Tom Sawyer Island

Tom Sawyer Island is located in Frontierland in the Magic Kingdom. Last time we went to Disney we didn't explore this little island. It was a nice little surprise though. You have to take a raft that looks just like one built by Tom Sawyer or Huck Finn. The island itself has trails winding through it, forts to explore, and cave like tunnels. It is a nice "quiet" retreat from the rest of the park.

Which way do we go?

Gotta love Kate's face in this one.

Look closely and you can see Kate and Cary in the window.

Ferry v. Monorail

To get to the Magic Kingdom you have to take a ferry or the monorail. The monorail is technically a few minutes shorter but you end up being stuck with a ton of people who are usually grumpy, dirty, sweaty and don't have such a nice odor. We prefer the ferry with clean, crisp air and the wind blowing in your face...and the view is much nicer too.

Magic Kingdom

The Magic Kingdom is my favorite of the 4 Disney Parks. It is full of magic and wonder and brings me back to my childhood of princesses and fairies.

Big Thunder Mountain....not my favorite roller coaster but still so much fun!

Liberty Belle Riverboat takes you all around Tom Sawyer's Island
One of my all time favorite movies as a kid was Swiss Family Robinson. The Robinson's lived in the most perfect tree house.
For some reason, Kate fell in love with the alien Stitch from "Lilo and Stitch" on this trip. She has never even seen the movie. She kept saying over and over, "He's sooo cute!"
We were able to see two different parades at Magic Kingdom. The first was the "Move it! Shake it! Celebrate it!" street party and the second was "Celebrate a Dream Come True" parade. I LOVE the parades. They are full of fun, music, and tons of different characters.






Between Main Street, U.S.A, Adventureland, Frontierland, Tomorrowland, Fantasyland, and Liberty Square there is so much to do and see in the Magic Kingdom.

Epcot

We spent two days in Epcot and still did not get to see everything. That park is HUGE! As an added bonus the International Flower and Garden Festival was going on so we got to see all kinds of beautiful flowers, topiary, and Bambi's butterfly garden. It was so beautiful!

While going around the World Showcase, we met the nicest Disney employees in Mexcio....Ramon and Luis. They took the kids on a Mickey Mouse scavenger hunt.

Another really neat tucked away area is Club Cool in Future World. There we got to sample sodas from all over the world. My favorite was from China. My least favorite was Italy's...very bitter tasting. The best part about it was that it was free!

More highlights from our visit to Epcot

Next stop.....Magic Kingdom!

7 days and 637 pictures later

5am and ready to hit the road to the happiest place on Earth with Grandma Martin and some of our favorite people, the Flores family

One of many, many pit stops

The great Mississippi River

Our final destination.....17 plus hours later

A sneak peak of how we spent 7 glorious days


Only 622 more pictures to go..:)

Brilliant!

Who knew that making a tree out of construction paper and tissue paper would garner this statement from Kate, "Mom! You are brilliant!" I'm thinking I need to make paper trees more often.

Kate had to make a diorama for school. She researched the African Elephant and had to make a display with it in its environment. She made it all by herself minus the brilliant tree.

Workin' Man

Braeden is finally earning his keep at the ripe old age of 12. He is a referee for our local soccer league. Saturday was his first day and he absolutely loved it!......and he made a ridiculous amount of money for only 4 hours of "work".

total bummer

Today Cary and I are celebrating 15 years of wedded bliss....that is not the total bummer. Last night he surprised me by telling me he had taken the day off today so that we could go to the temple and then spend the day together. The total bummer?.....Kate woke up sick. So, she is home today and I sent Cary to work. We are going to try to have a do-over on Friday. Gotta love kids!

Cary's Theme Song

I love my nerdy, engineer husband!

Beiber Fever

I was not a big Justin Beiber fan...until Saturday. I am not embarrassed to say that I have jumped on the Beiber bandwagon after seeing "Never Say Never" with Kate on Saturday. It brings me back to my NKOTB days. Besides Kate ONLY likes him because, "That boy is super talented"...those are her words, not mine. :)

26 days and other random stuff

That's how many days are left until we make our way to the happiest place on earth! SUPER Excited!!



We had a very low key Valentines Day...just the way I like it. No dressing up, no waiting in lines for a table...just me and Cary in our pajamas eating our favorite chips and salsa. Then we feasted on chocolate dipped strawberries.

This morning I was getting Joshua ready for school and out of the blue he says to me, "Eating green beans is way worse then getting sick." What? I would really love to spend a day in the head of that kid.


Sunday I am speaking in sacrament. So, most of my week will be spent thinking, pondering, and writing a talk. If I had it my way I would totally be reading this:

I read The Hunger Games last week and couldn't put it down so I was super happy when Cary brought me home the other two books in the series. Catching Fire is gonna have to wait until Sunday afternoon though. Until then it will be waiting on my nightstand along the third book, Mockingjay.

beast-mode

This is a word that my children, particularly by boys LOVE to use. I don't even think it's a real word, but it's one of those made up words that some one used one day and now everything is beast-mode or beast. I guess it's used in place of words like fantastic, awesome, terrific, or even cool. Everything lately is totally beast-mode....or as Braeden sometimes like to say, "I am so beast".

Speaking of Braeden, this morning I was talking to him and I realized that I actually had to look up at him. For awhile we have been eye to eye, but all of a sudden he has really shot up. In the middle of our conversation I was thinking to myself, "Holy cow! How did this happen? How has he grown up so fast?" I don't like it...it's totally not beast-mode.

here it "snows" again

This is how I am feeling today about the snow and the freezing temps. I am so ready for it to go away. I am really looking forward to Sunday when it is suppose to get up to 69 degrees.


Joshua wanted something warm and yummy that he could dip in milk for breakfast. So I tried a new recipe this morning. It was an epic FAIL. I hate when that happens. I followed the directions exactly right, so it wasn't me...it was the crappy recipe. That one is going in the trash along with the flat muffins. We opted for french toast and hot chocolate instead.

Braeden has the right idea about today. He is still in bed at 11:07am. I don't plan on waking him any time soon..after all, he is a growing boy.

I promised pics form my bday. I totally forgot to take any pictures of the night...except for this one. My wonderful husband who loves me so much, grilling fajita meat for me and my friends in the snow and ice. Oh, I love him! Love the headlamp!

Day 4

I saw this on facebook and thought it was funny!

This is what it has looked like at our house the last few days. I am so grateful for game systems, netflix, and warm toasty blankets. They have saved us!

Today is my birthday. I asked Mother Nature to take away the ice and the cold for my birthday. She basically laughed in my face. This is what we woke up to this morning.

My kids are so over the ice and snow. They won't even get out in it long enough for me to take some pictures. This one was taken from the car.. (yes, we actually ventured out today) After all it is my birthday and I NEEDED to get out.

Tonight I am having a little party. It should be amusing to watch Cary grill fajitas in the snow. Pictures will be posted soon. Happy Birthday to me!!

Cabin Fever

Rolling black outs, temps of 10 degrees with windchills of -4, and streets paved in solid sheets of ice.....I thought we lived in Texas.

After two days of freezing temps Braeden has had enough. He is an outdoors type of kid..so he put on the layers and duct taped his pants...he was ready for some ice soccer. I can't believe he lasted for as long as he did. I hate the cold!


This cold weather is making me crazy and I am eating like a pig! Why is it I feel the need to bake more and eat more? The muffins, and bread, and brownies, and oh so good creamy hot chocolate are adding inches to my middle. Not to mention, it doesn't help when I am trying to work it all off on the treadmill and it decides to stop in the middle of a w0rkout because the power goes out. Oh, and my skin is itchy...did i mention I hate the cold?

I am hoping that by Friday we have thawed out enough so that I don't have to do a redo for my birthday....Pretty please, Mother Nature...with a cherry on top....