I finally saw the lights! Our super special anniversary trip! NEW 2/2 pg.18

[mommytothreeboys]

MY crazy life has kept me away from the DIS for a while and I've been missing your updates. But, I'm all caught up now and it looks like you are having a great time!

The BWV looks fantastic! I love the boardwalk all lit up at night. And your room is just beautiful. I'm so glad it all worked out for you.

The cake is gorgeous! Did it taste as good as it looks?

 

[eandesmom]

that is so funny about the cake! I'm so glad you were able to get flowers after all, I hope it tasted as yummy as it looks. What a busy busy day! Fun one though. Doesn't seem like the boys were creeped out by that clown at all.

Congrats on the HRH booking, it is a fun place. Very different from Disney which in a way, almost helps as it's really an apples to oranges comparison. You will LOVE being able to walk to both parks and Citywalk, or take the boat (or a pedicab if pouring!).

 

[Chicago Mo]

Subbing! going back to catch up!

 

[DisMomAmy]

That sounds great, Amy.

We're excited!!

I think the boys are going to be crazy happy!

I hope so! It'll be something new plus we'll still get our Disney time!

First, I bet you have a great time at the HRH and Universal! So fun to have something new and different to look forward to!

Love, love, love the cake! They did a great job! Was it as tasty as it was pretty?

Looks like you had a great time at the pool, Teppan Edo, and Epcot! The tree is gorgeous!

We had a great first day Jackie! It was great to be able to walk everywhere. We can't wait to go to Universal. We haven't told the boys anything yet. We aren't planning another big surprise or anything, it just hasn't come up yet. I suspect we'll tell them during February school vacation when they wonder why we aren't going anywhere... maybe sooner.

MY crazy life has kept me away from the DIS for a while and I've been missing your updates. But, I'm all caught up now and it looks like you are having a great time!

The BWV looks fantastic! I love the boardwalk all lit up at night. And your room is just beautiful. I'm so glad it all worked out for you.

The cake is gorgeous! Did it taste as good as it looks?

Hi Missy!! Always glad to see a post from you! We really enjoyed staying at BWV. It was a real treat. More to come on the cake...

that is so funny about the cake! I'm so glad you were able to get flowers after all, I hope it tasted as yummy as it looks. What a busy busy day! Fun one though. Doesn't seem like the boys were creeped out by that clown at all.

Congrats on the HRH booking, it is a fun place. Very different from Disney which in a way, almost helps as it's really an apples to oranges comparison. You will LOVE being able to walk to both parks and Citywalk, or take the boat (or a pedicab if pouring!).

The location was probably the main reason we chose HRH. The pool looks amazing & I can't wait to eat at the Kitchen.

Subbing! going back to catch up!

I'll try to get over to your TR after the holidays!

 

[mousescrapper]

am I suppose to dance for the other park?

 

[DisMomAmy]

Disney Day 2: Wednesday 11/9/11 – Happy Anniversary! This was the day of our actually 15th anniversary.

Fist I want to answer everyone’s cake question. How was the cake? Well it was pretty good. I wish we’d been able to cut into it before we stuck it in the refrigerator because that made the frosting kind of hard. The cake itself was yummy & while we didn’t finish it, we had quite a few pieces.

This morning I was up before the Mickey called at 7am. I made sure the kids answered the phone when it rang. They thought it was pretty cool! This morning we had our photo session scheduled for 9am at the Beach Club. I wanted to leave the room by 8:30 because even though we could see the Beach Club across the water, I didn’t know how long it would take us to get over there. We ate breakfast & got ourselves ready as quickly as we could. I had to run an iron over the shirts but then we couldn’t get it close back up when we were done! So we left the room with the ironing board still up. I also threw in a load of laundry before we headed out.

We made it over to the Beach Club by 8:45 and our wonderful photographer, Lisa, was ready for us. She gathered up her equipment & we headed outside. It was right about now that I noticed a big black stain on Zachary’s shirt!!! He must have rubbed up against something on our walk over. Luckily Lisa posed him in ways that we couldn’t really see the stain. She took photos in four different locations. We stopped at a bench just outside the back (water side) entrance for our first set of pictures. We felt pretty awkward the way she had us posed… and you could tell in the pictures. None of these are my favorites. Next she had us walk up & down the walkway. She laid on the ground and got some cool shots. Then she took some shots of us up against the rope railing next to the beach. The sun was really bothering the boys but luckily she was able to get at least one good shot of each of them. Finally we moved on to a little wooded, rocky area near Stormalong Bay. These were by far the best pictures.

These are a few of the best photos from the session:

At the end of the session (which actually ran closer to 40 minutes than the 20 minutes we paid for), we tried to tip Lisa but she couldn’t accept. She told us to go online & send in a comment about our session. I did this when we got back & told them about our wonderful session. I failed to mention that she went way over our time… I didn’t want her to get in trouble. I think she realized that the photos we were getting in the last area were really good so she kept shooting.

After our session we headed over to check in at Cape May. It was now about 9:25 and our ADR was for 9:40. We were seated around 9:45. Alex had a little trouble waiting. I gave him my phone to help pass the time.

And Zach enjoyed watching a little tv.

Alex had held it together really well during the photo session but it was starting to catch up with him. The restaurant was fun & the boys enjoyed visiting with Minnie, Donald & Goofy but our waitress was very slow. It took forever to get refills & our check settled. We did get a breakfast cupcake to celebrate our anniversary! We also got a card signed by the characters.

Bad pictures with flash...

On our way out we decided to find the Sandcastle Club because the boys were going to end up spending some time there later in the week. I know that in my PTR I said that Karen was going to come hang out with the boys while Tim & I went to Shula's for our anniversary dinner. Well that was never true... I just got freaked out after I posted that the kids were going to the kids club. I didn't like the idea of people (not by best DIS friends of course) knowing where the kids were going to be when we weren't with them. So back to the Sandcastle Club... It wasn't open but we were able to show the boys where it was located.

After our time at the Beach Club, we headed back to BWV to get ready for some shopping at Downtown Disney!

Up next: DTD & MVMCP

I'll try to get one more update posted before Christmas but I should have plenty of time after Christmas to catch up on my subscriptions & post some more updates. Merry Christmas everyone!

 

[DisMomAmy]

am I suppose to dance for the other park?

You can dance that we get to go to both parks!

 

[MeMom]

Very nice family pictures!

Cape May was a hit with us. Just being at Beach Club is fun, and the characters in their beach clothes make it even better. The food rocks, too!

 

[KatMark]

Great update, Amy. Love the photo shoot pictures...you all look great.

 

[Native NYer]

Beautiful photos!

 

[skier_pete]

Wow great shots! I am not sure that we would ever do it ourselves, but they really did a great job.

 

[Charleston Princess]

Oh, I love the photo shoot pictures! So many cute ones! Are the grandparents getting some of them for Christmas? I would be all about handing those out for presents. LOL!

Cape May looks like a fun time -- the characters in their beach gear are a hoot! Too bad the server was a bit slow.

I don't blame you at all for the Karen/Sandcastle bit -- I tend to be the same way -- and it's certainly not my DIS friends who I worry about -- it's the fact that just anyone can access the boards -- who knows who is reading without commenting.

 

[brookelizabeth]

Catching up! Loved the surprise videos and pictures!

And GEORGE!!! Glad to her the boys enjoyed being spewed out of the clown mouth!

Wonderful family pictures at the Beach Club! She got some really nice, unique shots too.

In case I don't make it back here, I wish you and your family a very Merry Christmas!!!

 

[JPFamilyMom]

All caught up again. Do they serve noodles at Teppan Edo? The boys have recently fallen in love with all Asian food, but mostly the noodles.

So after all is said and done were you happy with your decision to do the photos? I think they turned out great, and I hope to do it in the future. We need some updated family photos and I like them outside like that.

Your cake turned out beautiful. Glad you enjoyed it.

That clown slide looks scary. But looks like the boys had fun.

Can't wait to see whats next

 

[mommytothreeboys]

Those shots of your beautiful family are gorgeous! She did a great job!

 

[DisMomAmy]

Very nice family pictures!

Cape May was a hit with us. Just being at Beach Club is fun, and the characters in their beach clothes make it even better. The food rocks, too!

Thanks MeMom! I'm glad we did the pictures & extending our time at the BC with brekfast at Cape May hit the spot!

Great update, Amy. Love the photo shoot pictures...you all look great.

Thank you!! Luckily Zach's black shirt didn't show up in the pictures!

Beautiful photos!

Thanks!

Wow great shots! I am not sure that we would ever do it ourselves, but they really did a great job.

I'm glad we did it. We were overdue for a family photo. Our last one was when Zach was about a year old.

Oh, I love the photo shoot pictures! So many cute ones! Are the grandparents getting some of them for Christmas? I would be all about handing those out for presents. LOL!

Cape May looks like a fun time -- the characters in their beach gear are a hoot! Too bad the server was a bit slow.

I don't blame you at all for the Karen/Sandcastle bit -- I tend to be the same way -- and it's certainly not my DIS friends who I worry about -- it's the fact that just anyone can access the boards -- who knows who is reading without commenting.

Thanks Jackie! I had our favorite six printed & then framed them for our moms. They really liked them!

I knew my DIS friends would be OK about my little white lie.

Catching up! Loved the surprise videos and pictures!

And GEORGE!!! Glad to her the boys enjoyed being spewed out of the clown mouth!

Wonderful family pictures at the Beach Club! She got some really nice, unique shots too.

In case I don't make it back here, I wish you and your family a very Merry Christmas!!!

George! Fortunately he wasn't an issue! The kids just liked having a waterslide... especially Alex.

I'm really happy with the photos we had taken. We weren't so sure at first, but once she moved us around to a couple new locations, we were feeling more comfortable.

Hope you had a nice Christmas Brook!

All caught up again. Do they serve noodles at Teppan Edo? The boys have recently fallen in love with all Asian food, but mostly the noodles.

So after all is said and done were you happy with your decision to do the photos? I think they turned out great, and I hope to do it in the future. We need some updated family photos and I like them outside like that.

Your cake turned out beautiful. Glad you enjoyed it.

That clown slide looks scary. But looks like the boys had fun.

Can't wait to see whats next

Hi Jess!! Yes - they serve noodles at Teppan Edo. They put little sesame seeds on everything so if that's an issue, just ask them to skip the seeds. They also put sauce on everything - pretty sure it's teryaki. I like the flavor of the sauce on my noodles but could do without the seeds.

Yes - I'm glad we did the photo session. It was really easy to just walk over to the BC & have the photos taken before breakfast. It probably would have been a bigger ordeal to have them done at home because we would have to drive somewhere. The short 20 minute session (which ended up more like 40) was good because we knew the kids would only last so long.

Next update coming up soon!

Those shots of your beautiful family are gorgeous! She did a great job!

Thanks Missy!!

 

[DisMomAmy]

After breakfast we headed back to the room to get changed before going to Downtown Disney.

A few pics from our walk back:

I threw the laundry in the dryer, we tried to close the ironing board again (without any luck) and headed out. This was our first bus ride & it wasn’t bad. As we approached the bus stop I received my first text from Kathy (KathyRN137) - it was 11:04. We chatted about our plans to meet up later at MVMCP.

Continued next post... after I go help Alex get a snack.

 

[DisMomAmy]

Continued from previous post...

Our bus pulled right up in no time!

And as we approached DTD:

This shopping outing was probably the low point of our trip. Alex was really antsy & starting to be difficult. We did manage to make it through but Tim spent a lot of time sitting with either just Alex, or both boys on benches outside of stores waiting for me. We’ll be offsite with a car in April so I may do a little solo shopping while the boys swim. We did get quite few things, including the shirts we wanted for MVMCP. We had to go to a second store to get Tim’s shirt because they didn’t have the color he wanted in his size at World of Disney. They had the red one, but he wanted the green one. Luckily we were able to get it at DTD because the other store that had it was Mousegear… I had an AP so I would have been trekking into Epcot to get it by myself before MVMCP. Tim would have burned one of the days on his ticket if he went in... we weren't using any days on our regular tickets since we were just doing the party.

Our first stop was at Disney Pin Traders where Zach got a new lanyard (his got covered in melted Kaki Gori the night before) and I got a MVMCP pin.

Next stop was Team Mickey where each of the boys got a set of little major league baseball helmets with their souvenir certificate from the day before.

Next we went to World of Disney where we got quite a few things… We each got a shirt for MVMCP shirt (except Tim), the boys each got a Santa hat (Alex got Goofy & Zach got Mickey), I got a calendar, a mug for my mom & a set of kitchen towels for DMIL.

This was the first store that Tim ended up on a bench. I finished up, popped into Basin to get some soap, then found the boys on their bench.

Up next was Lego. Alex stayed outside with Tim while Zach spent his first souvenir certificate (the one from the weekend at Jeff’s) on little Lego characters. I think I also gave them each an extra one for doing well with the photo session.

After one last stop at Marketplace Fun Finds to pick up Tim’s shirt (while Tim took Zach to get a slushie at Jofffreys) we made our way to a cab & were back to BWV in no time. It cost $9 plus tip. We stopped at Boardwalk to go & the pizza window to get some lunch. Tim & I got pizza, which he thought was “gross”. I didn’t think it was that bad! Zach got a hot dog & Alex got… yes, chicken! I also grabbed a vitamin water. I’d ordered some through Garden Grocer but Boardwalk to go had one of my favorite flavors that GG didn’t carry. Hands full, we made our way up to the room. I checked the laundry & it wasn’t dry so I reset it. We also called housekeeping to help us with the ironing board… and wouldn’t you know, Tim got it to close! Luckily it had only been a couple minutes so I called back to cancel housekeeping. After a little cake for dessert, we all headed down to the pool. Alex was feeling much better now.

After a nice swim & a little rest, we got changed for the party.

Up next... MVMCP!!

 

[DisMomAmy]

I also wanted to take a minute to say Merry Christmas & Happy New Year to everyone!! I wanted to get that updated posted first before I got sidetracked again...

We had a nice Christmas here & our house doesn't seem to be overrun by gifts this year. Alex had a hard time getting to sleep on Christmas Eve but finally fell asleep at 11:00. He was so stressed about getting to sleep so Santa could come that he was all worked up & even crying. Once I told him we could just pull an all nighter & Santa could leave things in the garage, he was asleep in no time. Although he did wake up at 4:50!

And like clock work, my thought shifted from jingle bells to Disney trip planning as I was putting away the Christmas dishes! It never fails, as the craziness of Christmas turns to the laziness of school vacation I feel the need to jump back into Disney fun! With just under 4 months to go until our next trip, I'm excited to get back into things!

Our nephew, J, will be flying up from Florida tomorrow night & staying with DMIL for a week. We have some fun things planned! Plus each of the boys has a sports camp to attend this week.

I hope you all have a Happy New Year!! I hope to get another update or two posted this week!

 

[KatMark]

Great update, Amy. It seems if you were productive, despite the boys being a little antsy, with your shopping. Glad you found your t-shirts for the party.

I hope you enjoy the holiday time with the boys. My baby came home Sunday night at 6 p.m. and had to go back home yesterday afternoon already.