Our Disneyworld Trip-May 2011

Since I never manage to find time to blog about our annual Disneyworld trips, I decided to make a photo book and share it with the blog. Plus, I bought a Groupon-type deal for this photobook so I had a DEADLINE to get it finished. I think this might be my new mode of scrapbooking.

Enjoy!!

Click here to view this photo book larger

Sewing List Progress (II)

Remember when I posted my summer sewing goals? Here is an update.

Let me preface this meager update by saying that my sewing machine has been in the shop for the past 10 weeks. It needed a good tune-up and I was having some major tension problems. But, I got it back yesterday and I am ready to SEW!

Back to the list ...

This outfit has been in my "to do" pile all summer but I couldn't finish sewing it up until I got the applique/monogramming done. It matches an outfit Claire has that I hope still fits her. This outfit is lacking buttons and button holes, but not for long!

This is the reverse side of the romper. Baby Luke will be able to wear this outfit in a couple of years now.

I also made these outfits for the kids to wear to Disney. I finished the shorts the night before we left ... at midnight. We left at 3:00 a.m. the following day. Needless to say, I did a lot of sleeping in the car on the drive to Orlando! They were definitely the best dressed kids at Disney! I loved that all of the park employees (even the dancers in the parade) called my kids by name all day long ... one of the perks of monogrammed shirts I guess.

There are three outfits on my old list that are being postponed until next spring because by the time I get them finished now, it will be too cold to wear them. I do still hope to finish David's smocked puppy romper even though rompers are kind of a pain to wear now since he is potty-trained.

I saved the best for last ... the diaper bag. My mom ended up making it for me because when we had to move our trip around to accommodate Will's work schedule after his company made the big layoff, I was going to be gone during the diaper bag class. I haven't seen it yet, but I can't wait. I promise to post a picture. Just to tide you over for now, the bag looks like this, but is made out of this fabric. (I went with the lime dots for my coordinating fabric.)

Claire's Big Weekend

A couple of weekends ago, Will's parents came to town on Friday afternoon with Claire's cousins, Davis & Breanna in tow. They stayed at a hotel on Friday night and swam their little hearts out. On Saturday morning, they hit the hotel pool at 7:00 AM, ate breakfast and then headed to Claire's soccer game.

Claire had quite the little cheering section at the game. And her play was much improved from her first game. She didn't stand with the coach the entire time (and try to hold his hand) and she actually kicked the ball a couple of times.

Pre-game warm-up with sub-Coach Nate.

Claire's cheering section.

Breanna & Davis-Claire's cousins. She is just crazy about these two.

There is some serious team strategy going on in this picture.

Cousins!

SCORE!

After the soccer game, Will's parents took the big kids to lunch (David had to stay with us) and then to see Disney on Ice. Claire loved seeing all the Disney characters ice skating. She has been telling me for about a month now that she didn't have any ice skates (she was worried) because she didn't get that she was going to WATCH the ice skating. She loved it and Will's mom said she sang all the princess songs. I kind of wish we could have gone too! But, Will and I enjoyed a nice peaceful day at home watching Alabama football and remembering how easy it is to only take care of one child. Even if that one child is such the handful right now.

Disney: Part II

What we did while we were there: The Pool

This trip, we stayed at the Beach Club which has the most awesome pool at Disney-Stormalong Bay. It did not disappoint. The pool was awesome and Claire loved it. Most kids who stay at a Disney property say that their favorite thing is the pool and it was no different with Claire. She loved the pool! As you will see in the photos below, the pool is like a beach, sand and all. Claire did not like the sand at first, but she quickly warmed up to it. The lifeguards even put shovels and pails out for the kids to play in the sand. But, her most favorite thing of all was the waterslide. They had one just for kids. She squealed with delight every time she came down. She was a little fearful at first, but after she tried it once, there was no stopping her. She would go down that thing over and over again for an hour at a time. They also had an "big kid" waterslide that was very fun. Will and I both managed at least one trip. Will also took Claire down the big waterslide once. (I vetoed any additional trips down the big slide after I found out.) We spent 4 out of 6 days on our vacation at the pool. Claire had a blast and the parent with David got a little R&R in the shade. By the way, Hurricane Hannah's Grille by the pool has the best Pina CoLAVA drink. I highly recommend it ... especially after a day at the pool with 2 small kids. Cheers!

Claire and David loaded in the stroller headed to the pool.

Waiting for the pool to open on our first day. Who knew it didn't open until 10am? We got there about 9:45 and got the best shady seat in the house.

Still waiting for the pool to open. Claire posed for a photo before she got wet.

David in his float ... he was not a big fan (of the float or the hat).

Daddy and Claire playing in the sand. The little sand bar was in the center of the pool. Oh what fun! I love the lighthouse in the background.

David took several naps at the pool ... and who knew that pool towels made such good swaddling blankets.

Here goes Claire down the waterslide.

And there is Daddy waiting to catch her at the bottom.

The kids waterslide was on the back of this shipwrecked boat. The "big kid" waterslide started at the top of the boat where you see that tube, went over the walkway, and came out in the big pool on the other side.

Will and his baby boy. Look at those rosy cheeks and little fat belly. Is that Santa?

Daddy helped Claire build a sandcastle.

Then she sat on it. She was not happy. She is probably saying, "my hands dirty". She did not like to get the sands on her hands. She quickly ran into the water to wash off.

David had a fun time kicking his feet in the water.

Look at my sweet beach babies. Don't worry ... Will was standing close by while I was taking this photo.

Disney: Getting there

I am sorry for the delay in posting about our trip. I have been swamped at work and home since we got back. The photos are finally on the computer now and I want to jot down a few favorite memories from the trip before I forget. I will probably break this story down into 3-4 posts so stay tuned for more to come. I promised my friend Jadie that I would put some Disney photos up ASAP.

DAY 1: A car ride, gasoline hunt and a clambake.
We pulled out of our driveway at 2:40 a.m. C.S.T. We were nervous about finding gas with the price hike and gas shortage rumors that were swirling due to Hurricane Ike. Georgia had plenty of gas, but it wasn't cheap. Florida had plenty of gas too. We stopped a lot to eat, potty, etc. We arrived at our hotel at 3:30 p.m. E.S.T. That is 12 hours total. In the car. With 2 kids.


David and Claire on the way to Orlando. Claire's mug shot was taken when we left that morning. She stayed awake for about 3 more hours before she finally went back to sleep!

We stayed at the Beach Club resort at Disney. Our first night We checked into our hotel and freshened up for dinner. We met our friends, Jessica and Buckley and their son Max (he is 2 months older than Claire), for dinner at Cape May Cafe for a traditional New England Clam Bake. I don't like clams, but they looked cute in the little buckets. Claire had a cupcake for dinner. That is all. And she got some stickers in the lobby.







After that, we headed out to the lake shore/Boardwalk area outside of our hotel and walked around for a little while. Our friends headed to Epcot for the fireworks and we headed to BED.

Buckley, Jessica and Max.


Our family on the shore with Disney's Boardwalk in the background. (It was too dark to be taking pictures.)


Will and Claire on the "beach" after dinner.


This was Claire and David's room. A little Disney magic ... and poof! Mickey and Minnie stuffed animals appeared on Claire's bed. A little welcome gift from mommy and daddy. I highly recommend a visit to the Disney Outlet store at Opry Mills before you go to Disneyworld.

Stay tuned ... tomorrow, we hit the pool.

The vacation is over.

We just got back from a week-long vacation in Orlando ... Disneyworld to be specific. I'll post more details and photos later. I have been in the car for 12 hours today, only to return home and find people lined up for gas (with police setting up road-blocks to direct the traffic). Fortunately, some friends forewarned us about the gas situation and we topped off before we left Georgia. Finding gas was not a problem in Georgia and Florida. Here are a few "nuggets" of info I gathered on our trip:

(1) A DVD player is an absolute necessity when traveling with a toddler for more than a few hours. Beware: you will watch a lot of Barney. You will also sing a lot of Barney songs for your entire trip.

(2) Make sure that your hotel pool has a kids waterslide. This kept Claire entertained for hours!

(3) Make sure your children actually like characters before you take them to a character meal. Otherwise, there will be a lot of screaming and crying, and not a lot of eating.

(4) It only took one ride on "Its a Small World" for my toddler to learn the song ... and sing it the entire rest of our vacation. I guess that is better than singing Barney.

(5) Disney's 2008 dining plan is no longer a really good deal. It was a good deal last year. Gratuity is no longer included so it is not as good of a deal now.

(6) When you spend 7 days with 2 kids at Disney, $21/hour babysitting is WORTH EVERY PENNY! We used Disney's babysitting service one night so we could have a "date night". We enjoyed a nice meal and got to ride one of my favorite Disney rides: Soarin'.

(7) It is still really hot and humid in Orlando in September. I went to Orlando with my parents this time last year. I guess I had forgotten.

(8) "Free Internet" at Disney means free access to Disney-owned websites only (e.g., ABC, ESPN). There was no email, blogging or facebook for me this week.

(9) Listening to golf on the radio is just as exciting as watching golf on television. Again, my other option was to watch Barney (or some other annoying kids' show) on DVD, so I listened to the Ryder Cup coverage on XM radio. Go team USA. Will said it was like watching the Olympics. I disagree.

Well, like I said, I hope to post some more details and photos about our vacation over the next week or so and catch up on my Thoughtful Thursday post, but I have a very busy week of "catching up" to do at home and work. Work is going to be especially hectic this week as I have a case set for trial on Oct. 1 (I will not be trying this case ... I will just be doing all the leg work to get ready).