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Making our way to the Disney Social Media Moms Celebration

Posted on February 16, 2010 1:24 pm by TheAngelForever

We arrived in Orlando the Saturday before the Disney Social Media Moms Celebration. This gave our family time to enjoy the parks together. We stayed at the Pop Century Resort during this time. On Wednesday, we had breakfast reservations at 8:50 at Cape May Cafe in the Beach Club Resort. We figured we would go to Disney Hollywood Studios, walk to the Beach Club Resort and then go the back way into Epcot for a while before heading to Pop Century and making the switch for the conference to the Polynesian Resort.

Wednesday morning, the temperature was freezing for Florida. The wind was gusting and it made an otherwise nice walk from Hollywood Studios by the Boardwalk, Swan/Dolphin a painful one. We had done this walk many times on our honeymoon almost nine years ago. Perhaps age, hauling two kids, and pushing a double stroller in freezing temperatures changed the situation some.

After a 36 minute walk in the cold, we finally made it to the Beach Club Resort. I have to admit, this is still my absolute favorite place on Disney grounds to visit/stay. There is just something so beautiful and wonderful about the resort. One day, I hope to be able to stay here with the boys. We checked in for our reservations and were seated soon after.

This is a character meal. Goofy, Donald and Minnie are all there wearing their beach wear. Thank goodness this time around, both of the boys were accepting to the characters. JSL (2) was not in love with them, but he tolerated it and liked when they gave him a high five or gave him a tickle. Here are some photos of all of us with the Disney characters:

The food here was very good. We especially liked the French Toast bake along with Bagel, lox and cream cheese! Some shots of our plates of food:

When breakfast was over, we decided to head into Epcot via the back entrance. We did this a lot on our honeymoon. We walked toward the area that was open. TechyDad went to get Fast Passes for Soarin’ while the boys and I went toward The Living Seas with Nemo and Friends. We did Nemo, Turtle Time with Crush (where NHL asked Crush a question), and went to see Figment (my history with him here).

Then it was time to head to The Land for Soarin’. On the way, we saw Mary Poppins and stopped for some photos and an autograph from her.

When we arrived in The Land, TechyDad went on Soarin’ with NHL, while JSL and I waited. When they were finished we were going to go, but the line for The Land was really short (less than 10 minute wait). We did this and then did the Lion King movie. NHL really liked seeing all of the fruits and vegetables growing.

At this point, it was lunch time and we were going to head back to Pop Century to switch resorts. Plans changed when we realized that we had forgotten JSL’s Nalgene water bottle at the Beach Club Resort. We went back there and thanks to Heather (who saves everything) they had it for us. We hoped onto the boat to Hollywood Studios and took a bus back to Pop Century. We stopped for lunch before going to our room.

Of course, we had to have one more serving of Tie-Dye Cheesecake before hitting the road. The gentlemen at luggage told us to call when we were ready and someone would whisk our bags away to Polynesian and they would be in our room there later in the day. We did that and went toward the Magic Kingdom to the Polynesian. As we left the monorail, TechyDad and I realized we had been riding along with LastMinuteMandy and her family (her blog is I’d Rather Be Crafting) . We had been Tweeting with them while enjoying the time before DisneySMMoms.

More to come about the rest of our evening and special events at ESPN soon.

Disclosure: Although we paid for our own trip to Disney World, we were given an incredible deal thanks to Disney. The $350 conference fee included 3 nights at the Polynesian, several meals for the entire family, 7 day park hoppers for everyone, conference/meals for me and some other items to take home.

Categories:
Blogging Conference bloggy friends Disney DisneySMMoms flowers and plants food glorious food fun jl jsl nhl photos TechyDad vacation yummy

Winter time soups

Posted on February 5, 2010 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

No matter what the groundhog said, the fact is that winter is still here. When the winter strikes, so does our need for hearty warm soup for meals. Of course, I would love my mother’s Matzoh Ball soup every day. The fact of the matter is that although it tastes delicious, it is not "point" friendly when watching your weight (darn Matzoh Balls). At least once a week TechyDad makes soup for us, typically in the slow cooker. Two that he has written about on Cooking With TechyDad are:

Broccoli Cheddar Soup

Slow Cooker Bean Soup

My favorite these days is Minestrone in the slow cooker with a TON of veggies in it. I also like to whip up tomato, barley and carrot soup on the fly. We keep a Kosher kitchen, so we often do things vegetarian style. Thanks to great veggie broth and No Chicken Chicken broth, we are able to tweak many recipes.

So my question to you on another wintery Friday:

What is your favorite soup to eat on a cool winter day? Always looking for new things to make, so list as many as you can think of.

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Thanks to Kailani at An Island Life for starting this fun for Friday. Please be sure to head over to her blog to say hello and sign the MckLinky there if you are participating.

Aloha #85

Categories:
Aloha Friday food glorious food TechyDad winter yummy

Dining in Disney World

Posted on January 14, 2010 2:58 pm by TheAngelForever

It may be sad to admit, but some of my favorite memories at Walt Disney World involve eating. Of course, if you have been to Disney World, you may understand why this is possible. Whether it is dining with Mickey, Minnie, Goofy and company at a character meal, eating a Mickey Mouse Ice Cream or rice crispy treat while watching a parade, or getting a Dole Whip to share with your hubby on your honeymoon, each are special in their own way.

During one of our visits growing up, my parents decided to get the "Food & Fun" package. To say that we ate really well would be an understatement. Thanks to that plan, my brother, father and I not only got to go parasailing twice, but my brother had his first lobster dinner. Things have changed over the years with the plans. On our honeymoon, TechyDad and I did a dining plan as well. We had 2 meals a day that included appetizer, entree, dessert and beverage/shake/smoothie. We tried amazing items that we never would have and probably never will have again. We kept track of what our bills would have been and know we saved hundreds, if not thousands of dollars.

In May when we went to Disney with the boys, we opted to get the Disney Dining Plan again. In 2009, the daily cost was $40 per adult and about $11 for a child 3-11 (I think it was 11). For each night that we stayed at the resort we received the following:

1 snack – could include a soda, ice cream treat, slice of Tie-Dye cheesecake or a number of other items. –> We used these for bagels and cream cheese or other breakfast items most days.
1 Quick Service (QS) meal that includes a meal, dessert and beverage. –> We used these for lunches and most of our meals rang up for $30-40 for 2 adults and a child. Our 2 year old ate from all of us since there was plenty to go around.
1 Table Service (TS) meal that included an entree, dessert and beverage (could also be smoothie/milk shake if available) –> This is where the money savings racked up for us. The two buffets that we went to were priced at $35 for each adult and $15 for our 5 year old son. That alone made our son’s breakfast and lunch bonus for what we had paid.

When we went in May, we planned out what restaurants we wanted for our TS meals. At the 90 day mark, I got up extra early and called the reservation line at Disney Dining (now 180 day and can be done online). I knew to start with the toughest reservation and was lucky to get the one and only slot left to Le Cellier during our stay. These are the restaurants we ate at in May:

Chef Mickey – Character meal at Contemporary Resort
50’s Prime Time Cafe – Fun restaurant at Disney Hollywood Studios
Boma – Buffet featuring African cuisine at Animal Kingdom Lodge
The Wave – Newer restaurant at Contemporary Resort
The Crystal Palace – Character meal in the Magic Kingdom that we had our son’s 2nd Birthday dinner at
Le Cellier – Restaurant in Canada at EPCOT. Happens to be one of the hardest reservations to score
Coral Reef – Restaurant at EPCOT where you dine "under the sea" looking at the aquarium from the Nemo ride

This time around, we had just about a month to plan things out. We knew that we wanted the Disney Dining plan for the extended part of our Social Media Moms Celebration. I was a little worried that we would not be able to get an Advanced Dining Reservations (ADRs). Much to my surprise, we were able to get some that were not too shabby. This time around we are going to try some breakfast character meals, the dinner ones were all booked by the time we were planning. Here are the places this time around:

Boma – Going back since we loved this last time. So friendly for vegetarians like my hubby
Donald Safari – Animal Kingdom character breakfast
Kona Cafe – Restaurant at Polynesian Resort where we had the infamous Tonga Toast on our honeymoon. This time we are trying dinner there
Tony’s – Lady & The Tramp themed Italian restaurant at the Magic Kingdom. We ate here on our honeymoon and thought it would be fun for the kids
Cape May Cafe – Character breakfast at the Beach Club Resort. Hubby and I had breakfast here on our honeymoon where Goofy was hilarious.

These should keep us filled and busy during our time. We like being able to sit down at least once a day while at Disney to regroup, relax and get ready to walk many more miles.

If you have been to Disney World, what is your favorite place to eat? Where would you love to try?

Remember to bring an appetite to Disney, eat things you have never tried before and remember it is vacation – so live a little. I ate really well last time, did not turn down cheesecake and other goodies and still lost 5 pounds thanks to all of the walking.

Some great Disney restaurant/dining resources are The Disney Food Blog (we will be taking photos for AJ while there this time) and Disney Every Day (love Amanda’s Boma breakfast tour that she did recently).

For more on Disney click on my Disney category. I have written about some of our meals, along with other items about our trip planning and Magical Disney World vacation.

Categories:
bloggy friends decisions Disney food glorious food looking back photos TechyDad travel vacation yummy

Chocolatey goodness from Israel

Posted on January 11, 2010 8:52 pm by TheAngelForever

One of my friends from a Mommy group lives in Israel. Not too long ago, she asked if I wanted to do a goody swap. There were a few items that she longed for from the States. In exchange, she would send some items that are special in Israel for my family to enjoy.

Wednesday afternoon, as I pulled into the driveway I noticed there was a package on our front steps. As I got closer, I could tell what it was. Check out the cool box:

NHL assumed that the box was just for me. He gets grumpy when Mommy gets packages in the mail and he does not. I quickly told him that this was for the entire family. He asked what was inside. I told him he would have to wait. Once the boys had taken off their winter gear, they chased me into the kitchen to open the box. This is what was inside:

These were all new to me and looked really interesting. So what are they? In back (left to right): White & Milk Chocolate Coated Cookie Crisps, White & Milk Chocolate Coated Biscuit Snacks, Crunchy Stars with Whole Cereal Coated Milk Chocolate, and Nougat Filled Crunchy Cereals Coated with Milk Chocolate. In front are chocolate gelt/coins.

This evening, we decided to open everything up for the boys to try (and us to sample as well). Here are their reactions:

As you can see, the boys loved everything. We were nice and allowed them to try a few pieces from each of the varieties. Now, I am on a mission. I need to find the new bags of Tootie Rolls that are marked kosher (they were set to ship Dec 2 to stores). Have been to many stores and still not there, so perhaps they were not shipped to stores just yet. If anyone has seen them in the States, please let me know.

Thanks to my friend for everything. I promise I will hunt down the goodies for you or figure out something else that you would like.

Categories:
bloggy friends food glorious food friends fun jsl nhl photos yummy

Gingerbread house building

Posted on December 25, 2009 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

Wednesday was NHL’s last day of first grade for 2009. To help celebrate, the kids all helped to bring in supplies for a tasty craft and party. As one of the room parents, I saw the list of items and immediately knew what they would be making. The class was going to construct gingerbread houses using graham crackers, frosting, lots of candy and their imagination. Of course, as a teacher, I knew that NHL’s class would need more adult hands on deck to assist with the group.

JSL and I went into the classroom. I was afraid that he would be all over the place. Luckily, he was content watching the kids, while munching on a few M&M’s.

Meanwhile, I had fun dishing out extra frosting and supplies to the kids. It was interesting seeing those that had never made a gingerbread house (like my NHL) compared to those who were seasoned professionals.Here are some photos of NHL making his first gingerbread house. He was quite into it, but also asked his teacher numerous times if he could nibble on some of the candies. Needless to say, this was a common question in the room of first graders.

NHL had a blast adding frosting to his creation and then putting all of the different candies it. Take a close look at his face above, there’s even some frosting on him. Here are some views of his first ever gingerbread house:

Eventually, NHL stopped adding things to his house to go and read on the rug with his little brother. JSL was already surrounded by a gaggle of first graders!

While they were on the rug, I went around looking at all of the different gingerbread houses. One of my favorites was made by a little girl. She had made many of these in the past. Check out the view from the front and back:

So my question to you this week is inspired by the first graders:

Have you ever made a gingerbread house before? If not, you are not alone . . . I do not recall ever making one. If you have what are your favorite items to use as decorations?

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Thanks to Kailani at An Island Life for starting this fun for Friday. Please be sure to head over to her blog to say hello and sign the MckLinky there if you are participating.

Aloha #79