Prepping for the Party at Downtown Disney

Aunt Dot bought us some special tickets to Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party on Tuesday. Party started at 7:00 p.m. in the magic kingdom, although we could enter earlier and did. In preparation thereof, T brought her halloween costume to disney. She's a kitty cat this year. While we were face painting yesterday, I noticed that one of the choices was a kitty cat princess face. So, as we were fooling around at downtown disney, having a relatively slow day in prep for our big night, we found face painting there.

I must say, she looked so stinkin cute I couldn't stand it. Pics don't really do justice, as you cant see the sparkle from the glitter.

Anyway, we posed with all kinds of characters, shopped til we dropped, and headed back to the hotel for naps and to prep for our big night.

Monday at MGM....NOT!

We started bright and early on monday at MGM. T professed to having NO INTEREST in any of the attractions, which seems to have been a theme for the trip. We conned her into going onto the movie tour, and she's pictured here with a princess dress from a Queen Eliz II movie. The ride was a big mistake, b/c it had scary parts to it, from T's point of view. We then walked to the Honey I shrunk the kids playground, the scene of our discontent from years past.

T went inside, but didn't have fun at all. Said she was scared of basically everything. I think the problem was that the place was empty. She was one of only 2 children inside the place. As we left, she started balling on that same stupid street where she pitched a fit in years past. We've decided that that street is possessed, and will avoid it at all costs in the future.
We quickly left MGM, and headed over to the Magic Kingdom. We were out of there before 10:00 a.m., and the place opens at 9:00.

At the Magic Kingdom, we enjoyed the parade and were surprised to see Mr. Incredible and Frozone on a float. We've never seen them in MK before.

We then, you guessed it, rode Its a Small World a few times. Interestingly, this monday was twice as crowded as it had been the day before. Dot and i were both baffled as to why that occurred. Can't figure it out.

T perked up quite a bit when we let her get her face painted. That was the highlight of the day. Since T was still on the verge of freaking on us, we stayed in the hotel that night for dinner, then went out to the outlet mall to troll for cheap disney stuff. That was a big fat bust, so no pics of that.

Tuesday, was very special. Stand by for pics from that!

Sunday Park Fun

We were up bright and early on Sunday, and headed out to the Magic Kingdom. As you can tell from how we're dressed, it was COLD. Highs were only in the 60's. Perfect Disney weather. Another bonus, it wasn't too crowded.

I basically stay off most rides due to my bad back. I'd hate to throw it out over something so dumb as a disney ride, so I'm a bit "ride-shy". My sister Dot, however, is more than willing to fill in for me. She and T went on dumbo, which was inexplicitly pronounced as "too scary and too high" this time. The Kid has ridden it many times before, but this time balked. She also refused to go on almost every other ride. You'll note that I used the the word "almost". T did deign to go on "The Dolls", aka Its a Small World.

Over.

And Over.

And Over.

I think we rode the dumb thing about 20 times over the course of all the days. If I hear that song again, somebody's going to have to shoot me to put me out of my misery.

For the first time, though, we experienced Tom Sawyer's Island. I have many fond memories of the island. Ran wild for hours on it a few times with my cousins back in the 70's. In July, no less. Lets just say that its a bit more difficult for a 40 something, out of shape, overweight mom to do it. Yikes. Luckily, T wasn't in a very exploratory mood, so she was pretty easy to keep up with.
We left the park about 2:00 p.m., to take naps, then suited up for the evening at epcot. I relented and let T wear her Mulan costume, and she was thrilled. As you can see, she had her clothes on underneath due to the cold. She even got to meet "Mulan" in the park and get her autograph. We had dinner in mexico, explored china some more, then headed back to the hotel, as T was definitely "on the edge".

Next up: MGM Studios

Sara and Taylor Tore Up the Town!

Downtown Disney, that is! We woke up bright and early on Saturday, and my sister Dot had us on the road before 7:00 a.m. Oy. Turns out it was a good thing, b/c it gave us a little time to settle in before we went off to Downtown Disney to meet the Manvilles.

For those not in the know, Sara is from the same orphanage as Taylor, we adopted our girls at the same time. They now live in Tampa, we we get together every now and then.

The girls got along great, and had a fab time riding the train and carousel, and stalking princesses and pixie dust. The adults had a fab time at an Irish pub, despite the poor service and hot sun.
There's something very special of seeing these girls together. They each started from such humble beginnings, and were lucky enough to be placed into the international adoption track at their orphanage. Both were given families at a very young age, and now live 1/2 way around the world from their original home, a mere few hours away from the other.
T was very sad when they had to leave at the end of the day. We left and went back to our hotel, the All-Star Movie hotel, and hung out there for the rest of the night.

Next day?

Magic Kingdom!

What's a Girl to Do?

Said with a booming TV announcer's voice:

"Gee Carol, the defense attorney on your trial set for Monday just took a continuance, clearing your calender. What are you going to do now?"

WE'RE GOING TO DISNEY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yep, you read that right, we're off bright and early in the a.m. to pay a little impromptu hommage to the magical rat. Between my schedule, my sister's schedule, and my parents' general demands, if we don't go now, I doubt we'll go again til after the new year. So, adios, syonara, and all those other words painted on the walls at the end of Its a Small World.

Stay tuned for reports from the happiest place on earth... that will be blessedly cool for the next few days. Paradise!

Miscellaneous Nothings...

• Taylor has been surprisingly well behaved since "the incident". Still no tv, though, and she's not putting upa fuss.
• Was sick to my stomach watching the balloon fly across Colorado with a supposed 6 yr old inside. I'm praying the boy turns up OK, since he wasn't found inside the balloon. I've got a bad feeling, though.
• Funny comment from T lately: after I hear a tell-tale "sound" from her, she turns to me and says "Its OK mama, I didn't go poopie. That was just bubbles."
• We were almost late for school today b/c T has lost her sneakers. She had to wear her black school shoes with her gym clothes today.
• Stone crab season opened today, and I'm jones'ing for a fix.
• Cold front is supposedly coming to So. Fla., to bring some welcome relief to the old swamp town we live in. Its been consistently over 90 degrees since last March.

All Hell Broke Loose Here

Yep, it was a bad, bad night. T wanted to sleep with me, then proceeded to put her legs on me, instead of laying correctly. When I asked her to stop fooling around and go to sleep, her response was a difinitive "no".

After a few more nos, I said fine, go sleep in your own bed. Again, NO.

Knowing I'd never lift her up to carry her back into her room without risking my back, I said "Fine, I'll go sleep in your bed. I have no interest in sleeping with anyone who keeps kicking me".

All was quiet, and about 10 minutes later a light goes on in my bedroom. I go inside, and find the blinds wide open, and T naked as a jay bird standing in front of the window. When I asked her what she thought she was doing, her reply?

I went pee pee in your bed

Yep, that's about the time all hell broke loose. I was so, so mad that I didn't know what to do. T was ordered back into her room to go to sleep, which she did without a peep. She's also once again, unplugged. She also admitted that she did it on purpose, because she was mad.

Myself? I was up all night b/c I was so mad I couldn't go to sleep, so I guess she won in the end. So, today we're starting over. She has vowed to be a good girl and I have vowed not to be mad at her anymore.

Not sure which of us will break our vow first...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY AUNT DOT

Dot's birthday fell in the middle of the week while she was in TX. So, T and I planned a small impromptu bday party Friday night, when she got home. T was so excited, she couldn't stand it, and felt her Tinkerbell costume was the only appropriate attire for the festivities.

I picked up a tiny cake at publix, which by the way, is DELICIOUS! Got a couple gifts, lit some candles, and we were in business. It was a party!
Funny how T always has a way of horning into somebody else's candle-blowing ritual. The kid likes nothing better, than blowing out nicely lit candles atop yummy cakes. Who can blame her, right?

Progress...

My mom is the proud new owner of yet another hearing aid. This one, though, has a nifty string with a clip attached to it, that I'm hoping will save it from the fate her previous hearing aids suffered. We'll see.

While I was over there, the railing man called, and wanted to come and install the railings. They are FAB! and look great, too. They are just the thing that my mom needed. Unfortunately, they fabricated a railing incorrectly, and I made them take it back and redo it, so I'll have to go over there this morning as well, to make sure its done correctly.

We're off to the dr for a followup appointment regarding T's parotid gland. She reports that the rocks are gone, but the doc will officially confirm that.

T also claims that Mrs. M said that all the kids could wear costumes to school today. Call me crazy, but this sounds a bit suspicious to me! Since nothing was mentioned to me yesterday by the teacher, and there was no notice sent home in her lunchbox, I have my doubts. So, we've reached a compromise. T, herself, packed a bag with princess dress, crown, and shoes. Its waiting by the front door. I'm very interested to see whether or not all the other kids are in costume, or if T got the message all balled up. Something has given her the impression that costumes are OK today. I'm wondering, though, if perhaps the class was discussing their upcoming halloween festivities, and T got confused.

Sock-o-holics of the World Unite!

My friend Lori over at Stress is the New Black, confessed a dirty little secret today. She's a sock-o-holic. Immediately recognizing a sister-at-arms, I felt compelled to do a little soul-baring myself. So....

I give you T's sock drawer. (No, i'm no crazed neat freak, this drawer is religiously maintained on a weekly basis by Leonor, who enjoys sorting things by color. She does it in my closets, too, but I digress). The basket on top are T's white school socks. Call me crazy, but I've always felt it very important that T's socks match her outfit. Like any good addict, I think I'm suffering from black outs, since I have no independent memory of purchasing all of these socks. However, the evidence speaks for itself.

So, there you have it. What does your kid's sock drawer look like? I'm just glad that somebody has more socks than T, which allows me to maintain the illusion that I'm not nuts.

Thanks, Lori!