my life in pink

Disneyworld Trip - Chapter 27

Chapter 27 - One Of My Favourite Moments

So when I last left you we had just finished our mission to Mars and had made HG try on the silly hat.

Now it was time to head to the monorail and start making our way to dinner....

Where were we going?

Well, does this picture give you a hint?

Yep, that’s right - we are at the Poly!  Ohana’s it is! 

But this post isn’t about that.  The next one will be but not yet....

We were going to go for a walk around to enjoy the grounds but as soon as we got there the skies opened up and the rain came pouring down.  Figures.  

Oh well.

Headed inside and wandered around and looked in the shops to pass the time until our ADR.

One thing that you should know about Tink is that she has an unusual name.  Well, not really but she has a name that you never find on any of the personalized pens, pencils, necklaces.....that kind of stuff.  

Belle has a name that you can find everywhere.  

It can be an issue between them.

Anyways.....while we were looking in one of the stores in the Poly we found a necklace with Tink’s name on it!  

And even better - it had Tinkerbelle on it!

I was going to get it for her but Belle was in a loving mood towards her sister and came up to me and whispered in my ear that she wanted to buy it for Tink with her own money.

I took her aside and asked her if she was sure because it would use up the rest of her spending money.....

Yes, she was sure.....

So, HG took Tink out of the store and Belle got it for her.

Packaged it up and hid it away for now.  Belle wanted to wait for the perfect moment to give her sister her gift....

Headed back up stairs and checked in at Ohana’s.  We were told to have a seat and so we did....

Belle couldn’t wait any longer and wanted to give Tink her gift.

Here are the photos of what happened.  I think they say it better then I could....

May not seem like a big deal to some of you but Belle spent half of her spending money on it and after that purchase she had nothing left.  I was so proud of her for thinking of her sister over herself.  It did my mommy-heart good!

Yep, one of my favourite moments from the trip!  

Disneyworld Trip - Chapter 26

Chapter 26 - We’ve Almost Made It Around The World

After we said good-bye to Italy it was on to Germany!

Took a look at the train and found the hidden Mickey.....

Smile everyone!

 

Next up on our world tour is China

Loved the water garden here.....

Went in and saw the terra cotta warriors which were very cool.  I would love to see the real ones some day.

Mexico was our next stop.

Found the photopass photographer at the entrance and told him to have at it.

They didn’t turn out great here.....weird angle I think.  He tried to take most of them from part way down the steps and shooting up at us.  No one looks good being photographed from below but I know why he was doing it - trying to get the building in but still....

Anyways.....went in and did the boat ride.  I actually kinda like the new version.   I loved the old one for all its corniness and was worried they had done away with that but nope, they just added Donald and friends to the old movie clips and such.  Phewf.  I was worried they had killed a classic!

Stopped and took a pic with the silly hats.  Love the CM who jumped into the picture!  Made me laugh when I saw what he had done!

Tink had to have her time with the fountain in there as well....

So....guess what folks?

That was our tour of the world!

We had to start moving towards dinner ressies before too long but had time for a quick trip to Mars first....

Green team please!

The girls and I with our space suits....

And one more to prove it isn’t just the girls and I wearing the silly hats!

Disneyworld Trip - Chapter 26

Disneyworld Trip Chapter 26 - Still “Around-The-World”ing

When I last left you Maddy was once again checking out the water in the fountains....drove me nuts the whole trip but she was having fun doing it so who cares! It was her vacation too. Slowed us down a bit but I think I needed that reminder to slow down and enjoy the little details.

Anyways....

Everyone knows when going around the world Japan comes after Morocco!

Went inside to enjoy the air conditioning and to look around the shop.

I love Hello Kitty.

Well, not really but she makes me laugh.

Some friends and I have a thing when someone is saying something hurtful that you just give them the Hello Kitty stare. No expression. Just a blank stare. Blink when necessary. So I took some pics of Hello Kitty for them!

The girls were watching everyone pick a pearl and they wanted to do it so Daddy came through for them!

They picked the oysters that they wanted. Someone suggested the ugliest, hairiest ones have the biggest pearls in them so Emily went with that theory and Maddy just randomly picked one!

Here is our pearl opener! No idea what her name was but she was very sweet with the girls....

Here was Emily’s....here’s was pinky...

And here was Maddy’s....her’s was greenish....

They both got the little drum beat for them and they were thrilled! It is a fun thing to do.

Here are the pearls sitting in the salt....

They each chose a necklace to have their pearls set on and here is one of them being set....

Looked around the store a bit more while the pearls were being worked on and then had them boxed up and off we went!

We were stopped by another Photopass photographer and told them to go for it with the girls....they were wearing those white dresses for a reason!

The pics weren’t very good from this one, they were kind of washed out. Oh well....

Here they are...

And they even made us get in there....didn’t want to....but oh well....

After that we were on our way to Italy!

Smile girls!

Madeline liked these poles and wanted to have her pic taken with one.....

And not to be outdone Emily wanted hers done too....

Found the fountain and Maddy had to stick her hands in it. Unfortunately the Photopass guy was taking someone else’s pics at the same time Maddy found it and she got ahead of me again.....sorry to whoever it was who she got into your pics!

Waited for them to finish up and then we jumped in for pics!

Then we got in....

And then the photographer kicked the kids out....

Disneyworld Trip - Chapter 25

Disneyworld Trip Chapter 25 - Back To Our Around The World Tour

After we left our furry Disney friends we resumed our tour of the world and made our way towards France.

I love Disney’s idea of geography!

Came up to the fountain and stopped for a pic!


I told you it was going to be photo day!

Had to go into the pastry shop and stop for a snack!

I know we had a cream puff and I can’t remember what else but we all shared.....so yummy!

We got our snacks and sat out at the little tables and dreamed en francias....

We had to get Maddy a bag of madeline’s....

Looked around in the little store....Emily was feeling very french in the hat!

Just what is it about Disney that brings out the need to put on all the silly hats?

Next on the world tour was Morocco.

Smile girls!

Went for a walk around the market and found the hidden Mickey in the plates. Went back to try to take a picture of it but got all turned around and couldn’t find it again...oh well....

Everywhere we went for the whole trip Maddy felt the need to stick her hands into every fountain we came across.....

“Hey Maddy, why are you putting your hands in every fountain?”

“I don’t know!”

Disneyworld Trip - Chapter 24

Disneyworld Trip Chapter 24 - The Moment Maddy Has Been Waiting For!

First a little back story....

When Maddy turned 6 we woke her up early in the morning with a very special surprise - we were going to Disneyland! Maddy and I had a great trip but infortunately Emily came down with the flu and spent most of the trip in the room with Kern. For her special birthday dinner the two of us went to Goofy’s Kitchen and had an amazing time. What made it extra special was that Maddy and Chip seemed to hit it off. Chip went well out of his way to make her birthday extra special and kept coming back around to her and doing things with her. When it was time for us to go he took her by the hand and not only left the restaurant with her but took her right out of the hotel and danced with her under the stars! It was one of those extra special Disney moments that will be forever engraved in my brain.

Well...the point of my story is that Maddy has been waiting to see Chip since the moment we told her we were going to Disneyworld!

Now I just need to find that Chipmunk!

Anyways....back to the trip report....

We had just left Great Britain and our dance session with Mary Poppins and low and behold, who do I see?

That’s right - the one and only Chip!

Maddy spotted him right about the same time I did and there was no stopping that girl - she ran off at the speed of light screaming “Chip, Chip!” at the top of her lungs!

I went off after her but she had a head start on me and beat me to him by a long shot but here are the photos that I did manage to get!


Brace yourself Chip - here she comes!

She is so in love with him!

Smile for the picture Maddy!

And a closer shot

I had a very happy little girl after that! It didn’t matter what happened for the rest of the trip - she had been reunited with “her” Chip!

And just to be fair - here is Emily with Chip too.

So as not to leave anyone out, here is Dale with the girls too....

We also ran into Meeko there

And he took Emily’s pen and didn’t want to give it back!

After we bid adieu to our friends it was time to get back to our tour of the world.....

Disneyworld Trip - Chapter 23

Disneyworld Trip Chapter 23 - A Grand Circle Tour of the World!

We had pretty much done as much as we wanted to do in Future World so decided to head out towards the countries.

We already had lunch by this point but I can’t remember where - it may have been in Sunshine Seasons in The Land when we had the brownie but can’t be sure.

Not important....

So we were heading around the lake when Maddy insisted on stopping by these pretty flowers. She wanted to have her picture taken....yes, she was getting into the whole photo shoot thing we were going for today.

Then it was Emily’s turn

And then one of both of my little princesses....

I see I should have made them take off their lanyards now but back then I didn’t even think about it. Oops!

First up we hit Canada! Ah yes....nothing like going all the way to Florida to go “home”!

Had to put the family in the phone booth here

And shut the door!

Then a kind stranger came along and offered to take one of all of us in there!

Great! Thank you!

Okay....next time how about you turn the camera?

Not being picky or anything....

I’m just saying....

Took a picture by the waterfall

Went in and saw the new and improved movie. It was much better then the old one. The old one was made for Expo 86 that was here in Vancouver in you guessed it - 1986! It was well....21 years old and was just a wee bit dated...

Eva Avila who is our very own Canadian Idol did a great job on the song and Martin Short is funny as usual.

“Go around Spaceship Earth and keep heading North. Tell them Marty sent you!”

In the gift shop Emily found this Moose in the Mountie’s red serge. She wanted him. I had to be the mean mommy and tell her no - after all I’d have to buy another plane ticket to get him home!

Took some pics of the girls by the fake Buchart Gardens. These ones don’t even come close to the real thing!

And one more pic in Canada in the masks.

Next we made our way to Great Britain where we met the one and only Mary Poppins!

She was wonderful with the kids and spent a lot of time with them. She even tap danced with them when she found out that they danced! And in case anyone was wondering, Mary really does know how to dance!

Wandered around the shops looking at all the cool things and found my family tartan in there. Maddy has my maiden name as one of her middle names so had to take a pic of her with the tartan.

Next up....the moment Tink has been waiting for!

Disneyworld Trip Chapter 22

Disneyworld Trip Chapter 22 - Yawn, Stretch...Welcome to Day 4

Thanks everyone for hanging in here with me as I poke along with my trip report.  I know I am not breaking any speed records here but I am enjoying going back over the pictures and the memories.

Anyways.....Stitch woke us up again and as usual - tossed a bag of clothes at the kids and jumped in the shower.

Today though was going to be a special day so I had to give them the once over before we left the room to make sure they looked okay.  

And clean!

“No one better spill breakfast on themselves this morning” I said as I made eye contact with Emily.  She knew what I was talking about!  

Kern made the coffee run for us this morning while I finished getting us girls ready and then it was time to head for the bus.

Stopped to take the “just in case” pics again....

 

 

Yes, I realize they are dressed in white.  

Yes, I realize how bad that could have gone so fast!

But like I said, I had a plan today.....

It was going to be Photo Day!

Yep, I was determined to get some nice photos of the girls today so crisp, white dresses it was!

Epcot was our destination today.....

Got off the bus....Kern went throught the “with bags” line and the girls and I went through the “no bags” line and we were off!  

Well, for a couple of steps anyways.....

When we were there in Sept 1999 they had just started the Leave a Legacy things at Epcot and Emily and I were one of the very first people to do it.  

It wasn’t supposed to start until the next day once word spread that they had started mad people started showing up all over the place.  I mean MAD people!  They were angry that it was a day early and therefore didn’t get to be one of the first people.

Get over it I say....

Too bad - we got to be one of the first!

So here we are checking out our photo 8 years later.

 

And a close up of us!

 

We are on the first big cement thing when we walk in and the first one on your right if you are looking towards Spaceship Earth!

Anyways....back to the white dresses and my need for good photos!

Stopped a Photopass photographer that looked like she knew what she was doing.  Not all of them do but this one seemed to know her way around her camera.

Handed over our Photopass Card and told her to go for it!

Here are a couple that I like.....

Reclaimed our Photopass card and headed around the golf ball.....hmm.....where should we go?  Test Track or Soaring?  

Hey....its the Dream Team standing over there and they aren’t doing anything....lets go talk to them!

We have found that it is always a good idea to strike up a conversation with the Dream Team.....

I’m just saying....

Anyways....they asked us what ride we were heading for and we said we weren’t sure.  They “suggested” we head to Figment.  And quickly!

We thanked them and headed off to Figment.  I mean who are we to argue with the Dream Team?!!

As we walked up there was more of the Dream Team handing out something!

Score!

We all got Year Of A Million Dreams lanyards!

Woohoo!!!!

Did the happy dance! 

Thank you Dream Team!

From there we headed to The Seas to try to meet up with Crush!

Rode in the clam shells and then looked at the jellyfish while we waited for Crush to open.

Here is Maddy with her jellies.  She loves those things!

Then it was time for Crush.  He was great as usual but boy, there were some rude, pushy parents in there!  

That’s all I am going to say about that.....

After we left the theater we saw that they had a diver in the tube.  Not sure exactly what she was doing there other then trying out what it was like to be on the other side of the glass at an aquarium but who knows.

Emily was fascinated!

She asked a question to the CM who was outside the glass and she told her to write her question on a magna-doodle and hold it up for the diver.  

So she did!

 

Then she got her answer from the diver the same way!

It was pretty cool actually!

Here is a pic of me being a flamingo.  I have no idea where I was or why I was doing it but anyways....

Then we headed into Sunshine Seasons for a snack.  Yummy!

Stay tuned for more later.....

Disneyworld Trip - Chapter 21

Disneyworld Trip Chapter 21 - Just One More Thing

We had just rolled our very full selves out of Tony’s and were about to head to our last activity of the day but Maddy was still cold and we had to leave her napkin-jacket at the restaurant. So we headed into one of the shops on Main Street and got her a Tink sweatshirt to wear. We had been thinking about getting it for her anyways and she was cold so now seemed to be as good of time as any.

Now we were set for that one last magical moment....

That’s right - its time for Wishes!

We stood near Crystal Palace and had a great view. We had wanted to head over to the Rose Garden to have Tinkerbell fly right over our heads but the crowds were really thick by the time we made it up there. So we got a spot where we could and waited anxiously for the magic to begin....

Then it happened!

And it was amazing....

Sorry my photos are a little out of focus.....I have a tremor and shake just enough to take really lousy night time photos! Oh well....you get the idea of how Wishes looked!

It was time to head back to the hotel....

We took our time getting out to the bus stop and luckily only had to wait for 2 buses before we were able to get on. Not too bad I didn’t think....I thought we’d be waiting forever!

Got back to the hotel and stopped by the kiddie pool to cool off our feet. Someone took a pic for us!


Stopped and took one more picture on the way to our room

We were all tired and sleep came quickly.....good night!


Disneyworld Trip - Chapter 20

Disneyworld Trip Chapter 20 - Feed Us!

Tonight dinner was going to be at Tony’s. I know it is not a popular choice but we have eaten here before and had a good experience and it was one of the few ADRs the Kern actually expressed any sort of interest in so Tony’s it was.

Plus I made this ADR I did it with a plan in mind. Or at least I had a plan that I was hoping would pan out.

Don’t ask me what time our ressie was - I have no idea but I had planned it out with the hope that we could watch the Spectromagic parade while we had dessert.

I did get the right time but would we get lucky enough to be able to be seated out on the little patio so we could watch it? After all there are only about 5 or 6 tables out there and with it being free dining time and all what were our chances?

We showed up about 15 mins early and I put in my request to be seated outside.

“If you request a certain table it will be at least an hour wait.” was the response I got.

“Never mind then”

We waited about 10 mins and we were called to our table....

Any guesses where it was?

That’s right!

Outside!

Woohoo!

It so nice to sit out there and watch everyone strolling by. The sun was starting to go down which makes it the perfect time to start taking pictures so what did I do - I started snapping of course!

Look how nice it was out there!


And the sun going down...

Handed the camera over to Kern so I could prove I was there too!

We ordered our meal and I took the girls inside to see the Lady and the Tramp statue by the fountain. The picture didn’t turn out great but you can see it there anyways....

The the food came.....and I took pictures of some of it again!

Breadsticks appie

Spinach and artichoke appie - yummy by the way!


Salad - yes I know its upside down but I don’t feel like trying to flip the pic in photobucket. Never seems to work for me when I try to do it anyways....

And the kids’ salad

Then the “real” food started coming...

Baked ziti

Kids spaghetti and meatball

Steak

And I am missing one meal....I have no idea what it was or who ate it either.....oh well....we all pretty much shared everything anyways!

Madeline was so thrilled to be eating where Lady and the Tramp did the spaghetti thing that she wanted to do it too so here it goes....

The sun had gone down by now and the parade was about to start. Poor Maddy was getting cold so the waiter did what he could and brought us a bunch of napkins to wrap her up! I thought it was nice of him to try to do something for her....

Then came the parade......my pictures really suck though. Sorry about that!

It was a great spot to watch the parade from! Sure there were people in front of us - you can see their heads in my pics but we were up above them so they didn’t spoil the view at all!

And plus we sat there drinking coffee and eating this.....

So it couldn’t get much better if you ask me!

Back to the Tony’s haters.....we loved it there! So HA to you all! The food was good and the service was great. Our waiter was really wonderful and he asked if we were going to stay for the parade near the beginning of our meal and he timed it all out perfectly for us.

So Tony’s gets a big thumb’s up from all of us!

We’ve had a long day by this point but it has been great and there is one more thing we need to do today before we head back to the hotel.....

Disneyworld Trip - Chapter 19

Chapter 19 - Crossing the Castle Yet Again!

As you may have noticed by now, I didn’t plan out our days commando style. Just what parks we were going to be in and even that got changed on the go. So we spent more time then we really needed going back and forth across the parks then we really needed to but what the heck, we were having fun!

So when I last left you we were just being released by the hoards of people that held us captive and made us watch the parade.

Okay, so we wanted to see it at some point but we didn’t think that was going to be the time but whatever.

Nothing we could do about it when we were trapped!

So we crossed back across the park in front of the castle and stopped for the obligatory Photopass pictures!

I really like this one!

And then as we were heading into Tomorrowland another Photopass person stopped us and so we thought - why not!

Emily wanted to ride on Space Mountain - her favourite ride in Disneyland but was a little nervous because here you ride by yourself instead of next to someone like in California.

She had been thinking about it since we got here and decided that she wanted to do it.

Great! Lets go!

Here is what I saw....

Just as we were about to be launched into outer space she turns and looks at me and tells me I need to hang onto her!


How on earth am I supposed to do that?

Well....okay honey....I’ll try....

The best I could do was reach in front of me and put my hand on her head.

And even that was stretching it.

But she felt better so it was all good!

See! Happy little girl!

While we were conquering outer space Kern and Madeline were battle aliens and the Emperor Zurg. Twice apparently!

Then they came over and met us as we exited Space Mountain and we headed for the PeopleMover or the TTA or whatever its called. I can never remember...

No bad dancing anyone!


Got comfy and sat back to enjoy the ride. Madeline took our picture just because she could. She likes to take pictures....

As we went through Space Mountain we realized we were lucky to have gotten on it today because all the lights were on!

See -

Must have shut down just after we got off......

Here are the girls. Madeline was pretending to be asleep for a bit....but she never sleeps! Hasn’t taken a nap since she was about 14 months old....so why she felt the need to tell us she was going to take a nap I have no idea.....and of course she didn’t.

And here is Emily.

Feeling we had probably digested enough of our lunch by this point we thought we’d brave the Teacups.

Not sure why but that is the ride that turns the tummies more then any other one....

Its undercover here in Florida....weird.....can you tell I have been to Disneyland way too many times!

All my photos are totally blown out on this one for some reason. Oh well....

Getting ready to go....

And Tink mid-spin!

Next we headed for Mickey’s Philharmagic. It sounded like 20 mins of air-conditioned heaven to Kern right about now!

Can’t remember what we did next....guess that’s the problem of taking months and months to write your trip report!

Oh well....

At some point it was getting close to dinner so we started heading in that general direction.

Stopped and took a photo of the balloons!


Next up - dinner!