Tuesday, March 31, 2009

My Silly B

B was playing after dinner the other night and asked me to take a picture.  

That is her cookie jar on one foot and the mixing 
bowl from her miser on the other.



Monday, March 30, 2009

Park District Easter Egg Hunt

On Saturday. the coldest day in March, we went to the Easter Egg Hunt at out Park District.  This was a free event, so I may sound ungrateful when I say this was worse that a train wreck.  There was no hunt, eggs were just thrown in the middle of a spray pained circle.   In a big field, there were probably 4 of the circles, separating the children by age.  And not a big circle either, maybe 50 feet in diameter.  Parents and their kids were lined up on the edge of the circle, no space was open.  Mike and I stood back, but pushed B up to the circle's edge.  Then at 10, the Easter Bunny said go.  There was a mad rush by parents to get their kids an egg.  I should mention B was in the 2 and under, so some kids needed parents to help, but, kids weren't picking up the eggs, parents were.  And not just one or two eggs.  When I saw what was happening, I went to help B and saw a women back up and grab her kid another egg.  I mean, you could see there weren't a lot of eggs, and there were a lot of people, wouldn't you just grab two?  Now, I am sure I sound like sour grapes because B did not get one egg, but it was frustrating.  It should have been called an egg grab.  And, parents should have stood back if their kids could walk.  One of the helpers saw that B didn't get any eggs and gave her a couple.  

I was thinking maybe I need to volunteer for next year's event.  Just standing there freezing my buns off, I had better ideas for for the hunt.  First of all, have sign ups so you know how many to expect.  Second, charge a nominal fee and get more eggs.  Or spread out over 2 days or times. Notice I am not complaining about the quality of items that were in the eggs, who cares, it should just be a fun event.  Why wouldn't they have the event in one of the many of the town's parks?  That way, maybe they could actually hide the eggs.  Or if they had to have it at a park district building, why not have bigger circles and spread it our a bit?  There was more than enough room - they even could have put the little kids on one side of the building and the bigger kids on the other.  

It is a good concept, it just needs a lot more organizing.  They did have free coffee which I appreciated, but there was gum inside one of B's eggs, what kid 2 and under can chew gum?  OK, that is a bit petty.  

B waiting for the egg hunt to start.

All bundled up.

B was exhausted.  She came home and fell asleep.

Sunday, March 29, 2009

Rest of the Disney Trip

As the trip wore on, and B got more tired, I took less photos.  B was took naps every day except the day we arrived.  But, late night, early mornings and running everywhere took it's toll.  By the 5th day, she was exhausted.  In the first photo below, she was barley hanging on.  We were waiting to have sushi lunch.  

I want to mention the first ride we went on at Epcot that day.   The ride is Soarin' and it was great.  We did the ride swap, and Mike went on first.  We tried to hit this ride on our last trip to Disney, but the queue was sooo long and the fast passes were out.  Even at 9:30 in the morning the line was long.  We lucked out and got to go in the fast pass line.  Anyway, you sit on a seat that hangs, your feet swing beneath you.  It is like hang gliding, the seat is lifted up high and you are surround by an Imax screen.  With the chair tilting forward and side to side, with a breeze blowing and the  smell of oranges, you feel like you are flying through all the big sights in California.  It is definitely a must do ride.

DAY 5

B at Epcot

B at the koi pond in the Japanese Pavilion.


DAY 6

On the way to Hollywood Studios

Well, going to Hollywood Studios was a bust for us.  B wanted no part of a park.  All we managed to see was the Little Mermaid live on stage.  If you see this, do not sit in the first few rows, it rains on stage and you get wet.  (Really, it's not Disney if they don't spray water on you.)  B liked it enough, but after that, she didn't want to go on anything else.  She had a bit of a tantrum.   We ran over to Rock and Roller Coaster so I could get a ride in.  This is my favorite roller coaster.  It goes from 0 to 60 in seconds.  Inversions, twists and no big drops.  As we walked back to the hotel, B turned back into a nice kid - almost like magic.  We put our suits on and hit the pool.

Hanging out at the pool


With Mike in the water


On the way to dinner at Tokyo Dining at Epcot. I love this dress. 
I love the sandals.  She looked so cute.  She found the box of popcorn
in her stroller and snacked on the way to dinner.

DAY 7

Waiting to go home (With B's new Mickey).  All of us
are exhausted.  Next trip, more pool time.


Saturday, March 28, 2009

Disney Day 4



On our way to the Magic Kingdom.


We got into the park early because of our reservations to the Crystal Palace. It was cool to walk down Main Street USA when it was practically empty. I got a decent shop of....


Cinderella's Castle





We were late getting to breakfast, but were still seated quickly.  The breakfast was OK, not a very organized place.  But, this is where I ate the most incredible (since WigWam french toast) french toast ever!  So good, I ate two pieces.  Almost like a a cross between funnel cake and a donut that was rolled in cinnamon sugar and made into french toast.  Light and tasty, no syrup needed at all.  OK, now for the real reason we were there.....for B to see the characters.


Tigger, Mike and shy B.


B and Eyeore.

B and Pooh.

B looking through the back of the chair.




B on the carousel.


Goofy in a parade.

B and her new ears.


We got to ride with the monorail captain in the first car.
We rode the monorail from the Magic Kingdom the Epcot to get some lunch.
The ride was cool, B loved it!

Mike at Dinner.  We ate at Spoodles at the Boardwalk.  This used to be one of our 
favorite restaurants.  Now it is marginal.  The waiter was good though and 
so was the dessert.

B showing off her Lightning McQueen toy.  


Me and B at Dinner.


B running from the Boardwalk to Epcot.  She went up to everyone
we passed, said hello, then faked sneezed to get a reaction.  Cute, 
but then I am her mother.

Friday, March 27, 2009

Animal Kingdom and More Characters

We had a great breakfast at the Tusker House restaurant at Animal Kingdom.  Getting ADRs for a breakfast at a park allows you early access - no waiting in line to get in!  We got to the park around 8:15 and were allowed in through a special gate. It was nice to walk through Animal Kingdom with hardly anyone else.  I have to say, we were running late for breakfast, so we hurried past the animal habitats in the Oasis area.  If B had sen them, we would have been there for awhile.

When we got to Tusker House we checked in and had our photo taken.  Then a hostess showed us around the buffet then to our table. As I have said before, the breakfast at Tusker House is good, and our waitress was better than average. She started us with this fantastic juice, that even B liked.  We got our breakfast down just in time to see..

DAISY


DONALD

GOOFY
(One of my favorites) 

The Big Cheese himself
MICKEY

Since we had seen a lot the day before we walked around and soaked up the atmosphere.

Tree of Life.  This is the park icon.


Carvings of animals make up the trunk.


Huge owl form FLights of Wonder.  He weighs only
8 pounds and has incredible hearing.

B at Chef Mickey's, showing us her Monorail.



More Disney!

Here are some pictures from the trip.



DAY 1: We travel and hit Epcot.

B took this photo of me at the airport

Mike and B on the plane.  Notice, B still has on her PJ bottoms.

Mike and I woke up at 4 am to get to the airport. B at 4:30.  We were beat.  We lucked out that our room was ready when we got to the Beach Club.  Tried to get B down for a nap. No luck, so we headed out to walked around Epcot.  B liked looking in all the stores and had a good time watching the model trains next to Germany in the World Showcase.  We had dinner  - a clambake - at the Cape May Cafe at our hotel.  Not the best, but we wanted to stay close to the room and go to sleep early.  Which we did.  8:30.

DAY 2.

Our first morning on the way to breakfast at the 
Captain's Grille at the Yacht Club.  This is wear we ate breakfast most mornings. 
Doesn't B look like a smarty reading the paper?

A photo of me and B at Animal Kingdom.  We are waiting 
to see Tigger, Pooh, and Eyeore.

I was afraid B would be a afraid of the characters.  On the contrary, 
she rushed right up.  I will brag and say she also waited patiently.  I
attribute this to Montessori.

Eyeore was the cutest!

Tigger bounced up and down (just like a Tigger)
when it was B's turn for a picture.

B's first ride.  The Triceratops Spin.  She liked it until 
she had to put on the lap belt.  Then she freaked.  
Whimpered the whole ride.  Truth is, when it went up in the air,
 I freaked a bit too.  Just don't like heights.

B, with one of my favorites, Goofy.  She got a hug from Pluto too!

A gorilla from Animal Kingdom. 

Our airline, Air Tran,  was great.  It wasn't too expensive, and upgrading was pretty cheap too.  It was nice to have bigger seats, even if Mike sat across the aisle.  B was good on the plane.  I had new books and shows on the iPhone.  

I have to admit, I thought B would like the rides more than she did.  At Animal Kingdom (my favorite park where we spent 2 mornings) we rode the Triceratops Spin, the Safari, Mike rode Expedition Everest (I chickened out because it goes backward), saw Flights of Wonder (the best bird show) and saw Finding Nemo: Live on Stage.  Finding Nemo was fantastic.  Before when we've gone to Disney, we haven't seen a lot of shows.  We still didn't see all the shows I wanted to see, but oh well.  Mike and I adopted the attitude this trip is for B.  She has never been anywhere like Disney.   I also thought we would see more things.  Oh well.  

After our first day at Animal Kingdom we hit the pool in the afternoon and had dinner at Boma, a restaurant at the Animal Kingdom Lodge.  Boma is a buffet, definitely not my favorite way to eat, but it has so many different foods, and good desserts and press pot coffee.  (My advice if you order it: ask the waiter to wait and press the pot at your table.  Our waitress must have pressed it right away, because it was weak.  I pulled the filter back up and let it sit before I pushed the plunger back down.) After dinner we headed to Epcot, to ride Nemo again and see the fire works.   

More in the next post.  




Thursday, March 26, 2009

Back From Disney

My family and I had a (mostly) fun time at Walt Disney World this past week.  This was B's first trip to Disney and she did pretty well.  By the 6th day though, she was done with the parks and just wanted to hang at the pool.  B's favorite ride was Finding Nemo at Epcot.  We road Nemo every night.  I should say, we stayed at the Beach Club, so Epcot was just a short walk away.  We ate dinner, then went over to Nemo where there wasn't a line.  The Seas pavilion was wonderful.  There were all kinds of fish, different tanks, manatees, dolphins, Turtle Talk with Crush, a really cool place.  We also had dinner at the Seas (yes, we spent lots of time there) at The Coral Reef.  This restaurant has a huge aquarium as it's focal point.  Tables are in tiered rows, like a Vegas nightclub.  We lucked out big and were seated right up against the glass.  There was a giant sting ray that sat right next to us the whole time.  There were 3 sharks, a sea turtle, these giant, prehistoric looking groupers, lots of other fish  AND the meal was the best we had while at Disney.  B loves fish, so spending time at The Seas made her happy.  

Other Things B liked:

Character Meals: Tusker House Breakfast (Animal Kingdom).  This was the best character meal we had.  Donald, Daisy, Goofy and Mickey.  The food was good, coffee was OK and they had this great juice (I think it was Guava, passion fruit and OJ).

Crystal Palace (Magic Kingdom).  Pooh and friends.  Wasn't as organized as the other meals.  But, there was this FAB french toast.  Can't describe it, kind of like donut french toast.  So good.

Chef Mickey's (Contemporary).  We took the monorail to this hotel.  It is cool because the monorail runs right through the middle of the Contemporary.   Food was OK, but the characters were good.  Mickey, Donald, Minnie and Goofy (Pluto was there, but we missed him.) 

We were supposed to have breakfast at the The Cape May at our hotel, but I made the ADR (advanced reservations) for 7:30.  A bit too early, besides, Mike was sick if characters and buffets.  

I will post other things B liked, plus photos in the next post.  I have more restaurant comments too.  Food is important to me and it was the thing we liked least on our trip.

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

B and Me Photo #2

Not the best, but a decent effort.



Saturday, March 14, 2009

Photo of me and B

I saw a blog entry on my dashboard called  "A Mother's Project 365".   Elissa Lerma wrote that she had no photos of her and her daughter together, so she is making her project to take a picture of the two of them every day.  I think this is a fabulous idea!  There is maybe 4 pictures of B and me out of the 1000 I have on IPhoto.  I vowed to try this.  I wasn't sure I would remember to do this everyday, but once or twice a week would work.  This is from Wednesday.




I actually forgot about taking the photos of B and I together, until I uploaded pictures from the camera this morning.  I should have taken on yesterday when B and I were all dressed up to go to my Mother's.  

I Made These!

Etsy is a huge website filled with "stores" that sell homemade and vintage items.  I was looking for clothes for B when I came across the Leila and Ben shop.

I looked at the patterns and decided, I could at least try.  I bought the dress and skirt patterns first, then the jacket.  The dress was really easy to do.  The instruction are crystal clear, and include photos.  




The jacket was the hardest, I have since added snaps to the front.


I should have spread the jacket construction over a week.  I wanted to get it done and I made a couple of mistakes.  Still, it has top stitching and everything.  Even a lining! 




The skirt is two pieces of fabric and elastic.