House of Estrogen

A Post-Christmas Letter to Santa

 
Dear Santa,

I thought I'd send you a note to let you know how Christmas went and give you a few tips for  future Christmases.

First, I want to apologize for the sad state of our tree. 

   

We didn't decorate it before we went on vacation.

 

Christmas was fast approaching by the time we got home and settled, so the only ornaments that ended up on the tree were the few we bought in Disney World, a couple homemade ones from Elise's Girl Scout holiday party, and the angel on top. It looked a bit sparse. We'll try for a more festive fully-decorated tree next year, I promise.

 

You know those cookies we leave out for you every year? 

 

Do they really have to be homemade? Would Candy Cane Jo Jo's be OK instead?  Or maybe some red and green Lofthouse cookies?

 

The whole baking thing just didn't go so well this year. I was looking forward to an afternoon of listening to Christmas music and baking with my children.

 

It sounded good in theory. We would measure, stir, crack eggs, laugh, and bond. Baking is one of those long-standing mother-daughter holiday rituals, right? 

 

Instead, I spent the entire afternoon listening to them bicker... "You got to stir for a long time, and I only got to stir for a short time!", "Hey! It is my turn to pour the sugar in.", "No fair! You got five chocolate chips, and I only got four.", "Mmmmommmm, she's using the good spoon again!" 

 

Nothing like listening to a fight about Christmas m&m's to put you in the holiday spirit. Santa, if you insist on home baked cookies, I will bake them myself next year after the children go to bed, OK?

Now, on to the gifts. We are thankful for all of them. Everything looked beautiful as we came down the stairs. 

  

Addie fell in love with her big stuffed Brobee from Yo Gabba Gabba and her cool fairy tent.

 

Those were both big hits. I don't mean to nit-pick, but there was one slight problem. The whole "family gift" thing of the Wii and Wii Fit completely confused the other two. I'm sure you didn't anticipate that since it was such a nice generous gift and all, but instead of the "Oh WOW! A Wii! Awesome!" reaction that you might have expected, it was more like, "Hey, who got the Wii?", "If she got the Wii, what did I get?", "Whose games are whose? They don't have tags on them.", "What did Santa leave for me?" There was much confusion over the "family gift". Maybe next time, put out a family gift along with just a little something for each of them. Heck, even just putting name labels on the games probably would have solved the issue. Anyway, despite the confusion that morning, we are all enjoying the Wii. J.C. and I have been hogging it, but we let the girls play occassionally. My back and arms are sore from flapping my wings flying those crazy birds on the Wii Fit. J.C.'s abs are killing him from Wii hula hooping, and J.C. and I have stayed up ridonculously late every night playing Toy Story Mania.

I have a few suggestions for future gifts too. Although I know some kids don't like getting books for Christmas (like that little boy whose YouTube video went viral. He was on the Today Show this week), Elise is a bit of a bookworm and loved all her books. No need to keep books out of her stash.

 

Addison appears to be turning into a doll girl just like Elise, so I think you will have many Christmases in the years to come with American Girl dolls and doll clothing on her list.

 

I also have a recommendation for you for any rock-loving kids on your list. Addison gave Nina a Crystal Mining Kit.

 

It is basically just a big hunk of plaster with crystals in it. It comes with all the tools you need for "digging and excavating" to find the crystals.

 

I'm pretty sure no other toy EVER in the history of House of Estrogen toys has held Nina's interest like this one. The child sat perfectly still, patiently scraping away fine dust particles for HOURS. From the time we finished opening gifts until the time we dragged her from the table to get dressed for lunch, she never once moved from this chunk of plaster. I loved seeing her so engaged, but I'm still sort of flabbergasted by the whole thing. Addison and Elise were racing around the house, high on Pez, bouncing from one new toy to the next while Nina hammered, scraped, and dusted, and hammered, scraped, and dusted some more.

 

This is a great gift for any junior archeologists on your list next year.

My last recommendation is regarding stockings. I know you probably thought the Zhu Zhu pets were great stocking stuffers since the girls love them so much and they are just the right size. You nearly woke up the whole house though filling the stockings. Everytime a stocking moved or you added something to it, the Zhu Zhu pet started squeaking and yapping. I could hear you downstairs cursing them trying to figure out how to shut them up. Fortunately, I think the girls slept through it, but you just got lucky on that one. Those creatures were very noisy! No more Zhu Zhu pets in stockings.

Overall, it was a wonderful Christmas. Please give our love to Mrs. Claus and the reindeer. I hope they enjoyed the reindeer food the girls sprinkled in the yard.

Happy New Year!

Ann

Disney World Trip Report, Days 7 and 8

 
Our last full day at the park was December 17, Addison's third birthday. The sun finally decided to warm things up, so we were treated to the best weather of the week. Addie was sporting her very cool birthday tee that my friend K made. (She also made the tees the girls wore to Animal Kingdom. Thank you K!!).

 

Our first order of business was to go by the front desk to pick up a birthday button for her. Even though the shirt pretty clearly spells out that it was her birthday, we knew all the cast members at the parks were trained to look for birthday buttons. The person working the front desk asked me her name and then asked Addie how old she was. She responded, "Free and a half." I told the front desk clerk that she was in fact just three, not three and a half. She had already labeled the button with "3 1/2" though, so we just took it and went on our way. This is a key piece of information for later that morning. In case you don't know, Disney World provides free lodging, park tickets, and buffet meals for children under three.

 

We had breakfast in the hotel at Captain Cook's. Elise and I split a piece of Tonga Toast since it was our last chance for that goodie. Then we hopped on the monorail and headed to Magic Kingdom. I walked up to the entrance like always, slid my ticket into the machine and placed my finger on the finger print scanner. Then I waited for the cast member to open the gate for Addie in the stroller. He looked at me and said, "She needs a ticket."  Crap. Stupid button and t-shirt! I said, "Really???? This is the last day of our trip. We've been here all week. She just turns three today."  He said, "No. She's three and a half", pointing to the button.  &*$# button!  "No! She just likes to say she's three and a half. She's not. She turns three today... later today. Really, this is our LAST day here. We've been here all week. Please don't make us buy a ticket on our last day"  He looked at me skeptically and then finally relented and said, "OK. I'll let you in." Whew! We promptly removed the button, went directly to Guest Services and obtained a new button with just her name on it.

Then we were off to Tomorrowland. J.C. went ahead of us to grab fastpasses for Space Mountain. Then we met up at Astro Orbiter. Addison loved this ride! It was so fun to watch her smiling and giggling through the whole thing!

 

Next, the girls and I used our fastpasses to ride Space Mountain. They loved it, but I have to say I was not a fan. It made my neck hurt. Clearly, I'm just getting old. After Space Mountain, we took a whirl on the People Mover. That was surprisingly much more fun than it looks like it would be! Do those sunglasses make me look like a fly?

 

 

By the time we were done with the People Mover, it was time for us to get to the entrance to Toon Town, so we could go in as soon as it opened. We followed Tour Guide Mike's instructions, and as much as I hate to admit it, I think he may have steered us wrong on this one. He recommended we follow his secret path to Toon Town. We did that, and it was definitely secret. We were the only ones on it. Unfortunately, I think they must have opened the main entrance a few minutes earlier than the secret entrance. By the time we got there, there was already a 30 minute wait to see the fairies in Pixie Hollow. Bummer. Honestly though, we can't complain too much since that is the longest line we had to wait in all week. As we got into the line, J.C. discovered that a pop tart had exploded in his backpack. Strawberry goop was everywhere, so he went back outside to find a bathroom and clean up the mess. That left me alone with the three girls waiting in the line. When we finally got to the very front of the line, within mere seconds of seeing the fairies, Addie yelled out a panicked, "I need to go potty!"  You really don't want to mess with a newly potty-trained just-turned-three year old when she says she needs to go potty. I looked around frantically trying to see if I could find a bathroom or flag down J.C.. I told the cast member what our problem was, and she responded, "Can't she just wait? You're almost there."  Clearly, she has never been the mother of a newly potty-trained just-turned-three year old. After waiting in that long line though, I decided to hope for the best. I knew we had spare pants in the pop-tart coated backpack if we needed them. I told Addie to hold it and crossed my fingers.

I don't know any fairies' names except for Tinker Bell, but there was an orangish one,...

 

a purplish one, ...

 

and the star of the show, Tinker Bell.

 

The second we were done, I picked up Addie and ran as fast as I could to the bathroom. Fortunately, we made it. Whew! After that, it was time for our lunch reservations at Crystal Palace. Addie had been talking all week about seeing "Pig-oh-lit", so we were all looking forward to lunch. Also, for the last few months, Addie has told us over and over, "My birt-day comin' up in December. I get candles for my birthday. I'm gonna have a cake with candles."  If you asked her what she wanted for her birthday, she always answered, "candles." She has not asked for a single thing other than that. When we checked in, I made sure they understood that we needed a cake with three candles... not just one, but three. A cake without candles would be no good. We needed candles.

Crystal Palace was nice. The food was good, and it was not rushed like 1900 Park Fare. J.C. said it was the best buffet we had all week, but he is wrong. Boma was the best. He is picky, so you have to take his food opinions with a grain of salt. Crystal Palace was fine, but really, nothing topped Boma in the buffet category. Plus, the characters were the main attraction anyway.

Here is the birthday girl with Pooh.

 

Of course Tigger and Eeyore were there too. Eeyore was looking appropriately gloomy.

 

 

Then Addie spotted Piglet from across the room. She yelled out, "PIG-OH-LIT!!" and started clapping.

 

She could hardly contain herself.

 

Then, her cake arrived. As cakes go, it wasn't particularly pretty, but it had candles. That was all that mattered. In the eyes of that little three year old, it was the perfect birthday - Pig-oh-lit and candles... what more could you ask for?

 

Actually, the cake fits in quite well with our run of ugly birthday cakes lately. She also got a birthday card signed by all the Pooh Corner characters which was really nice.

 

After lunch, we checked out the show at the Monsters, Inc. Laugh Floor. It was a really cute show, better than we thought it would be. J.C. said he wished it had been longer. After that, J.C. and the girls used his parent swap ticket to ride Space Mountain. He was not crazy about Space Mountain either. He is so tall that he didn't fit in the ride well. With the entire ride being pitch black, he kept worrying he was going to hit his head on something!

While they were riding Space Mountain, Addie and I walked over to the castle to watch the Dream Along with Mickey show. It was fun too. Addie really enjoyed it.

 

 

After the show, J.C. and Addie were pooped, so they headed back to the hotel for naps. The girls and I decided to stay a bit longer. First we went on Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin. Was that ever a disappointment! It felt like the low-tech, less fun, red-headed step-child to Toy Story Mania. If you are going to ride this ride, I highly suggest riding it before you ever ride Toy Story Mania. It might be fun if you don't have Toy Story Mania for comparison. Next we found a spot to watch the Celebrate A Dream Come True Parade. It was cute. I took some pictures, but they really aren't very good. For once, I'll spare you a few pictures and skip those.

After the parade, Elise convinced me it was warm enough to ride Splash Mountain, so we took the train over to Frontierland. I sat next to Nina for Splash Mountain, and the child literally giggled and laughed the entire ride. It was so fun sitting next to her and soaking up her joy!  We all had fun, but we were drenched. By the time we were done, the sun was starting to set, and we were COLD... miserably wet and cold. We took off for the hotel, but the express monorail was out of service, so there was a huge line for the resort monorail. The line for the boat looked much more manageable, so we opted for that. What were we thinking? An open-air boat... at night... in the wind... in soaking wet clothes?  Yeah... that was fun. Let's just say we were really, really glad when we got back to the hotel and could put on warm dry clothes. For dinner, we just hit up Captain Cook's in the hotel. Nina was dying to see fireworks after having missed them a couple nights before, so I went back out to the beach with the girls to watch the show. It was the Holiday Wishes show, and the music wasn't piped onto the beach. I was bummed about that. It was a good show, but not nearly as good as it would have been with the music. I was glad Elise and I were able to see Wishes earlier in the week.

Day 7 Favorites:

J.C.: watching Addie with Piglet ("Pig-oh-lit")

Ann - sitting next to Nina on Splash Mountain

Elise - Space Mountain

Nina - Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin (OK, I guess somebody liked it), and the vanilla Dole Whip

Addie - "Pig-oh-lit"

The next morning, we got our boarding passes and checked our luggage at the resort (love that feature!) and boarded the Magical Express for our journey home. Lucky for us, it was a grey rainy day, so we didn't feel too upset about heading on home.

 

It really was a wonderful, magical trip. Disney certainly knows how to entertain. We enjoyed every minute of it.

Here are a few last thoughts and reviews:

Polynesian Resort - I have mixed feelings about the Poly. The location was superb. You really can't beat it with being on the monorail and so close to the Ticket and Transportation Center. With Addie still napping and dealing with a stroller, location was key. The volcano pool was also fantastic. The girls loved it. I just wish it had been warm enough to swim more. That said, there were a few things I didn't like. The whole place was very dark. I think that is just part of the theming, but I still didn't like it. The room was dark. The halls were dark. I felt like I could never get enough light. Our bed was not comfortable - like not at all. It also looks like it could use some renovations, and the cast members did not seem as friendly and helpful as the ones at Port Orleans French Quarter where we stayed last time. If I were to stay at a monorail resort again, I think I might try one of the others. If I were to stay off the Monorail, I loved the look of the Wilderness Lodge when we went there for dinner.

Best Meal - Boma

Best Character Meal - tie: 'Ohana and Crystal Palace

Best Characters at a Character Meal - 1900 Park Fare

Most Fun Non-character Meal - Whispering Canyon

Best Counter-service Meal - Earl of Sandwich

Favorite Ride - tie: Expedition Everest and Toy Story Mania

Best Holiday Decorations at a Park - Osborne Family Lights at Hollywood Studios

Best Holiday Decorations at a Resort - Grand Floridian

Things We Wanted To Do But Didn't - Test Track (too cold), Kali River Rapids (too cold), meet Jessie (Just didn't work out. She was in Frontierland, and we didn't spend much time there.), the Lion King Show (too hard to fit in both that and the Nemo show)

Things We Did That We Won't Do Again - Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin (unless Nina is dying to ride it) and 50's Prime Time.

Best Tips and Planning Advice for a Great Trip - Tour Guide Mike

Disney World blogging is now complete. For those of you who have completely OD'ed on Disney, I will be back to regular programming tomorrow!  

Just Plain Mad

I've written a lot of happy vacation posts lately, but I have a lot of not-so-happy on my mind. I have stuff boiling up inside me, so I'm just going to spew it all out, in no particular order.

• I'm mad that I got to the very last sentence of my last Disney post, hit some unknown keystroke and lost almost the entire post.
• I'm mad at cancer. I'm mad that it has taken my cousin's tongue, her ability to eat other than through a feeding tube, and possibly her ability to speak clearly. It just isn't fair. I know I always tell my children that life isn't fair, but sometimes it seems more unfair than other times. Oral cancer is almost exclusively found in male smokers or tobacco users. It isn't supposed to hit healthy, active, non-smoking, vegetarian women. I certainly don't wish cancer on anybody, but I feel like if you smoke or use tobacco, you are knowingly taking a risk that may result in cancer. Just like if I eat chocolate chip pie every morning for breakfast, I am knowingly taking a risk that it will all end up on my butt (hypothetically speaking, of course). I am mad that my uncle lost his life to lung cancer a year ago. He was also a non-smoker. How is it that two of my healthiest, most active, most full-of-life non-smoking relatives have ended up with cancer that is found almost exclusively in smokers? It isn't fair, and it makes me mad.
• I'm mad that I have a mountain of catalogs, mail, school papers, art projects, report cards, and other assorted paper in my dining room that I don't know how to deal with. I'm just not organized and can't come up with a plan of attack. I can't wrap my brain around it, so the piles just grow. One day, you'll find me there buried alive under paper.
• I'm mad at a family member and can't talk about it here.
• I'm mad that my parents are stuck in a condo that they can't sell right now, and that it is preventing them from being able to move here.
• I'm mad that my dad is nearly blind and nearly deaf. He has almost zero quality of life right now. He reads his Kindle (because he can make the font really big), and that is the one and only bright spot in his day.  I'm mad that his deteriorating condition is so hard on my mom.
• I'm mad that Addie's beloved daycare teacher was laid off 4 days before Christmas. I'm mad that in downsizing, the daycare chose the number one most loved teacher in the school. He had been there ten years and didn't deserve this. I'm mad that he was not given any severence. It is wrong, and I hope that the daycare regrets their decision. I think they will lose families and lose another teacher over this. He should have been considered their most valuable employee, not the first one cut.


So there you have it. Thanks for letting me get that off my chest.

 

Simple Woman's Daybook, December 27, 2010

 

For Today...

Outside my window... snow, and loads of it! We got about 8 inches yesterday. I don't think we've had that much snow in about 10 years.

 I am thinking... that I nearly forgot it was Monday. I would have missed another week of daybooking.

 I am thankful for... Christmas and Disney World being behind us. Both were fun. Both were wonderful. Both required a lot of planning, time, money, and energy and left me a bit spent.

From the kitchen... Bakerella's Chocolate Chip Cookie Pie - and holy cow that thing is good! I made it for the first time for Christmas dinner, and I think it may be my new go-to dessert.

I am creating... my last Disney trip report post.

I am going... to find the energy and motivation to paint Elise's bedroom this week while I am off work.

I am reading... nothing, really... an occassional magazine article or blog post, but that's about it. Christmas and Disney World left me with no reading time. I need to work on The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson since it is my book club book this month.

I am hoping... my cousin's surgery goes well tomorrow. Her tongue cancer has returned (or never left?) after radiation and a surgery to remove half her tongue. They are now removing her entire tongue, including the part they just rebuilt with tissue from her wrist. They will be rebuilding the whole tongue this time with tissue from her thigh. I am feeling worried, nervous, scared, sad, anxious, and hopeful for her. My heart and prayers go out to her.

 I am hearing... J.C. and Elise playing some Mario game on the Wii.

Around the house... Christmas threw up all over the place.

One of my favorite things... the aforementioned pie. Yum!

A few plans for the rest of the week.... sleep, paint, relax, and spend time with the kids.

Here is a picture thought I am sharing... my little baking helper

   


    To read more Daybook posts or learn how to participate, visit The Simple Woman's Daybook. 

Disney World Trip Report, Day 6

Day 6 was to be our relaxation day to catch up on sleep, do a little souvenir shopping, and just have some downtime from the parks. Instead, it turned into "Lose every child in the family at least once" day. This day was parenting at its finest, folks. Clearly, we should have used day 5 to catch up on sleep rather than waiting until day 6.  We managed to end the day with all three children in our possession though, so we called it a success.

In going through photos just now, I realized this was also, "lose a bunch of photos" day. Wow. We must have been seriously lacking in sleep. We started the day off where we ended it the night before - at 'Ohana. We went for the 'Ohana's Best Friends Breakfast with Lilo and Stitch. We saw Lilo, Stitch, Pluto, and I think maybe Mickey? If I hadn't lost the pictures from that morning, I might remember who we saw. How do people remember anything without photo evidence? Anyway, I really don't even like Lilo or Stitch, but from a food and organization standpoint, this was my favorite character meal. Once again, food was served family style - Hawaiian pork sausages, Polynesian breads, bacon, eggs, Mickey waffles, etc.. It is so nice to just relax at the table while food is served (and served and served and served again until you are popping the top button on your jeans) instead of trying to time your dash to the buffet line around a character visit. At 'Ohana, we could just sit, relax, and enjoy the food and characters. Too bad I have no pictures to share.

After our nice leisurely breakfast, we headed over to Downtown Disney for souvenir shopping.

 

 

Addie picked out the slightly disturbing Baby Tinkerbell doll which she proceeded to take with us absolutely everywhere the rest of the trip. It is nothing short of a miracle that Baby Tinkerbell made it all the way home with us.

 

Elise selected a stuffed panda because, uh, you know... there are so many pandas at Disney World. Doesn't a panda bear just scream "I'm a Disney World souvenir"?  No?  OK, well, that's what she got anyway. I've given up trying to figure it out. Nina must have spent at least a half hour agonizing over which princess Polly Pocket-like sets to buy. I loved her reasoning too. It was never, "I really like Belle" or "I love Pocahontas, but Cinderella is one of my favorites too."  There was absolutely no discussion of the princesses themselves. The decision was based solely on the fashions and accessories. The thought process went something like this.... "I like Cinderella and Belle because they both come with long gloves. I don't like Belle's cape though. I'm definitely not getting Mulan because she doesn't have ANY high heels. Aurora has high heels, but she doesn't have any gloves. I wish Aurora's dress came with Cinderella's glass slippers"  This little monologue went on and on. I honestly don't even remember what her final choice was, but you can be sure they will be the most fashionably dressed miniature princesses.

 The World of Disney was our first lost child incident of the day. The place is ginormous, and it was insanely crowded. Addie was locked up in her stroller with freaky Baby Tinkerbell. Nina was glued to the Polly-Pocket princess section. Elise wandered off though. The place is like a giant department store with departments like "Collectibles", "Men's wear", "Watches", "Plush toys", and "Pirate the Princess". Imagine losing your child in a big department store and not having a clue what department she was in. Fun, huh?  We searched and searched and searched. Just when I was about ready to call in some employees to help, J.C. spotted her in the Plush Toys section (which we had each checked several times already).  Fortunately, she didn't even realize she was "lost."  She was just "shopping."  We got the heck out of there and headed to Earl of Sandwich for lunch.  J.C. looked at the line and said, "I'm still not that hungry after our huge breakfast. The line is so long... why don't we just go back to the resort and eat there?"  I gave him a look that said, "Are you crazy? This entire day is planned around having lunch at Earl of Sandwich. We WILL eat here, and you WILL enjoy it."  He shut up and found a table with the kids. He's a good man. I think I'll keep him around. The line was long, but it moved fast, and we had our best counter service meal of the week.

After that, it was back to the hotel for naps and the second lost child incident of the day. We had all woken up from our naps and were just hanging out in the room  until dinner time. JC had gone off to check on something at the front desk. The girls were all watching TV, and I got in the shower. When I got out of the shower, I did not count children, assuming they were all still watching TV, and I laid down to read a book. A little while later, I heard some rattling at the front door.  I figured it was J.C. coming back from his errand having some trouble with his key. I kept thinking he would walk in any minute. He didn't arrive, so I looked up and noticed Addie was no longer watching TV. I asked the girls where she was, and the TV-zombies had no clue. I went to the door, and there she was out in the hallway!  Yikes!  Parenting at its finest... my not-quite-three-year old was wandering around the hotel hallway. I don't even know how long she had been out there. She must have left while I was in the shower. I brought her back in safe and sound, and from there on out, we locked the top chain lock every time we entered the room.

For dinner, we took the monorail over to the Grand Floridian which is absolutely gorgeous this time of year. The gingerbread house alone is worth a trip over there.

 

I love the list of ingredients... over 1000 lbs of honey, 700 lbs of chocolate, and 35 lbs of spices. Spices!  Can you imagine ever measuring spices in pounds rather than teapoons?

 

Our dinner destination was 1900 Park Fare for Cinderella's Happily Ever After Dinner. While 'Ohana had the best dining experience of our character dining meals, 1900 Park Fare definitely had the most colorful characters. Lady Tremaine and the step sisters were a riot. They stayed completely in character and were so much fun. One of the step sisters looked at Addie and said, "I really like your dress. It looks so much better on you than it does on my sister!" Addie was not about to take pictures with any of them, but I loved their expressions.

 

 

 

Addie was there for the main event... Cinderella and Prince Charming. Pink Crocs can pass as glass slippers, right?

 

 

1900 Park Fare was interesting... and not in a particularly good way. The food was fine, nothing spectacular, but reasonably good. The whole meal was so rushed though. It felt like you were on a conveyor belt trying to eat as fast as you could before you were dropped off at the end. The characters came through, and then BAM! They wanted you out of there. I've never seen a busboy clear tables as fast as the guy they had working our room. The family at the table next to us got up to simply get dessert, and their table was cleared while they were gone. That part of the experience was a big turn-off to me. The characters were so outstanding though that it is hard to complain too much.

After dinner, Addie decided the music in the lobby was wonderful for dancing.

 

When we got back to our hotel, we had lost child event number three. Elise and I were browsing in one of the shops in the lobby. J.C. had Addie in the stroller. Nina had to go to the bathroom, so J.C. was walking back and forth with Addie waiting for Nina to come out. Somehow, Nina must have come out, not seen J.C. and walked the opposite direction. He never saw her come out, and she never saw him. She decided to go back to our room. Apparently, she was outside the door to our hotel room banging on it and yelling for us when a hotel employee found her. The hotel employee showed Nina her white name badge (which we had told the girls numerous times to look for if they ever needed help or got lost), so Nina knew she could go with her. They were coming back to the lobby to take Nina to the front desk when J.C. spotted them and claimed her. 

With all three children safely tucked in their beds, J.C. and I high fived ourselves for not permanently losing any of them and called it a night.

Day 6 Favorites

J.C. - seeing Addie with Prince Charming

Ann - meeting the step-sisters

Elise - buying a book and a souvenir, and taking a nap

Nina - shopping

Addie - meeting Cinderella

Disney World Trip Report, Day 5

  
Animal Kingdom was our destination for Day 5. When we arrived at the park, J.C. jetted off in one direction for fast passes for Kilimanjaro Safari while I took the girls to Dinoland. Nina's foot was bothering her, so by the time we very slowly made our way over there, J.C. was back with the fastpasses. I ran off to rent a stroller for Nina, and apparently while I was gone, everybody rode TriceraTop Spin a couple times. Elise and Nina rode it three times in a row. I couldn't figure out exactly why they were so enamoured with this ride since it is essentially the Dumbo ride in dinosaur clothing. They had a ball though riding again and again.

 

While J.C. and the big girls rode Primeval Whirl, Addie and I took one last trip on TriceraTop Spin and then headed over to Donald's Safari Breakfast at Tusker House.  I wasn't sure how a late brunch was going to fit into our touring plans, but since it was too cold to ride the Kali River Rapids, brunch worked out great. 

I loved seeing all the characters in their safari attire. Donald, Daisy, Mickey, and "Doofy" were in attendance. (I'm pretty sure we will never call poor Goofy by his proper name ever again. Listening to Addie call him "Doofy" all week has converted all of us!) The food was good too, typical brunchy stuff- eggs, bacon, Mickey waffles, donuts, fruit, etc.

 

Addie has clearly perfected the "three year old saying cheese" smile. Let's hope that phase passes soon.

 

After lunch, Elise was picked to perform an African dance. She acted like she was embarrassed, but you could tell she loved it.

 

Then, we were off to our Kilimanjaro Safari. I decided I'm not totally sure I like this ride. I just feel bad for the animals. They would be so much happier in Africa, I think. Although, if you have to live somewhere other than Africa, I'm guessing Disney provides pretty decent accomodations. I sure hope their beds are more comfortable than our hotel bed was though. It was not good.

 

The girls decided that after having ridden Big Thunder Railroad at Magic Kingdom that they were ready to tackle Expedition Everest. As much as I enjoy Fantasyland and meeting characters, I love that the girls are now old enough (and tall enough) to go on the thrill rides! We picked up fastpasses for Everest and headed back over to Dinoland. Along the way, we had a Devine spotting!  Can you find her?

 

Devine is a really cool performance artist who occassionally comes out of hiding. She isn't there every day, isn't on a set schedule, nor found in one particular place, so Devine sightings are pretty exciting. Now can you find her?

 

 

We were early for the Nemo show, so we killed a little time in the Boneyard.

 

 

Finding Nemo - The Musical was excellent. I was really hoping we could find a way to fit in both the Nemo show and the Festival of the Lion King show, but it is hard to cram both into one day. We saw Lion King on our last trip, so we opted for Nemo on this trip. After Nemo, we headed back to Everest with our fastpasses. J.C. rode with both girls, and then the two of them got to go a second time with me with my parent swap ticket. All four of us gave Everest a thumbs-up! Nina sat next to the most hilarious guy the second time she rode. He was probably 18 or so. He walked up to her and said, "Hey girl! We're riding this together! This is the best ride" and proceeded to chatter to her through the whole ride.

 

After Everest, we were all beat, so we headed back to the Polynesian and dinner at 'Ohana. I puffy heart 'Ohana, really I do. It is the only repeat restaurant from our last trip, and we even went twice on this trip. I love the family style dining and the HUGE skewers of meat at dinner. I'm pretty sure J.C. ate his weight in shrimp that night. This was another meal of all-you-can-eat meat, meat, meat, and more meat. Plus, it is hard to top a place that puts cocktail umbrellas in kids' drinks.

 

Maybe I should start doing that. Do you think my children would smile cheerfully, get along with each other, always use their manners, and love whatever I cook if I put cocktail umbrellas in their drinks at home?  I think it might be worth a try.

 

The adult drinks were even more festive... check out the glow-tini.

Note to self: Due to the fighting over the glowing ice cube, next time order three glow-tinis. Sure, I could just order a drink without a glowing ice cube, but three glow-tinis sounds like so much more fun. Heck, even if the girls didn't get cocktail umbrellas, the three glow-tinis would probably allow me to tune out any pouting, fighting, and bad manners. Yes, three glow-tinis it is. And if J.C. needs a glowing ice cube, I'm sure he could twist my arm into sloshing down a fourth.

 

The girls participated in some of the activities at the restaurant - limbo, a parade, and some hula lessons.

 

After dinner, Elise and I went out to the beach at the Polynesian to watch the fireworks. I think this is one of the big perks of the Polynesian. They pipe in the music from the show out to the beach, so you can lie there in a beach lounger or hammock, away from the crowds and enjoy the show. Why just Elise you ask?  Nina got in trouble for lying about brushing her teeth. No fireworks for her!

The show that night was Wishes. It was spectacular. I love the changing colors of the castle.

 

Have you ever seen a fireworks smiley face? I thought that was too cool! Of course, we so rarely see fireworks, maybe that is the norm now. My fireworks knowledge dates back to the '70's.

 

Spectacular!

 

Day 5 Favorites

J.C. - Everest

Ann - seeing Devine and watching the fireworks from the beach

Elise - Everest and Safari

Nina - Everest and Safari

Addie - Triceratop Spin

Disney World Trip Report, Day 4

Day four took us to Disney's Hollywood Studios. Like every day, I had our itinerary mapped out and knew our plan of attack (using Tour Guide Mike's expertise). This day was the one day of the entire trip that I knew we absolutely, positively had to be at the park at rope drop. We wouldn't have a chance at two rides on Toy Story Mania unless we got there right at opening. The plan was to have J.C. run ahead of us to pick up fastpasses. Then, we would all get in line to ride the ride stand-by. Then we could use the fastpasses to ride again later. I rushed everybody around in the morning to eat a quick meal in the room, get dressed quickly, and get out to the bus stop in plenty of time to make rope drop. We were on schedule, ready to go, and at the bus stop at the right time. Then we waited, and waited, and waited, and waited some more. We kept debating whether to walk to the ticket and transportation center to catch a bus there, but there was always that thought that the second we walked away, the bus would arrive. We kept waiting. Finally, someone got mad enough about the wait that they walked over to the valet and asked him to call transportation. At this point, there wasn't a chance we were going to make rope drop. Every minute we stood there waiting for the bus was another 50 people in line for Toy Story Mania. So much for best laid plans. We finally caught a bus, and J.C. ran off to obtain fastpasses. The stand-by line was already way too long for our taste though, so we spent the morning running around doing other things.

Actually, the next item on the agenda was buying a new memory stick for my camera. This was our forgetful day. I pulled my camera out of my pocket to take a picture only to see "no memory card" flashing on the back. Ugh... there's nothing like paying Disney prices for something as basic as a memory stick to get your day off to a rocky start (especially coupled with the bus fiasco). I suppose I should be thankful they sell things like memory sticks though. Otherwise we would have no pictures from Hollywood Studios.

We went to the Voyage of the Little Mermaid Show, and watched the Disney Channel Rocks show. We met Handy Manny. Addie was thrilled about meeting him. She actually insisted that we go see him a second time later in the day too.

 

We met Quincy and June, and this was the first time Addie gave one of the characters a hug. She was definitely warming up to the whole character thing.

 

J.C. insisted on taking this oh-so-lovely picture of me in front of the Modern Family sign. I have a bit of a thing for Modern Family.

 

We had lunch at the ABC Commissary. Once again, food was sort of "meh". Do any of the parks have really great counter service places?  My Asian salad was pretty good, but J.C.'s burger didn't look appealing at all.

 

Nina was still using Addison's stroller some of the time because of her foot, so Addison decided to turn it into a double. Clever, eh?

 

After lunch, our fastpass time had arrived, so we were off to Toy Story Mania. We all had a blast. J.C. came away with the highest score in our family, but I was a close second.

 

Then we headed back to the room for naps because we knew we would have a late night. After naps, it was back to Hollywood Studios where our first goal was to find Buzz and Woody.

They weren't in here...

 

Or here...

 

Found them!

 

The green army men made Addie a little nervous. Can you blame her? He is a bit creepy.

 

As the sun started going down, we discovered our second forgetful moment of the day. We had only brought a thin windbreaker for Addie, no fleece jacket, no down vest, nothing. Due to that mistake, Addie is now the proud owner of a new Mickey sweatshirt. I'm betting Disney sold a record number of Mickey sweatshirts, hats, gloves, and blankets that week.

For dinner, we had reservations at the 50's Prime Time Cafe. The food was good and the schtick was cute, but I don't think we would go back. My children are completely incapable of speaking, eating, hearing, or communicating in any way when TV's are on. It is a most-irritating zombie-like behavior, but that's how they are. Instead of enjoying our pot roast and meatloaf, J.C. and I found ourselves saying, "Nina, take a bite!", "Elise, chew your food!", "Earth to Nina!", and "Elise! Wake up!" through the entire meal. I think I would enjoy it another time without kids, or possibly with somebody else's kids, but I won't go back anytime soon with my own children.

 

After dinner, we were off to the Osborne Family Lights. I absolutely loved this. It got me completely into the Christmas spirit! It was really magical and so much fun. I love the story behind it too. In 1986, a man named Jennings Osborne started putting out Christmas lights for his daughter around their home in Arkansas. Each year, he added more and more. He eventually bought the two properties next to him to expand the display. By 1993, his display used over 3 million lights. In 1994, Osborne's neighbors, tired of the traffic and congestion, sued to get the lights turned off. They won their case, and Osborne had to shut down his display. Disney offered to host the display at Hollywood Studios, and Osborne accepted. Now, the display is comprised of more than 5 million lights. The light ropes stretch 10 miles long, and 30 miles of extension cords are used. It takes 20,000 man hours to set them up each holiday season. It is really a sight to behold. Photos couldn't do it justice, so I took a video.

 

Day 4 Favorites

J.C. - Toy Story Mania

Ann - Toy Story Mania and the Osborne Lights

Elise - Toy Story Mania

Nina - Voyage of the Little Mermaid

Addison - meeting Handy Manny

Disney World Trip Report, Day 3

Day three was our coldest day. The high was only 48, and I think that was early in the day. By afternoon, the temperature kept dropping, and the brutal wind must have made the windchill at least 10 degrees lower. The temperatures certainly weren't going to stop us though! We bundled up and headed to Epcot.

 

We started out at Soarin'. We truly thought Addie might enjoy it, but given the fact that she cried through almost the whole ride, I'm pretty sure she didn't. After that, we went on Nemo which was more her speed.

 

We were trying to avoid wasting time in gift shops early in the trip, but Addie fell in love with a stuffed Nemo in the store near the Nemo ride, so we caved. Elise found the Hidden Mickeys book that she had so desperately been wanting, so she was thrilled. Nina ended up getting some of that colored sugar in a tube. Ick. She had crazy-colored poop for days. (TMI, I know).

 

We had impossible-to-get reservations at Le Cellier for lunch. We weren't in the mood for a heavy lunch though, so we cancelled them. The horror! I know! Le Cellier is second only to Cinderella's Royal Table for the most sought after reservations. I had scored them 180 days earlier, but we just weren't in the mood. I'm sure I made somebody's day though who got to snag our table. Instead, we headed over to World Showcase for lunch at La Cantina De San Angel in Mexico. I had been told their chicken tacos were excellent. They were quite tasty, but as with most Disney World counter service food, they didn't seem all that special to me.

If you ever read Disney message boards or talk to Disney fanatics, they will rave about four foods: the churros in Mexico, the Tonga Toast at Kona, the Dole Whip at Magic Kingdom and the Polynesian, and the Zebra Domes at Animal Kingdom Lodge. These foods are legendary. People talk about them as if the highlight of every Disney trip is eating these items. The hype is a little freakish, but I was determined to try all four. I had the Tonga Toast (a giant slab of fried sourdough bread filled with bananas and cinnamon) our first morning for breakfast. I have to admit, it was pretty darn good. It is huge though, so Elise and I split a slice later in the week. Since we were in Mexico this day, the churros were on my list. Churros are crispy fried dough sticks covered in cinnamon sugar. That isn't the best description, but you get the idea. They were tasty, but I won't be joining the "Disney Churros Addicts Anonymous" Facebook group. Yes... there really is such a thing. I told you, the hype over these foods is more than just a little odd. I tried the Dole Whip on the last day of our trip and it was a complete disappointment. It is essentially just pineapple flavored soft serve ice cream. What is all the fuss about? I know I would enjoy Tonga Toast, zebra domes, and churros on future trips, but I have no desire to ever have another Dole Whip.

After our lunch and churros, we started the walk around World Showcase. It was fun visiting all the different countries, and the girls were in princess heaven...

Mulan in China,

 

(Addie had a serious conversation with Mulan about foot fashion)

 

Snow White in Italy (was she Italian?),

 

Jasmine and Aladdin in Morocco,

 

and Belle in France.

 

The girls had a choice of quickly getting a picture with Belle or waiting in line to see both Belle and Beast. The decided Beast was a bit intimidating, so they opted for just Belle. I can see why they went that route... check out Beast! The dude is HUGE!

 

That was it for the princesses, but Addie was so excited when she saw this blondie in a blue dress, she yelled out, "CINDERELLA!!!" She was a little disappointed when she found out it was just Alice in Wonderland. I guess Alice doesn't hold the same appeal as Cindy.

 

We had really hoped to ride Test Track, but with it being so cold out, that seemed like a really bad idea. The big girls and J.C. went on Soarin' again, and then we ended our day with a meal at Boma at the Animal Kingdom Lodge. We took a cab over there because any other transportation just seemed complicated, and we were tired.

 

 

Despite reservations, we had a really long wait to eat. We went out to the observation deck to see the animals, and Elise searched the resort for hidden mickeys. We tried to keep occupied, but it was still a long wait. We eventually found out that the computer system was down, so they were trying desperately to ressurect the order of the list and reservations by hand. It was a big mess. By the time we finally got to eat, Addie was wiped out. This is how she looked for most of the meal.

 

Oh what a meal it was though! If there was ever a meal that was worth a long wait, it was the Boma meal. I pretty much died and went to food heaven. I think I could very happily live off the seafood gumbo, nut crusted salmon, and zebra domes for the next few years. I didn't necessarily like every item on the buffet (the food has an African flare), but of the items I did enjoy, I really, really loved them. Hands down, Boma had the best food of the week.

Our Epcot day was taken at a rather leisurely pace. We didn't accomplish a lot, but we all had a lot of fun.

Day 3 Favorites

J.C. - Soarin'

Ann - Boma and watching Addie interact with all the princesses

Elise - 4 way tie: getting the Hidden Mickeys book, Soarin', Boma, and seeing Beast

Nina - Soarin'

Addie - getting the stuffed Nemo

Disney World Trip Report, Days -1, 1, and 2

Yes, you read that right... day -1. Our Disney World "adventure" started the night before we left. Nina came home from ice skating camp complaining about her foot hurting. They had gone on a field trip to a bounce house place, and she said she hurt it there. Complaints and drama about injuries are par for the course around here, so I told her to shake it off and didn't think much more about it. After sitting down for a couple hours watching a Christmas movie; however, she was completely unable to walk. We looked at her foot, and it looked BAD... like broken foot bad. It was purple and swollen and certainly didn't look like anything that could walk around Disney World for a week. I rushed her over to urgent care. The doctor said it looked like she may have broken or "bent" a bone, so she had an x-ray. Fortunately, nothing was broken, it was just a bad sprain... not a big deal in the grand scheme of things, but potentially huge the night before a Disney World trip. The doctor told us to keep her loaded up on Motrin and have her wear supportive sneakers. We spent the evening frantically trying to figure out whether to buy a new stroller that night, rent one there, or just cross our fingers that she could walk. We ended up just hoping for the best and figured she could use Addie's stroller as needed. Fortunately, by the next morning, it didn't look quite so bad. She was SLOW, but she could walk. Whew!

Day one was just a travel day... car, plane, tram, and bus. We checked into the Polynesian Resort, got our leis, and took the monorail over to the Contemporary for a quick dinner at the Contempo Cafe. The food was decent, and the kids enjoyed watching the monorail cruise through the building.

You generally think of Disney World being a G-rated, kid-friendly place, right? I certainly do, so words escaped me when I saw a woman boarding the monorail at the Contemporary wearing a super-skimpy Santa dress and red fishnet hose. You know those Playboy-esque Halloween costumes you always see advertised for women? Imagine one of those, Santa-style. That's what she was wearing with boobs popping out and thigh high red fishnets and red stilettos. There were just so many things wrong about it. She was on her way to "Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party" in that get-up. Who wears that to see MICKEY MOUSE??? Bizarre. After I picked my jaw up off the floor, we headed back to the Poly.

It had been a long day, so Addie hit the sack while I took the big girls to swim. We knew cold weather was on the way and figured it might be our only chance to swim. The girls absolutely loved the water slide at the pool at our resort, but I have no clue how they kept getting out of the water to go up the stairs to it. It was ridiculously cold when you got out of the water. I think kids' temperature sensors don't really work quite right. You couldn't have paid me enough to get out of that water more than the one required time to get back to the room. They had a blast though, and I'm glad we had the opportunity to swim. Then it was off to bed for an early start at the Magic Kingdom the next day.

We got there early to beat the crowds. This is an awful picture with the girls in the dark shade, but I loved how there is nobody around! According to Addie, "Doofy helped Cinderella build her house." So if you ever wondered who built the castle, now you know.

  

We headed straight for Fantasyland where we had our first character spotting, White Rabbit.

 

Addie was hesitant, and Nina was downright petrified, so Elise was the only one brave enough for a picture.

 

Then we tackled Fantasyland.... Dumbo,

 

 

The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh,

 

Peter Pan's Flight which completely terrified Addie (she'll be in therapy for that some day, I'm sure), but fortunately, she got over it fairly quickly with a ride on the carrousel.

 

We got to meet Mary Poppins. Doesn't she look practically perfect in every way?

 

Then the girls convinced J.C. to go on the Mad Tea Party with them. This was one time I was grateful when Addie proclaimed, "I need to go potty!!!", so I could race off with her and avoid the tea cups!

 

Next it was off to Goofy's Barnstormer. This picture is horribly blurry (who knew it was so hard to take pictures on a moving roller coaster?), but do you think Nina was having fun?

 

The Barnstormer was part two of "Project Traumatize Addison." She was not a fan.

 

After the Barnstormer, we decided to take the train around to Frontierland. The train was already in the station as we were walking toward it, so we took off in a run. J.C. was a bit behind us pushing the empty stroller that he had picked up from stroller parking, so he really had to run to catch up with us. I was given explicit permission to quote what he said when he got on the train: "I have to tell you, you were totally right about this stroller. It is amazing. I was able to fold it while running without ever even breaking my stride. I could hear people behind me saying, 'Did you see that? What was it? A city micro? We'll have to look that up!'  You can even write on your blog that I said that." Ahhh, it feels good to be right. We purchased the Baby Jogger City Micro just before our trip, and it was worth every penny!

In Frontierland, we got fastpasses for Splash Mountain, and the girls and J.C. rode Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. It began to rain, so we dashed into Columbia Harbour House for lunch and to escape the rain. I had heard good reviews of Columbia Harbour House, but it didn't seem like anything special to me. The food was fine, but I wouldn't go out of my way to go there again.

The rain and the arrival of cooler temperatures put a damper on our plans for Splash Mountain, so we headed back to the hotel for naps.

For dinner, we monorailed and boated to the Wilderness Lodge Resort for dinner at the Whispering Canyon Cafe. The Wilderness Lodge was beautifully decorated for Christmas. I loved the tree and all the decorations. I think if I were to go to Disney again at Christmas time, I would like to stay at either the Wilderness Lodge or the Grand Floridian. They definitely win top honors for decorations.

 

We loved Whispering Canyon. The servers are hilarious, and the food was delicious. J.C. was completely enamoured with the bottomless milkshakes and the all you can eat meat, meat, meat, and more meat. I recommend Whispering Canyon, and we would certainly go there again. It was a lot of fun. It was a great end to our first full day.

 

Day 2 Favorites

J.C. - a tie between dinner at Whispering Canyon and sitting between Elise and Nina on Big Thunder Railroad, listening to them squeal

Ann - the Christmas decorations at the Wilderness Lodge and dinner at Whispering Canyon

Elise - Big Thunder Railroad

Nina - Big Thunder Railroad

Addie - carrousel

 

 

Simple Woman's Daybook, December 20, 2010

 

For Today...

Outside my window... it is dark, quiet, and COLD. I'm blogging in the wee hours of the morn.

 I am thinking... that I neglected to write my Simple Woman's Daybook post last week. I so rarely miss a week!

I am thankful for... a wonderful family trip to Disney World. We all had a great time, and nobody got sick or injured.

From the kitchen... too many Christmas cookies. They are all going straight to my butt. I'm convinced they don't even pass through my stomach but just go directly there.

 I am creating... a few gifts and a Disney trip photobook.

I am going... to relax in a hot bath as soon as I finish this post.

I am reading... The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson. I've only read about 5 pages so far though. finished Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosney. That was such a wonderful book. My mom recommended it, and I'm so glad she did. I loved it. With part of the book set in the holocaust, it definitely had some sad, horrible moving moments, but it was also a really lovely story in the way it was told. It was a great read.

I am hoping... to finish my Christmas shopping.

 I am hearing... the heat running.

Around the house... the beginnings of Christmas decorations. This vacation has put us completely off schedule in terms of Christmas decorating, shopping, and baking.

One of my favorite things... a fun family vacation.

A few plans for the rest of the week.... jump rope camp for the girls, work for me, wrapping gifts, and CHRISTMAS!

Here is a picture thought I am sharing... an early Christmas with the cousins today.

 

 


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