Disney on Ice

Saturday, February 23, 2013

We all had such a great time at Disney on Ice last year, that we decided to go again this year!  As soon as the tickets went on sale we jumped on them and got even better seats than last year!  We faced the front of the ice this year and were only about 5 rows from the ice!  Perfect views of everything! 

We arrived a little early so that Emily could get her picture taken with whatever character scene they had.  Lucky for us, this year it was Tinkerbell!  Emily also had plenty of time to check out the souvenirs before it got really crazy. This year she bought a fairy-flower crown and little Tinkerbell plastic doll.  Once we got inside, I was completely taken by the fairy flower hat - sold with cotton candy that no one wanted.  But, we were able to get one without the sugar overload.

The first part of the show was hosted by Mickey and Minnie Mouse and the rest of the traditional Mickey gang. Then the next segment of the show was from "Cars." It was ok, but since they were just cars and no real skaters, it wasn't so great.
But after Cars came Little Mermaid! Ariel has long been one of Emily's favorites so that segment was a big hit.  Emily was also thrilled to see Prince Eric, Sebastian and Flounder too.
Ariel and Prince Eric
After Little Mermaid came the Disney Fairies!  I think all of us agreed that it was the best segment of the show!  Maybe it was because the costumes were so good or maybe it was because all the characters were people and were skaters.  Whatever it was, the Disney Fairies were terrific!  The segment was based on the original Tinkerbell movie where the fairies bring spring to the mainland.
Tinkerbell and Terrence

Tinkerbell, Terrence, Rosetta and Queen Clarion.
After a brief intermission, the last segment was from Toy Story III.  It was pretty good, I guess, but again it was a lot of big animated characters and not as many skaters.  Still Emily loved it and it was a great show!  I marked my calendar for November so I can make sure to get the GREAT seats again next year!  Fun family day!
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Happy Valentine's Day!

Thursday, February 14, 2013
We had a small celebration at home for Valentine's day this year, but Emily did not care so long as there were presents involved - and there were.  I bought Daniel a pair of Grumpy lounge pants.  I wanted to give him a pair for Christmas, but could not find any.  So he had to wait until Valentine's Day.  Emily got the dress-up dress from the Disney Sofia the First TV series and the matching magic amulet necklace.  We also gave her the necklace to match her Pocahontas dress...she is really into dress-up (still)!  Most of all, we celebrated our love for each other as a family and THAT was the best part.  I would say it was a pretty nice (and very loving) Valentine's Day.



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Valentine's Day Crafts

Saturday, February 9, 2013
 
I happened to see in the newspaper last weekend that Michael's Craft Store was doing a valentine craft workshop today from 10am - 11:30am.  Dan was on call anyway and I had other errands to do so we were going to be out and about anyway.  So, I figured we would try it out.  The kids all got a white paper bag and paper for cutting out hearts.  They turned the hearts into little butterflies and even added google eyes.  It took about a half hour and Emily really enjoyed it.  Not bad for $2.



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Reading

Friday, February 8, 2013
 
Emily read her first sentence this week!  Technically the first word she read was "Sam."  She has since also read "bus" "met" and "Tom."
 
Go Emily Go!!!

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Bye-Bye Snowshoe

Sunday, February 3, 2013

Everyone slept in a little bit this morning (no surprise), but we still had a few hours to get out and do stuff before we had to check out.  The Big Top and the pools were closed, so Bonnie and I took the kids back into The Village to play on the mountain of snow we had seen the day before.  While we played with the kids, Daniel and Nathan hit the slopes for one last round of skiing. 

The snow mountain was literally almost two stories high and the kids loved it!  It was snowing quite a bit more this morning than yesterday (you can see it in these pictures) and it was still quite cold, but it did not seem to bother them too much.  Then, saying good-bye to The Village, we headed back to finish packing and head out.  This was a great trip. We are already planning for next year...and a three-day weekend!

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Foxfire Grill

Saturday, February 2, 2013

After swimming, it was time to come home, change clothes and get ready for dinner.  We decided to hit The Village for dinner.  Mostly since it was close, we chose Foxfire Grill.  We had to wait a while, but it was worth it.  Plus, it was just nice to all sit down to a nice hot meal together after a full day of playing!  After dinner, all the guys went back to the room to watch some James Bond.  The girls went back to The Big Top for a little more bouncing fun.  All three kids crashed pretty hard that night and EVERYONE slept in!  It was a fantastic day.


Emily's art while we waited for dinner!
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Split Rock Pools

Saturday, February 2, 2013

Ater lunch we decided to set off for a swim.  Ben, Lauren and Emily had their fill of skiing (and cold) in the morning so we made a group trip to the pool.  It was a little weird packing bathing suits to go to a ski resort...and it was even weirder bundling up for the walk to the pool!  We finished lunch about 1:00 so we had about an hour to kill before the pool opened.  So on the way to the pool, we stopped off at Starbucks and then went into some of the shops in The Village.

We arrived at Split Rock Pool right on time and were we in for a surprise!  The indoor pool area was just fabulous!  Kid-friendly depth, a water slide, a water tower that sprung some leaks, and a fabulous view out to the snow!


But that wasn't all.  The pool was heated and it continued right outside!  The kids really loved that!  Of course, to go down the outdoor water slide they had to GET OUT of the pool, walk up the steps and then slide down.  But, all three of them tried it.  Emily only went once, but Ben and Lauren tried it several times.  You cannot see it in these pictures, but they all had snow on the tops of their heads because it was snowing outside while they were swimming!  They had an absolute blast!


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Skiing!

Saturday, February 2, 2013
Our day started bright and early at 7:00am with warm cinnamon rolls and milk (and coffee) before hitting the slopes at 9:00am.  Daniel and Nathan took Ben and Lauren on the big slopes while I took Emily to the bunny hill for her private lesson.  She did a better job this year on "snowplow" but she really struggled getting around (walking) on the skis.  She did not have to do much of that at Winterplace last year.  But she did pretty well going down the hill.  She even got to ride her first ski lift (twice)!  She loved that part.  What you can't tell from these pictures is that it was only about 5 degrees outside during her lesson!  Thank goodness for the sunshine!

After we finished her lesson, we headed inside to take off all the snow clothes and get warm.  We hung out in the room for about an hour or so and then everyone else came back from their morning of skiing adventures.  Then we fixed some lunch and planned our next adventure...the pool!
Daniel loving the prime conditions...except for maybe the temperature!

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Snowshoe Weekend!

Friday, February 1, 2013

Several months ago, we planned a ski weekend at Snowshoe Ski Resort with Bonnie, Nathan and the kids.  Finally the weekend arrived!  We set off about 12:30 from Charleston with a quick stop for lunch (picnic in the car).  The mountain roads were tough on Emily.  We had to make an emergency stop for car sickness.  Poor thing.  But the drive up was absolutely beautiful...though the roads were a little rough at times.
 
We arrived about 4:00pm, which wasn't bad considering the roads and the couple of stops we made. Our first stop was at "Top of the World" to check in and get Emily's rental skis. We checked in with no problem and then headed out to find our condo. We stayed in Seneca and it was beautiful. We even had heated parking under the building which was fabulous!
Emily waits patiently at Top of the World!
Seneca!!
The Living Area


The Kids' Room - Perfect!
We got settled in about 5:00 and then ordered pizza.  We were just finishing our pizza when Bonnie, Nathan and the kids arrived.  Everyone took a little time to unpack and then we headed out to see The Village and let the kids try out The Big Top.  A place with tons of kid friendly stuff - arcade games, ski ball bounce houses, a trampoline, a rock wall and more.  They LOVED it...and it wore them all completely out! 
Emily's favorite part!
Lauren and Emily climbing one of the bounce houses.


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Snow Cute

Thursday, January 31, 2013

Recognizing I won't get to dress her in this cutesy stuff forever, I just like this outfit.  There is no other reason for this post. :-)
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