Epcot...Day Ten

Today was such a great day! Epcot is such a fun place and we learned alot too! Not to miss is Soarin, a suspended IMAX flight, Nemo and Friends ride and of course Planet Earth in the landmark ball in the middle of the park. We also rode Test Track and Mission:Space which were a little on the fast side, but very fun.

The highlight of the day was our dinner at Akershush restaurant in Norway. My Guru told me months ago how smart it was to book a reservation there instead of booking a meal at Cinderella's castle. Eating at Akershush (which looks like a Medieval castle) only uses one dining plan meal per person (The Castle uses two per person) and you get to meet ALL of the princesses instead of just Cinderella. The food was DIVINE with an appetizer salad bar a la Texas de Brazil. Mommies, when eating at Akershush, ask to sit in the right of the restaurant which will allow you to get your appetizers and get settled before all the princesses flood the room. Also, most little girls wear their princess dresses which is perfect for the environment. It worked well for us to pack the dress and "glass slippers" in the backpack and change on our way to dinner. This dinner is NOT to be missed!

Fish are friends, not food

At Akershush waiting to eat with the princesses!

Belle

Sleeping Beauty

Cinderellas

Snow White

Ariel

Pooh and Tigger

Daddy and Ray at Test Track

The Smith Family at Epcot

Raylen meets Belle...and asks to see her shoes!

Disney's Animal Kingdom...Day Nine

I'm not going to lie. We drove all night, had some trouble with the GPS when we got to Orlando and had a misunderstanding about our dining plan, so when we checked-in, I was not feeling very chipper. However, I think that that the folks at Disney filter their air systems with happy juice because as soon as we really began our adventures the whole world and its problems melted away!

We chose to do Animal Kingdom first upon recommendation from my Guru. The idea was to initiate Raylen into theme parks slowly in case it was overwhelming. GREAT plan! Animal Kingdom moves slowly like a zoo, but has just as much excitement. There are a couple of "extreme" rides that wouldn't be appropriate for little ones. Jason insisted that we ride all that Ray was tall enough for which included these "extreme" rides. She lived, but I'm a little worse for wear :)

The absolute highlight of Animal Kingdom is Finding Nemo: The Musical. It is phenomenal! Like a true Broadway musical, but very kid friendly. The whole trip was worth seeing that for me. Lion King was also a wonderful performance. This is an interactive show set in theatre in the round style. My best Mommy tip of the day is to allow yourself some time to utilize the Boneyard. This is a larger than life playground full of dinosaur bones, caves, tunnels and slides. There is no waiting and plenty of places for mommies and daddies to relax. This proved to be such a good opportunity to let our over-energized "Tigger" run out her energy. Jason and I also welcomed the break!

When the park closed at seven, we headed to our dinner reservation at the Animal Kingdom Lodge at Boma. This restaurant is a buffet style, but is NOT lacking in actual style. Included in the buffet are top notch meats and sides native to Africa, but delicious for this picky American eater. A dessert buffet is also provided with amazing miniature pineapple upside down cheesecakes and much more. Yum!

Before I list the photos, I must tell you that I found the Disney Celebrations to be quite wonderful. When we booked our trip I was asked if we were going to be celebrating anything. Our anniversary is in three weeks so I told them and they made note. Upon check-in, we got buttons saying Happy Anniversary to wear and our room was upgraded from standard to preferred (close to the bus!). At Boma, we were sat in preferred seating in intimate window booths as an upgrade. Literally, EVERYWHERE we have been we are greeted with "Happy Anniversary" and "Congratulations" making us feel super special. Don't be embarrassed to mention something special that you're celebrating during your stay. It's free, but well worth it!

Jason at Boma

The Smith Family meet Santa Goofy

Finding Nemo: The Musical

Mommy and Ray on the Safari

Raylen meets Turk

Our very own Tigger!

Slow Southern Sunday....Day Eight

Aunt LeAnn and Raylen cooking lunch

The Gang playing UNO

It's been another great day in Tennessee. I can't stress enough how much I love being here. I've been remembering such fond memories of our Tennessee family through the years today. I met Bud and LeAnn when I was fourteen when they came on staff at our church as youth ministers. There second son, Logan is fourteen now and that is wild to think about. The Georges were immediately more like family and my best friends as an awkward youth. The eldest, Blake, was my favorite babysitting charge then, the most precious ring bearer ever for our wedding and is still the sweetest young man at sixteen. Annalee is a beautiful seven year old that was an answer to prayer for this family. She doesn't know it, but she provided some sweet laughter for my dad in his last month with the video package she sent. Looking back, Bud and Lee have been instrumental in my life at every turn. Bud has taught me invaluable life lessons even without saying a word-lessons about integrity, forgiveness, courage and boldness. LeAnn reminded me on the day that Bud married Jason and I that she had been praying for my future husband since I was sixteen and I know she still prays today. She is the most relaxed, down to earth person I know and makes everyone else around her feel relaxed too. I want to know their secret for raising happy, fun, respectful, well rounded children and repeat that too.

I'm so grateful for positive influences in my life like the Georges. There are so many other people I count in that category as well, too. I realize that I wouldn't be anywhere today without these God given role models that have guided me along the way.

Relaxing In Murfreesboro...Day Seven

We successfully made it to Murfreesboro, TN last night around 6:30pm. It was a great trip and we were so excited to see our friends, The Georges. Even though it's been three years since we've seen them, it feels like yesterday. We always have such a great time when we visit.

We were excited to smell bacon and pancakes from our room this morning and Raylen got a special treat from Uncle Bud on her plate...

Today, we went to Miller's Grocery Store to eat lunch, which is a sweet and yummy cafe in an antique grocery store. There is a little drygoods store across the street from Miller's that has an assortment of handmade things. Raylen and Annalee picked out matching Dorothy dresses for their American Girl Dolls. There felt pretty grown up buying them all by themselves! Tonight, our friends, The Herndons came over for chili and game night. Fun! I need to brush up on my Catch Phrase though. Now we are relaxing around the beautiful Christmas tree and wishing we could visit longer. Here are some other shots from the day.

On The Road Again ..Day Five and Six

I'm trying a new thing: blogging from my phone. I hope it works!
Yeasterday was a great day! We woke up to yummy blueberry muffins made by my Mama and got ready to go to my Aunt Lynn's while watching the Macy's parade. I had a great time with my cousins, as usual. After retrieving a new Christmas tree for my mom, we crawled in bed early for our six am wake up call.
Today has been a great day of travel. It's been beautiful weather and I love all the wonderful fall scenery. We are about two hours outside of Nashville right now and we are anxious to get there. Ray is watching a movie, Jason is belting out (loudly) Bon Jovi and I'm blogging. Oh wait, gotta go. Total Eclipse Of The Heart just came on. It's my turn to sing!

Over The River And Through The Woods....Day Four

This morning started bright and early at 6am for me. I got up, iced the cake that I baked last night, finished packing all things under heading "toiletries" and tried to think of anything I may have forgotten. My dear friend, Russellann is in town (Abilene) for the holidays and I was overjoyed to see her for coffee this morning. Russellann has truly been instrumental and irreplaceable in my life the last two years. Her wisdom, soft and loving instruction and her constant belief in God's destiny for my life are things that I wish every woman could experience. Because of the countless prayers she has prayed for me and my family, I was thrilled to show her around the home that God has so graciously provided to us. It was such a sweet visit!

After Russellann left, we packed ourselves in the car and headed East on I-20. I had to take a pic of Ray tucked in her little "cockpit" in the backseat. She's got a new cup holder, trash can, dvd player, old school headphones, a lap tray and a very special new Nemo Webkin from "Aunt" Janna and the boys.

After our two hour journey, Raylen was overjoyed to see my mom, "G-Da". Mom graciously allowed me to go take a nap, while she and Raylen cooked for the Tidwell Thanksgiving party tonight. This will be the first family holiday without my PaPa and he will be missed. I am truly thankful for his life and legacy this year and that he is celebrating with my dad forever.Tomorrow, round two for Turkeyville. Yummy. We're going to put up the Christmas Tree at Mom's tonight or tomorrow, so look for stunning pics to come!

When You Wish Upon A Star...Day Three

I am frightened that I'm really prepared. I have packed, repacked, shopped, re-shopped and I am certain that I have everything that we will need and not need on this trip. I am frightened because I know that there will be something, probably important, that I will remember that I didn't pack about 400 miles into the trip. It's inevitable.

Tonight, as we prepare to leave the house tomorrow, I am remembering how our true countdown began. Late in July, I made a call to secure our reservation and there was something truly magical in just talking to the uber friendly Disney agent. Maybe it was the sound byte of Cinderella's wand on the line, but something made me giddy with excitement and after I hung up, Raylen and I literally danced around the room for twenty minutes. We rushed out to the dollar store and bought poster board and Disney stickers to make a countdown calendar. Here's where we started...

And here's where we are today...

I highly recommend doing a countdown. It was something that we looked forward to doing everyday and seemed to make the days go by just a little faster.

Tomorrow's post will be coming to you from my mom's house while we have full bellies from the first Thanksgiving meal of the week. Mmm...I can already taste it!