t try it, but DH did. Other than that, they were all pretty good. The girls liked a German drink that tasted like cola but with orange flavoring. I liked the watermelon flavored one from China.

We had lunch at Sunshine Seasons. The food was great and the servings were HUGE. I highly recommend using the Disney Dining Plan! The food was all really good. Especially the desserts! B and I had roasted chicken with mashed potatoes and baby carrots and DH and A had something from the Asian station. For dessert we had fruit tarts, chocolate mousse cake, and something else that I can’t remember. LOL

Next we headed to the different countries but only made it through a few of them before deciding we were ready for a break. We went back to the hotel to swim and rest for a while. We enjoyed the flower-shaped Hippy Dip pool at the hotel. This 2 hour break was just what we needed to recharge. We headed back for our dinner reservation at Coral Reef. This restaurant is so cool – a huge aquarium takes up the entire length of the restaurant so we saw giant turtles, sharks, and all sorts of sea creatures, plus divers. The food was absolutely incredible, other than my appetizer (a salad). A had the lobster soup appetizer and she loved it. DH had shrimp cocktail and said it was good. For dinner, M, A, and B all had grilled mahi mahi and they loved it. I had a steak – oh my goodness, it was the best steak I have ever eaten. And then dessert. M, A, and I all had the cheesecake. It was, by far, the lightest and best cheesecake I have ever eaten. It had a raspberry sauce and a drizzled sugar decoration. I finished the entire thing! SO yummy. B got a “make your own sundae” that came with vanilla bean ice cream (also yummy), with hot fudge sauce, sprinkles, and M&Ms. That was fun.

After dinner we headed back to visit the different countries. I wish we had more time to spend there…and I wish we weren’t so full from dinner – there were some foods I wanted to sample but we were just too stuffed! We stopped for a while to watch a concert by an Abba-type group (SO fun – the girls and I love Abba) and then continued touring. The roses and other landscaping were beautiful. But even at 8 p.m. it was darn hot. We found our spot to settle in and watch Illuminations. Even though it wasn’t the spot I wanted, it was a good viewing location. We really enjoyed the show…and headed out of the park and back to the hotel to crash and sleep very soundly!

Our initial impression, from this first day in the parks, was that the touring plans really do work, especially if you omit the things you don’t want to do and add in the things you do want to do. We didn’t get to see everything EPCOT had to offer, but we did see everything we wanted to see. Again, it would have been nice to spend more time in the countries but we can do that on another trip! We also realized the importance of that afternoon break. For some reason, swimming for a little while (or just laying down in the air conditioned room for a little while) really recharges your batteries so you can make it through the rest of the day. We were glad we took the advice to take a break every afternoon.

Oh – the girls really, really got into pin trading which would prove to be almost an obsession for them over the rest of the trip. LOL They traded pins with lots of difference Disney Cast Members and figured out quickly which pins they wanted and the etiquette of pin trading. I bought them each another trading set, plus a birthstone Tinkerbell pin, and they each ended up buying another trading set with their own money, plus a couple other pins with their own money. By the end of the trip I was pretty tired of looking at pins, but they both ended up with a beautiful collection, including some collector pins that can’t be bought in the parks. Not too bad!

Next installment…Disney MGM Studios and our first “Dream” experience!

First Day of School

As hard as it is to believe, today is the first day of school where we live. So soon! It seems like summer vacation is getting shorter and shorter every year. I must admit, though, that A and B are both definitely ready to get back to school. They spent last week arguing and picking fights with each other. They’ve only had each other as playmates most of the summer and they finally got tired of each other’s company. LOL It was bound to happen!

I couldn’t believe how grown up and beautiful A looked this morning. It’s hard to believe she’s as old as she is! She’s excited about this school year…lots of opportunities for her and she’s going to do great. B looks adorable with her new haircut, and I think we made the right choice with her teacher this year…hopefully she’ll be kept challenged and engaged this year.

I know I’ve been promising pictures – but it’s been really busy and we haven’t gotten them downloaded from the camera yet. I’ll try again to do some of that tonight!

Day 1

There are no pictures to accompany Day 1, so here goes…

Day 1 – Time for a Road Trip!

We planned to leave between 2 and 3 p.m., after church…arrive in Orlando around 8 – 9 p.m., and get to bed early. “The best laid plans…”. I ended up having to go to a meeting after church that lasted an hour and 45 minutes! (So much for it being a “short” meeting.) I didn’t even get home until after 2:00. I ran around quickly packing my suitcase and making sure everything else was packed, then we loaded up the van and headed out. Things were looking good until we hit traffic between here and there and it took over an hour to go 10 miles! UGH! Fortunately the DVD player was working and the entertainment helped keep everyone entertained and relatively happy. We never did figure out what caused the slowdown, but by the time we got through the slowdown it was time for something to eat….dining establishment mistake #1 of our trip!

We stopped at Burger King. That was a big mistake (but as you will see in a later installment, we apparently don’t learn from our mistakes). They were out of catsup. What? How is that possible? How is B supposed to eat chicken fries and onion rings without catsup? And how can it take 20 minutes to order and get your food in a fast food establishment? Doesn’t 20 minutes make it “slow food” instead of “fast food”? It was freezing cold in that place so after spending 20 minutes just to get our food, we decided to resume our journey and just eat in the car.

I expected to see a big sign welcoming us to Florida…after all, most state borders I’ve been through are quite visibly marked. We saw one small sign announcing that we were in Florida…so small that we almost missed it! We stopped to get gas and for some reason the DVD player decided to quit working. Not good for our sanity! So no more movies…with about two hours to go. This made for two very unhappy kiddos. The rest of the drive was quite uneventful, other than the girls asking us every 5 minutes if the DVD player was working yet. We saw the spire of the Orlando Temple from the road we were on. It would have been nice to see it up close but it was late and dark and we were all getting pretty antsy and were ready to be done driving. We could also see some of the Disney World fireworks which added to the building sense of anticipation and excitement. We expected to be able to see Disney World from the freeway but I have to say that I was pleased we couldn’t see it – it made it seem like it was more secluded and not right in the middle of everything. We followed the signs and before too long we were pulling up in front of our hotel, Disney’s Pop Century Resort (at 10:30 p.m.). Had I not know that all of the parks were nearby I would have thought we were staying off-site…one thing I really loved about everywhere we went at WDW was that you can’t see the parks until you’re right there…things seem hidden and secluded and the trees and flowers are beautiful. It really gave you the feeling that you were on vacation in a secluded place, and not in the middle of a huge, busy city.

The hotel looked like it would be a fun place to stay – there was a lot to see but we were tired and ready to get settled in. We got checked in quickly (I think the cast member who helped us at check-in was either a bit loopy or very hyperactive!). As the girls and I were waiting for DH to unload our luggage, a cast member came up to us with two gift baskets (one for each of the girls) with signed notes from Mickey Mouse himself. The girls were very excited. They each got some Disney goodies (LOVE the Mickie rice crispie treats), a trading pin lanyard and pin set (and so the obsession begins), a hat, a water bottle carrying strap, and a Disney plushie (Crush for B and Minnie Mouse for A). It was such a magical touch and a wonderful way to start our vacation.

We got settled in our room and I pulled out my trusty touring plans and my planning notebook and got everything ready for the next day’s adventure…alarm set for bright and early so we could be at EPCOT when it opened…the girls and DH fell asleep quickly but I didn’t sleep much at all…not from excitement, but because I just can’t sleep in hotels. All too early, the alarm went off and it was time to get our Disney adventure started!

Coming next…EPCOT, Day 2!

Don’t you love it when you’re right?

The final Harry Potter book was released over the weekend (just in case you didn’t know, LOL!). A and I have both finished reading it. I’m now rereading it to catch a lot of the little details (there are so many!) and will then reread the entire series. I have to say that I love the book. Some of the deaths were quite unexpected and sad…one in particular in the beginning really hit me hard. I don’t want to give anything away, but let me just tell you a new hero emerges (among the many other heroes) – at least this character is a hero to me -- and that particular hero is pretty darn awesome! And another character finally finds the greatness within and lives up to amazing potential. Hope I didn’t give too much away! I am very happy with the final battle – one thing in particular made me very happy. Can’t tell you yet…not until my sisters have finished reading the book.

My sisters and I had a lengthy discussion after Book 6 came out, trying to figure out what the horcruxes were and what might happen in the final book. I’m happy to report that we were right! We were also right about the role Hogwarts would play. Don’t you love it when you’re right?

It’s sad to think that this is the end of the series, although J.K. Rowling has said that she may write an “encyclopedia” to accompany the series, to fill in the backstory on many of the characters and more information on certain places, things, etc. I hope she does. And I think there is plenty of room available for her to come back in the future, if she ever decided to, and do more with some of the characters…both old and new. That would be pretty neat.

We now return you to your regularly scheduled programming…full Disney trip report coming as soon as I can get the pictures uploaded!

But I Don’t Want to Go Home!

Our trip to Florida was wonderful. Absolutely wonderful. The only problem was that it was too short! Well, that and the humidity. Temperatures in the low 90s are not so bad…until you add in 85% humidity (and higher most days). That’s when things get really uncomfortable. I thought we were well adjusted to heat and humidity…after all, we live in Georgia. Just a few hours north of Orlando, home of The Mouse. How much more humid could it really be, just a few hours south?

Oh, how little I really know about weather! LOL Let’s just say that the entire trip was hot, hot, hot and humid, humid, humid. But we coped well…our little misting fans and water bottles became our best friends. We all sweated more than we have in our entire lives (yes, even me….gross!)…but it was worth it. We had a wonderful time and it ended too soon.

Pictures and detailed trip report will be coming soon…but let me tease you with just a taste of coming attractions:

Day 1 – Time for a Road Trip! Who knew it could take over an hour to go 10 miles on a Sunday afternoon? And how is it possible for Burger King *not* to have catsup? The spire of the Orlando Temple is visible from I-4…as are some of the evening fireworks displays from Disney World. The hotel (Pop Century) was great…fun place to stay. We were all pretty excited but managed to get some sleep.

Day 2 – EPCOT Center. Loved our first ride and couldn’t wait for more! Who knew you could grow watermelons, cucumbers, and tomatoes on trees? Nine pound lemons? Coke products from different countries – some very interesting ones. Pin trading. Best steak and cheesecake I’ve ever eaten. Afternoon swimming at the hotel in a flower-shaped pool. IllumiNations. We all slept really well that night! The touring plans work!

Day 3 – Disney MGM Studio. First “Year of a Million Dreams” experience – you’ll just have to wait for details, but it was cool! The Little Mermaid, Indiana Jones stunt show, “Lights, Cameras, Action”. Lots of tour groups from Argentina and Brazil. Big thunderstorm so Fantasmic was cancelled…the “exodus” in the biggest thunderstorm I’ve ever been in! More swimming. Gotta love refillable mugs! Again, the touring plans work! Decided to add an extra day at WDW instead of going to Sea World.

Day 4 – Animal Kingdom. First day we deviated from the master plan but it worked out. I wasn’t feeling well which put a damper on the day. Kilimanjaro Safaris and Kali River Rapids (why was I the only one who got wet?), Festival of the Lion King show (wow!)…more pin trading. Swimming, and then dinner at O’Hana (so much yummy food!), then the monorail and Fantasmic…very cool show. Again, the touring plan (what little of it we did) works.

Day 5 – Magic Kingdom. Wow! Another “Year of a Million Dreams” experience…short lines, lot of crowds, loved Spectromagic and Wishes…again the touring plans work…Space Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, lots of shows, Laugh Floor, and DH getting a score of 182,400 on Buzz Lightyear! More swimming…dinner at the hotel (great salmon)…more pin trading. The touring plans still work! Another good night’s sleep…WDW really wears you out!

Day 6 – EPCOT Center in the Morning, then Magic Kingdom. Our last “Year of a Million Dreams” experience – the best one of all! Soarin’, Test Track (fun!), Mission Space…a disappointing lunch experience. Then over to Magic Kingdom. Splash Mountain and a few other rides…and then it’s time to leave The Mouse and head to the beach. We said a sad goodbye to The Mouse but are already looking forward to coming back for another visit…souvenirs and yummy stuff…Off to the beach!

Day 7 – The Beach. Hot, hot, hot and humid, humid, humid. The worst sunburn I’ve ever had in my life. My parents drove down and joined us at the beach. Fun in the sand and surf (the water was 90 degrees!), dinner a great rib place, swimming in the hotel pool. Time to head home tomorrow…

Day 8 – The Long Road Home. Sadly, we left Florida and headed home to Georgia. Drat, I wish the DVD player in the van would work! It was a long drive but we were all happy to get home…with visions of Mickey Rice Krispy Treats dancing in our heads we dream of our next trip to see The Mouse. 2008, anyone?

Be watching for details and pictures!