Big Family Fun.....Hopefully!

[Happy Elf]

Jumping into our PTR...this will be a 2 week trip.

The first week, July 16-July 23, will be spent in New Smyrna Beach, FL with Ben's parents and his sister and her family.

The second week, July 23-July 29

will be spent at Caribbean Beach Resort and we will be celebrating our 10 year anniversary!

The Cast of Characters:
Me-Janell a 34 year old mother, teacher and Disney freak!

DH-Ben a 34 year old father, works in Marketing for the Academy of Model Aeronautics, and is Star Wars obsessed!

DD-Hannah a 5 almost 6 year old princess who is about to finish Kindergarten.

DS-Owen a 2 year old lover of all things Thomas the Train and he love Mickey as well!

Here is a picture of us from our trip in 2009:

 

[MeMom]

I will be happy to follow along on your two weeks of fun. Mine will be over before yours ever gets started, since we have to go early in July. Hannah and Owen are two lucky kids to get such a nice long vacation!

I love the tropical resorts, so I definitely want to stay at CBR someday. We like to go over there to eat, and of course I love to take pictures.

I tried to get over here by clicking on the link in your signature, but it didn't work. You might want to check it again just to be sure there is not a glitch. It could have been an issue with my computer, though. I just came over here and searched for it.

Brooklynn wants to send you a cheerleader, so here it is.

Happy planning!

 

[Happy Elf]

I will be happy to follow along on your two weeks of fun. Mine will be over before yours ever gets started, since we have to go early in July. Hannah and Owen are two lucky kids to get such a nice long vacation!

I love the tropical resorts, so I definitely want to stay at CBR someday. We like to go over there to eat, and of course I love to take pictures.

I tried to get over here by clicking on the link in your signature, but it didn't work. You might want to check it again just to be sure there is not a glitch. It could have been an issue with my computer, though. I just came over here and searched for it.

Brooklynn wants to send you a cheerleader, so here it is.

Happy planning!

Yay my first reader! I think I fixed the link, thanks for letting me know! We haven't been on a vacation since the one in 2009 and we probably won't go again for 2-3 more years so we decided to spend 2 weeks in FL. We went back and forth between Pop and CBR, but it was only $300 more for the week to stay at CBR and we wanted to try out the really cool pool! I'm sure my little Hannah fish will love it! She loves to swim!

Hi Brooklynn!

 

[jeremysdisneymom]

Saw your post on MeMom's report. Joining in the fun!

We will be there in July but are leaving on the 5th. Can't wait to read about all your great plans.

Erika

 

[beebeeryan]

Joining in...2 whole weeks, great fun!!!

 

[Happy Elf]

Saw your post on MeMom's report. Joining in the fun!

We will be there in July but are leaving on the 5th. Can't wait to read about all your great plans.

Erika

Glad to have you along!

Joining in...2 whole weeks, great fun!!!

We are excited for 2 weeks vacation! I'm ready for it!

 

[Happy Elf]

The Rest of the Cast: They will be with us the first week in New Smyrna Beach.

My Mother-in-law, Pam, known as Mimi to the grandkids. Here she is with Owen and Danica.

My Father-in-law, Ken, known as Pawpaw to the grandkids. Here he is with Danica

My Sister-in-law, Miranda. Here she is with Cavin at the Children's Museum.

My Brother-in-law, Chris. Here he is with Cavin at the Children's Museum.

My 4 year old nephew, Cavin. Here he is with Hannah and Owen at his birthday party.

My 1 year old neice, Danica.

And just because she looked so cute, here is Hannah at her dance recital last week. Yes, she is dressed like a poodle. All their songs had a dog theme.

 

[Happy Elf]

Here is a more recent picture of our family too. This was taken on the 4th of July at Ben's uncle's farm.

 

[Happy Elf]

Happy Mother's Day to all the mom's out there in DIS land!

 

[Happy Elf]

Here is what I got for Mother's Day this year:

I had been looking for a waterproof camera since we will be spending time at the beach and pool and didn't want to take our big one that would break if it got wet, so Ben and the kids got this for me. It's a Fujifilm XP20. I'm calling it my Mother's Day/I got A's in both my grad classes present. I was super excited to get A's in both classes because was a lot of work on top of teaching everyday and being a mom to 2 busy kids!



And just to throw some trip info in....here are our current ADR's....I say current because I still might change one.

7/23- We are thinking AK for the 1/2 day. No ADR's planned. We will just eat whatever and whenever we want.

7/24- Magic Kingdom - 8:15 - Crystal Palace A favorite of ours. We have eaten here every trip since our honeymoon.

7/25- Epcot - 8:15 - Akershus - We know our little princess will be happy to see the Princesses. 5:15- Garden Grill - Owen will HOPEFULLY be happy to see Mickey.

7/26- AK - We have dinner ressie's for Boma at 5:15. This is the one I'm not sure about. Here are a few reasons: We have very picky eaters, I don't know if we will spend all day at AK as this would be a good day to swim in the evening, and when I made the ADR it said we might be placed at 2 different tables....well that won't work with 2 little kids! Thoughts?!?!?

7/27- HS - 8:00 Hollywood and Vine. This one is mainly for Owen because he loves the Little Einsteins and watches Handy Manny and Oso almost everyday....hopefully he won't be terrified of the characters like he was last trip!

7/28- This will be a free day to do as we please....if I have my way we will be in MK....for the last look at the castle before we have to leave.

 

[jeremysdisneymom]

Hope you had a wonderful Mother's Day.

We Boma! My husband is not a picky eater but was not that impressed when we ate there a few years ago for Thanksgiving. A few years later we ate there and he loved it. It is our first dinner ressie this trip.

Your son will love the Garden Grill. We have eaten there every trip! DS loves it and is a favorite of his.

Yay, for a new camera. I want to look for a waterproof one before our trip but not sure when time will allow. We seem to stay sooo busy this time of the year.

 

[Happy Elf]

Hope you had a wonderful Mother's Day.

It was pretty good, nothing too exciting! I got flowers from my kids and as soon as I walked out of the bedroom, Owen jumped up and said, "I have card for you." Too cute!

We Boma! My husband is not a picky eater but was not that impressed when we ate there a few years ago for Thanksgiving. A few years later we ate there and he loved it. It is our first dinner ressie this trip.

I'm hoping the kids and DH will like it. I'm just looking forward to seeing AKL and eating the zebra domes. MeMom has me drooling over them!

Your son will love the Garden Grill. We have eaten there every trip! DS loves it and is a favorite of his.

I think he will too, I'm just afraid he will still be scared of the characters. Really hoping being a few years older will help and it is his beloved Mickey.

Today was a long day as we had a tornado warning right at dismissal time and ended up having the kids stay almost an hour passed dismissal time. Made for a very long day! Have a wonderful Wednesday!

 

[MeMom]

I hope you will have plenty of time to explore the grounds of AKL when you go. The kids will enjoy seeing animals right there on the property, and there is artwork in the lobby.

We've had tornado drills at the end of the day, too, and it's a mess. They let parents pick up right in the middle of it, so we have kids with heads down and we're calling out the names of a few here and there who are being allowed to escape the torture, which makes the others even more antsy. The buses are late getting started and the kids are hyped up when they get on them. Not one bit fun for anyone. Mother Nature should really schedule her chaos a little better! I hope your city did not take a hit, though, in all seriousness, and that all is well for all of your school families.

 

[Happy Elf]

I hope you will have plenty of time to explore the grounds of AKL when you go. The kids will enjoy seeing animals right there on the property, and there is artwork in the lobby.

I plan to make time to explore! I've wanted to go there for so long and we just haven't got over there yet!

Mother Nature should really schedule her chaos a little better! I hope your city did not take a hit, though, in all seriousness, and that all is well for all of your school families.

I agree that Mother Nature should plan better! We didn't get anything but a little rain that day thank heavens.

 

[Happy Elf]

Took the day off to clean my house! Mom and Bob come on Tuesday for a month long visit! Yay!!! We haven't seen them since Christmas. I think they will be amazed at how much Owen has grown and is talking.

 

[Happy Elf]

We fly down to Orlando on Friday, July 15. We are due to get in around 2:00. We will get the rental car and head to the motel where we are spending 1 night because we can't get into the condo until Saturday. So this leads me to a question....what should we do that evening? I was thinking of hitting Downtown Disney and having dinner and just walking around. But is there anything else we should check out since we will have a car?

 

[MeMom]

We fly down to Orlando on Friday, July 15. We are due to get in around 2:00. We will get the rental car and head to the motel where we are spending 1 night because we can't get into the condo until Saturday. So this leads me to a question....what should we do that evening? I was thinking of hitting Downtown Disney and having dinner and just walking around. But is there anything else we should check out since we will have a car?

Downtown Disney sounds like a great first night to me. They have changed things up in the last few months, so there will be new things to check out. You could always go over to one of the resorts - Poly to watch Wishes or Ft. Wilderness to do the Chip and Dale campfire - or something like that. I bet after a travel day and some DTD time, though, you'll be ready to get in bed at a decent hour. Maybe a little swim time to zap the kids out easily.

 

[Happy Elf]

Happy Sunday.....or Rainday in our neck of the woods. All spring rain, rain and more rain. And it's supposed to rain all week! Ugh! But it's a special week...we have Kindergarten graduations on Monday, Hannah turns 6 on Wednesday, and a big birthday party on Saturday! She can't wait! Hannah also had her music recital yesterday. It was so cute to hear the 3-5 year olds singing. They did such a great job! I need to upload the pictures and see if any turned out. It was the first time I used my new camera. Ben had our big camera and took about 2 pictures and the batteries ran out and we didn't have any more with us. Doh!

 

[Happy Elf]

We had a very busy week last week and here are some of the pictures to prove it!

On Monday, Hannah graduated from Kindergarten. They had a wonderful program where they sang songs, played the hand bells, showed a video, and then got their Kindergarten diplomas.

My Little Graduate

Hannah and her wonderful teacher Mrs. Lacy

And Owen was feeling a bit left out and had to get his picture taken too!

On Wednesday, Hannah turned 6. She picked out IHOP for her birthday dinner. We gave her our presents on her actual birthday since we got her the Rapunzel costume that she wanted to wear to her party.

On Friday, I had field day at school! I know the kids love it, but I really just don't! Does that make me a bad teacher?

On Saturday, we had Hannah's birthday party.

The cake

Karlie, Hannah, and Mackenzie (her best friend)

A friend made this for Hannah. It holds her hair bows. I thought it was neat!

A Rapunzel doll

A poem from Papa

Hannah and her friends, Mackenzie and Karlie

On Sunday, we headed to the Indy Zoo. Since the weather was finally nice, we planned to enjoy it!

Hannah and Owen - Our traditional rock picture

We have a new tiger exhibit that just opened. We got to see a tiger skull and pet tiger fur. Kinda neat!

Hannah enjoyed seeing the bats.

Then we got to see an elephant get a bath and we even got to pet it.

We had a fun weekend! Now the countdown is on for the end of school. Hannah finishes this Thursday and I finish next Thursday. Can't get here fast enough!

 

[Happy Elf]

Today was a very sad day for our family. We had to say good-bye to our beloved Spot. We found out he had cancer and he wasn't reacting to the meds to help at all, so Ben and I made the very difficult decision to put him to sleep. It was heartbreaking to have to tell Hannah and Owen. Owen didn't really understand, but Hannah did and starting sobbing. We will miss Spot's lovable bed hogging, barking ways so much!