New Year! Happy 2016!

Christopher and I had a wonderful New Year celebrations together. On New Year's Eve, we went to the Tux and Pucks Sabres game all dressed up. Christopher looked so handsome in his tuxedo. He wore a new bow tie he received at Christmas. I wore a new dress (Christopher LOVED it) and got to wear my fun pair of heels I wore for my cousin Lindsay's wedding. The Sabres may have lost, but we still had a great time!

We then came home and took our time making our surf and turf dinner with all of the sides. Christopher really cooked dinner, and I just put together the side dishes. Everything was delicious. We then put our pajamas on, sipped on champagne and watched some How I Met Your Mother episodes before midnight.

Then New Year's Day we invited our parents over for brunch. It was really nice to see them and hear about what they did on New Year's Eve. We also talked about resolutions for 2016.

In 2016, I would really like to read 26 books this year. To kick off this, I started to read The Girl Who Chased The Moon by Sarah Addison Allen. I think I will try to read a bunch of different genres, but just have with it.

I would also like to get back on track with eating healthier. To do that I am kicking of my 3rd TLS detox as part of their 21 day program. Very excited to start (Day 1 is today!).

Overall, this is a very exciting year for Christopher and I. Christopher is starting a new job, we are both turning 30, continuing work on our house, and our 2nd honeymoon and vow renewal in Hawaii. So I want to sit back and enjoy this year together as much as possible!

Last Day of Annual Passes :(

After a fun breakfast at Hollywood Studios, we headed over to the Animal Kingdom for the morning/afternoon. Mom and Dad haven't really spent a lot of time in the park and we thought this would be fun for them to see. 

We are so proud of Mom who rode on Expedition Everest! Got to love the pictures Disney takes. 

We also rode Dinosaur and I still get scared during the ride! You would like after riding this several times that I would know when the dinosaur pops out! Maybe next time. We also rode the Kilimanjaro Safaris ride and walked though the Pangani Forest Exploration.

For lunch we ate at the Flame Tree Barbecue which was so delicious! Christopher and I split a combo platter and it was plenty of food for two.

After lunch we headed back to the resort and relaxed for a bit at the pool. Later in the afternoon we decided to walk over to Epcot and enjoy the night there. We split a fish and chips in England, then walked over to France for a Croque Monsieur, Bordeaux and a coffee flavored mousse. All was delicious.

We then strolled around the entire World Showcase. We rode the Three Caballeros ride once more and Spaceship Earth. Then we caught Illuminations. We could watch it every night and still be impressed! 

We then walked back to the Boardwalk. Christopher enjoyed a cigar and beer and I got a slice of pizza and a margarita. We relaxed and people watched for the rest of the night. It was very special. 

Mom and Dad decided to have dinner at the new Italian restaurant on the Boardwalk and enjoyed it very much. They then met us out afterwards and we hung out with our drinks. A great way to end our stay at the Boardwalk. 

Our 4 Park Challenge Day!

During this trip we did a 4 Park Challenge. Our goal/rules of the challenge: go to each park in one day, enjoy at least 3 attractions per park, and eat at least a snack at each park. And....we did it! It is definitely exhausting, but added a different element to our trip

Our first park was Animal Kingdom to capitalize on the extra magic hours in the morning. We were able to ride Expedition Everest TWICE, walked on Kilimanjaro safaris and walked through the Pangani Forest Exploration uninterrupted. We grabbed breakfast at a kiosk and enjoyed some espresso and a croissant.

Next park: Magic Kingdom! We rode Pirates of the Caribbean, Haunted Mansion and the WDW Railroad. We had lunch at Friars Nook (Christopher wanted the pot roast macaroni and cheese) and I shared a pepperoni pizza from Pinocchio's Village Haus. 

Next park: Hollywood Studios. This is our least favorite park, so finding things to do that we both liked was hard. We rode Star Tours, walked through One Man's Dream and then did the Star Wars Lego Experience since it was Star Wars weekend. For our snack, we had a Mickey Ear Ice Cream to help us cool off. 

Since we were making excellent time, we decided to walk back to our resort and take a little nap. It felt so awesome to put our feet up and relax. We probably would have made it through Epcot, but we would have been a little grumpy.

After our nap it was off to our final park - EPCOT! We rode Test Track (thanks to our free fast pass from the ride breaking down), The 3 Caballeros and Mission: SPACE. 

We then relaxed until our dinner reservation at Spice Road Table. We had some celebratory drinks - Christopher picked up a beer from England and I had my favorite martini - no surprises there.

Dinner was delicious but the service was awful. We ordered our favorite pitcher of sparkling sangria, baked brie, calamari and mixed skewers. And of course we finished with coffee and dessert. We caught Illuminations from our table and had a great view of it. We also ran into my co-worker Titi! It was her first trip to WDW and she was having a great time.

And because we are crazies, we ran back to the resort, dropped all of our stuff and ran over to Hollywood Studios to catch Symphony in the Stars. It was so much more huge from outside of the park. We definitely have a new appreciation for the fireworks show.

So...WE DID IT! The 4 park challenge was fun yet exhausting. Definitely not to do with young children, but I would say pre-teen, teens could handle it.

Wonderful Summer

This summer so far has been wonderful. We have been able to spend time with family and friends and do fun things around the area. I know that I have been MIA for a little while - that is summer for you. But I hope to get back into the swing of things with the blog soon. For now, here are some pictures from our activities throughout the summer.

Dog days of summer!

Mom's Surprise 60th Birthday Tea

4th of July Party Snack - blueberries, watermelon, cheeries, raspberries and cheese

Tommy & Brandon's party

Lunch date with Miss Molly

One of the many new recipes we tried

Zoo day with Molly and Christine

I got LASIK!

2015-2016 planning time!

My favorite racer

Emma's 1st birthday party

The Simm Family

Lindsay's Wedding!

Bills preseason

Christopher took 2nd place in his category at a 5k!

Papa's 95th birthday

Our Date Night at Victoria & Albert's

Our dinner at Victoria & Albert's was AMAZING! Christopher and I got all gussied up and headed over to the Grand Floridian Resort to have dinner at V&A's. The service was incredible. Our servers were Danny and Garrett. The maitre d was Lana (blue name tag cast member) and the hostess was great too, but I cannot remember her name.

The 7 courses we chose were (not as well described as our menus - but I will try my best!):
1) Amuse Bouche - stone crab with veggies
2) Bison filet salad
3) Alaskan Salmon
4) Pork tenderloin & belly
5) Entree - Duck A l'Orange
6) Cheese accompaniment
7) Dessert - I chose a dark chocolate mousse with a milk chocolate orange gelato (I think it was called the Chocolate Timbale) and Christopher ordered the Hawaiian Kona dessert. During dessert they also served us coffee that was brewed right at our table! Christopher loved this type of coffee press and is determined to buy one for our house (they are like $300!).

We also ordered the wine pairing, which was paired so perfectly with our menu choices. Everything was delicious. In between several courses, we also had three bread courses too. And the bread was paired with its own butter or cream. I had never had bison or salmon but I know that it never taste as good as it did that night.

I almost forgot to tell you that at the beginning of the meal, they offered us their "house" water which is triple filtered. But - if that did not please us, we could choose a water off of their international water menu they have imported from around the world. We chose the "house" water and it was just fine.

The service was amazing. They served in a very formal style. Every time we left the table, they provided us a fresh napkin and would escort you to and from the table. It was awesome and yet so unnecessary, but their attention to detail is what gets them the 5 diamond rating!

At the end of the meal they presented us with a rose and copy of our menu we enjoyed (much more specific than the summary I provided here). I keep saying this, but it was AMAZING. Christopher and I are now spoiled and we will want to dine here every time we visit Walt Disney World.

One funny thing is we had a really annoying British couple sitting behind us. They made comments like they had to "settle" trying American wine. Their conversations made us laugh a little. Good thing these servers are trained to handle every situation.

Best part of the night was enjoying this experience with my wonderful Christopher. I have loved all of the adventures we have found ourselves in.

And to top off the night, we were complimented leaving dinner by a cast member as he thought we were cast members! Maybe some day!