Today I Am Grateful for Family

Happy Thanksgiving to all!

This morning, I am most grateful that we are making progress on getting our children back to their regular sleeping routine. While our company was in town, we were putting our kids to bed all around the same time (huge mistake for us) and our kids have been waking prior to 6AM ever since (when formerly, they slept until 8AM). Yikes!

We kept them up a bit later last night and this morning they both slept until 6:30AM. It's progress. And last night, I had the foresight to set the kitchen table with 2 bowls of cereal (no milk of course) and a banana each, and an insulated cup with OJ, so they could easily go help themselves to breakfast without waking us up.

Hooray!!! I actually slept until 9AM this morning and I'm starting to feel like my old self again!

And when Sydney did come into my room to wake me up (I think they just couldn't wait any longer), this was her recount of the movie she was watching in the basement:

"Mommy!!!! Good morning!"

(me) "Good morning Sydney-pie."

"We were watching the Ariel movie."

(me) "The Little Mermaid."

"Yes! And there was a song."

(me) "Part of your world?"

"Yes! And then he was calling the dog, 'Max! Max!'" (giggle) "And there was a witch."

(me) "Ursula, the Sea Witch."

"Yes! I do not love that girl. She is not my friend."

(me) "She is not very nice. What else happened?"

"The witch said 'she is mine' and then I really didn't get what was happening in the movie." (serious look) "But there was lightning and it was scary. And whenever there is lighting, you just pull and pull and pull something and then it's OK."

(me) "Sounds like a good movie."

"Yeah, I like Yana too."

(me) "Yana? Who is Yana?"

(ENTER SALLY) "Mommy!!!!!"

(me) "Sally who is Yana?"

(Sally) "She is one of Ariel's sisters, the one with the very pointy hair and the red tail and the red..." (guestures toward her chest)

(me) "Sea shells."

(Sally, smiling) "Yeah, sea shells."

So there you have it folks, the story of The Little Mermaid as told by a 2-year old.

Recap of Our Disney Cruise

OK, here is a continuation of a rundown of our Disneyworld family vacation:

Sunday, November 15 (day at sea)

- we had a TON of dining credits left, so we ordered in room service (double credits) and gifted breakfast to some surprised yet delighted folks in the dining room and then hit the gift shop to buy chocolate bars, treats and lollies with our dozen or so remaining snacks (note to self: a bottle of WATER is counted as a snack on the dining plan, so don't bother buying bottles of water if you've got the dining plan! just use your snack credits!)

- then we headed over to the Disney Cruise luxury bus for about a 2-hour ride to Cape Canaveral (the little ones slept -- yay! and they showed cartoons on the bus). The (whaddya call it? port station? can't remember the term for it -- just remembereD: CRUISE TERMINAL) is gorgeous, and very Disney-esque (of course!). The guys checked us in for the cruise while us mommies got the kids registered for kids' camp. I think this is the longest line we stayed in, about 25 minutes or so.

- got onto the ship, visited our rooms (gorgeous, lovely verandah with excellent unobstructed views) and went to grab a bite at the buffet. It's been awhile, but I seem to recall the food on Carnival being much better. But then again, the buffets rarely have the best stuff (in my limited cruising experience). Unpacked while the boys took the kids up to the splash pool area, checked out the kids' club area, and got ready for an early dinner (5:45PM) at Parrot Cay. Food was not great -- my fish was totally overcooked and the service was kind of crappy. Andy talked to the head waiter, as it wasn't quite what we were expecting based on what was promised on the Disney site (waiters were not attentive, mixed up drink orders, delays were very, very long, etc.)

- after dinner, the kids went to play in kids club for a little bit, then we collected them and put them in jammies for the 8:30 pm show called "The Golden Mickeys" which was quite good. The children were all mesmerized by the show (a good thing) and went straight to bed afterwards.

Monday, November 16 - Nassau (Bahamas)

- We decided on a sit-down breakfast in Triton's dining room since we weren't planning to bolt off the ship straight away, and it was nice. Children got a little antsy but we brought them over to kids club straight away after brekky and we took some time to relax and chill out before disembarking into Nassau. The grown-ups (plus Clair) went shopping and had a bite to eat (and a few cocktails) in Nassau before returning to the ship. While we were away, Sally got to attend "Animation Antics" and learn to draw Mickey Mouse, and also the Ratatouille Cooking School where she made chocolate chip cookies. She definitely enjoyed both of those activities.

- Sally really wanted to go ashore with us, so Andy and I picked her up from kids' camp and she enjoyed walking the streets of Nassau with us at dusk, even though all the shops (including the ice cream parlor) were already closed. But Andy took her for a snack on the ship while I started getting ready for our evening out.

- that night, we had arranged to eat at Palo at 8:30PM -- the upscale on-board dining room for adults only. The Atkinsons had babysitting all set up for Clair, and we took the other girls to kid camp for the evening. We stopped for a cocktail en route to Palo and took some fun pix. The food that evening (and we splurged on some pricier wine choices) was oustanding -- everything was positively top-notch. Truly what Andy and I have come to expect while dining on a cruise! It was a long evening (about 8:00 until 11:00PM) and at kids camp, Sally, Sydney and Emily all got to play dress up and attend their own "Royal Ball" which they all enjoyed. The kids were all definitely ready for bed when we picked them up. Another outstanding day!

Tuesday, November 17 - Castaway Cay (Bahamas)

- Today we grabbed a quick brekky in the buffet since we planned to exit the ship sooner rather than later. Meal was OK, then we suncreened up the kids and all disembarked together. Castaway Cay is beautiful -- some construction was going on, but it wasn't disruptive at all. After dropping Clair off at babysitting and dropping the other 3 girls off at kid camp on the island, we headed to Serenity Bay -- the adults only part of the island. The beach is gorgeous, there are plenty of chairs and umbrellas and staff from the ship handling drink orders.

- Meals on the island are included in the cruise price, and when we got hungry, we headed over to the BBQ for lunch. Had some outstandingly good ribs (so yum!) and a killer veggie burger, among other things. When it was time for the Atkinsons to pick up Claire from babysitting, Andy headed back too to take care of some stuff and put Sydney down for a nap, and I picked up Sally from kids' camp for some mommy & Sally time.

- Sally had a blast at camp on the island -- there was a Captain Hook treasure hunt and other cool stuff she definitely enjoyed. None of us got sunburned (thankfully!) and all had a great time. Not sure what Syd did in camp, but whatever it was, she LOVED it.

- Sally and I played on the beach, went for a walk, and made some new friends. We mailed postcards from the island to take advantage of the "Castaway Cay" postmark at the island post office (though the island's real name is Gordo Key). We wanted to see the sand castle making competition, but apparently it was off due to poor turnout (we were late getting there). Sally thoroughly enjoyed her ice cream cone and I loved watching her enjoy it. :-) It was a great day on the island! Then I took her back to the big Mickey pool and the hot tub.

- that night was our dinner in Triton's restaurant. The food was better, but the service still sucked. In looking around, it seems as though we just got the bum wait staff -- the other waiters seemed to be doing a great job. Hmmm....we'll rectify this soon enough!

- The theme for dinner was "Pirates IN the Caribbean" so we dressed up the kids and took lots of pix. All 4 of the children were positively insane that evening and Emily had a bit of a nutty and flat-out refused to go to kids camp. So...... after dinner, she and Claire were put to bed and the grown-ups played cards while Sally was at kids' camp for a little while.

- We tried to have Syd take a nap (they were both hell-bent on seeing the 10:30PM fireworks...why the heck were the fireworks so dang late, anyway???) and had a little meltdown around 10PM, but we got through it, Andy and Kieron took the Grant Girls to the fireworks, and Kristi and I watched from our verandah -- it was actually a nice view of the fireworks, even though ship employees had told us you can't see any fireworks from the staterooms. (Not true it seems!)

- Bed time for everyone after the late-night fireworks -- tomorrow is a fun day at sea!

Wednesday, November 18 - Day at Sea

- this was a nice, easygoing day that we didn't all spend together -- everyone slept in a bit, and then after breakfast, we went to an animation lesson (where we all learned to draw Mickey and Donald) and then everyone sort of did their own thing. The Grant girls went to kids camp in the AM, mommy shopped on board (there are only 2 shops on this Disney Wonder -- seems pretty sparse for a cruise ship if you ask me, but I found some nice things) and then we all relaxed a bit.

- Picked up Syd around 12:30PM or so (after the Do-Si-Do with Snow White, which she REALLY loved), took her to a sit-down lunch (just Mommy & Sydney) at Triton's where she was fawned over the whole time -- they did magic tricks for her, cut up her meat, made her ketchup into a heart shape, brought other waiters over to our table to fuss over her, and of course she just ate it all up. Food was mediocre at best, but the service was top shelf.

- Then I put Syd down for a nap (daddy was still asleep in the room and wound up napping about 3 1/2 hours!) and picked up Sally from kids camp for some mommy time. We hung out, got her some food (one of the line workers at the pizza place was quite smitten with her, told her she was the most beautiful girl on the ship and gave her a light-up Tinkerbell). More Magical Moments at play! Took Sally to see "A Christmas Carol" in 3-D on board the ship, which I didn't particularly like (I don't care for those animated live-action films like Polar Express -- I find them creepy and unnerving!) but Sally loved it and we got popcorn and treats for the show which she thought was cool.

After we got back, the Atkinsons (all of them) and Andy went to see the movie Sally and I had just watched, and I started packing up our stuff (our bags had to be put outside the room by 11PM, and we wouldn't see them again until the Denver airport) while Sydney napped and Sally rested and played in our room.

- When Syd finally woke up, I took them both to the pool until it was time to get ready for dinner -- today was Kristi's birthday, so we went to dinner which was at the Animator's Palace. Sally and Sydney went to kids' camp to eat dinner there instead, so we could have a peaceful dinner for Kristi's b-day. Though the kids all got along great, I definitely think they were ready for a break from each other. We got switched to different wait staff for this dinner (and brekky the next day) and they were AWESOME -- exactly what we were expecting on this cruise. Interestingly enough, the food was much better, too.

- After dinner, the Atkinsons headed to their room to pack up and put their kids to bed, and we let our girls stay up for the 8:30PM "Disney Dreams" show which was quite impressive. We all enjoyed the show, then put the kids to bed around 9:30 or so, then showered and finished up packing by 11PM -- tomorrow would be an early day!

Thursday, November 19

- Breakfast (if you wanted it) was served at 6:30AM (yikes) and then we had a few minutes to check out shipboard photos and purchase a few, and then it was time to disembark. Our bus ride was about an hour 15, and it went by pretty quickly. Fortunately, we were able to check our luggage directly from our stateboard room on the cruise all the way to the Denver airport. Hot damn, that is one cool feature!!

- We arrived at the airport with about 5 hours to spare (and no luggage to schlep) so we cabbed it with the Atkinsons over to the Florida Mall to kill some time. Kristi was excited to visit the M&M store since she was looking forward to seeing that in Vegas (and they've decided to skip Vegas this trip) and I found the perfect red blush at Sephora (and also discovered that there's a Sephora just 15 mins from Castle Rock -- woohoo!!!)

- found a play area for the kids for a bit, said our goodbyes to the Atkinsons, then cabbed it back to the airport and checked in. United had that "spin and win" promotion going on, and I won "early boarding" and free bottled waters for all of us (technically, Sally won, because I let her spin the wheel) so that was cool. Man, that flight back is loooooooooong. I know it's only 3.5 hours, but I swear it felt longer than a transatlantic flight.

- Sally slept in the limo ride home from the airport, and our driver was kind enough to let us make a stop to pick up Chinese food (thank you!!!) We had a fabulous trip and now we are so so glad to be home!

p.s. the unpacking fairies again neglected to clear out our garage while we were away. *sigh* At least we are not traveling anywhere until January...Momma is exhausted!!!

Recap of Sally & Sydney's First Disney Trip

And what a trip it was! Simply awesome.

Here's the run-down:

Wednesday 11/11/09
- got picked up in a stretch limo for the airport

- arrived in Orlando around 5PM, then took the Mickey Express (Magic Express? I forget) to the Polynesian, where we checked in just before 6PM. Our bags were checked from the Denver airport curbside ALL the way to the Polynesian (so awesome, I highly recommend it)! Lei greeting was waiting for us, the kids immediately located crayons and cartoons and they were happy campers.

- monorail to Epcot for dinner -- ate at the cafe in Morocco (World Showcase) - super yum. Figuring out this whole dining plan thing.

- watched IllumiNations, the fireworks and laser light show at Epcot, then back to hotel for bed.

- after we put the kids down for the night, Suzie Bundy (a college friend of ours) popped in for a visit.

Thursday 11/12/09

- weather was icky - cold, drizzling rain. Fine by me, I knew it would keep lots of folks out of the parks so it wouldn't be too crowded.

- began our day with a sit-down breakfast at the hotel (maybe a mistake...we got the "new guy" waiter, so it took forever). Still understanding how our meal plan works. So far, seems like a great deal.

- after brekky, it's off to Epcot with Suzie Bundy and the Atkinsons. Rode the Nemo ("The Seas" with Nemo and Friends) ride w/the kids, then walked to the World Showcase and rode "Maelstrom" at the Norway pavilion. Also bought autograph books for the girls.

- had reservations for a Princess character lunch at Norway. OMG, the food was positively out of this world - rich, hearty, amazing flavors.

- Sally and Sydney's faces were priceless as they met Belle, Ariel (with her land legs), Aurora (sleeping beauty), Snow White and Cinderella. Mommy got a little teary eyed. So fabulous! Got pix and autographs with everyone.

- next, off to Magic Kingdom where we caught part of the day time "Celebrate" parade and rode some rides (Pirates of the Caribbean, It's a Small World, and the Carousel)

- lines were pretty short, about 20 minutes or less for each.

- First casualty of the trip: Syd dropped lovey while walking with Suzie. We searched, but could not find it. :-( Bought a replacement (baby Ariel w/ a satin blankie) at the Tinkerbell shop.

- saw the new princess (Tiana?) from Princess and the Frog -- the new Disney cartoon set in New Orleans (and we caught a mini Mardi Gras parade).

- ate some outrageously good funnel cakes and grabbed some coffees / hot cocoas at a little cafe that turned out to give us a perfect view of the lighting of the castle (I didn't expect everything to be decorated for Christmas already, but it was!)

- back to hotel, put all kids to bed, then Suzie hung out and the grownups played cards (RockIt) and had cocktails till late.

- Sally had gotten a Cinderella dress up toy...which mommy promptly broke...but it was no trouble to replace it, so we got a Tinkerbell instead (seems less fragile...ironic, I know)

Friday, November 13th

- wow, I didn't even realize it was Friday the 13th until I sat down to write this post! Nothing unlucky happened today...fortunately!

- Perfect weather so we hopped the monorail to the Magic Kingdom (it is SO nice to take the Monorail straight from the hotel!)

- grabbed a quick and delicious brekky at a bakery on "main street" in the MAgic Kingdom. Yum.

- Syd was a little fussy UNTIL we were standing in line and one of the bakery line employees handed Sydney a HUGE sugar cookie all wrapped up in red and green ribbon and said "Mickey called us and asked us to give this especially to you" Then her face lit up and she beamed all the rest of the day.

(We found out later, only 5 of these cookies are given out per day, and it's part of something Disney started about 5 years ago called "Magical Moments" where something small yet special is done for a select few kids at the park each day. Wowsa!)

- We got Sally some mouse ears and rode lots of rides: Peter Pan's Flight, Snow White's Scary Adventures, Dumbo, the Mad Tea Party and It's a Small World (again) among others. We also saw an AWESOME 3-D adventure called "Mickey's Philharmagic" and the kids were all riveted during the show. It was pretty intense animation and massive 3-D effects, and when it was over, Sydney looked at me and said, "whew!"

- had lunch in the Starlight Cafe in Tomorrowland, after which Kieron and Andy took Claire and Sydney (respectively) back to the hotel for naps for the kids and work for the adults, and Kristi and I took Emily & Sally on some more rides (Astro Orbiter, Buzz Lightyear, Stitch's Great Escape -- which Sally LOVED though Emily cried a bit -- it was a tad scary, and the Monsters Inc Laugh Floor)

- then we took the older kids for a snack and headed out to Downtown Disney (which takes an HOUR to get to from the Magic Kingdom) where we all met up for dinner at an Irish pub called Raglan Road. The food was stupendous (possibly some of the best scallops any of us had ever eaten), pate', fried goat cheese, all yum yum yum and then after dinner the girls danced for a long while to live Irish music.

- Atkinsons headed back to put kids to bed while the Grants did a bit more shopping -- Sally got a Mickey Magic Wand that lights up, Andy bought pins and mommy searched for a hat (no luck) and then we hopped a cab (to avoid the long lines & many stops that come with Disney transportation) gave the girls a quick bath and put them to bed as tired but happy campers.

Saturday 11/14/09

- attended another character brekky at our hotel (the Polynesian at "Ohana" restaurant) where we all got to meet (and get autographs from) Mickey Mouse, Lilo, Stitch and Pluto

- the Atkinsons were "parked out" so the Grants headed over to Epcot to ride "Spaceship Earth" and had lunch at the Japanese Teppan Grill in Epcot.

- Met more characters on the way and then headed over to Animal Kingdom (which we figured would take about 40 minutes in transportation via Disney) but as we were walking toward the bus stop, a uniformed Disney employee asked us where we were headed and then offered to drive us in a private van directly to Animal Kingdom. After dismissing a momentary flash of concern over being robbed and dumped off at some Disney "back lot" (a fleeting fear that turned out to be totally unfounded, thankfully), we agreed. The kids were showered with girly pirate items (bling rings, swords, eye patches, pink skull & crossbone headbands, pins, etc.) and we were on our way. Driver wasn't too chatty (but that didn't stop Andy) and we arrived in a jiffy. Tried to tip him, but he refused -- looks like we've just experienced another Magical Moment!

- we hit the character jackpot at Animal Kingdom -- we waited in ZERO lines to meet and get autographs from Goofy, Donald, Pluto, Christmas Mickey, Christmas Minnie, and Thumper. Also saw the majestic Tree of Life, really beautiful (and some live animals too :-)

- took the kids to see Nemo the Musical -- was absolutely stupendous. A MUST-SEE. Even though Sydney had just fallen asleep the moment we got to the theater, she and Sally were both positively mesmerized throughout the show. It was extraordinary -- Broadway quality, though just about 45 minutes long (apparently, it's disney's longest live show at any of the parks). There was a lot of walking around and riding that day, and when we walked out of the theater, Sally said "that was AWESOME -- it totally made up for all the boring stuff we did today." Um, ok good.

- hopped a cab back to the Polynesian, blew off dinner reservations at Epcot China that night and picked up easy kid-friendly dinner to eat in our room. Sally played with her new toys, visited the hotel gift shop with me (I was in search of something -- anything -- that played "It's a Small World" since she was so taken with that ride and song) and then I took her to the game room, which she LOVED.

- Then daddy took Sally over to the Polynesian beach to watch the Magic Kingdom fireworks over the castle, after which Sal went to sleep and then the adults ordered in room service and played more cards (RockIt of course!).

Whew! I'm getting a little tired just reading & writing all this out -- I'll post tomorrow about the cruise part of our vacation.

xoxoxo
Amy

We're Headed Off to Disneyworld!

My birthday evening was awesome -- the kids were in school all day, so Andy and I got lots of work done, then we had a sitter come so we could go out for a grown-up dinner.

Matt (our regular driver) picked us up and drove us to the Melting Pot in Denver, and we celebrated along the way with a bottle of our favorite Australian white (the Art Series from Leuwin Estates). Dinner at the Melting Pot was AWESOME -- I had never been (though I've had fondue many times, it was always at home). The food was truly outstanding, we enjoyed some excellent wine and we had a fabulous server.

After FAR too much food and drink, we headed back home (they aren't kidding about it taking 2 hours or more to have dinner there)! and the kids were in bed (yippee!)

Tomorrow we head off for our Disney trip, which we are very excited about. This is Sally and Sydney's first trip to Disneyworld, and our first Disney cruise for all of us. And away we go!

Good Visit with Aussie Friends

Well, we had a lovely visit with the Atkinsons. I think the kids were all getting on each other's nerves by the end of the week, but I suppose that's normal. And since Emily didn't want to sleep in Sally & Sydney's room after about day 2, it was likely pretty cramped to have all 4 of them in one room for the rest of the trip. But all in all, it was a great time.

We went down to Manitou Springs to visit the rock shop, visited the bead shop, made matching necklaces, played in the snow (A LOT) because we had a major snow storm and Sally was out of school for 2 days because of it.

We also had our annual pumpkin carving contest via Skype (how did Dana beat me? I still don't get it!!!) which was a blast, and we went to Sally's soccer game (indoors, because of all the snow). We took the kids trick or treating at the mall (they were too tired to do it in the neighborhood afterwards). But they had a blast answering the door for trick or treaters at our house.

Monday we got back into a work swing and had a majorly productive day with both Grant girls at school (finally!) and then Tuesday night we went to Uniscali for an adult dinner evening (impeccable!) Thank goodness for good babysitters!

Next major event: Amy's birthday!