Princess Ashlyn's Birthday Trip - That's 2 For 2! September 2010 PTR (Started my TR!)

[-Hope-]

Love the pics! It's amazing how fast they grow up isn't it! You have another item that I have on my countdown because I can't wait to see how my kids react to WDW!! And, I agree with Christa that it's so fun when you start to see your child's personality come through.

 

[BabyEeyore]

Travel folder already...very exciting! It IS really soon, isn't it!

It will be so different this time! We always look at DS and say, "Now THIS would be a really great age to take him to disney"...but we say that ALL the time! haha. It's because we took him at 11 months, 18 months, and 21 months, and he's over 3.5 now, so we missed all those great ages! It will be exciting to see how Ashlyn does this time!

Oh, and your baby is growing up! Secretly, I like it when they get bigger though, because I love that you get to interact with them more and learn more about what they're thinking and how they see the world. Babies are cute and all, but they don't do much! Does Ashlyn talk a lot more now than she did your last trip? That would make things very exciting! My kids are late talkers...they say a whole bunch of words before one and then stop using words for a long time...J.J. stopped to learn how to walk and everything, and Sydney stopped when she learned how to: point, shake her head yes and no, and say "that!" Haha. Lazy babies.

We generally start our travel folders fairly early because we have so much paperwork. We're going to be on a medivac for part of the trip (for Ashlyn's orthopedic appointment) so we have paperwork for that and leave paperwork for Aaron and all that kind of stuff. We don't want to run the risk of losing them, so I try to stay on top of it.

I completely agree with you. I miss her being a baby, but it is so exciting to learn what she likes and a little of what's going on in her head. She's a late talker, too. She says a bunch of words, but no real phrases yet. She does say more things now, though, and is more expressive than last time, so that will be really cool!

Love the pics! It's amazing how fast they grow up isn't it! You have another item that I have on my countdown because I can't wait to see how my kids react to WDW!! And, I agree with Christa that it's so fun when you start to see your child's personality come through.

Oh, you said it! They really grow up so quickly it's amazing. But you and Christa are totally right, it's so fun seeing their personality's shine through.

 

[BabyEeyore]

23 Days: Someone on island started doing dance classes for little kids last week but I just found out about it a few days ago. Today we went for our first class, though! Ashlyn liked watching the other kids, but was a little too shy to join in. That's okay, though. We're going back next week to see if she'll warm up. I really think it's something she's going to have a blast with when she feels comfortable.

And item #23 that I am looking forward to...

PINS!!!

I've wanted to do pin trading for years, but just never did. Last trip, Aaron bought me a lanyard and a few pins (not for trading, just for me) and it got me excited about it again. So I got a few pins that I am willing to trade this next trip. It sounds all cool and stuff, but I am super shy so we'll see if I really do go up to a CM and trade a pin. But I'm trying to get over being so shy and I'm really going to try and just let go this trip. Hug the characters, dance, pin trade, etc.

(picture from the Disney What's HapPINing? blog.)
This is one pin I really would love to find (not the Pinocchio one, but Figaro). I love all things Figaro. Maybe because we have a black and white cat... not the same markings or anything, but Aaron and I always pick up things that have black and white cats on them.

I also would to pick up a special MNSSHP pin, if we do end up going to the party!

 

[-Hope-]

Aww, dance class can be so fun. Kya didn't warm up to it right away either and now she's all about dance- she even got to be a mouse in a production of 'The Nutcracker' last year with a real dance company.

Thanks for the pin trading blog link! I'm off to read it now.

 

[BabyEeyore]

Aww, dance class can be so fun. Kya didn't warm up to it right away either and now she's all about dance- she even got to be a mouse in a production of 'The Nutcracker' last year with a real dance company.

Thanks for the pin trading blog link! I'm off to read it now.

I really think Ashlyn will warm up to it eventually, like Kya did. She always dances around the house. I bet it was awesome to watch Kya in "the Nutcracker!"

 

[BabyEeyore]

22 Days: Today we're having a mini movie night. We'll be watching Snow White. I say mini movie night because I'm not going all out with themed foods and decorations and everything. I'll just do a little something like we'll snack on apples while watching or I'll print out a coloring page or something. We're going to be doing a few of those the next few weeks. I am also going to start making Elmo cake pops tonight for my friend's daughter's birthday party tomorrow. I know there are going to be some leftover so I may make one or two apple cake pops for tonight's movie! I'll post pics of the cake pops in my update tomorrow after the party.

Thing #22 We Are Looking Forward To...

DISNEY RESORT TV CHANNEL

I know, a lot of people think that Stacey is annoying, but I LOVE watching this. Especially when we first get there or when we are getting ready in the morning to head to the parks. It just totally gets me pumped and is just an extra "I'm really here!" feeling. Man, just thinking about it is getting me hyper!

 

[TinkerbellLuvr7]

yay nice updates!! I love the pics of DD as a baby up till now!!

I love the resort channel as well but if you ask me, I thought the longer Stacey show was much more enjoyable than the 15ish min one they play now!!

 

[-Hope-]

Apple cake pops sound yummy and adorable! Can't wait to see the pics.

 

[Charlefours]

for dance classes! Welcome to the club of Dance Moms!!

We are trying pin trading too!! I cannot wait. I will have to pick up one for MNSSHP--thank you for the reminder! Seeing everything through DD's is one of the things I am most looking forward to as well.

 

[lexmas]

How cute that Ashlyn is in dance class. I'm sure she'll warm up. DS is too crazy to do anything organized right now...he would be VERY shy, and then he would warm up and just run around. He's a great kid, but not ready for the organized world yet!

I'm looking forward to pin trading too! We've never done it before either, and I am very private and don't like talking to strangers and stuff like that, so I figured I would just enjoy watching J.J. do it! (Of course, he's pretty shy too, but I force him to do these things. Hopefully he'll turn out better then I did!) I think DH is going to do it as well, and maybe Sydney. We will see!

I can't wait to see the cake pops. I'm still puzzling what I did wrong with them. I think maybe I will have to try again! J.J. would love helping me with it...maybe this week!

I like that channel too. I think it's exciting! I mean, sure, it's a little annoying, but it's also incredibly able to put you in the mood for disneyworld! It's probably what I have on in the background 99% of the time!

 

[BabyEeyore]

yay nice updates!! I love the pics of DD as a baby up till now!!

I love the resort channel as well but if you ask me, I thought the longer Stacey show was much more enjoyable than the 15ish min one they play now!!

Thank you! I love looking back at her tiny baby pictures. I still can't believe how much she's grown.

I don't know if I've seen the longer Stacey show. Probably not because there was a long time between the last time I stayed in a Disneyland hotel and when we started staying on property at WDW.

Apple cake pops sound yummy and adorable! Can't wait to see the pics.

Well, I ended up not being able to make the apple cake pops. There was an incident with the Elmo ones and I had just enough for the party. I'll explain what happened when I post pictures. Ashlyn is napping so I had a chance to take a shower and get ready for the party at 3. So I just hopped on to check out the DIS. I really should start cleaning my kitchen since it looks like it exploded, but I really don't want to look at it right now. I've been in there too long already today!

 

[BabyEeyore]

for dance classes! Welcome to the club of Dance Moms!!

We are trying pin trading too!! I cannot wait. I will have to pick up one for MNSSHP--thank you for the reminder! Seeing everything through DD's is one of the things I am most looking forward to as well.

Well, thank you for the welcome! I always knew I'd end up a dance mom, soccer mom, something like that.

How cute that Ashlyn is in dance class. I'm sure she'll warm up. DS is too crazy to do anything organized right now...he would be VERY shy, and then he would warm up and just run around. He's a great kid, but not ready for the organized world yet!

I'm looking forward to pin trading too! We've never done it before either, and I am very private and don't like talking to strangers and stuff like that, so I figured I would just enjoy watching J.J. do it! (Of course, he's pretty shy too, but I force him to do these things. Hopefully he'll turn out better then I did!) I think DH is going to do it as well, and maybe Sydney. We will see!

I can't wait to see the cake pops. I'm still puzzling what I did wrong with them. I think maybe I will have to try again! J.J. would love helping me with it...maybe this week!

I like that channel too. I think it's exciting! I mean, sure, it's a little annoying, but it's also incredibly able to put you in the mood for disneyworld! It's probably what I have on in the background 99% of the time!

Ashlyn tends to run around, too, when she warms up, but the class for 2-3 year olds is pretty relaxed and they do ring around the rosy and stuff. They change what they do pretty often during the class. So I'm hoping she'll like it!

I'm kinda nervous about pin trading, actually. That's why I'm not 100% sure it'll happen. But I'm hoping to just not worry about it and go for it!

Hmmm, I'm not sure about what happened with the cake pops. What was wrong? Bad texture? Feel free to PM me with any questions if you want.

I totally have it on every morning until Aaron turns it. I think he finds it annoying after awhile.

 

[BabyEeyore]

Oh my goodness, it's been a busy weekend! I am tired and looking forward to bed! But of course DIS comes first!

21 Days: Today was a bit crazy. Technically today's countdown calendar activity was to color a picture of something (more than likely Disney related - probably a page from her Mickey Mouse Clubhouse coloring book) to give to her Granny and Granddaddy when we see them. But the morning was spent finishing up the cake pops for the party this afternoon. The party was great. Ashlyn had an absolute blast! But once we got home we were both just so tired. She got a second wind, but I watched her play while I lounged on the couch watching the Emmys red carpet! We will be coloring that picture another day soon.

Anyway, those cake pops... I was kinda stressed about them at first. I formed them, put sticks in them, and went to put them in the freezer for a couple of minutes to firm up before I started decorating. Well, I almost had them in the freezer and the door bumped my arm and more than half of them fell on the floor!!! Oh I was ready to throw the rest against the wall I was so upset. But I put away the ones that were safe, cleaned up the mess so our cat didn't eat any chocolate (it was chocolate cake with vanilla frosting), and sat down for a minute to calm down. I still had a little bit of cake left that I was going to save to have as a snack, so luckily that brought me back to the bare minimum I needed for the party. Then they melted on the 5 minute drive to the party! Darn Cuba heat! The noses slid down the face and some fell off, but once I got there the birthday girl's mom helped me fix them real quick and stick them in the freezer to harden back up. So they weren't perfect, but everyone just loved them so I'm glad.

Oh, and I made the gifts, too. I actually sewed a roll up crayon holder thing. It was my first project ever on the sewing machine so I was proud. I also made her two princess hair clips.

Just thought I'd share since it is Disney-related.

Anyway, soooooo.... thing #21 we are looking forward to is...

THE FERRY BOAT TO DTD!!!

(picture from allears.net)

This is mainly because we just haven't done it before! We are really excited to stay at POFQ for the first time (don't worry, that's on the list, too!) and we are planning on taking this to DTD our first night for dinner and shopping!

 

[-Hope-]

Sorry you had such trouble with the cake pops. At least there were enough and everyone liked them anyway!

Those clips are so cute!

The ferry does look like fun! I've read that the captains are really funny and that sometimes you even see gators!

 

[BabyEeyore]

Sorry you had such trouble with the cake pops. At least there were enough and everyone liked them anyway!

Those clips are so cute!

The ferry does look like fun! I've read that the captains are really funny and that sometimes you even see gators!

Thanks! Yeah, I had some issues with the cake pops, but when I stopped and took a deep breath, they were fun!

That would be really cool to see some gators! I know, who wants to see a gator while on the water, right? I just think it would be an interesting experience. And that's cool to hear that the captains are really funny. I haven't really read anything about the ferry boats so thanks!



I am going to be posting an update soon. I'm just waiting for some pics to upload to photobucket!

 

[BabyEeyore]

Good afternoon everyone! It's been a great start to the week. I have a LOT to do before Aaron gets home. I wanted to do a lot of organizing around the house to surprise him and didn't get as much done last week as I wanted. I also have a lot of meetings later this week (Bible study on Wednesday, a goodbye get together for my friend on Thursday, and Ashlyn's dance class on Friday) along with regular errands. So it will go by quickly and Aaron will be home on Saturday!

Anyway, so today marks 20 days until we leave! So...

20 Days: I ordered prints of some autograph pages I got from the DISigns board. They are awesome! They arrived awhile ago, but today was the day I planned on putting it all together. I didn't do anything crazy with it because I'm not sure if this is the book it's going to stay in and if it is, I need to get refill pages. But anyway, it will do just fine holding our autograph cards while we're there! I plan on putting a picture of Ashlyn with the character on one side and the autograph card on the other. I want it in a nice, sturdy scrapbook or something so she can look through it whenever she wants. Here's the cover:

And here's an example of the autograph pages:

When we're back, I'll place them in the middle of the page and maybe put some embellishments or whatnot, but like I said, for now it's just a way of carrying the autograph cards around the park without them getting bent.

Thing #20 that we are looking forward to is...

GOOFY'S CANDY CO. AND MAIN STREET BAKERY!!!

I've actually never gotten anything from either of these places. Not even from Main Street Bakery the countless times I have been to Disneyland! Yes, I know, I know. I really have no reason why. I would love to hear what you would suggest we get from either (or both!) places!

 

[lexmas]

Those Elmo Cake pops are SO cute! Oh, and I haven't tried to make them again, but I am planning on it. I don't think I have chocolate in the house, so it may have to wait on that. If these fail, I will PM you...I want to do them right at least once!

Cute hair clips! And I'm so excited that you used your sewing machine...I remember way back when I posted the dress tutorials you said that you had gotten a sewing machine and you were figuring out how to use it! Crayon rolls are so cute too!

I have never been to the bakery or Goofy's Candy Co. either. I can't wait to hear about what you get! Take lots of pictures!

 

[BabyEeyore]

Those Elmo Cake pops are SO cute! Oh, and I haven't tried to make them again, but I am planning on it. I don't think I have chocolate in the house, so it may have to wait on that. If these fail, I will PM you...I want to do them right at least once!

Cute hair clips! And I'm so excited that you used your sewing machine...I remember way back when I posted the dress tutorials you said that you had gotten a sewing machine and you were figuring out how to use it! Crayon rolls are so cute too!

I have never been to the bakery or Goofy's Candy Co. either. I can't wait to hear about what you get! Take lots of pictures!

It's funny, I to bake and try new things but I think because I'm always trying something new, my favorite snacks are a nice, simple piece of cake or good ol' chocolate chip cookies.

Oh yes, I love your dress tutorials! I'm not quite sure I'm there yet, but when we move back to the states and I have easy access to a fabric and/or craft store, I am totally trying it!!

Trust me, I'll be taking a TON of pictures and taking notes so hopefully I'll have a nice, thorough TR.

 

[BabyEeyore]

19 Days: We're under 20 days! Today Ashlyn and I are going to have another little mini movie night. We'll be watching Alice in Wonderland (the original animated one)!

Thing #19 we are looking forward to:

ASHLYN DRESSED AS CINDERELLA!!!

I mean, come on... how cute is she going to be dressed up and walking around the Magic Kingdom? I'll of course have a change of clothes in case she gets hot, but it's just going to be so magical (and she won't be wearing the Cinderella shoes... those would just hurt her feet all day). I already have a warm, fuzzy feeling just thinking about it. She's always my beautiful little princess.

 

[-Hope-]

Oh that's so cute! Kya was Cinderella for Halloween when she was 3- that picture of Ashlyn brings back memories- it's making me teary eyed!

As for the shoes- I agree that those aren't practical. When Kya had this costume she wanted pretty shoes and I wanted comfortable so I found white ballet shoes and sprayed them with glitter. It worked perfectly!