Have I kept you waiting long enough?

Disney Part 2

So bright and early Friday we were up and off to the first park. This day we hit Animal Kingdom and it was really cool.


Abby was rocking her new outfit!


We walked around checking out animals first thing. My fav definitely had to be the Gorillas they are just awesome and huge and they are just right there across the water staring back at you with those huge brown eyes and you think to yourself "what is going thru his head right now staring back at me" and then u think maybe he is debating how hard it would be to clear that water and rip your arms off and beat you over the head with them:) jk, it is the happiest place in the world afterall so surely he has good thoughts in his head!


Then we were off to our safari breakfast
Abby was SO excited to finally get to sink her teeth into one of those Mickey waffles


We had breakfast with Donald, Mickey, Goofy and Daisy


Then we were onto the safari ride it was alot of fun and we saw tons of animals, once again the animals were right there beside the truck. The baby elephant was a favorite of everyone you almost wish you could just get out and go play with it!



We rode lots of fun rides including the big one Expedition Everest and it was SO fun it was the first really big coaster Wyatt had ever ridden and he loved it, I was so proud of him. We saw some fun shows and had a great time with everyone-did I mention everyone? Well there were 10 of us total!! Us four, Shane's sis and her family and Shane's dad and his wife. Pappy and Mindi made this entire trip possible!! It was a big ol' family trip that had been in the works for some time.

I am gonna skip Saturday because it was just so awesome and magical it will need it's own post!

Sunday we did some transportation hoping:) we rode a boat to the Contemporary hotel


Then we took the monorail to the Polynesian to have breakfast with Mickey, Lilo, Stitch, and Pluto.


Then off to Hollywood Studios
Once again there was tons to do and we tried to get it all done! My feet have never hurt so bad in my life! But our main ride we had to hit was the Tower of Terror. Abby had talked so much about this ride not really knowing anything about it but that she was big enough to ride it. I knew what it did and wasn't sure how she would react but she was bound to ride it and ride it we did-3 times!! It ended up being their favorite ride.


We watched the Beauty and the Beast show which of course Abby loved!


We watched a cool stunt, saw some great Christmas lights and that night watched the awesome Fantasmic show and then headed to the last ride of the night. The Aerosmith Rockin Roller Coaster and once again it would be a first for Wyatt-going upside down! He was super brave once again and loved it.

It was late but we couldn't resist heading over to Magic Kingdom since they were having extra magic hours that night! We strolled thru the candy store then made our way back to the Haunted Mansion:) Then back to the hotel after another long day

Monday we just winged it. We made a plan to get some things done that we hadn't been able to do the day before at Hollywood Studios since we had gotten there late. Wyatt was dying to do the Jedi training but we had been to late to sign up the day before so Shane and Wyatt headed straight back to get in line the moment we got there which was moments after it opened. Abby and I headed straight to the Toy Story ride line because the day before the wait had been anywhere from 70 min to 120 min!! OH yes that is crazy. Shane got Wyatt a time slot and met us we waited about 40 mins and rode the ride:) It was fun but there is no way I would have waited 70 min to ride it.


Then we headed to his Jedi training, he was so excited. They got up on stage and a Jedi master trained them and then Darth shows up and they all get to fight him! Wyatt volunteered to go first which I could not believe.


We headed back to Magic Kingdom again hit Mickey's Toon Town and waited to meet Rapunzel and Flynn Rider which was our main reason for going back that day.


then we got one of those oh so yummy Mickey frozen ears


We headed back to the hotel for just a minute to unload some stuff, but then Abby was distracted by the hair girl and ended up getting a new do.




Then we were off to Epcot, while waiting at the hotel we met another family who also had 2 kids and they all hit it off and were like instant friends they rode with each other and talked the entire way to the park. I am pretty sure the boy would have just stuck with us the entire time had his mom not insisted he not leave with strangers once we got to the park:) They were from Canada which was pretty cool for the kids. That is just another great thing about Disney; you can meet people from everywhere, earlier while in line we had met a family that was from England.

We hadn't planned on going to Epcot but we had some spare time and everyone else was over there so we went to meet up with them. We spent just a little time there rode a couple rides (Abby loved going 70mph in the test track ride which is sorta like riding in a convertible car) then we watched the fireworks and headed back to the hotel after another LONG day.

Oh and while there Abby finally got to meet Minnie!



Well that about sums it up, well except for Saturday at Magic Kingdom but like I said it need it's own post. We loved every minute of it. The kids loved spending time with their cousins that they don't get to see to often and I know Pappy and Mindi loved seeing the kids have an awesome time.

Disney part 1

I say part one because we did so much and I took so many pictures there is no way I can get it all down in one post. Remember me saying I had uploaded a crazy amount of pictures? Well it turns out it was a little over 500! yes you did just read that number. I know I am a bit crazy but dang who knows when we will get back there and yes some of them are double shots-you moms know the rule you better snap about 3-4 of the pose to get one good one;)

Off to the airport

the kids were SOOO excited to get to fly to Disney since they had never flown before and Mommy and Daddy were SOOO excited to get to fly to Disney cause it meant a 1hr45 flight as apposed to a 10 hr drive! Don't get me wrong my kids are pros in the car but dang it was nice to hop a flight and be there before they could utter the words "Are we there yet?"!!

The Hotel-We stayed at Wilderness Lodge and OMG it was gorgeous. When you walk in the front doors into the lobby you are hit with it, the huge todem poles with various animals carved into them, the unbelievably high ceiling, the fire place, the little bridge over the water just everything was so pretty. The outside wasn't to be outdone either the hotel sits on the lake so the view is great. There is a gorgeous water fall that flows down to the pool. There is even a geyser! The room is mostly just your standard hotel room with a twist-wooden beds and bunk beds! Abby graduated to big girl status and got to sleep on the top bunk the entire time.

Gotta love Mickey Mouse made out of a hand towel and wash rags! they don't mess around in WDW, just about everything you touch is Disneyfied-pretty sure I just made up that word.

Oh the pool-the heated pool that wasn't quite heated enough for me to swim in at night! Yes it was very warm while we were there, during the day that is, but in the evenings the temp would drop. Sure enough though every night lots of people were swimming. Finally on Monday night we were back early enough to swim and the kids were dying to try the pool out. Needless to say I didn't last long in the pool before I headed for the lovely hot tub! Tuesday we were up bright and early to eat and hit the pool. It was a lovely breakfast outside until we had guests!



seriously don't they know who my husband is and what he does for fun during the winter months?!
The 2 with bands are lucky they got away safely ;)

Wyatt didn't mind swimming with them though, lets just hope none of that breakfast they managed to weasel out of us had a bad reaction in their system!


Oh the slide! they were so anxious for the slide to open they had wanted to go down it so badly all week but didn't get the chance til the last day! Wyatt ended up getting chosen by the life guard to be "sheriff for the day" which meant he got to stand on the life guard stand and announce the slide was open for the day and got to be the first to go down.




Abby LOVED it also

she is seriously our dare devil; way more outgoing and fearless than Wyatt ever was at this age. She didn't even hesitate to go down the slide and even cried because since I wasn't in she wasn't gonna be able to go, that is till mommy came thru and found out she could get a life jacket!

I can't leave this post without mentioning the fun restaurant at the hotel. It is very loud and crazy so if you are looking for a nice, quiet, peaceful dinner SKIP IT! but if you want some funny stuff go. Oh and don't forget to ask for ketchup!! Oh and tell them it's your birthday!

Why you ask should I do these things? Ketchup-see when you need ketchup you have to let everyone know it by shouting in your loudest voice "We need ketchup" and trust me you will get it. 11 bottles as in our case

because anyone who has ketchup will bring it to your table, and when the next person yells for it you have to take all of it to them and it goes on and on!

As for the birthday I am pretty sure we sang "Happy Birthday" no fewer than 8 times! because the entire place sings to the birthday person. There was also the "Hokey Pokey" and a horse race.


See I have overwhelmed you with pictures and we haven't even made it to the parks yet.

Home Sweet Home

We are home and we are exhausted, but it was totally worth it!! It was every bit as magical as I expected it to be.



I just uploaded an obscene amount of pictures to my computer and am still wading thru them but I thought I could post a few of my favorites to tide you over.

We pretty much had the Magic Kingdom to ourselves when we got there Saturday morning. Abby was over the top excited to meet Cinderella


The castle was all lit up for Christmas and it was absolutely amazing.




Our hotel was gorgeous, unfortunately we spent a very small amount of time there.




We did all four park and went hard core the entire time. We didn't want to waist a single moment. We rode buses, boats, and the monorail and walk MILES and we made more memories than I could have ever imagined.

Minnie shirt & how to reuse those outgrown jeans

I can't believe that I made this!

It started with me wanting a shirt for Abby for Disney, while browsing thru Etsy I found one I loved. I figured I could make it. So we headed to JoAnn's and we found the perfect fabric. I cut out the Minnie head and sewed it to her shirt then I just pinned a hair bow to the shirt!

aint Minnie cute??

Then I wanted something for her to wear with it. So I did some searching and finally found out how to make one of those ruffle bottom skirts that was SO cute and such a great idea I couldn't resist. Go check out Make It and Love It for lots of other great cute sewing ideas!

You know how kids outgrow those jeans so fast it is sad? Well I have a great way to repurpose them.

First find the too short for her jeans.

Then I marked them where I wanted to cut them, which was a little below the zipper. Then cut across and zigzag stitch around the bottom of the new skirt.

Click on the pictures to make them bigger

now you have a skirt

Then you are gonna need to cut your fabric-a front piece and a back piece. To figure your length measure the width across the skirt then double that and add an inch for seams. I did mine at 27 just to be safe since I am no professional:) You will also need to decide how long you want your skirt to be. Measure your jean piece then figure how much fabric you need to add. Then you add 1 1/2in. for seams. I didn't have a big piece of fabric so I just halved mine and hoped for the best:)I think mine were about 5 3/4in. each.

so we have 2 pieces 27 inches long by 5 3/4 inches wide.

Then I put the two pieces right sides together and sewed up the short ends moved over a bit and sewed it again.


now these next steps I forgot to take a picture so use your imagination.

I folded the long edge over on both the top and bottom about 1/4in. ironed and then another 1/4in. and ironed again. Then I sewed it down, this is your top and bottom seam.

At this point you should have what looks like a big circle with a finished edge on both the top and bottom.

Now to make it ruffled. Turn your dial up to the longest straight stitch; stitch across the top front leave the ends of the thread long, stitch across the top back and again leave the end of the thread long.

Next will help you to line your fabric pieces back up on the jean piece. Place pins at the sides, the center front and the center back of your fabric. Do this to your jean piece also.

Back to the ruffle-Take that thread you left long grab the top thread and pull, ever so gently, you don't want to break the thread.

Do this on both ends, the fabric will gather just slide it along the thread til it is the width you need. Do this on the back side also.

Once it is the right width pin it to the jean piece. Line up your pins, then I pinned the center front and center back, then I lined up the edge seams and pinned there.


At this point you can mess with the ruffle to even it up. Once it is to your liking pin it all around the jean piece.


Sew it on being careful to not mess up the ruffles you just created. Cut all those pesky pieces of thread and now you have a completely SUPER cute skirt that in my case matches that SUPER cute shirt I made earlier in the day. Yep I got both done in one day, if I were a better at sewing it would have taken me no time at all, but I am not and I am a wee bit slow. I figure though working off and on for one day to get this done is well worth it!!



Can't you just picture her looking SO freaking cute at Animal Kingdom?? Oh I can't wait!

Let the countdown begin

In one month the kids will be seeing this for the very first time!


Abby is all ready to meet Cinderella


because we will be having breakfast here!


I am beside myself with excitement!