by Sarah | Jul 25, 2019 | All About Denver, All About Family, All About Me, All of Us, Blogging Life, Disney, Disney Mom, Make-A-Wish, Redefining Perfect, Universal Studios Mom
Once upon a time, Denver was an adorable tot.
No, seriously, look at that face…how adorable??
Okay, okay, that’s a baby pic, but don’t you wanna smoosh those cheeks?
ANYHOOZLES.
Way off topic here.
He was cute. He was the only child, grandchild, he was spoiled…
Which meant for approximately 3 years when he fell in love with the movie Mary Poppins I watched that damn thing, at least in part, EVERY DAY.
Let me clarify this for you…
Every day. For at least 3 years. At least 1095 days. I watched at least 20 minutes of Mary Poppins.
I grew to hate that snobby bitch.
I mean, sure she’s great on the first watch. Maybe even the second. Then you begin to realize her ‘practically perfect in every way’ rhetoric is just SO ANNOYING.
(For the record, I have since watched the 2nd and I do love the fun Emily has with the role. No offense to Dame Julie Andrews, whom I adore, but it’s a LOT of Mary Poppins).
Fast forward to 2014. We are at Disney for Kennedy’s Wish…and innocently wandering through Epcot…
When what to my wondering eyes should appear, but a beautiful Mary Poppins standing innocently in midst of the UK. Not surrounded by millions of people or a handler, just…there.
You KNOW what I did.
I mean, how could I not?
THREE YEARS, people.
You bet your butt I forced Denver to get a picture with her.
You can see his extreme joy at being forced not just into a picture, but one with Mary Poppins herself.
A mother’s memory is long…and revenge truly is a dish best served cold.
by Sarah | Jun 20, 2019 | All About Denver, All About Erik, All About Family, All About Kennedy, All About Me, All About Molly, All of Us, Blogging Life, Disney, Disney Mom, Florida Dreaming, Make-A-Wish, Redefining Perfect, Universal, Universal Studios Mom
Our road to Disney and Universal was not paved with flowers and sunshine. That goes without saying. I could go into logistics about Make A Wish’s former CF rules, refusals, and hope coming our way again, but that’s another story for another blog post. Suffice it to say, it was a bumpy, long road…until it wasn’t.
When the time came for us to approach the kids and say they were getting wishes, and to ask what they wanted, both of them thought pretty hard. I, myself, hoped for Disney, but didn’t push either of them in that direction. I did mention to the obsessed-with-Harry-Potter Kennedy that there was this magical place called Diagon Alley at Universal Studios, but we discussed other options. Things like trips in an RV, remodeling the bedroom were discussed among others.
When the day came, the wonderful Wish Granters asked the kids what they wanted.
Kennedy said, “I want to see Harry Potter World!” (It was only then that I learned when you wish for one FL theme park, you get both) I was not upset by this declaration.
From that moment everything flew by in an instant. Before any of us knew it, we were in the limo and on the plane for Florida.
Months of planning, talking, anticipation all came down to that one moment…
You know the one…
The one where we stepped through the brick passage and onto Diagon Alley.
Every moment after when Kennedy’s face looking like this —->>
Excitement. Spotting everything left and right, pointing out everything.
When Ollivander selected her and her sister (believing them twins, methinks) to get their own matching wands.
When she saw, and felt, the dragon breathe fire down on us.
When she sat in the sidecar (look how tiny, my goodness).
Every moment in Diagon Alley that day was so much magic we could have gone home right then and never complained a moment that it wasn’t worth it.
To see K become completely immersed into the world we both loved so much.
Every single second was one I wanted to bottle and hold onto.
That was the moment I knew magic was real.
And the look on her face made every struggle that led us up to and through the brick passage way was worth it.
So damn worth it.
by Sarah | Mar 21, 2019 | All About Denver, All About Erik, All About Family, All About Kennedy, All About Me, All About Molly, All of Us, Blogging Life, Disney, Disney Mom, Make-A-Wish, Redefining Perfect, Universal, Universal Studios Mom
Our Make A Wish trips to Disney were full of so much spectacular magic, fun, and family bonding.
It brought us our son back from his moody depths.
It kept ME off my computer/phone/internet/everything for a whole week without any signs of withdrawal.
We arrived home with tale upon tale of the amazing things that happened.
Then there was that one night.
See, at Disney we have a habit that isn’t the best.
We forget about food.
Yeah, I know. Weird, right?
We’re just so busy doing all of the things, that we forget to shove food down our gullets.
So on this one night we were at the Magic Kingdom and someone pointed out that they were hungry. Erik and I realized that the last time we’d eaten had probably been at breakfast back at the Village at about, oh, 8AM. We were staring down 6PM at this point.
Oops.
We were basically in the middle of the park at that point, trying to decide where to head. Two kids were staring at maps to see where we should go, when se spotted Casey’s.
Me? I’m not a big hot dog person. I essentially only like one brand of hot dog, and that’s it.
BUT…it was there. It was easy, and I figured a chili dog wouldn’t be horrible. We WERE dining at Disney, after all…
Right?
So, in we all traipsed, making a quick study of the menu and ordering our dogs and some drinks. We find a table in the bustling restaurant and hunker down to eat.
One bite in I realized that just because we’re at Disney doesn’t mean it’s good.
Slowly as we all ate, I realized I was not the only one wearing a “color me disappointed” face. We were all sort of dissatisfied with the hot dogs. They tasted like those pink dogs you’d get at a gas station. Utterly flavorless and dull. The chili didn’t even liven up mine.
We all just kind of stared at each other, and started chuckling.
Then Denver thought he’d salvage his dinner in some way. He asked for some cash to go get one of those brownies on the menu. Because it’s BROWNIES.
Can’t screw that up.
Right?
Plus, Denver LOVES him some brownies.
We continued chatting as he made his way through the line. Sipped our drinks and waited.
When he returned to the table, he had a sort of shell-shocked wide-eyed look about him.
Confused, I asked him what was wrong. Were they out of his brownies?
He held out his hand to reveal the amazing, spectacular brownie he’d gotten…
A Cosmic Brownie…in the wrapper.
I mean…
WHAT?
We all busted out laughing. I mean, seriously.
He ate his brownie, we went about our fun, still laughing about how horrible our dinner was…but at least our bellies had food in them again.
To this day, nearly 5 years later, all you have to say in this house is “The Worst Meal Ever” and we laugh and go on about it. It’s that familiar joke families bond with.
So while the food was NOT great and I never recommend Casey’s to people that ask for Disney suggestions…
The MEMORY is the greatest. It still bonds us in laughter and love.
That is the magic of Disney, folks.
Truly.
by Sarah | Jan 31, 2019 | All About Family, All About Kennedy, All About Molly, All of Us, Blogging Life, Disney, Disney Mom, DisneyTips, Florida Dreaming, Make-A-Wish, Redefining Perfect, Universal, Universal Studios Mom
So many times people think Molly and Kennedy are ACTUAL twins instead of Irish twins.
Oftentimes they (and I) have found it rather annoying…
Then…then…then…
You go on a trip to Disney/Universal for the youngest’s Wish.
Because Kennedy is SO in love with the Harry Potter books/movies/everything your very first stop on your very first day is none other than Ollivander’s so you can beat the crowds you’d heard were so crazy and have a chance at your little one getting the most awesome treat of being picked by Ollivander to get her very own wand.
It truly was our first day so we had no idea the true meaning of the magic of our Make-A-Wish badges and buttons…but within the walls of Ollivander’s Wand shop we learned quickly.
We also learned that it can be a good thing that people think Molly and Kennedy are actual twins…
Because when Ollivander selected those that would get their wands –
He picked Kennedy AND Molly.
(Here is where I would insert the video if it was not such a colossal mess of flipping sideways and darkness and not being able to hear everything. Sorry. The tale alone will have to do.)
First, he learned their names, then the wand selection began.
First, he handed Kennedy a wand made of Willow with a unicorn hair as its core. She waved with a “Wingardium Leviosa” and…well…the shelves went crashing down.
Then, he handed Molly a wand of hazel with a unicorn hair as its core. He instructed her to light it…and much to our surprise, she said in a very strong voice despite the crowd “Lumos!” Lightning flashed through the building, loud claps of thunder.
Ollivander used a quick spell to disperse the storm, and turned to my girls, tutting that they were indeed very difficult…
Then, the moment of brilliance.
He picked up the wands before each of the girls, making a statement to their twin cores…before crossing his arms so that each girl got the opposite wand to their first attempt, Molly with the willow and Kennedy with the Hazel…and then…
The moment of perfection, light and wind brushed across them as they found their perfect wands…or the wands found them.
Of course, we happily paid for the wands because they were chosen by Ollivander himself and brought them home with us. They had a prominent place until we began packing up to move. Soon enough, they’ll be on display again…and put to good use within the park itself.
It is true magic to see the wands choosing its wizard…and pure joy that both our girls got to experience the magic…together.
by Sarah | Dec 14, 2017 | All About Denver, All About Erik, All About Family, All About Kennedy, All About Me, All About Molly, All of Us, Blogging Life, Disney Mom, Make-A-Wish, Redefining Perfect, Universal, Universal Studios Mom
Our trips to Universal through Make-A-Wish were amazing. Hands down. The cast members, the rides, the amazing treatment we received. Universal WAS Kennedy’s wish. She wanted to see Harry Potter world. That was her ultimate goal.
We had the best time.
We also had a strange curse afflict us while there.
See, we had two days at Universal. That was more than enough time to ride every ride we wanted to ride. Even some we weren’t sure of.
Both years, we were able to ride every single ride, but one.
It was always one we really wanted to ride. Always.
On our first visit, we made it through most of the rides on our first day. We decided to save Big Mama…i.e. Rip Ride Rockit for our second day, on the theory of saving the best for last.
Our second day at Universal happened to be November 1st, and an odd thing happened that day. The weather decided that since it was November, it was going to show us how cold Florida was capable of getting. The temperature dropped into the 40’s (Thank goodness we had our jackets from home with us), and the wind picked up like you wouldn’t believe. The sun was shining bright though, so we set off on our newest adventure…
Here’s the thing…like I said, it was windy. Rip Ride Rockit starts with a super-tall straight-up climbing tower of track.
High winds.
Tall tower.
See where I’m going with this?
The ride was closed for the day. We hung our heads, made sad faces, but figured it was all right because Kennedy wasn’t tall enough to ride anyway. We didn’t know when we’d be back, but we figured once we did go back, K would be able to ride, too. (And she did, but that’s another story).
The second time we went was for Denver’s trip. He’s not a roller coaster person, but his Mimi (my mom), totally is…and by his request Mimi had come with us on the trip.
Because of the incident the year before, we made Rip Ride Rockit our top priority. We rode, it was short but glorious, and has a story to tell later.
As we made our way through the parks with my mom, I was excited to take her to the Hulk coaster because it had been so amazing the previous year.
After much of the day we finally get there to find what you see in the picture over there. The ride was closed, being torn down in Universal’s plan to make it even better. By all accounts, the new ride looks amazing, but it totally cut yet another coaster out of our trip.
I can’t say enough good things about Universal and their staff…
But whenever we do return (2019, maybe?)…I’m going to plan to fully expect at least one awesome ride to be down for whatever reason might occur.
Maybe if I plan, and expect such a thing I’ll be pleasantly surprised and the ride will be available. Yeah? Maybe?
by Sarah | Aug 16, 2017 | All About Denver, All About Erik, All About Family, All About Kennedy, All About Me, All About Molly, All of Us, Disney, Make-A-Wish, Redefining Perfect
There’s a weird thing that happens once my plane touches down in Florida.
Technology becomes unnecessary.
I’ll be the first to admit that when I’m at home, it’s everywhere, in everything. I work on my computer, I play on my computer (and phone). When I’m away from it too long, I get a little twitchy (although I’ve found this to be less and less of the case since in the past couple of years).
I’ll admit, on our first trip in 2014 while I didn’t have my phone out at all…the first couple of days I had out our camera taking pictures of EVERYTHING. No joke, I’m still editing photos 3 years later.
Then, rather quickly, I stopped snapping photos every two seconds.
I realized I was seeing our vacation through the screen of a camera. I wasn’t living it to my fullest extent. I was having fun…but I wasn’t IN it.
So I put the camera (mostly down). I pulled it out for big moments. I pulled it out for some cool shots…but I let the Disney photogs do their duty and dove headlong into it.
I never regretted a moment.
I never missed my phone.
Disney has a lot of magic.
For me, a huge bit of magic pulled me away from screens and showed me how much I don’t miss them if I’m living.
I’m looking forward to our next trip in a couple of weeks.
I’ll be putting away the phone and soaking in the fun!
Once upon a time, Denver was an adorable tot.
Fast forward to 2014. We are at Disney for Kennedy’s Wish…and innocently wandering through Epcot…
