Time to Catch Up...and Re-commit

So it is blatantly obvious that I have been a blogging slacker this year. But my mother use to always tell me that I haven't failed until I decide to give up. So this post is to catch up and re-commit to some serious blogging going forward. Let's see...where did we leave off?

Our 12th Wedding Anniversary

On February 7th we celebrated 12 years of marriage. Funny...it just doesn't seem that long. Maybe because more than 1/2 was spent childless. Anyway, this year Todd and I decided that we would get a overnight babysitter and actually spend the night away from our girls. Since it was our first time leaving them overnight with someone other than family we decided it would be best not to go too far, so we settled on a nice dinner at Season 52 (my absolutely favorite resturant) and a night at The Ritz-Carlton Grande Lakes here in Orlando.

We started with an early dinner around 5:30. It was relaxed and romantic. The food, as always, was fabulous. I think the sea scallops were the best I had ever had. Then we decided to do a little shopping before checking into the hotel. We headed to the mall and ended up looking at vacuums of all things. I know...not romantic but necessary and easier to do without kids. Then we left to go to the hotel.

Now...this is why I love my job. Since I work for both Marriott and Ritz-Carlton I actually qualify for both the Marriott & Ritz-Carlton discounts. The Ritz-Carlton the associate discount is only $50 for the night where the Marriott discount (at the Ritz) is $100. When I made the hotel reservation a few weeks before only the "Marriott Associate discount" was available. Obviously I would have liked the "Ritz" discount but really couldn't complain about getting a room for $100 when the published rate is $369. Anyway, upon check in I presented my Ritz-Carlton Employee ID and the front desk agent said, "You are booked in at the Marriott employee rate. Let me switch that to the "Ritz-Carlton Associate" rate for you." Score!!! But wait...it gets better. While making some small talk as the system did it's thing, the front desk agent asked what brought us into town. I told him that we were local but were celebrating our 12th wedding anniversary and a much need night away from our small children. He congratulated us and proceeded to upgrade our accommodations to a SUITE...still at the $50 rate. Like I said in the beginning...I love my job - or at least I love the perks! We had a nice relaxing night uninterrupted by a 1 year old needing a bottle in the middle of the night. We didn't set an alarm clock nor were we awakened by a 5 year old asking is she could watch "Magic School Bus" before breakfast. It was blissful.

A Visit from Family

End of February Todd's brother Travis had his Spring Break from Law School up in New Hampshire. He, his wife, Jamie and his 2 year old, Thomas decided to come to sunny Florida and enjoy the parks for 5 days. Todd's parents decided to fly out from Montana and join them. We waited anxiously for them to come and carefully planned our "Park Strategy."

The first day went well. We enjoyed Epcot and all the fun learning and discover that is available in that park. We spent the majority of the day there without incident. It was great...then it started to decline. About an hour after Thomas went to bed he woke up crying. When his parents went to see what was wrong he had thrown up and that was the beginning of 8 out of the 9 of us getting this bug. Thomas gave it to Jamie. Next it was Travis, then Grandpa, then Hailey then Linda, and finally Todd and Maiya. I was the only one to escape it (thank goodness). The bug came with alot of nausea, throwing up and a fever. Not fun! Needless to say...we did not visit anymore parks that week. Everyone stayed hunkered down in the house to wait out the bug. Hopefully Travis and Jamie will try again soon to make it down here so we can finish our "4 days of Disney.)

The Inaugural DisneyWorld Princess 1/2 Marathon

On March 8th I ran this 1/2 Marathon. My sister-in-law, Kaye, came out to run it with me. Well I should say "with me" as she runs at a MUCH faster pace than I do.

I know this is only my 3rd 1/2 marathon but I can honestly say it was the most fun one I have run and I will definately do it again...even though it is not cheap (it's insane that I actually pay $120 so the will let me run 13.1 miles....hmmm). Anyway...like I said, this one was worth it. First of all it is primarily a women's run (thus the title). Second the Fitness Expo the 2 days prior to the race is all focused on women runners -- so alot of good info. Third, the enroute entertainment was well spaced and motivating. Fourth, all through the race there were Disney trivia signs posted. For example, I would run by a sign that would ask, "Which Disney Princesses swim in thier movies." Then about 50 yards later I would run by a sign that gave me the answer (by the way...the answer is Pocahantas and Ariel). This made for a much need distraction along the way, especially around miles 11 and 12. But my favorite part of the race was the amount of Disney Character they had along the route...and not just in the parks, out along the general roads as well. I saw all the normal ones (Beauty and the Beast, Snow White etc) but some of the obscure ones as well -- like Alice in Wonderland, The Queen of Hearts, Mrs. Potts and Chip, The Evil Queen, The Genie. It was awesome. I am definately doing this one again but next time I am going to worry less about my finishing time and more about enjoying the journey. I am running with my camera and stopping at every photo opt. I can't wait.

Epcot's Flower and Garden Show

One of my favorite things about Spring in Orlando is the "Flower & Garden Show" held at Epcot each March - May. It is amazingly beautiful. Every year has a theme and this year was "Cinderellabration!" and boy, Disney really outdid themselves this year. I think its been my favorite one yet. They had all the Princesses and thier Prince done in lifesize topiary. They also had the cast of "Lion King" done in topiary complete with the monkey holding Simba above his head.

A new addition this year was "Pixie Hollow" where we were enchanted by beautiful topiaries on not just Tinkerbell but all of her fairy friends.

Of course, every year we have to check out the "Butterfly Garden" at least a couple of times. There are beautiful big Monarch butterfly flying around in there. We also see many catapillers still munching on the milk weed and also several in thier cocoons patiently awaiting thier transition. Maiya absolutely loves it. This year as we left the garden, Maiya commented to me, "Mom, I don't think I have ever seen a butterfly in the wild. I've only seen them in capivity." (OK...I didn't even know what "capivity" meant when I was 5 years old!)

The other great thing we love about the "Flower and Garden Show" is the extra playgrounds they set up in Epcot. They are fun and clean and safe...Maiya and Hailey could spend all day just on the playgrounds.