Wednesday, January 28, 2015

Disney World 2015: Day 1 at Epcot

To say that our Disney trip was a big hit with Helen Grace would be a huge understatement. She was at the perfect age to enjoy and believe in all of the *magic* and was old enough to be able to handle the walking and {some} late nights.

We stayed at the Contemporary Resort on Disney property and would highly recommend it. We could walk to the Magic Kingdom, so we could easily run back to the hotel for a nap/rest. Also, we were within steps of the monorail, Chef Mickey, a heated pool, and a faux beach.

January was perfect as far as Florida weather is concerned, though at the time, I wasn’t happy to have to pack an entire wardrobe. We had an afternoon of drizzle, two days of chilly weather (50s-60s), and two days of perfect weather (60s-70s). The crowds during the week were so light, although the weekend brought people in droves.

We arrived on Thursday and went to Epcot for half a day, spent Friday at the Magic Kingdom, went to Hollywood Studios on Saturday, and finished the trip back at Magic Kingdom on Sunday. We flew home on Monday around lunch. Over those five days, we walked THIRTY THREE miles! HG had her share of ‘shoulder back’ rides and carries, but she was quite the trooper and walked most of those herself.

As we expected, this wasn’t a big ‘rides’ trip (other than Aladdin’s Magic Carpet Ride), but HG fell in love with the chase of characters’ autographs. We spent a lot of time waiting to meet princesses and characters, but she was thrilled to meet each one and see their signatures. For someone that wasn’t wild about Santa, she sure loved her some characters!

Here’s a glimpse at our first day…Thursday at Epcot…

READY TO GO2015-01-15 07.31.13Pretty stoked about our room at the Contemporary with the perfect view of the Magic Kingdom2015-01-15 13.35.27Headed to Epcot, and I think she’s kind of excited.2015-01-15 14.39.59CF6C65252015-01-15 15.35.27HG spotted Pluto from across a huge courtyard, and before we knew it, she started sprinting over to him. We were thrilled that she wasn’t scared of him, but only at that point did I realize that I had left her autograph book in the hotel room. EEK! We discussed that Pluto probably couldn’t sign a book with his big paws, so she was fine with not asking for his autograph. As soon as we walked away from Pluto, John sprinted over to a gift store, and with a stroke of luck, he found the EXACT same autograph book PLUS two really cool pens- Ariel and Rapunzel. Daddy saves the day! 2015-01-15 15.15.29CF6C6536We loved the Soarin’ ride (HG immediately asked to ride it again but was out of luck due to a very long wait) and were headed over the Nemo/ aquarium building.CF6C6545CF6C65512015-01-15 17.01.54We literally just stumbled across a character experience while we were hiding from the drizzle, and we waited no more than five minutes to see Mickey, Minnie, and Goofy. Amazing!!2015-01-15 17.27.382015-01-15 17.32.52-1CF6C65712015-01-15 17.38.57And as we kept walking, we came across Alice…2015-01-15 17.54.28…and then Mary Poppins!2015-01-15 18.12.112015-01-15 18.27.51We had dinner at Akershus in Norway, also known as princess heaven. This is the ultimate princess experience. You sit at your table and enjoy a really nice dinner (and drinks), and Belle, Cinderella, Snow White, Aurora, and Ariel come to your table. It’s amazing!CF6C6632CF6C6637CF6C6650Ariel is her favorite these days, and she was so sweet to HG and spent a lot of time with her. HG was in love!CF6C6653CF6C6658Aurora was a dream too.2015-01-15 19.37.56CF6C6641By this point (8:15 p.m.), HG was deliriously tired, and it seemed like miles to get from Norway to the monorail to get back back to the hotel. We resorted to a game of ‘chase’ to get her to the monorail. She laughed and laughed as we made a mad dash in the rain and COLD. 2015-01-15 20.25.09-1CF6C66642015-01-15 20.30.30After a long day, she had to journal what she had done when we got back to the room. If you land in the bathroom floor, you land in the bathroom floor, right??2015-01-15 21.32.28

 

As we walked through Great Britain in Epcot, she heard the Irish music playing and burst into an Irish jig for Peggy. HILARIOUS.

Sunday, January 11, 2015

Toohig Tidbits

While watching Peter Pan, she said, “I’d have all girl pirates on my crew because girls listen better than boys.”

At Spiffer and GD’s, she picked up a nuts & bolts pretzel from off the floor and said, “Never waste a good snack, I say.”

“Blood and guts. Boys are always talking about those things.”

She was trying to tell me something, but I couldn’t understand. I asked her to tell me again. “Mommy, you don’t like to have to say something twice.”

The girl is a big time hoarder. I’ll throw out her old school work or scraps of paper that come home in her bag, and she will GO THROUGH THE TRASH. She’s belligerent when she finds her things in there. "Who threw out my religion work?!?! God talks to you through those!"

Some pics from our last few weeks and lots of fun over the holiday school break…

Helen Grace’s official Nutcracker picture as a mousescan20150101001 Helen Grace Dance Recital MouseClimbing at the Children’s Museum with Annabella2014-12-07 11.07.09Happy birthday to CB, Grandma, and Peggy!2014-12-07 18.15.47Day after Christmas- why not make a fort in the middle of the kitchen and drag out the New Year’s accessories??2014-12-26 09.00.41-1Addie’s first Chick-fil-A experience2014-12-26 13.17.36HG was mad at me about something, but she and Blue looked so cute and cuddly.2014-12-26 14.10.47The Jackson crew came up to see us for lunch after Christmas- Lost Pizza and Cowboy Corner fun (while Worth shopped for boots)!IMG_20141227_131952305IMG_20141227_1320117472014-12-27 14.21.51Happy 2nd birthday to Addie!2014-12-26 20.10.032014-12-26 20.11.052014-12-27 18.32.082014-12-27 18.56.24Being a cat is TOUGH.2014-12-28 21.45.12Best gift ever (restaurant/ waitress set)- she put me in the bed, covered me up, turned on the tv, and brought me treats. 2014-12-29 14.54.48-1And then she decided that was too hard, so she joined me.2014-12-29 15.05.20Dinner with the Egners and Mullins at Corky’s2014-12-29 18.58.34HG, Gabby, Isaiah, Thomas2015-01-02 12.45.44Chick-fil-A with Lawson (and Rowan too)2014-12-30 13.04.18“Annie” with Ann Maxwell and Emmaline2015-01-01 15.37.44Lunch with Callum, Finley, and Emmett2015-01-02 11.31.562015-01-02 11.32.032015-01-02 11.32.29Just a normal night around our house2014-12-30 18.01.40-1Back in the saddle after a holiday break

2015-01-02 15.36.31Lunch with Rachel and Courtlyn2015-01-03 11.57.292015-01-03 14.40.062015-01-06 05.57.20