The Tall Balloon Guys

107/365: The Tall Balloon Guys, originally uploaded by sanboogie.

Another restaurant we went to this week had a balloon guy and Juli was very concerned because "Balloon guys are supposed to be very very tall." Apparently she remembered our trip to Margaritaville last year where the balloonmakers walk on stilts.

She was excited to see them hanging out outside when we got to Margaritaville. She was also excited to hear "Fins" while we were eating dinner. She calls it "that Fins song" and she knows all the moves.

We had to bail out as soon as dinner was done though because Livi got a fever and started getting tired and cranky.

The Sleepy Swimmer

106/365: The Sleepy Swimmer, originally uploaded by sanboogie.

I know this isn't the best picture, but it is so darn funny. We went to the pool this morning and Livi fell asleep in my arms IN THE POOL! This kid can really literally sleep anywhere! I laid her on the towel to take her picture, then I transferred her to the shade of her stroller, while everyone else finished swimming. We left the pool not long after this because it was just too hot if you weren't in the water!

Juli's Magical Birthday Celebration

We celebrated Juli's 4th birthday and Maddie's 10th birthday at the Magic Kingdom in Disney World. The girls had a blast, as did everyone else!

"WE'RE GOING TO DISNEY WORLD!!"

"Today's my birthday!"

We got to the Magic Kingdom in time for the park opening. We saw the little opening ceremony at the front gates. Once inside we ran up and hopped right on the Train to get around to Toon Town, so we wouldn't have to wait forever in the line to meet the princesses. Last year by the time we got there the wait was 2.5 hours! We tried to get there first thing in the morning. When we got there we were a little bit early. Toon Town wasn't even open yet! Luckily we still had access to the little playground and the girls played there for a while.

It was finally time to open Toon Town. As we waited at the rope, we saw Mickey and Minnie come out on the porch of Mickey's house. One of Mickey's "friends" came over and asked Juli if she would like to go up and visit with Mickey and Minnie. Of course she said YES!! He asked me if our family would like to join her. I said, "Sure, but there are A LOT of us!" They didn't seem to mind. Juli went up and was whisked away by Mickey and Minnie on a tour of his house and garden. We were the only ones allowed in until they were finished. It was pretty cool! Livi and Katie hung back a little bit. They weren't so sure of Mickey and Minnie at first.

Livi still isn't so sure. She never really warmed up to them. She didn't cry though, just pinched James to death! LOL

Katie came around and sat with Minnie. Yay, Katie! Not all Big Heads are scary!

After that we went over to get in line with the Princesses, we didn't have to wait long at all! The girls LOVED the princesses of course. Livi really liked Belle, which suprised me.

After that we decided to hit some rides. I didn't take many pictures on the rides. Here is one I took of Livi on Pooh's Grand Adventure, she loved it!

We made it around to Frontierland just in time to catch a parade. Juli loved the parade. She was waving to everyone in it!

Livi only waved to princesses and only from a distance in the safety of Daddy's arms.

At the end of the day, Juli told me, "Mommy - that was the best birthday EVER!!"

My princesses.

We need a vacation!

Since Livi was feeling better and was already on antibiotics, we decided to try to salvage our Florida trip. We left at 7pm and drove through the night. The girls slept all night until about 7am, which made for a nice peaceful ride. We made it to Orlando shortly afternoon. We dropped our stuff off at our resort and headed over to Downtown Disney for some lunch. Juli got a birthday button since we were celebrating her birthday this week. When they gave it to her, they also told her they had a phone call for her. When they handed her the phone, she got to talk to Goofy, who wished her a very happy birthday.

We strolled around Downtown Disney for a while. We had lunch at the Earle of Sandwhich. Juli got to go on a Carousel Ride and get her face painted as Cinderella.

Time To Go Home - November 10th and 11th

Goodbye Florida Toes and Warm Sunny Days

On Saturday morning we packed everything up and got settled in the car to come home. Livi kept her "Florida Toes" for a while into the drive. Juli settled in with some toys and we were on our way.

We stopped for the night in North Carolina. Juli and I did not have a good night. She woke up shivering and feverish and we were up most of the night. Her fever broke by the morning, but she stayed in her PJs all day on Sunday to stay as comfy as she could.

We drove through DC on our way home. Here's a few pictures of that:

Downtown Disney - Take 2

On Friday we were going to go back to the Magic Kingdom, but Juli wasn't really feeling good, so we thought we would hang around the resort. We hung out all morning. Here's James and his monkeys:


By lunchtime Juli was feeling much better, but we didn't want to get stuck in the Magic Kingdom and have to take a train or boat and then a tram car back to our car if Juli started feeling crappy again. We decided to go to the clubhouse at the resort for lunch. We ate on the veranda overlooking the driving range. The view was pretty and the lunch was delicious. We got some really great pictures of Juli and her daddy! Here's one:

Livi enjoying her lunch, er I mean her link-a-doo.

After lunch we played a little mini-golf and stopped by the playground at the resort and Juli was feeling much better so we decided to take one last ride over to Downtown Disney before we headed out the next day. We rented a boat and took a ride through the Disney waterways.

Here's Juli in her lifejacket. She wasn't really scared, I don't know why she looks that way!

James passing on his trade to Juli.

Checking the water for fish.

Sandy & Livi (buried in her lifejacket).

Juli the explorer.

After we docked the boat, Juli went for a train ride. The other kids filled up the engine and the caboose, so Juli got stuck in the middle all by herself.

Apparently she didn't mind being alone in the middle. She seemed to be in full princess mode as she rode around the track waving to everyone and anyone for 3 full laps! LOL

After the train ride, we found Pooh.

Pooh and Friends, looks like they added a new character!