Disney 2011!

I'm not sure if anyone really cares about the details or whatnot, about our trip, but its my blog so I'm going to share :)

Our vacation started Tuesday night- we were staying at an airport hotel because our flight the next morning (Wed.) was SO stinkin' early.  Tuesday night, we drove up to Detroit (stopped at Whole Foods for an amaaazing dinner) and checked into a Best Western.  We chose a hotel that has a park & stay package- I HIGHLY recommend this for anyone who is traveling and has an early flight.  We saved big on parking and we didn't have to wake up at 2 AM to make our flight.  I think the total for room and 10 days of parking was around 100 bucks.  Airport parking alone for 10 days is around 80 (I think its $8.00 a day) so anyways, if you're heading out on vacay soon (ahem, Leslie:) look into some parking/hotel packages ;)

Okay, this is something that I haven't disclosed until now.  It's embarrassing for sure.  But we missed our flight.  Yup, we missed our 6 AM flight out of Detroit, even though we were staying a mile away from the airport.  How, do you ask?  We showed up TWO HOURS before our flight, but stood in line for about an hour and a half- NO JOKE.  When we finally got up to check in, the guy said we were too late for that flight.  I instantly started crying.  And then complaining.  For real?  We got here TWO hours before our flight and stood in this giant line and now WE have to pay for it???  Ugh.  I hate flying.  The news got even worse.  Spirit had no open flights for the rest of the day... so we'd either have to come back the next day or book with a different airline.  I argued for as long as I could possibly argue for, but the man wasn't budging.  Apparently somewhere in your travel confirmation crap they send you it says to arrive at the airport THREE hours ahead of time... so this was "our fault" and therefore Spirit wasn't covering a penny of it.  We hauled our luggage and kids from airline to airline counter, asking for a flight to Orlando.  We "lucked" out (can you call it that after you've been royally screwed?) and US Airways had a flight to Orlando at 9 or something, and it was "only" 150 a person... we really had no choice.  We did weigh the options about returning to DTW the next morning versus spending 500+ bucks on extra airfare- but it would have cost us more in the long run to have driven back home, driven back to the airport the next morning and have missed a night at Disney. 

After we had our airfare all squared away, we relaxed a little bit.  Our US Airways flight was going to Washington and then to Olrando.  Call me crazy, but I was kind of excited to have a quick lay over in Washington.  I'd never been to that airport and I keep a running list of airports I've visited.  We rode on the smallest plane EVER for our flight from Detroit to Washington, but I actually ended up liking that flight a lot.  It was a little more bumpy but we had front row seats, meaning we could let the kids down for a little room.  I was kind of sad to get off that plane.  Washington was pretty cool- did you know that from the airport you can see the Washington monument and the capital building? 

Around 2 PM or so, we FINALLY made it to Orlando.  Something about the sun gives me this instant burst of energy.  I was dragging from being up so early and walking around airports all morning, but as soon as I stepped out into the awesome weather, I was good to go... and so were the kids!

We headed down to the magical express- my mom had offered to pick us up from the airport, but I told her to meet us at the hotel because I really wanted Maeve to experience the magical express.  It's not incredibly great or anything, but its a good start to a Disney vacation.  Maeve was beyond excited to watch the little movie about how to check into your hotel, get into parks, etc.  She was shouting out every character that came onto the screen... "There's Donald!  OH MY GOODNESS I SEE MICKEY!" 

We were really excited to be staying at Disney's Coronado Springs.  It's a "moderate" resort, so I was thinking better food, better pool, etc.  Now, very rarely do I have things to complain about when it comes to Disney, and I almost feel like I'm betraying them by writing this, but I want to give you the honest truth... Coronado Springs would probably be the last on my list of resorts to stay at.  :( I know, sad!  But here's why (bullet style):

• the resort is out of control HUGE.  And somehow we got put in the building that was as far away from the main building as you could get. 
• the resort is a convention center (I had no clue) and of course, they were having this huge convention (for tools or something- bleh) while we were there.  It was packed- and not with cute little kids sporting Mickey mouse ears, but instead, drunk adults who were on this business trip thing.  Not cool.
• the food is not my style.  It's a Mexcian themed resort, and I do like Mexican food, but not 24/7.  I cannot wake up and eat a Mexican burrito, and then nachos for lunch and enchiladas for dinner.  
• it's about 5 minutes closer to the Magic Kingdom than the Pop Century resort- and that was the main reason we chose it- we thought it was way closer to the MK, but nope- just a mere few minutes. 

If I could do it over again, I'd save a hunk of money and stay at the Pop Century.  I personally, love that hotel.  I love all the food options and I love how its super kid friendly.  Anyways, that's my beef with Coronado Springs.  Everything else about the resort was great- the pool, the rooms- BEAUTIFUL.  :)

We had a red carpet greeting when we arrived at the hotel.  My mom and grandma were both waiting there to grab the kids and help with anything.  It was great!  Ryan and I checked into the hotel and squared away all of our dining reservations while the kids were running around with my mom. 

The first night we were there, we checked out the hotel.  I am not exaggerating a bit here when I say it was a 3/4 of a mile walk from our hotel room to the main building.  So we ended up doing a LOT of walking that night.  We saw the pool (have I mentioned that was amazing?), the kids played on the playground, which was also super cool and then we walked the frickin mile up to the food court to eat dinner.  We ate at the Mayan Grill, which was pretty good- but you guessed it, ALL Mexican!  (I really should have done some more investigating before booking this resort ;)  I think the kids ate bread that night- they're not big fans of salsa and/or anything spicy.

We got back to the room a little after 8 or so, and the kids passed right out.  Disney does that to kids- even if you don't go to a park- the magic of the whole place wears them out... that's what I think anyway.

The next morning we had breakfast at 1900 Park Fare.  This was by FARRRR my favorite breakfast.  It was amazing, fantastic, awesome, incredible, and any other great word you can think of.  It was my first time eating there, so it was just as exciting for me as it was for the kids.  If you have little girls, I'd definitely suggest this character breakfast.  It's different from others, because its a bit more "fancy"- and you get to meet Alice and Mary Poppins :).  Maeve was in another world, seeing and meeting the characters.  And while, she doesn't look too thrilled in the photos, she really was.

Besides the characters, breakfast itself was divine.  Ryan had smoked salmon and lobster egg Benedict.  I stuck with Mickey waffles and sausage...

After breakfast, we spent our first day at The Magic Kingdom.  I had the highest expectations for our first day there.  I was expecting tears of joy from Maeve as she walked in and saw the castle, and squeals of delight as we rode on the rides...  I seemed to have forgotten she's a year older and a year wiser since we last went to Disney.  She did love the castle- she really did, but as for the rides?  Umm, this was our riding schedule:  teacups (which I sat out on), Dumbo, It's a Small World and the carousel.  AND THAT'S IT.  She wouldn't even go NEAR "Snow White," or "Peter Pan" or any of the other classic rides.  We tried forcing her on Pirates of The Caribbean and ended up ditching it half way through the line.  You would have thought we were taking her to a torture chamber or something...

I think both Ryan and I felt a little defeated, that we were going to be riding the same 4 rides over, and over and over again... so we headed back to the hotel for naps- praying that after a good rester, she'd be up to doing a little more.

I think we made it back to the Magic Kingdom by 6 or so, and unfortunately, Maeve stuck to her guns.  We rode "It's a Small World" and the carousel, back to back for about 2 hours.  I kept telling myself that this trip was for the kids- and if riding "small world" over and over and over again made them happy, then whatever.  One thing I was really looking forward to was the big fireworks show and electrical parade.  Maeve lovvved the electrical parade, but as soon as she heard the first loud "BOOOOM" from the fireworks, she was on the ground screaming.  Embarrassing?  Yeah, a little.

We booked it out of the park and made it back to the bus.  That night, around 2 AM or so?  Maeve woke up in her sleep, sat up on the bed and said "NO FIREWORKS MAMA!" and then passed back out.  Whoops... apparently that was traumatizing for her.

Friday, we declared it to be "Epcot" day.  We had breakfast reservations again- but this time at "Chef Mickey's"- another AWESOME place :)   The kids had a blast meeting Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy and Pluto and I took advantage of the "all you can eat" waffles, pastries, fruit, eggs, etc.  OH MY YUM.

After breakfast, we took the monorail to Epcot.  I had good thoughts for Epcot- I was thinking "Finding Nemo" would be a huge hit.  Also, it was the garden and flower festival, so around every corner, the incredible Disney gardeners had created huge flower/plant statues of characters.  Very cool :)

True to Maeve form, as soon as she realized "Finding Nemo" was a darker ride, (meaning not out in the open) she refused to go.  We dragged her on it, literally kicking and screaming, thinking that once she rode it, she'd love it and we'd be over this "I'm not riding anything," hump.  She did not like it.  In fact, she ruined the ride for anyone around us... again, very embarrassing... but it was then that we decided we were done pushing it.  If she didn't want to ride, we wouldn't ride.  And that's pretty much how the rest of the trip went.

We found a splash pad at Epcot and the kids played in that for about an hour.  They loved it.  We had brought their suits and swim diapers, hoping that we could push for a little longer of a day (not having to go back to the hotel).  But its seriously just NOT possible or practical with kids this age.  We were back at the hotel by 2 or 3 and the kids were zonked again. 

My parents (and sister and brother and grandma!) got into Orlando Friday night.  It was so much fun :)   It felt like I was a kid again with my family there!  They came to our hotel room and brought us goodies (milk, juice boxes, snacks and diapers) and we sat and caught up for a bit.  They were staying at Fort Wilderness which is kind of on the other side of Buena Vista, but its the only resort that has big enough rooms to fit the whole fam.  Maeve decided she wanted to spend the night with Nana (big surprise, huh?), and we were all scheduled to meet the next morning for breakfast.

Saturday was Magic Kingdom day #2 for us.  My mom has this spell over Maeve-  I was really hoping she could persuade her to join in on the fun.  It didn't work.  BUT, what was really, really awesome about having my parents there, was that my grandma and mom took Maeve on her rides and we (Ryan, Henry, me, dad, Alec and Emily) got to do everything else.  I of course sat out any of the thrill rides, but I did get to do Pirates, Buzz Lightyear, and a few others that Maeve would never do.  We ended our Magic Kingdom night with dinner at the Kona Cafe- at the Polynesian.  SOOOOOO wonderful.  If I ever hit the jack pot, I'll dole out 300 bucks a night to stay at the Polynesian- it's like Hawaii- but in Florida. 

After dinner, we all headed back to the MK to finish out our night.  We watched the electrical parade again (can you ever watch it too many times??? :) loaded up on the best rice crispy treats and cupcakes EVER, and enjoyed the much-less crowded park.  We were able to walk onto most of the rides which was great.

Sunday morning, we had breakfast reservations at "The Crystal Palace."  Another one of my fave. places.  This was a winnie the pooh themed breakfast, and once again, the kids loved it.  It was a ton of fun to eat at a giant table, just like the old days at Disney (with all 5 of us kids) and to talk about our schedule for the day.  We decided to do Epcot again, because we really, reallllly wanted to ride Soarin. 

We spent the entire morning (or late morning, rather) waiting in line for Soarin.  It was a 90 minute wait (OUCH!) but it was worth it.  :)  After riding, we broke off into two groups:  one group went to ride all the big thrill rides (I couldn't ride any) and the other group went to get ice cream... haha guess which group I chose?  After everyone had done their riding (and eating), we all went on the ride in the giant ball- I think its called "Planet Earth?"  Anyways- Maeve loved it- which is so weird, she calls it the "Epcot People Mover"- and this became her new fave.  At least its way more entertaining than the carousel.

We walked around the world showcase for the rest of the afternoon.  That has got to be one of my favorite things/places at Disney.  I could spend a whole week just visiting all the different countries and restaurants.  Ryan and I ate in Norway, my dad and brother ate in China, and my mom, sister and grandma at in Mexico.  We all met at this picnic area after we had gotten our foods- it was way too fun :)

Sunday night my parents had to leave :( booooo.   It was really sad to see them go, even though we'd be seeing them on Tuesday.  Maeve had a hard time understanding how Nana was there one minute and gone the next. 

Monday morning we had breakfast at "Ohana's" which is at the Polynesian.  To be totally honest, it wasn't my favorite.  If Iwere going to make breakfast reservations again, I'd leave Ohanas off the list.  It was fun for the kids- and Maeve loved seeing Lilo and Stitch, but I wasn't really digging the food.  We decided that Monday would be our "off" day- meaning, we would spend it at the pool- because, after all, we had spent the extra money for this great pool, and we wanted to swim in it at least once!  It always turns out to be, that our "off" day is one of the best days.  We had a blast with the kids in the pool.  We ate at our hotel, relaxed, took naps, walked around, steered clear of crowds!  We did get a memo that the Magic Kingdom was open until midnight, and we kind of thought it was a shame to waste an entire park ticket.  Around 8 or so, we packed the kids up and headed back to the Magic Kingdom.  It was FAAAAA-REEEEZING.  We only lasted a couple of hours, but we did manage to do all of Maeve's faves again.  And yes, we caught the electrical parade for the 3rd time.

Tuesday came way too soon.  I remember leaving the Magic Kingdom Monday night and thinking, "there is NO WAY this vacation is over- we haven't even made it to Hollywood Studios or Animal Kingdom!"   But sadly, it was :(... 

I think this was my first time going on an all-Disney vacation, that we didn't visit each theme park.  It definitely feels like we missed out a little bit.  It doesn't matter if I've been on the "Great movie adventure ride" 100000 times, if you're at Disney, it's really a must!  I was definitely bummed we had missed that (and the little mermaid show, and toy story, and beauty and the beast, and the jungle safari, and the lion king... etc. etc. etc.)  On another note, we spent a lot of time at Epcot, which we hadn't ever really done before.  We saw new things and really got to tear that place apart. 

All in all, it was magical, and something only Disney can be- that goose bumpy feeling that everything in the world is PERFECT- even if its just for a few minutes. ;)

For our next Disney vacation (yeah I'm already thinking about it)... we'll hopefully be living in Florida (YES- I realize I am the girl who cried "FLORIDA!"  But really, for REAL, this time- I am pretty sure we'll be down there by October).  Living in Florida will open up new doors for our Disney dreams- first off, there's this thing called Florida residency!  YEAH BABY! :)  Huge discounts on tickets!  Also, since we'll be within driving distance of Disney, we won't have to spend any moolah on airfare.  With all this in mind, I'm thinking 3-4 days at Pop Century with a 2 day hopper would suffice for the year.   And here's why- hopping from park to park for 7 days with kids under the age of 3, isn't fun.  It's just not.  Disney is too overwhelming for youngins (and for adults- especially preggo adults!)  I think next time we go, we'll pick TWO parks to completely explore, and give up on trying to see everything at every park.  And yes, the Pop Century is a fabulous resort- not only for the cost, but in general.  Unless you can afford to plunk down the big bucks to stay in a MK resort, I'd pick the Pop Century. 

That's it!  That was our trip and my guide to Disney :)  I hope you ALL get to take a super magical Disney vacay at some point- it's seriously the best!


I have way more pictures, but I've been so beat lately... I'm sure you'll see more pop up over the course of time :)

Our Weekend out West :)

It is no secret that Ryan and I (and the kids) do a lot of weekend "get away" type things. We're the kind of people that, if we have extra money, we choose to spend it on experiences rather than save it or put it into a car or our house. I still haven't figured out if that's a good thing or not! :) I CAN tell you that we've seen a lot, done a lot, experienced a lot... and that- I'm thankful for :)

This past weekend, we were invited to come up to Grand Haven/Muskegan and stay with miss Suzie Kingsley (soon to be MRS. ELLER:). Ryan and I have been to the west side of the state only a handful of times. Most often, I have gone with my family to visit my cousin, Mal and her family in Grand Rapids. A few years back (when Ryan and I were engaged?) we went to Michigan Adventure. And when I was in 8th grade (pre-Ryan) my family took a long trip up north to Mackinaw. It was in September- and it was pretty, but cold. Where am I going with all this?? When Ryan and I start talking about getting away for the weekend its almost ALWAYS either SOUTH or East! :) We like the Detroit area quite a bit- not like DETROIT, DETROIT, but the areas surrounding it. We love the big malls, fancy hotels and restaurants. We also have this strange fondness for the airport... so weird. Anyways, when Suz invited us, we said "SURE!" And thus began our FIRST "westside" getaway :)

We left Friday after Ryan got out of work. The plan was to load up immediately upon his arrival home and go. HAHA- an HOUR and a half later we were on the road... and then in the McDonalds drive through. We're not prompt people anymore.

We drove to Lansing- all was great. Henry slept, Maeve played with her new "pee pee toy" (more on that later...in a different post). Ryan and I listened to G.Love, laughing at the funny lyrics and holding hands (like we were back in high school- do you remember those days? Where you HAD to hold hands with your significant other- like ALL THE TIME?) A few miles past Lansing the kids started breaking down. Henry was up and wanted to eat... like NOW. And Maeve was whining right along with him. Unfortunately, there is a stretch in between Lansing and Grand Rapids where its BOONSVILLE. The only halfway decent restaurant we could find was a Subway in a gas station.

It actually worked out fairly well. Maeve and I did a potty break- Ryan and Henry ordered food. We all sat outside in this big grassy field, letting the kids eat. Maeve ran around- got the wiggles out. Henry scooted, ate some grass, ya know... We finished our nutritious gas station meal with ding dongs and were back on the road in a jiffy.

We drove and drove (I have no clue why the drive there seemed like it was days...) and FINALLY hit mile marker 3- we were at the WEST side of the state! Somewhere I had NEVER, EVER been before. How exciting!

We met Suzie & Ben (her fiance) at this camp... I am still utterly confused about it- just ask Suzie- I had question after question about the camp and its purpose and what she did there... :) haha... but we took a walk down to the lake and I stuck my feet in LAKE MICHIGAN for the first time EVER. Yeah- pathetic... 26 years old- 20+ years in the state of Michigan and it was the first time having my feet actually stuck in Lake Michigan.

After our walk (and some ice cream:) we headed back to Suzies house. Suz, my friend, has struck gold up there in Muskegan. Her house could swallow our house whole. It looked cozy and quaint from the outside, but it was HUGE and spacious on the inside. We got the entire basement to ourselves- a kitchen, living room, PLAY ROOM (WHAT WHAT?!?!), bathroom and TWO bedrooms. Kind of insane. Anywho, we enjoyed ourselves quite a bit! My favorite part was her shower- we called it the capsule. It was really like a capsule and I loved it :)

Saturday morning, Suzie took us to this grease pit diner (my fave kind of breakfast places) and I seriously ate myself sick. Don't believe me? Ask Suzie. I was for REAL sick later on... oink oink! It was SO GOOD though. And I must be a glutton for punishment and pain because Sunday morning I wanted to go back (and we did).

After the ridiculously yummy breakfast, we headed to Maranatha (that camp) for the penny fair. I *THINK* this might have been Maeve's fave part of the trip? (this or Reggie- Suzie's dog...) Anyways, its like a mini (mini) fair type thing with little games & activities for kids. Most of the games cost a penny (some 5 or 10 pennies). Maeve had a blast holding her little cup of pennies and handing them to the workers. Her fave game was the fishing game... there was also a table where you could make tubes full of sugar. Fab. But we were on vacation so I said "go for it." Maeve sucked that sugar down in a hot second... grossssss. But again, she was loving it. We ended the penny fair with face painting. It was adorable- Maeve sat there, so patiently while the face painter gave her a kitty cat nose and whiskers. :)

After the penny fair, we did the pool and beach for a bit. My kids wear out (fairly) easily- so around noon/one it was pretty apparent a nap was in order. We headed back to Suzie's house and crashed for a few hours. Yes- I sad a FEW. Maeve slept from 2-5!!! Henry... not so much, but still, I think I got an hour of silence. That's always nice!

After naps we hung around the house and did a cook out. Maeve ate nothing. Henry ate 2 corn on the cobs. WOW!

Around 7 or so we headed to Grand Haven for the big coast guard festival. I kind of was picturing it to be something like the Jackson County fair- or the Hot Air Balloon Festival- something like that. Ummmm NO. The sheer volume of people was mind boggling. I really, REALLY don't like crowds (who does?!?) and it took a lot of strength to keep myself from hyperventilating. It was insanely crowded. We parked about a mile (guessing?!) from where we were going to watch fireworks. It seemed like an eternity until we found a spot that we could all sit down and watch. But... we did. And when the show started, it was fab! Maeve hates fireworks but these fireworks lasted so long that about 10-15 minutes into the show she was loving them. :) Henry enjoyed wriggling all over the place, trying to get his mitts on the popcorn. And I spent the ENTIRE TIME playing around with my stupid (not really stupid- I love my camera! :) camera. Suz mentioned something about playing around with the glow sticks, fireworks and aperture. I had no idea how fun and addicting it could be. I snapped about 50 pictures of random lights- and would excitedly show Ryan, Suzie, Ben- whoever- how "SWEET" the picture was.

After fireworks, we walked our long walk back to the car. The kids were zonked in a second & I felt completely drained. It was bedtime for sure!

The funny thing is, Suzie and I are pretty used to hanging out SANS kids- meaning, when Suz and I used to get together, it was without kids- we'd be up till 2 AM, enjoying some drinks... sleep in till 2 PM...chug water, etc. (you get the idea!) I have to say it was strange going there and saying "No I really can't stay up late tonight- Henry will be up at 6." Or, "No, I can't go to the beach because the kids HAVE to have a nap."

Kids certainly switch things up!

To sum it all up, it was a great weekend to catch up with an old friend... introduce her to life with children, relax (a little) eat (a lot) and get out of town. I am also fairly positive our weekend will inspire Suzie to take her birth control pill religiously. :)

No really- it was a blast- thanks Suz & Ben! If you're brave enough to have us again, we'd love to visit ANYTIME! :)

Here are a boat load of pics- not one is edited- because well.... I honestly have no time or energy to do so... STRAIGHT OUT OF THE CAMERA- RAW fun!

I've got friends in LOW (High?) places :)

I have a friend, SUZIE who has generously invited us to come spend the weekend with her up in Grand Haven to celebrate the "Coast Guard Festival." (I believe that's what it is... correct me if I'm wrong Suz!)

Anyways, when she said we could stay at her house for the weekend, enjoy the beach, fireworks, carnivals, ice cream, etc. I said, "HECK TO THE YES."

So... its now Friday morning (the morning of our departure) and as usual I am scrambling around the house, making sure I've got everything packed and ready to go.

My sis, Emily and her friend will be dog/house sitting for the weekend and its all working out perfectly. I needed to get out of Jackson for a couple of days... driving past my parents house was/is getting pretty old.

Ryan and I aren't the most spontaneous people in the world (okay- I sort of am- Ryan, not so much). I am pretty shocked that he agreed to just take off on such short notice. But I'm not arguing... I'm packing & going with it!

I'll update when we get back (on Sunday) with pics and stories :) Happy weekend!

On The Fourth Day of Disney...

Yes, 4th day- but can I be super random for a sec?

Let me just vent my frustration about my 2 year olds eating habits because I'm about to lose my marbles. First, let me say, she gets candy, sweet stuff, "yummy" stuff all the time- so in no way am I expecting my 2 year old to eat like an adult ALL the time- I understand she's a kid, she likes bad "kid" food stuff and I'm not going to waste time freaking out about that. BUT- is it too much for me to expect her to eat healthy like 75% of the time??? And I'm not shoving lettuce and spinach down her throat- its GOOD healthy- like I just spent a good 20 minutes chopping up strawberries, avocado, cheese, and walnuts- YUM, right? I handed her the plate and she immediately asked for "CHEETOS." UGHHH... she's going to turn into a cheeto. Anyways, I'm thinking the reason why she doesn't like the healthy stuff is because she's had a taste of the bad stuff- kind of like with Mr.Man right now: Start him off with veggies, let him get a good taste for that and THEN start on the yummy, sweet fruits. The problem is, the damage is done with Maeve... so now what??? I can't stand the thought of all the processed junk going into her body. YUUUUUCK. Anyways... that's my bit of randomness.


OKAY... ONTO DISNEY DAY 4:
I believe this day was Saturday... if not, I apologize- I'm already forgetting my vacay!

Saturday, my mom and grandma were due to come and SAVE us from some of the duties that go along with taking your kids to Disney... (like I was PRAYING my mom would maybe sit in the room with Henry & Maeve and let Ryan and I sit out by the pool TOGETHER- which she did :)

We got up early, because my mom & gma weren't coming until late afternoon (around 3) and we wanted to get something done in the morning. The MK had an extra magic hour (for those of us staying on Disney property) so we took advantage of that. Again, we tore UP the MK! :) I don't remember exactly which rides we went on, but I know we got a LOT in, in just the few hours we were there.

I was also able to get a few treats to bring back to my mom & gma. Here's a tip & confession: The rice crispy treats that WDW sells on Main Street USA are so delicious. I am addicted to them and I can eat an insane amount of them. And sorry to rat mom out, but she is addicted as well. On this particular day, they were FRESH out of the oven (or whatever the cook them in- ) they were HOT. And they were layered in peanut butter and chocolate. And I was in heaven. And I bought 4 of them at 5.00 a pop. And let me say again, I was in heaven. :)

We left the MK around 1 or so? Got back to the hotel, swam off the heat and ickies from the park and put the kids down for a nap. Ummmm for some reason I way under packed for this trip- normally I OVER pack. Not this time though. We needed clothes bad! We decided that whoever did the laundry also got the privilege to be out of the hotel room and next to the pool- I think it was the one time in my life that I DEMANDED I do the laundry :) HAHA :)

Ryan stayed and napped with the kiddos, I went off with the laundry and to wait for my mom to arrive. After two loads of clothes and some AWESOME kid-free pool time, my mom and gma came. I was SO excited to have them there! We all were! It was such a treat- especially to see my gma. We rarely see her these days and to have her come to Disney with ALL of us was so great :)

Disney was nice enough to put them in a room 7 doors down from ours. It was tons of fun (and very convenient) to keep our doors ajar and run back and forth. When they arrived, my grandma told us she made reservations at the Fort Wilderness Lodge for dinner... WHAT?!?!?!?!?! Ryan and I were totally prepared and ready to be quick-service dining the entire time- we were SO excited to have a nice dinner!!! :)

I am pretty sure, hands down, Saturday night was the best night of our vacation. We packed up all the gear needed to sustain a baby and a 2 year old for 6-8 hours and left our hotel. We rode to the Magic Kingdom and hopped on a water taxi which took us to the Fort Wilderness Lodge. It brought back tons of bitter-sweet memories for me to be there again- it was the first place we vacationed with Maeve and the hotel that my family stayed at (most of the time) when I was growing up. I thought I was really digging the "Pop Century" resort until I stepped on the grounds of the Ft. W. Lodge! I seriously was wishing we would've just dropped an extra what- like 150/night? :) on a different hotel! :)

We had reservations at the Whispering Canyon Cafe. AWESOME, AWESOME, AWESOME food. Have you ever been to Ed Debevick's (sp) in Chicago? Well picture that- except with a Western/Disney twist! The kids got to do a pony round up and ride around the restaurant on wooden ponies. Some guy across the room from us asked for a bottle of ketchup and the waitress shouted "THIS GUY NEEDS SOME KETCHUP!!! Bring him your bottle!" And all the tables got up to give the guy his ketchup- I think he ended up with 30 bottles or so! :) Anyways, its good fun & like I said, really GOOD food!

After dinner, we took advantage of being at such a beautiful resort. We sat out on the beach for awhile- Maeve was having a ball in the sand. I was watching a photographer shoot someones engagement (guessing- it could've been post-wedding/honeymoon) pics and secretly laughing at all the funny poses he was making them do :) Henry was content as could be watching MaeMae play & Ryan, my mom and grandma were enjoying good conversation on the lounge chairs. It was so peaceful :)

After the beach, we let Maeve play in the pool (which like everything about the Lodge) was way nicer/better than our (Pop Century) kiddie pool. We got to see the big geyser erupt which is always exciting :) And then we hopped BACK on the water taxi and took it over to "The Contemporary."

OMG- is all I can say about THAT resort. I wanted to sleep on the dang floor! It is incredible on the inside- my fam has stayed there before and we've had plenty of dinner reservations there but I suppose this was my first time really exploring the hotel (being old enough to remember it and all). It's just fabulous- and definitely will be the resort I want to stay at next time we're there.

From the "Contemporary" we took the monorail to the "Polynesian"- ONCE AGAIN- incredible resort... very jealous of those who have enough money to stay there!! :) We used their beach, and pool AGAIN :) haha- whoops :) BUT we did eat dessert at "The Kona Cafe" so its not like we just randomly showed up at the resort to play :) We had timed it PERFECTLY to get to the Poly right before the electrical parade on the water and the fireworks show over the MK. That's the other awesome thing about staying at one of the really nice, expensive resorts- you can see ALL the action ALL the time. We sat on the beach for the parade & fireworks...

SADLY, we had to leave the Poly and go back to the Pop Century (I am just kidding about being for REAL sad- we were blessed to be at Disney at all! I just like to dream big :)

All in all, it was a suuuper fun day and an ever better night. If you wind up at Disney, and don't have a thing to do in the evening (which would be kind of crazy- since you are at Disney, after all!) consider hotel hopping! I know its not really "allowed" per say, but I figure if you eat at the restaurants and use their transportation all is well :) So make a reservation at a really nice resort, use their facilities and live it up for a night!

On The Third Day of Disney...

We had fun... but to be honest, I was a tad disappointed! I know, right? Disappointment+Disney just shouldn't be in the same sentence... but continue reading and you'll see why...

We decided to do Thursday at MGM (aka Hollywood Studios- I cannot call it that for some reason! I grew up with it being MGM and I still say its that to this day!) Maybe I had too many expectations for MGM... its not a park that we always visit when we go to Disney. Actually, its one of the parks that we skip. The last time I had been there was spring break in 2008. We had gone with my parents, Maeve was 6 months old (Henry's age) and all we did was ride "Tower of Terror" and watch "Beauty & the Beast"- no joke- that is ALL WE DID!

Sooooooo this time around I really wanted to do EVERYTHING MGM had to offer... (well minus the very adult stuff- like the show about Walt Disney- don't get me wrong, I am Walts #1 fan, but there is no way in heck Maeve would last a second in that!) BUT we did have a pretty long to do list:

-The Little Mermaid Show
-Beauty in the Beast show
-Tower of Terror (we'd do the hand off)
-Rock & Rollercoaster (again- the hand off)
-Honey I shrunk the kids playground
-Toy Story Mania
-Playhouse Disney
-The block parade
-one American Idol show
-the Muppets 3-D
-Indiana Jones (of course- CLASSIC!)
-The Backlot tour
-The Great Movie Ride (AMAZING ride...GO!)

****
Yes, as you can see, we had a LOT to accomplish. Wanna know how far we got??? We did the "Honey I shrunk the kids" playground, "The Great Movie Ride" and "The Backlot Tour." THAT'S IT. NOTHING ELSE- NADA! And of course, OF COURSE- we picked THURSDAY to go to MGM and THURSDAYS they weren't running "Spectromagic" - the only thing that I really, REALLY wanted to do at MGM. It is the most incredible show (at night) and I was DYING for Maeve to see it. The disappointment I had when I walked through the park gates and saw the big chalkboard listing all the wait/show times and seeing that not ONLY was "Spectromagic" NOT playing tonight, but also Muppet 3-D was closed down- was overwhelming- I think I got tears in my eyes. It also wasn't great to see that the wait time for "Toy Story Mania" was 70 minutes- SEVENTY minutes- WHAT?!?!?!?!?!?!

We spent a few hours at MGM wandering around, trying to catch shows- we actually stood in line for "The Little Mermaid" 4 times, but each and every time we were cut off at the very end because the theater was full. The show times for the parade and other shows didn't fit in with the kids' nap schedule we had them on so we missed all that. And by the time we made it over for the fast pass distribution at Toy Story, the return time wasn't until 4:00 PM- the park closed at 6! SOOOOO bummed. The deal with not being able to catch any shows is that you'll walk a mile over to one show that is supposed to start at 11:20 lets say, you get there at 11:20 and its filled to capacity. SOOOOO instead of standing there and waiting for 45 minutes you go and do something else until the next show starts. Of course ANYTHING you do (besides standing right there and waiting next to the theater) takes more than 30 minutes. So then you find yourselves running back to the show only to find that once again, its full. This happened over and over again at each and every show we tried to see. It was SO frustrating! I'm sure you're wondering, "Well, why not just stand and wait there for 45 minutes?" To that, I'd say, "TWO kids, aged 2 & 6 months (particularly the 2 year old) do not like to stand anywhere for more than a second." It was just too hard to get Maeve to wait and stand in line- when all she wanted to do was run. So.... that's what happened :(

Like I said, we did "The Great Movie Adventure" ride- here's another heads up- its traumatic. It was traumatic for me, so imagine how our poor Maeve felt. An alien comes out of the ceiling, there's a couple of really intense shoot outs, the wicked witch from the west appears out of a poof of smoke, yeah- it's pretty intense! Maeve was um... NOT a fan.

After the movie ride, we headed over to the big playground... I (and the kids) LOVED that place! I could've hung out in there all day- except for the fact it was a madhouse. BUT, its definitely a place you should check out (if you have kids- if you don't have kids, that would be kind of odd and creepy to go and just sit in the playground... :)

Honestly, I was getting pretty frustrated with the whole missing the shows thing, and the heat index was rising by the second. I kind of made the executive decision to leave MGM early- like really, really early. We were back at our hotel for lunch :)

Wednesday is the day I believe I found another love to add to my lists of loves: The TUNA sandwich at the Pop Century hotel. AHHHHHHMAZING. From that day on, I had to have one- even if it wasn't lunch or dinner time- I just wanted one because I knew I would return to Michigan and my beloved Tuna wouldn't be there.

We spent Wed. afternoon at our hotel. We swam and discovered "Goofy's Pop Park"- one of those little water play zones for kids where water shoots out of the ground. This was ALL MAEVE wanted to do. Ever. First thing in the mornings, (and I suppose she still does, even up here in MI!) she asks to go to "Goofy's."

Wed. evening we checked out the arcade- I'm normally not really an arcady type person- but Disney arcades are awesome! The games are incredible- they're all family oriented- meaning, more than one player at each game. So we ALL (Ryan AND Henry included) had a blast doing "family bowling" and the "alien stomp" (this is the one Henry participated in! HAha- we held Henry up and let him kick at all the images- he was a pro)

All in all, it was another great day at Disney even though I was thoroughly disappointed with MGM. WITH THAT SAID, if you are going to MGM, don't worry- all you have to do is plan it out to a "T." Meaning- have a schedule and STICK TO IT. If you're supposed to see "Playhouse Disney" then sit there and wait and see "Playhouse Disney" because if you wander off trying to find something to do to fill your wait time, the show will fill up and then your entire schedule is off.

We had 7 days of park tickets and were planning on using 3 at the MK, 1 at AK, 1 at Epcot and 2 at MGM. We nixed going back there and decided on doing the MK AGAIN- 4 days at the MK and we still didn't do/see evvvvvvvverything we wanted to do (Monsters Inc., "Splash Mountain", "Country Bear Jamboree").

Alright... that sums up day 3 at Disney. I am pretty proud for continuing with such thorough posts of each day- because I don't want to forget anything :) But its time for laundry... I had to wear a pair of underwear last night that I hadn't worn since 7th grade, I swear. No joke- I have indentations on my thighs from them. Nice.

Stay tuned for "On the 4th day of disney!"

On The Second Day of Disney...

REJUVENATION is the key word for this post!

We woke up (relatively) late on Wednesday morning, and I was feeling well, REJUVENATED! Remember, the night before, we had had a great pizza (did I mention a pina colada?) I had been able to take a shower, sleep in a comfy, snug hotel bed AND BOTH babies slept through the night and past 8:00! That was enough right there to make my day! :)

Wednesday was our "Magic Kingdom" day (little did we know that each and every day for the remainder of the week would be our "Magic Kingdom" day...:). We had reservations at "The Crystal Palace" right off of Main Street USA, for breakfast with "Winnie the Pooh & friends." What a great way to start the day, eh? :)

We made it to the park about 10 minutes before opening- here's another Disney tip- even if you've been to Disney a hundred times before (jeez who's been THAT many times, right? :) its STILL fun to watch them open the park in the mornings. Check with your hotel the night before to make sure you've got the park hours down- and be there about 10-15 minutes prior to opening. At the Magic Kingdom, they have all the princesses and their princes ride in on the choo choo train; they sing, dance, put on a little show and then shoot out streamers and confetti- ya know, just your typical 9 AM greeting :) Really though, its awesome- and we made sure to be there for the park opening every morning. Want to know the silly part? Each and every morning we saw the show/opening, and walked through the gates I got goosebumps and tears in my eyes. Don't ask me why... there's something just MAGICAL about the place!

After the big welcome show, we were through the gates and ahead of the crowds- well on our way to riding on the BIG kiddo attractions before the lines got long. I think it was right past Cinderella's castle that the front wheel of our jogger stroller flew off and sparks started flying on the ground as the metal made that awful squealing noise against the concrete. Yes- quite the entrance- "HELLO MCKENNEY FAMILY!" haha :) A few people stopped and tried to help- I went in one direction chasing the wheel, while Ryan stayed by the stroller holding tightly to Maeve & trying to keep the damaged metal part of the stroller off the ground. I found the dang wheel. (Yes my face was beat red- and not from the sun) Unfortunately, when the wheel popped off, the bolt and lever that held it on went with it- somewhere into the unknown. We scoured the castle floor for about 10 minutes before the embarrassment took over completely. Ryan called it quits on fixing it- it was almost like when you watch those ER shows and someone is coding out- all the nurses are scrambling around trying to save the guys life when all of a sudden the head doc looks up and gives that LOOK. And you know its over. The guys dead. The strollers dead. Booooooo hooooooo.

SO my friends, what do you do, if you're in the middle of the most magical place on earth and your stroller breaks??? Let me tell you. First, you put your head down and wheel the broken stroller over to where there is some sort of stroller parking. Then you take whatever articles (bags, bottles, children, etc.) out of the stroller that you need/want. Then you abandon said stroller. Yes- we left our jogger stroller in the middle of the Magic Kingdom. How sad is that?????

Originally we were thinking- "okay- we can handle this- this is doable- we'll RENT a stroller for the week!" Unfortunately, the only strollers available to rent (at the park anyway) were for older kids- not babies. Henry can kind of sit up but not well enough to sit in a toddler stroller all day. He'd be hunched over in a hot second without a harness over his shoulders.

After a lot of searching and asking, we were directed to the baby center. Did you know this existed??? I did not. And I am SO, SO, SO glad I know now! It is located RIGHT next to "The Crystal Palace" (how convenient, right?) and its baby/momma/dadda heaven!!! You walk in, and its like you've walked out of the craziness of the park and into a lush hotel room for babies! There are rocking chairs, couches, changing tables (nice ones- not the pull down hard plastic ones), a water cooler, diapers, wipes, etc. You name it, they've got it! So in we walk, my carrying Henry, Ryan holding Maeve... looking for a stroller! HAHA! Who goes to Disney to buy a stroller????? Well US, I guess :) Because they had one! Right there, waiting for us, was a brand spankin' new Kolcraft umbrella stroller. SWEET! I was thinking 30-40 bucks TOPS. Think again! 60 dollars! Buh-BYE spending money! But it was needed. And I think a huge rush of relief came over both of us when we realized we wouldn't be lugging around Hank the Tank all day :) So listen up moms with babies (and toddlers alike!) if you're at the Magic Kingdom and stuck in some kind of a baby bind- head to the baby center!!! I swear, they can whip up anything there for you- its almost sort of like MAGIC! :)

After snagging our stroller, we had pretty much missed our opportunity to hop on any rides without a wait time (or so we thought)... plus it was time for our breakfast reservation.

Breakfast was phenomenal. Although the character part of it was a ginormous waste of money. Maeve acted like "Eyore" was the deadly plague. Seriously- anytime a character would walk up to the table she'd be out of her high chair (somehow- even though she was tied in) and onto our laps. She'd then advert her eyes and completely ignore their presence. SORRY POOH! Oh... back to the breakfast part. I am pretty sure there were several meals that I ate while at Disney that I gained at least ten pounds at- and this was most certainly one of them. DARN YOU BUFFETS! Let me list off my breakfast meal: chocolate mickey waffles, peach cobbler oatmealy stuff, vegetable strata and sausage. OINK OINK! :) But if Maeve wasn't taking advantage of the 60 bucks we paid to meet the characters, I figured I should probably counteract that with eating my money's worth. So I did.

After breakfast we were back on 4 wheels again :) and rolling quite quickly through the park. Honest to God- we rode everything we wanted to ride (EXCEPT for Dumbo which always has a ridiculously long wait). We walked onto pretty much everything- we waited for mmmmmmm *MAYBE* 15 minutes for the "Teacups" but that was about it! Pretty incredible! :)

We did go back to the hotel for naps (which was just a must- no ifs ands or buts about it) and took a quick dip in the pool to beat the afternoon heat. Though, around 6 or so, we were right back at the MK for more! We rode Maeve's faves again (and again, and oh, again!) "It's A Small World", "Teacups", the train, all that good stuff! One pleasant surprise we got was that Maeve might just be a little daredevil! It started out as a joke (kind of a cruel joke- please don't judge me for this)- but Maeve was being naughty/out of control/bratty, etc. So I told her "That's it I'm taking you on a spooky ride!" I scooped her up and (with no wait!) walked onto "Goofy's Barnstormer." It's a kiddie roller coaster- but its got a little height to it and definitely some fast turns. I thought she'd be terrified out of her mind. Instead, we hopped off and she asked to "ride the fast choo choo again." :) classic :)

We ended the night with watching "Wishes" (the fireworks show that brings me to full out tears every time) and the electrical parade.

Back at our hotel room, it was time to unwind- Maeve was literally ASKING to go "night night" and we got a good laugh out of her asking Henry to "PLLLLLLLLLLEEEASE go night night!" when he wouldn't stop fussing :) After the kids were asleep, Ryan and I took turns sneaking out to the "Petals Poolside Bar." They happened to have Sam Adams Summer Ale on draft (his fave) and I settled for anything that started with "A" and ended with "L." (usually though it was a pina colada- although one night I was adventurous and got a margarita- that was WAY TOO STRONG and took me about 2 hours to drink... I'm sort of a lightweight now a days...)

Anywho, it was a GREAT first day- even though it did start out a little bumpy with the whole stroller thing (especially for Henry! :)

Stay tuned for "On the THIRD DAY of Disney!"

On The First Day of Disney...

Day ONE:

We were packed & ready to go. We thought it would be a swell idea to rent a hotel near the airport prior to our actual departure. We snagged a fab deal (89.99) for one night PLUS 8 days of parking. Couldn't pass it up... so we spontaneously booked the room MONDAY morning :) This meant I no longer had Monday night to pack and prepare. I rushed around town tying up loose ends and gathering up everything needed to take a 6 month old and a 2 year old to Disney World for a week.

Basically, we had one suitcase devoted to all things KIDS. Diapers, formula, bottles, nipples, liners, wipes, meds, baby food, snacks, juice boxes, water, etc. If you're guessing that this suitcase was over 50 lbs. you would be correct.

Ryan and Maeve shared another suitcase and the little man and I got the other one. We got to our HOTEL, which was actually pretty nice for being an $90.00/night airport hotel and unloaded. I'm sure you're wondering why I'm starting off blogging about our vacation on the night we spent in Detroit- why not just start at Disney, right? WELL... let me tell you... we started this vacay off with a BANG a BIG BANG and whining, and crying, and fussing, and screaming, and more crying, and yelling, etc. etc. etc. As much as I want to forget this night ever existed, I must include it... for memories sake, after all :)

I don't know what was in the air that night, but there was something. We got to our hotel around 8:30 or so- a half hour PAST the kids bedtime. SURELY, we thought the kids would snooze off, we could enjoy a hotel movie and all would be peaceful. HAHAHAHAHA.

I gave the kids a bath. Ryan set up one pack & play, with the assumption Henry would sleep in that, Maeve in the extra bed. Into their p.j's they went- I tucked Maeve into bed and Henry was in the pack & play. It was about this time that all hell broke loose.

Henry started to fuss. This must have started Maeve off, because shortly after, she began BOUNCING off the walls (and beds). We literally couldn't contain her. The decision was made to swap the kids sleeping arrangements. Maeve went into the pack & play (screaming and crying of course) and Henry went into the double with me. Ryan was in the other bed at this point. We totally had to tag team these kids...

For the next couple (YES- I said COUPLE) of hours or so there was intermittent whining, crying, fussing, screaming, etc. from both kids. FINALLY Ryan took Henry on a walk down the hotel hallways and I focused on getting Maeve to bed. She shut her eyes and actually went to sleep around midnight I'm guessing. Ryan brought back a very sleeping, cranky Henry and he fell asleep as soon as he hit the bed. BUT- not for long. He was up and fussing on average, every hour or so throughout the entire night. And of course, every time he'd wake up, Maeve would wake up and join in on the crying. I thought we were going to be booted out of the hotel room for sure.

Morning came (thank the HOLY LORD JESUS) and we had two incredibly crabby children on our hands. Ryan and I weren't so pleasant ourselves either. At one point I told him "I am tired of having to treat you like my four year old son." He said something back and I recanted with something probably not suited for blogworld... at least not MY blogworld :) WOOOOOO! Nothing like airing our dirty laundry on the ol' blog! :) hahaha! :)

Early morning, (around 6 or so?) we got breakfast. I focused on feeding Henry & getting the kids dressed & ready. Ryan then took Maeve on a walk through the hotel while I got ready. Apparently Maeve was screaming and whooping through the hallways and this young girl (Ryan thought maybe 21 or so?) stuck her head out the door and said "REALLY??? It's 6 in the freaking morning!" To which Maeve replied, "Hi! Good morning!" HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! I laughed hysterically when I heard that story :)

After gathering up all our luggage and CRAP (we hauled a LOT of crap with us) we jumped in our airport cab and were ready to fly! Or so we thought... Ryan forgot our luggage tags that were required to check our luggage in for Disney. Nice. Back to the car we went. All four of us. At this point, I felt like there was no way we were going to make it. And thus, tears soon followed- not from my kids, but from me. Yes- I will document it here- I cried. I cried and whined to Ryan "Why are we doing this???? I can't take it anymore!!! I'm too tired and the kids are driving me insane!" I'm a tad ashamed but hey, I had just endured probably one of the worst nights in the history of me being a mom. STRESS STRESS STRESS was looming over me. And you all know I don't handle stress well :)

Fortunately we DID make our flight. And by the grace of God, both kids were relatively well behaved. Obviously, I don't expect anything out of Henry- he's 6 months old and if he's going to scream, he's going to scream. But he didn't and I was thankful :) I DO however, expect Maeve to behave. And she did- for the most part. Until we ran out of Easter eggs full of m&ms. Luckily we were twenty minutes to touch down by that point and she settled for looking out the window for "gigi's" house, alligators, Mickey & Ariel :)

Okay, I really cannot express to you HOW tired I was by the time we reached Orlando. It was to the point that if given the option, I would've chosen to park my booty on a dirty airport bench and take a nap. I was drained, jet-lagged, a tad loopy from having to take an extra dose of anxiety meds before flying... you get the picture.

I have been in the Orlando International Airport probably 50 times- maybe more- no joke. But I was so foggy and out of it that I wasn't really paying attention when Ryan steered us towards concord A to board the magical express. It wasn't until walking UP and DOWN and UP and DOWN and UP and DOWN that we realized Disney's Magical Express was located on concord B! B! B! I really started to doubt that my sanity would hold out for the rest of the week... or even the rest of that day.

By the time we made it to the Magical Express I was as rotten as a 2 week old banana. All I wanted was a bed- or a chair- something that I could sit down on and shut my eyes annnnnd NOT be interrupted by screaming/whining children. Unfortunately, I didn't get my wish until about 4 hours later. Yes, we arrived IN Orlando at 11:20 AM, but we didn't get to our room until well after 3. NIGHTMARE I TELL YOU.

The rush of relief, joy and pure bliss that came over me when we opened the door to the hotel room was beyond words! HAHA- really! And I'm sure as you're reading this (unless you have kids) you think I'm being super dramatic- but let me tell you- it is HARD WORK traveling with babies.... REALLY HARD. AND TIRING. Of course there were no pack & plays but I was to the point where I was fine with locking the door and letting Maeve have free roam of the room. I really didn't care. Although the thought of how in the world could it be that Maeve wasn't tired was kind of freaking me out- ADD??? Hyperactivity???? I gave birth to an energizer bunny??? Well, lo & behold, she passed right out. And so did Mr. Man. This gave Ryan and I PRIME NAP TIME OPPORTUNITY.

I think we all woke up around 7 or so? I can't really remember... but I believe it was somewhere around there. We had 7 days of park tickets and knew we wouldn't be visiting a park on the day we left, so we figured we might as well go to the Magic Kingdom- even if only for a few hours. Heaven forbid we waste a park ticket! :)

After a quick shower and dinner I was ready to go- I felt like a million bucks! We boarded the first of many, many, many Disney transportation buses that we would be taking that week, and just like that, we were off to the Magic Kingdom.

That first night we rode "It's A Small World", "The Jungle Cruise", "Snow White", "Tea Cups", "Pirates of the Carrib." and the carousel. It was actually a pretty productive few hours! We also got to catch the electrical parade. FANTASTIC. Maeve was in awe! (so was I :) We left MK around 10 (right before the fireworks show so we could avoid the exiting madness) and got back to our hotel just in time for our luggage and pack & plays to be delivered :)

I have to tell you- I was really, REALLY nervous about how the week was going to go. I mean, after the first night in CRYING/FUSSING/WHINING HELL I thought Ryan and I had thrown ourselves into a week of torture. BUT... what I wasn't taking into account was that Disney has this hmmm... shall I throw out the word "magical?" Yes, MAGICAL way of wearing your kids down to nothing. I mean- they are swamped, beat, dead to the world when you leave those parks.

Our first night in our DISNEY hotel was fab. Both kids slept like angels. Ryan and I ordered a late night "Lady & the Tramp" pizza (SO SO SO GOOD) and we ALL felt rested and prepared for the rest of our CRAZY, FUN, EXCITING, MAGICAL week at Disney :)

stay tuned for "On the Second Day of Disney!" :)

Back to the Grind...

UGH I think the worst part of vacationing is coming back to the daily blahs of life. In Florida, we'd wake up, go on a walk to the park, go out for lunch, stop and get some ice cream, take a loooong afternoon nap, go out for dinner and end the night with a swim in the pool. Nice huh??? Since we got back on a Tuesday afternoon we got slapped right back into reality! Dinner at home :( ,unpacking my suitcase and starting on laundry, chasing after Maeve in our tiny house, unable to do ANYTHING because of the stupid weather.... ugh :( On Wednesday, we woke up bright and early- I had every intention on going to the Y and getting back into the whole workout thing, but goooooood LORD I couldn't even manage to get out of my pjs until after lunch!!! Poor Maeve- she kept taking my hand (oh yeah, that's her new thing- taking your hand and guiding you to where she wants you to go) and bringing me to the back door... I kept asking "What babe?" And she just kept pounding on the door- I opened it up and told her "Cooooold MaeMae!" Obviously she doesn't understand why she can't go outside... for 6 days straight first thing in the morning we were outside and running around and playing. So yeah, she is desperate for some fresh air, as am I, and I'm sure you all are too... :( I had a meet Wed. night and as much as I absolutely LOVE judging, I just was NOT up to it last night- I went, and got through it, but just wanted to be home in bed... I think that's what this weather does to you. Today (Thursday) we are going to venture out to Target- I made a quick trip to Walmart yesterday for essentials (milk, bread, eggs, cheese & deli meat), but VALENTINES day is coming up quickly (MY FAVE. HOLIDAY!!!!!) and I wanna get out of this house and look for a v-day present for Ryan... hmmm... no clue what to get him but anyways, a trip out to Target will be the highlight of our day today. Again, today I was set to go the Y but its not gonna happen... I think I will start *new* on Monday. I still have a pesky 7-10 lbs. to lose before our next vacation...
Which leads me into SPRING BREAK '09! :) As SOON as we got home the other day I was already having FL withdrawals so I hopped on the computer and started looking up Universal stuff- originally we were planning on flying down to Orlando April 16th, driving to my grandmas, spending the weekend with her, then driving over to St.Augustine for the week. We were totally going to avoid Disney and the whole craziness of Orlando. But my mom, Maeve, Grandma and I had SUCH a blast at Universal and downtown Disney on Monday that I have now convinced Ryan to do ONE day at Universal :) at least its not Disney, right??? :) So now we're flying in 4/16, staying at the double tree at the entrance to Universal and going to City walk and the park. I CAN'T WAIT!!!!!!!!!!!
Oh also- someone asked me how and why do we take so many vacations... first off, the "vacation" I just took was completely paid for by my mom- from my airfare to my food... so that trip cost NOTHING. Last summer the trip to New England was the same deal- my mom and grandma paid for all my stuff... so really this is Ryan and I's second vacation this year that we're actually paying for. Also, we have family down there so we have places to stay- for free! :) Don't get me wrong, it does cost a pretty penny to vacay but years ago, Ryan and I came to the conclusion that we'd rather vacation and have memories that are literally priceless rather than new cars, fancy clothes and other material things. SO anyways, that's our theory on vacationing.

Peace, Love & Lobsters

Haha... so I am BACK from Boston- back with stories to tell and a refreshed look at life. Did you know a week in solitude (meaning no tv, internet, phone service, etc.) can do that to a person? For just about my entire life I've fallen asleep to a television and to be honest, I was terrified to go to sleep in dark silence... maybe because it would force me to think about things. Who knows, but for some reason the background of the tv seems to wash out any negative thoughts before bedtime. Negativity screws up your sleep... ANYWAYS, about New England!

SO MUCH FUN! The flight was awesome- very uneventful and short- just how I like 'em. We flew over Canada so I got to see Niagra falls from the plane which was pretty sweet. It looked like a giant whirlpool. We actually landed in Providence, RI. A small, lazy airport which was great because the last thing I needed were the lines and rudeness that Detroit metro has to offer. After we got our bags and weaved our way out the door and into my moms car, we were on our way into Boston. We stayed in Boston (downtown) for 3 days- it was awesome! I love cities :) I think I've talked about my obsession with airpots in a previous post but yeah, I love people and I love it when people are on agendas- thats usually what you find in big cities. LOTS of people in a hurry to get somewhere. And I love to be in places that don't sleep. We stayed in the Chinatown district the first night, which I loved- (we were RIGHT next to Tufts Medical). Boston is the perfect city- tons of history which always adds depth to a place, but completely modernized, and very clean. :) What a green city they are! The 2 other nights we moved on over to Cambridge (which is right across the St.Charles River). While in Boston, we saw all the touristy stuff and did a couple activities for the kids. (Alec & Maeve) We did the aquarium, the science musuem, we walked through the commons, etc. It was adorable because my grandma, who is from New England, knows Boston and all of its surrounding areas like the back of her hand. She was guiding us all over the place, telling us naughty stories of her drunken college days. She pointed out bars and would say stuff like "Oh Ashley! I've had many a martini there!" My personal fave. story was about how it used to be legal to drink and drive... we asked her, "So you were driving down the road with a beer in your hand?" And she said, "Well no, I didn't drink beer. It was probably a fifth of vodka." OH grams :)

We also took a drive up to New Hamp. to see my sis who is working at a camp in the middle of nowhere. It took about 4 hours to get there and I wasn't sure if we'd make it back. Those dang mountain roads are scary- I had to pop an ativan. (haha confession) But it was worth the drive- Meghan was in desperate need of some visitors and we got to see where she had been living for the summer. It was really beautiful and rainy and misty up there... It was so fresh and new feeling- I enjoyed it :)

The 3rd day we didn't do much Boston-y stuff. We pretty much took a walk, ate breakfast/lunch and drove to my Grandmas.
My grandma inherited her old house in Fairhaven, Mass. which just happens to be a quaint (very quaint) cottage right on the ocean. It was absolutely breathtaking- not the cottage but the ocean. I had been there as a kid, but I was so interested in all of that darn pioneer/plymouth rock crap that I missed out on the beauty of the ocean and the people. I LOVE the residents of Fairhaven- it was like being in the movie "Jaws" (which is a fave. of mine). I enjoy how they love their seafood, the Red Sox and the weather. Smile :)

We spent the week eating, sight seeing and reflecting- I say reflecting because after dinner there was absolutely NOTHING to do. There was one television but it was constantly inhabited by my little brother and it wasn't worth the fight to try and get him to change the channel off of "Hannah Montana." (haha soooo called him out on that one!!!! He's got a big 'ole crush on Miley!) Anyways, I was in this tiny room that had ceilings so low that I (yes 5"2) me hit my head on probably 4 times a day. But I have to say it was so peaceful at night, listening to my ipod and thinking of "things." I won't be specific about every thought I had- (not that my thoughts are very interesting... they're just my own I guess). I thought lots of Ryan and our relationship and the love sleeping next to me. It had been a LONG time since I had been away from him for that long, and I CRAZY missed him. I came to the conclusion that I couldn't be a single mom. And I prayed every night (oh yeah thats another thing- I got a long prayer in every night- undisturbed by tv or people) that God would never do that to me- make me a single mom. I thought about having more babies... I thought a lot about my parenting skills- what I want to improve on and what I think I have mastered. Patience is something I desperately want and NEEEEED. Especially with Maeve :) Sweet bugger- she is such a pistol. Constantly defying me and pushing the limits... and she is only 10 months old! Yikes. I thought how its funny that for almost 10 years I've been madly in love with the same person. And how I truly believe there is one person for everyone- God gave me Ryan so early and its been such a tough journey to get where we are today (not that we're in this perfect place) that I wonder why we couldn't have met later in life. But thats all water under the bridge... I thought about how when I got back I was going to be thankful for Ryan and what he does for me- rather I was going to make it a point to SHOW him how thankful I am for what he does for me. (I am not speaking pervertedly here either) Just "show" him by holding his hand more often, cooking his fave. meals more, and simply saying thanks. All of which, I had been slacking on.

The trip ended too soon and just in time- thats how I felt anyways. I wanted more, but I was SO ready to be home. I kind of took this weekend to relax and enjoy my hubby :) Its been awesome- I feel refreshed and refocused (HAHA emily) and ready to take on being a housewife and mother again.

Sometimes all you need is a little get away to throw things back into perspective.