Disney Day 2

    There are four separate parks in Disney World.  I did a lot of research and planning for this trip.  We purchased the meal plan option so we got one sit down dinner each day in addition to a quick service meal.  I had to plan which park we would be in which day and which restaurant we wanted to eat at.  These restaurants book up fast. You can only make reservations 180 days out, and it is still very hard to get reservations at some places.  Since I am such a planner, we were able to book everything that we wanted. 

      Epcot has always been one of my favorite parks.  We decided that we wanted to spend our first day there.  We got there right when it opened in hopes of beating some of the crowds.  We went straight to Test Track to ride that first.  It's one of my favorite rides and I had not been on it since they redid it.  Ashlyn loved it and was so excited to ride it again right away with the second group.  (Since the little kids couldn't ride some rides, we would often have to take turns riding). 

Dawson checking things out.  He is wearing one of the Mickey shirts I made him.  Jameson wore a matching one that day.

Love that sight!!!

Holding Papa's hand

In front of the ball

She is such a funny girl!

Having Papa take him for a ride.

The girls before we rode our first ride at Disney.

Dawson and Joey

Ella was able to entertain herself with wood chips.

 

So sweet.

How cute is this? They were holding hands.  They truly are best friends.

 

   

   My mom, Katy, and I decided to take the little kids on Spaceship Earth which is inside the Epcot ball.  Joey decided to take Ashlyn on the Mission Space ride next.  This ride is intense!  In fact when they first created it, it was so intense they had to make a separate part for those who wanted a calmer ride.  You get in simulators and you go on a mission to mars.  At one point they "launch" you into space and it truly feels just like a shuttle launch would feel like.  Ashlyn absolutely loved the ride and she couldn't wait to ride again.  Joey and Bryan both felt very sick and had no desire to ever ride again. 

 

Waiting to board their "shuttle"

The inside of the shuttle. 

Getting ready to ride

   After the Mars ride, we decided to do something a little calmer.  We headed over the Nemo ride.  It was a great choice because everyone could ride.  The little kids just loved it.  Dawson just saw entranced the entire ride.  I don't think he even moved.  He loved taking it all in and looking at everything. 

Posing with the Nemo and friends

Dawson and Mommy

    When you get off the ride, they have a really neat aquarium to look at.  It is huge and we all agreed it was neater than the Denver aquarium.  The kids loved looking at all the sea life. 

Seahorses

Shark!

    By this time, the World Showcase was open.  The World Showcase is where they have 12 different countries to walk through.  It's really neat.  Each country is made to look just like the country it represents.  They each have their own restauarnats and shops that sell authentic things from those countries.  Even the workers in each country are from that country.  We really liked spending time over there walking around and eating the wonderful food.  It was also much less crowded and we liked that.  A lot of the princesses also hang out there, so it was definitely the place for us!

Soaking up Florida sun

Ashlyn finally getting her first princess autograph!

Excuse the mess hair, still an adorable picture.

She had to get a hug

Ella meeting Snow White, who is her favorite princess

Sweet!

Katy and Ella in front of Minnie, Ella's favorite. 

Epcot is just beautiful!

Does she look like a girl on vacation or what???

The matching shirts that they girls wore that day. Katy and I just love matching the kids' clothes. 

     For lunch, we had reservations at one of our favorite restaurants, the Biergarten in Germany.  We ate there the last trip, and the authentic German food was amazing.  They also have a German band that performs while you eat, so we had to go back.  We once again wowed at the wonderful food.  My mom found macaroni and cheese that she deemed the best she had ever had!  I fell in LOVE with their beer cheese soup.  I swear I could live off that soup!  It is the best I ever had.  We all left the Biergarten with very full tummies!

https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/dining/epcot/biergarten-restaurant/

Dawson being shy

A picture of the band

They make it very interactive and fun.

Dawson and Ella really enjoyed it.

In the corner, are Katy and Ashlyn dancing to the German music.

Dawson decided German dessert was a very good thing!

Jameson hanging out in his stroller

Dawson is a funny boy.  Whenever he wants to relax, he ALWAYS put his hands behind his head.  It never ceases to make Joey and I laugh.

Having a great time.

Dawson and I in the World Showcase. 

They have lots of different drinks and beers in the World Showcase.  We had to try the frozen beer in Japan.  It was definitely different.

Bryan and Joey being goofy.

Ashlyn and I in France.

Meeting Aurora.  What a pretty princess!

Ashlyn has an Aurora baby doll that she brought with her to Disney.  She insisted that on bringing her to meet Aurora. 

Ella's turn to meet Aurora.

So precious!

   I need to mention the autograph book that Joey made for Ashlyn.  He was going to order her one online before we left.  But, he decided none of them were special enough for his princess.  So, he decided to make one.  He went to the store all by himself and picked everything out.  He worked for many nights on the book.  It turned out so well.  He surprised Ashlyn with it shortly before we left.  She was over the moon excited about it.  It was so much more special then the generic store bought ones.  Joey is one awesome dad for sure!

Ashlyn and I.  I am holding the autograph book Joey made. 

   After spending some more time in the World Showcase, we decided it was time for dinner.  Every time we go to Disney World, we always have to eat at the Fish Shop in England.  It has the world's best fish and chips.  They are so authentic and taste amazing.  The Fish Shop never disappoints! After we ate, we walked around a little more and then decided to call it a night.  We had a very busy and exciting day and everyone was very tired.

Looking at this picture makes my mouth water!

Ashlyn taking a walking break and being goofy in the stroller. 

Epcot at dusk.

The Epcot ball

Ashlyn and I posing for a silly picture

Disney Day 1

    I can't express how much fun we had at Disney World!  We had so much fun and made some amazing memories that everyone will cherish for years and years to come.  We had such a good time, we are already thinking about our next trip out there. It truly is the happiest place on earth.  I went to Disney World several times as a child and it is a very nostalgic place for me.  I love the fact that I can now take my children and hope one day they go back and experience the same nostalgia.  Our one and only complaint was that our trip went by way too fast and that we wish we would have had a few more days to play.

    Joey is the family photographer and did an amazing job of taking pictures the whole time.  I think he took around 4,600 pictures in one week!  He went through and picked his favorite and put them into blog posts.  We decided that I would write an entry for each day because there is way too much for one post.  So, the next few posts are going to be devoted entirely to Disney World.  I am excited to write the posts, because when we publish our yearly blog book, they will be a great reminder of all that we did. 

   So, let's get started with the first day!  We were wise this time, and booked a flight that didn't leave until the afternoon.  I loved it because I was able to get up super early and go run 10 miles at the gym, then come home and get ready to leave.  We had packed everything the night before so we were set to go!  We were all so excited to finally leave on a vacation that we had been anticipating for so long!

  

The countdown was finally complete!

The kids taking their pre-Disney bath.

    My parents rode to the airport with us where we met Katy and her family.  We were so happy when we booked our flights to discover that there was a direct flight from Colorado Springs to Orlando with no stops!  Such a perfect thing when traveling with 4 small children.  The flight was full of families going to Disney World.  The kids did really well on the flight out there.  It was about a 3 1/2 hour flight, and we brought lots to keep them entertained.

     We didn't arrive in Orlando until around 7:30. The funniest part was when we got off the plane, Ashlyn said, "There's Mason!" I thought she was confused and thought she saw someone she knew.  Nope, she indeed saw her friend from school.  He and his family were on the same flight and were also going to be spending a week in Disney World.  What a funny coincidence!

     

Spotting the plane

There is the plane we flew on

All of us waiting to board. 

Dawson and his Dad

Funny Uncle Bryan. 

Ella entertaining herself

Auntie and Jameson

We love flying

Dawson took the captain's advice to sit back, relax, and enjoy the flight!

      When you stay on property, you don't even have to worry about transportation.  They have special buses that take you from the airport to your hotel.  We got on our bus and we were on our way.  We were so excited to see this picture.  I love that it says, "Where Dreams Come True".  So well put Disney.
      We stayed at a different resort than last time.  This time we stayed at the Port Orleans Riverside.  We were instantly blown away with how beautiful it was.  Disney does a phenomenal job with their hotels.  It was dark when we arrived, so we couldn't enjoy all the beauty yet, but we still liked what we saw.  My parents decided to upgrade us to the special royal guest suites.  They are specially designed rooms that they just added a year ago.  We had seen pictures, but we were blown away by neat these rooms were.  They were decorated so neatly and the attention to detail was amazing! truly felt like I was staying in a princess's castle.

The Mickey towel waiting on our bed.

The beds awesome beds.  We couldn't get a picture, but there is a button on the side of the headboard.  When you push it, an led firework show goes off on the headboard.  It was the coolest thing ever!

The rest of the room. 

The bathroom. 

The other view of the room

I loved the princess pictures that they had up.

Ashlyn loved every bit of it!

Even the soap was special.

Here is one of the fountains at the hotel that Ashlyn just loved.  Ashlyn getting a good look before bed.

   We were very hungry when we got to the hotel.  It was late and we hadn't eaten dinner.  We went over to the hotel food court and got dinner.  After dinner, we went straight to bed.  I know everyone was more than ready for some sleep.  We had big plans for our first day in Disney World. 

Changes and Finally Getting Caught Up!!!

     A few months ago, Joey lost his job with Janus.  He is working at T Rowe Price again.  The loss of a job is such a hard, hard thing to deal with.  I only work part time, so when Joey came home with the news I was absolutely devastated.  I got very concerned and worried about what our future held.  I have heard so many horror stories about people losing jobs and looking forever and finding nothing.  To say I was scared would be an understatement. 
    Joey was much more calm about the whole thing.  He was very smart, and left T Rowe Price on very good terms.  He is still very good friends with a lot of the people he worked with.  He called them up and told him his situation.  They immediately wanted him to come back.  What a blessing that was!!!
      As some time has passed since we found out, I have had more time to calm down and really take a look at our situation.  Joey started that job in January 2012.  He took the position because he felt that it offered great opportunities and the pay was really good. He commuted each day back and forth to Denver.  He dealt with horrendous traffic daily.  He would often leave at 5:00 a.m. and not get home until 6:00 p.m.  He would come home exhausted.  I felt so bad for the kids.  They hardly ever saw him.  He was gone before they woke up and would only get to see him about an hour or two each night.  At times I felt like a single mom.  Joey is amazing about helping me around the house and with the kids.  However, when he is at work, he can't be of much help.  It was really taking a toll on all of us.  I would often ask myself if it was all worth it.   
     I know that God has a plan, and some times his plan doesn't make sense.  I now think that this was definitely part of God's plan and he actually blessed us.  Part of Joey working in Denver meant a move for us.  He didn't want to make that commute forever nor should he.  We were all set to move to Castle Rock.  For whatever reason, our house would  not sell.  We had it on the market for 6 months and it never sold.  I was okay with moving to Castle Rock mainly because the schools are amazing.  However, I was devastated about moving away from family and friends.  I am extremely close with my family and hated the thought of not being able to see them several times a week.  We would still be close, but I knew it wouldn't be the same.  I was most upset about the fact that Dawson and Ashlyn wouldn't grow up seeing their cousins all the time. 
     Now that some time has passed, I have seen what a blessing this really is.  I am so happy that we didn't sell our house and move already.  Joey can now go back to working normal hours.  His work is only minutes away and we get to see him again!  Words can not describe how much that means to all of us.  The time he worked at Janus was definitely the hardest on all of us.  T Rowe Price is a great company to work for.  Joey is an awesome employee as evidenced by how quickly the wanted him to come back.  We have so many close friends that have worked their for a long time.  It's a stable job and company to work for.  I know that God has great plans for him and he will do wonderful at T Rowe or anywhere that he goes. 
      We decided to still sell our house.  We have lived here for 5 years.  We bought this house as a starter house and only planned to stay about 3-4 years.  When we bought it, we really didn't pay attention to the schools because we assumed we would be gone by then.  Well, time has crept up on us.  Ashlyn starts kindergarten next year and it is of up most importance to us that she goes to a good school.  I used to work in the district that we live in and I am not impressed at all.  I have done extensive research, and I do not want her going to the school we live by.  We also want something a little bigger and that will suit the needs we have now a little better. It is so exhausting having a house on the market with two small children!!! We had a ton of showings, which basically entailed cleaning our house thoroughly 4-5 times a week.  We relisted the house in the beginning of January.  While we were in Disney World, we got 2 different offers on our house.  We decided to go with one and it looks like we will be closing in late March.  We have now begun looking for a new house and it is the most stressful thing I have dealt with in a very long time.  I hate making decisions and there are so many big ones to make with purchasing a home.  There is also a MAJOR shortage of homes on the market that meet out price criteria.  I am really starting to think we will be homeless come late March. 
    We are looking to move further north in town where the school districts are better.  The bonus is that we will be closer to Joey's work and probably  to my sister and her family.  I am so excited for this move.  I feel so good about this move, so differently then I felt about Castle Rock.  I know that God has put us right where we need to be and I couldn't be happier about that!  
    With birthdays, our Disney trip, and house hunting I have been extremely busy the last few weeks.  I have a ton of vacation posts that I will be posting in the next few days.  I will get back into a blogging grove again!!!