80s party!

We went to an 80s themed party at our friends' house! What a great time it was! I had an authentic prom dress from the late 80s! It was my sister, Jen's. She's 6 years older than me, and I specifically remember her wearing this dress and how beautiful I thought it was! When I went to get it from my mom's house, I was remembering a beautiful dress. After seeing it again, I can't believe we ever thought it was beautiful! It's the most horrible color green ever! Unfortunately I don't have a picture where you can see the dress!!!! I think one of my friends took one so I will have to see if I can get it and repost! It was such a fun night. We danced, and danced, and danced to 80s music all night!!

Princess Tea party

We signed up to go to the Pottery Barn Kids tea party. It was a free event and so cute! They had the table set, got a cookie,apple juice, and a tiara. They also got to make a Valentine and listen to a story. They were supposed to bring a stuffed animal friend or doll and she brought her dinosaur. Can't be too girly! I tried to convince her to bring her unicorn or something princessy, but the dinosaur was the one! Then we played around the store for an hour with all their cute things! She had so much fun!

Father/Daughter Dance 2011

This is such a sweet night put on by our church. They really go all out with a carriage ride, photographer, snacks, and the dance is all decked out. The theme was Enchanted Garden this year. This was their 2nd year to go and she still remembers it from last year too, so I can imagine this is going to be a memorable tradition between her and her dad. I'm so thankful that our church does this! I let her pick out her dress and the one with the roses is what she said she wanted to wear. However, she wanted to add a tiara to it. Her aunt Bridey had washed, blow dried, and straightened her hair the night before and it looked beautiful! practicing her dance moves They went to Salt Grass before. Here's Lexie and her friend Sophie dancing with McKenzie. They went to Berri Blends yogurt shop afterwards. I think she was spoiled, which is just what she needed...what all girls need sometimes!

Hollywood Studios

It's so funny when you get to the park before it opens. Mostly everyone does their research, and you know which rides you need to get to first thing. They usually let you in the gates, then hold everyone up front, do a little welcoming performance, and then let you go, reminding you not to run! It's usually the dads that take off in a speed walk to hold a spot in line at the best rides. Everyone knew you had to get to Toy Story Mania first thing. Randall and Lexie rode it, I got a fastpass for us to ride it again later, then I took Tripp to the potty, and rode it with him. It was pretty cool! He was a little small because it's kind of jerky,you are trying to shoot a laser gun, and you wear 3D glasses that kept falling off of him. He didn't care though, he loved it! Then Randall and Lex saw the Little Mermaid musical. After that we got in line to meet Buzz and Woody! We also met Sully and Mike from Monsters, Inc. We just watched it for the first time 2 weeks ago and it's definitely a favorite movie now! Then we went to our last character dining at Hollywood and Vine. This food was really good. It was a lunch buffet. We got to meet Handy Manny, Special Agent Oso, and the Little Einstein characters. All the characters, except for the princesses, can't talk to you because they won't sound realistic. It's a little awkward (to me) trying to interact with them. They high five and try to interact by pointing to things and hugging them. The kids never asked why they didn't talk thank goodness! It didn't seem to bother them! After that we made it to the Indiana Jones stunt show which is pretty cool. It was more for older kids/adults but our kids sat great and Lexie asked a million questions. They had fire scenes that they both loved. We saw the Muppets 3D show. I think we could have skipped this. It was not that great. We met Lotso Huggin Bear. We watched a parade. In this parade it was the first time we had seen Jessie, the cowgirl. The parades are fun! Then we went to the Beauty and the Beast Musical. We were a little early and Lexie was asked to be the honorary princess of the show! That meant that at the end she would go up to the stage and receive a rose from the princess and prince!! We got a little stressed because Lexie was having doubts and asking about what if she didn't want to go and if her daddy could go with her. Luckily, the staff is just so incredibly great with the kids. They knew exactly what to say! They told her to do one practice without her daddy and see what she thinks. So they took her up there and showed her where she would stand and what they would do. It was so nice of them! She came back confident and ready to be the princess. So at the end of the show, the cast member came and got her and she walked up there like such a big girl, and received her rose. She was so proud. She got a little certificate too! Fun times in Disney World!! We had such a nice time. What's exciting to me is that I know when we go back next (in 4 years or so) we will actually get to ride the big kid/adult rides so it will be a whole new experience!! There is definitely something for everyone at Disney World!! We debated going with a 2 year old, but it was great with him! I think him and Lexie liked it equally. The hardest part for him was waiting in lines so I can't imagine going during the peak season when it's crowded and HOT! Our weather was just perfect! High of 70 everyday, lows around 55. The kids still can't stop talking about it! If Tripp walks off from me and I ask him where he is going he almost always says, "Disney World!" Ha!

Animal Kingdom

Animal Kingdom is all about, well, animals! What kid doesn't like animals? We started off with a character dining breakfast at the Tusker House restaurant with Mickey, Donald, Goofy, and Minnie. It was fun! I love the Mickey Mouse waffles. We rode a train to a petting zoo. We got to see an Ostrich egg, Lexie loved seeing the Rhino poop, and we saw where the Vet rooms are. We also got to pet a snake. I am just so amazed at all the staff Disney World has! They are all so incredibly friendly, knowledgeable,and professional. Even the guy sweeping the street was so nice and helpful! There is staff everywhere. They even have staff organizing strollers! Then we did a safari which was awesome! The animals were so close to us! Lex getting her toy at the end of the day We also met Tigger, Pooh, and Eeyore. Then we went to DinoLand in the park which had a playland with a dinosaur dig. We rode Triceratop Spin (just like the Dumbo ride). We also ate lunch here at Restaurant-0-saurus. Then Lexie got to ride the Kali River Rapids. She was just tall enough! She was so excited when she ran up to me after the ride shouting "We went down a waterfall, and I got wet!" We watched Mickey's Jammin Jungle Parade where Pluto stopped and gave them a hug. Tripp loved waving at them! We headed off and saw the 3D show, It's tough to be a Bug, which was a hit. We also saw the Finding Nemo Musical which was great. We saw the Festival of the Lion king which had great acrobatics although this one was a little long for Tripp. All in all it was a fun park! We actually didn't do everything since lots of it is just seeing animals. I kind of felt like we were at the zoo which we do often at home! So we headed home a little early this night and rested and watched a movie in the room! I think Animal Kingdom has some awesome rides for bigger kids, but overall I felt like Magic Kingdom was the best place!

Rapunzel-Magic Kingdom

Lexie and I saw Tangled in December and she got Rapunzel's Tower for Christmas from Nana and Grandpa so she loves Rapunzel. We always joke that her hair is so long like Rapunzel's. I thought this was one of the best Character Greetings. We had to rush there first thing Wednesday morning to get a spot in line for this! Sunday we tried, and it was going to be over an hour to wait! First we went in and Lexie stood around the table coloring. Us parents has to stay a good distance away so they could fit all the kids around the big table. Then they asked them to put up their colors and hand it to their parents. It was so fun watching her from a distance follow directions and listen. Rapunzel and Flynn Rider came out and they did a little dance together and talked. Then they each got to spend individual time with them. It was nicely done and the characters are just so believable!