Wordless Wednesday 11/9

Sorry about missing last week.  Life has been a little crazy (you don't know the true power of the Dark Side, lol)!!  Getting back on track this week and will have a full blog post for you this weekend.  Thanks!

Jedi Training Academy

Wordless Wednesday 10/26

Epcot's Mexican Pavilion

Wordless Wednesday 10/19

I love, love, LOVE fall in the Magic Kingdom!

Wordless Wednesday 10/12

♪♫  "Fish are friends...." ♪♫

Thank You Steve!

As the world mourns the loss of an amazing and brilliant man, I would like to say thank you to Steve Jobs for something other than Apple computers or anything with an "i" in front of it.  While all of that technology is something to marvel at, my thank you to Steve is a little different.  Steve Jobs was a technology pioneer in so many ways, but his connection to Pixar is by far the thing I am the most grateful for. 

I recently had the opportunity to watch the film, The Pixar Story, and it was there that I first really learned about Steve Jobs connection to Pixar and how he was able to assist the struggling company in finding its footing and becoming the success it is today.  John Lasseter, head of Disney and Pixar animation, had this to say upon hearing of Steve's death:  “He saw the potential of what Pixar could be before the rest of us, and beyond what anyone ever imagined. Steve took a chance on us and believed in our crazy dream of making computer animated films; the one thing he always said was to simply ‘make it great.’”

And make it great they did.  You see, in my house, my son has grown up on Pixar films.  Pixar was really his introduction to all things Disney.  I can't imagine our lives without Buzz & Woody, Mike & Sully, Flik & Hopper, The Incredibles, Lightning McQueen & Mater, and so many other characters.

 Payton's first "Disney/Pixar" movie was Toy Story, and he was hooked!  At two, he could quote the movie, and would run around shouting, "Too infinity, and BEYOND!"  (although it was a little hard to understand him!).  On his first trip to Disney, his first purchase was a soft Buzz Lightyear doll.  He dressed as Buzz for Halloween, and sometimes just for fun.  Not only that, he ended up with an entirely Buzz Lightyear themed bedroom!  I will never forget searching frantically on ebay for all those crazy Toy Story McDonald's Happy Meal toys for Christmas one year.

His first trip to the movie theater was to watch The Incredibles (which he loved, naturally).  We heard about nothing else for weeks, and once it came out on DVD, we watched it so much, we could quote lines!

Our family has enjoyed so many happy memories together of watching Pixar films in the theater and at home, and meeting those characters in the Disney parks.  So thank you Steve for being a part of our family through Pixar, and for helping to introduce my son to, what I hope will be, a life-long love of all things Disney that he and I can share as he grows up.

Wordless Wednesday 10/5

In honor of Food & Wine Festival, another food pic!

Thrilling Thursday!

Well, my Wordless Wednesday flew by so fast that now it's Thrilling Thursday!  Please accept my apologies and understand that since it's no longer Wednesday, I no longer have to be "wordless."  Above is one of my favorite pics taken at Animal Kingdom.  I took this one while on my Mother/Daughter trip to Disney with my mom a few years ago.  We explored all of these different paths around the Tree of Life that I never had a chance to explore before.  We were in Animal Kingdom for extra magic evening hours and just took our time, soaking in all the ambiance we could.  And out of it came some pretty awesome photos.  Next time you visit Animal Kingdom, see how many different trails or paths you can find around the Tree.  It's so fun to find new perspectives of this beautiful park and landmark.