Merry Christmas

This video isn’t very long but it’s very powerful. 

Merry Christmas to you and yours. See you soon! : )

the letter

I got a letter in the mail yesterday from my aunt and uncle. (They celebrated their 50th anniversary a few years ago. *smile*)

This little note really took me back. I remember hearing letters from my grandparents (on the same side of the family) read aloud to me when I was a kid. There were the normal parts of the conversation including how everybody was doing (and who died) and then the info about how many tomatoes she’d brought in from the garden or how many bushels of green beans she had “put up”.

Or how many eggs the chickens were laying.

That’s what made this little letter all the more interesting. It felt like one of my grandmother’s letters. It started out with all the usual pleasantries etc. Then he told me about the fruit trees and the pecans. I smiled. It warmed my heart and reminded me of years gone by.

And then he signed their names.

And included their email address.

Huh?!

Come to find out he got an iPad and he loves it. He uses it for Bible study and the lay preaching he does. And he goes to places in town that have wi-fi to use the internet and do email.

So my little letter took things full circle…reminding me of a way of life that’s pretty much long gone..including receiving an actual letter in snail mail. And then taking it into the 21st century with an iPad. Love it.

another necklace

I made this a while back. It’s another way to make a cute necklace. I used waxed linen thread. It’s different because there aren’t very many beads on it. I tied a knot at the very end of my project (big pink bead at the bottom of the picture) and then strung on a very small, bead, then the pink bead, then another very small bead. And then finished that off with another knot. And then a little over in inch later, I did another series of knot, bead, bead, bead, knot..all the way around. I double knotted both end pieces since I cut off the threads short and painted them with clear nail polish to help them stay tied.

I’ll bet you’re wondering how to wear it since there aren’t any clasps, aren’t you? Well, you just tie it. Like this…

And let it hang around your neck. I have a friend that makes these and she taught me. Isn’t it clever?

the mourning booth

Yesterday the girl and I did her last ‘go to the gym’ PE session. It felt good to realize we did what we set out to do. 18 weeks of PE (as of this Friday).

woot.

But a weird thing happened yesterday. We walked in the gym on the walking track. Which means we were walking one floor above the wooden gym floor along the outer rim looking down at what ever was going on.

And at that particular time, 3 year old Mother’s Day Out kids were running around playing. At first I was annoyed. Noisy kids. Turn up the iPod. And then I started watching them. I guess being a mom for all these years makes me a bit of a student of behavior because I could pick out the shy kid. The dominant one. And so it went. But then I picked out the girl that reminded me the most of my girl when she was that age. I even told her she was ‘those kids’ once…playing on that same gym floor during her MDO days.

It was a sweet time just thinking about how much my girl has grown up. She’s not that young anymore..she’s taller than I am now. My how she’s changed!

And then I noticed one or two little boys that reminded me of my little boy. Always little to me. One little boy had that same bouncy little run. And another had the same little haircut and face shape. And then my mind wandered a little bit and I started to tear up. I continued to walk with Christmas music ringing in my ears, feeling anything but merry and bright.

It reminded me of several IRL friends…and the blogging community. When one hurts, another will come along side and just ‘be’…listen and say they’ve been there or they understand..or they don’t understand and don’t know what to say but they still care. Those are the best kinds of friends…the ones who are content (and comfortable enough) to just be in those moments.

But there is an even greater Comforter as well. And I know He is with me always. 

John 16:7 (Amplified Bible)

⁷However, I am telling you nothing but the truth when I say it is profitable (good, expedient, advantageous) for you that I go away. Because if I do not go away, the Comforter (Counselor, Helper, Advocate, Intercessor, Strengthener, Standby) will not come to you [into close fellowship with you]; but if I go away, I will send Him to you [to be in close fellowship with you].

cute little gifts

Do you ever need a cute little gift at Christmas (or anytime) that doesn’t cost an arm and a leg?

Me too!

I saw the cutest idea the other day in Scrapbooks Etc magazine and decided to copy it. And here’s what I did.

I bought some vanilla cookie flavored scented candles at Walmart a nice store. They came bigger, but this small size was the cheapest cute and easy to work with for my project.

I cut strips of scrapbook paper approximately one and a half inches ‘tall’ by ‘whatever around’. One piece of 12 by 12 scrapbook paper was more than enough for what I was making. 

I also used a small punch to make small circles. I used an inkpad to distress the edges just a little bit. You can’t really see it, but it looks better than a plain circle would have.

Then I added stickers.

And put them all together.

And wrapped them.

There you go…five gifts for $5…plus the stuff I already had laying around in my scrapbook bin.

By just changing out the scents/papers, this project would make a fun yet inexpensive gift anytime.

hearing a carol anew

Ya know how sometimes you listen to a song you’ve heard a hundred times and for some reason something sticks out and it’s like you’ve never heard it before.

Yeah, me too.

I was listening to Christmas music the other day and heard something profound that I have sung more times than I can count.

…peace on earth and mercy mild..

…God and sinners reconciled…

That last line there just blew me away. It was like the entire gospels…or the entire Bible..encapsulated in one phrase. God and sinners reconciled.

It just made me really contemplate God and just how separated from Him we are apart from His grace and mercy. And re-realize how much we needed Him to send Jesus. We are just so lost in our sin and nothing can make that okay in ourselves. We can’t be better or act better or change or any of those things. God Himself had to reconcile that impossible distance between us.

I’m thankful this Christmas season that God made a way to reconcile sinful people to Himself. I stand in awe of God that he would send Jesus to die for someone as sinful as myself so that vast chasm could be bridged between God and sin. Not just for me, but for all mankind.

freedom to hear

I am doing BSF this year. I knew from the beginning of the study in the fall that I wasn’t sure if I was going to “make it”. And I was right. It’s HARD and a struggle every week to decipher an answer to the very intricately written book of Isaiah.

So I’ve been thinking about quitting.

Several girls have been wanting me to stay. Don’t go, it will get better. When? I know it’s hard, but it’s good. I think they say that just to sound better. It’s more like it’s hard but we’re supposed to like it so we’ll say it’s good too. I have been struggling with all the different opinions about what I should do.

Sunday the pastor was talking about the Spirit of God. It was like water to a thirsty, dry riverbed. I was so needing to hear what was being said. He was talking about making a decision and going to God’s word and listening to Him speak. And it was like finally I realized that I had been so caught up in what everybody else was saying, that I couldn’t hear anything any more.

You see, in this Bible study situation, there are many voices that are begging to be heard. There is the one in ME saying quit, this is too hard. There are the voices of friends saying stay, it will get better. Pulling me in every conceivable direction. I felt stuck and told a friend just that the other day.

Her response..you’re never stuck when you’re walking with God.

But in this situation, was I walking with God? Or just at war about what I should do. Sunday it hit me that I was simply at war between the girls wanting me to stay and the voice in me saying this is hard. Quit.

But I had neglected to hear the one Voice that is the only one that matters. And when I stopped giving in to what everybody was saying, I had the freedom to really hear.

This study is not where I want you to be.

Yeah I know…sounds exactly like I’m quitting, doesn’t it?

Sorta.

But you know what, it’s not. I’m not quitting. I am following God and what He wants me to do. So there isn’t any guilt. Do you see the difference there? If I just quit because I want to, then I would feel guilty that I am letting somebody down or this one will be upset or whatever. But if I am only out to please the One, and I do, then there is no condemnation.

So I did pull out last week when my leader called to check on me. She knew I had been thinking and praying about it so it wasn’t a big surprise to her. I felt so relieved to be where I was supposed to be!

I wrote two posts a long time ago that never made it up about this very thing…hearing God. But they never saw the light of day. It was never right for me to post them. And now I know why.

God wanted to live it out in me instead.

Thanksgiving break

I hope everybody had a nice Thanksgiving holiday. We did. We didn’t go anywhere, but still had a nice time.

Wednesday we visited a local hotel that really decks the halls and enjoyed walking around and taking pictures. Got the perfect shot for the annual Christmas card. Bonus!

And Saturday we went to the city’s public gardens and just enjoyed being out. The weather was just perfect and the fall color was stunning.

Enjoyed being off school for a week, although we did keep doing PE. It gets us one week closer to being done. Woot.

We also did the tree. I think the torch has been passed. The girl has done all the tree trimming for two years running now. And she does a really good job.

The cat is enjoying a new hiding/sleeping/play area now that the tree is up.  Glad we can be of service.

more bling, Walmart and a busy week

So I’m supposed to be working on the grocery list so I can get in and out of Wallyworld early tomorrow and be done with it.

But I’m here.

Sometimes I just don’t want to think about what we’re going to eat. And on a week that celebrates the turkey it’s kind of hard for me to decide what I should make.

Cuz I cook with chicken and turkey every day.

But I don’t make cranberry salad and pumpkin pie every day. Looking forward to those.

There is just so much on my heart today. I just feel so full. But it’s a holiday week and I know you girls just aren’t going to be around as much. And I know it’s the stuff that can take it out of me..not grief stuff..God stuff. Perhaps I’ll write and wait to post. Perhaps I’ll just go for it. Or perhaps it won’t happen.

This week will be busy, even though we aren’t doing school. Well, we aren’t doing the academics. We’re doing PE. That gets us one more week closer to being done with it. On this schedule, we will be done with PE when we break for Christmas. We’re loving that.

I made a birthday present to send to someone I love. Look familiar?

I made mine and wore it out shopping yesterday and got so many compliments on it that I knew I needed to make one as a gift (so I ran out late yesterday, bought the stuff and made it so I can drop it in the mail tomorrow morning). I look at it and can’t believe I’m wearing something so cool.

And I made it.

Well, I guess I’d better get back to the grocery list. It’s not going to make itself. What are you up to this week?

homemade bling

This little elf has been busy.

The four on the left are Christmas presents and the two on the right are mine.

I love the one with the big cross and all the pearls.

I also love the purple one with the glass piece on the end.

Ya know..that might be the back..but it’s a really pretty purple flower.

It’s been fun doing something a little different.

But I need to get going on scapbook calendars so they’ll be ready for Christmas.

Have you started Christmas shopping/crafting yet?

mini posts

Look a little closer. 

********

Why yes, as a matter of fact, I *am* a germaphobe in the kitchen.

********

Somebody’s excited about something. (and just so ya know, hubs drew in the glasses and scar!)

********

 

The end.

the blanket

I watched Marie Osmond the other day on Oprah as she talked about the sudden loss of her son to suicide. I wanted to see what she had to say. I am always interested in how people talk about loss. She talked about her son’s life and some of his struggles. And then she talked about when he died. And how he died. (he jumped from his apartment window)

One thing in particular she mentioned is that it will not “get better”. And she feels better since other people told her the same thing. That made me very sad. It makes life sound hopeless. I know she is Mormon, so she at least gives some sort of nod to some sort of god. But what a sad testament to her “religion”.

It just left me very sad for her and her family.

Because there is hope. The morning does come. I’m not here trying to say that I have everything figured out. Not in the least. But I know there is hope. And life to be had…even after a loss like that. (sudden or prolonged)

I remember the early days after Bub’s diagnosis and many other hard days. I say I remember them and yet I was in a fog and details are sketchy. I know the feeling and the thoughts and the sights and smells often more vividly than details..although I do remember many details I wish I could forget.

Yes, it was horrible…you could even call it a nightmare. But it was also like I was blanketed in something. That something was peace. I know that sounds crazy. And a part of me feels like a fake for saying that, because there were moments that peace was hard to find. Some moments left me struggling with every part of our reality. Those moments were hard, I won’t lie. I would be full of worry and anxiety. And looking around at everything going on filled me with fear.

But then God would draw me back to Himself and I would turn my focus to Him. Not the circumstances. When I focused only on Him and dwelt there, there was peace. And such a beautiful time of growth in Him.

It reminds me of a few sentences I read in Lysa TerKeurst’s book, Becoming More Than a Good Bible Study Girl. It was like putting a huge ah-ha time of my life into words…

Then one day you take off the blanket of deep grief. You fold it neatly and tuck it away. You no longer hate it or resist it. For underneath it wondrous things have happened.

The why questions have been replaced with truths from God's Word. Verses that stung to read at first have now become the very lifeline you cling to. God's presence has fallen softly upon you and helped you see that good can come and will come to you and through you.

.

There are days I still take out that blanket. Some days it is to grieve. Again. But other days…most days… when I take it out, it’s to remember all the things God taught me under it. And be thankful.

time for the news

In random news tonight…

I called Subway the next day and asked to speak to the manager. He didn’t act like he cared that much to hear about my issues. Why do I even bother???

And now for a personal interest story that’s sure to make you smile for all the wrong reasons….

Today I went to Kroger, the orthodontist’s office and out to lunch with friends. And then came home and realized there was a hole in my jeans at the top corner of one of the back pockets. And it flashed pink checked panties out the a little smaller than a dime hole. All day long. Clearly I need to spend a wee bit more time reintroducing myself to my clothing in between seasons before I go gallivantin’ all over town thinking everythang’s fine.'

You’re welcome.

And now for a nice fluff piece to end this newscast…

When we got back from Disney, I just pretty much threw a lot of the random stuff in the middle of the living room floor as I was weeding things out to find clothes to wash. That includes the leis we were given as we entered the Polynesian.

  

The cat seems fascinated with them and enjoys curling up behind them, putting her nose in them, laying near them…whatever strikes her fancy.

It’s so cute, we don’t want to take them away from her.

Well, I guess that wraps up tonight’s random newscast. Good night, y’all.

I’d rather walk

This is a rant. I think I’ll just say that up front and save ya the time of wondering. For two or three seconds.

Go grab yourself a snack and some sweet tea. I’ll wait. : )

Anyway…tonight hubs and I walked into Subway to get sandwiches for the three of us. The place wasn’t very busy. Hubs says it never is in the evenings. And he should know because he get recruited sometimes to run over there and grab a bite for us on hectic nights.

As soon as I got up to the counter to order my sandwich, I noticed it. The area where the meats were kept was really bad off. I had to stand there and decide if I was going to order food for myself or not. I have walked out at a different Subway before over hygiene issues before I even got to the sandwich part. (I had an employee blow up a glove in his mouth and then put it on. Ummm..PASS. I told the lady next to him and she got mad at me for walking with half ordered food. That place is no longer open. I’m not shocked.)

For some crazy reason I opted to go ahead. I always feel like a stick in the mud and I am well known among all my friends as the biggest germaphobe around. So! We ordered. The little lunch meat cubbies didn’t have any lids at all (but I could see frost build up inside them.. so I could tell it was cold, thankfully). And there were bits of tuna salad (a food highly questionable for food poisoning due to mayo) on the outsides of the bins at the tops and little chunks of chicken were strewn about. Those two places were generally disgusting. But the places where the regular meats were didn’t look bad. But overall, the whole area needed a wipe-down. And I already will never order a footlong because the knife they cut it with is always disgusto.

Anyway..I usually just get it with vinegar as a dressing, so I asked for that. He picked up the bottle and it had an olive on the mouth of the container. So he poured and it fell into my sammie! At that point, I made a comment to my hubby wondering if I was going to be able to eat ‘that’. The employee looked at me like he couldn’t figure out my problem. But it gets better.

When we got ready to pay, another employee took my hubby’s credit card with his gloved hand. Um…I thought they were supposed to take off the gloves to do the payment and then wash up and reglove for the next person. I watched as we left and he never took off his gloves. But we were the only people in there at the time and I turned to look back again after we left and they were both in the back. Meaning that neither of them saw fit to clean up the filthy areas I noticed plainly.

They should be glad I don’t have an iPhone or I would have taken a picture of that! And they’d better be glad I wasn’t a mystery shopper either, cuz I couldn’t say many nice things about them.

I looked up corporate for Subway and found the complaint form and it asks for your street address and your email as required fields. Um..I don’t really want to shout out my home address to disgruntled ratted out employees. Gimme a break. That’s why I never turned in the other place that used gloves as balloon practice. *eye roll* It almost feels like they don’t want to know about problems in their stores.

I just get tired of this sort of thing. These kids work for almost nothing most of the time and there is little supervision on the weekends especially. And I don’t get a discount because they’re doing a shoddy job. It just makes me sad to see that work ethic, in many cases, is a thing of the past. When and where are they ever going to learn what is required of them if nobody will teach them or hold their feet to the fire to make sure they do as they’re told?

As for my beloved Subway around the corner? I think I’d rather walk from now on.

*as a side note, many years ago, we would drive 15 minutes away from our house and pass the grody Subway with the balloon guy, to get to a Subway with an amazing manager. That place was SPOTLESS…even during the lunch rush. He was sort of nerdy and kind of like the Cliff Claven of Subway rules and regulations and I learned a lot from eating in  his restaurant and listening to him talk about how things are supposed to be. And that’s one of the reasons seeing what I saw tonight made me so mad…it’s not like they don’t have rules. It’s just lazy managers and employees aren’t following them.

the food and the last day (WDW ‘10)

As I mentioned before, I am trying not to tell every single moment and just keep it to the highlights but…there’s just too much good stuff. : )

Anyway…

We really enjoyed some of our meals while at WDW. There is a place in Disney’s Hollywood Studios that’s called The Sci-Fi. It’s like an indoor drive in theater complete with cars as tables…the girl and I ate in the front seat and hubs ate in the back. We all faced forward to watch the movie reel on the screen. And we could look up at the ‘stars’ while we ate and watched. Very clever.

That’s a bad picture from our ‘car’ as we ate. The movie reel includes old sci-fi and cartoons and shorts. It’s very cute. We enjoyed our meal there. Although this place gets some bad reviews for food, we had a pleasant experience in that regard. I had a rather tasty burger, a very nostalgic cucumber salad and apple crisp for dessert. And it was deelish! The girl had a pasta salad and I’m thinking the hubs had a burger too. Aaaand they had vanilla coke, so my peeps were lovin’ it. A super fun experience for all.

In EPCOT, we ate at Teppan Edo, which is just an interesting cultural experience.

I didn’t get a picture of it, but our chef cut up onions and made a ‘Mickey’ and then a smaller ‘Minnie’. Very cute. We ate at a table with a family from Missouri and on the other side of the table was a French family. The French dad had a hard time understanding English with a Japanese accent, so I had to interpret for him. I worried my Texas accent wouldn’t be much better, but he seemed to understand what I was saying.

The girl and I split a funnel cake in EPCOT in the world showcase. Oh my gosh…I know that’s like state fair food compared to a lot of the other offerings there (Food and Wine festival was going on), but it was sooo good.

You can see her Mickey shirt in the pic too. : )

This was another common sight on our lunch trays. CHOCOLATE CAKE. Yum! The desserts at Disney are really good and even easy stuff like cake was very tasty.

We had some forgettable meals in the parks..one of which was chicken fingers squatting in front of a bench. You definitely win some and lose some.

Our last night there we ate at Kona at our resort and had the most amazing pineapple upside down cake. Oh. My. Gosh. But I didn’t take a picture of it because…

I was sick. I got sick Thursday night with what I later figured out/found out was a sinus infection. And I’m still getting over it.

So our last day/Friday we got up and headed to Downtown Disney to just hang out and shop.

This Woody is made out of LEGOS.

We did some shopping and ate lunch and returned to the room. We were all tired so we just laid around and rested.

After dinner at Kona, hubs and the girl played in the arcade and I sat on a bench by the water and just looked at the lights and took in the evening. 

When it got dark, we headed down to the dock to watch a little water parade/pageant thing they do. It’s not a big thing, but a fun way to end the night.

There were several floats and music and when all of them had gone by/been turned on, they all changed to flags and stars and played patriotic music.

After that, we went headed back for one more sleep so we could come home the next day. That was a long (and painful) day for this sick, stuffy girl.

The Tower of Terror…and some other odds and ends (WDW ‘10)

I had a mention in the comments regarding riding the Tower and the whole “free fall” thing. So I’ll tell you my experience.

The queue looks like an old, abandoned hotel. Very elegant in an antique sort of way…with lots of spider webs and dust.

The line winds its way through this hotel and then Disney does what it does best. Eats up some time in the queue so you’re not just standing there bored stiff. There is a smaller room that looks a bit like a library (or something..it was very dark) with an old TV in there. When everyone finds a place in the room, the doors close and the TV comes on and it’s the guy from Twilight Zone talking about the hotel and the elevator etc. Nothing long or drawn out…just enough “story” to get you out and get you on the elevator for the ride.

After the TV part, some doors open and it’s another queue….another line, and it’s very dark in there. (This is a common theme with Disney rides I’ve noticed…waiting in a very dimly lit area. Weird.) Anyway, when you get closer to the ride, of course you get called on to stand on a number or in a line etc. And then when the ride is empty, it’s time to get on. The first time I rode, I was on the front row of seats. And there was a vacant seat next to me (more of this later). There are handles next to you, to hold on and a simple (but very sturdy) lap belt to buckle. When the ride starts, there is video to watch as the elevator part moves to the shaft where it goes up and down. There is a little bit more ‘story’, but again, just enough to have the ride. Nothing deep, just creepy.

And then the car locks in place. And the doors open. And you’re very high off the ground and you can see out the windows of the hotel at the park below. Still inside the building but in open air also.

And then it drops. Fast. It rises and falls and rises and falls a few more times. This part of the ride is random and no two rides are identical. So there really isn’t a way to count it up to figure out if it’s almost over. I held on for dear life and put my foot against the wall in front of me. And screamed my head off. Over and over.

I will insert here that my eyes were closed for the dropping parts. I opened them a couple of times and it freaked me out so I closed them again. I’ve watched some videos of this ride on you tube and there may be some videos etc shown during part of this sequence when the doors close, but I personally wouldn’t have a clue as to that.

Then there is a little bit more video at the end, and then it’s over. And then the exit dumps you out into a gift shop with all sorts of Tower trinkets and tee shirts. How convenient.

Remember I mentioned the part about having a seat next to me empty? Well..the second time I rode, there was a rather muscular young man sitting next to me and his upper thighs were pressed tightly against the handles. Um, ‘scuse me, but do you mind if I put my hand right there next to your beefy thigh to hold on for dear life? Um no, not gonna happen. So I only had one handle to hold that second time. MUCH scarier. It felt even more out of control.

In other news…

I love Belle. She’s my favorite.

Hubs and I had a chance to test ride a Segway. I rode the Tower but was too chicken to ride a Segway. Hubs said it was fun and all his Wii experience with the balance board helped a lot.

This is the name of our building at the Polynesian. Instead of thinking hard enough to figure out how to pronounce it, we just called it “the aorta”. Worked for us.

Last time we visited, we left on Thanksgiving day, so the park was already dressed for Christmas. This year, we got a blend of Halloween and fall. So cute.

Aaaaand, tomorrow is my last post about the parks. I promise…cuz it’s already written.

3rd day – Disney’s Hollywood Studios (WDW ‘10)

I know.. I know..what else can she say about that silly trip??? I guess I just want to document it in writing like I did last time. I promise I’ll eventually get back to ‘regular stuff’. Rilly.

Anyway..Tuesday was our third day and we spent it at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. It’s a fun place and a little more show oriented and not quite as many rides. Which works out good cuz by Tuesday, we were more than happy to SIT DOWN a little bit.

We made rope drop and enjoyed the fun show with the director and he’s directing his movie and we’re all in it but we have to walk in this scene or he will yell at us with his bull horn. Very clever and cute. A fun way to start the day.

As soon as the drop happens and everybody starts walking, it was like a tidal wave of people heading for the exact same place…Toy Story Midway Mania. And we were right there with them! Ka-razy!

But we love this ride and were able to enjoy riding it in the line and with fast passes FOUR times in one day. THAT is pretty amazing because the lines for it are always nuts! (shows how good the crowds were, even though it didn’t always feel like it!)

Army man in the queue. I love this picture..I love the look on that dad’s face.

I took 6 or 7 pictures in the queue. It’s loaded with fun, nostalgic toys/things from childhood.

Mr. Potato Head was huge and talked to the crowd. Very fun.

But the ride is the main event. This is one of the most clever rides at WDW. Very imaginative and FUN. My arms were tired after riding it two times in a row, because you have to fire your ‘gun’ at the things in the midway. Gogogogogogo. Tired.

We went on the back lot tour. Lots of fun things to see. We also went to see Lights, Motors, Action, which is a live stunt show. Very loud but very fun.

Do you see that guy?! He’s falling! Very cool.

I rode The Tower of Terror. By myself…my peeps weren’t interested. Two times in a row. And I loved it. I was creeped out by it last trip and wouldn’t try, but this time, I decided to go for it. I’m glad I did. I am not much of a free fall ride kinda girl, but this one was great!

Also saw the Indiana Jones stunt show. We love the Indiana Jones movies, so this was a blast for us.

There is a Muppet-vision 3D show. Very funny.

We had a yummy dinner at a place called Hollywood and Vine and called it a night. Another fun day in the parks.

Next post will be odds and ends about the trip and then I think I have one more ‘in me’ about the food and our last day.

The Magic Kingdom - 2nd day of WDW ‘10

We spent our second day at WDW at the Magic Kingdom. (last trip, we spent our airplane day at MK and this time we spent that day at EPCOT). We’ve learned a lot since our first trip. We thought ‘the little shows’ the parks do as they open the park were really cute. But since our first trip, we’ve learned they’re called rope drops. And they’re sort of a big deal sometimes.

And we had not seen the one for The Magic Kingdom yet.

It was a magical start to a very fun day.

The characters arrive by train and the announcer/conductor guy says good morning and then the characters dance and sing.

We walked straight down Main Street towards Cinderella’s castle…and beyond. We were working on our touring plan and hitting major attractions very early before the crowds hit. That my friends, is the best advice anybody could give regarding the parks.

We rode Peter Pan’s Flight. We had not ridden this one, but I’d been on the one in Disneyland. It brought back a lot of fond memories for me. By the end of the week, we were able to ride this four of five times. Loved it! : )

We rode Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin as well. Very fun. Loved the Buzz in the queue.

We also rode the Haunted Mansion…another ride we were able to ride four or five times before the week was done.

This tombstone is kinda spooky. It’s in the graveyard alongside the queue outside. Her eyes open and close and her face moves. Creepy. (something I didn’t even notice on our first trip!)

We didn’t get to see The Hall of Presidents on our last trip. It was closed for refurbishment.  So this was a special treat for us.

And yep, there go my peeps (ball cap and pink shirt..I am always at the back stopping to take pics as they go on ahead..and then I have to run to catch up)

These are replicas of the boots George W. Bush wore to his inauguration.

It was a very moving and patriotic show. Makes you want to put your hand on your heart and be proud of who we can be.

We loved the People Mover. It was a nice relaxing way to take a rest and enjoy the scenery.

We didn’t watch any parades on our last trip. At the time, I didn’t feel like we were missing anything. But after seeing them, we’ve decided they are a festive “must see” just for the nostalgia of seeing the characters.

I love Jiminy Cricket. I remember watching those old educational films at school that he was in. Love love love!

The park was all decked out for fall. So cute!

Also got to walk through Cinderella’s castle this trip. Last trip that walkway was closed for shows.

These mosaics are all along the walkways. So beautiful and intricate.

We saw the Electrical Parade although in their schedules they call it something else. I remember this one from when I was a kid at Disneyland.

Main Street at night.

After the light parade, we found a spot to watch Wishes, the fireworks show at Magic Kingdom. We finally found a spot and actually got to see Tinkerbelle up close as she flew over us. Very fun. I didn’t take pics of the fireworks this year, because I took about 40 last trip. : ) I will say that I would pay for the dessert party to be able to sit on this one balcony and have a clear view of the fireworks. (next time…)

It was a sweet ending to another magical day.