Friday, November 21, 2014

Our Disney Vacation 2014 - Day 1


Our flight landed at 9:30 am and my adrenaline was on high. I hit the ground running. Let's rewind a bit first though. We left the house at 4:40 am to make it to the airport by 5:20. Our flight left at 6:55 am. (We are NOT morning people. I actually believe the day before we left Carsyn slept in until 12:30)

Carsyn did AMAZING on the flight. We had downloaded a few episodes of Doc, Mickey's Clubhouse and Sofia. She just sat in her seat, snacked on snacks and watched her shows. We could not get her to go back to sleep. (But with morning toons playing... she was probably confused)

After we got to the Orlando airport we made our way to the Disney Magic Express buses. It was a long drive to the hotel but the videos they play on the tv's make it go by a little quicker. Plus, Carsyn did good on this bus... bless her heart. We could tell she was getting antsy though. (Still no sleep for Carsyn)

We got to the Port Orleans French Quarter Resort and to our great surprise we were welcomed by the staff with balloons and a sign. They had chosen us to be the Family of the Day!!! Our room was ready and we were walked to it as they gave us a mini tour. There wasn't anything special that came with being the family of the day... Carsyn liked the balloons and I loved the fact that my room was ready that early =)

We pulled out our changes of clothes that we packed in our carry on and headed to the Food Court for lunch. Port Orleans has the BEST Po Boy Sandwiches =)
(They say your actual luggage takes about 3 hours to arrive if you use the disney luggage tags)



After lunch we went back to the room and changed into our swimsuits and headed to the pool. The humidity was weighing heavy on us and we needed a cool dip in the pool. Also, I heard that they have really good Pina Coladas. And now I can confirm that in fact they do =) Chris was boring and got Bud Light... it was good ;)



We didn't last too long at the pool. Chasing a 14 month old around a pool was not our idea of relaxing and we had been up since 3:30 am.

We made it to the room and luckily our luggage was there. I refreshed my makeup... we changed into our dinner wear and we headed out. Our next destination would be the hotel boat headed Downtown Disney. However there was a quick detour, Chris & I needed a quick stop at the hotel bar for some to-go cocktails to sip on the boat. Let it be known that the French Quarter has a VERY VERY good Raspberry Beer (probably found other places too around Disney) Carsyn fell asleep.




The boat was a nice transportation change from the buses. Carsyn thought it was a lot of fun. She kept saying "Weeeeeeee"



We landed Downtown Disney on the Marketplace side. We started our Downtown adventure with a whole lot of shopping. We dropped some pretty pennies at the Days of Christmas Store (surprised?), walked across the street and got Carsyn her Mickey Ears Hat and found some goodies down at World of Disney. Carsyn didn't want for nothing at the stores unlike her Mama.... Made me look bad in front of the Big Guy. Here is to hoping that next year she begs and pleads for toys.





Chris spent his "Souviner" money at the bar outside of World Of Disney. (Eye roll)



We explored every inch of Downtown Disney. Chris' favorite part was listening to a band outside of House of Blues.... I promised him dinner reservations there next year. I pulled him away and we toured Planet Hollywood (loved it)


We had Dinner Reservations at Fulton's Crab House. It was Delicious!!! We both got Crab Legs and the little miss got Mac and Cheese. She gave it the Blue Ribbon Approval =)



Afterwards we made our way back to the boat dock. Bed was starting to sound good, our eyes were heavy and our adrenaline was gone.



We got back, gave the baby a bath and snuggled into bed to watch old school Mickey Cartoons (one of the highlights of our trip)





Notes

*We brought the light weight stroller... Wish we would have brought the big expensive stroller that turns on a dime. 

*Disney Kids Menus do not offer a variety of veggies. I am glad I packed Gerber Toddler Meals. There was a microwave in the Hotel Food Court. Kids can be picky eaters and I think Gerber adds baby crack into their meals. Its a good idea to pack a few, one for the veggie reason, two for the fact that you know your kid will eat them and get something in their tummy. We always made it a point to stop at the food court and feed her one of those before we went places. Gerber also has just the veggie pickups too if your looking for strictly vegetables. We also packed applesauce cups to go with her kids meals at the restaurants. 

*We used Garden Grocer to deliver 2 Half Gallons of Milk for the baby, Apple Juice, 2 cases of water, lunchables, tiny bags of potato chips, a loaf of bread and a ton of Fresh Fruit (blueberries, strawberries, bananas and watermelon) . I also had an entire Large Suitcase full of food that I packed.




Friday, November 14, 2014

Friday - A Few "Last Minute" Christmas Gifts

Yes, I consider these toys, Last Minute. I have been done Christmas Shopping for my daughter since September/August. Yes, I have issues. It is nice to get shopping done early but I always find myself adding things to my stockpile later (and spending over my goal...oops) . Anyone else done shopping? What's on your kids Christmas List??? Here is Carsyn's Christmas List



ONE

Carsyn is in LOVE with Monsters, Inc the Movie. We gave it to her on Halloween this year (thought the monsters worked well with the holiday) It's the only movie that she will sit through and she giggles right out loud. So last week I ordered her a Plush Boo Doll. I'm hoping she will love it as much as the movie. (FOUND HERE)


TWO


Carsyn's cousin Allison has Potato Heads and when we go over to her house, Carsyn makes a B-Line to the Potato Heads. After some major web surfing last week, I found that Kohls has an exclusive set in the cutest little potato bin. I snatched that baby up and it actually came in the mail yesterday. It's super big and super cool!!!! They also carry it in the stores too.. not just online. (FOUND HERE)


THREE


One of Carsyn's current favorite toys is her Little People Disney Princesses. So when I saw this I swooned over it and added it quickly to Carsyn's Christmas List. It was quickly picked up by family and I hope Carsyn loves it when she opens it. (FOUND HERE)


FOUR


Carsyn's new thing is watching her Disney shows on the Kindle. We downloaded a ton of episodes for the plane ride to Disney in October & she has been obsessed ever since. Honestly though, the touch screen is a pain in the ass. She is constantly turning the shows off (freaks out when that happens), restarts the episodes halfway through and gets into the internet to click on God knows what. Our solution comes in this Christmas gift, the Sylvania 10-inch portable DVD Player. We are thinking we will get some good use out of it with plane rides, car rides and when we ho camping with no TV in the summers. The Best part yet is that it's NOT touch screen. Here's to hoping we get our money's worth =)  (FOUND HERE)


FIVE


I am so excited to see this new episode of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. I preordered my copy yesterday. (FOUND HERE)




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