Disney 2012 - Day 2

Meet Meal Plan Man.

Meal Plan Man is a man with a plan.  A Disney meal plan, to be exact.  And Meal Plan Man likes to stick to his plan.  And man, I don't think I've ever eaten so much food in my entire life. :-)

Today we hit the Magic Kingdom.  Hard.  I. Love. That. Place.  I could seriously live there, and am thinking about relocating my family to Orlando just so that I can work there and see Cinderella's castle every day.  Not really, but kind of.  I love it that much.

And to see how excited my kids were was icing on the cake.  They were simply in awe.

We rode just about every ride, except Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, which closed literally today.  Grace was crushed as she was 1/4 inch too short to ride it last year and has been talking about this roller coaster for one solid year.   I'm not even close to kidding about that.  I feel sorry for the girl whose job it was to redirect traffic away from the ride.  Not really.  I may have given her a little piece of my mind to which she smiled and replied, "Have a magical day."  I could have slapped her.

In spite of that, we managed to pull it together and still have the time of our lives.  I'm not even close to kidding about that, either.

Bonnie loved seeing the "giant crunchers" as soon as we walked into the park...

These girls...

...insisted on riding this ride....

...neither of them cared for it.  Surprise, surprise. :-)

The teacups were more their speed.  And Small World (Bonnie LOVED Small World!).

We met Rapunzel...

...the rare-to-be-seen Fairy Godmother...

...and we even met Winnie the Pooh, Tigger, Piglet, and Eeyore at our impromptu character dinner at the Crystal Palace thanks to the ever-savvy Meal Plan Man!

The meal plan also includes dessert with every single meal.  The girls didn't seem to mind that too much.

When we weren't riding rides, meeting characters, or stuffing our faces, we were watching every show at the castle and every parade that went by.

We had an awesome time.  And I am so glad I get to see this for 2 more whole days...

Disney 2012 - Day 1

While it wasn't quite the deal we got last year at the Contemporary, it was still a pretty good deal.  The sheer convenience of staying on property when you have 2 small children is worth its weight in gold.

The Polynesian was awesome.  Not only was it a mere 2 stops away from the Magic Kingdom by Monorail, it had the most incredible water slide at one of its 2 heated outdoor pools.

They also do cute little things like this to their towels there...

Piglet or Pluto? We weren't sure, either!

Marathon Day 2012 started out a lot like Marathon Day 2011, except this year Corey had a running buddy!

While the boys ran with all the other crazy people who run for fun, the girls spent a leisurely morning at the hotel.  We ordered room service and then did a little shopping.  Grace and Bonnie scored a lot of loot from Nana.  Namely, jewelry.

When we got the call that 20 miles was enough, we made it to the elevator just in time to greet the runners. Way to go, guys!!!!  I don't even like to drive 20 miles, let alone run it!

Corey and Grandad spent the rest of the afternoon playing at the pool with Grace (who by the way went down that giant waterslide ALL BY HERSELF and I didn't get a single picture!) while Bonnie napped and Nana and I chatted on the balcony.

Then we took off for Downtown Disney and dinner at the Rainforest Cafe.  Love that place!

Disney World, here we come!

We were all up and at 'em before the sun rose ready for the long drive to Orlando.

Once we finally got there, the boys headed out to pick up their race numbers while Nana gave the girls mani/pedis.

Did I mention that Corey entered himself in the 2012 marathon?  Did I also mention that his dad did, too?

Arts and Crafts. Lots of them.

I've officially spent $100 in co-pays since January 1st:  2 visits for Bonnie, 1 visit for Grace, and 1 visit for me.

I am grateful to have great doctors nearby that will take good care of us when we're sick.  Corey about half shares my sentiment.  He would love a frequent visitor discount card, however.

We did a LOT of arts and crafts today.  In fact, we've done a lot of arts and crafts this week.  And this week I've learned that I absolutely love doing art projects with my girls.  Or as Bonnie calls them, "wittle wittle art pwojecth."

Happy New Year 2012

New Year's Eve was a blast.

We went to John and Stephanie's lake house, aka, John's parents' lake house and had a fabulous time.

"Uncle John John" and Miss Stephanie treated the girls like little princesses, which was great practice for them as they will be welcoming their own little princess in May!

They rode scooters with the girls, took them fishing on the dock and even set up a fireworks show after dinner.  Grace loved the show.  Bonnie, not so much.

After the girls went to bed, the grown-ups spent a pretty chill evening grilling steaks, watching Get Him to the Greek (a hilarious movie with Russell Brand), and waiting for the New Year ball to drop.

It was a great getaway and a super fun way to spend New Year's.  And we weren't even hungover the next day.  Much.

Check out Grace's great catch!

If only New Year's Day could have been as fun as the night before.

We woke up fairly early to find that Bonnie looked as though someone had slapped her upside the head. Specifically, on both of her cheeks.  I don't know why, but the possibility that she might have Fifth Disease popped into my head.  At the time, I had barely even heard of the illness nor had I ever been close to anyone who has ever had it.

As it turns out, Fifth is a pretty common virus that most people have had at some point.  That didn't stop us, however, from keeping us as far away from a pregnant Stephanie as humanly possible until we were able to get everything and everyone packed up to leave.

Suffice it to say, we headed straight to Children's where my own diagnosis was confirmed.  By then, the rash was covering Bonnie's arms, legs, and torso.  Oh, and Grace has sinusitis, too.

Can I just say really quickly how much I hate it when my babies are sick?  Especially with viruses that you can't treat with an antibiotic.

Poor, sweet girls.

Here's to hoping they're feeling better by the time we leave for Disney World!