Today, I head down to Disney to participate in Disney’s Star Wars Race Weekend. However, before I have another trip to write about, I wanted to do a write up on our 10 day trip we took back in February. Despite being there many times, there were a few firsts and overall it was a different experience than our previous trips.
Our winter break happens to coincide with Disney’s Princess Race Weekend. I figured since I was running, why not make it a family vacation. Unfortunately, Bill could not join us, so it became a Mom and son’s trip, and we had the best time. There was little fighting between the boys. They went with the flow and did not complain about the go, go, go pace I have while at the parks. This was more likely due to how I approached this trip. I scheduled some downtime, which is NOT something I tend to do. However, it worked to my advantage, and we honestly had the best time. Now, I am not going to do a day by day breakdown for you. This is going to be a high-level report of some of the highlights and the new things we tried over the ten days. Are you ready?
The first thing that was new and different for us, was a split stay. We spent half the week at the Polynesian and half the week at the Beach Club. We stayed in the DVC section of each of the resorts. Both are amazing resorts and have their advantages. I love the feel and smells of the Polynesian. I love how it is a monorail resort and its close proximity to the Magic Kingdom. I love how the rooms have the split bathrooms. One is rather large with a toilet, sink and bath. The other has an awesome spa-like shower, sink, and vanity. The room also sleeps 5, which is very nice. We have stayed at the Poly many times and is usually our go-to resort. On Wednesday of that week, we headed over to the Beach Club. I loved the proximity to Epcot and Hollywood Studios. The room also sleeps 5, but we did miss having the two bathrooms. The pool was amazing. Of course we love Beaches and Cream and the boys had to try the cupcake milkshakes. If I had to pick one, I am still thinking the Polynesian. Nothing beats the view of the castle!
This trip, I wanted to try some new experiences or revisit a couple of old ones that were a hit or may have changed. We attended two dessert parties, Early Morning Magic at Toy Story Land over at Hollywood Studios and Disney After Hours at the Animal Kingdom. Each event had an additional cost on top of park admission, but I wanted this to be a special trip and in my opinion, each event, but one, was worth the extra money.
The first event was the Happily Ever After Dessert Party at the Magic Kingdom. The party is held at the Tomorrowland Terrace. The cost is $69.00 per adult and $41.00 per child. The price includes all you can eat desserts (we skipped dinner that day), juices, water, soda, coffee, tea, and hot chocolate.
There were trays of desserts like the ones above. They also had some hummus, cheese, and crackers. They had cookies, brownies, ice cream and make your own s’mores. If you love sweets, this is the place for you After you are done eating, you may, at your leisure, ask to be escorted down to the viewing area. We had seats in the hub area of Magic Kingdom. The viewing area for Happily Ever After is why I spent the money on this event. There is no fighting for a spot. One does not need to arrive 2 hours ahead of time for a good view. The spot is amazing and with a view like this, why not??
We also happen to do the Star Wars Galactic Spectacular Dessert Party at Hollywood Studios. We had attended this back in 2017, but it loved it so much, we had to do it again. I am glad we did. They made some changes to improve the event when I didn’t think the improvements were needed.
The party takes place inside Star Wars Launch Bay. At check-in, you receive a lanyard. The lanyard admits you and your party into the roped off area inside. Once inside, you are assigned to a table. The tables have numbers and under that number is an invitation. Okay, not so much an invitation, more like a demand. 😉
For those of you not familiar with the Stars Wars movies, the Commander would be Kylo Ren. He is a bit intimidating in the movie and here at Disney!
Storm Troopers roam about and interact with the crowd.
The Star Wars Galactic Spectacular Dessert Party includes something that the Magic Kingdom one does not, alcohol. For the price one pays to attend these events, after a long day in the parks, alcohol may be a must for some. Speaking of price, I believe this was the same price as the one in MK. Unfortunately, I did not partake in an adult beverage, as I was running the next day. However, I recall from 2017, and it was delicious. It is the same layout as the one at the Magic Kingdom. There are plenty of desserts, cheese, crackers, hummus, ice cream, and more. The party included soft drinks, coffee, tea, and alcohol. I found this party included a bit more, and the choices were better.
In addition to meeting Kylo and eating to our heart’s content, we were free to explore Launch Bay and see props and memorabilia from all the movies. At around 7:45 pm, we were escorted outside to our reserved seating to watch the show. As we were leaving, we were given a plastic mug, in the shape of Darth Vader’s head. The reserved seating area was fantastic. It had changed from 2017, and it is a much better view. I highly recommend this party, even if you are not a Star Wars fan.
Another first, Early Morning Magic at Toy Story Land. I knew there was no way my children would wait for 2,3 or 4 hours for Slinky Dog. I had heard the Early Morning Magic was fantastic. It includes a hot and cold breakfast and an hour and a half in Toy Story Land with access to all the rides. It was worth every penny. We rode Slinky Dog, Alien Swirling Saucers and Toy Story Mania many times. We also had our photo taken with Woody and Jessie. Around this time, the park had opened for the general public and crowds descended upon us. All I can say, purchase the Early Morning Magic, stat!!! The price for this event is $79.00 for adults and $69.00 for kids.
We did one other special event and that is Disney’s After Hours at the Animal Kingdom. The cost of this event is steep, $125.00 each. The event is from 8:00-11:00 pm certain nights of the week. Both rides in Pandora are open, Dinosaur, Everest, two showings of Rivers of Light and the Tree of Life Awakenings. There are snacks served around the park. The rest of the park is closed. This is a bit of a disappointment, but we knew that going in. The boys mainly wanted to go for access to Flight of Passage. We were able to walk right on that ride several times, as well as all of the other rides. However, we were only there for about an hour, when my youngest started to feel ill. It had been a long, hot day and he was done. Overall, the event was okay. I probably would not do it again due to the lack of areas in the park being open. Next trip, we do plan on doing the after hours at the Magic Kingdom. There is simply more to do.
During the ten-day trip, we had a couple of new character meet and greets. First, we met up with Cinderella’s wicked stepsisters over at the Magic Kingdom. This was by far, our best character experience. They spent at least 5-7 mins with the boys. They even set a wedding date!
Over at the Animal Kingdom, we met Scrooge McDuck. It was a great new photo op.
Though we did not get our photo with her, we did see the famous Kevin, from the movie Up. She was roaming around the Animal Kingdom most of the day.
The one we were most surprised to see was the Evil Queen. She rarely makes an appearance. However, a source close to the Queen said when they are new to the role, they go out and about to meet people. A practice run more or less. I was thrilled to meet her.
We also attended the Festival of the Arts over at Epcot. This is a fairly new festival to Epcot and we enjoyed what we saw. There was entertainment, such as the Disney Broadway Concert Series, seminars and demonstrations and 13 food studios with lots of delicious treats such as this Mac & Cheese Lobster in a cone. It is like a mini Food and Wine.
What I loved best about the festival, all the different photo ops. I know there was so much more to do and see, but I had teenage boys with me. Seminars and demonstrations, are not their thing. However, they were good sports and took some photos with me.
I am looking forward to experiencing it again next year.
Though, we had done this next experience before, it had been a while. On Sunday, we spent all day and night at the Magic Kingdom. It was very crowded and we had some time to kill while waiting for our Fast Passes. After riding Pirates of the Caribbean, I was looking around and thought, hey it has been a while since we were on Tom Sawyer’s Island. The kids and I jumped on the raft and headed over.
The island is on the banks of the River of America in the middle of Frontierland. It has some great views of the Haunted Mansion and Thunder Mountain. It is a self-guided tour, with maps, signs, bridges, caves, mills and more. It is inspired by the writings of Mark Twain. It has been years since we checked it out. At first, the kids were not too keen on doing it. However, once we started exploring, they had a blast.
Finally, the last ‘first” we experienced on this trip, was Nicholas’s 1st runDisney race. He and I ran the 5K together. I will never forget the look of joy as he crossed over the finish line!
There is so much more I could write about this trip. However, I am going to leave it here. There are many more Disney trips on the horizon for us. Be sure to check back to look for my review of the Flower and Garden Festival and the Star Wars Races. Both of these are new experiences to me. What I love most about Disney, no matter how many times we have gone, there is always something new to see and do.
Until next time, lots of faith, trust and pixie dust!
Last Mother’s Day, the 4 of us went out to breakfast and then headed to the Wicked Tulip Farm in Johnston, Rhode Island. It has more than 600,000 tulips and is the largest u-pick tulip farm in New England. It is open late April into the middle of May. Mother’s Day weekend is generally the last weekend to go, but there was still plenty to see. There is an entire section of tulips for show only. It was magnificent. The rest of the farm is for picking. The event sells out each year and it is required you purchase tickets ahead of time, online.
When arriving, you are given instructions on how to pick and a basket to carry our blooms in. The tulips are $1.00 a stem. Pictures are encouraged and you may even have a professional photo shoot. Obviously, this needs to be scheduled ahead of time and if needed, they have a list of recommended photographers you can use. If I had known about this when the kids were little, I would have been all over that. Once you are done picking, there is a self -service wrapping station. Then you are on your way.
I was just reading they offer yoga among the tulips. If we lived closer, I would give it a try. This summer, I want to try sunflower and lavender picking. Great things to add to the summer bucket list.
If you live in the New England area, I would highly recommend visiting the farm. If not, try looking for one near you. It will not disappoint. Happy Spring!
Our second to last day of this European adventure takes us to Naples or Napoli, as the Italians say. A few facts about Naples. It is the 3rd largest city in Italy, after Milan and Rome. It is the birthplace of pizza. Mt. Vesuvius is located 6 miles from the city and is still an active volcano. Naples is also home to Pompeii. Pompeii was once a thriving city that was buried under the ash and pumice after the volcano erupted in 79 A.D. From what I understand, there you can visit the volcano and hike up it. However, our adventure took us elsewhere. Today, we visited Sorrento and Capri. Absolutely amazing.
In Sorrento, we arrived at Agriturismo Galatea. It is mainly an agricultural farm, established over four generations. Once at the farm, we were greeted with a snack of Italian meats, bread and olive oil, all of which are made right there. We watched a demonstration on how mozzarella was made. The kids even got to play with it. They loved it!
After the cheese demonstration, we were given aprons and hats. We were brought into another room with a brick oven. Here, made our own personalized pizzas. Let me tell you, once you have this pizza, you will never want a piece of pizza back home again. Americans put so much crap on pizza. Here is it very simple. We used a cup of cup of sauce, a handful of cheese and some pepperoni if you so chose. The pizzas were cooked in brick over and done in 5 mins! It was out of this world.
After a delicious pizza lunch, we had lemon cream puffs and Limoncello. I have never eaten so well on vacation.
After lunch, we had a little bit of time to explore the farm and see what it had to offer. There were all sorts of farm animals, lemon and lime trees, olive trees and more.
Soon it was time to leave our gracious hosts and set off to catch our ferry to Capri. Once we arrived in Capri, we had time for a gelato (of course!) and to shop. Such a gorgeous island. Capri is known for rugged landscape and high end shops. It is also home to the Blue Grotto, a sea cave, where the sunlight passes through and creates this amazing blue reflection. After gelato and shopping (Capri is known for coral as well), we jumped on a private boat and went sailing around the island. We sailed around looking at the coral in the ocean.
As you can see above, those are the Faraglioni rock formations. The one in the middle is the smallest and has an arch. Our boat took us through the arch. Legend has it, couples need to kiss while going through it. Guess what what we all did. 🙂
By far, this was one of my favorite days. It was much more relaxing than some of the others and I conquered a fear of mine, deep water. I jumped into the sea and really enjoyed floating around for a while.
Have you been to Sorrento or Capri? I would love to hear all about it.
For those of you following along, I have been sharing stories of my Mom all month long. It is my way of coping with what was to come… the 5th year anniversary of her death. Today, we gathered as a family, celebrated and remembered her. We usually get together for lunch or dinner, but this year we decided to take a ride to one of her favorite places, the beach!
My Dad, sisters, nephew, my boys and I took a ride down to the West Dennis, MA. As a kid, we use to rent a house there in the summer time. My Dad and sisters still make it part of their summer vacations. Like Mom, we all love the beach. There is something about the ocean that instantly makes us feel better. It is good for the soul. As my boys ran around with a football, I snapped some photos of my nephew and then had a bit of quiet time to reflect. There is so much that has happened over the last 5 years. There have been many milestones. There have been happy times and sad times, all of which have happened without her by our side. One thing is for certain, we as a family have become closer.
These are my people. These are the people that I love fiercely. These are the people, even when we don’t agree or see eye to eye, have my back. If any good came of her death, it was the bond that I have with my family.
Losing a parent is downright awful. Losing a parent in a matter of weeks after learning of a diagnosis was unbearable. I never knew such pain and unless one has gone through it, there is no way one can understand. I am just glad to have made it through another year.
By now, I am sure you all have heard about the college admissions scandal being blasted across the news. Fifty some odd people, including two famous actresses, have been accused of handing out bribes to get their children into college. Well some say, including me, what else is new? This has been going forever. Ever wonder how the majority of children of famous people end up at really good schools? Coincidence? I think not. In any case, I am not writing today to bash wealthy celebrities. I am writing to talk about what the heck are we doing to our kids?
I am a mom of a 17 year old junior in high school. From the time he entered high school, heck even before that, there has been all sorts of talk about what he needs to do because it looks good on college applications. There is pressure for kids to be in honors/AP classes, play a sport every season, volunteer, join a club, get a job and the list goes on and on. The kids put the pressure on themselves, but as parents we seem to do a pretty good job of doing too. Heck, I am guilty of it. The first two years of his high school career was a lot of me telling him what do to. Not just guiding him, but tell him to do A, B & C. I was not letting him figure it out on his own. I was not letting him fall and make his own mistakes. I was doing him a disservice and driving us both crazy in the process! You can read more about what we struggled with here. https://lifeatmyownpace.com/lessons-in-motherhood/
It is no wonder these kids are being diagnosed with anxiety. It is no wonder these kids have such issues problem solving. As parents, we are there every step of the way holding their hand, not letting them fail. If we want to raise self sufficient, productive members of society we need to stop. We need to stop pushing them into doing things they don’t want to do and stop preventing them from failing. It is so much easier said than done. Believe me, I understand. However, in the long run, this is what is best for our kids. I am sure going to try my hardest, are you?
My Mom was funny when it came to clothes and such. Growing up, she rarely spent money on herself. As we got older and starting buying our things, she started to do the same. She would see something that me or my sisters was wearing and go out and buy it. Oh and if it came in multiple colors, she would buy one of each. At any given time, you could check out her clothes line (yes she still used one) and see the same shirt in every color of the rainbow. One day my middle sister came by with a pairs of shoes. They were a type of sandal and she told Mom they were super comfy. Mom went out and bought herself a white pair.
That summer, my parents, kids and I took a week long trip to Washington, DC. We spent 6 days walking about town, taking in all the sites. My Mom wore the shoes everywhere.
She put some serious mileage on those shoes. Upon returning home, my sister, Kristen saw her in them. She said “Oh Jeanne, where did you get those moon shoes?” Well needless to say, we all thought it was funny, but Mom did not. We never saw those shoes again. LOL!
It’s the little stories like this, that help us keep it together during the month of March. This week in particular is rough. She was sent home with hospice this time 5 years ago. However, I am determined to remember the good vs the bad as the 24th of March comes upon us.
Today I are going to talk about Day 6 of our embedded Adventures by Disney (ABD) trip. For those of you that don’t know, an embedded ABD is an Adventures by Disney trip that is done while on a Disney cruise. Instead of booking excursions through the cruise line, all the excursions are done through Adventures by Disney. I highly recommend it and looking forward to doing many more in the future.
The boat docks about an hour and half away from Rome. We were the first ones off the boat, onto the bus and off to our first stop…the Vatican. I was looking forward to visiting Rome, especially the Vatican. I am Catholic and as a Catholic, this is it. This is the where it all happens. There is so much history and power in this tiny little country. With that being said, as beautiful as it was, I was kind of sad that is has become this big tourist attraction. I had always envisioned walking up to it by way of the square. Well.. you don’t. You enter from the back (you do see the old Vatican wall, which is cool) and it is like entering any other museum. Oh and by the way, the square looks so much bigger in t.v.
First, our ABD guides and our local guide took us aside and told us what we would see in the Sistine Chapel. They had a map and pointed out all the different paintings. They did because, no is suppose to speak inside the chapel or take photos. I was disappointed about the photos, but I understood.
However, prior to touring the Sistine Chapel, we walked the museum. It is very lovely and holds so much history. It is also very crowded. You really don’t walked the museum, you do the Vatican Shuffle. There were different rooms that we walked though along the tour. There is a Gallery of the Maps, the Gallery of the Tapestries, the Gallery of the Candelabra and much more. Here are a few shots as we moved room to room.
The last room we were to see was the Sistine Chapel. I wish we could have taken photos. However, the photos probably would not have done it justice. It is simply breathtaking. Prior to going in, I mentioned our guides gave us a bit of history lesson on the chapel and Michelangelo. The chapel was created in 1508-1512. It is named for Pope Sixtus IV. Despite what people think, he did not paint the ceiling lying down. He had special scaffolding made so he could stand. There are over 300 figures painted in the chapel. There are numerous biblical scenes, such as the creations of Adam and Eve, the sacrifice of Noah and the Great Flood. Thousands of visitors tour the chapel each year. It is also where the cardinals meet to elect a new Pope. I encourage you to look online for photos. It is quite remarkable.
After visiting the chapel, it was on to St. Peter’s Basilica. This was another breathtaking work of art. I was hopeful we may run into Pope Francis. He has been known to wander about and meet people. No such luck for us. Inside the Basilica, we saw The Pieta, the statue by Michelangelo depicting Jesus in the arms of his mother after the Crucifixion. My photo does not do this justice either.
After visiting St. Peter’s we had our photos taken and then some time for shopping. From there we had another fantastic lunch. The food in Italy was amazing. Even our oldest, who will not eat pasta here at home, loved it. From there we did a walking tour and saw iconic sights, such as the Trevi Fountain, Piazza Venezia where the Vittoria Emanuele ll Monument is located, ancient Rome, the Roman Forum and the Colosseum.
The Trevi Fountain was another must on my bucket list. While it is beautiful, it was extremely crowded. One has to really push their way to the front to have their picture taken. Of course, we had to throw a coin over our shoulder. This will ensure that we will return to Rome one day.
Our last stop in this incredible city, the Colosseum. This was remarkable. From a distance, it looked fake. It reminded me of a backdrop on a movie set.
The adults and kids split up and the kids did a separate tour that involved gladiator costumes. My oldest did that, but my 13 year old stuck with the adults. In his words, he did not need it to be dumbed down for him. God help me. This kid a something else! Some interesting facts about The Colosseum. It was built in under ten years, mostly by Jewish slaves. Over a million animals and over a half million people died in The Colosseum. Also, The Colosseum had a marble facade and marble seats, however when St. Peter’s Basilica was being built, they took the marble from the Colosseum and used it there. Finally, it is the most visited site in Italy. The Vatican does receive more visitors, but that is not part of Italy. It is its own principality.
All and all, it was a fantastic day in Rome. We saw so much, yet there is still so much to be seen. I am looking forward to heading back in the next few years.
We are just about halfway through March and Spring is a mere 7 days away. For this girl, it can’t come soon enough! After spending time in Florida, I am looking forward to the warmer weather. I am looking forward to seeing green grass, the buds on the trees and the flowers starting to bloom. It is time where summer vacation plans are set in stone and thoughts of longer days makes me happy. With the change of each season, I sit down and make what I call a Seasonal Bucket List. It is a list of all the things I would like to do or see during that particular season. The list is a great way to have some ideas for family time on weekends, a night out on the town or an afternoon with the girls. As I sit here today, here are a few of the things I am putting on my Spring Bucket List.
- Planting flowers around the yard.
- Taking the dog to the beach to play.
- Family day exploring Boston.
- Spending the afternoon on Castle Island.
- Running a few races in the warmer temps.
What about you? What do you want to do this Spring? Put it down on paper, stick it on your fridge and look at it when you need some ideas. Happy list making!
Last month, my the boys and I went to Disney World for 10 days. The purpose of the trip was two-fold, vacation and to attend the Princess Half Marathon weekend. By no means was this our first trip to the World. The boys have been going since they were toddlers. Admittedly, not all trips are like what Disney portrays in their commercials. Kids get grumpy and tired. The crowds are huge. They may not have a reaction we expect or want when seeing a character for the first time. The list goes on. However, over the years I have learned to adjust, make some changes to how we approach the parks, where we stay and how much to push my kids. This trip I put what I have learned into action and both kids said this was our best Disney trip yet.
- Involve them in the planning. Ask them where they want to eat, what Fast Passes they want, what parks they would like to spend the most time in, etc.
- Stay at a hotel that is a good fit for your family. I have teenagers and we need to spread out a bit. We tend to stay at the deluxe resorts, in the DVC sections, as the rooms are bigger. If your kids love a swimming pool, stay at the hotel that was an awesome pool and pool activities.
- Think outside of the box and take advantage of some of special events Disney has to offer. Attend Early Morning Magic at one of the parks and enjoy having the rides to yourself. We did this for Toy Story land and the kids really enjoyed themselves without having to wait 4 hours for one ride. Book a dessert party at one of the parks. Not only do you get tasty desserts, but a fantastic spot to watch the fireworks. Star Wars was our favorite dessert party.
- Know how far to push them. I love getting our picture taken with the characters. However, the boys have very little patience for standing in a long line for this. My solution, characters meals! This way I get all my photos and the boys are not waiting in a line. This often made them more accepting when I did want to wait in a line for a certain character, say like, Scrooge McDuck!
- Build in some downtime. There were a couple of days that we did not go into a park. We hung out by the pool, relaxed in our room, and spent some time at Disney Springs. We usually are in the parks from morning to night. This was a nice change.
I hope these tips are helpful. As I mentioned, we have gone many, many times and each time I learn something new that will help improve our next trip. If you have some tips to share, please do so in the comments. I would love to hear them.
My Mom was a great Mom. She unselfishly gave all she had to her family. She never wanted to appear that she was a bother. Unfortunately, that may have been one of the reasons she hid her and ignored her symptoms for so long. Growing up, I don’t recall a time when she wasn’t there. When we were little she worked nights and we hung with Dad. Then she stopped working for a while to take care of us. When my baby sister went off to school, she worked part time to make a little extra money for herself. However, we were always her priority. She taught and raised us to be strong, independent women. We each took a different path than she did, but she instilled in us what was truly important in this life, family.
Then along came grandkids. As if she did not shine enough as a Mom, she sparkled as a Grammy. She was born for this role. When I was pregnant with Robbie, I had been researching daycares. I was planning to go back to work and was spending my time researching a good fit for my baby. Well, that boy wasn’t even 12 hours old and she marched into that hospital room and said “No grandchild of mine is going to daycare.” Ohhh.. okay then, Mom. She was not one you really wanted to argue with over certain things. At that moment, there grew a bond between her and her grandkids that will never be broken, even in death.
Robbie was her first. The moon and stars revolved around this child. He could do no wrong in her eyes. He adored her. For the first year of his life, she watched him 4 days a week. A year later, I started a new job and he went to “school” for a couple of days. She didn’t like that. LOL! Nicholas made his appearance 3.5 half years later. Again, she was willing to take him on, as she did Robbie. To help ease the work and because he really needed it socially, Robbie went off to pre-school and pre-k. Neither Robbie or my Mom was overjoyed at that. Both felt they were being ripped apart from each other. They got over it though. Well.. maybe… 🙂
I will be forever grateful for the bond my boys shared with my Mom. I will be forever grateful I had the honor to call her Mom.
