Belle

Royal Dance

Disney Magic Kingdom

Once again, I find myself way behind on the blog.  I am jumping way ahead to tell you about our latest adventure.  We took the kids to Disney!  We spent a day and half at Magic Kingdom over the 4 fully packed days we were in Orlando.  GB and Grandpa Weeks were nice enough to drive in from Naples to see us for a bit.  It was a quick visit with GB & Grandpa but the kids really enjoyed their time with them and I appreciated the help (picking us up from the airport, driving us around, making a dinner reservation, and all of the treats for the kids).  Friday, Diana woke up way too early so we made her go back to bed, but unfortunately Jonathan never went back to bed, so he went next door and woke up GB & Grandpa.  Friday morning, Brad and I sat through a time share presentation, NO we did not buy one but it was worth sitting through the presentation for the free hotel room.  While Brad and I were doing that, GB & Grandpa took the kids to downtown Disney and out to breakfast.  While Diana napped, Jonathan got to go on a hotel scavenger hunt and swimming with GB, Grandpa and Daddy.  We woke Diana up from her nap and off we went to the Magic Kingdom.  I wish I could capture the excitement and pure joy the kids had from the moment we set off for Magic Kingdom.  Their utter amazement and facial expressions truly were priceless.  Friday we explored Magic Kingdom and just took it all in.  The kids got special buttons, one for their first visit and then Jonathan got a birthday pin and Diana got a celebrating pin.  We were able to get Fast Passes for the Under the Sea (Ariel's ride), Dumbo and Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin rides, which saved us a lot of time.  My highlight of the day was when everyone in my family, except me - I was the camera girl, got to be part of the play at the Enchanted Tales of Belle.  Jonathan was chosen to play the Beast. He did a great job!  He even got to dance with Belle.  He was in total awe of Belle and it melted my heart!  Brad was a knight and Diana was the duster.  We also rode other rides and stayed for the Electrical Parade.  It was a late night but worth it!   Saturday we slept in until after 7, which is good for our family but we were on the bus by 8 am heading back to Magic Kingdom.  We got there in time to see the opening show before they opened the gates.  Then it was a mad dash for Brad and Jonathan to Space Mountain.  The ride Jonathan couldn't wait to ride...but had to because it was a 70+ minute wait on Friday the whole time we were there.  I got new Fast Passes to everything the boys wanted...Splash Mountain, Big Thunder Railroad and Peter Pan's flight.  Diana and I did the princess thing and then met up with the boys for Peter Pan's flight.  Jonathan wasn't too sure about Space Mountain at first but ended up riding it right away again.  So glad he has his Daddy to take him on roller coasters.  Brad and I definitely had different experiences at the park today.  Diana got to meet every princess except for Jasmine.  I wasn't sure how she was going to react to meeting the characters but she surprised me.  She went very willingly up to each of the princesses, had them sign her book and gave them hugs.  As the day went on she got braver and started talking more and more to them.  At one point she was telling Tinkerbell about her new shoes.  Diana was afraid of Goofy but otherwise was all about meeting the characters.  I am pretty sure Jonathan went on every ride, at least everything he wanted to ride.  He also met a few characters.  It poured for awhile, actually was storming and pretty nasty outside.  Jonathan wanted to go back to the hotel meanwhile Diana was having fun "singing in the rain."  They couldn't be more opposite at times.  We plowed through the rain and the sun did eventually end up coming out.  We had a character dinner at the Crystal Palace meeting Winnie the Pooh, Tiger, Eeyore, and Piglet.  Jonathan got a special birthday card from these characters and a cupcake.  And then...it was time to head home!  It had been an exhausting day but memories that will last a lifetime!  More pictures and details to come...

Biatholon

The kids have been enjoying the olympics. Jonathan thinks he will be in the Olympics someday...debating between bobsledding and the luge. He did like the biathlon today as well. You don't think Diana is watching TV because she is always busy doing other things. Then she ends up looking like this and she looks just like the athletes on TV. Her biathlon look.

Pinkalicious

I took Diana to see Pinkalicious tonight with her two classmates, Monika and Lauren.  So cute!  It was a very fun first theater experience for Diana and I am looking forward to many more girls nights out.  Diana did have to go potty fairly soon after the show started and while we were in the bathroom she said, "I don't like her [Pinkalicious], she shouldn't have eaten all of those cupcakes."  For those of you not familiar with Pinkalicious, they are children's books about a little girl named Pinkalicious.  In this story, it was how she ate too many pink cupcakes and turned pink.  Diana did sit in my lap for a lot of the show and seemed a bit scared.  After it was over, I finally figured out why she was scared...she thought Pinkalicioius was going to come off the stage down by Diana.  Ha!  She did seem to enjoy it though, clapped a lot and asked to go back.

POPS Bowling

Jonathan got to go bowling with some of his friends from POPS (Parents of Preschoolers - St. Mary Church).  Diana was invited to her friend/neighbor Marshall's birthday party so she chose to go there with Daddy instead.  All of the kids had a blast!  Jonathan had a spare and was trying to act all cool about it.  There are some bowlers in this group though, very fun.  We got another 3 inches of snow last night so we had a small group today but it was still fun.

Valentine Candy

I swear I only let them have one treat each!  The amount of Valentine candy/treats that have been received is out of control!  Jonathan made Diana's day by sharing his Hello Kitty and princess Valentines.

Valentine's

The kids made some really cute Valentine's this year.  We utilized one of the many snow days and Pintrest to help this year.  Diana picked the lip whistles.  She was very determined to write her own name on the back of them.  She has really gotten into coloring and trying to write.  I hear her saying letters all the time and writing.  Granted most of them never look the way they should but it's a start.  She did amaze me though by writing a perfect "i" on the back of one.  I wasn't helping her at all, I was gluing so not paying any attention, just telling her what letters to write.  I looked up and was like "whoa!"  She had a big smile!  I don't think she could do it again though.  Jonathan picked toy airplanes for the neighborhood boys and then Swedish fish for his classmates. I forgot to take a picture of his fish bowls though, so this is from Pintrest.