disney world/cruise 2016 part three: magic kingdom

saturday, october 8th - with the cruise delayed by one day, we were able to get our 3rd park day in - magic kingdom.  and oh so magical it was!!  

we got an early start.  right away, els put her space mountain fast passes to good use, while jen and i took the little kids on buzz lightyear's astro blasters and the people mover.

love this pic of captain and gigi on astro orbiters!  not sad that i missed this ride.  SEE: teacups.

we stopped for a tea party of the mad hatter variety.  so not a fan of this ride.  

and of course i'm in the teacup with all the crazy boys!

you know that all-too-familiar picture of max being the last one [sitting] at the table eating??

he had to take his lunch to go...shoulder-ride-style on daddy's head.  

on the jungle cruise!!  we got in all of our fave rides - pirates of the caribbean, haunted mansion, it's a small world and peter pan!!

king arthur's carousel

stopping for dole whips and 20 minutes with the enchanted tiki birds

jenny and i wanted the souvenir mugs from skipper's canteen when we were here in january but they had sold out.  so we stopped for a quiet kid-free moment to get our drinks!

meanwhile, the boys and kids took a magic carpet ride.

our official anniversary dinner!  complete with two kids in tow!!  at my fave, be our guest.

the kids were super excited when the dessert cart rolled up to our table.

meeting the beast.  ella was a little scared - the guy is huge!

where do you go right after a huge meal?  

splash mountain, of course!!  it was max's first time being tall enough and he loved it!!  so so happy to see the kids love the bigger rides but still enjoying the little kid rides too.  

thanks to an awesome fast pass situation, we go so much in!  everyone's favorite ride was the seven dwarfs mine train - i think we rode it 3 or 4 times.

such a great day together.  heigh-ho, heigh-ho, it's off to bed we go...to get on the cruise in the morning!!!!  stay tuned...

disney world/cruise 2016 part two: hurricane matthew

a few forgotten pics from our days at animal kingdom and epcot, respectively.

among the countries visited: mexico!  where max almost fell out of the boat and it was too early for margaritas.  :-(

so originally, thursday evening was slated to be spent at magic kingdom at 'mickey's not so scary halloween party.'  i was beyond excited for the trick-or-treating, costume-wearing, villain-parading - awesomeness that was supposed to be.  unfortunately, we spent the better part of thursday afternoon and evening moving hotel rooms from an east-facing first floor room to a west-facing second floor room and stocking up on sandwiches and water in preparation for the approaching hurricane matthew.  port canaveral closed on wednesday threatening our cruise, the parks closed for only the third time in history and we were facing the unknown (would we lose power?  what do you do with 2 kids in a hotel room?) for potentially 36 hours.  ironically, when max was born, roger and i realized we were not meant to be stuck in close quarters for an extended period of time...yet here we were on our 10th anniversary.  however...

friday, october 7 - so...seriously bummed and anticipating the worst, we made the best of it.  and that's why i love these faces.  here is how we handle hurricanes.

we get ice for our alcoholic beverages.

thank goodness the bartender at the hotel stayed until 11pm thursday night and was back in business by friday afternoon!!  while the bar closed, we are thankful for our wine stash that was initially earmarked for the cruise.  not so many bottles made it on the boat...

we read the bible.

apparently the only thing max found to read.

we meet another max!!

there was a little lobby party we stumbled upon when we left our hotel room during a break in the rain.  was this costume stuffed in a random closet in the hotel for such emergencies??  very obscure character...

we get so excited to meet stitch that we just fall down on the floor.

we sleep.  finally.

we cuddle.

we color the marker box.

we had a ton of paper and coloring books...but he was occupied.  not fighting this one.

we do homework!!

we watch a movie with friends.

we drink rum and coke at 10 a.m.!

we take a moment to celebrate a decade together.

we touch the ceiling.

because daddy's tall enough and it's fun.

we do a daddy-pile while he's on an important phone call.

we touch the ceiling again.

we make snake eggs out of play-doh.

we color with max.

due to the nature of the non-hurricane, we ventured back to the lobby to see what fun was happening outside of our hotel room.

we confuse little girls in overly-elaborate costumes as the real characters and pose with them.

we watch 'a goofy movie.'  with the real goofy!

we play with max's face.

we hula-hoop.

we play ring-toss.

we get manicures courtesy of ms. jenny.

we make necklaces out of our magic bands.

we survived.  happily.  and got ready to spend one final day in the magic kingdom followed by embarking on our cruise!!!

all in all, super thankful that the storm wasn't as bad as predicted and we made the best of a relaxing day together.  10 years together and we've proven we can weather many challenges.  thank you, roger, for being my best friend, partner in crime, and love of my life.  i truly do love you more than i did when i married you - i have so much respect and gratitude toward you for all you do for me and with me and for what an amazing husband, father and true gentleman you are everyday.  thank you for loving me and all the crazy that is involved.  happy anniversary, babe!!