Disney Day 3

After finishing up our night at MK, we went back to the hotel and got ready for the next morning's adventures.  We stayed in a family suite that ended up working out pretty well, all things considered.  It had 2 full bathrooms in it (because hello- imagine sharing a bathroom with 5 other adults in the morning....) as well as a separate bedroom which was super convenient for Avery's crib.

Day 3: Hollywood Studios (HS)

Historically HS (previously and forever known to me as MGM) has been a personal favorite although nothing can top MK.  There's just something about old Hollywood that intrigues me.  Probably the glitz and glamour of it all.  Where else (besides Hollywood) can you go have lunch at the Brown Derby?  HS.  That's where.  :)

HS is also home to a huge Disney Junior section of awesomeness. Avery is currently quite intrigued with Doc McStuffins.  Come to think of it, she's been into Doc McStuffins for nearly a year now.  She can name you all of the characters and will "help" sing the introduction song if you'll let her.  We always let her.

On our way to the Disney Junior Live Onstage show, we happened upon Donald and Daisy Duck!  One of the perks of getting to the park when it opens is being able to meet some of the characters and not have their lines very long.  Donald and Daisy were a prime example of this.  It only took us about 10 minutes to meet and stand in line to see both of them.

Donald expressing how much he loves Avery. 

After meeting Donald and Daisy the Disney Junior Live Onstage show.  It was too cute beyond words.  The 4 most popular shows on Disney Junior were a part of the show via puppets.  Avery just about lost her mind when Doc and friends showed up on the stage.

She wasn't excited.  At all.  ;)

Again, the show was super cute. Avery loved it, we all did actually.  The only complaint I have about it was that we all had to sit on the floor.  No big deal for toddlers, sort of big deal for bigger kids (read: adults).  We aren't as young and spry as we used to be.  

After the show we went straight out of the doors and got in line to meet Princess Sophia from Sophia the First.  Avery has recently discovered Sophia the First and has quickly become smitten.  She kept pointing at her in line and saying, "Sophia, luh-yoooou".  Melt me.

We left Sophia to tend to her royal duties and went to our next scheduled item for the day, The Voyage of the Little Mermaid show.  Again, Ariel is one of Avery's personal favorites so she was mesmerized by seeing Ariel on stage.  The theatre was really dark so you're just going to have to take my word for how precious the whole thing was.   

After seeing Ariel it was time for lunch and then Avery's nap.  Let me take a moment and explain to you how awesome it was having a meal plan while at Disney.  As part of our vacation package, Disney added in a meal plan for free.  It was worth every free penny it cost.  We never had the same thing twice unless we absolutely wanted it....and some things were worth having twice.  Avery was still young enough that she didn't need a meal plan (or a park ticket for that matter) so she just ate off of our plates.  Some days we splurged and got her a kids meal (for a whopping $6) which included a number of good options for the kiddos like grapes, yogurt, turkey sandwiches or wraps, etc.  Again, meal plan is totally worth it.  I highly recommend going to Disney during a promotion time and taking full advantage of the free meal plan if its being offered.

I got a text not too long after we got off The Great Movie Ride following our lunch from my mom with a picture of Avery passed out in her stroller.  Apparently seeing Doc, Donald, Daisy, and Sophia is completely exhausting.  The big kids took full advantage of being baby-less and rode the roller coasters in the park.  Rockin' Roller Coaster was calling my name.  I chickened out last time we were in Disney and didn't ride it, but this time I was NOT going to let that happen.  For those of you not familiar with this particular ride, it's a roller coaster completely in the dark and launches you from 0-60 in like a blink of an eye.  The worst part of it was waiting to get on the dang thing.  The load you in the car (Jacob and I lucked out and got in the first row) and then pull you forward to sit and wait for like an eternity.  I immediately started screaming, "I'm scared, I'm scared, I'm scared, I'm scare..." BOOM! Breath knocked out of me and now we are flying through this thing going 60 mph.  I'll let the official ride picture speak for itself....

Yep.  Like covering my eyes was going to do anything to soothe me in that moment.  Yeah right.  I'm typing to you today as a survivor.  I survived the Rockin' Roller Coaster.

After that little escapade we decided to keep it low key and go to attractions that didn't necessarily involve going from 0-60 in the blink of an eye.  The big kids went to see Muppets Vision 3D.  50% of us (*cough* Valerie and I *cough*) did or did not fall asleep in the middle of it.....  I'll admit it, I did.  Something about waking up at 4am 2 days prior to that and then walking 384716837 miles the day before had us all exhausted.  So yes, I fell asleep in the Muppets 3D only to awake to see this dude staring me in the face.  In real life.  Not on the screen.  Thankfully I we made a potty stop prior to this or...you know.  It would have been a mess.

Note to self- if even feeling remotely exhausted and you choose to go to Muppets Vision 3D, don't sit on the front row and fall asleep.  You'll wake up in a nightmare.

Not too long after this, mom called and said that Avery and Granddad were still asleep and to just keep going without them for a while.  Our next FastPass was about an hour away and they weren't sure they were going to make it back in enough time.  No big deal.  We could find something to do- easy.  We wandered over into the back part of HS where all of the Toy Story things are.  The wait to meet Buzz and Woody wasn't but just 20 minutes, so that definitely happened.

Keeping ourselves entertained was easy.

Not sure what Woody was looking out...maybe Bo Peep walked by or something. 

Up next....Day 4: EPCOT

Disney Day 1 and 2

It's finally time to commit to sit (ha...that rhymed) and start blogging about our Disney World trip.  It's hard to narrow down everything out of an awesome 7 day trip, so I'll just hit the highlights.

Day 1:
4:00am came nice and early for everyone.  Other than Christmas morning, the morning of a Disney trip is the only time I'm a super excited about waking up before the sun comes up.  Avery on the other hand, not so thrilled.  She was so confused as to why were were waking her up...usually it's the other way around.

Before we knew it, we were on our plane and headed to Florida!  Mickey here we come!

Avery had her Starbucks and was ready to go!

Getting on the plane to see Mickey Mouse.

Excited faces!

Avery survived the 2.5 hour flight by watching "Frozen".  For being almost 20 months old, she sure is into that movie...and everything to do with it.

Avery passed.out. on Jacob's shoulder on the bus ride to the resort after we landed.  Traveling is exhausting....

....still asleep.

After we got settled into our suite, we went into Downtown Disney for dinner.  It started pouring down rain  a few minutes after we got there and didn't stop until late in the evening.  So, no pictures of downtown Disney....you wouldn't have wanted to see us anyway- we were a soaking wet bunch of Texans.

We called it a semi-early night because the next morning was the best morning of all....the start to our day in The Magic Kingdom (mentioned as MK from here on out).  

Day 2: MAGIC KINGDOM!!!

We woke up nice and early to catch the bus to the park.  For a split second we thought we woke up in Alaska...it was cold.  Really cold.  Despite the cold, nothing could change my love for MK.  It is by far my favorite of the 4 Disney parks in Florida.  There's no changing my mind about it.  MK is truly magical.  Like seriously.  Avery wasn't quite sure what to make of everything at first, she wanted to be down and walking around to explore everything.  The very first thing we did when we arrived at MK was meet Mickey Mouse.  Let me tell you- Avery had no clue what she was about to experience and it was precious.  The minute we walked into the room to see Mickey (whom, by the way, now talks to you and blinks and moves his mouth and such) she screamed out, "MICKEY!"  So precious.

Getting ready to get on the bus to MK

Outside the gates of MK.  Over a year in the making and we're finally here!

Meeting Mickey Mouse! She loved his nose- a lot.

 Avery was way too interested in pointing at stuff than taking a picture with the Cinderella's Castle.  One day we'll get a family picture there....one day.

On a personal favorite ride of the Warren family, "People Movers".  We thought it would be a good idea to ride to get out of the cold because a large portion of it is indoors.  Well, too bad the temperature was lower up there than it was on the ground.  We ended up riding this ride about 5 times before the week was out.

Avery riding "It's A Small World" with her Granddad.  We ended up riding this one about 3 times as well.  "It's A Small World" was my Meme Warren's favorite ride so seeing my dad ride it with Avery was really sweet.  Bittersweet actually.  It brought back a lot of memories about being at Disney when I was younger and calling Meme from the hotel room to tell her about our day.  I can still hear her voice telling me, "Ride my favorite ride for me, ok?".  I did Meme, several times....and ugly cried on one of them.

A little family photo while riding "Dumbo the Flying Elephant".  Ask my mom how much I loved the movie Dumbo....just ask her.  I think she purposefully hid the VHS at one point in time.  We are almost to that point with "Frozen".

After Dumbo, it was time for Avery to go back to the resort and take a nap.  So, we sent her on her way and hoped she would find her way back to the right one.  ;) No no, not really.  Gigi and Granddad graciously offered to take her back for her rest.  Truth be told, I think they needed a rest too.  We all could have.  While they were gone for a couple of hours, the remaining big kids got to run amok in MK.  :) Roller coasters, parades, Disney themed Starbucks, the whole 9 yards- we did it.

Our poor attempt at a #selfie with Beauty and the Beast in the background.  We got more of Belle and Beast and my brother than we did of ourself.  #failedsohardwewon

My all time favorite, Cinderella

Hands down the most popular ladies invited to the party, Elsa and Anna.  As much as Avery loves Frozen, we were absolutely not standing in line for approx. 3 hours to meet them.  We told Avery that Elsa and Anna had duties in Arrendale that needed their attention so they weren't even around to meet.  She bought it- as much as a 20 month old could buy anything.

Princess Tiana and that one guy.  Obviously we are huge fans of The Princess and the Frog.

Rapunzel from Tangled

Avery's favorite, Ariel

Tinkerbell

Mr. Smee

Tick Tock Crock

Mickey ears make good coffee taste like magic.

Not too long after the big kids were done wreaking havoc on MK, Avery and her crew returned for round 2.  We did an early dinner and scoped out a prime spot for the Electrical Parade.  The Electrical Parade is a classic.  I remember seeing it as a kid and taking pictures of it with my wind up camera.  Avery was generally overwhelmed and could only say, "Whoa" and "Wow".  She did wave at Mickey and Minnie when they passed by.  Snow White even stopped at us and called Avery a princess.  We all knew she was right.

Let's not be mistaken, this is pure magic.

After the Electrical Parade, we headed back to our home away from home to get rested up for day 3- Hollywood Studios!

Baylor Homecoming 2014

Well kids, this past weekend was my favorite holiday (besides Christmas).  Yep.  Baylor Homecoming.  Epic as usual.

1. Staci and I partaking in Judge Starr's candy basket outside of his house.  We love that guy. 2. Parade morning.  Even with a bow pinned to her jacket hood, Avery found it and attempted multiple times to rip it off.  3. I got to see my old roommate at the parade!  We were just as hilarious as ever.  I love us.  4. Best seat in the house is on Dada's shoulders! 

1. My little Baylor family.  Please appreciate my Aggie husband sporting his green and gold with a smile.  2.  Avery was elated to be at McLane Stadium....just like her momma.  Yes, she's wearing black tights, Ugg boots, white t-shirt, and a puffer vest.  Start 'em early on the typical Baylor Girl uniform.  3.  Staci and I outside of McLane.  Home.  Home sweet home.  4.  Stripe McLane was a success!

1.  How Avery chose to be carried into McLane.  Upside down.  And cackling.  2.  Clapping along with everyone during the pre-game show.  3.  "Go BEARS!"  4.  Jacob explaining to Avery the basics of football.

1. Entertaining herself by playing under the stairs.  Calm down, she was supervised.  2.  Avery's reaction to a Kansas touch-down.  3.  Bears WIN!  4.  Staci and I with the eternal flame.  All the years I spent at Baylor I realized I never got a picture with the flame...until now.

It was such a great weekend and we can't wait for next Homecoming!

Halloween 2014

This year Halloween fell during Baylor's Homecoming Weekend.  For a lot of reasons, I was more than ok with that.  Sic 'Em Bears.

Avery was going to be a peacock for Halloween this year and her costume was awesome.  I scored it during a shopping trip with Avery's Memaw in Dallas about a month ago.  The first time I showed it to her to try on, she responded like any typical 18 month old kiddo would.  She looked me square in the eyes and pointed her little hand at me and said, "No way".  It happened.  It was witnessed.  Yes way, ma'am, you're wearing it----at least for a.single.picture.please.  Leading up to the photo shoot, I kept showing her the costume and telling her how pretty of a peacock she would be, how pretty the color turquoise is on her, the whole 9 yards.  Wednesday came and it was time to attempt putting the costume on.  I had candy ready for bribing- I was prepared.  In no time flat Avery transformed into a beautiful "peapock" and we got some stellar pictures in the back yard!  Enjoy!

What Avery wore on Halloween for school!