Disney, Day 2, Part 2 - Mickey's Halloween Party

Dinner with Cinderella!

Luke took our picture!

The wicked stepsisters were so realistic

Luke and Prince Charming

Two Cinderellas and a pirate!

The Wicked Stepmother was the best!

After resting at the resort for a bit we got ready for Mickey's Halloween Party!  Katherine wanted to be Cinderella and Luke opted for a pirate.  We really have gotten our money's worth out of that costume! He has worn it several times, but he has outgrown it now.

Supper was great at 1900 Park Fare.  It was a buffet with all sorts of things to choose from.  Katherine fell asleep on the way there and was very cranky when she woke up which made the beginning of supper not very enjoyable.  We enjoyed meeting all the characters.  They all did a great job staying in character.  The wicked stepmother was the best -- she made snippy remarks and didn't crack a smile once!  Cinderella was beautiful and I think both kids were in awe of her!

Mickey's Halloween Party was next on our agenda.  They charge a separate admission to this event so they basically clear out the park and people have to be re-admitted with a different armband.  The park transformed for the party.  They played Halloween music, had different colored lights everywhere and had a cool parade. While we were waiting for the parade a teenager dressed as Elsa got lots of attention from the little girls.  They all that she was the "real" Elsa and we decided to let them!  She danced with some of the girls and talked to them.  There were different trick-or-treat trails set up throughout the park for the kids (and adults) to enjoy.  We let the kids do some of those, but honestly they were worn out.  We wanted to wait around for the special fireworks show, but we just couldn't justify staying that much longer in the park for fireworks.  We decided to back to the hotel and the kids didn't protest at all.  I honestly do not think the Halloween party was worth the extra money for us.  Our kids weren't really that in to it. If they were a little older I think they would have loved it.  The park was open until 1 in the morning and I am sure there were lots of people that took advantage of that to ride the rides over and over.  But, we did have another great day!!!

Disney, Day 2, Part 1 - Magic Kingdom....

Waiting for Dumbo

Under the sea

Mad Hatter Tea Party with this guy!

The whole family got in the action with Minnie!

Katherine all smiles with Daisy!

We hit the road early this morning to get our day started!  We had breakfast at our resort before heading to the park. We rode several rides -- The Barnstormer (twice), Dumbo the Flying Elephant, It's a Small World, Mad Tea Party, Under the Sea - Journey of the Little Mermaid and Peter Pan's Flight.  It was very interesting to learn that Katherine loves roller coasters!  I was so surprised...We stopped for a quick service lunch at Pinocchio Village Haus.  It was pretty good.  The kids met Minnie, Goofy, Daisy and Donald Duck.  It was their first character visits and first autographs.  They loved it!  We packed as much as we could into the morning and then headed back to the resort this afternoon before our dinner reservation at 1900 Park Fare at the Grand Floridian resort.

Disney Day 1, Part 2 - Epcot!

First character spotting - Alice in Wonderland!

Playing a piggy bank savings game in Epcot

Supper at Via Napoli -  authentic Italian food

That girl loves dessert!

Waiting on fireworks!

After we finished at Animal Kingdom we took the bus to Epcot.  The Food and Wine Festival is going on this week so that is really nice.  We made our way to all the different countries and enjoyed our dinner reservation at an authentic Italian restaurant.  It was very good and it gave us a chance to figure out our dining plan.  Lucky for us when we were done with supper it was almost time for the fireworks show and "Italy" was one of the prime locations for viewing.  The show was spectacular! The kids loved it and so did we.  What we are most impressed with about Disney so far is the cleanliness of everything and how nice everyone is!

Today was an extremely long and busy first day at the parks!  We are looking forward to the next few days at the other parks!

Disney Day 1, Part 1 - Animal Kingdom...

Animal Kingdom!

Kilimanjaro's Safaris!

Hippos...

We were so close to the animals!

A baby elephant!

Rhinos -- co cool!

Amazing animals

Tree of Life

One was down for the count after Animal Kingdom

We got to the resort around 11. We were able to go ahead and check into the resort and our room was ready early so that was super nice.  The first issue we encountered was getting on the wrong bus at the resort which was completely my fault. I just saw what resorts each bus stop went to and I thought every bus went to all the different places listed - wrong!  While waiting on the right bus Luke cut his finger on the "1st Visit to Disney" pin the resort gave us.  Of course, in our hurry we failed to pack the first aid items in our park bag so I made do with some paper!  The little mishap with the bus took us about an hour out of our way.  We finally figured it out and made it to Animal Kingdom.  I had scheduled three Fast Pass attractions there. The first one was Kali River Rapids.  Well, Katherine refused to get on and quite frankly pitched a fit. That was very frustrating, so Luke and Paul rode on it and Katherine and I found a place for lunch.  We re-grouped at lunch and headed to our next attraction - the safari!  That more than made up for our crazy morning.  We got to see unusual animals and they were so close!  The kids really enjoyed that.  The last Fast Pass was Dinosaurs, but Luke decided he didn't want to do that because he was scared. Both kids got scared during the showing of " A Bug's Life" and we had to leave the theater.  They are both extremely sensitive about that stuff.  Next stop...Epcot!

Disney or Bust!

It is so cool that Luke can entertain
himself now reading chapter books!

Katherine kept herself fairly well occupied
by playing with stickers and coloring.

We kept pretty true to our plan to pick the kids up early and hit the road.  Paul and I both worked half days and were able to pick the kids up at 2:30. They were so excited to be going to Disney!!!

There was not any traffic the whole night. We stopped by a bite of supper, but other than that we just drove and drove. We are stopping in Valdosta for the night which will leave us about a 3 1/2 hour drive tomorrow.  So far, so good!

Off With the Old...

Demo on the front porch has begun!

It's going to look great when
it is all completed.

Paul and I both had crazy busy days at work today.  He met the framer at the house first thing this morning to get them started on the porch re-do.  They also went over all the interior framing that needs to be done.  I asked Mom to pick the kids up from school today because I was running so far behind at work.  Today was a rare occurrence with unusual circumstances.  The girl helping me had to leave unexpectedly to take her baby to the doctor and I had some unplanned meetings and consults. Since Mom already had the kids I ran out to the house quickly to make sure the workers had locked everything up and to get a look-see!  They had removed the soffet and all the porch ceiling.  It is so open!  Their next step is to replace each truss with a rafter so in essence the whole facade of the house changes to accentuate the brick chimney.  The porch is already rather large but will appear even more so once the ceiling is vaulted.  I think we are going to go with a stained tongue and groove ceiling instead of the pale blue as first thought.

We had a ton to do tonight because tomorrow when we pick the kids up from school we are DISNEY BOUND!!!  As of now everyone's bags are packed with the exception of toiletries that can not be packed until tomorrow morning.  We are so excited to begin our once in a lifetime trip to the happiest place on Earth!

Frozen!

Nonna and the kids are all smiles!

Ready for the show

Snow cone treats!

The crowd went crazy for Olaf!

Paul worked while we played...

Mom got Katherine tickets to Disney on Ice - Frozen! for her birthday.  We kind of put it on the back burner since we have been so busy and just started reminding the kids about it this week.  They were so excited! We went to Mom's after church and lunch.  There was a home Titans game today so downtown was nuts! We found a good parking spot and just had a short walk over to the arena.  The show was great!  It has been a long time since we have been to anything "on ice" and it was very cool.  The skating and music were great. It was pretty much the whole Frozen movie but on ice skates.  The costumes were great and the placed was packed. The kids loved it and so did we!  I let the kids get a treat at intermission.  Those things are pretty much highway robbery when it comes to concessions. Oh well, that's part of it.

The show lasted about two hours which was just the right amount of time.  Traffic was a mess getting out of downtown so it took us a while.  Both kids fell asleep and were worn out.  While we were out having fun Paul was working at the house.  He went to a funeral today but worked before and after that.  He got the master bath completely cleared out with the exception of the tub. He got the vanity out and the walls surrounding it out.  The framer is coming tomorrow to start on the porch.  It is a two step process so he will do some this week and some the following week when we are home from vacation.  I am anxious to see the rebuilding start!

Fall is Here...

The foyer closet is gone!

Entertaining themselves with Daddy's tablet

Imagine our surprise when we woke up to temperatures in the 30's this morning!  Craziness! We had a pretty busy day today.  Our local McDonald's has undergone a complete renovation and the kids have been having a fit to check it out so we decided today was as good a day as any.  Katherine was a little disappointed the did away with the playground.  After breakfast we went our separate ways. Katherine had a birthday party at 11:30 and Paul had some things he wanted to get done at the house so he and Luke went up there to work. We got some packing done before it was time for the party.  It was good for K to see some of her friends from her old school. She had fun and played hard.We headed to Bill's after that.  Jon and Kristen came up for the UT ball game and to celebrate Jon's birthday.  She had made a pot of chili and they had just enjoyed hanging out.

We had to go to a visitation for a family friend so JonJon and Meme watched the kids while Bill, Paul and I went to the funeral home.  When we got back they went.  We tag teamed it today.  Once we were done at the funeral home we went back up to the house to do some more work. I focused on trying to get the backsplash off in the kitchen which was no easy task.  I finally decided it might come off easier once we have the counters off.  Paul focused on getting a lot of the wall studs out. He had to tie off some electrical to do that.  He got the foyer completely opened up which looks so nice --- it is a real entryway now instead of a small space with a closet in it.  Jon and Kristen came by to check on our progress and were very surprised by how much demo has been done.  It was late by the time we got home tonight.  I watched the end of the Auburn/ LSU game and Auburn won big!  It was a day of upsets though with several of the top 10 losing, including Alabama -- crazy!