Disney Trip Day 1

On December 17th we left our house before sunrise to make the 7am flight from Pittsburgh to Orlando.

We were originally scheduled for a flight that didn't depart from Pittsburgh until 8:30pm, so we felt blessed to be able to fly stand by on a flight so much earlier in the day. This would give us an extra half day to explore Disney World. Kerriann did so well during the flight and all of the other passengers loved her. Since we flew on stand by, we ended up in the very last row of the plane. She definitely kept everyone company as they were waiting for the bathroom-haha! 

The journey from the airport to the hotel took much longer than we anticipated. By the time we got to our hotel and freshened up it was late in the afternoon. Though we were all tired (especially Kevin, he wasn't even home 24 hours before we left for FL) we were running on adrenaline and decided that we would check out the Magic Kingdom before dark.

Before boarding a shuttle bus, which was our main form of transportation during our stay, we posed for a few photos with the patriotic Mickey statue in the lobby of our first hotel, Shades of Green.

We loved staying at Shades of Green, and we definitely would like to go back one day. This hotel is for military personnel and their family and they really took great care of us during our stay. The rooms were spacious, the hotel was beautiful (especially decorated for Christmas), and the food in the restaurants was amazing. The chef was even very helpful in helping select gluten and dairy free meals.

After a ride on the shuttle bus as well as the tram connecting the bus stop to the Magic Kingdom gates, we were ready to do some exploring. We made it into the park just in time for a parade in front of Cinderella's castle.

The parade was the perfect way to kick off the visit. Kerriann loves parades, and all of the characters. You could tell that she was in awe.

A tip for those visiting the park and watching the parades... make sure you are on the outside of the parade, rather than trapped on an "island" inside. This will be extremely helpful if you want to leave before the parade has ended. It will also get you out quicker even if you choose to stay for the duration. People start lining up for parades up to 30 minutes in advance and they are PACKED! For this one we just happened to be in the right place at the right time, but we were prepared for the other parades that we saw over the next few days.

Once the parade was over, we decided to walk around and try to plan out what we would do the next day when we came back. The park was extremely packed because it was the Saturday before Christmas. This was probably the worst day we could have chosen to be there as far as crowds. The lines were too long to really do anything but sight see.

As we were walking, we noticed that the line to meet Tinkerbell was only 45 minutes long (which was pretty short on that particular day), so we decided to wait it out. This was Kerriann's first character meet and greet and she did awesome!

I think it helped that Tinkerbell was a real person, rather than a person in a costume. Either way, she had a great time. She got to meet Tinkerbell and another male fairy, though we're still not sure what his name was!

Look at the mark Tinkerbell left on Kerriann! We thought this was so cute!

After our visit with the fairies, we headed back to the castle for another parade. This one was geared towards music and dancing.

Kerriann could hardly contain herself once the music started. She was ready to get down and DANCE!

As the sun set and the parade ended, we all directed our attention to the castle for a skit. Minnie, Mickey and a few of the other characters were dressed in their Christmas gear, ready to light the castle.

The castle was so beautiful once it was lit with the Christmas lights. I have been to Disney at Christmastime before, but I have never seen the lighting ceremony or even the lights at night. It was definitely a memorable experience, and I'm so glad that I was able to share it with Kevin and Kerriann.

After that we headed back to Shades of Green to rest up for day two!

Family Vacation-July 2011

It's been almost two months now and I still haven't posted photos from our vacation with Kevin's extended family at the end of July!

Well here they are, folks, what you've all been waiting patiently for...

(sorry they are a little out of order but I'm too tired to re-order them at this point)

Kevin, Kerriann and I had such a great time visiting with his family...

Exploring the town of Jim Thorpe, PA...

Playing ring around the rosie with Grammy and cousin Maddie...

Building sandcastles at the beach near our lake house...

Playing on the playground...

And at the swimming pool...

We were also able to get in a little sprinkler and kiddie pool time in the backyard... 

It was a jam-packed week and we are so glad that we were able to take some time off to spend with the people who matter most to us.  Thanks to  Kevin's aunts, uncles and parents for putting this yearly vacation together (especially Aunt Julie... I know you did a lot of work!).  We really enjoyed it and are already looking forward to next year!

Wordless Wednesday

Lake George 2011: Day 1

Over the weekend Kevin and I had the privilege of joining his close friend, Marshall, and his family in Lake George, NY.  Marshall's family goes there every year for a week long vacation and Kevin has been wanting to take me there since we met (and since the last time he joined them in '06).

We drove to Kevin's parent's house on Friday night so they could watch Kerriann while we were away.  When we arrived late that night they surprised Kerriann with a kitchen set and a few other new (to her) toys that she loved!  Seeing her so excited to play made me feel a lot better about leaving her.  We left pretty early the next morning and I think the first few hours were the hardest on me.  After that I got used to the feeling of being away from her and started to relax more.  I know that Kevin and I NEED to take time away every now and then, and I didn't want to miss out on the enjoyment of the trip.  I just kept reminding myself that she was in great hands and allowed myself to start having fun!

We cruised around on the boat, anchored and had a few drinks, had appetizers at a restaurant right on the water, and enjoyed a delicious dinner prepared by Marshall's mom and grandmother that night.

While we were on the lake, we saw a few interesting boat names, including this one that reminded us of all of the drama going on lately with the Casey Anthony trial...."Knot Guilty."

The other main "excitement" of the day was Kevin coming very close to losing his wedding ring.  He and Marshall were playing football in the water and all of a sudden Kevin noticed that he was no longer wearing it.  Marshall volunteered to go back to the boat and get goggles and a snorkel, meanwhile the rest of us on the boat were clueless.  Kevin tried to discourage him because he thought they'd never find it, but as they were getting ready to give up and come back to the boat, Kevin spotted something silver glistening in the sand under the water.  IT WAS HIS RING!  Seriously, him finding it was probably a one in a million chance.  Someone was looking out for him that day!

As the rest of us were sitting on the boat, we saw them jumping for joy and yelling about finding something, but we thought they were just playing a trick on us... haha!

More to come on day 2!