Pictures Pictures and More Pictures

So what did we do? We picked the Contemporary baby. Nothing says magical vacation like a free upgrade. Unfortunately, now that we have stayed in a deluxe resort we will never again be able to mingle with the common folk at the regular hotels. Sorry, its deluxe for us from here on out!

It was so great, the beds were super comfy and the room was huge. We could see the monorail out the window as well as the tip of Cinderella's Castle. Definitely the right decision. My mom told me she read that the beds in the new Pirate rooms were super hard and uncomfortable anyway.

This picture is by far my most favorite of the entire trip. Check out Abbey's awestruck gaze at Prince Charming. He was quite handsome and charming, that's for sure! After he signed her book he gave her a kiss on the forehead and I thought she was going to melt into a puddle on the floor. He barely acknowledged Jack or Dennis or I, he only had eyes for the Princess.

I'm already planning our next trip in my head. I'm thinking Fall, 2012. I'm thinking the Polynesian. I'm thinking that maybe I will lose some weight and my thighs won't rub together quite so much in the heat!

Keep looking below for even more pictures from our vacation at the "Happiest Place on Earth"

This is when we were picked to be "Celebration" family at the "Lights Motors Action" Stunt show. Which basically meant we got to sit on special chairs in the rain.

Abbey was chosen for the Jedi training show, so damn cute.

Disneyworld

We are home from Disneyworld. Notice the lack of exclamation point. After 8 months of planning (that's right, 8 months) it is over. No more planning. No more Disney. I am quite sad, but we had a great and wonderful trip. A trip of a lifetime, although I am already secretly planning on going again in 2 years. Everything went fabulous and even though it did seem crowded and it was super hot, the lines were short (we waited 10 minutes or less for most rides) and there was plenty of air conditioning. My hair as usual hated being on vacation and was an unreasonable mess the entire week. I wore my Red Sox hat every single day, and actually got quite a couple of "nice hat" comments from fellow New Englanders. I'll share more tomorrow, for now I am exhausted after my long day of unpacking, doing 5 loads of laundry and a giant grocery store run. I will share this though. I had booked us a room at the Caribbean Beach Resort, a brand new "Pirate" themed room. This is considered a "Moderate" resort by Disney standards. When I went to check in, they asked me if we wanted a complimentary upgrade to the Contemporary Resort, which is considered a Deluxe. The manager told me that the room was valued at $527 a night. I thought about it, after all it is right on the monorail system and so much closer and is a nicer hotel, but on the other hand I had been dreaming about the kids faces when we surprised them with this pirate room for months (they had no idea about it). And the main pool had been recently done over in all pirate themes as well. Hmmm, what to do. So what did we decide? Fun for the kids in a great themed room? Or convenience and a bigger room with bigger beds for us?

What would you have done?

DISNEY!

What can I say. WE ARE GOING TO DISNEYWORLD TOMORROW! After 8 months (that's right, 8 months) of planning and preparing, we are really going. After all of my obsessive compulsive over planning, we are actually going. We are going we are going we are going. Disney, here we come. Everyone else, get the hell out of there!

I'll be back in a week and I'm sure I'll have pictures and stories to share. Just keep us in your prayers for a safe and healthy trip. And maybe low crowds and gorgeous weather? I won't count on that one! I hear that Orlando is having a heat wave, and the crowds so far in May have been the largest ever. Oh well, its still DISNEYWORLD!

Underwear - Check!

Mommying, working, baseball, taekwondo, gymnastics, laundry, cooking, cleaning, dog-care, mommying (I know I mentioned it already but it takes up a lot of time) and packing. Phew, no wonder I haven't posted. Our house has been busy, but a good busy. Everyone seems healthy at the moment and I just knock on all the wood around me that it stays that way because we leave for our vacation on Saturday. Yes, after months of planning and counting down the days, we head off to Disneyworld just a mere few days away. Who would have thought that there would be a weird nationwide flu outbreak looming over our heads, but I'm just not thinking about that. I booked this trip back in October, so the wait has seemed quite

L - O - N - G!

Now it is zooming towards us and we are all so excited. As for me, I can't wait to NOT cook for a week. NOT clean for a week (Mousekeeping, you know I love ya!) and just hang out with Dennis and the kids without having to be running in different directions. Sure, we will be running towards Splash Mountain, or Peter Pan's Flight (my personal favorite) but we will be running TOGETHER. There will be no escape from each other for 7 days (uh-oh, seeing it written down makes me nervous).

We have to get to Saturday though, which involves a long week of work and school. I have clothes and miscellaneous items all over the dining room table, which is where I pack. I pack on the dining room table because my mother always did (and still does). No other reason. When I was growing up when we went away she always laid our clothes out and organized everything on the table, so I do too. Packing also lets me use my favorite skill, list making. I make lists of things to pack, things to buys, even what to pack for who. As I put things into bags I check them off, and for anyone who knows me knows that I LOVE to check things off of lists. Oh lists . . . . how I love to make lists . . . .

Mother Mortality

The kids got a new movie from Netflix this weekend. "Ariel's Beginning" or something like that. Its about Ariel when she was born and was a little girl growing up, before she met Prince Eric and decided to throw her entire ultra cool mermaid life away on a stupid man. But I digress. In this movie Ariel's mother shockingly . . . you won't believe this. . . its so unexpected . . . dies! What is it with Disney and mothers? I'm sorry, but they totally hate us! We are ALWAYS getting killed off, leaving them to be raised by their fathers who usually screw it up by losing them or marrying someone evil. I'm surprised kids don't have more nightmares about this situation. Bambi, Snow White, Chicken Little, Cinderella, Finding Nemo, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin (he actually doesn't have any parents at all). You get my point. Maybe the mothers of the world should start a protest.

The Lion King is one great exception and in my opinion one of the top greatest movies ever made. . . of course the dad gets killed off instead.