Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Spaghetti and Meatball Cake

A few weeks ago we got together for a cookout with friends. I decided to make a spaghetti and meatball cake. It was very simple! I used a chocolate cake mix for the cake. Then I covered it with buttercream icing. Then to make the noodles all over the cake, I used a number 5 tip and just kept zigzagging noodles all over the cake. For the sauce, I used strawberry jam. Then for the meatballs, I went to our local bakery and just bought their cheesecake balls. You could make your own cakeballs but I was pressed for time so I took the easy route! I shaved white chocolate on top to look like parmesan cheese. It was a fun cake to make!


Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Princess Meet and Greet

So Chris thought this year we would get out of meeting the princess. No such luck! Tommy has a crush on Belle from Beauty and the Beast and was dying to meet her. I honestly don't think Tommy cares too much about the princesses but is just more interested in meeting characters! We arrived in the princess line and Belle was not one the princesses you could meet. It was Sleeping Beauty, Jasmine, and Cinderella. Tommy had no idea who Jasmine was. He was a little disappointed that Belle was not there, however, on our last day he was able to meet her in Epcot at the France Pavilion.

While waiting in line, AJ became very antsy. Usually you cannot see the characters until it is your turn, however, this time you could see all three princesses and this was pure agony for AJ! He just could not wait his turn! So one of the workers took AJ by the hand and walked the line with him while we waited our turn. This was so awesome. Everyone in line got a kick of AJ greeting them and it occupied him until it was our turn. When it was finally our turn, AJ had to show each princess his Jessie doll. He also developed a little crush on Cinderella, he didn't want to let her go. I actually had to pull him away from her!

So all in all we had a wonderful trip and created such wonderful family memories. It will be awhile before we head back now, we are waiting for the new Fantasyland to be finished, so we thought it would be fun to go in November 2012 to celebrate AJ and my birthdays. This way we can also see Disney at Christmas time which we have never done. Hope you all enjoyed the pictures from our vacation, it truly was a magical time!



AJ working with the Disney employee





Showing Jasmine Jessie



Thursday, June 23, 2011

Character Meet and Greets

Just a few more Disney posts! We spend a lot of time meeting character because the boys both love it. We met many characters this time along with getting their autographs. Here are some pictures throughout the week of the different characters we met.
















Monday, June 20, 2011

It's a Small World

We were in Disney World at the same time as our good friends, the Schraubens! We tried to schedule a couple meet ups, but with fast pass times and dinner reservations it just never quite worked out. We did run into them randomly twice! So we got a few pictures of the kids together. It was Abby and Belle's first time in Disney World and they loved it!


We were in line to meet Woody and Buzz at the same time!

Ran into them at Magic Kingdom on their last day!

Sunday, June 19, 2011

Happy Father's Day

Happy Father's Day, Chris!



The annual Norway Viking picture. Of all the places in Disney, Norway is Chris' favorite. It's odd things like this that make me love you!


Always has time for a sword fight with Tommy (this of course was in Norway!)


Always knows the best way to calm kids down for bedtime!

Thanks for being the best dad ever!


Friday, June 17, 2011

Jedi Training Camp

Sorry, my posts have been inconsistent lately. I have had a bad case of allergies this week so during my usual naptime blogging I have been keeping a cold compress on my eyes! Anyways, onto more fun things like Jedi Training Camp!

So we did a little research before leaving for Disney to try and eliminate any wait times we may have. I must say we did a pretty good job of figuring out when to get fast passes etc. However, Tommy had his heart set on doing Jedi Training Camp. This is hard to get into as they take 12 kids to perform in 5 or 6 shows throughout the day. So we thought we would try on Star Wars weekend, but quickly concluded that it would just be too crazy with a lot of the Star Wars geeks. So on Thursday morning we arrived at the park one hour before it opened. The gates were not open yet so you have to line up behind the turn styles. We read to stay to the left because as more and more people show up, they open up more lines, and they did which put us right in the front! Chris took Tommy and I took AJ. Chris and Tommy were right in front to get signed up for Jedi Training Camp and AJ and ran or rather walked quickly to get fast passes for Toy Story Mania. Tommy got signed up for Jedi Training no problem! It was so much fun to watch. He looked so tiny up on the stage. Their teacher showed them moves to beat Darth Vador, and then they each had a chance to fight him. Tommy did awesome! I was afraid he might get too scared and even start crying on stage, but he didn't! Though later in the week he said he didn't want to see Darth anymore! We were very proud of him for doing it though!



Tommy's Jedi Teacher


Darth Enters!






They defeated Darth!

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Cowgirl Jessie

AJ has been obsessed with Toy Story for a few months now. He usually speaks gibberish and then ends his sentence with Toy Story. I guess we have grown accustomed to it because we think nothing of it. But when we are around others they just laugh at him because his whole life is centered around Toy Story.

After being in Disney, he became obsessed with Jessie. He even says Cowgirl Jessie. He won't say his brother's name, but he says Cowgirl Jessie. The Toy Story characters are in a parade at Magic Kingdom where they come down on the street and dance with the kids. We had seen the end of this parade one day and AJ could not stop clapping and waving at them from the stroller. So I made a point to see where the Toy Story float parked so we could get a chance to dance with Jessie and Woody. The next time we were at Magic Kingdom I parked ourselves well before the parade right by where their float would end up. Sure enough Jessie and Woody came down and danced with the kids. I took Tommy and AJ out on the street. As soon as AJ saw Jessie he no longer wanted me to hold him. He worked his way over to Jessie and held her hand the remainder of the parade and danced with her. I was afraid he wasn't going to let go of her! It was very sweet. After the parade Chris bought AJ a talking Jessie doll. The man checking him out asked him if this was for his princess. He said no, it's for my son...he has a huge crush on Jessie!




Saturday, June 11, 2011

Meeting Mickey Mouse and Some of Magic Kingdom

Tommy and AJ both love meeting the different characters around Disney. On our first day at Hollywood Studios we finished our day there meeting Mickey and then headed over to Magic Kingdom to meet Mickey and Minnie. At the Magic Kingdom you can now actually fast pass some of the character meet and greets. This is such a great idea because I'm sure many of you know how long the lines can be to meet characters. This way we walked right in to meet Mickey and Minnie. AJ LOVES Mickey and Minnie and couldn't get enough of them. After meeting the characters, we hit a few rides. Tommy loved Aladdin's Magic Carpet Ride. This is very similar to Dumbo. Here are the rest of the pictures from our first official day in the park.


Double hugs for Mickey!







Zurg Jail!

Tommy cooling off!

Carousel Ride




Aladdin's Magic Carpet Ride