Man, I was doing so good with the blogging and then...NOTHING! Sorry to my 1-2 loyal readers ;) Here's what's going on with us...
Perry & Ella LOVE preschool. They love to paint, they love to color, they love to play with their friends, they LOVE IT! If you ask them about school, they'll mostly just talk about "Nick". Apparently Nick is a pretty outspoken kiddo, so don't get any ideas about a boyfriend ;) Lemme see if I can name all their classmates...Nick, Alex, Sean, Diego, Yerik, Collin, Lily x 2, Paris. I feel like I'm missing a couple, but these are the ones they talk about most. "Two wiwwees". Obviously "L" is still a hard letter to pronounce. Hence poor Luca's name "Wooka" or "Wooky". And they also love Miss Sue...she is the teacher's aide. They have 3 teachers in total.
At their parent teacher conferences, we were told that they both smile and say "uh huh" a lot and that they're great cleaner-uppers. Dave thought they were probably a teacher's delight...kids that are agreeable and help clean up...what more could you ask for?!?! :) Apparently Ella "mothers" Perry and needs to learn to let her do for herself. That being said, when we got home that day, Ella promptly told Perry "quit picking" at her chapped lips. I think I've lost my job.
So obviously the girls are talking A LOT more. Every day I feel like I say "Where did you learn that word?" It's amazing. Such sponges. And Luca too...he says quite a bit, including some 3 word phrases like "I did it" and "I got it". He's definitely learning a lot from his sisters. The other day he was being a bit of a stinker and I told him he was going to have to go to time out if he kept behaving like that (I was joking b/c he has never been to time out) and he went over to the area where P&E sit for TO's, stayed there a few seconds, and then came over to me and said "sawwy". Awwwwwwwwwwww. :)
They are all growing. I feel like the 2T pants I just bought for P&E are already looking short on them. We go to the pediatrician for the girls' 3 year check up and Luca's 18 month check up after Thanksgiving, so we'll see how much they've all grown. My bets are that Luca is within 3 inches of the girls and within 1-2 pounds of them as well. I'll also bet that we start getting a lot more "are they triplets" comments by Luca's 2nd birthday.
We're sad to say good-bye to the warmer weather...and the daylight hours. This is my least favorite time of year, when it gets dark at 5 PM. Blech. I suppose we'll be putting our basement to good use more often now.
I can't remember if I mentioned it on here or not, but last February, we were told about the possibility (the very likely possibility) of us moving to NYC for Dave to work in the E&Y national headquarters for a 2 year period. We were very excited about living in the city and experiencing all it had to offer and our excitement grew and grew for about 7 months. Finally we were told that we would not be moving afterall. We're sad (me moreso than Dave, or so it seems) but we're not ruling out the possibility of spending time there down the road. I'm not fond of the idea of moving the kids around when they're in school, but I truly think that's an opportunity that cannot be passed up.
But for now, we are here. In O'Fallon. For a few years at least ;)
In vacation news, we thought we'd go skiing this year (the first year the girls could take lessons) but with Luca wanting to do EVERYTHING his big sisters do, we thought we'd better wait a year. So instead, we'll go back to "Mickey's Castle". :) We are on our way to becoming certified Disney freaks!
Oh and one more worthy piece of information. P, E, and L have a cousin...and Dave and I have a nephew! Noel Martin was born on Perry and Ella's birthday. Speaking of babies, Ella has recently started asking for more siblings. Apparently she wants 2 babies...little sisters. We'll see...
Friday, November 14, 2008
Sunday, September 21, 2008
Disney Do-Overs
So, now that we're home and can look back at the week, we thought we'd make a list of things we would maybe do differently (or things we'd definitely do again) for anyone who might be planning a trip...or for ourselves if we go again in the near future. Hindsight is always 20/20, right?
So for future reference...
*September in Orlando is H.O.T. The average high temperature was around 90 degrees while we were there, which is pretty consistent with their monthly average...but the humidity/heat index was terrible. I don't know if that's "normal" or if it was b/c of hurricane Ike, but it was crazy hot! Heat = tired + cranky
*Disney World in September is also fairly crowded. September is usually a slow time for them and I guess in an effort to get more people to vacation at this time, they offer a free dining plan with a booking at some point early on in the year...so many people were there taking advantage of that. Getting reservations for character meals was like pulling teeth. The lines for rides and shows weren't *too* bad, but entertaining 3 small kids for 45 minutes while you just stand there is obviously not ideal. The 10 and 20 minute ride lines quickly became our favorites...and fast passes!
*8 days/7 nights is too much time at Disney World with 3 small kids. I think Wednesday was the day everyone "hit the wall" and it probably would have been a good idea to leave on the 6th day. The fatigue might have been the reason the kiddos all got sick, they were just worn out...as were the adults. We kept joking that we now need a vacation FROM our vacation. It's a go-go-go kind of trip and shortening it a bit would have probably helped.
Those were the 3 biggest things we would change about a future trip...time of year for weather and crowds and length of the trip. So a January trip for 5 nights sounds like a perfect solution!
Another thing I would do before our next trip is spend some time on the Disney message boards. http://www.disboards.com/ There is some serious information on there, probably more than you would ever want to know about a Mouse theme park. Since it had been so long since I'd been to Disney (2002), it was pretty overwhelming to plan our trip, and visiting this site might have helped (or overwhelmed me more, who knows?). There is a Disney for Families section and I know I'll be browsing it a lot before our next trip.
Other little things that were nuisances but I'm not sure what can be done about them...
*Bus rides. The bus ride to and from the Magic Kingdom seemed like forever. Also there wasn't a "published" bus schedule so you never knew if you had just missed a bus or if one was coming shortly. Always a mystery. The day that Dave, Perry, Ella, and I went to MK, we waited 45 minutes for a bus. And imagine carrying 2 huge bags of stuff, 3 kids, and 2 strollers on and off the bus...no small feat, even with 4 adults.
-Now that I'm thinking back, we went to the Magic Kingdom 5 days while we were there...that's a lot of bus rides!!! Our easy walk to Epcot, short ferry ride to Hollywood Studios, and short bus ride to Animal Kingdom weren't bad at all though. And like I said above, there's really not much that can be done about this except to stay at 1 of the 3 resorts near Magic Kingdom...but then you'd have a long bus ride to Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom.
-This might be where the argument of going when your kids are older comes in...if you didn't need a diaper bag, changes of clothes, endless snacks and sippy cup refills, and strollers then the bus ride wouldn't be a bother at all ;)
*Groceries. We had a nice kitchen in our villa and brought along quite a bit of food, but unfortunately the Market Place in our resort did not have many grocery options for us. We made do...but towards the end of the week, we found out that we could have gotten groceries delivered to us. Without a rental car, we could not get out and shop ourselves...so the grocery delivery would have been great. Next time!
Changing pace here, these are the things that we will definitely do in the future...
*Advance dining reservations. For sure. No questions. We planned our trip about a month in advance and although we were able to score 3 character meals...it wasn't easy. And they weren't at ideal times nor were they are first preferences. That being said, the Ohana breakfast at the Polynesian and the princess dinner at Akershus Banquet Hall in Norway/Epcot were really good and I would certainly do them again. The breakfast at Cape May was good, but nothing to write home about ;)
*Plan to see more shows. I did not take into account that our kids would enjoy the shows as much, if not more than, the rides. Every show we saw, the kids were mesmerized. The other blog post lists the shows we saw, but there were still a few that we missed. The 3D ones are the best...even though Ella jumps every single time something flies towards her ;)
*Go to a waterpark. Our kids are most likely too short to ride many things at the waterparks, but I would still like to visit one with them. I guess I should do some research as to if one is better than the other for the "preschool" crowd.
*Take our own strollers. Stroller rentals in the park are around $15/day for a single and $30/day for a double. I was very glad we had our own strollers, although they always get put through the ringer when we gate check them. I do wish we had a sit n stand type stroller though. I think the girls might do well with a platform they could just jump on and off of...although they did fall asleep in their stroller a couple times and wouldn't be able to do that in a sit n stand.
*Spend more time at Epcot. Probably not with the kids...but with Dave. It was really nice to be able to just walk right over from our resort. The World Showcase is pretty cool, especially if you can drink your way through the countries. We started to after our princess dinner Sunday night, but stopped short in Morocco when we got the most horrible tasting Habibi daquiris you can imagine. Blech. Steer clear of those if you go!
*Visit Universal Studios. Disney is not really known for its adventurous rides and Dave and I still appreciate them, to a certain degree. We'll admit we are getting older and the jostling effect of wooden roller coasters does not appeal to us as much as it used to, but we do still love a good thrill. I would take an afternoon/evening and go check 1 of their 2 parks out.
*Use the Magical Express bus to/from the airport. It was nice not to have to claim our luggage and haul it to a taxi or deal with a rental car. We just waited a short amount of time for a bus and off we went! No carseats needed! Our luggage was brought to our room minutes after we were able to get into them. And we had the most friendly bus driver on the way back to the airport. At 6:30 AM, this guy was really workin' it for tips, but he kept us laughing :)
*Stick to my kids' schedule. We have created creatures of habit/structure/routine. They need naps at 1 PM and a bedtime at 8 PM. Yes, they can skip naps, take late naps, and stay up late occasionally, but not 7 days in a row. I think by getting up a little earlier (they usually wake at 8) and getting to the parks by 9 AM, we would be able to enjoy a good 4 hours before we would need to head home for naps. And then we could head back to the parks by 5 for the rest of the evening. We maybe wouldn't have to do this every day, but I think it would help tremendously with their moods.
*Stay on property, get park hopper passes, and do it up right! When you stay on property, you have access to the parks for extra magical hours, free transportation (bus, ferry, monorail), and you can use this super cool card (which is your room key and your park hopper pass) to charge anything and everything to your room!!! Awesome!
I'm sure there's much more and as soon as I publish this, I'll think of 10 more things. I'll add them in later if that happens ;) I hope this helps someone with their travel plans. And feel free to ask me any questions if you have one that was not covered here... amberrogan@yahoo.com
Thanks for reading!!
So for future reference...
*September in Orlando is H.O.T. The average high temperature was around 90 degrees while we were there, which is pretty consistent with their monthly average...but the humidity/heat index was terrible. I don't know if that's "normal" or if it was b/c of hurricane Ike, but it was crazy hot! Heat = tired + cranky
*Disney World in September is also fairly crowded. September is usually a slow time for them and I guess in an effort to get more people to vacation at this time, they offer a free dining plan with a booking at some point early on in the year...so many people were there taking advantage of that. Getting reservations for character meals was like pulling teeth. The lines for rides and shows weren't *too* bad, but entertaining 3 small kids for 45 minutes while you just stand there is obviously not ideal. The 10 and 20 minute ride lines quickly became our favorites...and fast passes!
*8 days/7 nights is too much time at Disney World with 3 small kids. I think Wednesday was the day everyone "hit the wall" and it probably would have been a good idea to leave on the 6th day. The fatigue might have been the reason the kiddos all got sick, they were just worn out...as were the adults. We kept joking that we now need a vacation FROM our vacation. It's a go-go-go kind of trip and shortening it a bit would have probably helped.
Those were the 3 biggest things we would change about a future trip...time of year for weather and crowds and length of the trip. So a January trip for 5 nights sounds like a perfect solution!
Another thing I would do before our next trip is spend some time on the Disney message boards. http://www.disboards.com/ There is some serious information on there, probably more than you would ever want to know about a Mouse theme park. Since it had been so long since I'd been to Disney (2002), it was pretty overwhelming to plan our trip, and visiting this site might have helped (or overwhelmed me more, who knows?). There is a Disney for Families section and I know I'll be browsing it a lot before our next trip.
Other little things that were nuisances but I'm not sure what can be done about them...
*Bus rides. The bus ride to and from the Magic Kingdom seemed like forever. Also there wasn't a "published" bus schedule so you never knew if you had just missed a bus or if one was coming shortly. Always a mystery. The day that Dave, Perry, Ella, and I went to MK, we waited 45 minutes for a bus. And imagine carrying 2 huge bags of stuff, 3 kids, and 2 strollers on and off the bus...no small feat, even with 4 adults.
-Now that I'm thinking back, we went to the Magic Kingdom 5 days while we were there...that's a lot of bus rides!!! Our easy walk to Epcot, short ferry ride to Hollywood Studios, and short bus ride to Animal Kingdom weren't bad at all though. And like I said above, there's really not much that can be done about this except to stay at 1 of the 3 resorts near Magic Kingdom...but then you'd have a long bus ride to Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom.
-This might be where the argument of going when your kids are older comes in...if you didn't need a diaper bag, changes of clothes, endless snacks and sippy cup refills, and strollers then the bus ride wouldn't be a bother at all ;)
*Groceries. We had a nice kitchen in our villa and brought along quite a bit of food, but unfortunately the Market Place in our resort did not have many grocery options for us. We made do...but towards the end of the week, we found out that we could have gotten groceries delivered to us. Without a rental car, we could not get out and shop ourselves...so the grocery delivery would have been great. Next time!
Changing pace here, these are the things that we will definitely do in the future...
*Advance dining reservations. For sure. No questions. We planned our trip about a month in advance and although we were able to score 3 character meals...it wasn't easy. And they weren't at ideal times nor were they are first preferences. That being said, the Ohana breakfast at the Polynesian and the princess dinner at Akershus Banquet Hall in Norway/Epcot were really good and I would certainly do them again. The breakfast at Cape May was good, but nothing to write home about ;)
*Plan to see more shows. I did not take into account that our kids would enjoy the shows as much, if not more than, the rides. Every show we saw, the kids were mesmerized. The other blog post lists the shows we saw, but there were still a few that we missed. The 3D ones are the best...even though Ella jumps every single time something flies towards her ;)
*Go to a waterpark. Our kids are most likely too short to ride many things at the waterparks, but I would still like to visit one with them. I guess I should do some research as to if one is better than the other for the "preschool" crowd.
*Take our own strollers. Stroller rentals in the park are around $15/day for a single and $30/day for a double. I was very glad we had our own strollers, although they always get put through the ringer when we gate check them. I do wish we had a sit n stand type stroller though. I think the girls might do well with a platform they could just jump on and off of...although they did fall asleep in their stroller a couple times and wouldn't be able to do that in a sit n stand.
*Spend more time at Epcot. Probably not with the kids...but with Dave. It was really nice to be able to just walk right over from our resort. The World Showcase is pretty cool, especially if you can drink your way through the countries. We started to after our princess dinner Sunday night, but stopped short in Morocco when we got the most horrible tasting Habibi daquiris you can imagine. Blech. Steer clear of those if you go!
*Visit Universal Studios. Disney is not really known for its adventurous rides and Dave and I still appreciate them, to a certain degree. We'll admit we are getting older and the jostling effect of wooden roller coasters does not appeal to us as much as it used to, but we do still love a good thrill. I would take an afternoon/evening and go check 1 of their 2 parks out.
*Use the Magical Express bus to/from the airport. It was nice not to have to claim our luggage and haul it to a taxi or deal with a rental car. We just waited a short amount of time for a bus and off we went! No carseats needed! Our luggage was brought to our room minutes after we were able to get into them. And we had the most friendly bus driver on the way back to the airport. At 6:30 AM, this guy was really workin' it for tips, but he kept us laughing :)
*Stick to my kids' schedule. We have created creatures of habit/structure/routine. They need naps at 1 PM and a bedtime at 8 PM. Yes, they can skip naps, take late naps, and stay up late occasionally, but not 7 days in a row. I think by getting up a little earlier (they usually wake at 8) and getting to the parks by 9 AM, we would be able to enjoy a good 4 hours before we would need to head home for naps. And then we could head back to the parks by 5 for the rest of the evening. We maybe wouldn't have to do this every day, but I think it would help tremendously with their moods.
*Stay on property, get park hopper passes, and do it up right! When you stay on property, you have access to the parks for extra magical hours, free transportation (bus, ferry, monorail), and you can use this super cool card (which is your room key and your park hopper pass) to charge anything and everything to your room!!! Awesome!
I'm sure there's much more and as soon as I publish this, I'll think of 10 more things. I'll add them in later if that happens ;) I hope this helps someone with their travel plans. And feel free to ask me any questions if you have one that was not covered here... amberrogan@yahoo.com
Thanks for reading!!
Disney Details
We're back!
I'm planning to make a couple different posts about our trip, but in this one I'll focus on the details of our trip. We went Saturday to Saturday, leaving St Louis on a 7 AM flight and arriving at our resort (by way of the Magical Express bus) around noon. We chose the Beach Club Villas b/c they had 1 bedroom villas with kitchens and a pretty cool pool area. We had planned on not being able to get into our rooms until 3 or 4 PM, so we packed our swimsuits in our carry ons and headed to the sand-bottom pools. Ella and Luca enjoyed the "beach" very much, but Perry still hates sand so she floated in her innertube without putting her feet on the ground ;)
We got into our room around 3:30 PM, threw the kids in the tub to get the sand off of them, and put them down for a nap. Around 6 PM, we headed to the Magic Kingdom b/c we thought there was a parade at 8 PM and fireworks at 9 PM, but they were really at 9 and 10 PM. We stayed for the parade (and rode a couple rides while waiting) and then went home. In retrospect, we should have stayed in that night and rested since we were in the car and on our way to the airport by 5 AM that day, but what are ya gonna do?
Sunday we had breakfast at the Polynesian with Lilo, Stitch, Mickey, and Pluto. We rode a bus to the Magic Kingdom and then took the monorail to the resort. All the kids enjoyed the breakfast VERY much. They absolutely adored all the characters and the girls and I marched in the "parade" too. We headed to the Magic Kingdom afterwards and were able to fit in a few rides before the crankiness set in. Instead of fighting it, we decided to go back to the room and get a quick nap in b/c Dave, the girls, and I had reservations for dinner that night. We were able to walk to Epcot from our resort, but of course our restaurant (Akershus Banquet Hall) was in Norway, which was on the opposite side of the world showcase from where we entered. After a bit of a wait in the hot sun, we were ushered in to meet Belle...and Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Jasmine, and Ariel were circulating throughout the restaurant as well. The girls were in heaven and instantly fell in love with "Sipper Bella" (aka Cinderella). After dinner, we walked through a bit of the world showcase and then headed home. We found out that night that we could see the Epcot fireworks from our balconies...very cool!
Monday we headed to Animal Kingdom. There isn't a whole lot to ride there, but we rode a few things and saw a very cool Nemo show and the Bug's Life 3D show. We headed back to Epcot that night (after naps) and saw the IllumiNations show at 9 PM. It started to drizzle a bit at the end and then turned into a full-on downpour on us. Fortunately, that was the only rain of the week, even though they were forecasting t-storms every day.
Tuesday we cancelled our plans to go to the waterpark and just hung out at the pool again. We thought it was important to get good naps in this day b/c we had tickets to Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party that evening from 7 PM to 12 AM. The girls dressed up as princesses, Snow White and Belle...although they both thought they were Cinderella ;) We were able to ride quite a bit that night b/c there were not many people there. Dave and I rode Space Mountain twice in about a 15 minute time period. We stayed for a 10:30 PM parade and then rode the Haunted Mansion ride (which had been closed earlier in the night) and then headed home.
Wednesday we slept in and then took the ferry to MGM (which is now called Disney's Hollywood Studios). Kind of similar to Animal Kingdom in that there isn't much to ride, but they loved the shows. We tried to make it to a 3 PM Block Party Bash (parade) but only caught the tail end of it. This was the day that everyone pretty much hit the wall...heat exhaustion, crankiness, and fatigue caught up with all of us. We spent the evening in that night to try to rest up for the next 2 days. And unfortunately, all 3 kids caught a 24-36 hour fever/virus while we were there. Perry was sick on Tuesday/Wednesday and Ella and Luca were sick on Thursday/Friday. We think Luca's might have been teething-related, but aren't sure.
Thursday we had breakfast at Cape May at our resort with Goofy, Minnie, and Chip. Luca missed most of it b/c he wasn't feeling well and then he spent the rest of the day sleeping in our room with Grandma and Grandpa. Dave and I took the girls back to Magic Kingdom and tried to finish up all the rides/shows we wanted to do/see. We came home around 3 PM and spent the evening in since everyone was still feeling under the weather.
Friday we decided to skip the waterpark again and go back to Magic Kingdom. We rode the train from the front of the park to Toon Town and then did a meet and greet with Cinderella, Belle, and Sleeping Beauty. The girls were so cute chatting with each of the princesses. Cinderella asked if the mice helped make P&E's dresses and the other 2 princesses asked a few questions too. Ella did most of the talking...I think Perry was too in awe to say anything. We were able to ride a few more things and then had to head home to rest. We ended up staying in again to pack up for our plane ride home the next day. We had to be packed up and down in the lobby by 6:30 AM.
That's pretty much the gist of our trip. As far as rides and shows, here's what we did...
Magic Kingdom:
Tomorrowland Transit Authority
Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin
Space Mountain (not the kids)
Indy Speedway
Goofy's Barnstormer Roller Coaster
Snow White's Scary Adventures
It's A Small World
Dumbo the Flying Elephant
Peter Pan's Flight
The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
The Haunted Mansion
Magic Carpets of Aladdin
Jungle Cruise
Pirates of the Caribbean
WDW Railroad
Shows:
Mickey's PhilharMagic
Monsters Inc Laugh Floor
Enchanted Tiki Room
Parades:
SpectroMagic Parade
Boo to You Halloween Parade
Epcot:
The Seas with Nemo and Friends
World Showcase
IllumiNations fireworks show
Hollywood Studios:
Toy Story Mania
Honey I Shrunk the Kids play area
Shows:
Voyage of the Little Mermaid
Muppet Vision 3D
Parade:
Block Party Bash
Animal Kingdom:
Kilimanjaro Safari
TriceraTop Spin
Shows:
Finding Nemo the Musical
It's Tough to be a Bug
Parade:
Mickey's Jammin' Jungle Parade
Stay tuned for more posts on Disney!!
I'm planning to make a couple different posts about our trip, but in this one I'll focus on the details of our trip. We went Saturday to Saturday, leaving St Louis on a 7 AM flight and arriving at our resort (by way of the Magical Express bus) around noon. We chose the Beach Club Villas b/c they had 1 bedroom villas with kitchens and a pretty cool pool area. We had planned on not being able to get into our rooms until 3 or 4 PM, so we packed our swimsuits in our carry ons and headed to the sand-bottom pools. Ella and Luca enjoyed the "beach" very much, but Perry still hates sand so she floated in her innertube without putting her feet on the ground ;)
We got into our room around 3:30 PM, threw the kids in the tub to get the sand off of them, and put them down for a nap. Around 6 PM, we headed to the Magic Kingdom b/c we thought there was a parade at 8 PM and fireworks at 9 PM, but they were really at 9 and 10 PM. We stayed for the parade (and rode a couple rides while waiting) and then went home. In retrospect, we should have stayed in that night and rested since we were in the car and on our way to the airport by 5 AM that day, but what are ya gonna do?
Sunday we had breakfast at the Polynesian with Lilo, Stitch, Mickey, and Pluto. We rode a bus to the Magic Kingdom and then took the monorail to the resort. All the kids enjoyed the breakfast VERY much. They absolutely adored all the characters and the girls and I marched in the "parade" too. We headed to the Magic Kingdom afterwards and were able to fit in a few rides before the crankiness set in. Instead of fighting it, we decided to go back to the room and get a quick nap in b/c Dave, the girls, and I had reservations for dinner that night. We were able to walk to Epcot from our resort, but of course our restaurant (Akershus Banquet Hall) was in Norway, which was on the opposite side of the world showcase from where we entered. After a bit of a wait in the hot sun, we were ushered in to meet Belle...and Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Jasmine, and Ariel were circulating throughout the restaurant as well. The girls were in heaven and instantly fell in love with "Sipper Bella" (aka Cinderella). After dinner, we walked through a bit of the world showcase and then headed home. We found out that night that we could see the Epcot fireworks from our balconies...very cool!
Monday we headed to Animal Kingdom. There isn't a whole lot to ride there, but we rode a few things and saw a very cool Nemo show and the Bug's Life 3D show. We headed back to Epcot that night (after naps) and saw the IllumiNations show at 9 PM. It started to drizzle a bit at the end and then turned into a full-on downpour on us. Fortunately, that was the only rain of the week, even though they were forecasting t-storms every day.
Tuesday we cancelled our plans to go to the waterpark and just hung out at the pool again. We thought it was important to get good naps in this day b/c we had tickets to Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party that evening from 7 PM to 12 AM. The girls dressed up as princesses, Snow White and Belle...although they both thought they were Cinderella ;) We were able to ride quite a bit that night b/c there were not many people there. Dave and I rode Space Mountain twice in about a 15 minute time period. We stayed for a 10:30 PM parade and then rode the Haunted Mansion ride (which had been closed earlier in the night) and then headed home.
Wednesday we slept in and then took the ferry to MGM (which is now called Disney's Hollywood Studios). Kind of similar to Animal Kingdom in that there isn't much to ride, but they loved the shows. We tried to make it to a 3 PM Block Party Bash (parade) but only caught the tail end of it. This was the day that everyone pretty much hit the wall...heat exhaustion, crankiness, and fatigue caught up with all of us. We spent the evening in that night to try to rest up for the next 2 days. And unfortunately, all 3 kids caught a 24-36 hour fever/virus while we were there. Perry was sick on Tuesday/Wednesday and Ella and Luca were sick on Thursday/Friday. We think Luca's might have been teething-related, but aren't sure.
Thursday we had breakfast at Cape May at our resort with Goofy, Minnie, and Chip. Luca missed most of it b/c he wasn't feeling well and then he spent the rest of the day sleeping in our room with Grandma and Grandpa. Dave and I took the girls back to Magic Kingdom and tried to finish up all the rides/shows we wanted to do/see. We came home around 3 PM and spent the evening in since everyone was still feeling under the weather.
Friday we decided to skip the waterpark again and go back to Magic Kingdom. We rode the train from the front of the park to Toon Town and then did a meet and greet with Cinderella, Belle, and Sleeping Beauty. The girls were so cute chatting with each of the princesses. Cinderella asked if the mice helped make P&E's dresses and the other 2 princesses asked a few questions too. Ella did most of the talking...I think Perry was too in awe to say anything. We were able to ride a few more things and then had to head home to rest. We ended up staying in again to pack up for our plane ride home the next day. We had to be packed up and down in the lobby by 6:30 AM.
That's pretty much the gist of our trip. As far as rides and shows, here's what we did...
Magic Kingdom:
Tomorrowland Transit Authority
Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin
Space Mountain (not the kids)
Indy Speedway
Goofy's Barnstormer Roller Coaster
Snow White's Scary Adventures
It's A Small World
Dumbo the Flying Elephant
Peter Pan's Flight
The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
The Haunted Mansion
Magic Carpets of Aladdin
Jungle Cruise
Pirates of the Caribbean
WDW Railroad
Shows:
Mickey's PhilharMagic
Monsters Inc Laugh Floor
Enchanted Tiki Room
Parades:
SpectroMagic Parade
Boo to You Halloween Parade
Epcot:
The Seas with Nemo and Friends
World Showcase
IllumiNations fireworks show
Hollywood Studios:
Toy Story Mania
Honey I Shrunk the Kids play area
Shows:
Voyage of the Little Mermaid
Muppet Vision 3D
Parade:
Block Party Bash
Animal Kingdom:
Kilimanjaro Safari
TriceraTop Spin
Shows:
Finding Nemo the Musical
It's Tough to be a Bug
Parade:
Mickey's Jammin' Jungle Parade
Stay tuned for more posts on Disney!!
Thursday, September 04, 2008
Weather, Disney, and Updates
Looks like Gustav, Hanna, and Ike are causing a stir in more than just the SW coastal states. Can you believe this weather (if you're in St Louis)? Low 70s/high 60s...and ALL THIS RAIN!?!? I'm not ready for summer to be over yet but the 10 day forecast only calls for highs in the mid to high 70s. Weird.
I would say at least we get to escape it in a couple weeks and go to Orlando, but who knows what the weather will be like down there in the middle of all these hurricanes? Eek!
Yup, like the website says, we're going to Disney World!! Grandma and Grandpa Bast will be making the trip with us. We're staying at the Beach Club Villas so we'll be a bus ride from Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom, a ferry ride from MGM (or Disney/Hollywood Studios), and a walk from Epcot. We have 2 character meals planned (a breakfast at the Polynesian with Lilo, Stitch, and Mickey...and a dinner in Epcot with the princesses). The kids seem to love all the characters we've come in contact with at Worlds of Fun and Six Flags so we're assuming they'll love the Disney characters as well.
We've got park hopper passes for all the days we are there and we should hit each park at least once. So far we've planned to go to Animal Kingdom, MGM, Blizzard Beach, and Typhoon Lagoon once each...probably 3-4 trips to the Magic Kingdom, and 2 trips to Epcot. Maybe we'll get to visit Downtown Disney or Universal Studios as well. It's starting to sound like one of those vacations you need a vacation from when you get home!! Hopefully the kids will make due with napping in the strollers if they're tired or early bedtimes, but we're prepared to come back to the room in the afternoons for naps if needed.
In other news, P&E are doing very well at preschool. No word on if we'll get transferred to the Dardenne Prairie location anytime soon. I think Perry has already made quite the impression on one little boy...his mom told me that when we all got out of the car in the parking lot, he said "There's Perry!" Oddly enough, I don't think P&E have a clue who any of the other kids are, but I could be wrong.
They are definitely talking A LOT more now. Everyone who sees them comments on how much more they are saying. But I'm starting to understand why some parents told me to be careful what I wish for. I'm glad they're talking, don't get me wrong, but is it really necessary to repeat something overandoverandoverandoverandover again?? Oy vey.
Gymnastics class ended a couple weeks ago. I don't think we'll be enrolling in anything else for now. We have a credit at the rec center from the dance class that P&E got "kicked out" of so we can use that towards open swim. I might do a swim class with Luca at the Y, but probably not till later in the season. The kids seem to like going to the Y childwatch so if we do that 1-2 times/week plus P&E's preschool 2 mornings/week, I think we're covered in the activity department for now. The girls can start soccer and/or basketball when they turn 3, so we'll see!
Luca is doing well...getting teeth constantly. He has his 1 year molars, but still no canines on top and no lateral incisors or canines on bottom. So I'm sure some of those are starting to make their way to the gums. He has actually bitten (that doesn't sound right...sorry to the grammar police!) me on 2 different occasions. Mommy is NOT a teether!!! He's also had some nightwakings, which are not fun when you're used to 3 kids who sleep 11+ hours through the night. But he's cute as all get out and Dave and I think he's very smart for his age. He will follow verbal instuctions pretty well, he knows P&E apart (don't ask me how), and he repeats lots of words (the 2 newest are pepper and Ella).
Well, everyone is asleep in the Rogan house. Luca actually went down at 10 AM b/c he woke up at 6 AM, so I'm expecting him up any minute now (it's almost 1)...which is ironic b/c P&E just went to sleep. Ha!
I would say at least we get to escape it in a couple weeks and go to Orlando, but who knows what the weather will be like down there in the middle of all these hurricanes? Eek!
Yup, like the website says, we're going to Disney World!! Grandma and Grandpa Bast will be making the trip with us. We're staying at the Beach Club Villas so we'll be a bus ride from Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom, a ferry ride from MGM (or Disney/Hollywood Studios), and a walk from Epcot. We have 2 character meals planned (a breakfast at the Polynesian with Lilo, Stitch, and Mickey...and a dinner in Epcot with the princesses). The kids seem to love all the characters we've come in contact with at Worlds of Fun and Six Flags so we're assuming they'll love the Disney characters as well.
We've got park hopper passes for all the days we are there and we should hit each park at least once. So far we've planned to go to Animal Kingdom, MGM, Blizzard Beach, and Typhoon Lagoon once each...probably 3-4 trips to the Magic Kingdom, and 2 trips to Epcot. Maybe we'll get to visit Downtown Disney or Universal Studios as well. It's starting to sound like one of those vacations you need a vacation from when you get home!! Hopefully the kids will make due with napping in the strollers if they're tired or early bedtimes, but we're prepared to come back to the room in the afternoons for naps if needed.
In other news, P&E are doing very well at preschool. No word on if we'll get transferred to the Dardenne Prairie location anytime soon. I think Perry has already made quite the impression on one little boy...his mom told me that when we all got out of the car in the parking lot, he said "There's Perry!" Oddly enough, I don't think P&E have a clue who any of the other kids are, but I could be wrong.
They are definitely talking A LOT more now. Everyone who sees them comments on how much more they are saying. But I'm starting to understand why some parents told me to be careful what I wish for. I'm glad they're talking, don't get me wrong, but is it really necessary to repeat something overandoverandoverandoverandover again?? Oy vey.
Gymnastics class ended a couple weeks ago. I don't think we'll be enrolling in anything else for now. We have a credit at the rec center from the dance class that P&E got "kicked out" of so we can use that towards open swim. I might do a swim class with Luca at the Y, but probably not till later in the season. The kids seem to like going to the Y childwatch so if we do that 1-2 times/week plus P&E's preschool 2 mornings/week, I think we're covered in the activity department for now. The girls can start soccer and/or basketball when they turn 3, so we'll see!
Luca is doing well...getting teeth constantly. He has his 1 year molars, but still no canines on top and no lateral incisors or canines on bottom. So I'm sure some of those are starting to make their way to the gums. He has actually bitten (that doesn't sound right...sorry to the grammar police!) me on 2 different occasions. Mommy is NOT a teether!!! He's also had some nightwakings, which are not fun when you're used to 3 kids who sleep 11+ hours through the night. But he's cute as all get out and Dave and I think he's very smart for his age. He will follow verbal instuctions pretty well, he knows P&E apart (don't ask me how), and he repeats lots of words (the 2 newest are pepper and Ella).
Well, everyone is asleep in the Rogan house. Luca actually went down at 10 AM b/c he woke up at 6 AM, so I'm expecting him up any minute now (it's almost 1)...which is ironic b/c P&E just went to sleep. Ha!
Monday, August 18, 2008
1st day of school
Today was P&E's first day of preschool at United Services. They did VERY well...thanks to a year at Parents Day Out. We walked in, put their backpacks in their cubbies, I took Ella to the potty (she wears panties now), and said goodbye. Perry seemed a little sad for a second...I think it was because Ella and I disappeared to the bathroom for awhile...but she cheered up again when I suggested she go color with Ella.
Their schedule for the day is as follows:
9-9:20 - Arrival
9:20-9:35 - Opening (sing a song, go over the schedule for the day, etc)
9:35-9:45 - Fitness
9:45-9:55 - Small group activity (centers)
9:55-10:10 - Snack
10:10-10:30 - Outside time
10:30-10:45 - Story
10:45-11:35 - Activity time (trampoline and finger painting)
11:35-11:55 - Music and movement
12 - Dismissal
What a busy day! Their teachers are Miss Patty, Miss Natalie, and Miss Sue and they send home a weekly news bulletin which explains all the activities and skills they work on for the week. Seems very nice...but we are very much hoping to be transferred to the Dardenne Prairie location for convenience. Luca and I just barely had time to run to Super Wal-Mart and drop off the groceries at home before we had to go pick them up again!
Tomorrow is the girls' last day of summer PDO. We had considered putting all 3 kiddos there on Tuesdays throughout the year, but decided to go with preschool instead. So this will be their last time at FBCH (First Baptist Church of Harvester). Kind of sad :( But I have no doubts that this is the right thing for them. So we'll say goodbye to Miss Jamie and Miss Anita.
Their schedule for the day is as follows:
9-9:20 - Arrival
9:20-9:35 - Opening (sing a song, go over the schedule for the day, etc)
9:35-9:45 - Fitness
9:45-9:55 - Small group activity (centers)
9:55-10:10 - Snack
10:10-10:30 - Outside time
10:30-10:45 - Story
10:45-11:35 - Activity time (trampoline and finger painting)
11:35-11:55 - Music and movement
12 - Dismissal
What a busy day! Their teachers are Miss Patty, Miss Natalie, and Miss Sue and they send home a weekly news bulletin which explains all the activities and skills they work on for the week. Seems very nice...but we are very much hoping to be transferred to the Dardenne Prairie location for convenience. Luca and I just barely had time to run to Super Wal-Mart and drop off the groceries at home before we had to go pick them up again!
Tomorrow is the girls' last day of summer PDO. We had considered putting all 3 kiddos there on Tuesdays throughout the year, but decided to go with preschool instead. So this will be their last time at FBCH (First Baptist Church of Harvester). Kind of sad :( But I have no doubts that this is the right thing for them. So we'll say goodbye to Miss Jamie and Miss Anita.
Thursday, July 24, 2008
The busy life of a SAHM to 3 kiddos ;)
It's Thursday and I'm pooped. Seriously. Exhausted.
It's been a very busy, exciting week for us...but I can't help but wonder if it's the anemia. One of the many *fun* things about celiac is that anemia can accompany it. I *should* be taking 1 million grams of iron/day says Dr Zafar. I *am* taking 0 grams of iron/day. I mean, c'mon...the #1 side effect of iron pills is constipation. I'm a GI patient and you want me to take something that's gonna interfere with that system?!? Yeah, not gonna happen. BUT...I'm really starting to consider it to get some energy back.
Anyway, here's our busy week in rundown form...
MONDAY - YMCA day. I go to Zumba aerobics class while the kids play in the child care. They absolutely love it. The girls color and do other "big kid" projects while Luca explores and plays with all sorts of new toys. When I came to pick them up this week, Luca turned the other way when he saw me b/c he wanted to keep playing.
TUESDAY - PDO day. P&E went to PDO while Luca and I went to United Services to drop off P&E's forms for preschool enrollment and then we headed to Super Wal-Mart for grocery shopping. Doubled back to pick up P&E and headed home. I also have pilates on Tuesday nights, but as much as I dread it the entire day...I really do enjoy it. Plus our class went out for cocktails afterwards. The way I felt that night and the next morning confirmed that I am too old for mid-week partying ;)
WEDNESDAY - Grandma Rogan day. Grandma came to sit with baby Luca while I took P&E to the free movie again. We saw The Bee Movie with Kelly and Jakob. Then the girls and I walked across the parking lot to Red Robin for lunch. We had a balloon incident on the way out. Let's just say, 1 floating away and 1 popped balloon later, we were on our way home. I also got the distinct pleasure of helping Aunt Angela register for her baby (due in November) that evening, which was great fun, but walking around BRU all night wore me out and I'm not even pregnant!
THURSDAY - Grandma Bast day. Grandma came to sit with Luca while P&E and I were supposed to go to the Tot Swim at Wapelhorst Park in St Peters, but the weather had other ideas. With a couple phone calls to Kelly and Jakob, we changed our venue to Monkey Joe's.
Enter exhaustion.
TOMORROW - YMCA day again. We'll go for gymnastics class at 9:30 and then see where the day/weather takes us.
WEEKEND - Most likely a trip to Six Flags. And then it all starts over again. :)
Maybe it's not the anemia? Maybe it's just life with 3 kids?
Whatever it is, I'm very thankful to be this exhausted b/c it means I have kids to love. Kids who are healthy, active, energetic, and fun. Not everyone is this lucky.
It's been a very busy, exciting week for us...but I can't help but wonder if it's the anemia. One of the many *fun* things about celiac is that anemia can accompany it. I *should* be taking 1 million grams of iron/day says Dr Zafar. I *am* taking 0 grams of iron/day. I mean, c'mon...the #1 side effect of iron pills is constipation. I'm a GI patient and you want me to take something that's gonna interfere with that system?!? Yeah, not gonna happen. BUT...I'm really starting to consider it to get some energy back.
Anyway, here's our busy week in rundown form...
MONDAY - YMCA day. I go to Zumba aerobics class while the kids play in the child care. They absolutely love it. The girls color and do other "big kid" projects while Luca explores and plays with all sorts of new toys. When I came to pick them up this week, Luca turned the other way when he saw me b/c he wanted to keep playing.
TUESDAY - PDO day. P&E went to PDO while Luca and I went to United Services to drop off P&E's forms for preschool enrollment and then we headed to Super Wal-Mart for grocery shopping. Doubled back to pick up P&E and headed home. I also have pilates on Tuesday nights, but as much as I dread it the entire day...I really do enjoy it. Plus our class went out for cocktails afterwards. The way I felt that night and the next morning confirmed that I am too old for mid-week partying ;)
WEDNESDAY - Grandma Rogan day. Grandma came to sit with baby Luca while I took P&E to the free movie again. We saw The Bee Movie with Kelly and Jakob. Then the girls and I walked across the parking lot to Red Robin for lunch. We had a balloon incident on the way out. Let's just say, 1 floating away and 1 popped balloon later, we were on our way home. I also got the distinct pleasure of helping Aunt Angela register for her baby (due in November) that evening, which was great fun, but walking around BRU all night wore me out and I'm not even pregnant!
THURSDAY - Grandma Bast day. Grandma came to sit with Luca while P&E and I were supposed to go to the Tot Swim at Wapelhorst Park in St Peters, but the weather had other ideas. With a couple phone calls to Kelly and Jakob, we changed our venue to Monkey Joe's.
Enter exhaustion.
TOMORROW - YMCA day again. We'll go for gymnastics class at 9:30 and then see where the day/weather takes us.
WEEKEND - Most likely a trip to Six Flags. And then it all starts over again. :)
Maybe it's not the anemia? Maybe it's just life with 3 kids?
Whatever it is, I'm very thankful to be this exhausted b/c it means I have kids to love. Kids who are healthy, active, energetic, and fun. Not everyone is this lucky.
Friday, July 18, 2008
Six Flags by the Numbers
Times we've been to Six Flags this summer: 3
Routes we've taken to get there or back: 3
Fastest route thus far: 44 to 141 to 40 - 40 minutes
Degrees: Low 90s
Train rides: 3 (2 little kid train rides + 1 big train ride)
Carousel rides: 3 (2 little kid carousel rides + 1 big carousel ride)
Rides ridden: 9
Times we filled up our $1 refill cup: 2
Funnel cakes eaten: 1
Frozen lemonades eaten: 1
Times Ella used the potty: 3
Times Perry needed her diaper changed: 3
Times Luca needed his diaper changed: 1
Happy/exhausted kids: 3
Routes we've taken to get there or back: 3
Fastest route thus far: 44 to 141 to 40 - 40 minutes
Degrees: Low 90s
Train rides: 3 (2 little kid train rides + 1 big train ride)
Carousel rides: 3 (2 little kid carousel rides + 1 big carousel ride)
Rides ridden: 9
Times we filled up our $1 refill cup: 2
Funnel cakes eaten: 1
Frozen lemonades eaten: 1
Times Ella used the potty: 3
Times Perry needed her diaper changed: 3
Times Luca needed his diaper changed: 1
Happy/exhausted kids: 3
Gymnastics and Hemangiomas
We started gymnastics class at the Y today. It's P&E's 2nd time (we took them when I was pregnant with Luca in January/February 2007) and Luca's 1st time. They all seemed to enjoy it. P&E are much more "masterful" (if that's a word) on the equipment. I was able to snap a few pics, so look for those on the website in the next day or 2.
After gymnastics, we had to hightail it to Creve Coeur for an appointment with a new pediatric doc for Perry's hemangioma. I called Dr. Hagan's office a few weeks ago about doing a follow up appt and the secretary said they are no longer doing pediatric plastics there, so we were referred to Dr Borschel at Children's. Luckily, they have a west county office so we didn't have to go all the way in to Children's.
Anyway, we took in some pictures of when the hemangioma was at its worst and he took pictures of the pictures and new pictures of her hand today. He agreed that there seems to be some loose skin and discoloration still, but otherwise feels that the steroid treatments worked wonders. The solutions to the 2 "issues" though are 1) laser treatment that would require her to be under anesthesia for a few minutes with no down time and it would hopefully help the pink color to go away, and 2) surgery to remove the excess skin which would leave her in a splint for a couple weeks.
While we don't feel either option is *neccessary*, we are definitely keeping them in mind. I'd hate for her to wish that we had done something...if it ends up bothering her down the road. And in my experience in working with kids, they do notice even the smallest things. We'll see. Nice to have options.
After gymnastics, we had to hightail it to Creve Coeur for an appointment with a new pediatric doc for Perry's hemangioma. I called Dr. Hagan's office a few weeks ago about doing a follow up appt and the secretary said they are no longer doing pediatric plastics there, so we were referred to Dr Borschel at Children's. Luckily, they have a west county office so we didn't have to go all the way in to Children's.
Anyway, we took in some pictures of when the hemangioma was at its worst and he took pictures of the pictures and new pictures of her hand today. He agreed that there seems to be some loose skin and discoloration still, but otherwise feels that the steroid treatments worked wonders. The solutions to the 2 "issues" though are 1) laser treatment that would require her to be under anesthesia for a few minutes with no down time and it would hopefully help the pink color to go away, and 2) surgery to remove the excess skin which would leave her in a splint for a couple weeks.
While we don't feel either option is *neccessary*, we are definitely keeping them in mind. I'd hate for her to wish that we had done something...if it ends up bothering her down the road. And in my experience in working with kids, they do notice even the smallest things. We'll see. Nice to have options.
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
New Look
Just wanted to say that I revamped our blog site. I realized it didn't include Luca in it...after almost 15 months :) And hopefully this will be the start of more frequent blogging.
AND...Ella stayed completely dry again today! I think this is the 3rd day in a row! We even had an outing today...a movie date with Kelly & Jakob and a trip to Wal-Mart/Subway. She used the public potties twice and stayed dry (with a pull up).
Tonight I told her to try her best to keep her night time diaper dry. We'll see how it goes!
AND...Ella stayed completely dry again today! I think this is the 3rd day in a row! We even had an outing today...a movie date with Kelly & Jakob and a trip to Wal-Mart/Subway. She used the public potties twice and stayed dry (with a pull up).
Tonight I told her to try her best to keep her night time diaper dry. We'll see how it goes!
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