More pictures from Magic Kingdom.....
Arden and Daddy on the Carousel
Waiting in line for Winnie the Pooh Adventure. She always had to find places to sit. This child loves little seats.
Riding on the Pooh ride....she cried when she had to get off.
The Tea Cups!
I thought this one might be too fast for her. I should have known better....
She loved spinning the table in the middle-which makes your Tea Cup spin faster and she cried when it was time to get off again.
In Minnie's house
She kept her 3D glasses on for most of Mickey's Philharmagic show....and she is the proud owner of her pair. She wanted them so bad, what was I supposed to do?!
Waiting patiently for the Buzz Lightyear ride....
But the patience didn't last long, she soon started buzzing her way through the line to the front. She started getting the hang of how it all worked and didn't feel the need to wait anymore!
Trying out a new little seat
Towards the end of the day, relaxing in the stroller. Did I mention she never took a nap at the park?!
Arden LOVES Minnie now
We were so glad that "Nonna and Papa" were able to fly down for the week!
Silly girl laughing on the tram
An attempt at getting a family photo, but Arden was loopy and preoccupied with someone else....
....she wanted to see goofy
We had an absolute blast at Disney and Arden was totally into it too which made it sooo much more fun. I just wish she could have seen more characters. Next time.
On Tuesday, Derek and I left Arden with the grandparents and went to Aquatica- the Sea World water park. We had a blast (water parks are my favorite). The longest we waited in any line was probably 15 minutes. We bought an all-you-can-eat pass (hey, you gotta live it up). There were 3 places in the park where you could get drinks at and one place you could go it and eat as many times as you wanted. The burgers were actually very flavorful. They had salad, fruit, variety of entree's, side items and desserts.
I really wanted to hit another water park on Wednesday but Derek wanted to do something with Arden, so we decided to go to the Orlando Science Center. It's newly renovated, has lots of things for little ones, so great choice, right? Well Wednesday is the only day of the week they are CLOSED. Ugh. so I could've gone to a water park afterall =)
Another very exciting thing about our trip to Orlando was seeing my Best friend from 9th grade!!!! She lives near West Palm Beach which is about 3 hours from Orlando. She had a little scare and a few last minute obstacles and thought she might have to cancel her visit, but pulled it off. We have kept in touch through the years (12 to be exact) and I just love her!!!! She has a little boy, Ethan who is ALL boy. Most people with boys say their son is all boy, but seriously not compared to Ethan!!! He is 3.5 months younger than Arden and a total cutie too. They came in Wednesday night and we planned to meet at Downtown Disney for dinner.
On our way there, Arden decided she needed her glasses, but we left hers at the house. Luckily daddy had an extra pair in the car and she was thrilled.
This one just trips me out:
Jayne, Brandon and Ethan didn't make it to dinner, so we ate without them. We went to the Rainforest Cafe and had a great seat right next to the Gorilla.
She cracking up at something...maybe the gorilla
every 5 or 10 minutes, he came to life. Arden LOVED this place and all the animals
By the waterfall outside of the restaurant
Arden was not leaving the store without that cheetah. She carried that thing and was so proud of it all night. She also got a small plastic gorilla and was having a hard time walking, carrying both of them and trying to hold my hand, but she didn't want me holding either of them. She was going to make it work and she did. Of course the next day, she could care less about them.
Don't look now, but a dragon is about to lick your head, Arden!
I love watching these crazy people do crazy things
I went to a small private school, and in 9th a grade, we got a new girl. Jayne and I instantly hit it off and became best pals, then her family moved in December of that year. The following summer, I flew out to Erie, PA and spent two weeks with her and that was the last time I saw her. Crazy.
Jayne stayed at the Nickelodeon Resort which had a water park, so on Thursday, we hung out with them. They had a toddler area and a larger area. While the dads and kids were playing, Jayne and I decided to check out the 'big kid' zone.
We went down the biggest slide first. As you walk up to the slide, there is water spraying you from every direction, nets and bridges you have to walk across etc. Well Jayne went first and was waiting for me to come down, and I FINALLY get to the bottom ( I'm not exactly sure why, but I got stuck and had to push myself down) and see her face and she was laughing then all of the sudden her jaw drops and Bam! I got hit in the back by a little girl. Apparently I took so long to get down that the lifeguard telling the next person when to go assumed she blinked and missed me go by. Then I got up and started walking toward Jayne and to add insult from injury, gallons of water came from the sky and almost knocked me down. A little while later, we all moved to the big pool and Jayne and I left again to try more slides.
Well I got stuck in a dark tunnel, trying to push my way through and apparently this lifeguard assumed he missed me going by too and sends the next rider down, then suddenly a boy hits me from behind then goes flying past me! What the heck!? Jayne said it's because I'm tall and thin. Bull crap. Both of those kids were skinny things and had no problems getting down. We definitely had a lot of laughs.
After the park, we got dressed and drove 5 minutes to Downtown Disney for lunch. Both kids were knocked out before we pulled in. We didn't have our stroller with us and there was no way we were going to be able to carry her around and keep her sleeping (and she needed that nap). So we talked a while in the parking lot and said our good byes and promised to have a yearly reunion from now on!
I remembered a sandwich shop from the night before that looked really good, so Derek stayed in the car and I ran in to get lunch. I can't remember the name of the place, but the sandwiches were amazing and decent prices! Actually I'd love to have one right now. Walking back to the car, I saw the Ghirardelli Soda Fountain and Chocolate Shop. Something was keeping me from walking past it, so I went in. H.E.A.V.E.N. I ordered the Mint Bliss Sundae and it was the most amazing thing ever. I wish I would've ordered two so I didn't have to share with Derek. Seriously it is worth the 8 hour drive just to get that and come back home. I'm really tempted to do that. You can check out their Menu Here. Next time I'm in Orlando, I will be eating there daily. I am jealous that Jayne has a location about an hour from her in Miami.
The weather was perfect all week, until the day we left. It was really hot and this is what happens when Florida humidity makes your lens sweat:
Arden was much better on the drive home, except when she chose to take a nap. We planned to stop in at Lady and Sons (Paula Dean's restaurant) in Savannah, but Arden fell asleep about 15 minutes before we got to the exit, and I knew if we woke her up, she wouldn't go back to sleep later, and I would much rather have two hours of quiet than eat at Lady and Sons. Oh well.
(Hey, We tried!)
Friday night, we went to our church's Trunk or Treat. They had games and food beforehand.
After about three cars, Arden got the hang of it and loved it. Someone gave her an empty wrapper, so the next few cars, after getting her candy, she took it back out of her basket to inspect it. I guess she was making sure she wasn't getting more trash.
I kept hearing her moving the candy around and I was thinking poor thing doesn't really know how to open the wrappers, then I looked back and she was BEAMING, chewing on something. I asked to open her mouth so I could see it, but she wouldn't. We got home and I put her to bed, and looked in her basket and found this:
Arden had a blast and I plan to use her candy for potty training! 
