Michael's Disney Planes Birthday Party

On the Saturday after Michael's birthday, we celebrated his birthday with a Disney Planes Party at the Big E. They do a great job with parties. I didn't have to do anything except to bring the cake and balloons. So easy!

The birthday boy with his birthday shirt

The invitation

Pretty basic set up

I found all the balloons on amazon

My mom made the cake

I made the cupcakes and found the toppers online

We had pizza, cake, cupcakes and ice cream.

 All the kids got to play in the play land and each got a $4.00 arcade card.

The party was till 1:00, but Michael wanted to stay and keep playing long after his guests had left. We had nothing else to do. So we stayed and played.

For his birthday, we told everyone that he wanted a trampoline and to either give him cash or a gift card to Academy Sports. This worked out so well, and he ended up with enough money to get trampoline that day. So while Michael was playing, I ran to Academy to buy the trampoline. When I was on my way home, Andrew and Michael left the Big E, and headed home so we could put the trampoline together.

Andrew's parents came back to our house, and his dad helped him put the trampoline together.

 Michael was so excited to have his trampoline put together.

Michael Turns 4!

(I am posting this 4 months late, but wanted to document it anyway)

Here is a recap of how we celebrated Michael's birthday.

The day started off with him opening his presents after he woke up. He got new Dusty pajamas, a Dusty shirt to wear at his party, a new Dusty cup, a Captain America Cup, and some candy and silly string.

 Well the silly string was a favorite! We ended up going through all three cans in about 5 minutes!

 Then it was time for breakfast at Waffle House, Michael's choice.

 After breakfast, Michael wanted to go to the playground, so that's what we did. Daddy had to head off to work, so it was just mommy and Michael.

After playing at the park, the birthday boy wanted to go swimming.

 Then it was time for lunch and a nap. He got to take a nap in Mommy and Daddy's bed as a special treat.

After nap time, we had to go babysit, but Daddy came to pick him up shortly after and took him for milk shakes at Sonic.

 After milk shakes, they went to Lowe's to walk around, and one of the ladies that works there gave him a birthday present!

Then they went to get pizza. They brought it home and watched a movie while they ate their pizza.

I think he had a great birthday, and it was a day filled doing whatever he wanted!

I still can't believe my baby boy is 4! Where has the time gone?

Our Hawaii Vacation Video

OK, last post about Hawaii...

I made a little video slide show of our pictures.

Hawaii Photobook is Finished!!

I just ordered my Hawaii Photobook! I've been working on it ever since we got back, and I finished it today! I can't wait to see the printed version!

I opted to do a digital photobook this time, rather than a traditional scrapbook like I usually do. There were several reasons, but the biggest one was to save money. To have all of my pictures printed, 900 of them, would have cost a lot of money. Plus the album ($20+), and all of the paper and stickers, it is a big investment. I knew I could go digital for a lot cheaper. I did buy a few digital kits, but the total for all of them was $20. And shutterfly is always having sales, and promotions on their photobooks, so I wasn't sure when I would be able to print it, since I would have to wait for a sale. Well, I got an e-mail yesterday from shutterfly for a free photobook (a value of $23.99)!! And they are having a 50% off photobooks sale too!
 My original price was going to be:
$116.98
+ $11.99 S/H
+ $9.35 tax
Total = 138.32

This is how it broke down after all of the sales:
$58.49 (50% off)
- $23.99 (Free code)
- $11.99 (Free shipping code)
+ $2.76 (tax)
Total = $37.26

Total saved = $101.06!!!!!

I am so proud of my Awesome Deal!!!

You can check out my photobook below...

Click here to view this photo book larger

You'll love Shutterflys award-winning photo books. Try it today.

Tips for those traveling to Aulani

Here are just a list of things I thought I would share with others that may be traveling to Hawaii and staying at Aulani:
1. Leave the resort. Don't fly all the way to Hawaii to sit at a resort. You could have saved yourself a lot of money, and just gone to one of the other Disney resorts. There is so much to see and do around Oahu.
2. Rent a car. If you don't want it for the whole time you are there, then at least for a couple of days. So you can go and see the rest of the island.
3. Don't waste your time in Honolulu or Waikiki. We didn't go, and were told by locals to avoid it. We don't feel like we missed out on anything. Unless you have a lot of money to burn at the expensive shops...
4. When you get a shave ice, just get one to share. They are huge, and melt fast. Buy one, share it, and if you still want more, get another one. I saw so many melted shave ice cups laying around the pool, because they are too big for kids to eat.
5. Go to McDonald's and get their Haupia pie! YUMMY!! (It's a coconut pie.)
6. The resort is huge, and spread out. Be prepared to walk! And if you have small children, bring a stroller. I was almost wishing we had brought one for Michael, and he is almost 4!
7. Make time to stay at the resort. I know I said to leave the resort in number 1, but you also need to at least stay at the resort one day to see what all they offer. We did an every other day approach and that worked really well for us. That way we didn't get so exhausted from going all day, every day.
8. Don't buy milk at the ABC store. It was twice as much as it was at walmart. Drive to the Walmart 2 miles away. It will save you $$$
9. Do buy your souvenirs from the ABC store, they are cheap! Walmart also has cheap souvenirs.
10. Drive on the H3 - the most beautiful views of the mountains!
11. Talk to the cast members at the resort about what to go do and see.
12. Use photopass. I wish we had used it more, and we ended up with over a hundred pictures. They are everywhere, you just have to look for them. On the Beach and in the pools too.
13. Don't expect a beautiful sunset every night. I went expecting that, and was so disappointed when we only had one! If you get more than one, then it will be a pleasant surprise. I'm not sure if it was the time of year, or just the weather we were having, but it seems like every night, there were clouds blocking the sunset.
14. The ground by the pools gets very hot! I don't think you need water shoes, but you will definitely need shoes if you are going to be walking any further than just to the pool from your chair.
15. We didn't do this, but we saw a lot of people doing it. Make lunch in your room, and bring it down to the pool to eat. This will save you lots of $$$.
16. Another $$$ saving tip, eat at local restaurants. They are not as expensive as you might think. We ate at a few different places and never experienced sticker shock when we got the bill. We did, however, think the prices at Monkey Pod were high. Zippy's was really good, and wanted to go back, but never got a chance to.
17. We rented our car through carrentalhawaii.com. We got a midsize for 8 days for $228. Saved a lot of money.

I think that is all for now. If I think of anything else, I will add it. These are just my opinions, based on my experience, so if you had a different experience with any of these, please leave a comment.

Thanks for reading along. Hope you enjoyed it!

Hawaii Vacation Day 9 - Goodbye Aulani & Hawaii

Monday morning would be our last, waking up in paradise. Since our photo session got cancelled the night before, we all put on our "matching" clothes and went to take pictures using our own camera and Disney's photopass people.

We were able to get some using photopass, but not many. But we did get some good ones with my camera.

While taking pictures on the other side of the lagoon, there was a seal right on the beach! There were some seal volunteers there, and had roped off that area of the beach. They told us all about her, and a little of her history that they knew. She was pregnant, but they weren't sure how far along or anything.

After I was done torturing my boys with pictures, it was time to go swimming one last time.

The boys got ready and went down to the pool, while I packed everything. I got everything packed up and headed down to the pool where I met Andrew, and he took the suitcases to the car and picked up our pass for the Luana Lounge. It is a one time use pass, so you all have to be ready to go change, and go and out at the same time. Because once you go out, you can't get back in.

 Anyway, back to the pool. It was so crowded, since it was Memorial Day. We were able to find a table and chairs near the octopus, which worked out really well, since we were planning to eat lunch before we left. 

It was time to order lunch, so I went to go get our last shaved ice of the trip.

We ate lunch, enjoyed the shave ice, and then went to change and head to the airport. I went ahead of Andrew and Michael by like 5 minutes, so I could be done changing, and then get Michael changed.  Well, when they were on their way, Goofy walked right up behind them and then proceeded to take Michael's hand and walk all the way to the Luana Lounge!! I'm so glad that Andrew is so quick with his phone, because he was able to capture a pretty "Magical Moment"! I only wish I could have been there to see it in person.

Well, we were supposed to be leaving the resort at 1:00 to get to the airport for our 3:30 flight. Let's just say that we were running a little behind schedule. And as Michael and I are waiting for Andrew to change, I send Michael into the men's bathroom to find out what is taking Andrew so long. A few minutes later, Michael runs out saying, "Daddy can't get his bag out!! He locked it up!" Andrew is walking behind him shaking his head. Apparently Andrew used one of the lockers, and pressed a different number than he though, and he couldn't open the locker. So I go next door to community hall, and ask if someone can open it for him. They call for someone, and we wait for them to get there. Keep in mind, we were already running late, and this added an additional 15-20 minutes. The guy finally comes and unlocks the locker! So we hightail it out of there. By then it was 1:45. Thankfully, we had no traffic getting to the airport. Only one minor delay with getting gas for the rental car. Then we finally get to the airport, and follow all of the signs for "Rental Car Return" and there is no Alamo place!!  We finally just follow the Alamo Bus back to where we picked up the car, and that is where we are supposed to return it! So, if you rent from Alamo, take it back to the same place you pick it up, Not the airport!! So, we turn in the car, hop on the shuttle, and get to the airport. We had checked in online and prepaid for our checked bags, so that saved us some time. When we go to check our bags, at 3:00, they tell us that we were too late to check our bags, and that they would eventually get to Charlotte, but we would be responsible for picking them up. We didn't care, and told them that was fine. Bags taken care of, we go through security, and get to our gate, which thankfully was right next to security!! As we walk up, they have already started boarding for our flight!! Talk about cutting it close!!

I was so nervous that we were going to get stuck in traffic, or stuck at the rental car return and miss our flight. But God was watching out for us, and we made it! And so did our luggage! As we were standing there, waiting to board, I look out the window and see our suitcases waiting to be loaded on the plane!!

We even had time to take a picture!!

We board the plane, and get comfy, since we would be there for the next 8 hours!!
The flight home was easy! They had so many different movies and TV shows to watch. Plus they had a USB plug, so we could plug in our phones and kindle, and Michael was happy as could be. We got a great view of Honolulu and Waikiki from the plane.

We also had a beautiful Sunset to watch.

Michael fell asleep about an hour before we landed in Atlanta.

Which was about 11:00 pm Hawaii time. Andrew slept just a little bit, and I didn't sleep at all. But I knew I wouldn't. We had a 2 hour layover in Atlanta, and Michael slept during the entire thing. Andrew grabbed us some breakfast from McDonald's and we ate it on the next plane. The ride from Atlanta to Charlotte is only 45 minutes, so that was a nice short flight. Michael stayed asleep the entire flight. Once we arrived in Charlotte, Andrew and Michael went to get the van, and I got our luggage. In the van and headed for home, Michael kept right on sleeping. We had to go pick up Molly from the kennel and then went straight home. It was about 10:30 when we finally got home. So we quickly unloaded the car, put Michael in his bed, then got in bed and took a nice long nap!! We slept till 3:30 in the afternoon, and then went to bed around normal time. Getting over the time change has been rough, and has taken us a week to readjust. Andrew did better, since he had to be up for work. Michael and I slept very late several mornings. Michael would go to bed good, but then wake up 3 hours later wide awake. We finally have him all straightened out, and everyone is sleeping normal again.

It was an incredible trip, and I have loved reliving it through my blog!!
People have asked if I would go back, and Yes, of course I would go back! But I would go back and be prepared next time. I will do one final blog about our trip, with some tips for anyone that may need them.