Disney - Day 3

We started off very early because we had breakfast reservations at 8:15 at the Tusker House restaurant in Animal Kingdom.  It was a yummy breakfast and we got to see Donald Duck, Mickey, Goofy, and Daisy while were eating.  This was Bailey's first experience with these characters and she wasn't a fan.  She's not in most of the pictures because she was scared.  

Before breakfast, Ryan had picked up Fast Passes for the Safari ride, so after breakfast we headed to ride it.  We enjoyed it and actually got to see a lot of animals.  We then boarded the train to the Rafiki's Planet Watch area mainly because the girls wanted to meet Pocahontas.  While we were in that area, they also got to touch a snake and pet some animals.

We then headed to the Nemo Musical, which will all enjoyed and then we let the girls play in Dino Land and Ryan and I took turns riding Expedition Everest.  We had eaten such a big lunch we decided to just use a few snack credits from our meal plan to hold us over for dinner.  We then headed to watch the Lion King show.  At that point we decided we had seen all of Animal Kingdom that we wanted to see.  It was really too late for naps so we decided to head to Downtown Disney for a little while. 

We went to the bus station to find the bus to Downtown Disney and found out that there wasn't a direct bus.  I asked a bus driver how to get to Downtown Disney and he told us to go to Saratoga Springs resort and we could walk to Downtown Disney from there.  On the bus we ran into a sorority sister of mine at Auburn (small world) and she told us we could actually take a boat there.  We decided to try that and after getting lost at the resort just a little bit, we finally found the boat and rode to Downtown Disney.

The main thing the girls wanted to do was to spend some of their birthday money that they got from their aunts.  They both choose the same Minnie Mouse.  We looked around at the stores and then found out that we could use our meal plan at Downtown Disney so we found a quick service spot and had dinner. 

That night we wanted to go the the Electrical Parade at the Magic Kingdom which started at 7:00.  At 6:00 we headed to the bus station to find the bus to the Magic Kingdom.  For the 2nd time in the same day, the buses didn't go directly where we wanted to go.  The bus driver for our hotel really wanted to help us out so he called up to the bus that went to the wilderness lodge and had him wait for us at the next Downtown Disney stop.  We then hopped on the Wilderness Lodge bus.  At the wilderness lodge we had to then wait for the Magic Kingdom bus.  Once we finally got to the Magic Kingdom it was 7:05.  We decided to go ahead and go in and try to see the parade because it was only offered on 2 nights.  We rushed in and were able to see most of the parade.  After the parade we left and headed to bed!

Happy Valentine's Day

One of my favorite memories growing up was how my family celebrated Valentine's Day.  My mom always cooked a special dinner and then Mom, Dad, Lauren and I had a candle light dinner.  I decided this year that I wanted to try to do a special candle light dinner with the girls, and we even used our china, which sadly, we've only used a few times in our 7 1/2 years of marriage.  Emma Catherine and I made heart shaped brownies and then she and Bailey decorated them with pink icing. 

Of course things never quite turn out as we envision them.  Emma Catherine didn't like the candle light and argued for awhile about wanting the lights on.  Then Bailey looked at her food and told us she didn't like it and didn't want to eat it.  We reminded her that we made the special dessert but it didn't make much difference.  She whined about her dinner the whole time.  Oh well, we'll try again next Valentine's Day.

Disney World - Day 2

We spent day 2 at the Magic Kingdom.  We made the choice to be at the parks each morning at the opening.  The crowds are less and the waits are less, and usually there is some sort of little opening show.  We thought the opening at the Magic Kingdom was great, especially when Mickey came riding in on the train.

Once the park opened we headed straight back to Fantasyland.  We rode Peter Pan, Winnie the Pooh, It's a Small World, and the Tea Cups all with no wait.  I then wanted to try to find Rapunzel because the girls wanted to meet her.  We found where she was and they had just started her little show, so we decided to go ahead and wait.  Ryan went to get Fast Passes for Big Thunder Mountain and the girls played their leapsters and had snacks while we waited.  The wait went really fast and then we went in.  All the kids got to go around a big table and color a Rapunzel coloring sheet and the parents waited in line.  Rapunzel and Flynn Rider came out and did a dance with all the kids and then they came and got in line to meet them.  It was a lot of fun.

After that the girls got changed into their princess outfits and it was time for our reservations at Cinderella's Royal Table, which was in the castle.  I can speak safely to say that this was our favorite character meal.  It just felt so special to be in the castle and the room felt more intimate than other character meals we went to.  Cinderella greeted everyone at the door for pictures, and then while we were eating, Ariel, Snow White, Jasmine, and Belle all came to our table to sign the girls' books and to take pictures.  Because we were celebrating the girls' birthdays, they got cupcakes and ice cream sundaes for dessert. 

After lunch we headed back to our hotel and the girls and I took a nap while Ryan did work outside by the pool.  The girls took a good nap and as soon as we got moving again, we headed straight back to the Magic Kingdom.  We picked up fast passes for the Jungle cruise and then headed to use our fast passes from earlier on Thunder Mountain.  Emma Catherine took turns riding with Ryan and then with me.  She really liked the ride.  We then rode the Jungle Cruise and headed to grab a bite to eat.  After dinner it was time to get a seat for the new Magic, Memories, and You show and the fireworks.  I can't even tell you how great the new show was.  During the show they project pictures from the day on the castle and at one point toward the end, pictures of Emma Catherine and Bailey individually were on the castle.  It really was an unforgettable memory.  The fireworks were great too.

After the fireworks, we decided to stay for extra magic hours for a little bit.  We rode the Magic Carpet ride, Dumbo and Peter Pan, and then decided to call it a night.

Disney World - Day 1

Last week we took the girls to Disney World to celebrate their birthdays.  We have been saving on and off for the trip for over a year and we have always told the girls that they would be going for their 5th and 3rd birthdays.  For the last year Emma Catherine has told everyone that "when I turn 5, I'm going to Disney World."  To say that we were all very excited is an understatement.  As a disclaimer, I am going to go through our week day by day because I really want all the memories recorded.  It was a fabulous week with great weather, low crowds, and lots of fun.

I worked really hard on the planning of the trip and Ryan thought maybe I went overboard, but in the end, we were all glad with the planning.  One great thing was that we were able to go during the free dining plan promotion so we were able to go to a different character meal each day.  I think that the meals really made the trip.  Also, I planned in advance which parks we would go to each day and I used touring plans to even help plan the order of the rides.  As an FYI touring plans is a great website that gives the crowd levels per day and also gives plans for each park on each day to give you the least amount of wait time on each ride.  They also have an app that is constantly updated with the actual wait times for each ride in the park.  We used it the whole time. 

We actually left for Disney World late on Friday afternoon.  We had already reserved a hotel in Tallahassee, where we spent the night.  The next morning we woke up and drove to our Disney resort, Pop Century.  We got there around 3ish, checked in and went straight to our room. Once we put our suitcases in the room, we headed to the buses to go to Epcot.  One thing that we loved about staying on property was the we didn't have to drive our car all week.  We took the Disney buses everywhere we went.  Since we were going to be doing at least one other full day at Epcot we decided to use the afternoon to try and see some of the characters and the world showcase part of the park.  As we wandered back there, we saw Test Track and Ryan wanted to go on it at some point so he went ahead and got fast passes for all of us.  We headed to China to see Mulan first because her meet and greet time was coming up first.  We wandered around China a little bit because we weren't sure where she would be.  Finally I asked a CM (cast member) where she would be and as we were just getting to the at spot, Mulan appeared and we were 2nd in line.  

Next we headed to meet Sleeping Beauty, Bailey's favorite princess.  Once again we were standing around trying to figure out where she would be and she appeared.  I pointed her out to the girls as she walked by and told them to follow her.  She heard me and said, "I'll take them with me."  Bailey jumped out of the stroller and walked hand in hand with her.  Emma Catherine acted more shy and didn't get out of the stroller for awhile.  

By the time they got to her spot, Emma Catherine had caught up and Sleeping Beauty spent time talking to them and taking pictures.  She was so sweet to them.

Since we were already in the area we decided to get in line to see Belle and the Beast.  Bailey was not sure about the Beast and wanted to stay away from him.

Next I thought the girls might want to ride a ride so we went to find the Finding Nemo ride.  They thought it was fun and we told them they would be able to ride it again another day.

It was time to use our fast passes for Test Track so we headed over there.  Emma Catherine wasn't sure if she wanted to ride but at the last minute decided to go head.  She and I rode it first and she loved it.  We had gotten a rider swap since Bailey wasn't tall enough, so Ryan took her again when it was his turn.  By the time we all rode, it was dinner time.  We ate and then headed back to our hotel to get a good night's sleep.

**In a lot of the pictures the girls are wearing birthday buttons that they gave us when we checked in.  Everywhere we went CMs said happy birthday to them and the loved all the attention!

**Also, we used the Disney photo pass photographers to take a lot of pictures, especially pictures of our whole family.  We had pre-ordered the photo pass CD because it was cheaper to do ahead of time.  I am still editing the pictures so I don't have the CD yet.  That is why there won't be any family pictures on our Disney recap.  I wanted to go ahead and write the recap because I didn't want to forget the details.  Maybe once I get the CD, I'll just do a Disney family picture post. 

Happy Birthday Emma Catherine

I can't believe that Emma Catherine turned 5 today.  More than any birthday she's had so far, I have been so sentimental.  I think that in my mind, 5 years old was always far away, but now I realize that kindergarten is just around the corner.  It doesn't feel like it's time.  She's changing right before my eyes, and I love her to death.

Today she had school and after lunch, I brought cupcakes for her to share with her class.  She picked out the cupcakes she wanted...orange and blue.  Pink is her favorite color so I asked if she wanted pink but she would hear nothing of it.  She had her mind set on orange and blue cupcakes for Auburn.  (We were so proud.) 

For dinner she wanted to go to CiCi's pizza and then we can home for a Belle cake and a few presents.  I thought it was funny that she wanted to know why she doesn't start kindergarten tomorrow.  We've always talked about that you go to kindergarten when you turn 5, so she's ready to start now.  I just think she's too cute.  Of course, I'm her mom. 

It was a good day for all of us, although the real fun begins tomorrow when we leave for Disney World.  We are going to celebrate both girls' birthdays, which is their main present this year.

Easy Bake Oven

For Christmas my aunt got Emma Catherine an Easy Bake Oven and today we finally used it for the first time.  Emma Catherine was excited about it and has been asking to use it for a week. 

When we took it out of the oven the first time, it didn't really seem to be cooked all the way.  I think it was my fault because I put in 2 packets of cake mix because one packet didn't look like much at all.  I put it back in the oven, but I thought it was hard because I couldn't see the cake so I wasn't really sure when it was done.  I finally just took it out and went with it.  It looked like this (pre-icing).

Not quite perfect but I think we'll get better at it next time.  She didn't seem to mind anyway, especially once she iced it and then ate it.

She even decided on her own to save a little for her sister. 

Down to One

Yes, hooray, we are now the owners of only 1 house.  Praise the Lord, and I mean that sincerely.  We have finally sold our home in Chattanooga.  When we decided to move to Birmingham in August even though we hadn't sold our house is Chattanooga, we knew it might be hard, but we felt that it was the best decision for our family.   We still feel that way but are definitely glad the house sold.

This weekend we went to Chattanooga to close on our house.  We met the sweet family who bought our house and also spent time with some friends and old neighbors.  We loved our house there so much so we were glad that this couple was excited to be moving in.  They have a 14 month old and a month old, bless them. 

I absolutely never go anywhere without my camera and about 30 minutes down the road on Friday I realized that I had forgotten it....man.  I hate missing memories, especially because it was such a fun weekend.  After the closing, we took the girls bowling with our best friends and their 2 boys.  It was a brand new bowling alley, so not smokey at all.  It was a little crazy but fun.  On Saturday we went to visit our neighbors and also saw the couple moving into our old house.  We then hung out with our best friends again and then we to dinner with Emma Catherine's best friend's family (friends of Ryan and mine as well).  I was worried about the girls having a hard time going back to Chattanooga and then coming home, but they haven't missed a beat.

Since I don't have any pictures of the weekend, I'll post a picture I never got around to posting.  This is the girls posing when they go their new boots.