I know you're all probably tired of my Disney vacay but it's the last day...I promise!!! We loaded the kids up and headed to Hollywood Studios after checking out of the hotel (keep that in the back of your mind). Remember when it used to be called MGM? Now it's Hollywood Studios. I was confused for months about what this Hollywood Studios place was. Anyone know why the name changed anyways???
We caught a few shows (the Disney Jr Live show is awesome for anyone with little ones), rode a few rides, caught the parade, and finally saw the car stunt show. It was awesome and Noah loved it!!!
My Little Jedi
Me and my Princess
Me and my loves
Tired but ready for the stunt show
Lightning McQueen was there!!!!
We had heard that President Obama was in Tampa Friday evening so we figured that would make rush hour traffic that much worse. So we stalled a while, hung out at the park, and grabbed dinner at Rainforest Cafe. The Hubs was a little nervous about me driving at night, mainly because I hate driving at night but it was Friday the 13th, so we booked a hotel room for the night. So we headed back to the same hotel, checked into a different room, and settled in for the night. We woke up Saturday, got packed, and then had a slight setback. Em took a nosedive off the bed, face first into the chair leg. She busted her lip open and let me tell you....lips bleed like CRAZY!!!! It felt like it took an eternity to stop the bleeding. She was crying. I was crying. You would have never known I was a pediatric nurse. There's something that takes over you when it's your own kid. If Em was someone else's kid, I would have been cool, calm, and collected. But I was anything but that. A quick run to Centra Care (for some free medical advice) and we left with just a busted, fat lip and rug burn on the chin. I'd post a pic of her lip but I know the Hubs will get mad so I won't do that. But over a week later, we still have a slight split lip and some rug burn. She's a champ!!!
I promise that's the end of vacation for a while!!!
I left off our Disney story by saying how much the Disney Cast Members made my week. We've never really had a horrible experience with Disney Employees. A while back, the Hubs made a friend in Fantasyland that helped us skip some lines on rides. But this particular day was unbelievable. Emmy is deathly afraid of most characters. We've figured it out that she really only likes the ones who look like real people....aka the Princesses, Alice, Mary Poppins, etc. While she loves Minnie and Mickey, for some reason she just freaks out when it comes down to seeing them. We've seen Minnie and Mickey in the past and she was fine with Minnie but FREAKED when she saw Mickey. We decided to see them again on this vacation. We were waiting in line to go in and see them and of course, my kids are talking to the Cast Member. She was asking them about seeing Mickey and Minnie. Emmy told her that she did not want to meet Mickey but wanted to meet Minnie. Noah told her that he wanted to meet both of them. She was called inside so she left. When she came back, she said she was taking just the 4 of us in. We turned the corner and only Minnie was standing there. Emmy was in heaven! She got to spend some time with Minnie before Mickey came in the room. How I didn't cry in that moment escapes me. This woman, who I will probably never see again and who will definitely not remember me or my children, made my daughter's experience simply amazing. She went out of her way to make sure that Em would get that character meeting experience that she wanted. We were spared the tears and panic for a few special moments. I will never be able to thank this woman enough.
While we're talking about amazing memories, let's talk Princesses!!! It's not surprising that Emmy's a bit obsessed with the Princesses but Noah loves them just as much. We've always ended up with great pictures with the Princesses and this trip was no different. Not only did Emmy's favorite stuffed animal Ellie meet all the Princesses, the Princesses spent so much time talking to both of them. Belle is by far our favorite. She's always been a favorite of the kids but this experience was no different. She spent like 10 minutes talking to them. She played with Ellie, made her roar like Beast, and cracked Noah and Emmy up! The women who get to be the Princesses definitely are special women. Not only do they get to look beautiful and be fairy tale princesses for a living, they get to make children's dreams come true. We are so thankful that these girls have made our kids feel so special!!!
Mom and I decided not to set an alarm on Thursday and just let the kids wake up when they wake up. Neither one of us expected them to sleep until almost 9am. The sleep was very welcomed but it definitely put us behind schedule. We ate breakfast, got dressed, and headed to Magic Kingdom. Let me say this....Magic Kingdom is by far, my favorite park. I don't know if its the nostalgia behind it or what. I just love being there!
When we got there, we headed to Tomorrowland and jumped on the People Mover. Noah wanted to ride Buzz Lightyear so we grabbed Fast Passes for that ride. Noah hung out with Buzz Lightyear for a while and then we wandered a bit. We made it over to the castle where Rapunzel hangs out. Em is OBSESSED with Tangled so we knew we were going to have to wait however long it would take to meet her. I'm so glad we did because she was so happy! I got a couple cute shots but the Disney photographers snapped a really good one that we'll end up ordering. Then we spent the day hanging out and checking out some rides and shows that we never really take advantage of.
People Mover fun
The love of a brother and sister
Happy boy with Buzz
Finally meeting Rapunzel!!!!
so excited!
In line for Dumbo
You can see Em's head peeking over the side
Noah and Grandma hanging out
Noah's new favorite place...Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse
Sleepy girl
My man
Being silly on Dumbo
It was such a great day! There's more to talk about though. I cannot tell you how much the Cast members of Disney made my entire week. Stay tuned to hear how amazing they are!!!
It's so weird to think that I have a kid who has a spring break. I don't know why it's getting to me. Noah's getting ready to finish his last year of PreK and Emmy's getting ready to start school. My kids are growing up so fast and I can't seem to slow it down. I know it's just a part of parenthood but I don't think they ever mentioned in any parenting books (Ok lets be real...I never read any so how would I know) that they will grow up faster than you know it. I'm learning to deal with it but while I'm learning, I'm loving every minute I have with them!
My mom works at the same school that Noah goes to so she was on Spring Break at the same time. We decided to load the kids up for a few days of fun with Mickey. Wednesday morning we said goodbye to Daddy and headed to Orlando. Ironically enough, our hotel room was ready when we got up there at 1030 so we moved in for the week. It was nice to start the vacation by being completely unpacked and settled in, instead of having to do that at night when everyone is tired. We grabbed a quick lunch and headed to Epcot. It's the Flower and Garden Festival right now so all the topiaries were out. I was pretty much in charge of the stroller the whole weekend so I didn't take as many pics as I usually do (and one of these days I'm hoping to get my mom's memory card so I can have her pics)
Tinkerbell
Checking out the Fairy Garden
the most amazing sand sculpture
meeting Alice
She had such a great time with Aurora!!! She danced and played with her for a while
We rode all of our favorite rides and even went on a few new things for us. Epcot really isn't for little kids but for some reason, my kiddos love being there. Em had a great time meeting some of the characters while Noah watched on from the stroller. After spending a pretty decent amount of time there, we headed back to the hotel after a quick stop at Target for some groceries. It was dinner and bed for all of us. Magic Kingdom was waiting for us in the morning!!!
Oh you don't know what I'm talking about??? Well then you obviously don't know who The Fresh Beat Band is.
This is what my world has come to. Emmy has been obsessed with these guys ever since she could focus on anything. They are from a show on Nick Jr about a group of friends who are in a band, who love to sing and dance, and who work together to solve problems. The show is so colorful and the music is quite catchy. It's no wonder this show has been like crack for her. It always holds her attention and as she's gotten older, she's grown to sing and dance with them. {Just between you and me.....as cheesy as it is, it's a cute show and the music is pretty good. I know every song they sing and kinda know all the dances}
This is Noah's favorite song that they sing. He wanted to be the kid they brought on stage but unfortunately, it wasn't us this time. Check it out...it's kinda catchy!!!
I've said from the beginning that there was no way Nickelodeon wouldn't send them on tour and when that time came, we'd have to buy tix. Much to the Hubs dismay, they went on sale and came to Clearwater last night. We bought the kids tix for Christmas and have been counting down the days ever since.
We went with our friends and their son. We met them for dinner beforehand and then went to Ruth Eckerd Hall to finally see them live in concert. My kids were so antsy waiting for them to come out on stage. And when they did, it was like nothing I've ever seen. Noah and Emmy were so excited. I don't know if Emmy could have waved any harder at Kiki (the pink wearing guitar player), who is her absolute favorite. Em was dressed like Kiki (and I didn't get a pic of it). Noah danced and sang at the top of his lungs {and when I say danced, I mean like crazy white boy danced. It was unreal} Emmy even cried when they left the stage for intermission. Watching them sing and dance and just have an absolute great time made my entire night. I couldn't help but tear up at how happy they were. It was worth every penny we spent and then some. As for me, I'm just excited I survived my first preschool concert (while singing every song too!!!)
I didn't bring in my big camera (I didn't want to carry it and I wanted to be able to dance with the kids if they wanted me to) but I did grab a few pics of the night on my phone
Noah and Colin at dinner before the show
Best Buds in the making....I just love when little kids hold hands!
Yes....they charged $25 for tshirts.....somehow we managed not to buy any!
A blurry family pic but look how excited they are...and how excited the Hubs is
It's the Fresh Beat Band!!!!!!!!!
I am so glad that we did this and even more excited we did this as a family. I really hope the kids remember how much fun they had because I will never forget that.
