First Trip to Disney World!

So it's been a pretty Disney-obsessed year for us...between going to Disneyland on our CA trip earlier this year and all the 'family movie nights,' Tyndell has definitely developed Disney fever. So needless to say, when my parents found an awesome deal for a long weekend condo/villa up in Orlando, we figured we should all do Disney World. Having a kid and living so close to Orlando has its advantages for sure because it's definitely nice to do a long weekend up there to get some park time and shopping in, and not have to take much time off of work or worry about crowds. So the other weekend, we took of Thursday and Friday, and met my parents up in Orlando. We did some shopping at Downtown Disney when we arrived (had to scope out Tyndell's birthday and Christmas gifts....this is a plan that started development back in February when we realized how awesome the toy store is up there) on Thursday, Magic Kingdom on Friday, and Epcot on Saturday. Then Sunday, Jeff and I went back to Downtown Disney to get all the cute things that Tyndell kept asking for on Thursday to get our December completely taken care of (yessssss) before we drove home. So before I get into Magic Kingdom, let me just say that Jeff has been psyching Tyndell up for this trip for months so that she kept saying, "let's go to Septembers" all the time haha since she knew we were going to Disney in September. When we got to Magic Kingdom, Tyndell immediately wanted the Peter Pan ride and then we spent a good portion of time in Fantasyland (note to Disney lovers: they are expanding Fantasyland right now and building ALL the princess castles and even though I'm not a big princesses fan, it looks totally cool) before lunch, and then got some Pirates of the Caribbean and the Jungle Cruise in. Tyndell rode 'It's a Small World' twice of course and I'm sure it's still it's her favorite. Jeff got to experience the Hall of Presidents at his sole leisure and Tyndell took a nap in the 'Carousel of Progress' to his dismay. It was a blast and Tyndell was pretty starstruck. I was never a big fan of Magic Kingdom when I was a kid, but I have to say that experiencing it through Tyndell makes me love it. The next day, we did Epcot and definitely got to hit all the hot spots on our list - the land boats, Soarin' (awesome IMAX ride), Figment, and the return of Captain EO! We ate lunch at the Mexico restaurant and then Jeff, Tyndell, and I managed to stroll through the world circus before a storm hit that evening. We were super lucky with weather up there - we missed all the little storms while waiting in lines inside for the most part. Anyway - it was a great time and I'm pretty sure Tyndell's love for Toy Story and Tinker Bell has been solidified. Thanks Mom and Dad for inviting us on a great mini-cation!

Ahrens' Fall 2011 Visit and 100 Years of Magic

Jeff's parents came for a 10 day visit in September and took some fun pics that I thought I would share. We are such nerds and didn't have batteries in our camera the whole time, so Dad A was nice to send most of these along and I paired with a few iphone pics. We mostly took it easy while they were here, had lots of fun dinners and playtime at night with Tyndell. Unfortunately, Mom A took a bike spill one day on the ride to Target one day during their stay and had to get some stitches (and we got to experiment in the world of dry shampooing!) on her head, but luckily, it seemed to heal very quickly and the Delray Medical Center was very helpful/nice to her. Poor Mom! Also - Dad A fixed our kitchen door which has literally had a hole in it for a year haha b/c we could never find the right door to replace it/fix it. It looks awesome now! The big event while they were here was that Jeff had found out about Disney on Ice "100 Years of Magic" show at the Bank Atlantic Center near Miami and we all piled into cars (Gigipapa included) and Tyndell in her Cinderella dress and went to watch the show. It was honestly awesome (does that make me an official parent that I thought it was awesome?). Even some of the pizza nighters - Tammy with Sam and Max and Keri-Ann with Regan and Reilly (and baby on the way) - came out. All the kiddos dressed up and were so excited. Jeff and I liked the tribute to 'It's a Small World' the best obviously b/c Tyndell loves that ride so much from our Disneyland trip in April. This show was just a warm up to our trip to Orlando the following weekend (last weekend), which I will post some pics of very soon! Great visit - thanks for coming down Mom and Dad A! You better sharpen your Candyland skillz for Christmas!!

You Know You Live in Florida When....

...you post cheesy fake scary pictures of your 2-year old next to an alligator! This cracks me up...Tyndell's calm position and the firey eyes of the gator are perfection!

Labor Day Weekend - B&B Visit!!

So our beloved neighbors, Brennan and Beth or the B&B as we like to call them, from a couple of years ago in our neighborhood who now live in Atlanta, came down to visit for Labor Day weekend. And most exciting of all is that they are expecting their first little one - a precious boy and the Gallants threw a fun Pizza Night/Baby Shower for them as well. Donald came down for the weekend too, per tradition at our house for Labor Day, and us, D-Spreads, and the B&B went to the zoo before the party, and the next day, we had lots of relaxing time together and even went over to our other neighbor's house, Dave and Teresa for some pool time. It was so good to see everyone! I love how the kids crowded around the B&B at the shower (and also love how sweet Landon is squeezing Tyndell in the picture - too cute) and again, hammed it up with their cupcakes. On the actual Labor Day, we hung out at my parent's by their pool, but I spent more time trying to get Tyndell to take nap that I didn't get any good pictures that day. We sure ate good that weekend too - the B&B are awesome cooks/foodies - I definitely miss that part about them in addition to having our great friends next door! Congratulations B&B! Cannot wait to meet the little man one day soon! And are food trucks to be coming to Atlanta?! We shall see....