Deja vu

A long time ago (no, I am not going to tell you how many years!) my parents lost me at Disneyworld. From what I remember, I was with my mother, I asked her to do or get something, she said, "Ask your father" and then pointed in a direction where she could see him. I turned around to look in the direction she was pointing but I didn't see him in the crowd and when I turned back, I no longer saw my mother. In true 5 1/2 year old fashion, I cried and the next thing I remember a man with an enormous broom (he must have been a Disney employee) asked me if I was lost. He took me to the Crystal Palace to a room filled with the most amazing toys a kid has ever seen. There must have been toys for all kinds of kids in there, but the dollhouses stood out to me. Amazing.....And then what seemed like not nearly long enough (remember, I wanted to play with those toys!) the door opened and my grandfather was there!This weekend had an element of deja vu for me. We were at Magic Kingdom. Kyle and I were there. My parents were there. Grace was there. Two sets of adults and a child. All we had to do was NOT lose the kid!

Luckily, we managed to spare Grace from getting lost. A big improvement! I saw the Crystal Palace, but now it is a restaurant. I really wanted to find the place where lost children are taken now, just to compare the reality with my memory. But, we were there for Grace and it was more important that she had a wonderful experience riding the classic Disney rides like Dumbo, Peter Pan, Winnie the Pooh, and Its a Small World. We sprinkled in some newer attractions likeBuzz Lightyear and Monsters, Inc. And two things that got the "thumbs down" from the birthday girl - Mickey's Philharmagic (she didn't like things flying at her in this 3D show), the Haunted Mansion (what was I thinking?)!

The rides were fun and a little "cheesy" but they still retained the "magic" for a 4-year old. But the real attraction was getting autographs from the characters. I had heard about this but I wasn't prepared for the characters being such a draw. Some of them had lines as long as the rides with people waiting for a signature and a photo! Grace got to meet:

Pluto,Pinocchio,Mary Poppins,

and Buzz Lightyear.

(I'm not bragging or anything, but I had the highest score of 23, 900 and defeated the Evil Zurg!)

But where were the princesses? We saw Snow White at the very beginning during the opening show, but then they were nowhere to be seen. Grace kept looking up at the castle and telling me that Cinderella was probably sleeping. Another cool thing was that they gave Grace a pin to wear that said, "Happy Birthday, Grace". So may people wished her a happy birthday while we were walking around. My parents also got pins that said they were celebrating an anniversary. What a great idea to make you feel special!

Where the wild things are

We spent the last few days at the Animal Kingdom Lodge in Walt Disney World - an African animal-themed resort on 33 acres of savanna in the middle of Orlando. AKL boasts that 200 species of animals call their property home. I will admit, we saw some animals every day from our balcony - exotic birds, antelope, giraffes, zebras. Now I wish I had taken the animal identification card home with me! The coolest part of the resort was when the employees came twice a day to feed the animals. Like clockwork at about 4:15 (I don't know what time the morning feeding was) they put fresh leaves in the trees and hay on the ground and the animals came from their cool hiding places to enjoy their meal.
The most fun part of the resort was watching these "party animals" at the pool dance party.......and these "wild things" feasting at Boma, one of the restaurants.Later the first night, Grace played some African drums and participated in a parade around the lobby where the leader chanted something and the kids shouted "Af-ri-ca" back to her. It is still amazing to me how Grace is so enchanted by music. No matter where we are or what we are doing, she stops to listen and participate.

If you give a mouse a cookie...

Born in Brooklyn (like me and most of my family!), Laura Numeroff became famous for the "If You Give A..." series of children's books that use a circular format, presenting the reader with a humorous chain of events that has no definite end and relies heavily on a cause and effect setup . It all started with If You Give a Mouse a Cookie and the series has expanded to include a moose, a cat, and a pig.

Grace's favorite before this weekend was If you Give a Moose a Muffin, but a children's theater company in our area might have changed her mind. Their adorable performance of If you Give a Mouse a Cookie, had her sitting on the edge of her seat and giggling for the entire show.

  The enormous refrigerator, kitchen counters, mop, and other household items really made the actors seem like a little child and a mischievous mouse. They made a huge mess in the house while mom was not home!

Grace and Dawson looking at a giant cookie on

the floor by the big glass of milk.

My favorite thing about spring

By far, my favorite thing about spring is the flowering trees. They don't last a long time, but they really are beautiful. In a way, they seem to distract your eye from the patchy grass, the muddy ground, the tips of flowers that are just starting to grow, and the bare branches of trees that still don't have leaves.

And then once the delicate pink and white flowers are gone from the trees, the world seems to suddenly turn green and lush!

Yes, it is still raining

Forecasters are saying this could be one of the wettest Aprils on record in our area. It certainly feels like it has been raining every day this month. With all this wet weather, I discovered that I have three raincoats - 4 if you count that the one I have on in this photo is reversible!Now all I need is come cute rainboots like Grace has. I think I might put them on my shopping list!

Sweet treats

Aunt Nancy and Uncle Chris sent Grace some Easter treats. One was an enormous container of flavored popcorn. We took some of it in bags to see "Hop" at the movies on Friday night and I think Grace is going to share the rest with her friends at school. (Otherwise, Mommy is going to eat too much of it if we keep here at the house!)They also sent a cookie decorating kit. It was another rainy, cool day on Sunday, so we spent some time on Easter morning...

...getting messy,...pretending to be a bunny,and having fun with sugary icing, colored sugar,
and little candies to make these gorgeous cookies!

You KNOW I had to buy these

For E.B. - the Easter Bunny, of course!

Easter egg "dash"

The weather forecast was "iffy" this morning after another night of rain and high winds. But when we woke up this morning it was noticeably warmer and all that was left of the April showers were puddles on our deck. So, after Grace tested out her new rainboots we gathered our Easter bunny basket to meet Kellie and Dawson for a new adventure.

I can't really call what we did an Easter egg hunt since the eggs were spread out on the lawn in front of the manor house at Stan Hywet Hall. When the whistle blew, the kids dashed out to gather as many eggs as possible. There was no "hunting" going on! The event was wonderfully organized with the children divided into age groups, costumed nursery rhyme characters walking around handing out small trinkets, the Easter Bunny available for pictures, snacks, and outdoor games (jump rope, frisbee, hula hoop, etc.). There were a lot of people, but we never felt crowded or rushed.

Grace and Dawson telling Little Miss Muffet
that she had a spider on her hat!

Practicing her jump rope skills.

Sitting on a bench to open their treasures.

While walking the grounds, we discovered a huge lawn chess set. Grace and Dawson had so much fun lifting and moving the pieces. Their giggles were just delightful!

Teamwork!Come on, girls! Let's get some lunch!