Gowns on the Town

Before I get started, I contribute to WDW Magazine, and they asked me to do a blog post for them about our family costumes. You can see that here.

On Wednesday, Annie and I went to a Mother Daughter princess party through an organization called Gowns on the Town. I was impressed with the characters and plan to use them for parties for Annie in the future. :)

It was a princess and villains meet and greet. I have never been a villains fan, but I think Annie is/will be. :) Because of that, I didn't participate in the costume contest- mommy as the villain and Annie as the princess. We knew what princesses would be there so I dressed Annie as Cinderella, (knowing she wouldn't be there) and I finally had an excuse to wear my new princess pants from Disney.

 Annie's friend was Rapunzel and her mom went as Mother Gothel! So cute!! Her mom was the one who told us about the event and she and I share a princess/Disney obsession appreciation! :)

 All of the characters were great, but I think our favorite was Ursula! She and Ariel did a little song at the beginning! 

If you ask Annie who her favorite was she will list all 6 that she met! :) But when we first left she wouldn't stop talking about Ursula. :) 

Maleficent posed wonderfully! :)

Since we go to Disney often, it is easy to get snobby when you meet characters outside the parks. BUT I really was impressed with these characters and definitely think they are worthy of being hired for parties. :)

Pumpkin Patch 2015

Annie had eye surgery the day before we took her for her annual pumpkin patch shoot. The insides of her eyes were red. Not blood shot, but completely red! It makes her eyes looked almost closed or crossed in these pics. :/ I still think she looks beautiful- her smile is just awesome. :)

There are things in regards to memory making that I greatly regret missing out on in our 5 years as a family, (I wish I videoed more, I wish we did yearly family photos, etc).

One thing that I have done right and it brings me immense joy is Annie's biannual photoshoot- Pumpkin Patch and Bluebonnets. It just so happened to be perfect timing- October and April. So I have pictures of Annie every 6 months since we got her, (her first pumpkin photo was taken the day after her gotcha day!).

I have been and will always be obsessed with Bluebonnet shots, but since I have begun this tradition, I now also love pumpkin patch photos. 

Like, Pumpkin Patch and Bluebonnet days are better than holidays to me! They are some of my favorite days of the year!

This was her 6th year in the pumpkin patch. Click here to see the other years. :) This is also her 4th year at this particular, incredible patch. You can see how every year it is a little different, and you will see how Annie;s smiles get better every year. :)

And remember about Annie's red eyes- she is not squinting or crossing her eyes in these pics. :/

These next few are sadly out of focus. :( She posed herself. :)

You can really see her eyes here. It is the same pic- I couldn't decide if I liked it cropped or original so I posted both. :)

 I loved this shirt when I found it and knew Annie needed it. ;) We picked her 5 years ago! :) best.decision.ever.

Disneyland 2013, Day Three

We went to Disneyland in September 2013. I am re-posting that trip here from my old blog:

Getting ready for day 3/day 1 of California Adventure. 

 *I had heard you want a park hopper for DCA, especially if you have small children. I can now say from experience that the park hopper is a must! We were so tired though, it didn't hurt us going home before closing, but our time would have been well spent at Disneyland had we had park hoppers!*

California Adventure

We saw Disney Junior Live and it was precious.

We road the Monster's Inc ride. It was definitely more for Annie's age group and she loved it. 

 

Annie's Marilyn Moment

 Only 3 more months left of her being 3! (present day- almost only 3 more months of her being 5. Someone hold me!)

 Showing off her tattoo :)

 Waiting for the Aladdin show to start. (I refuse to own the movie, but I am ok with the play and her seeing the characters from the movie). 

Anyway, the highlight of the play was one of the chorus members. She had Cerebral Palsy, and moved around stage, dancing and singing, in her motorized wheelchair. It was amazing! I wish we could have had a meet and greet with her after the show!  Did my special needs mommy heart some good, let me tell ya!

Paul's favorite was Cars Land, (like this surprises anyone! lol). I was actually really cool! 

 Ok y'all, if you need shade, PLEASE find a spot that is not a prime photo op! I mean seriously... be aware of your surroundings. There are plenty of non photo op shaded areas! geeze!

 We saw Lighting McQueen driving up the road, so I was again positioned Annie a ways back so we could share the area. Well, the girl in the white shirt...

 Y'all, she stopped directly in front of Annie! smh

 In a huff I quickly wheeled Annie closer so she could actually see. I need to stop thinking of others so much and start just being selfish sometimes. Too many times in this trip my kindness was taken advantage of. Regardless of all of that, Annie was ecstatic to see Lighting McQueen driving and said hi to him like mad. :)

 Waiting in line, she called out and waved at Lighting McQueen the whole time. :)

 We ate the Chili Cone Queso, and I had her pose here since she is 3! :)

 When Mater and Lighting switch off for photo ops, they drive down the road. :)

 "DJ" had a little dance party and Annie had to get her groove on, (since day one she has had music in her bones!). :)

 Y'all look at her go- and look at her mouth. She is totally grooving! This just kills me! :)

 Posing like a princess became a habit...

 The photog told us to make a surprised face and point...apparently, that is Annie's surprised face! lol

She was less and less nervous with each character...as long as they didn't touch her! lol

On The Little Mermaid Ride- which was AWESOME!

 Waving at Ariel, and Daddy photobombed ;)

King Triton's Carousel- had to get the seahorse! ;)

 Look at the back of the costume! :)

Jesse and Buzz (we had just missed Woody)

 Saying hi to Mr. Potato Head

 What did I tell you about that "posing like a princess" habit? :)

 "used Popsicle stick" bench in Bugsland. I'm totally tempted to recreate it!

Remember how I mentioned I had to buy 3 images that did not show up on our disc? Well, they were with another Mickey and taken after this shoot with Pluto. As you can see, Annie is much less nervous. She is all smiles in the pics with Mickey and actually touches him and gives him a high five. I'm just annoyed that I have to pay for them- it is not my fault they were left off the disc. :/

 Walt's car :) and that darn girl saw us taking pics and just stood there. I have pics of her looking directly into my camera, so I know she was aware. Rude.

 Oswald. :) If you do not know who he is/his significance, I am not sure we can be friends. ;)

The last 2 days, we spent some time at Downtown Disney. If we were locals, we would go there all the time! :)

 With the Beauty and the Beast "cast" outside the lego store. :)