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.