Our Birthday Present to Luci

Our present to Luci was a trip to Birmingham to see Disney Princesses on Ice.  (Daddy went to work, the boys went to work in the Friendship Center, and I got to go have fun with Luci.)   Impressive show, and lots of fun.  Luci and I left home at 6:30 a.m.(yawn--Mama, we can't go now!  It's still night time.  No one is up yet!!) 

Favorite parts:

Kenzi and Mamie were there, too!  Here Luci is with Kenzi.

Oh My!  Wonderful show!

I got off easy on the buying spree...there is always TONS of stuff to buy at these things.  I only got sucked into getting Luci some cotton candy (she is in love with it! that was her first exposure to cotton candy) and it came with a Micky Mouse crown.  The glowing wand, necklaces and bracelets I bought a few days earlier at the Dollar Tree--total cost for those was $3.  Worth every penny.

Wowzer, Disney does a show right.  Maleficent's dragon (from Sleeping Beauty) breathed fire!

And the dragon lit the ice on fire!

Tinkerbell is in the golden coach as the Princesses and their Princes skate the finale (this was just before the fireworks went off!).

When we got home, Luci wanted to try the hair paint that I got on sale after Halloween.  She was hoping for bright pink, but on such dark hair it does not match up to her imagination.

Luci's drawing of one of the Princesses ice skating. 

Worth every penny and even getting up so early....Life is good with a SIX year old daughter!

Cruisin'~~A WONDERful trip!

We went on a Disney four-day cruise in the Caribbean this week. Talk about FUN (except for Bryan getting seasick--Sunday night was rough and it caught up to Bryan on Monday night). We had a "kids sail free" deal.

Here are some favorite shots of the trip:

Here we are in Nassau, Bahamas. We found the Straw Market and got a couple of things..Luci's little purse, and a little Conga drum for JT (would you please quit playing that, JT?!). That's our ship, the Disney Wonder, in the background. Luci was thirsty at this point, and tired of walking. Can you tell?

Since I'm taking the photo, I am not in the shot...and I have the right to not show myself. So there.







It really is a lovely ship. There are art deco touches all through it, but it's modern, too. A classic look to the ship.

On deck 10, looking out over Nassau.

At Castaway Cay, Disney's private island. Gorgeous there! This was taken around 11 am. There was a breeze, and about 80* weather. It felt wonderful! The water felt cold, though, until you got used to it. After lunch this lagoon had more families in it, but before lunch we pretty much had the water to ourselves. John, JT and Luci are on the inner tubes and Bryan is sitting next to me on the sand. He wasn't feeling too well after his night of sea-sickness.

Bryan with Captain Jack Sparrow from the Pirates of the Caribbean movies. That shipwreck in the background is the very one used in some of the scenes in the Pirates movies. Too cool!

I do hope Captain Jack was not giving Bryan pointers on how to deal with the ladies....

John and JT took a bike-ride around the island. This was at one of the view points along the way.

Luci did not feel like riding. She rested after lunch. She's in there somewhere!

We had a different towel-animal in our cabin every night.

Luci tried her own hand at this craft. Here she is with her very own creation, made with her napkin.

Are you ready for this?

"I made a bar of soap!"

Gluten-free bread just for JT! It was delicious. The basket started out much fuller. This was after we all had a sample.

Some of my favorite shots:

Luci on our veranda, on Deck 8. We had just left port and headed out to sea the first night.

And two shots from Castaway Cay. I can't decide which I like the best. Mom, do you recognize the hat you gave me? Luci used it that afternoon, and I had to arm-wrestle her to get it back.

I think I like this second shot best.

Blast from the Past

This is especially for my family. When we moved back to the States from Japan, we landed in California. Of course Disneyland was on the list of things to do. So, here's a link to a 1960 Disneyland souvenir booklet. It is probably identical to the one my parents got while there in spring 1961.

Disneyland Souvenir Booklet

Check out the links at the bottom of that page to see the entire booklet.

More Luci-isms

Yogurts: scary, monster-like creatures in Ella Enchanted. You call them "ogres."
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Doors: Snow White has several: Dopey, Dashful, Sneezy and Grumpy.

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Coal: We are watching The Santa Clause 2. The subject of "coal in stockings" came up. I asked Luci if she wanted coal in her stocking, and she said, "NO! He wouldn't fit!"

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Please meet Cole:

Luci and Cole, July 2009

Some Silly Stuff...

Luci-isms

Glubs--Glove. As in, "Mickey's glubs only have four fingers!"

Carriage--what the rest of the U.S.A. calls a stroller. "Mommy, stop my carriage! I want to get out!"

Harmono-Rail--the Monorail. Luci's favorite ride.




Unicorn Tang

Learning to Hula Hoop

Bryan trying to talk Luci into a wild ride...which would be just about any ride ever invented.

Being brave in the Honey I Shrunk the Kids play yard at Hollywood Studios. Last year, she took one look at this ant and ran out of the playground. You'll want to know that as soon as the shutter clicked, she wanted OFF and didn't go near it again. Once was enough!

What in the World...

Disney World, that is. My Dad called this morning, thinking we fell off the face of the Happiest Place on Earth. So this post is for him and my Mom.

What we've been doing: The boys have been on every wild ride and Luci and I...well, we haven't been on many rides at all. We did go on the Winnie the Pooh Honey Pots ride, loved it, and "NEVER DOING THAT AGAIN!"

Went on Buzz Lightyear's ride in Magic Kingdom (did you hear her SREAMING through the whole line? Yes, we used the Fast-Pass option, thank goodness, so the length of screaming was kept to a minimum.) I had to carry her through the line and toss her onto the vehicle. Once inside the vehicle, she quieted down and quickly figured out she could steer us in circles. That kept her happy and once out of the ride, she proclaimed that she loved it, it's her new favorite ride, but..."NEVER DOING THAT AGAIN!"

Went on the carousel, which was a cry-fest last year. This year, she LOVED IT and actually let me take her on it three more times over the next day and a half.

When we got to Disney's Hollywood Studios, Luci had to be talked in to seeing Disney's Playhouse Show. She loved it, and even asked to go see it again, which of course we did. Talked her into seeing Beauty and the Beast show, incredible show, which she did and here's the way she saw most of it: her hands over her ears, and my hand over her eyes:

Most of the time, though, all Luci and I did was stand in line and see characters and get their autographs. At Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party, the only thing Luci would do was dance with Cinderella's stepsisters and stepmother.

Another popluar pasttime at Disney World is eating. Here is Luci's way of enjoying the meal: by not eating and PLAYING:

At Shades of Green, our resort, there is a free video game room for the kids. JT, Luci and I checked it out Wednesday. JT had fun with his racing games, and Luci and I played Wii Disney Princesses (what else?):

well, it only looks like she's playing...

Here's what was really going on:

At Hollywood Studios, there is always something going on. I saw this "movie director" head out into the street, so I told him that I knew of someone who would make a great actor--and pointed at Bryan. Here are the results. They are all pretty short, so they shouldn't take too long to load up and watch.

Part One

Part Two

Part Three

A few favorites from today

This photo was taken at the end of a very long day. We had just seen the fireworks at Magic Kingdom. As part of the show, they played I'll be home for Christmas which always makes me cry. The boys were so embarrassed. Then while the fireworks were still going on, John called from Afghanistan! See why I said I love cell phones? Leaving Epcot Tuesday evening. I'm proud of this shot.

I'm proud of this one, too. Cinderella's Castle, all lit up for Christmas.
Luci meeting Mulan. This was the one we had to see this year. Mulan was unhurried and visited quite a while with Luci. Which always makes the child happy, not to mention the mama.

Magic Kingdom

More to come, but I just had to share this with you! Waiting for the parade to start can be tough. The cast members (Disney employees) put out things to keep the kids busy and happy while they wait. Our area had hula hoops. Luci has never hula hooped before. She not only did fine, but after a while picked up a second hula hoop and did well two at a time! Here she is with one:

Thirty Days of Thanks

Well, here we are at the end of the month. It's been quite easy to find things to be thankful for, and most days I have to limit it to just one. Today I have two. :)

Today I am going to say Disney World and their Armed Forces Salute. They are giving one FREE 5-day ticket to military and up to five $99 5-day tickets to family members. (Since John's not here, we can get the family members tickets. The offer expires the day John is supposed to get home. You KNOW we would have waited until John got home, otherwise!) Disney has done this at least one other time since September 11th. I know that part of it is just business--the tourist industry's been hit very hard since then, and Disney World was thought to be a target of that dreadful day. But the cast members are so appreciative when they know that we are military. When we came in September 2002, when John was on his first trip, the cast members (and the characters especially) gave the boys such good attention and told us THANK YOU for what their Daddy was doing.

One I remember in particular was Captain Hook. We bought a Mickey t-shirt for characters to sign for John and they all did. Every last one of them. But Captain Hook gave the boys a special thrill when he pantomimed to his "keeper" (remember the characters who don't show their faces can't talk to the public) that he had seen their Daddy when he pulled into port overseas. My, you shoulda seen that 10 year old and 6 year old light up! And I loved it, too.

Chip and Dale cried because they missed John, and Goofy saluted. Really nice. And every single one of them signed John's shirt. We saw another guy ask them to sign his shirt because he'd seen us get the shirt signed, and he was told, "No way. Theirs is special--it's for their dad who's overseas."
Also thankful for the funds to do this--it was totally impromptu yesterday. We did not have a reservation (they are hard to get!) and we just walked in and they had room. Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique. And right next to Luci was another little girl, also from China, who lives in Memphis! I had a very nice conversation with her parents. Luci chose Tiana for her character, and she has that newest Disney Princess' outfit on.

Luci and her Minions

OK, so I spoke too soon....

This door is important to today's saga:

Well, the travel today was uneventful, but getting into the car was something else. The boys were doing push-ups in the driveway, if that tells you anything about how our trip started. We didn't even make it to the street--no, we didn't even make it into the van before they had to do push-ups! I nearly unpacked the van and went back inside, canceling the trip. Except that we locked ourselves out and the only extra key had fallen behind a door. (Just the door, it is bolted to the wall--it had the kids measurements on it at the old house and we moved it here and bolted it to the garage wall so we could keep measuring. There it is, above.) It was 30 minutes before Bryan got it outta there, and by that time JT and I had calmed down, I apologized to him, he apologized to Bryan and me, and we prayed (and I'm sure the neighbors went back to sleep after I woke them up YELLING at the boys). Then the key came out, just as I was hunting for a hammer to break the glass in the door to get into the house.

I prayed for calm and peace (not patience, that just brings more difficulties and practice to be patient!) and safety and we set out on our trip. It was a long day, but relatively uneventful. I made JT take an antihistamine before we set out so he'd sleep and that helped a lot. And the absolutely perfect weather was a great help.

A long travel day, but we got here just fine. Tomorrow is just 2 1/2 hours, and then we spend some time at Downtown Disney in Orlando. It is lots of fun, and a makes for a good first day at DisneyWorld.

I must tell you about this little potty chair from One Step Ahead. It has been a lifesaver for me because it is so handy! Luci usually can "hold it" for a very long time. But apple juice and water flow through her like, well, apple juice and water. Today we had to stop in an undesirable location and this potty chair came to the rescue. She and the potty chair are small enough that they fit on the floor of the van, in front of the front seat and she does her thing. Much better than trying to hold her (and me getting wet) or squatting above a coffee can. This little invention has come in handy on several trips.

Thirty Days of Thanks...

I'm thankful for a little girl who says Luci-isms and Luci-Speak like
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"I got a scrap on my knee." (scrape)
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"Tiana's prince is named Ravine." (Tiana is the newest Disney princess and her prince is NAVEEN.)
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"But mama, we have to go into McDonald's (instead of going through the drive-through) because there are people in there who want to meet me!"

Wow, I love her! Can't imagine life without Luci. What if we'd never gone to that adoption meeting.....

Yes, we're on our way...

Isn't that the song from Disney's Brother Bear? We will be at Vero Beach tomorrow--with our Disney Vacation Club. We've been planning this since we knew for certain that John was going back overseas--so, since the end of June. We are so ready for time off from everything! Yay! When we got across the Florida line this afternoon, the temperature went up 8 whole degrees! I am not kidding. So looking forward to a whole week of no school, no schedules, no whining (at least from myself).

Facebook....

Facebook--the social networking site--has finally sucked me in. Took a while, but now that I'm there, it is pretty interesting. I love getting to know my friends better: relatives, church folks, Families with Children from China, and homeschool moms.
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There are tons of quizzes. They are almost all silly. Some are icky. Most are kinda fun.
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Today I spent some time letting Luci give me the answers to the questions. We took several Disney quizzes (she is Demi Lovato, Cinderella, and Prince Phillip would be her Prince). One of the quizzes was "Which Disney Prince best suits you?" (That was the one that gave Luci the answer of "Prince Phillip.")
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One of the questions:

In a man, you seek...someone who appreciates my
talents and would do anything for me.

her response:

Not that one! I'm a big girl, I can do it
myself.

I love that answer! She takes after her mama.

This Weekend

I took Luci (and a nameless 12 year-old boy who doesn't want to admit he had to go with us, but his initials are J.T.) to an Imagination Movers concert in Birmingham. It was fun! The I.M.s are the United States' answer to The Wiggles. The Imagination Movers have a show on Disney Channel, and we must watch it every day. Here are some shots:

This is Rich. He came right up to Luci and waved to her with a great big smile. Luci was kind of in a daze. She wore her "ear muggs." This pair of ear muggs came from the hunting section of Walmart. Scott came up close, too.

Of course we made a stop at Cracker Barrel on the way home.

Sunday brought church, and getting Valentines ready for the party on Wednesday. Luci wrote her name on all 32 Valentines...I could not believe it! When the boys were that little, I couldn't get them to write their names on more than one or two. 32! That's my girl!