Disney Birthday Adventures

We headed to Disney on Saturday with Aiden for our traditional birthday celebration. Aiden got to chose the whole day and Felicity stayed with Grandpa and Grandma Jen. 

He was so excited to do the things that he really loves and get to chose where we eat. We started our day at Hollywood Studios and made it to the gate before we realized Aiden didn't have his magic band! A semi-quick stop at guest relations got us a hard ticket and our free birthday pin. Tip: This one is pretty well known but just in case if you stop by any ticket counter or guest service counter and are celebrating ANYTHING they have a pin for it. First visit, birthday, engagement, honeymoon, anniversary, family reunion, or just a celebrating pin. Sometimes they have them in the stores too at the check out counters you just have to ask. 

First on our stop was the Animation Station inside The Magic of Disney Animation to draw a picture with the help of a Disney artist. We drew Winnie the Pooh and it's cool what a birthday pin and dimples will get you if you ask! Tip: You get to keep the drawing that you do. It's a cute little memento. I wouldn't recommend this attraction unless you have older kids. Aiden enjoyed it but I ended up helping him through most of it. 

Then we were off to the Honey I Shrunk the Kids playground. Aiden loves this area and I feel safe picking a spot near the entrance/exit and letting him run and play. A nice 1 hour plus wait for Toy Story Mania (get fastpasses if you can! We already had Magic Kingdom ones so we couldn't) and onto Aiden's favorite place to eat Pizza Plant. I on the other hand don't usually care for the Plant of Pizza since their red sauce tends to upset my belly digestive tract. But it's Aiden's day so I get brave and ask for my pizza sans sauce due to my "sauce intolerance." Not a problem he says and I am awarded a pager and a slip of paper. I had to wait an extra 15 minutes for mine but look at that cheesy-veggie goodness. Worth the wait and I didn't feel sick later in the day! 

From there we headed out to Magic Kingdom! If you follow me on Instagram (mommyrudolph) you saw what happened! Sleepy boys! 

Once the boys had a siesta in the car we head off to meet Tinkerbell. No kidding that is what Aiden wanted to do first - I won't lie he loves all the Tinkerbell movies! 

A little ice cream break and strict orders "don't even think about it!" as we walked by the Starbucks were given as we headed to Enchanted Tales with Belle. This is probably my kids favorite thing to do at Magic right now. Aiden practiced the beast part while we walked in and was chosen! 

Our next stop was Tom Sawyer Island which is a favorite of Jesse and Aiden. 

They love to explore the caves, cross the barrel bridge, shot the riffles and just run and play. It's one of the less busy places at Magic so we take our time there. 

Then we headed to dinner. A few months ago we had dinner with our sweet friends Josh & Jill while they were visiting from Iowa at Whisper Canyon inside the Fort Wilderness Lodge - this was during the time that Aiden didn't really eat but on that night he was so entertained he cleaned that plate! So he was so excited to go back. They have Lincoln Logs (cause we don't have those at home!) to play with while you wait for your table. We were given a not so great time in the "library" so I kindly requested my husband go and ask for us to be moved to the main dinning room where the action is. I mean we booked it for the excitement and we even told them it was Aiden's birthday. No problem Disney magic took over and we were given prime seats and Aiden was in hog heaven. This isn't your typical dinning experience. They are sarcastic and have a good time with you if you so chose. Aiden was loving it...also ALWAYS ask for ketchup! Tip: While the all you can eat selection is $30 a person it is worth it! We didn't order that this time but we did the previous time. You will not be disappointed.  

A boat ride back to Magic and one more trip to Enchanted Tales with Belle. Someone else got picked for a part! By that time we were done! Aiden was asleep before we pulled out of the parking lot! 

I am so glad that we are able to do these special things with the kids - it was a great day! 

Ps - We celebrated Mother's day I promise with all my favorite things: a trip to the spa with my bestie, Target, and Outback (@home) Jesse got my gift a few weeks ago - a new to us car! I am pretty much in love with it - 2015 Ford Explorer in Grey - swoon :) 

Weekend Update on a Wednesday

You know it has been a week when it's Wednesday and you are just getting around to blogging. The students are on Spring Break so I thought I would have time to get a lot done but work has been stressful with no one there and issues popping up. Add that to runny noses and coughs and late nights and it's Wednesday! But we had a great weekend and I want to share it.

Aiden and I started Friday was yummy treats from the bakery down the street - we were so good we only ate half of each. That was just enough sugar to convince him to go to Goodwill and we did a little damage there before heading home for dinner and playing outside in the extended sunlight.

Saturday we headed to church for family fun day and Felicity and I did a great job supervising all the fun relays! Aiden loved it and was so excited.

We figured since we were already sweaty we might as well give my car a much needed bath and a good vacuum and then reward ourselves with Sonic!

We came home for showers and put the finishing touches on a dinner for friends in our core group who have a new snuggly baby at home.

Peanut Butter Cookies

After we dropped dinner off we headed to Target for our weekly trip.

I taught a wild sweet room of 3 & 4 year olds about Jesus at church on Sunday and then we headed home.

Grandpa & Grandma came and picked up Aiden and Felicity for a fun day at the pool while Jesse and I headed out for a Disney date. It was a wonderful day and the park wasn't too full. We had some disappointing moments but over all it was good - the mine ride was down, which was the whole reason we went :( . We then headed to Downtown Disney for dinner nachos and a movie with my best friend and her hubs.

I hope everyone is having a wonderful week! 

Weekend Update & a Disney Adventure

Friday was Rodeo day here in Osceola county and I was at the ABHE Annual Meeting so Aiden got a Mimi day. By the time I got home it was bedtime. 

Saturday: We all slept in and then enjoyed the warmer weather outside. 

Then we loaded up and headed to Oviedo for a co-ed baby shower for Jesse's brother and sister-in-law. We are pretty excited for Baby Emma to make her debut.

Jesse won 3rd place (copper bottle) in the bottle chug challenge! He was pretty proud - excuse my side pictures I was competing with the big cameras and I only had my iphone :( 

My kids know how to party. 

She loves her Uncle Jake! It must be a red head thing. 

Sunday we headed to church. 

Someone picked out her hair bows, socks, and shoes by herself. It was a little over kill but she was happy.

We headed home for lunch and changed and headed to Animal Kingdom for some afternoon fun.

But first Starbucks!

The Festival of the Lion King was our first stop. This is one of our favorite shows. 

So excited to see our favorite characters. 

Then we headed to the Safari. 

Clearly they are really excited!

The animals were pretty active. The safari can be hit or miss but this was probably one of the best ones we have been on. 

Here's my Disney tip of the week - Each park has a baby care center - inside the baby center they have nursing rooms, changing tables, and a room with seating and a disney movie or show on and it's air conditioned!! We stopped in to fill up our water bottles - they also have water dispenser and ended up staying for a quick snack and A/C break.

We headed home and got the kiddos in bed by 8 - I am so glad they can't tell time yet! Then Ellie came over and hung out with the sleeping kids (aka - watched our Netflix) while Jesse and I had a grown-ups only grocery trip to Target. {ps - Yoga pants are $10 this week!!}

Hope you are having a wonderful week!

Weekend Update

This was a weekend that I didn't want to end. It was hard to leave it.

Thursday afternoon Jesse and I left work early and headed to downtown Orlando and checked into the Aloft Hotel. Jesse had a work party there a few years ago and we always wanted to visit so we thought this was a good time. It's an office building that was turned into a hotel so the rooms have interesting features. We changed and head across the street for dinner at The Boheme Restaurant. They had me at nutella lava cake! It was a wonderful meal with my cute guy. We then headed to the new Dr. Phillips Center to see Disney's Newsies. The show was AMAZING! I could not take my eyes off the stage. If it comes to a stage near you...GO!

Friday we slept in! We even missed breakfast it was glorious. We headed to Mall of Millenia to return a few things and pick up a new pair of jeans. I settled on the girlfriend jean at Gap, they had a darker wash in store that I chose. I had some Gap cash to spend. We had a nice lunch at P.F. Changs and then headed to Epcot for a little fun on Test Track. We also looked for the new coffee cups but found out they had been pulled. We grabbed a tea and hopped on the monorail for a ride over to Magic Kingdom and I was very lucky to get one of the last three tumblers they had in stock thanks to some very nice ladies who decided they didn't need an extra one - made my whole day. I also picked up the coffee mugs because my cabinet of coffee mugs isn't already over flowing. ;) We then checked into a hotel off Disney property. We did a little outlet shopping before we headed to Downtown Disney - which is still under construction, it is going to be really cool when it is done but right now it's a little bit of a nightmare. But we parked across the street and walked over. We decided to do a flashback to our newlyweds days and catch a movie and popcorn for dinner. We saw Into the Woods and we absolutely loved it. If we go to Downtown Disney we must go to the Lego store (according to Jesse and Aiden.) Jesse has been saving his Lego points to purchase the Star Wars  Red Five X-Wing Starfighter (aka Luke Skywalker's ride) He was pretty excited to finally add it to his collection.

Saturday we meet my mom and the kids at Magic Kingdom and had a day full of fun. The park was a little busier than I would have liked but the weather was beautiful and we made it work. We finished off the night with Logan's Roadhouse for dinner (peanuts and hot roll always entertain the kiddos.) Then we all fell into bed.

Sunday we slept late and mommy woke up sick (oh allergies and sinuses how I loathe thee) so it was a pretty slow Sunday for us. We made a quick trip to Target for the basic groceries.When we came home Felicity and I took naps and then we headed to the Big Game Party we(Student Life) were hosting for the students. There we a ton of students there and plenty of food and it was a great night. I honestly only watched the last 4 minutes of the game but those were the ones to watch! I was on the Seahawks bandwagon but mostly because I like their uniforms (if it's not SEC I don't really watch!)

Hope you had a wonderful weekend and beginning of the week (these allergies have been kicking my butt all week.) 

Disney Days

We headed to our favorite place on Earth a few days ago for some family time before we headed back to school and work...Disney.

If you haven't picked up on it - I love all things Disney and we happen to be annual pass-holders (they have proven to be a great escape from campus.) I loaded up some fastpasses, which you can do ahead of time with your tickets and the my Disney experience app and we headed out to Hollywood Studios (which I still call MGM!)

We did our usual stops at the Disney Jr. show - if you kiddos are into Jake, Sofia, Doc, and Mickey like mine you will thank me plus it's air conditioned and while you have to sit on the floor, you get to sit! Then over to Toy Story Mania, the boys always win but we still have a good time. We happen to catch the last night of the Osbourne Festival of Lights - I totally recommend this if you are into Christmas lights like we are. Aiden had fun trying to find all the hidden Mickey's. We then made our way to our last fast pass of the night - For the First Time in Forever: Frozen Sing-a-Long (but not before stopping at The Writer's Shop for coffee and a carrot cake cookie - YUM!) Disney is clearly milking the Frozen success for all it is worth right now BUT our kids still love it and we didn't get a chance to see the sing-a-long show in the summer, yay for them keeping it! We waited a few minutes before the doors open and then we were ushered into the auditorium.

It's a very cute show. The story tellers really have a great time with it and Jesse and I laughed quite a few times. The sing along parts are just like the sing along movie on the screen so pretty basic. Elsa makes a grand entrance towards the end and it snows! The kids really loved it. Felicity will probably want to see it each time we are there! Sorry no appearances by Olaf.

* I am in no way affiliated with Disney expect as a regular paying annual pass-member. I love sharing our days there so you can see what new and exciting.

Currently

Planning: Our family vacation to Disney! Yes, we live 30 minutes and head there at least 2 times month but this is our time to leave campus and just relax. The kids are excited and I may or may not have a 3 page packing plan. We are staying on property at the Camp Wilderness Cabins.
The plan is to eat in the cabin more so we can enjoy bigger meals in the parks. Aiden is very excited about sleeping in bunk beds!

Cooking: We have been really good at meal planning lately which make my heart and bank account happy! I am so grateful for Pinterest and all the wonderful meals I find on there. Yesterday I put this honey garlic chicken in the crock-pot and it was so good. We had with couscous instead of rice and my kiddos favorite green beans! I also made this cold-brew coffee last night. It's still in the 90's here in sunny Florida so cold-brew is needed. 

Wearing: I've been spending time really looking at all of the clothes that I try to squeeze into our small apartment closet and clear out the pieces that I really don't wear. I've also been using Pinterest to find different ways to wear the pieces that I love. I always forget to take a picture of myself during the day when I look put together and by the time I remember to take a picture it's right after we've put the kids to bed and I am looking a little rough but those are the real moments! So here I am rocking classic white and black in my messy room, with dirty mirrors, and an unmade bed!

Loving: My hair is crazy - I mean Scary Spice crazy! I have successfully burned it into submission over the last 10 years and I have an amazing hair dresser. He can get my hair to do things that just amaze me and I could never get my hair as straight with my straighter as he could....and then I found out my straighter is old and not the right type for my hair. Thanks Google! So after much begging Jesse bought me a new straighter! I got it at Ulta and this is the one I got. I reviews were so so but I have used it a few times now and I am in love. I even taught myself how to curl my hair with it too. I am in love I think I might get rid of all my other hair tools!

Ya'll have a great weekend! I am off to the happiest place on earth!

 

Finish This - Week 7

1. I plan on buying .... these gray jeans I have been looking every where for a pair of these. I am headed to the mall tomorrow and they are on my must have list.

2. I give Seventh Generation five stars because... they make wonderful diapers that don't break Felicity out and they hold everything in! (They could be cuter but not as important to us as no latex) They also make great cleaning products that I can use around the kiddos. 

3. I felt courageous when... I left my job teaching to work at Florida Christian College. It was scary to put every thing we had into God providing for us but he did and continues to bless us through this career that I have.

4. I feel about swimsuit shopping like I do... going to the dentist. I hate going but after the somewhat painful experience I am glad I did it.


 Linking up with Nicole, Lisa, Jen, and Becky for Finish This!  

Some weeks are crazy weeks but we finish them out with a day off at Disney and then a Saturday at Disney too. A good end to a crazy week. 

Finish This - Week 5

I will never outgrow... Disney. I instantly become a little girl when we arrive on property. I LOVE that place. When we got our annual passes this year I cried! It is my greatest escape!

I splurge on... Disney Annual Passes. It's a big splurge for us but it has also been very rewarding and refreshing.

My worst habit is ... I make this noise by swallowing that itches my ears...Jesse absolutely hates it! 

My passport represents... a mission trip to Jamaica during high school and my maiden name. It's probably time to get a new one.

My most ridiculous fear is...walking over sewer grates, I have a huge fear of falling in or something reaching thru and grabbing me.

My favorite thing to give is... a handmade card. I like to use colors I know the person likes and a theme that suits them with lots of pretty layers.

Joining a little late but linking up with Nicole, Lisa, Jen, and Becky for Finish This!

Six months of nothing

It's been six months since this our little family was shown on this place. Where did those six months go...well I will tell you everywhere. Here is what we did in the last six months that you missed:

- Aiden turned 4 - holy monster trucks
- Jesse changed jobs
- I got a promotion and was asked to move on campus!
- We moved - into a 1100 sq foot apartment! (with 2 kids and way too much stuff)
-Felicity had an allergic reaction to her diapers. 
- We celebrated 7 years of marriage with a trip to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter. 
- Family Reunion for Jesse's family in St. Pete
- I took the kids and visited the farm
- We deep cleaned and painted our rental home to get it ready for new renters - this was not how I wanted to spend my summer - away from my babies and cleaning up a mess I didn't make!
- Aiden was diagnosed with spastic bladder - yay - more medication and dr. appointments
- There were a trip to Disney with grandparents
- Aiden got tubes in his ears
- I had a birthday
-Aiden got hand, foot and mouth disease (don't Google that - it's gross) 
- Got Aiden enrolled in a new daycare
- Felicity turned 1 - Little Mermaid take over
- Felicity started going to daycare and weaned in the same month.
- Jesse had a birthday
- My students starting slowing returning to campus
- Aiden started Pre-K (at the elementary school I attended)
- Registration and Orientation week for me and first week of school for Aiden followed by end of year for Jesse
- Aiden got lice - sorry if your head is itching now.
- We got the rental house rented!!
- Aiden got sent home from school for being disruptive. 
- We developed a reward program for Aiden.
- We rewarded ourselves for our hard work over the summer with Disney annual passes
- We went of a family vacation to Disney and the boys were both sick
- I got what they had once we were home :( and Jesse had to go to Aiden's Parent Teacher Confrence
-  We went to Sea World with my side of the family for Halloween Spooktakular
- Felicity got an ear infection
- We went to 3 different fall festivals, the kids each had a party at school and we went trick or treating so we are all loaded up on sugar and loving life.

So as you can see I lost track of days and weeks. They all ran together and flew by before I realized what was happening.