The blog is caught up

In these busy days of life it seems like more often than not I am doing these massive blog catch ups, sometimes 4-5 weeks at a time go by, eeek but this is really a busy season of life.  I am committed though to keeping it up as I order a blog book each year and we all love to have them and look through them.  So here is another catch up...there are about 4 posts after this one starting with Grandma and Grandpa's visit and then going into Thanksgiving and beyond!

The Club P Disney trip of a LIFETIME

Phew life has been BUSY since about the week of Halloween. We have been to and from several places, worked a lot in between and done a lot of school work in between, we are doing fall cheerleading and basketball for the first time (these activities are more than we bargained for at this time of the year I can tell you that) and we are still doing piano and preparing for our holiday concert on 12.17 right after a basketball game a few hours before...yikes...and we just returned home from a week of being SPOILED ROTTEN at Walt Disney World.  I knew when Jon told me about this conference trip he won that the timing was NOT good but the trip itself was just too much to pass up.  We had 6 nights 7 days in a one bedroom suite at Disney's Grand Floridian with concierge level amenities including daily breakfast, full access to the concierge lounge for snacks and drinks daily, and access to private events just for the conference attendees three nights which included the first night a full dinner and party with 37 Disney characters there just for our group right at the hotel in the convention center, another night they rented a private space at Epcot for dinner and had live entertainment and then we had private access to Soarin and Test Track plus food, drinks, DJ and another night we had private access at Animal Kingdom including food, drinks, live DJ, and private access to Mt. Everest and all of Dino Land and then Pandora World!!! On top of that everyone got daily park hopper passes and swag bags when we checked in, treats and stuff in the rooms each night and we got a massive Disney gift card when we checked in.  I have never been on a trip quite like this.  We are all still processing all that we got to see and do and the hotel room we had!  We did experience about two seasons or three maybe of weather in just 6 days, we started out in the upper 80's and then had a really strong cold front come through and had one night in the 30's (epcot night) and another night at Magic Kingdom that was maybe in the 40's and by the time we got back home this weekend we were back in the 80's.  We did not mind as it felt more like the holidays but we did have to make a run to old navy to get some scarves, gloves and hats for those chillier nights!!! Florida weather is crazy even at WDW!!!

we had.  This conference was put on by a large international vendor that Jon's company buys from.   Each year this company rewards their customers with an annual trip.  Apparently they get points for products they buy and can use their points to go on this trip.  Jon's boss and wife gave us the trip because Jon did so well with sales and also they don't have little kids and said we would never get to do Disney like this ever again so they gave it to us to go. The room we had was so nice, it was two full hotel rooms with one side set up like a large living room with dining area, tv, closet, and full bath and then you walked into the other room which was more like a hotel room with two beds, another tv, sitting area, balcony and another full bath and large closet.  Right outside our room one of the pools was below and we had a pretty view of the main hotel area and building. It was just beautiful all lit up for Christmas and out the other side of the room were views of the Seven Lakes Lagoon and Magic Kingdom. Every time you walked around the grounds you also could hear the most beautiful Christmas music playing in their outdoor speakers.  If Disney does not get you into the Christmas spirit, nothing will! This truly was a trip to remember with so many special perks we won't soon forget!!!

Things the kids both enjoyed on this trip that I don't want to forget was pin trading...I spent a ridiculous amount (thanks to the gift card) on lanyards and pins but for like 3 days straight they traded pins like champions at every opportunity with Disney workers in the parks and at the hotel, they absolutely loved this and are the perfect ages for it. They even got the kindest old man at Animal Kingdom to go and get the "pin cart" (stroller decorated with hundreds of pins) so they could trade from the pin cart, such an amazing little Disney moment we had.  They also both were able and wanted to ride a lot of the same rides this time, Sarabeth rode the rockin rollercoaster at Hollywood Studios with us all and also Space Mountain at Magic Kingdom!  She also rode the car with me at the speedway and for the first time Jackson was tall enough to DRIVE HIS OWN CAR...he did the cars over and over the night we were at Magic Kingdom for Mickey's Merry Christmas party, another extra perk we chose to do thanks to the amazing gift card we received. Jackson also got the Disney train set to put around our Christmas tree, this is a large toy we have said no to in the past but not this time due to the gift card. I also took the kids to the parks two days all by myself as Jon had to play in two different golf tournaments as part of the conference and the three of us just had the best time ever!  We have been to Disney so many times we all know how to navigate the parks and have our favorite tricks and tips we know to maximize our time and we just cruised along.  The kids are also at about the easiest and perfect Disney ages as no one is in diapers or nursing or in a stroller or wagon. They are so easy at 7 and 10 and so much fun!