"What's in the camera?" Wednesday + Disney Princess Half Marathon recap in photos

Well, it is obviously Thursday, but just didn't have time to finish this yesterday.

I just uploaded all my pictures since the beginning of January.  I always forget how many I take!  I'm trying to get better at deleting the bonus shots right from my phone.  Last week, when our plane was descending, I deleted quite a few pics, but I still had quite a few in there.

First up - this cutie had a birthday a couple of weeks ago, here is a shot from his party:

Can't believe he is getting so big!!!

Here is one of our new guinea pig friend.....she is very cute too ;)

And, a few from the Disney :)

A quick recap:  Two running friends of mine invited me along to run the Disney Princess Half Marathon.  They had both run Disney races as recently as this past January, but this girls weekend was in the works since last year.  We originally planned to go from Saturday until Monday, and have 2 park days (Disney races start at 5:30 a.m. so they can be finished, or at least very well underway, by the time the parks open.  So, providing one's feet and legs feel up to it, it is completely feasible to have many hours at one of the parks - I am keeping this in mind for next time I bring the fam!)

However, as it often does, life got a little hectic and some unforeseen family and work circumstances had us all coming home Sunday evening. 

So, we arrived as early as we could Saturday, checked into the hotel, took a shuttle to pick up our race packets, then enjoyed the afternoon at Epcot.  It is a strong tie between Epcot and Magic Kingdom for my favorite park.  The best thing was being able to walk around all the countries with JUST GROWN-UPS!!  My kids love Epcot too, but lolling about instead of doing rides isn't their thing ;)  We ate lunch in Mexico, rode Soarin' and Nemo's Ride then popped over to the "golf ball" to ride "Spaceship Earth."   A side note:  we all 3 fit into one clam shell at that Nemo ride.  We have 10 kids between us, so we counted this as an accomplishment, ha!

We had dinner reservations at the Cape May restaurant at the Beach Club resort.  I highly recommend the dinner buffet there.  We have enjoyed breakfast there on previous visits, but this was my first time eating a different meal there, and it did not disappoint!  My only regret was that they only do character meals at breakfast :(

Pre-race fuel!

I'm not a big fan of carb loading on pasta the night before a race....it just leaves me feeling bloated and lethargic.  I did indulge in dessert carbs a bit, though ;)  THEY WERE AMAZING!!!  Not usually a flan person, but that little cup in the upper left hand corner was to die for.


Now that I posted all the yummy food, back to the beginning........

Here was my view from the plane on the way to Orlando...another plane!  I know it's tiny, but I think this was the first time I've ever seen another plane from my plane window.

 We stayed at Saratoga Springs near Downtown Disney where this guy welcomed everybody to the pool!

 ESPN Wide World of Sports at Disney

 A picture of the ball field there - so cool!

 The Sunset as viewed from Mexico in Epcot

 

No matter how many times I get to take a picture and ride this, it never gets old!!!

 

Race Day!  Every time a corral started across the line, fireworks exploded.  I might be forever ruined for any kind of "normal" race again!

Here is a shot of my "101 Dalmatians" costume (I have no good pictures of me in it, I know, I know!  But we had to get up and 3 a.m. and board a bus by 4 a.m. - cut me some slack!! 

(Resuming food pictures.  Confirming to myself that deep down, I am just a big 'ol foodie at heart!!)

Post race food!!!

After we crossed the finish line and received our medal, we shuttled back to our hotel and had breakfast.   I don't think a vanilla iced coffee or a breakfast wrap has ever tasted that awesome in the history of mankind.  Especially that coffee (upper right hand corner)..........yummy!

We were done and back up to shower before 9 a.m.  After that we walked over to downtown Disney and shopped a bit, then had lunch.

A mimosa to celebrate!

 A most delicious salad.  Again, I don't like to load up on heavy food after a race.  Just doesn't feel right and I'm usually not that hungry after a long run.

Now, the day AFTER a long run in a different story.........

We walked back to the hotel, spent a bit of time sitting by the pool, then headed back to the airport.  It was a very short weekend, but such a great time with so many memories made.  As moms, (and all the other daily roles we have) it is such a treat to once in a while do something so out of the ordinary, even if you only get 6 total hours of sleep over the course of 2 days!!! 

And yes, I would totally do it again!

A Very Happy Disney Ending

I think I could write on and on about Disney. Goodness knows I have about 300 more pictures I could show you (and 8 1/2 hours of slides..."Settle in and we'll all watch them together! This is us in front of a tree - isn't it great?!")

But, all good things must come to an end and though it's hard for me to believe it will be a month already that we have come and gone.

So, I'll end with some last highlights that I feel are to good not to be shared.

We went to Downtown Disney twice during out stay. It has every kind of Disney shop you could ever hope to visit and the food is really great, too.

Want to take a guess as to what this is??

A gluten, dairy, sugar, soy free organic cupcake. Now, now....be nice. For all the things that were left out of it, the taste was actually quite good. Though, not as yummy as this.....

There is a Ghirardelli ice cream shop that specializes in treats like this...this was mine and it was from the kids menu! Their tables even look like the squares of chocolate you can buy at the store!

Our families' order.....

Later that day we went back to Hollywood Studios so we could do a few more rides and watch Fantasmic at night. We saw a line to meet Woody and Buzz so decided to join in. Some fun things to try while waiting.....


And here is where the story takes a humorous turn. My husband and older daughter had a Fast Pass to the Rock n' Roller Coaster so the younger two and I stayed in line to have Buzz and Woody sign autograph books and pose for pictures. I had been warned by a Grandma that the line was deceitfully long even though we could see the characters through the front glass window. There was a sizable line, but it didn't seem too crazy. At the time, there were maybe a dozen families ahead of us and only one family behind us. Let me pause a moment and tell you that while at Disney, you will meet people from all over the world and will hear a dozen different languages during your stay. I find it fascinating to hear. Know what else I found fascinating? Not everyone else in the world has the same personal space boundaries that we do. I'll be the first to admit that I'm a "This is my space, this is your space" kind of girl, especially when standing amongst a throng of strangers.

However, the couple behind me had no such reservations. The wife would continually bump into me, apologize in her native language profusely, resume her conversation with her husband, then start the whole process over again.

I would try to smile, grit my teeth and attempt in vain to keep some sort of distance as the line slowly inched forward.

Then, she switched places with her husband. YES! Unfortunately, he turned out be a rather vigorous zealot of the "We don't believe in personal space AT ALL and think that you shouldn't be so hung up on it either" mentality. NO! And, to top it all off, he was a SNORTER!!!!! Oh yes, friends....that nasal type of inhaling that makes SOUNDS! AND HE DID IT REPEATEDLY! LESS THAN 4 INCHES FROM ME AS HIS ELBOW JABBED ME IN THE BACK! I wanted to be like Sebastian, crawl out of myself, and go find a new shell.

At this point I was actually a little concerned that I may sustain bodily injury. I moved my right foot back every so slightly and carefully placed it down on his own foot (which happened to be nearly parallel with my left foot.) I guess that must be where his personal spaces resides, because he moved his foot a bit.

For a few seconds.

And then his 2 year-old joined in my kicking me ever so often. Yes, dear grandma lady at the window, the line is quite deceptively long.

About 2 families before it was our turn, Mr. Snorts Too Close stepped directly in front of the line, stuck his neck out, and took his time looking at the characters. The guy who had been cut in front of turned to look at me as if to say...."What is going on here??"

Finally, finally, finally...it was our turn!


As my kids were meeting Buzz and Woody and I was holding autograph books, Capt'n Snorts'nOffends started to cross the waiting line....and was promptly detained by a Disney host - who had to finally say..."BACK, BACK, BACK!" I felt slightly vindicated.

We left the character area and crowded ourselves into the waiting area for Fantasmic while waiting for the rest of our family to join us. The younger kids and I found seats which were bleacher style with plenty of room for all. Lo and behold, the family behind us leaned into our row, put their feet up on the back of the bleachers and generally invaded our area. I tried to block it out, knowing it was a while before the show started and as long as we could enjoy that, it would be okay.

Hubby and daughter finally met up with us.....with feet from behind firmly planted on what would be their seating area. Culturally correct Mindy had long since vacated the premises. So.....I decided to speak the language that is understood in all tongues - the "Mama ain't messing around, do it now" language. I took the palms of both my hands, patted the tops of the offending shoes and in a slightly higher-pitched voice with a side of toddler-ese thrown in said,....."Get down, get down, get down."

I think the feet were a little surprised and complied immediately. And then we could enjoy the show!


Then next day we had breakfast reservations at the Crystal Palace where we could meet the Pooh Bear characters. Right as we walked into the restaurant, is started raining ALOT! We stayed indoors quite awhile where we ate breakfast and took pictures with Pooh and friends.


She enjoyed her visit with her buddy much more this time....

than last time.....

Once the rain let up, we left and started walking where we happened upon Princess Tiana - she was very, very nice and the kids thought her dress was great.

Here is the Haunted Mansion...I didn't get to see the inside because a certain child panicked at the last minute. We headed back outside to wait for the others where we promptly tipped over our overloaded stroller while trying to reach for a snack. Stroller fell, Kevin fell, stuff all over. Good times, good times.

A picture map of what the redesigned Fantasyland will look like...

Inside the Snow White's Scary Adventure ride:

A pastel of Cinderella at the "Art of Disney" store:

The gazebo in the now-defunct Minnie's House in Toon Town

I took this picture thinking that the one below was taken of Jerry and the girls 6 years ago and I thought it would be fun to update. Turns out it was me (with super short hair!) and the girls . Would you look at those precious babies!!

Now I have one of me with all the kids!

Waiting for the monorail after a long, fun day....baby, it's cold outside!!

Outside the Disney Christmas Store where it's Christmas 365 days a year...shhhhh, I found ornaments for next year!!

It's a caramel chocolate apple!!

Back at Epcot for the afternoon...they had a neat interactive game about recycling and garbage...I highly recommend for the age 8 and under set.

Alas, what goes to Florida must also return from Florida...note the happy faces :(

So, I hope I have documented our trip well. It will be fun to look back in the years to come and relive the memories. And, if by chance anyone from Disney marketing is reading this blog and is impressed and needs some sort of Mom correspondent to go and report and bring her family, by all means let me know. Don't come to us, we'll come to you!

My favorite park

I'm having a Blogger moment; a day, really....I've tried to load pictures today no less than half a dozen times only to have it tell me to try again later.

Apparently Blogger is of the mindset that stay at moms sit around, drink wine, watch bad reality TV and still have time to spare and hit the "try again" button repeatedly.

Here are some pictures that did manage to make it. We were able to spend almost 2 full days at Epcot which made my little heart happy as the last time we were there (6 years ago) it was only a quick stop to check out the "golf ball" and have a princess breakfast at the castle in Norway. (which I highly recommend if you have little princesses of your own:)

We spent a good portion of each day in "Future World" - (look, can't you see all the fun pictures of Nemo and Friends, Mission to Mars, kids lying down on the grass looking at the monorail, Mouse Gears and Test Track? Oh right, they're not here:(

But, here are some neat pictures from "The Countries" as most people refer to them. I guess the official moniker is "World Showcase", but "the countries" seems to work as well.

Our goal was to reach China (more on that in a minute), then Italy for dinner. On the way we ran into this fellow in Mexico!

This picture won't make quite as much sense without the preceding pictures (grrrrrrrrrrrrr!), but our family did a Kim Possible mission that took us to China. I tried to do a link-up to a Kim Possible page in case you don't know who she is, but my link did a Blogger on me and I really have no patience left. So, in a nutshell, Kim Possible is a cartoon American cheerleader who is also a secret agent that saves the world from evil Dr. Drakken. It was one of Disney's better shows and the only thing that makes me feel a little bit better about it no longer being in production is that I seem to be able to catch a Phineas and Ferb episode most any time of the day or night.

Anyhoo, back to Epcot....the smart people at Disney have created a Kim Possible scavenger hunt where each family can pick up a "cell phone" at a designated location, then move onto an assigned country. We were delegated to China, where we had to search for clues in the various shops and landmarks. It was quite a creative game and at the end we "completed our mission." The mission of keeping 3 kids happy with 1 cell phone/activator proved to be a challenge greater than defeating Dr. D, but we soldiered on. Once we were done we were instructed to deposit our device into this box.

I snapped this picture as we were leaving China....isn't it beautiful out there??

And a picture of China....

We came upon Germany soon after, where we found this lovely girl!

One of her woodland friends tried desperately to avoid my husband's shoe (he was oblivious to the whole thing - my husband, that is; the squirrel was quite aware and frantic.)

I think this is a picture from Germany, but I'm not completely sure. Any of you Disney types be sure to correct me if you know!

Outside the Via Napoli restaurant in Italy, where we were waiting for our dinner reservations...

And it was VERY worth it.....(hello, old friend treadmill - I'm sure we will have many early morning meetings together...)

Every night (weather permitting) Epcot puts on a spectacular lights and fireworks show. Here is the grand finale, viewed from the French pavilion.
(Ooo la, la - don't I sound exotic??!!)

Bravo, Epcot. Walt Disney had quite the vision when he thought out the "Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow."