DisneyWorld

We spent July 3rd-July 10th in DisneyWorld enjoying the holiday and some family time together. We arrived safely Friday evening and took a quick dip in the swimming pool. We woke up early Saturday morning to get ready for our big day! We had lots planned to do and see and did not want to miss a bit.

We started off in the Magic Kingdom with Breakfast with the Princesses at Cinderella's Royal Table. It was fabulous. The meal was great, plus you could get as much as you wanted AND we met ALL the princesses at our table and got a special photo with Cinderella! It was a great experience!

Meeting Snow White at our breakfast table



We headed out of the castle and made our way through the Magic Kingdom until late in the afternoon. We hit many of the rides and did not have a lot of trouble with lines until after lunchtime. We met a LOT of characters and got some great pictures. The kids really loved it.

Meeting Ariel in Ariel's grotto


After taking a break at the pool, we headed back to the Magic Kingdom and pushed our way through the crowds to get our spot for the fireworks. They have fireworks there every night, but I knew that the 4th of July fireworks would be great!

My pirate Princess


Cap'n Jack Sparrow



Cinderella's Castle on July 4th


Next day we headed to Animal Kingdom! We caught a couple of shows...the Festival of the Lion King and the Bugs Life 4D show. Joe and Whitney were actually participants in a short show with Pocahantas! It was really cute. We again saw lots of characters there.

Animal Kingdom in front of the Tree of Life



Meeting Pocahontas



Participating in the Pocahontas show



Meeting Lilo and Stitch



Meeting Minnie Mouse



On Monday we headed to Epcot and toured the Innoventions, The Land, and the Seas. We explored the Finding Nemo show, the Turtle Talk with Crush and saw a diver in their tank. They had lots of fish and underwater creatures and two very large manatees!




The Finding Nemo show


Meeting the Diver



We waited over an HOUR for one of their new rides, SOARIN'! It is a simulator of a glider...it was really cool, or AWESOME as Whitney said.

That night we toured the countries, caught a show in Morocco and ate dinner in France! It was nice. I just wish I remembered more of my high school French.


We stayed for the Illuminations fireworks and light display.



Tuesday was a day off from the parks, but we spent the time at Downtown Disney shopping and trying to stay out of the rain. We ate lunch at TREX, a dinosaur inspired restaurant. Even our dessert was over the top! We explored the toy stores, World of Disney, Goofy's Candy shop, and the kids made a Disney t-shirt at the Create your own T-shirt shop. They also BOTH made Star Wars Light Sabers at the toy store!





The dessert explosion!



At the Create your Own T-Shirt store




Wednesday we headed to Disney's Hollywood Studios. We were not as impressed with this park (not as much for little ones to do), but we did have a good time! We saw the Voyage of the Little Mermaid, saw the Playhouse Disney show (Whitney loved it) and met a June from the Little Einsteins (Whitney's favorite). We also went on Star Tours, a ride that took us on a trip in space (Blaine loved this one).

Disney's Hollywood Studios





Meeting June, Whitney's favorite Little Einstein!



Enjoying the Playhouse Disney show!



Thursday we went back to Magic Kingdom and wrapped up some of the rides we missed on Saturday, including Splash Mountain and Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, the AstroOrbiter in the rain, and the Monsters Inc Laugh Floor. We even waited about an hour to see MY favorite..Tinkerbell!

Tomorrowland Speedway



My passenger....I tried to convince him to drive, but he wouldn't!



The Monsters Inc Laugh Floor...this was an interactive show...Whitney was chosen to be the character BOO! They showed her picure about 3 times!




TINK!


We had a great time and made some great memories. It was great to be able to take the kids someplace so magical!

I took a lot of pictures...they have been uploaded to Snapfish.com. If you did not get an email to view them and would like to see them, send me an email to let me know.
ALSO...DisneyWorld has started a Disney Photo Pass program. They have photographers posted in various areas and at al the character spots. They take your photos and later you can view them and print them. If you want to see those...go to www.disneyphotopass.com Enter my email address as the username : blondymommy123@aol.com
The password is Blaine
We had a great time! Hope you enjoy the pictures!

Trip To NC

Last week I took a trip to NC to pick up Blaine for the summer and see a bunch of my friends, who I miss very much! :)

Whitney and I stayed with my good friend Stephanie! She was nice enough to let us crash at her place while we were in town. Steph and I had a great time catching up and enjoyed watching the kids play! In this first picture, Devin is front and center...he is such a cute and sweet baby, so adorable!



The next couple of pictures are Duncan and Whitney playing together. They loved playing with my IPOD and Duncan's electronic toy, as well as resting in their jammies every night in their "nest".




NEW BABY CLARA!
My best friend from elementary school, middle, high school, college....pretty much all our lives, has a new baby! She is the second addition to the Engelbrecht family. She was born on May 30th and has been keeping her mom and dad awake ever since :)

Me holding Clara

Me and Christine


Me holding fussy Clara

Even the kids loved the baby and wanted to help take care of her! They did a great job....maybe they are practicing for the future!

Whitney holding Clara...wouldn't she make a cute big sister?


Blaine holding Clara...what a pro!


I loved visiting Christine and all my friends in NC! I just wish we weren't so far away.

Blaine and Whitney at lunch after visiting Christine

Meltdown??

Who is having the meltdown? Me or Whitney?? Probably me! Whitney just goes along in life kind of flitting around like a butterfly! Me? I should be looking out for the next disaster and trying to avert it. No that is JOE and I do NOT listen!

Today, we went to many places, but one of which was Giant (grocery store). Whitney had a pack of SKITTLES candy that I let her have, Joe did not want her to have them. Maybe he could see the disaster that was about to happen, maybe he was saving me from a meltdown, and her from trouble. What happened next is classic 4 year old and classic Whitney. In the produce section, the Skittles ended up ALL on the floor! She had about 3 left!

The fun did not end there! NO, NO, NO! We get a little further, still in the produce section....Joe had left to get something and came back to find me standing there laughing and Whitney pointing her finger at me! Was it me that created the mess of blue on the floor??? Partly. Joe had bought Whitney a blue Mountain Dew. She wanted some, but dropped it. I then opened it. BIG MISTAKE! Everyone knows that you can't open a soft drink after it has been dropped! At that moment, I did not recall that little fact. So, the drink comes out and all over the floor. I have to then find some unassuming store worker to help clean it up!

Eventful, is my life with a 4 year old!

OH, but we did have S'MORES tonight! Whitney loved roasting the marshmallows, smushing them in the graham crackers and chocolate, then EATING them!

I liked it too :)

Mother's Day

Mother's Day was more than just one day for me...it was a whole weekend! It started with a one hour full body massage at Massage Envy....how nice and indulgent! LOVED IT! That afternoon (Saturday) we headed to Joe's parents' place. Whitney, Sandy, and I attended a Mother/Daughter banquet sponsored by the church. It was a very nice dinner..they definitely served us well! Whitney really enjoyed playing with her cousin Reese (his stepbrother Jeff's daughter). They are both the same age and always have a great time.



We spent the night at Joe's parents' place and Sunday morning, Sandy and Charlie took Whitney to church while Joe and I slept in. Apparently Whitney was very helpful at church passing out chocolates and flowers to all the Mothers.

After church, we all (our family, Sandy and Charlie, and Reese,Tyler, Christa and Jeff) went to Knoebel's amusement park. It was a GREAT day outside....not too hot, not too cool and the kids had a great time!





To top it ALL off---Joe and um, Whitney got me a BEAUTIFUL diamond and peridot ring for Mother's Day! It is round and has the peridot in the middle and tiny diamonds all around the stone and down the band. GORGEOUS!!!!! I picked it out a while back, but never thought I would actually be treated with such a gift. Thank you, honey! I must be a great wife and mother ;)
Actually, I must be REALLY good, b/c I got TWO cards from Blaine! WOW! I'm on a roll!

Playdate

Whitney had a playdate with her friend Cydney from pre-school/daycare today. She has been wanting someone to come over for awhile and these two are best buds at daycare. Whitney wanted her to spend the night but we decided for an afternoon of play instead.
You can see who was the boss here.

Having a snack...

They had a good time and we will definitely have her over again, but they wore me out! Probably my own fault....Whitney is really good about picking up after herself, but Cydney liked the idea of playing with something and then five minutes later playing with something else. I know that is totally from being in a new environment with new toys!
Next time...playdate at Cydney's! :)

A Bright Spot in a Sometimes Dark World

I had the immense pleasure of meeting a wonderful student today. I would say that he is just like any normal high school student …and he is in a lot of ways, but he is much more than that. John has Cerebral Palsy. He is 18 years old and in the 10^th grade. He needs help to walk and has limited mobility in his arms and legs. John was that bright spot for me today. In my job I have the occasional opportunity to make a difference in the life of a child. It makes me feel special and validates my reason for being. I like what I do. Today, I LOVED IT! Because John has limited mobility in his arms, he finds typing and writing very difficult. Imagine being in high school and being very bright, but not being able to write papers or take notes…this is John's life. Before I entered the picture, he had been using a software program that allows him to convert his speech to text-a truly awesome capability! However, he was having some trouble with it. Enter me….the Assistive Technology Consultant (there I go, trying to sound important). I observed him using the application, gave him a command sheet, showed him how to use his voice to search the web and write emails…truly amazing! Now, he can use his voice to open items on his computer, communicate, participate in class and be more independent!!!

Not only that, but I find out that John has written a book, with the help of his co-author! Turns out that John is adopted from Russia and spent the first 6-8 years of his life in a Russian orphanage being neglected. Think about that-how his life has changed since being adopted…what life he could have had, compared to what he has now. Then add in the technology….what chance might he have had 10 or even 5 years ago without the software and technology we have available to us today??

So, it was a pleasure to meet John and learn about him and his story. Please buy his book..only $16.49 and John will tell you that shipping is FREE when you buy two!

Take care!

Spring Break Fun

Over Spring Break we went to Chocolate World in Hershey, PA. We tasted the chocolate (my favorite part), we learned about the making of the Hershey company, and had the best chocolate milkshake ever!




We also went to the Crayola Factory in Easton, PA (near where I work). They show you how crayons and markers are made and give the kids tokens to use in crayon and marker vending machines throughout the factory. They had fun creating lots of things using the markers, crayons, and the model magic. They even had sidewalk chalk!