Our Disney World Vacation

This is going to be a long one because I have a lot to say about our amazing vacation to Disney World. First of all, my parents did a really great thing and treated us to this week long vacation!!!! All we had to do was pay for our flight and they took care of everything else! How great is that!!!! The weather was amazing for the entire week (high in the mid to upper 70s and sunny). The crowds weren't bad and the lines were not long at all. We waited maybe 5-10 minutes at times and took advantage of using fast paces which was great! We had breakfast each morning at the house, had one counter service meal per day at the park and had dinner at the house a few nights when we made it back early enough.

 

I will do my best to go over a lot of the details from our trip and what made it so special!

 

We spent our first day at Epcot!

 

We got a single stroller (from Disney) and the kids took turns using it. It worked out well until about 10 long hours into our day and the kids were just too darn tired. Anyways, we walked in and quickly got to meet Daisy Duck and Goofy. We took a chance on this trip and didn't book a single character meal in hopes that we would be able to meet plenty of characters at the parks since it is a pretty slow time of year so we were happy to be able to meet some characters so easily and fast!

 

 

 

Some of the highlights from our day at Epcot: The kids loved Spaceship Earth and The Seas of Nemo & Friends. I was amazed at how funny Turtle Talk with Crush was. Lucas and I went on the less intense version of Mission Space and Bob did the more intense. Wow, even the less intense was too intense for me! Maelstrom was pretty cool. Our FAVORITE ride at Epcot was Soarin'!!! Test Tracks was closed so that was a bummer.

 

Later in the day we went all throughout the World Showcase. The kids got passports and visited the Kidcot Fun Stops (which they loved but it was a ton of work for me). Bob and my Dad REALLY loved getting a drink in all the countries.  We tried to stay for the fireworks show but only made it a few minutes into the show and had to give up since the kids were exhausted from 12 long hours at the park. Overall we loved Epcot. It would have been fun to do the World Showcase without the kids and I wish we would have gone on Soarin' a 2nd time because it was just so cool.

 

 

Day 2 we spent at Magic Kingdom.

 

For the rest of our trip we upgraded to a double stroller. I know our kids are 5 and 7 and a little old for strollers but it sure made things easy to have a place to put all our stuff and not have to hear the kids complain about being tired.

Our first ride for the day was Space Mountain! The kids weren't so sure about it but Bob and I loved it.  I guess we should have warned the kids a little better. We even got my Mom to ride it with us. We spent a lot of the day at Tomorrowland and loved the Buzz Lightyear ride (Lucas met Buzz), Speedway, Stitch's Great Escape (it scared Lucas), and PeopleMover. The kids loved the talking/dancing trash can there...actually they were pretty obsessed with it.

 

We then went over to Adventureland and went on the Pirates of the Caribbean, Jungle Cruise, Swiss Family Treehouse and The Magic Carpets of Aladdin. For some reason we weren't totally thrilled with Adventureland but of course still had a good time. We finished off the day in Frontierland. We loved Big Thunder Mountain Railroad and the kids had a blast over at Tom Sawyer Island. We had a great day at Magic Kingdom...obviously it offers so much for the kids!

 

 

Here is a pic of our whole group in front of the castle. As you can tell, my 2 nephews are not fans of getting their picture taken!



 

The Christmas lights and the castle all lit up was just amazing!!!

 



 

We spent day 3 at Animal Kingdom. Our first ride was Dinosaur which was an awesome ride. We got to ride it twice since there was no line! It was one of my favorite rides!!! We went to the Finding Nemo-The Musical. It was great but it took me awhile to get over the fact that people were walking around holding and talking for the fish. Kinda strange but still a cool show. Next up was Expedition Everest. Lucas and Avery were both just barely 44 inches and boy were they happy they could go on this roller coaster but wow, this roller coaster is no joke. It was one of the best and craziest roller coasters I have ever been on. One of my favorite rides but wow did it make me feel a little sick! Some of the other rides and attractions we liked was the Kilimanjaro Safaris (so cool), It's Tough to be a Bug and the kids had an amazing time at The Boneyard (they could have stayed in there for hours).

 

Here is a pic of the kids in front of the tree at Animal Kingdom.

 

The 4 kids on the train.

 

We all REALLY enjoyed Mickey's Jingle Jungle Parade.

 

A highlight of our day at Magic Kingdom was meeting some characters. We saved it for the end of the day and the lines were pretty short. I am not sharing the pic yet of meeting Mickey since it is part of our Christmas cards that are being mailed out soon. Animal Kingdom was a great park and we really enjoyed our day!

 

 

 

On to day 4.....it was a BUST for me. I woke up in the middle of the night sick. Everyone else went to Hollywood Studios and I finally got myself out of bed and met up with them around 4pm even though I was still feeling pretty darn sick.

 

The kids got to meet some of their favorite characters......



 

From what Bob tells me, they really enjoyed the Indiana Jones stunt show, Star Tours (one of their favorites), the Muppet show, Honey I Shrunk the Kids Adventure, Lights Motors Action Stunt Show, the Toy Store ride, and The Legend of Captain Jack Sparrow (didn't love this attraction). Bob was able to get the kids the courage to go on the Tower of Terror and they did well with it and since Addison is 48 inches tall now, she went on the Rock n Roller Coaster and loved it. We ended the night at the really great Fantasmic show!!!

 

 

Oh, but before we left we checked out the Osbonrne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights. It was so cool and one of our favorite parts of our trip!!!

 

Our 5th and final day at the parks was spent at Magic Kingdom again. 

 

We spent most of our day at Fantasyland and Liberty Square. We loved the Haunted Mansion, Peter Pan's Flight, It's a Small World (Bob and Lucas were not fans AT ALL), The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh (it was just ok), and the Mickey's PhilharMagic show was pretty cool. The kids had zero interest in going on the Dumbo ride. All in all, the Fantasyland area was a little boring for the kids since they kinda seemed like rides more for younger kids. We did get to go on the new Little Mermaid ride in the new part which we really liked!

 

Since we had time, we went back again to Tomorrowland and went on Space Mountain again (the 2nd time went a little better for the kids), the Buzz ride and Speedway. We never did go to Monsters Inc (not sure why).

 

We then went to the Dream Come True Parade which was awesome. By then Addison was finally ready to meet her first princess. She feels like she is too old to like princesses but she was thrilled with meeting Merida (from Brave).



 

Here is a link to the house we stayed at. It was just a few miles away and it was a nice big and beautiful house.

 

http://www.vrbo.com/257985

 

Here is a pic of the room Addison and Lucas stayed in.....

 

As you can tell, we had a great time. We were at the parks by 9 or 9:30am everyday and stayed until pretty late most nights. We took advantage and got to see and do just about as much as possible. We very much appreciate my parents for taking us on this trip. We made some great memories. I am not sure if we will go back since we have so many places we want to take the kids one day but you never know.

 



Halloween 2012

 

I totally forgot to post about halloween....oh, from 6 weeks ago. Better late than never.

 

So here they are.

Lucas was a swamp monster. He wanted to be something scary and it was his favorite costume he saw when we looked at target. He got a lot of attention on halloween for his scary costume!

Addison was a witch. She insisted on having her face painted green.

 

 

Chicago marathon.

About a month ago Bob and I ran the Chicago marathon. Wow, it was an amazing experience!!!

 

Bob and I both ran the St. Jude Memphis Marathon back in December and we didn't exactly have the best experience during that race. We were both battling a stomach bug and our race didn't leave us with that great feeling of accomplishment. I was devastated.

 

So, we went at it again and trained for another marathon in hopes that the 2nd time around would be much better. It was very easy to select the Chicago Marathon since I am from there, Bob and I lived there while Bob was in law school and we just love the city. Bob battled through his training after healing a sprained ankle (he only had 9 weeks to train....from zero miles to a marathon). Pretty crazy. My training went good. It was a big commitment for both us of and come race day, we were ready.

 

The Chicago Marathon did not let us down.  

 

The crowd support was out of this word. Just amazing and through just about all 26.2 miles too. Running down the streets where we had so many memories was so great. We ran through our old neighborhoods and even past Rush hospital where Addison was born. The weather was PERFECT (high in the 50s). Both Bob and I felt pretty great until about 20 miles in and like many, kind of hit our wall. We were both very very pleased with our finish times. Bob finished in 3:53 (8:54 pace) and my finish time was 4:14 (9:42 pace). Bob's goal was to finish under 4 hours and my goal was to finish under 4:20. We both got our goal...and then some!

 

Our good friend Brad ran the marathon too (his wife and my amazing running buddy Lara was there to cheer us on). Kris and Mike came from Ohio to run it as well. Becky, Pam and Marina came to cheer us on. It brought tears to my eyes each time I saw them during the race. To have them there to cheer me on made this marathon experience truly one of the best days of my life. Yes, it was hard. I wanted to give up at times....but I can't wait to run it again next year!!!!

 

 

Here is a picture that the marathon posted. I love it. It gives you a small glimpse as to just how big of an event it it. I think there were about 38,000 finishers!!!

 

 

We did it.....and feel good about it!!!!!!

 

Kris and I.....running mommies!!!!

 

Chicago Marathon 2013...I will be there!!!

Addison lost her first tooth!

This deserves its own post.

Addison finally lost her first tooth! She may have been the only first grader in her class that had no lost a tooth yet. Even her cousin Avery who is an entire year younger than Addison, had already lost 2. We had been waiting, and waiting and waiting. She lost it today at 7 years and 29 days old with perfect timing for school pictures tomorrow!!!

 

 

Labor day and Addison turns 7!

Sure, Labor day was about a month ago but I have to update the blog about that weekend since Addison's birthday was over labor day weekend! Our little girl is now 7! I can't tell you enough about how much she has grown up in the past year. She is so sassy. So over princesses. Very excited to go to school. She is just such a big girl! She is now a big 47 inches tall and 46 lbs.

 

 

We spent labor day and Addison's birthday at the lake of the ozarks and we had a great time!!!

 

 

 

Our annual lake family picture! 

 

The following weekend we celebrated Addison's birthday party and right before the party was Lucas' first outdoor soccer game!!!

 

Addison's party was a Baked Goods Pottery. We just love that place. It was a pretty easy party and the kids all seemed to love painting their pottery!

 

The cupcakes I made. 

 

Happy birthday to you.....

 



 

Some family came over after the party. Here is a rare picture of me and my 2 amazing sister-in-laws!!!

 

Molly wore a shirt that Addison has too....so they had to have a cute cousin shirt twin picture!

Back to School (1st grade and Kindergarten)

Well the kids have been back at school now for a few weeks. I still can't believe summer is over and we have a first grader and a kindergartner.

 

Addison is loving school. She liked it last year but this year she loves school. She loves her teacher and is so thrilled to have her best friend Bella in her class again. It is a long day for her to be gone but she is happy and doing well.

 

 

Here she is on her first day.

 

 

Addison and her friend Erin!

 

All the bus stop kids.

 

Getting on the bus as a big first grader. 

 

Lucas is off to school as well in afternoon kindergarten. It has been an adjustment for him but that was to be expected. He isn't the best listener at all times, but he is usually pretty good. He has had 2 rough days so far and really, he wasn't too bad. He seems to like school and I think he will do really well. Some days he doesn't want to leave and get on the bus but he comes home with a smile and a lot to talk about from his day.

 

 

Here is Lucas from his first day of kindergarten.

 

I guess it was pretty sunny... 

 

At the bus stop.

 

Of course Bob could not miss being there for his first time getting on the bus.

 

Me and my big boy!

 

There he goes. I held in the tears and actually didn't cry but I was crying inside for sure. 

 

So school is in full swing and homework has begun. Lucas is in soccer with his first game on Saturday and Addison just started another year of dance (she is taking Jazz and Hip Hop).

Here's to a good school year!



Some other summer moments.

Summer break is officially over. :( The kids start school tomorrow. Addison will be gone full day for the 1st time as she starts first grade. Lucas will be in afternoon kindergarten. To close off the summer....here are some pics that I didn't have a chance to blog about.

A few weeks ago we went to the lake with my brother and his family and the kids went fishing for the first time and had a great time tubing with their cousin Avery!



We spent a weekend in Chicago visiting with my best friend Marina. They just moved into a beautiful new house that they are renovating and it was so fun to see it and enjoy a weekend in their big house. We also got to spend time with Venessa and her family.

Here we are having a picnic dinner one night.



The kids played hard as usual!

The evening of my birthday we went out for ice cream and then walked briefly over (it was about 108 degrees) to the apple chairs nearby. 

We headed down to my parents lake again and this time Bob's brother Bill and his family joined us. It was nice to have my nieces Molly and Katy there for the first time.

Molly and Addison

Katy

One highlight of Addison's summer was going to the American Girl Doll store and getting her first AG doll. My Mom got it for Addison for an early birthday present. 

Addison and her doll...Allie

A highlight of my summer....getting a new Honda Pilot. We all love our new car!!!

To end off the summer I headed to Chicago again and had a quick girls weekend my best friends since grade school/high school. We had a spa day (I had to skip out early to get back for Bob's work dinner) but I had a great time with them the evening before and had fun doing some shopping too. It was just what I needed. 

The summer went by way too fast. I am going to miss our days of just going to the pool and whatever other activity we could get in this summer. I am anxious for the kids to get into the swing of things at school and hope for a great school year.