Disney's Wild Animal Kingdom

This park is amazing! We had no idea what to expect but so many friends told us this was a "must" so we did it.  The Safari(which we had a fast pass for of course) was unreal.  On the way to our safari the kids got wilderness explorer maps.  All throughout the park were pitstops where they learned about different animals and got "badges" for their explorer maps. In the map was a page to circle each animal they encountered throughout the day which they all got really into! The live shows were unreal.  We saw Lion King Live and Finding Nemo Live which both felt like full blown productions! We then had a fast pass to meet Mickey and Minnie and ended our day in "Africa" eating dinner at the Tusker House(one of our many dinner reservations made an entire month in advance!).  This was a very special night for the kids.  All the Disney restaurants we ate at had "character experiences" built in which is why reservations are needed.  This night we took pictures with Mickey, Minnie and all their friends. And at the end of our meal they took all the kids around the restaurant for a conga dance! We were so tired when we walked in for dinner and by the end the kids were so pumped up from all the dancing.  Such a fun park.  We could definitely spend another entire day here.

Our Magical Spring Break Vacation!!

We did it! We flew across the country with 4 kids 6 and under!! Wohooo!!! With the help of Nana of course but still...our kids are amazing.  Daddy has super fancy pre-boarding(even before families) so he was able to take most of the kids with him and get us premium seating.  The 3 older kids were easy peesy and the baby was up, down, and all around but we made it to our amazing destination safe and sound.  Mama(the ultimate planner) booked all fast passes for both Disney World AND Animal Kingdom as well as all our restaurant reservations at both parks an entire month in advance.  We fully took advantage of the awesome new digital fast pass system so we literally never waited in a line and went on every single ride we wanted to go on.  We focused on rides that we don't have here in California first, once we hit all those we went on the old classics.  The kids favorite was Snow White's Mine Train, and Disney's Philharmagic Show.  Sophia especially loved the "treasure hunt" on the last day throughout the park! Our 2nd day at Disney was a rainy day but it was still nice and warm and we went on even more rides!! We of course packed ponchos(mama is always prepared!!).  Before we hit Disney Mama made reservations at the T-Rex restaurant in Downtown Disney and Preston declared this "the best day ever!!".  He had the hugest smile on his face the entire time and kept saying "Mama this is so cool".  During lunch they turn down the lights and the dinosaurs move and growl.  There's a huge ice cave and they even had dinosaur themed deserts! This is  a little boy's dream!!  Oh and our villa for the week was amazing...2 bed 2 bath...laundry room...full kitchen...living room...seriously didn't want to leave! We loved our resort and all it had to offer.  Cannot wait to go back!

Easter Bunny 2015

Here is our Easter bunny photo this year.  We weren't sure if we'd be able to squeeze it in since we're frantically looking for a new house and just got back from our Magic Kingdom trip but we did...yahoo!!! All the kids loved seeing him.  Olivia gave him a big hug and when he hugged her back she pushed him away and said "no".  She likes to be the instigator of affection not the other way around:)

Baseball Opening Day 2015: The Cardinals

Preston's opening day for baseball fell on the same day as Phia's dance conventions so Daddy and I did split duty(we have a feeling this is going to happen a lot more).  We send each other pictures and facetime from each event so it's pretty much like we're there no matter which one we're at but still Mama was VERY sad to miss Preston's big day! Preston marched in the parade holding his team banner, ate snow cones, engaged in bounce house fun, and ate hot dogs.  After, Daddy and Preston headed to Islands and then to the batting cages...phew what a fun and fun day.  Preston said it was "the best day EVER" to Dada.  They had a blast together!! Thankfully Nana watched the other 2 as opening day started at the crack of dawn and the littles were still asleep.  

24/7 Dance Convention and Competition

What a long and exciting day! We being rookies have no idea what to expect at these things.  Thankfully we have 2 other mom's who are in the same boat as us so we all stick together and tap into the veterans for guidance as we need it(and we need it a LOT!!!).  Phia got her precious Dream Duffel just in time for her 2nd competition of the season and we had 2 days to bling out the patches. One of our dance mom friends helped us during ballet class.  Blinging the patches involved ribbons, E6000, rhinestones, and lastly FIRE!! Mama is not only learning the new language of dance but putting my very little creative juices to work!! Our day started off with 3 hours of classes taught by amazing, seasoned teachers.  They had 4 separate teachers(jazz, tap, ballet, and hip-hop) and learned 4 dances in 3 hours.  They were whisked off to the stage to open the competition portion of the day! Our girls were considered "side-kicks" because of their age so they have a very abbreviated version of classes.  The rest of the studio were taking classes all weekend!! After they opened the show we headed to another ballroom to get dressed in full make-up/hair for their "Rockin' Robin" dance.  They went on at 6pm so they had plenty of time to warm up and practice and holy moly they were so good!!! They won a gold!! So so so amazing.  The awards ceremony was so loud(and LATE...9:15pm awards started)  that when our girls came off stage they had NO idea they'd won! Phia said "we didn't win anything Mama".  One girl from each team is supposed to grab the medals and no one heard so they thought they didn't get one! Ahhhh their faces were so so precious when we told them what they won!  We got home at almost 11pm....mama was EXHAUSTED but it was so worth it.  Phia is not only having a blast but she's learning discipline, team work, and building new friendships along the way.