Mother's Day Recap:Kinky Art, Black Eyes and Chicken Fried Fish

My mom is an artist in every sense of the word-beyond her phenomenal artistic talent she is as quirky and odd they come.  All of my mom's art has hidden meanings and suggestive messages.  Take the following photograph for example. My mother says this was for a self portrait, I think it just means she was into some very kinky things prechildren.

   My grandmother lovingly displays a painting my mom did in her home of a woman from the chest up dressed in a blue power suit (this painting was made in 80s) looking down at a bouquet of delicate tulips in her hand.  A blue hat is covering her face, her hair perfectly falling to her shoulders. 
My grandmother loves this painting-she hangs her daughter's art with the same pride I hang up Evelyn's macaroni art on my fridge.  What my grandmother doesn't know about the painting is if you look very closely and study the curves of the woman's hands, her ever so softly off coloring-you will discover that my mother has painted a picture of a woman who has passed and lying in her casket at her funeral.
What does my mother's painting and Mother's Day have to do with each other?  My loving family decided to start my day off letting me know I only looked one step up above my mom's dying subject.  Boyfriend told me I looked like I had gotten into a fight, my under eye circles were so dark.  Evelyn let me know that my skin was really bumpy and my forehead stripes (wrinkles) were getting bigger.  Luckily for them, my emotional skin is thicker than the skin below my eyelids and their comments didn't ruin my day one bit-in fact it was the best Mother's Day yet!

I had wanted to sleep in and Boyfriend took Penny out of bed around 7:00 but because I'm a mom-I could still hear her fussing no matter how far away he went.  Around 8:00 I finally got myself out of bed and she happily jumped into my arms.  The next best thing to sleeping in is cuddling your baby.

As we do every year, we didn't make reservations for the big day until the week of so all the true brunch places were booked up (unless we wanted to pay $60+ per head for a buffet) so I booked us at Amberjax in Trinity Groves and it far exceeded my expectations.  I even got to experience brunch-chicken fried grouper and cornmeal pecan waffles & bacon.  So dang good.

Along with her quirkiness, my mom is also oddly picky about restaurants-her favorite place is IHOP and she hates Breadwinners.  Such an embarrassing statement for this foodie.  Amberjax didn't disappoint her either though, so it was a total Mother's Day win.

After lunch we came home and I napped with the girls, waking a full two hours later.  That two hours of sleep was pure bliss considering that was the longest stretch of sleep I have had in weeks.  Also, despite the fact that I genuinely mean I don't need presents-Boyfriend got me a King Spa gift card which gives me the opportunity to get a guilt free massage when I go with my girlfriends in a few weeks.

My night ended with homemade sushi (that was a fail but I did have leftover cake for dinner instead-so win?) and a head massage from Evelyn.  It warmed my heart when she told me that she was going to give me an extra long massage because it was Mother's Day-I loved that she understood on her own that the day was to be extra special for me!

I know my day was pretty low key and not really much to speak of, it was the first where I felt like my family really honored my position.  And if I look as bad as they tell me I look-I should at least get a little something out of it!

Day One: Well This Isn't What I Expected

Our first day started at 4:30 am checking into Pop Century.  I was nervous about the term "value resort" which conjured up images of a seedy motel, only Disneyfied.  I was quite relieved when we pulled up and the hotel didn't look outdated and at minimum, the lobby was clean.  

There was a little confusion with checking in-I actually had two reservations, one for Friday night only and one for the next seven nights.  It took quite a bit through the process for the Cast Member to understand that I was wanting to check in for Friday night-based off the time I was coming in, he assumed I had already checked in for Friday and was rechecking in for the remainder of my stay.   By the time we finally got to our home for the next seven nights, it was nearly 5:30 am and we had an 8:00 reservation at Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique for Evelyn to be transformed into a princess.  I decided that since we had to leave by 7:00 in order to catch our bus, there was no point in going to sleep for any period of time and began unpacking.  Penny and Boyfriend fell asleep while Evelyn and I unpacked all of our belongings and got ready for the day.   One thing I had done prior to our trip was have a few items shipped to Pop-our double stroller, snacks, and water (so we didn't have to pay the price of an entire case for just one bottle at the parks).  I put together my stroller and was pleasantly surprised by my $90 purchase.    I woke Boyfriend ten minutes prior to us having to leave and he rolled out of bed, half asleep and we made the two minute walk to the bus stop.  During our walk, Evelyn started to get really excited because she saw the pool for the first time and all of the other features of Pop's grounds.  

  On our very first bus trip, we discovered Penny hated the bus.  She would cry pretty much the entire time, and grab at my chest wanting to eat.  I hardly deny her nursing so this would especially piss her off and she would just scream.  Over the course of the trip, I began to dread every bus ride.   Once at Magic Kindgom, I attempted to get the girls set up in the stroller but Penny was tired and wanted to cuddle so I put her in the carrier and we started our trek from the bus stop to the front gate.  Since we had a reservation prior to the park opening we waited in a line until about 7:45 when they let us enter the park with a group of other people who had 8 am reservations.   I had heard that this was a prime time to get pictures in front of the castle and stopped at the first PhotoPass Photographer we saw.  The photographer was nice and tried very hard to get a smile out of Evelyn but she was just not  having it.  I kept saying it was ok, but he kept insisting on trying-another trend for the trip.  Eventually we learned to say right away, "She may not smile and that is ok."  

  With our destination right behind us we walked up to the front of the castle and a Fairy Godmother in Training greeted us asking where we were headed.  I explained that Evelyn had an appointment that morning and she brought us back to Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique.  Even though it was still 7:50 and it didn't open until 8:00 there were already several adorable little girls that had started their transformation.  We walked in and our Fairy Godmother showed us to the Royal Changing Room so that Evelyn could put on her princess gown (Belle's dress).   This is when things turned sour.  Evelyn refused to change into the dress.  I half expected her respond this way-she isn't one for wearing costumes in public.  I explained it was ok and she didn't have to change and let's go get her hair done, it is at a salon (which she asks to do at home).  She said that she didn't want to and started to get a panicked look on her face and tears in her eyes.   I asked Boyfriend to leave the room and sat down with her in my lap.  I told her that I was ok if she didn't want to do it-but if we didn't do it now, we would not have the opportunity to do it at a later time if she changed her mind.  She was scared and overwhelmed and I hugged her for a little bit, finally we exited the room and explained to our Fairy Godmother than Princess Evelyn had changed her mind and we wouldn't be participating today.   Our Fairy Godmother couldn't have been more sweet and brought us back to the front where we spoke with her manager who told us that if she changes her mind at any point in the trip to call her and we will get fit in.  She tried to give Evelyn some Belle stickers but Evelyn had totally shutdown and was hiding in Jackson's arms.  We left and I became filled with fear about what the rest of our trip would be like.     I tried to rationalize that Evelyn was just so tired but that is her personality-she does not like attention from strangers.  I'm not sure why in the world I thought this was something she would enjoy-prior to our trip I made sure to show her videos and pictures of everything we would be doing so she was prepared and she seemed interested at home, but I should have known better.     I didn't feel disappointed by her choice at all, only sadness that she was feeling anxiety over something I was asking her to do.  We left Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique and I asked Evelyn if she would like to go on a ride.  With her classic shy smile, she said she would.   At this point it was just a few minutes before nine and we noticed a large group of people walking behind some cast members with a rope-the park was officially opening!  We looked around us and due to my preplanning and help from Touring Plans I knew Peter Pan's lines would escalate quickly so we hopped in line.   This was a great first ride for our trip.  Even though we walked straight through the line queue we had the opportunity to play with some of the interactive lighting and cause Evelyn a lot of confusion when we said, "Look there is Nana!" at the famous St. Bernard (I guess Evelyn never picked up that the dog's name was Nana).  By the time we had finished the ride, Penny was asleep in the carrier and Evelyn was in much better spirits.     We went on It's A Small World next, Evelyn and I played a game where we pointed to the prettiest dolls in each area.  Penny continued to sleep.

 

Our next ride was Haunted Mansion, and our realist five year old said that it was no big deal because everything was just pretend.  By the time we finished these three rides, it was only 9:30 but I was started to feel the results of being up all night.

Initially my plans included us staying at Magic Kingdom until noonish and then heading to Epcot but we decided that we would go back to the hotel for a bit and rest, maybe swim a little bit.  By the time we got to the bus stop, Evelyn was in a quiet mood again-I think she was starting to feel overwhelmed again. 

 

  Everyone was also very hungry so our first stop was to Pop's food court to eat some breakfast and get our refillable drink mugs.  One thing I hadn't planned was how we were going to use our quick service dining credits, I figured we could just use them as needed.  For our first meal, we ended up getting a Bounty Platter-this included eggs, french toast, bacon, sausage and hash brown casserole.  We actually all shared this-Penny ate some of the eggs, Evelyn isn't a huge breakfast eater so she had some bacon and a piece of the french toast (which I ate the rest of) and Boyfriend had the hash brown casserole, sausage and the remainder of the eggs.  For $8.99, while not the tastiest and was the epitome of food court quality, it was an excellent value to feed our entire family and only utilize one quick service credit.  This would not work for families who need a hearty breakfast though.

We filled up our refillable mugs (and I couldn't get over how COLD my drink was) and headed to our room to change into our swimsuits.  With some food in her belly and in her happy place (water) Evelyn was a changed girl.

 

Penny was obsessed with swallowing the pool water so we didn't spend a very long time swimming-maybe only 30 minutes or so.  We headed back to the hotel, took a shower and immediately fell asleep for a much needed nap. 

We woke a couple of hours with everyone in much better spirits.  It is amazing what a nap can do!  We headed back towards the bus to go to Epcot with renewed energy.

I know this makes us in the minority, but Boyfriend and I didn't really enjoy Epcot near as much as we did the other parks in past visits.  It may be that we fought the entire time we were at Epcot the first time, but whatever the case may be-some of it is entertaining for us but it definitely is a park we wanted to visit only once.  Even though this was my least anticipated park, I was still really thrilled as we walked in and saw "the big golf ball."

 

Almost immediately our Touring Plan went out the window.  Evelyn's moods were very delicate that day and so we just decided to go with the flow and only try to adhere to our FastPass+ times.  Unfortunately, we also learned that Penny pretty much hated the stroller so I carried her pretty much the entire trip.

Our first stop was one of the Innovations buildings where Evelyn learned all about saving and investing.  This was a fun and interactive activity and I was happy to see Evelyn starting to enjoy herself, even if she didn't totally understand the activity.  From there we headed over to Club Cool to try out all of the different drinks from around the world, including the infamous Beverly (Boyfriend and I both, predictably, did not enjoy it).

Outside Nemo, we annoyed both girls by taking a kissing picture.  Creeper Nemo.

 

Between that and our last fast pass before dinner, we went on Figment, saw the Tomorrowland Preview (which made me excited to see it), a trip to the Baby Care center for an air conditioned nursing break, completed an Agent P adventure in Mexico, and spent some time checking out the character topiaries that were being featured for the Flower & Garden Festival.

Our last FastPass+ was for Soarin which I was really looking forward to.  This was the one thing that both Boyfriend and I thought was so cool on our last visit.  This was also the first ride Evelyn was going to attempt with a height requirement and I was nervous she wouldn't make it.  According to her doctor's appointment that was a month prior, she was 39.75 inches without shoes.  I wasn't sure she had officially hit 40 inches (minus shoes) but assumed with shoes, especially her boots, she would be tall enough.  

I kissed Evelyn and watched Boyfriend and her head towards the entrance.  Less than a minute later, I got a text from Boyfriend, "We are in!"  After about 15 minutes, I saw Evelyn and Boyfriend coming out the exit and Evelyn was so excited.  I asked her if she wanted to go on it again (thanks rider switch!) and she did so Evelyn and I took a turn.

On our way to our dinner reservation, we stopped to get some more photographs taken.  We had almost convinced Evelyn to smile when a large group of cheerleaders (20+) behind us collectively went, "Awww!" to Penny waving at the photographer.  I love the next set of photos because you can see her disappearing.

Next up was our dinner reservation at Akershus.  I booked this reservation because I thought it was the best way to meet many of the Princesses without having to wait in line.  I also thought it would be fun for Evelyn dressed up as a Princess from her earlier Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique appointment, though that obviously wasn't happening.

Dinner, well dinner was awesome.  We really enjoyed the food (on a later blog post I'll update my thoughts on all of our Table Service meals) and our meals that evening made us excited for the remainder of our meals that week.

What was not awesome was how Evelyn reacted to all of the Princesses coming by our table.  She was totally overwhelmed and shut down every instance a Princess even came near.

 

I know Evelyn isn't the only child like this and most of them immediately picked up on her nervousness and would focus on Penny, who absolutely loved each and every one of them.

 

We exited Akershus about ten minutes prior to the start of Illuminations.  While I wanted to see the show, I also didn't want to exit right as everyone else was since that was also park closing time.  We walked quickly to the exit and Evelyn watched a few of the fireworks from her daddy's shoulders.

After a tear filled bus ride home (Penny) we arrived back at Pop, filled up our drink mugs and headed back to the room.  When we got back into the room Evelyn discovered "Tinkerbell" had left a few trinkets behind-another coloring book and a necklace.

After showers and baths for everyone, we crawled into bed beyond exhausted. I was really looking forward to the next day-Hollywood Studios, which was our second favorite park from our previous trips.

The Big Reveal: We're Going to Disney World!

I had been looking forward to this day for months-finally telling Evelyn we were going to Disney World.  Actually, it had been years in the making and it was finally the big day!

That day we sent Evelyn to daycare as normal so we could take care of a few things-like packing.  Up until about three hours prior to our departure I hadn't packed a thing. As a family, we aren't heavy packers-in fact we almost  never check luggage and regardless of the length of the trip will fit it into a carry on.

Once Boyfriend and I had gotten everything ready to go we picked up Evelyn from daycare (Penny had stayed back with us since she had a doctor appointment that morning) and told her she was coming home early since her Papa was visiting.

Once home, we sat her down to finally tell her.  I knew I wanted to record her reaction but if she saw me bring out a camera to record she would immediately know something was up.  So I came up with the idea of making a One Day video customized to our trip.  It was a great idea in theory-unfortunately the last question, "Do you want to go to Disney World today" for some reason didn't save!  Luckily I thought ahead and asked Boyfriend to also record us just in case something went wrong.

I already knew she wouldn't have an "OMG WE ARE GOING TO DISNEY WORLD!" reaction-that just isn't her.  Boyfriend and I anticipated that she would give us that shy smile (which she did) but I didn't expect that she flat out wouldn't believe us.  Immediately following the video we took her to the bedroom to show her our packed luggage and she became pretty upset-refusing to look at it.  It was as if she was so scared we were playing a trick on her she couldn't allow herself to get excited.

Even when my mom came over to pick us up, she still didn't believe us.  When my mom asked her where she was going she would say, "They said we are going to Disney World-but I don't believe it."  We finally stopped trying to convince her we weren't lying and just told her she can wait and see.

We finally arrived at the airport and said our goodbyes to my mom, and asked her to take a family photo.  Evelyn refused to smile-little did we know this would be the trend of the entire trip.

Penny on the other hand (another trend for nearly the entire trip) was just as happy as can be tagging along.

Once inside the airport, we started to see a little pep in her step.  I could tell she was actually starting to trust us and the excitement started to build.  We arrived to the airport two hours early (when you work for an airline-you become paranoid since you know about all the things that can go wrong and are overly cautious) so we stopped to eat first.  While eating, Evelyn was abnormally impatient and wanted to get to the gate right away.  I tried to explain to her that we would be there for quite some time but I think to her-being at the gate meant we were really going.  Once we started walking to our gate, the smiles started appearing.

Unfortunately, they didn't last long because our scheduled 5:02 pm departure had been rescheduled to 5:57 pm.  I was actually pretty impressed with both Evelyn and Penny-they managed to keep themselves entertained and not make too much of a raucous.  Of course having packed a few new activities in Evelyn's bag definitely helped.  

Around the original scheduled time for our departure, I noticed that I was having trouble breathing.  Initially I had Penny in the carrier on my chest so I thought maybe that was what was causing it so I took  her out and put her on the ground, which she was just as happy to chill and people watch.

Even with the literal weight of my chest, I still felt like I couldn't breath freely.  My chest felt so heavy and constricted and like I just couldn't get air in.  Boyfriend knowing that I am, to put it lightly, an anxious flyer suggested that maybe I was already feeling anxiety.  

Full disclosure-I do medicate when flying.  I have never been someone who is totally comfortable on planes but once I had kids, my body reacts in a way I just can't control.  I break out in sweats, every bump makes my heart explode and my mind races, convinced we are going to crash.  It is quite maddening to be honest because right along with all of those reactions-I still have my logical brain telling me that I am (literally) crazy and need to chill.  I just can't control it though-the only way I am able to stop the physical symptoms is to take a (doctor prescribed) anti-anxiety medicine.

I make every effort to make sure my kids do not recognize my anxiety, I know they will feed off my vibes.  I went ahead and took half of my regular small dosage, hoping it would help me.  Unfortunately, this was not the only episode of high anxiety during our trip-and it wasn't just me.  That said, within a half hour of taking the medicine, I started to feel so, so much better. 

Boyfriend and I were tracking a storm that was coming in-it was scheduled to hit almost exactly the time as our new departure time.  Our airline was actually making updates almost every ten minutes advising us of where our plane was currently and trying to expedite boarding in hopes that we could depart prior to the storm hitting.  They let us know at this time it was highly likely we would not be able to make our connections (we were flying DFW-FLL-MCO) so I went ahead and made a car rental reservation just in case.  Spoiler alert-we had to use it.

Once on the plane, Air Traffic Control denied our right to depart.  So we just sat there on the runway, watching the storm roll in.

The storm was absolutely terrifying, and at some point I got a pop up on my phone warning us of a tornado watch.  Our plane was literally rocking from side to side, it felt as though we were going to tip over.  The kids were totally clueless though, Evelyn played with her new coloring books and Penny ate some snacks.

Eventually the storm passed and we were cleared for take off, once we went back to the gate for more fuel (delaying us even further). We were on the plane for nearly three hours before we departed, making us a total of four hours delayed.  We finally arrived in Ft. Lauderdale around 12:30 am and headed straight to the rental car counter.

This was the first time that I have ever rented a car and had to utilize the car company's car seats-since we were using the Magical Express Disney offers, we didn't have to bring along our car seats.  I was pleasantly surprised at the quality.  Mostly though, I was just relieved to be finally off the plane and on our way (officially) to Disney World.

I tried, really, to stay awake and entertain Boyfriend during the three or so hour drive, but fell asleep rather quickly.  I was just so mentally drained.  I think I slept the first two hours, waking for the last leg of the journey.  Both kids slept the entire trip, another spoiler alert-this is all they slept that night.

Once we finally made it to Orlando Airport, we dropped off the car and wandered around MCO for some time attempting to find Magical Express.  All of the instructions I could find were for when you are getting off a plane-not dropping off a rental car.  Eventually we stumbled upon it and even though it was a little after four in the morning I was SO stoked. Also, since we were arriving at such an odd time-we had a totally private chartered bus all to ourselves.

I started to tear up as we left the airport on the Magical Express because it meant that, even though it didn't occur as how we thought it would, we were finally at Disney World!

The 1,564th Time is the Charm

As someone who is often in a state of nostalgia, I absolutely love Timehop.  I frequently go back and read old blog posts, check in on old Facebook photos, peruse my handwritten journals dating back to my high school years.  I find it especially entertaining for me to see exactly what was happening X years ago. You know what isn't fun?  Seeing a Timehop from five years ago which was exactly six weeks after having your first baby and seeing that you were in better shape at that point then you are now nearly eleven months after your second.

I started off weighing exactly the same for each pregnancy, I managed to lose my baby weight both times-but with my first I lost a considerable bit more but it all came back over the four years between my first and second.  I don't really care how much I weigh-but I do wish that I had more clothing options and people didn't continue to ask when I was due because of my roundish belly.

I've signed up for a bootcamp at work-twice a week I will be working out with my coworkers.  I'm hoping that since I have to be at work and it is literally outside my office doors I won't use the same excuses I normally use.  It starts at the end of this month-my only goal is to not skip one workout.

Boyfriend and I are on a mission to be healthier.  We aren't naturally healthy individuals-we enjoy the "bad" foods way too often, I'm not incredibly active (Boyfriend is) and if given the choice I will lounge on the couch vs going for a walk almost any day.  While none of these things are bad in moderation, moderation is not the example we are setting for Evelyn and Penny.  

I've declared that I want to make healthier changes 1,563 times so even I don't believe myself when I say this time is different.  All I can do is trust myself and my ability to make the changes I want to see myself make and stick to it.  So here goes!

Back To Life...Back To Reality

We are back home from our Disney trip and I'm officially experiencing the post vacation blues.  I will have a full trip recap coming up, which will be split up into a million different blog posts-essentially I'm using my blog as a travel journal.  I knew going in that my trip could be much different than I had envisioned, but honestly-I wasn't prepared for the manner in which it was different.   We had a wonderful trip, don't get me wrong.  That said, I did have expectations that it would be so special and fun that I would have a hard time accepting that we wouldn't be able to return until Penny is five or six. Instead I found myself during the trip saying to myself multiple times, "The only other time we will do Disney with the kids is Penny's trip."  At one point it was so rough I was just ready to call it quits and go home (which may or may not have been thought out of absolute exhaustion).   Now that we are on the other side, and our vacation is finally over I'm sad.  I really did have an amazing eight days with my little family and I wish we were back in the land of magic.  

Planning A Trip to Disney World-What the Heck is a Touring Plan?

Long gone are the days of picking out a week on the calendar a month or two in advance, loading up the family van and heading to Disney World for a fabulous vacation.  Now dining reservations are made out 180 days in advance, FastPass+ (FP+) reservations (this allows you to essentially skip the line) are made 60 days out for resort guests or 30 for nonresort, and any special extras like Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique also need 180 day advance notice.  It is difficult enough if you plan six months out-but if you are like us and only four months out-well it can get quite complicated!
I love planning and logistics so honestly, cultivating the details of our trip was really fun-almost as fun as the trip itself!  Researching, deciding on where we would eat, and the rush of getting a hard to come by Advanced Dining Reservation (ADR) was worth the extra headaches.
So where to start?  For me, since I was already within the 180 days, I started with my ADRs.  I googled meal reviews, stalked various forums and instagram for food pictures and narrowed it down to 7 different table service (TS) restaurants that I wanted to eat at.  I will go much more into the dining plan, but just know that I had 7 TS meal credits that were included which in most cases, would be an equal amount of ADRs.
The next thing I had to decide to do was figure out which parks would be best to visit on which days.  There are a multitude of websites that will give you crowd calendars, suggested parks, etc-the one I have found to have the best interface, the friendliest people and great results was Touring Plans (TP).
TP is a community that utilizes software that basically tells you when and where to go once inside the parks.  They have, as they put it, eerily accurate crowd calendars that suggest which parks will be the busiest vs slowest during your stay.  I utilized this information to rank which park I wanted to go to each day and then cross compared which restaurants/resorts my preferred dining locations were.
My method to my madness was to get an ADR for the restaurants I really wanted, even if it wasn't a preferred time.  Since I wasn't planning 180 days out-it took a lot of stalking Disney's reservation site and luck to get slots at each place.  Eventually I managed to get an ADR at every place I wanted, even it wasn't the perfect timing (for example, a 9:25 pm dinner the night before we are leaving).
The next step, which was probably the most stressful/satisfying was obtaining our FP+.  There were only a few things through all of the Disney Parks that are absolute must dos and luckily, we could arrange for a FP+ for those and know we won't have to wait three hours in line for something (ahem, Frozen sisters).
I did plan 60 days out and since I was a resort guest I was furiously searching for my FP+ at midnight hoping to grab all my desired passes.  About an hour later I had everything set up and knew that even if we only completed our FP+, Evelyn was going to be able to do the best of the best.
So at this point, I have my ADRs and my FP+ but you still can't just show up-what if your FP+ is at 10:00 am but all the rides have a 90 minute wait and its already 9 am.  Do you just have to sit around and do nothing?  Sound confusing?  Well it can be!  I started to get overwhelmed with everything so I started a spreadsheet to help me understand where I was going to be at what time.  Of course the one below has been tweaked tremendously, but it gives you an idea of how scheduled you are at Disney.

From here is where the sheer brilliance of what TP does for you-it creates an actual touring plan.  You put in your FP+ and ADR times, any breaks you may want to take, what hours you imagine you will be at the park and all the other rides and shows you want to see while at the park and it spits out a (hopefully) pretty little document that tells you not only when to go where, but approximately how long each line will be.

The best part of all of this-not once are any of my lines listed to be longer than 20 minutes!  Granted, it does have us walking in not the most sequential order of the parks so we will be getting in extra steps but it is worth it knowing we can maximize our touring time and not spend hours throughout the day waiting in a line.

Boyfriend and I have used TP before-on our trip in June 2009.  It was so successful that we managed to tour all of Hollywood Studios and be done by 1 pm that day.  It was actually one of our favorite days that trip because we went back "home" to swim and nap.  After that we went back to the park to hit up some our favorites from earlier in the day.  That year we didn't have Park Hopper passes, but had we upgraded-we would have just visited another park.  That experience was a prime motivator in us upgrading our tickets this trip.

Not only is TP a great tool to make your plans but the community is fantastic.  You can interact with individuals on their website, chat feature on your phone application or through a Facebook group.  I have come to them with serious questions (Will I get sued by Disney for using their font on my t-shirts?) to fun ones (What extra special things did you bring to make your kid's trip more magical).  I feel like I am learning something new every day and by being a part of their community I truly have made our trip extra special.

One last note about Touring Plans-this is a subscription based service.  I think I paid around $12 for a years worth of access and it was money well spent!  Even though I know realistically there is no way we are sticking to our TP exactly (nor do I want to be so rigid, we are on vacation afterall) my TP gives me a great base of where I could be at what time and what kind of lines I can expect. 
We are officially T minus 24 hours before our trip starts and I couldn't be more excited! I keep getting a lump in my throat thinking about all my magical moments to be, especially over revealing to Evelyn that we are finally going!  The blog will be quiet over the next week or so but please feel free to follow me over at Instagram-I promise I will be an over poster!

I'm Not a Fruit

The other day a friend and I doing what women do-chat about their bodies.  We were talking about how women's bodies are compared to fruits and I honestly couldn't think of a fruit to compare my body to.  

All of a sudden an image of a popsicle came to mind.  From the hips down I'm pretty stick straight, like a popsicle stick.  I have a flat butt and solid legs-nothing to really speak of.  But from hips up--out of nowhere I have this one continuous shape all the way up to my head.  

While it is hardly my favorite shape to be I suppose I don't mind.  I've always been this way-I remember someone referred to me as a beach ball on toothpicks when I was around ten.  

Well, maybe I care a bit.  I can't control my boob size but I could reduce the amount of overflow that occurs at my waistline.  First I just have to stop eating all those delicious popsicles.  I guess you really are what you eat.