Days Away...

This weekend we found ourselves doing the single digits dance...

Ariel is fully clothed and  we are now adding lace to her dress, followed by a crown and a sash. 

I am such a slacker about getting ready for this trip.

The weather has been murky and humid and honestly...  all I really want to do is sit around in my jammies and read Disney dining reviews.  Haha! 

Can someone send the packing/cleaning fairy to my house?

I purchased a few trip items from Hobby Lobby.  Ribbon is on sale this week, so I'm making a few hair bows for the girls.  (Of course, I forgot to take pictures.)  I refurbished one of Belle's old Minnie bows by sticking a monogrammed 'E' in the middle.  (For Evie, of course.) 

I am excited about the girl's Cali Grill dresses.  Belle already had a Peter Pan smock and it matches nicely with Evie's new Rapunzel smock.  I think they are going to look so sweet together.

Belle has been 'getting in to character' and planning out what she will say to each princess.  She wants to bring a frying pan to show Rapunzel.  Haha!

   

A few weeks ago I cleaned out Evie's room and found a surplus of brand new white onesies.  Lucky for me, my best friend sews and offered to put a few outfits together for Evie.  They turned out great!

Oh, and in planning news...  we canceled out Chef Mickey ADR.

I realized that it would cost us over $100 to eat breakfast... at a buffet, no less.  I can think of several other ways I would like to spend $100 a Disney World.  (Sorry, Mickey!  We will see you at O'Hana.)

We did make an extra ADR at 50's Prime Time Cafe' during out trip, too.  The fried chicken sounds divine!

We've got a pretty packed schedule until we depart next week.  Time is going to fly by!

Disney World, Here We Come!!!!

Trippin' Tuesday... Belle + Yoda

It was our last afternoon in Disney World and we were slowly winding down from vacation-mode. I spent the afternoon doing laundry, while Belle and Gregg rested in the room. I actually enjoyed doing laundry on vacation, it gave me time to hang out by the pool and I didn't have to worry about it when we returned home.

We wanted to take a few more pictures at the resort before we left, so we all met downstairs.


Returning to the room for a costume change....
We very much in the mood for a relaxing evening and good food so we took a boat ride to Downtown Disney. (I love this ride from Port Orleans to DTD!!!)





We did a little shopping...






And then we found Yoda...

How could you not love Yoda?
Belle kept hopping out of her stroller, so Gregg placed Yoda inside.
She FREAKED out!!!!
And still loathes Yoda to this day. Poor Yoda!!! (Gregg has a Star Wars shirt and when she sees him wearing it she makes him turn it inside out so she doesn't have to look at Yoda.)

Not wanting to traumatize our child further, we decided it was time for dinner at Wolf Gang Puck Express. I had the meatloaf and Gregg had the salmon. It was a fantastic meal!

With sad hearts and a sleepy little girl, we made our way back to Port Orleans.


On the walk back to our room we found the room we Honeymooned in. It really made us think about how much life had changed in four years. I don't think we ever imagined we would be standing in front of that room 4 years later (almost to the date) on our little girl's 3rd birthday.

The next morning we packed up and drove home.

Final thoughts (with an update)-

-We were both shocked and saddened by Belle's fear of the rides. She really enjoyed the outside rides, but freaked out on anything inside.  Now that Belle has been diagnosed with SPD this makes so much sense.  Bless her heart, her brain could not process all of lights and sounds.

-It seemed as though we didn't do much on this trip (since we hardly rode anything), but it was nice to just take it easy and slow.

-As long as I live, I will never regret this trip, simply because of all of the great character meet and greets.
And for having the opportunity to do this with her as an only child.  I am so thankful for that.

-I do believe that my child will have memories from this trip, despite what other people think. She still remembers so much, even to this day.

-Disney with a child is very different from Disney with adults. If you are a Disney lover, try and plan a trip for just you and your spouse. There are so many wonderful things for adults. It's not just for kids!

-I know it's terrible, but we still laugh about Yoda.  And Belle is finally warming up to him...  I really hope he is still in that store.

Trippin' Thursday... Princesspalooza 2010

Sadly, it was our last day at Disney. It was also Belle's 3rd Birthday.

I had a very special morning planned for her, which started way too early and resulted in a not-so-excited birthday girl. (Or Daddy for that matter, so we left him behind to rest a little more.)

Belle was dressed in my little sister's Cinderella smock. The dress is more than 20 years old and still in great condition. I'm so thankful that my mom kept our smocks.  (It was a shame that I had my camera on the wrong setting and got nasty looking pictures.)


Totally not in the mood for pictures....


But her mood changed quickly when we arrived at the Bippidi Boppidi Boutique.

Upon arrival, Belle was shown every princess gown and accessory and told to choose a princess. She chose Jasmine, but had already been warned by Daddy that Jasmine was a no-go. Her next choice was Cinderella and I was thrilled because we would be dining in her castle a few hours later. (Plus, Belle looks so beautiful in baby blue. I couldn't wait to see her all dressed up.)

A few minutes later, she was called back to her dressing room.

Then she met her fairy godmother and started to get beautified.

This picture makes me laugh! She's receiving a sprinkle of pixie dust.

She loved getting her nails done.
Announcing Princess Belle.....
At the end they turned her around to face the mirror. I didn't get a picture of that because I was filming it. Her reaction was priceless. She felt so lovely.

Then.... as if it couldn't get any better.... she was off to a photo shoot at Castle Couture.



Gregg had arrived by that point and I was really glad that he wasn't missing his little super-model in action.

This will forever be one of my favorite memories of Belle.  She LOVED herself!  America's Next Top Model had nothing on her.  She was really working the camera.
I took a potty break and had to snap a picture of the bathroom entrance. I could use a sign like that at home. (Tricia, this is the point that we missed each other by seconds...)
I returned to find the King and Princess ready for breakfast. I cannot even begin to describe the joy in my heart when I saw my husband carrying a tiny Cinderella through the Magic Kingdom. This picture is so special to me.
One of my favorite experiences has always been breakfast at Cinderella's Royal Table. Gregg and I went on our Honeymoon and he even enjoyed it. This time we found that the menu had changed and that was very disappointing for me. However, the birthday girl was BESIDE HERSELF and that was all that mattered to us.









So many princesses, so little time.

I love that the last princess to love on my Belle... was Belle.

After breakfast, we were all exhausted and ready for very long naps. I really felt like we ended things on a good note, so we decided not to visit any more parks that day. I can't imagine a more perfect treat for Belle's 3rd Birthday. Year 3 has been been all about princess things and I'm so grateful that we were able to give her that experience.

Totally Trippin' Tuesday... Let the Birthday Festivites Begin...

Our 2nd to last day! I'm sad just writing about it!

The only plan we had for Day 6 was a special birthday dinner for Belle. Since it was officially her birthday-eve, we let her choose. She hadn't had a chance to wear her Mulan costume yet so she chose to dress up like my favorite princess and go to China to hang out with her again.

One of my very favorite pictures from our trip!

(Notice Eyeore was invited that day...)

It was late in the morning so we decided to head to The Land to pick up fast passes for Soarin' and to ride Living with the Land.

We begged Belle to ride Living with the Land. It's a semi-boring ride about taking care of 'the land''/the Earth.

She protested the ride. She told us that there would be alligators. We assured her there would not be.

Well, guess what? 

The very first scene we entered was chalk full of nasty looking Nile crocodiles. Awesome! Gregg and I looked at each other and agreed that Disney loves alligators way too much.

I do love the inside of The Land Pavilion.

We also found Tinkerbell's Fairy Garden. It was beautiful!

We took a potty break and I snapped a really cute picture of my girl. (BTW... pre-parenting I thought the backpack leashes were cruel, but Belle actually loved her monkey during the trip. She would ask to wear it.)
When we got to The World Showcase Mulan wasn't out greeting, so we went to Norway to try the much talked about School Bread. We weren't very impressed.


We wasted time by watching the movie in the China Pavilion and it was great! A first for us all.

After the movie, Mulan was out and waiting....

She loved seeing a little girl dressed just like her.

A child after my own heart. We love you, Mulan!

A quick stop in France for a photo-op.
We were showing off all of our artwork...
We decided to explore England a bit.This is Mary Poppin's carpet bag. Apparently she drinks Dr. Pepper.
Belle found a big Eyeore and put her baby Eyeore next to it. Awe....
We sat in the courtyard and enjoyed fish and chips while Belle played.

Poodie Drama:  A Happy Ending

When we returned to the room that afternoon, Poodie had come home! We were thrilled!

Poodie and Eyeore fell in love right away. They are still best friends to this day.



That night was Belle's birthday dinner. The location was a surprise for her.

We chose...

This was her reaction...
And why wouldn't it be?


At the end of the meal she received a cupcake.
Mickey came over to wish her 'Happy Birthday' and Gregg totally stuck his arm in the middle of the picture. Thanks, Gregg! ;)

She really enjoyed the cupcake...
Happy Birthday, Belle!!!