February, 2010 | The Angel Forever

Monthly Archives February 2010

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The great Figment ride bribe of 1983

Posted on February 8, 2010 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

While at Disney World in May, NHL was willing to go on pretty much every thrill ride that he was tall enough to go on. At 46" tall in May, he was able to go on Expedition Everest and did not flinch when it was time for Tower of Terror (can not say the same for poor TechyDad). Had he been tall enough I think he would have even gone on The Rock ‘n’ Rollercoaster starring Aerosmith. Unfortunately, that ride had a 48" height requirement.

Now, almost nine months later, NHL has grown 2 very crucial inches. He is 48" tall and can go on any ride in all of Walt Disney World! We are all quite excited about this. He claims he still wants to go on Rock ‘n’ Rollercoaster, but we shall see. He has never been on a coaster that goes upside down. Of all that I have been on, it is by far the most amazing and so smooth. With any luck, he will take the adventure along with me.

Another must ride is Space Mountain. When we were there in May, it was closed for refurbishment. I think NHL will love this ride. When I was a little younger than NHL, I was not as easily convinced. You can read more about A Figment of my Childhood Imagination to understand the background. The basic story is that my father promised me, then in kindergarten, anything I wanted if I went on Space Mountain with him. I tried to back out several times, even claiming I had to pee when we got into the rockets. When we got off, I told my father what I wanted. Since EPCOT had just opened, I was in love with Figment. Here I am back in 1983:

We eventually went back to EPCOT and I wanted a Figment that was the perfect size to hug. My father tried to get me to take the smaller one. Mom stepped in and reminded Dad that he told me anything I wanted. He was lucky, there was a much larger Figment that would have been more interesting to get back on the airplane. Below is a photo of my brother and me with the stuffed animals that we bought during that Disney World trip. As you will see, I have Figment in my arms.

With any luck, NHL will head onto Space Mountain with me. Thanks to my father, I already know to set limits on anything that I use as a ride bribe!

Categories:
Disney family looking back me moments nhl photos vacation

Disney character meals through the years

Posted on February 7, 2010 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

Although my taste in dining at Walt Disney World has changed over the years, there is still one constant. No matter how old I get, I love Disney Character Meals. There is just something fun about seeing the characters up close, watching them interact with you and others, and seeing the crazy antics around food. Even on our honeymoon, almost nine years ago, we went to several character meals. Here I am at Cape May Cafe with Goofy

When we planned out our first trip with the boys last May, we knew we wanted to take them to Chef Mickey and The Crystal Palace. We had hoped to go to Chef Mickey for JSL’s actual second birthday, but that did not work out. Instead, we made this our starting meal the evening we arrived. The food was very good, and the atmosphere was fun, but the experience different than we expected. As I have shown before, both of the boys started the trip scared of the costumed Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Pluto and Donald Duck. By the time we moved on to The Crystal Palace for JSL’s birthday, NHL had warmed up to the costumes, and JSL would tolerate them from a distance. JSL is now asking to see Pooh Bear, Eeyore, Tigger and Piglet, so perhaps things will be different this visit to Disney.

By the time we made our reservations for the Disney Social Media Moms Celebration, there was no real availability for dinners with characters. We opted to change things up a bit. We are going to do breakfast with Donald Duck before Animal Kingdom opens up one morning, and go back to visit Goofy and friends at Cape May Cafe. With any luck, both of the boys will enjoy themselves and we can capture some memories of the meals.

Speaking of memories, here are some old school Disney Character Dining photos from 1983. I believe this was at the original Chef Mickey when it was located in what would eventually become Downtown Disney.

Ah, love the memories and hope to make some more amazing ones with our boys as we explore more magical moments at Disney World.

Categories:
Disney fun looking back me moments photos vacation

Fear of costume characters

Posted on February 6, 2010 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

Dear NHL & JSL,

I know we are all excited about going to Disney World. The two of you have been really great chatting up about all of the Disney characters that you are going to see. Of course, Daddy and I wonder if we will have a repeat of our trip in May. Flashbacks of JSL choking Daddy at Chef Mickey and NHL hiding far away are still in my memory banks.

By the end of our last visit, at least one of you was happy to see the characters. NHL, you were eager to get autographs and hug them.

This continued over the summer at Six Flags. NHL would go for a photo, while JSL would run to get away from Wags the Dog, Bugs Bunny and all of the other costumed characters there.

Both of you have said that you want to get photos and autographs. I guess we will know how it turns out soon enough. Either way, we will have lots of wonderful memories of our magical trip to Disney World.

Love,

Mommy

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If you want to participate in Dear Kid Saturday, head on over to Cutest Kid Ever by clicking on the button below.

Categories:
Dear Kid Saturday Disney jsl looking back nhl photos vacation

Winter time soups

Posted on February 5, 2010 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

No matter what the groundhog said, the fact is that winter is still here. When the winter strikes, so does our need for hearty warm soup for meals. Of course, I would love my mother’s Matzoh Ball soup every day. The fact of the matter is that although it tastes delicious, it is not "point" friendly when watching your weight (darn Matzoh Balls). At least once a week TechyDad makes soup for us, typically in the slow cooker. Two that he has written about on Cooking With TechyDad are:

Broccoli Cheddar Soup

Slow Cooker Bean Soup

My favorite these days is Minestrone in the slow cooker with a TON of veggies in it. I also like to whip up tomato, barley and carrot soup on the fly. We keep a Kosher kitchen, so we often do things vegetarian style. Thanks to great veggie broth and No Chicken Chicken broth, we are able to tweak many recipes.

So my question to you on another wintery Friday:

What is your favorite soup to eat on a cool winter day? Always looking for new things to make, so list as many as you can think of.

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Thanks to Kailani at An Island Life for starting this fun for Friday. Please be sure to head over to her blog to say hello and sign the MckLinky there if you are participating.

Aloha #85

Categories:
Aloha Friday food glorious food TechyDad winter yummy

The Princess and the Frog Soundtrack (giveaway)

Posted on February 4, 2010 10:00 am by TheAngelForever

As a forever child of Disney, I have always bought their soundtracks. If you look in my collection, you will see cassette tapes and CDs for Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King and many, many more. These days I buy them to share with my children. When I was asked if I would participate in a review and giveaway for the newly released soundtrack for The Princess & the Frog I jumped right at the opportunity.

Information about The Princess & The Frog Soundtrack (from Walt Disney Records):

Walt Disney Animation Studios presents the musical THE PRINCESS AND THE FROG, an animated comedy set in the great city of New Orleans. From the creators of "The Little Mermaid" and "Aladdin" comes a modern twist on a classic tale, featuring a beautiful girl named Tiana, a frog prince who desperately wants to be human again, and a fateful kiss that leads them both on a hilarious adventure through the mystical bayous of Louisiana.

The collection of magical songs from this amazing soundtrack features Anika Noni Rose(Dreamgirls), Ne-Yo(R&B music star) and Academy Award® winning composer Randy Newman. Set in the great city of New Orleans, the sounds of Jazz, Zydeco, Blues, Gospel and more are all present for an unforgettable musical experience the entire family will enjoy!

To hear some of the songs, head over here to the Walt Disney Records website.

What we think:

The minute the boys saw I had a package, they came running. When I opened it up and they could see it was a new Disney CD they wanted me to play it immediately. Although we have not had a chance to see The Princess & the Frog, both are familiar with it. Thanks to the Disney Very Merry Christmas parade that was televised, both of the boys have watched Princess Tiana and heard several of the songs from the play list.

I turned the CD on for us to listen. Both of the boys started to dance and parade around. They really enjoyed the upbeat songs like Down in New Orleans and When We’re Human. It was like I had my own little Mardis Gras Parade in my living room. NHL (6) liked the music and asked to see the movie. We will definitely be doing this and it is likely going to be the first time JSL (2) sees a movie in the theater.

What I really enjoyed was the genuine jazz feel of the soundtrack. It seemed like I was picked up and placed in New Orleans listening to musicians playing their songs. Something else caught my ear. There was something familiar with the beats, sound. When I read the CD case I quickly saw why. All of the songs and score in The Princess and the Frog soundtrack is composed and conducted by Randy Newman. For some reason I just heard a little that reminded me of Toy Story. The song that strikes me as becoming a huge hit is Never Knew I Needed. Talk about a powerful song with a lesson behind it. This will definitely be a Disney Princess song to remember.

Thanks to the soundtrack, we are even more excited about seeing this movie and it will be listened to along with all of our other Disney music in our collection.

Giveaway:

Thanks to Walt Disney Records, one lucky reader will be able to win their very own copy of The Princess and the Frog soundtrack.

Rules for Giveaway:

MAIN RULE – Who is your favorite Disney Princess and why?
1 Bonus Entry – What is your favorite Disney soundtrack that you have heard before?
1 Bonus Entry – Tweet about the giveaway on Twitter. Be sure to include @TheAngelForever and The Princess and the Frog sountrack Giveaway in the Tweet. Please leave a direct link to your Tweet in a separate comment for each daily entry. Example Tweet (feel free to use): Chance to win a copy of the Princess and the Frog Soundtrack from @TheAngelForever http://bit.ly/aaCEWa
1 Bonus Entry – Subscribe to my RSS feed (or let me know if you already are) in a separate comment.
1 Bonus Entry – Leave a comment on any of my non-giveaway posts from the month of January/February. Be sure to leave a comment here to let me know which one. This Bonus entry may be done only twice per person.
3 Bonus Entries – Add my blog button to your website and leave a link with the location. Be sure to give yourself 3 comments for credit.
5 Bonus Entries – Write a post on your blog linking to my blog about the Exederm giveaway. Be sure to leave 5 comments about this to get credit for all of your extra entries

To enter, please follow the rules above within the comment section. Contest starts today, February 4th, and ends at 10:59 EST on February 18, 2010. You do not have to be a blogger to enter, but must leave a valid e-mail address for me to contact you for mailing address once the giveaway is over. I will select the winner using random.org and contact you via e-mail. You will have 48 hours to claim the prize. If there is no response, another winner will be selected. Open to U.S. residents only.

Disclosure: I received the CD complimentary of Walt Disney Records to facilitate this review as part of a program with The Family Review Network. No other compensations was given. The opinions expressed in the review are my own feelings about the product that our family tried.