My Disney Advice

This post has been a long time coming. It has been almost a month since we left for our vacation. It was marvelous. We loved every minute of it. I wanted to post some advice I had based on our experience there. Take it for what you will.

-get the Disney meal plan. No need for the deluxe plan, basic was fine. You get one snack, one quick service (fast food) meal, and one table meal per day, per guest. It was great. You can use them in any order you want. Be sure to ask the cashier what is involved with each meal. Table service meals all included a dessert. Quick service meals include a side and dessert.

-make reservation for the Table Service meals ahead of time. I was surprised that we really had to go out of our way to plan our sit down meals.

-don't bring a baby if you can help it. I had a five and seven year old and they got tired. I saw many, many toddlers and babies and felt so sorry for their parents. That really limits what you are able to ride/do and they won't remember it at all. Of course, this is your own decision. I would be comfortable taking kids 4 or over.

-rent a stroller. This piggy backs on the last topic. We rented a single stroller for five days (there's a discount for multiple days) the girls took turns or shared the space. It was perfect. We would've been carrying Little Sis a lot.

-Save shopping till the end. If you have specific gifts you want to buy, spend your time looking, but wait to make purchases close to the end of your time. The stores can be very overwhelming (especially to kids) We told the girls to look and we actually spent our last day shopping. Downtown Disney has most of what you will need, and you don't need a ticket to get in.

-Stay on property, this goes along with the dining plan. If you don't stay on property you won't need that. I recommend staying in a Disney resort property. This includes transportation to all the parks, and downtown Disney. If you want to go to another resort (for a meal or something) go to a park and there transfer to another bus to get to that resort. Some resorts have ferry boats, or access to the monorail. Ask the bus driver he/she will usually know what the best route is for you.

-Take pictures of course, but get a photo pass. Disney has this awesome program, you pick up a gift card like card. Around all the parks are photographers who take great quality pictures, when they do, hand them your photopass card and they will swipe it. After your vacation you go online to see you photos and purchase them. No pressure. They even created a picture where my girls are "holding" Tinkerbell. I love it.

-Use a travel agent to plan your vacation. I started out trying to plan this myself. I am so glad that I eventually decided to call our travel agent who planned our Hawaii trip. She thought of so many things that I wouldn't have known. Also we prepaid so everything was all paid(even all meals). We only had to bring cash for tips and gifts.

-Buy or bring an autograph book for all kids. I never thought of this, but all the characters will give autographs with pictures.

Lastly, her are a few of my favorites:
Garden Grille (at Epcot, rotating restaurant, character meal)
Askerhaus Banquet Hall (also Epcot, princess meal)
Captain's Grille (Yacht Club resort, good food)
Soarin' (Epcot, best ride ever)
Safari (Animal Kingdom, go early for best animal action)
It's tough to be a Bug (Animal Kingdom, best show)

Feel free to comment if you have questions. I'm no expert, this is just what I learned from our experience. Also, if you live in our area and you want my travel agent's number let me know.

Gettin' it done, or not.

Someone help me understand how I manage to stay home two solid days in a row and still not get all my house chores done. Argh! It's so frustrating. I have a lot to do and stayed busy all day. (Well, I was on the computer some, but I am trying to cut back.) It seems like I can't get everthing done. How much do you get done in a day to consider it a sucessful day as a SAHM? Six loads of laundry, bills, vacuuming? Is a quick straitening enough? What do you think?

P.S. Pray. Josh and I are making a decision that will affect our future. Nothing scary or bad. Just a decision. Pray for wisdom and direction for both of us. Maybe I will fill you in more later if I can.

And so it begins.

Throughout our parenting Josh and I have felt strongly that our girls should never be more busy than we are. We have always had the rule of one extra activity at a time. So far this has meant that they do nothing. Yeah, well, there was that one season of spring soccer when Big Sis was four. At three she did gymnastics for a few months, we decided that wasn't her "thang". But nothing since then, she's 7 now.

For months and months I said "We need to get the girls into something." Still we hesitated, dragging our feet. Until now.

As of tonight we are the proud parents of two Upward Cheerleaders. It was practice night, and it was so fun to be there and watch. Unfortunately, Little Sis practices at 5:30 and Big Sis at 6:30. We finally got supper (at Colton's) at 7:30. Now we are home and the girls are finally in bed at 9 p.m.

This is so odd for us. We are usually at home on evenings. This will take some getting used to for sure. This isn't even considering that the games start in December and run through February. They are on Saturday mornings, another commitment that we aren't at all used to.

I have a feeling this is just the beginning of a busy life raising and running around our kiddos.

Star Gazing.

A few nights ago the night was really clear and beautiful. We can see a lot of stars out at our place. Josh wanted me and the girls to go out in the backyard with him and look up at the stars. We got two blankets out and all four snuggled down between them on the grass. We were gazing and talking. It was great family time.

Big Sis, wise beyond her years, said,"God sees all the stars and He put them all in place." I agreed, "I told her God knows how many there are and He named them all." She thought for a moment, then she said, "I wonder if there's one named Pat?"

Jill.

Josh and I went to college with a guy named Scott. He's a great guy, he let me ride in his car to our bowling class. One day I beat him and the other guy we bowled with. Thy didn't like that too much.

Josh and I moved on in life and colleges. Scott became friends with my younger sister and her soon to be husband. Scott met and married a girl from Texas named Jill. My sister and her husband and Scott and Jill became great friends. Scott and Jill were at the hospital at 10:30pm the night my nephew was born. They had no kids at the time. Earlier this year Scott and Jill were blessed with their first child, Bryce. He is 3 months old now.

Yesterday, Scott, Jill and Bryce were on their way to a wedding. They were in a car accident and Jill was thrown from the car. CPR was done at the scene, she was rushed to the hospital and then life flighted on to a bigger hospital. Jill never woke up and was pronounced dead this morning. Scott has a few cuts and bruises, but baby Bryce is perfect.

Please be in prayer for this man, a pastor of his church, and their baby boy who will never know his mommy and how much she loved him and wanted him. Jill was a Christ follower and is now in heaven. It's hard to understand why she had to go now, but someday her family will see her again.

"So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal." 2nd Corinthians 4:18