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

[martinolichfamily]

Super cute pics of Ashlyn from all years!

Great job on the Elmo Cake Pops....hairbows (DD said she wants some of those! shes sitting at the comp w/me) and the autograph book!

How exciting that your days are getting closer to DISNEY WORLD!!!!!

 

[BabyEeyore]

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!

Awww, how sweet. I get all teary-eyed when I see tiny babies because I start thinking about when Ashlyn was that small, so I know exactly how you feel! I love the idea of spraying white ballet shoes with glitter! Wonderful idea!

Super cute pics of Ashlyn from all years!

Great job on the Elmo Cake Pops....hairbows (DD said she wants some of those! shes sitting at the comp w/me) and the autograph book!

How exciting that your days are getting closer to DISNEY WORLD!!!!!

Thank you so much! I want to practice making the bows and sell them on Etsy, but since I live overseas it would take longer to ship to people than say if they order from someone who lives in the states so I just didn't think it would work at this point. Maybe one day, though!

I know, I can't believe I can officially say that I'll be going to WDW this month!

 

[BabyEeyore]

I can officially say we're going to Disney World this month!

18 Days: Ashlyn colored our September calendar today. It was a picture of Cinderella. She loves to color the eyes, nose, mouth, etc. first of whatever she's coloring (if it has a face, of course) and say what they are before moving on to the rest of the picture.

Thing #18 we are looking forward to...

SEEING CINDERELLA'S CASTLE!!!

I know we see Cinderella's Castle every time we go, but there's just something about walking on to Main Street and seeing it for the first time that trip. That feeling just never goes away! And I always look forward to our family picture in front of it.

 

[lexmas]

Aww, you will have to get a picture of Ashlyn dressed as Cinderella infront of "her" castle! Hopefully crowds will be light...I know we got a picture of me walking into the castle with DS, and there was no one else around at all, it's such a great picture! So I'm hoping for low crowds for you!

 

[Dancegrl624]

Madison was Cinderella in kindergarden and it was just so sweet! She even had light up shoes! When we went trick-or-treating around the neighborhood, she just had to show everyone her shoes. I'm so happy she has chosen a Disney character again as her costume. The past 2 years she was a black cat and a tiger (she's a cat lover) and this year she wants to be Jasmine. She's going with my mom to the fabric store today to pick out her costume fabric.

There is another DISer who makes Disney bows just like yours! She has an online store and I think a blog. You are both very talented! I hope we have another girl someday so I can buy her pretty bows (Madison is too big ).

Isn't it exciting to say that you're going to WDW THIS MONTH!

 

[BabyEeyore]

Aww, you will have to get a picture of Ashlyn dressed as Cinderella infront of "her" castle! Hopefully crowds will be light...I know we got a picture of me walking into the castle with DS, and there was no one else around at all, it's such a great picture! So I'm hoping for low crowds for you!

Oh I know, I can't wait to take a picture of her in front of "her" castle. I'm hoping that if we get to go to MNSSHP that they will have Cinderella's Carriage out for photo ops. I think I've seen the picture of you and your DS... or one similar... and it is awesome! Thanks for the low crowd wishes!

Madison was Cinderella in kindergarden and it was just so sweet! She even had light up shoes! When we went trick-or-treating around the neighborhood, she just had to show everyone her shoes. I'm so happy she has chosen a Disney character again as her costume. The past 2 years she was a black cat and a tiger (she's a cat lover) and this year she wants to be Jasmine. She's going with my mom to the fabric store today to pick out her costume fabric.

There is another DISer who makes Disney bows just like yours! She has an online store and I think a blog. You are both very talented! I hope we have another girl someday so I can buy her pretty bows (Madison is too big ).

Isn't it exciting to say that you're going to WDW THIS MONTH!

I bet Madison was adorable as Cinderella! How fun that she's going to be Jasmine this year!

Thank you very much about the bows. They're fun to make. I've seen a few people who make them and they are just so cute. A good friend of mine just found out she's having a girl (she already has a boy Ashlyn's age) so I have a reason to make extra bows and stuff when I make Ashlyn things.

 

[BabyEeyore]

17 Days: Almost 2 weeks! I get so excited about the little milestones before the big day, like 30 days, under 20 days, 2 weeks, etc. I know I'm not the only DISer who feels that way, though! Anyway, today Ashlyn and I went to a farewell get together for my good friend. It was a lot of fun. Ashlyn's dance class has now been moved from Friday mornings to Thursdays RIGHT AFTER she usually wakes up from her nap. She didn't wake up in time to get ready and go this week. I'm really hoping that it's not like that all the time. But she's only 2 (not even) so if we wait another year (til we move to the states) to put her in a dance class (if she still enjoys it) it won't be the end of the world. But we'll see. We'll take it one week at a time. No reason to make any sort of decision right now. Oh, anyway, so our activity for today is going to be watching The Princess and the Frog. It's been a little while since we've watched it so it'll be fun!

Thing #17 we are looking forward to is...

SOUVENIRS!!!

I know that we'll be getting Ashlyn some toys (we'll be stopping by Once Upon A Toy to get some My Little Pony stuff) and things like that. But I've really been wanting to get a Disney music CD and I decided to wait and get it while we're there. After reading what others have said, I may be jumping on the 4 Parks, 1 World CD bandwagon. I also want to get a pin or two. If we get to go to MNSSHP I am definitely grabbing up a special party pin!

 

[Dancegrl624]

I am all about buying the 4 Parks 1 World cd!!!! After calling Disney a million times over the past few weeks and listening to all of that Disney music while I hold...I just have to have it! We also hope to buy some special MNSSHP merchandise. It will be our last night there, so we might go a bit crazy!

Tomorrow is my "We're in the Teens!" day and I can hardly wait. Then it will be 2 weeks, single digits, etc. I celebrate every little thing I can!

 

[-Hope-]

We are not really souvenir people but there are definately a few things I want from Disney! I have a postcard collection so I'll definately need one of those and I also want to get Christmas ornaments for the kids. They get one every year that represents something special from the previous year and what will be more special this year than Disney?

 

[BabyEeyore]

I am all about buying the 4 Parks 1 World cd!!!! After calling Disney a million times over the past few weeks and listening to all of that Disney music while I hold...I just have to have it! We also hope to buy some special MNSSHP merchandise. It will be our last night there, so we might go a bit crazy!

Tomorrow is my "We're in the Teens!" day and I can hardly wait. Then it will be 2 weeks, single digits, etc. I celebrate every little thing I can!

Is that where all the hold music comes from? Okay, I'm convinced that's what I'm getting. Calling Disney is really the only time I'm okay with being put on hold.

How exciting that you're in the teens now!!!

We are not really souvenir people but there are definately a few things I want from Disney! I have a postcard collection so I'll definately need one of those and I also want to get Christmas ornaments for the kids. They get one every year that represents something special from the previous year and what will be more special this year than Disney?

That is wonderful to get an ornament that represents something special from that year. My parents started a tradition that we are continuing with Ashlyn where she gets an ornament each year and it's the very first one to be put on the tree that year. Then she'll have a small collection of ornaments to put on her tree when she moves out.... in the far, far future. Sometimes the ornament (we've only had 2 Christmases so far with Ashlyn but I'm going off what my parents did, too) represents something that happened and most of the time it just represents what Ashlyn (or I when my parents were buying the ornaments) was really into that year. Ashlyn is all about Mickey and Minnie so we'll have to stop by the Christmas shop in DTD. Thanks for the reminder! I'll have to make a note of it...

 

[lexmas]

I do enjoy how you're at 17 days in a daily countdown and that's "almost two weeks!" haha. You are getting so very close, so every day closer is exciting!

Souvineers are always fun. I'm actually going to try not to get many souvineers this time, because we're going pretty often in the coming year, that's not a precident I want to set. I'm REALLY picky about buying stuff though, and even pickier about the kids toys, so there's probably not much I will want to buy. DH, on the other hand, will have to be reined in. I enjoy "window shopping" in other people's trip reports though, so feel free to take pictures of all the merchandise! We got a MNSSHP pin last time we were there, and I really enjoy looking at it still! I expect we will get one of those this time as well!

 

[BabyEeyore]

I am SO excited that Aaron is coming home tomorrow! We were worried there for a minute that Hurricane Earl would be really bad and cancel the flights but that's not the case and I am so excited. I know I'm rambling in everything I've been writing today because I'm so happy! The Mt. Dew I'm drinking doesn't really help, either.

16 Days: Today is all about getting a few extra things done to make sure everything looks great for Aaron. I'm also going to be baking some chocolate chip cookies so they're ready for him tomorrow. I know it's only been 2 weeks, but I want to cry I'm so happy!!!

*ahem* Anyway, so thing #16 we are looking forward to is...

EXPLORING TOONTOWN!!!

(photo credit goes to mouseplanet.com For some reason I had a picture of one of the pumpkins but not the whole sign. I'll be taking care of that in a couple of weeks! I'm also glad I found this one with the pumpkins since they'll be up when we're going. Anyway, moving on... told you I've been rambling today!)

When we've gone to Toontown in the past, it was mainly to go see Mickey and Minnie and sometimes to check in on the wait to see the Princesses and/or the Fairies. This is going to be the last time EVER that we'll be seeing Toontown so I want to spend a little extra time here. I'm also excited to let Ashlyn explore Mickey and Minnie's house and letting her go pull and push all the things that are meant to be pulled and pushed. I think she'll have a blast! We were always in such a hurry to go get in line for pictures before and then go off and do other things.

You know, the more I mention things like this the more I hope MNSSHP will work out for us. Even if Ashlyn sleeps through the whole thing, we'll have fun and be able to have extra time taking pictures and doing baby swap for the bigger rides and stuff like that. You know, I didn't even think of what a good opportunity it would be to do baby swap then! We could make sure we do all the Ashlyn friendly rides during the day and then do the bigger rides at night!!!!! Why did I not think of that before? It would work perfectly since we are only there for one day. See, the DIS helps even when you're just talking to yourself while writing your post.

Okay, I am really sorry about just going everywhere with this update. If you're still reading, thanks for sticking with me! I'll try to update tomorrow morning before Aaron's flight gets in but if you don't hear from me for a couple of days after that, don't worry. I'll be back after he goes back to work on Tuesday and will catch up. And I'll probably even be make to my semi-normal self! I just have a feeling Ashlyn and I (and even our cat, Ali) won't be leaving him alone for a few days. Have a wonderful weekend!

 

[lexmas]

Toontown will be fun...it will be nice to enjoy it knowing that it won't be there when you go back.

I'm so excited for you that Aaron is coming home! It feels like it's been a long time to me since he left (In fact, when I read that I thought, wow, he's not home yet?), so I can't even imagine how you feel! Enjoy your weekend! Aaron will be back and you go to WDW soon!

 

[BabyEeyore]

I do enjoy how you're at 17 days in a daily countdown and that's "almost two weeks!" haha. You are getting so very close, so every day closer is exciting!

Souvineers are always fun. I'm actually going to try not to get many souvineers this time, because we're going pretty often in the coming year, that's not a precident I want to set. I'm REALLY picky about buying stuff though, and even pickier about the kids toys, so there's probably not much I will want to buy. DH, on the other hand, will have to be reined in. I enjoy "window shopping" in other people's trip reports though, so feel free to take pictures of all the merchandise! We got a MNSSHP pin last time we were there, and I really enjoy looking at it still! I expect we will get one of those this time as well!

17 days is only 3 days away from 2 weeks! I don't think it has fully hit me that it really is so close. I feel excited and am getting everything together, but it still doesn't feel real that we're going so soon.

I'm extremely picky with buying myself stuff. I really don't like getting things for myself or even letting Aaron get me anything. But I could go broke getting things for Aaron and Ashlyn. And I completely understand where you're coming from with not wanting to get a bunch of souvenirs now since you'll be going pretty often. That's a really good idea. I really have no idea when we'll be going to WDW or DL next because we have no idea yet where we'll be living in 9 months! I'm pretty sure that has to come first before planning a Disney trip. I'm not 100% sure, but pretty sure.

 

[BabyEeyore]

Toontown will be fun...it will be nice to enjoy it knowing that it won't be there when you go back.

I'm so excited for you that Aaron is coming home! It feels like it's been a long time to me since he left (In fact, when I read that I thought, wow, he's not home yet?), so I can't even imagine how you feel! Enjoy your weekend! Aaron will be back and you go to WDW soon!

I feel very fortunate that we have the opportunity to go back before Toontown is gone.

Thank you! It does seem like it's been forever. It really helped that we talked every night, though. It made it not as bad. All of us were ready for him to be back about, oh, a week and a half ago, though.

 

[BabyEeyore]

Sorry I've been MIA for a few days! We were really enjoying the long weekend with Aaron back home. This morning we are going to be seeing off our good friends as they move off the island today. It'll be sad but we'll see each other again. The Navy has a tendency to bring friends back together eventually. Aaron went back to work today so things are getting back to our normal schedule and back to our countdown!

15 Days: This day was all about Aaron coming home! We went a little early to watch the ferry come in. Ashlyn is very interested in boats and trains right now. She was very excited to see the big boat pull in. When Aaron walked up to us it took her a minute to realize she wasn't seeing things and that her Daddy was really here! She then ran to him with her arms open for a big hug. She would NOT let him let her go for quite awhile. She didn't want to get in her carseat to go home or take her nap. It was very, very sweet.

Thing #15 we are looking forward to...

DOLE WHIPS!!!

(picture from mouseplanet.com)
Aaron actually wasn't completely impressed with them last time we had them. I know, I know, he's crazy. He thought they were yummy, but not his favorite. I have to make sure I have one this trip for my mom. Every trip after she passed away, I try to do one of her favorite things. Her favorite ride has always been it's a small world so I make sure to ride it every trip. Since it is closed while we'll be there I am making sure I get a Dole Whip because that was her favorite snack!

There are Dole Whips, Dole Whip Floats, etc... what's your favorite?

 

[BabyEeyore]

14 Days: 2 WEEKS! I was going to make our Mousekeeping envelopes this day, but it just didn't happen. We were busy just talking and hanging out all together. But I am going to be printing some out after I catch up on my updates!

Thing #14 we are looking forward to...

THE MANY ADVENTURES OF WINNIE THE POOH!!!

This ride is very special to me. We didn't ride anything our very first trip with Ashlyn since she was only 2 months old, but when we went when she was 1 year old, her very first ride ever was The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. So it will always hold a special place in my heart. I can't tell you how excited I was when a wonderful CM offered to take the picture above. I am excited to ride it this trip because she has recently fallen in love with Pooh so I can't wait to see her reaction!

 

[BabyEeyore]

13 Days: LESS than 2 weeks!!! Anyway, I noticed awhile back that the small video rental place here has Beauty and the Beast for rent!! I haven't seen it in forever and it's one of my favorites. Aaron's seen it before but not for a really long time and Ashlyn had NEVER seen it! She absolutely LOVED IT!

Aaron bought Ashlyn a set of small, plastic Disney princess dolls while he was in Virginia. She has had so much fun with them. He knew she was only kinda familiar with Belle because of her books. So he kept the Belle toy next to him (the toy is wearing the yellow dress) and gave it to her during that scene so she could connect the two. You could tell it worked because she was hugging the doll and calling her by name after the movie. So that was cool.

Thing #13 that we are looking forward to...

DOWNTOWN DISNEY!!!

I know I've already put souvenirs on the list, but I just love the experience of walking around DTD. Even if it is just window shopping. I of course love World of Disney, Disney's Days of Christmas, and Mickey's Pantry. I am also looking forward to checking out Pin Traders, TrenD, Once Upon a Toy, D Street, and a lot of others. I'm excited that we are going to have more time this trip to explore!

What is your favorite store in DTD?

 

[Dancegrl624]

Happy to hear your DH is home now. I'm sure you're very excited!

I am a huge love of Dole Whips...not the floats though. My DH likes the floats, but there is something about them that just tastes funny to me.

My fav store at DTD is definately World of Disney. It's just so huge! A close 2nd is Tren-D. So cute!

 

[BabyEeyore]

Happy to hear your DH is home now. I'm sure you're very excited!

I am a huge love of Dole Whips...not the floats though. My DH likes the floats, but there is something about them that just tastes funny to me.

My fav store at DTD is definately World of Disney. It's just so huge! A close 2nd is Tren-D. So cute!

It is definitely nice to have him home.

I've never had the floats. One day I will probably try one but I might stick with the classic Dole Whip this time.

I could spend all day in World of Disney! That's cool to hear you like Tren-D so much... I'm looking forward to checking it out!




Well everyone, I'll be back soon for today's update and I'll officially be caught up! But I'm running a little late and need to hurry up and finish getting ready so I can go meet my friends and see them off.