DIsney Done

When you get to Disney before 8 a.m. and the monorail is broken, you get a very brisk ferry ride!

 Our second day at Disney dawned very chilly, but things quickly warmed up in the sun. After our morning meeting princesses and eating with Winnie the Pooh, we headed to Tomorrowland for some more adventure. Violet loved the People Mover. It's just a little car that rides around all of Tomorrowland, but she had so much fun seeing everything from "way up high". At one point the ride swings through a pitch-black Space Mountain and when we came out, Violet couldn't stop looking at her hands and exclaiming "I can see!" Hilarious.

We rode the Toy Story ride and took in a show at the Monsters Inc Laugh Factory. I'd never been before, but it is impressive. An interactive comedy show run by the animated monsters from the movie. We also watched a 3D show called Micky's PhilharMagic, full of famous Disney movie songs. Violet loved both.

We finished our afternoon by watching the parade, a great way to end our time at Disney.

Asleep before we left the parking lot.

Tired and happy, snuggling in bed together.

Breakfast with Pooh Bear

One of my favorite moments from our Disney World trip was definitely getting to eat breakfast with Winnie the Pooh and his friends. I thrilled we even got a reservation, considering the last minute nature of our trip. After we met the princesses and Micky, we headed to the Crystal Palace for a breakfast buffet. It was so nice to be able to sit down, not worry about Violet running off or rushing to wait in a line. It's another must-do for our next trip.

It took Violet a while to warm up to the characters, but with them constantly roaming the restaurant, it didn't take long before she was into it, even participating in the parade they took around the tables. Our reservation time was late enough that by the time we were finishing up, the place had nearly emptied out, meaning we got an extra visit with Pooh and plenty of room to enjoy ourselves. We will definitely be doing this again!

The Royal Treatment

We decided to make a visit with the princesses our first stop on Disney Day 2. And wouldn't you know it, Violet's two favorite girls were waiting for us! And as an added bonus, the dudes showed up too, in honor of Valentine's season. Violet was a little shy when we met Rapunzel. Maybe it was Flynn Rider's sexy eyebrows that made her swoon.

Getting an autographed Valentine.

Making our own Valentine.

Cinderella and Prince Charming and a princess-in-training.

After meeting the princesses, we hopped right back in line to meet Micky and Minnie. It's quite possible I was more excited than Violet at this point. I sort of had a little crush on Micky growing up...

Ah, dream come true!

Meeting Minnie

Part of Violet's bedtime routine, after the bath and books, involves letting her watch three (no more, no less) episodes of Minnie's Bowtique. The shows are short, just three minutes each, and while I'm ashamed of how technologically addicted my child is (don't judge), watching Violet's face light up and hearing her giggles is priceless.

So you can imagine how excited I was when I spotted a Minnie and Daisy character greeting area in Fantasyland. The line was short when we arrived, and the way it was set up gave Violet a good preview of the other children taking a turn. Earlier that day she had flat out refused to meet Belle during storytime, so I was a little nervous how it would go. But Violet seemed excited and even practiced giving big hugs in line so she would be ready when it was her turn.

I'll let you judge for yourself whether she enjoyed her first character meeting.

Best Friends Forever

We Went to Disney World!

Excited about her "First Visit" button.

We're back! We did it! We conquered the Happiest Place on Earth! (And secretly we can't wait to go back!) Are you ready for the pictures and highlights? Here we go!

We made it!

The drive down was perfect. I cut out a little early from work and we hit the road. Violet slept, woke up in time for dinner, watched a movie and slept again, bringing us all the way to our hotel in peace and calm. Bright and early we headed out again, intent on making it in the park as the doors opened.

Hello Cinderella! (Notice the crane? They were removing Christmas lights.)

In Belle's cottage, waiting for storytime with Belle.

Once inside, we headed straight for the New Fantasyland. This place is awesome. And our first stop was Belle's storytime. We were escorted into an intimate little room with a small group of maybe 30 or so. Different kids were picked to play different characters from Beauty and the Beast. And then Belle herself came in. (For those of you who don't know, she is my favorite Disney princess. And she has brown hair like me!) Lumiere came to life on the mantel and narrated a story, which Belle and the children acted out. It was amazing.

Pretty much my dream job.

It was still so early that the crowds were sparse. We jumped into as many attractions as we could, from the new Little Mermaid ride to the old-school It's a Small World.

We came all the way to Disney so Violet could fall in love with the carousel.

I can fly!

There is a whole new circus area in Fantasyland now, with tents and fresh popcorn and of course, Dumbo. We introduced Violet to the movie right before our trip and she was thrilled to go on the ride - so much so Matt took her twice!

After a long, full day we headed back to the hotel for a nap. Violet was asleep before we even made it out of the parking lot. We headed back in the evening intending to stay for the parade, but it was cold and the crowds were getting intense. And Violet developed this tricky little habit of trying to run off. Who knew we had a runner? But we wisely decided we better get ourselves home and gear up for day two. So we bid goodnight to the castle, already looking forward to our next adventure.

Magical kingdom.

Happy Birthday Violet!

 Today this noodle turns three years old! Where has the time gone?!

Birthday breakfast at McD's!

We've packed a lot into the last year. Violet is becoming a pro at road trips, especially this last one to Disney World. She loves all things princess and horses right now. She's becoming quite the technology expert, figuring out how to pause and restart the tv, how to get around on the iPad. Minnie Mouse is still a big winner, she's loving her ballet class at school, and can't get enough of books.

Next week she starts pre-K prep, a class that is much more academically structured. Which means she'll be learning handwriting, letters, have homework. Not sure I'm ready for all that!But I know she is, smart girl. She loves to pretend like she's writing words and letter (her favorite Disney souvenir was the three dollar Minnie notebook and pen I got her - she scribbled all the way home!)

I can't wait to see what being three holds for us!

I'm three!

"That Book Has Poo Poo and Pee"

When Kristine and I move to a new place, one of the first things we generally do is make a map...for Kristine. I was fairly familiar with Dallas by the time Kristine moved there, but for Kristine it must have been the equivalent of moving to Mars, except with many large trucks, incredibly slow drivers, and those weird things called "access roads". I drew Kristine a map that led to Kristine's most important places at that time (our apartment, Kroger, my office, the library, and the mall). She could sleep, eat, visit me, read, and shop - what else could she ask for? 

Thankfully (for both of us...) no map was needed when we moved back to Atlanta. We could have used a good exterminator at times, but that's a whole 'nother story. 

Upon moving to our current home, naturally Kristine needed more directions. As you'll see below we had all the essentials covered: Northpoint Mall...my office. (no need for grocery store directions - Publix is accessible by either turning right OR left out of our neighborhood, can't mess that one up!). Little did we had no idea what type of guidebook this would turn in to. 

A couple of nights ago Violet found this notebook in her room. Neither K or I had seen it in years. It was probably stuffed in a drawer or somewhere under one of the 37 piles of books in her room. We're currently in a "what's that" phase. So, naturally, when she asked what it was...well...I explained, as gently as I know how to, explained exactly what it was. The book that tells us when Violet poo-poo'd and pee-pee'd.

Look beyond the first few pages of directions and you get to the real guts, oh so cleverly titled "Violet's Schedule". Beginning on 2.24.2010 you get a riveting 95 pages of Violet's (ahem...) "schedule". If you've ever wondered how many times Violet pooped, peed, slept or ate then I've got the book for you! I'll give you a small sample, whet your literary appetite.

2.24.2012:

• Entry 1: 2:15-2:40 feeding. (this is in my handwriting. We must have still been at the hospital, I don't do much of the notating after this)
• 3:00 wet diaper
• 4:15-4:30 feeding
• 5:35-6:10 feeding
• 7:20-7:40 feeding
• 9:25-9:40 bottle (I think calling the prior three entries "feedings" may have been a bit ambitious...).
• 11:40-12:40 feeding

It goes on like this for months.

Looking back it's easy to see why the Publix sub we tried to share in our hospital room went half uneaten. I ate my half, but every hour or two Kristine was trying to take care of this eating, sleeping, and pooping machine.

On day 3 (2.26.2012) Kristine had a breakthrough. Somewhere among the 22 different  feedings and diaper changes, the naps, the attempted naps, let's hope a shower, that's when things got a little more, well, notated. Each feeding entry was accompanied by some type of hieroglyph, strange notations of alternating "RB" and "LB". To this day I'm still working on that puzzle...

Things got a little more fun as this went on. K continued to add to the list, things such as "2.27.12 - pee and poop - v. runny, milk for breakfast?" and "3.15.12 - Sunday - Daylight Savings (seriously, we're tracking daylight savings??? Nobody in this house has slept for more than 2 straight hours, who cares what time it is!)

And finally, my favorites:

- "5.12.12 - V slept all night without waking up"

- "5.13.12 - We both slept all night without waking up!" (the exclamation point is Kristine's, not mine. Not to put to fine a point on it but isn't this just classic? There's no way on God's green earth that Kristine would make it through a whole night of sleep without first making sure Violet could do it herself. What a mom she is).

Then, somehow, on Saturday May 29th it all stopped. 95 days later Violet's, um...schedule, must have become easier to deal with. Or we just got used to it. Whatever the case, it's been a delight reading back through the book the tells us when Violet pooped. Violet's future boyfriends are going to love this.

We're Going to Disney World!

Guess who's going to Disney World?!

So we've spontaneously decided to make our first family pilgrimage to the Happiest Place on Earth.

I knew this day would come eventually, although both Matt and I were pretty adamant it wouldn't be happening until Violet was old enough to fully appreciate (and remember) it. But when a friend of mine casually mentioned they were going before their daughter turned three (and had to pay for a ticket), I starting wondering if a quick little jaunt might not be worth it.

And just like that, we jumped in. We have a school break coming up for President's Day, a break that just happens to fall four days before the cost of Violet's ticket goes from free to almost a hundred bucks (let's pause for a moment to let the craziness of that dollar amount sink in). So why not take the weekend? Sure, the park will be crowded with lots of other families taking advantage of the break. Yes, Violet probably won't remember the details of this trip. Yeah, we're throwing this adventure together last minute style. But it won't be the last time we go. And we're not going to dump a huge amount of cash at this trip. So we're seizing the day.

There is a bit of homework ahead of us, however. Before we decided on this trip, Violet had never even heard of a place called Disney World. She knows the basics of Minnie Mouse and the newer Disney princess movies, but there's still not a whole lot of background knowledge there. So my goal between now and then is to indoctrinate Violet into the world of Disney. I've been drilling her - Where does Minnie live? (Disney!) Where does Cinderella live? (Disney!) We've also been brushing up on some classic Disney. What's the point of the Dumbo ride if you've never seen Dumbo? So this weekend she's been watching Sleeping Beauty and Dumbo. I've got the Little Mermaid lined up in the Netflix cue. You can check Cinderella off the list.

Speaking of old school Disney, it's amazing to rewatch some of these classics. I've seen almost every full length animated Disney classic there is, thanks to the summer my brother and I made it our mission to watch them all. But I've forgotten just how different they are from today's movies. There's a gaggle of crows in Dumbo smoking cigars! And there's way more sword play that involves stabbing and blood. I mean, the hero in Tangled doesn't even fight with a sword - he gets a frying pan! And yet the prince in Sleeping Beauty slays the dragon with a might stab to the heart. Evil is a lot more... evil. Some of the stories seem way scarier than I remember them as a child - we've heard a lot more talk of "bad guys" around here, although it's nice to know that love still conquers all.

So, any advice for us? Things we have to do? Pack? Avoid?

You Say It's My Birthday

Well, another birthday has come and gone. As I told my first graders, I turned 29 again... for the fourth time. It was a good birthday, a low-key one, and I'm happy with that.

Violet is diligently doing her best to help me blow out those candles.

Matt and Violet snuck out early Thursday morning and came home bearing doughnuts from my favorite shop in town, which was a fun surprise. My school kids were SO excited and couldn't wait for me to open the presents they brought. I was showered with chocolate, Starbucks cards, and a few gems I won't quickly forget.

I had two students who brought in jewelry which they unabashedly confessed had belonged to their moms but been deemed unwearable - but perfect for regifting! In one case, I'm still not entirely sure the mother knows her bracelet is now in my possession!

But the best gift was the basket from the whole class, filled with books for the classroom library. These are books I've used throughout the year as mentor texts and teaching tools, and it will be so nice to have them at hand next year, rather than scrambling to borrow them from the media center or fellow teachers.

I wasn't the only one receiving gifts at lunch - check out the matching SI jackets!

Then today we spent a lovely lunch with my family in Peachtree City. And I'm now the proud owner of an ice cream machine! It's one of those splurges that I would never be able to justify making myself, but the perfect thing to receive from someone else. I'm looking forward to trying it out (and slightly scared of knowing the ingredients it takes).