Adventure In The Great Wide Somewhere

Here's one of my favorite blog hops today: Three Things Thursday!  (Be sure to link up on her blog !) Since I already have a blog (and three blogs preceding this one) what haven't I already shared? Once Upon a Time There Was a Princess Who Didn't Go to Disney Without... 1.) Picture of the Kiddos To be more precise, I take a picture of my kids on the first day of vacation before leaving where they are looking straight at the camera not making weird faces. I repeat this each morning before we leave for the parks. Chris and Kylee Before Our Vacation. The first thing you're asked if your kids go missing is what they are wearing and what they look like. I'm lucky to remember what they're wearing when I'm not worried. This way I've got an easy photo and a fun memory of the beginning of each day. 2.) MagicBands Putting on my MagicBand marks the official start of our vacation. I Love My FitBit, But MagicBand is Better! Maybe on t...

Here's one of my new favorite blog hops today: Three Things Thursday!  (Be sure to link up on her blog !) Since I already have a blog (and three blogs preceding this one) what haven't I already shared? Once Upon a Time There Was a Princess Who Hit the Submit Button on Round 2 of the Disney Parks Moms Panel Application and then...   1.) Sighed a deep sigh of relief!  And done! After a long afternoon of editing, homeschooling, and proofreading, Chris ended up with an upset stomach. Rather than wait to see if I also got sick, I ran outside to take advantage of the last bit of daylight and shoot my application video (after cleaning up the floor and taking care of my kiddo, of course). Once the children were nestled all snug in their beds, I uploaded, copied, and compressed my video. Then I took out my trusty application and prepared to copy it word for word, comma for comma, into the online application. ( No copying and pasting! ) Aft...

It's time again for one of my favorite blog hops : Three Things Thursday! (Be sure to link up on her blog !) Since I already have a blog (and three blogs preceding this one) what haven't I already shared? Once Upon a Time There Was a Princess Who Celebrated a Birthday! Here are a few of my (new) favorite things from my lovely friends. 1.) Hidden Mickeys Go To Sea One of my favorite activities on vacation is wandering around the still quiet of the ship with my children in the early morning. Often we look at all of the artwork around the ship or the fun little details we stumble across. Then we discovered that Steven Barret's field guides are available for Walt Disney World, Disneyland and the Disney Cruise Line. The guides are set up with clues and hints as they guide you about the ships. For those people who prefer outright answers, those are available as well. My kids decided to hook me up for my birthday. You can bet we will enjoy...

It's time for one of my new favorite blog hops: Three Things Thursday!  (Be sure to link up on her blog !) Since I already have a blog (and three blogs preceding this one) what haven't I already shared? Once Upon a Time There Was a Princess With Her Nose Stuck in a Book. Actually I'm reading three different books right now. For a change, all three are new (to me) books rather than old favorites. (I think I'm reading a few of those as well. 1.) A Candle for Saint Jude by Rumer Godden This book is the prequel to one of my childhood favorites, Listen to the Nightingale . A few chapters in, I remember why this author won my love. The intricate world of the ballet boarding school unfolds like a flower in ever widening sketches. Like interpretive dance, this story skips and shades and doesn't fill in all the details but is delightful and lovely all the same. I finally found a copy on Amazon about a month ago and ordered it. I'm about halfway thr...

Here's one of my new favorite blog hops today: Three Things Thursday!  (Be sure to link up on her blog !) Since I already have a blog (and three blogs preceding this one) what haven't I already shared? Once Upon a Time There Was a Princess Who Liked Trying New Things... 1.) Downtown Disney I grew up knowing that Pleasure Island existed and that we weren't going to go there for some reason. I guess I never really investigated the transformation to Downtown Disney until I was planning a recent girls only trip to the World. It has changed since the Pleasure Island days. A lot. We loved shopping, browsing and meandering our way through TrenD, Disney's Days of Christmas, Lego Imagination Center and (of course) World of Disney. Dinner at Wolfgang Puck Express was fast and excellent. (Far, far better fare than we would've enjoyed at our resort food court, IMO.) The whole experience made for a perfect afternoon of dipping our toes in the wa...

Here's one of my new favorite blog hops today: Three Things Thursday!  (Be sure to link up on her blog !) Since I already have a blog (and three blogs preceding this one) what haven't I already shared? Once Upon a Time There Was a Princess Who Refused to Do Whatever Snow Does In Summer. Instead She... 1.) Loves the Summer Movie Clubhouse !  Movies, friends and a super big refillable popcorn bucket. They may not be showing Frozen, but for a dollar each (or less if you get the whole summer package), it's a great way to spend a rainy day. Don't forget the hoodies! A/C can be brutal. 2.) Hand Out The Craft Supplies. Yes, she went to HEB like this. Why not? Then leave them alone. Face paint, crayons, paper and free time let my kids learn how to self amuse and be creative, while I'm happy vacuuming, doing laundry or browsing pinterest. 3.) Let the Kids Bounce Off Of The Walls. Literally. Those are trampolines up the walls. Somet...

Here's one of my new favorite blog hops today: Three Things Thursday! (Be sure to link up on her blog !) Since I already have a blog (and three blogs preceding this one) what haven't I already shared? Once Upon a Time There Was a Princess Who... 1.) Gives away type A+. I figure it helps so much to donate blood that it is really one easy way to make a big difference. We let both kids accompany us on the blood bus and they've made pretty good friends with Marisol (one of the phlebotomists who usually works our blood drive.) Christopher was so excited when he turned six because he thought he was finally old enough to donate blood as well. Sorry kiddo, it's sixteen,  not six. 2.) Enjoys a good typeface. I have a very extensive fonts board on pinterest . I love finding just the right font to go with a project and for some reason have a very hard time letting go of my old font collection pins. 3.) Unashamedly embraces the perks of having a type A...

Here's one of my new favorite blog hops today: Three Things Thursday!  (Be sure to link up on her blog !) Since I already have a blog (and three blogs preceding this one) what haven't I already shared? Once Upon a Time There Was a Princess Who Loved Summer, Even Though She... 1.) Sunburns indoors on a cloudy day. Therefore sunscreen is essential year round, but especially in summer. It makes me very thankful that our YMCA features an indoor pool and the waterpark boasts a nice wide covered porch area in front of the main pool. My kids are used to sunscreen every day and extra on swim days. Shade is my friend. 2.) Only recently discovered sunglasses. I know, you're wondering why one would need to discover sunglasses. I never really had a pair growing up so when I got a pair a few years ago it was kind of a revelation. 3.) Lives in Texas but still mostly wore jeans outdoors during the summer. I blame this on attending a variety of summer ca...

Here's one of my new favorite blog hops today: Three Things Thursday Tuesday!  (Be sure to link up on her blog ! I'd wait until Thursday, however...) Since I already have a blog (and three blogs preceding this one) what haven't I already shared? Once Upon a Time There Was a Mom Who was the Best Because... 1.) She Showed me the World As the oldest of four children, I'm sure it would have been easier for us to stay at home or vacation somewhere slightly mellower. Instead she launched us into a world where dreams, fantasy and reality mixed and melded into memories. Living in a world that is larger than life. As I grew up she made sure that I not only loved Walt Disney World and Disneyland, but the Painted Desert, Paris and all points in between. Realizing how very small we each are in the grand scheme of things is really inspiring. 2.) Always Encouraged me to Believe in My Dreams. Even those times I told my kindergarten teacher I wanted to grow ...

Here's one of my new favorite blog hops today: Three Things Thursday!  (Be sure to link up on her blog !) Since I already have a blog (and three blogs preceding this one) what haven't I already shared? In the last month, quite a lot! I have been off the radar for a while because (as it sometimes does) life took a lot of time and I almost entirely ignored my blog aside from picking a new header and colors. So this week I'm going to share three other things that have been distractions priorities in my life this last month! Once Upon a Time There Was a Princess Who... 1.) Decided to reorganize her home office. Functional, kinds busy/crowded looking I mainly used the room to store my laptop and supplies when they weren't in use. The room has a single north facing window, and we never really decorated it or picked out furniture since we moved in three years ago. Since the office is off of our master bedroom, it's something I saw and promptly igno...

Here's one of my new favorite blog hops today: Three Things Thursday!  (Be sure to link up on her blog !) Since I already have a blog (and three blogs preceding this one) what haven't I already shared? Once Upon a Time There Was a Princess Who... 1.) Didn't drink coffee. I've tried. I just cannot get past the taste, even when it's covered in chocolate and cream and sugar. Mmmmm Cocoa. At this point I accept the fact that water, cocoa and tea are more my cup of, well, tea. 2.) Didn't like staying up late. It's currently 9:30 PM as I write this and I'm having serious problems nodding off as I type. I definitely am an 7 hours of sleep a night person. (EXCEPTION: Disney World and Cruising do not count!) 3.) Didn't mind being unapologetically cheerful in the early morning. In college I voluntarily signed up for 8 AM classes every single semester five days a week. Often, I was known to get dressed while playing show tunes on ...

Here's one of my new favorite blog hops today: Three Things Thursday!  (Be sure to link up on her blog !) Since I already have a blog (and three blogs preceding this one) what haven't I already shared? I guess this week will be brought to you by the Y. Once Upon a Time There Was a Princess Who... 1.) Loves BodyPump class. Being strong enough to carry around my goofball kids comes in handy from time to time. 2.) Loves BodyFlow class. I am naturally a very flexible person unless I get stressed out. Then my shoulders and legs get super tight and hurt. I take this class to "Let It Go." 3.) Cannot Zumba to save her life. Seriously, it's a thing. I can swing dance and foxtrot and waltz and all that just fine, but Zumba? If I ever got me on tape, I'd be a shoe-in for America's Funniest Home videos.

Here's one of my new favorite blog hops today: Three Things Thursday!  (Be sure to link up on her blog !) Since I already have a blog (and three blogs preceding this one) what haven't I already shared? Once Upon a Time There Was a Princess Who... 1.) Fell asleep every night to the sounds of the ocean. My favorite view in the world. No, I haven't started working on the Disney Magic (or retired on her). I have an app on my iphone that plays white noise. I always set mine to ocean. 2.) Owns several dozen comfy pairs of Disney jammies, but my favorite part of my pjs is the Winnie the Pooh slippers. Sadly they are developing a hole. Anyone know of a good place to get Disney slippers? 3.) Fell asleep standing up, laying down and sitting on the floor in the hall in college. On deck in a lounger. Definitely. For what it's worth, I still can. I could blame my thyroid, but I prefer to think it is due to that one time I got too close to the spinnin...

Here's one of my new favorite blog hops today: Three Things Thursday!  (Be sure to link up on her blog !) Since I already have a blog (and three blogs preceding this one) what haven't I already shared? Once Upon a Time There Was a Princess Who... 1.) Met her handsome prince at the tender age of 17. The week before college started during freshman orientation, I already made a circle of close girlfriends. Janel (who was quite shy) left the cafeteria line ahead of us and went to get a table. Ben saw her sitting all by herself and recognized her as a younger student from his high school. His mother had told him to look out for her, as she and Janel's mother were friends. Seeing her alone, he and his roommate asked if they could sit in the 8 person booth with her. She said yes. Then I and my other two friends showed up and found quiet little Janel talking to two Juniors. She introduced us all around the table and we all began to hang out. Ben's roommate n...

Here's one of my new favorite blog hops today: Three Things Thursday!  (Be sure to link up on her blog !) Since I already have a blog (and three blogs preceding this one) what haven't I already shared? Once Upon a Time There Was a Princess Who... 1.) Always Orders Shirley Temples My Drink of Choice. But rarely gets to finish them, when Kylee is around. 2.) Waits longingly for the days to get long enough for the honeysuckle to emerge. It reminds me of summer and my childhood. In kindergarten my back fence disappeared under the honeysuckle each year. 3.) Sunburns indoors on a cloudy day. So do my kids. Please remember to pack plenty of sunscreen and reapply! No one is happy on vacation when they are sunburnt.