Driving Along Discussing Lottery Winnings

Me: Whoever said money can’t buy you happiness…

Chris: Is a moron.

Me: As long as you already have a happy foundation, money could certainly buy you more.

Avery: If you have love you don’t need money, right?

Adults (all thinking something different): Right, Avery.

Avery (to me): If I won $1000 I would give you half so you would love me more.

Me: I wouldn’t accept the money, and I couldn’t possibly love you any more.

Avery: Would you explode if you loved me any more?

Me: Yes!

Avery: Have you loved me from the first moment you saw me?

Me: From before that moment.

Avery (grabbing my arm and holding it across her like a seat belt, hugging it tightly): Good.

Delaney: I love Tom and Jerry.

 

We all had several ideas for what we would do with the money, had we won (which I didn’t, I haven’t checked with CLAD yet this morning to see if they won even a tiny prize).  Chris planned out a 5 million dollar mansion, complete with a “love nest” for me to live in.  I decided that I would travel first.  Or buy Chris the world’s largest bouncey place (long story).

I love car conversations, Avery didn’t let go of my arm for the rest of the drive.

“Having dinner with a bunch of Catholic School Girls”

That was my response to two different people when they asked me yesterday, what I was going to do that evening.  You know, every lesbian’s fantasy.  Dinner with a bunch of Catholic school girls!!

This would be that group of girls that I spent a lot of time refering to as “Lyz’s friends” and have since decided that they are my friends too.  And do you have any idea how much this group of friends means to me?  They probably don’t even have a clue.  I hardly ever say a word around them.  I’m getting better, last night I might have spoken in full sentances. (pats self on back)

A few weeks ago they actually attempted to kidnap me.  CLAD was out of town and they were all going out for drinks.  I was lounging in my pjs and reading when I heard a horn outside.  I complained in my head that people are crazy.  Then there was a pounding knock on the front door.  (If whoever that was is reading this, dude, you have a scary knock!!)  I threw on a sweatshirt and peeked out the bathroom window.  I recognized the van and went outside.  There in the mini-van were four of them, begging me to go out with them.  Honestly, in my head, I passed out.  Partly from being such a shy freak, but mostly because they are so awesome to go totally out of their way to try and get me to go out with them!  I had to decline though, for several reasons, but I did regret it.  After they left I thought about texting them at least 50 times to find out where they were to at least share one drink with them!

I hold each one of them a special place in my heart.  For the longest time, one of them (so not naming names) really intimidated me, not in a bad way, just in a “She is way too cool, she will never like me” kind of way.  After seeing her several more times, confessing to Lyz that this is how I feel, and having several different interactions with her, I find her as one of my favorites (no, I’m not really playing favorites, there isn’t a judging pedestal I have these girls on, just a way to describe her lol).

Some of them came over to CLAD 1/2’s last night for dinner.  I felt the most comfortable I ever have around them, like I said, I think I even spoke in full sentences and spoke in a volume slightly higher than my normal whisper.

Then, just now, I got a beautiful facebook message from another of these Catholic school girls.  It brought tears to my eyes.  To hear her speaking so highly of me, to know she is peeking in on my blog and thinks that I am a strong and positive person (aren’t I a good liar!) just filled my heart up with joy.

So, to any of you other Catholic school girls who may be peeking in on my, and to Joan, who I know for sure reads, HI!!!  I love you all tons.  Thank you for welcoming this former Mormon school girl into your circle.  You are all amazing women with wonderful children, amazing husbands, cool boyfriends, and scary alter egos (this means you, Debbie, and your slow Tommy).  Having you all in my life is such a blessing.

I would like…

• A manicure
• Several MegaMillions lottery tickets
• One of those several tickets to be the winner
• To be able to eat without wanting to puke
• Lyz to be able to eat without puking
• Good guacamole
• Mandatory naptime at work
• Gold Peak Tea to start selling their tea in tea bags
• For my boss to just say yes to sending me and a growing list of people (including his youngest child), to London
• To actually sit down and blog the last part of the Florida vacation, the part that includes Harry Potter
• A nap.  I thought about taking one yesterday, and actually laid down in bed, but got distracted by that stupid book.
• The pile of work I have waiting for me to just go do itself

 

Please feel free to add your wants!

The Following Post is Rated PG

I so wish you could see the smile on my face as I type this out. I have two pictures from our Florida trip that I want to share.

In case you didn’t catch it, let me point it out. The first picture…please note the 1/2 after CLAD.
The second picture…Lyz is holding a Thing 3 shirt.

LYZ IS PREGNANT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I’m going to be an auntie again!!!!!!

Lyz is a member of the miscarriage and infertility club. They were told they would never have children. Avery was a total surprise. They spent a ton of money trying to get Delaney, and had given up when she arrived. This child is no different. They have been trying to get pregnant, pretty much since the moment Delaney arrived. They had decided that when she turned three, they were done. In the middle of December, Lyz and I had a long discussion where she told me she was happy with two. That everything seemed to be working fine. Three must not have been meant to happen. She made an appointment to discuss getting her tubes tied with her doctor. The appointment was for January 2.

When I got home from work New Year’s Day, I noticed they were both acting a little strange, but I ignored it, figured they were just tired from our New Year’s Eve party. I went up to my room to get changed since we were going to Nanny’s for dinner. There was a knock on my bedroom door “Can you come to our room and talk to us?” I put my robe on and headed down the hall.

Chris was sitting in the rocking chair, Lyz on the bed. I got all nervous, like when your parents wanted to have a long discussion on your bad behavior. Chris made a silly comment, and Lyz handed me a positive pregnancy test.

I almost passed out!! My entire body was FILLED AND OVERFLOWING with GLEE!! Poor Chris and Lyz were in shock at this news, and here I was smiling broadly and bouncing (in a robe, so glad I didn’t flash them).

And these two wonderful people, who had just had a huge shock, do you know what they said? They made sure I knew that I was still wanted, needed even, in their home. They took the time to worry about me. They also asked me how I felt, knowing that pregnancy announcements don’t always feel good to bitter infertile people. Honestly, that had never crossed my mind, I was far too excited that I get to be an auntie again!!!

At the end of August, beginning of September, there will be three little people that I get to kiss goodnight. Three little people that I will look forward to seeing when I get home from work every evening. Three little people who will daily make my heart burst with how much I love them.

My heart is so full. This is so amazing!!

The First Date: A Review

Just a side note, it is strange writing this knowing darn well she is going to read it!!  I am going to be 100% honest though 🙂

In one word: Perfect.  A ten hour date where never once did I want it to end.  Never once was I sitting there wishing she would stop talking or stop doing whatever she was doing.  It was just perfect.

She picked me up 10 minutes early…I, of course, wasn’t ready.  Had she been on time, I actually would’ve been good to go.  We were still out the door by 11am though, so all is well.  We went out to lunch first at a hibachi place-her favorite.  We had the whole table to ourselves.  We talked and laughed and had a wonderful meal.  The whole time she kept trying to get me to drop hints on where we were going aterwards.  I am getting quite good at keeping secrets y’all!!  I didn’t let anything ruin the surprise.  I will tell you that I was nervous that she wouldn’t like where we were going.  So after lunch we got back in her car and I started giving her directions.  I also spent the drive fighting the urge to sing.  I have a terribly voice.  She was playing good music!!

We arrived at Star Glazers, a paint your own pottery place.  Crush is a good artist.  She has painted a beautiful mural of Winnie the Pooh on her nephew’s playroom wall.  We have talked a lot about art and her artisitic abilities.  I took a deep breath and pointed the building out.  She smiled all big!!!  She had never done it before!  We spent several hours there.  She painted something for her sister, nephew and mom.  Made me feel rather selfish as I sat there painting Easter eggs for myself lol.  I will post pictures of our works of art when we get them back from being fired.

Like I said, I only planned the two things, leavin the rest of the day up to if we both decided we wanted the date to continue.  As we were leaving Star Glazers, she asked where to next.  I know she likes fish, and right around the corner is this gigantic pet store, with a fish touch tank, so we went there!  She took a million pictures of all of the diffferent fish.  We petted the sting rays and a star fish and walked around looking at all of the repitles.  Again, totally fun.

When we couldn’t think quickly of something else to do, we started back to CLAD’s.  We sat in her car talking for a bit, she finally found a song that I could not resist singing along to, but was kind enough to turn the volume way up so that she couldn’t hear me :).  We were parked behind my car and she asked if I had replaced the bulbs that were out.  Um, no.  I haven’t.  She got right out of the car and did it.  How is that for totally sweet?

I took her into the house to wash her hands and we played with Avery for a little bit.  Delaney is still somewhat shy around Crush.  She talks about her all the time.  It is usually the same conversation:

Delaney: What’s your girl name?
Me: Crush.
Delaney: I love her.

Children are so giving with their love! Crush, Avery and I played a bit of “Find Jesus” (a Where’s Waldo type book) and Crush asked me where I wanted to go for dinner. I’m surprised the whole world didn’t hear my heart sing!!! We said goodbye to LAD and went down the road to dinner. We talked comfortably through dinner, and then headed back to CLAD’s. We sat in the car for another hour talking and learning more about each other. I was sad to get out of the car. I really do enjoy spending time with her, even if it is just sitting in a car talking about our lives. Or talking about nothing. Or nothing. I just like to be with her.

When she got home, we continued to talk via text. She told me it was her best date ever. She told me that she usually gets annoyed with her dates by three hours in, but never once in 10 hours did she ever get annoyed with me or wish the date was over. Glad to know we both agree on that!! She has promised a second real date, as soon as she figures how to top what I planned.

I laid in bed last night with the biggest grin on my face. This date just made my crush on Crush even bigger. Swoon.

Hi!

So, yes, I’ve been quiet.  I have had a lot to blog about, just not the patience to sit down and blog.  I’ve been sucked into different books, sucked into my total addiction with texting, sucked into my mind and the thoughts it likes to have, sucked into a car that stresses me out daily (as payback, Emma is now sporting bunny ears, teach her to cost me $$).

But I’m back now.  Because I have something to say, and I didn’t want to keep it a secret from all of you.  (Which is funny, because I’m sitting on a bigger secret, that at least two of you caught on facebook the other day…that post is coming soon, I promise!  And Kirsten and Karen, don’t bother going to look on Facebook, I deleted the post!)

REAALLLLLYYYY long story short…I’m going on a date tomorrow.  With who??????

CRUSH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We were originally going to do lunch and a movie, but decided to change it up a bit and…wait, I have a cute story to share:

When it was lunch and a movie, we were planning on going to a theater near her house.  She had texted me “What time should I pick you up?” I wrote back telling her I would meet her at her house, why should she drive the whole way here, just to go the whole way back??  “Because if I come pick you up we get to spend more time together.”  OH MAH GOODNESS.  That is the sweetest thing ever.

But now, we aren’t going to the movies.  When I was trying to decide what to do, I asked her how long I would have her for…all day if I wanted.  That may have stressed me out a bit.  All day is a lot of time to plan for.  So I decided I would plan lunch and an activity (can’t tell you what yet, I want to surprise her) and that if we decided that the date was going well, we could extend it and find other things to do.

If it is at all possible, I like her even more than before we had this date planned.  I’ve always known she is very sweet and kind, but it feels like she’s been sweeter and kinder since Thursday night when it was decided we would go on a date on Sunday.

Yay for a date with my Crush!!!!  (I don’t think Chris could stop rolling his eyes at me when I came bounding down the steps Thursday night to share with them)  I’m quite all excited!!

So, if the date goes well, which I am 99% certain it will, I will be back here on Monday morning to tell you all about it.  If the date doesn’t go well, I will share the other secret that I have been sitting on for the last wow, almost four months!!  Who says I’m not a good secret keeper!!!  (Either way, you’ll know the secret next week!!)

 

More of those Deep Thoughts

(Yes, I know I still owe you more Florida posts, and I have a very important post planned for after those too!!  But right now I want to talk about The Hunger Games…so WARNING SPOILERS AHEAD!!!)

Have you read them?  I want to say it was about a year ago that Lyz and I were introduced to them.  We were wrapped up instantly.  Lyz read them first, a rarity for us.  Usually I read first and pass it on to Lyz.  I remember Lyz watching me read.  Her eyes filled with anticipation and her asking me “Where are you at?”

At the end of book one, she asked the all important question.  Team Peeta or Team Gale?  I instantly responded with TEAM GALE!!!  She smiled.  I asked who she was for?  She said she was the same team, all the way until the end, and then switched sides.

I kept reading.  I bawled my eyes out when Peeta told Katniss always.  You think I would’ve switched teams right then, but I didn’t.  You think I would’ve cursed the ground Gale walked on after the parachutes.  But, I didn’t.

Asking everyone Team Peeta or Team Gale became my quest.  I made so many people read the books.  Short List: Danielle, JLynn, Fran, Melissa, Elissa, Crush, Crush’s mom, honestly, I could go on.  I demanded they all tell me which team at the end of each book.  I found Lyz and I in the minority.  Me even further.  The only person I know who agrees with me is Crush’s mom!  (I may have told Crush to tell her mom she is my hero)  People seemed to love Peeta.  And they stayed that way.   I got into several facebook fights with the girls I work with in the great Peeta vs. Gale debate.

When I told Crush to read the books, I realized that I really should switch teams.  I thought “Maybe I’m the one hung up on Team Gale because I was going through a horrible place when I read them.  I need to read them again, afterall, Peeta says ‘Always'”

So I did.  I tried very very hard to not let the gut Team Gale opinion overshadow my reading.

But the books ended.  I still loved Gale.

I know I’m “wrong” here.  Gale could be the person who killed Primrose.  Peeta says “Always”.  I should be on Team Peeta.  But I simply can’t do it.  I am too faithful.

Faithful.  I worked with Danielle this morning.  Since the movie is quickly approaching, we were of course discussing the great Peeta vs. Gale debate.  Faithful.  Peeta may have offered Always, but Gale with there first.  She should be faithful to him.

“Gale is mine.  I am his.  Anything else is unthinkable.”  Katniss Everdeen.

It is all about faithfullness to me.  And at the same time, I understand.  Sometimes things change.  People change.  Peeta did offer Always.  Gale never did.

While Danielle and I were chatting at work this morning, I started to panic a little.  If I am so hung up on Team Gale, does that mean I am still hung up on my ex-wife?

I thought a lot about it.  I know the answer with 100% certainty.  No.  I want nothing to do with her.  Do you know how freeing that is?

Moral of the story.  In the fictional world, I am Team Gale.  But in the real world, Team Peeta all the way, after all, he offered ALWAYS.

Disney’s Magic Kingdom

The big one.  The main one.  The one children dream of going to.  Where princesses walk the streets.  Where every corner you turn shows you more happiness, delight and sugar.  The happiest place on Earth.  (I heard several adults say “This is the happiest place on Earth, you are not allowed to cry here!” to children.  Some of those adults may have been in my party.  One of those adults may have been me.)

I went to Magic Kingdom in 2007 with Jenn, Jim, Elissa, Skyler, Austin and Annabelle.  We were there from open to close and hardly got to ride any rides because it was President’s day and the park was beyond packed.  The shortest line we waited in was 50 minutes, so we really didn’t get to do much.  And I was so sad because Annabelle and I had a thing for the Tiki Room song, but the Tiki Room attraction had just gone through a revamp and was not what we expected!!!

It truly is magical!  You begin to feel like anything is possible.  Especially on your third day in the park.  Yes, we did three days.  No, we were not bored of it.  We considered going back on the last day, but ended up at Animal Kingdom instead, since that is where our dinner reservations were for.  We were there three days and still did not do everything.  One thing we tried to do was the show that takes place on the steps of Cinderella’s castle.  We were all camped out and ready to watch, when there was a brief sprinkle.  The speakers announced that the show had been canceled (can’t have all the princesses dancing on wet steps y’all!) so we decided to call it a day.  I should point out that as we loaded up the stroller and scooter that morning someone grabbed the poncho bag and said “We don’t need these today right, it is supposed to be beautiful?” and most of us responded with “NO! It is going to be a beautiful day!”

So as we walked towards the exit gate the rain picked up a bit, we will call it a heavy sprinkle.  We waited for the ferry and laughed about the poncho snafu.  Got on the ferry and started to laugh a bit more as the rain really picked up.  This was real rain, no passing it off as a sprinkle.

Then it happened.  A full on monsoon.  Fierce winds, to the point that there were concerns that Delaney (still dressed as Princess Aurora) was going to fly right off of the boat!  As we neared the opposite bank, I looked up to see that we were really speeding.  REALLY SPEEDING.  Chris noticed too and said “We’re going in hard!”  It was quite freaky looking.  We did not hit as hard as it looked like we were going to, but there was definite bouncing and rocking when we hit!

Problem being…we still had to get to the car.  Visibility was almost zero because the rain was coming down so hard.  Chris wrapped Delaney up and carried her, Avery climbed as much as she could into the stroller, and we went from one cover to the next.  Although none of us really know why!  We were soaked.  Totally soaked straight to the skin.  Not one dry patch anywhere.  It was kinda gross.  And yet, we were still laughing.  The rain had all but stopped by the time we drove the 5 minutes back to our hotel!

What We Did:

• Walt Disney World Railroad-Train ride.  Self explanatory.  It was quite fun because you get to see a little bit of the new part of the park they are building…I can’t wait to go back and see it for real!
• Swiss Family Tree House-Avery had just watched this movie, so we had to do this attraction.  It is not a ride.  It is a walk-through.  Somewhere there is a great picture of what Lyz and I thought of this “ride”.  If I find it I will put it in the slide-show.
• Pirates of the Caribbean-WhooooooHoooooo!!  Or I guess I should say Arrrr.  I had wanted to go on this ride the first time I was at Magic Kingdom, but that day the parks were totally packed and the wait was almost two hours!!
• The Enchanted Tiki Room-It has been restored to its proper Tiki roomness.  It was delightful!  I even texted Elissa as the show started to tell her to tell Annabelle that I was in the Tiki Room!!
• Country Bear Jamboree-Um.  Speechless.  This could probably go.  It was cute…but there are probably so many other things that Disney could do with the majority of this section of the park.
• The Hall of Presidents-I loved this.  I was probably they only one.  Chris wasn’t there when we went.  Delaney and Lyz left for a bathroom break.  Avery thought that they were real people “Hey!  He looks a lot like our President Obama!”  But I loved it!
• The Haunted Mansion-This is one of my favorite rides in the world.  It is just so cute!  I rode with Joni and Delaney and Delaney was just the cutest!
• Cinderella’s Castle-This really isn’t an attraction other than to look at.  There is a restaurant and the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique inside, but we did spend a lot of time staring at it!
• Cinderella’s Golden Carousel-I love carousels.  They are my favorites.  I make a point to ride them all at every park I go to.
• Snow White’s Scary Adventures-A ride through the story of Snow White
• The Many Adventures of Winnie The Pooh-Almost as good as the ride itself is the fun stuff to do while you are waiting in line!  (We didn’t wait in too many lines because of Joni’s handicap pass, but Delaney and I did go and do the fun stuff after we rode the ride!)
• Mad Tea Party-Ahhh, the dreaded teacups.  I like rides, but usually frown upon things that spin while you are spinning.  Avery and Delaney did manage to talk me onto riding this with them.  I spent the entire time staring at the center of the wheel you spin yourself with, and it worked!!
• It’s a Small World-I love this ride too!  And I have to tell you that Chris played the role of knight in shining armor while we were waiting for our boat.  There was an elderly woman who was having an issue getting out of her boat and Chris went over and helped.  He is the sweetest!
• Peter Pan’s Flight-We rode this one twice, I believe.  I love the animatronics at Disney!  They really do a great job!
• Mickey’s PhilharMagic-This is where we spotted our very first hidden Mickey, and without any help from the cheater apps!!  The show is very good, great for when you need a break from being on your feet!
• Space Mountain-I rode this a million years ago in California, and my only memory of the ride from then, is believing I had lost my parents (long story).  So when we got on this time, I was kinda surprised!!  It is mostly in the dark.  Chris swore he would never ride it again because he constantly felt like he was going to get decapitated!!  I was surprised by how jerky it is!  Holy cow!!  There were several times I let out a yelp!
• Monsters Inc. Comedy Laugh Floor-AWESOME!!!  This is a show.  Now, be prepared before you walk in with an awesome joke to share.  When you are in the waiting room, they will give you a phone number to text your joke to, and then you have a chance of hearing your joke and your name during the show!
• People Mover-This is a ride through all of Tomorrowland.  I rode it with Delaney and Baam and found it enjoyable.  Be warned, if your child is afraid of the dark, there are a couple of dark parts!  Delaney put on a brave face and pretended not to be bothered, but the squeeze of her hand in mine told me different.
• Tomorrowland Speedway-I got to drive with Delaney.  She is not a good driver.  So, I drove.  I normally shy away from rides like this.  I don’t like driving in a real car, why would I drive a pretend one?  So while driving along the track and hitting the edges constantly, I started to wonder why I had done this to myself?  As we met up after the ride Chris was complaining that Avery spent the whole ride hitting the sides.  I wonder if he caught my blush?  Then Lyz said that she felt like a horrible driver because she kept hitting the sides!!  I felt much better after finding out that everyone else had the same issue as I had!
• Harmony Barber Shop-Avery, Delaney and Lyz got their hair cut and styled here one afternoon.  Are you thinking “Holy heck, that must have cost a pretty penny!”?  Well, it was ony $15 per girl and $19 for Lyz.  I considered getting mine done too!!  (The colorful stripes you will see in the pictures were $5 additional.  The pixie dust was included)
• Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique-AWESOME!!!  You get yourself a fairy godmother in training and they turn you into a princess!!  *Hint* Bring your own princess dress—quite the money saver.  But don’t go all the way down to the cheapest plan.  Pick the middle one.  It is only $5 more than the least expensive and will get your little princesses nails done PLUS they send you home with the nail polish.  You (well, not you, but your daughter) get to pick from one of three hairstyles and they do your hair and makeup.  IT WAS SO CUTE!!
• Jungle Cruise-This was a riot.  It isn’t real animals like the safari at Animal Kingdom, but it is totally awesome.  Avery got picked to steer our boat, and our guide was just awesome.  She was so beyond punny!!  (Yes, I meant P not F)
• Magic Carpets of Aladdin-I actually texted a few people as I climbed onto this one “I can show you the world” and was impressed by how many “correct” answers I got back!  Warning—the camels spit!!
• Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom-I am sad to say we only learned about this halfway through our last day at the park.  This is a lot like the Kim Possible thing that the adults thought was boring, but for some reason I found this totally awesome and wanted to do it.  So, if you are going for several days (It keeps getting built upon and is kinda Pokemon-ish in the way that you collect cards and spells and weapons!), get started early!!

Where We Ate:

• Pecos Bill Tall Tale Inn & Cafe-Ok.  We went here the night Chris had gone to Daytona.  I may say this one one of my favorite meals.  Lyz had sent me ahead to go see what the food looked like and I only looked for about 10 seconds before I came back out and said “That’s the place!”  We all ordered the same thing.  Taco Salad.  Why???  Because they give you the taco salad shell, with meat and nothing else.  Then you go over to this ginormous salad bar and fill it up with whatever else you want!  Oh my heck!!  Mine was full of lettuce, grilled onions, enough grilled mushrooms to decimate an entire Smurf community, cheese, jalapenos, sour cream, and so much more!!  It was awesome!  We may have even gone back for more onions and mushrooms and pickles halfway through our meal!
• Cinderella’s Royal Table-If you are doing the dining plan, this one will cost you two sit down dinners, but it is well worth it.  We went for lunch right after the girls had gone to the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique so the girls looked totally adorable as Snow White and Aurora for their pictures!!  We got to meet all of the princesses again and the princesses here were even more talkative than at other places.  Ariel called the girls angelfish and signed with a squid-ink pen, and that has stuck in my head ever since!  I waitress made us all address Chris as “My Lord” because she got a kick out of him being the only man among five women!!  The food was very good.  I could’ve eaten the grilled vegetables for the rest of my life and been happy.
• The Crystal Palace-This is pretty much the very first thing we did after arriving at Disney.  What do I remember most??  GIVE ME MORE ICED TEA!!!!  I was dying of thirst and they use Gold Peak tea in Disney, which happens to be my favorite brand!  I swear I drank at least 8 glasses while we were there.  The mashed potatoes rocked.  In fact, all of the food really rocked!!  We got to meet Pooh, Tigger, Eeyore and Piglet!!
• Casey’s Corner-We stopped for a quick lunch one day.  Hot Dogs and Corn Dogs and whatnot, very yummy!
• Main Street Bakery-While we didn’t buy any, I thought I should note that the sell huge Mickey Mouse head shaped rice crispie treats here.  And Disney does the rice crispie treat right…perfectly gooey.  Not dried out.  Also $15.00.
• Aloha Isla-THIS IS WHERE YOU SHOULD USE YOUR SNACK CREDITS.  Get yourself a “Dole Whip”.  I got a pineapple float.  Soft-serve vanilla ice cream in pineapple juice.  HOLY CROW DELICIOUS!!!!  Lyz and I walked across half the park to go get one the last day we were there.

Something else to note-The line to get your picture taken/autograph with Rapunzel is impossibly long.  Go there first one morning.  Or wait a few years until she isn’t the newest most popular princess on the block.

Pictures (taken by Chris unless you can see him!)

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Disney’s Epcot

This was the park that I was looking forward to the most!  I had been begging to go for years and years and years.  I wanted to go visit all of the countries and see all of the sights!!  I know that everyone usually thinks of Epcot as the lame/educational park, but that was what I wanted to see!!!  At the end of our first day at Epcot (we did two days of Epcot) Lyz turned to me and asked “Well, did you like it as much as you thought you would??”  I did.  It was exactly what I had expected!!  I loved the different architecture.  I loved the rides.  I loved it all.

The most unusual thing happened while we were there the second day.  My aunt Marcia posted on my facebook wall that my cousins were in Disney too.  So I texted one and asked where they were.  About an hour later (just as I sat down on the world’s longest boat ride) he texted me back saying they were in Epcot…where was I?  After a brief bit of confusion over which fountain they were at, I found them!

How totally awesome is that!?!  I haven’t seen them in years!  I was so excited!  I didn’t have much time to spend with them, as we had dinner reservations, and they had to fit all of Epcot into a few short hours, but still, it was awesome to just spend a few minutes with them.  Especially since my aunt, their mother, passed away in November.  It felt good to hug them and remind them that I love them and am here for them, even though I live far away. Love you S&S!!!

What We Did:

• Mission: Space-Um.  I tried to put on a brave face as we got on the ride.  I don’t do well with simulated motion, but I didn’t want to look like a chicken to Avery, so instead of choosing to be on the Green Team (a less wild mission) I followed her onto the Orange Team.  It wasn’t too bad.  I did walk behind Chris and Avery as we exited, so they wouldn’t see my green face or me holding onto the walls!!
• Test Track-This ride was interesting to me because the church I went to growing up is just across from one of Ford’s test tracks.  So seeing all of the pictures of the various GM test tracks held my interest.  The ride itself is pretty awesome!!  (It is billed as the longest fasted attraction in Disney history…that doesn’t seem right to me though lol)
• The Seas with Nemo & Friends- If you like Nemo, you will like this ride.  It was neat because you are in a “car” looking into different aquariums and Nemo and his friends swim through them.
• Turtle Talk With Crush-Hands down one of my top five attractions.  Crush stops by to chat with the audience.  Totally Cool Dude!!!  I may have been getting a little annoyed with Chris during the show because he was trying to figure out how it all worked!!
• Soarin-Again, a little bit of simulated motion, so I got a little dizzy, but it was completely bearable and I was fine the moment the ride was over.  You are hang gliding in California.  My favorite part was flying over the orange fields!
• Living with the Land-This was actually a very interesting ride.  There is a lot about organic farming and alternative farming.  Delaney, Baam and I rode it together (this is the really long boat ride I was on when my cousins texted me).  Delaney spent the entire time making me read to her what all of the different plants were!
• Maelstrom-This is a viking boat voyage in Norway.  Then you are forced to watch a five minute film.  Yes, forced.  But, as they exit you through the gift shop, please take some time to sniff the perfume they are trying to sell, it does smell pretty good.
• Reflections of China-I made everyone do this.  I could tell they were all thrilled.  I found it interesting.  Well, I found the waiting room more interesting than the actual 14 minute show.
• Germany-While there weren’t really any attractions in Germany, I feel that it deserves a mention here because of the beer.  Chris was a happy camper in Germany.
• Kim Possible’s World Showcase Adventure-There is a mission set up a lot like the stamps in Animal Kingdom.  You go get a little cell phone and then follow clues around in different countries.  We did two of the countries.  The adults may have gotten a little bored.
• KidCot-At each of the countries you can stop by and color a little on your Duffy the bear cutout and get your passport stamped (you can purchase a passport, or they will just stamp on Duffy’s handle).  The girls really enjoyed this!
• IllumiNations-This is Epcot’s big fireworks show at the end of the evening.  We were just leaving dinner one evening as it started so we stood on the balcony of the restaurant and enjoyed the show.

Where We Ate:

• Coral Reef Restaurant-Yummy.  Quite quite yummy.  This was a sit down and order off a menu place, so of course the majority of us ordered the most expensive item, which was a super delicious New York strip…drool.  Our waiter rocked.
• Sunshine Seasons-This is a quick service place and we had breakfast here one day.  Most of us had bagels and they were yummy!
• The Garden Grill-Family Style.  I would not choose to eat here again, it was probably my least favorite.  The food was good, please don’t get me wrong, but they were very skimpy with bringing it out.  The first plate they brought us barely fed two people and the other two adults had to wait quite a bit.  This is also character dining so we got to meet Mickey, Pluto, Chip and Dale!!
• Akerhouse Royal Banquet Hall-This is princess dining!!  The girls dressed up as Belle to meet Belle, Cinderella, Snow White, Aurora and Ariel!!  This is a buffet/family style and we went for breakfast.  Chris, Lyz and Joni learned that they do not like plain yogurt.  (I love it, personally).  There is a buffet for pastries and yogurt and fruit, then they bring platters of eggs, hash browns (that were to die for!) and sausages.  Food was very good, but really, it is hard to find bad breakfast food!!
• Teppan Edo-I think Lyz and I decided this was our favorite.  It was certainly mine!!  It is a Japanese Hibachi restaurant.  YUMMY!!! Tons of food.  Really good food.  And our chef was totally entertaining!!  He even turned the typical onion steam volcano into a Mickey shaped one!
• Snack Must Have-In Japan at the Kabuki Cafe–SHAVED ICE with Strawberry!!  OMG delicious.  I am a snow-cone freak.  This shaved ice will make me frown the next time I get a snow cone.  I had two of them.  One each day we were at Epcot.  It was so so so so so yummy and the girls making them were so sweet!!  So yes, use one of your snack credits here if you are doing free dining.
• Drink Must Have-Epcot has a huge variety of alcoholic beverages.  I only had one the entire trip, but if we had been closer to where we got it, when I finished it, I would have gone back for more.  It was in a little kiosk in France, close the lake.  It was a Grand Mariner Orange Slush.  HOLY COW.  It was the most delicious drink I had ever had.  *Warning-it was also quite strong*
• Beer-Chris said that Germany had the best beer selection.

Random Thoughts-

• I had to find the name of the drink I had in France.  While researching I came across an entire website dedicated to drinking your way around the world in Epcot.  I do kinda wish I had seen that before I went.  It would have been pricey, but it could have been a lot of fun.
• Princess Marie is the white kitty cat from the Aristocats.  Just in case you go with a group of people who believes you to be the Disney know-it-all and they all give you a very disappointed look when you let them know you have no idea who Princess Marie is.  (I do want it noted that I said “The only Marie I can think of is the cat from Aristocats, but I don’t remember her being a princess).
• At Epcot (and really, at all parks) you can get a time schedule for the day that will tell you what characters are appearing and when, this is very useful, but sometimes lies.  Be warned.
• Shopping-Joni got her big souvenir while we were in Japan.  They had one of those pick an oyster and get a pearl stands so she picked two and got herself a beautiful pair of pearl earrings!
• In England they had phone booths.  Me being the Harry Potter freak I am had to climb into one and see if dialing 62442 would get me into the Ministry of Magic.  It did not.  I was disappointed.

And…PiCtUrEs!!  (Taken by Chris, unless he is in them!)

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

OH MY GOODNESS

If you email me, when I reply the name on the email is Heidi Mingo.

Did you know there is a Heidi Mingo website!?!?!?!

Warning….it is NOT WORK SAFE.

I wondered why all of the sudden the top search engine term for this blog was “Heidi Mingo”

Holy Cow.