Epcot & Disney Halloween Party 10/24/13

On our last park day, we headed back to Epcot. We just love it there. It's such a beautiful park and I feel like there's so much to do. We left Epcot around 6pm and headed over to The Magic Kingdom for the Halloween Party. The parties are so much fun at Disneyworld. Even though those tickets cost extra, I feel like they are so worth it. The Halloween parade is awesome, the trick or treating at the park is great, and you don't wait in lines because the park only has so many people there.

We ventured over to Nemo to start the day. The kids love this ride. There's one part I find scary so I close my eyes, ha!

 I love all of the fun things you can do when you exit the Nemo ride. There's a big shark, little toys/games in that area, an aquarium, etc.

 We usually watch the late parade at around 10pm but we got a good spot for the 8:15 one so we watched that one. That worked out so great because then we rode rides non stop until 12am.

 Killing time before the parade. We waited around 30 minutes for it to start. I went and bought Mickey ears and fun snacks for the kids and came back ready to have a fun parade party!

 Gosh I just love having 2 kids. It's double the fun. Connor was amazed at the parade.

 I just love watching Lauren at parades. She just stands still and waves non stop.

 I've never had the famous Dole Whip before so I was pumped to try it. It was seriously so good!

 Riding Aladdin over and over to end our great trip!

Here's the fun scoop on our trip with details:

We stayed at All Start Sports. It's a value resort & totally fine for what we needed. I will say that housekeeping was awful and I'm not one to complain usually but it was awful. Our trash wasn't emptied a lot, toys were left in our room from the previous guest, etc. For the room and resort space, it was perfect.

We had the quick service dining plan for free. I would never pay for it because we don't eat all of that food but for free, it worked.

We drove to the parks and avoided the complimentary shuttle. I hate that shuttle. Sounds harsh but I do. It's way too crowded after the parks close and it's no fun being in a crowd, with 2 small kids, and having a double stroller. You can park for free when staying on property. It's great.

The Halloween party is totally worth the extra money. It's a blast.

Our favorite snacks using the quick service plan: Mickey ice cream bars, treats from the candy place on Main St. in The Magic Kingdom, Dole Whip, popcorn, lots of snack choices at Epcot like the France bakery (those treats are so so good),

Favorite quick service restaurants: The seafood place across from The Haunted Mansion. The lobster rolls, clam chowder, shrimp, and fish are delicious. Starlight Cafe across from the Cars has the best ribs and Bbq chicken, the place in Frontierland that has the good taco salads where you put the toppings on yourself (the bbq sandwich is also so good there), Norway in Epcot has amazing sandwiches, etc 

The bibbidi bobbidi boutique is worth every penny. We do the middle level where your sweet girl wears her own dress, they do their hair, makeup, and nails. I love that Lauren's hair will stay in tact the entire trip. There's nothing like seeing your sweet girl light up at being pampered.

The Magic Kingdom 10/23/13

On Wednesday, October 23, we headed over to The Magic Kingdom for a full day of fun. I think we stayed at the parks for about 12 hours each day. It's just too much fun to leave. We usually have about 3 sassy fits and then we are good to go. 

Connor loved the rides this time. He was only 11 months last November when we went to the parks. This year, he was so stinkin cute talking in his baby talk about the rides. It was so so cute. 

I love his sweet little head peeking over Dumbo.

 My girl has been sitting on her Daddy's shoulders for 5 visits to the parks so far. It's her favorite spot to be.

 The cranky part of the day was always mid afternoon. We knew we could head back for a nap but the train kind of calms everyone down. I feel like if we went back to the hotel, we wouldn't head back to the parks.

 Lauren got to ride Splash Mountain for the first time. This was my first time too. I loved it! I've been pregnant a few times while at the parks so I've had to skip this ride in the past. Lauren cried at the end of the big dip. She's a funny one though because she got over it and wanted to ride again with Todd. Todd said she gave him the full scoop on the ride when they rode it together.

 Champion sleeper taking his afternoon nap.

 We like to party it up, even at night. These 2 jumped on Buzz Lightyear when the line was only about 10 minutes.

 Best purchase ever was the awesome bubble blower. She enjoyed those bubbles so so much.

 The tea cups are always so much fun. Connor was sleeping at this point so we took turns riding them over and over with our girl.

 He's a wild one...

 The cars will always be my favorite. Lauren is HILARIOUS on these things. We ride them over and over and have so much fun.

 C Man still sleeping...

We always learn new things each and every visit. It's amazing how many times you can go to Disney and still learn new things. We had the dining plan for the first time this trip because it was free. Would I ever purchase it? Heck no. But it was awesome having it for free. What I learned was that it was entirely too much food so for us, it's simply not worth the money if we don't eat that much. The quick service plan came with 2 quick service meals a day and 1 snack a day per person on the plan. That may not sound like a lot but those meals come with huge drinks and a dessert. We never order desserts and I never order sodas so that's a huge reason why I would never purchase the plan. Disney runs the free dining plan frequently so that's the way to go if you want it. We would have ended up with a ton of snack credits left over but those were easy to use at Epcot.

Epcot 10/22/13

Oh Epcot, how I love you. I seriously love going to Epcot. For a long time, I thought Epcot was mainly for adults but I was totally mistaken. There are so many great kids activities there. Lauren loves taking her little fake passport to each country to get it stamped at the kid stations. We also love the Nemo ride and how there is a neat aquarium once you get off of that ride. Lauren was also 40 inches tall, thanks to her tennis shoes, so she got to ride Soarin. I was beyond excited to take her on this ride. It's my absolute favorite! 

We started the day by meeting some characters. We were using the new Magic Bands on this trip so I made a fast pass reservation for this. There was only a 20-30 minute wait but we used our pass. We literally walked right up. It was super fast.

 Todd loves the NASA ride so he rode that a few times. This is the ride I literally lost my mind on a couple of years ago. I banged on the door to get off of it but was stuck. I seriously can't stand this ride. It made me so ill. On the bright side, they have an awesome play area for kids inside where you exit the ride.

 Off to the countries we went. We love Mexico! They have a cute ride you can usually walk right on to. It features Donald Duck and it's so cute and funny.

 In China! Lauren begged for this fan but I just knew it would have been broken so fast.

 We love England. We devour the fish and chips and then go play in the phone booths.

 Finding Nemo! We waited 10 minutes max for this ride.

 This is why little man misses out on pictures sometimes. He crashes when he gets tired.

 Todd's lazy eye cracks me up. The camera flash is insanely bright in those dark rooms.

 See....crazy flash :)

Downtown Disney 10/21/13

Usually when we go to Disney, we just drive the full 8 hours there in one day. It's further than that from Chattanooga but we always come from Atlanta due to taking our sweet dog to my parent's house the day before the trip. This time, we totally broke the trip up and got a hotel in Lake City on Sunday night. I loved this because we got to Orlando early on Monday. 

After checking into the hotel, we booked it over to Downtown Disney. The Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique is one of my most favorite places to take Lauren. She simply adores it. We had a reservation on Wednesday and it was at an awful time. We were going to be at The Magic Kingdom that day but her reservation was in Downtown Disney. They advised that I call 24 hours before wanting an appointment to see if there were any cancellations. We got so lucky because there was one so off we went late Monday afternoon.

I just loved the sweet girl pampering Lauren. Her name was Hannah and she was so great. Lauren can be so super serious when at the Boutique. It's like she is in awe and doesn't want to talk. Hannah would tickle her to get smiling for pictures. It was so sweet. 

 

 I just love it! Lauren loves to play in my makeup so she just ate this up.

 Sweet Little L about to get the special glitter in her hair.

 I love this. Lauren really warmed up to Hannah at the end.

 After Lauren's Boutique appointment, we did some fun shopping and then found a great concert for kids. Anytime my kids find a concert, they hit up the dance floor.

 Connor can dance with the best of them!

American Girl

Lauren got her wish for her big birthday present! Way back in February, you can read about her first visit to the American Girl store in Chicago. She begged for Caroline but I'm super big on teaching her that we don't get what we want right then. Those dolls aren't exactly $10 so her sweet wish needed to be fulfilled on a big day. Turning 5 is a big deal I think. Well the day was coming soon so she got her beloved doll. She ended up getting Saige and it's so precious seeing her interact with her.

The morning was so perfect and full of girls only fun. We got to store when they opened at 9am. My mom got Lauren her sweet doll for her big birthday present. My sister and her husband sent her a gift card to the store so she even got a matching outfit so she looks like Saige. Then I took my Mom, Grandma, and Lauren to brunch at the bistro. It was simply perfect.

She ran right to Caroline so I thought Caroline was still the doll she wanted so so badly.

 Then it was love at first sight. She spotted Saige. I love the reasons why Lauren wanted to get her. Saige has a "cooking girl side braid." This refers to The Pioneer Woman who often will wear her hair in a braid. Saige also likes horses and so does Lauren. It was a perfect match.

 The Bistro is so adorable. They bring little high chairs out for the dolls.

 Saige even had her own drink.

 My Mom and her #1 girl.

 We couldnt have asked for a better morning. Lauren just loved it.

 They match!

I'm so thankful God gave me a boy and a girl. Of course I would have loved 2 girls, 2 boys, etc but I only know what I have and I sure do love it. I always knew I never wanted an only child as I think it's so important to have a sibling. I think I hit the jackpot with these 2.

My Beautiful Girl Is 5

My precious baby girl turned the big 5 on October 29. When I planned our Disney trip sort of last minute, I thought she would be super happy that the trip would be for her birthday. I was so so wrong. In true Lauren fashion, she wanted to be with her friends. She talked about having a party at Build A Bear for a long time so I invited some close friends at the last minute. There's nothing like ordering some cupcakes on a Sunday for a Monday morning small party.

Waiting for her sweet friends. 

 We were so so fortunate because the person working that morning was so incredibly sweet. To have a party at Build A Bear, you need 6 kids. Our little get together was so small with only 4 kids. She still did all of the things with the kids that she would have done at a party. It was so nice.

 The kids rubbing the hearts on their sweet foreheads.

 Lauren's friend, Audrey, putting her heart in the the bunny she picked out.

 Oh how I love this girl. She's so spunky and had the best time at her party.

 Lauren's awesome friend, Molly. We simply love Molly's family. Her Daddy is Lauren's tennis coach. They are the most fun, laid back family. Molly's mom, Katie, and I have become good friends. We are alike on so many levels, it's crazy.

 Sweet Audrey. Audrey and Lauren were in preschool together 2 years ago.

 Awesome Connor hung out in the stroller. He would have tore Build A Bear apart!

 Lauren's other friend, Tate, got to come too. Tate's mom, Amy, and I are super duper close. She is one of the best people you will ever meet.

 The best silly kids.

 After making bears, we migrated over to the food court for a Chick Fil A tray, gummies, oranges, goldfish, and princess cupcakes.

 Molly picked out the coolest tie dye bear.

 Opening presents in a random spot at the mall :)

Little L,

Our family would not be the same without you. You are the most fun little girl I've met. Even though your sass makes my hair go gray (it really does!), you are just so awesome. You are my little spitfire and I wouldn't change a thing. You love your friends, you love your school, you love our "big church", and you love your family. We couldn't be more thankful for you. We love you big 5 year year old!!

XOXO

Lauren stats at age 5:

33 pounds

39.5 inches tall

Size 4 clothes, for sure in tops but a 3 or 4 in pants

Size 8.5 shoe

Beautiful blonde hair and blue eyes

Big girl preschool 3 days a week

Plays tennis 1 day a week