Spring Break

If you haven't figured out by my Wordless Wednesday post,

Maddy and I had a little spring break getaway to . . .

Mickey World a/k/a Walt DisneyWorld!



Hollywood Studios!



It was a girls trip as Mr. Tennis stayed home to continue his recovery from

hip replacement surgery (he did great, by the way).   We missed him so much,

but knew that there would be way too much walking for that new hip!



The first of many character sightings!



Maddy and I had a day and half by ourselves before my sweet little sister and

her most adorable daughter joined us! 

 And let me just say, those girls kept us hopping!  

But, before we get to the Amy and Grace portion of my posts,

 let's getaway and look at part 1, shall we!

Cool wheels!

Seriously, Maddy and I have been looking forward to and counting down

for this trip since October. 

Yes, we have! 

Headed back to the hotel after Hollywood Studios!

We both needed some time away from school and work and

 it was a picture-perfect trip!



At the Boardwalk -- stay tuned!



Spring Break/Easter Update

As usual, I am a bit behind in the blogging world. I'm not sure exactly why -- maybe blogger's block, spring allergies; inability to string together a coherent post -- I don't know? But, I think the best way to get past this temporary dullness is to just jump back in, so here goes.
We had a little getaway over Maddy's spring/Easter break. When my Mom was so ill last winter, I felt like I really needed something to look forward to, so planned a trip to Florida for spring break. Maddy's break was late compared to other schools. Since she attends a parochial school, her spring break was over Easter -- which seemed a great time for a warm weather trip.

And knowing her love of all things Mickey, I'm sure you've guessed our location -- yep -- DisneyWorld! We had fabulous sunny and very warm weather -- it hit 88 or 90+ every single day! We hit the parks, the pools, the eateries, met loads of characters and then the parks again and again.

Maddy surprised me with her love of a rather big roller-coaster. In other trips, she and I loved a Goofy roller-coaster in the kid's area. That area is being redone currently and closed. Mr. Tennis suggested Splash Mountain. I thought --oh no -- she won't want to go on that one. Wrong again -- she loved it! We went on it a couple times and if the lines weren't so long, I'm sure we would have ridden it many more times.

[The Mayor of Magic Kingdom and his wife -- a lovely couple!]


Up next, our favorite characters . . . !

A Shopping We Did Go!

Look at her --

she was in heaven for a few minutes there --

surrounded by hundreds of Mickeys!

I almost hesitate to mention this, but I'm afraid Miss Maddy is a bit of a shopper!

One of her absolutely favorite things to do at Disney is . . . shop!!!

Oh yes, she liked some rides, saw some characters, swam in the pool, and munched on some chicken nuggets and fries, but her most favorite thing -- going into so many stores filled with stuffed animals of every kind and size!!!!!

And shopping for her is not some quick in and out of the store.

No, she needs to examine the goods -- in this store, she pawed around and pulled out a Mickey here or there to make sure it didn't have any flaws or holes.

The expression on the face of a salesclerk who came over to re-position and reorganize the Mickey shelves was priceless! The girl looked absolutely horrified that someone would mess with the Mickeys!!

Our first evening there (the day that started at 4 AM and ended around 11 PM!!!),

she was determined to find a "Bolt" dog -- from the movie, you know.

Lucky for me, we found one quickly.

You would think that would be the end of the search, wouldn't you?

No, we still had to check other stores just in case they might have a different, maybe smaller, maybe bigger, cuter Bolt! Alas, there were none to be found.

Bolt did get to join us on the teacup ride -- we love that ride!

What A Character!!

Of course, you cannot visit Disney*World without seeing some characters!

No, I'm not talking about the many tattooed people out there -- though, really, what is up with that!?!? Not that there is anything wrong with tattoos -- no offense meant -- just not my cup of tea.

I'm talking about the other characters there, like Mickey, Minnie, Chip and Dale, Thumper, the army guys, Mary Poppins and so on and on and on! If the line wasn't too long, we'd jump in it for a photo and autograph!

Goofy -- he is just so . . . goofy!!



Mr. Tennis even joined in the merriment!!!!! :)

Is Big Hair In Again?

Just wondering about "big hair" because we went to Florida for a few days and my hair got really big! No kidding --it probably weighed 10 pounds! Oh my word -- hot, humid Florida!!

My hair has a tendency to absorb water and humidity like a big giant sponge!

So, I went for a run each morning (yay me, right!) at 7 am while the humidity and dew was very heavy. By the time I got back to the room to a sleeping Mr. Tennis and Little Princess, the big giant sponge had exploded into a giant frizz-bomb! Holy cats -- it even scared me!!

No way was my flat-iron up to the task of straightening and de-frizzing that mess! After a day or two of fighting the big hair, I decided to forget about it and just put a hat on! That helped somewhat, but then I had the problem of "hat head." OY!!! Will my hair woes never end??

(Patiently waiting at the airport for our next flight.

Yes, that big Mickey tagged along!)

Anyhoo, day one of our travels. Look how bright-eyed the Little Miss looks -- she and Mickey were ready! Ok, I admit it, I made our airline reservations a tad bit on the early side, resulting in me getting up at 4 am to get ready. I let Mr. Tennis and Maddy sleep until 4:45 and then we headed out of town to catch our flights. We finally got to the hotel by 3 pm. Can you guess what we did then? Nap, rest, eat? No sirree!!

Maddy and I hit the deck running and went to two different parks, spied some characters (Chip and Dale), went on some rides, shopped, snacked and returned to the hotel around 8:30 pm. I collapsed in a heap while Miss Maddy plotted the next day's adventures!

A Little More Disney*World!

In addition to walking over 7 miles every day and absolutely wearing my feet out, we also had some lovely pool time! And, of course, Mickey joined in the fun in the sun!

Maddy really enjoyed her afternoon swimming time and practiced doing handstands in the water and attempting a back float -- she did a great job! I think she will be a very good swimmer this summer with a few more lessons. And she even went down this amazing slide (right out the clown's mouth) all by herself!

We also watched the parades, stood in line for character autographs and engaged in one of Miss M's favorite past-times - shopping!!

Bruce the shark from Nemo was whispering "Buy Me", but she opted for Nemo instead!

We were on the hunt for a Bolt dog. Get this -- there were none to be found in any of the Disney parks or Downtown Disney. But . . . the Easter Bunny brought her the Bolt movie and there was a coupon inside to order one! Geesh -- I could have saved so much time if only the Easter Bunny had left that movie in her suitcase and not at home! We did get to meet Bolt and Rhino -- they were so funny! Even Connor enjoyed meeting those two!!



The area where we stayed was so nice and restful even with crowds on the Boardwalk in the evenings. The Rickster and I used to visit the Jersey shore when he was in law school and LOVED the Boardwalk at Ocean City, NJ, so this Boardwalk brought a little of that feeling right back.

Bicycles -- just waiting for riders!

You can almost see our room and balcony just above the tree!

Looking out from the Boardwalk in the evening. The fireworks at Epcot every evening are amazing and a must-see!

It's All About Mickey!

Just returned this evening from DisneyWorl*d. We had an amazing time with super weather. It was warm and sunny and simply beautiful! The flowers were in bloom everywhere and it was so wonderful to have it be so warm. Of course, we had a bit of a rude awakening arriving home tonight! Even though it was 50 degrees, which normally would be warm, it felt very, very chilly.

Mickey and Maddy on the porch of the Boardwalk -- our hotel.




Rickster, Maddy and Connor

Seems like we were away for ages (which I believe is the sign of a good vacation), and we kept very busy! The Rickster and I had a little friendly competition on keeping track of how many steps (or miles) we walked every day. You'll be happy to know that I beat him every day and we averaged about 22,000 steps -- which I believe equals 7+ miles! That was a lot of walking!

Mickey rode the teacups with us -- he got SO dizzy!

Miss Maddy had a blast! And, as you can see from the photos, so did her pal Mickey. He went nearly everywhere with us and somehow the mouse managed to get into nearly every photo! It was fun having Connor with us too. He and the Rickster went on the scary roller coasters while Maddy and I hit the teacups! :) We missed Philip and Catherine who were unable to make the trip with us. More photos to follow as I am beat and must hit the sack as it is back to work tomorrow!