Thursday, July 18, 2013

Our Disney Summer, Part 2

The last half of our Disney vacation was spent visiting Animal Kingdom, Epcot, and more Magic Kingdom.  We also took advantage of the resort pool for the first time ever, which was nice and refreshing in the hot Florida sun.  Definitely another magical vacation with memories to last a lifetime!

Animal Kingdom has a pretty fun petting zoo at Rafiki's Planet Watch -- who knew? 
Meeting Chip and Dale was the highlight of the day!

Back to Magic Kingdom, and back on the carousel.  She was big enough to have her own horse this year!
Dance party with Stitch
Happy Father's Day!  Here are my two loves watching the "Mine, Mine" seagulls at Finding Nemo.
Lindsay's first Mickey Ice Cream Bar!
My little daredevil liked to spin the Teacups with Daddy (pre-Mickey bar, thank goodness!).
Meeting Mickey on our last day -- someone was excited!
Yeah, I guess I was pretty excited, too. :)
Thank you Wilderness Lodge!  Can't wait to come back and visit again soon!

Monday, July 15, 2013

Our Disney Summer, Part 1

It's no secret that our family LOVES Walt Disney World!  My husband has been invited to speak at conferences in Orlando the past few years, and we've been so fortunate to be able to tag along and squeeze in a few days at Disney while he works.  We have really enjoyed introducing Lindsay to the magic of Disney!

This time, my husband was invited by the Mouse himself (well, the Mouse's tech division), and we couldn't pass up the chance to spend a week in sunny Florida!  Since Lindsay is still a little too small to ride the bigger or scarier rides (ex: Pirates of the Caribbean is scary because it's dark), this trip was focused on doing fun little kid things like character meals, autographs, and lots of Carousel rides.

On our way via Magical Express!
During the first two days, we visited Magic Kingdom and Epcot.  We had breakfast with Winnie the Pooh, lunch with the Princesses, and watched evening fireworks from the beach at the Polynesian Resort.
Get the family picture early before we all start sweating in the Florida sun! :)
Our little princess on Main Street USA in front of  Cinderella's Castle
Breakfast at Crystal Palace with Winnie the Pooh
This was a fun breakfast, but it took about an hour for all of the characters to get around to our table, and it was a little hard to keep a 2 year old from getting antsy. :)  But she sure was excited to see them when they came by!
Winnie the Pooh
Bouncing with Tigger
For the rest of the day, we met more characters and rode almost all of the kiddie rides, sometimes getting back in line over and over and over.  Prince Charming's Regal Carousel and Small World were at the top of Lindsay's list, but Dumbo was an unexpected big hit!

So fun to dance with Daisy!
The Dumbo Ride -- we can fly!

Taking the boat from the Contemporary back to our hotel
Princess Lunch at Epcot
We had lunch at the Akershus Royal Banquet Hall in Norway in the World Showcase.  It was a little pricey, but it definitely lived up to the hype!  We had one-on-one time with lots of princesses as they came by our table, and Lindsay was absolutely entranced by Snow White, who kneeled down and told her a whole story about a princess that liked to read books.  A priceless moment that this Mommy definitely appreciated!  I love that Disney makes every little one feel special!

Excited for Day 2!
We wandered through the Mexico Pavilion and found this awesome sombrero.  And a fun little Small World-type boat ride about Mexico!
Lindsay completely in awe of Snow White telling her a story.
Lindsay and Belle
Meeting Cinderella
Ending our day watching Magic Kingdom fireworks on the beach at the Polynesian.  She still crawled in our laps once they started because they were "scary",  even from the other side of the lake!

Wednesday, July 10, 2013

Our Little Firecracker


Hope everyone had a fun and safe 4th of July!  Here are a few of my faves from our celebrations...

Our little firecracker all ready to celebrate!
Decorating our watermelon cookies.  She had snuck a few cookies (evident by the icing all over her face), so she was pretty much done with sweets at this point!
Finished watermelon cookies.  Thank you Pinterest -- a pin that actually turned out like the original picture! (And if you're wondering, they actually sell this hot pink icing at the grocery store.  No food coloring required!)
Love her reaction to sitting by Harley!
Pops trying out the "sprinklers"
Too mesmerized by the sparklers to look at the camera!

Friday, July 5, 2013

Gettin' Hitched

The first weekend in June, we headed over to see my cousin get married in a beautiful state park in the Hill Country -- perfect place for an outdoor wedding!  Love when we get to see our extended family during the summer instead of just at the holidays!



Snuck in a family photo while we were all dressed up...
Our extended side of the family (minus a few key players who couldn't be there.... missed you guys!).  I think we're somewhere around 46 or 47 now?
My cousin and his beautiful bride... love this pic!  They both look so happy! :)

Congrats and God bless, Jeff and Delta!  Thanks for letting us help celebrate your big day!