Ted's Princesses Take Over Disney...Part 2: The 10K Chronicles

Before I dive in to the 10k, I would like to follow up on the platter of meat Lorren had at tea, or as I have renamed it, the 96 ouncer. Behold:

Now compare that to our dainty tea sandwiches...

Oh, and prior to having tea, Lorren hopped up on this statue (Scott you did not read that):

The dismount was glorious.

Now, back to the 10k... The 10k route follows some of the 5k route, but adds the EPCOT resort path. I LOVE this route. It honestly is one of my favorites, especially when we run across the Boardwalk and sound like a herd of elephants.

We decided to stick with our theme from last year and go as Alice in Wonderland characters. Cathy was the only one to change her character. This year she went as the Mad Hatter in her pretty Wonderland skirt from Sparkle Skirts. Melissa obviously dressed for warmth.

The 10k route was a hard one for our cheering section because there are really only two spots you can actually make it to, the start and the finish.

Lorren and I ran this race together and I was told by Lorren at the halfway point she would never run this with me ever again because I am too gd fast. I will admit there were a couple of points on the course I really stretched my legs and hit some awesome paces. She was not amused.

For the most part though we took it easy on the course because we did have a half marathon to run the next day. Lorren and I finished in 1:21:49 and 1:21:54. Cathy was not too far behind us and we were able to catch up with our cheering section.

After the race we grabbed some delicious breakfast from Captain Cook's at the Polynesian and then headed over to Hollywood Studios.

 Obviously we needed popcorn and a churro. I mean, what else are you supposed to eat there? The parks were actually pretty crowded so we did not get on a lot of the rides, not that the Studios has a lot of rides anymore. We did manage to get on Tower of Terror though. Apparently Melissa has never been on this ride, so naturally we scored the front row. Fun fact, Melissa likes to death grip both handles and there was only one grip for me and Cathy. I had to grab the "oh shit" bar which resulted in this classic photo:

After we returned from the Twilight Zone we walked around the soon-to-be-gone Streets of America. On our stroll we found the glass slipper. We had to stop, I mean we were running the glass slipper challenge after all. We decided we were going to take two photos, a nice one and a not so nice one, because...well because. Our photographer was not a good sport. We scored this nice photo:

However, when you take a not so nice photo it is apparently frowned upon to look like you are pulling hair and kicking, so we settled on this:

I mean, whatever...our idea was better but oh well.

After the Studios we headed over to the Boardwalk for our dinner at Trattoria del Forno. Cathy and Lorren ate here when they first opened and were not super impressed but wanted to give it a second chance. They changed chefs and Cathy said it was so much better than the first time. The entire meal was amazing and we had the most fabulous waitress. She made every item on the menu sound delicious. The chef even stopped by to make sure everything was good. It was an all around great experience. 

After dinner we headed back to the hotel for our early bedtime. The half marathon was the next day and we all needed our rest. 

Check back for the final post!

Ted's Princesses Take Over Disney Part 1

Another Princess Weekend has come and gone. It was so big it will obviously take more than one post to cover. To be honest it may take more than one post to cover the insanity that was the expo, but I will try to condense that part.

Never have I had to wait in a line that went to the parking lot just to pick up my bib. Granted we were there an hour after opening on the first day...but still. It was as if every single princess was there at that exact moment. I will give it to the cast though, those lines were moving and everything was really organized. Also, it was a gorgeous day, so I did not mind waiting outside (unlike January when it was POURING when we went to the expo).

We also had to wait to get into the expo, but I really appreciated that wait. Otherwise it would have been pure insanity in there, which apparently it was prior to our arrival. Apparently people were fighting (like Black Friday fighting) over merchandise from runDisney. I don't know what the big deal was because when we arrived not even an hour after all of this went down the entire area was restocked with merchandise. 

I have a love/hate relationship with this expo. It is always so crowded, and let's face it, some of these women are mean, but it is worth it to visit my ladies at Sparkle Skirts. We cleaned up at the expo and then headed over to EPCOT for a relaxing day in the park. 

No, seriously, it was relaxing. We just walked around the park and went on whatever rides we felt like going on. Fun fact, all three of us fit in the clam shell on Nemo. I didn't say we fit comfortably, I just said we fit. 

There were barely any lines for the characters, so we had a chance to meet a few of our favorites. We had a jolly time with Mary...

And then we met Baymax. Can I tell you how Lorren was geeking out the entire time in line? It may have been from the drink in the UK, but whatever, it was adorable. 

The 5k was the next morning so we had to call it an early night. To tell you how early we had to get up, Melissa was just coming in from her flight (which was delayed) when we were getting ready. 

We kept our tradition of wearing our Peggy Sue shirts for the 5k and we also kept our tradition of walking the 5k. The 5k is not timed, so it's a perfect time to stretch our legs before the glass slipper challenge.

This course is a favorite of ours. It winds through EPCOT and is full of characters, including this crazy crustacean. 

 We saw so many great costumes along the course and I think one of our favorites was a little girl dressed as Belle (she was maybe 4 at the most) and her Dad was Beast. Y'all it was so stinking cute. #allthefeels

We also pass one of my sister Cathy's favorite popcorn stands along the route. Sadly, it was not open. 

We had a great time at the 5k and most importantly scored some super adorable medals. We didn't waste any time though because we had breakfast waiting for us at The Wave. 

Melissa was able to score a couple of hours of sleep while we were at the race and was raring to go for the day. Breakfast at The Wave was insanely delicious, if you ever have a chance hit up that buffet. It is seriously so good.

We also had reservations for tea at the Crescent Solarium in the Beach Club. They are temporarily trying this location and we were thrilled to try it out. Somehow I got stuck next to this...

While things were more ladylike across the table...

The tea was very similar to the Grand Floridian but it had more a sea flair. I mean, obviously, right, since it's at the Beach Club. Three of us had these dainty little sandwiches...

Lorren had a plank of meat. I wish I had a photo to show you. It was literally a plank of wood with sausages on it. A huge plank of wood covered in meat next to these dainty sandwiches. It was amazing on so many levels.

After tea we headed back to change into comfy clothes and then Lorren, Melissa and I headed back out to the parks. Hollywood Studios was crazy busy, but surprisingly the characters were not that busy. We met our favorite Wookie first...

Can we talk about how tiny Melissa looks here? She's not even at his armpit.

We went to meet Kylo Ren next. I was pretty excited, I'm not going to lie. But let me tell you something...Kylo Ren is no joke. He is all up in your face interrogating you and the three of us were not entirely prepared for this, hence the pose...

We bailed after this and headed back to the hotel. The 10k was in the morning and we had another early wake up.

I'll have more on the weekend in a few days. Stay tuned!

Thanksgiving Thursday

For those of you that don't know what Thanksgiving Thursday is, it is the one time during the week where you stop and basically count your blessings. Even if you've had one of those weeks, I promise you can find at least one thing to be thankful for, no matter how big or small.

This week I am thankful for...

• Scott who has done so much to help us with our fundraising for Alzheimer's research and caregiver programs through our Ted's Princesses page. 

• Aaron who gave it his all at baseball tryouts this week.

• Jillian who now asks for mother-daughter days.

• Family all around us.

• Every single person that has donated to our Ted's Princesses page. We knew we set an ambitious goal of $7,800 and we cried when hit and surpassed that goal. We cannot wait to see how much more we can raise before Princess weekend. 

What are you thankful for this week?

Thanksgiving Thursday

For those of you that don't know what Thanksgiving Thursday is, it is the one time during the week where you stop and basically count your blessings. Even if you've had one of those weeks, I promise you can find at least one thing to be thankful for, no matter how big or small.

This week I am thankful for...

• Scott, his support and undying love. Don't know what I would do without you.

• Aaron and his chef skills.

• Jillian and the fact that she still wants mama snuggles when she is sick.

• Family all around us.

• All of the support Ted's Princesses have received. I cannot believe we are only $1,925 away from our goal of $7,800 and it hasn't even been a month yet. Thank you to everyone that has donated so far! 

What are you thankful for this week?