The Belle of the Ball

Quincy, er Belle and I went on a date last Friday night to see Beauty and the Beast in 3D at the movie theatre.

We took this picture before Belle insisted that she wear glittery lipgloss and have her hair curled and pulled into a side pony. She looked adorable...especially when she walked gracefully with her hands flared out and swaying with the swish of her dress (with her pants and shirt bunched sloppily underneath...and it didn't seem to bother her one bit. Funny girl.)

Her Elegance was ushered right to the front of the popcorn line by adoring Belle fans. Quincy shrugged like, "ok, why not?" and waltzed up to the counter like a queen and ordered our popcorn with extra butter and tiny donuts.

Heaven help me, she's already being introduced to the "cute girl shortcuts" in life.

Huh. ok, scratch that....I'm pretty sure she discovered "cute girl shortcuts" the first time she batted her eyes at Aaron and used her dimples to get her out of serving a time out. Oh well.

It is always fun to take my kids to movies, but watching her face as she watched this movie was absolutely priceless. I loved how she'd reach out into the air in front of her to try and "touch" the snow or feathers or whatever appeared to be floating toward her, and how she'd startle or jump then quickly push the glasses up onto her forehead anytime the Beast roared at us. I loved when she sang along. I loved how excited she was for the "tangled" mini film feature. I loved when she sat in my lap and we snuggled under our blanket for the 2nd half of the movie.

She loved the movie, tore through several bags of candy, blew kisses to her "fans" that oohed and aahed over her glittery cuteness when we left the theater, belted every word of "Mercy" by Duffy on the ride home, and rubbed her eyes as she told me she's "not even tired, yet."

When we pulled into our garage, she thanked me for our date and confessed, "Last night at yesterday I wished on a even star that we'd have that date!"

Gush.

Man, I love that girl.

Goodnight, Belle. I hope all your "even star" dreams come true!

Florida Vacation Day 2

Magic Kingdom does not smell like Disneyland.
Disneyland smells like fresh flowers, churros, carnation ice cream, taffy, the ocean, and heaven mixed together. Magic Kingdom didn't smell bad or anything, it just didn't smell like Disneyland. It's noteworthy.

I have very few pictures from inside the park. I know there are several more on my parent's camera, and I'll post them soon.

Speaking of my parents...
Grandparents. Don't do Disney without 'em. I think one of the reasons our trip was so wonderful, was that my kids had my parents all to themselves! There were enough adults around that one kid ould ride dumbo, another Splash Mountain, and Corbin could do this whenever he wanted.
As you can see, he was less-than-interested in meeting the princesses. He looks like a giant in this picture! He really isn't that big! (ok, his head is, but not the rest of him)

We started the day at Storytime with Belle. The girls got to have front row one on one interaction with Belle as she told her story and called children up to act it out with her. The pictures from this are on my parent's camera. Reese was so excited to meet Belle.

On to the Princess meet n greet. I was a little nervous when a different Belle (storytime belle was in her peasant clothes) was there, but Reese just said, "you changed your outfit and now we match!"

Quincy's face says it all.

Then we hit the rides.
The girls loved everything!
I was a little nervous about taking Reese on Splash Mountain, because I knew she wouldn't forgive me if she didn't like it. After watching a few people take the final plunge, Reese wasn't so sure about getting on the ride. Quincy was MORE than willing, but unfortunately, she was too short. Well, this pleased Reese to no end and she happily got in line only because Q was too little. Whatever works! Quincy went for a treat with Grandma and Grandpa while we took Pieces on her first "big kid" ride. She was a little mad about how "soakin' wet" her dress got, but went on it a second time with us the next day. Go Reese!

Dumbo, Peter Pan, It's a Small World, Cinderella's Carousel, Aladdin's Magic Carpets, Jungle Cruise, Pirate's of the Carribbean....they did it all!

Good Night, Day 2! More Disney tomorrow.

Teaser

Florida Vacation Day 1...My name is Meg and I take terrible photos.

Well, technically, it is Day 2, because we flew in on Sunday Night. The kids were perfect on the plane. The landing/decent was horrible and I was terrified, but the girls thought the 50+mph winds and turbulence was part of the ride and loved every stomach dropping, heart stopping moment. We arrived an hour late to find that the hotel had misinformed us and there was NO transportation (not even a cab) from the airport. It was midnight, and we were in the craziest electrical storm I have ever been in. stranded at the airport.
We made some calls and took the only available taxi service willing to come get us in the weather and it cost $150 and an hour and a half to get us to the hotel. We were all too tired to care at that point.
The next morning, we woke up to BEAUUUUTIFUL sunshine, ate complimentary breakfast, and hit the pool (ahem, while Aaron got some work done...poor guy, can he just take a vacation for one day? He joined up with us soon after.)

Baby Guy is 11 months now...what the?! No fair!!!

Loving the kiddie pool.

Uh...let's just pretend that I'm a bronze beauty in these pics, ok? Let's also pretend that the first batch of photos that I attempted to upload actually worked, and didn't break the internet with the glare from my whiteness. The plethora of Corbin pictures is to make up for the fact that I hardly took any of him at Magic Kingdom. He was content to relax in the stroller all day for two days straight (he is perfect, I tell ya) while we romped all over the park. Plus, I was too busy enjoying every look on the girls' faces to take many pics at all. Corbin LOVED the swimming pool, too. I'm considering a pool pass for Summer.

That evening we went over to Old Town Kissimme (or however you spell the name of the town our resort was in) and walked around. It was a lot like the Santa Cruz Boardwalk/Santa Monica Pier-minus the beach, surfers, and hippies...but double the Carnies. One particular carnie kept touching me when we were in line for a ride with the kids. (patting my shoulder, head, neck... ick) He wanted to point out that my red flip flops did not match my purple outfit. I asked him to stop touching me. Rude? Maybe. But seriously, don't touch me. Especially if you have Carnie on your hands. I felt like I had turkey leg and tea cup vomit on me all night. And why only me? Why wasn't Mrs. Carnie patting Aaron on the back after he finished his carnie basketball game? I am a freak magnet.

We thought it would be good "practice" to get the girls on a few rides at Old Town, so we wouldn't waste half a day trying to coax them onto the rides at Disney...just in case they they freaked out at the grandness of the amusement park atmosphere. The plan went perfectly, and before long, the girls were begging for the kiddie coaster. They loved it!

It was a really fun evening. My dad and Aaron found a magic shop...very cool stuff. If you come to a dinner party at our house in the next few months, we'll have Aaron do some tricks for us. One thing I really remember about my Grandpa Lawrence is that he loved magic tricks and was very good at them. He loved to joke and trick us. Sadly, I did not inherit any of his skills, as the only think I can successfully make disappear is cash.

We ate at an overpriced Italian Restaurant and the girls ate mac n cheese that was so good, I wish I had ordered off the kids menu, and the kids left a mess at our table catastrophic enough to make the waitress want to quit her job so she wouldn't have to clean it. Kids went to bed, grown ups stayed up (too late) playing Chuzzle and watching the Laker game.
Goodnight, Day 1.

Day 2Disney Goodness comin' atcha manana.