Believe In Magic

For us, it's not Magic Kingdom that is the Happiest Place on Earth, but Universal Studios!

I love that this place has my girls living unleashed, and with abandon.  Free to have fun, without reservation, or concern of what other people may think about their love for pure kid-like fun.

These pix of Belle make me so happy.  I love that even at 16 she is not embarrassed to have her photo taken with the Grinch.  She was thrilled, in fact to pose for a photo.

Look at the sheer joy on her face in the photo above.  She was tickled pink for the moment she had, just her and the Grinch.

The hidden journaling records my feelings about this brief moment in time.

I just love this Say Cheese II Collection by Simple Stories.  It is perfection for documenting all things Disney.

I sincerely hope there is at least one more trip to this magical place in this family's future!

Thanks for popping by today friends!

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Doing Disney

We've been enjoying some time together, just us in Orlando.  As the kids get older and life becomes even more filled with school assignments, Dance competitions, and work, we have discovered how vitally important it is to create play time for "just us".

About a year ago we asked the girls what type of vacation they would prefer.  Hot, skiing, or Disney.

Disney won!  Although we don't actually plan to visit any of the actual Disney parks this trip.  We are a roller coaster loving family, and this year we are proud to say that applies to all of us.  Two years ago Théa (in the pink stripes), just couldn't bring herself to do any of the bigger ones, but this year she bit the bullet all on her own and started with the one I think is the best, more scary ride at Universal.  The Rip Rocket Roller coaster.

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One of the first stops we made in Universal was at the Horror Make Up show to see my Instagram friend Summer do her thing.  

She shared with us some of the secrets behind how horror make up came to be in Hollywood.  

It was truly hilarious, and Théa's favourite part of day number one.

It is so great being able to meet online friends in real life.

How awesome is that Shaggy?

New to us this year is the Harry Potter expansion to the Universal side, which includes a train ride between the two parks.  Very entertaining indeed.

We decided last minute to add Sea World to our trip.  So glad we did, it was a beautiful day, we saw some amazing killer whales, and rode 2 thrilling roller coasters, among other things.

The photo doesn't do the vibrant pink of these flamingos justice, they were just gorgeous.

There were a couple of these guys that looked just like Crush from Nemo.

The Manta: a fantastic surprise of a ride.  There was no wait, so the girls and I did this about 5 times throughout the day.  You hang facing the ground.

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The Kraken was no slouch either, super fast, lots of loops, and even more exciting in the front row.  We did this one over, and over too.

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Antarctica is the only part of the park we skipped by choice, although we all really wanted to see the penguins, none of us thought the 40 minute wait was worth it.  Next time we'll head there first.

Learned at the show that it's actually pronounced Sh-eh-moo, and not Sh-ah-moo as I had always thought.

Truly incredible what these amazing orcas can be trained to do.  Belle and I really wanted to go swim with them.

This guy was such a show off.

Day 3, we headed back to Universal and Islands of adventure for more coaster rides, and photo ops.

The cool crew I call mine, down a back alley at Universal.

We stopped for lunch in Aladdin's corner of the park.

So much colour and fun in the Simpson's area of the park.

They loved seeing Mary's car.

 The girls and I did the Cat In the Hat ride.  You're never too old for Seuss right?

Ended off Day 3 with the longest wait so far of the trip, the dads and the little girls waited 45 minutes for the Minion ride, they said it was worth it.

We feel blessed to have been able to get this time away.  We know things are just going to ramp up once we get back with Dance practices, and that life will be full as it always is this time of year.  In the thick of the craziness we'll be able to look back and remember this fun time away from the rush, the snow, school, and work.  We're still a few days away from our return though.  Today it's raining, so we'll rest around the condo, and then head out to Downtown Disney tonight.  Another first for this family.

Thanks for checking in on us friends!

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A Disney layout

We have so many Disney photos, that it was a little overwhelming knowing where to start when it came to scrapping them.  I'm still thinking that a mini-album would be the best way to showcase the trip and record all the memories, and have the kids take park in the journaling.  For now, I've managed to at least get some highlights down on a two-pager.  It highlights all the places we saw, and all of us who got see them.

The journaling reads:
It was a dream come true, something I've wanted to do since I was a child.  Getting to experience Disney World with Mom & Dad included was more than I could have dreamed, honestly.  The Winter of 2012 the dream became a reality, as we pulled the kids from school and flew down to Orlando for 6 days of fun.  First stop (1) Magic Kingdom (Isabelle wanted roller coasters not Mickey Mouse).  There's no other way to begin a Disney adventure really.  The most fun was had at (2) Universal Studios, and (3) Islands of Adventure, where we met Shrek & the gang (4), and saw the dinosaurs of Jurassic Park.  We all agree that Universal & Islands were the best for fun factor with the (5) Rip Rocket roller coaster being a fave.  We hit Animal Kingdom (6&7) on the last and warmest of days.  Expedition Everest was a blast, along with the Safari where we  saw gorillas and hippos.  I love the  photo of Mom and Dad in front of the iconic tree.  (8)Epcot was another fave, as there was something for everyone, and the character greetings (9) and the fireworks were so cool.  So much fun.  From Magic Kingdom (10) Buzz Lightyear to Everst and everything in between.  Memories for a lifetime were made @ Disney.

If you have been thinking about getting away with the family, but are hesitant on it for whatever reason, I encourage you to revisit the idea.  It was so worth it.  Worth the hour and a half drive to the airport, worth the financial pinch, worth the infinite amount of U turns we took on our way to and from the park everyday, and definitely worth the tired feet at the end of the day.  It gave us time to unplug from the routine and pressures of everyday life here at home.  It allowed my kids to enjoy their father as the fun-loving, joking, playmate they only see from time to time.  It allowed us to enjoy some time alone with Mom, and Dad in a way that's different and more relaxed than when one of us is 'hosting' the other.  We love our life here at home.  The girls really enjoy Dance, and love spending time with their friends at the studio several days a week.  They like school, have wonderful teachers, and are learning, and developing so nicely this year.  We have a fun, and loving Small Group (5 families) with whom we meet every other week to talk about God, life, church, and the everyday things of life.  All that is great, but we are increasingly aware that if we don't make time to just hang together we will lose the connection that makes us friends as well as family, appreciating the fun quirky idiosyncrasies that make us each who we are.  Who knows, time away, as a family may be just what you and yours need also.

Thanks for popping by today friends,

♥ S. Pin It

Exhale

We're back safe and sound.  Sorry, to have left you hanging over the past week. I wasn't able to post on the road.  Hubby and I tried several times to get photos posted to the blog using the iPad, and neither of us were able to find success. We did, however have a fabulous trip.  Disney World, for us, lived up to all the hype.  There were some surprises, like how chilly it got in the evenings, and how early all the parks  closed at this time of year.  But we have no complaints.  The kids had a wonderful time, they saw a lot, walked a lot, got along pretty well, and thoroughly enjoyed sharing the experience with their grandparents.  All in all we hit the following parks, and favored the following rides.  Magic Kingdom: Space Mountain, Universal Studios: Rip Rocket Roller coaster, Islands of Adventure: Dragon Challenge, Hollywood Studios: Rockin' Roller Coaster, Epcot: Mission Space, Animal Kingdom: Expedition Everest.  Did I mention that all but one of us are roller coaster junkies?  All that is, but Théa.  I have the best photo of her to share with you at a later date.  It's the one and only photo we did buy from any of the parks.  I am so glad we decided to do this trip, and that we waited until now.  Our kids are the perfect age, and going at this time of year meant that we had virtually no line ups to deal with.  Seven days just wasn't enough.  Even with all the planning I did we still managed to run out of hours at the end of every single day.  I'm really hoping there will be a 'next time', there's still so much I'd like to see, and a couple of roller coasters I didn't get to.
Here's a snapshot of our week.

So, now we're back to life without the heat, the rides, or the fever of Disney.  Instead we're now focused on life with Dance Competition practices, a Grade 3/4 Alice in Wonderland performance, and the start of a brand new semester.  I have some scrapping to catch up on and am looking forward to the official start of my term on the Scrapping Everyday Miracles design team.  Challenge #13 is set to go live in a few hours. You can check it out here.  Also, you have a couple more day to get your application in for the Creative Scrappers DT call.  It would be so great to get to work with Kristine and her team, especially since a few of my scrappy friends are currently on her DT.  Good luck if you too decided to throw your hat in the ring.

Thanks for visiting.  I hope your week is looking good from here.

♥ S.


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