Disneyworld

A long-ago planned trip to Disney World almost didn't happen because of my suddenly scheduled surgery.  But, after a lot of careful thought and an o.k. from my surgeon, we decided that we simply must keep our plans.   Since Nana and Grampa were coming with us, the girls would have someone to ride the faster, bumpier rides that I was not allowed on, and for the fastest, they could just ride alone.  And I would get some much needed fresh air.

Thursday, just after noon, I gathered both girls from school and headed up the coast.  We were walking through the Hollywood studios arches before 4:30 pm and spent some time riding the Rock 'N Roller Coaster, wandering through the new Star Wars area (didn't ride the rides as I couldn't) and had a quick dinner before heading out to rest up for Friday.

The next morning we were off bright and early as we were hitting up the Food and Wine Festival at Epcot.  First stop, getting the girls Hide and Squeak game (which we played last year also).  This is where they have to go to 15 different locations and find where Remy is hiding.  Once they find them all, they turn in their cards for a prize.  This year, they got official Disney water tumblers.  And while we were all searching for Remy, we also did what we really came for - ate our way around the world.

Pulled Pork Poutine from Canada.

Mini cupcakes from Norway (Frozen themed) and a Frozen Mezzo Mix from Germany (her favorite).  We also had sausages (Germany), Tacos (Mexico), Cheese filled pastries (Carribean), and various other snacks I just forgot to take pictures of...

A quick stop to chat with Mary Poppins.

And we finished just in time for dinner in France!

Another fabulous day at Epcot.  That ended in pouring down rain.  Thankfully we were already home by then.  But the rain continued into the morning, so we switched up our plans.  We had been headed to the Magic Kingdom, but with it raining cats and dogs, we figured it would be better to take it slow and head off to the Animal Kingdom instead.  

Fast passes all switched; we made it to the park at the crack of 11.

One perfectly placed bow on her shirt!

And I even ran into my college roommate!  Who I have not seen in almost 20 years!!!!

The rain did let up (only sprinkled a few times), but the day did stay overcast and gray.  Which was fine with me because it was still hot.

Lunch included Chilean wine flights - with wines that I have not been able to source outside of Chile but are some of our favorites.  Trust me on that, Sauvignon!

We pet a bunch of animals at the Conservation Station.

And then tried our hands at drawing like the pros - 

Stinkerbell's

Nana's

Grampa's

MadHatter's

Mine

And what it was supposed to look like.  I think we did just great.

And after that, we were off to ride some rides (Avatar, Dinosaur, Expedition Everest) and head home to rest up for our final day at the Magic Kingdom.

Sunny and blue skies all day.  So thankful we switched days as the Magic Kingdom is and always will be my favorite park!

And with that, we called it a trip and headed back home, happy and tired and a bit Disneyed out.  Until next time Walt and Friends.

The First First Day

After a busy summer, it was finally time to relax.  And by relax I mean to send the kids back to school so that I could finally sit down and have some free time.  Kidding (sort of).

The day before school started, we had a meet the teacher at the Elementary school.  So Stinkerbell and I drove over and met both of her homeroom teachers and marveled at all of the gorgeous painted murals that had been done over the summer...

 Her teachers are Perez and Rovito - hence, they are the Pros.

 Her class is on Bobcat Boulevard South...

 And this mural is HUGE and so fabulous.  I do love her school.

And then it was off later that afternoon to walk MadHatters schedule.  She was very nervous about Middle School and being able to find all of her classes.  She was afraid she would get turned around and not make it in the 5 minutes allotted to pass.  After getting her schedule, we walked from class to class and then did it again.  And again.  We finally headed home when she felt like she had it down pat.  It truly helped alleviate some of her stress about the next morning.

She has a great schedule and even better teachers.

*Now that we are a couple of weeks in, she laughs about how worried she was to start Middle School*

*Yes, I laminated her schedule.  I love to laminate*

 And suddenly, it was upon us.  The morning dawned early as we tried to wipe the sleep from our eyes and make it to the bus stop on time.  Thankfully this year they pushed back the pick up time by 20 minutes, so we get a bit of extra sleep.  Stinkerbell is my sleeper and no matter what time you put her to bed the night before if you wake her before 8, she is going to be a bit groggy.

She was dressed and ready for her first first day in the U.S.  I say it is the first first day because we moved back last year over 2 months after school had started.  Technically they had the first day, but it wasn't when everyone else did.  So this is the first one at a U.S. school according to my logic :)

 Outfit and hair by Stinkerbell herself.

 And I had to get one of them together - it is tradition after all.  But MadHatter doesn't start school until over an hour after Stinkerbell starts, so she went with us to the bus stop and then had some time to kill.

 Off she went.

 Too cool to have the picture taken without attitude :)

I dropped MadHatter that first morning instead of adding to her anxiety by making her also brave the bus.  It was the last time I drove her.  We left the house at 8:30.  We live less than 3 miles from school.  I dropped her at the front gate of school at 9:17.  47 minutes to go 2.7 miles.  Never again.

They both came home bursting with excitement and stories of their first day.  They both had a fabulous day and loved being back in the swing of things.  Stinkerbell is very excited to be the Big Kid at school, and MadHatter found that being the little kid didn't make much difference.  And they both came home saying that they made new friends already!  Win, win, win.