"Sledding"

I use the quotation marks because let's all be honest, this is not true sledding.  Even though most of the state has sheets of ice for roads, streets and driveways, here in Flowery Branch our driveways only got a dusting.  I have seen videos of people's houses a county away that are really sledding down their entire street.  I am bummed for my kids because they would have loved that!  We just down "do snow" here in the South.  I have one pair of snow bibs that would fit Anna but "I don't wear overalls, Mom."  Well, excuse me girlfriend.  If she only knew the benefits!  I have one pair of waterproof gloves.  The kids have nice heavy coats, warm but not waterproof gloves but that's about it.  For those of you who follow this blog and don't live in Georgia, you have seen the news by now and what a disaster this city has endured the past 24 hours.  Justin's poor dad walked for three miles home after being in the car stuck for 6+ hours...misery.  We are so thankful he did what he needed to do to get through it mentally.  Please continue to pray for those who are stranded or have yet to see their families since leaving for work or school yesterday morning.  And, of course for the medical personnel, and service workers who still have hours and hours ahead of them.  Thank you, Jesus, we were all home and together and warm!

Frozen

Yesterday I went to Publix and ran into one of the neighbors.  He asked how our new year was going and I told him good, except that I am tired of the cold here.  He said, "Well, at least it hasn't been snowing."  True, but still, I feel frozen all the time.  Speaking of "Frozen", if you haven't seen that movie, run, don't walk to your nearest theater.  You will then need to head to the nearest store with soundtracks and purchase it so you can learn all the words to all the songs.  Well done, Disney, well done.

But still, I don't mind looking at others cute and bundled up for the snow and ice, I just don't want to be in it myself.  However, this boy LOVES the cold.  And, if I looked this cute, perhaps I would too!

Disney World- Day3

On Saturday, we headed back to the Magic Kingdom because, well, it's the best!  And, we had a very special appointment for Anna, Bibbidi Boppity Boutique!  We had some time beforehand though so we did some rides and made sure we went and drove the race cars in Tomorrowland for Kyle.

 This little boy was so excited to ride/drive a car!  He kept telling Justin what color he wanted.

 His official driver's license.  Watch out when these two really start driving!

After some rides and the cars, I took Anna to meet Rapunzel before her appointment.  She was VERY excited to meet her until she could see me sweating the time and then all she could ask about was being late to the Bibbidi Boppity Boutique.

 Great Snow White, don't ya think??!

For those of you that don't know what Bibbidi Boppidi Boutique is, it is relatively new at Disney World.  Your child can go the salon and pick out an outfit (princesses for girls/pirates for boys) and then have their hair and makeup done as well as a thousand other options that they try to sell you!  It is quite overwhelming for an adult to make choices in that place, much less a five year old with sparkling dresses and crowns and accessories hanging all over the place.  However, it is done so well with their "transforming" abilities.  When we first arrived, Anna was able to choose which princess she wanted to "become" and she chose Sofia, which thankfully had JUST come in to the boutique the day before.  We had stopped by the "Castle Couture" shop before because I didn't think they had Sofia dresses available at the boutique.  Anna had trouble understanding the whole thing and so we ended up just going to the salon and it all worked out!  So, after you pick your princess and "package", you wait with your special invitation.

 Also, consider this the BEFORE picture...

After a little anticipation brews, one of the "fairy godmothers" comes and gets you to get dressed.  They take you to the back and after saying, "Bibbidi, Boppity, Boo!", they open the dressing room curtain and there is YOUR dress hanging there ready for you to get into it.  Anna wanted one of the fairy godmothers to get her dressed and was disappointed when she was left with me!

Then you wait a little longer until the whole process begins in the chair...I wasn't sure how Anna would like this because she wants her hair down and "free" most of the time and if there is a special occasion and I offer to put a little make up on her, she says no.  However, she was in. her. element.

The fairy godmother that Anna had was wonderful and sweet and a good fit for Anna.

And, the nails...

The makeup...

Final touches...

Ta Da!!!!

She was so cute and very excited to be all made up.  We stepped outside of the boutique, which is IN Cinderella's Castle, and there was no one standing around, so I had her stand in front of the mosaic tiles to get a picture.

Anna then wore her hair like this for a whole two more days.  When we arrived home, we had her soak in the tub for a long while to get all the "glue" out!  So gross.  She was able to keep all her makeup and two nail polish colors as well as some additional face gems.  They really did treat her royally.  I hope she always remembers turning five and getting to do this.

By that afternoon, Kyle was in need of a nap...

We split up at this point so that Anna could rest too and Brice and Justin could do some big kid stuff.  Then after dinner we stayed for the Electrical Parade.  This is one of my favorites.  They changed some of the floats from the last time we were there and they were really neat.  I had to post the next picture because she reminds me of a picture in a bride magazine when they tell the models to NOT smile.  I never understood this because aren't you supposed to be happy on your wedding day??!

This concludes our trip since I already posted Day 4. It was so fun and next time we go will be even more fun because Anna rode some of the roller coasters this time and will really love them next time.  And, Kyle won't have to take so many potty breaks! :)

Disney World- Day 2

On Day 2, Anna's birthday, we started out with another really nice breakfast at Park Fare 1900 inside the Grand Floridian with Mary Poppins, Alice in Wonderland, Winnie the Pooh and Tigger too!  Anna really wanted to meet Mary Poppins on this trip since she has watched the movie so many times and loves to dress up like her!

 Mary Poppins made us all mind our manners when we answered questions!  She was very much in character.  All of the characters signed a birthday card for Anna so she LOVED it!  The food was also very good.  Kyle wouldn't get out of his seat but he did enjoy seeing the characters.  And Brice was only good enough for a picture with the MadHatter.

 Winnie the Pooh came around twice and Kyle gave him a high five.  He thought he was funny.

After we had all stuffed ourselves, we just took a minute to look around the lobby area of the Grand Floridian.  It is such a beautiful resort and had a huge Christmas tree as well as a real gingerbread house that was as big as a house!

Yep, that is all edible, only Disney World.
We then headed into Hollywood Studios to meet Lightning McQueen and Mater!!!  This was the reason for going to Hollywood Studios this trip because Kyle is slightly obsessed with "Cars".  As in, he watches the movie everyday, has about seven different play McQueen's and just loves them!  It was a much slower paced day than Magic Kingdom and was a little bit more difficult to plan stuff out because Justin and I don't know all the ins and outs of that park.  Also, having the age kids we do as well as the different sexes with different interests makes logistics tricky.  The first thing we came upon was Sofia the First and so we HAD to stand in line of course because Anna loves that show and it was her birthday after all.

Sofia took many breaks so this visit was a long wait, but Anna was so thrilled she had worn her purple dress and Sofia even compared with her how they matched.  It was cute and the boys were troopers with waiting for us, waiting in line.

We tried to do a bunch of stuff for Brice here because he was so cooperative and giving to Anna the entire trip.  He and I did Tower of Terror, a first for both of us.  And then he and Justin enjoyed the stunt car show as well as Star Wars.  We also so the live Beauty and the Beast show.  It was good and everyone enjoyed it.  We sneaked in at the last minute so we had to sit in the back but still fun.  Brice also went in the Walt Disney museum while I tried to get Anna and Kyle to nap.  We were unable to go in Toy Story because the line was soooo long and they ran out of Fast Passes.  So we did Honey, I Shrunk the Kids and then of course I was so excited for Kyle to get to see Lightning McQueen and Mater.

While Kyle was excited to "meet" them, he was also shy and didn't want to touch them too much.  When we walked back by them, I asked if he wanted to go see them again but he really just enjoyed looking at McQueen from afar.  It was as if just knowing where he was and being able to stare at him was enough.

After dinner we hung around while they lit all the buildings of Hollywood Studios, went to the Muppets 3D Show and enjoyed the "snow" that fell. Anna was especially enthralled that it "snowed" on her birthday, IN Disney World!

 The McQueen he has is/was a "lunchbox" that you can get for your kids with snacks inside.  Disney knows how to do it, I tell ya.  Instead of getting your kids a meal, you can get them a bunch of snacks yogurt, apples, Goldfish and then for a few extra dollars you can get the car or a droid from Star Wars.  This was seriously the best investment, and cheapest, of the trip!  We still have this McQueen and he loves to put things inside it and carry it around.

The birthday girl and her Daddy. 
And there you have Day 2 at Hollywood Studios.  One more post on Disney and then back to January stuff!