Vacation halftime guessing game

Question: How many Mr. Potato head pieces did Rachel and I squeeze
into this box for our moneys worth?

Answer: we don't know yet! Tabulations will be done tomorrow...
Place your guesses now!

part 1 of disney adventures!

where to begin...
Last week we took a little vacation down to Walt Disney World with our friends, the Bormet family, Carl, Rachel and Carl N. It was a good time despite having too little time like everyday to fit everything we wanted to do in it! We started off leaving Chicagoland Sunday evening with a couple of new firsts for Alicia. Alicia got to ride in a limo on the way to the airport from the Bormet's house and then she got to take her first airplane ride! Alicia did great on the airplane except for the part when they were getting ready to land and you had to put away all electronic devices and such..she really disliked that part, and decided to throw a mini temper tantrum cause she wanted to continue watching her dvds. She's got an addiction already, which is a bit scary! :~/

So after landing late Sunday night in Florida we got to our "new home" as the kids were referring it as, which was Saratoga Springs Resort & Spa. We stayed on a Disney property which was really a nice feature, which we used the free shuttles to/from the airport and around the different parks. We didn't even have too many long waits or problems using the buses down there, plus the kids seemed to enjoy the bus rides and monorail rides as well, too!
We had a 4 day stay at Disney World, which we jammed packed every day, visiting all 4 theme parks- Hollywood Studios, Magic Kingdom, Epcot, and Animal Kingdom.
Just a quick look-- we did this...

Monday-we went to Hollywood Studios that morning which worked well, since it was a bit soggy and rainy that morning, a lot of Hollywood Studios stuff is inside, so it was a good combination. There Alicia was in hog heaven with the Disney Clubhouse Live attraction, where she was enjoying it alot. Earlier in the morning, she was a bit scared of the Cars characters and the Muppet 3-D vision movie, which really freaked her out. We felt horrible that she got so scared...but it got better as she finally got to meet Mickey Mouse later that day! Later that evening we enjoyed some supper at the Polynesian Resort near Magic Kingdom. Afterwards, we traveled over to the Magic Kingdom, where Alicia really liked the Winnie the Pooh ride, where we heard her phrase of the trip, "that was fun!" it was pretty cute.. we got to see a few minutes of the evening parade there, and then enjoyed the fireworks show, some enjoyed it more than others... Alicia and Drew camped out inside the railroad station and watched from inside as the noise was too much for Alicia to handle. They sure looked pretty cool though.

On Tuesday, we went to Epcot in the morning and then headed off to the Animal Kingdom. At Epcot, the older kids (hehe.. the parents) enjoyed riding Test Track and Soarin' while the little ones explored Nemo's backyard. I think the best part from that afternoon at Epcot was Alicia and mommy's first Mickey Mouse ice cream bar! We each got to share the ears :) After leaving Epcot, we had enough time to explore the Animal Kingdom and go on a Safari! It was amazing to see those animals just roaming around and chilling out in their habitats. That was definitely a highlight of our afternoon! Well we've hit almost halfway through our trip, and 3 parks, so I think it is time for a break. Come back maybe tomorrow for the last half of our adventures!

For those curious minds, lots of pictures are located here---here---and here---
:)

http://picasaweb.google.com/drew.kluesner/1stNightArrivalAtSaratogaWDW?authkey=Gv1sRgCJ3e3Z_-gfb9fw#

http://picasaweb.google.com/drew.kluesner/1stDayAtWDWHollywoodStudiosMagicKindomNight?authkey=Gv1sRgCKSKu66Zkee_iQE#

http://picasaweb.google.com/drew.kluesner/2ndDayAtWDWEpcotAndAnimalKingdom?authkey=Gv1sRgCNSMh4r3n_e0sgE#

stay tuned to vacation wrap-up soon!

stay tuned to our blog for more vacation wrap-up! If you want to see pictures from last week, check out our random photo blog www.arandomphoto.blogspot.com for a few from that week we uploaded right away..


Alicia enjoying her movie on the airplane ride.

Mickey and the Kluesner family posing at Epcot!

The mommies and kids...

Magic Kingdom @ Early Evening

We are getting there, only about a thousand pictures to sort through.... ;) haha... I'm not kidding either... we can't wait to share our fun stories and photos!

Goodies from vacation. Be back later tonight.

A-l-i-c-i-a

>

> Lately Alicia has been trying to spell her own name. she even tried
> writing it the other day, see the bright pink squiggles. When she
> wrote it she aaid "a-i-c-i-a" she always leaves off the l , we call
> of the silent L. :). Getting closer to it!! Now if only she'd say
> her name when asked instead of the typical "me"..
>

why?!

Just recently this last week, Alicia has been asking "why?!" about things... I'm not sure if she knows exactly what that word means just yet, but it is a good conversational piece for her I guess. such as when we tell her to do things or not to do things, this phrase "but, why" or "why" comes flying back to us lately...

Also, Alicia has been in a climbing mood... climbing and counting stairs, climbing and standing on toilet seats-furniture-and the latest, even daddy! (see below, where I caught her in the act...)

happy birthday Grandpa Mike!

Happy Birthday Grandpa Mike, or as Alicia has been saying lately - "Papa"

Moving the Arnolds

We made it back to Dubuque on Friday to help Aunt Ann Louise and Uncle Todd move from their apartment to their new house in Asbury.  It was a really nice day on Friday, so the moving started a bit earlier than expected due to the upcoming rain.  

After we moved the boxes from the apartment, we kinda chilled out in the house for a bit and enjoyed some Godfathers pizza.  Alicia had a good time playing the "Mickey Mouse/Donald Duck" game with Grandpa,  She claimed an empty box there and played in it for a good hour or 2.  Then she found the chest (i'm sure there's a better word for it) that Auntie Up won at a work auctioin.  Its pretty cool, as it fits in the kitchen, and Alicia likes to think its her personal hiding spot.  She would sit in the middle and with the doors closed, she'd jump out.  then jump back in.  It was quite cute.

Anyways.. We had a good trip seeing everyone again.... and look forward to our return after our disney trip.  

A few other highlights from the trip:

*  She said her name was Alicia (or something similar) to Auntie Up.... but now still calls herself me.

*  She helped Ann Louise/Todd put the pans away... Mommy may have to post the pic of this from her phone.  it was cute.

*  She was able to name Tony and Ann from the wall of pictures.  This was a first to my knowledge.

anyways.. its late.. time for bed.

Should daddy be worried?

Looks like Alicia is starting to take after Mommy. Not that mommy shops a lot, but when she does, she usually chooses expensive stuff. Alicia has already mastered the multiple bags, as well as the top notch bags (Tiffany and coach). This could be bad.

tea party at grandmas

A couple of weeks ago when we stayed over at Grandma Kloss's house, Alicia had a cold and the poor thing wasn't feeling so hot. Within probably an hour or so at Grandma's house, Alicia got sick :( Luckily Grandma was there to help her feel better, as within about an hour or so of Alicia's sicky episodes, she settled down in Grandma's chair and decided to watch some movies and have a popsicle and all seemed better. Later that evening, Alicia had a big tea party and she set her table and then poured tea for everyone, and did such a good job sharing her tea and using her manners. Alicia has been doing a good job lately saying "thank you" and "you're welcome" while she needs to work on her "please" more rather than "i want *this or that*".

Grandma had all of the cool "original" Fisher Price toys saved back for Alicia to play with. Alicia got to play with mommy's old cash register and fun stove that I think cooked for hours upon hours on in my younger days, as well. oh the nostalgia...