Disney Trip '09

This past week/weekend we went to Disney World to celebrate Abby's 5th birthday. We moved our trip up from July because I had some time off from school and we knew it would be cooler and not nearly as crowded. We had so much fun!! Even though we didn't stay as long as we were planning to this summer, it was well worth it because we were able to do everything we wanted because the lines were short and the weather
was great- sunny and warm every day!!

Abby had a very "big girl" vacation:
-Rode Splash Mountain with both hands up
-She was called up to dance with the High School Musical 3 show! (She was so excited about that!!)
-Rode the Tower of Terror and loved the drops!
-Helped Kim Possible save the world in a new adventure game they have at Epcot. That is what she is doing in the picture with the little cell phone. She had to run around and find clues after she got her "mission briefings."

Abby also found a new "favorite ride" to add to the list- Mission to Mars at Epcot. I was a little nervous about choosing the more intense version of the ride, but we were glad that we did because it was a lot of fun. I guess they also have one where you don't feel the G-forces, but we were feeling brave. After all, she did ride the Tower of Terror! It was a lot of fun. They assign each person a role as a team member and Abby was the Pilot and I was the Navigator. She was giving us pep talks and everything!

The Toy Story section was open this time and it was pretty cool. The 3-D ride was fun, and probably the longest we had to wait for a ride the whole trip. Adrianna rode too and was trying to "shoot" all the characters.
Of course, her favorite show was the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Live! Her face was priceless when she saw Mickey come out on stage- she loves him! She also likes to take off her shoes now, just because she can. We lost one for a while, but someone was nice enough to turn it in to lost and found, so we were thankful. The next day we thought the same thing happened while we were waiting for the Buzz ride (you can see her in the picture with one shoe) but we found it waiting for us in the stroller!!

We visited Downtown Disney this time and had dinner at Planet Hollywood. Q and I wore "bride and groom" mouse ears which were really cute! Some people would congratulate us when they saw us, but we had to tell them we have been married almost 12 years, but do feel like we were just married!!


The girls are ready to go!! Q got them dressed in their outfits for the plane ride to Florida. I flew from Rhode Island and we met at the airport- thankfully neither of us were delayed.



Cinderella's castle is always so beautiful


Waiting for the monorail


Abby loves riding these teacups and Adrianna enjoyed her first ride in them! Thank goodness they only wanted to ride once.


Cutie in her Minnie sunglasses!




Abby loves the Buzz Lightyear ride, and this time we rode it many, many times. The last time we got on, the ride stopped for a few minutes while we were on it!! We weren't too worried because our lasers still worked, so we racked up high scores! Quintin struck a silly pose for the camera.






Meeting Belle



We love Splash Mountain!! Abby even put both hands up this time- such a big girl!!















































The last evening we spent by the pool and relaxed. The girls loved the water and Adrianna liked splashing everyone, as you can see. We are glad we were able to go back this year and look forward to our next trip!! We think we may take a break from Disney World for a couple of years, at least until Adrianna is tall enough to ride more rides with her sister- we'll see.

Spring is finally here

Quintin and the girls came up to visit me this week and we had a lot of fun. The weather has gotten a little warmer, for the most part, so we were able to spend a lot of time outside. We saw this field of daffodils on the side of the road and had to stop to take some pictures. I know Adrianna's face is blocked by a flower in this first one, but he said he liked the way I was looking at her, so he wanted to put it in anyway. The only bad part was the sun was really bright and we are all pretty squinty!!






The girls had a lot of fun at the playground. Abby really liked the zip-line and Adri had fun on the swings. She has the bubble wand in her hand and was trying to blow the bubbles herself, and apparently was mad that it wasn't working. She can make some pretty serious faces, just like Abby did when she was little.




Isn't this tree huge? We had a special "behind the scenes tour" for one of the mansions (The Elms), so we went on Saturday morning. It was pretty foggy and a little chilly that morning, but we still had a great time. I love the picture with Abby and the tree because she looks so little next to it. Adrianna fell asleep about 15 minutes into the tour, so I carried her for the rest of it.



You can see our wonderful tourguide in the background of this one. He did a great job, and it was our own private tour where we got to see how all of the employees kept the mansion running when it someone's summer-home. Can you imagine having a house like that as your summer-home? So extravagant!!


Here are the girls on the plane. Q said they liked looking out the window and were on their best behavior!! They are so sweet!!

Happy Easter!

This was our first holiday in the new house and it was great. The girls had a great time finding eggs in the backyard. Last year Adrianna was a little too small to find them, but this year she was ready to go. Abby said she would find the ones that were "far away" so her sister could find some that were easier. She is such a sweetheart. The weather was a little cooler today, but luckily they were pretty quick hunters!

Getting organized

Abby said, "I look mad in this picture but I wasn't- the sun was just in my face."




It has been a little bit since we have posted- sorry. We are all moved into our house in Virginia and are trying to get settled. The weather has been just great and this weekend Abby and I worked on her garden. This is the first garden we have ever had, so hopefully it turns out well. She picked out watermelon, peas, carrots, and green beans to plant. Quintin has been having a great time working in the yard. Adrianna liked smelling the dandelions before the grass got cut. He even shaped up the bushed in the front with some sort of electric tool!! We met all of our neighbors in the cul-de-sac and there are lots of kids for the girls to play with. During the week Q and the girls go to the YMCA down the street and they get to play while he works out. Abby started Tae-kwon-do there last Thursday (that is the closest martial arts class to us) and she had a great time. They were even sparring, which she didn't get to do in her other class in Newport. The teacher even said she could still wear her yellow belt, so she was super happy about that! Here's a couple of pictures Q took with his iPhone.



I have to go back to Newport later tonight but will be back again next weekend for some Easter fun!