Poetry and Plays

Elyse's class did a Poetry and Plays presentation. Here is Elyse reciting one of her poems. She did a great job!

Weekend Fun

We a fun and relaxing weekend.  The weather was beautiful and we enjoyed our first overnight on the boat of the season!  Andrew had a soccer game saturday morning and then we packed everything up and headed out to the marina.  Once I had everything put away the kids and I headed to the beach.  The kids were so excited to see all the beach that we have this year at the marina!  It is so nice not to have to walk as far and it stays shallow so it's nice for the kids to play in the water.  We spent all afternoon at the beach, grilled out for dinner and then got some ice cream at The General Store.

On Sunday the kids and I were at the beach by about 10:30am!  They love to play and build in the sand!  We took a break to eat some lunch and then we were back at the beach until we went to small group.  Jeff went home and got the Sea-doo out so we took turns riding that while the kids played.  Elyse went for a ride with Jeff but Andrew was content to just play in the sand.

We are ready for more lazy, summer weekends!!!

Tulip Time

We had a fun Tulip Time week.  I was dancing again this year so that makes things busy but I also took some time off of work.  We had the boat in the water for the fireworks so we took some friend and their kids out on the boat to watch the fireworks.  It was a little chilly but so fun to be on the boat again!

On Wednesday Andrew and I spend the day downtown. I had to dance at 10am and then we put a blanket and chairs down to save a spot to watch the parade later on.  We even got our picture taken by the paper when we were putting our chairs down!  It wasn't in the print addition - only the on-line addition.  Here is the link to see it online:

http://www.hollandsentinel.com/news/x1310206156/Volksparade-is-this-afternoon?photo=0

We watched a puppet show downtown and had a picnic lunch. Then we met up with Tric and Christopher to scrub the streets! The boys had fun and when we got to our seats we sat down and waited for the parade to start.

Thursday I was able to march with Elyse's class in the Kinderparade.  The weather was perfect - unlike last year when it was soooo hot!  The kids did great and it was fun to be with Elyse.

Friday night I had to dance for the last time and it was so busy downtown!  I had so many friends and family that came to watch me that night - I felt like I had a huge cheering section just for me - so fun!

We went to the Saturday parade too, despite the rain.  My mom came with me and we really had a fun time even though it was raining  =( 

Here are some pics from the week.

My cute dutch girl and her AG doll.

And by cute dutch boy.

My mom got this cute pic of the 3 of us.

Andrew's favorite part of scrubbing the streets -- the water!

Having a snack at the parade - good to the last crumb!

Getting ready to march with Elyse's class.

Another fun Tulip time week!

Last Day at Disney

Elyse and I had one goal on our last day at Disney and that was to meet Rapunzel!  Elyse loves the movie Tangled and after Marie, Rapunzel was the character that she most wanted to meet.  I had read on-line that the best thing to do was go to Rapunzel's meet and greet first thing in the morning. So, Elyse and I went to Magic Kingdom first thing and headed right to where Rapunzel would be.  Unfortunately, Jeff was still not feeling good so he stayed back at the hotel and I sent Andrew with grandma and grandpa and the rest of the gang to Epcot.

We still had to wait to meet Rapunzel but we were in the first group to be let into the meet and greet area.  It was decorated so cute with lanterns and purple banners.  Since we were the first group in we had to all say together "Rapunzel, Rapunzel - let down your hair!" and then she appeared!  All the little girls cheered when she came out!  Elyse had her Rapunzel shirt on and a Rapunzel hairbow in her hair and Rapunzel commented on both of them and told Elyse that she was her new best friend!



Elyse with Rapunzel

Never too early in the morning for a Mickey Ice Cream bar!  Yummy!

Elyse got to meet Mary Poppins!

Then we stood in line to meet Mickey and Minnie!

Then we stood in line to meet the princesses.  Elyse got to meet Belle, Sleeping Beauty and Jasmine.  She was excited to meet Jasmine because she has a pet Tiger - lol!

Elyse and I had a lot of fun spending the morning meeting different characters.  She loved it! 

We met up with the rest of the gang around lunch time and rode a few rides and had fun at a dance party!

Elyse dances with Stich.



I think Stich is mad that Goofy stole his dance partner!

Dancing with Chip or Dale?

We went back to the hotel so the kids could swim in the pool.  I was glad to see that Jeff was actually out of the hotel room and sitting by the pool.  He had been so sick for the past 24 hours - definately worse than I was and I felt so bad that he had missed out on time with me and the kids.  It was nice to sit and relax by the pool for a few hours.  After eating dinner - we headed back into Magic Kingdom.  One of the things that Jeff and I had been looking forward to was watching the fireworks tonight because they were a preview of the New Years Eve Fireworks!  Unfortunately, Jeff was still not up to walking around the park.  The atmosphere at Magic Kingdom was so festive - it was like it was already New Years Eve!!!  It was very busy, people everywhere, dance/party music playing throughout the park, etc.  We rode a few rides and then everyone else wanted to head back to the hotel.  Elyse wanted to meet Tinkerbell and the other Fairies - so I stayed in the park with her.

Here she is meeting Tinkerbell.

Elyse was really tired and wanted to go back to the hotel after that.  Of course, I wanted to stay and watch the fireworks but I headed back to the hotel with Elyse.  I was wishing Jeff had been feeling better and I'm sure we would have put the kids to bed and went back to see the fireworks (we had an adjoining room with his parents so we could have just left the door open).  Despite Jeff and I being sick part of the time we had a great time!  The 2 nights that we had something special planned, everyone was healthy - so thankful for that!  And so thankful that no one else got sick on the way home!



Disney Day 4 - Hollywood Studios

Day 4 was spent at Disney Hollywood Studios.  When we got to the park, Jeff and Matt headed to Toy Story Mania to get Fastpasses to use later and the rest of us waited by Tower of Terror.  We rode Tower of Terror and we were hoping to get on Rockin' Roller Coaster but there was already a 60 min wait!  So we decided to go to the Lights, Motor, Action Stunt Show.  We had some time to kill so the kids played in the Honey, I shrunk the kids playground.

Here is Kailey and Andrew in the playground.

Andrew loved the stunt show!!  He was smiling the whole time!  We missed this show last time we were at Disney due to rain - so glad we were able to see it this time!

Once we were done with the stunt show we could go get another set of Fastpasses so the guys headed to Rockin' Roller Coaster to get more Fastpasses and we rode the Backstage Tour Tram.  Then we decided to get some lunch at Pizza Planet (from Toy Story!).  Pizza Planet was packed - it was crazy!  The park itself was so busy at this point that Jeff and I and the kids decided to take a break and go back to the hotel. Everyone else stayed in the park.  Unfortunately, when we got back to the hotel Jeff said he wasn't feeling well . . . and he never made it back to the park.  The kids took naps and we did a little shopping in the gift shop at the hotel.  After we were sure that Jeff was not going to join us, the kids and I headed back to Hollywood Studios.  Kailey and I rode Rockin Roller Coaster in the front seat - it was awesome!  Then we had some dinner and went to ride Toy Story Mania. 

Andrew and Christopher ready for Toy Story Mania!  The ride is in 3D - so cool!



Elyse and Kailey on Toy Story Mania!

After Toy Story Mania, Elyse wanted to go see The Little Mermaid.  Everyone else went to go see the Osbourne Dancing Lights and I sent Andrew with Grandma and Grandpa. So, it was just me and my girl - off to see the Little Mermaid.  It was a cute show and Elyse loved it!  Then the 2 of us went to see the Osbourne Lights - they were fantastic and they even had snow machines going!!!  We loved it!!

There were photopass photographers around so Elyse and I had our picture taken with all the lights.

It was another fun day but I was bummed that Jeff was sick!  He missed out on 2 of his favorite rides - Rockin Roller Coaster and Toy Story Mania.

Here is a link to a video of the dancing lights that I took:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=stEquU3dt80

Enjoy!

Meeting Marie!

When we went to Disney in June 2010 Elyse was bummed that we didn't get to meet Marie. Marie is a kitty from the movie Aristocats and you can find her in Epcot in France. As we wandered back to the different countries - meeting Marie was top priority for Elyse! It couldn't have worked out more perfect as we walked into France and basically right in front of us was where you could meet Marie! And she had a very short line - Elyse was so excited!!! All the kids got in line to meet her.

Here is Elyse giving Marie a hug.

Marie signing Elyse's autograph book.
All the kids with Marie.
I had Elyse wear her Marie shirt today just in case we got to meet her. So, I told Elyse to show Marie her shirt and Marie got sooo excited! Marie started jumping up and down and pointing to Elyse's shirt! Elyse thought it was so funny and Marie gave her another big hug!

Elyse wanted to call Grandma Lindholm and tell her that she just got to meet Marie!This was definately one of Elyse's most magical Disney moments!

Disney Day 3 - Epcot

We spent our 3rd day in Epcot. I was still not feeling 100% so I stayed at the hotel in the morning to try and get a little more sleep (since I hadn't slept much the night before). I ate a banana and some dry cheerios to see if I could keep some food down and hopefully meet up with everyone later in the day. We had a big surprise planned for Jeff's parents tonight and I didn't want to miss it!!!

The 2 top priorities at Epcot were Test Track and Soarin and both get very long lines! So the plan was to get Fastpasses for Test Track to use later and head right to Soarin. Soarin is one of my favorite rides at Disney and I was bummed that I missed it!

Here is Andrew the tour guide - he loved looking at the maps and making sure we were going in the right direction!

After Soarin they headed to the Finding Nemo ride and Turtle Talk with Crush. This is a really neat ride and exhibit and the kids enjoyed looking and learning about all the fish, etc.

Although I was still tired - I had kept the food down and decided to join the rest of the group in Epcot. I actually made it into the park before lunch time - so I didn't miss out on too much.

This year the boys were both tall enough to ride Test Track!

Here is Tric, Christopher, Matt, me, Andrew and Jeff in one car.

And Kailey, Elyse and Grandpa in the back seat of this car.

Afterwards we asked Andrew if he liked it and he said that it "dazed" him! He did not want to ride it again but Elyse loved it and would have rode it again!

We wandered through the countries and the kids enjoyed stopping at the Kidcot stations. They got a cardboard disney bear on a stick and they could color it at each of the stations. They also had someone who was from that country at the Kidcot stations and they would stamp the backside of the bears with the country name. Sometimes they would also write the kids name in their native language. We also went on the Viking boat ride in Norway which was fun.

Here is a picture of Elyse meeting Mulan!

After dinner it was time to head to the Yacht and Beach Club resort where a special evening awaited us! I am so thankful that I was feeling better and didn't have to miss it! As a thank you to Jeff's parents and for their Christmas present we booked a boat ride to watch Illuminations at Epcot. Illuminations is a fireworks, music and laser light show.

Here we are on the dock ready to get on the boat.

We took a boat ride past a few resorts and to Disney Hollywood Studios. Our driver told us all about the history and other interesting facts about each resort. It was a chilly night but it was so fun to ride around with all the resorts lit up and decorated for Christmas! It was definately one of my favorite nights! Plus, we had the best seat in the house to watch Illuminations and we didn't have to wait for hours to save our spot!

Here is our view of the show!

Of course pictures don't do it justice but the show was great! Another wonderful day in Disney!

Stay tuned for a post on Elyse's favorite part of Disney!