Wordless Wednesday - Show Time!

Fun at the Hoop-Dee-Doo! 

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Happy 60th Disneyland!!

Disneyland and I share a special connection - we share the same birthday! And although I have always wanted to celebrate together I just cannot convince myself to go to a park in the middle of the summer heats and crowds! So here are a couple of pics from our May trip this year. Happy Birthday Disneyland, may you always be a place of happiness for all who seek your youthful joy.

Disneyland with Friends!

We had so much fun on our most recent trip to Disneyland. Rapunzel and I were able to sneak away on an "educational" 5 day trip to SoCal and we had our first experience with the Disney YES program. We had a group of homeschool friends that went down with us and we got to participate in the "designing a Disney Story" class. Rapunzel loved it of course because she wants to be an animator just like Walt when she grows up!

In the class they learned about storyboarding and how images are sequenced to tell a story. 

The class is 3 hours long and the cast members are great at keeping the kids involved and happy. They got to take a snack break too! ;) 

Our class of friends before the start! 

They learned techniques on how to draw popular characters. 

The class was a success and we are so excited to be attending more with Rapunzel and Merida this fall. You have to be aged 5 and up for the classes so she is ready this fall to see what it is all about!! I highly recommend these "filed trips". If you can cant get a group together they also offer individual enrollment classes throughout the year on their website. www.disneyyouth.com

Disney Dining Reviews - Ariel's Grotto

We don't get to talk about Disneyland as often as Disney World because, well, we only get to the west coast every couple of years. But the original SoCal resort has some great dining finds as well. One of our favorites is Ariels Grotto.

We usually choose to have the character brunch and we try to get a mid morning seating around 10am so we can fill up and get a late lunch. The food here is delicious and plentiful. They bring you a pastry basket and fruit to start and then you can choose from a wide selection of breakfast favorites.

Awesome views from the restaurant 

Beautiful weather out on the pier 

Breakfast options. All good but I love the Tri-Tip! 

And of course you get visits from local royalty at your table! As many times as we go the girls can never get enough of the real princesses!

With prices about $40/adult and $20/child it is not a cheap meal but definitely a fun experience especially for the little girls in your life! Ok....I like seeing the princesses too! There is also the options to do a World of Color package for dinner which is a preset menu and will get you preferred seating for the light show.

FREE PRINTABLE - Mickey Recipe Cards

It's Friday. Friday starts with "F". Free starts with "F". You see what I am doing here???

It's also coming into fall (another favorite "F" word!) and nothing says fall to me more than baking in the kitchen and eating some yummy fall treats!! So I created this little recipe card for all my Disney baking/cooking fans!! You can just right click, save and print! It's a 4x6 so you can print 2 to a page. Print on card stock for durability. You're welcome. :)

PRINT ME!! 

Our Homeschool Room 2013

People are always curious as to what our homeschool class room looks like. Well generally, at least for us it seems, it is always a work in progress. I seem to always be finding some new way to make it better or utilize our small space in a more useful way. But here is what our school room is shaping up for this year:

The view walking into the room. 

The view from the opposite corner. 

This is our reading and morning "circle time" carpet where we do over the calendar and how many days we have been in school. 

This is our reading center. It is actually Walt's old art desk from when he was a kid. I painted it purple for the Princesses. The top lifts up for storage of books and we put the ones we are reading for the week on top for easy access. 

Here you can see the tall "teacher's cabinet" where I keep all the curriculum and supplies for the year. The small white cabinet and tower is full of all the arts and crafts things. I keep it locked or up high, not because I don't want them to be able to use it when they want, I just want to know when they are using it so I don't end up with a glitter wall. Then the small plastic shelves holds all our Play-doh tools. 

Mine and Rapunzel's desks and computer station. You can also see Rapunzel and Merida's workboxes off to the side with more books on top. We love books. :) 

This our dramatic play/ manipulatives center. I rotate toys down to the shelves for Merida and Tinker Bell to play with. The boxes up top contain unit study related busy boxes for the littles when I need more one on one time with Rapunzel. The kitchen table also doubles as a desk for Merida and Tink. 

So this is where we spend our mornings! We try to take afternoons for co-ops and outings cause who wants to be stuck inside at a desk all day?? Not these busy Princesses! Thanks for stopping by!

Wordless Wednesday - Sept 2013 Calendar Shot

Our family had a great time eating our way through the world last year at Epcot's Food and Wine Festival! Can't wait to get back again! 

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