Day 7 - Magic Kingdom/Epcot without Matt

I had planned on getting up early to make up for lost time at Disney.  However, 8:00 came a little early.  We slept in and left around 10:30.  I took Matt to the JW Marriott for his conference. I wasn't going to go back to the parks without rain boots.  So the kids and I set off on a mission.  We went to several places in the outlets near our hotel but didn't have any luck.  I called Target and they said that they had some boots.  Luckily, it wasn't that far away.  We drove to target and the kids spotted a Waffle House.  We went and grabbed some lunch there before heading to Target.

We found some boots at Target.  The kids went ahead and got their surprises for the day.  Around 1ish we headed to the parks.  It was much better with boots.  I decided to park at Epcot in hopes of not having to take the tram from the parking lot into the parks.  I got almost all the way into the park from parking at the end...when I realized that I left my phone.  Luckily, I talked some little traffic guy into letting me park up front.  I got killer parking next to handicap and the crew.  We walked right in...LeLe wanted to see Elsa and Anna so we walked into Norway for her to see them again.  LeLe spotted an Elsa shirt that I normally wouldn't purchase but she was so obsessed...I gave in.

We went back to Crush the turtle and through Nemo before we headed to Magic Kingdom.  I didn't realize that the monorail from Epcot to MK was also closed from 11-7.  So, we headed on the monorail to the transportation station...and then caught the ferry to MK.  We rode a ton of rides and grabbed some fast passes at MK.

We did the Belle ride which we hadn't done before.  We went back to the Cosmic Grill for dinner.  We stood on the Tomorrowland bridge which gave us prime location to see the projection on the castle and tinkerbell.  Since it was so wet, the fireworks were a bust.  We rode Peter Pan and Barnstormer (I had to grab a person who I didn't know to sit with LeLe).  We had a fast pass to Aladden but didn't make it there in time.  During the Electric parade, we rode Thunder Mountail Railroad......3 times....and it was fast, fun and Gibson LOVED it!!

We closed down the park doing Thunder Mountain at 10:00.  We took the monorail from MK to Transportation Station, then to Epcot.  I didn't realize the ride to Epcot was going to take so long.  We made it to our car at 11:40 but my plan of not having to take the tram worked.

The kids crashed before I got home.  It was a GREAT Day!

Day 6 - No Go...

We slept really late...as in like...10:45.  We got dressed for the parks.  We grabbed some McDonalds in preparation for the trip to the park....we couldn't decide which park to go to.  We got all the way into the Epcot entrance when Matt and I decided, we couldn't do it.  We then drove around for about an hour until we decided to go to the movies.  The kids and I went to Frozen again.  They were so in love with the Disney stuff that it was  a good little break.  Matt went to see Lone Survivor.  I had seen it previously and insisted that he see it.  It is an INCREDIBLE movie. The kids and I ate our weight in popcorn...and split the 96 oz coke all over the theater.

While we waited on Matt go get out, we ran into a few stores in the shopping center.  When the movies were over, we debated on going to the parks but since it was now 6:30, we decided to go home and rest.  We ordered in pizza from a local pizza place (which was very good).  They delivered to our hotel.  I think the name of it was Flippers?

The kids enjoyed playing with each other...I did taxes for my 1099 and Matt watched his normal cooking shows.  We called it a night around 10:30.

Day 5 - COLD....and Wet...Magic Kingdom

We woke up and went to our time share meeting.  Matt and I were impressed at first but then got aggravated that the lady didn't wrap up sooner when we said we need to go.  We got there by 10:45 and didn't leave until almost 2. We did purchase an extra week of travel time to be used within the next 18 months..  It was for a 2 bedroom villa.

We were very aggravated when we left.  The kids were starving but did VERY well.  We ran back to the condo and changed clothes, then we went to Chickfila to grab lunch and headed to the park.  Luckily, the night before I had purchased ponchos at Walgreens.  We went first to the Monster's Inc program and the kids thought it was funny.  After the Monsters show, the bottom fell out.  We walked over to buzz lightyear, Speedway, and we were able to ride a lot of rides without a long wait.  We then quickly went from ride to ride without much of a line, we ended up riding the Barnstormer ride about 4 times without even having to get off of it.  We left when the fireworks started as the kids were FREEZING and we were all soaked.  At one point, I had on 3 shirts, 2 coats and a poncho.  Unfortunately, I only had one pair of shoes...tennis shoes.  LeLe's feet were so wet that the coloring on her hot pink shoes...was rubbing off on her socks.  We had an awesome rain cover on the stroller so it was great to cover both kids without them getting anything on them. 

We were craving something besides chicken nuggets so we found a Mexican place.  Gibson had fallen asleep in the car so he slept through the entire dinner.  LeLe, however, chomped down some mexican and her virgin Strawberry daiquiri. 

We came home, took hot showers and crashed.  Gibson....never woke up. 

Day 4 - Hollywood Studios

We woke up earlier today but not too early.  We had lunch plans at Hollywood and Vine at 11:15.  We were super excited that they had updated their line up to include Doc McStuffins, Sophia, Handy Mandy and Jake.  The kids were almost so excited that they couldn't eat.

Matt and I feel like all we have done is walk and eat...which is about the truth.  We walked directly into the park again today.  The kids ate pretty well considering that they were super pumped.  Every 10-15 minutes the characters would get all of the kids up to dance.  They had a ball!  We got several calls about the weather back in Birmingham during our lunch.  It looks like they are getting snow back home and cancelling schools (as our phones were buzzing with all kind of messages from the school.)

After lunch, we headed the muppets 3d show.  Gibson was again scared during the show but since it wasn't all that scary, did not run out.  He just doesn't like 3d at all....or the dark.  After the 3d show, we saw pheneas and ferb.  Star Wars was up next.  Gibson really liked star wars.  After Star wars, we headed to Little Mermaid show, got prizes and then headed to watch a road show.  The road show was put on by the maintenance crew and was hilarious!  They called LeLe up during the show and she loved it! They were spraying everyone with water.

We then headed to Disney Jr Live where we found out that people were stranded everywhere in Alabama.  We were a little bummed that we couldn't help our friends or play in the snow but we were having a blast.

We decided after the show to head back to the room and forgo our Illuminations fast passes.  We came back to the condo and swam.  Around 7:00, we jumped in the showers and headed to a local Brazilian steak house.  I had never been to a steak house like it before and it was super fun!  They fed us a TON of meat.  They had beef straganoff which I really enjoyed.

After dinner, we went to downtown Disney where we visited the Lego store (kids made and raced lego cars). Then over to the Disney store where they purchased Lady and Tramp...and we got a few things too. 

Then we headed home around 11:30 to jump in the bed.

Day 3 - Epcot

We woke up late and headed to Epcot.  We got there around 11.  We were able to walk right in without taking the tram into the park.  While the double stroller is fantastic inside the park...it is a PAIN to get into the tram.  I am not sure how I am going to do it when Matt isn't with me.

We went directly into the park and got fast passes for Soarin, Nemo and Turtle Talk.  We went directly into Turtle talk though and didn't have to use our fast pass.  The kids really like the "dude" talk from Crush.  After crush we grabbed lunch at the same place that we ate last time.  It was a counter service place that serves mexican (inside mexico).  It has decent tacos but the nachos were better.  The kids took in vanilla milk and then we got some yummy cinnamon circle things that you dip in caramel.

Matt...then did what not ever father would...he got in line to see Elsa and Anna.  He got into line around 1:00.  The kids and I went ahead and rode some rides in Norway and Mexico and then walked around some more before we finally got to see her around 2:50.  LeLe and Gibson were in "awe" of both of them.  They had worn their olaf shirts so they thought it was so cool that the princesses liked them.  Gibson just wanted to talk to them about his shirt.  :)

The store had one size medium anna dress that I didn't purchase.  While I was waiting to ask matt, some lady picked it up and purchased it.  So..there it went.  LeLe probably wouldn't have played with it $70 dollars worth anyway. 

We left seeing the princess and rode Nemo, Living the land and Soarin.  Gibson was scared to put his legs down during Soarin.  We then decided it was time for dinner.  Matt visited Germany and he had his heart set on eating there.  Now it was about 7:00.  I called disney dining because it wasn't showing availability online.   They had an opening for 8:15.  We went ahead and did some coloring activities.  We parked our stroller for the 9:00 illuminations show.   There was a Disney Party next to us and we met some little old man that gave the kids some glow in the dark ice cubes.  We finally got seated in the restaurant right at 8:00.  they did a sing a dance number and the food was actually pretty good...was it $120 worth?  i am not sure..  I did talk to the chef and they didn't charge us for Gibson since he couldn't eat anything but the meat.  At 8:55, we ran outside to grab our place.  Some chinese folks were in our spot and had moved the stroller...but we moved it right back on top of them.  I am not sure if they understood us or not.  All the foreigners were getting tickled at LeLe and Gibson carrying on during the show. They LOVED the fireworks.

We went back to the condo and crashed.

Bringing in Gibson's vanilla milk made a big difference today.  In the past, I was giving him coke...cause there wasn't anything else. 

Day 2: Magic Kingdom

The kids woke up around 9:00 Orlando time and were ready to hit the parks.  Matt and I...didn't get up so quickly.  I got up and fed them bagels, we took showers and then around 11:00  we headed to Magic Kingdom.  The parking lot was busier than it was last night.  We ended up parking in the Peter Pan section 60.  We decided load the big stroller that I rented from Kingdom Strollers (which was  GREAT plan) onto the tram.  It was a tight fit but we made it.  We had to take the ferry to the park.  The ferry ride didn't' take much longer than the monorail but there were some rude people.  I have been amazed at the people that just stop in the middle of the park just check their phone, look at a map or just eat their popcorn.

Once we had our bags checked and got our tickets verified, we headed into the park.  Marie from Aristocats was in the front.  Of course, it was time for her break.  We ran to see Jasmine and the prince from Aladdin and then headed back to see Marie at 1:10.  The kids were very excited to see her.  Matt and I figured out that one of us could hold our spot in line while the others got signatures from the characters.  Since Pluto and Marie were together, our strategy worked well.  After seeing Marie, Pluto, Jasmine, we ran into Mary Poppins.  After getting all those signatures, we had worked up an appetite.  We ran over to Cosmic grill cafe to grab lunch.  It should have been a sign that it wasn't a good idea to sit outside when we saw 100000 sea gulls flying around.  The inside was PACKED...so we saw an open table outside.  We took it...  We didn't even get seated when Matt got crapped on by bird #1.  He about lost it but luckily held it together.  We ate...and while eating...Matt got bombed again.  While it seems funny now...at the time...we were on pins and needles waiting on him blow! Let's just say the cafe was truly cosmic.

We left there and jumped in line for Buzz Lightyear ride.  Matt grabbed fast passes while we waited in line.  He caught back up with us.  Gibson and LeLe really liked the buzz ride.  After riding, we grabbed a quick picture with Buzz (again first in line) and zoomed across the park for the Pirates of Caribbean ride.  It was an okay ride.  Gibson and LeLe weren't in love with the dark sections.

After finishing that ride, we headed to the Robinson's tree house...the kids got loose and went up the wrong way...luckily, they came back.  I about had a nervous fit.  We watched the dance party in the middle of the street and got a little wet from the rain.  It quit raining though soon after the parade.

We then worked our way to change our fast pass tickets from the princesses to mickey.  We made our way to Ariel's Under the Sea ride.  This one was awesome!  We will do this one again before we leave.  It was a mix between small world and buzz lightyear.  The kids loved it....and asked to do it again immediately.

After Ariel, we stood in line for about 20 minutes for Dumbo.  We noticed that Donald, Minnie, Daisy and Goofy were about a 20 minutes wait...so we split up and both stood in line.  I stayed with Minnie and Daisy.  After their pic, we ran into see Donald and Goofy where Matt had us the next spot in line.

We then went to Barn...something roller coaster.  I thought gibson was going to be scared...but instead was holding up his arms in the air...this is another MUST DO!!

We grabbed the train and headed back to Main Street.  We wasted about 30 min before the electric parade started and then we did pics with Mickey.  I was very surprised that Mickey talked!!  Another MUST DO.  Mickey told the kids a joke...they were so excited that they didn't even get it...but here it is.  "Daisy went into the beauty parlor to get lipstick. When the cashier asked how she was going to pay...she said Just put it on my bill."

We then hopped on the monorail and headed back to the condo for leftovers.  I am pretty sure that I am full with junk food!!

Disney - Day 1- animal kingdom and magic kingdom

This morning we woke up and headed to Animal kingdom.  The kids were do very excited.  We got to the park right at 10:00 and were able to quickly ride the safari ride where we saw a ton if animals. After the safari ride, we headed to the train where it took us to a petting zoo.  We saw the monkey from lion king and chip and dale.  We bought autograph books and the kids let them sign.  Gibson started jumping each time a character was talking or signing his book for him.  After the petting zoo we rode the train back and grabbed some lunch at the rainforest cafe. We were running on some extra whining so food and some entertainment was a good thing.  After filling up, we headed to Dino land where we rode the dinosaur ride (which LeLe ended up crying) and a spinning Dino ride (I don't know the name).  We then tried to do the everts ride but there was a long wait and Gibson wasn't tall enough for us to ride.  We then headed to try to see characters.  Unfortunately, they headed to break because the parade started at 3;45.  Since it was 3:00 the kids and I ran to bugs life while Matt kept our spot.  Gibson lost it inside the movie and immediately started freakinf out.  We had to leave w both kids screaming.  We then watched the parade.  They loved it.  Gibson accidently spilled his whole box of popcorn.  LeLe started swapping pins from the Disney people.

After the parade, we stayed in line to meet the up characters and then headed home.

We tried to take naps at the condo but that didn't work. So around 6:40 we headed to Buffalo Wild Wings and had dinner.  It was a disaster.  The waiter was clueless and didn't bring us our drinks.  They did have a dude making balloons which the kids enjoyed.  We then headed to magic kingdom to watch the fireworks.  We didn't realize they you had to jump on the monorail to egg there after parking.  Gibson had fallen asleep and slept until the fireworks started.  He was scared of them. He cried the whole time.  After the fireworks we headed to get signatures from the princesses.  Gibson was in love and started jumping again every time they talked to him.  Snow White was from auburn and she was super nice.  She read the book to LeLe and Gibson and we loved her!!  We Then jumped on the carousel before catching the electrical parade which was really cool.  After the oarade we headed to Peter Pan and it's a small world.  Gibson loved it and LeLe was just as excited.  We got home at 12:00 Orlando time and the kids crashed.

Visit from old friends

The Alexander's came to visit today after church.  It was great seeing old friends.  We also got to see "the Nut job" that was funny.  Gibson called it "the screw movie"instead of the squirrel movie.

Saturday blues

Matt and I slept in until 10:45....yes, 10:45!  The kids got up and entertained themselves.  Eventually, they woke us up asking if we were going to sleep all day.  I guess we could have!  I woke up with a killer headache so we didn't do much of anything.  Actually, the only time that we left the building was to grab pizza.  I went to Tortugas to grab pizza...we are and then went back to bed.

Terrific Thursday

Well....not really but it could have been worse.

We woke up to take LeLe to school.  When I got to the car....it was dead...dead as a door nail. 

We jumped into matts car and took her to school.  When we got home, I got the sequoia running.  I took Gibson to school and then ran a couple of errands.  I lost 1.4 pounds at weight watchers.  When I went to pick him up, I decided to run through chickfila but unfortunately I didn't have any money...no money, no purse, no wallet...

So much for that!  I pulled out of the driveway and then came home.  I worked on some more orders and then we went to get LeLe.  Around 5, we met our new neighbors that I am super excited about. We grabbed dinner at Milo's and then went to get LeLe her birthday present from Lauren.  She picked a remote control boat for the pool.

Sunday

We went to church this morning.  Matt got a call from work asking him to go.  So I called Lauren and we went to lunch at the Olive Garden...that's all I remember.

National championship/birthday and gymnastics

Whew!  I am already tired!  We were delayed a hour today for cold weather.  Since this is the first day back from school, I will happily go in late.  I took LeLe to school and Matt took Gibson.  Matt dressed Gibson and when I got home from taking LeLe, I realized thga he didn't take him a coat.  According to Matt, a sweater is plenty when it is 16 degrees outside!

I went to get Gibson early and took him in a coat.   Matt brought LeLe home and he. We headed to gymnastics.  This is LeLes first class this year.  We are at mtn brook gymnastics this time.  My sweet friend Carrie's daughter is in there too!

After gymnastics we headed to chickfila for Emily Kathryn's birthday.  We had some delicious strawberry cake from ashley macs.

 

I rushed home to watch the auburn game.  Lauren came over and Matt fell asleep after the 1st quarter.  I was a nervous wreck during the game....I will go ahead and say that I was not disappointed in the outcome.  

FREEZING!!

It is freezing outside!  Gibson decided to sport his precious sweater today in honor of the auburn coach who wore a sweater vest on the championship game.  Who wears team sweater vests?  

LeLe went to school an hour late.  I could get used to sleeping in!

After school, we stayed inside it is a whopping 9 degrees out there!

Last day before school starts back...

Today, I woke up with 3 dogs, a husband and 2 kids in bed with me.  I have no idea how or when they bombarded my bed or how I didn't notice!?!  

Gibson woke up asking for "nilla" milk.  We quickly realized that it was 9:45 and time to get ready for church.  We all got ready and headed to church at 11.  We went to the traditional service and at the end it dawned on me that LeLe is now 6 and should not be in children's church.  Gibson is going to be very disappointed.

When we left church, Matt got a call that he needed to go to work for a trauma surgery.  I ran home and grabbed the things that I needed to take back to costco and then we met Lauren at Olive Garden for lunch. 

We then ran into Costco and I was at my wits end so we came home and rested.  Matt brought home davenports pizza and then we ran to visit the neighbors.  It I suppose to get really cold tonight.  It is raining.  They have delayed schools for 1 hour tomorrow.

LeLe did try to make her brother play tea!

2014....where has the time gone?

With a new year...comes a new resolution...

So, I am going to attempt to start back blogging everyday.  So...as I sit...it January 3rd...and I haven't started.

Let me recap..

January 1st -  The Skinners came over late afternoon.  I taught the girls how to sew pillowcases while Laura and Matt took Gibson to the store.  The girls did a great job.  Afterwards, we had our usual...Ham, turnip greens/collards, black eyed peas, hog jowl, and cornbread.  The men played video games while Laura and I got some things together for LeLe's birthday party for Saturday.

January 2nd - I ran around like a chicken with my head cut off most of the morning...that is what was left of the morning.  The kids and I slept in to 10:30!!  I ran to chikfila, met Amy Estes and then headed home to sew before the Alabama game.  Alabama played Oklahoma and I knew from the kickoff...the outcome wasn't going to be good.  :(

Mom came over before the game and played with the kids...LeLe did a magnetic board thing that she got from Santa...and made her daddy a flower.