Disney 2015 Day 3

Tuesday.  Big day!  We started our day by meeting the Powell's (yes we know lots of people at Disney this week!) for breakfast at Be Our Guest Restaurant.  The kids had a great time playing and getting ready for some Magic Kingdom fun!

After riding a couple rides it was time to split girls and boys!  Boys went off to rides roller coasters...

And the girls went to the Bibbity Bobbity Boutique.  Oh my gosh!  I cannot even tell you how entertaining this was for the adults.  These girls were loving every minute.  First they take you back and get all changed into your favorite princess costume.  Mulan for Julianna and Rapunzel for Grace.  Then they call you back to your beauty chair and your "Fairy Godmother" starts working on your hair. 

And there is a nail technician and make up artist.

  I have never seen Grace sit so still or be silent for so long.  She was in heaven!  After they got the girls all dolled up they turned their chair around to the mirror for the big reveal.

Finally (after you pay for this amazing experience), they send you next door for a photo shoot.  Watching Grace do her photo shoot was hysterical.  The camera loves her or maybe she loves the camera.  Julianna doesn't like to get her picture taken so hers was a little rough but click over to the photo album for more pictures.  Its awesome.

Then the photographer put the girls together. First photo went okay...

Second photo not so good.  Photo shoot over.  But this might be my favorite picture, completely shows their personalities.  Makes me laugh every time I see it.

After two hours of beautification (is that a word?) we went to find the boys.  We had to ride our favorite, 7D Mine Train.  Grace is just tall enough this trip, and she LOVED it! 

After that we took the girls back to the hotel for a rest because we had dinner at Cinderella's Castle that night.  The girls loved giving each princess hugs and posing for a picture. 

After dinner we joined the boys again and it was time for Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party.  Which is basically an after hours party where kids run around and get candy all over Magic Kingdom.  But they were dressed up and happy to get piles of candy!

Grandma and Nana took Grace home early and the rest of us shut it down at midnight.  Super fun parade, short rides lines and awesome fireworks!  Good thing tomorrow is a pool day!

Disney 2015 Day 2

Our Disney days always start at the crack of dawn.  Come on, its not like we aren't up anyway, Grace wakes up at 5:30 every day!  Monday morning we headed to the Polynesian Hotel for a breakfast with Lilo, Stitch & Friends.  It was our first character breakfast of the trip and I was eager to see how Grace would react.  Last trip she wanted nothing to do with characters and Brian had to hold her just to get a High 5.  Grace totally forgot her fear of characters and smiled, laughed and hugged each and every character that came her way. 

After breakfast we went to Epcot. 

Finally Grace is tall enough to ride the big rides.  She is definitely a McNeely!  Arms up in the air screaming the whole way.  So much fun!  And we even ran into the Cristelli's!  Jake and Anthony had a good time walking around the countries while Grandma and Nana took the girls back for a rest.  Jake loves to do the Agent P mysteries in each country so we did a few countries before dinner. 

The girls came back and we watched a street performer for a while.  He was so good, Julianna was so impressed.  He even gave her a ball to throw in a hoop.  She loved it!  We ate some yummy Italian dinner, watched some fireworks and called it a night. 

 

Disney 2015 Day 1

Yes I meant 2015...not 2016.  I am so behind in my posting but I am making a sincere effort to be better this year.  Which means catching up on last year, so I can tell you about this year.  Now I have probably confused you but I am just going to keep typing.

Once again we had a week off in September so of course we go to Disney World (where else would we go?)!  Our fun filled week started out with a long 7 hour drive down to Orlando, picking Nana up along the way!  Our first night we spent at Downtown Disney shopping and walking around.  Jake and Julianna had to get their Disney ears too!

After a yummy dinner, we decided to head back early and rest up...long week ahead!

Our first real day at Disney was Sunday.  We were up bright and early and ready to hit Animal Kingdom.  Of course technical difficulties ensued and we stood in line for what seemed like forever.  But in true Disney fashion they want you to be happy.  Daddy negotiated lots of free snacks (see below picture) and fast passes for lots of rides.

We rode roller coasters, kid rides, went on a safari and ended the afternoon at the Kali River Rapids.  Nana warned everyone..."whoever sits by me will get soaked!"  Sure enough, she and Julianna left the ride completely drenched!  Grace thought it was super funny...Julianna not so much!

 



After that we headed back to the hotel to pick up Grandma, who flew in for the fun!  I was able to snag some last minute reservations at Hollywood Studios so we had a great dinner and saw the Fantasmic show.  And guess who we ran into?  Our neighbors the Powell's!

 

 

On a side note, I have to tell this story because it totally restores my faith in humanity, not to mention my love for Disney World!  I went to water fountain to wash my hand off.  I set my phone and map on top of the water fountain.  10 seconds later I walked off, completely forgot my phone.  Ugh!  10 minutes later I realized my mistake and ran back.  Phone gone.  My heart sank.  It's Day 1 and my phone is lost.  I ask around and no one noticed anything.  I try calling it but it goes to voicemail.  Already I am thinking how much is this going to cost, where is the nearest Verizon, when am I going to have time to get a cell phone?  I sent the whole family off to get seats for the Fantasmic show and thought I would just check in Guest Services and leave my name.  Wouldn't you know they had my phone!!!  I cried when the lady brought it out.  I was so happy.  I told her I couldn't believe someone turned it in.  She replied "This is Disney, of course someone would turn it in."  She even said most people actually get their phones back.  Can you believe it?  There is some really wonderful person out there who picked up my phone and took the time to turn it in, you didn't have to but I am really glad you did! 

Julianna loses her first tooth...followed closely by her second!

So funny story.  Sunday August 9th I get a text and picture saying Julianna has lost her tooth.  My heart lurched.  I missed it.  I was so sad but happy she lost a tooth (I didn't even know was loose).  They couldn't find it so we decided she must have swallowed it.  Gross.  When I got home she was asleep so I didn't see it.  Since she wrote such a nice little note, the tooth fairy left her a gold coin.



"Oops Tooth Fairy I swallowed my tooth.  Please can you still give me money?  Love, Julianna"

 

 

The next morning she popped out of bed to show me her gap.  Imagine my surprise to see a tiny gap from her very loose tooth that was still in her mouth!  Oops!  False Alarm.  She did lose it later that night, after Brian got home. Mommy doesn't pull teeth.  So she officially lost her first tooth August 10th!

 



 
Then a couple days later she came home from school missing another tooth!  She said "I bit into something at lunch and I didn't want Daddy to pull it out so I just did it myself.".  And her top ones are loose too!  Don't know how she is going to eat!

First Day of School

I am pleased to report the first day of school was fantastic!  It was a very early morning but we managed to drag ourselves to the bus stop early to take pictures.  All of my worrying was for nothing.  Julianna hopped right on the bus and didn't even look back.  She was so excited she could hardly stand still!

Look how big our bus stop has gotten! 

 

And at 3:00 they were back!  With huge smiles on their faces.

 

 

A week later it was FINALLY Grace's turn to go to school. After being alone with Mommy for a week this girl was looking forward to seeing her friends!  Grace is in Mrs. Orgeron and Mrs. Kaye's class, they are the Top Dogs. And since she is 3 she gets to go through carpool and walk to her room all by herself.  Such a big girl!

 

 

I know these crazy kiddos are going to have the best year ever!