Friday, May 29, 2009

I'm pretty much famous!

So today I had to run some errands and I had to swing by the craft store, and pick up a few really unnecessary things...but they seemed really necessary at the moment....anyway. As I am exploring the land of do-it-yourself goodness I got approached by a cute girl....with two cute kids...who tells me....that they often read my blog. Should I be freaked out by this? Well guess what I'm not. I think it's awesome. She said she links to mine through a friend of a friend. I am bloggity famous. {okay maybe not...but it sure made me sure think I was something special for a mill-a-moment!}

Remember enter my 100 post giveaway!

Calling all Guinea pigs!

I enjoy snapping pictures as you can tell.....and for Christmas Dave got me my almost dream present {almost being the operative word}.

Now...I am no professional by any slight of the imagination however I like to pretend.
{oh and I did once work for a photographer and he taught me a few things...and I did help him with a wedding here and there...so I'm not completely dumb}
I would like to start taking more pictures and once I get better maybe earning a few pennies.

So who wants to step on up and be my pet pig for an hour or so?

I will take the first 10 comments as those who wants their kiddos, or their families...or their doggies shot. {how mean that sounds} And I will take you out and shoot you and give you the evidence that you were indeed shot by me. If you can't read my wit.....let me spell it out for you...leave me a comment if you are number 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10 I will practice my photo taking skills on you, and you will get the pictures in return...got it?!

So humor me folks, and lets get snapp'n!

Alex Hogan

My really good friend Tabitha came over yesterday and I snapped a couple of pictures of her cutie patootie little girl Alex. Alex is 20 days older then Ava...it's fun having babies the same age.












{have you commented on my 100th post to win something truly fabulous?.....stop being lazy and do it....believe me folks what you will win is really CHARMING!}




Wednesday, May 27, 2009

100 Post Give-a-wayyyyy! woo woo!

This is my whopping 100th post!
I have decided to celebrate, so I am going give away some Kandis B. stuff.
10 Winners will be chosen at random!
So leave a comment and validate me and my
spectu-fabu-marvo-amaz-u-lous blog...and you may be a win-ahhh!
{oh and here are some fun black and white pictures of my princesses!}










Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Violin Recital

{long waited post}

In April Elle had her Violin Recital....and she was so stink'n cute!

She played Suzuki Variation 1 of Twinkle.


We just adore Elle's violin teacher "Ms Julie" she is so special to us. She is just so sweet with Elle and so entertaining. I just sit back during lessons and giggle to myself at all the antics she has to use to get Elle to play and practice.

Thanks Julie for taking the time to teach Elle, even when she can be a little tough!

Enjoy the pictures of my little screechy (but hopefully not for too much longer) violinist

Elle Makena!








Waiting too long I guess!

So the other day Elle wanted me to make her a smoothie as I often do. However the moment she wanted one I was busy doing some parade float stuff (don't ask) on the computer so I couldn't make one at the very second. I told her it would be a little bit, and she said she would wait. Well she decided the perfect spot to wait was in front of the fridge.


Oh.....I really am I good mom......even though these pictures would prove other wise.




Poor thing! She waited so long she zonked out.
{I did end up making the smoothie after I moved her to the couch.......she woke up drank the smoothie and fell right back to sleep.}

Monday, May 25, 2009

Disneyworld part 2

I am sorry friends........I have so much I want to blog about but know I need to blog about vacation first...and there are so many pictures....that this truly is daunting {frown}

So here goes
Day 3
ANIMAL KINGDOM!

We started out the morning having breakfast at the Tuskar House for Donalds Breakfast Safari. It was really nummy! Donald, Mickey, Goofy, and Daisy were all there. Elle was so excited for them to sign her princess autograph book. This breakfast was a buffet with so many tasty options it was OVERWHELMING!


After Donalds "Fari" {as elle says} we went on the Kilimanjaro Safari. Elle was excited to see all the different animals just walking around.


After spending time in "Africa" we headed over to "Asia" where Dave and I rode Expedition Everest. Because Elle was too small to ride {and obviously Ava was way to tinsy} Dave and I both had to swap turns and ride alone. Even though we rode the ride alone it was so awesome! During this rollercoster the track ends and you get thrust backwards through the ride. SO SO FUN!


Later that afternoon we at lunch at the Yak and Yeti. It was so amazing. Some of the best oriental food I've ever had. I want to go back right now and eat me some lettuce wraps!

After lunch we rode more rides and enjoyed the remainder of the afternoon in Animal Kingdom.


Animal Kingdom closes rather early so we left the park a few hours before it closed so the girls could go back to the hotel and nap.

When we arrived back at the hotel Elle was ITCHING to go swimming in the big pirate pool! So instead of napping we went swimming. It was so much fun.....and after being hot and sweaty all day...ahhhhh...it felt so amazingly good!




After hanging around the pool and soaking up some rays...with sunblock..{none of the getting wrinkles and pre-mature ageing here} we went back to our Finding Nemo room and let the girlies catch some much needed zzzzzzzzzzz.

After the princesses had their beauty sleep we went over to dinner at our hotel at Shutters {a steak house} It was pretty good...however I ordered my steak medium and it came out charred! Other then that it was pretty good.

It was a fun Animal-tastic Day!

Day 4

EPCOT

I am pretty sure we skipped breakfast this morning because we slept in, and weren't too hungry.
When we arrived at Epcot we were awe struck with the many beautiful topiaries. During the springtime Epcot has a Spring Flower festival and it is SO spectacular!

The first thing we did this morning was the Seas ....which including all the fun Finding Nemo stuff. We rode the clam-mobiles on the Finding Nemo ride, and we got to talk to Crush the Turtle in Turtle Talk. We watched the stingrays in Mr Rays Lagoon, and we even watched some dolphins.




I took Elle on Soar'n while Dave stayed with Ava. Needless to say Elle didn't like it. She was constantly afraid she was going to fall. And I had to put my arm around her the entire time.

We spent most of our time walking about the Worlds Showcase. Elle got to meet Mary Poppins, Alice in England, and the Genie in Morocco.



In Epcot they have created something called "Kidcot" where children get to go around to each country with this paper mask, and have the handle stamped from each different country as well as some countries like China, Japan, and Morocco wrote her name in their language. It was really fun for Elle and it made her want to find the booth in each country. The great thing was that in each country the Kidcot booth was slightly hidden...so you actually had to explore the country a little.

We really enjoyed strolling around each country.

One of the meals we were really excited about was the Storybook Lunch in Norway with the Princesses. When we arrived at Akershus in Norway Elle was greeted by Sleeping Beauty and got to have her photograph taken with her, and later we were given the picture as a keepsake. During Lunch Cinderella, Belle, Snow White, and Ariel came to our table to meet Princess Elle and Princess Ava and to sign the now treasured autograph book.





After lunch we strolled through Tinker Bells Flower Garden, and Minnies Butterfly Garden. Both were really special. It was really neat to stand in Minnies Butterfly Garden and have all the butterflies fly about.



We rode a few more rides and strolled through the Worlds Showcase some more. We had some French Pastries in France and oh boy were they sweet and yummy and just thinking about them my butt is getting bigger.

Late that night we ate at Marrekesh in Morocco. I was super excited about this place because I LOVE ethnic food! It was YUMMY. I would so go there again! In fact I'm leaving right now to go get me some cous-cous....okay maybe I'm only going in my imagination.......YUM YUM.

After dinner we found a fantastic spot on the World Showcase Lagoon to Watch Illuminations. It was spectacular! A must see show!

It was a great somewhat educational day in Epcot!

Day 5
Hollywood Studios!

We woke up bright and early for our breakfast reservations at Hollywood and Vine so we could Dine with Playhouse Disney {yes I purposely rhymed that}. This was so much fun for Elle! {I know I know I keep talking about Elle on this trip...and yes Ava was there...but honestly Ava didn't care one bit what we did} June and Leo from Little Einsteins was there, and so was Jojo and her pet Lion Goliath from Jojo's Circus. The entire time during breakfast they would dance and sing all the Playhouse Disney songs. It was so rewarding to watch Elle and her excitement as a song would come on that she knew. She would stand and dance and jump and shout!





After breakfast we headed over and rode rides. Dave took Elle on Tower of Terror ... HA!! She was terrified! Poor girl. Dave said she was "Shaking like a leaf". After they went on it of course Elle didn't want to go again so I went alone. After that Dave and I switched turns riding Rock'n Roller Coaster.....one of my favorite rides in all of Disneyworld.

We enjoyed our time in Hollywood Studios we took the Backlot tour, and Elle got to play in the Honey I Shrunk the Kids Movie Set. We watched Playhouse Disney on Stage and rode all sorts of fun rides.

Elle got to meet Handy Manny and made her Daddy have a picture with her and Manny because she calls her Daddy Handy Manny because he fixes things.

Later this afternoon we ate lunch at Prime Time 50's Diner. It is like walking through a time warp! SERIOUSLY!

We really enjoyed the food there and the service our waitress Aunt Barbra was a hoot trying to spoon feed both me and Dave when we didn't finish our meals completely.

After Lunch we watched Beauty and the Beast on stage and enjoyed the rest of our evening.

Later this evening we went back to Downtown Disney and shopped. We ate dinner at Planet Hollywood. {seems fitting we would spend the day at Hollywood Studios, and eat dinner at Planet Hollywood huh?}

Needless to say it was a spectacular day in "Hollywood"!

Day 6
Magic Kingdom AGAIN

This morning we headed out to the Polynesian Resort and ate Breakfast with Lilo and Stitch and a few others who I can't remember.

Elle was quite bummed because her book was becoming full and not everyone would be able to sign her book. So when Stitch came around Elle was sad...but not for long. Elle perked up when Stitch pretended to wipe a booger on her.


After breakfast we rode the Monorail to the Magic Kingdom.

I asked the Monorail driver if we could ride up front with him, and infact he let us. Elle was soxcited to be a co-pilot...she even was given her own Monorail co-pilot drivers licence! {SWEET}
Today we really just took it easy we did whatever we felt like! Rode a ton of rides {yes even small world a billion and one times} and got to meet many more characters including Tink, Fawn and Silvermist!








We ate lunch at the Crystal Palace....so good!
We watched the Electric Parade this night, and watched the Fireworks!






The park stayed open for Disneyworld Resort guests till 2:00 am this day...do you think we stayed till 2? H- NO! We made it till Midnight and headed back to our Nemo decorated sleeping quarters!

Day 7


Magic Kingdom AGAIN........yes Again!

This morning we had breakfast reservations at the Grand Floridian. While waiting for our shuttle another shuttle stopped and blocked the loading zone so other shuttles kept driving around it and not stopping. Needless to say we were late and going to miss our reservations. We waited for a good 45 minutes for a shuttle to come and they kept driving by. The transportation people who was at our stop could see we were frustrated. So one cute lady took us in her Disney Van to the Grand Floridian Hotel. It was so great! We had our own personal chauffeur!

We at Breakfast at 1900 Park Fare, for the Supercalifragilistic Breakfast with Mary Poppins! This was by far the best breakfast we had! Holy Moly!



After breakfast we rode the monorail again to the Magic Kingdom. Because we had pretty much done everything before we just took our time in the park. We enjoyed the day and enjoyed each other. We rode ...you guessed it SMALL WORLD another Million times!

I felt really really bad the last time we rode small world and Elle started crying saying how much she was going to miss it. She truly is the softest hearted person I know.

Later that Day we said goodbye to the Magic Kingdom and went to Downtown Disney for Dinner....where we ate at Wolfgang Pucks. OH me OH my....oh amazing. I had never eaten at any Wolfgang Pucks before...and need I say how seriously great it is?! It was spectacu-fab-amaz-mo-lous! (I made up that word because there is no other word to describe it.)
We did a little more shopping and headed back to our hotel to pack.

Day 8
Heading for Home Sweet Casa
We decided since we already said goodbye to Disneyworld the day before that we would not go to any park this morning. Instead we just hung around the hotel, ate breakfast and lunch there...and played in the arcade.

We chose to check our bags at the Hotel and Check in for our Flights there as well. I am so glad Disney offers this service. All you have to do is take your bags to the front desk area and they weigh them. You call the airline and pay for your bags, and Disney checks you in. We left our baggage with Disney and didn't see it until we reached SLC. And let me tell you...it was FABULOUS! When we got to the airport all we had to do was go to security cause Disney got our tickets or us and of course already checked our bags. Then it was off for home!

We had a 3 hour lay over in Atlanta however which sucked {this is not a happy face} and then we headed for SLC International! YEAH!

About at Midnight we made it home! And the girlies were so tired....who am I kidding I was so tired! It was a fun and amazing trip but nothing is better then being home!

I love Disney World! However I love My World so much more...So I leave you with a picture of what makes my WORLD go round!