Author Archives: Sunshine76

California Hot Spots that Valeria Must See – 2018 – La Jolla, San Diego Edition

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Hello WordPressLand!

As I mentioned in the two posts before, this whole trip is along Southern California. We hit up LA for a few days then drive down to Laguna Beach.  From Laguna we drive up to Anaheim for a couple of days, and then finish off down in La Jolla, San Diego. 

San Diego is the second largest city in California, and crazily enough the eight largest in the US! I did not know that till I started doing research either! San Diego is known for its beautiful weather, the Zoo, its wildlife, beaches, and for the foodies out there, a hot spot of amazing food.  And if you are into Mexican food, like myself, then I guess this is our city.  It is a mecca of good Mexican food, and so close to the Mexico border. 

So YES!! LeTzzGO!

We are planning a handful of days in the San Diego area, staying at the La Jolla Shores Hotel. We figure this is a great spot to feel like we are on a beach vacation, yet just close enough to take advantage of the downtown area.  I did get a lot of good tips from some of you on FB about San Diego, and I have added them to the list below.  Thank you btw!  I always appreciate the conversation and if anyone else has recommendations, please don’t hesitate to message me.

 

California Hot Spots that Valeria Must See

La Jolla, San Diego Edition
La Jolla Shores – This is a mile long beach where our hotel is situated; so it’s a no brainer to check it out.  It is stated as the best beach in the area and looks like a perfect place to bum around like I plan to do!  🙂

 

La Jolla Cove– This is supposed to be one of the most photographed beaches in California. It just looks beautiful as it’s surrounded by cliffs and there seems to be a ton of seals and sea lions who like to take housing along the rocks.

 

The Cave Store – The Cave Store is the entrance point to the Sunny Jim Cave, one of many caves in the area.  The pictures look amazing, and it seems like a fun place to start on our cave explorations.

 

Shell Beach – This place looks super cool.  This beach is situated at the bottom of a cliff where you have to take stairs down towards.  This beach is known for its tide pools that are home to some amazing sea creatures.

 

Children’s Pool – This is an area of beach that was initially built up for, you guessed it, the children of the area.  They placed retaining sea walls so the waters would be less aggressive, safe for children.  BUT as soon as the sands built up in the space the Harbor Seals took it over!  And we need to check out these chubby guys up close!
San Diego Zoo – Ever since I was a kid I have been dying to see the San Diego Zoo!  This is the number one zoo in the world with over 3,700 different animals! One of which, I have never ever seen in person before, the Giant Panda. The cutest animal to exist.

 

Seaport Village on the Harbor – This is a large waterfront shopping area along the harbor that seems like a fun place to spend an afternoon.

 

Little Italy – San Diego is supposed to have the largest Italian neighborhood in the country, and naturally, that means I have to go.

 

Richard Walker’s Pancake House – Looks like this is a breakfast place we cannot miss! Not only did I get a recommendation to go but my husband had it on our list of where we are eating!  haha And the owner is from our state, so it’s like a must eat place now that I know.
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Well, there we have it, some of our San Diego hotspots to check out. We have a lot more research to do on restaurants and stuff, but I loved looking into all the amazing spots to visit in San Diego and cannot wait for this trip to arrive.  Again, if you have recommendations please hmu!

I have always wanted to visit San Diego, and here I wrote about this awesomeness.  I can’t believe it!  (I just literally said, “YEEE”!) I am so excited for this trip!!  Bahh I can’t stand it!!

xoxoxox

 

 

California Hot Spots that Valeria Must See – 2018 – Laguna Beach Edition

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Hello all,

Here we are on the second installment of ‘California Hot Spots that Valeria Must See’– 2018 .  This is the Laguna Beach Edition.  It sounds so formal, but we all know I am so far from formal.

During this part of our trip we will be spending 2 nights in Laguna Beach, one of which is my husband’s birthday.  What I’d ideally like to do is to make this as much of a beach visit than anything.  Especially after running around in LA for a few days.  Plus, I need to work on a tan because by August I will probably be a smooth cool tint of white linen.  (Yup, I may be the only Sicilian woman who never tans!)

img_2650Laguna Beach is a seven mile stretch of beach between LA and San Diego, and is a huge hot spot for vacationers. Which means there are a ton of things to see and do (and eat) with lots of people around, but what do we go see and do!?  When you look at a map of Laguna, the beaches all collide into one another and look simple enough to walk to but I just uploaded the Laguna Beach app and now I am not so sure.  hahah.  But we will give it a whirl!!

The app is actually really good; it is the Visit Laguna Beach app. You can search hotels, restaurants, shops, as well as find the current weather, maps, surf and tide reports, parking information and an events calendar.  And real estate, for those of us who plan to not come back home.  (I know, my good friends keep hearing me joking about this, though I have never been to So Cal my gut tells me I will not want to come home. haha)

So far, we booked the Pacific Edge hotel, which is on the south end of the beach.  We reserved a room in the reef tower (facing the ocean!!), which looks like a dream. The amenities, and the area of the hotel, look pretty great, and we read that the waves can be heard in every room all day.. which turns me on. Haha. Falling asleep to the ocean is just what I want, folks.

Here is a list of places we discussed seeing in Laguna.  So many of you guys commented and messaged me on FB with recommendations for LA (and San Diego!), I hope to hear some for Laguna Beach, too!

 

California Hot Spots that Valeria Must See

Laguna Beach Edition

 

Art Colony/Walk the Town– As I am learning, the art scene in Laguna is its primary draw, and well, it sort of reminds me of my favorite local beach art colony here in Gloucester at Rocky Neck.  And while we are at it we will take a stroll through the town to check out their shops, local restaurants and stuff.

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Heisler Park- When I looked up this place my chin literally dropped. The views are tremendous, and it looks like a perfect place to take a sunset walk.  It is an oceanfront park set up along the cliffs with walking trails, gardens, and a marine refuge with tide pools.

 

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Crystal Cove Beach Tide Pools– Researching Laguna is fun, tide pools around seem to be a running theme, and Crystal Cove is supposed to have the best ones.  Feel like we would really enjoy trekking around on some rocks checking out the oceanic wildlife in the pools.

 

Royal Hawaiian Tiki Bar–  The Royal Hawaiian is a tropical bar with super fun looking tiki cocktails, good menu, and we love that type of atmosphere, so I figured we would take a closer look.  It is a street over from Heisler Park, where I figure would be a great location to take a night stroll along the water.

 

Thousand Steps– I keep coming across this as a must see place, and watched so many youtube videos on how to get there, because there is a catch!  First, this beach is gorgeous, and is the largest in Laguna. Second, there is a large cave at the south end of the beach that can be entered when the tide is out, and basically only then, because then the entrance is exposed but you have to make it back before high tide, or well, you are SOOL.

img_2668Laguna Trolley– Laguna Beach offers a free trolley service, and I love trolleys, so I HAVE TO RIDE ONE!  They actually may come in more handy than I am joking about, because they have two lines of service that hit near or on most of the spots we are looking to go. Also, that app I mentioned earlier, they have a trolley tracker in it so you can see where the trolleys are going.

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Driftwood Kitchen– This restaurant is set up along the water, and the views look amazing.  So does the food.  It gets really great reviews, and the photos I have been seeing online are surreal.  

 

Pirate Tower/Victoria Beach– Happened upon this blog while researching Pirate Tower. Gah, it’s just amazing.  The photographer takes us on a trip to find Pirate Tower on Victoria Beach…and it’s just dreamy.  Thinking my family would love to take a trip over to see the tower, and maybe just explore the beach, I know I would!   

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Let me know if you have any recommendations for Laguna.

Next up… La Jolla/San Diego!!!

xoxo

California Hot Spots that Valeria Must See – 2018 – L.A. Edition

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HellooooOoo everyone!

My mind has been in the gutter lately… the vacation gutter!

It is Spring after-all, which means I have lost most of my focus on pretty much everything and with talking every night about all our upcoming Summer fun events, it is hard to try to focus on much else. So far this Summer has some great things in store; local beaches, fun dinner spots, cookouts, my new outfits (ok don’t fault me for being silly), lake in Maine with our friends, maybe Montreal, but my favorite topic we talk about is.. our family trip to CALIFORNIA!!

C A L I F O R N I A

..just a touch of a California freak here. I have been to the West Coast, California four times, not with our kids ever though, and not anywhere below Los Angeles. When we have gone, I never do get enough. California knows how to party. Uhm. Ok, that slipped out but hopefully you all hear Dr. Dre’s ‘California Love’ in your heads now… But seriously, I am super excited to end the Summer in CaliForNia this year; coming home a few days before the girls start back to school and just in time for our 17th wedding anniversary. Which makes me super happy to think about. 🙂

We have never actually visited California during the Summer months before, nor have we gone there for a beachy vacation, which is why I am super excited this time.  This trip is something that I have always wanted to do, have a So Cal beach vacation.  Gah didn’t those words just feel so good to you, too?  Since we are doing something new as a family in a state the two parents have visited before, we have a lot of revisiting of some tourist spots, but also, lots of new to us sites.

Our agenda is: We land in LA, where we will be spending the first few days of this trip. Then after LA we drive to new territory, Laguna Beach.  We opted for some fun in the sun after being in the city for a few days; And it’s a great place to celebrate my husband’s birthday. From Laguna we drive up to Anaheim for a couple of days for some family fun.  Then down to La Jolla / San Diego for a really relaxing handful of days doing nothing but being the beach bums that we deserve.

WOO, I CANNOT WAIT.

Ok, LA, so I will give a run down of where we plan to visit during our three days*:

*love feedback and recommendations, so please comment if you have any.

California Hot Spots that Valeria Must See

LOS ANGELES

Santa Monica Pier – We had been to Santa Monica in 2003;one of my favorite memories from that California trip was this beach visitin Santa Monica.  My husband surprised me with a stop, he grabbed tamales from Tamara’s on the drive over,then we had a sunset beach picnic… in the middle of November.  IT WAS BEAUTIFUL BUT CHILLY!!  Well, with the girls in tow this time, I want to relive that evening. I looked up to see if Tamara’s is still open, and they are, so I would like to picnic on the beach with my family with the best tamales I had ever had..but in bathing suits catching some sun… and maybe some Sidecar Donuts, too!!

Eames House – My husband and I love Ray and Charles Eames.  So much so, that this trip we want to take a quick drive to the Pacific Palisades area to check out the Eames House.  The Eames’ designed and constructed a home like no other house in the late 40’s, which is now a landmark and we have always wanted to see in person.

WB Studio Tour–This seems like a no-brainer touristy thing to do with kids. Especially, for us. Our kids are new to the whole Hollywood hype, they understand it’s a city where famous people live and make movies but they may not understand the gravity of how much goes on.  Our thought is to show them an experience behind the scenes of some movies or TV shows, with sights of back lots and props, it would be exciting for them.  Also, is it sad that I am excited to drink coffee in Central Perk on that orange couch? Or to see all the Harry Potter stuff?  I’m a huge Friends fan and HP geek, I know, I am just a geek.  But I have been having the girls watch Friends with me over the past few months to prep them for this moment, so they can be just as excited to see the set as I will be.  (This is why I had children isn’t it?)

Watts Towers– The Watts Towers is an art installation of a combination of towers, structures, sculptures, pavement and walls that were designed and built by Sabato Rodia, an Italian immigrant mason. It took him over a span of 33 years to complete this massive installation.  It is crude art, novice, but something is beautiful about it, and we have always wanted to see it in person.

Pasadena – “Oh Adam, it would be wonderful if you could meet a girl. One who’s not a mutant and hopefully comes from Pasadena“-  Please tell me I am not the only person who still quotes this movie when she hears this city name?…Blast from the Past? Anyone?  I used to have an enormous celeb crush on Brendan Fraser, and well, in that movie he was the bees knee. But any-who, Pasadena seems like a fun stop to hang out some afternoon, and well, it made the list since my handsome design geek husband wants to see the Gamble House, but I do too!! Everyone knows the Gamble House, right? It’s a hugely famous house for its owners but namely its architecture, it is Arts and Crafts style at its finest, my Gosh how beautiful.  But most of us know it as Doc Brown’s house from Back to the Future!, and well, we didn’t get the chance to see it years ago and we are rectifying that this trip!

Grauman’s Chinese Theatre/ Hollywood Walk of Fame -I mean, what respectable tourist goes to LA without hitting up the Walk of Fame or Grauman’s Chinese Theatre? I won’t let that happen to my kids. Everyone has to take photos with random stars on a sidewalk and place their hands in some famous handprints!

Hollywood sign from Mulholland Drive – Another great memory I have from our first LA trip is driving up Mulholland to see the Hollywood Sign on the hills. We had such a great time swirling up the road getting to one of the best views of that area around.  And we took our first photo of that trip up there that I have in my living room and look at every day.  We were so young. 🙂  We did also walk up to the sign that trip mentioned, but I don’t think our kids will enjoy that as much as a quick drive.

Drive through Beverly Hills –  I don’t know why I love driving through Beverly Hills, but there is something to driving down the boulevards lined with palm trees and seeing all the money I will never have in my life being spent on plastic surgery.  ha I am just joking. I want to take a quick go through to show the girls what Beverly Hills is all about..the glitz, Rodeo Drive, and just the mansions that are out of this world big.  And maybe have a celebrity sighting.  😀

Koreatown– This sounds silly, I know, but we are trying to switch our hotels around and may end up in Koreatown, which is great. I want to make a stop here anyways because I heard there is an awesome ice cream spot that has koi fish-shaped ice cream cones!! KOI SHAPED CONES!!!

Yamashiro Hollywood– A Sushi/California Asian fusion restaurant that is in the Hollywood Hills overlooking the city.  My dearest friend from Australia went to LA twice and enjoyed this restaurant both times, last time being with his family.  Every time we talk about LA he tells us we have to visit Yamashiro for the views and the cocktails.  I looked into it, and my jaw dropped with how beautiful this location is and the food looks amazing.  So, finally, Pat, I have my calendar is marked in June to make reservations to dine at Yamashiro! 🙂

Grand Central Market– My husband went to the GCM last year, kept texting me dreamy food pictures, so I learned fast that this is the mecca of all the goodness LA has to offer.  I am dying to eat at Eggslut, McConnell’s Ice Cream, and just walk around the heartbeat of the farmers market.  Also, uhm, there is a Mexican dry goods place there named Valeria…so of course, I gotta go there to see what I can buy with my name on it. Even if it’s a bag of dried beans, idc.

Broad Museum– We are museum people, after all.  Never a trip without a museum. This museum is supposed to be set up with some great contemporary art. Plus, the architecture of this building is sick and it is near Walt Disney Concert Hall! The coolest building that I want to see!

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Up next is our rough list for Laguna Beach, and like I mentioned before, if you have any recommendations please don’t hesitate to message! I always reply.

xoxo

Dance Recital 2018

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Well, hallelujah hallelujah, dance is officially over for the school year!

After 8 months of getting the girls’ classes straight, washing and drying leotards/tights/pants each week, primping hair, and a lot of driving to rehearsals, we have made it to the big day!  YAHOO!!  (Recital, like Memorial Day weekend, gives me the feels to kick off Summer …for me anyways.)

The school put on quite the performance this year, it was fun from the first dance to the last.  And my girls did a wonderful job with their peers in “Game On”.  Games was this year’s theme.  My oldest daughter performed Capture the Flag (ballet), and my youngest Family Feud (jazz funk) and Memory (ballet)..some pretty great games.  There were so many special dances this performance, and I wish I could share them all with you.  Each game was matched with a song that was of that game, like “Twister” was danced to “Twist and Shout”.  So many clever matches.  They even put on a verse from Hamilton as an interpretation of Call of Duty..so good!!  These kids worked so hard, and it showed!  GREAT JOB, TDS!!!

I always get super emotional during recital.  I don’t know if are catching on to my theme of crying yet, but apparently I cry a lot and tell you guys.  SMH.  It’s just so emotional for me to sit through these productions at times.  Watching all the tiny little preschoolers perform at the start, bumbling and forgetting their positions..just at that sweet age my girls started dance.  Then the trotting, voluptuous, high schoolers dancing perfectly poised in such complicated numbers, who my girls will one day become.  It just gets me at times. These girls are growing up way too fast, and it’s freaking me out!!  I got them dressed today and was like, “I have a twelve-year-old?”.  Like when did that happen?!?!

But it did.  I have a preteen!!

After the performance, we treated everyone to pizza, which was fun, and now I am here at home doing laundry with a house of preteens (niece included) ripping up the place and hollering craziness.  Which I love.

oxoxox

Here are some fun pics of the day.

 

Off to dance recital we goooOOOooo
The best of sistahs
Me with our oldest
Our youngest (yes she is the youngest!)
The H Girls
With my momz
With their grandparents
Ballet
w her cousin at intermission
jazzzz
acrooooo
look at those moves..
ballet, she is adorable
Such a ballerina
Finale!
My family
with my sister and mom
I love my family to pieces

Mother’s Day 2018

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First…

HAPPY MOTHERS DAY TO ALL OF THE MOMS OUT THERE!

💕

Kicked off Mother’s Day Friday after work with my sister and Mom. It was a little chilly Friday, but sunny. When I arrived to my sister’s there was a lot of commotion going on in the streets. The town was on lockdown, lots of cops on the street and helicopters flying around.  Apparently, a strange man was seen wandering the woods near the local elementary school threatening to have a fire arm. It was creepy to feel some crazy person on the loose but within a half hour the lockdown was called off as they got the man.

We had a great time chatting, laughing and enjoyed some pizza before we exchanged all the cards and gifts, and the kids starting a fire to make s’mores!!  They made me feel so special. And I hope I did the same for them. It was a great way to end a long week, though the week wasn’t over..the kids had school Saturday!  Yes, school on a Saturday! It was the last weekend to make up for some snow days that infringed the calendar year. Phew!

💕

Saturday, after the kids got out of school, we got together with our friends for some Chinese and scorpion bowls, my favorite. Afterwards we finished the night at our bffs playing games.

I was actually pretty proud of myself Saturday, because I didn’t eat any Chinese food, got maki rolls/sushi and stuck with only eating that. I have started a challenge this month to be mindful about eating; without feeling deprived I started to control portions, eat less carbohydrates and ramp up my workouts. So far it has paid off because I have lost 8lbs and I am still motivated. Feeling great in your skin is a wonderful feeling.

I love black and blue.. OOTD: INC pants and J CREW Tulle Tshirt

💕

Today I gave myself a day off from the challenge to just be a total pig. As you know, it is Mother’s Day and I have been too accountable eating and just needed a day to eat steak n’ drink. Haha.

I woke up to cloudy skies, but that didn’t matter much since the girls came into the room acting super sweet. Lots of hugs and kisses in bed. They were so excited to start our day. Coffee was being made while my baby girl was showing me a PowerPoint she made for me. It was a slew of slides saying she loved me and why, and embedded with my favorite Mickey Mouse shorts. Haha. She knows me so well. Then they got me to sit at the table so they could present their gifts. First was my baby girl, who made some impressive cards. Then my oldest gave me her cards, who totally made me cry with her thoughtful words and a wooden structure that wrote out ‘love’. Melted me completely. Then my husband handed me coffee and gave me all his cards and gifts, he always spoils me too much. I really felt so loved, and of course, I cried. Like a lot. Even when I went to go get ready for the day.

PowerPoint presentation
We talked about her use of YOUR and YOU’RE, she said she got her point across hahah
Wish upon a Well is my fav shorts…
My youngest’s card for me, what a cutie!
Her homemade gift
My oldest’s card for me, she is so talented.
Her words were beautiful. I love that she writes with feeling.
PERFECT CARD!!
They gave me some amazing things…missing is a bottle of perfume I fell for in Japan and a new FitBit! :))))

They always know how to make me feel so good. 🙂 I really got lucky here with these three.

My husband took us to a new favorite location, the Ledger Restaurant in Salem, MA. We had been to this place for a party two month ago and loved it. Today did not disappoint. They offered a three course fixed menu, which actually rocked. We started off with side cars, because it is our cocktail of choice. I love me a side car. Mmmmmhm mm. I love em. My husband got the same appetizer, asparagus w a soft egg over grits and hollandaise sauce, which was to die for. The girls ordered off the kids menu, mac n cheese and pan seared salmon. Then for our main I got the steak and he got the scallops, and I have to say I was way happier than I thought I would be. Every bite was delicious. Then we finished the meal off with a large homemade yodel and ‘donuts and coffee’, and the girls meals came with a homemade cookie (which was warm and delicious). The yodel was so good but the donuts were amazing!! Ahhh maaayyy zinnng.

 

They are my reason for everything 🙂
she is only ten.
my twelve year old and husband, who is under the weather 😦
Side Cars
I love them so much
The Mother’s Day fixed menu, Ledger Restaurant
Asparagus w soft egg over grits with hollandaise.
my steak
his scallops
Coffee and Donuts
Homemade Yodel
My girls. 🙂

 

As we left the restaurant the skies opened to sunshine, and the city of Salem was vibrant with lots of families and people walking around.  We took some time to run errands then ended up back at home where our friend stopped by for a bit.  Once they left we started off on our evening plans..  watching a movie and relaxing before the week starts.

It was a great weekend, lots of love here, and I hope all of you had a lot of fun, too!

xoxox

 

Walt Disney World April 23 and 24- Days 8 + 9

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Pool Ready…
Yea we don’t look alike hahah
So the theming was so cute with the horse details
Walking the bridge to the main area
Artist’s Palette
The pool area
Splash park
Yeah, we are cute 🙂

Day 8 

Disney Park: Magic Kingdom (open till 11PM)

Out of all the days we spent in Orlando, this was to be the yuckiest weather wise. The reports said it was to be thunderstorms from mid morning on. So we took our chances to spend our last morning in Disney walking the Saratoga Springs property to hang out down at the main pool. I am so glad we took this relaxing start. First, it was spotty with sunshine but no rain, so that was a win, and we all needed to enjoy some free time before the bustle of real life. With leaving tomorrow. 😦

Ok, no dwelling on that!!

We had great fun hanging out at the main pool, there are two hot tubs-and they were bone melting hot. Yes!! We luckily got ourselves ready AND partially packed by the time we made it to the Magic Kingdom!  We wanted our last full day to be at the MK.

The park’s attendance didn’t seem as crazy as our other two days there before, so we were thrilled. We strolled through Main Street USA, without bumping into a soul.  We kept our first FP for the Seven Dwarfs Mine Ride at 1:40PM. The girls and I loved this ride from the first day, and were looking forward to riding it one last time.

The queue for the ride is so darn cute. I love those seven little guys!The only thing that stunk about our ride was as soon as the mine carts hit the outside the large drops of rain started to fall.  Not a terribly big deal, I had my sunglasses to stop the splatter of water in my eyes. And even if the ride had a few minor stops along the way that got us wet, we don’t know what happened, we still had fun. That wait outside the cottage at the end was a fun opportunity to teach everyone that they can rock the carts back and forth to the music.  So, we swayed to Snow White dancing!  It was actually a lot more fun than it sounds.

About the time we got off the ride, the rain seemed over. The park was prepping for their big parade, and we wanted to get to Thunder Mountain before it was too late. But, by the time we got over to Frontierland through the bridge and roped areas, the rain had started coming down harder.  Ponchos on, we ran to Pirates of the Caribbean, which had a ten minute wait listed. I was happy to keep my poncho on for that ride as well.  The canon went off right next to our boat…  I stayed dry. After POTC, the sun came gloriously out but thunder started so all the outside rides had to pause till it was over.

The girls really wanted to have a Dole whip, because each day resulted in some fail to get one, so we raced over to grab one.  Our oldest is a huge pineapple nut, so she wanted the dole whip swirl over the upside down pineapple cake and our youngest wanted a simple vanilla, no pineapple.  The vanilla was so good, and swirled with the pineapple was pretty great.  I am a fan and not a fan of the Dole whip.  The first time I had it I got the float, which was literally so much pineapple that I couldn’t taste anything else for three hours. But our oldest remembers her very first one, in 2012, and talks about it like it was an ancient precious relic. Haha

I like rum. Maybe next time I will try the rum ones?

Dwarfs Mine Ride!
I used that darn Snap sticker and ruined a cute picture…ehhh!
The three amigos
Dole Whip with Pineapple Upside down cake
Vanilla soft serve
Big Thunder Mountain Family

Since the sun was still out, and no thunder rumbles for a while, we ran over to Big Thunder Mountain which had virtually no line!  We ended up riding it twice in a row, taking full advantage of people stuck somewhere else due to the thunder.

After this, we planned FP to split up because our oldest wanted to ride Space Mountain again with her dad, and our youngest wanted to go on The Haunted Mansion with me. My ghoulish gal. We had a lot of fun splitting up! We walked through the store first to cool off from the humidity, then made our way. We laughed a lot, and the ride had a quick pause where we got spooked pretty good by the creepy skeleton that pops up out of the tombstone!

We met up after these rides in Liberty Square. The rain started again, so we ducked into The Hall of Presidents. Without too much detail or ranting crazily about my dislike for Trump. All the Presidents creep me out. They always have. Especially, the little guy at the desk behind Pres. Washington. I flashed the 8 gang sign to Pres. Van Buren, always representing Seinfeld. Cheered seeing JFK, cuz Boston. The show is a good watch overall. Our country is spectacular and we have had do many different types of leaders. My kids liked the video beforehand followed by President Lincoln’s address. I always do. Which is probably the best part of the whole show.

And, Trump sucks even as an animatronic puppet reading from a script. Ugh sorry, I couldn’t help myself.

We left the show to find blue skies and SUNSHINE! Woo! We took a walk up the side of the castle then realized each time we walked by the castle this trip it was closed for a parade or show. We saw it was open and finally made our way in!

It’s not a terribly big walk through but it is worth stopping to look at all the Cinderella reliefs. The lighting is dark, but what you can see of the mosaics is spectacular when you think about how many man hours the artist put into them. She did an amazing job. I especially like the gold tiles, so sparkly in each relief.

As we strolled down the castle paths, we realized the time. We had a FP for The Speedway and then reservations for dinner following, at Be Our Guest.

The Speedway is one of those ‘ride your own’ rides that crack me up with the girls because they can’t drive to save their lives and are overwhelmed if they bump the inner track. My husband rode with our oldest, because our youngest wouldn’t allow me to go with her. Notice how she is always with me? She is starting to attach herself to my hip. Well, we had good fun driving, or trying to drive. She was so funny because she has a lead acceleration foot and a lead breaking foot. She kept freaking out, letting go of the wheel and smashing into the inner track.

Let’s hope this isn’t her driving future.

Hall of Presidents
My Castle Family
The wicked stepsisters…
Speedway
My driver today
She is cute..maybe she can lyft/uber her whole life

Finally! Dinner!

We had only eaten lunch at Be Our Guest in 2014, and had a good experience. Dinner service is way different than lunch.

First, you check in at the front kiosk where you are told to await a text to enter the gates. Within seconds we got the text. We then were let into the gates, then told to await our party’s name to be announced. Every few minutes a footman would come out of the side door calling names. Once our name was called the footman walked us in the castle through the main doors telling us that the prince was throwing a party. The lunch ordering kiosks to the right were covered in lush velvet curtains and we were taken straight through the ballroom where we had sat before to our table.

We were seated in what I called the Thunder and Lightning Room. It was one the left side of the ballroom; beautiful plum wall paper, dimly lit tables and it had a lot of theatrics. The ceiling had tapestries hung that the Beast had clawed through during a fit, there was also a crackling fireplace with a painting hung above. Every few minutes thunder and lightning lit up the space, and with each clap of thunder the painting above the fireplace would flicker between the painting of the Prince to an image of him as the Beast. Super glad no other children sat in this space because the thunder and lightning was sort of loud …and spooked me a little! Also, next to the fireplace-in the corner of the room, there was the enchanted rose under glass twirling. It was a beautiful space but I wish the rose was more realistic rather than holographic.

When we got seated the Beast made a dramatic entrance into our space to say a quick hello to the room before heading to his character meet spot inside the study, the ordering kiosks area at the front. Our waitress was super nice and the atmosphere was pretty fun, though at times I’d joke that we were at the Rainforest Cafe with the lightning and thunder.

Our waitress encouraged us to take a walk around the restaurant and to see the Beast. After we ordered drinks we took a minute to check out our room and the other rooms across the way. We decided to hold off on seeing the Beast until after we ate and ready to leave.

The whole table was dressed so perfectly in a rose theme. Each place-setting was adorned with rosette napkins and a giant candle in the middle of the table. The girls loved the napkins a lot; so now I have to learn how to make rose folded napkins to surprise them.

Our experience this meal was actually nothing like the horror stories we had read. We ended up enjoying it way more than we figured we would. My husband got the salmon. Our girls got the grilled shrimp and mac n cheese. I got the roasted chicken- because I never order chicken ever but during this trip I ordered it like everyday. Haha. My husband had a beer and I had a rose champagne. We had a great time together, even if the thunder got the best of me once in a while. Hah

We, of course, had to get the grey stuff. My only meh moment of the night was this grey stuff. I’m the only one who didn’t care for it, too. It was sort of bland and the crust was so hard to get through. I took a bite and forfeited it to the big man. Which I am glad I did because I got a second round of champagne instead :).

Waiting at check in
The gargoyles are the cutest
The entrance to dinner
Inside the Lightning and Thunder room
The enchanted rose
This is a series of photos that just made me laugh.. i asked for my husband to take a photo of us.. take one it’s too dark
Take two..oh a thumb
Take three…where are you going?
TAKE FOUR! YEAHHH!
I took this on one take.. Yup I am good hahah

After dinner we met the Beast. Well, he is the reason I wanted to take the girls to this restaurant; well, I had never seen him in person. Just wow. What a costume. The whole character meet was so sweet. He kissed our hands, hugged us and we were enchanted.

Now that we were all floating on cloud nine, we made our way to Big Thunder Mountain to use our last FP.  As we ran over, we noticed the park was starting their nighttime show, so the ride had virtually no line anyways.  We got onto the ride, my husband and I alone in front of the girls, who got to sit in the last seat  (which is the best seat on the whole coaster).  We popped outside to find the fireworks just starting.  IT WAS AMAZEBALLS! I mean, the locations of each display is staggered to look together from Main Street USA but from the side they are spread out so our view was literally surrounded on the right side… it was the best thing I had ever experienced on BTM.

The fireworks show is pretty long, and they continued as we exited the ride… so the girls wanted to hop back on, and I decided to sit it out to watch the fireworks.  I got to sit on top of these boxes near the water bubbler by the exit to watch the show as they went on.  It was awesome.  The best part of this stint of the night was when my family exited the ride my husband sat out the next ride to sit with me on the boxes as the girls rode again.

Kissing during fireworks that close is pretty special.  🙂

As soon as the girls exited, the fireworks ended and the rain started!  BAH!! almost perfect, right?  Well we ended up getting the girls on the carousel as we took cover near by.  We had one last FP for the night, Peter Pan.  It may have been the best way to end the night.  The girls wanted to ride it together, which was sweet, and left us alone. I know I said this last time, but I just love this ride so much.  We jetted after this ride to the Confectionary on Main Street USA to grab some last minute souvenirs for everyone.  They were shooting photos for some photo shoot inside there, which was fun to see.

Sad to say, that this was our last full day in the parks, but a pretty great last night of the trip.  The girls were wiped during the bus ride home, but so was I.  When we got back to the resort, I jumped on finishing up the packing and setting up everyone for the next day.  😦

Our last day.

—————

Day 9

Disney Park: EPCOT

We woke up to beautiful sunshine!  Of course, we were leaving.  We dropped off our bags to bell service to hold, grabbed a bite to eat and a few more souvenirs.  I needed my Mickey waffle key chain!  Then headed right to EPCOT.  We had to be back to the resort by 2PM to grab the Magical Express back to the airport. Which by my calculations left us not a ton of time to play.  We had one FP this day, because of the time constraints, to Test Track.  We literally got to EPCOT, took a few pictures, rode Test Track then left.

Or at least it felt that fast!

—–

Well, there we have it, guys!

It was a fun nine days with the people I love most on this marble creating memories, just having fun.  BUT, I think we have had our Disney Parks fill for a bit.  Wink Wink.  I will explain my winks further on Instagram sometime soon!

Hope you all enjoyed reading along.  I miss not waking up in Disney, it really has been magical.

xoxoxo

Walt Disney World April 22- Day 7

Posted in My Travels by

Day 7 

Disney Park: EPCOT (open till 9PM)

The forecast for this day was iffy.  Our weather apps all stated thunder showers with intermittent sunshine; so we grabbed our ponchos and headed to EPCOT!

OOTD! Electric blue J Crew scalloped tank w denim shorts, Old Navy red sweater
The frappuccino obsession
It’s crazy.. I don’t even like them haha
I’m an ice latte type of girl
I love Catrina..jussayin.

——-

**This post is going to take a quick personal turn before I get back to my trip details.

When I initially arrived in Orlando on this trip, I had gotten word that one of my cousins from England was in the area visiting Florida with all her family. Her daughter and I are connected on FB, so I had shared my itinerary to see if any days overlapped to meet up while we were there in the same city.  Her daughter texted me during dinner at Art Smith’s the night before that they would also be at EPCOT till 2PM this day.

‘Well, I thought you were Italian?’

Here is a little back story to explain my English family..

I have mentioned a few dozen times how I am born to immigrant parents from Sicily, Italy.  Living here we have had just ourselves, no aunts, no uncles, though I have a pretty huge family; a total mix of 17 aunts and uncles. Most of my aunts and uncles live in Sicily, with the exception of five, one of whom, on my mom’s side, moved to the UK as a young man.  This uncle, one of my favorites, married an English woman and had five children together.  Though my mother was always very close to her brother, and would always be on the phone, skype, or receiving letters and photos of everyone often, we never had many chances to meet as kids or anytime really. I am the third youngest first cousin on my mother’s side, the second youngest on my father’s, and with such a large family the age gap is big; most of my first cousins average about 15-20 years older than me.

Well, I had the luck as a child to meet my uncle three times; he traveled to America twice.  He visited once when I was 4yo with his son, and again when I was 9yo with his wife. Then at 13yo my mother and I stayed with him at their sister’s house during a vacation in Sicily.

When I was 23, my husband and I were freshly engaged, and I took a chance to fly to London with him on a work trip. At that point, my uncle with most of my family lived in Cornwall, about 9hrs away by train from London.  I couldn’t take that trip, but one of my first cousins lived right outside of London with his family. A cousin I had never met but always felt I knew through the countless photos we had fawned over growing up. So we stayed with him for a day. I got to meet his daughters, my two beautiful second cousins and spend such a lovely time together.   Just a funny fact about this cousin, he is featured in the first scene of the 007 movie, A View to Kill, just a split second.  He worked as an actual Royal Guard for the Palace in real life, and in the movie he is the guard on horse going by the screen in the first seconds after the credits.  (Not sure why I am sharing this but I love that he is in this movie with his suit on!!) 

In the early 2000’s one of my English second cousins came to visit.  Then after I got married I had started to make some mental plans to visit my family in England, but my uncle got ill and passed away; I was devastated for a long period. BUT, let’s fast forward to my sister’s wedding in Sicily in 2007, the only two English cousins I had met attended. And that was it from England, I had met my uncle and aunt, one cousin when I was 4, another at 23.

Then this day happened, of all places at Disney . I got to meet a third cousin from England!

My cousin, guys!

 

Standing next to one of my English cousins with her whole family.
She looks so much like her father, my favorite uncle it is insane.

So, I am a pretty emotional person about family, probably because I always fantasized what life would’ve been like living in Sicily with everyone close by or with anyone here at all.  So meeting my cousin was absolutely surreal for me.  We talked about meeting at Mexico in the Showcase.  When we got there, it was a bit of a seek game. I looked outside, no one.  The I went inside, no one.  My second cousin texted me that they were outside and as I walked out to check again, I saw this little woman standing across the way who looked just like my mom.  And my uncle!

It was her!!  I screamed in joy and hugged her right away.  I was very happy to make this happen. I got to meet her with her whole family- her husband, my two second cousins, and one third cousin!! People I had only seen grow up in pictures. She got to meet my children and husband. My girls loved all their accents and to finally meet extended family. They knew this was important to me.  Just surreal.

We caught up as much as we could about our families. We jumped topics but we talked about my sisters and parents, and my uncle, who had passed away, and her mom and siblings. The time flew, all I could do was dwell inside my head of how much family I have missed in my life AND how she looked like my mom and our family. We talked about a lot, but they had to move on to their next destination as they were traveling with my second cousins partner and family.

Just crazy right? It was an amazing once in a lifetime opportunity that I will always hold close.

——

Just as we were parting ways, it started to rain.  We threw on ponchos then head along with our plans.  We started with a bite of school bread in Norway, which we still think they changed the recipe because of the renovations to the bakery. It just had a whole different consistency.  As we were in Norway the rain came down heavier, and we were on our way to seek refuse in Frozen Ever after, where we were headed because the lines were super low.  WERE.  As soon as we were walking over, the whole world walked over and the lines popped up to 45 minute wait in minutes.  We shrugged it off because we made a fast pass for it at 5:15PM, and decided to make our way to Germany to grab some fun foods and drinks.  The second we walked away from Norway the sun came out and the skies turned blue.   …which was awesome!

We grabbed a potato pancake (because I love to eat potatoes all the time) and a berry strudel.  The luck is that seats opened up in Germany to chill out in the sunshine.  The girls were promised a game of Agent P in Germany, and while they did that with Daddy, I grabbed a champagne at the Weinkeller.  When I got back, my husband ran to grab some caramel popcorn, which I think we ate in three minutes flat.  haha  We spent a lot of time chilling in Germany enjoying the weather and Agent P. We always had great memories of playing Agent P with the girls from our last trips.

I can’t say that I didn’t think about meeting my cousin while I was sitting with everyone, or how that it left me feeling empty.  It had for some reason. I even shed a tear under my sunglasses.  I don’t know why I felt so sad, but I did.  My husband saw me upset, and tried to cheer me up.  He understands me better than I do myself.  So we decided it was time to get up to walk around more, and I suggested we grab slushie drinks in Japan.  We liked those drinks a lot, and my kids would never say no to more sugar  haha. This time, however, my husband grabbed a frozen foam Kirin beer from a different location within Japan. It was super cool looking, and even though I am not a beer fan, it was fun to drink!

We walked over to Morocco.  We had planned to grab another drink here, but the machines were broken. Womp, so off to walk through the bizarre.  The styling of the space is so beautiful, and unique to the showcase.  The girls, at this point, saw the KidCot stations in n alley and decided to flake us to color Duffy..and rehash their obsession with talking to each KidCot station representative while coloring.  Which is great, but how they didn’t see this our first day is funny.

So. Enter rant here...   My only complaint about the Showcase is that they go through a lot of trouble to be authentic with the feel of each country, till you get to the shopping.  They don’t really sell unique items in these countries that make you want to drop cash like you should on vacation.  I know I am advocating more money to spend, but I am serious.  I like shopping, I do it all day, and most of the things I like to buy are quality things that make me happy.  They don’t sell any and it’s a shame.  Like Morocco, for example, where we are a the moment. Such a missed opportunity.  If they sold things that were real imports I would have bought them! Like some of the decor around the space were more intriguing than the actual items to buy…like one store we went into last was selling the same stuff the other stores had, the ornate dresses, the flashy fashion jewelry and shoes, etc, except they had a table set up with obscure Moroccan hair products in the window.  On the table was a small assortment of hair care things, even incense oddly enough, but there was this sole bottle of green colored shampoo that looked like it had been there for a LONNG time..I grabbed it because the label was a throwback to the 70’s.  IT WAS OLD SHAMPOO!  and it smelled disgusting to boot!  Here is an opportunity to actually sell the most coveted hair products in the world, the middle east is known for their amazing beauty products, and you are selling crappy hair shampoo and oils? Why?  And each store had the same merchandise, such a missed opportunity, guys!!

Bbah, I should be a buyer for EPCOT.  The stuff I saw was so weak everywhere.

Ok rant over.

In Germany, Potato Pancake with forest ham
In Germany, a berry streudel
Agent P in Germany
While I drank some brut champagne reveling in meeting family on this trip
Me and my girls
Caramel popcorn in Germany
Sake Mist (blood orange) in Japan
Frozen Kirin foam beer in Japan
Morocco
My family 🙂
They should sell things like this in EPCOT’s Morocco..i’d buy it
a painting in France
surprise napoleon
and hazelnut choc beignet
Meeting aurora
He’loOoo from UK
Flowers in Canada

We arrived in France.  I love this little corner of the Showcase so much because out of all the countries, this one actually feels like parts of Paris.  My husband asked us to chill by the fountain, and he grabbed tomato tartes with two la vie en rose slushies, which I didn’t know they were both for me. haha  I really loved them so I was happy.  We took a walk around the area.  The kids wanted to find the KidCot table to get stamps and color their Duffys some more.  It was inside the store/Pattiserie.  As I was shopping around, the girls were coloring and my husband disappeared; only to emerge calling me with his special whistle.  He was behind me with treats and a table for four in the corner. He grabbed Napoleons for him and the girls, and a beignet filled with hazelnut chocolate for me.

I am insane for Nutella, so this was definitely received with a smile.  🙂

Once we finished our treats, the girls decided to hit the KidCot again for more coloring, and my husband went to check the line for Aurora outside.  Within seconds I got the text that he was in line so we shuffled out and made it for the girls to meet Aurora.  We leisurely walked through England and Canada.  Weird thing, it’s a huge joke for us in the house that we had never, and YES NEVER, seen Oh Canada! with Martin Short.   Well, we rectified this and made it up the stairs and down the mountain to see it.  It was actually not as annoying as I thought it would be, on the account that Martin Short can sometimes be annoying.  And by sometimes, I mean usually.

After our journey through Canada, we trotted back over around the Showcase to Norway to get on Frozen Happily Ever After. Ok, so here I go…  I loved the Maelstrom, it was one of my favorite rides, especially the part where you thought you’d fall out of the building, and I love the changes they made for this ride.  The theming through out and the animatronics were great.  I actually liked it more than I thought I would.  The only stinky thing was we all sat second row, behind some jackass who kept using flash photography, and some dufus behind us, too! What are you taking a photo of in the dark!??!  Well the woman behind us stopped after two flashes, but the guy in front of us wouldn’t stop.  During each display the CMs kept having to slow down the ride to yell at him from above.  He was so annoying!!

But the ride was fun, we all got to sit on one row together which I like, and we even got a little wet.

After the ride, we decided to dry off by walking through China while the kids were at the KidCot table. China is pretty.  I remember loving China during my first trip to EPCOT with my husband in 2002. I made him sit there with me for so long so I could soak up the sights. We ate and hung out for like three hours or something just talking.  haha  So silly.

Finally, FOOD!  We made it to our reservations at Via Napoli in Italy starving because we hadn’t eaten in like five minutes.  The weather by the time we had our reservations was absolutely perfect.  It was hot but breezy, so we opted to sit outside.  We wanted to take a long break for dinner, so we grabbed a margherita pizza with some drinks and just talked about all the fun we have been having and made plans for the night.  We snagged some FP for test track and a character meet up…we still hadn’t met up with Mickey this trip!  (I had made a Mickey Mouse character meet FP that we had cancelled, and I was upset over it, so this FP was for me. haha)   After dinner, the kids wanted to color more and get a stamp from KidCot.  As I was hanging out with them, I noticed the CM in the space was from Sicily, so we started talking.  Then a local elderly gentleman came over to join in on the conversation, who was originally from Sicily.  He reminded me of my father; how he physically used his hands to explain things, so I enjoyed talking to him.

Getting on Frozen Ever After
And another traditional photo, this is our third vikings hat photo… look at H’s face. hahah
China
Dinner al fresco in Italia
who doesn’t love aranciata?
Or this vesuvio drink.. it was insanely good.
Margherita Pizza!
and my fav Pinocchio, and the gallina mask, i love chickens.

After this we walked over to the Character meet.  We didn’t choose to hang out for Illuminations again since we had seen it last time, and we had other plans.  The character meet was so much fun, it made up for the fact that we had to cancel the one at the MK.  Mickey is such a gentleman, and Goofy, man, I swear Goofy flirted with me!  haha We all had such memorable interactions with the group.  Minnie was my youngest daughter’s favorite she said, because she was so polite and loved all of their shirts. 🙂  So cute.

Right after that fun time we hopped on Test Track.  What great timing we had because as soon as the ride broke loose to the outside track the fireworks from Illuminations were going off in the sky around us and it was so amazing. Truly magical.  We all couldn’t believe our luck!

Nighttime photo
Meeting Mickey!
Mickey Selfie
Kissing Goofy cuz he and I bonded this visit. Lots of hugs and hugs… ahem, from goofy.
meeting Minnie
Minnie Selfie
Test track with fireworks was awesome!

We left Test Track to look for a few things in Mouse Gear, then made our way to grab a Mickey sandwich for the girls.  Walked slowly to the bus.

😦  Our last full day at EPCOT.