Day 3 Take Two - Chef Mickey & More

This was a big planned evening for us. I had managed to order an egg-free birthday cake for the kid’s at Chef Mickey’s. Now, I know that their birthday isn’t for another 1.5 weeks, but we wanted to celebrate it while we were down here. And, in the spirit that Disney can do nearly anything, they were able to make Tanner & Morgan an egg-free cake.

So, off on the monorail to Chef Mickey’s. The kids loved the monorail and it was a very convenient form of transportation. The characters were in full force. This was much to Morgan’s great delight. And, Tanner would squeal everytime a character came near, jumping in his seat, shouting their name, but when they got close….



“Tanner, do you want to meet (insert character’s name here)?”

“NO!”

Morgan LOVED meeting the characters.









And, of course, the highlight was when the birthday cake came our. They play a birthday song about every 30 minutes. Our waiter delivered it to the table:



And, then the characters come around to wish the kid’s happy birthday. In this photo, Tanner did not know Goofy was behind him.



When he found out, he hightailed it to the other side…you can see the empty seat in this picture:



He wanted nothing to do with it when Mickey came over to help blow out the candles. Thank goodness Morgan loved the help.




After dinner, we headed back on the monorail to the Magic Kingdom. We had considered skipping it, but we had promised Morgan the night before that she could ride on a carousel “tomorrow”. Of course, she had not forgotten.



This was Morgan’s first sighting of the castle…



We walked down main street towards the castle (we’ll do some shopping over the next few days), and made our way to the carousel. We actually walked right onto the carousel with no waiting.

While on the carousel, Morgan spotted the Dumbo ride and said “I want to ride that!”. Now, Dumbo is known for little kids loving it, and incredibly long wait times. When we got the line, there was a lady there, so I asked her how long the line was.

She said “Well, as chance would have it, I need a co-pilot for Dumbo, would one of your kids be willing?” This lady was part of the “Year of a Million Dreams” – and the “dream” she granted was a co-pilot for Dumbo’s ride – front of the line, no waiting, with a pilot’s license to prove it.



While it wasn’t a night in Cinderella’s castle, I was excited, and Randy was pretty amazed when he figured out what was going on.

Then, we rode the Winnie the Pooh ride. It was deemed to be very kid friendly, it still scared Morgan.

And, then, Randy & I decided that we would try to stay for the parade. We actually got excellent seating, and then waited the hour for the parade to start. Amazingly the kids were pretty good for the entire hour, and I think they (and we) were rewarded. They were very intent on the parade:





It really is a gorgeous parade with the nights on all of the characters and floats. We considered sticking around for the fireworks, but it started to rain just as the parade ended, and we really weren’t prepared for that. So, we took our four weary selves back to the hotel.

It’s nearly 8 a..m., and the kids are still out. So, it will be a late start today. We’re headed back to the Magic Kingdom for lunch with Pooh & friends (any wagers on whether or not Tanner will warm up to these guys?).


In other news…we’re starting to get really worried about Tanner. He has been doing wonderful with potty training down here. He’s had no accidents, even when we haven’t been able to get to the potty for 20 minutes after he’s asked (bus ride). However, he hasn’t pooped since we left Kansas (Sunday night). He’s tooting, so I’m more worried about whether or not I’ll have to change him when he does finally explode.

Disney Day 3 - Animal Kingdom Revisited

I think Vacation Mode finally kicked in today. Instead of setting the alarm and hustling out of the room, we let the kids sleep in (until 7:30 ET). They slept much better last night, and were well rested this morning.

Today, we conquered a few things in



I really only had two things I wanted to do while I was there – the Kilamajaro Safari & the Nemo musical. We headed to the Safari first, and even though we were in a mob of people, we basically walked right on the ride. We were in the front row of the “bus” and Tanner & Morgan enjoyed it. But, they always love all of the animals.

We spent some time hanging out in the “Africa” portion of the Animal Kingdom, which included some lively music demonstration.



Tanner is our music lover, and I think he really enjoyed this.

We then ate lunch at the Tusker House in Animal Kingdom. I have to say, for anyone heading out to Disney soon & on the dining plan, this was one of the best meals that we had as a “counter service” the entire time we’ve been here. We purchased the kids Mac & Cheese, Randy had Salmon, and I had a ½ Roasted Chicken. What I had of the chicken was good – Morgan polished off more of it than I did, and Tanner had a crack at it, too. The vegetables were great (fresh green beans and carrots). We felt this was one of the best bang for our bucks.

Then we headed out to the Nemo Musical. As we headed in that direction, we noticed that Pooh, Eeyore, and Tigger were available for meet-n-greet, so we decided to stop by and say hello. Based on the kids normal personalities, we were expecting Morgan to be very shy during this whole thing. Boy, did we get it wrong.

Morgan LOVED the characters this time…



Tanner did not.



After that, we headed to the Nemo musical. To find that we’d missed the showing by about 20 minutes. The next showing wasn’t until 1 p.m., and with our scheduled outing tonight, we didn’t think that would work (of all of the “rules” we have here, naps are the most set in stone).

So, I took a deep breath and reminded myself that we can’t do it all while we are here and still have an enjoyable time. So, we skipped the Nemo musical and hit a few of the shops on our way out of the Animal Kingdom.


Now, I’m going to take a few minutes to comment on why people return over & over & over again to Disney. We have had exceptional service & accommodation so far during our stay. We have never encountered a place that did not take Tanner’s egg allergy seriously – or without concern for what he could eat (and to make sure that he did have something to eat). We’ve worked with the head chef at every sit-down meal that we have had. This has just been a huge burden lifted from our shoulders.

It’s also the people that help you every single day. Yesterday, I decided to change our Friday night reservations. Instead of Downtown Disney for Wolfgang Puck’s, we decided to stay closer to one of the parks. The lady who helped us was so patient checking the different restaurants until she found us reservations at Liberty Tree Tavern. The lady in the store today talked to Morgan – one on one. Yesterday at Downtown Disney, the checker let Tanner help scan our purchases.



The maid made a “crown” to put all of our toothbrushes in. It’s really been top-notch exceptional service. The wait staff has been knowledgeable, helpful, and friendly. I haven’t had a single even slightly negative encounter yet. It is truly amazing to me.

Oh, and the view doesn’t hurt either…(this was taken on our walk to our hotel room from the lobby).



And, lastly, gratuitous picture of my favorite little boy enjoying his “Mickey” ice cream sandwich:

Disney Day Two - We've Got Ears!

It was a late afternoon start. We didn’t heat down to the bus to our next destination until almost four o’clock. We still would have gotten to our destination quickly if it weren’t for the world’s most careful bus driver…if careful means driving 15 – 20 mph LOWER than the posted limit, and only driving on side streets so as to avoid mutli-lane traffic. Our trip to downtown Disney which only took 13 minutes to get home, took about 30 minutes this afternoon.

We decided to mix our trip up a bit. We decided to hit Downtown Disney tonight instead of waiting until the last night. I think this turned out to be a great plan. We found a lot of things in Downtown Disney, but amazingly, no t-shirts we liked for the kids. So, now we can still shop for those without feeling like we have no time to get something else.

When we first entered the park, we found the Pooh store, and beside it was a quiet bench. Tanner & Morgan were more than happy to take pictures with these characters.





Then, we hit the Lego store and Wide World of Disney store. I don’t know what I was expecting, but something different. So, we got a few things, but not as much as I had planned (my wallet and my husband are grateful). We did let the kids pick out “something” – I think they were overwhelmed with their choices, so it was kind of funny when Tanner settled on his ears. What one has, the other usually wants.





We’ve got ears, say cheers! (Any mom of toddlers who watches the Mickey Mouse Club will appreciate that…)

By the time we ate supper (Earl of Sandwich – very yummy sandwiches), rode the bus back home, gave baths, and got the kids to actually fall asleep, it was nearly 10 p.m. My guess is we’ll get a late start tomorrow.

On tomorrow’s agenda, a final tour of Animal Kingdom. Supper at Chef Mickey’s. This is our “big” affair. We’ve arranged to have an early birthday there for Tanner & Morgan. I was just so pleased when they were able to make an egg-free birthday cake for the kids. Afterwards, we’ll probably ride the monorail around the resort and possibly see the evening parade & nighttime fireworks at Magic Kingdom. It all depends on naps and level of grumpiness.

Disney Day Two, Take One

You know the day is starting out right when your almost-three year old jolts you out of bed at 5:50 a.m….

Thankfully, it did actually get better when we peaked out the window and saw these guys peaking back….



So, we gathered up the herd. Tanner really would have preferred to sleep awhile longer, but Morgan was excited to FINALLY! SEE! THE! PRINCESSES! So, off we went to Epcot:



Since we got there early (8 a.m.), we used the opportunity to ride the Spaceship Earth ride. It scared Morgan to death (you’ll notice a reoccurring theme here). After that, we decided to check out the all new Nemo ride. Unfortunately, we got there a bit early & had to wait awhile. Which, in mommy’s world, means photo opp.



It was a fairly short ride, and cute. It scared Morgan. I would have said it was hardly worth the wait…until I saw the animation in the water. I’m not sure how they did it, but they actually make an animated, 3D Nemo “swim” with the real fishes. That was incredible.

On the exit of the Nemo ride, we encountered a bunch of aquarium displays. Morgan & Tanner loved watching the dolphins swim in the tank, and then we let them count Nemo.



Now, for those of you who know Randy & his background, you’ll understand how much he enjoyed finding the following item:



Yup, that is a Walt Disney World survey marker. We spotted a few different ones around the park, and to say the least, Randy was very tickled by this.

We then did a ride through The Land, which talks about how plants have been grown in the past, and what Disney is doing to grow things in the future. I remembered this ride from long ago, and it was still really enjoyable. And, yes, even this ride scared Morgan (pretty much any dark ride is going to scare her). We were tickled by the 9 pound lemons (they can each produce a gallon of lemonade!) and the Mickey Mouse shaped pumpkins.

Finally, off to see the Princesses. We had originally booked the Princess lunch for Morgan – boy, did we underestimate Tanner. He totally & completely fell in love with the Princesses. Where yesterday, they wouldn’t go near the cast of characters, today, they did not hesitate to see the princesses.

We got to start by greeting Sleeping Beauty (thankfully my kids know which princess is which)…



Tanner literally ran up to her to give her a hug and about knocked Morgan out of the way. We should have read this as an early indicator of what was to come.

And then, the other princesses came out:

Ariel



Belle



Jasmine (probably Tanner’s favorite)





and finally, Cinderella…



Each princess stopped at our table and took time to ask the kid’s name & age (and usually if they were twins). The kids ate it up. That smile that Morgan has on with Jasmine above – she had that on almost the entire time that the Princesses were near.

When lunch was finished, we went to leave and had to literally carry Tanner screaming & kicking out of the restaurant. He kept pointing at the door where all the Princesses had entered from – he really wanted to see them again.

We then left Epcot & headed back to the Animal Kingdom. Thankfully, it’s a short bus ride. This time, there were only three families on the bus and we learned that Disney is 40+ square miles and employs over 57,000 people (that doesn’t count some of the food vendors or bus drivers which are subcontractors). Truly amazing when you think about it.

And that, that was all done before 1 p.m. The kids and Randy are napping now. Take Two coming soon.

Disney - Day One

Traveling with two (almost) three year olds can be taxing. But, the good news is that all of us and all of our luggage made it to the hotel. What more can you ask for?

Tanner absolutely LOVED the airplane flight. Morgan was a tad bit more anxious, and held onto Mommy's hand during the landing. She doesn't like it when the plane "squishes" her into the seat. We tried to convince the kids to take a nap on the plane, but that wasn't happening.

During the bus ride from the airport to the Magical Kingdom, they did decide to nap - even though they probably only got about 20 minute nap in.



We're staying at the Animal Kingdom Lodge this week - and it's truly gorgeous. We booked a "standard" view room, which means that we would overlook the parking lot. However, we agreed to overlook construction of the new Disney Vacation Club villas... Sounds bad? Not if you consider that it is still a Savannah view room. So, even though we do see a new building be constructed, we've spotted an impala, some kind of oxen, ostrich, and a giraffe from our room already. It was a good way to start the trip out. The rooms are a bit small, but we probably won't be spending much time here anyways.

We ate a quick lunch of fried shrimp (for Randy) and pizza for the kids & I. Since Tanner & Morgan are under 3, we did not have to buy a meal plan for them. So, they eat off of our plates. And, for desert, these marvelous little things called Zebra Domes. Oh my goodness - so good with some kind of liquor in them. I think I've found my dessert of choice.

Then we hit the Animal Kingdom. We got there at the tail end of the parade - so we had to fight the masses of people that were leaving the park. The good news is that the park was probably much less crowded than what it was earlier in the day.

We also hit the Lion King Stage Show right as it was getting to start. We got great seats - second row. We hadn't heard much about this show, but it was really incredible. About 1/2 way through, Tanner turned to me and said "do it again!". He loved the singing & dancing that was performed.

The show starts with four people coming out and introducing the show...they were quite funny.



And then these large garage doors open on 2 sides of the show, and they roll out these huge stages. It was incredible. Four of them were safari animals that sat between the four sections of people. Then they also rolled out a stage that was in the middle of the arena. When it came out, it was a trampoline and the "monkeys" preformed amazing acrobatics.

Then, there was a bird who came out and "flew" threw the air. It was beautiful and Morgan was really in awe of that one.

Finally, they performed The Lion Sleeps Tonight...which you'll remember is one of Tanner's favorite songs. In the middle of the song, one of the monkeys stopped by & posed for a picture. It was tough to get a clear picture with the stage lighting.



We then went to see Mickey Mouse. This would have been a great photo opportunity, except the kids freaked out on us and wouldn't go anywhere near him. The Disneyphotopass people got a picture of all of us with him - we'll have to settle for that. We headed back to leave, and ended up seeing Mickey, Minnie, Donald, & Goofy on our way out. Tanner specifically asked to see each one of them, but wouldn't go close to them after we got to the front of the line. He did blow them each a kiss. Hopefully they'll warm up before it's too late!

Finally, we came back to find our luggage had been delivered. We then headed down to dinner at the Boma restaraunt which is an all-you-can eat buffet (worked well for sharing meals with the kids). We learned that Tanner & Morgan loved Prime Rib. They also got to enjoy a special Soy Cream ice cream since all of the desserts have egg in them.

We've only been to two restaraunts here in the hotel so far, but have been impressed with both. This afternoon, they offered to make us Chicken Strips without egg... and tonight the head chef showed me around to point out "safe" foods. He checked in with us 3 times, and personally delivered the special ice cream topped with whipped cream and cherries. If our other dining experiences go this well, it will be a huge relief for us!

The kids (and Randy) are all sacked out now. We're hoping for an early start at Epcot tomorrow. There aren't a lot of things for little kids to see in Epcot, but we have a lunch with Princesses scheduled. Then in the afternoon, our friends Lisa, Joey, Aiden, and Mason will swing by - or we'll head out to another park (maybe MGM?).

Packed & Ready

We are packed & ready for the land of the Mouse...or at least as much as we ever could be. Thankfully, I'm one of those people who like to prepare early, so this weekend wasn't nearly as stressful as it could have been. And, even with all of that, I feel like we're just finishing stuff under the wire. Thankfully, though, we won't be packing at 1 a.m.

We spent this weekend doing some fun things on top of the packing & shopping that had to be done. We managed to enjoy the finally spring-like weather...including a first outing on our tricycles and some good ol' fashioned sliding.





Now, other important aspects of getting ready for the trip including reading through our planning books:



And, discussing what we wanted to see in the Magic Kingdom:



We even managed to try on the sunglasses that Grandma Red & Aunt Sherry picked up for us over a year ago in Disneyland.





Of course, Mommy & Daddy had the hardest work of all - packing up all of our stuff (isn't it amazing how much STUFF we need for 6 days).



We're really excited about the Magical Express Option from Disney. This means that all of our luggage will go from check-in at the KCI airport directly to our hotel room. How excellent is that? And, we should come home with less than what we went with - there are diapers & egg-free snacks packed in there.

It's still yet to be determined if everything will fit in the car - this is the car without us and the carry-on bags (Tanner & Morgan's backpacks, diaper bag, and one roll-on with medicines and such).



The kids are in bed, we're finishing last minute cleaning & packing - and all seems on target for launch tomorrow morning.

Wish us luck...

We've been duped

Background:

Our house, and I'm pretty sure any house with two nearly three year olds, is all about routines. One of our routines nearly every morning is putting Prayer Bear into one of our chairs, and then tucking him in for the day. Each day, we remind Morgan that Prayer Bear (#2) will be there for her nap.

We've been so secretly pleased with ourselves that we've pulled off this gig - letting the girl think that her one magical Prayer Bear could teleport itself from home to school...almost magically.

Tonight when the kids got home from work, Randy told Morgan to go get Prayer Bear.

Conversation:

Morgan: "I missed you, Prayer Bear!"

Daddy: "Morgan, didn't you just see Prayer Bear at nap time at school?"

Morgan: "No, Daddy, that was my other Prayer Bear."


At this point, I looked at Randy. "Did you just hear what she said?"


Daddy: "Morgan, how many Prayer Bears do you have?"

Morgan: "I have two Prayer Bears, Daddy."


I'm telling you, This One, THIS ONE is going to give us problems.

Bunny's Elves

Overheard yesterday:

The Easter Bunny had to go home because he ran out of eggs. He has to make some new ones, right, daddy?

Happy Easter

Happy Easter - well, at least I think it's Easter. It feels a bit like Christmas right now - it was 22 F when we left for church this morning. I'm not sure, but I think Christmas morning was warmer than that.

The day did not start good. With the recent dip in temperatures, Tanner & Morgan have both picked up a runny nose / cough combination. It's infurtiating, especially given the fact that we are headed to Disney in 8 days (not that I'm counting). The last thing I want is to schlep two sick kids through Disney World. My biggest fear is Morgan - one of these coughs on her can last anywhere from 2 - 3 weeks.

On top of that, Tanner appears to be really tired & irritable - and doesn't have his listening ears on. By the time we got home from church, Tanner had lost his Easter basket and had to earn it back. He didn't take that very well.



Especially since Morgan was already enjoying her Easter basket:





He finally "earned" back the Easter basket by posing for Easter pictures with his sister. As you can see, he wasn't the most excited, but at least I was able to get a few smiles out of him. I'm not sure which of these two pictures I like better:





He was then finally able to dig into his Easter basket.







The Easter Bunny is one smart cookie, he she brought the kids stuff that will help on the upcoming Disney trip. Including a Mr. Potato Head (in Downtown Disney, they have an area where you can buy special Potato Head parts...in bulk...I have to admit, this is probably one of the things that excites me most, and will definitely be one of our purchases), Carz & Princess Sunglasses, and Disney wash mitts. Morgan especially liked her sunglasses...



Happy Easter!

This One is Going to Cause Us Problems

Since the kids were little, we have labeled them with different names. For a long time, we have referred to Morgan as "this one". Why? Because, this one, this one is going to cause us problems.

Last night, Morgan tured to me and said:

Mommy, just chill out.

So Proud

Yesterday morning when Tanner got out of bed, he wanted to climb into bed with Morgan and wake her up. They lay in bed, lounging on Morgan's bed, and Tanner turned to me and said "I love my sister."

This is what I envisioned having twins as being like.