Disney Star Wars Weekend 2015

    What is summer without a trip to Disney? At least in this house. We especially love our favorite Star Wars Weekends at Disney. It's like being told you are having dessert first at dinner and that the entree is actually more dessert. Certain folks in this household may be referred to as Star Wars enthusiasts or Big Time Nerds as we like to call them but there is something about seeing the Star Wars cast up close and personal that leaves the rest of us standing in line for Yoda backpacks and pretzels in the shape of the Millennium Falcon and afterwards still feeling really excited about it. 

     We stayed at the Grand Floridian this time. The last time we stayed here we were only the proud parents of two children not partially embarrassed parents of six but it was still grand indeed. I particularly love the monorail at our door to the Magic Kingdom vs. parking getting on a tram to get to a monorail to get to Disney. With this many lemmings to corral I'll take whatever short cut is allowed. And Disney doesn't disappoint in the hospitality category either. We had turn down service with chocolates, a pull out bed from the wall with a Mary Poppins mural hidden behind it, spacious rooms, planned children's activities by the pool every hour, a camp fire with smores every night with an outdoor movie and an electric light parade on the water to end the day with fireworks soon after. But we still managed to leave the hotel to go geek out at the parks.

     On arrival to Hollywood Studios, Bobba Fett was talking about hunting down Solo and pointed straight at me with my brood in tow and said, "I see you have captured many." I think I might have squealed then snorted with glee. 

My prisoner's mug shot with Bobba Fett

     On our way from the Star Wars ride to the Brown Derby for lunch we spotted several of our favorites who gave us a hearty hello.

Even Darth seemed happy to see us....I think.

    After the Buzz Lightyear ride we happened to stumble across some of Carlos' favorite folks. Can you see how he's trying to keep his stuff together in this picture? He's probably repeating something like, "Keep it cool Car. Don't flake out in front of Buzz. That's it keep it cool. Definitely don't toot right now. Yeah, your pretty awesome right now."

     We would always end the day in the pool. Trying to bring the feeling of mass hysteria down a notch before dinner. I found bubbles to be very relaxing as did the triplets. Until, Gigi started playing a game we do in our pool called " Save me " where she pretends to need rescuing and I come give her a piggy back ride in the pool. The life guards were not familiar with this game and dove in to rescue her. I was mortified. She, on the other hand, thought it a fun game and immediately took off down the thirty foot slide.

     You can't come to Disney and not dine with the characters. (Really, it's like in the contract.) Highly overpriced but can you really handle the guilt associated with depriving them of the opportunity to let Alice and Mary Poppins interrupt your breakfast to stand for awkward pictures and conversations? 

     Mary was pretty cool though. When Nico started to fuss she said, " Now pish posh, there will be none of that." And he quieted down and took this picture. 

     We ate in Germany at Epcot and toured the tiny Romantic Road train village about twenty times before the kids let us move on. At the Biergarten, the kids got up and danced their little hearts out with the band. It was pretty fun.

     Here are just some of those things you never knew you needed until you see them at Disney. In their defense, they still wear them and Beau calls them her "Rock Star" glasses.

The nostalgia of watching your kids enjoy what you enjoyed at their age is priceless. Disney has that market cornered. It's a time machine you get to revisit with every new babe.

  Here was my favorite dinner at the Contemporary with a 360 view of the park.I just love my Krewe.

     I don't know if he is on to me but my favorite Mike photos are when he is just loving on our babes. I luckily have many moments to capture in our life together but I swear he looks taller, healthier and more attractive in these photos then when he is in a shot by himself. I doubt that is the case but only how I see him, a loving father and husband...who just happens to be a babe.

     A princess Leia Minnie. Are you kitten me right meow? Almost as adorable as my Beau.

     

Waiting for the boat to Disney. 

Just another day at the hotel.

     One of the last things we did was eat at the boardwalk and then strolled into Epcot for some pastries in France. Most of us were too excited for words to spot Princess Aurora who couldn't get enough of our gang. All those who were excited are in this picture. I must say  that Sleeping Beauty was just a little to affectionate for my taste (notice how she is cuddling up to my prince and looking at me while she telepathically tells me, "Don't I look good here?" ) All I have to say is listen here Ms. Sleep Apnea, this is my prince and these our my minions. Move along....but thanks for the picture the kids just loved you. See you next year.

Disney Princess Challenge Weekend 2015

     Greetings from where the magic happens. Another year is marked by our visit to see Mickey Mouse himself. The triplets, in particular Gigi, have been saying, "I'm going there. That's my castle" anytime a commercial with Cinderella's castle came on the TV. For any parent reading this, I don't need to tell you how great it is to see your childhood relived through your children's eyes. It's better this way if you ask me. But the trip was not so selfless. The older kiddos and I had been signed up for races here this week since the summer of last year. Golden and Eva for their first 10K Princess Run and me for both the 10K and the Princess 1/2 Marathon which also made me eligable for a third medal for completing the Princess Challenge. I did something similar to this with Jerry Sullivan on the inaugural year of the Goofy Challenge in 2003. We ran a 1/2 marathon one day followed by a full marathon the next and received a third medal for our trouble. This should again prove that I will do just about anything for a Tshirt or/and a medal. But Disney never disappoints either. They entertain you from Mile 0 to the Finish Line. And as much as people complain about the cost, I find it one of the few things in Disney that is actually worth what you pay for. 

The 2015 Harris Disney Crew

     From the picture above you will notice two things; Eva is dressed in her best princess running outfit and both kiddos are pretty proud of themselves. I couldn't have been more proud of them for never complaining when I woke them up at 4AM to go to the race, for making them run the whole race, and for posing for pictures after the race when all they wanted to do was get changed to go to the parks. But if you could just look at this picture closely I think you can see just a bit more self assurance and confidence in these two that was not there a day earlier. This race solidified what I always try to drill into them: There is nothing you can not accomplish you set your mind to because you are always stronger than you think. 

     Highlights from running with them on the 10K. I thoroughly enjoyed embarrassing them with my AMAZING dance moves while we waited in the corrals. Honestly, I was on fire. People everywhere were staring and pointing cuz this girl had it going on! I couldn't help myself because they were playing all my jams ( I am saying this in my best embarrassing parent voice) During the race it was fun to see how fast these kids were. They were passing everyone. We passed Tinkerbell, Ironman and even a few hundred Elsa's. I loved running ahead and catching their expressions as the passed the finish line. They were trying so hard not to look amazed. It is a mother's dream to see two of her own be so darn amazing. 

     Speaking of amazing, did I mention we stayed at the Animal Kingdom Lodge. We were celebrating our 15 year anniversary and thought we would live a little. It was pretty fun. Here are just a few pictures of our views every day. The kids got to where night vision glasses and go on nighttime animal safaris, roast marshmallows, but they missed watching movies under the stars. We simply had too  much to do. 

Even picking up our bibs was cool. Just look how excited we all are

   In the picture below you may notice that I look like a princess bag lady. There is a simple explanation for this. I had to carry all of the gear my kid took off and I stopped and picked up clothes and earmuffs along the way that people discarded as the weather got  warmer during the run. I do this for two reasons; I can't pass up a great deal and some of this stuff, including those Elsa and Anna earmuffs were too adorable to leave there and I knew Gigi was gonna love them. Please don't judge me. And if you do just know that this is a trick that I learned from the great runner, Jerry Sullivan who roadside shops like he means business. I used gloves and a wool cap the next morning and had no guilt when I tossed them aside because they were free. 

The finish of a great race. My jacket is packed with clothes.

I also had my 10K medal which I just realized I didn't photograph.

But it wasn't all fun and games here at Disney. As my family will tell you, I mean business when I vacation. We had a full schedule of fun to accomplish and everyone needed to put on their roller-skates or die. Okay this may be a slight exaggeration but I do like to see and do it all and am happy to say that I have a wonderfully understanding husband who just rolls with it after all these years. Despite all my plans, these goofs still manage to sneak in just a bit of fun here and there. 

Exhibit A: Just when I look away Mike buys this hat. "A Must" he called it.

     My kids loved meeting the characters. Not just the little ones either. We met Daisy, Piglet, Pooh, Tigger, Mickey, and Sophia to name a few. Everyone had a favorite. I'll let you guess who loved who.

A bit blurry but again Mike snuck in a little fun. I thought they'd arrest us right here.

     When Eva was young we took her to get her hair done at Bippity Boppity Boutique. Here, inside Cinderella's Castle, you will find a flurry of women combing, spraying and pinning hair as they talk to the children with sweet little voices as if they have swallowed a bottle of Xanax. They break into song sometimes too and call all the girls "princess" and all the boys "knight." Creepy as it sounds, it's a must. Just look at the final product. Not the hair and crazy make up but the smile on Gigi's face. Carlos also got the royal treatment by having his hair shellacked then sprinkled with glitter as he read a decree making him an official Mickey knight and received his sword and shield. The only one who had issues was Beau ( Is this really a surprise?) She sat quietly and requested her crown and dress while in the chair. Let them put her hair up and sing to her. But as we left and the ladies walked us to the door waving and saying "Goodbye Princess Beau" in that sing song Disney voice, they were struck dumb as Beau yelled at the top of her lungs , pulled off her crown and bobby pins and cried so hard that snot ran down her face and gown. I was only sad I didn't take a picture of the women's faces as we had to physically carry Beau out of the Castle to complete her melt down away from incoming traffic. 

     Did I mention Nico was amazing. No! Because he is always amazing. But he seemed to love his trip to Disney as much as I enjoyed photographing him.

    Lastly, we met up with the Michigan cousins who were escaping the snow, whatever that means. It was nice to see them and nice to see them take up just where they left off. Gigi enjoyed having a new minion named Aiden and refers to him as, "My Aiden." She had him carry her around the pool and did I mention he is barely an inch taller than her. 

I did not take this picture that cut Ethan's head in half.

I love Carlos' tshirt

The grands

Gigi and her Aiden

Siblings

Nana and Arell

Until we meet again Disney.....