Quite the Characters

This year, we took a vacation to Disney for 4 nights June 26-30. We had a great time! We arrived on Saturday and just took it easy at our hotel.

We stayed at All-Star Movies Resort. Here's the pool. It was really neat, but we enjoyed the pool at All-Star Music better. It was shaped like a piano. Oldies were playing and there was an Ariel statue. We went there on Sunday.

All of these pictures are from our hotel. There are statues of Disney characters everywhere. And, just like this post title indicates, this trip became all about the characters for Allyson.

On Sunday morning, we had reservations (at 7:45!!) at Cape May Cafe. It's located at Disney's Beach Club Resort. We ate at this fanastic breakfast buffet so that Allyson could meet Goofy, Donald, and Minnie. I bought an autograph/photo album for her. Now that we are home, it is a real keepsake.

At first she was timid, but she warmed up quickly. She didn't eat one bite of her Mickey-shaped waffle. Too much excitement!

She just loves Minnie. She had Minnie on her dress. Minnie was very impressed!

Sunday night we went to Downtown Disney. I have a picture in this very same spot with Morgan. It was Allyson's idea to have a picture made here.

We had an 8:30 reservation for Planet Hollywood. We had $30 in vouchers to eat here. I'm so glad I made a reservation because the wait was INSANE! We had never eaten at a Planet Hollywood before, but we LOVED it!

Monday morning it was off to the Magic Kingdom to have breakfast at Cinderella's Royal Table. This is where you actually eat in the castle and all of the princesses come by to meet you.

First you take a picture with Cinderella. A photographer snaps one as well and you get a package complimentary. It is pricey, but we paid for our meals with our vacation package ahead of time.

Mike says this is the best picture of Allyson with a princess, but the angry girl in the background is hilarious to me!

Daddy and his little princess. This place was so neat! The server called us a royal family and Mike was "Lord" and I was "Milady". Allyson was princess, of course. She was wearing a crown afterall!

All of Allyson's dreams came true when she met Ariel! I was surprised she was there. I thought we'd meet Jasmine instead.

Ariel talked to Allyson for quite a while. I thought that was so sweet! Ariel went on and on about Allyson's dress.


I don't really understand why Belle doesn't get to wear her pretty ballgown like the other princesses. She should complain. I'm just sayin'!

Allyson is only posing. She didn't eat a bite of her food or drink any juice. Well, how could you? Especially when all of your favorite celebrities are just walking all around you! Three & 1/2 is a good age to go to Disney, I think. Everything was so real to her.

One reason I booked so many character dining experiences was becasue I didn't want to wait in lines to meet characters all day. Well, forget that! After she met those princesses, she just wanted to meet more!

So, we waited 45 minutes to meet Aladdin and Jasmine.

Another 45 minutes to meet Princess Tiana and Prince Naveen. Yes, we saw them! They are brand new! They looked amazing!

Tiana's dress was gorgeous! Tiana and Naveen also took time talking with Allyson.

Worth the wait? Yeah, I think so!

We went all out and took Allyson to Bibbity Bobbity Boutique. This was great. Her hairdresser and make-up artist took a lot of time with her and made her feel like a very special princess. It was also in the castle where there was A/C. Her daddy and I just sat back and watched. Probably the most relaxation we had all day!

Her hairdresser was called a fairy godmother in training. haha! Too cute!

And, then it was on to stand in more lines to meet more characters. Okay, one more line for three characters. Disney Fairies.

Silvermist

Tink

And, Rosetta. She talks with a Southern accent in person, too!

Even though we were in long lines for characters, we were still able to do everything we wanted to do. We rode the Peter Pan and Snow White rides. Dumbo, Flying Carpets, tea cups, Pirates of the Caribean, Buzz Lightyear Spin, carousel. Saw Mickey's 3D Philhar Magic, A Dream Come True parade, electrical parade and fireworks.

Here are more pics from the Magic Kingdom.

Oh, BTW, Allyson thought this was the REAL Buzz Lightyear. It did seem pretty real!

Tuesday, we went to Hollywood Studios. We'd never been before. We were at the Magic Kingdom pretty late, so we overslept and didn't get here until around 10:30. I was disappointed because many things shut down at Hollywood Studios around 5:30 or dark. We missed out on some things. But we still had a great time, despite the crowds and heat.

We LOVED the Beauty and the Beast show. It's a live performance unlike many of the shows that are just choreographed or puppetry.

Another long character line. But, so worth it! There is a great picture that the photographer took where she's smiling so big with her eyes closed as she hugs Mickey. It looks like it could be an ad. I'm describing it in such detail because you won't see it. I refuse to pay $14.95 to download it. My own pics will have to do!

We also saw Playhouse Disney Live!, Voyage of the Little Mermaid, Indiana Jones Stunt show and rode Toy Story Mania. We had a FastPass for that, but at one point, there was a two-hour wait. Unbelievable!

Now, if you ever visit Hollywood Studios, make sure you go on a night where you can see Fantasmic! It is an AWESOME lights and fireworks show that includes all the characters. You'll be hearded like cattle into this huge stadium overlooking a lake with a small mountain in the middle. Don't leave when it seems to be over because you'll miss the huge steamboat with every character there is on it! It was GREAT! Someone in our party (I won't say who! I don't want to embarrass anyone!) even had an accident from the excitement of it all! So glad I was prepared for accidents!

My pictures were somewhat blurry. So, I didn't really get any that were very good to post.

Our vacation was great, but I was ready to come home. To rest!! :D

The things we do for daddy...

Well, Summer is just flying by! I probably feel this way because I've been counting down the days until our vacation for so long! We are going to Disney. So excited!!

Allyson has her new princess dress and she is ready!

In the summer, we generally stay in a pool. But, we've only been able to swim just a couple times. Here we are at Aunty Shaun's a couple weeks ago. We can't wait to go again if all our schedules can just cooperate!

For Father's Day, we had to do something special for Daddy. We gave him a grill last month for his birthday. That was partly for Father's Day, too.

So, we made him a Snack Bouquet.

We shopped for all of Daddy's favorite snacks and arranged them with skewers in a "custom" mug. The idea came from Woman's World magazine. He LOVED it! He had been out of town and came home Saturday evening. We went ahead and gave it to him. I mean, where was I supposed to hide it? We had a frozen pizza for dinner when he came home. But, the whole time he ate, his eyes were on his snack bouquet. lol

We also made him an M&M hat cake. This cake was supposed to be easy, but underneath all the M&M's it is a disaster! This idea was also from Woman's World.

It's a very tasty cake, of course. The brim is refrigerated sugar cookie dough mixed with 1/3 C all-purpose flour. The cap is a white cake baked in a round bowl. Make sure you grease and flour the bowl well before you pour the batter in. This was my problem. Half the cake stuck to the bowl!

But, pretty much anything covered with M&M's is a winner!

Then, just frost with white icing and cover with plain M&M's in a pattern to your liking. Decorating with M&M's was very easy and makes me think I can do this again. Hmmmm...Decorating with icing for me is wayyyy too time consuming.

Daddy had a wonderful Father's Day. I'm very sad that I didn't get a picture of Allyson and Daddy before church. We were in a rush because Daddy had grits, bacon, and fruit for breakfast. For lunch, he choses Indian lunch buffet and he spent the rest of the day sleepingoff his jet lag cuddled up with Allyson.

Michael really is the best Daddy. God chose him for me and he chose Allyson for us. You couldn't find a father anywhere more in love with his child. Such a blessing!

I know Father's Day is a hard day for many without fathers. I'm very blessed to have a wonderful one myself. My prayers are with those without.

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VBS is going on now. We have 2 more nights. Here are a couple of pictures of the singing in the auditorium. Yeah, they are really of just Allyson. But, you might see someone else you know. ;)

Congratulations, Mama!

Future Hairdresser? That would be great! Maybe she'll give her mama discounts!

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My mom retired just a couple weeks ago. I've been so busy that I'm just getting around to posting about it!

Posing with Mama & Daddy at the table of honor. There were two other retirees.
The Superintendant had a few words to say. The man speaking was the principal when I worked with my mom at this school. The woman with the tissue was also retiring. She's the principal.

Allyson insisted on eating her lunch at the Table of Honor with Nana & Papa. I don't think anyone minded.

My mom's moment of glory. She had worked in education for 37 years. That's amazing to me!

Here's our family that attended the retirement luncheon.

L-R: Allyson, Me, Aunt Janice (my mom's sister), Baby Carlee, Glenn & Phyllis Schliebner (my parents), Robbi (my sister), & Caleb (Carlee & Caleb are my sister's kids-I may be really detailed with who's who, but I just want everyone to understand the relationships. Relationships can be so complex, ya know?!)

I love this picture of the kids. The older ones had just been talking to the baby. She's so angelic. Allyson really loves her cousins. And, being the oldest is cool!

Congratulations to my mom for working so hard and being able to reap the rewards of finally doing what she (or my dad! lol) wants.

I'm so proud of her. She was a media specialist. And, just like everyone keeps telling me, I'm following along in my mom's footsteps. :)

So, we've decided to adopt...

On May 29th, Allyson had her gymnastics family night. Her class is called Tumble Bears at Precision South Gymnastics Academy. It's for ages 3-5.

She brought some flowers for her teacher.

There are quite a few pictures. So, I'll keep the captions short.

Fun with the parachute

Balance Beam

Priss waiting her turn

I love this one. And, this is her teacher, Ms. Heather.

They made her jump through all sorts of hoops. LOL!

Action hopscotch

Backwards on the low balance beam

Having fun and hanging around! I think the shadow on the mat is cool.

She's learned so much since last August. Her first class was on her 3rd birthday, Aug. 24, 2009.

Daddy helping with marches on the beam.

Her little friend, Bailey, from her daycare class takes gymnastics here, too.

Flipping on the rings ALL BY HERSELF!

And, at the end of the obstacle course, a giant basket ball to shoot through the hoop. Great shot, Allyson!

When we got home from gymnastics, Mike finally got to use his birthday gift for the first time. His birthday had been the day before and I surprised him with this grill. My parents were over for the family night and we grilled steaks and chicken.

Allyson still thought she was at gymnastics.

He got another surprise. A red velvet birthday cake from Publix.

And, here is our new baby! A year-and-a-half-old pug, Reuben.

We rescued him. I heard about a lady that had him but was unable to care for him. When we got him on May 25th, he was so skinny. You could see his ribs. It was heartbreaking! But, he is doing great! He's adjusted to living with us very well. We are already very attached to him.

And, he does a neat trick. Watch the video.