Doing Disney with a young child :)

I have a couple of friends heading down to Disney World later this year, so I thought I would offer a bit of advice since I have made it thru Disney visits with my small person since she was four years old.  I love all things Disney, we have been at least twice a year since we moved to Florida.  My daughter loves to visit Disney as much as I do.  This first trip with her did not turn out perfect and I figured out why, it was because I tried to do too much with her.  Four year olds need to take their own time exploring, trying to “help” them see everything just leads to a nuclear meltdown type tantrum.  My sweet, adorable, good-natured child had her one and only tantrum of this type at Disney.  Once that happened I realized I needed to take a step back and just (to quote Elsa) “let it go” LOL

So my tips are these:

Before going to the park, stay at one of the Disney resorts.  I adore the value priced resorts because to me they seem so much more Disney.  Everywhere we go there are oversized statues and displays of Disney characters.  My princess loves these.  We tend to stay at one of the All Star resorts.  Music has the giant instruments, and sports has Donald Duck and his nephews playing baseball LOL  ok there are more characters that that, but those are our favorites.

At the resort front desk you can get maps to all the parks,  I highly recommend getting 2 copies, one for you and one for your child.  Then together look through the map and decide which rides or activities you just have to do, and in which order you want to do them.  When it is time to go make sure you have your Disney bag all ready.  In the bag I keep as little as possible because it gets heavy after a few hours.  Sunglasses for both you and your child, a small brush to freshen up windblown hair before pictures, a small bottle of water that can be refilled throughout the day (any counter service restaurant in the parks will give you a free cup of ice water), some individual fruit snack packages for a quick and mess free pick me up, a pen and paper (cause never fails I always need to jot down something), and a change of clothes for accidents that might happen. Oh and a plastic bag to put the soiled clothes in.  Thankfully Disney now has magic bands so no longer need to tote around money, passes, or room keys.  I adore magic bands, best invention ever.

Riding the shuttle to Disney is so fun, you get to see all the kids dressed up in their favorite Disney outfit, and it is so interesting hearing all the different accents from your fellow passengers. Try and work it so you are one of the first people on the shuttle, that way you get a seat, it can be challenging balancing you and your child on the ride to the park.  Once at the park resign yourself to walking slow.  Remember your one step is about equal to two steps for your child.  I put pedometers on me and my daughter and by the end of the day she always had at least double the steps I did.  If my feet hurt, I am sure hers did as well.  So go slow and just notice all the awesome Disney details.  The flowers are amazing, and there seems to be wildlife everywhere.  Squirrels always get called Chip or Dale, and rabbits are named Thumper 

Don’t waste your money on a stroller for the park, it seems like really can’t take them close to the rides, you have to park them, (they always get moved in my case so I had to play find the stroller)  now is just easier to do without one and walk slower.  Any big purchases I just have sent back to my resort.  This is awesome feature of staying at a Disney resort. Once past security head towards the rides you have picked out already.  Oh magic bands allow three fast pass rides so you don’t have to worry about missing the important rides.  On the way to your rides if you see a line with minimal to no wait go on in, the key is to be flexible with your fun.  Play in the park for a few hours then take a break and go back to your resort to rest, refresh, and eat.  It is not a marathon.  There is no rule that says you have to do everything in one day.  That just makes for a miserable and tired you and your child.  Early evening head back to the park and enjoy it some more.  Seeing the park at night is a different experience, the lights come on and everything is magical all over again.  Don’t worry about bedtime, its vacation, you can sleep in.  The important thing is to have a great trip, not smash in so much that it becomes a chore to “experience everything”.  Children will have a better time if they aren’t worn out.  Mommy will too because no tears to deal with, just smiles.

OK so those are my suggestions for doing Disney with a small child.  They worked for me and my daughter.  Each trip is magical and we leave making plans to come back as soon as possible

4th of July

HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY

Happy Independence Day!!!  After just spending the last seven weeks learning American history I can appreciate it more (yeah me got an A).  Since I worked all weekend we kept it a pretty low key holiday.  Once I woke up Staci and I went to get some fireworks,  We originally wanted to go to Jacksonville Beach, but with a heat index of 106 degrees we decided that combined with massive crowds, no parking, and hours to wait, we would celebrate at home.  So we made hot dogs, salads, chips, deviled eggs, and watermelon cake LOL  Mom and I enjoyed watching The Rock, Dwayne Johnson, in San Andreas while we waited for it to get dark.   Then the fun began.  Staci and I had gotten these firework fountains that were so cool.  They shot off sparkles like a miniature grand finale.  We also had sparklers, flowers, and just poppers.  It was fun. After we shot off ours another family showed up with theirs, so we watched those, then yet another family came out with their display LOL  all the while there were huge fireworks exploding in the sky all around us.  So much better than the beach.

          I told my daughter a story of fireworks and now she thinks I am crazy LOL  I spent my teen years in Reno, Nevada were it is dry and fireworks are illegal.  When I was 22, my 19 year old brother Wade, and his two friends Sean and Derek, decided to move to Arkansas.  Fireworks there are legal so the guys went a bit crazy.  They took a bunch of bottle rockets, removed the sticks, then twisted them all up in a ball, and set them off.  The rockets exploded, going every which way.  One of those fools decided to set a ball off in our hotel room.  We were diving everywhere, trying to dodge the explosions. It had to look hilarious.  We laughed so hard, well me a little less since my clothes got a lot if tiny holes in them from sparks LOL  looking back we were so stupid, but at time it was fun.

          Sleep will be a long time coming, as people are still setting off fireworks outside.  Haven't seen the cats in a couple of hours LOL  they are cowering somewhere.  I hope everybody out there has had a safe and fun Independence Day.

My Grandbabies LOL (picture heavy)

I've mentioned my two kids, but have yet to mention my grandbabies LOL  my son insists he is never having kids, so I have to just accept his two cats as my babies.  Here are their baby pictures :)

This is Commander

This is Midnight

They are both very sweet and playful, not big on cuddling though.  They will run back and forth, playing with their toys, and wrestling.  They even play fetch,  Throw the toy and they bring it back.  It's cute at first, but sometimes it gets a bit old,  

Commander is older than Midnight by about five months.

  

BTW: Commander is a boy and Midnight is a girl

They love to hang out together napping

I find them in the craziest places LOL

King Commander

Midnight Dragon

Sporting their Autumn looks

It is surprising how much my son dotes on those two cats.  I am still hoping that he changes his mind in the future and gives me some human grandchildren, but these two are good substitute cuddles in meantime.  

Water Wednesday

Usually on Wednesday I try to do something water themed.  Often it is going to the pool or the splash fountain at Sunshine park.  Today I thought we would try something different, and go have lunch on the water.  We went to Singleton's Seafood Shack.  It was featured on the Food Network's Diners, Drive Ins, and Dives.

The food selection was of course seafood, fresh from Mayport.  Prices were OK. Inside was just the way you'd expect an actual seafood place to be.  Since it was right next to the Naval Station there were quite a few Navy guys there as well as fishermen type.  It was very casual place,  The food though was great.  

I got the fried shrimp basket.  Even though fried, it was nice and light.  The coleslaw got Staci's seal of approval, and the collard greens were out of this world good.  I wanted a big bucket of them LOL 

They offer three different hot sauces to test out if brave enough. The Colon Cleaner one cracked me up.  I could just see us serving it to the patients at work before a colonoscopy LOL 

The owl was cute

Enjoying the sunshine while waiting on our food

After eating we looked at all these little miniature wooden boats on display inside.  There were hundreds and hundreds of them.

Singleton's was a great place to eat, we highly recommend it :)

Travel Tuesday

Since doing themes this week, or at least trying to, for Travel Tuesday we went to the Jacksonville Farmers Market.  OK it was Wednesday morning, but I am counting it LOL

I am all about having a happy and healthy summer, so to the market we went.  It is a great place to find fresh, seasonal, locally produced foods. It's an open air market located at 1810 West Beaver Street in downtown Jacksonville.  It has large outdoor bays filled with a broad selection of yummies. 

There are bins and baskets full of colorful fruits and veggies just waiting to be made into something fresh and healthy to eat. 

I love all the colorful displays. 

With Staci helping to pick out the fruits and veggies, my odds of her trying them greatly improve

What we finally ended up with LOL  The green tomatoes are going to be used to make baked green tomatoes (much healthier than fried, but just as good)  the okra is going to be stewed with the red tomatoes, onion, and spicy seasoning, and the bell peppers are going to be stuffed.  Peaches are just to be enjoyed alone :)

Well I finished up the kitty from yesterday LOL  disclaimer I am sadly in need of sleep, and I do not sew, plus no pattern, so this all came out of my sleep deprived brain LOL  anyway here is a picture of the finished product. Staci named her Sparkle Kitty :)

 OK well my girl likes the kitty, that is why she is the best.  She has been carrying it around all day long. She says it is special because I made it.  She about made me cry.  I love her so much :)

          So I guess if this blog is to be a success I need to keep posting in it LOL  It is challenging to do over the weekend since I am working.  Hence all posts will be done during the week when I am trying to be the best mommy I can.  I love being a mom.  I was blessed to begin in that role 21 years ago.  My son is amazing, he has been my rock since the day he was born.  No matter what life threw at me, he was there inspiring me and keeping me going.  Now he is becoming a man, and I cannot wait to see what he does.  I just wish I saw more of him, but between him working full time, and going to college to study law, I hardly get time with him.  So most of my mommy time is spent with my daughter.  She is my best friend.  She turns 7 years old next month.  She is gorgeous on the inside and out.  She loves laughing and keeps me on my toes LOL  She is also my excuse to enjoy doing kid-centric things.
          I love being a kid at heart.  I love all things Disney.  I am also a Southern girl.  I was born in Malvern, Arkansas which is about an hour's drive from Little Rock, Arkansas.  I lived there with my mom and my younger brother until I was about eleven years old.  After that I lived in Reno, Nevada until I was 21.. Yeah I wasn't that much into the whole gambling thing or snow sports, so I moved back to Arkansas.  After being back about a year I ended up sick and in Baptist Hospital for a week.  The nurses took such amazing care of me that I decided I wanted to be just like them and make a difference in people's lives.  So off to nursing school I went.  I graduated with my BSN from the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences.  I was an oncology nurse for the first five years of my career.  Cancer patients and their families are absolutely incredible.
          So along come Y2K and I get the itch to travel again.  So my son and I moved to Tucson, Arizona.  Beautiful city with lots to do.  My son and I lived there about six years.  The cost of living was low so I only had to work weekends as an agency nurse.  The rest of the time was spent being a mommy to my son, doing all sorts of boy stuff.  It was fun.  Eventually though we had to move back to Reno.  There I did float pool nursing at Renown Hospital.  In Reno I had family, and my son was growing up, but something was missing.
          I wanted a baby girl to play with.  Too many issues dealing with custody and my son, so I wanted a little girl all my own. No worries about having to share her ever.  I went to a specialist and with docs help and the California Cryo Bank I was able to conceive my daughter who was born in 2009.  I was forty years old and a new mommy again LOL  Now life was full of princesses, the color pink, and darling lil outfits.  She makes me smile every day.  I cannot imagine life without her.
          OK so now I have my son and my daughter.  Travel  bug strikes again so we moved.  We lived in Hot Springs, Arkansas for a year.  We had hoped to reconnect with family, but that didn't happen.  Too many years had passed, we didn't fit in with the relatives, so we decided to move to Florida.  We chose Jacksonville, because of an article I read that said it was good for people living on retirement income,  That is important to my mom who moves where we move.  Her and my daughter are completely inseparable.  So now we live in the Sunshine State.
          That explains the picture at the top.  So far we are enjoying living in Florida, and do not imagine living anywhere else.  I mean I am within driving distance to Disney World LOL  a drive I have taken many times now.  We love summertime, even though it get incredibly hot and humid.  The summers are long and the winters are mild and short.  Florida is HUGE, over 65 thousand square miles to explore, yet no matter where you are, you are never more than sixty miles from the beach.  It is ironic, I love looking at the ocean, I live by the beach, and yet you will never catch me in the ocean LOL I have an irrational fear of sharks,  I will get my toes wet collecting seashells, but that is about it. No going in the water for me.  Oceans have sharks, and all other water has gators, even the birds are deadly LOL

Yeah I didn't take that picture, I found it in my Facebook feed.  It cracked me up.

          So that is a bit about me.  Single mom, nurse on weekends, weekdays spent playing with my daughter.  Yesterday was Make It Monday.  Project was making this stuffed felt kitty.  It has spilled over to today, which is Travel Tuesday.  Not sure where we are going to go today.  Once kitty is done I will post pics of our efforts LOL  Tomorrow is Wacky/Water Wednesday, then Thinking Thursday (we go to library), followed by Fun Friday.  I try to plan activities to go along with those themes.  I am hoping that anybody who read this posts enjoyed finding out a bit about me and will hopefully follow along.  My plan is to blog about Florida life, the food we enjoy, the projects we do, the activities we share, and the trips we take.  So until next time I am off to sew the kitty together and plan our trip today. Wonder where we will go...