Sweet Summertime

I started this post so long ago and never even got past the title and first few sentences! I can’t easily (read: quickly) get some of my favorite iPhone pictures onto my computer and into my blog and it is so annoying! So we are just going to go with what we have – follow me on Instagram for pictures, it’s my favorite!

We’ve had a FAST summer – school starts here next week!! The girls made a “summer fun” list and they have accomplished 75% of what they wrote down – we’ve had to make a few tweaks due to timing and we’ll carry it over through labor day to get a few more things marked off. It’s been fun for all of us!

June mostly left us finishing up Gianna’s first softball season, which she enjoyed more than any of us thought she would. The three little siblings were excellent spectators as long as I provided them with enough snacks and grass to run in. We also did some swimming, dancing, threw a baby shower for my sister, more swimming and played with friends as much as possible.

July we spent a lot of time swimming, riding bikes and playing with friends – all the things summertime for a kid should be made of! We did spend the night in Columbus one weekend (6 people, 1 hotel room…. i’m glad it was only 1 night!) and had a good time exploring a bit down there. There was some more dancing too, of course!

August so far has been us trying to fit in as much fun as possible before school starts! The girls finished up their summer reading challenge at the library, we’ve gotten ice cream, more playing with friends and riding bikes. We explored some new local places we haven’t been before and we have a big neighborhood water balloon fight planned for this weekend!

I’ve tried really hard to let them a) dictate some of their own time more often and b) be as present as possible with them (which is a challenge with a new baby and when they all want to do something different at the same time!) – it’s been mostly successful.

I hope they’ve made as many great memories as I have this summer – it’s definitly been one to remember.

Disney World 2016: Polynesian Review

We went to Disney World at the end of May and stayed at Disney’s Polynesian Resort for the first time. I previously really didn’t get the draw to the deluxe resorts but when we scored an awesome deal we couldn’t pass it up. Needless to say, I now FULLY understand the draw to the Monorail resorts, especially with kiddos who are still in strollers.

Let’s talk reviews because I have a lot to say!

Kingdom Strollers – we rented the CitiMiniGT and it came with a cooler and rain cover. I want to buy this stroller now, I loved it so much! And the rain cover came in handy at least once. The stroller was simple to order and pick up/return is right at the front desk.  We didn’t miss the stroller at all on our travel days – I wore Vivian in the airport and Aleesia and Gianna did great at holding our hands/navigating the airports. I could easily push any combination of girls with no issue, which was a double bonus.

Garden Grocer – We got a delivery credit from renting our stroller and it was great. We got almond milk, a case of water, gateroade and some snacks. In all honesty, I over-ordered on snacks and if we could have had 1/2 a case of water that would have been ideal. But again, ordering was so easy as was picking up the stuff that I would do it again in a heartbeat. My only “negative” was that I found their website kind of hard to navigate as far as figuring out some specifics on products before ordering, but it wasn’t a huge deal. I had also packed snacks, which I probably won’t do next time.

Polynesian Review

We did the Magical Express and were the first stop, which was really nice. We stepped off the bus and the kids were amazed, as were Mike and I. The theming and decor is beautiful, I really felt like we were stepping into Hawaii!

We had kind of a haphazard checkin process – but we did online checkin so our room was ready as soon as we got there and our bags arrived relatively quickly. We didn’t get a balcony room, which I was a little disappointed about but our room in the Aotearoa longhouse was wonderful. We had a lagoon view and the doors opened to the outside and the view was perfect – we could see the magic kingdowm fireworks from our bed and we were so close to the Grand Ceremonial House and pool. We didn’t notice much extra noise from Luau Cove except when the last show ended as the guests walked right by our room, but it wasn’t a huge deal.  The walk to the TTC wasn’t bad either.

The kids LOVED the pool! Gianna couldn’t get enough of the Volcano slide and everyone loved the splash pad. We specifically planned pool time into our days and I am SO glad we had the opportunity to enjoy the hotel and the pool. We never visited the quiet pool or the sand area, but that’s okay – everyone was happyily cooling off in the main pool area. It never felt overcroweded either, even on Memorial Day.

 

We did the dining plan this time (as we have in the past). Probably my only ‘complaint’ about the resort is that the Captain Cooks (quick service) had more limited options than at the moderate resorts. We ate lunch there a few times and felt like we were always getting the same things. We also have picky eaters, so that was part of it. The flatbread though? WAS AMAZING. Honestly, all the food was so good there – the service is a little slow so don’t be starving when you walk in.

I had a polynesian pearl drink from Trader Sam’s which was super good and the awesome pineapple drink (pictured above). The iced coffee from Kona is something I’ve been craving since we left.

Other restaurant reviews:

Kona Cafe – this is my favorite breakfast in all of Disney World, so no surprise that I loved it once again. Tonga Toast is where it’s at!

Ohana – we had breakfast at Ohana our last morning and it was SO yummy. The juice was wonderful, the fresh fruite platter was a hit and I loved all the warm food. They were so accomodating to our crabby kids! Vivian called Stitch (who is all over the hotel in the gift shops and stuff) a bunny the whole time and was so excited to see the bunny in person! She, at the end of the week, had finally warmed up to the costumed characters and loved Pluto!

 

My biggest regret is forgetting to buy our MemoryMaker/Photopass pictures in time (the day I went to purchase all of them, the first 2 days had disappeared and I didn’t realize it!)– there were just a few that I really wish we had, although I am lucky enough to have captured a version of every picture taken on my own camera. I have always discouraged against paying for MemoryMaker, but I have to say it really is worth it especially if your family splits up and there are some great ride pictures that get captured (I’m bummed not to have the pictures of Aleesia and I on the Mine Train).

 

More resort/dining reviews coming soon!

 

We’re already ready to plan a(nother) return trip….

These Days….

There is so.much going on around here (always?!) and 101% of the time, I have no time to really even process all that is happening in our lives. I am going to give a quick rundown and I really, truly (honestly) hope to expand on most, if not all, of these things going forward.

* Gianna started FIRST GRADE last week. We ended up moving her from Catholic to public school after a really long debate. I think we made the choice that made the most sense. The first week went well for her, so that’s exciting for all of us!

* Aleesia is officially 2.5 and she is THE SPUNKIEST ball of energy I have ever met. I’m lucky she is mine, but also, wow – she makes me tired!

* Being a full-time work at home mom for the past 6 months has been so great. And so hard. And so many things. There are a few things I can say for certain though. This wouldn’t be possible without my village – our nanny, my sisters, my parents, cousins, so many people who help out when needed. Being at home has been so fun and the flexibility I have is wonderful. But it is HARD to be “on” all of the time.

* We are going to the beach in a few weeks! We are going to Hilton Head for the first time and really looking forward to it. If you’ve been there – tips, tricks, places not to miss are all greatly appreciated! We are planning on vising Savannah as well while we are there.

* Our new house! Oh my gosh, so much I can say about our new house. We have a pre-drywall meeting this week and we are looking forward to that. I have pictures of the whole process and will hopefully do a few posts related to our building process (which has been really great). Things are moving along and I am ALL OVER the Pinterest boards with updates and ideas for decorating a house that is significantly bigger than our previous home.

* Vivian is such a sweet baby! She finally started to sit up on her own and can go from laying/crawling to sitting. She’s been crawling for at least 2 months so she gets all over the place and flashes her amazing smile at us! She is a bit of a mommy’s girl and she doesn’t love to sleep without touching me. It has been hard to get her in a sleep routine, but we’ll get there. We started to give her some baby food a few weeks ago and she is just now really getting the hang of eating from a spoon.

* I ran a half marathon last weekend, it was a great race and I had a pretty huge PR. I’m looking forward to my next one in September. I also finished my 4th (or 5th?!?) MBA class last week. I’m looking forward to finding some good books to read on vacation – any ideas for me?

Overall, I’m not ready to give up summer yet but also ready for the routine the school year brings. We have fun plans that will get us through the end of September and then our fall plans (and moving!!) start up in October! I don’t feel like I am as organized and on top of life as usual right now which is frustrating but somehow we are all getting through our days!

Disney 2014–The Recap

Now that you are thoroughly schooled on our trip to Disney this year, how about a quick recap and a few tips for anyone wanting to go with a 5 and 1 year old? I included a few money saving tips, general stuff, etc.

Tip #1 – If you can pull off the surprise, do it! Gianna just told me the other night “that was the best surprise of my whole life” when talking about our vacation this year. Totally worth it!

Tip #2 – You really don’t need a double stroller. We toyed around with the idea of renting one but I’m glad we didn’t. Gianna whined a little bit here and there, but we just went at her pace. We let her ride sometimes and either carried Aleesia or let her walk, which worked out fine.

Tip #3 – Bring a waterproof bag with you. It rains a lot in Florida (esp. in the summer) and it was nice not to worry about our things getting wet. We also pack light – essentials only: diapers, wipes, autograph books, pen, camera, and a small board book that I didn’t care if anything happened to it or not. I packed bubbles but they never made their way into the bag somehow – I thought that would have been a fun way to help entertain Aleesia while we waited for Mike and G when they were riding things!

We are big proponents of staying on-property if you can for a few reasons. Convenience. The experience. Convenience. We have always flown to Florida, so not having any concerns over transportation is fabulous and we have been absolutely over the moon pleased with every experience we’ve had at the resorts.

We are also big proponents of utilizing the dining plan, especially if you plan to do character meals. They can be pricey, and sometimes, the food can be far inferior to what you might ACTUALLY want to eat but Doc McStuffins is there so who cares about the food. It’s nice not to have to worry about having money for meals (aside from tips) or snacks because it’s already handled. Disney is generous with portions so we usually just had Aleesia and Gianna share (or Aleesia and Mike or I) since kids under 3 are free/not dining plan eligible.  My biggest tip here is just to try and schedule your meals near the park you want to go to that day so you aren’t traveling all over trying to get to/from the park or the hotel you are eating at!

We still bring some of our own snacks to try and combat Hangry Kid Syndrome. This time, we brought fruit snacks, cereal, and granola bars. 

Tip #4 – Bring your own special souvenirs. The girls love these. Again, it saves a bit of cash from the get go and we didn’t hear too many “I wants” from the biggest girl since she “got” something new every morning! They each got a special souvenir (and picked one for baby sister) too!

FastPass+ was confusing to me at first, but once we got there it all made sense. I was worried that our days would feel super structured trying to keep up with our dining and FastPass reservations, but they really didn’t. As a quick recap the FastPass reservations we made per park were:

• Hollywood Studios: Star Tours; Toy Story Mania; Disney Jr. Live
• Magic Kingdom Day 1: Splash Mountain;  Anna and Elsa Meet and Greet; Under the Sea – Journey of the Little Mermaid
• Magic Kingdom Day 2: Ariel Meet and Greet; Story Time with Belle; Mine Train
• Epcot: Sourin’; Test Track; Nemo and Friends

My biggest suggestion, try and get your times as early in the day as possible so you can add on additional FP+ reservations throughout the afternoon and evening. It’s okay if you skip out on a FP you already scheduled – don’t sweat it! This is still a vacation after all, so try and go with the flow some and not follow a strict schedule. Unless you like strict schedules, then by all means, carry on!

Tip #5 - Park hoppers, for our family and for most families with little kids, will be an unnecessary added expense. It is hard to do everything in 1 park during the day, let alone packing up and moving to another park in the same day. If you are worried about feeling rushed, skip the hopper. We have yet to have a time where we were sad that we couldn’t hit up another park in the same day because we were all so tired by the end of the day just from enjoying one park at a time!

We don’t usually go to a park on the day we get there/day we leave. This time was a bit different but we didn’t go anywhere the last day. We “slept in”, swam, lounged, got caught in a giant thunderstorm, gift-shopped, and just took it easy. I highly recommend this wind-down time at the end of your trip – and if you are staying more than 4/5 days, try to add in a non-park day in the middle of the week too! Go to downtown disney, it’s super fun and Mike and I were actually really disappointed we didn’t make it down there this trip.

2014 was another super successful Disney vacation for the Dixon family and we are already excited to take baby sister when the time comes!

Is there something else you want to know about our trip? Ask away!!

List of all 2014 Disney posts:

• Hollywood Studios
• Magic Kingdom 1 and 2
• Epcot
• Art of Animation

Disney 2014–Epcot!

We decided to end our trip with a visit to Epcot. We enjoy the park, and really, so do the girls. You could spend your whole day chasing princesses and other characters around this park, something that most people do not know. We wanted to be able to take our time because we knew we’d all be tired (and possibly cranky) by now. Our prediction was correct.

We started our morning with “the princess breakfast” in Norway.

The food here is good, I think. The family style dining is really nice and the eggs and potatoes are seriously YUM! The buffet is more of a continental breakfast with some traditional Norwegian foods (fish, etc.). You get lots of princess time, and a princess parade!, which is why we go!

Gianna and Mike used a Fast Pass to ride Test Track which they loved. I entertained Aleesia by checking out the “show room” area at the end of the ride and generally just walking around in that area until they were done. We then headed to meet Mickey and friends (can you believe we hadn’t done this yet?!). The line was short, no Fast Pass required.

And other friends, were there too!

The girls were Tired by now – and it was hot. We ended up hanging around Innoventions, which Gianna really enjoyed. Aleesia slept!

We actually skipped our FastPass for Soarin’ and didn’t get to Nemo and Friends (because the little one was sleeping), all of which were okay with us. Gianna had an overtired meltdown somewhere before we ended up in Canada and I still have no idea why. We stumbled upon an awesome character party between Canada and England but we only hit the end of it – there were TONS of unique characters there, such a fun surprise!

We eventually had lunch, visited some of the kidcot stations and visited Mulan, who we had never met before.

We went around the world and still had time to kill before our dinner reservations so Mike went on Mission Space. Gianna tried to ride it, but she got scared so she waited with me. Fun fact – at the end of the ride is a play area for the kids. I let them run around in there while we waited for Mike, it was perfect!

We had dinner in Italy at Napoli – HIGHLY RECOMMEND! The food was seriously so yum and the atmosphere was welcoming and kid friendly.  After dinner, we headed back to the hotel because again, TIRED!

I think Epcot is seriously so great, this trip we didn’t get to see as many the characters as we have in past visits, but we met them all other places and didn’t feel like spending our day stuck to a schedule. It was nice just to stroll around and relax a little.

Disney 2014–Magic Kingdom part 2

On our second day at Magic Kingdom we had just as much fun as the first day! Minnie Mouse left the girls each a new shirt to wear for the day as their special gift.

First stop was the Polynesian for breakfast at Kona. This was a non-character breakfast but the food? You guys! The Kona coffee and the Tonga Toast almost made my whole day. It was a nice, quiet, relaxed breakfast before our day started.

We headed into the park and first stop was Story time with Belle – this was so so fun! Gianna got to be Maurice (shiver, shiver!) and the magic mirror on the wall was so cool! I highly recommend using a fast pass for this so you don’t miss it.

Mike and Gianna then rode the Mine Train while Aleesia and rehydrated. According to Mike, it’s worth a fast pass but not a 60+ minute wait. Gianna didn’t seem to love it.

We decided to make our way back down Main Street USA to get Mickey ears (I wish we had bought them the day before, oh well).

We were selected for a Fast Pass lunch at Be Our Guest. We chose to pre-select our food when we selected our lunch time and it was really easy. The food is much more ‘fancy’ than we normally eat but I was able to put in special requests and the food was made to our satisfaction. The restaurant is such an amazing place – it’s worth a walk around, if you can. I didn’t get any good pictures of the inside, somehow. But take my word for it – if you can get a reservation here, TAKE IT! The grey stuff IS delicious.

It was raining when we left and headed to Ariel’s grotto (our 3rd and last Fast Pass this day). The line for this was outside, which stunk. And it moved pretty slow when we were there, which were the only downfalls.

 

Since it stopped raining by the time we were done, we  checked out Gaston’s pub. Gianna and Mike shared a LeFou’s Brew.

I can’t even remember what else we did but eventually Aleesia fell asleep and we found a good spot on Main Street to catch the 3pm parade.

Aleesia eventually woke up and seriously LOVED the Mickey balloons (this guy was so fun hanging out with her for a little while!). WE all goofed around taking selfies.

I still don’t know what made her cry, but this is a pretty epic picture.

Mike got me a much-needed Starbucks.

Finally it was time for the parade, which everyone really enjoyed!

We added on a Fast Pass to see Tinkerbelle so we headed there next. Aleesia liked looking at the “lost things!”

We wandered around Adventureland and eventually rode the Magic Carpets.

We had also added on a Fast Pass to see Cinderella – Gianna’s favorite princess. She signed Gianna’s ears and you would think they are now encased in gold.

Rapunzel was there too! Her and Aleesia became fast friends.

On this day, it was ready to start storming, we were all tired and we headed out of the park early and had dinner at our hotel. We enjoyed a slightly laid back park day and an early night of rest!