Disney World 2013

We did it!  We finally made the trip to Disney World!!  Grammy and Pappy joined us on our summer vacation this year.  I think I can speak for everyone by saying it was one of the BEST vacations ever!  

We stayed at the All Star Movies Resort on Disney property!  The room we were assigned to was in the 101 Dalmatians wing!  We were close to both pools and also to the hotel lobby where we could get food and drinks (and the gift shop!) ;) 

Our first night there (Wednesday), we had our first character meal at Chef Mickey's.  The food was delicious and the characters did a great job entertaining the kids!  Laney absolutely was in Heaven seeing Goofy, Mickey, Minnie, Donald, and Pluto.  It took Max a few minutes to get warmed up to them!

Seeing the excitement on both of the kids' faces was worth the trip in itself!

I really think they thought it was the Mickey from TV!

Time with family is what our vacation was all about!  Spending a nice relaxing trip with the ones we love!  It doesn't get much better than that!

Our second character meal was Donald's Safari at Animal Kingdom.  We did breakfast there on Thursday morning.  I must say, I enjoyed breakfast more than dinner.  For those of you who know me well know that I am somewhat picky when it comes to food! ;)

At Donald's Safari, we saw Mickey, Goofy, and Donald (of course)!

Again, Max took a few minutes to warm up to the characters.  It seems once Mickey appears, he's fine!

Animal Kingdom was a favorite with our crew.  We did the safari ride and saw some amazing animals!  The zoo is great, but this was awesome seeing them close up and also seeing unique animals that aren't at the local zoos.

Magic Kingdom....AHHHH!  It was amazing there!  I loved the castle!  It was beautiful at night AND during the day!  Loved loved loved it!

Aunt Diane, Ashe, and Max (aka "Big Max"-Ashe's Daddy) came to visit us while we were at Disney World.  Aunt Diane lives in Ft Myers, so she drove up Wednesday night and stayed until we left.  Ashe and Big Max live in Orlando and met up with us each day.  We loved spending the time with Ashe and getting to know Max better.  We are so thankful we got to spend time with all 3 of them!

Of course we did the traditional tea cup ride.  I think the other adults knew not to volunteer for this one.  I didn't mind!  It gave me a chance to spend some fun time with the kiddos!  

Our last character meal (yes, we did 3) was the Play 'n Dine at Hollywood Studios.  I knew the kids would both enjoy this one.  Handy Manny, Jake, Oso, and June (Little Einsteins) came to visit while we had our breakfast.  

The highlight of Laney's trip was seeing Doc McStuffins Live!  This is a MUST to anyone that has small children!  Laney and Max both enjoy Disney Jr shows, so this is a "puppet" show on stage.  There are some fun activities they got to participate in, which made it even better!

The adults (and kids!) needed a little time away from the park to play and swim.  The kids absolutely LOVED spending an afternoon hanging out and swimming!  The pools at our resort were so nice.  We swam in the Fantasia pool, which was right next to our room. 

There was one section of our hotel that was "Toy Story" themed.  My kids and Ashe love Toy Story, so it was a must before we left the hotel to snap a few pics of them in front of the characters.  I couldn't believe how BIG the statues were!

Bye Bye Disney World!!  See you next time! (notice I DIDN'T say next year!)

Disney World definitely wore these two kiddos out!

 Up Next:  PANAMA CITY BEACH BABY!!

Laney's favorite part of Disney:  Seeing Doc McStuffins and riding the roller coaster

Max's favorite part of Disney:  Seeing Mickey, riding the roller coaster, and driving the cars

Also, I MUST share this:  Laney asked to ride something FAST and SCARY.  She wasn't tall enough to ride a lot of the fast roller coasters, but she was tall enough for the Tower of Terror.....obviously Mommy didn't do her homework to look into this ride.  Yeah, she rode it.  She wasn't happy about it afterwards, but there weren't tears and she didn't throw up.  That stands for something there!!  

My little daredevil!

SURPRISE!!!!

My dad turned the big 6-0 on May 8!  We had to delay his party by a few days so my brother and Malinda could join us in the surprise!  Laura did a great job planning the party and keeping it from him!  

It took some convincing to get him to the party, but we finally pulled it off!!

Surprised is the least we can say.  He was speechless!

and emotional, of course!  (for those of you who know my dad know it's not hard to get that out of him!)

Happy 60th Birthday to the best dad I could ask for!  He's a great dad to me and Matt and an even better Pa to my kids.  They look up to him in so many ways!  We are all so blessed to have him as a part of our lives!

We love you Dad!!  

Our Little Graduate!

The time has come and gone....Laney has officially finished Preschool at Noah's Ark!  It's a bittersweet time for us.    

She has loved going to school there, meeting new friends, and learning new things!

It's exciting knowing she will be moving on to Emerson Elementary, but then sad knowing that this is it! 

But at the same time, it's time to say goodbye to that chapter of her life.  This is the LAST year that she will EV-ER not have to do something every single day.  

But like Benj says, "Until she starts working part time like her Mom!"  I just say, "If you can do it, do it!" 

(and yes, that's me sitting on the steps with my 5 year old daughter who has stage fright!)

She was very proud of herself for graduating and getting that diploma!!

I started a tradition this year (thanks to Pinterest!).  I bought the Dr Seuss book, "Oh the Places You'll Go" and am having all teachers from preschool to 5th grade (I figured she won't allow me to go any further!) sign the book.  I'm not normally a sap about things, but reading what Mrs. Joray and Mrs. Mead said to Laney brought tears to my eyes.  

We are so proud of you, Miss Laney Dee!  Enjoy your SUMMER break!!

Seymour Mini 2013

Finally....
This year I was FINALLY able to run in the Annual Seymour Mini Marathon!
Two years ago, I was just starting to run and was happy to complete 4 miles without stopping.  I remember watching Tiffany during the race and think to myself, "Yeah, I doubt I will ever be able to run 13.1 miles"

Fast forward to last year (let's just skip over the November 2011 Monumental where I almost broke my leg!)....I was recovering from my injury and just starting to run short distance (less than 4 miles) so I volunteered to work a SAG station.  It was fun, but it definitely made me want to run 2013!

Now to this year....my training was going great and I had a new goal!  I finished the 2012 Monumental in November with a time of 2:09.  I really wanted to get UNDER 2 hours.  Training was great, minus a few "off" days, but that happens.  

Race day was cool and breezy...perfect running weather, but maybe a little windy.  

I felt great throughout the entire run.  

My legs were a little tight and sore due to a workout a few days prior.  

When I rounded Community Drive (where the start/finish line was), I glanced down at my Garmin and new I was going to hit my goal.  

Finish time:  1:58

I was so excited to get under the 2 hour mark.  Now I have a new time to reach!!  

Bring on the FULL 26.2 in November!!

Kindergarten Round Up/Registration

Seriously?  How is this little thing old enough for Kindergarten next year?  Whether we like it or not, she's going....

and she's ready!  She talks about going, she tells us what she's going to do when she goes, and she loves driving by her Kindergarten school (Emerson Elementary).

We recently had Kindergarten round up at Emerson.  What we do there, is get her all registered and the teachers do some minor testing on the kids to determine what they know and if they're ready for Kindergarten.  

Laney and I had the talk before we went...."Laney, you have to answer them when they ask you questions."  I thought she understood.....

So we get there and Laney starts playing with a couple of the kids that are there waiting (we are in the school gym for this).  I'm filling out the 25 pieces of paperwork that is all the same thing on each paper....the teacher, Mrs Anders, brings Laney over to her table to "test" her.

As some of you might know, Laney LOVES Scooby Doo (keep that in mind during this story)...

I hear the teacher say, "Shaggy?"  Shaking my head and wondering what Laney is telling her, I just smile.  I let the teacher do her thing (but of course I scooted closer to see what was being said).  Laney counted, told her the numbers, letters, colors, shapes.  Basic things that she knew.  I was then called over to talk to the teacher and looked down at the paper and Laney had "Shaggy" written down on the paper.  I asked her why Shaggy was written down.  Her response, "Cause that's my name!"  Really, Laney!?!?!  

I explained that she is a Scooby fan and we do not call her Shaggy at home.  The teacher confirmed before we left that she was to go by Laney at school....

"Yes, her name is Laney.  Not Shaggy."

This might be a long school year.....

Happy 3rd Birthday Max!

We now have a THREE year old on our hands!  How can that be??  

We had such a funfilled day celebrating Mr Max!  We kicked off the morning with yummy donuts...

did a little shopping, 

had some lunch, 

then headed to burn some energy at Monkey Joe's!

Both kids (and Mommy & Daddy) had a great day!  We ended the evening opening presents...

and the birthday dinner at El Nopal!

Max was extremely excited this morning to be three years old!  He told us numerous times throughout the day that it was his birthday and he was three!  

Stay tuned for birthday party pictures this weekend!!

Happy 3rd Birthday Max Charles!!

Happy Easter (a week late!)

Yeah, I know, Easter was last week....that's OK.  We should always be celebrating Easter!  The kids had a fun weekend filled with coloring eggs, egg hunts, family, and candy!  

Coloring Easter eggs is something I've always enjoyed doing with the kids.  I tried a new egg coloring technique this year (thanks to Pinterest) and I wasn't a fan.  (Used Koolaid to color eggs).  Problem #1 was the colors weren't as bright as the picture online.  Problem #2 was the eggs were not water proof. So it stained your hands and clothes if they got wet.  It was still fun!

The kids did several Easter egg hunts (church, Grammy's house, home, and school) and they have plenty of candy to prove they went!  Mommy wants the candy gone....STAT!

Happy Easter from the Reinhart Family!