Sunday, September 29, 2013

Summer 2013

This summer went by so fast! I guess I'd better put some pics up to remember a little bit of it. Except for our AWESOME trip to Utah in July, it was mostly uneventful and HOT. We rarely left the house unless it was to go swimming! Even though it stinks having to wake up so early again, I'm mostly glad to be back on a schedule now that the kids are back in school. And of course, with the start of school comes the hope of some cooler weather, which is the biggest thing I'm looking forward to right now!

Nature Girl with her favorite tree frog that stuck around our house for quite awhile. She could even carry it around on her shoulder!

 Makayla finally started losing some teeth!

 I love this picture. It's the last day of school, and Makayla was sooo sad and miserable all day because she didn't want school to be over. Broke my heart.

 How in the heck is my baby girl 3 years old??! I don't think I can stand her getting any older.

 Ella's Minnie Mouse party

 The girls hanging out with their cousins, Logan and Carson.

 Our trip to Utah! This is our adults-only date night.

 The grandkids with their favorite Aunt Stacy (Brian's youngest sister)

 Temple night at the Jordan River temple!

 Of course we went to the beach a few times. This is a jelly fish we found. It's in a plastic sand toy with water and a seashell. It was kinda small, but we buried it in the sand anyway.

 Just our family

 Going to our very tiny local zoo with the boy cousins.

 Playing at the zoo playground.

 Kylee, having a photo shoot with her favorite stuffed animals. 

 Taking the kids to the Orlando temple for a primary activity.

 Having a dress-up show. A favorite activity around here.

 First day of school!!

This year I'm doing a preschool co-op with some ladies from church. This is Ella's first day - she loves it!!

11th Anniversary!

For our anniversary this year, we went to the Hoop-dee-doo Musical Review, which is a fun, western-saloon-style dinner show at the Fort Wilderness resort campground at Disney World. The show and the food were so much fun! Later that night we went over to the Polynesian Resort and watched the fireworks over the Magic Kingdom from the beach there. It was the perfect ending to a great day.



A great blue heron I spotted near the campground. The picture doesn't show its size very well, but these big guys stand about 4 feet tall and are very impressive to see up close.

Fort Wilderness sign

In front of one of the props for the show by the theatre.

Getting ready to eat and watch the show!


When it was time for the main course, the waitresses came along with these buckets of ribs and fried chicken and slammed them down on our metal plates. I about jumped out of my skin! (but it was all part of the fun)

Enjoying our western-themed dinner of ribs, fried chicken, beans, corn, mashed potatoes, salad, and cornbread. Mmmmmm, boy!

The show was great, with lots of singing, dancing, silliness and family fun. I almost wished we had brought the kids with us!


Time to bring out the strawberry shortcake! Which of course had its own song and dance.

Holy Mother of all Strawberry Shortcakes! There are no words to explain how scrumptious this was. I'm still dreaming about it.




For one of the final songs, they gave each table a washboard to play along with our spoons. Because what's a song without a good washboard accompaniment? Nuthin, that's what.

The show ended with several audience members being brought up on stage and being part of the show. My favorite was the old guy in the angel costume at the far right.

Thursday, April 11, 2013

New adventures at Magic Kingdom

The New Fantasyland opened this past December in Magic Kingdom, and after watching the construction for the past couple of years, we were soooo excited to get in there and see everything! It's the biggest addition to the Magic Kingdom ever done. There is still one more big ride under construction, but that won't be done until next year. Here are the pics from our recent adventures in the new Fantasyland, as well as a few things we hadn't done before (we had to make sure and get them done since our passes were expiring soon).
 
 
 
In front of Maurice and Belle's cottage. We were in line for the Belle's Storytime "ride" (not really a ride, more of an experience). You start off waiting outside then work your way into the cottage, which they have set up really cute, then you gradually make your way into the Beast's castle where the kids act out a story with Belle in the Beast's library. It's small and interactive and well done with some great special effects. In this picture, Makayla is being a big stinker about having her picture taken, which is the norm these day.

 
The other girls don't mind having their picture taken!

 
Brian with the Beast's castle over his head in the distance. It's not a full-sized castle like the Cinderella castle, but is supposed to look far away on a mountain. Belle's Storytime and the Be Our Guest restaurant are inside of the "mountain" primarily.

 
Miracle of miracles, Makayla let us take a picture of her!!

 
Waiting in line inside Maurice's cottage. Lots of cute details from the movie are in there, like the book Belle was reading that a goat tore part of the page from, as well as Maurice's workshop.

 
I particularly liked the picture of Belle as a child with her mother hanging on the wall.

 
When you get in the library, Lumiere is on the mantel and talks to the audience. His facial expressions are just amazing.

 
After the storytime, each child has the chance to meet Belle and have their picture taken with her.


 
Meeting Merida for the first time. They had some fun things to do there, like practicing shooting a bow and "arrow."

 
We decided to try and go meet the Fairies, since we hadn't ever done that before. The place where you meet the fairies is set up like a big garden. Makayla's smelling the giant flowers here.

 
Meeting Rosetta


 
Meeting Tinkerbell. Not the best picture I'm afraid.

 
Another first, meeting Ariel at Ariel's Grotto. That was a great character greeting.

 
In front of Gaston's Tavern, which was built inside and out to look just like the one in the movie. We're sitting in front of a statue of Gaston, which according to the plaque in front of it, Gaston donated to the town so that they would remember how great and handsome he was (or something).



 
My baby bug sitting on her dad's shoulders.

 
The castle in the fog.
 
 
 
While we were visiting Gaston's Tavern, Gaston himself suddenly walked out and started greeting people! My kids rushed forward, but Ella wasn't too fond of him and ran back to us, at which piont he said, "Yes, as a specimen I am quite intimidating." He was happy to sign their autograph books and when he saw Belle's name in there he said, "I see you've met my girlfriend."
 
Posing with Gaston. I swear, he looked and acted just like Jim Carrey! It was a great, impromptu character greeting! As we were walking away, Ella turned around and waved and yelled, "Bye, Beast!"

 
In front of Prince Eric's castle - The Little Mermaid ride is basically inside of it.

 
Close-up view of the Beast's castle up on the mountain. I'll be posting our dining experience at the Be Our Guest restaurant (which took us 6 months to get into!) soon, which was so amazing.

 
Me and Ella standing in line for The Little Mermaid ride.

 
Little Mermaid ride!!

About Me

Ohio, United States
We're just a fun family of four living in Ohio while Brian's in graduate school, trying to keep in touch with family and friends.