Epcot and Ohana Breakfast

Good grief! Here I go again trying to finish these posts about our Disney trip we took well over a month ago. I know I'll appreciate being able to look back on these memories though.

When we first made plans to go to Disney with my parents, I knew I wanted to do something different and new this trip since it would be Brennan's third trip there. I began researching character breakfasts. They're pretty pricey if you aren't doing a Disney Dining Plan, so I was hesitate to do it. I kept coming back to the idea and finally decided to go for it. I knew I wanted to pick a restaurant that was outside of the Disney parks and I received several recommendations for the Ohana restaurant at The Polynesian, so I went with that one. You get to meet Lilo and Stitch (and Mickey and Pluto) and Brennan is a big fan of the movie, so I knew he'd enjoy it. I was able to easily get a breakfast reservation for five any day of our trip and ended up choosing Monday at 10:20 so we wouldn't have to rush off that morning.

Once we were in Florida and started planning out our week there, we decided it would be good to pair up our character breakfast with a visit to Epcot. During our previous two visits to Disney, one of our favorite parts has been the character spot at Epcot. Both times we have gotten to Epcot just before 9am and once the gates open, we head straight to the character spot. There is usually little or no line then and you can meet Mickey, Goofy, and Minnie all in one line. We decided to do that same thing this trip. We drove to Epcot and got there just before the gates opened, headed to the character spot, had no line and let the boys visit with those three characters. Both boys loved it!

Getting to Epcot that early means that part of the park isn't even open yet. We didn't do any other exploring that morning since we had our breakfast and we knew we would be back to the visit more of the park later. We hopped on the monorail and rode over to the Ticket and Transportation Center and then hopped on the resort monorail and rode to The Polynesian. We got there early, which was definitely not necessary. There is a small gift shop and a line where you get your picture taken that used up some of our time, but the rest of our wait we just sat. Brennan was super good waiting and Bryce fell asleep in the Ergo. Our table was ready right around 10:30, so pretty close to our reservation time.

I had been told the food would be delicious and even though I'm not a big breakfast person, I agree. The food is served family style and you get more than enough. The staff was super friendly and of course seeing the characters was fun too. The four characters follow the same path through the restaurant and just go table to table taking pictures and signing autographs. I thought Brennan might be too distracted to eat, but he actually ate well. Both boys ate really well and even got to enjoy cupcakes for Bryce's birthday. They came by and asked if we wanted to purchase the picture they had taken upon our check-in. The picture was actually really cute and my parents bought it. They also paid for the breakfast. Thanks, GeeGee and GaGa! You use a credit card to hold your reservation when you book your breakfast online, but then pay after your meal.

The restaurant was the perfect spot for an easy bathroom break before catching the monorail back to the TTC and then back to Epcot. There are some rides we have done at Epcot in the past, but the main thing on Brennan's to-do-list this trip (I mean this WAS Brennan's trip after all) was meeting Anna and Elsa from the movie Frozen. They were in Norway, so we headed straight there. We were told the wait was two hours and that it doesn't get any shorter than that. At first Brennan was convinced he wanted to wait in that crazy long line, but finally realized it would be more fun to walk around and see some other things. I offered to wait in the line while GeeGee and GaGa strolled the boys around, but my mom said she'd wait for us. (GaGa of the Year!) My dad ended up doing his own thing and I took off with the boys. We ended riding a boat on the lake in the center of the World Showcase. It was a good way to pass some time and the boys were able to just stay in the stroller during the whole thing.

We walked around the World Showcase after that. Brennan wanted to stop at every fountain and throw coins in, so that passed some time too. We stopped at a few places to see if other princesses were there, but most were on break. We did run right into Princess Aurora and even though Brennan didn't know who she was, he wanted to get his picture taken with her. It was a super short line. Brennan was a little shy because the Disney characters he's used to meeting don't speak. When Aurora started talking to him he didn't know what to do.

While my mom was still waiting in line, the boys and I met Donald in Mexico, looked at more fountains, and spent a lot of time watching the electric trains near Germany. My dad went and saw some show at the American Adventure.

Both boys were so good, but I really have to brag on Bryce because he stayed in the stroller the whole time and was so super good. My mom had been texting me about her location in the line while she was waiting. It was starting to approach the two-hour mark and I was in line waiting to buy her Diet Coke, when all of a sudden I received several texts from her that hadn't come through saying she was almost to the door and we needed to hurry. I got out of the line and started running with the stroller to meet her. My running was completely unnecessary because Anna and Elsa were on a little break and we ended up having to wait another 10-15 minutes until the doors reopened. Then we were third in line and finally got to meet them. I think it was worth the wait (not that I was the one standing in line), but my mom wasn't so sure. The pictures turned out so cute though and again Brennan was pretty speechless when they were talking to him.

Brennan still talks about meeting them and we listen to the Frozen soundtrack on repeat in the car. And of course he just had his Olaf birthday party, so it makes my heart so happy to know this was such a memorable experience for him. After meeting Anna and Elsa, we walked around the World Showcase a little more waiting for my dad to get done with his show. My parents were getting hungry, so we decided to eat at a little restaurant by the American Adventure. Brennan was upset about having to stop and eat, but it ended up being so worth it.

We ordered our food up at the counter and as the cashier was repeating the order back to us, he asked how many people were in our party. He then told us that we were their Magical Moment Family (or something like that). Other workers came out and escorted us to the only table in the place with a tablecloth. They told us they would bring our food out to us when it was ready and that we would also receive free refills and free desserts. It was so fun. We felt super special and again both boys were so well behaved and both ate really well. We asked at the end of our meal how often they do this and they told us they pick one family in the morning and one in the afternoon and we just happened to be the lucky afternoon family. All the workers were so friendly and sweet with the boys and it was a super fun part of our day.

After our meal, Brennan was pretty adamant that he wanted to get his face painted. I knew it wasn't super worth it because he wouldn't even be awake that much longer, but hey, how often are you in Disney?? (Okay, like once a year for us, but still).

After that we were pretty much done. We didn't ride a single ride the entire day, but it was still so fun. I would've loved to have been able to stay to see the fireworks, but they aren't until 9pm and we were all tired. We stopped and let Brennan see Duffy Bear as were leaving the World Showcase.

Then he asked to go back and see Mickey, Goofy, and Minnie one more time. We headed back to the character spot and my theory about going there first thing in the morning to avoid the line might be blown, because once again there was no line.

After that we were done. We walked back to the car and headed back to the resort. It was another long, magical day at Disney!

"Tot School" Catch Up

I didn't do a Tot School post the last two Fridays as I was busy planning Brennan's Olaf party. Now that the party is behind us, I wanted to catch you up on some of the activities we've done during the last two weeks. I didn't get a ton of pictures, but here are few of the things I did manage to capture. None are that "tot schoolish" but we had fun nonetheless.

Bryce has been showing more and more interest in looking at books instead of simply pulling them off the shelves. :)

We had several snow days during the last two weeks and it has been bitterly cold for so long. I wanted to do something new with Brennan to make staying at home again a little more fun and decided to pull out vinegar (with food coloring) and baking soda. I made him a 2nd tray of it because he was having so much fun.

I pulled out our hand-me-down tunnels and both boys had fun with them. 

I put the shapes from Bryce's hippo toy on one end of the tunnel and had Brennan start at the other end and find the shape I was asking for. It was a super simple task for him, but he was laughing the whole time.

Brennan asked to play "Noah Says" after he played it at AWANA. It's the same as Simon Says, but you ask like different animals. 

They don't also play nicely together, so this was great to see.

Brennan's Olaf Party

I absolutely loved planning Brennan's 1st, 2nd, and 3rd birthday parties. But leading up to his 4th birthday I just was not super motivated to party plan. Once he decided he'd like an Olaf-themed Frozen party, I started pinning ideas, but it wasn't really until this past week that I finally got excited to start working on it. I am happy with how everything came together. Brennan and I both love the movie Frozen and listen to the soundtrack on repeat in the car, so it was a fun theme to work with. I always have such high hopes to get some really good pictures during his parties and then I get busy and forget. I guess it's good sign if I'm having too much fun playing to think about taking pictures!

Here's Brennan wearing his new shirt that my friend Lizzie made for him!

This was our kitchen table.

I probably should've varied the height of objects more, but I ended up running short on time and just sat everything out. I taped three strands of Christmas lights onto the wall last night and then taped two rolls of cellophane wrap over them. I wasn't sure I liked the look, but adding the snowflakes made it look nice. It looked a lot prettier last night in the dark, but I still liked it today. I was super happy it all stayed up overnight and all through the party.

The snowman cups in the back were the party favors. I used white paper to wrap the juice boxes up and decorated them like snowmen too. You can see his Olaf cupcake cake in the middle. I had a bowl of M&Ms and a bowl of Hershey Kisses with a sign reading, "I wanna stuff some chocolate in my face." The veggie tray had "snowman noses" and other veggies. I also included a cheese and cracker tray with pretzel sticks and raisins so you could "build a snowman". The Doritos didn't have anything to do with the movie, but are just a favorite of ours. I printed some signs and put them in little Dollar Tree signs as decorations and printed the picture of Brennan with Anna and Elsa from Epcot in January.

I didn't even get a picture of the kitchen counter where I had a sign reading, "Hot and cold are both so intense, put them together; it just makes sense!" and then pointed to the HOT dogs and COLD drinks. I cooked hot dogs in the crockpot again this year. Not the most creative idea, but so super easy and inexpensive. You just throw them in there for 4 hours on low and they are good to go! I had white cups out beside the drinks that were also decorated like snowmen.

I hung three tissue paper puff balls from the center light in the kitchen and then here's the fridge.

It was super cute because when Brennan got up this morning and saw all the decorations in the kitchen he said, "Thank you so much for all this stuff!" I know lots of times these parties are just as much (if not more so) for the Mommies, but it made me so happy knowing he was already loving the party and his friends weren't even here yet.

Our basement makes for a perfect birthday party location. I unfortunately didn't get any pictures of all the balloons hanging from the ceiling. We put away some of our regular basement toys, but left many out including the train table, trampoline, and tunnels. We also added a corn hole board for "Snowman Bean Bag Toss". I used six rolls of toilet paper to make "Snowman Bowling" and that was fun for the kids.

Brennan kept asking if it was time to open presents, but we told him we had to eat first. I think he ate a piece of celery and three bites of a hot dog, but at least that's something. :)

Then we did let him open his gifts. He is blessed with a group of such thoughtful friends!

Brennan really wanted to play "Pin the Nose on Olaf" so we did that after presents. I didn't make a big deal out of it because I know organized games don't usually go great at young birthday parties. Some of the kids took a turn and some didn't. Brennan might've taken 8 turns! It was a cute.

Then we had a little more play time!

Finally...CAKE TIME!

Now the boys are sleeping (Kyle included). I'm so glad Brennan had such a fun party and love that we are able to have them right in here in the comfort of our home. We have some new toys to play with and a sugar high that might last us a week; definitely a successful party!