Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate's life for me...

Here's cutie-pie Iain in his Mickey Mouse pirate hat! :)


Yo ho ho... and a bottle of formula!

Iain Mouse

My mom got a cure little Mickey Mouse shirt for Iain, and it fits him now. And it is pretty darn cute! Here are some shots of our little Iain Mouse!

Kid at Heart

In another life, not so terribly long ago... I had a monorail. A miniature version of the official Walt Disney World monorail. It was "monorail red" (AKA a monorail with a red stripe). It was also the first edition monorail to be released.
I loved that monorail.
Monorails are cool. They are fun to ride in real life... and fun to watch in miniature. They silently run on elevated tracks, and the miniature kind looks cool running around the Christmas tree. Plus, monorails provide good memories of Disney and all our amazing vacations.

Sadly, that monorail did not come with me to my new life, and I've been secretly longing for a replacement monorail for the last 5 years or so.

Well....this year, I got a monorail! Sean bought it for me at Disney's Polynesian Resort. It's "monorail orange" (AKA a monorail with an orange stripe). And the doors open up... so you can put tiny little Disney characters in there to ride around the track.
I love this monorail.

I am such a dork!



NOTE: Just an FYI, J and I are playing with the monorail at Orange Lake Country Club in Orlando. I do NOT have powder-blue hotel curtains and navy-blue carpeting in my house! ;)

We can't get enough of this place!

Once again, the Reochs, Alcazar 1 (A1) and Alcazar 2 (A2) enjoyed a week away at the happiest place on Earth! A few days after Christmas, the nine of us packed up two cars and headed down to Disney World for some amazing fun, food and fellowship! A1 tackled every park, while the Reochs and A2 enjoyed some of our favorites at Magic Kingdom and EPCOT. We also all enjoyed a fabulous dinner at Ohana. And as always, we had SO much fun.... which leads me to ask: How much longer until the next trip?!?
(More pictures and details to follow in a future post!)

Mickey-roni and cheese?

For those parents (or Disney fans) who haven't yet discovered Heartland's Disney pasta (with fun character shapes like "Mickey & Pals"), let me just say that this stuff is awesome! It looks cute, but it TASTES great, too. (In fact, I like this brand better than most others out there... and it's a "good source of whole grain!")
The reason I bring this up is because last night we had our fun neighbors over for dinner... for Mickey pasta (or Baked Mickeys... or Mickey-roni... whatever you want to call it). YUM! It's an easy recipe, and it's one of those almost-tastes-better-heated-up-as-leftovers kind of dishes.
So I am sharing the simple "recipe" in case you need a fun, easy meal. (This is kind of like a baked ziti recipe... but with Mickey-shaped noodles... oh, you get the point!)

INGREDIENTS:
* 1.5 to 2 lbs. ground beef (your choice -- I usually get what's on sale at Winn Dixie!)
* 1 tsp. salt (or to taste)
* 1 tsp. black pepper (or to taste)
* 1 T. oregano (or more, if you'd like)
* shredded mozzarella cheese (oh, about 1-2 cups, depending on how much you like cheese!)
* 1 jar Prego sauce (Prego roasted garlic and herb is my favorite... you can try a different brand or your own sauce, too)
* 1 box Heartland pasta (Disney characters are optional, I suppose! BTW: The only place I've found this pasta thus far is Wal-Mart.)

(You can mix in some garlic, onion, peppers and/or Parmesan cheese as well... depending on what y'all like and what sauce you're using...i.e. if I use the traditional Prego sauce, I often add in a tsp. or so of garlic powder.)

DIRECTIONS:
* pre-heat oven to 350 degrees
* brown ground beef (along w/ salt, pepper and oregano) in a pan, chopping to desired size (some like to "hide" the meat, while others prefer more of a meatball-sized chunk)
* cook pasta as directed
* mix browned meat, shredded cheese, sauce and cooked pasta in a large glass baking pan (ungreased)
* bake for 35-45 minutes (the longer you bake it, the more of a "crunch" you'll get to the top and sides... some love this... while others don't, so it's up to you!)

The Alcazar/Reoch DISNEY trip extravaganza!

Ok... I am going back in time a bit, since our Disney trip actually took place before Christmas... but it is still well woth putting a few fun photos up on the blog and telling a little bit about our amazing trip!

The Alcazars ("Alcazar 1"... with John, Susie and Corinne... and "Alcazar 2" with Sean, Jaiden and me) headed to Orlando with the Reochs (Mom and Dad) for a week's worth of amazing DISNEY fun!

The whole crew spent a wonderful day freezing in the Magic Kingdom. (We rode Spalsh Mountain about 5 times!) Then mom, dad, Sean, Jaiden and I went to Epcot one day. And a group of us went to Disney's Animal Kingdom and Hollywood Studios.

We also shopped at the infamous Downtown Disney and ate at some fantabulous Disney restaurants: Ohana at the Polynesian Resort and Whispering Canyon at the Wilderness Lodge. YUM!

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* Just for fun... check out the "Hidden Mickey" that appeared in our group photo in front of Cinderella Castle! (HINT: Corinne was NOT wearing Mickey ears that day!)

Little Beauty and Belle

Jaiden had a 5-year-old girl's dream breakfast at the Norway pavilion at EPCOT a few days before Christmas. Of course, Mom, Dad, Sean and I had a great time, too. But Jaiden was all smiles (and a little shy) as she met and talked with Belle, Sleeping Beauty, Jasmine, Mary Poppins and Mulan and got their pictures and autographs.

Pirates of the... Birmingham area...?

With the much-anticipated third installment of Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean slotted to hit movie theaters this month, I thought it would be appropriate to include a photo of Sean and me in the Caribbean, dressed like pirates (well, sort of!) ... at a Pirates IN the Caribbean party (from our honeymoon cruise)! What a blast!

Honeymoon highlights

So... I just realized that I never kept my promise to put up a post with some details and photos from our honeymoon!
Until now!
Sean and I had the most unbelievably AMAZING time! We embarked on a cruise to the Western Caribbean ... on the Disney Magic. And it was magic!

To name just a few of the fun things we did ... we ate delectable food all week, swam with stingrays, rode dune buggies in Cozumel, enjoyed sunsets from the ship, watched fireworks (on the boat), attended magic shows and musicals, had a "Pirates of the Caribbean" party... in the Caribbean, snorkeled at Castaway Cay and got stung by sea urchins! (Ouch! Ok. So that one wasn't particularly fun!)

Sean and I agree that neither of us has ever had such a wonderful vacation... In fact, as soon as we got home, we started planning another Disney Cruise!
Yeah. We're dreaming about it, anyway!
The fact is, crusing becomes addictive. You don't have to think; you don't have to drive anywhere; you don't have to debate about where to eat. It's pure bliss and relaxation! You can do as much or as little as you want to do....
And what FUN!

Battling the Evil Emperor ZURG

Ah, yes. It's amazing how INTENSE Sean and I were as we fearlessly battled ZURG (Buzz Lightyear's arch nemesis) at Disneyland's Astro Blasters....
After last week's Golf Industry Trade Show (GIS) in Anaheim, California, Sean and I hopped over to Disneyland (and California Adventure) -- which were literally across the street -- for some once-in-a-lifetime fun! (We aren't on that side of the country too often, ya know!)
And here we are. Very... VERY focused on shooting those silly "Z" targets (located on the various alien life forms and alien weapons) to get mega points! And, if you look at our scores, this is the ONLY time I have ever ended up with more points!

Tune in for more random posts on our wedding, honeymoon and Disneyland trip!

Disney World Last December

I can't believe that it's already been almost a year since we were in Disney World -- last Christmas! This year we're not heading down to Orlando to hit the parks... (there's that little wedding and honeymoon thing we got goin'!) But it sure is fun to reminisce. We all had SO much fun. Jaiden still talks about the characters... and Cinderella Castle... and the rides, especially Aladdin's Magic Carpet (which she rode several times in a row with Mom and Dad!). And because this was Sean's frist trip since he was a wee bit, he has just as many fun stories and experiences to share! We can't wait to go back!