Disney Part 2--Epcot

EPCOT was amazing!  It was one of our busiest days and packed full of fun.  We started off with Test Track (fast with no drops or darkness so Nana loved it).  Then, one of the highlights of our whole trip, we had breakfast with the princesses.  The girls were beside themselves.  I might have cried a tear or two watching the girls and knowing how happy they were.  

Designing our pretend car for Test Track.

Not the ideal ride, first thing in the morning, if you want to keep your hair nice.

Epcot has 2 sections...the educational imagination section (Future World) and the countries (World Showcase) which is also educational so win-win.  Our breakfast was in Norway and the food (reminiscent of that country) was good.  We met Belle first and the rest came right to our tables.

The girls wanted to see Ariel and Merida the most.  So, we crossed off Ariel right away.

Mulan

Alice in Wonderland (who was super fun and super friendly even though she isn't technically a princess..she was my favorite that morning).  

and Snow White.

With full tummies and the rest of the day before us, we made our way around World Showcase to the other 10 countries.  I made the girls a little passport that we got stamped in each country.  We ate a little snack in France, saw Aladdin and Jasmine in Morocco, had dinner in Mexico, and fun everywhere else.

Tried hats on in Norway...

Pictures in France

and Italy

How many Hubers can fit in a phone booth in the U.K.? Answer: 5 (that were willing to get in)

Getting our passport stamped in Germany...

Germany at night (not taken by us)  :)

More hats in China...

It was a good character day too.  Besides the princesses and Aladdin and Jasmine, we saw Baymax from Big Hero 6..

Minnie and Pluto

MICKEY!!!

and Goofy.

More magic shots...

We love our Uncle Benny for bringing us to Disney World!!!

We did spend time in the Future World part of Epcot too.  Went to the aquarium...  

and to space...

and had great seats for the night show...Reflections of Earth.  

Such a great day.  Love to you all!

Disney Part 1 --- Pop Century and Animal Kingdom

And then February 22 finally came...I'm thankful we didn't go in July because the anticipation would have been too much :)  The Hubers let me plan what we did each day since I had worked there and I'm so so thankful for that.  We went from sun-up to sun-down every day to pack it all in and we got 99.9% of it done.  We were tired, but we had a blast!!!  It was such a wonderful week.  A million times thank you to Janet and Kemper and Uncle Ben!!!

Our flight left KS at 7 am and we were in checked in to our hotel and at the park and ready for fun by noon. 

We stayed at the Pop Century resort...in the 70s section.

ANIMAL KINGDOM

We made it and we hit the ground running!  

FYI:  Janet is awesome and paid for us to have something called Memory Maker which allows Disney photographers to take our picture so all of us could be in it.  Also, if you ask, they do "magic shots" where they tell you to pose and later when you upload the picture, something has been added to it.  These were a favorite for the girls and they turned out super cute.  

 This is the new Mt. Everest roller coaster...the mountain behind us is real (I think it looks photoshopped), the snow is not.  

 Here with no snow you can see the tracks for the roller coaster.  It was super fast, super dark, and super fun for everyone except Janet...and maybe Joni too (see below).

 Memory Maker also lets you keep and upload the photos they take of you on the rides.  So amazing, mostly because its so fun to look at everyones scared faces.  Hadley, Ben, and Kemper went on it 3 times!  Things we learned at Disney #1:  Hadley LOVES roller coasters...the faster and darker, the better.  

Poor Jo and Nana.  Obviously, Andy's early morning has caught up with him :)

And the Dinosaur ride...this is the moment when the T-Rex comes out of the black darkness and tries to eat you...if you can't tell it was on my side and I thought it really was going to eat me.  Hadley is trying to find her happy place.

 Our first characters of the trip...one of our favorite movies and Andy's favorite Disney characters....Dug and Russell from Up.

 And my favorite picture of the whole trip.  

 The girls each got a "Wilderness Explorer Handbook" and they did little tasks around Animal Kingdom to get stickers.  

 "It's Tough to be a Bug"--3D show based on A Bug's Life

 "Kilimanjaro Safaris"

What sleep looks like after a long fun day. 

 Love to you all!

Happy Valentines...and 10th Anniversary...its all about love!

If you know us at all, you know we love our holidays and doing them well.  This year, Valentine's Day was on Sunday and even though Sundays are our busiest days, we still had a great one.  Heart toast for breakfast...

 And a special family Valentine's meal with heart ravioli's and chocolate covered strawberries for lunch (and strawberry milk).

And our annual $5 gift swap (we did the following night) turned out well for both of us...a campfire poker for Andy and a new butter dish that matches our kitchen for me :)

This year we celebrated 10 years of marriage.  The best 10 years of my life.  I can't believe how fast it goes when you're having fun.  We were planning on taking a little anniversary trip in March but when we found out we were going to Disney World in February, we decided that would be our trip.  We took a night to celebrate... had a fancy dinner (with a cheese platter as an appetizer), watched fireworks and a water parade on the beach, and had dessert at The Grand Floridian (the fanciest resort at Disney).  

Scallops and brussels sprouts in a squash puree (incredible...my mouth is watering thinking about it) and fillet mignon with new potatoes.

Mango Creme Brûlée with fresh fruit

Tiramisu

It was the perfect night and I love him.  So.  Much.

We weren't the only ones excited about us going to Disney World.  Oma sent the girls a Disney cookbook.  To make the waiting more fun we did a recipe a week until we left....Beauty and the Beast Roses...

Fairy Godmother Wands...

and Cruella DeVille faces.  

Waiting was hard...but worth it!  Our Magic Bands came in the mail 3 weeks before we left and got us into the parks, our hotel rooms, etc.  They were fun to use and we made them pretty so they were fun to wear too.

That awesome Oma also got us manicures and pedicures so we had beautiful nails for Disney World. 

More Disney fun to come.  Love to you all!