Happy Holidays!

Thankful for good times, best friends and silly memories

Another free picture collage by Smilebox

Just gotta love this photo!

I just had to share this photo! It says so much about us! We have a great sense of humor! We love each other more than anything. Our kids are happy. We have an IN with awesome photographers...And we have the best friends in the whole world! That red thread connected us all and our lives are better because it did!

Getting in touch with nature

Of course Disn@y makes us happy and we visit often, but we do not limit our travel only to Disn@y theme parks and aboard DCL. I love history and enjoy getting in touch with nature. True, we do not hardly live in an urban area and we do indeed have plenty of cows that we pass on our weekly ventures. But visiting the US National Parks and National Historic Sites are a passion of mine that my husband and I love to share with our children. We have climbed on the sea's edge upon the rocks of Acadia National Park in Maine. We have picnicked in the shadows of cannons and little log cabins in Valley Forge. And Shasha loved her visit to the Nation's birthplace... Philadelphia. Scott nd I have been visiting National Parks and historic sites since we cruised to Alaska, the FIRST time, back in 2000. I bought a little blue NP passport book to collect dated stamps from each visitor's center. It is a wonderful way to get kids like Shasha and Po interested in our nation.

This year we ventured to Lechtworth State Park and Niagara Falls State Park with our travel buds Aunt Jackie and Pappy Tony(not really related but don't break that news to the kids... they would be devastated!). We hit up a National Historic Site outside of Niagara to fulfill our NP passport obligation!

Lechtworth State Park is beautiful. We were able to give the kids their first view of some big waterfalls (so they thought).

We spent the night in the park at Caroline's Cottage.

It was quaint and the kids couldn't believe their wasn't a tv! We lit a big fire and told spooky stories instead.

It was so beautiful hearing the crackling fire and the crickets with the distant roar of the nearby waterfall!

We enjoyed lunch in the dining room atthe beautiful and historic Glen Iris Inn. Lunch was fantastic and the kids (and I) loved when our dessert was made tableside and set on fire!

And it tasted delicious too! After lunch we headed north and out of the country... to Canada!

As we crossed the Rainbow Bridge into Canada we caught our first glimpses of THE BIG waterfalls! It was the first visit for Jackie and the kids, anyway. Once across the border we were in search of our hotel promising spectacular views and... I was also in search of my favorite Canadian candy bar, Coffee Crisp!

Our room at the Embassy Suites was very nice and the fallsview room certainly was spectacular but my favorite thing about this hotel... the free breakfast buffet! It was so yummy!

Needless to say we saw those falls from the inside, outside and upside down... from the Maid of the Mist and the Hurricane Deck, on the Big Screen and from the tram car. And the Fallsview Restaurant at the tip of the Horseshoe Falls on the American side was AMAZING.

The view was to die for! We also ate at the top of the Skylon Tower and though I would not miss this view from the observation deck... I would have been just as happy eating at a Mickey D's. On the way home we took a long cut over to Buffalo and had some authentic Buffalo wings...and pizza! It was so yummy! We are already looking forward to our multi-day trip to the Big Apple next summer. Sure, we have all been there many times... but next year we are going to ride a double decker bus, take a ferry to the Statue of Liberty and experience some great meals! Can't wait!

Living a Fantasy!

Disney is a love shared by our entire family! We enjoy going to Disney and spending our time living a fairytale and experiencing the rides, shows, resorts and restaurants! Our family also loves cruise vacations and we have done many... very many! So if you are our family...What better combo than Disney and the Disney Fantasy cruise? We create so many wonderful memories together. Some think ... why go to Disney so often? There are a few reasons. Number 1. We love it! Number 2. We own DVC and therefore can enjoy wonderful accomodations at a low cost and Number 3...It simply makes us happy!

This year we spent one night at Bay Lake Towers next to the Magic Kingdom. Though we personally love the ambience of our home resort Animal Kingdom Villas more...we absolutely loved the ease and convenience of BLT, especially since we were staying there only 1 night before boarding the Disney Fantasy! Walking back and forth between the Magic Kingdom and the hotel proved to be a leisurely and sightseeing stroll! We grapped a quick meal and hopped on a few rides.

Po was able to ride his first coaster, Goofy's barnstormer and rode it we did... THREE times in a row! We hopped on the new double Dumbo, Aladdin's Magic Carpets and Pirates too! But of course, the highlight of Shasha's trip to the MK was meeting up with her kindergarten teacher...Miss G!

Can you only imagine the magical moments that will forever be remembered by my daughter? Shasha and Miss G emjoyed watching the Electrical Mainstreet Parade together, strolled down Main Street USA hand in hand and watched Wishes! Miss G truly is a teacher that has left a lasting impression on our daughter both in and out of the classroom! Teachers THAT great are hard to come by! The next morning we enjoyed the company of Mickey, Pluto, Lilo an Stitch at O'hana before heading over to the Harmony Barber Shop at the Magic Kingdom for Shasha's haircut. Shasha has only EVER had her hair cut here and on the Disney Magic cruise ship!And of course zipping to the Polynesian for our morning breakfast at O'hana was fun and fast on board the monorail!

Before we knew it...it was time to board the bus to whisk us away to Port Canaveral where we boarded the Disney Fantasy.

Thanks to a DVC offer for June cruises we were upgraded from our 11C stateroom and instead enjoyed a verandah room! Thank you DVC!

It was fantastic but I must admit the kids both were disappointed that we did not have a virtual porthole as we had last year.

But that was OK as we reminded them that next summer we will be back to an inside stateroom with a virtual porthole.

We loved our Western Caribbean cruise that took us to Grand Cayman, Cozumel, Costa Maya and Disney's Castaway Cay! We had terrific weather and wonderful adventures! We all enjoyed our visit to the Sea Turtle farm in the Caymans and our beach visits in both Cozumel and Costa Maya.

But of course, Castaway Cay is an absolute highlight! It is so beautiful with its crystal clear blue waters and white sandy beaches.

Having ice cream, drinks and a delicious Barbeque lunch at our disposal only adds to the true pleasure of the island!

And the weather was absolutely wonderful for the length of our entire cruise. It just doesn't get any better than that! Well, except seeing the smiles on our faces! That is how we know that this was a memorable vacation that was priceless!

It was very sad realizing that our time on this beautiful ship was over after 7 nights of calling her home. However, knowing that we were spending the next 3 nights at our favorite Animal Kingdom Villas resort took some of the heart ache away. I always book a value room at Jambo House and we lucked out this time with a beautiful savannah view room!

We spent many hours enjoying our balcony just relaxing and loving the company of the animals while enjoying drinks and snacks! Of course we also visited all of the parks and ate many great meals at some of our favorite restaurants!

We took in the Wishes fireworks once again from the comfort of the Tommorowland Terrace while enjoying delicious desserts on our last night and returned back to our resort where we slept with giraffes just outside our room. Our Fantasy vacation was turned into a reality! And... of course, we can't wait to do it all again!

Wow... It's been a long time!

It has certainly been a long time since I posted. I guess life with a 6 and a 3 year old suddenly took over my life! Or maybe it was my THREE trips to Walt Disn@y World, Disn@y Fant@sy cruise and vacation to New York and Ni@gara Falls! Yes... you could say we had a very busy summer! But I wouldn't want it any other way... sharing that special time with Scott and the kids... I wouldn't trade it for the world! So I suppose I have a lot to catch up on... and I certainly have lots of summer pictures to post! I am certainly going to try!

Now that school has started again... well, life is outta control! I can't believe that a 6 year old can have such an active life. I guess I am just not the kind of parent.... YET... that has told Shasha that she couldn't try an activity. Shasha now plays the violin... she began in June and I can't believ how far she has come in just those few practices. She is already playing Twinkle Twinkle in like 4 variations! She seems to love it but practicing daily with her is stressing me out! Her lesson is on Monday and group lesson is on Wedensday immediately before cheering practice (which we are about 10 minutes late for). Tuesdays we have a breather and on Thursday, Friday and Saturday she takes Jazz and Tap, Ballet and a theater production class! Oh... and we MUST still fit in that weekend football game! AAAHHHHHHHH! Shasha has started the first grade this year and loves it. She is doing very well and I am simply stunned at how fast her reading skills have improved!

My Precious Po just celebrated his Gotcha Day this past Monday, September 17. He started preschool this year two days a week for 2 and a half hours each day. HE loves it! He comes home and proudly displays his artwork on HIS door! He sings his little Rocket song with his high squeaky voice and I can't help but let a tear roll down my face. Po is also taking a theater class. It is cute... they read stories and then act the story out or do an art project. He really is enjoying is so far. Po will once again be in gymnastics (he's really good)... but he won't start until the end of October when Shasha's cheering is over! I just can't handle all the activities! Life is busy and it makes me smile:) I just love these kids and I want to give them the world!