Orlando Vacation, Part 1 (Universal Studios Tips)

We left Saturday morning around 5 am and began the LONG drive to Orlando.  We stopped at the Florida sign for our traditional photo.

Don't you love the "Open For Business" sign above our heads? :)

We didn't get to our hotel until late, so we spent the first night just getting settled.  Shout out to the Hampton Inn--it's our favorite.  We try to stay at one whenever we can.  The complimentary breakfasts are the bomb.com!  (<--and that doesn't tell my age at all!)

On Sunday, the weather was a gorgeous 80 degrees and sunny.  We went to Universal's Islands of Adventure park and spent the day. 

How about those Dr. Seuss shirts? (Crafty Cookie Boutique designs)

We made our way straight to Hogsmeade for the Harry Potter rides, because everyone said (and rightly so) that they would be the most crowded.  I took everyone's advice about the Butterbeer, too.  It was REALLY good.  Butterbeer is the drink from Harry Potter--it is a non-alcoholic butterscotch cream soda drink.

Dragon's Challenge was the only ride the girls wanted to ride and weren't able to.  Justin, Mallory, and Gra-Gra rode it though and were SUPER dizzy when they got off.  I'm glad the girls weren't tall enough yet.

Flight of the Hippogriff was Libby's favorite ride.  At last count, she had ridden it 8 times before we left!  Kyndall was able to ride Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey, but Libby was too short.  The girls loved these rides so much that I didn't get pictures.  Oh, well.

The girls met the famous Mystic Fountain at the Lost Continent.  He read the names from their shirts and then read their palms.  He predicted that Kyndall liked music and gymnastic and Libby liked macaroni and cheese and dancing.  The girls thought this was SO funny!

Next stop--Seussville!! Seussville was by far my favorite place at Universal.  We ALL had our pictures made with the characters, but I'll save some space and just show you the ones of the girls.  We saw The Cat in the Hat and the Lorax:

Thing 1, Thing 2, and Sam-I-Am:

Sam-I-Am (again) and the Grinch:

We actually missed the Grinch on Sunday, but we lucked up and saw him when we went back on Wednesday.  In Seussville, they have a Dr. Seuss show and following the show is a dance party.  The girls danced with the Things on Sunday and the Grinch on Wednesday.  (Tip:  The parks were MUCH less crowded on Sunday than on Wednesday.)

Lunch was at the super cute Circus McGurkus Cafe.

After lunch, we met Spiderman!  Of course, Mal had to have her picture made with him too :)

Then, the big kids (aka Justin and Mal) went to ride the Hulk while the girls met a few more superheroes.  Storm, Rogue, and Wolverine.

Our last stop of the day was riding Bilge-Rat Barge for all of us and Ripsaw Falls for Kyndall and I.  We were SOAKING wet, and fortunately for you, there are no pictures.  While Kyndall and I rode Ripsaw Falls, the others walked around trying to dry off.

We had such a fun (and exhausting!) first day at Universal! In case you are going anytime soon, here are my tips:

1. Buy the express ticket.  We didn't, because we were trying to save a little money, but I think it would be SO worth the extra money.  The express ticket at Universal is a lot like the FastPass at Disney, except they last all day.  When you go to get in line for a ride, there are two separate lines--one for Express tickets and one for regular riders.  The Express ticket would save LOTS of wait time!
2. Purchase the souvenir cup.  The cup itself is $11.00 and then you get free refills all day long.  If you are there multiple days, the cost is $9.99 for each additional day.  If you are drinkers like we are, this saves you a good bit of money!
3. Go to the park early (a few minutes before opening time) and go straight to Harry Potter.  The Forbidden World ride gets backed up quickly, so go there first.  
4. Try the Butterbeer.

Stay tuned for Part 2 of our vacation story--where we meet Anna and Elsa, get turned into Minions, and help save Princess Fiona!

Via the Camera Roll

Heads up--I am shamelessly copying this blog post idea from SkinnyRunner.com.  Each week, she does a "via the camera roll" post of her photos from the previous week.  So this post is my unloading of photos from the week that didn't make it to the blog yet.  Things that are noteworthy, but not worthy of a full post all to themselves. :)

This week was homecoming week at our school.  On Friday, the entire elementary school took a field trip to the high school to join in on their pep rally.  The theme for the day was beachwear, so the girls did their thing.

 Saturday morning, we walked the Power of Pink walk in support of Carrie.

From instagram:  This is what shopping looks like with the West girls.

Sunday lunch:  Libby got new lipstick, so she BEGGED me to take a picture with her making kissy faces.  Apparently, I am in pain when I make kissy faces.

We at Crafty Cookie Boutique are updating our Etsy shop with lots of fall designs! I can't wait to do some turkey day shirts for my girls!

The Awana theme on Sunday was camo, which the girls gladly rocked.

Sunday night, the girls spent the night with Pops and Gra-Gra.  Smores were on the menu....apparently the more burned, the better.

Monday was a holiday, so we were out of school.  The girls and I spent it practicing our shooting skills.  Cause that's just how we do it in the south :)

This quote.  I love it.

Painting pumpkins.  My mama OCD so wanted to come out during this, but I held it back and let the girls do their things.

The Greatest Pumpkin Patch Ever!

This weekend, we went to Lyon Family Farms in Taft, Tennessee.  I consider our family an expert on pumpkin patches in our area--we have been to every single one within a 2 hour driving distance.  Lyon Family Farms was, by far, the greatest ever.

Here's the crew (shirts courtesy of Crafty Cookie Boutique).

And my favorite part of the food--roasted corn.  They also had steak sandwiches, pork loin plates, nachos, and more.

They had lots of places for super cute photos.

And a "Rat Race" area.  This was the funniest--the kids looked like they were in a washing machine, flipping and flopping.

The corn maze.  We sent the kids in alone.  After a minute, E gave up and came back out the entrance. A little while later, the girls made their way out alone, minus H.  It took a few minutes to round him up, and I was getting a little panicky, but all was well in the end.

The huge slide....It was so funny listening to all the kids coming down this slide.  They started yelling at the top and it echoed all around until they hit the bottom.

And a corn crib.  (We have been finding corn for DAYS!  After washing a load of clothes, I removed 10 pieces from my dryer!)

The petting zoo.  Libby wasn't a huge fan of this, of course, but Kyndall thought it was the greatest!

This is the 2nd shortest Angus (I think it's Angus..maybe I should just say 'cow') in the world.  The 1st shortest is actually in Asia.  It has dwarfism, just like some humans.  You learn something new everyday :)

We took a hayride out to the pumpkin patch.

And everyone picked their own pumpkins.

Kyndall and the boys took turns shooting the "Corn Cannon".

  All aboard the cow train, ladies and gentlemen.

The pillow bounce.  The kids spent FOREVER here and were so stinky and sweaty when they finished.  I was very glad we saved that until the end.

And that's a wrap, folks.

If you are interested in going to Lyon Family Farms, go here to visit their website.

An adventure

Adventures are always so much fun!  A little scary, but mostly, lots of fun.  Carrie and I started talking about a little adventure a few weeks ago.  That little adventure has grown, like all good adventures do, into a full-blown amazing thing. 

A few weeks ago, we decided to purchase a heat press machine.  This is a lot like a screen printing machine, but the designs are made on the computer, printed, and then heat pressed onto the shirts using a special transfer paper.  Super cute designs can be made.  Our original intention was to be able to make cute shirts for our kids.  Once the machine came in, we thought "Hey! We should market this, sale a few shirts, and maybe make back the money it cost us to purchase the machine!" 

So began the Crafty Cookie Boutique.  (Crafty Cookie.  CC.  You know, like Carrie and Courtney?? Get it?  Anyways.)  We created a facebook business page and things just went up from there!  After only 48 hours of being 'official', we already had several orders.  We couldn't be more excited!  The past few days, we have been designing and printing like crazy!! 

I was able to make birthday shirts for the girls to wear to the party--here is a sneak peek!

Here are a few more images we have designed:

And I'm so excited to make more!! It's almost addictive, playing on the computer and creating new shirt designs!  The craft-nerd in me gets a little rush everytime a cute design comes together! Of course, it's just as exciting to sale a shirt too.  =)