Canfield Fair - 242/365

We woke up today and wanted to hit the fair!
It was a WONDERFUL surprise when I went to check on my photos and realized I won FIRST PLACE for Reagan's genie picture. I was so PROUD to see that ribbon up there. It is one of my favorite pictures I've ever taken of her. YAY!

Reagan was excited because she entered a coloring page and she ended up getting a ribbon too! YAY!

After we checked out all our ribbons, we decided to hit the kiddie rides. She took a loving to this dragon roller coaster. She wanted to ride it over and over and over. She had to ride it like 20 times. It was hilarious. She rode a couple other things, but that's the one she kept coming back to.

We had a nice day. It was way different than Disney, but we still made it work.

My first place ribbon!

Reagan's ribbon

Dragon roller coaster!

Fair time!

Magic Kingdom and Cinderella Dinner - 316/365

 We were going to spend the day at Magic Kingdom today! 

We got going early, to make sure we got in line for some bigger stuff. We left our room at 8:15. Getting to Magic Kingdom is always a pain in the ass. We got parked and hopped the resort monorail, which tends to be faster, if there is a huge line for the direct one. After we boarded, and moved out of the station, they told us we were on a hold. The orange monorail was having a door problem and they would have to wait for that one to get moving, before we could get moving. It ended up being only 10 minutes, but still. We haven't had a monorail ride, in our last three or four trips that there wasn't some kind of problem. They are just old now.

We got off the monorail, to see a SEA of people outside the gates of Magic Kingdom. The Magic Band system, does not seem to be making things faster. We had another 10 minute wait to get in! 

When we FINALLY got in, we headed straight to Enchanted Tales with Belle. The wait was only 20 minutes, which was great for that attraction. The line was moving pretty good for awhile, but then, a cast member said, it will be a few minutes, some of Belle's magic is broken. It ended up being about a half hour delay, 20 minutes turned to 50. Reagan was a trooper. I think mom and dad were more frustrated than her. We also had a lady, just hacking up a lung in front of us the whole time. GROSS. When we would have to move up, Jim would say, "Ok, lets move into the germ cloud."

Once we finally got in, it is REALLY cute! Some of the kids get picked to act out the story with Belle. Reagan got picked to be the salt shaker! She got a little shy, but she still had fun! At the end, the kids get a bookmark from Belle and their picture taken. She was in heaven. 

We got done with that, and it was 10:15, it took us 2 hours from the minute we left our room, to get to our first attraction. LOL! OH well! 

Next, we went over and rode the Ariel ride twice. She really loves that ride! She just lights up and points the whole time. It just melts your heart. 

After that, we were off to Winnie the Pooh and lunch!  We went to Cosmic Ray's, another one of our favorite quick service places. We love the self serve pickles! LOL!

After lunch, we went over and rode Goofy's Barnstormer three times in a row! She LOVED it! I took her the first time, when we got off, she looked up at me and asked, "Can we go again?" I said, "Of course! Daddy is going to take you now." We had a good time riding that! She just giggled the whole time! I got to take her on the last go around, too! 

Next, we headed over to find Tiana in Liberty Square. Reagan has been totally into her lately. Her little eyes LIT up when she saw her standing there. She ran right up to her and gave her the biggest hug! Tiana asked who Reagan's little friend was and Reagan said, "Mr. Fuzzy!"  Tiana said, "My, it looks like you've had him a long time!"  It was so cute! 

Before we left for the afternoon, we stopped in the hub to take some pictures. Just as we were finishing up, they were getting ready for the stage show. We got right up front on the side. Reagan was LOVING it, until, Maleficent came out. She kind of put her head down. Mickey, Minnie, Donald and Goofy had everyone chant, "Dreams come true!" to get her to go away.
After the show was over, we were walking back to the car, Reagan looked up and said, "Mama, Dada, I didn't like that lady with the green face." Then she just started chanting "Dreams come true" all the way back to the car. It was great!!! 

We got back to room with no problems and were ready for a little rest. We wanted Reagan to be fresh for our dinner tonight. She fell right to sleep, she was pooped! 

We got back up, ready and went over to the Grand Floridian for our dinner at 1900 Park Fair. It is a character meal with just Cinderella, Prince Charming, her step-mother and step-sisters. It was really nice. The buffet was FANTASTIC! They had everything you could want! Jim chose a grapefruit beer, which was excellent!

Reagan was into watching the characters roam around the room. When Prince Charming came over to the table, she was totally smitten. She looked at him and said, "You're a good dancer!" Then, she gave him a big kiss on the cheek. It was so cute!

The step-mother and step-sisters were so funny, too! Reagan had a Cinderella shirt on and when they took pictures with Reagan, they crossed Reagan's arms to cover up Cinderella's face. It was a hoot! 

We got done with dinner and decided to run back over to the Magic Kingdom for a litte bit. We got a lot done! We rode the Jingle Cruise, which is the Jungle Cruise re-vamped for Christmas. Then, we went over to Aladdin's Magic Carpets. It was really cool, because the fireworks were going on as we were flying around. It was awesome! When we got off, Reagan looked up and said, "I really loved that Magic Carpet ride!"

After that, we went over and rode Ariel again. There was no wait for the Ariel meet and greet, so we went in there. It was really cool how they had it. It was a beautiful room and Ariel was actually a mermaid. Her tail was beautiful! 

To finish up the night, we rode It's a Small World. This is always one of Reagan's favorites, too! She was pointing out all the animals! LOL! 

We closed the Magic Kingdom down, by watching Disney's Electrical Parade. We got front row and really enjoyed it! Reagan was in awe! 

We finally headed out and hopped back on the monorail to go back to the Grand Floridian to get our car. Of course, the monorail broke down again, giving us another 10 minute wait. I think it's time for Disney to replace those. Disneyland's Monorail puts these to shame! 

While we were on the monorail heading back, Reagan was WIDE awake. She asked, "Can we go to Epcot now!?"  I think she's having a blast!!!
After our rocky first two hours, we really made up for it. We had a great day! 
The photo of the day is Reagan kissing Prince Charming...

 Next, Reagan and I on Goofy's Barnstormer....

Finally, Reagan and Jim on Dumbo...

Animals, Rides & Lunch - 178/365

It was family fun at the Cleveland Zoo today! 

A bunch of us were supposed to go, but with the iffy forcast, they backed out. 

Nana, Reagan and I decided we still wanted to go and headed on up to the zoo. The drive up was pretty rainy, but as we got to Cleveland, it got brighter and brighter. It ended up being a perfect day! It wasn't too hot and no sun beating down on you! 

We started at the elephants. Reagan LOVES the elephants! They walked right in front of us and were eating some hay. She was thrilled! 

We then headed over to monkey island. They were all sound asleep, so we just visited her little monkey statue friend on the bench. LOL! 

 There was a giraffe feeding at 11:00, so we booked it over there to get in line. Today, they were giving them lettuce. We bought our lettuce and gave it a whirl! Reagan was really into it after feeding the giraffes Sunday at Living Treasures. She was even more excited because the giraffe's name was "Jasmine, like my princess." as she told daddy when he got home. It was fun watching Jasmine eat. She just devoured that lettuce in one swoop of the tongue. We had so much fun we got in line a second time...LOL! 

 Next, we headed over to the wolf house. She was pretty disappointed that we couldn't see them, but the turtles on the way out made up for that. She loved seeing the bald eagle, too! There was a zoo employee wandering around the wolf house talking about the animals and was carrying a wolf pelt. She was fascinated by that and was looking for his eyes and nose. She poked her little finger right where the eye would have been...yuck! She didn't quite get it.

We continued on to the Norther Trek, to check out the bears and seals. Reagan LOVED the seals. She liked watching them swim all around. One was sleeping and another tried to get it's attention. The sleeping one, kinda made a noise like, "get away!" She had a good laugh at that. She said, "that seal say, go away!" Another kept dipping his head in the water and that was pretty funny for her, too. 

The polar bear was right front and center today.  He is one of my favorites in the zoo. I love visiting him! He's just fascinating!

Next to the polar bear, is the grizzly bear. He is really cool, too! He was also all over the place today. He was hanging on a log, walking all around. Reagan thought he was stuck and said a couple times, "Oh no, he can't get down!" 

We headed back down and went through the dinosaur exhibit. She wasn't thrilled with them at all. She did a little crying, but not much. She just really, gently expressed her displeasure with the roaring. There was one, that was kind of making a burping sound, so we told her, "Oh listen, they aren't scary, they're just burping!" After that, she seemed a bit better...LOL! 

It was on to Australia after that. We had a good time feeding the lorikeets. They were a little more quiet than usual, but we still got a few customers. 

We made another stop at the elephants, then went over to the gift shop on the way out. We got Reagan a little shirt for next summer and I did purchase one Christmas present! Go ME! 

After we left the zoo, we went to a little Place called Memphis Kiddie Park. It's only 3 miles from the zoo. My mom heard about it last summer, so we thought we'd give it a try! It was such a cute little place. It's mostly just for toddlers. They have probably 10-15 rides, a putt putt course and a little concession stand. Reagan absolutely loved it. She would ride a ride, the attendant would get her out and she would walk to the next car to try to ride again. She did it all, and all on her own, too! I was so proud of her! She did ride her first roller coaster and Nana got to enjoy that with her! Reagan was just a pro and even had her hands up during the ride! I can tell she'll just love Cedar Point someday! 

 By this time, we were all starving, so we stopped and had a late lunch at Champps in Independence. It was really yummy! 

When we got home, Reagan and I were on our own, because Jimmy had a late meeting in Vienna. Reagan and I just watched a little TV. It was the first time she really lounged and watched TV, like really VEGGED out! She usually is too busy running around playing to watch TV. After her "time out", we headed outside. We did the play set, sandbox, chalk, bubble mower and scooter. What a busy day! 

 Jim had a good meeting and got home just in time to do bath, so he was happy! 

It was a great day! 

 The photo of the day is Nana, Reagan and I at the zoo. 

 The next is Reagan on her first roller coaster!

And finally, Jim and I were flipping through the channels tonight, doing our own vegging. Anyway, he stopped on a football game and noticed a player had our name. You don't see that EVER!