The unofficial inaugural Wine and Dine Half of a Half Marathon

This post is wayyyy overdue. As I mentioned in my last post, I was all set to get my Coast to Coast medal. The forecast was was unseasonably warm and calling for possible showers the night of the race but in Florida that could mean anything. Oliver did the 100m dash kids race in the morning and it was HOT! It was neat though, he got an unofficial coast to coast as he had done the kids races on both coasts. We were lucky enough to meet up with one of my friends from my Amazing Advevtures of the Disney MP Search group who has a little boy who shares a birthday with my son! 

We had spent the day at Animal Kingdom and I was worried I had spent too much time on my feet. I did get a chance to relax a little and put my feet up.

Before I knew it, it was time to go! I was meeting my cousin at Epcot and then we were riding the bus together to the ESPN Wide World of Sports. We sat and talked and then we started noticing lightening. It wasn't raining, but we were afraid it wasn't far behind. Soon, it was time to go to our corrals! As we were heading over there, it started sprinkling. It actually felt nice because it was humid. Then all of a sudden we hear the volunteers start saying: "This is a weather evacuation". There were roughly 14,000 runners and we all had to take cover due to lightening in the area. We sat around for a while and we knew there was a possibility that we wouldn't race at all. We were kinda bummed because we wanted our coast to coast and had flown across the country to get it. 

About 45 minutes later, we got the all clear! We were going to run! We had heard whispers of the course being shortened for the safety of the runners and the official distance ended up being 6.72 miles. I started in the front of the second to last corral. It was so exciting! The course had cut out the Animal Kingdom portion but we still got to see the part I was most excited about: the Osborne Family Lights. At about mile 2, I tripped and took a pretty hard fall on my knee. I was able to finish the race no problem, but I also did not look at my knees until the end. It hurt for a month afterwards but I was lucky it was not worse! 

At the end of the race, we still got our coast to coast medals. I did it! I achieved my goal! Next goal...maybe the Walt Disney World Marathon someday

Walt Disney World day 1

Wow! I am so behind on this blog. I haven't even recapped my trip to Walt Disney World in November! This blog will cover the first day.

I was so excited to get my Coast to Coast medal by completing the Wine and Dine Half Marathon! I worked hard and although I could have done better, I feel like I was as ready as I was going to be.

I had been watching the weather and it was supposed to be HOT! I was glad that the race was at night. 

We took a red eye and arrived the day before the race. We got to the expo as it opened and I made a beeline for the expo merchandise. I didn't see anything I must have so we stood in the very long line to get my sons ears and then headed to the parks. 

Our first park was Disney Hollywood Studios. My little Mouseketeer loved the Great Movie Ride!  We ate lunch and let my son run around on the Honey, I Shrunk the Kids playground to burn some energy. 

We then headed to Epcot for dinner at Via Napoli (carb loading is yummy!). My son has multiple food allergies and once again Disney came through with awesome food. The small dish below is gluten, egg, dairy and peanut free pasta. 

Epcot is my favorite place in the world and I was so excited to be there with my son! 

We had an early night since we had gotten no sleep the night before and I had a race the next day. We had a great first day though!

Up next, day 2!

Breakfast at Goofy's Kitchen

We went to Goofy's Kitchen at the Disneyland Hotel for my sons birthday last week and had a great time! My son has multiple food allergies so going out to eat, let alone a buffet, is always scary. Disney is usually amazing about accommodating food allergies and this time was no different! Chef Enrique prepared him a HUGE Mickey waffle along with bacon and potatoes. My Mouseketeer was in heaven! 

He also loved getting to see the characters! 

Pluto is always a hit! Notice the bare feet, we can't seem to keep shoes on him!

Hugs for Chip! 

The food was good for the rest of us too! The first thing I got was the mac and cheese which is yummy even for breakfast! At the end of the meal, they brought out cupcakes and sang to my little guy and his birthday buddy we were with. The cupcake wasn't safe so I had to take one for the team!

We can't wait to go back!

My little Mouseketeer is two!

How quickly time flies! My little boy turned 2 yesterday! It has been such a joy to watch him grow. He is very active and doesn't like to stay still at all. He is also a loving, sweet kid who loves snuggles (for 30 seconds lol) and kisses. Everyday, he amazes us with his vocabulary, he can definitely tell us what he wants. This little guy LOVES Disney and asks for Disneyland every day. 

A mama always loves to show pictures and this mama is no different so here are some of the highlights from this past year (anyone who has a toddler will understand why some of these are blurry haha!)

Mickey's Halloween Party

First pumpkin patch 

Worn out after the kids races for the Avengers Half Marathon Weekend

Star Wars Kids Race

Riding a pony

Family mouse ear picture 

The Force is strong with this one.

2nd birthday!

Happy birthday to my sweet baby boy! You are God's greatest gift to me! 

The beauty of Disney friendships!

i must admit between my RunDisney group groups and other various Disney group, I'm part of a lot of Disney Facebook groups. What I didn't realize was the friendships I would make in these groups. Or even just the awesome support I've gotten in my RunDisney and my Disney allergy groups. Last year when I was thinking about applying for the Disney Parks MomsPanel, I found this wonderful Facebook group! This group not only gives wonderful insight but is totally encouraging and supportive. It's nice to have a group of people who love Disney the way you do and are headed towards the same goal! 

Beyond Disney, I found amazing support for my son's allergies. There were mamas in that group who had kids with allergies too and they were always available to offer advice, tips or just to hear me complain. I've learned so much from them.

I was lucky enough to meet some of my Moms Panel group friends this year. We had a meet up in January for the Star Wars Half Marathon and then I met another friend when she was down here on vacation. 

Star Wars Half Marathon Meet up

I hope to meet more of you as the years go on! 

My very first podcast!

I was lucky enough to be asked to be a guest on my favorite podcast: Enchanted Tiki Talk! I had first heard this podcast on V24 Radio and I really liked it! I started listening straight on their website on my way to work. I really loved a couple of episodes in particular where they played a game called Fastpass, Just Pass or Standby where guests would chose between 3 attractions at Walt Disney World which one they would use a Fast Pass, standby in line or just pass all together. I decided I would be gutsy and volunteer myself to do a Disneyland version not thinking they would actually ask me! I got a message via Twitter from Sean and I started jumping up and down in the middle of Barnes and Noble!

I was a bit nervous as I had never been on a podcast but once I got on the phone, I was more excited than anything! It was an absolute BLAST!! I love sharing my love of Disney and Disneyland and it was so fun to talk with people who love Disney just the same. Thank you Enchanted Tiki Talk for having me, I hope I can be on again in the future!

Check out my podcast here!

It's almost Disney Parks Moms Panel application time!

Do your friends come to you for Disney Parks vacation planning advice? Are you a lover of all things Disney? Then the Disney Parks Moms Panel may be for you! The DPMP is a group of people who can assist you with all your Disney vacation planning questions! They are a wealth of information that can answer anything and everything that you may be wondering. Check them out here! The new round of applications begins September 8th and I can't wait!

Last year was my first year applying and I was blessed to make it to round 2. I am hoping this year to make the panel! I love helping my friends, family and complete strangers plan a magical vacation. Along my pixie dust filled journey, I learned a lot about myself and made some amazing friends (more about them later!)


Can't wait to go on this fun journey again this year!