(Final 8/12)The WILDEST Ride in the Wilderness!" Princess Half Marathon TR/Feb.2014

[Twoboysnmygirl]

Don't miss part 1 of this update on the bottom of the previous page!
Obligatory and poor quality shot by the fish tanks (I mean really, I'm not bringing a tripod to RFC, so it is what it is!)

and the girls found a pressed penny machine! This was the beginning of a week of collecting pennies. They had SO much fun searching for them and I believe Eleanor has found a way to make them into a bracelet.

Off we went to shop more! I just let them wander wherever they wanted, I took shots occasionally and sat when I felt like it. I was concerned about saving my feet for the race Sunday!

Savannah got more doggie tags for the dogs, she gets them each time we go now.

more blur...I swear the whole report won't be like this, but I did decide that I wasn't going to be a total perfectionist about my photography this trip. There's a balance that has to be struck b/c if I focus on my photography to get perfect shots, I miss out on a lot of other stuff and that's no bueno.

random shots I took

They LOVED this store, but didn't get anything...a bit pricey for them I guess.

I admit, I took this shot to remind myself of how I was longing for a margarita and couldn't have one b/c I was trying to stay hydrated for the race. Next year I think I'm going to have to find a way around that!

It was crazybusy, I knew it would be on a Friday night, and they decided they were ready to go. One last shot for the night!

We headed back and got on the bus fairly quickly but then gridlock. We were on the bus for over an hour, most of it sitting in the parking lot of DTD, trying to get to the other side of DTD (for no apparent reason! No one got on or off when we got there!) So, more waiting to finish off the day. We joked about how it was fitting, but I could tell Savannah was a bit disappointed. Eleanor called her parents when she got back and I know Savannah told me later in the trip that she was pretty homesick. I'm sure our waiting day didn't help.

Have no fear! The following morning was our TRUE first day, starting with a magical morning at Magic Kingdom. I knew once we rounded that bend and saw the castle, our waiting day would melt away...and I was right!

 

[annmarieda]

I love DTD too. It is such a great place to shop! Glad the girls got their ears.

I had never experienced the frizz before my trip a couple years ago. I don't have but fine thin hair... I guess the heat styling I have done has damaged it...so the humidity hits and it gets all crazy looking. I feel for Savannah.

Glad you got the volcano you had been wanting. YUM!

cute tags!!!

Even though you were not focusing on your photography...the pictures turned out way better than anything I do.

What a long first day!!!

 

[momabaarjo]

Karen I am here! I can't wait to catch up reading...Are those JAZZ HANDS that I see in your finish photo?!

 

[Twoboysnmygirl]

Karen I am here! I can't wait to catch up reading...Are those JAZZ HANDS that I see in your finish photo?!

I hadn't realized they were, but they ARE and forevermore I will tell people they are!

 

[Twoboysnmygirl]

I love DTD too. It is such a great place to shop! Glad the girls got their ears.

I had never experienced the frizz before my trip a couple years ago. I don't have but fine thin hair... I guess the heat styling I have done has damaged it...so the humidity hits and it gets all crazy looking. I feel for Savannah.

Glad you got the volcano you had been wanting. YUM!

cute tags!!!

Even though you were not focusing on your photography...the pictures turned out way better than anything I do.

What a long first day!!!

My hair even got frizzy and that never happens! I think it was a little more humid than our past trips, more rain and/or threatening rain.

 

[momabaarjo]

I hadn't realized they were, but they ARE and forevermore I will tell people they are!

I belong to a facebook group for Disney Running and a requirement is that when you finish fist pumps are not allowed...instead JAZZ HANDS!

Thinking we need to add to our PHM 2015 group...JAZZ HANDS! LOL...now let's look at the list...cupcakes, alcohol, new friends, sparkle skirts and JAZZ HANDS!

 

[Tinker326]

You need giraffey for the same reason I bought a wizard wand at Harry Potter in the past... sometimes you just DO!!! You'd probably get a lot more use out of graffey than I do out of my Prof. McGonnagal Wand! (but oh how I love it!!!)

We can surely allow ourselves ONE drink on Thursday next year. We'll just make it a good one! Then Sunday- all bets are off! We be drinkin'.

I love the picture of Savannah and Eleanor with their ears! Cute- that should go in a frame.

We have a Rainforest 2 miles from my house- so there is no novelty there for me. It's our 'go-to' for every Birthday celebration of every kid of mine!

Ah, World of Disney- possibly the best store on Earth.

 

[Tinker326]

I belong to a facebook group for Disney Running and a requirement is that when you finish fist pumps are not allowed...instead JAZZ HANDS!

Thinking we need to add to our PHM 2015 group...JAZZ HANDS! LOL...now let's look at the list...cupcakes, alcohol, new friends, sparkle skirts and JAZZ HANDS!

I love Karen's crossing the finish line picture!!

I'll have to practice the jazz hands... make sure I represent correctly.

 

[momabaarjo]

Karen...caught up! First of all, your introductions make me so happy. My dd Ab is coming along next year with me on PHM and I am hoping her best friend Aid will come along. Seeing your 2 girls together, priceless...BTW I LOVE ELEANOR's name...that is my grandmothers name and Ab's middle name. What a fun countdown chain!

In your POP food picture the first thing I spotted was that cupcake...now I see Babycakes as your prerace fuel...oh you are so bad! I like your thinking! And I have no idea what was in that dish that you said was tie dye cheesecake...that sure was not cheesecake. ICK!

I love that at you were sparkling at the Expo and I want to take a picture with the carriage men and find my name on the wall! MORE IMPORTANTLY...I have made it my goal to sparkle everyday at PHM next year!

The volcano looked so yummy...and I love the shopping the girls did. What a fun memories they made together on this trip.

I can't wait to read your blog!

 

[Twoboysnmygirl]

I belong to a facebook group for Disney Running and a requirement is that when you finish fist pumps are not allowed...instead JAZZ HANDS!

Thinking we need to add to our PHM 2015 group...JAZZ HANDS! LOL...now let's look at the list...cupcakes, alcohol, new friends, sparkle skirts and JAZZ HANDS!

PERFECTION!!! Oh and there's that little thing...running...in there somewhere, but let's focus on cupcakes and sparkleskirts for now!

You need giraffey for the same reason I bought a wizard wand at Harry Potter in the past... sometimes you just DO!!! You'd probably get a lot more use out of graffey than I do out of my Prof. McGonnagal Wand! (but oh how I love it!!!)

You are right. I'm gonna bring giraffey home next year. Now watch, he'll be gone and they won't sell him anymore.

We can surely allow ourselves ONE drink on Thursday next year. We'll just make it a good one! Then Sunday- all bets are off! We be drinkin'.

or two... We can drink tons of water on Friday.

I love the picture of Savannah and Eleanor with their ears! Cute- that should go in a frame.

We have a Rainforest 2 miles from my house- so there is no novelty there for me. It's our 'go-to' for every Birthday celebration of every kid of mine!

Ah, World of Disney- possibly the best store on Earth.

We don't have one near us, but since it was the first place she ate at Disney on our first trip, she seems to associate it with Disney now! I also use mypoints and had a $75 gift card, so it was a free meal! WOOT!

I love Karen's crossing the finish line picture!!

I'll have to practice the jazz hands... make sure I represent correctly.

I seriously didn't even think about it when I did it, but next year you can bet I will have the biggest grin b/c NOW I will be thinking JAZZ HANDS!!!!!!!!!!

Karen...caught up! First of all, your introductions make me so happy. My dd Ab is coming along next year with me on PHM and I am hoping her best friend Aid will come along. Seeing your 2 girls together, priceless...BTW I LOVE ELEANOR's name...that is my grandmothers name and Ab's middle name. What a fun countdown chain!

You'll be interested in the TR then, there will be a lot of talk about how I balanced running with a daughter/friend trip!

In your POP food picture the first thing I spotted was that cupcake...now I see Babycakes as your prerace fuel...oh you are so bad! I like your thinking! And I have no idea what was in that dish that you said was tie dye cheesecake...that sure was not cheesecake. ICK!

Yes! Cupcakes! Eat them all!!!!

I love that at you were sparkling at the Expo and I want to take a picture with the carriage men and find my name on the wall! MORE IMPORTANTLY...I have made it my goal to sparkle everyday at PHM next year!

I sparkled nearly every.single.day! They are perfect for the parks!!

The volcano looked so yummy...and I love the shopping the girls did. What a fun memories they made together on this trip.

I can't wait to read your blog!

Thanks! I have the whole race recap on the blog, not sure if I will copy it here when I get to race day in the trip report or not, but all three parts are on a tab at the top of my blog page!

 

[Trentmom]

All caught up. The sparkly skirt is cute

Glad Eleanor found her ears and that volcano looks good at RC..

Can't wait to hear about your first day in the parks and Eleanor's reaction to seeing the castle for the first time

 

[momabaarjo]

Ab and her friend (and hopefully another cupcake's dd...depending on basketball season) are all going be close to 18 at the time of the trip. So I am working on the courage to allow them to do what they want, when they want...just checking in from time to time and honoring us with their presence at a few meals. There are just a few things that I really want Ab to do with me.

I will certainly go look at your PTR!

 

[Twoboysnmygirl]

All caught up. The sparkly skirt is cute

Glad Eleanor found her ears and that volcano looks good at RC..

Can't wait to hear about your first day in the parks and Eleanor's reaction to seeing the castle for the first time

Comin' right up!!

Ab and her friend (and hopefully another cupcake's dd...depending on basketball season) are all going be close to 18 at the time of the trip. So I am working on the courage to allow them to do what they want, when they want...just checking in from time to time and honoring us with their presence at a few meals. There are just a few things that I really want Ab to do with me.

I will certainly go look at your PTR!

Ah, well 18 will make a difference. Not only is Savannah 13, but since this was Eleanor's first trip, she wanted ME to help show her everything. (i.e. plan everything out to the minute like I usually do. LOL) and so there were a couple times where I could see she got frustrated that it was about running or me meeting with people instead of going on a ride with her, etc. I'm guessing with your daughter it will be different b/c she's older.

 

[Twoboysnmygirl]

First off, let me say that it's taking a large amount of self-control not to change the name of my TR to JAZZ HANDS!!!!

After a very long travel/arrival/expo day, morning arrived and I was up before dawn, as usual! I wake very early (3-4am) normally, and this is no better at Disney, in fact it's worse. I really believe the reason I sleep so little is because I don't want to miss anything. At Disney, it's always worse. I would go the whole trip awake if I could pull it off! I was going to write in my journal about our first day and then realized I didn't have one?!?! WHAT?!?! A year in the planning, down to every little detail, and I forgot a journal.

I headed down to get coffee and forgot they didn't open until 6am. So, I did what any coffee-driven Disney fanatic would do, I sat outside the door until they opened it. I wasn't the only person who came up before six either. As soon as they opened, I got my coffee and headed to the gift shop to get myself a journal. I sat outside a bit writing and then went up to get the girls going. They woke up easily, the first morning is always easy because the castle and Crystal Palace are always waiting!

We were up and out the door into the foggy morning!

Since Magic Kingdom didn't open until 9am and it was 7:20, we ended up on an empty bus again! This time it was one of those extra long ones. The girls look tired, but they were super excited and ready for the day!

Ahhh, we arrived to just the morning early breakfast crowd arriving. I love that. Foggy morning!

So, we scanned our magicbands for the first time and I have no idea why, but we did this little cross over action with our arms. We ended up having to do this all week then (b/c you have to use the same finger) and a couple CM's looked at us funny...no clue how we could have done it differently with the band on the right arm but the finger scanner on the right side??

I'm an early-bird by nature, so rope drop or even BEFORE rope drop is such an awesome time. No lines and no crowds! I cannot actually imagine going to Magic Kingdom without an early morning breakfast at Crystal Palace. I'm spoiled by not having to share Main Street with many people. I never tire of this first moment in Magic Kingdom...

dorking out. Sidebar note here: My family says that I post far too many "normal" photos of myself but none of the photos that show what I'm REALLY like at Disney (or any other day). I find them awkward b/c I don't SEE myself like this, but apparently it's what I look like. I'm trying to be more authentic, so there ya have it.

We were all really happy, only thing that would have made it better was to banish those itty-bitty raindrops that had started to fall...uh-oh!

I just let the girls walk ahead, Savannah took a little video and I wanted to get those ears in a shot like this. It came out like I had hoped!

We turned towards Crystal Palace and I had to get even more photos. This is such a great time of morning for these shots and I have to fight myself not to rush to breakfast. Later in the day there are tons of people and sun blasting your face, so I'm glad I had the girls stop for this!

Then I went crazy on the rose pictures...so many that I have to end the post b/c I have too many. LOL.

 

[JessM]

We were doing the same thing when scanning our magicbands! Until one CM told us it wasn't necessary to have your finger and your band scanning at the same time, scan the band first, once it starts to swirl remove it and scan your finger, it was MUCH easier : )

Love those early mornings at the MK! Its so worth getting up early for those

 

[Twoboysnmygirl]

We were doing the same thing when scanning our magicbands! Until one CM told us it wasn't necessary to have your finger and your band scanning at the same time, scan the band first, once it starts to swirl remove it and scan your finger, it was MUCH easier : )

Love those early mornings at the MK! Its so worth getting up early for those

We were told the same thing and so I started scanning the band and then doing my finger...and it kept coming up BLUE?!?!? I really did love the MB's, but it seemed a bit glitchy sometimes!

 

[Monknmom]

Okay, I finaly found it, I just have to catch up now!

 

[Twoboysnmygirl]

Okay, I finaly found it, I just have to catch up now!

 

[momabaarjo]

So glad I could introduce you to a new term...JAZZ HANDS! I had no idea what they were till a few weeks ago when there was a post in a FB Disney running group where they were listing requirements to be in the group for fun...and one was no more clenched fists on the finish line...must do JAZZ HANDS. So from now on, its Jazz Hands!

What no journal and no coffee, not a great start to the day...glad you got both. I love the mornings to journal, I am a morning person just because that is ME time...I guess that is why I like to run then too.

2 Teens out of bed and off to MK by 7:30 you are an amazing woman! But nothing beats a before park opening at CP! I simply love all the wonderful pictures you were able to take without other people in the pictures. I am in love with the rose and castle pictures....great eye to catch that picture!

I am so wearing a tiara next year at PHM...all day, every day! So much fun and you don't look out of place or crazy for doing it. Adding to my list, must get tiara!

 

[annmarieda]

We did the same thing! Right handed... the band went on the right wrist. Eventually, I just learned to quickly scan the band and then finger....