Our week with Busia and Dzia Dzio

It has been a crazy week! We spent everyday with my parents while they were here and went to every park. The kids had a blast and have been sleeping wonderfully because they are so worn out.

I posted the photo collages the other day, but I'll post them again today, and this time I'll at least tell you about them.

My parent's first day here we just went to Downtown Disney, had some lunch and the kiddos rode on the train and carousel. The next day we went to Epcot and had dinner at Garden Grill inside the Land. It is so yummy there, and the kids got to meet a bunch of the characters. The next day we went to Animal Kingdom and Aaron got to be in the Lion King show. Later that day we went to Magic Kingdom and the kids went on the teacups for the first time. I went on it for my last time I think. I was definitely green after getting off. We also took the kids on Astro Orbiter for the first time, that was an experience. Friday it rained pretty much all day, so we hung out at the house and then Busia and Dzia Dzio came out and we all went to dinner with Paw Paw. I think we all needed a day to chill out. Saturday we went back to Epcot and had lunch at the Biergarten in Germany. Aaron found himself a girlfriend (the hostess), he even blew her a kiss. Something we learned at Epcot was that Aaron is obsessed with the ride Living with the Land. I've never seen a child so into a ride like that in my life. I like to think it's because it's educational, but in reality it's probably because it's a boat ride. Sunday we went back to Magic Kingdom and had lunch at Tony's Town Square. The lines were actually pretty short at Magic Kingdom, even on Sunday. Monday we went to Hollywood Studios and sat one row up at the Beauty and the Beast show. I have a feeling that's where Jill will want to sit from now on. As a matter of fact, this morning when she woke up she had a lengthy discussion with me about how the girl behind us got the red flower and she didn't and that little girl didn't even look happy when she got it, but Jill would be happy to get it. Oh my. Yesterday we just went back to Downtown for lunch and then said good-bye. Jill asked Dzia Dzio if she could go back to Chicago with him.

Here are the photos of the kiddos (mainly Aaron) with all of the characters they met:

We lucked out the one day at Epcot because they were training their character greeters, so all of the characters were out with virtually no line. Aaron loved every second of this.

We had such a great time with my parents this past week. It definitely went by entirely too fast. I know the kiddos cannot wait to see them again! Ok....the kiddos and me ;)

Happenings of the last 3 days

I have a ton of blog catching up to do, so let's start where we left off, shall we???

Wednesday night we met up with my parents, sister and niece for dinner at Garden Grill, which is inside The Land at EPCOT. The restaurant rotates, slowly, but rotates, as you eat. It's also one of the character dining restaurants that features Mickey, Pluto, Chip and Dale. The kids went bananas over the characters, while they were visiting other kids, when the characters came up to them they acted like they were too cool for school. Here's some photos and video from that night:

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The food there was really good too. It's all sustainable and most of it is grown at Disney.


On Christmas Eve my parents came over and hung out with us while I did some serious baking. I started cooking at 7 am and didn't stop until we left for mass at 5pm. Jill found a new toy, Busia's laundry basket. I was informed they are 2 for $5 at Walgreen's and they come in a variety of colors. Clearly I should not have spent my money on Christmas presents, this would have done the trick....

After mass Cathy and Lorren came over and helped Scott put together the climber that they got the kids for Christmas. It looks like it was quite the project from this photo:

In reality it took 15 minutes, and that even included time for Lorren to try out the slide (her feet hit my sliding glass door).

The kiddos actually slept in on Christmas morning. Any other day they are up at 7am on the nose, but on Christmas morning they slept in until 7:30. I have a feeling this will be the last time that happens. The kids weren't too sure what was going on and were not fans of having everyone there first thing in the morning (when I say everyone I mean us, my parents, Scott's parents, my sister and niece). They did LOVE all their presents though and Aaron wouldn't even leave the new toy kitchen to come open the rest of his presents!

The kids made out like bandits this year! And seriously love everything they got! Scott and I didn't do that bad either, I finally got my food processor (see blogging about wanting one totally works!) and we got a Wii! Now with the Wii, I always knew I was competitive, but had no idea the magnitude of my competitiveness. I channeled my inner Monica Geller when I was playing yesterday, for real. Do you remember that episode of Friends when they are in Barbados and Monica challenges Mike to ping pong? It was like with Scott and I sword fighting. I was out for blood, and the only thing missing was the fro that Monica was sporting in that episode.

Dinner was great too! I have a ton of leftovers though! I made ham, polish sausage, garlic potatoes, and green bean casserole and Mimi brought the stuffings and gravy. This was my first time making all this stuff so I was very pleased with how it turned out. I'm going to put up the recipes tomorrow!

I sincerely hope your Christmas was amazing and that you are enjoying the rest of your holiday weekend!