DW day 5...

Ok, so these are reversed so just bear with me!!! Day five was AWESOME! We headed over to the Animal Kingdom- EARLY! Which is 9am by the time we got there. We ordered a mediocre breakfast (seriously all of our meals were INCREDIBLE except breakfast, I think we did ok eating lunch as our first meal most days:) Then we headed over to the train (Hailyn said 'choo choo' the ENTIRE time- ADORABLE!) and we went over to Rafiki's village. Oh, I need to add that Saturday's rain at Animal Kingdom that ALMOST dampened my spirits also meant the very nice leather shoes I've had forever got ruined and destroyed my feet. So Ryan went to any stand and bought me a pretty cute (yet overpriced:) pair of flip flops. I could barely walk at some points and very much considered getting a scooter or motorized wheelchair to trek around in, but decided Ryan couldn't have a wife that needed help and a stroller so I toughed it out:) Anyhow, tangent...memories... Here is our day in well reverse...

We went to the princess dinner located in Epcot- that was SO COOL! It's the ONLY reservation we actually made :) Here she is meeting Cinderella...


and Snow White... Hailyn and Snow White had an instant bond... and ALL the princesses called her Princess Caitlin- hmmm... Hailyn kpt giving Snow White high fives and Snow White was like 'what is a high five?' Ryan and I kinda laughed at that but Hailyn kept giving them! and then they did a princess march parade and Hailyn walked right up to Snow White and Snow White took her by the hand and walked with her- PRECIOUS! I have a video- AGAIN I need to figure out how to post it!



Sleeping Beauty...


and Belle! I don't know what it is about Hailyn RIGHT before she meets Princesses (same at Ariel's Grotto a week ago) she pulls out her hair and looks like a wild lion! So I am hurrying to try and do something with her hair and she is fighting me...glad Ryan captured this memory:)


OK, so AFTER Hailyns adventures on the playground, she CRASHED! Ryan and I got some great pics:) and when she woke up we went to a Moroccan restaurant and it was YUMMY! I had ribs, Hailyn ate all my fried rice and then we ate the best chocolate cake of my life. I wish I had this after every meal at Disneyworld. Seriously, so good- can you tell Hailyn loved it too?




ok so earlier in the day we're at animal kingdom and AFTER Rafiki's Village we ventured to the playground where my sweet husband (who was in comfortable shoes the entire time) chased Hailyn around while I sat and rested my poor swollen and blistered feet. I now have GREAT shoes- I WISH I had them in Florida! grr! So here she is getting tuckered out! Boy she kept up with the big kids!



Meeting Rafiki- she ept saying 'monkey'


and meeting Pocahantis, she LOVED her and Pochantis was so sweet with her and Hailyn told her all sorts of stories....



a random pic of Ryan and I at Epcot... H was asleep....


Jimeny Cricket!


AFTER our princess dinner we headed over to Hollywood Studious to watch Fantasmic and see the fireworks- such a fun day!

DW Day 4

SHOUT OUT to Allison for reading my blog and commenting- you make me feel special Allison- thanks for being incredible and can you just move to Vegas already? SERIOUSLY you rock!

Sunday was fun!!! We ventured over to Magical Kingdom, then ended at Epcot. I LOVE the monorail! Next time we go we want to stay at the Contemporary Resort (yes we plan on being rich- HAHA! RIGHT!) but seriously we LOVE the monorail! Anyhow, a fun fun day!

Fireworks at Epcot- the show- Illuminations- SO COOL! Ryan got some great stuff with his camera!


Ryan chose fish n chips for dinner. We ate lunch at the Magical Kingdom, a colonial style restaurant it was yummy. I loved geting dessert with every meal:) I chose Chinese for dinner. While I was getting my dinner, Ryan and Hailyn got some shots.











THE SHARK ATE US! At the aquarium!



The train ride at Disenyworld. I also have videos from the parade to put up here as soon as I figure out how to get it off my phone- any brains out there wanna help me out?

Our tuckered out little Draco Malfoy...


Best family vacation ever!

Disney World day 3

This is how Saturday afternoon started out...



and the day got well...

we ventured out to Animal Kingdom Saturday afternoon. We grabbed a quick lunch....and then Hailyn wanted to go on a dumbo like ride but it was dinosaurs. Ryan was in the bathroom. So I waited in line with H. For twenty minutes (the longest we waited for a ride). Then the guy cut me off and we would be first to load. There was one empty dino car I was like why couldn't we ride? Whatever we waited. Then we boarded and it started to pour, I mean POUR! We were sitting, waiting. Then after loading us in there they decided to close due to inclement weather. Grrrr. I was mad! At least let us wait in the covered line while you decide to close or not don't load us in there and let us get poured on. ryan came back and bought us all $8 ponchos with a giant mickey on the back- yeah. Damage done. So we venture into a companion bathroom (THOSE ARE THE BEST! LOVE THEM!) and we all crowded around the hand dryer, changed Hailyn's clothes ect. then we draped her stroller with a tarp. Ryan laughed he wished I chose a dinosaur closer to him to get pictures but fortunately for all the miserable wet pictures didn't happen:) Once we were kinda dry and put ponchos back on, we walked around and saw the animals while Hailyn napped. We also rode Expedition Everest, the coolest ride ever! We traded and only waited ten minutes to ride:) swapped the baby- it wa so fun! Then she woke up happy as a clam and we went on a safari- so fun! We perked up once the rain subsided, but I think I will always hate that dino ride...

chasing a squirrel...


sporting her 'elton john' sunglasses... I seriously love my kid!


Ryan loves this pic- I look wet and miserable- HA!



Perked up after her nap:)

The rest of the day we went to Epcot and got dinner at Coral Reef Resturant- the entire wall is an aquarium Hailyn was in heaven. Then we went back for an early night (11pm!) to gear up for the next day!

I swear Disney World is sprinkled with pixie dust...

Disneyworld day 2

On friday we slept in again from our late night out partying til midnight- so lunch again- as the first meal of the day. We ventured out to Disney's Hollywoods studios!

At the Honey I Shrunk the Kids backyard playground-dang that was cool! I grew up watching that movie so I thoruoughly enjoyed it. We also went to the Little mermaid show (which was incredible! it also got us out of the rain for a bit!) and the Beuty and the Beast show. Tons of fun!



picture on carousal- sorry it's blurry she moves quick:)


We also got to eat lunch at Hollywood and Vine- and meet June and Leo from Little Einsteins! Hailyn also got to meet Special agent Oso and Handy Manny. She loved it!





It started to rain later in the day as we ventured over to the Magic Kingdom around dinnertime. Hailyn was asleep in her stroller and we grabbed some burgers in tomorrowland and some good samaritans gave us thier table- we were so grateful it was packed! The park stayed open until 3am for resort guests so when Hailyn tuckered out in her stroller Ryan and I did the parent swap and went on the big kid rides. It kinda sucked not riding together but it was awesome to just walk to the front of the line and get to ride and it was still nice Ryan and I both got to do grown up rides still. So yes, we played until 3am. Then we got back to our resort, I gave Hailyn a bath and then Ryan decided we needed drinks for our mini fridge so at 4am he ran 2 miles in the wetlands to a gas station to get us milk, chocolate milk, gatorade, waters and diet coke (for the un-dsiney price. Still a lot but a gas station is cheaper than Disney!) so basically my husband rocks:) and we went to bed at 430am. awesome friday! it was so fun!

Stroller drama

Ok, so while in Disneyland, my very wonderful and not cheap jogging stroller had three flat tires- SERIOUSLY? I NEEDED this stroller to make it through the next two weeks! So we go to a gas station and pump up the tires, one is off the rim, the rim is bent. I filed it up and it was 'passable' for the next few days but it wouldnt last a week at Disneyworld. I was NOT about to rent a stroller for $25 a day. I noticed the front tire on my side was low, so I filled it and noticed a crack in the side wall. So the morning before we left (at 730am) I left my sister at her friend's house and took h to a discount tire. THREE of my tires were close to the rim! So yeah, I had to buy a set of new tires. Better than a blow out (or THREE) in the middle of a hot summers day on the way from California to Vegas (NADA out there!) but really I am grateful for the stroller tires being low, noticing the tire on my side and for the tender mercy God gave me. It could have been really bad! I'm so grateful! Good news, Ryan was able to fix the tire and we took the stroller (no carry on charge thank you airlines!) We didn't have to rent those awful plastic ones (she would NOT have slept in those) and she was comfortable. I'm grateful God was looking out for me and my sweet little family!

While it wasn't fun to do tires on vacation, it was essential and I'm grateful I didn't have a blowout. It also helped to have the magical kingdom there to ease my mind:)

Disney- ROCKS!

DISNEYWORLD Day 1...

Ok, so I have to preface this long post with I had a BLAST in Disneyland with my daughter and sister! SO FUN! But like me I didn't get pictures... so thanks to my hubby... we have over 400 from Disney world! So yeah, I'll try and pair them down but it's hard- AMAZING pics!! Anyhow... I'm breaking them up do it isn't 10 pages long (this post and all Disneyworld postswill STILL be super long but hey, whatcha gonna do? I have to journal SOMEHOW...

Anyhow, we left for the airport and picked up Ryan's little sister, she took my car and checked on our house for the week. We didnt' nap Hailyn and our flight was at 2:15pm and FORTUNATELY she slept the entire way to Miami- by the way American Airlines is wonderful! They gave us the row with extra leg room, we brought lots of Hailyn's blankets and we laid a blanket down and she slept! Then we switched planes in Miami and had enough of a layover to use the bathroom find our gate and board. Hailyn watched Despicable Me on the 35 minute flight to Orlando. We finally got to our room at 2:30am Florid time. We hadn't eaten since 11:30 that morning (chicken nuggets too, not a substantial meal). So we were starving! No dinner! We get to our room I booked with two beds (Hailyn was with us, we are not ones to share a bed with our kid, our sleep is too important to us:) and there was a king bed- ONE! It's 2:30am and we are hungry and TIRED! So I called the front desk and the profusely apologized and said they'd send up a rollaway for no charge the entire week or we could switch rooms. Seeing as how it was 2:30 am and we did not want to move our two large suitcases and a rollaway and a stroller and a two year old, and we LIKED the idea of a big bed (for us) we went with option one. They sent a double size rollaway and Hailyn slept GREAT in it and we slept GREAT in our king sized bed- and no charge:) thanks Disney world!:)

So we woke up at noon the next day... and were famished. We got dressed and quickly hopped on the first bus we saw we didn't care where it took us (Disney World has four major theme parks and two water parks- plus two golf courses they use in the PGA) and it ended up taking us to Epcot. We got in and found the nearest restaurant and scarfed burgers and fries and fruit and water and ahh it was heavenly. Wish we had dinner the night before:) We had the Disney Dining plan (saved us 40% on meals there) and oh boy was is WORTH it! LOVED it!! We are big fans!! Our dining plan was on our room key as was our park hopper tickets, and the ability to charge to the room so no debit cards were needed- it was awesome! Anyhow, after we werent' in crazy survival mode for food, we explored epcot- COOL park!!! They have one of the largest aquariams in the country and it was incredible. We went on the Nemo ride and H LOVED it! We rode a few more rides and then headed over to the Magic Kingdom. Can I just say it's INCREDIBLE!

doing Disneyland and Disneyworld literally back to back it was awesome! The best comparison I have is Disneyland is like your first home you put your heart and soul and character into and every little detail is perfect. Then you build equity and purchase your mega mansion and that's Disney World- it's basically Disneyland times 10. There is a ton of lang (Disneyland is spread over 4 square miles Disneyworld is 24...) so you take buses and monrails everywhere and we LOVED it! We hopped all over the place all the time it was great. There is so much to do there you can't possibly be bored. We were even going to go to the water park and the beach one day but it was rainy weather and yet we were still having a blast the entire time! SO much to do! I think I need to do a separate post on tips for Disney world, but here's the rest of our first day. If you are still reading KUDOS to you! And remember I have to pair down 400+ pics- so please bear with me...

Ok they uploaded in reverse and I'm too lazy to change it... here's dinner. They had these rolls that H pretty much survived on the entire time- and fruit- and chocolate milk- and desserts. We had the dining plan with a quick meal (salads, burgers, wraps ect) that came with a dessert and a table side meal that also came with dessert and a snack everyday. We did bring some snacks with us (which kept us from completely starving the night we travelled- we still needed a real meal). Here's H at dinner the first night, cute as ever. We ate at Town Square and the food was so good we went back the last night for our last meal before travelling home...






ARGGHHH matey!! Various parks opened early and closed late on different days for resort guests and given our nocturnal lifestyle of sleeping til noon (people who know me know I am up at 5am everyday!) we mostly took advantage of the late nights. And Hailyn never really adjusted to Orlando time so midnight was really 9pm Vegas time... I should mention she napped in her stroller (TIP! Disneyland strollers are great to rent, but Disney World strollers are AWFUL! we are SO grateful we had our jogging stroller and ryan fixed it- that story later) because she could lay all the way down. We draped her with a blanket to keep the cun out and the people and she slept two hours in her stroller!My awesome traveller! While she napped Ryan and I did the parent swap and went on the grown up rides- the 10% she couldn't do:) anyhow here she is after WALKING onto the Pirates of the Caribbean ride. The longest we waited on any ride was 20 minutes for Peter Pan...



LOVE BIRDS! Cinderella's castle is gorgeous- we got at least 100 pics of the castle alone it's beautiful! oh, Hailyn was asleep in the stroller for this pic:)


The seahorse from Nemo- H LOVES seahorses...and sharks...and fish... the aquarium is beautiful!


SAFETY FIRST! Saw a Disney fire truck, H was being silly...




TEACUPS! H LOVED spinning fast- ryan and I were not so sure...:) she also LOVED It's a Small World, Pirates of the Caribbean, Haunted Mansion, Winnie the Pooh, and basically everything we took her on she loved. We also saw a ton of shows and she loved those. More to come!


We tried to leave the park but we got roped into this section and we weren't able to leave! we were held hostage and forced to watch the electrical parade. Fortunately H loved it- even at 11pm...



I'll try and do better about consolidating and not going off on tangents- jus don't want to forget! Happy summer all!!

These last few months...

Ahhhh I know I know... MONTHS- it's a shame....prepare for a long post...

So to recap- APRIL was one of the hardest months EVER- let's just leave it at that.

I DID share my 7th year wedding anniversary Easter this year- and that was cool actually. And Ryan had to work.

May- well Ryan's grandmother got VERY sick and she's in her last days now. She is in California staying with Ryan's aunt and well, it's been a juggling act to visit her and thinking about her- a lot on Ryan's mom.

June- School year ended for summer break (wahoo!!!) and over Father's Day weekend Hailyn my sis Melanie and I headed to Disneyland for the weekend- TOTAL blast! We left Saturday and came home Tuesday afternoon. I washed clothes turned around and repacked them.

Why? We were about to go to.... DISNEYWORLD!!! Ryan Hailyn and I packed up for a week and just went! It was a last minute trip and one I'm SO glad we did! POSTS on Disneyworld coming up! I don't want to (What Ryan calls) 'spam' everyone with insanely long posts when I have been absent for months. To be fair, I had a VERY good reason- a couple of them actually! Regardless... our two week Disney adventure in Disneyland and Disneyworld coming up!