8 months for ms Gia!

Ms Gia bug is 8 months old! She is so fun! She's curious and happy! The only time she is unhappy is in the carseat, usually at the end of the day/before a nap! She crawls so quick now And wants to know about everything! Her grab is lighting fast! She pulls up on just about anything! Her standing is coming along well! So far in a Disney she has LOVED the characters! She has been know to bite a few mouse noses! All in love, I swear! And those characters eat her up. 

Speaking if eating.. She eats everything! Yet still no teeth!  Gia has started doing this head tilt thing when my mom pulls out the camera! It's hilarious! 

She can cluck like a duck and clap her hands! She's sweet! I can't believe how fast she's growing up! 

Gracie's race day!

Saturday February 22nd!

This morning our quest was to get to Gracie's race! Her race also was at Epcot! We ate breakfast at the timeshare then headed out! We got there just in time to send daddy and Gracie running to the corral! They were in the 4th and final wave of the 100meter dash! I think it was for 2-3 year olds, marked by a green feather! Gracie was excited and a little intimidated since this was her first race! She was very brave and ran strong! 

Goofy was there to cheer everybody on! 

We are so proud of her!!

Next we went to the runners expo to see about some runDisney shoes! I was able to sneak some kids shoes on Thursday but adult shoes were hard to come by and there was some convoluted process to getting them. We thought we would try our luck at just showing up and it paid off! We were able to get all of us that wanted shoes shoes! 

So that was really exciting! Robb has a theory about running in brand new shoes and I've always been squeamish to the idea but I thought I'd try it! Seems like you end up with hurting feet either way! I do have to say it was pretty great! They had full support and cushion! Mom found our names of the billboard of people running! And we headed back! 

Today was also moving day! Time to head to our "new hotel"! The checked out of the Wyndham Bonnet Creek resort over to mom and dad's timeshare at The Sheraton Vistana! It was fun to check out a new place! We loved the elevators and all the different pools and amenities. It was very nice! But once we drove into the Vistana we felt like we were home! Even Robb said so! There was a certain comfort and familiarity when we drove in. 

We unpacked and settled in! Such great weather and fun we are having! Feeling so blessed since MN is so cold and snowy! Such a nice escape from bundling up! Stay warm friends!

One excerpt from the day: robb and Max were talking at the dinner table about the girls and Max said something about me being the "crabby" girl, Gracie is the one that's loud and Gia is a giggly. Robb tried to slow Maxs roll and said "you know what's happens when you mess with the bull, Max" and without hesitation Zmax says " you get a headache!" I love that kid!!

5k race day!

GlWFebruary 21st!

Today Max , my mom and I woke up at 5am (4am MN time) threw on some clothes and jumped in the car heading to Epcot! Robb and the girls tagged along so they could be there! They dropped is off in the dark! We followed our ear to the start corrals and got our minds right for the race!

I wore my Belle costume and Max wore his Prince Charming shirt!  I made them both! I bought Robb's Prince Charming shirt off Etsy; when it arrived I knew I could make a shirt for Max without problem! Max got lots of compliments which he was embarrassed about and would do his teenager eye roll ( it's a new trick for him this school year) and got mad! We mostly walked the race. There was way too much to see! That, and the early race time and no food before did Max in! 

Max was energized by having the finish line come into view and the promise of a treat basket!

We were so lucky to have cheerleaders at the finish line!! We headed home to regroup and clean up! Robb took the kids to the pool so they could show him around and what good swimmers they are! Then we headed for Magic Kingdom for our first day of actual Disney World!

We had an overcast day but perfect by our standards! We got there right as a show at the castle was starting! Gracie was mesmerized! Seeing Cinderellas castle, Minnie and Mickey was amazing!

From there we set out for new fantasyland to check out was Disney has been up to since our last visit! We loved the new space and all the princesses! We rode the Dumbo ride and loved the new wait line! We saw Ariel's grotto and the new Ariel ride. We saw the Belle and Beast area and found Max a Gaston Quicer with bow and arrows (with suction cup ends). 

We had a great first day! We finished the day with some fireworks, dole whip ( my favorite and where we reunited after I got separated from looking at a shopper-tunity) and balloons! 

After the early morning we were all ready for bed! And Gracie's race is tomorrow!

Day 3, packet pick up

A big reason we came down at this time was to be apart of the Princess half marathon weekend races! Friday Max, my mom and I are schedule to do the Royal family 5k, Saturday Grace has a 100 meter dash and we conclude with Robb and I running the half marathon! Thursday was first day of packet pick up and the racer expo. We had a leisurely morning, even took a dip in the pool. Max has been working on his swimming without a life jacket. He's getting pretty good! Maybe swimming 10 feet. Then mom and I rounded up my bunch and headed over to get our goods! Oh, the other BIG thing happening today is daddy is joining us! It was supposed to dump snow again in MPLS so we called delta to see if we could get Robb on the earlier flight! Awesome news! We could and there was no charge!! Hurray! Ironic thing was with all the snow and deicing the plane, he left about the same time he would have! He did arrive to here earlier than he could have. For that I am so thankful! And I don't have to single parent without a car anymore! ( my parents were tremendous help with the kids, I mean no disrespect!)  We rented a grand caravan for the rest of our time here! Yay! It might be a scouting mission, too! Maybe we will love it and keep it and drive it home! 

Oh, one other fun thing...runDisney partnered with new balance and made special disney shoes! We could only get kids shoes because of the big involved process but they sure are cute! Ended up getting bigger sizes so they can't use them for their races but they just got new shoes for Christmas for their races! 

Race day for the 5kers tomorrow!! So much to be thankful for!!

Day two, Sea World!

Wednesday we decided to take our tribe on the road to Sea World! After French toast nana made and a quick bath we were on our way! Grandpa helped us get our stroller wheels pumped up and we found our way to the dolphin show right in time!

The kids loved it! Then we say some string rays and polar bears, a walrus, belugas, and some penguins! Then we went to see Shamu but his stadium was under construction and the show wasn't for almost an hour so we watched him swim! It was a long day! Not a cloud in the sky! We are so thankful to be here! Missing daddy and ready for him to be here! 

First full day!

Tuesday we woke up and had a leisurely pace. We walked around the little lake in the day light, as opposed to walking the lake in the dark the night before. We took in as many if the pools as we could! We found a lazy river and splash pad that captured us!

It happened to be where the ice cream social is everyday! Then we cleaned up and got Grace to downtown Disney for her Bibbitt Bobbity Boutique appointment! It was her day to be a princess! That world of Dusney store is overwhelming! Good thing my girl knows what she likes! 

She chose a princess Sofia dress! 

Gray Gray was so quiet through the whole thing. I think she was just taking it all in! She loved it! And even got to take the make up and nail polish home after she used it! We ate at a Earl of sandwiches which was yummy and headed back! Day one was a huge success!

Florida!

We headed down Monday morning almost beating the snow! It was a little hairy with the 3 kids vs mom but we did it okay! Bringing the stroller to be checked at the gate was key! Robb dropped us off before he headed into work. With the snow it was slow going. I was amazed at the delta terminal. iPads as far as the eye can see! 

The flight went relatively well. The hardest part was getting everyone to the bathrooms and engaged in activities while juggling Gia! The kuds were great little travelers! We even got compliments! I'll have to remember to remind other parents how well their kids did. It feels good! Once we got to Florida my mom met us at the baggage claim. We drove back to Bonnet Creek Wyndham Resort that would be our first home away from home! Very nice! We settled into our 7th floor room that we shared with nana and Grandpa! We had a great view of the pool and the Epcot ball!

Of course we took a dip in the pool and relished the fact that we weren't in boots, hats, gloves and jackets!

And finished our traveling day watching fireworks from Epcot!