A belated re-cap of the rest of our Disney trip

Better late than never... right?

Wednesday (10/17) was probably the highlight of our trip! Today was a fairytale.... Pirates & Princesses

Today we had special events for each of the kids.  Our day started by dropping Cole off at the Grand Floridian for a Pirate Adventure Cruise.  He received a bandana and a lifevest and set sail with other 4-12 year old kids (without Mommy, Daddy & Summer) on a 2 hour search for buried treasure around the Seven Seas Lagoon with 4 pirate cast members.  He was shy when we first arrived, but I was pleased that the "pirates" were great at making him comfortable enough to get on the ship.  He had a blast!  Best part for him.... when they returned with the treasure chest, they each got a treat bag from the treasure chest to take home with them. 

After lunch Summer got to go to the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique to get styled like the princess that she believes herself to be.  When we got there we were escorted to a changing room to change into her princess dress.  Then her fairy godmother got to work styling her hair.  Summer was a bit overwhelmed and playing shy at first.  I can't say that I blamed her... there were a LOT of girls being styled and all of their adoring fans were with them as well.  Thankfully Mom-mom knew just how to get her smiling for the photographer and both her fairy godmother and the photographer picked up on Mom-mom's tips right away.  This really helped Summer open up and enjoy the rest of her pampering!  She got some shimmery make-up and her nails painted.  After we were finished, she remembered that Mom-mom owed her a souvenir and decided that it would be the princess wand that matched her Aurora dress! 

Then we had the Princess Dinner in EPCOT!
I have to first say that while we did go to this dinner on our last trip to Disney, Summer did not get overly excited to see the princesses and was rather annoyed that Snow White was wearing a dress that matched Summer's! 
What a change on this special night!  Cole was tired and a bit cranky when we arrived and said he did not want any pictures with the princesses, but he quickly changed his mind once inside.  We first took pictures with Belle before being shown to our table.  When Aurora came into view on her way to our table, Summer shrieked, grabbed her autograph book and nearly flew off her chair before we caught her and told her that we had to wait for Aurora to come over to our table.  She waited as patiently as possible with book in hand and eyes GLUED to Aurora!  As you can see by all the smiles below.... we had a MAGICAL night!

Princess Summer with Princess Aurora

 

 

Snow White

Ariel

 I brought our marker coloring sets to dinner to occupy the kids during downtime and Summer decided she would color a Cinderella picture.  When she was finished, she wrote her name on the back and wanted to give it to Cinderella.  Well Cinderella had already been to our table, so I wasn't quite sure what to do.  I saw that she was nearing the end of the tables before heading into the back room, so I took Summer by the hand and headed in her direction and told Summer we would wait for her to finish and see if we could quickly hand her the picture.  I didn't notice that Cinderella and Ariel's assistant was standing close by and asked me what I needed.  I explained that we already had our turn with Cinderella but Summer had colored a picture and wanted to give it to her.  She was very understanding and told us to stand by her and when Cinderella finished the table she was visiting she would call her over to us.  As we waited Ariel talked to Summer and told her that Cinderella loved presents and would so excited by Summer's picture.  Cinderella came over and was very surprised and happy to accept Summer's gift and told her she would hang it over her fireplace when she got home. 

Summer colored a picture for Cinderella

Giving the picture to Cinderella

To top off the night, Summer was able to get a special non-dairy dessert of Raspberry Sorbet.  Did I mention how much this girl LOVES pink?!  She was beaming and ate almost every last bite until the dish fell on the floor and broke.

Ecstatic that they had Raspberry Sorbet (dairy-free)

 

Thursday (10/18) was an impromptu down day for us.  We decided to head to the pool in the morning and then make sure the kids got a good nap after lunch since Jim & I would be heading out for a dinner on our own leaving the kids with Mom-mom & Pop-pop for the night.  We had a blast at the pool with Uncle Chris. 

 

 

 

 

Jim and I had a fabulous dinner by ourselves at Narcoossee's in the Grand Floridian and then headed over to the Top of the World Lounge in Bay Lake Tower to watch the fireworks, while the kids enjoyed dinner and the pool with my in-laws. 

 

 

Friday (10/19) was our last day in Disney World!  We spent the whole day in Magic Kingdom.  We did mostly characters and a few of the kids favorite rides (Dumbo, Goofy's Barnstormer and the Teacups).  We finished up buying souvenirs with the money left on their gift cards and had dinner at Tony's.  Cole fell asleep on me at dinner and Summer's was super excited that they had dairy free ice cream with mickey sprinkles for dessert!  After dinner Jim and Uncle Chris took the kids back to the hotel so that I could do some rides and watch the fireworks with Michele.  



A busy weekend of Halloween Activities (last weekend)

I know that I haven't finished blogging about our vacation yet, but we had such a jam packed weekend followed by a crazy hurricane that I had to jump ahead and then I will complete Disney later.

Saturday (10/27) morning kick started with my SJMOMS group's Halloween Parade.  This is a really great activity that we hold at a local park with crafts and trick or treating and then playing on the playground if the weather cooperates. Thankfully the weather was BEAUTIFUL (last year it actually SNOWED!).  The kids had a great time and I'm happy to say that at this age, I don't feel like I have to be as constantly on top of them as they play.

After the parade we decided to head to Johnson's farm to pick pumpkins.  We were supposed to go before vacation, but it was rained out and the kids missed their field trip while we were away as well.  They decided not to change out of their costumes and guess what??  Since they were in costume, their hayrides were FREE!  I sometimes worry that Jim thinks I'm going overboard by dragging us on another outing, but even he admitted having a great time.  Once on the hayride, they told us that we could get off at the first field to pick popcorn, sweet potatoes and broccoli and the second field would be pumpkins.  I thought it sounded fun and popcorn pretty much sealed the deal for Jim since it is probably his favorite food.  

Once in the pumpkin field, Cole really wanted a big pumpkin until he realized that he wouldn't be able to carry it himself.  Even though I offered for me or Jim to carry it for him, he opted for one that he could carry himself.  

 

Summer led Jim way back into the field in search of a small pumpkin and I had to smile at what she returned with.  So her.... she actually selected a tiny pumpkin like gourd!  

Once returning back and paying for our pickings... we did the bounce house, got apple cider donuts, lunch and then headed home

After a nap we headed to the local Starbucks to check out their kids' Halloween party.  It was really nice... crafts, decorate a caramel apple, popcorn and face painting.  All free while I sipped my delicious coffee!  

Decorating their apples

Summer the butterfly

Cole the Batman

As if this wasn't enough excitement.... on Sunday as our area braced for a hurricane I needed to get a few items at the grocery store.  More or less because I hadn't been grocery shopping since before our vacation so I really had NO food.  Jim was out so I had to take both kids with me (which I try to do as seldom as possible). 

 

                                             

I have never used one of these car shopping carts! I will admit.... I'm kind of afraid of them.  They are awkward to push.... I did nearly take a few people out rounding the corners.  The kids are far from me and able to touch each other and if you are a parent.... you know what kind of trouble happens with those two factors involved!  Overall they did pretty well!  The only thing that wasn't on the list that they asked for was noodles... and I let them have them since there was much worse they could have asked for. 

 

As the rain from the hurricane began we had dinner at Mom-mom's and carved jack o' lanterns!  Pop-pop & Aunt Chele even thought to get one a bit bigger than Summer's gourd in case she wanted to carve too!