Day 4 (evening) Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party

We were all looking forward to the evening of Day 4. This is when we had tickets to attend Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party. The kids were supposed to go in costume. The girls both dressed as cats. There was trick or treating around the park, a special villain show, a Halloween parade, and a special fireworks spectacular. This post will probably have many pictures as this was one of our most special memories.


The park was all decked out in fall leaves and Halloween decorations. It looked so neat. Cinderella's castle was even changed to an eerie purple Halloween color.




After trick or treating around the park, we got ready for the villain show. If you know much about Madi, you know that she LOVES Disney villains. So, this was right up her alley. They did the show twice. The first time we watched it from the seats we staked out for the parade. But, we really couldn't see very well. When they did the repeat of the show, I took Madi as close to the castle as we could get. We got to see it right up close. Michael and Cassidy kept our seats for the parade. Cassidy doesn't have the same love for villains that Madelyn has. Here are some of the villains in the show.



After the show they said that the villains would be coming down for photos, but only for 10 minutes. They told us to form several lines. Madelyn and I were so close that we were in the very front of one of the lines. The only problem is that you don't know which villain's line you are in.

We had been planning our Disney trip for several months, and all Madelyn could talk about was how she was going to meet Maleficent from Sleeping Beauty. I had been telling her that this probably wouldn't happen, but she insisted that she was going to meet her if she didn't do anything else. I hoped and hoped that we were in the line for Maleficent, but we weren't. We were in the line for a villain from Princess and the Frog. Neither of us really knew who he was, but we snapped a picture with him anyway. Then, I saw her. Maleficent was the next line over. The workers kept saying that they would only be out for 10 minutes, but we got in line anyway. Madelyn was giddy with excitement. The whole time I kept praying that we would get there before the 10 minutes. The workers kept the line moving quickly. No autographs and only one picture per group. Our line was long. Time kept ticking by. Madelyn was insist ant that we were going to make it, but I didn't think we would. She kept telling me how this was "a dream come true". I kept praying that we would get the picture. Guess what....WE MADE IT. Madelyn posed with Maleficent. I held my camera up to take the picture and it was complete darkness. I just kept hoping that the picture would come out and that I wouldn't mess this up since we were only allowed ONE photo. I snapped the camera, and took the picture. It is a little silly, but I even felt teary eyed while I took the picture. It was one time that I really was able to make a dream come true. It sounds silly I know. After Madelyn saw the picture we actually hugged and JUMPED UP AND DOWN saying "We did it, We did it".


Can you believe we even had time to sneak in a picture with the Queen of Hearts as she was walking back to the castle?



Then, it was time for the parade. The parade started with a headless horseman. Several different floats followed. Here are some pictures during the parade:





After the parade, we stayed for the Halloween fireworks spectacular. The fireworks were set to music. I think the fireworks show lasted 30 minutes with some of the most amazing fireworks I have ever seen.

Disney vacation - Day 4 (afternoon) 9/18/10

We spent the first part of our fourth day at Disney's Animal Kingdom. We started the day by going on a safari where we were able to see many different types of animals roaming around. There were rhinos, hippos, ostriches, birds, giraffes, lions, and even an elephant and her baby. Some came so close to the vehicle we were riding in. Here are some of the neat things we saw on the safari.








We met some neat characters at Animal Kingdom, and we did alot of waiting in line to get to some of the main characters pictures and autographs. It was at this park that we met Rafiki (from Lion King), Minnie, Donald, and Goofy. We also met Jiminey Cricket and Pocahontas (with Meeko). Of all the characters, I was most impressed by Pocahontas. She really looked and spoke like the character from the Disney movie. She even told Michael that his rainbow shirt was made from "all the colors of the wind."





I really love the picture of Madelyn looking at Minnie. Madelyn was so happy to meet all of the characters and to get their autographs. Her face in this picture just seems to show the joy and amazement she had during most of the trip.

The last part of our day at Animal Kingdom was spent at a conservation station. It was there that we learned how they take care of the animals. We got to see the operating room that they use when animals need surgery. And, we saw some small animals and reptiles that were being rehabilitated. It was neat to learn more about how much Walt Disney valued nature, animals, and taking care of God's planet.

Disney Vacation - Day 3 9/17/10

We spent most of our third day at Disney's Hollywood Studios. There we were able to see several really neat shows. We saw a Little Mermaid show, and a 3-D Muppets show, and a great live production of Beauty and the Beast.



The most important thing we did this day was let Cassidy give her "pipeys" (pacifiers) to Mickey. She had all of them in a plastic baggie. She knew that this was the plan, and she handled it so well. She went right up to Mickey and handed him the bag. Mickey wasn't really sure what the pipeys were for, but he acted so thankful for the gift anyway. We explained to Mickey that he needed to give these pipeys to babies because Cassidy was a big girl, and she didn't need them anymore. Here is the picture of Cassidy giving her pipeys to Mickey and then us as a group. By the way, Cassidy never really asked for her pipeys again. She didn't even cry for them at bedtime, but I think it was because she was so exhausted every night. We were so proud of her.




After meeting Mickey, we met Lotso from Toy Story 3. I am not kidding when I say that I was giddy to meet Lotso and to have my picture with him. He even smelled like strawberries.



We also met Buzz Lightyear and Woody at Hollywood Studios.
After spending several hours at this park, we decided to go back to our hotel and rest. The girls did a little swimming. This was the Mighty Ducks pool at our hotel.



We had planned to go to Downtown Disney and figured we would be out late. After a few hours of rest, we decided to make our way to Downtown Disney. We waited almost 30 minutes for the bus to come, but it never arrived. So, we had a great idea to ride to another park (Epcot) to try to catch a bus to the downtown area from there. Little did we know, there was no bus from Epcot to Downtown Disney. So, we decided to take a cab, which was a little pricey, but definitely worth it.

Downtown Disney is mostly an eating and shopping area. There are some neat things to see. This was in Lego Land. Can you believe that these statues were made completely from Legos?


This is another picture I thought was cute. This Cinderella is not made out of Legos.



We did eat at the T-Rex Cafe because Cassidy has a thing for dinosaurs. It is a neat restraunt with robotic dinosaurs. There is a storm that happens during the meal and the dinosaurs move and make noise. The restraunt has flashing lights and sounds of thunder. It was a pretty neat (but crowded) place. This is another place that my camera did not work too well.


Getting back to the hotel from Downtown Disney was another fiasco. After walking what had to be a mile to the bus stop and waiting for too long, we decided to take a cab back to the hotel...only to find out the cabs were back where we had come from. So, we hiked about a mile back to where the cabs were. Cassidy fell asleep again, and we had many packages to carry. But, Madelyn was a trooper and we made it back home. Other than one really neat toy store, Downtown Disney did not have alot to offer us. I am not sure that we would go back there again while our kids are still so little.

Second Day of Disney 9/16/10

Our second day of our Disney vacation started by us going to Epcot for a breakfast with princesses. This was really the only time we visited Epcot. Epcot was really beautiful with many pretty sights to see. This is us waiting for our breakfast. A Disney employee offered to take our picture.



This is our breakfast with princesses. It was a wonderful experience. After breakfast, each of the princesses comes to the table for a quick chat and a photo opportunity. Madelyn was delighted as she has loved princesses since she was three. At this point, Cassidy was still more impressed by Mickey and friends, but after the trip she also developed a love for all things princess.





After our princess breakfast, we made our way to the Magic Kingdom. We started the day by riding around the park on the train so we could get a feel for the park and see many of the sights during the trip. We also looked at the map to try to figure out a plan. This is us on the train. Look how hot we already were and this was late morning. I booked our vacation for September because I thought the temperatures would be cooler. I guess I should have researched Florida temperatures before making that decision.



We rode many rides on day two. The girls both really loved the carosel. And, here we are on the Flying Dumbos, a Disney classic.





We finished this day at Hollywood Studios. I was told that seeing the show Fantasmic was a must. And, that was correct. Words really can't describe all that we saw at this show. Fortunately we took our video camera to capture this show. The girls love to watch it. It involves lights, lasers, fountains, fire, and many special effects. I couldn't even begin to name all of the characters that you get to see in this show. This was one of the most amazing things we saw while we were at Disney. Here is one picture I was able to capture, but the show is at night so my camera didn't do to well. Also, you can see by the time we made it to this show, Cassidy was exhausted. She did wake up to watch the show. Also, this is the last picture taken of Cassidy with her "pipey."

Disney Vacation - September 2010

9/15/2010 Day One-
Day one was mostly a day of traveling. We flew from Lubbock to Houston to Orlando. Both girls did very well on the plane and during the layovers. We left bright and early Wednesday morning and arrived at our hotel around 5:00pm. We had hoped to go swimming, but our bags weren't delivered to our room in time. So instead we looked around our hotel, All Star Movies.

Everything about our hotel was super sized. Exploring was fun because there were many very large things to see, such as a large Dalmation and giant Toy Story Figures. There was also a Fantasia section and a Herbie the Love Bug Section. We stayed in the Mighty Ducks section, but our favorite was the 101 Dalmations section.
We also used this day to explore the hotel gift shop. Each girl got an autograph book that they would use throughout the trip. Finally, we ate dinner at the hotel and got ready for the long days ahead.

Walk Like You Have Somewhere to Go by Lucille O'Neal

Walk Like You Have Somewhere To Go is a motto that Ms. O'Neal got from a preacher in her church when she was a youth in the church. Since then, Ms. O'Neal, the famous basketball player Shaq's mother has lived her life by this motto. This book is a story of her life from childhood to the present. She discusses her life growing up without the influence of her mother, being raised by strict Christian grandparents, living through an unhappy marriage, and raising her children through all of life's ups and downs, and finally pursuing her dreams. This book was very easy to read. In fact, I was able to read it in two days. I found the story line interesting and easy to follow. I did not find the book to be very inspirational. Ms. O'Neal had alot of breaks in her life due to her son's wealth and fame. This isn't to say that she did not have her own personal drive to achieve her accomplishments without the help of Shaq, but she did have many financial advantages that ordinary people can not relate to. If you are looking for an interesting story line and a book that is easy to read, this might be the book for you. If you are looking for an inspirational story you can relate to, I do not think this is a good choice.

Thomas Nelson has provided me with a complimentary copy of this book.

Bringing Up Girls

I really enjoyed the book "Bringing up Girls" by James Dobson. In the beginning, I thought this book would be more geared toward mothers as naturally it seems mothers want to know the best advice on raising daughters. However, once I read the book, I discovered that there is a great deal of information geared toward fathers. I shared many of the things I read with my husband, and now that I have finished the book, he has started reading it. This book was thought provoking and led my husband and I to discuss our past parenting experience as well as things that we would like to add to or change about our future parenting endeavors. James Dobson is able to provide not only information based on many years of research, but also practical information based on his experience working with girls throughout the years as well as his experience raising his own daughter. James Dobson does present a strong opinion about stay at home parenting in this book. At times, I did not like reading those sections as I am a working mother. I do feel that overall; this book is an excellent tool to use. It is based on Biblical principles and provides a loving approach to parenting. I also liked this book because you can read it no matter what age your daughter is. Our daughters are 3 and 7, but the parenting strategies used in this book could also be used for teenagers. I highly recommend this book to anyone who is concerned about raising a daughter with high moral values and a strong self esteem.

Tyndale House Publishers provided me with a complimentary copy of this book.