Riding Chance

Hadley has had quite the summertime bucket list for several months now. She has wanted to go fishing, ride a horse, and go camping. She planned to do all these things on her Granna and Grandad's farm. We have managed to get two of the three in; all we have left now is camping.

Ronnie has been working to break Chance for a few weeks now.  It amazes me how much work goes in to breaking a horse to ride.  Hadley kept asking if Chance was "broke out" yet.  You would have thought the poor horse had a rash or something.  Ronnie is so protective of his grandkids; I knew he would never let them get on a horse unless he was confident it was ready.  He told Hadley to be sure she wore jeans for her riding debut.  Every cowgirl has to have a pair of boots, too. We had a beautiful Saturday on the farm to enjoy this special outdoor activity.



We have some stables, in our area, who participate in therapeutic riding for children with special needs.  After seeing the exhilaration that Hadley had from riding Chance, I can see where riding a horse can provide kids with such pride and excitement.  Grandad led her around the riding ring many times.  He asked her if she wanted to trot, but she was scared to go very fast.  She did tell Chance "Whoa" and he stopped; she was so proud of herself.

We hadn't really planned on Canaan riding, but we should have known better.  Anything that Hadley does, he wants to be right beside her doing the same thing.  Cathy tried to occupy him while Hadley rode, but he was trying to climb over the fence.  When it came Hadley's turn to wait outside the fence for Canaan to ride, she wasn't super excited about sharing Chance.  Always a teachable moment, right?

Three generations of Stinson men. 

Ronnie let Hadley ride Chance all the way back to the barn, as he led her.  The kids played in the dried out trough while he unsaddled Chance and put hm back in his stall.

 In true Granna and Grandad fashion, they even had a special trophy to give Hadley when she finished her big ride.  It was one of the many trophies they had gotten when they participated in 4-H years before.  They even handpicked a purple trophy, to match her bedroom.  One of the many reasons we love Granna and Grandad.  One more activity checked off Hadley's bucket list!

Disney World Day 4



For our last day at Disney World, Lacey thought it would be fitting to eat lunch at the Be Our Guest Restaurant, which is located in the Beast's enchanted castle.  Oh my, I absolutely loved the food, but especially the locale!

The food is French-inspired and there are three elaborately decorated rooms straight out of the beloved Disney film.  Guests can choose between the mysterious West Wing, the Rose Gallery, or the grand two-story ballroom where snow actually falls outside the enormous ceiling to floor arched windows.  Yes, I stared at it for the longest time, watching in amazement. 

Hadley let us know, quite quickly, that she didn't want to eat in this creepy room. The Beast's remnants of his angry tirade are everywhere you turn. He really did a number on this room.

Wow...talk about a quick-service meal. I kept wondering how they would know where to bring our food and before we could even get seated Mrs. Potts had our food waiting for us in a manner befitting royalty, with real china and flatware.  They took "quick" to a whole new level. 



We let the girls get special dessert treats of strawberry cheesecake cupcakes.  We really had a wonderful time; the food was very tasty, too.

By our last day, there was nothing we hadn't gotten to ride, nor any princess we had yet to meet.  But we didn't get autographs until Day 3 so we had to backtrack to get several of those keepsakes.  I have to say that it was nice, though, to not feel super rushed to get certain rides in or meet-n-greets.  Instead, we rode some of our faves again, like Winnie the Pooh, Peter Pan, The Little Mermaid, and Dumbo.



Hadley did don her Cinderella ballgown with the princess herself on our first day.  However, it came a torrential downpour that day and we all got soaked.  Poor girl looked like a hot mess (in her soaked black Tom's nonetheless) for her first meeting with Cinderella. So it was nice to be able to go back and tell the beautiful princess goodbye when she wasn't soaked.  Maybe we shouldn't have gone that first day, but she wanted to so badly and in the end what does it really matter?  I have the magical pictures of Cinderella twirling sweet girl around forever etched in my mind.

Toward the end of the night, we were getting silly.  We got seriously out of our routine on this trip but it was totally worth it.  When we left the park two of the nights, we stopped by Joe's Crabshack for half-price appetizers.  No naps and bedtimes around midnight or later were certainly catching up with our little ones.

We just had to catch the Electrical Parade one last time before leaving Magic Kingdom.  We didn't buy any souvenirs until that last night, when we went in to The Emporium, which is the largest gift and souvenir shop in Disney World.  We did get Hadley a charm necklace and let her pick out one charm to go on it.  She put a great deal of thought in to that one special charm and finally settled on a Minnie Mouse with a polka dot bow.   I would love to be able to add a charm to her necklace each time we visit.  I still can't believe we went to Disney World.  When people would refer to it as being "magical," I always kind of thought they were exaggerating or just a little strange.  Well, I can honestly say now that they weren't exaggerating or strange.  They hit the nail on the head.  We feel beyond blessed to have been able to stay with precious friends who were our personal tour guides the entire week.  We wouldn't change a thing.  Until next time Walt Disney World.....hopefully we will see ya real soon!

Disney World Day 3

Day 3 took our families to Epcot Theme Park.  Having never been to Epcot before, I was in awe of just how huge Spaceship Earth, Epcot's icon actually was.  The 180 ft tall ball is enormous!

This was our day to start accumulating character autographs.  We carried around a mat from a picture frame and two pillowcases to get signed.  Having Hadley not be scared of the characters was all the encouragement our friendly, fun-loving Canaan needed.  He loved meeting them.  Most of my pictures from Epcot are of the kiddos with characters. 

 

I quickly learned that I had to hold the pillowcases very taut for the characters to get good signatures.  Hadley was so excited to find out she was going to get to sleep with all her favorite characters each night.  I think I was just as excited as her to get all those fancy signatures.  Lacey told me that the characters practice those signatures for hours and hours during their training.

Aurora, from Sleeping Beauty, was elegant and graceful and took her time with Hadley.  How do they make each and every child feel so special?

Belle, from Beauty and the Beast, is one of my personal favorites.  She was so fun and even took Hadley by the hand and walked and talked with her for a bit.

I really had to include this picture because it shows our Canaan's personality at its finest.  He is a HAM.  With Minnie crouched down on the ground, signing his pillowcase, he walked behind her and got so tickled at her.  He thought she was too funny.  This boy keeps us on our toes.



Character autographs weren't all that our day at Epcot consisted of.  We explored the heritage of  Norway by riding Maelstrom, a mysterious boat ride through Scandanavian seascapes and swamps. I loved this ride and it was way more adventurous than I thought it would be.  Some of the ride was in total darkness, even the 28 foot drop at the end!  We sorta felt like we were white water rafting. 

We also rode an adorable ride called The Seas with Nemo & Friends.  We boarded a "clamobile" and descended below the waves, trying to help Marlin and Dory find Nemo.  Just when we thought the ride was over, the adventure took an exciting turn when the Finding Nemo characters joined real, live sea creatures in a 5.7 million gallon saltwater aquarium. We spent the longest time in the aquarium, and at the Seas with Nemo & Friends Pavilion, where we got to see many of the character's "real" counterparts from the movie. 

One of the most awesome rides from our entire trip, Soarin', was wildly entertaining for Justin and Hadley.  Although I thought it was amazing, I am super scared of heights and the ride really did mess with my head. The 40 ft we were actually in the air, felt like thousands to me.  This attraction really does bring the Golden State to life, as you hang-glide over various Californian landscapes and landmarks.  You feel the wind through your hair and even smell what you are seeing.  The Imagineers at Disney pulled out all the stops for this attraction, that's for sure! 

Turtle Talk with Crush was an adorably entertaining question and answer session with everyone's favorite turtle, Crush.  Hadley had her hand raised, with a burning question for Crush, but she never got called on.  I asked her later what she was going to ask Crush and she said she wanted to know where all his friends were. Righteous, dude.

For a nice, relaxing ride we rode Spaceship Earth, where we explored the history of communications from the Stone Age to the Computer Age.  We even had a chance to design the kind of future we wanted to live in.

Living with the Land was a boat tour ride, which is part dark ride and part greenhouse tour.  The focus of the ride is on agriculture, especially new technology to make agriculture more efficient and environmentally friendly.  It was very educational and we really enjoyed it.

Sorry to bore with all the details but I really want to be able to remember every attraction, years from now.  It'll be fun to go back and talk about them with the kids, too.  We finished our day at Epcot by watching the fireworks; IllumiNations:Reflections of Earth.  We gathered around the World Showcase Lagoon to witness the incredible history of our planet through a fireworks show.  It was a wonderfully magical ending to our day at Epcot Theme Park.

Disney World Day 2

We had such a magical time on our first day at Magic Kingdom, we could hardly wait to go back again for Day 2.  Everyone looks forward to the token picture in front of Cinderella's Castle; a keepsake for sure.  I was so excited to get ours!

Lacey had ordered Hadley six pins, so that she could take part in pin trading, which I knew absolutely nothing about before our trip.  We stopped by a nearby Target (so much cheaper than purchasing one in the park) to get her a cute princess lanyard for her pins, before we headed to the park.  I was so impressed with the pin trading partly because it encourages kids to interact with adults, albeit perfect strangers, but everyone's nice at Disney World, right?  Sometimes I cringed when she would trade a pin that I really liked, but I tried hard to let her make her own decisions ;)



Dream Along with Mickey, the show in front of Cinderella's castle, was one of my favorite attractions from Day 2.  It's a live stage show about a dream-inspired party to which Mickey Mouse and the gang have invited almost everyone.   Lacey was so sweet to be our own personal photographer during our trip, too.  Getting to work with Lacey and Joel is such a blessing to me.  The three of us make up the 4th grade team at our school.  

Cinderella, Snow White, and Aurora all made appearances, which Hadley loved.  There was even action involved when Captain Hook and Peter Pan met in a sword fight and Malificent rose up from the stage in a cloud of smoke.

Anything that captivates Canaan and holds his attention for more than ten seconds must be something else!  Even he was enthralled.

Dream Along with Mickey got all of our approval; we loved it.

 

 

 



After we rode Pirates of the Caribbean, the kids took part in a sword fight of their own in the gift shop.  This poor cast member played and played with the kids.  It was tiresome for me to even watch, but amazing how all the cast members are constantly on their A game; which is, no doubt, another reason that makes Disney World such a special place for families.

Canaan wanted to take part in all the action, too.  He rummaged through the barrel of swords until he picked out his favorite. 

 

The Magic Carpets of Aladdin proved to be fun for the whole family.

 



We flew high over Agrabah on a magic carpet around a giant genie lamp.  

Ellie and Hadley were giddy waiting in line for Big Thunder Mountain Railroad.  On this night, we actually closed down the park by riding Goofy's Barnstormer ride three times in a row.  No one else was in line so they just let us stay on the ride and keep going.  Some of the other rides we enjoyed during our three days in Magic Kingdom were:  It's a Small World, Jungle Cruise, Hall of Presidents, Mad Tea Party, The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh (3 times since Hadley LOVED it), Mickey's Philharmagic, Monsters, Inc. Laugh Floor, Peter Pan's Flight (my favorite), Splash Mountain, Tomorrowland Speedway (Hadley got to steer the car), and Under the Sea:  Journey of the Little Mermaid.  One night we timed it just right for The Incredibles Super Dance Party, which was hysterical.  The girls danced and jumped until they were breathless. Canaan was in awe of the enormous Incredibles characters and would just stand with his mouth ajar when one came near him.  He even tried to dance some too.

The Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin ride was just so fun.  I had no idea what to expect so it took me a minute to get my competitive game face on.  As junior space rangers, we had to maneuver our star cruisers and fire lasers from an onboard cannon to try to stop the Evil Emperor Zurg. You can see just how in to it Justin got.  After this ride, we decided to call it a night.  One of my favorite memories from WDW will be how Main Street looked at night.  To see all the buildings illuminated was just beautiful.  Disney at night really is a different feeling altogether and makes everything even more magical. Thankful for another amazing day at Disney!

Disney World Day 1

Welcome to Disney World, Stinson Family! Our twelve hour car ride to Orlando was totally uneventful, which was a huge blessing. We left at 2:30 in the morning and arrived at our friend's house at about 2:30 that afternoon. I teach with a precious couple named Joel and Lacey. Lacey's parents, who live here in Glasgow, conveniently purchased a house in Clermont, FL, just a few years ago so that their grandkids could go to Disney World whenever they wanted. Pretty sweet, huh? Joel and Lacey have invited us several times so I finally got brave enough to take them up on their offer. Disney World has always seemed very intimidating to me, so having our own personal tour guides was extremely appealing to me. Joel and Lacey, and their girls, actually have season passes to WDW, so they go very often. Lacey planned our entire trip, all the way down to the fast passes. This might bother some people, but not this girl. I asked her if she would and she ran with it. She just told me what fast passes we had and when we had to be where and we just followed their family around like little lost puppies. 

 

Our first evening in Florida, we grabbed a tasty bite to eat at a restaurant in the Polynesian Resort.  Later, we watched Pocohontas on the beach at the resort.  The kids played in the sand while we watched the gorgeous fireworks.   We also took in the Electrical Water Pageant where great sea creatures and twinkling American flags crossed the lagoon to electronic tunes.  We rode the monorail and ferry that night, as well. Joel and Lacey tried to get us super excited about hitting the park the next day.  They succeeded, that's for sure!  The glimpses of Cinderella's Castle and other park attractions were such a tease!



When we got to Magic Kingdom, our first stop was at City Hall, to pick up our "1st Visit" pins.  We proudly wore those during our trip.  Our first experience was to visit Mickey Mouse at Town Hall Square.  It was nothing short of magical to see him bee-bop up to us and talk....actually talk!  I think all of our mouths just hit the floor and I just kept staring at his mouth.  Wow....I get goose bumps just thinking of it again.  Needless to say, we were all grinning from ear to ear when we left there.

We made a quick stop in Castle Couture for the girls to get free pixie dust sprinkled in their hair.  We still saw that glitter for days on Hadley's blonde, fair skinned scalp.  We oohed and aahed over Flora and Meriweather repeatedly changing Sleeping Beauty's dress from pink to blue.





I think kids all across the world love carousels; especially Prince Charming's Carousel which is obviously inspired by Cinderella.  Hadley led us to her favorite horse and Canaan felt like such a big boy getting to ride all by himself. 

Gotta love those looks of pure happiness; moments we will never forget.

WDW's newest attraction, Snow White's Mine Train, just opened last week and we were able to snag fast passes for it.  Just like everything else at Disney, it is unbelievably planned and no stone is left unturned.  Hadley posed in front of the dwarfs' cottage on our walk to the ride.  We couldn't believe how much she loved the roller coasters.  She kept asking to ride roller coasters over and over.  The Snow White ride certainly lived up to the all the hype.  It was amazing.

Before riding one of the classic, most popular rides at Diney World, we cooled off for a bit under the big top...in Dumbo's circus tent.  This is a circus-themed play area for kiddos that is so nice, especially since it's air-conditioned.  A welcome relief in the middle of a hot day.  Hadley hit up the climbing nets and slides, while Canaan stayed close by in the toddler area.  After some time, our pager let us know that it was our turn to ride.  I let Canaan direct Dumbo by moving the handle to let us soar skyward or fly low.  Hadley kept looking back at us to see if we were up or down.

One of my favorite attractions from our first day was Enchanted Tales with Belle.  We waited in Maurice's cottage until the door opened for us to enter into his workshop; a small room in which I wondered how we were all going to fit in there.  Soon enough, the room got dark and a mirror on the wall began to sparkle and turn into a full-size doorway.  I'm pretty sure my mouth hit the floor when all that was going on.  We then walked through that magic door into a wardrobe room.  So cool!  There was an interactive story about Belle in this next room, and Hadley got to be Phillipe, the horse.  She galloped and played her part quite well.  We then walked into the castle's library and took seats while Phillipe and the rest of the gang took part in their play.

Belle gave each of her friends a bookmark, to remember her by.  She was gorgeous and played her part magnificently.  It was soooo magical.  Sigh.

Although I didn't capture everything from our first day at Disney, I did hit some highlights.  We ended our night with the electrical parade, which is just so neat.  It amazes me how characters at Disney stay "in character" all the time.  We actually camped out at the very end of the parade...the very last spot before the floats and characters are finished with the show.  It amazed me to watch them still play their parts and stay in character long after no one was around.  I can totally see why this place is coined "the happiest place on Earth."  We can't wait to come back tomorrow!