We are finally back home... This has been a long, but fun and exciting, week for all of us. But we are very glad to be back at our house and to be sleeping in our own beds for the first time in 9 days.
The reunion was fun again this year. Actually we had more fun being back on the Gulf of Mexico where we had a great beach to play on. Katie finally has decided she does like the beach (and the ocean). That was a big issue going into the trip because she was just sure she hated both of those.
She loved playing with all of her cousins as well and made sure to let everyone know how they are related.
Good times...
Sunday, July 13, 2008
Friday, July 11, 2008
Walt Disney - Day 2
Well, I am sorry that it has taken a while to get our day 2 posted, but the internet kept acting up on me until now...
But day 2 was a whole lot of fun too! It was a little harder getting our princess up and moving because we didn't get in to bed until after 1am. But when we finally got moving, we went to Hollywood Studios to have breakfast at Hollywood & Vine.
There we ate with Leo and June from Little Einsteins and JoJo and Goliath from JoJo's Circus. She loved meeting them all but she didn't really feel like hugging JoJo. Who can blame her! I don't know that I would want to hug a 6 foot tall clown! She did linger quite a while with Goliath though. Her favorite thing at breakfast (food-wise) was her Mickey Mouse waffle - not that it was that big a surprise.
From there we went to meet Woody and Buzz. She almost didn't want to meet them, but once it was our turn she loved it! She was jumping around all over the place once we left their area and grinning ear to ear.
We wandered around after that and Katie found a fountain that she had to throw some money in, of course. We then headed over to see Disney Playhouse Live on stage and were chosen as the "First Family" and got to go in and choose where we wanted to sit before anyone else. So we were front and center to see many of the Playhouse Disney characters - Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Daisy, Goofy, Pluto, Pooh, Tigger, the Little Einstieins, and Handy Manny. We then went to go on Woody's 3D ride - where Christine and I whipped everyone else around us at the game. Katie just laughed and laughed as we spun around and around and had things flying at us. It was fun, but princess was getting tired. So we headed back to the hotel for a cozy, little nap and some lunch.
Once we were all rested, we got ourselves together and headed to Epcot and the Norweigian pavillion for dinner with the princesses. We did get caught in the rain though which made us make a quick pit stop for some pochos... To say that she was in awe of all of them running around there would be an understatement. She first had a portrait made with Belle. Then the parade of princesses came around - Ariel, Aurora, Jasmine, and Cinderella. They were all awesome with Katie and she just smiled and smiled and smiled. She did ask Jasmine where Rajah was, but other than that, she just grinned and hugged them.
Dinner was pretty good, and after that, we headed over to Mexico to do some shopping and take a boat ride through the Mexican countryside. She definitely liked that, especially the fake fireworks. Nemo and friends came next. It was neat and Katie thought it was "cool" seeing Nemo and all the other characters. At the end of the ride, there was an aquarium where we got to run around and some coloring activities for the bugga.
We left Nemo and head to Spaceship Earth. Katie was very excited to get there, but then was a little disappointed that the "roller coaster" was not very fast. I guess Goofy's roller coaster got her excited about roller coasters! Oh well...
Our last stop was a visit with more characters. Mickey, Minnie, Pluto, Stitch (who Katie had never seen before), and Goofy. She just hugged them all and got some more great pictures. After another full day, we came home on the monorail - where we got to be co-pilots in the front of the train. We hit the beds and slept well...
The next morning, Katie and I swam for a while after breakfast and then we packed up and headed out the family reunion.
Enjoy the pictures!!
But day 2 was a whole lot of fun too! It was a little harder getting our princess up and moving because we didn't get in to bed until after 1am. But when we finally got moving, we went to Hollywood Studios to have breakfast at Hollywood & Vine.
There we ate with Leo and June from Little Einsteins and JoJo and Goliath from JoJo's Circus. She loved meeting them all but she didn't really feel like hugging JoJo. Who can blame her! I don't know that I would want to hug a 6 foot tall clown! She did linger quite a while with Goliath though. Her favorite thing at breakfast (food-wise) was her Mickey Mouse waffle - not that it was that big a surprise.
From there we went to meet Woody and Buzz. She almost didn't want to meet them, but once it was our turn she loved it! She was jumping around all over the place once we left their area and grinning ear to ear.
We wandered around after that and Katie found a fountain that she had to throw some money in, of course. We then headed over to see Disney Playhouse Live on stage and were chosen as the "First Family" and got to go in and choose where we wanted to sit before anyone else. So we were front and center to see many of the Playhouse Disney characters - Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Daisy, Goofy, Pluto, Pooh, Tigger, the Little Einstieins, and Handy Manny. We then went to go on Woody's 3D ride - where Christine and I whipped everyone else around us at the game. Katie just laughed and laughed as we spun around and around and had things flying at us. It was fun, but princess was getting tired. So we headed back to the hotel for a cozy, little nap and some lunch.
Once we were all rested, we got ourselves together and headed to Epcot and the Norweigian pavillion for dinner with the princesses. We did get caught in the rain though which made us make a quick pit stop for some pochos... To say that she was in awe of all of them running around there would be an understatement. She first had a portrait made with Belle. Then the parade of princesses came around - Ariel, Aurora, Jasmine, and Cinderella. They were all awesome with Katie and she just smiled and smiled and smiled. She did ask Jasmine where Rajah was, but other than that, she just grinned and hugged them.
Dinner was pretty good, and after that, we headed over to Mexico to do some shopping and take a boat ride through the Mexican countryside. She definitely liked that, especially the fake fireworks. Nemo and friends came next. It was neat and Katie thought it was "cool" seeing Nemo and all the other characters. At the end of the ride, there was an aquarium where we got to run around and some coloring activities for the bugga.
We left Nemo and head to Spaceship Earth. Katie was very excited to get there, but then was a little disappointed that the "roller coaster" was not very fast. I guess Goofy's roller coaster got her excited about roller coasters! Oh well...
Our last stop was a visit with more characters. Mickey, Minnie, Pluto, Stitch (who Katie had never seen before), and Goofy. She just hugged them all and got some more great pictures. After another full day, we came home on the monorail - where we got to be co-pilots in the front of the train. We hit the beds and slept well...
The next morning, Katie and I swam for a while after breakfast and then we packed up and headed out the family reunion.
Enjoy the pictures!!
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
Walt Disney World - Day 1
Well, the time finally came for Mommy & Daddy to make good on the deal Katie made with us. She finally got fully potty trained and we ponied up and brought her to WALT DISNEY'S WORLD!!
We got down to Florida on Saturday evening. The ride was actually pretty good. Only 3 DVDs hit the little screens, so we didn't go totally crazy. We had a great time with all the family in Winter Haven Saturday and Sunday, but we finally headed out to Disney this morning. We arrived right around 9:30 and got checked in...the room was actually ready! And it is really nice too. Katie loves it and we have a great view of the pool. After getting our stuff in the room, it was off to the Magic Kingdom.
We decided to make the walk over to the park and headed to the train once we got in. Immediately we saw Woody & Jessie so we got off on the first stop to run over and see them. Unfortunately, the line was already closed, but we did get to wave to them. We should see them tomorrow anyway! We headed back to the train and went to Mickey's Toontown Fair. And the fun began!
We hit a little play park first and then headed to Mickey's house. Much to our surprise there was an opportunity to meet Mickey and Minnie right there. We got in line and when it was Katie's turn to "meet" them, all we could do was smile. Her jaw basically hit the floor and then that grin came across her face as she got the shake their hands and hug both of them...Mickey actually held on for quite a long time! She was walking on cloud nine when we came out of there. Next we jumped on Goofy's Barnstormer (roller coaster). I was not sure what to expect and Christine figured it wasn't going to be that bad, so she came along for the ride. Needless to say, it was a real roller coaster. While Mommy was closing her eyes and screaming, Katie was screaming and laughing! She had the best time on it.
Next came Minnie's house followed by a trip in to a store to get a Goofy doll (which she never found one to her liking). However, there was another opportunity to meet not one...not two...but 3 of Mickey's friends - Donald, Pluto and Goofy! Once again, she was speechless as she moved from character to character. Loving every minute of it! And when we got through with that, we got Mickey Mouse ears!
It was then time to move on to lunch - which we thoroughly enjoyed (especially since it was followed by ice cream!). We headed down to Cinderella's castle and after explaining that we could not actually go in to it, a show started with Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Donald and all the princesses. So we watched that with dreamy eyes until a storm on the horizon cut it short. So that was our chance to head back to the room to get some rest before coming back that evening.
Katie loved the monorail ride back to our "house." We came back to the room and played with our Briar Rose (aka Sleeping Beauty) doll and horse before taking a great nap.
We headed back to the park with a spring in our step late this afternoon. And we headed for the race cars in Tomorrowland. Daddy and Katie were able to hold off Mommy in a tightly contested trip around the track. Katie spent most of the time (when we weren't banging in to the rail) looking back and laughing at Mommy eating our dust!
Next came Buzz Lightyear's Spin ride. We all got to ride this together and we BEAT ZURG!!! Whoo Hoo!! :) From there, Katie and Mommy rode the Teacups (Daddy wanted no part of that). They had great fun spinning round & round as daddy snapped more pics.
We then hit the Merry-go-round before eating dinner. From our dinner table we could see inside It's a Small World - so that is where we went next. So of course Katie was singing right along with them before the ride was over, and Christine & I just hope we can get the song out of our head before coming home to Atlanta!
Fireworks we next, but that was not a great hit. Katie was just sure they were bombarding Cinderella's castle, so we had to get out of there before it came crashing down! So we made a beeline to Peter Pan's ride and then to Main Street for the parade. Katie was mesmerized by the parade to say the least. We had our ice cream and watched all our "friends" go by waving at all of the good ones! When it was over, we took the monorail back to the hotel, got cleaned up and went to bed. At least they did...
I suppose that is a good enough recap for the first day. The pictures are uploading now, so they should be ready by the morning when most of you should see this. I know it is a lot, be we can only hope you enjoy the stories and pics / movies 1/2 as much as we have! More tomorrow (umm...I guess actually tonight) after our day at Epcot and Hollywood Studio!
We got down to Florida on Saturday evening. The ride was actually pretty good. Only 3 DVDs hit the little screens, so we didn't go totally crazy. We had a great time with all the family in Winter Haven Saturday and Sunday, but we finally headed out to Disney this morning. We arrived right around 9:30 and got checked in...the room was actually ready! And it is really nice too. Katie loves it and we have a great view of the pool. After getting our stuff in the room, it was off to the Magic Kingdom.
We decided to make the walk over to the park and headed to the train once we got in. Immediately we saw Woody & Jessie so we got off on the first stop to run over and see them. Unfortunately, the line was already closed, but we did get to wave to them. We should see them tomorrow anyway! We headed back to the train and went to Mickey's Toontown Fair. And the fun began!
We hit a little play park first and then headed to Mickey's house. Much to our surprise there was an opportunity to meet Mickey and Minnie right there. We got in line and when it was Katie's turn to "meet" them, all we could do was smile. Her jaw basically hit the floor and then that grin came across her face as she got the shake their hands and hug both of them...Mickey actually held on for quite a long time! She was walking on cloud nine when we came out of there. Next we jumped on Goofy's Barnstormer (roller coaster). I was not sure what to expect and Christine figured it wasn't going to be that bad, so she came along for the ride. Needless to say, it was a real roller coaster. While Mommy was closing her eyes and screaming, Katie was screaming and laughing! She had the best time on it.
Next came Minnie's house followed by a trip in to a store to get a Goofy doll (which she never found one to her liking). However, there was another opportunity to meet not one...not two...but 3 of Mickey's friends - Donald, Pluto and Goofy! Once again, she was speechless as she moved from character to character. Loving every minute of it! And when we got through with that, we got Mickey Mouse ears!
It was then time to move on to lunch - which we thoroughly enjoyed (especially since it was followed by ice cream!). We headed down to Cinderella's castle and after explaining that we could not actually go in to it, a show started with Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Donald and all the princesses. So we watched that with dreamy eyes until a storm on the horizon cut it short. So that was our chance to head back to the room to get some rest before coming back that evening.
Katie loved the monorail ride back to our "house." We came back to the room and played with our Briar Rose (aka Sleeping Beauty) doll and horse before taking a great nap.
We headed back to the park with a spring in our step late this afternoon. And we headed for the race cars in Tomorrowland. Daddy and Katie were able to hold off Mommy in a tightly contested trip around the track. Katie spent most of the time (when we weren't banging in to the rail) looking back and laughing at Mommy eating our dust!
Next came Buzz Lightyear's Spin ride. We all got to ride this together and we BEAT ZURG!!! Whoo Hoo!! :) From there, Katie and Mommy rode the Teacups (Daddy wanted no part of that). They had great fun spinning round & round as daddy snapped more pics.
We then hit the Merry-go-round before eating dinner. From our dinner table we could see inside It's a Small World - so that is where we went next. So of course Katie was singing right along with them before the ride was over, and Christine & I just hope we can get the song out of our head before coming home to Atlanta!
Fireworks we next, but that was not a great hit. Katie was just sure they were bombarding Cinderella's castle, so we had to get out of there before it came crashing down! So we made a beeline to Peter Pan's ride and then to Main Street for the parade. Katie was mesmerized by the parade to say the least. We had our ice cream and watched all our "friends" go by waving at all of the good ones! When it was over, we took the monorail back to the hotel, got cleaned up and went to bed. At least they did...
I suppose that is a good enough recap for the first day. The pictures are uploading now, so they should be ready by the morning when most of you should see this. I know it is a lot, be we can only hope you enjoy the stories and pics / movies 1/2 as much as we have! More tomorrow (umm...I guess actually tonight) after our day at Epcot and Hollywood Studio!
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Going to the Zoo!
Katie, Giddie and Daddy headed out to the Atlanta Zoo for one of our summer outings. We had a great time seeing all of the animals and riding the train and merry-go-round. We did get a little tired and cut our trip a little shorter than originally anticipated, but what can you do??
Katie loves all of the animals but she definitely seemed to have a great time looking at all of the snakes and lizards in the reptile pavillion.
The highlight of the day was probably when Giddie bought Katie some ice cream just before we left. Ice cream always makes her "feel better!"
Katie loves all of the animals but she definitely seemed to have a great time looking at all of the snakes and lizards in the reptile pavillion.
The highlight of the day was probably when Giddie bought Katie some ice cream just before we left. Ice cream always makes her "feel better!"
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Hitting the Aquarium
Well we took Katie and Breanna to the aquarium and had a wonderful time. Giddy came along and was a great help for Daddy -- especially with 2 litte fireballs running around just wanting to know when they could head off and see the next fish. We definitely got our workouts in as we took turns lifting the girls up to be able to see everything!
We finished off the trip by going over the the "play park" at Centennial Olympic Park where the girls played on the different playground equipment. But the most fun they had there was chasing the pigeons! Check out the pics for the trip when you can!
We finished off the trip by going over the the "play park" at Centennial Olympic Park where the girls played on the different playground equipment. But the most fun they had there was chasing the pigeons! Check out the pics for the trip when you can!
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