Disney- Day 2 Magic Kingdom

We spent our second day at Magic Kingdom! We walked into the park and hopped on the train and took it to Frontierland, got off and rode Big Thunder Mountain Railroad twice!! Jacob just barely made the height requirement and we were so happy he was tall enough. It was so much fun to experience this with them-Abby laughed hysterically all the way through and rode with her arms stuck straight up in the air. Jacob on the other hand held on for dear life and giggled some, but was very serious other times. It was a good reflection of their personalities. After our fill of the roller coaster, we headed over to Adventureland where we did Pirates of the Caribbean (which Jacob cried all the way through!) We decided to do some tamer, more peaceful rides so we got on the jungle cruise. This is the one ride I remember doing as a child. Both of mine loved it!!

family waiting to get on jungle cruise

me and Abby on the jungle cruise


me and Jacob on the jungle cruise

Jay and Abby (and an elephant!) on jungle cruise

adorable baby elephant

After Adventureland we made our way back to Main Street where we caught the tail end of the Dancin' in the Streets show.

I love this pic of Abby dancing and waving!!

We went and found a spot in front of the castle for the Dream Along With Mickey Show (which was so much fun!!)

We decided to try and get a few pics of the kids with the castle in the background:
Jacob wasn't thrilled with the idea!

but, he eventually gave us a half-hearted smile!

Abby on the other-hand wanted to live in the castle and was thrilled to have proof she had been there!

Dream Along With Mickey

As we were leaving the castle, we saw Cinderella's stepmother and two stepsisters, Anastasia and Drizella, in the courtyard. This character encounter was mine and Jay's favorite. They were SO funny! They stayed in character the whole time (even when Abby started to cry) and were amazing at improv! They were a little loud and called a lot of attention on Abby (they told her that her hairbow was fabulous and that she really knew how to accessorize!!) She's a little like me and not a huge fan of being the center of attention, so we quickly made our exit, but please- check out these pics! They crack me up!

she wouldn't take a picture alone with them, so mommy jumped in!!

We headed over to the Tomorrowland Speedway!
I call this one driving with Cruella Deville!

Jacob could barely see over the steering wheel but he was thrilled to be able to drive!!

These next pictures are such a reminder of the Lord's sweetness and provision. This was such an unexpected blessing that Abby still talks about. We were headed down main street when a lady from Disney came over to Abby and after chatting with her for a few minutes asked her if she would like a special treat! Abby of course said yes and we followed this kind lady inside a building to this room in the back where Cinderella was waiting. Abby got to go in and visit with her, uninterrupted, and without waiting! It was such a sweet treat!

Abby quickly told Cinderella about how unkind the stepmother and stepsisters had been!! (picture me and jay giggling in the background!)

Cinderella tried to interact with Jacob, but he wasn't too sure!

How big is that grin on her face?

the family with Cinderella!

Jacob being goofy in one of the shops!

After perusing a few shops we got a frozen lemonade and staked our spots for the the 3 o'clock parade. ( A and J both enjoyed the shows and parades way more than I ever expected)

This is A jumping rope while we waited...

she loved the parade!

That night we had reservations at Crystal Palace for dinner- this is where we saw all the 100 acre friends!
Abby, Jacob, and Tigger

visiting with Pooh

solemn ole' Eeyore

sweet little piglet

Piglet getting all kinds of Jacob love!!

Dancing in the "parade" with Tigger! (we couldn't believe Jacob got up and did it)

On our way out we saw Chip-n-Dale and both kids wanted to wait to see them. Jay and I were shocked that they even knew who Chip and Dale were!!

As we told Chip-n-Dale goodbye, Pluto came out, so we got to see him too!

After an early dinner we headed back to swim for a short while and then get some much needed rest for our next day!
It was a very fun and magical day!!

Disney- Day 1

Consider yourself warned!! The next few posts will be fairly long and detailed about our Disney trip b/c I'm 99% sure that this will be the closest thing to a scrapbook about the trip that I will do! For those of you who don't know, we took A & J to DisneyWorld for 4 days and left N with my in-laws! It was wonderful (the trip and leaving N!!!) It really was the perfect trip for us- great weather, we were all healthy, and the crowds were so light that we were able to do more than we thought!

In the airport, waiting to board.

This was Jacob's first flight, and he was thrilled! The plane was one of his favorite parts.

Once we arrived we went to the Animal Kingdom for the first afternoon. We made it just in time to catch the Jammin' Jungle Parade! It was great! Fun music and ornate animal floats!

The main ride we wanted to do was the Kilamanjaro Safari! It was really neat to see the animals roaming in their "natural habitat" and have them come so close to the safari jeep. We saw giraffes, elephants, rhinos- who were mud bathing, hippos, crocodiles, and several other unusual animals...

Including this guy who came right up to the jeep- we could have touched his massive horns!!

Meeting Goofy! He was the first character we saw and they were a little unsure, so Jay jumped in with them!

Abby and the hippos! Abby still recounts this as one of her favorite parts of our trip. (Hippos are her favorite animal and she loved being able to view them both under the water and above the water!)

For dinner we went to Rainforest Cafe, which we LOVED! Such a fun place, especially if your kids like animals. It can be a little loud!!

After dinner we went to Magic Kingdom for a couple of hours. There was supposed to be an early parade and fireworks, but it had been rescheduled.

We were the only people on the bus! Thought this was probably unusual for Disney!!

first time to see the castle- they were impressed!

One of the main priorities for us was to meet Ariel. So that first night we headed over to see her. It really was so precious to see Abby with her and how giddy she was to be in Ariel's grotto!

Abby and Ariel

After we met the Little Mermaid (jacob was content to look at her from a distance!) We rode a couple of rides, including Dumbo-I still don't get the fascination with that ride, but for some reasons, kids LoVe it! Then we headed back to the hotel and crashed!!

Nana and Pappa

My parents came in town a couple of weekends ago for Abby's ballet recital. I got a few pics of the kids with my mom making her banana bread. They made it Saturday morning before the soccer game and it was gone by lunch time on Sunday!!

Nana and Jacob sifting...

three little monkeys helping!

Abby and Pappa!

Thanks for coming!!

Ballet Recital The Spirit of America!

This past weekend we had A's ballet recital! The theme was The Spirit of America, and her class was American School Girls.

pretty ballerina

look at those pretty pointed toes!

ballerina friends: Firecracker, American School Girl, and a Colonial Dame

posing in front of the props!

Charlie's Angels or ballerinas?

Nana, Abby, and Mimi

Abby, Mommy, and Daddy

Nana, Pappa, and Abby

Mimi and Abby

receiving her flowers after the performance!

Abby and Daddy and all her pretty flowers!

Sand Pudding

Abby got to take a treat to school for the culmination of her ocean unit. The theme was beach day! SO... instead of dirt pudding (you know, crushed oreos, chocolate pudding, gummy worms, etc.) we made sand pudding! She had a blast and her classmates loved it!

Here's what you need: for approx. 10 individual cups (i had to double for her class!)

1 box nilla wafers, 1 3oz vanilla pudding, 1 8oz cool whip, small plastic cups, gummy ocean life ( I used publix brand sharks!) and garnishing umbrellas

Crush the nilla wafers into sand in your food processor (or w/ a rolling pin in a baggie!)
make the pudding and mix with cool whip. Add half of the nilla wafer sand to your pudding mixture, keep the rest for layering. Layer as follows: tablespoon of sand, pudding mixture to fill cup about 2/3 way, then sprinkle with sand.

We ran out of nilla wafer sand, so I topped ours off with graham cracker crumbs and then laid the gummy sharks on top of that- you could bury they in the sand if you want! Add colorful paper umbrellas!

Voila!! Simple, cute, and tasty!! Sand Pudding!

I originally was going to make this in a new beach bucket and carry it into her class that way. I was going to serve it w/ a sand shovel! However, she really wanted the paper umbrellas and I couldn't figure out a way to make that work, plus I would have had to buy bowls, etc. This way was easier for what she needed, but either would be adorable!