We had a MAGICAL time!

We are home from here:

We had a truly wonderful Disney vacation! I have lots to tell but first I need to go through the 1000 pictures I took while we were gone!

Farmer's Market Find

We found all these fabulous pumpkins at the Farmer's Market!

Happy Fall Y'all!

This time next week...

We will be aboard one of these:

Headed here:For a Magical Fall Break Trip!

I have “planned” some activities for the week:

• Thursday, 10/9: After checking in here {hopefully into one of the newly, beautifully renovated rooms}:
  

  We will grab a quick lunch and head on over to Hollywood Studios. We have dinner reservations at Le Cellier in Epcot’s Canada that night to meet Jody’s request for a good steak dinner {I am looking forward to the pretzel bread and the beer cheese soup}!

• Friday, 10/10: Mary Reese has an 8:55 am appointment at the Magic Kingdom location of the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique {BBB} for a princess makeover. Banks has a “Cool Dude” appointment there at 9:10. Later that day we are attending Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party {MNSSHP}! We did have to by separate tickets for that so we could attend with 20,000 of our closest friends! We have dinner reservations at Liberty Tree Tavern at 6:35 pm because the characters will be dressed up in their Halloween costumes! There is a special parade and fireworks show that night in addition to special decorations, trick or treating and dance parties!

• Saturday, 10/11: I didn’t make any plans for early this day because I knew we would be out late with the MNSSHP. We do have lunch reservations {2:25 pm} at Cinderella’s Royal Table to dine with the Princesses! The only other goal of the day is watching the Spectromagic Parade and the Wishes fireworks show. I am really excited about Spectromagic because I have such fond memories of the Electric Light Parade as a child {I think I took 2 rolls of film of it last time I saw it}!

• Sunday, 10/12: We have an 8:35 am reservation for Donald’s Breakfast Safari at Tuskar House in Animal Kingdom {an Amy Jackson recommendation}. Hopefully after breakfast, we can snag Fast Passes {FP} for Kilimanjaro Safari then hang out in AK the rest of the day.

• Monday, 10/13: Today is an Epcot day with a 5:45 pm reservation at Teppan Edo in Japan. I would like to get there for the rope drop ceremony which shouldn’t be too bad since we are staying in an Epcot resort. I am sure we will head back for a little R&R mid-day and be back in time for our dinner reservations.

• Tuesday, 10/14: Today is our departure day! At some point, we will have to drop off our “swapped” stroller to the next family’s resort {I joined a double stroller swap through disboards.com for $15, which beats the $31 a day rental fee or $200 if I bought one to take!} We have a 9:30 am reservation for the Boma breakfast buffet {located in Animal Kingdom Lodge}. After that, we will be exploring Downtown Disney! I think the kids will love the Lego Store, the make your own crown and light saber sections at The World of Disney and Goofy’s Candy Company. We will probably grab a late lunch before heading to the airport to catch our 4:25 pm flight home!

Big Brown Strikes Again & The Fair

This morning I made a delicious and delightful casserole dish full of Cheesy Chicken for dinner. I took it out of the refrigerator and placed it on the counter to be warming up to room temperature while I went to pick Mary Reese up from school {approximately 3 blocks from our house}. This is what I found on the kitchen floor when I returned:

Guess who struck again?

After an impromptu dinner, we headed to the fair. Those fair people have gotten smart and send admission tickets home with the school children to insure they know the fair is in town...so no more avoiding the Beltline so the kids won't know it is in town! We are glad we went because it took Mary Reese a few minutes to warm up to riding...I think they both got lots of practice in for Disney!

Her first ride of the fair {I had to force her on}:

The Candyland Train:

A pink princess in her pink big rig:

After a few hours at the fair we came home for a good scrub down before heading straight to bed!

Happy Hump Day!

Hope everyone has a wonderful hump day! Banks got to wear pajamas to school today to celebrate Red Ribbon Week {SAY NO TO DRUGS}: Mary Reese is hoping her school does a pajama day but until then she is satisfied wearing her polka-dotted socks like her Aunt Stacey:

Family Weekend at the Lake

We spent a nice, peaceful family weekend here:

We stopped here on the way to and from the lake:

For these {the world's best chicken fingers and potato wedges}:

The water was a little chilly for swimming, so the kids did this instead:

Saturday night, we grilled hamburgers, hot dogs and corn. We also made good old "lake fries":

Saturday afternoon, Banks wanted to ride the zipline one last time this year and I wanted to practice with the new video camera. He jumped on {see the boy stick figure} and literally flew down. When he got to the end {see the girl stick figure}, he nailed me and I flew backwards into the water between the dock and the boat, video camera in hand. I now know how those people on American Gladiators feel! Luckily we both survived along with the video camera {thanks to the hair dryer}! I thought I had the entire thing on tape and was ready to claim 1st prize on American's Funniest Home Videos but I must have forgotten to press the record button! The zipline if officially retired until the water level rises!

Guess what came today {kind of}

I was starting to get a little nervous because I had not received our travel documents for our big trip yet! I knew they should have been sent out 21 days prior to our trip via 2nd Day Fed Ex and we hit the 14 day mark today. I talked to Popsy early this morning because his office address was on our reservation...but he had not seen them. I immediately called SouthWest to get the scoop. Yes, they were mailed out at the 21 day mark and were delivered on Tuesday, September 16th. What??? That was over a week ago and they were nowhere to be seen! They were able to tell me the address they were delivered to...it was Popsy and Gigi's house {the one they moved from a few weeks after the reservations were made in May}! Great!

Their old house is only a few minutes away from ours...so I drove over there to see if the new owners still had my precious envelope. The girl told me that she had gotten the package last week, thought they looked like airline tickets {really...did the SouthWest Vacations envelope clue you in?} BUT marked on the envelope WRONG ADDRESS then dropped it back in a FedEx drop box! I wanted to scream! At this point I was giving her a break because I thought my name was on the envelope and knew she would not put 2 and 2 together BUT I am listed in the phone book. How hard would it be to pick up and phone and call me...I bet it would have taken less time than it took you to drive to the FedEx box!

So, I got back on the phone with SouthWest. All that lovely customer service rep could tell me that WHEN they did get the documents back, they would re-issue them to the same address. Wonderful! Are they not getting a little nervous, because I am? Hello, this time in 2 weeks we will be there!!!!

I called back a few minutes later and got yet another lovely customer service rep. I just wanted to get the tracking number for the package so I could call FedEx myself and try to track down the package since SouthWest wasn't too concerned. She informed me that she could not give me that information but when the package arrived back they could re-issue it to the same address. Are you kidding me???

Then I call FedEx. Well they can't track the package unless they have the tracking number! By this point I was extremely frustrated! Jody happened to come home at lunch and agreed to call SouthWest to see if he could get the tracking number out of them. Wouldn't you know it...he got the FABULOUS Lucille who amazingly was able to give us the magic number!!! {Thank you Lucille, you are an absolute lifesaver and deserve a big fat raise!} Then we called FedEx back and luckily the package was still in Madison! Hallelujah!!! After we conferenced my dad in {because his name was on the envelope*} for him to give them permission for me to pick up the package...I was off to Madison! So my entire morning day was spent tracking down our travel documents!!!

I am stepping down from my soapbox now! Yes, we leave in less than 2 weeks for our big trip! The kids are getting more and more excited. I am going to spend next week trying to gather up and organize all the things we think we will need! I will keep you updated on the progress!

*Hello to the genius who bought their house...do you not remember their names? It has only been 4 months! OR how hard would it have been to pick up the phone and call him...he too is listed in the phone book!!!

More Pond Pics

This afternoon Banks wanted to show the pond to Mary Reese and Daddy, so we loaded up and went for our own private viewing!

We know we can't do this once the fish make the pond their new home:

But it sure was FUN today!

Ponds for Kids

Today Banks {as well as the rest of the school} got to participate in the PONDS FOR KIDS program {a partnership with The Alabama Outdoor Classroom} with the assistant of Lee Vought Water Gardens. At the end of the day, the entire school got to watch as they turned on the pond:

Banks with his "work" gloves on. He thought he was going to get to do all the digging. I didn't have the heart to tell him only the older grades were working today. All the younger grades get to help plant the water plants and release the fish into the pond next month.

Ms. Lowery's entire class in front of the pond:

You can check out one of the 2nd Grade teachers Pond Progress blog post to see just how much his school accomplished today! Banks can't wait for next month when he actually gets to "work" on the pond!

For your afternoon entertainment...

I just bought a new Flip Ultra Video camera {I have been eyeing one for a few months}. I decided I might need to test it out before our big trip; and I have been dying to record Banks and Mary Reese doing the fiddle part of Dixieland Delight but my old video camera didn't hook up to the computer. So for your afternoon entertainment:

Do you think they will be asked to make an appearance at Fiddler's Convention in Athens?