More Disney Days

We went to Epcot the first day of this year's Flower Festival. The topiaries are just amazing. Some of them weren't fully bloomed yet but they were still amazing.

Awww Stitch. I love Stitch we have had pictures taken with him several times before but he holds a special place in my heart because he was the first masked character that Braden was friendly with. Now of course, Braden is getting to big and "cool" for pictures with most characters but he is still all about Stitch. Which just makes him even more special to me.

Disney Days

Our first trip to Disney this year was in February and it was freezing. We all had layers and layers on but we still had a blast. Above is Braden singing in the rain. He doess this every trip to Hollywood Studios. It never seems to get old for him.

Ashlyn loved the new Pixar parade.

Doug was fun! And Ashlyn received a surprise phone call from Goofy. He just called to wish her a happy birthday. I love Disney.

My favorite part of this trip was Ashlyn standing in the ruby slippers in front of the GReat Movie Ride. Those were some pretty small footprints.

MIA

I know! I've been MIA this year. Life has been so crazy. Mike and I really jumped into 2009 going 1000 different directions.

The biggest thing is of course that our little girl is now 4 years old. To celebrate we went spent the day in the Magic Kingdom. We went to the Bippity-Boppity Boutique so the kids could get a birthday make-over. They were thrilled to go somewhere inside Cinderella's castle.

Cinderella's Castle

How many different colors can Cinderella's castle be? The fireworks were awesome on Halloween and the lighting was even cooler. For each villains song the colors changed. Sometimes there would be creepy eyes on the side of the castle, sometimes pumpkins would flash onto it. It was really neat!

Mickeys Not So Scary Halloween Party

We decided to do something new this year for Mike's birthday. We went to the Magic Kingdom to Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party. IT WAS SO MUCH FUN!!! I was afraid that we would have some melt downs since it was so late (7-midnight)but everyone was on a happy sugar high!

We didn't do many rides (only 3) and we only stood in line to see the Drizella and Anastasia. There were more villains out and about but we just didn't have time to see them. Their lines were pretty long. It's not easy finding villains on regular Disney days.

There were several parades, an amazing firework and light show (more pics of that later!!!) and a villain music show that we went too. All of them were fun and the kids loved them!

One of the rides we did ride was the Haunted Mansion. How could we not ride the Haunted Mansion on HALLOWEEN!!! As we were leaving the ride we saw this couple sitting on a bench next to the ghost hearse. They were not Disney employees but their costumes were GREAT and they had a Zero! So Mike ask them if we could take a picture with them since Jack Skellington is one of Braden's all time favorite characters (if you couldn't tell by his choice of costume). The couple was nice enough to do so and we got the photo of the night!

We also started a big buzz and people were lining up behind us to take a picture with them.

Braden's Birthday Party!

The whole weekend wasn't yucky. He perked up Sunday enough for a couple rides and a birthday party with Pooh and Friends at the Crystal Palace.

Epcot

Here's a few pictures from Sunday's trip to Epcot. We parked at the Boardwalk again today. When you enter the Boardwalk Resort they have one of these big sofas on each end of the foyer. I love them . They are so big and comfy! I wonder if they would notice me dragging one of them out the front door?

We entered Epcot through the international gateway before the world showcase was open so it was like we had England and Canada all to our self. This picture is the street of England. You can see the red telephone booth behind Braden.

Braden posed for a picture in Canada. The sun was a little bright.
We did the Figment ride. It's one of Braden's favorite. The ride exits into this fun interactive play area. Our kids love playing around in there. Again we didn't have many kids to share with...
On the way out we stopped in England to meet Alice.
Then we had to stop and see Mary Poppins. Braden has a crush on her. He says she has a pretty voice. We've been trying to find the movie for him to watch. It's a tough one to find.

Epcot was very empty. We had planned on doing 5 attractions and having lunch but instead we did 7 rides, ate lunch, meet 2 characters and still left an hour earlier than planned. Ashlyn is now 40" so we got to ride Soarin' as a family for the first time. She wasn't afraid at all! She loved it.

Braden tackled the thrill rides for the first time. We had planned on doing Test Track but since we had so much of the park to our self, they did both test track and Mission:Mars. Ashyn and I shopped and played in the little astronaut area while the boys did their thing.

Dogs on the Boardwalk

Saturday night after we finished watching the Hogs take their beating, we headed out to Disney. We decided to go to the Boardwalk. Mike and I haven't been there since our honeymoon. We had planned on eating at ESPN but being a Saturday during football season, it was packed! So we went with hot dogs on the boardwalk for dinner.

I loved it!!! It was nice having room to spread out and take our time. Ashlyn was able to wander around without us worrying about the crowds. We checked out the stores there too. Usually there are so many people trying to walk around that it can be hard with 2 kids and a stroller but it wasn't like that on the Boardwalk.

That had it's down side too, though, because Braden and Ashlyn were able to have really check out the loot. They picked out almost the entire store to buy "tomorrow". I'll have to win the lotto to buy all the stuff that wanted. When Braden catches on that "tomorrow" means most likely never, I'll be in trouble!!!


Our original plan was to spend the night and then spend today at Epcot. We got to the hotel at around 10 pm. We then found out that we had a small hiccup in our plan. Our reservations were made for next weekend somehow (MIKE!!!! We didn't hold it against him though). At 11 pm we started home. I was so tired!!!

Now the big dilemma is..... do we go back to Disney next weekend? We've already paid for the room. It'd be like throwing money away! What kind of parenting would that be? ;)

more Disney pics

I think maybe Braden is getting too old for certain characters! His face tells it all! Hee hee hee. Ashlyn enjoyed the Quincy and Rocket. I guess in the future I'll be taking Ashlyn to see characters and Mike & Braden can hit a ride.
Disney has lots of EXTRA MAGIC. At Hollywood studios there is a group called the Sunset Blvd citizens or something like that. Sunday, the director (standing behind Mike's shoulder) had Mike and Ashlyn do a little acting on the Sunset Bvld. I don't think Ashlyn even noticed anything was going on.

We ate at Mama Melroses. Mike and I ate there on our honeymoon. It hasn't changed in the past seven years. Mike still loves it and I still think it's OK. We've been there a few times in between and I've never really been impressed with it. The kids do like the Mickey Mouse sprinkles on their kid meal sundaes and it is nice to sit down in the ac to eat.

When we first got to the park, we headed over towards Mama Melrose's to make a reservation but we were stopped in route by the green army men. Braden was chosen to participate in the drill. They had to march and practice classic army men poses. It was a fun surprise!