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My Little Workout Buddy

Posted on March 24, 2012 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

Dear JSL,

Thank you for being my workout buddy. This week, you have really helped me to exercise and make sure that I got my workouts in. Although I like to get things done while you and NHL are at school, it did not happen two of the days. Wednesday, you came home from school and I asked if you wanted to do a special exercise DVD with me. You were so excited. I even let you pick which one that we got to do.

Much to my horror, you picked the Leslie Sansone DVD that has the jogging within the miles. You liked the blue case out of her five that I own. You stood next to me walking, kicking, and smiling. The kick-backs confused you a bit, but you kept with it. The sweetest part was you wanted to hold my hand as we did the parts that went forward and back. As the second mile was winding down, you were starting to get cranky. I would have tried to push in another mile, but I knew it was getting late and we had to get ready to pick up NHL.

Thursday, I was so busy with laundry and a few projects that I never had a chance to get my workout in. You told me that was ok that you would cheer me on. So I got out my Walk Booster to do some resistance work while walking. Since our living room was so warm and your nose drippy, you did not want to participate. You made sure I had water and watched. You were mesmerized by the item I was wearing. So much that Friday afternoon you greeted me and begged to test them out. I had to take a photo since you were so proud.

Thank you for keeping me going and cheering me on. Watching you with all of your energy keeps me inspired to walk, kick, and sweat up a storm!

Love,

Mommy

BTW – In case you are curious about the DVD’s that I used. These are the two that I tried with JSL this week. They are linked to an Amazon Affiliate where I will receive a percentage of the sale should you purchase them when shopping. I bought these and three other Leslie Sansone DVDs with my own money over the years.

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Dear Kid Saturday exercise jsl me moments photos

Favorite Disney World Resorts

Posted on March 19, 2012 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

Over the years, I have stayed at a lot of the resorts at Walt Disney World. This Spring, we will be adding two more to my list. Growing up, I stayed at The Contemporary Resort (multiple times), Dixie Landings (multiple times and now called Port Orleans Riverside), and Caribbean Beach (multiple times). Since I have been married, we have stayed at The Beach Club Resort, Pop Century (three times), The Polynesian, and The Grand Floridian. Thanks to Disney dining, we have also visited Port Orleans French Quarter, Animal Kingdom Lodge, Boardwalk, Wilderness Lodge, and Fort Wilderness campground.

Deluxe Hotels:

I don’t think I could just pick one of the deluxe hotels. If money were no option, it would be tough to select which one. There’s monorail convenience, great overall location, and never stayed there before dream.

If I had to pick a resort on the monorail, I would immediately pick the Contemporary. I love that you can simply go down to the ground floor and walk to the Magic Kingdom along a palm tree lined walkway. It isn’t usually crowded, plus you always have the monorail to jump on and get back with relative ease. In addition to this, The Contemporary has Chef Mickey, The Wave, and The California Grill (never been there yet).

After staying at the Beach Club Resort on our honeymoon, I fell in love with the location. Not only is it simply gorgeous with an amazing pool, you can walk or take a boat to Hollywood Studios and Epcot. TechyDad and I often walked into Epcot for dinner, or over to the Boardwalk for a snack or another meal.

A deluxe hotel that I have not stayed at, but visited many time to dine there is the Animal Kingdom Lodge. I would adore waking up one morning and opening my door to view animals like giraffes while sipping my cup of coffee. Another perk would be having Boma and the other great restaurants located steps from our room.

Moderate Resorts:

Looking back I loved the quaint, quiet feel of Dixie Landings. We stayed in the mansions there twice and it was fun to bike, boat, and walk around the resort. Since our stay there, the name has changed. I know the the kids would also adore Port Orleans (either section), but would probably prefer a stay at the newer Pirate Themed rooms at the Caribbean Beach Resort.

Value Resorts:

We adore Pop Century as a fun filled value resort at Walt Disney World. We have never stayed at any of the other value resorts to date. Our last three visits have included nights at this destination.

The rooms are smaller and you do not have a sit down restaurant, but it’s extremely fun, kid friendly, and they a great food court that includes the infamous Tie Dye Cheesecake. We have adjusted to the value resorts by saving money on the room to use for our dining plans and to extend out stays.

So where do you love to stay or dream of calling your home while at Walt Disney World? There are a lot of Disney posts on my blog from trips during the last few years, so check them out if you are interested.

P.S. A huge thank you to Mariana from The Domestic Buzz for creating this magical Blog Hop! The link will be within this post the day after it is published.

Categories:
Disney family food glorious food looking back me moments photos TechyDad travel vacation yummy

Keep Me In Stitches

Posted on March 18, 2012 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

While visiting my in-laws and eating at a favorite Greek restaurant, something caught my eye. A sign above a new store read Keep Me In Stitches. I did a double take and said something to TechyDad. The kids wanted to go to the park and I knew better than to take them into a fiber store. The reality is that my boys love knitted objects, but they do not have patience to let me day dream while looking at different yarn.

TechyDad suggested that my mother-in-law and I head to the store to check it out and then meet them at the park. Sold! As we started to browse, I couldn’t help but overhear the owner of the store mention that she was a blogger. As I looked at all of the beautiful yarn, I knew I had to ask if it was ok to take photos for a blog post.

I was told to go ahead. Here are some photos of the beautiful wall of yarn.

We chatted briefly about using Facebook for social media. Little did I know they were also on Twitter, or I would have sent a Tweet out while there. I am definitely going to have fun exploring their website and watching to see what events will be taking place next time we visit. I know if I was local, their Mom’s Night Out Classes look like a fun activity for a group.

Although I did not purchase something, I have my eyes on the Knit Picks Harmony Wood Circular Needle set I was finally able to see in a store. Something I may be asking TechyDad for my birthday. *hint* *hint* *nudge* *nudge*

Thank you Rebecca for taking us on a tour of your beautiful shop. I know that I will be visiting again and will be sure to have a project in mind to purchase some of your yummy yarn. Oh and I am going to suggest that my father-in-law looks into a class to surprise my mother-in-law. I think she would really enjoy something like that.

It's Me

Categories:
arts and crafts knitting me moments photos road trip shopping

Disney Dining Memories

Posted on March 12, 2012 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

I love Walt Disney World and have since I was a very young child. During one of our vacations, my relationship with the Walt Disney World Resort changed. We were introduced to the new Food and Fun plan. We had vouchers to do things like parasailing, renting boats, and bike riding. In addition to this, gourmet meals beyond my wildest imagination were included. Walt Disney World suddenly became a dining destination that was not simply for Mickey Ice Cream bars and Dole Whips – it was a lot more.

One of our family meals during that trip was in Epcot. We had reservations at The Coral Reef. Back during this time it was in The Living Seas Pavilion (before Nemo took over). With the dining plan back in the day, we were able to get an appetizer, meal, drink, and dessert. For a small price extra, you could upgrade and order the full lobster dinner. My younger brother was intrigued with this, but had no clue how to attack his meal when it arrived. I still remember the amazing waiter, he pulled up his sleeves, stood behind my brother and guided him on how to get meat out of the places within his lobster dinner.

The Hoop-Dee-Doo Musical Revue also has memories that still bring laughter to our family. My mother had gotten us a table up front. My father had his new camera with us. He was so excited to take photos of the show. Well, at one point the entire group was on the stage and paused since they saw my father was ready. Then, one of them quickly noted “Hey it may help to take off the lens cap!” Remember, this show is a musical comedy and now my father was part of the act. For the rest of the show, they kept picking on him and reminding him about the lens cap.

On our honeymoon, TechyDad and I had another package that included a dining plan. We tried foods from lands and places that we will always remember. We fell in love with Spoodles (now where Kouzina is located on the Boardwalk) and Le Cellier in Canada at Epcot. This was almost 11 years ago when you could actually walk up to Le Cellier and get a table without one of the highly desired ADR.

When we took the kids back for their first trip, we knew that character meals had to be in the mix. The night that we arrived I made reservations for our first sit down meal at Chef Mickey. What I did not expect was both of my children to cry, hide under the table, and be mortified of the characters. The people at Chef Mickey were great and made sure to warn the characters. One of the sweetest memories I have is Chef Mickey standing over a sleeping JSL reminding us to be quiet. When Mickey saw that he was asleep, he came over to get a photo even though it was not our turn.

Over the years, we have tried a lot of restaurants and each has a special memory associated with it. So many of those have been captured here on my blog and I know many more will come in the future.

Do you have a most memorable Disney food or dining experience? Please share them below or let me know if you have written about them so I can stop by. If you want some great information about specific Disney Dining topics also check out The Disney Food Blog.

P.S. A huge thank you to Mariana from The Domestic Buzz for creating this magical Blog Hop! The link will be within this post the day after it is published.

Categories:
Disney family food glorious food jsl looking back me moments nhl TechyDad travel vacation yummy

Favorite Disney Characters

Posted on March 5, 2012 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

Growing up in a family that loves Disney, we always had favorite characters. Of course, they would change depending on my age when I was little. I loved Mickey, Donald, Goofy, and then the year Epcot opened, I feel in love with Figment. He was just the cutest thing, especially when paired with Dreamfinder.

Once I was in high school I feel head over heels in love with a positively pessimistic guy who stole my heart. I collected Eeyore items at the Disney Store, Disney World, and he had a special place in my classroom as well. Here is a photo of me with Eeyore at The Crystal Palace breakfast last year.

I thought it would be fun to see who the boys like these days. TechyDad will be writing a post about who he likes this week.

A few months away from his fifth birthday, JSL took no time to reply. He immediately shared his love for Buzz Lightyear and Tigger. How funny that I have a photo of him chatting with Tigger from our last trip while wearing his favorite Buzz Lightyear shirt.

I think JSL has a special place in his heart for Tigger since he was the one he connected to on his second birthday at The Crystal Palace. Prior to Tigger letting JSL honk his nose, he was very much afraid of the characters walking around the parks.

NHL was not as quick to list people. He mentioned several characters from Phineas and Ferb. I know he can not wait to meet the title characters at Hollywood Studios. Last time we were there, they had not moved into their new home at Walt Disney World. Then, NHL surprised me and mentioned Piglet. I think this is again from our first trip in 2009 when the boys really liked the easy going nature of the characters at The Crystal Palace.

The second character he mentioned was Captain Hook. Of course, once JSL heard this – the pirate was added onto his list as well . . . along with others from Jake and the Never Land Pirates.

No doubt that another adventure to Walt Disney World will change some of these favorites or add on many more for the boys. So, who are your favorite Disney characters and why?

P.S. A huge thank you to Mariana from The Domestic Buzz for creating this magical Blog Hop! The link will be within this post the day after it is published.