Sandra

Disney World Trip Report and Tips for Your Next Disney Vacation: Day 5

April 28, 2013 by Sandra 4 Comments

I’m recapping our trip to Disney World! We’re on Day 5. If you’ve missed day 1, 2, 3, or 4, just click on the links below in our Vacation Schedule to read those posts.

Our Vacation Schedule

Day 1: Disney’s Animal Kingdom

Day 2: Disney’s Hollywood Studios

Day 3: Disney’s Hollywood Studios

Day 4: Epcot

Day 5: Epcot

Day 6: Magic Kingdom

Day 7: Magic Kingdom

Day 8: No parks. We checked out of our resort and tried to make it to our reservation at Chef Mickey’s. It was not meant to be…I’ll share the details as to ‘why’ in my Day 8 post. 🙁

Day Five: Our second day at Epcot

We started our second day at Epcot by taking those signature Spaceship Earth pictures. Somehow I missed getting a picture of myself, but we did get great pictures of Ruben and the kids.

Here’s Isaac…

I love that the kids were all wearing their Mickey ears this day. It took a few days to find the right ears for each kid. We found Breanna’s ears at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, and we found the perfect ears for the other kids at our resort gift shop.

Breanna was also wearing a stylish Minnie Mouse shirt.

TIP: If your local mall has a Disney Store, be sure to check out the clearance section throughout the year. You could find some real deals that way. My favorite finds have been Disney flip flops and t-shirts.

The weather was great for picture taking.

David is adorable. I love this picture of him.

This is a great picture of Ruben and Isaac, too.

Free Character Meet & Greet (for Disney Card Holders)

Before we decided to head over to Epcot World Showcase, we hung out in Future World until we could get in line for the free character meet and greet at Innoventions West. When 1:30pm rolled around, we got in line to meet Mickey and Pluto! The kids got autographs and hugs from the characters, and we took a family picture, too. I love that Disney offers this for free to Disney card holders.

DID YOU KNOW: Everyday between 1:30-4:30pm, Disney Card holders can visit Innoventions West at Epcot Future World for an exclusive character visit and FREE 5×7 photograph! Just be sure to bring your ID and Disney credit card with you.

World Showcase

After visiting with the characters, we walked over to World Showcase. I love World Showcase, because the pace is so much more relaxed in this part of Epcot. We took our time taking in the sights and didn’t feel rushed. We strolled through the different ‘countries’ in World Showcase, stopping when we wanted to eat, see a show or go on a ride. And of course, we took lots of pictures along the way.

Don’t forget your camera when you visit World Showcase. There are so many great things to snap photos of — from live performances to breathtaking scenery.

We were there just after Christmas, and the holiday decorations were still up. I’m glad Disney lets the decorations hang around until at least early January. We were there from January 2nd to January 9th.

Oh, and besides Christmas decorations, we also saw plenty of lizards. These little lizards were a lot of fun for the kids to try to get a quick look at before they ran for cover. The lizards, not the kids. 😉

We noticed that the Hall of Presidents would be having a show soon, so we decided to stay in that area until showtime.

While we waited, we used some of our snack credits to enjoy Kaki Gori treats! Kaki Gori is basically Japanese-style shaved ice, and it’s delicious. We all loved the Kaki Gori, especially Elisabeth, our baby girl.

After we’d finished up our snack, we went inside the Hall of Presidents building and took a tour of the little indoor museum. We also took pictures and saw a little pre-show that’s performed by Disney cast members. Disney cast members are also know as Disney employees.

When it was about time for the show to begin, we entered the large theater and found seats. The show is really neat, and it’s another one of Disney’s educational experiences. I love all the learning Disney builds into your vacation. 🙂 BUT if you’ve spent most of the day walking around Disney, you may be ready for a nap by the time you see the Hall of Presidents show. Two members of our family actually fell asleep!

One of the members of our family, who couldn’t keep their eyes open while the presidents of our country (past and present) put on a terrific performance, will remain unnamed, but um, I’ll just say that it was one of the adult members in our party.

The other person in our family that fell asleep was David, our then 3-year-old son. While he slept, Elisabeth had a blast wearing his Mickey ears. We decided not to buy Elisabeth her own ears on this trip, because we knew she wouldn’t leave them on for long.

We toured more countries, and we rode Maelstrom in Norway. The kids also collected a stamp in Norway at one of the Kidcot fun stops.

DID YOU KNOW: Kidcot fun stops keep kids engaged and excited about the different countries they’re visiting in Epcot World Showcase. Basically, the child picks up a Duffy the Disney Bear and carries him around to the different countries, stopping at the fun stops to get Duffy stamped. Duffy ends a being a great souvenir, just be careful if you have little boys…because then Duffy may double as a cool ‘bear-sword.’

One of our favorite things to do in the country of Mexico was meeting Donald Duck! I love Donald’s festive Mexican sombrero and pancho!

We finished up our time at World Showcase, and on our way out of the park, we stopped at Future World so that we could ride Soarin’ one more time.

Our day at Epcot was full and happy. I can’t wait to go back. It’s truly one of my favorite Disney parks, because of the more relaxed pace you can take while you’re there.

What’s your favorite Disney park or your favorite vacation spot?

…stay tuned for Day 6 at Magic Kingdom!

Strawberry Cream Pound Cake Delight

April 27, 2013 by Sandra 10 Comments

I am a member of the Collective Bias® Social Fabric® Community. This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias® and Fruti. #cbias #SocialFabric #FreshNFruti

Fresh strawberries, homemade whipped cream, pre-made pound cake, and a not-so-secret ‘ingredient’ come together to make a decadent, delicious dessert.

It’s a dessert that your family is sure to fall in love with. Mine sure did. There were seconds and even thirds requested of this luscious dessert.

The Secret Ingredient

The secret ‘ingredient’ that pulls this dessert together is (surprisingly) 100% natural fruit bars — Fruti natural fruit bars.

Not only were these fruit bars easy to use (I didn’t even have to use a blender to get them to the right consistency), they also tasted great. These bars actually have a lot of great qualities that make them appealing to me as a mom.

Fruti natural fruit bars are:

Made from actual fruit
Great because of their “First Fruit Formulation,” which means they contain more fruit than any other ingredient
So full of fruit, there’s no need for added colors or flavors
Natural…they come from freshly picked fruit and don’t contain high fructose corn syrup
Non-GMO verified (no genetically modified organisms in these bars!)

Kid-friendly

Creating a decadent dessert using the Fruti bars was so easy, and while I ended up preparing the dessert on my own for my family, as I was going through the steps and assembling the desserts, I realized that this is such a kid-friendly dessert. Not only will your kids likely gobble this dessert up and ask for more, but they can help you prepare it, too. I know I’ll have one or two extra sets of hands in the kitchen the next time I make strawberry cream pound cake delight for my family.

And besides your family, you could totally impress your guests and friends with this dessert, too! 🙂

Here’s how to make Strawberry Cream Pound Cake Delight:

First, take the Fruti natural fruit bars out of the freezer and allow them to soften a bit on your kitchen table/counter for about 15-20 minutes. Be sure to flip them over halfway through (a kitchen timer is helpful here). We used both the Fruti strawberry cream bars pictured here and the Fruti strawberry bars.

My family could not get enough of this yumminess so we had to use the strawberry bars, too. The plain strawberry bars were just as good as the strawberry cream bars for this dessert.

I’m starting to drool now.

Alright, I’m pulling myself together. While the fruit bars are softening a bit, make homemade whipped cream (recipe below).

Homemade whipped cream is easy to make, and it only takes three ingredients.

Whipped Cream

Ingredients

2 cups heavy whipping cream, chilled
2 tablespoons cane sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Instructions

Place ingredients in a chilled medium-sized bowl, and whip with an electric mixer on low speed for about 3-5 minutes. Whip until soft peaks form. Be very careful not to over-whip.

https://thesensiblemom.com/2013/04/strawberry-cream-pound-cake-delight/

After you have the whipped cream done, wash and slice the strawberries. I tried to slice mine thinly.

For this next part, you could make your own pound cake ahead of time. I chose to buy mine pre-made, and it worked out perfectly (though I’ve never met a pound cake I didn’t like ;)). Whichever way works best for you, take your pound cake and slice it.

Your natural fruit bars should be ready by now. Open them up, transfer them to a bowl, and using a fork, gently remove the stick from the popsicle and carefully mash the strawberry bars until they’re a creamy consistency.

This was easy to do because I’d allowed them to soften up first. I suppose you could use a blender to get to the bars to a creamy consistency, but I think leaving them out while you prepare everything else is easier and makes for less dishes in the end.

Finally, assemble the dessert. First, lay a slice of pound cake on a plate, top with the natural fruit bar mixture, add a dollop or two of your homemade whipped cream, then add the sliced strawberries either on top or to the side of the dessert or both. I found that not everyone in my family likes their strawberries on top, some prefer them on the side.

Here’s what the finished dessert is like when you use natural Fruti strawberry cream bars:

Here’s what the finished dessert is like when you use natural Fruti strawberry bars:

Either way, it’s delicious. I’m looking forward to creating a new dessert for guests on Saturday that’s pound cake, whipped cream, blueberries, and this time the secret ‘ingredient’ will be Fruti natural pina colada bars. Yum. 🙂

What’s your favorite dessert?

Psst…there’s an the upcoming Fruti and yogurt demo at Sam’s Club on May 13th. What sort of recipe would you create with Fruti and yogurt?

You can see my recent trip to Sam’s Club here in my Google+ story.

White Cloud Diapers Home Event: A Playdate for Moms and Kids

April 24, 2013 by Sandra 4 Comments

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of White Cloud Diapers.

Last week, I had the opportunity to hang out with a group of moms and their kids.

*cough*

I didn’t bring any of my five children with me, because my husband so graciously decided to take the kids to lunch and the park while I attended the party. What a guy…thanks, honey.

The Party

We all met up at a local Chicago area mom’s home for a White Cloud Diapers party.

And a party it was! Our hostess provided delicious snacks that were great for both mamas and little hands. I had guacamole, tortilla chips, veggie chips, and um, coffee. I was pleasantly surprised to see that our hostess had so lovingly brought her Keurig down to the party. That was so thoughtful.

Besides snacks, we played games. And if you were following the party on Instagram and Twitter, you may or may not have seen a picture of me hydrating myself…with a baby bottle. 😉

We also played the “guess what’s in the baby diaper game,” and one mom even TASTED what was in the baby diaper! Needless to say, she won the diaper bag being given away to one on the moms at the party. She deserved it. Go girl!

The party wasn’t all food and games, though. We were educated on a fantastic product, which as you know is the White Cloud Diaper. This diaper is impressive. It’s also convenient and affordable — without needing coupons. I’m thankful for this, because we’ve recently decided to cancel our newspaper subscription that I was getting solely for the purpose of couponing. I like that White Cloud Diapers offer convenience and savings (over other brands) without needing to clip a single coupon or search for a sale.

Besides that, I learned that White Cloud Diapers are…

Hypoallergenic
Fragrance-free
Enhanced with cotton for a cozy fit
Made with a special ultra absorbent inner core that whisks away moisture to help keep little ones dry and comfortable

I’ve been using these diapers for weeks on my baby girl, and their performance has been nothing but great on her. I personally love how soft they are.

I had a wonderful time at the White Cloud Diapers party, and I’m glad I now know more about a product that fits well with our family and our budget.

How do you save on diapers? If you don’t have a baby in diapers, what’s the best baby game you’ve ever played at a party?

More on White Cloud Diapers

Diapering can be one of the biggest expenses in a family’s weekly budget and a great performing diaper is a must-have for parents. In order to make this affordable, Wal-Mart has reintroduced their premium line of White Cloud diapers to address the needs of today’s busy parents.

White Cloud Diapers provide your baby the highest quality diaper with superior leakage protection, exceptional softness and great fit. White Cloud Diapers are available exclusively at Walmart, where you can find low prices everyday on all your family’s needs. Check them out today!

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of #WhiteCloudDiapers. I’m thankful for this opportunity and to be able to share it with my readers.

10 Goals for the Week

April 22, 2013 by Sandra 7 Comments

I’m excited to have a fresh new week ahead of me. Last week, I got most of my goals accomplished, and this week my schedule is not as busy, so I’m looking forward to being more intentional in the time I spend with my children.

Here’s how I did with last week’s goals:

Family/Mothering Goals:

1. ~~Cook with Breanna~~

2. ~~Read library books to the kids — I’m checking out new books for them today.~~

Personal Goals:

3. ~~Drink juice 2 days this week~~

4. ~~Read 10 pages of the book Desperate~~

5. ~~Walk on the treadmill for 2.5 hours over the course of the week and workout my arms at least 2x this week — I’m challenging myself a little more this week.~~

Home Management Goals:

6. ~~Unpack one box~~

7. Clip coupons that continue to pile up — Okay, I gave up. My husband and I talked it over, and we decided to cancel our Sunday newspaper subscription.

Business Goals:

8. ~~Work on one client project~~

9. ~~Return emails~~

10. ~~Write 4 blog posts~~

Here are my goals for this week:

Family/Mothering Goals:

1. Take the kids shopping for new clothes — I’m hoping to find 1 or 2 new items on sale or clearance for each kid. 🙂 We went shopping last week but didn’t find much. Here’s hoping for better deals this week!

2. Cook with David (I ended up getting my cooking time in with Isaac on Sunday, so David is up next.)

Personal Goals:

3. Drink juice 2 days this week

4. Read 10 pages of the book Desperate

5. Walk on the treadmill for 2.5 hours over the course of the week and workout my arms at least 2x this week — This was a challenge last week, so I’m keeping my exercise goal the same for this week. I’m thankful to have accountability partners. Since I know I’m going to report my progress to them, I work hard at getting my treadmill time in.

Home Management Goals:

6. Go through Isaac’s and David’s clothes and take out the ones that no longer fit and/or need to be donated

7. Organize my desk area

Business Goals:

8. Create a graphic and order a new intro for my YouTube channel videos

9. Return emails

10. Write 4 blog posts

What are your goals for this week?

Sandra

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