Disney World 2013

We had an amazing time in Florida.  November is definitely the time to visit both Orlando and Disney World.  This was our 2nd trip to The Happiest Place on Earth, and we applied a few things learned from trip #1 in 2012.  

First lesson: Don't go in March.  Check those crowd forecasts, and believe them.  We visited from the 10th-16th, and although Sunday & Monday were busy (the end of the Epcot Food & Wine Festival + Epcot Marathon + Veteran's Day), the remainder of the week was GREAT.    

We managed to get both kids into the Jedi Training at Hollywood Studios on Monday, and It. Was. AWESOME.  

Every Padawan's dream: Fighting Darth Vader

We did breakfast at the Tusker House again, and it was as good as we remembered.  

We also took a trip to the Wilderness Lodge (amazing!), and had dinner at the Whispering Canyon Cafe.  I didn't realize I had nabbed the first reservation of the dinner hour, but I did, and the kids were given the honor of ringing the dinner bell & yelling "Come and Get It!" to open the restaurant. 

We were also treated to a VIP table with special decorations.  

And the kids loved the milkshakes & the wooden horse races!

After dinner we wandered down to the dock & caught a ferry back to Magic Kingdom.  It was so cool to see the other resorts lit up & to approach the Magic Kingdom by lake.  

J got another Pirate Makeover, and opted for the Ghost Pirate look.  

And was chosen to go up on stage with Captain Jack Sparrow himself!  

A quick tutorial on the finer points of sword fighting. 

My princess and the castle. 

Hey look, we were there too!

Face painting.....

After the Princess Makeover.....

Mickey!

Minnie!

At Epcot we treated M, her cousin, and Grandma to "Pick-a-Pearl" at the Mitsuhoki store in "Japan".  Each oyster is guaranteed to hold a pearl, and the girls were lucky enough to all choose oysters that had larger than normal pearls.  

The parks were all partially decorated for Christmas, and were so pretty.  

We had lunch at the Akershus Royal Banquet Hall in Epcot, and it was SO GREAT.

We met 5 princesses in all, got autographs & photos, and had a delicious lunch.  

HIGHLY recommend. 

A trip to DW wouldn't be complete without a ride on the Monorail!

I'll do another post with a few of the tips we learned from our trips, and a couple of additional details.  The bottom line is that we had a wonderful vacation and feel so lucky that we were able to be at Disney World with family, and enjoy such great travels!  

Detroit

We left Saturday, packing the car while Big Sis enjoyed herself at a birthday party & Big J napped (recovering from birthday excitement).

We made it to the Indiana border, then stopped for the night.

We finally headed into the Detroit suburbs early Sunday afternoon. We checked in, unpacked, and headed right over to Mt. Clemens to see what it's all about.

The hospital is small, but looks like it stays busy.

We spent Monday checking out the areas that seemed as though they had potential for a good place to live - Grosse Pointe, Mt. Clemens, Clinton Township. It was eye opening.

Our impression of Detroit itself is that it's a dying city. I've visited many a big city in my day - NYC, Dallas, Miami, LA, San Fran, Seattle, Denver, Houston, New Orleans, Las Vegas.... but they were nothing like this. I've never seen so many abandoned houses, falling-down manufacturing plants, trash, and broken everything. Unemployment is at 18%+. The roads are in terrible condition - all over the metro area.

Grosse Pointe is a really nice area, which borders on the not-so-nice Detroit city limit. You can clearly see where the town starts to move towards Detroit. The houses get progressively more rundown and abandoned. We saw the most police cars there - 5 in about 15 minutes. Gotta keep the Pointe safe, you know. I had thought we might find a place to live there, and Big Daddy could commute up to Mt. Clemens. Unfortunately, it's really just too far to justify the distance and the cost. (But it has a Trader Joe's! We'll be back, I can feel it).

Mt. Clemens is a small town, with a thriving downtown driven by County business. We didn't see much that inspired us, but went back on Tuesday and found a cute neighborhood close to the hospital. It looks like there may be several houses for rent there. It's also within walking distance of a decent school for Big Sis.

Posing with Big Boy - this is totally a childhood memory for me.

Too bad the food is no longer as good as I remember it.

Tuesday we visited the Henry Ford Museum. It was awesome! It's near one of the big Ford plants, and driving through the area really gave me a sense of how much the auto industry must have impacted Detroit (for good and for bad). The museum was auto-centered, but also contained a random assortment of Americana, including enormous trains, a restored 1940's diner, a full scale replica of the Wright Bros. plane, the Weinermobile, the chair Lincoln was sitting in when he was shot, and the Rosa Parks bus. It was eclectic, unusual, and really fascinating. We spent almost 6 hours there, and are looking forward to taking visitors there (for anyone who is brave enough to come see us while we live in "The D").

President Kennedy's Limo - the one he was riding in when he was assassinated.

Driving the train.

One of the original Weinermobiles.

The bus Rosa Parks was riding when she refused to give up her seat.

We hit Ikea on Wednesday morning (I think I exercised admirable restraint by only purchasing picture frames), and then decided to cut our trip short & head home. Big Daddy and I slept horribly during the trip - a combination of hard bed, weak pillows, & slight colds, and we saw no reason to prolong the agony.


Net/net: It's going to be a long 2 years. I am sure that once we get there and get into our routine, we'll be fine. The 15 mile commute to church will take some getting used to, as will the trash, graffiti, potholes, bad drivers, and lack of sidewalks. I have definitely been spoiled by our time in Des Moines. On the upside, there is Ikea, Trader Joe's, Whole Foods, REI, Nordstrom, Cranbrook, Detroit Institute of Art, 4 major league sport teams, and a 4% personal income tax.

Our Vacation

The back side of Tahoe & the Sierra Nevadas - view from the front yard.

Lake Tahoe is just a 20 minute drive up the mountain.

Warning: Super long blog posting. Lots to catch up on.

It certainly does not seem like we were gone for 10 days, and no wonder - we were on the go almost the entire time. A very kind friend drove us to the airport on Monday afternoon, and after wrangling 2 bags, a stroller, a diaper bag and 2 kids into the terminal, we were off. We immediately ran into trouble in Minneapolis when our plane to Salt Lake was delayed. We finally made it to SLC, and missed our plane to Reno by 3 MINUTES! Picture an exhausted me running through the terminal with Big J strapped to my chest, pushing the stroller and trailing Big Sis behind me while dragging her Hello Kitty rolling backpack. As frustrated as I was with Delta for not bothering to hold that plane for 3 more minutes, at least they did the right thing by putting us up in a decent hotel & giving us a plethora of meal vouchers. I am so glad that I thought ahead and at least packed extra clothes for the kids in our carry-in bag. Of course I did NOT think to pack my glasses or contact case, so it was extra good times to sleep in my contacts and peel my scratchy eyes open the next morning.

We were back at the airport bright and early on Tuesday morning, and after fueling up on orange juice, decaf, and croissants courtesy of Delta, I gave the rest of our meal vouchers to the Elders and boarded our plane to Reno. We spent the next few days resting, hiking, cooking, watching movies, taking long walks, playing games, reading, and drinking hot chocolate. It actually snowed that Friday, and it was fun to cozy up to the wood stove and watch the snow flurries come down. It was all melted and gone by that afternoon, but stayed cold for a few more days.

Picking raspberries with Grandma Jan.

Hanging out, watching movies together.

Grandpa and his boy.

One of our many walks down a country road.

Sunday morning found Big J and I back at the airport (and oh boy, it was 17 degrees when we left the house!!), boarding another plane on our way to Dallas. I was there to prep for the Dallas Toy Show, and it was definitely a test of endurance. I was unaware of this, but children under 12 are strictly prohibited from entering the building (the Dallas Mart - a trade only building which holds showrooms for various sales reps and major retailers), and Big J and I caused a huge ruckus by showing up. I managed to get us into the building and up to the 13th floor where our showroom was being put together, but had to do a lot of fast talking and pleading to get us to stay. I think Big J's winning smile was what did the trick, and we managed to keep ourselves out of the way and get the job done. He did have a rough day, refusing to sleep until I put him in the Baby Bjorn and carried him around. By the time the big boss arrived he was in a fine mood after having slept, ate, and been changed, and he charmed everyone who came by. We flew back to Reno that night, and were exhausted.

There was just one last day of vacation before we once again spent an entire day flying to get home. Why on earth Delta flew us to Cincinnati just to turn around and fly back to Des Moines - I will never know. I shouldn't complain - on our last leg to Des Moines there was a woman and her 2 year old son who were just flying back from Egypt. I can't imagine how long it took them.

Good things about the trip:

• The Baby Bjorn was a lifesaver. While in transit I pushed the stroller and wore Big J. Perfect for getting through security, wrangling a 4 year old and still keeping at least one hand free.


• Everyone was very helpful, always offering to lend a hand with our bags, stroller, or whatever was needed. There is still kindness out there!


• I actually read a book! The Shack by William Young. Thought provoking.


• I came home with a KILLER recipe for chocolate frosting. I won't post it until I am sure I can recreate it, but it was unbelievable.


• My kids are great travellers. Yes, there were rough times with Big J on our many flights, but overall he was a rock star. Though after saying that, I am so glad that Big Daddy is going to be with us on our next trip!


• I brought the Bumbo with us, and am so glad I did. It allowed him to eat easily and to sit on the counter while we cooked or ate lunch at the kitchen island. A huge space suck in our luggage, but still worth it.

Lessons learned:

• I thought I would be smart and use a scarf as a belt so I wouldn't have to try and unbuckle myself while wearing Big J and trying to get through security. Great in theory until I realized that I packed no belt at all. I spent the entire trip hitching my pants up every 3 minutes.


• This has thrown Big J's schedule off completely. Couple that with 3 more teeth coming in and a stuffy nose, and he's been a grumpy boy. He's never been a good sleeper, but now he doesn't know which way is up.


• I packed well for the kids, but apparently lost my ability to think clearly when packing for myself. Not only did I forget to pack PJ's (good thing that workout clothes will do in a pinch), but I only packed 2 pairs of pants for myself - including the pair I wore to travel in. It gave 'packing light' a whole new meaning.


• Starting in November United is upping its luggage fees. It will be $125 to check a 2nd bag!! For that much you can UPS all your clothes wherever you're going!


• I didn't exercise at all while gone. I did a few squats and lunges and such, but no running, no real cardio. I am freaked out at how difficult tomorrow's run will be, but honestly I think I needed the break.
  

Here's the 10 flights in 10 days I alluded to:

Monday: Des Moines-Minneapolis-Salt Lake
Tuesday: Salt Lake-Reno
Sunday: Reno-Denver-Dallas
Monday: Dallas-Denver-Reno
Wednesday: Reno-Salt Lake-Cincinnati-Des Moines



In other news: Big J is cutting 3 more teeth! He's been drooling up a storm, and his top 2 front teeth are about to break through and so is the one right next to his front left chopper. I know his mouth is hurting him, but he's still been in generally good spirits.

I hesitate to blog about this next subject, as I almost feel like I am going to jinx myself. But here goes: Before we left on our trip, we decided to break in our Y membership and go swimming. While finishing up in the Family changing room, I spied a scale. First I put Big Sis up there - all 33 lbs. of her - then I took a deep breath and stepped on myself. I'm down 14 lbs. from my pre-pregnancy weight. There, I said it. For so long, I felt like I would never be able to get myself back into shape, but it looks like it's actually happening. Only 30 more lbs. to go! That's a little tongue in cheek - I no longer have a specific goal weight. My real goal is to keep being active, and set fitness goals for myself. After the Race on the 25th, there's the Jingle Jam 5K in December, and then if I am still healthy and keeping active in the winter, I may start to train for even longer distances. And then I'll have to buy a few more belts to hold up my saggy pants.

Home Again

We're back from our all-too-brief vacation, and trying to return to the routine of being at home. Big J came home with a stuffed up nose which inhibits his ability to breathe while nursing or sucking on the paci. It's probably a result of the 10 flights in 10 days that he and I took (more on that later). He's still in pretty good spirits, and is drooling up a storm (more teeth a-coming?). Big Sis is already missing her grandma and grandpa.

I love that we came back to an Iowa in full Fall mode. I even had to turn the heat on today! (only because Big J is under the weather).

Next up on the agenda: apple orchard, pumpkin patch (any recommendations??), Race for the Cure, Picture Day at preschool, Beggar's Night, Halloween, lots of apple canning, and (drum roll please.....) BABY WEANING. Good Times for all.

'Bye for Now

Vacation starts tomorrow. Our plane doesn't leave until almost 3 pm, but as we're not packed yet, I will spend all morning alternating between executing tiny little jigs of excitement with minor anxiety attacks over the very likely possibility of forgetting pacifiers, favorite animals, treasured books, baby socks, baby hats, baby loveys, blankies, underwear, sneakers, and probably my mind. It's only 7 hours and 3 flights - what could possibly go wrong??? Right? RIGHT??? I wish Big Daddy had prescribing rights because I think I'm going to need a Valium before tomorrow is over. Ha ha. At a minimum, I wish I could at least have a Diet Coke....

So, while I practice my deep breathing and make an endless to-do list, this will be my last blog entry for a while. Ciao for now.

Big Happenings

First, I am going on vacation next week (Monday), and am SO excited. It's just me and the kiddos, so wish me luck on the 3 flights we have to take to get where we're going. It's a 10 day trip, but I have to interrupt it for a detour to Dallas for work on Sunday & Monday. Just me and Big J on that one. Should be a blast to try and set up a tradeshow showroom with a 7 month old in tow, but we'll get through it. I'm sure the rest of the trip will make up for that little hiccup in the vacay.

Next, our anniversary is on Saturday, and we actually have PLANS. We've roped a school colleague into babysitting, and we're going to sneak away for a late dinner. ALONE. I am so excited that I am - dare I say - giddy. I picked out this schmancy frenchie place downtown and can't wait to eat good bread and not cut up someone else's food before they eat it and possibly even have a conversation with my husband that does not revolve around either of our sweet children. I might even have to go out and buy a new outfit from somewhere other than Target. I do love Target, but think this could be an opportunity to locate a skirt that fits in the waist yet isn't 5 inches longer than it should be. Wish me luck.

Chicagoland Fun

We had a great time in Chicago last weekend - when we finally got there. My plan was to leave early on Friday morning so that even if the drive took a little longer, we'd get there with a little time to shop before having dinner with my Aunt Rose & Uncle Kurt. We did manage to hit the road by about 6:15 on Friday morning, but Plan A quickly turned into Plan B, as we started seeing signs saying that I-80 was closed at Iowa City (yes, I did check the roads the night before, but I didn't see anything about this). Around Altoona we decided to be smart and turn around to take the 35 up and over to the 20. Definitely a better move, but a 6-6.5 hour drive ended up taking 11 hours. Oh yeah, take 4 people, add 11 hours of travel and do it all in the Jetta. That's a recipe to either bring you closer together or make you want to kill each other. Thankfully, we made it there in one piece, and were impressed that traffic wasn't that bad for a Friday afternoon. I also made the mistake of not having a complete Illinois map with us, so we didn't know we could take the 20 directly into Chicago, and ended up taking the 61 down to Davenport & across the 88. At that point, what was a few extra hours, right? Helpful hint: if you're going to the Chicagoland area, make sure you bring your quarters and dimes. I didn't realize we were going to hit 5 toll booths on the way to our hotel, and I was glad I had a few dollar bills that the toll takers could break for me (instead of the cash -free wallet which is my SOP).

First stop: Trader Joe's! Have you ever been to Trader Joe's? Oh, I love it! I know, it seems weird to make our first Chicago stop at a grocery store, but Trader Joe's is not just any ol' store. First, it's very reasonable. Second, they have some sort of fancy gourmet items, but nothing too outlandish. And Finally, they carry my very favorite soap, lotion, scrub, and shave cream. And again, it's VERY reasonable. I happily stocked up on all my fave bodycare stuff, as well as snacks and water for our trip (including the most awesome dark chocolate covered pretzels - delicious, but they don't exactly agree with Justin. Maybe I shouldn't have eaten half the bag in one day. But I digress). I also picked up a bouquet of flowers for Aunt Rose - again, beautiful & reasonable (and I always try not to arrive empty handed to a dinner invite). We jumped back on the freeway, and after paying a few more tolls, we made it to the hotel - the Courtyard in Schaumburg. I was disappointed that they didn't have a mini fridge in the room, but otherwise it worked out well. Malaina got the sofa bed, they had an indoor pool, and everyone was happy.
We headed to Elgin to meet up with my Aunt & Uncle, and had a great time catching up with them. My cousin Stephanie was there, too, and her two girls. All three girls had a great time running around, riding bikes in the basement, making cards on the computer, and just being young girls. After a delicious dinner, we headed back to the hotel, and fell into bed.

We got up on Saturday morning to a bright, sunshine-y, humidity free day! We drove down to the Aurora outlet mall to do the shopping I missed out on Friday night. I found a few good deals, and then it was back into the car and over to Lincoln Park Zoo. Parking was crazy, as half of Chicago decided to head out to Lincoln Park and the North Shore of Lake Michigan. We finally unloaded the troops and cruised the zoo for 3 hours. It was free! And it's a great zoo. We saw polar bears, tigers, lions (Malaina was wide-eyed at the lion gnawing on a giant bone right in front of her), giraffe, ostrich, rhino, monkeys, birds, and my favorite: the river otter. We loaded our weary travellers back into the car, and went exploring to find the cupcake shop I had been obsessing about: Sweet Mandy B's. Located in the Lincoln Park/ DePaul neighborhood, it had a sweet little store front, and zero parking. Matt dropped me off and circled the block while I ordered my 'cakes. I found the staff to be a little lacking. The girl was a little irritated when I wasn't ready to place my order within .03 seconds of walking through the door. She gave me the stink eye while I looked over the goodie case (cookies, cupcakes, cakes, pie), and seemed irritated when I asked a question or two. I completed the transaction, and was glad that I was the only one who made the trip inside - the interior was tiny, and claustrophobic to me. As I walked past the cafe on the corner to wait for Matt to pull up, I chuckled to myself when I overheard a lady at an outside table exclaim to her young daughter "Ooooo...look! She went to Sweet Mandy B's and got cupcakes!". Unfortunately, my cupcake bliss had to wait, as we were both starving by the time we got back to the hotel (Saturday evening traffic - not so good, especially when we were going OUT of the city). Saturday must have been my lucky day for the month, as we ended up trying the Weber Grill Restaurant. I've wanted to try this place for years, and I was not disappointed. It was a bittersweet experience, as the food was fantastic (we shared prime rib, roasted garlic mashed potatoes, a chopped chicken salad, and onion soup), but the kids were both super cranky by the time the food hit the table, and Matt ended up walking Justin back to our room while I finished eating. We finished the night with Matt & Malaina at the pool - one of their favorite things to do together. I didn't even have the energy (or the stomach space) to truly enjoy a cupcake, so I saved them for another day.

Almost as tall as a polar bear (OK, not really, but don't tell her that)

"Uh Mom, what exactly do you think you're doing to me here?"

Mmmm... Weber Grill Restaurant. I give it 3.5 out of 4 stars.

On Sunday we were poky about getting up and out of the hotel, and didn't make it downtown until about noon. Of course first priority was to shower Daddy with presents (a customized Starbucks card with his favorite drink on it - a Grande Hot Chocolate - & the promise of NCAA '09 Football for the Wii). We parked at Soldier Field, and walked over to the Shedd Aquarium. This was a great idea in theory, but not quite as awesome in reality. You see, Sunday being Father's Day, the main floor of the Aquarium was free to everyone. Needless to say, it was a tiny bit crowded. We decided to pay for tickets to see the entire Aquarium, and even sprang for the SpongeBob movie in 4-D (quite an experience, and probably more fun if you are under the age of 8). We managed to find good seats to the dolphin show, and really enjoyed seeing all the fish, turtles, frogs, and other marine animals. The Caribbean Reef exhibit in the rotunda was very cool - a huge sea turtle, manta rays, sting rays, tarpon, and more.

This is the Field Museum, which is located adjacent to the Aquarium (and the Planetarium). We did not have a chance to visit on this trip, but will another time.


When we were done at the Aquarium, we headed back out to the suburbs to find some dinner. We were going to take the 20 out of Illinois, so it made sense to head towards Schaumburg to eat before we made the killer drive home. (Seriously, if you're going to Chicago, I advise staying in this area. Woodfield Mall is right there, along with a ton of restaurants, hotels, IKEA, and several major freeways. Plus we saved at least $150 a day by not staying downtown).

Daddy requested Chicago-style pizza for his Father's Day dinner, so here's where we ate:

I panicked a little when we were driving to the restaurant. There were 2 Lou's in the area, and the first one we stopped at was take-out and delivery only. I was so glad when we pulled up & discovered this was a sit-down restaurant. And that they could seat us right away. Justin was cranky again, so I didn't get a shot of the pizza before we dug into it. I can say that it was DELICIOUS. We took the rest to-go and after a last, hopeful check of the Iowa roads (I-80 STILL closed), we started the drive. I finally had the chance to sample my cupcakes, and here they are:

The upper left corner is Banana Chocolate Chip. Below that is Creamsicle. The yellow are Lemon, and the far right 'cakes are Red Velvet (they didn't have a huge selection of flavors). First, I'll say that I did not eat them all in one sitting. I may be a cupcake fan, but I am not a glutton. Very often. I even shared! What I liked about them: The Lemon were the very best. The cake was light & moist, and tasted like lemon, but not in an overwhelming or chemical way. The Red Velvet were good, but the batter didn't seem smoothly mixed, and they weren't quite as tasty. What I didn't like about them: The Creamsicle were not good. The cake was bland & flavorless, and the frosting was sickly-sweet. The Banana Chocolate Chip was just not cupcake material. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't really good either. I also thought that the frosting application was sloppy. I really like it when the frosting is piped on the top of a cupcake. Net/net: These were not nearly as good as Valley Junction's own Carefree Patisserie.

The drive home was both faster and uneventful. We stopped outside of Dubuque and grabbed some soda to help us stay awake, but otherwise there were no delays or problems. Malaina watched Annie on the DVD player, Justin slept, and Matt and I talked. That's the one advantage to road trips: I feel like Matt and I get to catch up on so much stuff that we don't chat about on a daily basis. We stopped outside Ames so I could feed Justin, and finally made it to our front door at about 2:45am on Monday morning. The drive home took about 7 hours - much better!

The only downside to the trip is that I have not gotten to bed before 2am any day this week. Part of that is due to this monster project I've been trying to complete, but I'm not happy about reverting to my night owl ways. Justin is usually wide-eyed & awake at 7 am, and I don't operate well on 5 hours of sleep (at least not unless there's a nap during the day.....and there never is). Now I'm hungry & craving cupcakes. I may have to rustle one up when I finish this project tonight (they added more stuff to it and gave me a 24 hour extension. Thanks). I definitely deserve it!