Disney Again...and Summers End

This post doesn't have a real theme like the rest of them, just odds and ends pictures. I still can't believe that vacation was real. It was too good to be true. I loved spending time with the four of us with no outside responsibilities. I loved always having a little hand in mine, but all the time knowing that those days are slipping by quickly. This summer was a very magical time and I am sad to see it come to an end. We have had some fantastic times, and made amazing memories that I know I will never forget.

Meeting Frozone from the Incredibles

The characters from UP, which we saw while we were there.

Having fun while we waited in line

Our last big meal at Disney World was at Ohana. It was an amazing meal and I ate WWWAAAAYYY too much!

Fun Pictures from outside our hotel. We stayed at All Star Movies and the different areas had different themes. It wasn't the Ritz Carlton, but it was great for us.

On the bus on the way to the airport. It was a magical vacation all the way around.

This summer was one of my very favorites in my life. The kids were so much fun and enjoyed life to the fullest. This summer I didn't commit us to anything except for soccer camp in August. Looking back, I am so thankful because we all needed to relax. Next summer I will have a 9 year old and a 7 year old. That sounds so old and I can't figure out where the years went. I am just so thankful that I have had the chance to be with them full time. I will never take for granted how lucky I have been to get this chance. I hope that one of these days they will decide that they were lucky too. The summer is over and we will be starting back our school routine on Wednesday. I am dreading the mornings! We have had a very laid back, non-structured summer, and it has been fantastic. So the whole getting up, getting dressed and out the door lacks any appeal that it might have ever had. I will miss the sound of their voices in the other room, the fun of going to the pool and hanging out doing a whole lot of nothing. Oh well, no one asked me if school should start, but it is anyway. I know that this school year will bring great things. I am going to enjoy their teachers, their classmates and all that they will learn. It will be my last year as PTA President, so I am praying that I will be able to use this year to further improve the facilities and leave a lasting impression on the parents, teachers and children that I serve and represent. It is a job that I don't take lightly and put my all into. Anyway, I am trying really hard to keep my post-summer blues and anxieties away and allow God to have the ultimate control of my thoughts. I am praying for all of you guys too that the back to school transition will be smooth.

Claire's Royal Day

Since Brock had his turn fighting Darth Vader and meeting the Power Rangers, it was Claire's turn for a special day and it was indeed! We started the day by going to Bippity Boppity Boutique, which was absolutely amazing! If you have a little girl and are going to Disney, this is a MUST DO! When we arrived at the boutique we were taken to a back room where they informed us that the Fairy Godmother had chosen Claire to be the Royal Princess who would get to sit in the window to have her transformation. We were really excited to hear that! They led us through the store to the special place in the window. She was given a red cape to wear and was escorted by people saying "Princess Claire is coming through" She was a little overwhelmed by that but just had a shy face. Once she was in the window seat the fun began. She was given a choice of the different hairstyles and she chose the up-do which was really pretty.

After she had chosen her style the magic began. The stylist started on her hair first. She got it pulled back and while she was waiting for it to set she did her make-up, nails and all that good stuff. Claire, who has never wanted me to do anything like that with her, sat perfectly still and was just totally enchanted with what was going on. It was so adorable that Tim and I both were moved to tears watching her. She just acted so big that it couldn't help but make you think forward several years towards a prom night or maybe even her wedding. All the things that Moms dream of when that daughter was put into their arms.

She was so excited about her nails being pink

One of the neatest parts of the BBB experience was that the whole time she was getting her hair, make-up and nails done she was turned away from the mirror and couldn't see anything that was going on. So after they had finished they put the "fairy dust" all over her with the magic wand that the Fairy Godmother had left there that morning for her, they turned her around. As they did they said "Bippity, Boppity...(turning her around) Boo" and then she caught the first glimpse of herself. Her first word was "WOW"! It was the cutest and sweetest moment of her life. She felt so beautiful and her body posture changed immediately.

When the magical transformation was over we headed to the Magic Kingdom. It was a little bit of a headache trying to get to the Kingdom from Downtown Disney, but we made it to Cinderella's Castle with a minute to spare. We checked in at the desk and moments later were taken inside to meet... Cinderella!

Cinderella was beautiful and both of the kids seemed a little overwhelmed by meeting her. It was so sweet the way they seemed awestruck. We had our picture made with her and were then shown to the "Royal Staircase" where we went upstairs to have lunch. I think that I was every bit as excited as the kids were. It was a dream come true to be able to be in the castle, let alone eat there! When we were shown to our table they brought us a magic wand for Claire and a sword for Brock so that he could protect his Princess. Then we were treated to time with the other beautiful Princesses. This was so exciting!

Princess Aurora "Sleeping Beauty"

Princess Jasmine

Belle "Beauty"

Snow White and Brock made a special connection. He asked her where the Seven Dwarfs were because he really wanted to meet them. She told him that they were in the mines. He was very excited to tell her that he thought it was really funny when Dopey blew water out of his ears. Snow White then asked him which Dwarf he was the most like and told her Dopey. She said "Well, if you are like my Dopey then I must give you a kiss", and she did. So he had a huge lip print on his forehead. Tim said "well, yesterday he fought Darth Vader and today he got his first kiss from none other than Snow White"

Unfortunately, we couldn't stay there forever and we finished our meal so we had to go. We descended the Royal Staircase and were greeted again by Cinderella. She asked Claire if she had enjoyed herself in her castle and called her by name when she did which really impressed me. Then she said "Now Brock, that looks like Snow White's lipstick on your forehead, did she kiss you?" Brock said "Yes, because I told her that I was like Dopey". Cinderella said "Well, I can't let you leave here with her being your favorite Princess" and she leaned down and gave him a kiss on his cheek. So he had his 2nd kiss from Cinderella. You can only imagine what his Dad thought about that! So he walked around the rest of the day with the two lipstick marks on his face. It ended up being quite a day for him as well as Princess Claire.

In keeping in theme with the royal day, we were able to see the musical show that took place on the steps of the castle. It was really spectacular. It was hot standing in the sun watching it, but it was really fun.

We caught the parade at 3:00 that day to and were able to see the woman who made the magic of the day happen. The Fairy Godmother!

This was definitely one of my favorite days! We were able to make great memories with both of the kids. I highly recommend that if you have a daughter and go to Disney World, don't miss out on BBB and the Castle meal, they are WELL worth the money you spend!!!!!

Epcot and Hollywood Studios (round 2)

Okay so the first post was really long! But I warned you that I took 500+ pictures! Anyway, here is how the next few days played out...

Day 4 - Epcot
Today we met the King's and Pollards at Epcot. It was so much fun to see them and although I had seen them a month earlier, it had been a year since Tim and the kids had been with them. We had so much fun spending this day together. The only downer was me and the fact that I ended up having to go back to the room because I was so dizzy that I couldn't continue. I think that I had nearly had a heat stroke the day before and was still feeling the effects. Anyway, until that happened we had a fantastic day. We rode Soarin (very cool), ate in Mexico (the best salsa Ever!) and saw the countries. We even saw a few Prince & Princesses that day.

Beckham after he found out that he could ride Soarin, SOOO happy!

Beckham ran out of gas, thank heavens for the stroller!

Girls Picture!

It was so much fun getting to have our friends with us while we were there. I loved watching the kids together. The girls were so excited to see each other which just made my heart melt. Old friends are the best friends. I wish they could be together more, but we are happy with any time we can get. Claire even got to meet Baby Paxton which has been her hearts desire since he arrived a few months ago. That girl loves her babies. It was such a great day, but my favorite part was when Greg, Shannon, Tim and I were sitting on a bench waiting for Nina, Poppa and the girls to get off of Soarin. We sat and people watched and laughed for quite awhile and to be honest I could have done that all day and called it one of my favorites! Kings, thanks for joining us, we loved it and we miss you guys like crazy!

Day 5... Back to Hollywood Studios

Since Saturday at HS had been so crowded and we didn't really get to see everything that we wanted we went back on Monday. Our intention in doing this was so that Brock could see/do Jedi Training by the Star Wars ride. The way it works is that there is a "Jedi" that chooses about 10 boys out of the crowd and lets them come up on stage to go through training and then they actually get to fight Darth Vader. So we got there about 30 minutes before the show started and sat on the front row waiting & hoping that Brock would be chosen. The guy came out on stage and Brock was chosen! I told Tim that I didn't realize how emotionally involved I was in him getting chosen, but I honestly think that I might have cried if he hadn't. Anyway, it was one of the major highlights of his trip. I have to say that it was pretty cool!

Waiting to see if he was going to be chosen

"Pick Me, Pick Me"

He was chosen!

In Training

Fighting Darth Vader

He did so well that they named him a Patawan and he got a certificate. I think that you can see how proud and excited he was! Tim and I were pretty excited too!

We also had reservations to eat at the 50's Prime Time Cafe. This was so much fun and the food was excellent. I highly recommend that you go here if your ever at HS!

We also saw the Beauty and the Beast show this day. It was such a great show.

While we were there we found the Monsters Inc. characters Mike & Sulley. But, Sulley left for a break right as we got to the front of the line so we didn't get our picture with him. Notice someone missing from the pics? Yep, Claire Bear. There were several of the characters that she deemed "too scary", "too tall" or "too loud". Brock however, not so much, he liked and wanted to meet them all. He also wanted to get all of their autographs in his "yearbook" (autograph book). So we did our best to meet as many as possible.

Look what else we found while we were there... Our favorite movie of all times is going to have a 3quel! We will for sure be seeing this one!

That night we decided to go see the fireworks at Epcot. Since we had time to kill we decided to take a round trip on the monorail. We were the first ones in line so we were able to sit up front with the driver. This was really cool! Although in recent weeks they have had a monorail wreck so I doubt this will be allowed much longer. Glad we got to go when we did!

These were some really fun days and we made some really fantastic memories. The kids may not actually remember them, but they are times that I will cherish them forever.