The Happiest Place on Earth

Every year we take a family beach vacation. Family meaning that my little immediate family (the Mr., dictator, and BayBay), my parents (L and B), and my brother's family (Uncle Bug, Aunt Em, Jude, and YaYa Bell aka Layla). This year we changed it up from our usual spot of Panama City Beach to Vero Beach (another post to follow). Vero is close enough to Orlando that we thought it would be a spectacular idea to take the kids to Disney World for just a day. We flew into Orlando so it worked out perfectly to begin vacation there.

I am so thankful that we decided to do this. Elin is currently in the all things princesses stage (does it really ever end?). She is obsessed! In fact that is basically all she plays with all day, everyday. She has two type of princess figurines the mommy figurines  (as she has named them) and the baby figurines (these are located at the checkout at Wal-Mart, but be advised you may have to go to 20 different Wal-Marts to find them, yep, that mom). Her favorite princess currently is Punzel in her words, however, it changes daily sometimes hourly. We dress up as a princess, we play with princesses, we watch princess movies, the girl is obsessed. Needless to say her agenda for Disney consisted of finding the princesses. 

Just for the record I did not plan this Disney trip, my mom did, so the blog post will not be filled with planning a Disney trip. I do know that she used a travel agent and that it was easy to set up the Magic Bands and Fast Passes. From all the blogs I have read it also appears that travel agent is the way to go, they usually can save you a little money in the long run. The Magic Bands were something new to us. The Mr. and I went to Disney right before we got married and the Fast Pass was the big thing then. Now they have these cute little bands that have everything connected to them, your hotel room, your tickets, your Fast Pass, your Photo Pass, basically everything you need is on that Magic Band. My experience in the planning process consisted of selecting the Magic Band colors, and selecting the Fast Pass activities. I did not know this but when you initially make your Fast Pass selections you can only pick 3, as you complete the activities you can then add more, make sure you just download the App before you go. 

The other part of the planning that I did was deciding on what to do with the kids stroller wise. We have a double stroller but I NEVER travel with it when we are flying. Typically when we travel we just take the umbrella strollers with us and they do the trick. Disney was a new ballgame, lots of walking and sunshine (we knew BayBay would need some shade). My sister in law had told us that there are companies that you can rent strollers, pack in plays, car seats, etc. from and she recommended that we go with this option (she has a 4 and 6 year old and they still use the double stroller, easiest way to keep up with your kids in a large crowd).  I looked at the Disney strollers but they just didn't seem to work for Baylor, they are hard and plastic, and look like a pain to push. I looked at two different stroller companies:

Orlando Stroller Rentals

and

Magic Strollers

Both companies carry the same types of strollers. We went with Magic Stroller simply because they were maybe $5.00 cheaper (our stroller had a little more wear and tear on it than my brother and sister in law, they have always rented from Orlando Stroller, probably why ours was cheaper). The nice thing about renting a stroller from one of these companies is that a.) you don't have to worry about anything happening to your stroller at the airport b.) it is there when you check in to your hotel and you just return to the same place c.) they are nice strollers (whoever thought of this idea was a genius). Just make sure when you are renting the stroller that you include the rain cover, its free, and you never know when its going to rain in Florida. Also I know black is more attractive but we went with a color and it was easy to pick out in the stroller parking area. If you do go with black make sure you bring something to tie to your stroller the workers do move the strollers in the area to keep them tidy and make room. 

Magic Stroller

Orlando Stroller

We were in Orlando for one night and one day. We stayed at Disney's Coronado Springs. It wasn't anything to write home about, probably hadn't been updated in 20 years, but it had a comfy bed and a decent breakfast. We didn't get to enjoy the pool, but my brother and sister in law (they had been there for a week) said that the pool was pretty awesome. The hotel itself was huge. Note to all those first time Disney people, make sure you ask the front desk for your "First Time at Disney" button. I did not know this but luckily my sister in law is an experienced Disney goer and made sure that Elin and Baylor both got their buttons. Elin wore hers around with pride all day, nearly impossible to get it off of her because she loved it so much (on a side note we are still wearing our Disney Magic Band, love toddlers). 

YaYa Bell and Jude at breakfast

Since we were only doing Disney for a day we went with Magic Kingdom as our park of choice. Magic Kingdom is perfect for a little girl who loves princesses. Our Fast Passes for the day pretty much consisted of meeting Mickey and the Princesses. As usual upon arrival you are blown away with the beauty of Magic Kingdom. Nothing screams Disney like a castle. Elin loved it and was in awe. Our first Fast Pass was pretty much as soon as we entered Magic Kingdom. 

Check this link for shirt info (side note she can even get tall man sizes)

We hit the ground running and started with a visit to Rapunzel and friend (which happened to be Princess Tiana, one of Elin's favorites, loves NOLA like mom and dad). I think it is safe to say that Elin was star struck. I feel like she was thinking "wait, they really exist?" Obviously the people who are playing these princesses are amazing at their job, they stay in character no matter what circumstances they face. Rapunzel was perfect hugged Elin, talked to her about being a princess, and really made her first meet and greet a great experience. Elin was just as excited to see Tiana, and apparently she is a rare find. 

In true Disney fashion we had to go on Its a Small World, this was Elin's first real ride (pretty sure it is everyones first ride at Disney). She was mesmerized by the whole thing. The whole ride she was saying and pointing "mom look, dad did you see that?" It was also a nice break from the Florida heat on 4th of July weekend. 

Merida was our next stop. Merida is probably Elin's second favorite princess after Rapunzel (she is definitely my favorite, the Mr. thinks she's pretty awesome too) she was just as starstruck. Merida's little area is nicely set up because they have a little table for kids to color while you wait in line. Disney truly knows how to do things the right way. 

Showing Merida her muscles

Elin's beautiful artwork

We had a quick lunch at Tomorrowland Terrace (TIP: If you are staying for the week, do the meal plan), and then headed out to see Mickey. Now when I was a kid I remember you had to search the park high and low to find that silly mouse. Now they have a nice little set up, and I definitely recommend a Fast Pass for Mickey because the regular line was super long (TIP: Ana and Elsa were not at Magic Kingdom, but if you plan to see them Fast Pass them as well the line was 120 minutes long the day we were there, YIKES). This Mickey was very unique, he talked! We were very taken a back by that and equally as surprised when Elin decided to hug him. I think Baylor was just trying to figure out what it was because he just kept giving Mickey the stare down! 

Jungle Cruise

Disney is an exhausting day, and while I can't wait to go back (hoping to do the Disney cruise) I am glad that we had the beach to look forward too. We left the park at 5:00 and definitely were all exhausted and ready for a break. I am not the person to talk to if you are planning a week long trip, but I can say it was worth every second of watching your child form life long memories. I am pretty sure Elin has asked us "can we go to Mickey's house?" everyday since our visit. Disney is way more fun with your kids! We are counting down the days until we can go again!

Massachusetts The Bay State (Boston)

The Mr. and I celebrated our 7 year wedding anniversary in Boston, with the kids of course. In 7 years we have had 2 kids, moved homes 4 times, moved to a new state, been to 26 states together, 5 different countries, and as the Mr. put it in his Instagram post he is still sleeping in the bed. I hate to get all mushy on you all but I don't get the opportunity to share with the world how much I love him often. His sacrifice for his family, his unfailing love, his constant support are just a few things that admire about him (he is pretty awesome lets just put it that way). If there is one thing living in a state far away from all that you know has brought to our marriage it is that we have truly learned to depend on one another. I am beyond blessed to have him as my partner in the adventure of life. Here's to many more Mr. Logan! 

Check out those babies 11 years ago

June 20, 2009

I guess I never really realized how close Boston is to us, but just like everything else it could easily be a day trip. I have to start off by saying, we LOVED Boston. Honestly, I think we like it better than NYC. It feels cleaner, its full of history, and just has an overall good vibe to it. I can definitely see us heading back to Boston during our time here (only a few more states to go before we revisit any previous states). 

Did I mention how close it is? Boston is seriously just and hour and half drive from our home in Connecticut. If you are from Kentucky that is pretty much like driving from Greenville to Bowling Green, or to Cincinnati from Louisville. People that the Mr. works with ask him all the time "Did you travel that much when you were living in Kentucky? You know to like Indiana and all the surrounding states?" While his answer is no, this is all new to us, so we are taking full advantage of the proximity. In all actuality, yes we have been to all the surrounding states, but what I don't think they realize is that we could drive for five hours and never leave the state. The one thing I have noticed is while I have always known where the New England states are (as to probably everyone reading this post) I can't say that New Englanders know much about the great state of Kentucky. I have had the following two crazy statements: "Is Kentucky close to Colorado?" "Oh your from Kentucky, isn't that where that big horse race is? I think its called the Kentucky Derby?" Come on people, really? 

We decided since it was our anniversary weekend we would make a weekend trip out of it, well two days. The Mr. took some time off on Friday so we leisurely made our way north with our first stop being Cambridge, MA home of Harvard University. I know some of you think we are crazy dragging our small children to all these Universities (Elin has been on like 5 college tours in her two years of life), but we are firm believers on it never being to early to start talking about colleges. Plus, right now at this point in their lives we are just dragging them to things that the Mr. and I want to do, making memories! The main reason we wanted to go into Cambridge though wasn't because of Harvard. I have told you all before that New Orleans is by far our favorite place we have traveled to, it lives in our soul! One of our favorite restaurants in NOLA is a little Mexican place (yep, Mexican in the bayou is pretty amazing) called Felipe's. Now Felipe's has several location in NOLA but the only location outside of NOLA just happens to be in Cambridge, MA. Why? I have no idea, I guess I should have asked. Randomly I was on Felipe's website looking to see if it was a chain one year while we were visiting and I never forgot this little bit of information. I have been planning this trip to Felipe's since we moved here. It was just as good as it is in NOLA, only difference the Harvard location just doesn't have that NOLA charm (it lacks a little dirt and beautiful architecture). If you ever visit either city please stop by Felipe's. Our personal favorite is anything with chicken tinga, and we have tried just about everything on the menu (sometimes we eat there everyday for lunch, or late night snack while in NOLA, its that good). 

Sorry but not sorry NOLA Crew (Mallori, Tory, John, Kari, Will, and Macy), we are ready to plan a NOLA trip soon though!

After lunch we did explore Harvard Square (got the t-shirt) and headed over to Harvard's campus. We loved Harvard Yard, it is probably a great place to study or as the Mr. said take a good nap. They had tons of little movable metal chairs in all colors. Of course the dictator needed the Mr. to move all the chairs until she got just the right color combination (blue, purple, pink, yellow, and orange).

We spent a little time on the yard just letting Elin run around and soak up Harvard campus. Its amazing to think that some of those building were built in the 1800s or even earlier. Some interesting things that we learned about Harvard (they are actually lies written on the John Harvard statue) 1.) John Harvard is not the founder of the University (in fact he just donated a bunch of books, no body even knew his name until he was dead) 2.) the statue of John Harvard is just a man, not actually John Harvard (it was the 1600 people, photography was not invented, and John Harvard has no record of sitting for a portrait) 3.) if you read closely on the John Harvard statue it says that the University was founded in 1639, when in fact it was founded in 1636 and was originally called New College, only getting its name changed after John Harvard died and his will was read and he became such a huge benefactor to the University. Just because their Ivy League doesn't mean they tell the truth. However, being a former teacher it was pretty cool to stand on the campus of the oldest insitute for higher education. 

Oh mom!

Just rocking her UK outfit on Harvard's campus, she is considering both right now!

Family Selfie Failure #1

Family Selfie Failure #2, our kids are wondering why they have to be seen with people

After our journey around Cambridge, and no naps we decided to head to the hotel. Elin was hoping for a pool but the Double Tree in the Theater District let her down. We weren't really sure where to stay so we just opted for any Hilton with an available room and landed in the Theater District. We didn't do much exploration in this area so I can't tell you a whole lot other than the hotel was extremely nice and super close to public transit making it very easy to get around the city. 

Friday night we went down to Faneuil Hall Marketplace. Baylor got to experience his first official ride on public transit. Other than having to carry the stroller up a flight of stairs because we took a wrong turn and missed the elevator the T was definitely easy to navigate. 

Is that the city that smells? Or me?

The kids who still had not had a nap were troopers. If you take a look at the picture below you can tell how much they enjoyed the marketplace. They used this excursion as their nap time. It actually worked out perfect that they were sleeping because at Faneuil Hall they have areas with outdoor games that you can play for free. They have a ton of board games but then they also have ping pong tables, chess, air hockey, and pool tables. The Mr. accepted my challenge in a game of ping pong, and of course I lost. I loved this idea, wish more places had things like this. While we were there we saw people of all ages going up and playing the various games. A lot of laughing and memory making. Props to Faneuil Hall for giving people a reason to put down their cell phones. 

Inside Quincy Marketplace are a million restaurants. The Mr. and dictator went with their staple, pizza, and I opted to try a buttered lobster roll (I hate mayo so I'm always searching for a good buttered lobster roll, apparently this is called Connecticut style). Of course we ended our dining experience with Ghiradelli's, which you can't go wrong with. If you are looking for Boston apparel, household items, etc. this is the place to buy it at. If you are looking just to shop, you probably want to head in another direction.

Random fact, McDonald's in New England serves Lobster Rolls and so does Panera

Good night Boston

Saturday morning we headed back down to Boston Harbor. You know me I am always one to find a good craft fair, and Boston certainly didn't let me down. Apparently this fair goes on every weekend so if you do go to Boston check it out, you can't miss it! They also have some really great food trucks in the area. We needed a mid morning snack and stopped at the cookie food truck. We tried three different flavors: salted caramel, peanut butter and chocolate chip, and a sugar cookie with M&M's (I am sure if you know the Logan family you know which cookie goes with which person). 

There were some really cute things here!

We had already planned on doing the Boston Duck Tour on Saturday. If you have never been on a Duck Tour you should try it sometime. The Mr. and I have been on one in Seattle (prior to kids), so sort of knew what it was all about. The duck tour is the best way to cover a lot of ground, see most of the top attractions a city has to offer, learn some cool facts, and have a lot of fun. The Seattle Duck Tour is nonstop quacking, blaring music, and yelling at people on the streets (it is Seattle though, enough said right?), whereas the Boston one was a little more reserved! If you are wondering what a Duck Tour is click the link above.

For only $4.00 you can get this cute little duck quacked that no 2 year old can make quack, she looks cute trying!

The Boston Duck Tour took us all around the city. If you take a look at the pictures you can see some of the sites we saw. I am not even going to begin to try to name the buildings as my memory is foggy (I leave the keys in the door pretty much daily).  Typically the tour goes by Boston Commons but our trip had to be rerouted due to some construction. We pretty much hit all the major landmarks of the city (minus Boston Commons). Boston is definitely a city of many first, and full of history. I am sure you could spend days there just soaking in all the history, but right now our kids don't have the patience for that so we opted for the quick way, Boston Duck Tour. 

Yep, she was bored! Oh, and we take that polar bear everywhere1

 After the Duck Tour, our kids were exhausted and we were ready for a break. Baylor has been cutting teeth so sleep is a word we currently don't know in the Logan household. We still have some things that we want to do in Boston (Boston Commons, Fenway Park), but those will have to be for another day! If you have any other suggestions of things we should go back and do feel free to leave them in the comments below. Overall, it was definitely a great weekend and the perfect way to ring in year 7!