Disney World - Hollywood Studios

Our second day at Disney World was spent at Hollywood Studios.

The Whole Gang

Our 3 Mouseketeers  

This sweet girl LOVED the Disney Jr. Show and was so excited to see all of her favorite cartoon characters - Sophia the First, Doc McStuffins, and Jake & the Neverland Pirates - all in one place.  She danced, sang, laughed and had a great time.  The adults weren't so crazy about sitting on the floor, but we managed to survive!

 The week was filled with LOTS of yummy treats! Calories don't count when you're at Disney, right?

We ran into these sweet friends from school not once, but 3 times while we were here.

After chatting with our friends, we headed into the Frozen Playground.  While Allie loved it, the boys  were definitely a bit too old for this one.  Though it did provide a much needed break from the heat.

One of our very favorite rides was next on the agenda - Toy Story Mania.  Thank goodness we had FastPasses for this one.  

Hayden and Kyle both LOVED the Rock 'n' Roller Coaster, which made me a very happy mama!  I do love a good roller coaster, and I am thrilled that they will ride them with me now!  I think this ride was voted our very favorite ride for the entire week!

 Kyle and Aunt Jen scaring off Mike Wazowski.

Jen and Mary found Tinkerbell!

We had dinner that night at the 50's Prime Time Cafe.  We were transported to a 50's style kitchen, complete with a TV playing 50's shows.  The menu was All-American food - think pot roast, meatloaf & fried chicken.  While the food was so-so, the atmosphere was super fun.  We were called "kids" by everyone in the restaurant.  Our waiter noticed that Hayden didn't eat his veggies, so he sat down beside him and helped him eat by doing airplane noises and guiding the fork to his mouth.  Hayden still didn't go for it.  Dessert was by far the best part of the meal, with us all sharing brownie sundaes and milk shakes - YUM!  I totally failed to take any pictures at dinner, so here are a few I found online... 

Our last adventure of the day was to meet Woody and Buzz.  We thankfully made it in line just before they closed.  Here our our monkeys passing the time in line.

 We finally made it!  These are definitely some of my favorite Disney characters. We loved each of the Toy Story movies!  I may or may not have bawled my eyes out when we saw Toy Story 3 at the theater.  I blamed it on being very hormonal with a newborn Allie.  The thought of my babies growing up and leaving for college and getting rid of their toys was too much for me to handle at that moment - and now for that matter!

With that checked off our list, we went back to our room and crashed yet again!  Another day of fun!

Disney World Trip - Epcot

We had a wonderful time at Disney World last week!  It had been 3 years since we had been, and Allie really understood what was going on.  It truly was a magical time for her.  Of course, the boys had a blast and were much more adventurous with the rides this time around.

To get us excited about our upcoming trip, we counted down the days until the fun began.

Our Magic Bands arrived a few weeks before we left.

We left as soon as the boys got home from school on Friday.  We drove halfway to Macon, GA and spent the night at a hotel.  We met up with my family that night and all headed out early the next morning.  About 5 1/2 hours later, we were in Orlando! Knowing we would be hitting the parks as soon as we got there, we stopped for a quick lunch where the kids got these great balloons.

Before we knew it, we were there!

After checking in to The Art of Animation Resort, we headed out to Epcot.  We didn't get to spend much time there on our last trip, so we knew we wanted to check it out first.  Test Track was first up.  It is one of our favorite rides!  

After a few more rides, we headed to dinner at Teppen Edo in Japan.  This was the kids' first experience at a hibachi restaurant, and they loved it!  It was funny watching them (and us) try to eat with chopsticks!  Our chef was entertaining, and the food was yummy!  

After heading back to the resort after dinner, we were all conked out in no time flat.  It was a great beginning to a fabulous week!

Thanks for stopping by! 

Angela

Little Things

Here are a few moments captured with my phone camera from the past week.

Our neighborhood pool hosted food trucks and a movie at the pool as a fun way to wrap up summer break. The kids had a blast!

Left your science book at school?  Just have your friend's mom text you a picture of your reading assignment!

Spelling words already.  So much for easing back into the school year. 

Love these two!

Dinner out with friends.  Everyone got the memo to wear a green shirt, except Kyle.

Wearing her homemade lei necklace on her pretend trip to "Ha-Wally."

Celebrating a sweet friend's birthday!

We made it through the first week of school!  Now,  we are all ready for a little R & R!

Take care,

Angela

Back to School Dinner

I truly feel that it's the little things in life that are most special.  The first day of school is certainly a cause for celebration!  I want my little ones to remember the excitement of the first day of each school year.  A few years ago we started the tradition of having a fun, low-key celebratory dinner (their choice) for the first day of school.   Each year they have the same request...Poppyseed Chicken Casserole.  It's super easy, and I know that everyone enjoys it.  There aren't many meals that fall into that category around here!

In the rush of getting hungry boys home from football practice and fed, I totally failed to get a picture of our meal.  But, I do have some pictures of our special table.

The boys each got a few goodies: book covers, hand sanitizer for their backpacks, and a Twinkie (which they had been begging me to buy them all summer).

Such fun times!

Take care,

Angela

Back to School

Yesterday was a bittersweet day.  We said goodbye to our relaxing. fun-packed summer break.  But, we also said hello to a brand spanking new school year, full of fresh beginnings.

The boys were both excited and nervous, jumping out of bed and ready to go in record time.  All summer we had a hard time getting everyone out the door by 10 am, but we were all ready to go before 7 in the morning!

We took our requisite back-to-school pictures by the front door.

Our 6th grader.  How in he world do we have a middle schooler already???

Our 4th grader.  He is happy to be off of the elementary school hallway.  

Two handsome boys.

Of course, little sister had to be in on the picture taking action.  She sure will miss her boys now that they are back in school.

Kyle at his desk, sporting his longer hair-do.

Kyle with his sweet teacher Ms. D.  She was one of Hayden's teachers the past 2 years, so we know he is in good hands.

Hayden with his homeroom teacher Mrs. C.  We just know we will love her, too!

Both boys were happy to get to their classrooms.  The only tears shed were from Allie, who started crying as soon as we dropped Kyle off at his room.  After she had another breakdown when we took Hayden to his class, we found out she was worried that we were leaving her at school, too.  Poor baby girl!  It's not your turn...yet!

And with that, they're off!

Thanks for stopping by!
Angela

The Celebration

Birthday celebrations tend to last a while around here, and this one was no exception.  First up was a combined celebration with a classmate at a glow-in-the-dark party place.

The kids had a blast sliding, dancing, playing basketball & mini-golf and glow-in-the-dark tag.

Getting the party started by running through the tunnel.

Kyle with friend N.  The two birthday boys. 

The Dancin’ Queen.

Big brother shootin’ hoops with some friends.

Enjoying some pizza.

Make a wish, sweet boy!  It was such a fun night! 

Thanks for stopping by!

Angela

9 Years Old

Happy 9th Birthday to our sweet, fun, car and music lovin' Kyle!  You truly are a blessing from God.  We love you!

We are off to celebrate this little boy's special day!

Angela