True Confessions of a Shopaholic

I'm joining up with Darci from The Good Life Blog for her 2nd Annual Easter Basket Blog Hop & with Sarah from Our Journey! I'm very excited to share my kid's baskets with everyone and see all of the other adorable baskets.

Every year I tell myself I'm going to cut back at the holidays. And it never happens!

I absolutely love holidays & spoiling my kids so I guess it's inevitable.

The Easter Bunny usually leaves snacks, clothes & small toys since we don't really eat candy.

It's also pretty much impossible to find peanut safe Easter candy (huge thanks to Jel.ly Bel.ly!).

Each child will receive a few healthy snacks, a toothbrush, bubbles, jelly belly beans in their favorite characters, a glider plane & 2 outfits.

Savannah's getting a hair bow, hula-hoop, big jug of bubbles & a egg full of tattoos.

Shane's getting a 4 pack of Pl.ay-Doh, a Pl.ay-Doh tractor & bunny excavator.

They each also are getting personalized beach towels from The Dis.ney Store.

(Savannah's is El.sa & A.na and Shane's is Mic.key)

The kids will have an Easter egg hunt on Easter morning with eggs that the bunny will hide. I filled eggs with jelly beans, quarters & bought these sticker filled eggs.

Savannah's beautiful Easter tulips

I'm so excited for Easter I can hardly stand it! The older the kids get the more fun these holidays are for us grown ups!

Time Hop reminded me that 1 year ago today we purchased the plane tickets for our 1st family trip to Dis.ney Wor.ld. And the worlds worst blogger award goes to... because I never blogged about our trip! Better late than never???

This trip was something I had wanted to do FOREVER but I just couldn't convince Jay. He went every year as a child and couldn't have cared less. I NEVER went as a child. I went for the first time in 2009. And it was awesome! I longed to go back ever since.

One of the many reasons we were dragging our feet was the nightmare that would be driving well over an hour to Bos.ton, parking then hauling all our crap & 2 kids to the airport Then.....Je.t Bl.ue announced that they were coming to a tiny airport that had been closed that happened to be only 15 minutes away from out home. They were offering "specials" on the first however many tickets sold. We were able to buy 4 round trip tickets for exactly $500! I didn't realize exactly what a score we landed until I stated looking into tickets again recently. We saved over $1,000.00.

I researched, researched and researched more. The Un.official Guide to Wa.lt Dis.ney Wo.rld & Disn.ey Tou.rist Bl.og were incredibly helpful. If you are planning a trip, you must use them both!

Now for the photo dump...

November 2013

Our flight left at 7am so we were at the airport bight and early

The kids both did really well on the flights

We stayed at Disney's Art of Animation
It was amazing in every single possible way

The Cars wing of the resort was unreal

You actually felt like you were in the movie

Our Room

Magic Bands-Everything is electronic

These are your room keys, park tickets, dining passes, key to the pool, use to charge to your room and anything else you could need during your trip

Nemo pool area

Splash Pad

Our first night we went to Disney's Contemporary Resort and ate at Chef Mickey

(All dining needs reservations-book 6 months in advance)

We spent the first day at Magic Kingdom

Meeting Ariel

Her favorite princess (at that time)

In Fantasyland - Tangled

The parades are over the top

The kids were amazed

Savannah at the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique-inside the castle

This was the best, by far, money spent

Savannah was in heaven

The girls get to choose a hair style, make up & nail polish

Lunch at Cinderella's Royal Table-located inside the castle

Biggest rip off but Savannah had a blast

This meal was the only way to guarantee we would meet all of these princesses so we had to do it

(This meal would have used two meals worth out of the Disney Dining Plan so we paid for it. Very expensive for tiny portions that weren't all that good)

Shane wanted nothing to do with the beautiful princesses

Back in Fantasyland meeting Rapunzel

When you stay on property you are able to use Disney transportation. It was wonderful! Absolutely no complains! The pick you up at the airport, claim your luggage & bring it to your room and take you to and from all of the parks. We never waited more than ten minutes for a bus. Awesome service!

The second day we wend to Animal Kingdom in the pouring rain

It was miserable

We went on Kilimanjaro's Safaris ride then had a wonderful character breakfast buffet

at The Tusker House

We did the best we could but had to leave the park after a few short hours. We went back to our resort to swim, nap & relax until the rain passed.

Back to Animal Kingdom later that afternoon

Another awesome parade

Wild birds roosting in the trees

It was a beautiful thing to see

Savannah loves roller coasters so Jay wanted to bring her on Expedition Everest. BAD IDEA! She was petrified & cried the entire time. Jay thought she was going to enjoy it so he video taped her reaction. I was heartbroken to see her like that. The Yeti was too much for her.

The following day we went back to Magic Kingdom

The kids thought they were driving real race cars

Enchanted Tales with Belle was lots of fun. They have kids & adults put on a play acting out the story of Beauty & The Beast inside Belle's library. Savannah was chosen to be one of the plates.