Little Pilgrims

Monday at school the girls had their Thanksgiving Feast and got to dress up as Pilgrims. They brought home their hats and collars.


Abby and her new camera grin. I can not get her to not grin this way.


Allie's hair looks like she has been working all day in the field :)

Their Class

Thanksgiving 2009

My favorite Thanksgiving tradition I have is getting up on Thanksgiving morning and getting the paper and searching through the ads. I am not a big Black Friday shopper, although I did go out this year on Black Friday and again today. Here are the ads in the piles I placed them in as I went through them. The Target ad is the "must go to stores" pile.

After we looked through the paper we got ready and went to Meemaw's house for lunch. When we got there the girls opened presents from Meemaw and the Jarchow's. But before we left we went down to Mr. Keith's house and took our annual Thanksgiving Day picture in his front yard.

After lunch we took a family picture outside on Meemaw's front porch. This was the first one we took with my camera and it is the best of the three that I have on my camera.

Abby playing with her steppers from Meemaw. It did not take her long to get the hang of it.

The girls kept asking if Hannah was going to be at Meemaw's and of course she was. The three of them play so well together. I hope they always will and be close.

Disney Picture Link

I hope this works. I took over 1100 pictures on our trip and I wanted to post so many on my blog. Raymond told me that no one was excite to see my pictures but I know my are friends excited to see them. So here goes, I have a photo share site on Shutterfly, I hope you can pull up the link. Click here --> Picture Link

Pop Century Resort

Our Hotel

The Pool (one of three)

Lady - Right outside our Bldg

One of the 80's Bldgs

Bus Stop to the Parks

Animal Kingdom

Today was by fair our kids’ worst day at Disney. They had a great time but also had many melt down moments. Allie cried on the way to the bus stop because her head was hurting but could not tell me where it hurt or how it got hurt. We got to the Animal Kingdom before it opened today and we were in early enough to see the opening ceremony, sort of, us and several hundred other people. This is when Abby had her first potty emergency. She kept telling me she had to go pee and that she was starting to pee. We finally got in the park and found her a bathroom.

We took a few pictures in front of the Tree of Life and then headed over to Camp Mickey & Minnie to see the Festival of the Lion King. While we were waiting to go in Raymond ran a head and got our Fast Passes for Kilimanjaro Safari. What I saw of The Lion King was pretty good but Abby did not like it. So she had to go potty again, did I mention that her begging to go potty included crying? I am not sure if it was the loud noise or the dark that freaked her out but once we were outside she was fine. While we were waiting for the show to end and Raymond and Allie to come out I let her choose one character to go see. She chose Minnie, so we got our picture made with Minnie. Then we saw that Thumper and Ms. Bunny were out so we got in her line. They had to go in for a few minutes for a snack and when they returned we were first in line to see them and by then Raymond and Allie were out of the Ling King show.




Tree outside the Park


Tree of Life

After seeing the bunnies we headed to Africa for the Kilimanjaro Safari ride. I have wanted to do this for as long as I can remember. It was fun and we got to see a white rhino up real close to the truck! The girls enjoyed this as well. After the Safari we did the Pangani Forest Exploration Trail in Africa and the Maharajah Jungle Trek in Asia. After these two trails/trek the girls and I went to walk around the Tree of Life and Raymond went to get a Fast Pass of Expedition Everest. Instead of getting a Fast Pass he was able to ride it 3 times using the single rider line. While he was riding I was talking to a Cast Member about the afternoon parade and she told me that they were only expending 16,000 people in the park today! Oh my goodness!!

We met back up and went to lunch at the Tusker House in Africa. By having lunch at the Tusker House we had guaranteed seating at the 3:15 Finding Nemo Show. Before we went in I took Abby to the potty. As soon as it started she starting crying that she was about to go pee in her panties. After about 15 minutes of this I finally got up and left (much to Raymond’s dislike, but I was getting dirty looks for those in front of me). We went and found the girls a spot to watch the parade. The Mickey’s Jammin’ Jungle Parade was decked out for Christmas. After the parade we went over to Dino Land where we all rode TriceraTop Spin. Raymond then went to ride Dinosaur and the girls had an ice cream snack. By the time they finished their snack Raymond was back and the park was closing.

Inside Tusker House ~ Another great meal

The girls received another birthday cupcake

We caught the bus back to our hotel and relaxed the rest of the evening. We packed up our stuff to go home tomorrow. I don’t think I could do another day, I am so tired!!!

The girls said they would like to come back. Allie said when she was 6. Abby said not at 6, that is when we will go to the Incredible Pizza Company! I look forward to coming back one day soon!!

Abby’s Favorite Part ~ TriceraTop Spin (like Dumbo) and eating Mickey Ice Cream on a stick

Allie’s Favorite Part ~ TriceraTop Spin (like Dumbo)

Picture count = 234

Disney Photo Pass took 155 over the week we were here. Now I have to sort through them all and find a few for our Christmas card!

Magic Kingdom ~ Day 2

We started the morning off with breakfast at Chef Mickey’s in the Contemporary Resort.







After breakfast we rode the monorail back to Magic Kingdom for the day. Today was great! After we entered the park, Allie and I rode the Carousel and It’s a Small World (really should have a 2 ride limit on this one!) while Raymond and Abby rode Dumbo and then Carousel. The girls and I watched the Dream Along with Mickey show in front of the Castle (for the first time) while Raymond went to ride Splash Mountain and Big River Railroad (twice). After the girls and I took a few pictures of the Mickey & Minnie bushes we “got caught” by the Move It! Shake It! Celebrate It! Street Party. This was a lot of fun. Allie got to dance with Jessie from Toy Story. Jessie took a picture with both of the girls during the Street Party as well. The girls were able to catch streamers at the end of the parade. The girls and I then went to ride Aladdin’s Magic Carpets. Afterwards we met back up with Raymond and we all went over and boarded the Jungle Cruise. When we got off the Jungle Cruise we heard Tiana’s Showboat Jubilee! starting. Abby decided she had to go potty during this so off to the potty we went, by the time get back to Raymond and Allie the show was wrapping up. Raymond went to ride the Pirates of the Caribbean while we had a snack. After our snack the girls and I headed over to the bayou to meet Princess Tiana and Naveen from The Princess and The Frog. Yesterday at Hollywood Disney we were able to get our free kids tickets to see the movie when it comes out in December. After meeting the Princess we walked back toward the Castle and caught the Dream Along with Mickey show, again.

Dream Along With Mickey Show

Street Party Show

Fireworks at the end of the Mickey show, I took this while waiting for the parade to start.

At this time Raymond went to see if Space Mountain was open. It has been closed for renovations and was not suppose to open till this weekend. It was open when we got there! He got a Fast Pass and then went to get in line to ride. Meanwhile the girls and I went to spend their gift card from Ryan and Amy on Main Street. Abby bought a Sleeping Beauty Doll with a little help from Mom and Allie bought an Ariel ornament. We then had ice cream on Main Street and found a spot to watch the Celebrate a Dream Come True Parade. While we were waiting for the parade to start the girls played with hula-hoops and I met a really nice lady from New York City. We talked for over 30 minutes! She told me she wants to visit Memphis one day and of course I want to go to NYC. The parade was a great as it was on Wednesday. During the parade Abby looks at Raymond and says, “This is the same parade from Wednesday. {Pause} We forgot to go to church on Wednesday.”

Disney thinks of everything ~ They had Cast Members bring out toys for the kids to play with while we waited for the parade to start.

After the parade we went and took so pictures in the candy cane garden and then rode the Walt Disney Railroad around the park with a short stop in Mickey’s Toontown Fair. Abby and I rode Goofy’s Barnstorming Roller Coaster while Allie and Raymond played in playground. They had one last look at Mickey and Minnie’s house and back to the train we went to go back to Main Street. We then told the girls to say good-bye to the Magic Kingdom. Allie started to cry and said I don’t want to leave I want to stay. The felling was mutually J I told them we would come back again.

Today’s Picture Count = 213

Abby’s Favorite part ~ Dumbo and Goofy’s Barnstorming Roller Coaster

Allie’s Favorite Part ~ Aladdin’s Magic Carpets and Dumbo

Tomorrow is our last day L We will visit Animal Kingdom tomorrow.

I have a link I will post later with most of my pictures on it. I picked out over 20 pictures to post on most days :)

Hollywood Disney

We started the day off with breakfast at Hollywood and Vine with JoJo, Goliath, June and Leo from Playhouse Disney. After a fun filled breakfast we headed out into the Park. We went straight over to the Playhouse Disney Show. While we were waiting in line for the Playhouse Disney Show Raymond ran and got our Fast Passes for Toy Story Mania. After the show the Raymond went and rode The Tower of Terror and the Rockin’ Roller Coaster while the girls and I meet up with Handy Manny, and all four of the Little Einstein’s.

Raymond and June

We then went to Pixar Place and watched the Green Army Men put on a show in the street and then we went to meet Buzz and Woody. When we finished visiting with Buzz and Woody, we met back up with Raymond and rode Toy Story Mania. While we were walking thru the queue for the ride Abby kept saying she did not want to ride it. We kept telling her it would be fun and it was like a carnival and movie all in one. Once we got on and starting moving and playing she had a blast, it turned out to be her favorite thing of the day.

After Toy Story we went over to watch the Indiana Jones Stunt Show. Neither of the girls liked this very much. I am not sure if it was the fire or stunts but they were not impressed at all. From here we went and saw some Jedi warriors train and fight Darth Vader. While Raymond rode the Stars Wars ride the girls played in the Honey, I shrunk the Kids play area. On our way out of the park we stopped and watched the Block Party Bash. By this time we were all ready to go. Raymond went to do the Great Movie Ride while the girls and I had strawberry ice cream bars.

Favorite ride of the day

Playing while we were waiting to meet Buzz and Woody

Street Party Bash ~ Allie dancing with the performers

After we dropped off our stuff in our room we went back out to dinner at Wolfgang Puck’s in Downtown Disney. Raymond took the girls back to the hotel and I got to shop!

Abby’s favorite thing ~ Toy Story Mania Ride

Allie’s favorite thing ~ Toy Story Mania Ride

Picture Count Today = 195