Sunday, December 4, 2011

snow days at legoland


we were lucky enough to get free tickets to legoland again. and they were hopper tickets!

it was a cool visit because we went in a big group with the adventos, olegarios, ninang hannah, and ninong arnold. of course we don't have any kind of group picture though.

first we went to sealife aquarium. it was still decked out with christmas decor, with trees and ornaments in the aquariums.




always love miniland usa, now with star wars.


micah found a garbage truck!

it was the kids' first "snow" experience. it was pretty cool. they both did the sleds once, but micah wanted to throw snowballs and malia was determined to make a snowman.
we split up for a while. malia went to ride the big roller coaster with some of the adults. micah and i went to the playground and rode the train. he made it a point to sit on this green motorcycle, which he really loved the last time we went.


we all met up to ride one last ride together before we left.

so much fun! roel wants to get an annual pass there since we aren't renewing our disneyland pass for a while. i'll have to think about it.

Thursday, November 3, 2011

malia is 8


the little girl turned 8 today! she thinks she is SO old. i sent cupcakes for her class at school, then i picked her up. it was her half day. we went to one of her favorite places - the mall. i told her she could pick out her birthday present since micah got to pick out his birthday present at disney world. the first thing she picked was a small toy in target. then she picked out some dresses at H&M. we also picked out her christmas dress. and then, she enjoyed a free ice cream from baskin robbins, her favorite place for ice cream.

after that, we went to buy her cake at hans&harry's. the flourless chocolate cake is still her favorite. our friend, charlotte, was sweet enough to give us the cake for free. i had also found a deal online for a small cake and cookies, and that was delivered today.

(not bad for $4, right? and it was good.)


after homework, she received a phone call from princess jasmine. it must have made her day because she immediately went to write a letter to jasmine to thank her for the phone call. i will send the letter to the fanmail address, and she should receive a picture of jasmine in a couple of weeks.

Saturday, October 22, 2011

disney store halloween dress rehearsal

took the kids to the disney store at plaza bonita this morning for a costume parade. they played a 'snow white says' game, a 'guess who' game, and watched a short video on rapunzel being coronated the newest princess before actually parading around the store and in part of the mall.

afterwards, they got some prizes. malia got some fairies cards and a tink magnet. micah got a cars memory game and cars stickers. and they both got a mickey flashing safety light to use on halloween.

after we were done with that, i asked them if they wanted to go to the disney store at fashion valley mall to do it again, and they said yes.

micah was the only spidey at both events. it's funny and cool at the same time how spidey is now disney.

i wanted them to see how cool the disney store at fashion valley mall is. malia loved the castle. i personally thought the cast members at fashion valley did a better job with the kids, but malia liked the event at plaza bonita better because the actual costume parade was longer and they went out of the store and in part of the mall.

Saturday, October 15, 2011

lego building at toys r us

i often read about free events at toys r us and want to bring the kids, but i always forget. guess i need to write down more notes to myself.

we actually made it to this one by coincidence. this one was for building the cars 2 spy car, torque.

they were happy to get a new toy and i was happy because it was free.

Monday, September 26, 2011

WDW: the magic kingdom

first full WDW day!

the morning was a little chilly as we headed out of our rooms at 7:30am, but it quickly warmed up. humidity was up and temp ranged from 80-95 degrees.

disney transportation rocks, especially at pop century resort because it doesn't have any other stops like the other value resort buses do.


we got to magic kingdom in time for rope drop. this is the opening ceremony that takes place right in front of the train station after you enter the turnstiles. all the characters greet you in song. i won't lie, i cried. to be able to take my family to disneyworld, and to be there with good friends, such a dream come true.

 

their small world is so different than the one at disneyland. 
you have to go inside and down to get on the ride. it's a lot brighter inside too, i really like it.

we caught a show that was in front of the castle. 
we had a good spot because the kids looked at ducks on that side as well.
 roel took the opportunity to take a nap during the show.

snack time during the parade. did i mention that all of our food was included in our trip for free? 
we went during a free dining plan promotion. so good!

and then came the moment my girl had been waiting for. her princess makeover at the bibbidi bobbidi boutique. they have this at disneyland, but i told her she could only do it at disney world because it's kinda expensive. we saved money by bringing one of her favorite costumes. so i let her pick out some shoes there. thing is, they don't tell you the price of anything you add on until you are ready to pay.


hair, tiara, nails, makeup, and a sash. everything needed to become a princess.

after a sprinkle of pixie dust, she had her first look at herself all done up. 

princess shoes = $30
total princess makeover = $90
malia believing she had been transformed into a real princess = priceless



we had a famous one in our group at the monsters inc laugh floor.

the people mover is still alive at WDW!

shopping time. m&m each had their own gift card for souvenirs. 
micah bought the pirate gun but not the ears. i liked the ears though.

dinner at cosmic rays. the food was SO good. and we stayed there for a while 
because it was pouring buckets of rain outside. they had coloring pages and 
hula hoops for the kids though, so it wasn't bad at all.

we will always remember our time at cosmic rays, especially when ethan was sad that it was raining. he was so cute asking why did it have to rain.


when the rain finally let up, we headed over to town square theater to see mickey and minnie.



the castle right before wishes fireworks

i think one of my favorite parts of our time at the magic kingdom was watching the fireworks. although it was raining, we didn't have the ideal spot, and the video i took wasn't the greatest, i loved every minute of it. listening to micah watch the fireworks made my heart smile. in the video, he kept saying "whoa" and "wockets" and "that's my fwav-wit" while he was jumping up and down.


we stayed until the park closed. we even saw the castle's "kiss good night" when the castle turns different colors before it dims and we are reminded of walt disney's dream and wishes. we were happy, but so so tired.

Sunday, September 25, 2011

WDW: the arrival & epcot


when we arrived in orlando, i told the kids that we had a long stopover before boarding our plane to boston. the aquinos suggested we come hang out at their hotel. so we followed them out of the terminal and headed toward the disney transportation area.

we kept passing mickey signs. the kids said nothing but, "it's mickey." we entered the line to go to the bus, kids didn't say anything. we thought the 2 older kids would for sure get it because they are both very bright, but they didn't say anything. even when we asked them where they thought we were going, they just shrugged their shoulders and said,"i don't know." we boarded the disney cruise line bus that was taking us to our hotel, they still said nothing. a video played in the bus that welcomed us to the walt disney world resort. we asked the older kids, "where are we going?" the reply, "i don't know." by then, we knew they probably had an idea but didn't want to be let down in case it wasn't true. after all, we taught them that it isn't good to lie, and here we were, we had told them little white lies for months.

i asked micah,"where are you going?" and he said,"i'm going to disney world!"


when we arrived at our resort, Pop Century, and said,"okay let's go to our rooms," malia and joshua started jumping up and down and yelling,"we're going to disney world!" they finally said it because it was confirmed.


the kids were so excited that we had adjoining rooms.

 

 we didn't waste any time. we put away a few things and set out for Epcot!


we started at Innoventions West, and headed on to a few other attractions. the kids were full of energy, the parents were dead tired but still excited.

Where's the Fire interactive game

at Runtime, the kids got to make their own video game they could play from home here


 too funny, they didn't know how to pose with each other

this was a perk for disney visa card holders. exclusive meet & greet and a free 5x7. it was really cool. 


The Living Seas aquarium

Journey into Imagination with Figment
 making music with their hands

our group Photopass shot

what a great first day it was. too good to be true that we made it. Disney is truly magical!