Chicken in the Yard!

Today it all changes

The Disney Trifecta (part 2)

And now, back to the Disney Trifecta. When we last left our story we were leaving Disney World and the Disney Cruise behind us. It was time to come home and spend time with our families at Disneyland! So we stayed in a nearby hotel for a handful of nights while popping over to The Happiest Place on Earth each day.

Let me just say I have never seen so many characters as we did this trip. That first morning we met my folks for a character breakfast and there was an army of characters. Not only that but they were characters we don't normally see.

First off there were two mice from Cinderella, Tigger and Eeyore, then a penguin from Mary Poppins who happened to perform one heck of a dance for us.

Oh, and Belle was saving her last page in her autograph book for Rapunzel, so when Eeyore picked up the book to sign she told him not too. Eeyore put the book down, drooped his head, and slowly shuffled away looking back now and again. He was totally rejected. It was so awesome. What a perfect Eeyore.

We then saw Rafiki, he's the one in the middle. That's my Dad on the left, just so you're not confused. I didn't even know Disney had a Rafiki. Oh well. After that Captain Hook joined us.

But the highlight for me was when Dad and I spotted R2D2 zooming around the updated Star Tours ride. Yeah, R2!

Belle also went through Wilderness Explorer Training with Russell. It was actually pretty fun and we all go to "Caw Caw RAAAWRR!"

But I think the best part was Belle and I getting to be exclusive Toy Story toys. Yeehaw, ride 'em cowboy! Personally I like the one of me the best... but you know, that's just me.

And of course we saw the big cheese himself. Somehow Mickey magically transported himself from Disney World so he could take a picture with Belle at Disneyland. It was amazing! Thus endeth the Disney Trifecta! Huzzah!

All grown up

Little Miss Isabelle is now a Kindergartener! How did this happen?! Where did my baby girl go? Last week was her first week of Kindergarten, but it was only half days to ease them into it. And as you can see she loves it! Can that uniform be any cuter? Yes, it can actually. She has saddle shoes to go with it but isn't wearing them in that picture.

Today is also a big first, it's her actual first FULL day of Kindergarten. Like she had a lunchbox full of snacks for recess and lunch for lunchtime. What a day! I made sure to explain which was for snack and which was for lunch so she didn't eat it all at once or something. To which she replied: "Oh, I get it Daddy, this side is for snack and this side is for lunch." Yes indeed child, you do get it. You get everything and now you are going to learn even more.

And here I sit, at home, having eaten lunch all by myself. And Belle sat at school and ate lunch all by herself, or at least without me. She used to be my lunch buddy. My shopping buddy. My kick it on the couch and watch a movie buddy. My grab an ice cream at the beach buddy. I really missed her today. I can't wait to scoop her up after school and hear about all her adventures.

 

The Disney Trifecta

We have just completed a Disney vacation first in our family. This vacation included Walt Disney World, a Disney Cruise to the Bahamas, and a few days spent at Disneyland upon our return home. I am proud to announce the completion of the Disney Trifecta!

This was sort of a spur of the moment trip that was booked only a week or so prior to jumping on a plane. But that made it all the more spontaneous and fun in my opinion. Anyways, I won't blab about how awesome this and how amazing that, but it was awesome and amazing. I will, however, show you pictures. Though not all of them because that would take up my entire storage allotment. So, without further ado, pictures.

What's there to say about Walt Disney World other than hot damn I love that place. Or, hot damn it's really hot here in August. Both are accurate.

Katie's dreams, um I mean Belle's dreams, finally came true and we got reservations at Cinderella's Royal Table for a character breakfast INSIDE THE CASTLE! Yes, we dined in true princess (and prince) style. Belle of course had to prep her autograph book for the onslaught of royalty. Speaking of which...

Now if you know Isabelle, you know that she's Rapunzel crazy right now. I mean, it's Rapunzel ALL OF THE TIME with that kid. She has a Rapunzel room, pajamas, half a dozen shirts, the dress with two different wigs, etc. But for some reason she wanted to go Snow White on this occasion. It worked out well though because Snow White was actually there.

Of course Belle then did get to meet Rapunzel later that day and was completely tickled about it. Rapunzel didn't seem to mind that Belle was dressed as Snow White though. Oh, and can you tell in the picture that it's like 90 some odd degrees outside with 110% humidity? Well, it was.

Ok, let's speed up a bit. We saw more characters, sped through Animal Kingdom, Epcot, more Magic Kingdom, and ate a lot of food. We also went to a nice dinner at Tony's (the restaurant from Lady and the Tramp) and Belle and I gave eachother the classic spaghetti noodle kiss. We stayed at the Beach Club Resort which was just amazing. We stayed here once before and loved it and once again it was just awesome. Our final morning kicked off with a character breakfast before catching our ride to Port Canaveral for the big cruise.

THE CRUISE! Where do I start... Well, this was our Katie and my 3rd Disney Cruise and Belle's 2nd Disney Cruise, but this one blew the rest out of the water because we were on The Disney Dream. Yes folks, the brand spanking new giant ship of the Disney fleet. The Dream, THE Disney Dream, yes, that one. And it just plain rocked.

Let's start with the kids club. I mean, this is almost the entire reason you go on a Disney Cruise. The kids club on the other ships is cool. But the kids club on The Disney Dream is mind blowing. These pictures don't do it justice because there are at least 5 to 10 different themed rooms, not counting the 2 giant dance/interactive floors. The kids can actually play interactive games on the dance floor! Anyways, I can write a ton about the kids club but it wouldn't scratch the surface. Needless to say this was Belle's favorite place where she made friends, played with characters, and never wanted to leave. I miss you kids club.

There were a few things we particularly liked about our room. For starters we had a seriously awesome private verandah. This was perfect for relaxing with a glass of wine at night under the stars while Isabelle slept inside. Plus it had some serious views of the islands.

The room was pretty big for just the three of us. I could see cramming in another person or two and still being comfortable. Belle had the choice between a couch bed, a top bunk bed, or a pull down murphy bed. She opted for the couch bed and it fit her quite nicely. As you can see the view of Disney's Castaway Cay from our verandah was quite lovely.

We also decorated our door in Tangled style. Since the doors are metal it's quite easy to slap up some magnet decorations in any style you choose. Unless you're with Isabelle and then it's Rapunzel or nothing.

One of the most amazing features of the new ship has to be the interactive artwork that you find throughout the ship. Now however I describe it, or show you through pictures, I'm not doing it justice. This is truly an amazing part of the cruise. For all you Harry Potter fans out there imagine the moving paintings and newspapers from the movies. Well now picture Disney paintings throughout the ship that when you stand in front of them they start to animate and show you a little scene. Then if you stay there you see more, and then more. It's awesome.

Now add to that an interactive mystery game for kids to solve during the cruise! Yes. Belle signed up to solve two different cases and was assigned a detective card and map. We all then proceeded to run around the ship to the different artwork to solve the case. When you hold your card up to the paintings it recognizes your card and you have to solve a little puzzle to get your clue. It then keeps track of your specific progress throughout your cruise until you solve the case. Again, it's hard to describe, but it's awesome. This was definitely one of the highlights of the cruise.

What's a Disney Cruise without Pirate Night? This would be the ultimate highlight for me since I particularly dig pirates. I totally walked around on deck with a roated turkey leg in one hand and my cutlass in the other, I won't lie. Less talk, more pirates!

As you can see, we really pirated up for the night. After all the picture mania we just made it out on deck to see the fireworks and pirate show.

Just a few beautiful views from our trip. The first is Quiet Cove beach just for adults on Disney's Castaway Cay. Belle was playing in the kids club on the island while Katie and I relaxed on the beach for a bit. This is right before a giant storm came in and the stinging rain pelted us as we ran back on the ship. I don't have pictures of that though. The super bright impossibly blue picture is Nassau in the Bahamas from our verandah. That's about all of the Bahamas we saw since we decided the best part of the trip was the ship so we just stayed on it. The last picture is one of the sunsets we watched from our verandah. Ah... vacation.

Katie and I also sampled the two adult only restaurants, Palo and Remy. We've been to Palo for brunch before so we knew what to expect and weren't disappointed. Awesome food and service, plus a little anniversary surprise in the end. How have we been married for 13 years already?

As you may know, there are plenty of shows to keep you entertained on the ship. We enjoyed them all except one which was just plain terrible. But one we really liked was The Golden Mickeys which is supposed to be like the Oscars. So they of course had a whole red carpet pre-show where they interview attendees, including our little Miss Isabelle. Yes, she got to be on the giant screen in the theater as she was interviewed about her favorite things to do and see on the cruise. I believe her favorite place was the kids club and her favorite princess was Rapunzel. Also she likes swimming in the pool but not the Aquaduck. Have I even mentioned the Aquaduck? It's just a giant water rollercoaster on the top deck, you know... just... awesome.

Of course all good things have to come to an end, even cruises. So on our last night we made sure to get to the atrium early to watch the "See ya real soon!" farewell show. All the characters come out and mingle with the crowd so we can all get our last minute pictures.

Belle got to see all the characters one last time and take a few pictures with her favorites.

After all the shows Belle got to hang out in the kids club while Katie and I got packed up. Once that was done we took advantage of the quiet time alone to go on a late night stroll on the top decks. The Disney Dream was truly a magical ship and we just had a wonderful cruise.

But of all the things we saw and did I must say the most magical of all was spending quality time with Katie and Belle. I'll never forget dancing on deck with my little girl on a magical ship.

I know I left Disneyland out of this Trifecta, but my fingers are tired of typing. More on the Disneyland leg of our trip later.

Isabelle guest stars on The Muppet Show

Well, at least in our dining room version. Belle had fun talking about Rapunzel, telling a few jokes, and just antagonizing Kermit. Grab some popcorn and enjoy.

Taste butts

So I got Isabelle to try eating avocado again recently. This is something she used to love but won't eat now. So I figured let's give it another shot. And this is what Belle had to say: "I used to like to eat avocado as a baby but now my taste butts have changed and it's disgusting."

"Um, your what?"

"My taste butts."

"You mean your taste buds?"

"That's what I said, my taste butts."

"Oh ok. Good."

Our kid is growing up fast. Too fast. But I'm so glad these little glimmers of her babyhood still pop up now and then.

Well, she finally did it

For four and a half years Belle has gone though life without getting the stomach flu. That ended today. That's a long no-barf streak for the lifetime of a kid. I'm proud of her. Sadly this morning wasn't so fun, but she's starting to feel better now at least.

I know, after waiting forever for an actual update you get this. Sorry, but I had to document it. I mean, she hasn't barfed in over four years. At least not from being sick. She did chuck once after bumping her head real hard. And then another time for a reason I can't remember right now. But those were more like chunky burps. Ok, I'll stop. Sorry.

Anyways, all is well here. Mostly normal family life stuff. Though we did go on a couple of awesome trips. I'll have to post some pics of those soon. In the meantime here's a little Iron Giant Wallpaper I threw together to decorate my desktop. I'm sure you have all seen this movie because it is one of the greatest animated films of all time. But for those of you who haven't seen it, do it. Now. Seriously. Enjoy the wallpaper!

Malevolence and mirth

Well, another Halloween has come and gone. It's a bitter sweet time of the year. I'm sad to see it go, but very happy with how fun it was this year. Of course, the entire house is still decorated so I guess it hasn't really left. I should probably do something about that... Anyways, we crammed in as much fun as we could and had a great time. And now, the highlights. For starters Belle REALLY loves Halloween now. From watching "The Nightmare Before Christmas" 10 times, to carving her very first Jack-o'-lantern, to making her own spooky decorations, to going to multiple pumpkin patches, to watching "It's The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown" so many times that she's memorized it. If it has something to do with Halloween she was in. Sign her up! This of course made me quite delighted. Since, as you may know, I'm sort of partial to the holiday myself.

And yeah, those are Belle's hand-drawn cutouts of Jack, Sally, Lock, Shock, and Barrel from "The Nightmare Before Christmas." She loves that movie, as do I. We even got to see it at the El Capitan in Hollywood with Katie's parents. They show it every year, but this time in 4D. Yes, FOUR! That meant it was not only in 3D but there was wind, fog, lighting effects, and even SNOW in the theater. It was awesome! We're definitely going again next year. And yes Belle plays with her newly puchased Jack and Sally dolls daily. Oh, and that jack-o'-lantern Belle's posing with (and kissing) was designed and carved by her own little hands. I'm so proud.

Another Halloween of course means another Halloween party! We had tons of fun hanging out with ghosts, goblins, family and friends. This year there was a record number of kidlets in attendance and since it was also Halloween night they all got to go trick or treating together! I stayed home to hold down the fort while they all went but Katie said it was a sprint from house to house. They each wanted to get there first to ring the doorbell and yell: "Trick or Treat!" Somehow they all got along though and their bags gradually filled with goodies. Eventually they tired and came back for more running around and playing. This lasted until they passed out or their parents reached critical mass.

Oh and you may be wondering who this little guy is. That's Isabelle's new cousin Logan! He had his first sleepover and joined us for Halloween weekend. I really wish he would have dressed up for Halloween but Trish and Michael thought he was too young for costumes. So he just wore his regular clothes that day. He's actually a pirate you know.

Also, I have to tip my hat to Katie's family for helping out so much with the party. They really helped make it go smoothly, thanks guys! Also a special thanks to my folks and my nephew Matthew for scaring the dickens out of the trick or treaters as they came to the door. My folks came as toy army men and really did an amazing job on their costumes. For starters my Dad made his own bazooka! I mean, first prize for that alone. Matthew was the grenadier, or the radio man, depending on his mood at the time. My Mom, who looks like an Ewok/Wookie, was a sniper in a ghillie suit. Yes, that's a child's size ghillie suit. And yes, this is the first time I've ever written the word "ghillie" and had to look up how it is spelled. No, I don't know why it's called that.

Anyways, they all posed in the front yard like statues and folks would wonder if they were real. Honestly they rarely noticed my Mom standing by the stairs because she just looked like a short bush. But when she'd say something or move it totally scared them. At one point I had her hold a jack-o'-lantern and slowly move it up and down so it looked like it was floating. That really freaked people out. Overall a very fun night, even more so having my family out there making those trick or treaters earn their treats.

Oh, and you may wonder why Belle is dressed in pirate gear... Well, she wanted to be Goofy this year. Of course, every year she wants to be Goofy, but she was going to be Goofy again right up until the party started at which point she wanted to be like her Mommy and be a pirate. Fortunately we stock pirate costumes in all sizes at our house so one was ready and waiting for her. Ok, she already had the pirate costume she wore on the Disney Cruise. Wait, have I not mentioned the Disney Cruise. Damn, I have a lot of writing to catch up on.

And yes, you saw right. I was dressed in a giant pink bunny suit. I was Ralphie, the pink nightmare from "A Christmas Story." I plan on wearing it Christmas morning too.

It's Halloween!

Ok, I know I haven't been there for you lately and there's no excuse other than that life happens. But now it's Halloween time and I really can't let this special occasion go by without writing about it. I mean, it's my favorite time of the year! The leaves are falling, the skeletons are roaming, the tombstones are rising. And around here things get down right spooky.

I have a little tradition of decking out our house in all sorts of Halloween glory both inside and out. The same stuff gets dragged out every year but I usually try to touch things up or add new items. I'm deeming this year the "Jason and the Argonauts" year. This is mostly due to the large amount of skeletons we have roaming out front. We still have the big scarecrow too of course, which Belle has been calling "The Great Pumpkin" because she's seen that movie too many time to count. Which gets me thinking of doing a Charlie Brown theme out front one year... that would kind of rock.

Anyways, indoors we have most of the same decor except for a few items. First off my kick-ass Aunt made me a giant Jack Skellington stain glassed window that I'm proudly displaying on the fireplace mantel this year. She made me a smaller one before which I loved so she decided to super-size it this time and it's pretty impressive.

Belle and I also made some creepy spider egg sacks to hang from the ceiling. They are truly gross and awesome. I mean, once you say "spider" and "egg sack" in the same sentence you get creeped out, but seeing these in person is just plain freaky.

Speaking of spiders Belle and I went to the Spider exhibit at the Natural History Museum and let me tell you: GAAAAAAAH! You MUST see this if you have nerves of steel because it's amazing. They basically take the butterfly exhibit and then fill it with giant scary jungle spiders which then CONSUME the butterflies. Yes, they eat them... all of them. When you enter the enclosure you don't really notice them, but once you start spotting them you realize they are watching you. It's awesome! But at some point Belle got freaked out and we left. I won't lie, I was wigging a little too.

So, hope you all have a Happy Halloween! And since I can't guarantee I'll be writing again soon I'll just wish you all a Happy Halloween for next year too.

 

FOUR

Happy Birthday Isabelle! Today is your special day, we love you so!