A personal highlight of our vacation was being able to meet a blogging buddy of mine. We've been communicating back and forth with each other since January of 2008. We both have recently moved and built a house. Only she moved to a much more fun place - Orlando!!! After she moved, we continued to talk and she gave us some good advice about planning our trip to Disney World. I would consider her and expert on all things Disney! Also, she got on the Twilight bandwagon and we were able to discuss all the wonderful things about the books and the movie.
So, on Monday of our vacation, Karen was kind enough to venture over to the Magic Kingdom to meet up with us. It was a welcomed visit and she helped me with the girls, which allowed Jon Paul to go ride some "big boy" rides. He was able to go on the Haunted Mansion and the Pirates of the Caribbean rides. Us girls took in a few shows and visited until it was time for Karen to get back to her family. It was great to meet in person - and to think we would probably never had met if she hadn't moved to Orlando! Check out her post, If You Build It... and see her perspective on our visit together. Karen - it was a joy to meet you and hope we continue to be blogging buddies for years to come!!
Saturday, April 18th Our first two and a half days were spent at the Magic Kingdom. We went there our first night there and were able to watch the Spectromagic Parade and fireworks by Cinderella's Castle. The fireworks were amazing! After the shows were over we spent three hours riding some of the rides. Our first ride was It's A Small World. Good ride, but that song gets stuck in your head! We also rode Dumbo the Flying Elephant and the Merry Go Round. The girls picked out their first souvenirs. Rachel got Fawn - one of Tinkerbell's Fairy friends and Rebekah picked out an Aurora doll. We stayed at the park that first night until a little before midnight. The girls were exhausted!
Sunday, April 19th We went back for a full day at the Magic Kingdom. We rode many rides and met three princesses and three fairies. Rebekah was so excited to get to meet Aurora and she talked more than I have ever seen her talk! It was really precious. The girls met Aurora, Cinderella and Belle. After meeting the princesses, we waited in line for about an hour to meet the fairies. Rachel was really hoping Fawn would be there, but she had to leave to go tend to the butterfly races. They did get to meet Rosetta, Tinkerbell and Silvermist. Of course, while waiting to meet the fairies, we were "shrunk" down really tiny - to fairy size, so we could see the fairies better. Sunday night, we had reservations to eat at Cinderella's Royal Table inside the castle! We got to see Cinderella again and two of the mice were there and also the Fairy Godmother. The food was okay - but definitely not worth the price they were charging for it. Thank goodness we were on the dining plan!
Monday, April 20th And back to the Magic Kingdom we go. There were still rides we didn't get to ride on Sunday and more to see. Jon Paul was upset when we found out that they closed down Space Mountain. He really wanted us all to ride that roller coaster. But it was closed on Sunday (4/19) for a planned refurbishment and is expected to be closed for four months! We could have ridden it Saturday night, but we thought we had several days to ride it. It was disappointing! We stayed at the park until that afternoon and then headed back to our resort for dinner at Olivia's. The food there was delicious - Jon Paul had mahi-mahi and I had prime rib. We were able to get to bed relatively early that night.
Tuesday, April 21st We decided to stay at our resort and see what all it had to offer and have a relaxing day. The girls were also excited about getting to swim. Before the swim, we rented a surrey - a two seater bike (not a bicycle built for two) with a seat up front for the girls. We rode around for 30 minutes and then headed to the pool. The girls were loving the pool, even if it was a bit cold. We never talked Rachel into going completely under, but Rebekah was really taking off and trying to swim on her own. She was really brave in trying to swim. After swimming, Jon Paul rented a Sea Racer - a two seated boat - and took each of the girls for a ride.
We originally in a studio room. One room, two queen beds, bathroom and a kitchenette. We saw many of these tiny black bugs in our bathroom. By Tuesday morning, there were tons on the floor and in the shower. Rebekah was terrified to go into the bathroom - she hates bugs! So, we called and ended up getting moved into a one bedroom condo. Definitely worth having to pack everything back up. We ended up with a king size bed in the bedroom and a queen sleeper sofa in the living room for the girls. We also had a full kitchen, dining area, laundry room and HUGE bathroom, which included two sinks, a shower and a HUGE corner jetted tub. The girls were excited the most about the tub!
That night we headed to Downtown Disney via a fairy boat for dinner and shopping. We ate at the Rainforest Cafe. I had the second best mahi-mahi I have ever eaten. The best being some I ate in Hawaii. We ate in the Elephant Room and the girls really seemed to enjoy it. We then went shopping and each got t-shirts and more dolls. The girls also picked out some figures, Rachel got more fairies and Rebekah got the characters from Sleeping Beauty. Oh, and the girls got new nightgowns - Rachel got a Belle one and Rebekah picked out Aurora (go figure!). Jon Paul got another Star Wars Mr. Potato Head for his collection at work. This time he got "Yam Solo." Rachel also got a Belle doll and Rebekah got a baby Simba.
Check back soon for our adventures at Hollywood Studios! Enjoy these pictures from the Magic Kingdom and the Resort boat ride.
We woke up bright and early and got everything all ready. Then at about 6:00 a.m. we went and woke up the girls. They were really confused as to why we were waking them up so early. After getting dressed, we had Rachel read a short story to Rebekah. Here is the video of The Big Reveal!
Rebekah was still half asleep and Rachel thought we were pulling a joke. She kept asking if we were really going. We left for the airport around 6:45 a.m. After checking our bags and passing through security, we made it to our gate, only to find out that our flight was going to be delayed. The airplane suffered a bird strike when landing and they had to call maintenance to check everything out. They didn't know how long it might take, but as it was, we knew we would probably NOT make our connecting flight in Houston. I went up to the counter to see what could be done. At first, she said there were no more flights and they could put us on standby, but could not guarantee that we would all fly out together. I told her that would not work. We had to fly together. After looking some more, she found another flight that we should be able to make.
We finally left Little Rock and headed to Houston. There was rain in Little Rock when we left and there were storms in Houston where we were going. That flight was really rough. Probably the roughest flight I have ever been on. Our decent into Houston was really painful and we were bouncing all over the place. Not to mention, we were flying right in the storm and there was lightening flashing all around us and you could really hear the thunder. Once we got close to landing, our plane was really rocking back and forth. We touched down and the plane came to a screeching halt. It was really pouring down rain, but thankfully we were on the ground and still in one piece!
We made it to our connecting flight and upon checking in, we were told that our seats were in first class! That definitely made us happy. And that plane was so nice. We had comfortable, leather seats that reclined and had foot rests. We all had a personal TV monitor. The girls were able to watch Bolt for the first time on that flight. Sitting in first class really spoiled us though! The flight from Houston to Orlando went great. They rerouted us around the storms and it took a little bit longer, but it was definitely a pleasant flight.
We landed in Orlando and made our way to the Disney Magical Express station and boarded our bus to Disney's Old Key West Resort. We got to our resort around 6pm and got all checked in and made it to our room. We didn't stay there too long because we boarded another bus to take us to the Magic Kingdom! More on our visit to the Magic Kingdom in the next post!
We had Rebekah's Birthday Party on March 21st. I know, I'm late in coming with the details and photos! She wanted to have it at the gymnastics place again. So, we had it at Huff-n-Puff Gymnastics in Jacksonville. It was a fun time and we had family, friends and school classmates all come to enjoy the day with her. She also wanted another "Rocket Cake" this year. So, for a second year in a row, we had a Little Einsteins "Rocket" cake. Everyone loved it! Here are some photos from the day for your enjoyment.
The family had already given Rebekah her gift. We (parents, grandparents and two aunts/uncles and cousins!) all chipped in to get her a pink car. That was all that she wanted and she got it! She loves it and now she and Rachel can race each other (Rachel has a pink Jeep). Here is the princess in her pink car.
Last weekend we were working in yard. The girls played good for a while, but started to argue. So, what's a mother to do? Well, I asked them if they wanted to play in the mud. At first they didn't believe me - but quickly got on board and could not wait to get dirty! I had to find some old clothes for them to wear. Our dirt has some clay in it and I knew whatever it got on, it would stain. They had a blast!! Here are some photos for you to enjoy!
We watch American Idol. We really enjoy the show. This season has been one of my most favorite yet, right up there with Chris Daughtry was on it. There are several reasons I am enjoying it so much. One, we have someone in the Top 8 from Arkansas, Kris Allen - and he is really talented! Two, there are two guys in there that used to lead music at their church - Kris Allen and Danny Gokey. You can tell they are good guys, with lots of humility and integrity. Three, Adam Lambert is so good! Yes, he is very weird, but you have to admit - the boy has talent and can sing! He looks a lot like a young Elvis and some are saying we are watching a new Elvis in the making. Now, I don't know if he will ever be as popular as Elvis, but I would not be surprised if he was one of American Idol's best artists ever!
So, last nights performances ran over. And, like many people across the country, our DVR stopped recording before Adam came on stage. We were so upset and disappointed. I knew that it would be on YouTube soon, but I hated missing seeing it with all the other performers. I did find a good copy of it on YouTube, so I am sharing it with you all here.
I had never heard this song before, but I like it and Adam's vocals were just amazing. He gave me chills during one part. Hope you enjoy the song and video. Now, tonight we get to see who goes home! I think it should be either Scott or Anoop - although I didn't think many of the other seven did all that well. Guess we'll just have to wait and see tonight!
-------------------- Edited at 10:04 p.m. Well, I see that they have removed the video. Sorry! It is on iTunes if you want to purchase it!
Go ahead...you can say it. I've been a really BAD blogger. Hopefully today will make up for my absence and get me back into the flow of blogging again!
So...my title says that we have a secret! Some people know it already and now I am going to share it with all of you. Ready? Are you really ready?
We are...... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Going to Disney World in 11 days!!!!! What - did you think I was going to say something else? :-) And we will be staying here.
So, that is the secret and I am entrusting you all to keep it that way. Why you ask? Well, Rachel and Rebekah DO NOT know anything about it! Yep, we're going to surprise them with this trip. Our plane takes off Saturday, April 18th at 9:05 a.m. and we will arrive in Orlando at 3:05 p.m. Our plan is to wake them up EARLY on Saturday morning and tell them! I want to video their reactions. If we get it recorded, you better believe I will be sharing it with you all!
I also plan to try to blog along the way of our trip. We will be there until Saturday, April 25th. A whole week at Disney World!!! We can't wait. Now I just have to start getting everything together. One of the closets in our master bathroom is really big and I plan on keeping the suitcases and everything in there while I'm packing. The door also has a lock on it - very handy!
So, I have a few busy 11 days ahead of me! Not to mention, I have my work to still do and get ready for me to be gone for a week. It is just going to be the four of us going. Nana is going to stay home and hold down the fort while we are away. Hopefully, Kathy will be nice to her!
A personal highlight of our vacation was being able to meet a blogging buddy of mine. We've been communicating back and forth with each other since January of 2008. We both have recently moved and built a house. Only she moved to a much more fun place - Orlando!!! After she moved, we continued to talk and she gave us some good advice about planning our trip to Disney World. I would consider her and expert on all things Disney! Also, she got on the Twilight bandwagon and we were able to discuss all the wonderful things about the books and the movie.
