Disney World Day 3, Epcot

Day 3 took us to Epcot...I'm pretty sure this was every ones favorite day.  (Yes, we're those nerdy people that really get into the "countries" you visit as you walk around the water...have you read this blog before?  We're the travel kind!)

Epcot was just a short walk from our resort...which made it nice because we came back twice for dinner on other nights.

My sweet parents :).  They first took me to Disney World when I was four.  I still remember a lot about that trip.

Dad and Me

Mom and Me

Kensington and Marie the Cat

Kensington and her very favorite princess, Aurora from Sleeping Beauty.  She was most excited about meeting her!!

Love my girl! 

My kids always nap in their strollers as we stroll along.  It's something they've been doing for a long time now.  Sweet Smith!

The girls in our sunglasses.  Lovie bought these glasses for K and she was IN LOVE!  She's still at home wearing them!

My nerdy adorable daughter wearing her glasses in the aquarium.  They flip up for when she's indoors.  She thought she was so cool!

We finished with dinner inside the aquarium.  So fun!  Again, we stayed until after the fireworks and light show...another BIG day at Disney World!

Click here for Day 4.

Recipe for Roasted Salmon and Asparagus Salad with Mustard Vinaigrette

Quickly roasted salmon and asparagus, served on baby greens with mustard vinaigrette.  The perfect meal for spring!

(Updated April 2012 with step-by-step instructions and better photos)  Usually when I'm updating an old recipe that needs new photos I try hard not to change much about the recipe in case people have it bookmarked, but when I looked at this recipe for a warm salmon and asparagus salad, the original method of marinating the salmon and then grilling it while you roasted the asparagus seemed so labor-intensive compared to how I would make it now.  This time I simply roasted the asparagus a few minutes, added the salmon that I'd rubbed with my favorite Szeged Fish Rub, and the result was a wonderful salmon and asparagus salad like you might get at a fine restaurant.  I'll include both sets of directions in the recipe, but the simple method of roasting both asparagus and salmon gets my vote!

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Disney World Day 4, Animal Kingdom & Andrew's birthday!!

Day 4 was special because it was also Andrew's 31st birthday!!  We decided to visit Animal Kingdom on this special day :).

My crew lookin' at some animals.

At least I'm looking at the camera...

i.love.my.dad.  You might think you have the best dad but you're wrong.  I do.  He's awesome.  Seriously awesome.

Ohhh fishies!!

Every day, we let the kids go into one of the Disney stores and pick out a "treasure".  Today, Kensington picked out a giant giraffe.  Of course she did.

The best part of animal kingdom is the safari ride.

Do you see Kensington way back there behind that giant giraffe???

She was in love.  She named it Mama Sunshine Sunny.  She's a mess.

Speaking of messes...Smith kept saying he wanted a pair of sunglasses too (since K bought some the day before).  We showed him dozens and dozens of choices but he kept saying he wanted the Minnie Mouse glasses.   We begged, bribed and pleaded but he wasn't interested in any other.  I can't wait until he's 16 and I remind him that he wanted the Minnie Mouse glasses most of all!

We went back to the hotel after Animal Kingdom, cleaned up and headed to dinner for Andrew's birthday.  My crazy crew.

She loves her daddy!

Dinner that night was at a special restaurant at the Grand Floridian Hotel where you ate with all of the characters from Cinderella (very manly for Andrew's birthday!).  This is one of Cinderella's mean step-sisters, Anastasia.  They were a riot!

Smith only asked to take pictures with 3 people this entire trip.  Snow White, Donald Duck and Prince Charming.  This kid scrambled out of his seat so fast to have his picture taken with this dude.  Funny kid!

Ahhh!  Cinderella!

The mean step-mother.

Smith hiding in Lovie's lap while the Step-Mother was at our table.  He kept saying she was too mean :).

The other step-sister, Drusilla.

Love my mama!

Back at the hotel...naked child, wearing her glasses, playing with mama and baby giraffe (baby giraffe was her treasure from Epcot).  Silly kids!

Fun day!  Happy Birthday Andrew!!  We love you!

Click here for Day 5.

Vegan Asparagus Salad for Spring with Tomatoes, Hearts of Palm, and Chives

A lovely salad for spring with asparagus, tomatoes, hearts of palm, and chives.

I love to pull things out of the fridge or pantry and experiment to see what I can come up with, and this salad combination started with the Hearts of Palm I was so excited to find back in stock at Costco.  I had fresh asparagus in the fridge and chives growing in the garden, both of which seemed like they would be good with hearts of palm, and then I added a few of the small grape tomatoes I start buying in the spring when I'm craving the flavor of tomatoes.  Mixed with a lemony vinaigrette, this salad was a great side dish for Herb Encrusted Grilled Salmon.  And when I can have an easy meal that includes hearts of palm, asparagus, and grilled salmon, I'm a happy camper.

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A-1 and Dijon Steak CrockPot Recipe

Day 141.

Sometimes the easiest recipes taste the best. Which can be kind of a bummer when you put in a lot of time and effort chopping, mixing, and tasting.

oh well.

This tastes good. This tastes really good.

That pretty much sums it up.

The Ingredients.

--4-6 steaks, or a hunk of tri-tip you cut into 4-6 steaks because the internet doesn't know what tri-tip is (insert winks and smiles)

--2 T A-1 sauce

--2 T dijon mustard

--1/4 cup white wine

The Directions.

--combine the A-1 steak sauce and the dijon mustard in a little bowl

--paint the sauce mixture on all sides of each piece of meat

--place the meat into your crockpot

--pour in the 1/4 cup of white wine

cook on low for 6-8 hours.

serve with potatoes or rice or french fries or vegetables or something that you normally want to eat with steak.

The Verdict.

This couldn't have been any easier, and it tasted marvelous. The kids ate their servings eagerly. We had rice pilaf as a side dish, and poured the remaining sauce over the top. It was divine.

Disney World Day 2, Magic Kingdom

Day 2 is when the magic really began.  We got up early and headed to Magic Kingdom.



Daisy Duck was at the gate ready to greet us!  We waited in a little line and then Kensington got her turn to hug Miss Daisy.

We're here!  I'll never forget the look on Kensington's face when she saw the castle for the first time.  She was in total amazement.  In was one of the sweetest moments of my mommyhood so far.

We ate breakfast at Crystal Palace.  If you eat here, you get to meet all of the Winnie the Pooh characters.  (FYI: I was told by sweet friends to make our meal reservations 6 months in advance...I did and they were still hard to make!).  Smith is ready to meet the Pooh!

When did we grow up and get kids to take to Disney World???

Lovin' on Tigger

At least Andrew and I were looking at the camera...

Going through It's a Small World

Smith and I rode the tea cups all by ourselves.  Let me tell you...this boy is going to be my roller coaster boy.  He loved ALL of the rides.  He was so much fun!

With Papa Jay and Lovie (or Pa-Jay as Smith says)

While we rode the tea cups, Kensington waited in line for Alice.

So sweet!

Andrew and Dad took the kids on the race track.

Then the Shull 4 rode the Aladdin ride.

And this is what you look like after 14 hours at Magic Kingdom!  Yes...we showed up at 8:00 AM and stayed until after 10:00 because we watched the parade and fireworks.  We were wiped out! 

I didn't blog all of the pictures of the fun stuff we did that day...I spared you all...but let me say, we rode a ton of rides, ate a ton of food and loved every minute of it!

Click here for Day 3.