Why I love the internet...

Ah, the internet...
Can you even believe when we wanted to know something when we were young we had to ask people we knew or ::gasp:: look it up in the library! in card catalogs and then in BOOKS!
I love love love being able to do a quick google search to find out pretty much anything, about anything...though to be fair, that is also not such a great thing either when you are fretting about something...
But why I really love the internet...is the connections it has made for me...many, many connections - that give me opportunities to meet amazing people and volunteer my time...connections that have made me friends that I am confident will be my friends for life.

I have met some wonderful people via the internet...and truth be told, I haven't actually MET, in real life, ALL of the folks I consider my friends, but I have met many many MANY of them and they are enriching my life each and every day -
But one of those folks whom I feel like I've known forever but haven't met in real life YET - is Martin...you DO know Martin don't you? X Box for Nappy Rash?
Martin has taken us on his and his wife's journey with infertility over the past couple of years, and let me tell you, if ever anyone can make something so serious so funny - he's the guy...
Well, earlier this month - Martin and his beautiful wife welcomed a healthy, GORGEOUS baby girl into their world http://xbox4nappyrash.blogspot.com/2010/02/gorgeousness-and-how-it-came-to-be.html(and now, OUR world!)
Dan, a friend of Martin, offered us the chance to contribute to an AMAZING video welcome! Soo soo honored to be a part! (and a HUGE THANK YOU to my fantabulous hubs who came up with the idea for our submission...I had ideas all right - none of which were working out - and one on which my hubs commented 'you people have no shame' or something along those lines and by you people - I think he means - us internet folks! (he's not really one of us!)
And if you have the time -you should check out what Dan, and Martin and Ian of Single Parent Dad and several others are doing...ah, again, the power of the internet...It never ceases to amaze me!

So anyway - there are hundreds of thousands of reasons to love the internet - like buying and selling things on Craigslist, clipping coupons, seeing pictures of your loved ones far and wide when you can't be together, finding volunteer opportunities and making new friends...
but for me, it's all comes down to the same thing - connecting and making this big giant not- always-so-friendly-world, just a little bit smaller...

Now...who's going to work on some Cards 4 Cancer with me? (Seriously, all you have to do is buy & sign a few cards, or make your own cards & or/pictures...in our house, think glitter, glue and paint!) and then shoot me an email - we'll connect and I'll get the cards so I can deliver them all next month!)

Disney World - Day 7

It feels like forever ago that our trip to Disney took place...hard to believe it was earlier this month...
finally...day 7!
So by day 7 we had been enjoying plenty of Disney - far more Disney than I ever imagined we would...but what else is there to do when it's raining? Disney offers LOTS to do when it's raining, so...we did it!

Saturday, the last full day of our trip...it was cool and we fully expected rains again...but alas...the SUN came out! Actually, I think it might have started out raining all morning but I can't even remember...

What I DO remember...is the reason we went back to Magic Kingdom in the first place...The little miss, who was finally digging the characters, really REALLY wanted to meet the princesses. Well, by now we were darn near park experts so we knew exactly where to go and what do to...
So...to magic kingdom we went...for the 3rd time that week!
We found the princesses right away, who incidentally, were cleverly hidden inside this giant 'big top' store that we (on purpose) avoided the first two days we were there! Filled with all things Disney for sale at totally inflated prices...how were we to know that tucked far back away down a big old hallway was the path to our little girl's dreams!
So...While the boys wandered around magic kingdom and rode roller coasters - we waited in a FIFTEEN MINUTE LINE...
for this...


And this...

And this...

D had NO DESIRE to see these princesses...THAT day...but we have heard about him missing out on this over and over and over and over again since we've been home...sometimes with tears in his eyes...
We'll head back little buddy - we'll head back...soon!

The boys did some pretty cool stuff that us gals didn't...

He did however, get in on meeting Ariel in all of her seashell glory! I think that's what made the fact that he didn't see the princesses earlier a bit disappointing - he was rather smitten with her & the fact that she thought his pirate sword was all that...
I think he wanted a chance to impress ALL the ladies - (though THAT day he could have cared less...)

We took in a couple/few more shows outside the castle...

And the difference between a rainy mid week day vs. a sunny Saturday afternoon?

Check out this crowd! YUCK!

Both the hubs and I agreed that we would not have been gung ho for going back if this had been our first day of vacation!

Going in the value season is soo much better than this every day! This was the only day we encountered the massive crowds...rides had 90 minute waits and it was impossible to walk around...Sunny Saturday in February...yikes!

I honestly don't know how people go to and enjoy Disney when the crowds are large like this! Especially keeping track of kids/strollers, etc...

We literally had our run of all four parks...until our last full day!

I was more than ready to go back to the hotel around dinner time - after all, we got to meet the princesses and Ariel which was mainly what we came back to the Magic Kingdom to do for our last day...

But that hubs of mine - he's pretty smart - he had the let's keep on keepin' on attitude - we're already here - let's just do this...

We stayed for more fireworks and then...

The spectromagic parade!

(I have a gazillion pics that I took of it but well, you know, some of my posts are pretty pic heavy and they aren't that great of pictures...)

I'm soo glad he talked me into sticking around - it was totally worth it and we all had a GREAT time!

He was so right - let's just do it all, we're already here - I'm sure a part of him is thinking let's do it all now cuz we aren't coming back here for 10 years...

I'm going to start scrounging up the pennies for the next trip...which hopefully, will be value season about 2 years from now!

This one is already packed!

All or nothing?

When the hubs and I bought this house, we had intentions of sticking around for 5, maybe 7 years at most. It wasn't our dream home but it had enough of what we thought we wanted at the time...
ugh - if we knew then what we know now!!
Aside from the great neighbors we have, who we do actually spend more time with than just out at the mailbox for a few minutes each day, there's nothing really keeping us here...
well, you know, besides the flailing economy and crash of the housing market that is.

So...we make due even though we have no coat closet, a garage that barely fits two average cars (and none of our little tikes plastic!), and only one working shower. Whatever right?

Because our money tree isn't growing and we have yet to pick up a winning lottery ticket, we've been making small (read: affordable) changes here and there. The kids' rooms are by far my favorite rooms in the house - they both have new flooring and somewhat fresh paint...and even with their plethora of toys, I am typically able to maintain some sense of order in their rooms. Now, if I could just find some kids bedding that we all like and can agree on, we'd be all set!

Well, set in those two rooms anyway...the rest of the house is a work in progress...

Which brings me to one of our biggest needs-work-in-progress...The kitchen. The week before Thanksgiving our trusty old microwave died (old being the operative word here) so we held out for like an entire 7 days and took advantage of a black Friday special and got a great deal on a nice over the range stainless steel jobby. We love it...but have had some comments both from people who've seen it and people who haven't.
There's the 'why'd you get stainless steel when it doesn't match the rest of your (white) appliances?' and the 'it looks great' (to which I'm sure they are thinking - but totally out of place you morons why not upgrade everything else?

Well, the awesome folks at csnstores.com have offered to give me my 2nd stainless steel appliance, albeit a small one, for taking the time to review it. Soon, I will have my very own (stainless steel) Black and Decker toaster! csnstores.com has soo many wonderful items to choose from - you could seriously do all but your grocery shopping on their website! I don't know the proper etiquette for home improvement for workin' folks like ourselves - do you go all out and purchase a whole room or do you pick up bits and pieces as you go along until it's finally all complete like we do?
I mean...4.5 years for the perfect little girl's room, (minus some awesome kids bedding) and 3 years for the perfect little boy's room (again, minus the kids bedding) isn't so bad for a project completion is it? Wait...don't answer that...

So where is YOUR favorite place to shop for kids' bedding?

Cards 4 Cancer - Let's make a difference!

I'm a busy person... aren't we all?
There just aren't enough hours in the day to get it all done...and I for one am always wanting to do more.

Whether you are a wife, a mother, a husband, a father. An employee or a boss. A friend, a daughter, a sister, a brother....volunteer...
The truth of the matter is, there is just never enough time to get it all done. That's the reason I'm always looking for little things that I can do with minimal effort that can make a difference. A little difference, or a big difference, doesn't matter. Just a difference.

(Like the 7 on the 7th with the Liz Logelin Foundation) Seriously - it all adds up and really truly does make a difference!

I was soo thrilled when I came across something that fit the bill I'm always looking for...only, in this case. I have, with your help, the ability to make a HUGE difference. WE ALL DO! What is this remarkable opportunity you ask? Well, it's cards 4 cancer! As taken from their website
'On April 10th 2010 Spirit Jump along with Bloggers Unite and its sponsors are pleased to bring you our First Annual Cards 4 Cancer Day. Battling cancer can be one of the most difficult and loneliest experiences a person can go through. With cancer touching so many lives around the world it’s time to let them know they are not alone. Our mission is to provide hope and comfort to the many men, women and children who are involved in this battle. With your help Spirit Jump hopes to collectively deliver over 100,000 cards.'

You don't have to personally know someone is who is battling cancer. Haven't we all been touched in one way or another at some point in our lives by that nasty beast called Cancer? Whether you or someone you know has lost a loved one - cancer is far too widespread.
Over the years I've seen far too many people lose their fight. It's not fair.

I am soo excited about cards 4 cancer. You know how excited you get when someone leaves a nice comment on your blog? What? You don't have a blog? You have one but no one ever leaves you comments? (Shame on them!)

Well, what about that card you got in the mail telling you to have a nice day and it's NOT EVEN YOUR BIRTHDAY! Yeah...THAT feeling!
Together - We can make a difference!
We get to put together cards for people right here in the Twin Cities Metro area currently battling the Big C.
The hospital I choose was the University of Minnesota Amplatz Children's Hospital.

If you'd like to 'officially' join my team
click HERE and my team name is 'Together - We can make a difference'
(at least I think it is-I'm still getting everything together!)

If you don't want to officially join my team but feel like you could produce a couple of dozen cards to brighten someone's day - please feel free to drop me an email at darciegust (at ) yahoo (dot) com or leave me a comment. Maybe you've got kids (or run a daycare or teach in a classroom) and the kids love to make little art projects? I know my two do!
How about a get well soon picture drawn by your favorite young un?

Cards do not need to be fancy or store bought (though they can be if you want them to be!) but should convey a simple, positive message to someone who is battling cancer.
_____________
Some tips from the website as to what you might include in your cards:
*** Some people have been asking for advice on what to write in their cards. While the messages are important please remember that its your time, thought and compassion that really makes the difference. With that said here are some tips on writing messages in your cards:
1- Try to stay away from “Get Well”. Unfortunately some of the recipients of your cards will not get well and this message, while a positive one, can be hard for some. Because we do not know specifically who will receive your cards its a good idea to stay away from any type of “Get Well” messages.
2- “Thinking of You” “Wishing You Well” “You Are In Our Thoughts” “Encouraging You Through Your Battle’ etc…are all great messages to include in your cards.
3- Uplifting quotes are always great
4- Drawings without any message at all work too.
5-Try to stay gender and age neutral as you do not know who will be receiving your cards. However, if you know you are delivering to a childrens center, woman’s center etc….you can be more specific.
The cards may be signed however the person making the card feels most comfortable. The cards may be in an envelope or not but if you do place them in an envelope we suggest leaving the envelope unsealed in case the staff needs to look at the cards before they deliver them. Also all cards should have spiritjump.org somewhere on the card so that those who receive the cards will know where to go should they wish to receive more support.
_______________________
So...What do you say?
Who's in?

Together - we can make a difference!

If you are interested in learning more - ask me...or click here to visit the cards 4 cancer blog!

the shoes make the outfit -

It's been said that the shoes make the woman. Or the shoes make the outfit.
Or maybe I'm just totally making that up...but one thing is for sure - our little girl looooves her some shoes.
Boots - knock off uggs, princess snowboots, kitty rainboots.
Flip flops, ruby red slippers. Tennis shoes, patent black leather shoes...
She has, and loves, all of them.

When she had her first birthday - or was it her second?
She got her first pair of 'fancy' shoes...I'm going to say second - because it was a whole dress up set that she got - a pink satin 'gown', feather boa, sunglasses and shoes...

I remember thinking - oh Lord, those SHOES...she will NEVER wear those shoes...

Well, these very shoes...she has worn OUT over the last two and almost half years...
in fact, they've been glued, and taped, and super glued, and packaging taped up, time and time again...but oh how she looves her fancy shoes!


And the dress...the dress still fits...and she wears it. A. LOT. She just loooooves 'staying home days' so she can keep this pretty thing on all day long...

And sport it with her brand spankin' new fancy shoes!

(and even on not-staying-home days, she rushes to put this on when we get home...and each night, after tucking her in one last time, we more times than not are sliding these plastic gems off of her tired little feet)
I tell ya what - the best $6.69 a parent could have spent...
Three pairs of fancy shoes, two tiaras...Walgreens baby!
(Even more awesome is that I was THIS CLOSE to spending $20 on one tiara at Walt Disney World a few weeks ago-but I thought better of it...)

She is pretty comical...She has a system (that she doesn't follow). She'll say..."The purple shoes are for Tuesdays. These fancy ones with the flowers, these are for staying home days" and it is absolutely priceless to watch. I love that these crazy plastic play shoes make her so incredibly happy.
In fact, she wore the darker pink ones above to the dentist on Friday - with a fresh done-by-mom pedicure complete with flower stickers on all ten of her toes...It was an awfully cute site to watch her little toes curling up in these shoes while she sat in the dentist chair trying 20x over to get some decent bite wing pics...(We never did!)

I'm going to let her wear these shoes again NEXT Friday - when we return to have some cavities filled. Our poor little princess. She's inherited my teeth. (They tell me it's hereditary-teeth issues.)
So...She'll get some laughing gas to help her relax (they don't have any for me - I asked!) and I'll paint her toes a beautiful rainbow of colors and let her concentrate on those while she's being a brave little girl next week...
We're going to need more than fancy shoes and pedicures to get through this one!

Meat of the Month Club...or something like that...

So most of our big events are huddled right around each other - fall brings us birthdays for H and I, then comes Christmas and D's birthday, followed very closely by Valentine's Day (blah) and the hubs' birthday.

We've been together 10 years the hubs and I...and we're pretty practical around here...
I mean...what do you give the man who has me for a wife everything?

Seriously. We have our home. And our two gorgeously healthy children. We have a dog. He has about as close to his dream car as he's gonna get, for awhile anyway. We just celebrated our 10 year anniversary (along with about a dozen other things) in Florida on vacation...

So truly...what do you get the man who has all he could ever possibly want and more...?


I asked my fellow twitter friends...and got LOTS of great ideas...
But one that really struck me as being something he would enjoy...was from Jenny - MEAT!

Can you really go wrong with getting your man MEAT?

I didn't think so...

(click the pic if you want to actually read it)


That's right folks...I got my man some MEAT for his birthday. I headed over to Von Hanson's to see what they had...and was able to secure 5 different flavors of brats for my man! Who doesn't love a good brat on the grill?

It was brilliant! We are currently working on simplifying our lives around here...read: I'm trying to get rid of stuff and declutter to make ALL of us happy!)

This was a perfect idea...something he will (hopefully) enjoy...nothing that has to be stored someplace (well, besides our freezer until we grill it up and eat it that is...) and it didn't break our bank account...

Thanks Jenny for the awesome idea!

We sang happy birthday and had a little peanut butter & chocolate cake...


And then enjoyed a great dinner out followed by some awesome games at a local haunt we plan to visit again very very soon...We LOVED Brunswick Bowl! Our kids ate for free and got some complimentary game cards, we enjoyed excellent hot meals at reasonable prices, all while watching some Olympics on the big screens...(and cartoons right in our booth!) before wandering around playing a few games...next time - we are bowling for SURE!
Happy Birthday Babe! I love you!! WE love you!

While birthdays sure are a lot different around here than they used to be, I couldn't of been more happy with how this one turned out...well, considering...I mean, I did get the man MEAT for heaven's sakes!

Now...if anyone can remember what I got him LAST year...I'll think of a GREAT prize for you!

(I actually blogged that he got some great gifts if I did say so myself...but if neither of us can remember just a year later...how great could they possibly have been? hmmmm)

From Us to You - Happy Valentine's Day...

I hate to be a scrooge...but I've never really liked Valentine's Day. Ever. Seems soo silly to be out spending a small fortune on flowers and cards and what not because the calendar tells you to.
Doing that on a random day...when the prices on said flowers aren't as inflated...sure - that might be nice...but Valentine's Day...
harumpf.
Add in the fact that this year marked ten years to the day, that my Dad passed away suddenly after suffering, what else, a heart attack...and well...
I'm just not into this whole Valentine's thing... I thought about writing a special post about my Dad...and I still might...but my thoughts are still pretty much right on to what I wrote two years ago...and while I started going thru my boxes and boxes of old family photos (oh how great it is to have digital now...) I just don't have it in me right now to do it...

But again, not to be a scrooge...Valentine's Day (a Sunday this year) came and went with pretty much no fanfare this year...but Monday...the kids had a great party at daycare where just like last year, they came home with more loot they we know what to do with...and then I surprised them with some clearance cupcakes to enjoy after dinner...

They were a hit...


And just for fun...here's a small clip of the kids saying Happy Valentine's Day day (like we have in years past (2008), and in 2009 )and talking about how you can mix the different colored frostings together to make paint!?!

Disney...Our Way...

So I've gotten a ton of emails/comments and questions about our vacation and how people thought it was great that we were able to save quite a bit of money on our recent vacation to Disney...
So....I thought I'd summarize the trip & highlight how we made it soo much more affordable for our family...

First...the time of year we went...I have only been to Disney once - 20 years ago. My hubs has never been and of course our kids hadn't been either...I knew that I didn't want to take this magical vacation only to spend hours standing around in the hot sun waiting 90 minutes in line to do a 2 minute ride...
We've got Valley Fair, Como Town/Park and The Minnesota State Fair for that stuff!

So...I did my research to find out when the LEAST BUSY time of year is at Walt Disney World...
With the kids not being in school yet - it was somewhat easy for us to go on our own schedule...I despise winter and the COLD, so going when it was for SURE going to be winter here was another biggie...
And the least busy season at Disney also equals what they call - the value season -
It honestly cost about 50% less to go in the value season then it would have had we gone another time.
We scored a buy 4 nights, get 3 free deal that included park passes.

We did not choose a dining plan because we don't eat that much food when we are out and about, and the girls in this family are pretty picky eaters...The Disney Dining Plan for our family of four would have added approximately $120.00 PER DAY for FOOD to our trip...how is THAT a deal I ask you?

the details of the dining plan are as follows~

The additional cost for the 2010 Dining Plan (on top of the vacation package) is $41.99 or $46.99 per night per adult or junior (ages 10-17), $11.99 or $12.99 per night for children (ages 3-9). (Prices vary according to the dates of travel.) You get one table service meal, one counter service meal and one snack per day.

While it's true we could have done some Character Dining...We didn't for a couple of reasons...first, we weren't sure how our kids would react to the characters in person. Who wants to shell out $18.99 for adults and $10.99 for kids if the the food won't get eaten and someone might be hiding under the table afraid of the characters?
The other biggie for us...is we didn't want to schedule our vacation so that we were running from one place to the next, having to be somewhere at a said time. If we made dining reservations, we'd have to make sure we weren't at a show, watching a parade, in line to meet a character, or having a blast riding It's a Small World over and over again.
I cannot tell you the number of times we saw people racing to get to a reservation, sure they were going to be late.
That happened THREE TIMES in the line to meet Ariel in her Grotto! Nothing like waiting 30 minutes to meet the Little Mermaid only to have to get out of line and high tail it to a reservation.
We also didn't want to set alarm clocks...We've got two of those built in already - they are 3 and 4 years old...It was important that after a full day at Disney they got as great a rest as possible and if that meant someone needed to sleep in til 8 or 9 am...that was ok with us.

So...the food thing...
We didn't have a car - because we stayed right on Disney Property, they picked us up at the airport and took us to our hotel - and we spent the week hopping on shuttle buses at our leisure...
Our hotel room had a fridge...but nothing else like a microwave...
So...after MUCH Internet searching and recommendations from friends...We went with Garden Grocer - an online grocery delivery service. $12.00 for delivery to Disney hotels for orders under $200 - FREE delivery over $200. Amazon.com also delivers food - who knew?

What did I order? Well, a case of 36 bottles of water for starters. Sure, it was $8.99 - but 3 bottles in and we were coming out ahead already as bottled water at Disney is $3.00 a shot! Other things I ordered were bananas, cinnamon bread, regular bread, peanut butter, jelly, butter, string cheese, donuts...We had pop tarts, beef jerky and cheese and crackers...and two different kinds of juice...
We packed this stuff in our backpack each day and ate when our tummies told us to - it worked out MARVELOUSLY...We did also eat some of our food at Disney's counter service locations...they were average at best...and high priced...

Before we went - I ordered several articles of clothing for the kids from an online Disney store - Sweatshirt online $7.99, Sweatshirt at Disney World, $45.00! Long sleeve tshirt online $6.99, at Disney world, $24.99.
A no brainer huh?
We let the kids each pick out one trinket - H picked out a small plush Minnie Doll and D, what else...a Pirate Sword.
We have offered to let them look at all the amazing stuff Disney has to offer online and pick out a couple more things now that we're home...but thankfully, neither of them has interest...(we really do have more toys, etc than we know what to do with!)
What do you do with a giant Goofy hat once you get home?
Soo Soo glad our kids were content to just take it all in while we were there!

Another thing I highly recommend...the Disney Photo Pass - my dear friend Laurie suggested it to me before we left, encouraging me to buy it before we went because it was just $99.00 for a disc of everything as opposed to $149.00 if we purchased later.
I contemplated. And thought about it. And mulled it over...and decided I couldn't do it - I take a zillion pictures on my own - why would I need it?
WRONG. On the 2nd day - the hubs and H were off wandering/hiding from the characters that D and I were meeting...so he wasn't there to snap a pic of D and I and Handy Manny (& D wasn't up for doing it alone) - but the photopass guy was there and made it soo easy to give me a card...so...I began using it...sparingly. We didn't have Internet access at our hotel and I couldn't see any pics...How could I spend $100 on pictures I hadn't seen yet?
Well, luckily for me, Disney offered me a discount code so that I can get my disc of ALL pics for $119 - There were 122 different pictures on that disc...and I love quite a few of them. They also got our best family shots of the entire vacation. So...my choices are spend $15 for one picture - or $120 for all of them 122+ (because I'm adding Disney borders, etc to some)
So...GET THE PHOTOPASS - PREPAY IT - AND STOP EVERY SINGLE PHOTO PASS PHOTOGRAPHER YOU FIND AND TAKE SOME PICTURES!! Have fun, be silly, be serious. When you get home - you want to see hundreds of pictures on that disc...make it worth the money!
So...I guess those are the basics...
** I highly recommend doing Disney's Fast Pass...We rarely encountered any lines for anything but Fast Pass allowed us to ride the Safari twice at Animal Kingdom on a VERY busy day and get on the new Toy Story Ride at Hollywood Studios that we wouldn't have otherwise gotten on. (again, with no dining reservations anywhere-we were able to make ourselves available for our fast pass times...which, the toy story one was 8 hours after we put our cards in right when we got there in the morning!
** If you can see Fantasmic - DO! It was AMAZING!
** Animal Kingdom Safari - soo neat to see soo many different animals close up but not in cages!
** We loved the Nemo Show and the Lion King Show...

The rest, we just rolled with! When we arrived at the parks each morning we'd pick up a schedule and look for parade times, block party times or anything else special that might be going ...and it worked out marvelously for us...

Any questions, besides why am I sooo frugal, and why is this post so damn long?

two...2...two?

I can hardly believe that our BFF's lil guy who I could SWEAR was just born last week actually just turned 2!

Thankfully - we were able to celebrate before catching an early flight out of town...Though I'm sure our kids would have gladly stayed all night and licked the yummy frosting off of these delightful treats!

H wore her best Sunday dress - and 'baby Grace' wore hers as well - to celebrate with E ~

And I just know these two will be up to no good for many many years to come...

And H made fast friends with one of E's cousins...she just loooved having another girl to play with! (They wouldn't pose for me so I had to sneak a pic!)

Happy Golden Birthday E! We love you!

And soon, very very soon - when this little guy is mobile...He's going to be adding to the chaos and fun that are our boys! YAY! (Not to mention his baby brother that is coming yet this spring!)

And after hanging with Grandpa Jack for maybe a tad too long - wondering what the heck was going on...I think he'll be cruising in no time!

and the winner is....

So I recently had the opportunity to give away an item of my choosing thanks to the wonderful folks at csnstores.com ~ I did a quick blog post about it, and then disappeared for 8 days trying to get some R&R...

I was hoping you all would have a little competition with hundreds and hundreds of comments...but a small friendly competition works too!

19 of you left comments and I used random.org to select a winner -



da da dum...drum roll please...

And the winner is...The 4th comment...
My new BFF Jen from The Recovering Procrastinator! Congrats Jen! Email me your address and csnstores.com will be sending you this killer bath toy!
Perfect for her love to be naked loves the bathtub won't leave the cushions on the couches and then refuse to pick them up prefers not to go to bed til all hours of the night kidlets...
Wait - was I talking about Jen's kids or my own? Hard to tell that's for sure!!

Thanks to everyone who left a comment to be entered...
I hope to do more things like this in the future that are things that go with the flow of my blog and are things I believe in and stand behind!
Thanks csnstores.com for giving me the opportunity to give something away...

Now, I wonder if Jen will let my kids come over and play with this new toy since we don't have one for ourselves??

Epcot - Day 6

Day 6...
Friday...Still having fun...but still running around WAY more than we ever thought we would...
The whole premise of this trip was that we were in Florida, in the winter - and just happened to be staying on Disney property.
I had visions of lying in the sun, relaxing...and taking in SOME Disney.
Well, when it rains. And rains. And pours. And rains some more...there is only so much you can do in your average sized hotel room with a family of four...
So...Disney it was!
The thing about Disney is, even in the rain - there is LOTS to do!

This day however...DID go exactly how I had thought most of our days would...sleep in, get up, eat a little breakfast, play on the beach, in the pool, relax in the hot tub...and THEN head over to Disney...
It was awesome...(well, until it started downpouring on us...AGAIN)

We made sand castles...

And played with our little duckie friends...



And made sand angels while thinking of those back home making snow angels!


We splashed in the pool -

And played on the pirate ship...

Before heading to Epcot in the afternoon - (a better picture coming soon when my Disney Photo Pass CD arrives...for now - you get the idea)


I think someone, and I'm not naming any names here, would have been more happy to hang out at the hotel and hang out in the pool and hot tub...(and they WERE open 24 hours so we really could have, and maybe should have...)

But, like I said...Disney gives you many many many things to see and do in the rain - like Meet Mickey Mouse!

And Minnie Mouse -

And Donald Duck!

And eat ice cream...

And explore under the sea with Nemo and his friends...




We did wander around Epcot in between downpours...but it wasn't as easy on this particular day. The rain was more downpourish than drizzle like we'd had pretty much all. week. long. I insisted we bring strollers for the first time on this day - because we were all getting tired and I somehow had this vision in my head of wandering around the gorgeous grounds at Epcot pushing the kids in strollers while snapping pics in the different countries...
Um, not-so-much. It didn't just rain, it poured...So parking your stroller outside to do an indoor activity meant you would come out to a soaked stroller - and who wants to sit in an umbrella stroller that can hold your weight in water?
D preferred to PUSH it around himself - and was not very good at steering it (unless you count INTO people) in the rain in the dark...

So...before illumiNations began, we bailed...but that was ok...We did a billion fun things this week. And we were soaking wet! Note to self: ponchos, umbrellas, raincoats...those are all worth having apparently!

When you wish upon a Star...

Walt Disney World...Day ? Five? five...hmmm, Yes, that sounds about right -
Day five...the sun was actually shining and we headed back out to Hollywood Studios for day 5 -

(Remember - the only *schedule* we had was which park was open extra hours for Extra Magic Hours...and if there was a 'certain day only' show we didn't want to miss.)



And on this day...FIVE DAYS into our trip...She decided, out of the blue...that it was high time she got in on this character action...
She demanded her autograph book (a tinkerbell book from the dollar store we had gotten eons ago but never wrote in - I wasn't too keen on paying $10.95 for an official Disney Autograph book on the off chance our kid would actually want the autograph of a costumed Disney employee)

All by herself...she marched right up and introduced herself...

And for about 3 days prior to this...each evening around, oh, say 7 or 8 pm as we were winding down our day...She would ever so sweetly ask if she could have her face painted...

Well, with all the RAIN and seeing as how it was almost time to conk out...we always had to tell her *later*...

Finally, some morning sunshine and a face painting booth!

And shortly there after - we met the Monsters, Inc crew! I have some GREAT pics of D SCARING Sully via Disney's Photo Pass...so stay tuned for those pictures...you know you want to!

It was nice enough to enjoy a frozen Raspberry Lemonade...

And take in the Extreme Stunt Show that we saw a couple of days prior in the rain...It was just as awesome on this day as it was the first day!

We met Buzz Lightyear and Woody (again!) - and H got a couple more autographs...

And Buzz Lightyear and Daddy had some *conversation* about how Buzz cheated by stamping his name not signing it...it was pretty funny! Wish I had video rolling of THAT!

We weren't impressed with our park food options so we splurged on World Famous Disney Cupcakes...

And then headed to the FANTASMIC show - the main reason we went back to Hollywood Studios on this particular day of our vacation...

And it was soooo worth it....I highly suggest you click on Disney's Video seeing as how mine was such poor quality...

and it didn't help that I was holding this guy fast asleep about 3 minutes into the show...

Poor kid...the next day - watching some of our video footage...he was asking if we could go there again...he just runs and runs and runs and RUNS all day long...if you sat still for any length of time...he was OUT! (why doesn't that happen at home though?