Growing up in Minnesota some of my fondest memories are of the lake! I was fortunate enough to live lake side and my boys now get to share in those same memories! We went “home” to visit the G-rents and all our old buddies, and really had a blast! To me, this is summer in Minnesota; Perfect weather, time with friends and family, beautiful sunsets, and memories made & shared! Thank you Minnesota XOXO!!!
The 4th of July is one of my favorite holidays… Living in Vail makes it even more awesome! This year the 4th of July lasted three full days with games, bounce houses, fire works, parades, more fire works, BBQ’s, and lots of friends! A highlight each year is the Vail America Days Parade in which Young Life has a float! The boys and I had an awesome time reconnecting with some amazing friends that help to sponsor the YL float! We also loved passing out candy and “swag” to our favorite onlookers at the parade! Parades seem like the epitome (to me) of small town America, that and of course the fire works :). We watched an amazing display on the 3rd in Avon, Colorado and then watched them from home on the 4th. It was so fun to just step outside and see fireworks from our front yard! After they were done, the entire neighborhood cheered… That’s how you know you live in small town America! I hope you enjoyed your 4th as much as we did!
A few weeks ago the fam and I experienced Disney World for the first time (the kids first time). We were completely blessed by a family friend who put us up on Disney property- such a treat! We were already in Florida vacationing on the beach so we decided to surprise the boys with a few days at Disney at the end of our trip. They were so surprised, it was adorable! When we told them, Shaeffer actually said, “OH MOM I THOUGHT YOU WERE BEING FOR REAL” to which I responded, “I AM, WE ARE GOING TO DISNEY WORLD” and then his excitement set in! Because of the ages of our boys we decided to only do Magic Kingdom this trip, but in hindsight I think they would have enjoyed seeing the Disney Junior Characters at Hollywood Studios. I did some research before heading to Disney and learned a thing or two while I was there. Our next trip is bound to be even better than this one and honestly this one was pretty amazing! Here’s what worked for us and what we plan to do if we go back:
1. I preordered their Mickey Ears, T-Shirts and Trading Pins from The Disney Store to save a little time and money at the park! The Trading Pins were a lot of fun… Basically the kids can trade the pins they have with Disney employees all over the park. It was fun for the boys to try to find their favorite characters and it also involved them with the “cast members” a little bit. We gave them all their “SWAG” when we surprised them with the trip!
2. We did a Character Breakfast the first morning. This was so much fun and I highly suggest it. Next trip I would actually probably do more than one Character Meal. It allows you to meet the characters in a more intimate setting and then you don’t have to wait in line to see them at the park! I also have a nut allergy and the executive chef came out and explained to me what I could eat off the buffet and then made me my own special waffles just incase! I felt so special!
3. The Fireworks and Parades are a MUST… Our kids thought these were so much fun! The Main Street Electrical Parade is pretty amazing and the fireworks are honestly the best I’ve seen. One hint we received from a couple people was to sit in “Frontier Land” for the parade as it’s less crowded! This was GREAT advice!!! OH AND DON’T FORGET THE SPARKLEY TOYS 🙂
4. Someone told us about the Pirates and Pals Fireworks Adventure. It sounded so AMAZING. We did not do this, but it’s on my list for our next trip! My boys favorite character is Peter Pan and we couldn’t find him any where. I heard he comes to the Pirates and Pals Fireworks so that has turned into a must!
5. Meeting the Characters is a must for small children. Like I said, the Character Meals are one way to do this. We didn’t get to meet all our favorites at the breakfast however. The lines can be pretty long to meet the characters. We found that Mickey’s line was only 5 minutes long immediately after the fireworks (90 minutes the rest of the time). It’s also a pretty cool experience as you are in a little room with him by himself. We also waited in line to meet Tinker Bell and Videa, two of Peter Pan’s favorite Fairies… This experience was at the top of our “best of” list. The fairies spent so much time with our boys- just our boys. We were with them in a private room for a good 10 minutes. They played with our boys, joked around, asked questions, etc.. It really was a blast!
6. Staying on property was a great experience. It’s close, free transportation etc.. I do know that staying elsewhere often provides transportation, as well. The villa that we stayed in had a full kitchen so we would leave the park to come home for lunch and rests and then go back in the evening with a packed dinner. This saved us a lot of money and also made it so our boys could last until 11pm. I’ve also heard that the Disney Dinning Plan saves a lot of money..
7. We had our 2 year old with us the entire time and he was able to go on all the rides we went on. Our bigger boys were not interested in roller coasters yet, so this trip it worked out!
8. I’m sure you’ve heard that getting fast passes is a must to shorten the lines! I completely agree! I will say, however, that our boys did not complain ONE time about lines… They were just so excited to be there! Getting fast passes and having a “plan” for what rides you want to go on was extremely helpful for us! The other MUST HAVE is the Disney App. It gave us wait times, maps etc.. it was the best suggestion we got prior to going! Don’t forget to get ice cream, and take a pic of your kiddos when you’re leaving! You’ll see all the fun they had not only on their faces, but all over their clothes too!
10. My take on autographs… My kids of course loved getting autographs. I decided that instead of getting an autograph book I would have the characters sign a photo frame matte. I think they turned out really adorable and we are letting the boys pick which photo they want to put in their special frame (they each have a matte). There is even room for the few we missed (Minnie and Peter) to sign next time :).
If you are planning a trip to Disney, the most important part is to RELAX and enjoy the magic. Look at everything through your child’s eyes and I assure you – it will be an amazing family vacation!
SO, you may be wondering where I have been… I’ll start at the beginning :). The fam and I took a two week vacation to Florida. We have some GREAT friends that have a second home in Naples and they let us stay there… It truly was the BEST family vacation ever… We basically went to the beach, swam in the pool, read books and spent time together. We did a little mini photo shoot while we were there, as well… I mean you might as well with that kind of scenery! At the end of our trip we surprised our boys with two days at Disney World… WHAT A BLAST! We were given two nights at a Disney Resort by my husbands BFF from growing up- another amazing gift! I’ll post all about that this week, I promise! So back to my disappearance from the WWW. We returned from our vacation and I hit the ground running getting ready for Vacation Bible School. I spent countless hours prepping for the week I would spend with the youngest members of our church community. Two days before VBS started, Ben had to have hernia surgery, poor guy! He’s been such a trooper recovering during my busiest week of the year! Did I mention we also had a family of 5 stay with us last week and we’ve been doing some kid sitting this week, as well! Talk about busy!!! VBS ended yesterday and the finish was bitter sweet for me :(. We had a wonderful week learning all about STANDING STRONG FOR GOD, but man am I exhausted! Did I mention that my 7 year old shook up a bottle of soda and I happened to open it by my computer? If you’re wondering what the best way to ruin your computer is, I’ve found it… The crazy part is that I really don’t drink “pop” very often so it was a bit ironic that it would be the demise of my computer- ugh!
So here I am, back to the reality I so missed… Excited for the 4th of July (which always sneaks up on me) and gearing up for the remainder of our summer! Man time flies, although every year I have to remind myself that July 4th is not an indicator of the end of summer, but rather the beginning :). I hope you have enjoyed JUNE, summer is now in full swing so I’m off to enjoy it!
I’m not really sure why I picked this picture for #TBT, but when I stumbled upon it this morning I just giggled to myself… This pic was taken roughly 11 years ago in the lovely town of LAS VEGAS :). I was there for a dear friend’s bachelorette party… There are several funny things I remember from this trip. One being that I missed about a thousand flights just to get to Las Vegas and the airlines kept telling me I needed “the sheet” to reschedule my flights… What sheet you ask??? I’m still really not sure, but the gist of the story is I did finally arrive in Vegas (one day late) ready for some bachelorette-ing. We did tons of fun things that weekend, but seeing Blue Man Group was definitely a highlight. I’m not sure if it was because of the show itself (a definite must see) or if it was because my at the time pregnant friend Lynn was a bit afraid of the blue men :), either way, it really was a blast! Girl time is always the best, and this fun weekend ranks right up there with the best of the best! P.S. The Blue Man is not my handsomely bald hubby…
These cupcakes were a hit at the bake sale at my boy’s school. Sad to say they were almost too easy to make :). I think they’d be fun for a birthday party at the pool, a back yard BBQ, a pool party etc… Here’s the Scoop:
YOU”LL NEED:
A recipe for your favorite cupcakes and frosting 🙂
Blue Food Coloring (I use Wilton) to make your frosting look like water
Gummy Rings or Peach Rings
Teddy Grahams
Drink Umbrella’s
*** So I guess if you live on a lake you could also make these with a darker frosting color :). At our lake house mid August that might be green 🙂
ENJOY!
Remember when I told you about my two pals Jen and Bethany? They lost their very special MOM to breast cancer and to commemorate her they are putting together a book of her favorite recipes. I know why this is one of her favorites… Make this… Make this NOW! It’s so yummy… It is probably more of a special occasion drink, but today is a special occasion, right? Think of what ever reason you can to make this, I promise you’ll LOVE it… Here’s the scoop:
1 C Sugar
3 C Water
1 qt Cranberry Juice
2 C Pineapple Juice
1 C Orange Juice
14oz Ginger Ale
Boil water and sugar together until sugar dissolves. Cool then stir in cranberry, pineapple, and orange juices then chill. Add Ginger Ale just before serving.
AH, Teacher Appreciation WEEK! I LOVE telling my boy’s teachers how special they are! I have done a couple things this week to show our appreciation. The boys made “stars” for their teachers, we made cards, and we helped provide lunch for the staff on Tuesday. BUT—This is my super easy, don’t have a ton of extra time, the teacher got a ton of flowers already, my husband has been gone for 4 of the past 6 weeks, teacher gift :). I found these adorable bowls at Pier 1, some organic soup mix at the grocery store and a cute tag to tie it all together! I also thought with the owl theme you could say something like “Who’s the Best Teacher” Easy and a little bit different! Click here for the printable soup-er teacher form!
ENJOY!
The boys and I made these sombreros last year as a little craft for Cinco de Mayo. We used them for centerpieces for our FIESTA! So not only were they fun to make, but they served a purpose, as well…. They were also super easy to put together. All you need is a paper plate, paper cup, some pipe cleaners, puff balls and glue! I twisted the pipe cleaners around the bottom of each cup and cut off the ends for the boys. They rest they were able to manage themselves… We practiced patterns and counting while we were making them too! The other idea I had was to punch a hole on either side of the cups and thread them with ribbon to make a cute banner… What ever you choose I think they’ll be a hit at your fiesta too!
Hi, My name is Shannon Dodds! I am the wife of Ben, mommy of the S brothers and legal guardian of Wrigley. I have taught elementary school for 12 years, have a hard time keeping my house clean, love warm weather, gardens, and a good book! Join us on our adventure!
mommyapolis 
