Disney Day 2 - Epcot

Our first full day at Disney had us going to Epcot, which turned out to be one of our favorite parks.  It was so easy to meet characters and the different countries were simply amazing.  Zoe got to meet several characters, got their autographs, have lunch with princesses at Akershus Banquet Hall in Norway and many, many more adventures.  We literally went from 9:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. and had a blast!  Check out our pictures:

On the bus on the way to Epcot

Me & Daddy

Mommy & Zoe

What you see when you know you're in Epcot

Zoe meets her first character, Daisy Duck

Zoe and Stitch

Zoe & Mickey Mouse

Zoe & Pluto

Zoe & Minnie Mouse

Zoe & Donald Duck

Zoe & Goofy

Oh no, Zoe!  Dont' get eaten by the shark!

Mommy will save you!

Zoe insisted on taking her Minnie ears with us to Epcot, but hardly wore them.

Guess who wore them the most?

Zoe & Daddy conducting music!

Zoe & Daddy creating "Figments"

Zoe & Belle.....this is for you Aunt Shelley

Mommy & Zoe in China

That blue "plate" is actually spinning

Zoe telling Snow White that she dressed as her when she was 3!

Zoe and Mulan...she was awesome!

Zoe & Belle at our first Princess Lunch

Zoe & Cinderella

Zoe & Snow White

Zoe & Sleeping Beauty

Zoe & Ariel

Zoe was pretty darn excited to get to lunch with princesses

This is what Daddy thinks of salmon cakes from Norway

It's Oktoberfest in Germany!

Zoe, Jasmine & Aladdin

The British Revolution....they were awesome!

For those of you who have seen the movie UP, we saw these "Kevin" birds everywhere!

One of our favorite places we ate, The Rose & Crown Pub in the United Kingdom

Zoe back in the shark!

Daddy will save you, Zoe!

The "Mickey" in the tank

Disney 2011 - Travel Day & Downtown Disney

Mark and I have been planning on taking Zoe to Disney for quite some time.  With the help of my best friend, Shelley, we got quite a deal and we had the best family vacation.  It's sad, but this was the first time we had been on a vacation where it was just the three of us and we actually stayed in a hotel room.  We rented a van, loaded it down and we were off!  We left on Saturday, October 1, 2011, and made it all the way to Valdosta, Georgia where we stopped for the night.  We stayed at a Wingate by Wyndham that was so nice that my hubby has said that we need to try to stay at one of those whenever we go on a vacation.  Zoe was running around the room like crazy saying it was the "best night of her life."  All I could say to her was, "If you're this excited about staying in a hotel room, you have no idea what's in store for you!"  We got up the next morning, had a wonderful complimentary breakfast and then we were on our way!  We couldn't check in until 3:00 p.m., but we decided to take our chances and see if our room was available and it was!  We got unpacked and situated at our hotel (Disney's Port Orleans - French Quarter) and then we headed to Downtown Disney for the first night.  We shopped and ate at Portobello's.  Check out the photos from our travels down to Florida and our first day at Disney:

Snacking on the way down

Zoe getting ready to go to sleep with her eye mask

Are we there yet?

We're not there yet!

Zoe is so ready to get out of the van!

Zoe resorts to singing while using her tag reader as a microphone!

We're here!

The entrance to our resort

The fountain in the resort

On our way to check out the pool

On the ferry on our way to Downtown Disney

Our view from the ferry

Yes, you could actually get in that thing....not me!

Daddy and his girl!

Happy girl eating a snack with her new Minnie Mouse ears!

The boat from Forrest Gump

Zoe in front of Snow White and, yes, those are made out of Legos

More Legos....Maleficent as the dragon and Prince Phillip

The pool at our resort

Zoe goes down the slide all by herself!

Daddy & Zoe....freezing in the pool!

One our way back to the room for the night

My 36th Birthday

I turned 36 on September 26, 2011 and I can't begin to tell you how wonderful of a birthday it turned out to be! I knew about three weeks in advance that my parents were coming down to keep Zoe so Mark and I could have a night out.  Little did I know, my hubby had been working overtime to make sure my birthday was incredibly special.  First, Mark and my best friend from back home, Temple, had been plotting to surprise me.  They rented rooms at the DoubleTree Hotel in Downtown Nashville without me knowing it.  I just knew that Mark and I were going to get so much needed "alone time" and he had planned on us staying out.  Anyway, we got to the room and once we got settled there was a knock on the door.  I looked at Mark and said, "Who could that be?"  Mark said it was probably room service, which I thought was crazy but just opened the door.  The only thing in the hallway was a gift bag with a card sitting in front of it with my name on it.  Now, I knew I knew that handwriting because nobody, and I mean nobody, writes like Temple.  I hadn't quite put two and two together before she jumped out at me from behind the door.  Needless to say, I cleared that gift bag (like I used to when I ran hurdles in track) and proceeded to scream and hug her for all I was worth.  What a wonderful surprise!  I just couldn't get over it because I hadn't seen her and Craig since our crazy night out at the Daughtry concert in May of 2010!  We all got ready and headed to a place called "Puckett's Restaurant and Grocery" that I had been to before for lunch and wanted to go to for dinner.  Anyway, the food was unbelievable and from there we headed to the Wildhorse because all of us had never been before.  It was okay (the company was the best part) and then we headed up Broadway into this little dive called "The Second Fiddle" and we had the best time.  The band was awesome and the company was AWESOME!  Check out the photos:

My next surprise turned out to be the next day with my best friend, Shelley.  Her and Mark had been plotting and I had no idea.  She came and picked me up and took me to see Adduction, which turned out to be an awesome movie and then we got to shop a little!  I have to say that my sweet hubby, best friends, parents and  daughter all made me feel so loved on my birthday!  Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Mommy's New Camera

I have had the same camera since my birthday right before I found out I was pregnant with Zoe, which is in 2005.  Crazy, huh?  It has still taken great pictures, but I definitely needed a new one because it was SLOW.  I had told Mark quite some time ago that I was getting a new camera, albeit not the really expensive one I want (hello Canon Rebel), but a good point and shoot.  I told him I would wait for the expensive one until another time.  Anyway, I bought a Canon ELPH 300, which received the highest reviews of any point and shoot camera.  Check out the first pic I took with it:

Pretty stinkin' cute if you ask me!

Zoe's First Grandparents Picnic

Zoe had her first Grandparents Picnic at school.  I've said this before and I'll say it again....Mark and I are incredibly blessed that we have my parents because they do all they can to drop whatever they have going on and make Zoe a priority.  They try to come to every little thing she has and she feels like she is the most important one in their lives.  Now, that's a hard thing to do when you have 11 grandchildren, but my parents are the best and it shows in how much Zoe adores her Nana & Papa.  Of course, they made sure they were down here for the Kindergarten Picnic and Zoe was so excited to show them off.  Now, she wants them to come and eat with her all of the time!  Ha!  Anyway, check out picks that Nana & Papa took for me:

Reading

I had been told when Zoe started Kindergarten that Kindergarten was now the new "First Grade" and that my child would be reading by the end of the school year.  Well, it's not the end of the school year and our child is actually reading some now.  HOLY COW!  Mark and I have had a routine over the years that I would work with her on her sight words and then he always reads one of her reader books with her.  Of course, we have occasionally swapped it up, but we have mostly stuck to the same routine.  Apparently, it is paying off.  The other night we're sitting up in the bonus room and Zoe grabs one of her reader books all by herself and proceeds to sit down and start reading the book BY HERSELF!  Don't get me wrong, she doesn't know every word and has to stop at times to ask for help with a word, but she reads the book all by her lonesome!  I think I speak for both Mark and I when I say it was a proud moment for both of us and we probably could've cried a little watching our girl!  I hope she takes after her Mommy because I LOVE to read and can't get enough of books.  Now, this picture isn't of her reading one of her readers, but this is our girl making a spot for herself and reading a book, which does my heart a whole lot of good!

First Kindergarten Parent/Teacher Conference

We had our first parent/teacher conference with Zoe's Kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Brader.  I wasn't sure what to expect and I was having all of the usual Mommy angst of "I wonder if my child is behind" or "I wonder if my child was adequately prepared" or blah, blah, blah.  You get the picture.  My sweet husband?  He's not worried about anything and says we will get an excellent report.  Anyway, we head in and it was wonderful to hear that our child is not only doing well, but is far ahead of where she needs to be in Kindergarten.  Her teacher then proceeded to show us all our child could do and it felt really good to hear.  It felt good to know that Mark and I made a sound choice to keep Zoe at McKendree (which is an excellent program) and not move her to a different Pre K program and that all of the work we had done behind the scenes with Zoe (sight words, colors, shapes, letter recognition, etc.) had really paid off.  She is doing excellent in Kindergarten and we couldn't be more proud of our girl!  Way to go Zoe!

Food

I'm sure most of you that read this Blog can relate to having a child that's a picky eater, at least at one time or another.  And, if not, please don't rub it in and tell me about how easy your life is with your wonderful eater.  I mean, hasn't everyone been mortified when their child puked up their best friend's lasagna on their WHITE DINING ROOM CHAIRS?  But I digress so I'm moving on.  Anyway, we have a rule in our house that you have to at least try something because you don't know if you like it unless you try it.   After you try it, you don't have to eat it if you don't like it.  I'll admit that most of our battle with Zoe used to be just getting her to try something, but the child is so smart that she will try it and immediately say she doesn't like it so she doesn't have to eat it.  The other day her Daddy was having her try something new (I can't remember what is was because that's what happens when you're late updating your Blog) and our little Zoe wasn't being too cooperative.  She did finally try it, but immediately said she didn't want to eat it.  My sweet hubby had had it and told her she was going to eat five bites of whatever it was before she could get up from the table.  Zoe immediately calls out to me and says, "Mommy, Daddy forgot the rule about food!  Could you please tell him the rule again?"  It was hysterical and I had to remain in another room for a few minutes while I laughed.  Little toot....

They Seriously Tease Us Shelley