About Me

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Texas, United States
Hello! Welcome to my blog! I'm Jennifer, but most people call me Jenny. I'm a small town Texas girl, born again Christian, mommy to 2 beautiful boys, wife to my high school sweetheart, scrapbook supply junkie, and occasional paper sniffer. :) Here you will find bits and pieces of my scrapbooking projects, daily thoughts, and just general randomness. Enjoy and thanks for reading!

Blog Archive

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Acrylic Album

Whew, I'm finally DONE with Evan's 6th birthday mini album....now that his 7th birthday is 11 days away. LOL! Better late than never, right?

I have been doing a mini album for the boys' birthdays every year. For Evan's 6th birthday, we had a beach ball theme party. I decided to use a round acrylic album for these pics, to kind of mimic the beach ball look. Acrylic albums are so tricky because since they are see-through, whatever you do on one page affects what you do on the other. I also used Bo Bunny's "It's My Birthday" collection for the whole album. The papers were PERFECT, and so bright and cheery!

Here is the front cover, back cover, and some inside pages: (You can click on the images to see them larger)



And here are some more inside pages:




Now, I have no idea what collection to use for this year's album. He's having his birthday at a big indoor jump house place, so I need lots of bright primary colors. Can't use this Bo Bunny collection again, but it would be perfect. Hmm.....any suggestions?

Monday, July 27, 2009

Happy Blog Hop WINNER!!!

I hope you enjoyed the Happy Blog Hop! Here is the winning name for my prize:

Sharron!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sharron, please email me at jenny41180@hotmail.com and send me your mailing address. Thank you to all who participated in this fun little hop! I enjoyed reading your comments. :)

Saturday, July 25, 2009

"Generosity" Winner Announced!!!!

Thank you all so much for all your comments...I loved reading them! Now for the winner....I put all names into a hat, and the name picked was:

Drumroll please...


Emily Wilbur!

Congrats, Emily! Please send me your mailing address to jenny41180@hotmail.com, and I'll get the prize mailed to you next week! :)

And remember: You still have through tomorrow to get your comments in for the Happy Blog Hop for your chance to win some prizes!

Thursday, July 23, 2009

Happy Blog Hop!!!!!

Happy! Happy! Happy! Welcome to The Happy Blog Hop! :)



Our hop is full of happy thoughts and prizes! Each blog on the hop is offering a different prize. So, you have many chances at winning something fun just by commenting! The hop runs now through Sunday evening 9pm CST. Each blog hostess will draw a name on Monday and post to her blog so be sure to check back here to see if you are a winner!

So here's what you do: Answer the question below in the comments section, and you will be put in a drawing for 10 Heidi Swapp rounded flowers (these are BIG and beautiful!), 1 package of 6 Karen Foster pinch tabs, and 1 package of American Crafts Flair (8 pieces)!!!!!!!



Here's your question:

What are two color combos that make you happy?

If you are starting here and wondering what this fun is all about, please see my sister's blog by CLICKING HERE, which is where our hop starts!

Thanks for sharing some happiness on my blog today! Let's remember to be thankful and happy for the little things. :) Next, spread some happiness by hopping over to my friend Roe's blog for a chance at another scrappy prize! Have a happy day!

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Wanna Win Something? :)

Stay tuned for a very happy blog post tomorrow - full of chances for lots of scrappy prizes!

And, don't forget that there is another giveaway happening if you scroll down to my post called "Today is My Luck Day!!! And Possibly Yours Too!" (see below). Ends Saturday 12 pm CST.

Wordless Wednesday

So, I'm jumping on the "Wordless Wednesday" bandwagon! I have a blogger friend who posts a "Wordless Wednesday" every Wednesday, so I thought it was a great idea and want to do it too.

What is "Wordless Wednesday", you may ask? Well, it's just that....a wordless post...just a pic, or 2, or 3, or (you get the point) that is worth sharing that doesn't necessarily need words. Technically, this post already has words, but consider this my first Wordless Wednesday post. And did I mention I love comments? :)


Monday, July 20, 2009

New Bella Blvd!

I love this company! Wonderful patterned papers...and I can never have enough patterned papers! :) Check out these new collections. The "Super Stud" collection is one I will definitely want...perfect for my 2 boys!

Bella Blvd New Releases

Aren't those great?!

Saturday, July 18, 2009

My 3 from Last Week

Just sharing 3 layouts made during this past week. :) You can click on any of them to see the whole thing bigger.

Friday, July 17, 2009

Shame on Me.

I had this for dessert after supper tonight:



That's right...a Dairy Queen Banana Cream Pie Blizzard. Van and I loaded up the boys after supper and took them for a treat. He got an M&M Blizzard, and I got the one above. I shared with Aaron, and he shared with Evan. So actually, maybe I shouldn't feel so shameful...I mean....I did share it with a 3-year-old! The 6-year-old took a few bites too.

It was delicious...has pie crust and bananas in it. Perfect ending to a hot summer day! :)

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Today is my Lucky Day!!!!......and Possibly Yours Too!

I'm so excited I could just piddle in the floor!

First off, I checked in on some blogs I follow and received this news from the Paper Fashions blog:

Border Punch Winner!



The Fiskars Effervescence border punch is so much fun to work with! The creative possibilities are endless and I wish I could give one to each of you! The random winner of the drawing this time is....

Jennifer Moore!!!!!!!!!!!! Congrats!!!!!!!!!!!!



Secondly, back in June when my HYWWP girls and I went to the Great American Scrapbook Convention, they had a thing where you could give postcards to your friends to fill out and bring with them. They would get $1 off admission, and you would receive your name into a drawing for a gift basket.

Welllllll, I WON!!!!!!!! OMG, I had no idea how much fun stuff would be in this basket! I literally squealed when I opened it! Here's a little summary of what is included:



-One night weekend stay at the Sheraton in Arlington (right across from Six Flags)
-4 admission tickets to Six Flags!!!!!!!
-2 Tickets to Legends of the Game Museum at Rangers Ballpark
-Texas Rangers collector tin with jelly beans (plays "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" when you open it!)
-An Arlington tshirt
-2 Hurricaine Harbor Water Park tickets!!!!!!
-Dallas Cowboys notepad and pen
-Lots of scrappy goodies!
-A Memory Makers magazine


Can you say excited?!?!??! Van and I were just talking...I mean just talking as in YESTERDAY...about taking the boys to Six Flags. After our trip to Disney World, I was kinda down that we probably wouldn't be able to afford another vacation anywhere this summer. God is sooooooo good! He provided us with a little free weekend getaway!!! How cool is that?!

So, in honor of feeling extremely blessed by others' generosity today....I am going to be generous myself with a scrappy giveaway!

How would you like to win this?:



This includes: 1 pkg of Heidi Swapp photo corners, 1 Prima clear stamp, 1 box of Prima flowers, and 1 Making Memories hole punch with 3 punch heads.

You can enter up to 4 times for this!
#1: For 1 entry: Leave a comment below and tell me something exciting you've won or received by surprise!
#2: For 2 entries: Do #1 and leave a separate comment telling me something generous you've done.
#3: For 3 entries: Do #1 and #2 and post something on your blog telling people about this giveaway (with a link to my blog).
#4: For 4 entries: Do #1, #2, #3, and become a "follower" of my blog by clicking on "Join this Site" on the right-hand side of my blog.

I will draw a winner on Saturday, July 25th!!!! Good luck!

Sunday, July 12, 2009

The Weekend

Is it just me, or do weekends seem to just FLY right on by? They seem to go way faster than weekdays, that's for sure.

Saturday morning, Van and I took the boys swimming at the in-laws' house for a little while. Felt great...so refreshing as we have been in triple digits lately. Bleh.

Saturday night, we went to Evan's friend's birthday party out at the lake. The kids ate, swam, played on the water slide, and hit a pinata. Fun! :)

I have to mention that today is my good friend Roe's birthday!! Happy birthday, Roe! You are so special, and I'm so glad God brought you into my life. I am so blessed that I have gotten to "meet" you twice in person this summer...I will never forget our time together!

Tomorrow is my mom's birthday. July is FULL of birthdays around here...my sister, my brother-in-law, my mom, my mother-in-law, Roe, and a couple of the kids' friends. Busy party month!

Today, we went to church (another great service) and then went out to eat with my family at a local restaurant and hung out with my parents for a while. Evan went home with Austin to play, and Aaron came home and got a nap. I did some transcription work while he was napping and then started a scrapbook page. When Evan got home, we all sat in the living room floor and played a Memory game together. The boys really love this show that used to come on Cartoon Network....The Mr. Men Show. Apparently, Mr. Men have been around for a while because hubby remembers reading the books when he was little. Anyway, I was at Big Lots the other day and found a Mr. Men Memory Game, so we bought it...they boys love it and have played it several times!

Right now, hubby is out grilling pork chops on the grill and the boys are playing together outside. I'm blogging but about to head outside myself. It's still soooooo stinkin' hot out there. Wish I had my own pool....

I think we will have S'mores for dessert...yeah, we will. :)

Saturday, July 11, 2009

How About Some New Layouts?

Well...new in the sense that I haven't posted them here yet. These have all been done from the end of June up until now. Enjoy! :)





Thursday, July 9, 2009

4th of July

How was your holiday? Ours was great! We got to spend it at PK Lake/State Park again this year with some of my dad's family. Lots of lake water, boating, laughter, sunshine, grilled food, and family time!

I found out that Aaron LOVES to eat bbq ribs....who knew?!



And star-shaped sugar cookies with red sprinkles....



And watermelon.........



Evan has turned into quite the fish this summer! He LOVED swimming in the lake this year. In years past, he'd get in to about waist deep and be fine with that. Not this year! He put his floaty on and didn't care if he could touch bottom or not...he swam/floated around and never wanted to get out of the water!



He also enjoyed the watermelon! :)



Hope you had a great weekend and enjoyed celebrating our freedom!!!!!

Disney Vacation - Day 8 - LAST DAY!

Whew, what a vacation! I'm glad I got everything into words, but seriously...I'm tired of blogging about Disney! LOL

So our last morning, we decided to take our time packing up and getting things ready for the trip home instead of going to a park again. We had a leisurely morning of packing up and getting everything out of the room. Trisha and I got to meet up with our sweet dear friend, Roe, in the Pop Century cafeteria. Our families got to sit down and eat lunch with her while we visited. It was so great to see her again! The guys took the kids to the arcade after we ate, and Trisha and I sat and chatted with Roe. She uploaded this pic of us when she got home:



So after hugging Roe goodbye, we went to board The Magical Express to take us back to the airport. Everyone waved goodbye to the resort, and away we went. Kinda bittersweet. I loved our vacation and had a blast, but I was ready to get home and get back to normal too. We got to the airport just fine, and the first thing we did was buy a Dr. Pepper. Disney has only Coke products, and we needed Dr. Pepper! Our plane was running behind schedule, so we had to wait longer than expected for that. Finally got all boarded and seated...then the pilot announces we have to switch planes because that plane's autopilot wasn't working. I didn't complain because we had just finished praying over our trip home and over our plane, and then the announcement was made. God was watching over us and prevented us from anything dangerous by making us switch planes!

So, we finally got boarded on the other plane and then headed home. As soon as we lifted off, Aaron fell asleep in my lap. Bless his heart...he had been SUCH a trooper throughout the whole trip. The days at Disney totally messed up his normal nap schedule, but he did so good about hanging in there and going with the flow. Evan was tired too and started feeling a little airsick again, so he went to sleep in Van's lap. The boys slept the whole way home...it was a nice, quiet, peaceful flight. I put in my headphones and listened to music most of the time...tried to get some rest, but I couldn't sleep sitting up. Everyone did much better on the flight home...almost all of us took some Dramamine, that helped a lot.

We landed in Dallas and found our luggage. Took the shuttle back to the hotel, got our cars and everything loaded up, and then headed home! We stopped at a Taco Cabana on the way home to eat supper...never been there before, but it was very good. It was a very long ride home, but we made it safe and sound. As soon as we got home, we went straight to bed....didn't even unload the car....we were too exhausted. Why is it that I always need a vacation after my vacation?????

This was a trip of a lifetime, and so many fun memories were made. I will never forget it, and that's why I wrote down all the little details in my blog...because I don't want my boys to forget any of it either. Someday, they will be able to look back at this blog and read everything I wrote and remember this fun time we had together as a family. I love going places and exploring the world with them. Every smile from them made it all worthwhile.

Disney World is somewhere I always promised myself I'd take my own kids to whenever I had them....and we are so blessed that we got to do this. It's just one of those places that you have to go at least once in your lifetime....especially if you have children. It's worth every penny.

Disney Vacation - Day 7

Just now being able to come back and blog about our vacation! Haven't had much extra time for blogging lately, but here we go to Day 7...

Back to Magic Kingdom! First stop was to put the boys in front of the castle with their Mickey ears on for some pics! :) Next up, we headed to the Swiss Family Treehouse. This thing was massive and oh so cool! Lots of climbing (and it was already getting super hot and humid), so we were all nice and sweaty after that...but the kids had fun exploring the tree house of their dreams. They wondered if Poppy (my dad) could make them one like this for out at his land....

Next up was The Magic Carpets of Aladdin. I took the kids on this ride by myself. Van wanted to take pics, and Trisha and Sam didn't want to spin....so that left me. I was up for it. As you can tell by the pics, Aaron was more than ready. He had his hands up and was ready to go! LOL It's hard to catch a good picture when you're flying by so fast, but we managed to get some decent ones.

We went to The Enchanted Tiki Room next. Didn't really have this one "on the list" to do, but we were burning up and needed somewhere indoor to cool off, so that's where we went. Aaron loved it because it was all animatronic puppets doing a show and singing....I thought it was kinda boring. But, it had air conditioning.

Next was The Jungle Cruise. This was really neat! Our cruise guide was HILARIOUS and had so many corny but funny puns and jokes. She was really great at her job. We got to cruise behind a waterfall and see some cool electronic animals while floating around in our tour boat. Overall, it was very enjoyable and fun.

We saw Captain Hook when we got off the ride, so of course we had to go get his autograph and some pictures! :) We went to a little pirate-themed gift store next. The boys had fun playing with the fake hook hands, and Austin ended up buying a Cpt. Jack hat and wig and a pirate sword.

When we left the store, there was a pirate out in the streets roping off a section, so we stuck around to see what it was. Before we knew it, Captain Jack Sparrow himself came out, and these two pirates put on a little show for us! I was just amazed at how much this "Captain Jack" looked like Johnny Depp! I mean, they could not have found a closer match!! These guys had the accent down, the swagger, the look, the everything....they were SOOO good! Towards the end of the show, they picked out a few kids in the crowd to come up and learn how to sword fight a pirate. Brooklyn was the first pick...and the only girl picked, may I add! She was in heaven! (I was secretly hoping Cpt. Jack would pick me...but ya know...) Anyway, she got to sword fight with Cpt. Jack, and that was super cool. I filmed it on our video camera. Then, all of the kids who wanted to got to come up and take an official "Pirate Oath" and received little rolled up contracts that stated that were officially pirates now. Aaron didn't really understand what that was....but he wanted to be up there with all the big kids and get that little piece of rolled up paper! LOL

We had lunch reservations at The Crystal Palace next. What a beautiful place! Here, we met Tigger, Pooh, and Piglet. Tigger rubbed noses with Aaron, and I swear Aaron did not stop smiling throughout that entire lunch! The food here was very yummy! Buffet style...everything you can imagine pretty much. DELICIOUS desserts! I had a piece of Boston creme pie that was gigantic...and oh so good! Winnie the Pooh is my mom's favorite character, so we got a pic taken with him while Brookie held a sign that read "Hi Granny!" on it....just for her. :)

Next, we were going to watch The Country Bear Jamboree, but Trisha and her family left to do something else, and we got tired of waiting....so we decided to take the raft and go visit Tom Sawyer's Island. This was set up just how you think it would look based on the book. Very cool. There was a cave that "Injun Joe" was supposedly living in, a fun barrel bridge that was hard to walk on, a big windmill, and a play area. Don't get me wrong...this was really a neat place, but we were exhausted and so incredibly sweaty and hot that we were ready to get off the island quickly. We didn't get to enjoy exploring it as much as I know we would have because of the heat, but it was neat.

We were going to try and get on the train next so we could ride it around and let Aaron nap, but they didn't allow strollers...and it wasn't air conditioned...so we decided not to do that. Instead, we called Trisha, and they were in line to meet Peter Pan. Right when we found them, they were next in line for pictures and autographs, so that worked out well! The kids were able to get autographs from Peter Pan and Wendy and then got their pic taken with them.

After that, we headed back to the resort for naps and swimming. While I was napping with Aaron, Van and Evan went out and took a bunch of photos of our resort. Such a neat place! Evan had an "Itzakadoozie" ice cream for a snack and loved every bit of it!

Later that afternoon, instead of going back to Magic Kingdom, we decided to celebrate our last night at Disney at Downtown Disney instead. We ate at Wolfgang Puck's Express (delicious!) and had the best brownie I have EVER tasted! We went to a Christmas shop and bought a cute little mouse ears ornament for our tree and visited some other shops. We went to a ginormous toy store, and I filled up a box with Mr. Potato Head parts....I thought the boys wanted to do this, but they were distracted with all the other toys, so I filled up the box myself. I had fun picking out all the little outfits and things I wanted for Mr. Potato Head for when we got home. He now has a Buzz Lightyear outfit and a Mr. Incredible outfit, along with Mickey ears and some other accessories. So stylish.

We visited Goofy's Candy Co. and filled up a bag of candy for way too much money. Posed for some pictures and went to the Lego Store. It's amazing what they can build out of Legos! The boys had fun playing in the outside area, building with every Lego imaginable. We passed by a super cool restaurant, the T-Rex Restaurant...kinda like a Rainforest Cafe but all dino stuff. Way cool. Wish we could've seen inside. We went to a few other shops and then headed back to the resort for bed. A great last night.

To see pics from Day 7, please CLICK HERE.

Only 1 more day to blog about, and then I'll be done with the Disney review! :)

Sunday, July 5, 2009

Disney Vacation - Day 6

Don't worry, I'm almost done with the Disney recaps! :)

Okay, so Day 6 was back at Hollywood Studios. We saw Quincy from Little Einsteins in the character spot, so of course we had to stop and get autographs and pics. Next, we stopped for pics and autographs from Mr. and Mrs. Incredible! I love this movie, and meeting them was sooo cool (even for me and Trisha, as you can see in the picture LOL)!

We waited in line to see the characters from the new Disney/Pixar movie "Up" (great movie, btw), but the line was really long and slow-moving and we had dining reservations for lunch. So, we left the line and headed to Play 'N Dine at Hollywood & Vine. Here, we had a wonderful buffet lunch and met JoJo & Goliath from JoJo's Circus and June & Leo from Little Einsteins. They had several times during the lunch where the characters would get together and sing and dance, and the kids loved joining in on that..especially Aaron! He loved dancing with Goliath. :)

So we were in character search mode this day and found Lightning McQueen and Mater under a garage...so more pics! Next, we found some Monsters, Inc. characters...but just as we arrived, Mike Wazowski was leaving (darnit!), so we had to get our pics made with Sully. His hands were too big to hold a pen, so he didn't do autographs. Everyone went back to Pizza Planet to play in the nice, air conditioned arcade while I took Aaron back to see the Muppet Vision 3D show since he was throwing a fit to see it again. So, he and I watched the show (again) and then met back up with everyone at Pizza Planet.

Next, it was time for the afternoon parade.....Block Party Bash! This was a CUTE parade with all of our favorite Disney/Pixar characters! It was blazing hot, but somehow we managed to suffer through the heat to watch the parade. Aaron stood on the side of the street and waved at every single character that went by...hehehe. Evan really loved seeing these characters...his favorites! :) Next, we went back to see the Up characters, hoping the line/wait would be better. No luck. Van and Trisha got in line to hold our spot, and Sam and I took the kids around the building to play with the different centers they had set up. While heading to one center, we noticed that Frozone from The Incredibles was in another character spot, so we took the kids to get pics and autographs from him. Trisha and Van ended up waiting over an HOUR in line, but we finally got the kids in to see the characters from Up. Mr. Fredrickson was SO sweet to Aaron! He played around with him while the other kids were getting autographs from the other characters...held his hands and danced with him, hugged him, etc. SOOO sweet! So we finally got their pics and autographs, and the kids were super happy about that since we had just gone to the movies and watched this a few weeks ago.

Aaron had been asking ALLLL day to meet Woody from Toy Story. So, we found out where Buzz and Woody were and went to meet them. They had a cute little scenes from the movie set up in the waiting line, so we snapped away. Then, we finally got to meet them! Aaron was on Cloud 9 and shook Woody's hand so that he officially got to "meet" him. LOL Lots of characters on this day, but it was so fun!

Next, Brooklyn and Van went to ride the Rockin' Roller Coaster while the rest of us headed to the bus stop to go back to the hotel. It was just too hot to do anything else. That night, Trisha and I got to meet a friend of ours from Have Your Way With Paper! Karen graciously drove out of her way and came to meet up with us. She was just how I pictured her to be...lots of fun and easy to talk to! :) It's so fun to meet up with our friends from HYWWP!

To see pics from Day 6, please CLICK HERE.

Just a couple more days to blog about, and then I'll be done with the Disney reviews! Thanks for hanging in there! LOL

Thursday, July 2, 2009

Disney Vacation - Day 5

Today we visited Magic Kingdom!! They don't call it Magic Kingdom for nothing...this place is truly magical! From the second you walk into the park and see that humongous castle, you know you are in the true magic of Disney World! We stopped on Main Street and took a few pictures with the castle in the background, of course. I had been reading lots of reviews on places to eat and things to do at Disney World, and everyone raved about the cinnamon rolls at Main Street Bakery. So, that was our first stop. I just had to try one of these things, and I'm so glad I did! The thing was big enough to feed all 4 of us! It was absolutely delicious, gooey, warm, and sweet....mmmmm!

We then headed to Tomorrowland to get FastPasses for Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin. Got our FPs, and who did we see?! Well, Buzz Lightyear himself, of course! My boys were sooo excited to see him and get him to sign their autograph books. He is a definite favorite character here, and they were thrilled to get to "meet" him. He was so funny and so lived up to his character. When he'd stamp their autograph books, he'd do a little booty shake that was hilarious! One of our most favorite characters we got to meet at Disney World, for sure.

Next up was Monster's Inc. Laugh Floor. This was a favorite as well! Van, Evan, and Aaron all got to be "on camera" for the show. The camera would randomly pick out people in the crowd and put them up on the huge TV screen. When they showed Evan on the big screen, the caption at the bottom read "Thinks Catsup is Really Made from Cats." He got a good giggle out of that and thought it was so cool that his face was up there for everyone to see. After the show started, the camera caught Van and Aaron. Aaron was sitting in Van's lap, and the monster who was announcing the show said he was "looking for another 2-headed monster like himself," and that is when the camera turned to Van and Aaron. Soooo funny! He asked them their names, and it was adorable hearing Aaron say his name into the microphone for everyone to hear. He asked where they were from and told some jokes, etc. Such a cute, cute show! We all loved it.

Van and I took all 4 kids up on the Astro Orbiter next. Trisha and Sam didn't want to ride it since it spun around so fast, but we were brave and took the kids up. Totally worth it! Seeing their faces and hearing their squeals and giggles as they zoomed through the air above the Magic Kingdom was all worth it....even though I did start feeling dizzy towards the end of the ride. Austin rode with me, Aaron rode with Van, and Evan and Brooklyn rode together.

By this time, our FastPasses were ready to be used at the Buzz Lightyear ride, so that's where we headed. Fun ride! Everything was under a blacklight, and our job was to shoot laser beams at all the "Evil Emperor Zurg" targets.

So off to Toon Town we went! I loved this area, and so did the kids. Our first stop was Goofy's Barnstormer Roller Coaster. Now, Aaron just turned 3 years old, and I wasn't sure how he'd handle his first "REAL" roller coaster. He insisted that he wanted to ride it, and the other kids were practically running to it, so Trisha and I took them to get in line for the ride while Van and Sam went to get FastPasses for another attraction. I sat with Aaron, Brook and Evan sat together, and then Trisha and Austin sat behind them. Aaron and I were in the very first cart of the ride, so we had an awesome view! First, we started climbing a big roller coaster hill....you know, the kind where you hear the ride chugging up the track, and you know that you are about to fly down a big hill. Well, I got pretty concerned at this point because I thought the ride was a little dinky kid ride, and that's why I agreed to take Aaron on it. Well, let me first say that this was NOT a little dinky roller coaster! In fact, there were lots of big hills and fast turns that pulled some pretty good G's! Okay, so as we were flying down that first hill, I asked Aaron if he was okay...he was nothing but a big-o smile...I don't think I've ever seen that child smile so big! I kept asking if he was okay throughout the whole ride, but he was just squealing and smiling the whole time. Evan had never really been on a roller coaster like this either, so I was concerned how he was feeling too.

We got off the ride, and all 4 kids were screaming and jumping up and down with excitement, saying that was the funnest thing EVER and how they wanted to do it again! Aaron kept saying, "Mommy, that was AWETOME! It was soooo pun!" (fun) I was shocked! My newly turned 3-year-old...a roller coaster fanatic! Woohoo! I found me a new roller coaster buddy. :) The boys really surprised me on this. Evan has never been brave enough to try a roller coaster, but I guess with Brooklyn by his side, he was ready! And Aaron is so little, so I was afraid it would scare him. But, they proved me way wrong! This turned out to be the most favorite ride of our whole trip, and the kids are still talking about it today! :) In fact, we went back that night and rode it 2 more times in a row. Three times on that roller coaster..and every time was even more fun!! :)

Okay, so then we took the kids to Donald's boat area. Cute little water area. There were little holes in the boat that squirted water. When you tried to cover up one of the holes, water would squirt from somewhere else on the boat. Austin was determined to plug up all those holes! LOL The water was nice to play in and cool off while we waited for the guys to get back from getting FastPasses.

Next, we went to Minnie Mouse's house. Oh, how I would've loved to live here when I was a kid! The outside was pink and girly, and the inside rooms were just adorable! Did you know Minnie has a craft room where she does paintings and sews? I didn't either! A mouse of all trades, that Minnie Mouse!

The Move It, Shake It, Celebrate It! parade was next. It was blazing hot, but it was worth it to watch this parade. The floats were sooo neat, the music was fun and upbeat, and we saw lots of characters! Frozone from the Incredibles danced in the street right in front of us, and the kids got to dance with him. It was just a big street/dance party, and boy was it fun! Aaron would just stand there and wave his little hand at everyone who went by...so cute! I've got a lot of this on video, but I don't know how to post that to my blog yet.

Next up was The Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. This was a cute little ride through a storybook of Pooh and all his friends, but the ride was really short and kinda aimed towards smaller kids.

Trisha and her family left the park to go swim at the hotel while Van, the boys, and I stayed there to watch the 3:00 parade. We went back to Main Street Bakery to get a drink and found out that they had a big window in the front that faced the street the parade was gonna be on, so we parked the stroller in that window and sat under a nice, cold air conditioner while we waited for the parade. Once the parade started, we took the boys out near the street to watch it. Beautiful parade! Once again, I was just blown away by the theming and design. We saw all of the classic Disney characters: Pinnochio, Jiminey Cricket, Snow White, Aladdin, Mary Poppins, Alice in Wonderland, Cinderella, Beauty & The Beast, etc. I totally want to wear Belle's (Beauty & The Beast) dress...it was GORGEOUS! I took about a gazillion pics of Cinderella and Prince Charming because this is the first time I had seen here at Disney World, and really....every girl wants to see Cinderella! ;)

Excellent parade, but after this, it was well past Aaron's naptime, so we put him in the stroller and headed over to the Monorail. He quickly fell asleep, and we rode the Monorail from Magic Kingdom to Epcot and back and forth for a little over an hour while he rested. It was fun just riding around and seeing all the sites without having to be out in the heat. We all got to sit there and relax while we were taken all around the parks.

Once we got bored with that, we headed back to MK. Aaron was still asleep in the stroller. Bless his heart...he was exhausted! I had read more rave reviews on a "Dole Whip" from Aloha Aisle, so I had to use my snack credit to try one of these! Oh, heaven! It's a pineapple juice float with soft serve vanilla ice cream in it, and it was the perfect snack to beat the heat! Evan helped me devour it, and then we headed for a potty break. When I came out of the bathroom, Van was standing with the stroller and both boys under an awning because it was raining! I had heard that it pretty much rains in FL every day during June, so we knew to expect this. It was over in about 10 minutes, though, so that was nice. Trisha and her family met back up with us when they returned, and we had supper at Liberty Tree Tavern.

Oh my goodness! More WONDERFUL food! Good, homecooking type food. Kinda like a Thanksgiving dinner. Here's what was on the menu: Declaration Salad: tossed mixed greens, served with strawberry vinaigrette dressing. Patriot's Platter: roasted turkey breast, carved beef, and smoked pork loin, with mashed potatoes, seasonal vegetables, herb bread stuffing, and Stouffer's macaroni & cheese. Dessert: Hot apple cobbler with vanilla bean ice cream! YUUUUUMMMMMMY! Totally delicious!

We left, more like waddled out, and went to the It's a Small World ride. Aaron was in heaven because of all the puppets everywhere. I had that song stuck in my head for the next 3 days. Next, we went to get a spot for the fireworks show. I gave the kids some glowsticks to play with again, which was quite entertaining while we waited. The fireworks started, and we got a spot right underneath the wire that Tinkerbell flies down. AHHHHMAZING! Disney World is known for this amazing display of fireworks, and now I know why. It was the best fireworks show I've ever seen. We didn't get a good shot of Tinkerbell flying down the wire, but we saw her....and it was amazing! What a fun job that would be!

After fireworks, everyone started leaving the parks, but we had a couple of Extra Magic Hours to spend since we were staying at a Disney resort, so we headed to ride the Go Karts. I rode with Evan and let him drive...and he made me laugh so hard, I almost pee'd my pants! LOL He kept crashing into things, and it almost knocked him out of the car! LOLOLOL We then rode the Goofy roller coaster 2 times.

You can't go to Magic Kingdom and not ride the famous Dumbo ride, so once again....I took all 4 kids up with me and we flew on Dumbo's back. The perfect ending to a fun-filled, magical day!

Please CLICK HERE to see pics from Day 5 at Magic Kingdom!

Hope you are enjoying these! :)

Wednesday, July 1, 2009

Disney Vacation - Day 4

Are you sick of hearing about our vacation yet? LOL! Sorry, but I gotta blog about all of this so that I can journal about it in my scrapbooks later! ;)

Okay, so Day 4....Animal Kingdom! We had breakfast reservations early that morning at Donald's Safari Breakfast at Tusker House Restaurant. This was so neat! This particular restaurant was in the "Africa" area of the park, and everything looked so authentic. We had a lovely, delicious breakfast (complete with Mickey shaped waffles) and got to meet and take pics with Safari Mickey, Daisy, Donald, and Goofy. By the way, if you ever go here to eat, you GOTTA try the Jungle Juice! YUMMY! We then got on the Kilimanjaro Safari Ride. Being exotic animal lovers, I knew Trisha and her family would love this! It was a really cool ride, and we saw lots of animals....giraffes, rhinos, hippos, elephants, lions, gorillas...you name it! We had a great safari guide, and this was a really fun attraction. After that, we walked through the Pangani Exploration Trails and saw some more animals. On our way to a different part of the park, we saw a guy in the streets playing a cool African beat on the bongos...so we stopped and let Aaron and Austin play along with him. So cute!

We met some characters next...King Louie and Baloo first. King Louie held Aaron like a baby monkey and rocked him back and forth...he wouldn't let go of him until the cast member said, "I'm sorry, Louie, you have to let him go." And then he shook his head "no" and rocked Aaron some more. Of course, Aaron was all smiles about this. Precious! The kids met Terk from Tarzan next. He had a cool mowhawk. Flik from A Bug's Life was next. He was SO cute! We then went to see "It's Tough to be a Bug", which is under The Tree of Life. WHOA...this tree and the carvings in it are AMAZING! Evan had to get his pic taken by the carving of his favorite dinosaur, the ankylosaurus. The bug show was a 3D show, and honestly...it was kinda scary in parts. It was hosted by Flik and showed us what it was like to be treated like a bug, complete with being fumigated and sprayed at. All of these 3D effects made it seem SO real! At one part, it got really dark and scary as they sprayed fog from a fog machine in the room, making it like we were being fumigated. Then all of a sudden, Hopper from A Bug's Life appeared, and boy was he scary looking! I could tell Aaron was about to start getting scared, so I just made light of it and told him to wave at Hopper and look how silly he was being. That worked, and no one was scared...whew, dodged that one.

Next, we met Winnie the Pooh, Tigger, and Eeyore. They were adorable! Finding Nemo: The Musical was next. Oh...my...gosh! This is a must-see for anyone going to Animal Kingdom! The props and costume designs were UNREAL! I cannot imagine the time and effort it took to get this production going. Everything was so real and life-like...and somehow, we scored seats on the third row. Excellent show...must see it if you go!

We went back to the resort after this because, once again, it was too hot to do anything else. Kids got a nap and everyone cooled off, and then we headed back to Animal Kingdom. We had gotten FastPasses to the Expedition Everest ride earlier in the day, so as soon as we got to the park, Trisha and I headed over to ride that while Van and Sam took the kids to the Boneyard playground in Dinoland. Expedition Everest was fun for me, but Trisha got a terrible case of motion sickness afterward and.....well, didn't hold her food down. I had no idea it would make her so sick, or I wouldn't have insisted that she ride that with me! I felt so bad. :( But, we did realize that we had never ridden a roller coaster together that we could remember, so this was our first...and I enjoyed it at least! LOL

The kids had fun playing in Dinoland. They even got to dig in the sand and uncover a wooly mammoth! The boys especially loved all this dinosaur stuff....poor Brooklyn.

We were getting pretty hungry by this time, so we went to Restaurantosaurus and grabbed a burger. Van and Brooklyn then left to ride Expedition Everest together. Brook was so brave and loved it! :) Once we were all together again, we went back into Dinoland and let the kids play the carnival games. Aaron won 2 stuffed bats...bats as in the animal...yeah, random, I know. Evan won a stuffed seahorse. Brook and Austin won some stuffed animals too, so it was a successful night in Dinoland! :) Van and I then took the kids to ride the Triceratops Spin. Trisha and Sam sat that one out due to the spinning.

Finally, we were done with our day at the Animal Kingdom. We missed a few attractions/shows, but we really felt like we had gotten a lot accomplished that day. We headed back to Pop Century Resort for ice cream and milkshakes before bedtime that night. :)

Please CLICK HERE for Day 4 pics from the Animal Kingdom! :)

Thanks for taking the time to read these long posts and look at our pictures. I know it seems like I am rambling on and on about all of this stuff, but I want to get it all in words before it slips my memory. This will come in handy later when I start making the scrapbook from the trip. :)

Disney Vacation - Day 3

Today was Father's Day! Before we left Texas, the boys and I had gone to the store and bought Van some Father's Day cards, and Evan had painted him a picture. I sneaked these into my suitcase before we left, so he was pleasantly surprised to wake up that morning and be given all those goodies. :)

So off we headed to Epcot. Van, the boys, and I left a little before Trisha and her family did. Our first stop, of course, was Spaceship Earth. How can you walk into Epcot and see that ginormous globe thing and not want to go in it? This was a pretty neat ride. I wasn't sure how Aaron would handle it because a lot of it was in the dark, but he sat beside me on the ride, and we talked about things the whole time....and he loved it! This ride kinda takes you through a "journey through time" of sorts, showing you how far we have come as a civilization. Pretty neat. The boys enjoyed the last part, where they take your picture and put you on the screen as a computer character. When the ride was over, it let us out into a neat room full of virtual games and things like that. Evan played a virtual driving game, Van and Evan put their faces and characters up on the big globe, and then the boys played some kind of energy game that looked like a giant television screen on the floor.

By this time, Trisha and her family had caught up with us, so our next stop was an indoor Character Spot to meet some more characters. Ahhhh....air conditioning! :) We met Mickey, Pluto, Minnie, Donald, and Goofy. We had fun taking pictures with these characters, and of course Aaron was loving every second of it!

Our next attraction was The Seas with Nemo & Friends. We boarded a "Clamobile" and rode through a cute little ride featuring real aquariums and of course, our friends from Finding Nemo. We then toured the aquariums outside of the ride and even saw dolphins and manatees! We got in line for Turtle Talk with Crush...had to wait quite a while, but the kids got to watch sharks and stingrays in an aquarium in front of us the whole time, so they were plenty entertained. Turtle Talk was adorable! I think the parents liked this just as much as the kids. LOL Crush talked to the kids in the audience and put on a cute little show.

Next, we headed to the Sunshine Seasons cafeteria to eat. My goodness, this place was super busy and chaotic! The food wasn't great either. This is really the only place we ate while on vacation that I didn't care for. Van and I got some kind of Chinese food dish, and it was not very good. It was just shoulder-to-shoulder people here, and trying to hold 4 food trays and keep up with your kids in a crowd like that is NOT fun. Anyway, we managed to find a place to sit and eat our meal...but we weren't able to sit with Trisha and the kids because there were no tables big enough for all of us.

We rode some cheesy ride next..something like "Journey into the Imagination with Figment"...something like that. Not that great, but the boys had fun playing in the imagination room afterward.

The World Showcase was next! First up was Mexico. We rode the Gran Fiesta Tour Starring The Three Caballeros, which was a little boat ride around an indoor area. Again, kinda cheesy, but it was air conditioned. The heat on this day was just unbearable! I think the heat index was around 110°. HOTTTT! Next was Norway...not much to do here, but really neat theming and design. China was next. Beautiful! This is where Aaron purchased his beloved blue monkey marionette. The boy is obsessed with puppets lately, so when he saw all of the marionettes hanging on a rack by a street vendor, he just about jumped up out of his stroller! He had some Disney Dollars we had given the boys in their stockings last Christmas, and this is what he picked out to use those on. It was a great purchase...he never went anywhere without it after that!

Germany and Italy were next....nothing to do here, but again, very cool design. Van has been to both Germany and Italy, and he said the design was spot-on. By this time, it was so stinkin' hot that Trisha and her family decided to head back to the hotel to go swimming. Van, the boys, and I stayed, not wanting to go wait in line for the bus and deal with all of that in the heat, so we headed to the American section of World Showcase. It was indoors, there would be a 30-minute movie coming up, and it was super cold inside...so we decided to go to that and hope that Aaron would fall asleep and get his nap during the movie. Thankfully, Aaron did indeed fall asleep. However, we couldn't take our stroller in the building, so we had to carry him out and lay him on a bench in the main atrium. We sat here for quite a while while Aaron napped, but he was comfy and getting rest, and there were acapella singers in the same room as us, so it was neat just getting to sit there and listen/watch while we all took a break.

We headed to Japan when we knew it was around the time for Aaron to be waking up because we wanted to see "Miyuki", who was the lady who did Japanese candy art. This was so cool! She'd pick kids from the crowd and ask them what their favorite animal was, and then she'd make that animal out of sugar and give it to them. Evan was lucky enough to be chosen, and she made him a blue monkey. It was so neat the way she just formed this thing out of sugar! Amazing. Morocco and France were next. Morocco didn't have anything to do or watch, so we watched some movie on a 360° screen in France just to cool off again. I'm telling you...the heat was ATROCIOUS! The United Kingdom and Canada were next, but honestly, I don't even remember seeing these places because I was totally in the mindset of finding somewhere indoor again to get out of the heat.

So, we headed to a big gift store and let the boys look around and play a bit. Then, we went to some cafe and sat down to have something cool to drink. We then headed to something we had passed by on our way to see the characters earlier in the day, which was Innoventions. I'm so glad we decided to do this! The boys got to go to little "stations" to play and discover. The first one was where the computer took their pictures doing different poses in front of a green screen and then put them into their very own video game. It was hilarious! Aaron was laughing so loudly that all the Cast Members had to come check out his video game and see what was making him laugh. They got a good laugh at it too. LOL! Then, we went to a station where the boys got these little Velcro frogs and got to dress them up in whatever way they wanted. Next was The Great Piggy Bank Adventure. This was soooooo cute! Watching Aaron carry around that fat little piggy bank was just too cute! The boys loved this game, and what's really neat is that at the end of the game, it emails you a similar version at home. So, the boys have been able to play this game here at home too. It teaches the value of a dollar and how to save, invest, etc. Really neat!

Van got to test drive a Segway after that, while I took the boys to learn about Fire Safety at another station.

Trisha and her family came back sometime after this, and it was time for supper at The Garden Grill. Here, we met Farmer Mickey, Chip and Dale, and Pluto. Everything we ate was organic, some of it grown there on Disney property, so that was neat. Good food, too. The restaurant rotates very slowly so that you can see the whole place before you leave. Lots of character time here. Dale made out with Brooklyn and made her face turn 10 shades of red. LOL! The kids got to have "worms in dirt" for dessert, which was chocolate pudding, oreos, and gummy worms...but that thought that was really cool. Good food and a nice, fun supper! :)

Fireworks were next! The Illuminations show was AWESOME! We had a great view right in front of Showcase Plaza. It was a bit loud, and my kids didn't care for the loud pops and booms, but it was a breathtaking show set to a musical score. Simply beautiful. I had given the kids some glowsticks to play with before the show, so they held onto those and had fun playing with them during the dark. We headed back to the resort after this and crashed!

Please CLICK HERE to see Epcot photos! Remember, there are 2 pages, so be sure and look at page 2 as well!

Thanks for reading. :)