"Smashing" Idea !

   I found this video on Scrappy Boutique's blog. This is a scrapbooking/cardmaking store in Sand Lake, Florida. We were planning on going there after we picked up Chris and Tom at the airport, but they are closed. It's suppose to rain on Thursday, so we are hopping over there before we take Chris and Tom back to the airport.
   These books are a great idea. I think it came out of the winter 2011CHA conference. I can't wait to start mine. I could certainly fill one with "things" I have loved about our trip here at Disney.
   Thought you might like to see the video I watched. Inspirations....

Florida's Strawberry Festival... Yum!

   Russ and I traveled to Plant City, Florida today to go to the Strawberry Festival there. We picked up my sister, Phillis  and her husband, Cary who are Floridians. My mom is visiting them for a spell, so she went along as well. What a great time. The weather was perfect. We left early enough to avoid the huge crowds that came much later.



Doesn't it look good...

 We tried to see the pig races, but it was too packed by the time we got there, so we headed for the Strawberry Shortcake place. Here you buy a ticket for $3.50 and get to make your own strawberry shortcake. We had a grand time eating the strawberry shortcakes. We found a table and just sat and slowly savored each bite. We won't be eating strawberry shortcake in Maine until July. Love these pictures of Phillis and Cary eating away. Don't they look like they are enjoying the strawberries?

Tastes so good!

   We walked about the exhibits noticing the admirable handiwork. The crafters would not allow pictures or videos as they must think people would steal their ideas, so I took none and bought nothing. One particulplace was quite cute, but alas I can not show you....

   The fair was huge with 5 different types of ferris wheels. It got way too busy around 2:00, so we decided to leave. The weather turned hotter. It was the perfect time to leave as the cars were pouring in.

   It was a lovely day with my family.  Thanks Phillis and Cary.  We are back at Saratoga Springs and tomorrow we pick up my sister, Chris and her husband, Tom for more adventures here together. What fun! Here are a few more pictures of our day..











The Longest Day!!



I could almost touch him!



    We set off for Animal Kingdom this morning wicked early. We caught the first bus going there. The weather was perfect. We went on the Kilimanjaro Safari. We really got close to the animals. We didn't see any lions, but the rhinos were right next to the jeep.





Isn't he cute?

     It was a rough ride,but we got great pictures of the animals. The giraffes were everywhere. Really a great ride.
   I just love The Tree of Life. It

Great details

 so beautiful. Russ and I walked all around it to get some of these great pictures.


Looks real!

 




Go, Russ!

    Russ had to go on Mt. Everest alone. I am too much of a weenie. Once was enough for me. He had to stand in line fo r about 25 minutes while I waited outside hoping to get a picture. I did!! He's the one in purple.

   We spent the whole day there. It ended with Mickey's Jammin Jungle Parade. What a fabulous day.

We didn't get to see the Festival of the Lion King 'cause about ten minutes into the show they told us the show was cancelled. Bummer.



   Tomorrow onto the Strawberry Festival with my sister, Phillis, her husband, Cary, and Mom. I am drooling just thinking about a strawberry shortcake. Hope to have a video of the event.

   These pictures are from Mickey's Jammin Jungle Parade. We had never seen it before. It was wicked cute.















Hollywood Studios or Bust!!



Mr. Potato Head.



   We spent a good part of the day at Hollywood Studios. The weather was beautiful as it has been since we've been here. Not too hot, not too cool. We headed for Toy Story Mania as did hundreds of others. We got on pretty quick. I'd forgotten how much fun it is with those 3-D glasses. We promptly went to the Fast Pass area once we got off to get back on again after lunch.

   The park was pretty busy. They were filming a show for ESPN right there on stage. It's going to be wicked busy this weekend at this park with athletes showing up to give autographs etc. So we won't be going to Hollywood Studios for awhile.

   We have never gone to American Idol,but on the recommendation of my sister, Rochelle and our friend, Cindy , we went. It was very fun. The singing was awesome and hard to select a winner. The girl that won was the one I had chosen. She's going to go right to the top, I predict.



We were in the audience.



We also saw The Little Mermaid show. It is a short show with great visual effects. We waited the longest for this event. Beauty and the Beast was way too long a wait. The line was forever. We will do that one next time. 

   We ate at the Backlot. Good healthy food. Instead of french fries, we had carrots sticks. How's that for will power. 



Remember him?



   We did get to go in the newly renovated Walt Disney exhibit. They have done a lovely job chronicling the life of this gifted man. It was amazing to see all that he accomplished in his lifetime. His brother, Roy, was no slouch either. 

   Well, that pretty much was the end of our feet. We headed back to our resort feeling like we had done Hollywood Studios enough for this year. Resting for our evening at Magic Kingdom to see the Main Street Electrical Parade which I don't think is as good at Spectro Magic.  I am going to give it a second chance to make sure I am not wrong. Big of me, isn't it?

        

Inspirational Mickey PIn

Love this pin!!

   I saw this pin at Downtown Disney. I thought it was such a nod to Tim Holtz's work and Wendy Vecchi's work. I think it would be a great idea to take a die cut and use the Cuttlebug folder to emboss gears on other characters. I am going to buy this pin the next time I see it. Thought it might be an inspiration to others.
   You can tell I miss my papercrafting hobby. I am hoping that when my sister, Chris and her husband, Tom get here on Sunday that we will have time to head over to our favorite craft store. I hope to have a video of that place for you all to see. Oops.. I've already picked up the Southern accent.
   Thanks for checking out my blog. More to come.....

A Wonderful Day at Epcot

Car of the future

   We decided to go to Epcot today . The weather was really lovely. We started out for Soarin. We only had to wait about ten minutes. Love this ride.. The park was not really overly busy. Next we went to Universe of Energy. That was fun. But my big accomplishment was going on TEST TRACK. I even kept my eyes open the whole time. A proud moment for me. Planet Earth was our last ride. We walked right on.


I'm with Cindy's boyfriend

    We then headed for the Flower and Garden Show. I had been taking pictures of topiaries all day, but I wanted to go to the butterfly show. It was very nice. Not as big as  would have liked it, but nice. Beautiful pics of butterflies.
   We continued on to  the World Showcase and ate lunch at our favorite place: Norway. Great sandwiches. Very relaxing as our feet were starting to get tired. We saw more cute topiaries and flowers. At the American pavillion the Fife and Drum corp were performing. Very formal. Loved it. We went to the show inside where the Liberty Singers were performing. Very nice sound. The American Experience show is always moving.


Very moving...

    Our fee were getting tired, so we took the boat launch across the lake and headed back. We were so tired we ended up taking a nap. Probably a result of long drive down here.
   Anyway, we will be heading out to dinner soon,  I think we will be heading out to Smokey Bones, maybe. Love their cornmeal muffins. Here are some more pictures from our day. If you want to see the whole album here is the link:
 https://picasaweb.google.com/103434133580104125410/Mar22011Day3Epcot?feat=directlink

Finally stopped moving!

Doesn't she look real?

Thanks for checking out my blog.   

A Great First Day!!



What a feeling!!

   
   I agree with Tigger about being at Disney. It's a great feeling. Russ and I had  no problem on our last leg of the road trip. Russ did a great job driving through all the traffic. He's a trooper.
   We headed straight to Red Lobster for lunch. The food pictures are for my brother-in-law, Tom. He loves Red Lobster. The food was great as usual.

 Russ and I are trying to eat healthy, so we stayed away from fried foods.

The only bad "thing" was the cheese biscuits, but we are only human. Wicked good, though.

   We decided to walk around Downtown Disney 'cause we were really too early for check-in at Saratoga Springs. It was so nice just to walk around instead of be sitting in a moving vehicle. We got our chocolate fix at Girardelli with their free chocolates. We shopped at Goodings Grocery Store for breakfast "stuff". 

   We checked in at Saratoga. We got a pretty good room at Congress Park with a view of water and not far from our car. Color me happy...

   We bought our annual park hoppers and hopped on over to Magic Kingdom. We went to Buzz Lightyear, Haunted House, The President's Hall, Lilo and Stitch, and watched the fireworks..impressive.

   What a full day.. We are planning tomorrow was I type.  Check out the pictures below for an idea of the fun we had today. Thanks for looking...

What are you doing, Russ/???

Nice candy maker at Downtown Disney

Buzz Lightyear game

Healthy meal at Red Lobster

Wishes fireworks over the castle

This one's for Cindy