#mcdanfamloveswdw: Day 1

Posted on May 23, 2015May 23, 2015 by mommyinthemidwest

I have another post sitting in drafts titled “random thoughts” about our recent trip to Disney World. There’s so much swirling around in my mind surrounding the planning and execution of our vacation. I’m a processor. I like to hash it all out and get my thoughts collected in some sort of organized way. The post was turning into a big rambly mess that I know no one would care to follow so it will sit in drafts until I figure out what else to do with it.

Click HERE to see the photos we shared on Instagram from our trip. (or search #mcdanfamloveswdw). On to the fun.

Day 1: Wednesday, May 6th. After having been in the hospital with Dexter less than 1 week earlier, Ryan and I were apprehensive about what could go wrong while we were 1000 miles from home. The 2 things we worried would put a damper on our trip (bad weather and sickness) were non-issues! We’ve had our fair share of illness since then but I am thrilled to say we were all in good health in Florida. My father-in-law dropped us off at the airport. We had a 10:30am flight and got there in plenty of time to let our anticipation build as the boys watched planes land and take off. The beginning of any vacation is such an exciting time.

I hoped the boys would nap on the plane but they were too excited. By the time we boarded Disney’s Magical Express, they couldn’t hold their eyes open. They wanted to sit together on the bus. They are definitely growing up. It was strange for Ryan and I to be able to sit together in a situation like this. Theo and Dexter are buddies.

We arrived at our resort mid-afternoon with plans to be at the Magic Kingdom by 4 but things didn’t go as smoothly as we’d hoped. I’d ordered several items from Amazon and it took time to get those to our room. When we got up to our room, our Magic Bands did not work to open the door. Ryan and the boys went back to the check-in lobby while I stood here as time ticked away. I started feeling very frustrated and anxious because I didn’t want to waste a park ticket going to Magic Kingdom for just a couple of hours. The boys were tired – we all were – from traveling all day. We hadn’t eaten lunch. After Ryan returned, I had to go and have my Magic Band reprogrammed, which took up more precious time. We did end up getting to the Magic Kingdom by 5 and as soon as we walked through the gates, all of my stress vanished.

Theo using his Magic Band to get into the park.

Our first ride, Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, was new since our last visit in October 2013. Notorious for long wait times, I made a FastPass+ selection for this prior to our trip. The ride was smooth, fun, and perfectly themed. It was a wonderful start to our adventure.

Another top priority on my list was to try Lefou’s Brew -frozen apple juice with a hint of toasted marshmallow, topped with passion-fruit mango whipped cream, from Gaston’s Tavern in New Fantasyland. It was everything I dreamed of and more. YUM.

Moment of truth! The majority of rides with height restrictions at Disney World require guests to be 40″ tall. Part of the reason I planned our trip for this time (rather than February 2015) was that I wanted Dexter to have plenty of time to grow. I knew that him being 40″ would make a substantial difference in the number of attractions we’d be able to experience as a family. I had Dexter measured at the doctor’s office with shoes on prior to our vacation and the nurse said he was 40.5″ but I was still nervous. I didn’t know how precise she was or how precise the measuring at Disney would be. There was no doubt, no reason to double-check, tell him to stand up straight. He was over 40″ and he was thrilled! We all were. Throughout our entire trip, I never tired of watching him confidently stand there when cast members asked to check his height. He was proud to be big. As we all stood in line for Big Thunder Mountain Railroad on that first night, I felt like my heart could burst. Here we were, just the 4 of us, at Walt Disney World. It felt like a dream. And now we were riding big rides together. I wanted this but at the same time, how did we get to this point so fast? My kids are riding roller coasters? What? Granted, we’re talking about Disney roller coasters, but you get my point.

Sad to say, this is my only picture with the boys in front of Cinderella Castle. We kept meaning to get that traditional, obligatory photo on Main Street but the time was never right. We were only ever on Main Street when people were pouring in or out of the park and I was hoping to get a photo without so many strangers’ butts, faces, shoulders, strollers, and elbows intruding into our special shot. I kept saying “next time,” and then eventually there wasn’t a next time. This will have to do.

We hadn’t specified a time we would try to leave but we were all wearing down by 9:30 or 10. It was so hard to leave when wait times for most rides were 5-15 minutes. We ended up staying until after 11pm and rode 13 rides in 5 hours! We stopped to enjoy the parade on our way out.

The boys couldn’t stay awake for it. What a big day!Okay, now I’ve rambled more here than I planned so I think I’ll stop at Day 1 and pick up Day 2 (my birthday at EPCOT) next time.

xo,

~C~

Catch the Moment: Week 19 (Disney Style)

Posted on May 18, 2015May 18, 2015 by mommyinthemidwest

I haven’t forgotten about this project and I haven’t lost any steam – we’ve been on a 9 day vacation to Walt Disney World. So get ready to be inundated with pictures from that magical place this week and part of next. My last post was only 6 pictures so this one will be 8 to make up for it, then back on track with 7 each week. I can’t believe our trip, that we’d been looking forward to for so long, has already come and gone. I plan to write a series of posts regarding our trip while it’s all fresh on my mind, but for now – just a glimpse. In other words, stay away from here if you are anti-mouse. Just sayin’…

Linking up with Mindi at Stavish Stills Photography, Carrie at My Life, Our Journey, and Stephanie at Behind the Camera and Dreaming.

126/365: Wednesday, May 6th. We arrived in the afternoon and made a beeline for the Magic Kingdom. The best part of the night for me was walking up to Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, nervously anticipating the cast member measuring Dexter’s height, and seeing that he was indeed tall enough to ride everything that I’d hoped he’d be able to (so that WE’D be able to, as a family). I do have a picture of him getting measured (with a big grin on his face) but I decided to save that one for a separate post once I start my vacation recaps.

127/365: Thursday, May 7th. My birthday! It’s no coincidence that our vacation was scheduled the week that spanned my birthday, Mother’s Day, and Dexter’s 4th birthday. What better place to celebrate? We went to EPCOT. We’ve gotten a picture with Donald in the World Showcase 2 trips in a row so maybe it will become a tradition.

128/365: Friday, May 8th. Back to the Magic Kingdom for a full day of fun and wonder.

129/365: Saturday, May 9th. We arrived at Animal Kingdom 90 minutes before park opening for our character breakfast dining reservations – which put us way in the back of the park before park opening. Ryan and I each rode Expedition Everest with no wait times before I realized that Theo was tall enough to ride as well. When we discovered this, he and I couldn’t wait for Ryan to get back so we could share this news with him. He rode it with me and he LOVED it. I love him. It was a big moment for me as a mom and for him as a kid. How did we get here in 5 short years? On one hand, it’s really exciting, but on the other hand, it’s kind of sad. My baby is truly not a baby anymore. He’s a thrill-seeker!

130/365: Sunday, May 10th. Mother’s Day. We were definitely ready for a break from the parks after hitting them 4 days in a row. On Mother’s Day, we swam in the resort pool and then spent the evening at Downtown Disney picking out some souvenirs. (Despite our sun-screening efforts, Dexter did get a tiny sunburn at the pool that was gone the next morning… but it’s not as bad as it looks in this photo, I promise).

131/365: Monday, May 11th. We spent the day at my favorite park (and former employer), Hollywood Studios. Meeting Baymax and Hiro from Big Hero 6 was definitely one of the highlights of the trip for Theo and Dexter. One of the biggest highlights for me was watching them spontaneously hold hands and excitedly talk about the experience as they ran ahead of us when we left the Magic of Animation building. They were on Cloud Nine. Melted my heart and made the 80 minute wait (our longest wait the entire trip) 100% worthwhile.

132/365: Tuesday, May 12th. We took another break day from the parks and played mini golf, grabbed lunch at a different resort, then swam the rest of the afternoon and evening. Dexter got Ellie (yes, he named him and yes Ellie is a boy) at Epcot and carried him around the entire trip. This was the last time my little sweet boy fell asleep as a 3 year old.

133/365: Wednesday, May 13th. Dexter’s 4th birthday! We enjoyed breakfast at ‘Ohana inside Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort with Lilo, Stitch, Pluto, and Mickey. It was adorable and delicious. The boys get so excited when they come face to face with these larger than life characters from the movies. We spent the day at Magic Kingdom afterwards.So now I’m all caught up on Catch the Moment – time to start wading through my recap posts in the upcoming week or so.

I hope the mamas out there had a good Mother’s day and have a special place in my heart for anyone who was hurting on or because of Mother’s day for some reason. I feel incredibly lucky to be the mommy of these two little boys and that we were able to spend 3 special occasions together. More to come!

xo,

~C~

Theo’s 5th birthday celebration

Posted on March 21, 2015March 21, 2015 by mommyinthemidwest

You all- I took over 400 pictures between Friday, March 6th and Monday, March 9th while we were celebrating Theo’s big FIFTH birthday so bear with me. Getting this post down to less than 40 pictures is quite an accomplishment!

We think turning five is a pretty big deal around here. A lot happens with turning 5. Kids go to Kindergarten, start reading, (hopefully) Theo will start riding his bike, can start losing teeth, and all other sorts of big kid things. It’s just like…he’s a kid now. I don’t know how to explain it. He’s just grown up so much in the past few months. He’s little, but he doesn’t seem like a little kid sometimes. He’s got a teenager’s attitude, says things to hurt our feelings when he’s mad, and can turn on the charm to get what he wants. One thing’s for sure, he keeps us on our toes.

Friday, March 6th. Theo had his birthday celebration at school. It was super hard to get pictures without his classmates’ faces in them so I just have a couple to share. Dexter and Theo were both very excited that Dexter was able to come over from his class to join the festivities. All of Theo’s grandparents were there, too.

Theo held a little globe and walked around a wooden sun on the floor 5 times to represent each of his trips around the sun on Earth. With each year that passed, we stopped and shared a picture of what he looked like and talked about his likes and dislikes each year as he grew. Afterwards, Theo passed out bat signal-shaped rice krispie treats. They were a hit!

Saturday, March 7th. Our immediate family came over for pizza before his big party. We decided to let him open family gifts beforehand to cut down on time spent opening presents during the party. He loves this step-by-step drawing book from Nana and Pop Pop.

Another of his favorite gifts was a Lego chicken suit guy from Aunt ‘Chelle, Uncle Bob, and Spencer. It was his first Lego, ever (given to him by Spencer a couple years ago), which has been lost for a long time. He’s been saying he wished he still had it for some time now and Aunt Michelle delivered! He was overjoyed.

The money wasn’t terrible, either.

Theo’s party was from 1-230pm at a local gymnastics facility. Since there was a ninja skills training component included in the party, we went with a TMNT theme. Ryan’s mom made the cupcakes. She set up the table while my mom put together tabletop cardboard decorations. What would I do without family when I am feeling frazzled on these very exciting days??

Hey, Dexter…who do you think you are? Pretty sure Theo was not the one that blew out those five candles.

Sunday, March 8th. We still had not given Theo a gift. I’m sure he noticed, but he hadn’t mentioned it. When he came in our room in the morning and after we’d said “happy birthday” to him and given him a million hugs and kisses, I said “did you realize mommy and daddy hadn’t given you a gift yet? Well, I had an idea…” and we told him that we were leaving that day to go to Legoland Discovery Center in Chicago. He was very excited and ready to pack up and go! But not before Grammy (my mother) took us out for a big birthday breakfast – chocolate milk and all!

About 3 hours later, we rolled into Chicago.

My favorite thing at LDC might have been the HUUGE Lego model of the city. The detail! It was seriously impressive! The boys were in Lego heaven every minute we spent there.

I have to brag on the staff at LDC. They were super nice. Three different staff members went out of their way to give Theo a little something special for his birthday. It was an awesome place to spend part of our day.

Afterwards, of course we asked Theo what his favorite part of LDC was and he said … the store. LOL. Well shoot, we could have gone to a Lego store without driving 3+ hours and staying in a hotel overnight! He was super pumped to give this guy his OWN birthday money for a nice new Lego set.

We didn’t have a plan for dinner but we wanted to go somewhere that had cake. We’d thought about Maggiano’s because it was close but by the time we left Legoland, there was a 45 minute wait. Theo acted whiny about it and said he didn’t want cake anyway. So Ryan and I set out to find something that we didn’t have in Indianapolis. I’d seen people on Facebook who frequent Chicago talking about Portillo’s so that’s where we landed and it did not disappoint! The food was amazing and Theo was thrilled to end his big, special day with a mint chocolate milkshake (that he split in half with Dexter). Ryan may have been on sugary drink overload.

Legos before bed…

Legos when we wake up. It’s really no different from being at home, is it?

After enjoying breakfast and some hotel pool swimming, we made it back downtown and explored Navy Pier before heading back home.

It had to be the first nice day this year in Chicago. There were still piles of snow all over the place but it was 50 degrees and super sunny. No wind at all…I suppose the water being covered by sheets of floating ice had something to do with the lack of wind. It was perfect. Totally perfect.

That dimple was one of the very first things I noticed about Theo, within seconds of him being born. It still gets me. I can’t think of a better way we could have celebrated little Theo’s BIG fifth birthday!! Happy memories to last forever…

xo,

~C~