Friday Favorites

Yay for Friday and an extra long weekend!!  Sharing some favorites from the past week.

Our Disney attire is starting to roll in and that makes me super happy!!  I think she approves of her Rapunzel outfit.

How cute are these mickey and minnie shoes!  I die!

If you're planning a trip to Disney, check out my post from yesterday about paid services.

My Chi flat iron of over 10 years finally broke down.  I went to Ulta this week and got a replacement.  I'm pretty sure they have changed the Chi because the new one did not get as hot as my old one.  I text my hair stylist, and she recommended BaByliss.  I took the Chi back and got a BaByliss.  I love the BaByliss!  So much better than the Chi.

Last Friday, I went to Books A Million to pick up the The Girl on the Train.  I'm almost done with the book.  It's a good read.  Can we talk about Books A Million though?  Oh my goodness, that place is so awesome.  I saw tons of non book items that would make great gifts.  I left with some small treats for the kids, Peppa Pig cookies for Hallie and a Minecraft bracelet for Bryson.  I usually order my books off Amazon.  Hello, Prime 2 day shipping.  But I'm planning more Books A Million trips in my future.  I even signed up for their club or program or whatever it's called.

David picked up some Skippy P.B. Bites this week.  He got the double peanut butter flavor.  If you like peanut butter, you must try these.  They are so good!  Hoping to pick up the pretzel flavor next grocery trip.  I did limit myself.  Trying to stick to one of those September goals.   But David wasn't so good about limiting.  The container was empty in 3 days.  Yikes!  They are that good!

Hallie's school color days continued from last week.  Monday was purple day.  Bryson had absolutely no purple in his closet, so mommy joined in for a picture.  Bryson played photographer, and sister gave some silly faces.  

Next was pink day.  Bryson's only pink shirt was a dress shirt.  He was such a good sport and put his pink shirt on for a picture with sister.  

Then came brown day and once again, no brown in Bryson's closet.  We found a shirt in David's closet for picture time.  

Black and white day may have been Hallie's favorite day.  She wore athletic clothes to school for the first time.  Now that she knows she can wear athletic clothes to school, I'm worried that's all she'll want to wear.  

Happy Friday!

Links:  HodgesPodges, Oh Hey Friday!
 MeetattheBarre,  FridayBlogHop,   HighFiveforFriday, FiveonFriday, FridayFavorites,  FridaysFabFavorites and Momfessionals

Disney Trip Planning

It seems like every post I've done lately has something Disney related.  #sorrynotsorry  I thought I would share a couple of services we have paid for that really enhanced our trip.

Website: http://touringplans.com/

Cost: $12.95 a year

How We Use It:  We have used this paid service for all our Disney trips.  First, we use the crowd calendar to determine which parks to visit which days.  Each day will have a rating from 1-10 per park to determine crowd level, 1 being slow and 10 being packed.  

We also use the touring plans function they offer.  They have set touring plans for you to use that are supposed to keep your waiting times down.  We use the option to create our touring plan.  I enter everything we want to do, and then the program will put it in the order we should do for less waiting.  

Touring plans does have an app as well.  I use the app for the chat function.  You can ask any question in the chat group and within minutes you will get answer from others who have tons of Disney experience.  

While in the park, we use the app for the wait time functions.  The app will tell you the posted wait time on any ride and the expected wait time based on times submitted by members in the park that day.  I've heard the Disney app has a wait time function also, but I've also heard that the Touring Plans times are more accurate. 

Website: https://disneydiningbuddy.com/  

Cost: $8.00 per search

How We Use It:  Disney dining reservations open up 180 days in advance of your trip.  I know that sounds crazy, but several of the popular restaurants will book up opening day.  If you want a specific restaurant and it's booked, I recommend using Disney Dining Buddy.  I used it for the first time a couple months ago.  I paid $8 and told Disney Dining Buddy what restaurant I wanted and what time.  Disney Dining Buddy notified me when a reservation opened up, and I snagged it.  You can choose to be notified by email, text, or both when a reservation opens.  

Website: http://www.characterlocator.com/ from  http://www.kennythepirate.com/

Cost: $6.99 a year

How We Use It:  Our upcoming trip will be the first time for us to use this app.  It was highly recommended by others.  The app is web based, so you will not find it in the app store.  Instead, you will need to create on icon on your home screen.  The app gives you specifics on where and when to meet your favorite characters.  It also list some fun interactive tips.  Disney's app has character information as well.  But once again, I've heard this app is more specific and reliable than the Disney app.  

I love talking Disney and maybe this will help someone with trip planning.  If you have any questions, let me know.  I'd love to help.   

Links: Thoughts for Thursday Thinking Out Loud Thursday Waiting on Wednesday

        

September Goals

It's been forever since I've blogged any goals.  This month seemed like the perfect time to start back up.  The kids are back in school.  We are working on a routine.  It's almost like a fresh start.  I decided not to go too crazy with goals and stick to things that need to be done, instead of things I would like to do. 

Several goals are related to our upcoming Disney trip in October.  I would like to be prepared and not wait until the last minute.

• start packing for Disney
• start on our Disney cruise fish extender gifts
• setup a time to speak with Bryson's teachers about his school work while on vacation

Also, indirectly related to Disney....

• Get a new phone.  It's sad, but I use my phone to take all my pictures.  I even have a nice Cannon with a couple of lenses.  It's just so darn convenient to use the phone.  If I'm going to use my phone for pictures, I would like to upgrade for better quality.
• Purchase or make Halloween costumes.  We would do this any year.  However, this year we will be using our costumes during the Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween party.   
• Start logging food in MyFitnessPal.  I really slacked last month, and I can tell.  I would like to drop some pounds before our trip just so I can gain it all back on the cruise haha.  

Non Disney related...

• Vet checkup for Sadie
• Take my vehicle in for recalls 
• Enjoy our annual trip to the fair

Weekend Recap

I picked Bryson up from school on Friday.  We enjoyed some Sonic milkshakes for the second Friday in a row.  That might just become a tradition.  We headed to Ulta to get me a new flat iron since my Chi broke.  He found a crazy looking hair dryer. 

After getting my new flat iron, we headed next door to Kirkland's.  They had so much cute fall and Halloween stuff.  I think Bryson had just as much fun as me looking around.    

He found this chicken sign that he thought we should get since we have chickens.  It didn't make it home with us, but I'm seriously thinking about going back to get it. 

 

And while I get the chicken sign, I should probably just go ahead and pick up one of these monogram pumpkin signs.  

   

Even though we were just running errands, I enjoyed spending a little quality time with just my boy.   

Saturday morning we had a play date at a park.  I didn't get any pictures, but the kids had fun and got to ride a little train.

That evening, we attended a birthday party for my best friend's twins.  Hallie was taking this game pretty serious.  Anytime the tongue comes out, you know there is some serious concentration going on. 

She did slow down enough while taking a bathroom break to get a picture in her cute maxi skirt.  

Sunday morning, we went to church and then to our usual Mexican restaurant.  We spent the rest of Sunday prepping for the upcoming week.