After a fun afternoon in the sun, we took a much needed nap and then geared up for a very big surprise. Ella got dressed and wore her Minnie Mouse ears, but had no idea why she was wearing them. We headed over to Disney's Swan Resort and had dinner at the Garden Grove, where Pluto and Goofy just happened to join us. We asked her if we were at Disney and she said, "No, Mom. This isn't Disney, it's just a restaurant." Ella was very excited about Pluto from a distance, but wasn't sure what she thought about him as he got closer to our table. She let me and daddy take a picture with him, but wouldn't take one herself OR let Bunny take one. She told us later that she didn't even like dogs... only Beemer. That quickly changed when Goofy appeared. Not only did she and Bunny have their picture ...
Disney
Poolside
This is pretty much all we did this morning. We loaded up on groceries, got organized and spent the day at the pool. Ella surprised me and did really well. Little did she know her day was about to get much better. ...
Road Trip
We finally managed to leave around 6:30 last night. Did I mention we were driving? Somehow I got stuck on the second leg and (in case you failed to realize it) that means staying awake for the first four hours and THEN driving the next four. Yikes. Ella did remarkably well. We were hoping she would sleep overnight, but our biggest concerns were eating dinner in the car and continuing the potty training momentum. We managed some chicken nuggets in the car, despite the fact they were way too hot. Possibly the best part of dinner was that because Wendy's doesn't have juice boxes with their kids' meals (weird!) Josh ordered her a strawberry fanta?! Ella has never had a carbonated drink. Ever. She took one sip, shook her head and announced "I don't like it!" So I shared my tea. We ...
D-Day
Well, it's here. Friday. Are you happy? I am. Not only is it the last day of the work week, but we have something really exciting planned. Hint number one was that we'd be leaving our timezone for another. We are. We are heading east, then south. Hint number two was that we'd be leaving and returning on Friday. We're leaving today, Friday, April 24th. We're returning on Friday, May 1st. Hint number two was that we were eating lunch with friends. We're doing that, too. Winnie-the-Pooh and friends. That's right, we're headed to Walt Disney World! It was an absolute last-minute decision that had a lot to do with the stars aligning, family & friends and the fact that the three of us haven't been under one roof in almost a month. Ella has no idea we're even going, which is the ...
Two Minnie Mouses!
Happy Halloween! Last night was a weird sort of holiday for our family... for once, we weren't all in the same place. If you know anything about my family, you'll understand why this is such a strange thing. Josh, K and I worked at our church's annual Trunk or Treat, Cory worked at the drive-in, while Gran, Poppy, Molly & Ella went to Birmingham to see Disney on Ice. I know she's only two, but how fun is that? Now she doesn't really know anything about Disney characters except: Minnie & Mickey Mouse are on her diapers, K & Cory brought Minnie ears from DisneyWorld this summer, the Disney Princesses are on her pull-ups and of course, the Jungle Book. Thank goodness, this production included Baloo, Mowgli and the monkeys -- my child was in heaven. She & Molly were both ...