babies and tv

Ok, so I probably shouldn't get on any 'forums' but I do like to read them(I rarely post) when Aurora is nursing.. anyways, I just read a post that infuriated me. My comments are such that I don't want to start an argument there as it won't change their minds and will cause a needless words war online. Back to the post. A mom was wondering what she needed to bring for a 9month old on a 15 hour car ride. There were a few ideas, but most people said that even for that age they pack a dvd player...REALLY!?! Rora isn't the easiest baby in the car and on our last trip she cried unless I was in the back with her. Yet it never occured to me to turn on a tv show for her. Is the tv really becoming so much of a babysitter that even infants are watching it? How sad is it that our country is turning on the tv and off the parent/child interactions. Is there a wonder why we are so obese? Especially if our kids are already able to sit through a tv show and be intertained at 9 MONTHS OF AGE!!!
Ok, off my soapbox...any thoughts?

Our third day in Disney was our sleep in day. ..HAHAHAHAHA! Of course, Aurora had other ideas and we were up by 7:30. We got going and made it to Animal Kingdom shortly after it opened and headed straight for the safari. We had to wait a couple minutes because we arrived before the ride started. The animals were lively and it was a fun start to the day.



We then headed over to Tusker House for breakfast. It was soo delicious! Our favorite breakfast on Disney property hands down. Plus the characters are there. Daisy was the best. She loved on Rora and made a big deal about Kira's birthday button.







After breakfast we took in the Animal Kingdom. I have to admit, it's my least favorite park. It's just so darn hot and everything is so spread out that there is more "wasted" time. Not the way I like to do things. Plus the fact that animals aren't as fascinating to me as they are to others makes it harder to show enthusiasm. Kira had a blast on the walking trails and used hte guide to find all the animals. It was neat to see her so engaged. Plus she got to show off her knowledge of deer by pointing them out without looking at the map. Must have something to do with all those dates with Grampa to Cabellas :)
We stuck around for the parade and it was neat. Kira didn't make it, she crashed in the stroller about 30 minutes before it started. We woke her up to see the parade, she was happy to see the characters, but grumpy.

After the parade we headed out to dinner at 1900 Park Fare. On our way out we stopped to get a picture in front of the Tree of Life since Josh wouldn't let us stop for a picture when we arrived at the park. It was a HUGE mistake! Kira didn't want to smile. Thankfully a couple that we had met earlier in the day were walking past and got her to smile for the photopass picture...Of course, I haven't ordered it and am not sure if I will...here is the picture where she is pouting.



Dinner was pretty good, Kira was thrilled to see Cinderella and the step sisters were fun. I doubt we will return here again as it wasn't anything special, good, but not great.


Overall it was a fun day. Not my favorite day and honestly, if we go for less than a week again, I doubt that we will go to Animal Kingdom. It's just not our park. However, any time that I get to see Josh interact with his girls is fun :)

Day two, Magic Kingdom day, dawned bright and early. It took a bit to get the girls up, but once they were awake Kira was so excited to get going!



We headed off to the Magic Kingdom to catch the opening show. It was cute, but not worth getting up early to see. The best part of it was when a cast member gave Kira some 'magic' to throw at the end of the show - when they open the park. She was so diligent in holding it that when it came time to throw it, it was stuck to her hand. She could have had a mini melt down then, but just smiled and shook it off and then threw it :D


After stopping for a delicious breakfast at the main street bakery - cinnamon roll for the girls and I and a cherry danish for Josh. It was soo yummy! We headed off to toontown to see the fairies. Kire was so excited to see Tinkerbell. She was one of the 'must see' items on Kira's list. The way that they have 'pixie hollow' in toontown was so cute. You exit the line and enter a smaller line in another room where there are larger than life mushrooms, leaves and flowers. From there you enter the room with the fairies so there isn't anyone in there but those that are with the fairies. Josh got really into the 'shrinking' process and was so sweet with Kira. We had her close her eyes and spin in circles and then magically she was shrunk down to the size of the fairies. Definately a great start to the day. Just seeing the way that Josh was totally absorbed in fulfilling Kira's fantasy was magical.



Since we were in toontown, we did all that toontown has to offer. Last year, Kira's favorite ride was the barnstormer(rollercoaster.) This year, I was able to get her to ride it once, but she wasn't feeling the rollercoasters this trip, we could'nt get her on any other ones. A bit of a bummer, yet there is so much to see and do in Disney that they weren't as missed.





Next we headed over to fantasyland and rode/did everything! Thank goodness for air conditioned rides! They were a lifesaver for Rora. She nursed three times (from 10am-1pm) and everytime she nursed was in the air conditioning.
After we finished with fantasyland, we headed over to Crystal Palace for lunch. I wasn't looking forward to it as a meal, it was a buffet(I HATE buffets!) but we went to see Pooh Bear and gang. The meal was surprisingly delicious. Even Kira ventured out of her element and asked for salmon - ok, so salmon is a staple at our house, but it was still nice that she didn't just eat chicken nuggets and mac'n'cheese. The only character that didnt just stop for a half second picture was tigger and he was enthralled with Aurora. She in turn wouldn't stop looking at him for even a picture. He also didn't forget about Kira and spent time with her as well. Kudos to him because he made my day!



After lunch we headed over to Adventureland and rode/did all that it had to offer. We also finished Liberty square and frontierland. Kira's favorite ride is now Pirates of the Carribean. Right outside the ride Goofy was waiting all decked out as a pirate. Since he was a pirate, Kira decided to give him her best pirate 'aarg.' It was so cute! Goofy backed up scared and it took him a minute to come near her again. I was very proud of her since she usually clams up when she sees the characters.

Dinner was a California Grill. This was our favorite meal last year and we couldn't wait to eat there again. And once again, it didn't dissapoint. It was delicious! They had my favorite dessert idea. Rice Crispie Sushi. I will definitely be making this one at home!

Day two was fabulous and we headed back to our hotel to bed fully exhausted knowing that we did as much as any sane person could do in a day!

We didn't ride anything in tomorrowland, we skipped the Hall of Presidents, Splash Mountain and Big Thunder Railroad. We had such a great day!

Up next: Hollywood Studios!

Our first day in Disney World!!!

Day 1
We left home around 8pm, leaving of course, an hour later than we had planned on. The trip to Orlando was uneventful. Both girls slept the majority of the way which allowed me to sleep too. Poor Josh drove the whole night with just an hour nap.  Our room was at the back of All Star Music, so it took forever to get our bags to our room and get back to the bus. I think the walk to our room took longer everyday!
Upon arrival, we headed out to Epcot. It was our first park of the week, we were so excited! We immediately headed to Nemo. We had enough time to do the ride, Turtle Talk with Crush and play for a while before heading on to lunch at Le Cellier. I wasn’t as excited for this meal, last trip I was unimpressed with it. We had bad service and the food was way to salty. This year, the food was just ok. It isn’t a place we will eat at again. However, our server was fabulous! Very attentive without being overbearing.
After lunch we went to Soarin. Kira was finally tall enough to ride it! She loved it and got to ride twice in a row thanks to the baby swap pass.  Next we rode living with the land, it was a bit over the top on the environmental side, but seeing the hydroponics was really cool. When we left there, we headed over to figment. It was our first time riding this one, I don’t think its very popular since there was NO ONE there. It wasn’t as bad as the lack of people suggested. It was cute and the play area after was a blast for Kira.
Up next was meeting some of the characters. Chip and Dale had almost no line! Aurora stole the show with them and every other character. They all adored her. And she in turn adored them. We also saw the fab five with only a five minute wait. They all spent extra time with us and I think it was because Rora was so darn adorable. She even danced with Goofy!
Our next order of business sent us over to club cool. We grabbed the camera and gave both girls a taste of the Beverly, just waiting to capture their reactions….it was such a letdown! Neither one puckered, gagged, or even stopped drinking it. It was so bizarre! Of course we tried every flavor, my favorite being the watermelon soda from China. It’s delicious! One year I think I may just take an empty water bottle and fill it up! Yummy!
We then rode Spaceship Earth and headed over to Test Track. Kira was tall enough and we thought she would enjoy it…we were wrong! I think it may be because of our car accident last Sept. that she knows how scary they can be, anyways, while waiting in line they show a video of a test crash. It scared the bajeebies out of her! She cried until we were away from it.(and no, we didn’t make her ride it.) Unfortunately it scared her so much that she refused to try other rides, even splash mountain which is so mild. Oh well, maybe next year…
Much to the relief of Akira, we left the park and headed over to dinner at Narcoossee’s. The Grand Floridian hotel is my dream hotel. It’s like stepping back in time. They had a piano player playing a grand piano as we arrived and as we left, they had a full band playing. *sigh* It was heaven! Dinner was delicious! My only peeve was that they didn’t have real butter. They give you an entire lobster, but no real butter!?! It just doesn’t make sense. Although they did put sea salt on the butter substitute that comes with the bread and that was delicious, it saved my lobster!
By the end of dinner we were all ready for bed. We got our desserts to go and headed back to our hotel to bed. Poor Josh had been up almost 36 hours!
It was a fabulous way to start our vacation!

Kira has had a really good week. She has been minding most of the time and cleaning her room without needing constant supervision. Since we are FOUR days away from our trip to Disney World, I thought it would be fun to have an extra special mmovie afternoon. We moved the mattress from my bed into the livingroom and she got to pick one movie to watch before quiet time and a second movie to watch after. For her this is huge since we don't watch very many movies. It has been a fun afternoon. She just finished Sleeping Beauty and when quiet time is over, she gets to watch Monsters Inc. I have had so much fun with this that I think we might make this a monthly tradition. It has been such a fun afternoon!

I'm really, really mourning the loss of my car ;)

Last Saturday the alternator on my car died. On Monday Josh stayed home from work to replace it. After getting the alternator disconnected, he realized that last February when he removed the engine to replace the clutch, that putting the engine back on it had shifted. In order to remove the old alternator he would need to take off the wheel well...needless to say, he gave up on my car :)
The first thing I felt was anxiety. I didn't want to go car shopping...it frightens me. How am I supposed to know if a car is good? Or a good value? I know diddly squat about cars. Josh came to my rescue. Monday afternoon he went van shopping and found three that he thought I would like that were in our price point. I went and test drove them Monday night and found the van I was in love with. An '05 Chrysler Town and Country...FULLY LOADED!
Tuesday I had a meeting so I knew we wouldn't be able to get it until Wednesday. Once again Josh surprised me by taking a long lunch on Tuesday and going to pick it up. I was so shocked and excited! I love my hubby!!!!
Every time we go anywhere, Kira says that we are riding on the bus. Plus it has the automatic doors so she can open and close the door herself, which is is enthralled by.
I LOVE it and can't wait until we go to Disney, in 4 DAYS, so we can really try out the DVD player, the wireless headsets, the stow and go, etc, etc, etc.
Can you tell I love my van? The only downside is that I am not a big fan of the color...but as my Mom always told me, its the inside that counts!

Kira started preschool last Tuesday. She had so much fun her first day and came home excitedly telling me all about her day. Starting with the stick bug that she and Daddy found on their way out the door. Her favorite parts of preschool include; the wedding dress, the belle dress, seeing her friends and being the line leader. There are six kids in Kira's preschool and its a co-op, meaning that every six weeks I teach. Kyla has graciously turned her basement into preschool and did it with so much style! This year will be so much fun for everyone!

*The pictures are as follows:
Kira before she left the house :)
The stick bug
Kira in front of the white board
Showing Daddy the dress-ups
The store
The table
Posing with Audrey - yes, she was already dressed up ;)
**Sorry if I put the picture descriptions out of order...typing I can do, the rest of it I fake as I pretend to make it ;)