Our time at Disney World was… I’m going to say it… magical.

Lots of family time, and lots of being silly.

We were spoiled by the amazing Social Media Celebration staff, and one of our generous gifts was a PhotoPass+.

I’m sure if you have been to Disney, you have seen the PhotoPass photographers around the park. They’re at all of the park icons (the Hollywood Studios hat, the castle at Magic Kingdom, etc…) and in front of several rides. They’re also at several dining locations. Oh, and those silly photos they take on the rides? The ones that catch you at the scariest part of the ride? Those are also linked to the PhotoPass.

The PhotoPass+ is the newest, most comprehensive PhotoPass product. Buying the PhotoPass+ ($199.95) gives you access to all of the photos on the following Disney World attractions: Space Mountain, Splash Mountain, Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin, Tower of terror, Rock ‘n Roller Coaster, Expedition Everest, and Dinosaur. Also, the following Disney World dining locations are part of the PhotoPass+: 1900 Park Fare, Ohana, Spirit of Aloha Dinner Show, Chef Mickey’s, Cinderella’s Royal Table, Tusker House, Hoop Dee Doo Musical Revue, Princess Storybook Dining.

The part that is the best for me, though, is that the PhotoPass photographers are included. I love that I can be in the picture, and not just behind the camera.

Having the PhotoPass+ gave us the opportunity to be super silly, and get some very memorable photos. I loved that the most stressful decisions of the day were “what should we do in this photo?”

And now… for the pictures of our trip that make us smile the biggest…

See what I’m talking about? Big smiles all around.

The fun part about the PhotoPass is that you can share it among families or groups. I’m sure you noticed Amy’s wonderful family up there with us!

If you’ll be in the parks for any length of time, the PhotoPass+ is the way to go! Being in the photo instead of behind the camera is what makes magical memories!

 This post is the second in a series about theWalt Disney World Social Media Moms Celebration and our post-conference vacation. Come back next Thursday to hear all about the fun of navigating the parks with two older children! If you would like to view the series of posts, click here. 

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Our family was invited to the 2012 Disney Social Media Moms Celebration. In exchange for a conference fee, I was provided with room accommodations, park passes, several meals, and admission to conference events. I was not asked to write about our experiences at the conference.

Before you read, can I ask you a favor?

My friend Karen is trying to win $250 for the local diaper bank. You can help by leaving a comment on her post about the diaper bank. That’s it! Just leave a comment, preferably telling her how awesome her friend Becca is. It’s part of an amazing thing that Amanda over at Parenting By Dummies is doing to raise money for her bum kidneys. I totally repay favors. 

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We rode and rode and rode…

Our final estimation is that we went on our family’s two favorites – Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster and Tower of Terror – a combined 25 times, and we found that there are downfalls of riding too many rides.

You went on too many rides at Disney World if…

1. …you have random bruises all over your body: I have three small circles in the shape of a triangle under my arm and the inside of my knees are black and blue. Michael has a strange long bruise on his waist, and Steve has a bruise on his shoulder blade that’s the size of a half dollar. After our fourth day in the park, we realized that our strange bruises were from the rides.

2. …when going downstairs in an elevator (whether that elevator is occupied by others or not), the boys raise their arms and scream – kind of like when going on the Tower of Terror.

3. …you have to sleep with one of your feet on the floor on the last night of vacation. I couldn’t. stop. spinning.

4. …before taking off in the airplane on the way home, the kids count down like Steven Tyler on the Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster. “Fiiiiive, Fooour, Threeee, Twoooo…”

And the final way to tell if you went on too many rides at Disney World?

5. Your youngest falls asleep on the fastest roller coaster in the park:

Kidding! It took lots of concentration to pretend to be asleep while going from 0-60 in 2.8 seconds. We had TONS of fun with Disney’s PhotoPass and have tons of fun pictures to share with you! 

I paid a conference fee to attend the Disney Social Media Moms Celebration and in exchange was given park passes for my family, a hotel stay, and meals during the conference. We paid for our airfare and to extend our family vacation. Disney did not ask or require me to post about the conference or our visit to Disney World.

Wow! What a family vacation!

I have tons to share with you, and plan on doing so through a series of posts about our experiences at Disney World and the Social Media Moms Celebration.

We are heading back home this morning and are definitely suffering from a Disney hangover. Here are a couple of pictures from our past few days:

Now, off to get some sleep on the plane!

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Our family was invited to the 2012 Disney Social Media Moms Celebration. In exchange for a conference fee, I was provided with room accommodations, park passes, several meals, and admission to conference events. I was not asked to write about our experiences at the conference. 

A quick update with some iPhone photos for you:

Yesterday was spent in some amazing conference sessions listening to an equal number of people I have never heard of and people that I have always hoped to hear speak. I’ll give you the highlights when I return!
Last night after Animal Kingdom closed, they reopened just for us. The Social Media Celebration attendees were the recipient of an amazing gift – a catered dinner, a live DJ, and an open (and empty) Dinoland!

We met characters:

We saw the Yeti when we rode – alone – on Expedition Everest:

We danced with Donald (thank you Courtney ;) and Daisy:

Saw some more characters:

And rode Jack’s new favorite ride, Primeval Whirl, 5 times without getting off:

The boys had a blast!

Today, I was off to Africa while the kids went to the water park with Steve:

A group of bloggers got to take a behind-the-scenes look at Animal Kingdom! We hiked, took photos, and crossed a set of scary rope bridges:

Do you see those crocodiles in there?
We saw a few amazing animals and then headed to a secluded area of the savannah for a traditional African lunch:

The way that Disney employees have handled my food allergies makes me want to come here for every vacation. I’ll definitely tell you more about that later, though:

It was a great night last night and a great day today!

Tonight… is a Nemo themed dinner party!

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Our family was invited to the 2012 Disney Social Media Moms Celebration. In exchange for a conference fee, I was provided with room accommodations, park passes, several meals, and admission to conference events. I was not asked to write about our experiences at the conference. 

Be patient with me… I didn’t bring my computer, so I’m posting from my phone. We are having an amazing time here at Disney World. Riding rides, eating Mickey shaped ice cream, and enjoying the sunshine.

The conference has been filled with inspiring speakers. I am so, so lucky to be a part of this!

Off to Animal Kingdom tonight for a special dinosaur themed party!

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Our family was invited to the 2012 Disney Social Media Moms Celebration. In exchange for a conference fee, I was provided with room accommodations, park passes, several meals, and admission to conference events. I was not asked to write about our experiences at the conference.

Our bags are packed.

Our house-sitter is on her way.

Our autograph books are ready, and our spreadsheet plan of action is printed.

We are on our way to the Disney Social Media Moms conference, and we’ll be sure to take pictures and make lots of memories to share with you!

You can see conference (and vacation) updates on my twitter and facebook pages, or just wait here for an update in a day or two.

See you real soon!

That’s what we used to say when I was in basic training. We knew exactly how many times we had to wake up in that place before we were about to go somewhere better.

This isn’t exactly the same, but we’re counting down…

Steve would like to announce that he’s giving up his Hawaiian vacation to take his family to DisneyWorld! 

Well, maybe he didn’t say it like that… but we were heading to Hawaii in October, and now we are heading to Florida in April. I promised that he wouldn’t be disappointed. And there still may be a trip to the islands in it for him. 

For the past few years, DisneyWorld has hosted bloggers and their families for a social media celebration. Lots of family time, lots of meeting and greeting old and new blogging friends, and a whole lot of enjoying DisneyWorld at it’s best – resort style.

The boys are over the moon excited, and I am humbled that we received an invite this year.

We took Spring Break as an opportunity to plan our trip to Disney. The boys are a little out of the character meeting stage, and more into the scary rides and fun experiences stages. Steve and I are excited to take the boys at an age that we can all enjoy the park without strollers, inconvenient nap times, or height restrictions.

Jack and I made a visual countdown calendar:

Also, I have been working on a Pinterest board {DisneyWorld With Tweens} that features all of the things the boys want to do or see while we are in Florida. It has been fun (virtually) exploring the parks and picking out their “must see” attractions and rides.

Now I need your help.

For those of you who have been to DisneyWorld, what are your “must see” attractions? We will be there for a week, so we need recommendations!

If I’ll be meeting you at the #DisneySMMoms celebration, please leave me a link to your blog! I’d love to visit.

I went to the University of Arizona for six years and never went to one basketball game. They’re kind of famous for their stadium, and their team is pretty good, from what I hear.

As I’m not a sports fan, it took me a bit to realize that we have something here that not every town has. With the university right in the middle of Tucson, there are 1,000,000 fans running around. About 2/3 of the locals wear red and blue on game days, and every cashier is asking for game updates when you leave Target and Home Depot.

Since I had never been to a game as a student, I didn’t realize that the UA pride exploded inside the stadium. Michael and I went to a game just before Christmas and we had a blast. I did notice, however, that the fans in the stadium were… um… not very nice to the opposing team. There was no courtesy cheer when they scored, and no clapping for a great play. As a mom of young ones (and someone who had never been to a college game before) I was a little bummed about their lack of sportsmanship.

I had no idea…

As a Christmas gift for the family, we bought four tickets to the University of Arizona (UA) vs. Arizona State University (ASU) game on New Year’s Eve.

The rivalry between the two teams is crazy.

Crazy.

And the rivalry? It starts right in our house.

I went to UA. Michael roots for UA.

Steve? He’s getting his master’s degree from ASU right now.

Poor Jack is stuck in the middle and switches his team loyalty every 5 minutes.

We should own this flag.

 Michael is the best trash-talking fan the UA has. Especially to his Dad.

So… if I thought the UA game I took Michael to was bad, the UA/ASU game was awful.

In a good way.

As we walked into the game, the nice man who took our tickets made a comment about Steve being allowed in even though he is “uneducated.” He said it with a smile.

Michael has told Steve before that he’s going to UA because he already knows how to read and that’s what ASU teaches you. 

We asked a nice couple to take our photo and after the gentleman said “sure!” his wife said “Wait… do you see his shirt? Oh. Wait. You’re all in blue and red. It’s just him in maroon. Ok, hon. You can take it.”

Then they ooohed and aaahed over Jack’s cute House Divided shirt. He was happy to have both logos on him.

We found our seats and ignored the looks Steve was getting. I posted this photo on facebook and a friend was nice enough to point out that Steve was covering the UA side of Jack’s shirt with his hand.

And his hand? Can you see it?

It’s in the shape of a pitchfork, matching the devil’s pitchfork on Jack’s shirt.

Ha. Ha. Ha.

It’s almost as funny as Michael’s shirt was.

When the game started, UA fans didn’t sit down until ASU scored their first point.

When ASU got the ball on their side of the court, UA fans waved their arms in the air and made loud annoying noises that I can’t describe. Just to distract the opposing team.

During the game, the UA fans booed (loudly) when ASU scored.

Nice? No.

But to be honest, it was kind of funny. I guess this Phoenix vs. Tucson rivalry has been going on for quite some time.

Michael kept his trash talking to a minimum throughout the game.

Steve cheered confidently for his team among the sea of Wildcat fans. He didn’t even get yelled at.

We won, of course. By a lot.

And it turns out that basketball is the one sport that I like to watch. I understand what’s going on and they don’t move too slow.

Season tickets may be on my (and Michael’s) Christmas list this year.

Happy Holidays to each and every one of you!

Growing up, it was a family tradition to gather together on Christmas Eve at my grandparent’s house. The family gathering consisted of…

5 Uncles

3 Aunts

Their spouses

15 cousins

1 brother

2 parents

Grandma and Grandpa

Several Great-Aunts and Uncles, depending on the year.

That’s a minimum of 36 people in a house that couldn’t have been bigger than 800 square feet.

Oh, and it had 6 foot ceilings.

Around Thanksgiving time, we exchanged names for gift-giving. Come Christmas Eve, the 4 foot Christmas tree was barely visible under the gifts.

I remember walking into Gram’s helping to carry an armful of gifts, trying to not slip on the ice and snow outside. It was freezing every year. My cousins and I went back and forth between hanging with our Dads who were watching football and our Moms in the dining room. We usually grabbed a plate of food – Christmas cookies, meatballs in marinara sauce, cold cuts on little bakery rolls, and shrimp cocktail were staples – and sat on the stairs that were in the middle of the house to wait.

Around 4p.m. every year, my Aunt Manky, Uncle Greg, and Uncle Art would disappear. After Uncle Art passed away, my cousin Timmy took his place.

My cousins and I never realized that people left – it was too busy to notice a few people being gone. But we always knew that if we sat on the stairs long enough after we ate, Santa would come. One of us would hear his bells and alert the others. We would wait until we could see him through the front windows, and someone would open the door for him. Grandma always greeted him at the door with a big hug.

Santa would sit and as gifts were handed to him he would call people up to sit on his lap and get their photo taken. Everyone had to sit on Santa’s lap – no exceptions. That means if you were too scared, your Mom would go with you. If you were too cool as a teen, your Aunts and Uncles would tease you until you sat on his lap. If you were getting too old, well… you never really got too old. Everyone sat on Santa’s lap.

Steve’s first year at our Christmas Eve gathering

There were mountains of used wrapping paper everywhere, as everyone got at least one gift. After Santa left, everyone would linger a little bit longer, but people would begin to leave and drive home to get ready for Santa to come to their houses.

I have amazing memories of Christmas Eve, and it’s hard living far away from family this time of year. I try to have traditions for my kids, but I can’t come close to Gram and Pop’s house.

What Christmas Eve and Christmas Day traditions happen in your family? Are you able to keep up traditions that you had as a child?

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Need an idea for a Christmas tradition? We started a scavenger hunt tradition last year, and are super excited about doing it again this year. It slows down the present opening and gets everyone moving a bit on Christmas morning!