Four Parks. One Day.

With only a few days left on our Disney Spring Break 2018 we headed over to Epcot. We jumped on Test Track (may the best car win!) and then headed over to grab Starbucks. Since we had been at Epcot a few times already on this trip we decided to try something fun. Our Mission:

Visit all four parks in one day and have a snack and go on a ride.

Could we do it? Did we have enough time? See for yourself...

PARK 1 - Epcot

We arrived at Epcot via the International Gateway after walking from the Beach Club. We rode Test Track and then stopped at Starbucks for our "snack" which doubled as breakfast. 

Park 2 - Magic Kingdom

We made our way to Magic Kingdom via the Monorail. While on the monorail we we checked the My Disney Experience app and picked up 4 fastpasses for the Mad Tea Party. Here we go!

After some spinning fun we grabbed a snack and watched a bit of the Castle Stage Show. You can't go wrong with some traditional Mickey Ice Cream!

We left Magic Kingdom and took the boat across Seven Seas Lagoon. We decided we may as well also try as many of the transportation options as possible on this adventure! When we arrived at the Ticket and Transportation Center we decided to walk to the Polynesian to grab a bus to our next park! We enjoyed a few shenanigans along the way!

Teagan took a walk with Goofy....

We discovered Nolan has a crown that is ONLY visible in his shadow.

We almost missed our bus when we stopped for this picture, but we sprinted to catch up to Ryan and Teagan!

Park 3 - Animal Kingdom

We took the bus to Animal Kingdom and went straight back to It's a Bug's Life. We became honorary bugs and then made our way to Pandora for a late lunch - we were getting pretty hungry! We couldn't resist going back to our new favorite restaurant, Satu'li Canteen for Cheeseburger Steamed Pods and Chicken bowls. YUMMY!  

After lunch we grabbed some fun drinks at Pongu Pongu to fulfill our "snack at every park" before moving on to the final park of the day!

Park 4 - Hollywood Studios

We're here! Our fourth park of the day! There are no fastpasses available but that's ok because we decided to catch the final Beauty and the Beast stage show of the day! This is one of our favorite shows and a perfect way to celebrate our adventurous day! And we can't forget our favorite snacks!!

We did it!! We made it to all four parks in one day! We left Hollywood Studios and took a boat back to the Boardwalk where we grabbed a late dinner at ESPN and then walked back to the Beach Club! 

What a whirlwind of a day but I highly recommend everyone trying this adventure!

4 Parks. One Day. We will be back!

And when you get the chance to sit it out and dance...I hope you dance (and try new things)!

Pass the Turkey

What I  meant to say was "pass ON the turkey" as in don't eat it, skip it, or fuhgeddaboudit! This family opted to hop on a plane early Thanksgiving morning. There can be only one destination that can get us so excited to be up before the sun and I have faith, trust, and pixie dust that you can guess what it was!!!

You got it! We will be spending the next 10 days celebrating Christmas with extended family at Walt Disney World.

Instead of turkey dinner we had an Italian feast compliments of the fiery depths of Stromboli, Vesuvio, and Etna in Epcot's World Showcase.

I'll stop back for some more updates when the gang is all here. But until then, check out this Christmas tree! If this doesn't get you into the spirit then Bah Humbug to you!

And when you get the chance to sit it out or dance....go to Disney!

Trick or Treat Disney Style!

Wooooohoooo!!! Guess what time it is? If you guess MEA week, you'd be right! But if you also guessed it was time to go to Disney you'd be SOOOOOOOO right!

We're ready! Baggage....check!

Sand and surf.....check!

Army men and broken elevators....check!

Popcorn with Gaston....check!



And tons of Mickey's Not so Scary FUN....check!

We had a great trip with Grammy and Grampy! You can check the rest of the MILLIONS of pictures here:

http://www.phanfare.com/rss/media/1177437_1_5803459_cbfaf0cf


We can't wait to go back! Trick or Treating is one of our most favorite times to go! Nolan loved every minutes of it and you can tell that he's really getting bigger. He can ride more rides, he knows the characters and he is totally a Disney fan. Just more proof that God knew what he was doing when he gave us this little dude. Teagan, of course is a Disney Pro and she loved slaying the villians in the Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom game. She was so good she made it to gold level during this trip. My kids ROCK!

We can't wait to go back in May! See you real soon!

And Baby Makes Four!

So, I haven't fallen off the face of the earth - I've only spent the past 9 months incubating a new little human to occupy it! I am proud to announce that Nolan Ryan Stupsky (named after Daddy not the ballplayer) was born Thursday, February 4 at 12:04 PM weighing in at 7 pounds 10 ounces and a full head of hear (a mullet if you ask his Auntie Odie [littlebabylehtinen.blogspot.com])! We were supposed to be induced on February 5 but I guess Nolan had other plans and wanted to arrive on his own terms.

This new little man has totally changed the dynamic of our family where parents once outnumbered the child(ren) 2 to 1. Now we're dealing with one-on-one and the effects can be felt daily. We used to be able to tag team Teagan and household chores - "easy, peasy pumpkin squeezy" as Teagan would say but now we're each assigned a child. Yup, you guessed it - that means that the household chores have gone to hell in a hand basket. Granted we're not quite a month into our life-long foray with two children and I know that we'll eventually find balance but until then I need to learn to ignore the less than perfect surroundings.

Now, back to the little man! He's adorable and has quite the set of lungs just like his sister did when she was born. I was told, many times over, that no one has had more than one colicky child so I think we should win some sort of colicky child-bearing award.

Speaking of Teagan she LOVES, LOVES, LOVES being a big sister and puts her hands and lips all over Nolan whenever she has the opportunity. She's writing stories about him almost daily at school and according to her teacher some of her friends/classmates are also writing stories about Teagan's "babe brvr" <---- That's how Teagan spells Baby Brother.

Here are some pictures of the newest little Stupsky and the big sister:

She's already a pro and wants to be the only one to hold him.

Which one is the baby and which one is Nolan!??!  Teagan thought it was really cool that he was the same size as her Itty Bitty Baby.

Big Sister earned herself a field trip to American Girl at Mall of American. She chose to get the full-size Lanie doll. Lanie is the 2010 doll of the year and also happens to be the name of one of her "bestest friends"!

Mackinac Island - Tour of Michigan 2009

The conversation always goes a little like this:

Mack-a-who? Mackinac Island silly! Never heard of it? There's horses - no cars, and fudge - the fudge is to die for, and the ferry with the rooster tail...  this is about where the blank stare turns to a slight chuckle.  But I'm not laughing. Mackinac Island is a great family vacation spot or a wonderful couples retreat - just check it out in the movie 'Somewhere in Time' with Christopher Reeves and Jane Seymour!

We've been wanting to bring Teagan there for quite some time but it's just never worked out since it's another 3-4 hours beyond Marquette which makes it a 9 - 10 hour trip from Minnesota. This year we had a good excuse to visit the island, however, since Jon and Heather's wedding festivities were taking place on Drummond Island on the far eastern point of Michigan. We took the week off prior to the wedding and made way toward Mackinac Island with a stop over in Marquette for a quick visit with family. It was also our last hurrah of the summer as Teagan starts Kindergarten next week!!

Teagan loved the island and all the fun things we got to do. She was not, however, pleased with the island aroma of fresh horse droppings. It was a bit difficult for me too, being pregnant made those smells seem so much stronger than I remember as a child.

It was still a great time! We ate fudge, rode bikes around the island, ate fudge, relaxed on a horse-drawn carriage, ate fudge, visited the Grand Hotel, ate fudge, and stayed at the Mission Point Resort. It was a great first visit for Teagan!!

The view from 'beneath the bridge' in the Lower Peninsula - where the trolls live! We could have gotten to the island from the Upper Peninsula but Teagan really wanted us to drive across the bridge.

The view of the bridge from the upper deck of the ferry.

There's the Grand Hotel!!

Teagan's legs were not long enough for the tandem bike so we got the tag along for the day! She LOVED it!!

Hanging out in front of the Grand Hotel!

In front of the marina

Next Stop Drummond Island, MI for Jon and Heather's wedding and then a 12 hour drive back to Minnesota to get our little girl ready for school!!

Happiness is in the skip

Last Sunday we spent a family fun afternoon at the Elm Creek Park Reserve tubing hill. It was the first tubing adventure for each of us and while we planned to have a good time we didn't realize how much fun we were really going to have.




We arrived to a jam-packed parking lot - I guess a lot of other families had the same idea since the thermometer was above 30! We forged ahead and within minutes we found ourselves standing at the top of 10 perfectly manicured snow lanes. We took a cue from the family in the lane next to us and we tied our tubes together - with Teagan in the middle, of course. Once the lane was clear of human targets we pushed off...down we went!!

About halfway down the hill I thought "Oh no, she's going to be so scared"! I did not think that we would achieve the speed that we did in such a short period of time. Before we knew it we were at the bottom. I looked over at Teagan and she was laughing hysterically. She pounded her fist on her tube and said "Stop it! That was so much fun! Let's go again."




We all agreed - again was a must! We pulled our tubes over to the magic carpet ride and it carried us and our tubes back to the top. I could get used to this - when I was a child we had to haul the sleds and ourselves back up the hill! Not here - I guess this is part of what you pay for. On our journey back to the top Teagan was still chattering about how much fun it was and said "next time I'll keep my eyes open!"

We repeated the process many times over for the next two hours. I know that it was a successful family outing because between each slide down the hill Teagan skipped everywhere. I've learned in her 4 short years that when she skips, she's happy! It made us both giddy to watch her enjoy our afternoon.




We're already anxiously awaiting our next trip to Elm Creek!

Our Twelve Days of Vacation

We had a wonderful Christmas trip to Michigan and are now home in MinneSNOWta! Our trip to Michigan can be summed up in the 12 days of Vacation below!

12 days of vacation
11 inches of snow
10 hour drive to Michigan
9 questions of "Are we there yet"
8 Breadsticks from the Portside (probably more)
7 Stupsky's jammed into a church pew
6 hours of Wii Yahtzee!
5 hundred trips up and and down Whitman Sledding Hill
4 Doting grandparents
3 (G) iPhone for Danielle
2 days of presents
1 Happy 4-year old girl

Okay, so there was so much more to our trip. We had such a great time that Teagan cried for almost two hours as we were driving out of town. I can hardly blame her - when she's there she has all her grandparents doting on her and she gets to spend quality time with her cousins; something we don't have in Minnesota. For her it's like a perpetual party and I get it - I totally understand how she feels. I remember when we first left Marquette coming back home was the best feeling - coming back to what I know; the people, restaurants, atmosphere. It's been so many years and it's not exactly the same feeling, but there's still that magic and excitement when we see the sign "Welcome to Marquette".



As you can see it was a fun Christmas morning for Teagan. She must have been a really good girl - she earned her first set of wheels from Nanny and Poppy! For now she can ride it in the basement - but once the snow melts watch out world!!!

It was also really nice to spend some time with Sierra - she's been living with Nanny and Poppy (and her dog-brother Max) since we put our previous house on the market. She's been spoiled since she arrived there and spent the summer running around at the Lake. In the winter she spends her time roaming the woods next to the house - she's a pretty lucky senior dog-citizen.




As I mentioned - we're home. No magic as we crossed the "Welcome to Minnesota" state line but it sure feels good to be back in my own bed. We're still trying to unpack all of the suitcases and boxes from the trip so it'll likely be a few weeks before I'm back on here. Here's to wishing you all a very Happy New Year! Since you only have a day or two you better hurry and complete your 2008 resolutions...in just a few days you'll be making more.

We are thankful...

Happy (belated) Thanksgiving! I know I'm a bit late in posting our Turkey Day fun, but I just came out of my turkey coma and I'm ready to get back to reality.

This year we had a very laid back Thanksgiving, for the first time in as long as we can remember it was just the three of us. We tried to keep up some of the long-standing traditions like playing a new game, watching football and skipping lunch in lieu of dips, chips and other snackies but it just did not feel the same.

Teagan woke at the crack of dawn and was so excited to be able to wear the new dress she got from Nanny and Poppy. She looks to find any excuse to wear a dress, I guess there's no better reason than a holiday! She looked adorable and complimented her look with white ballet shoes (did I mention her ballet shoes have become a very important fixture in her life?).



Teagan had hoped for some snow on Thanksgiving so we could go out and play - the weather called for snow, just not in Minnesota. I write this blog 6 days post Thanksgiving and we still have yet to enjoy any type of snow accumulation. This was as close as she got to snow this day - still pretty cute!



Even though it was just the three of us we still managed to cook a meal fit for an army. My favorite part, as always, are the rolls. Teagan and I watched them rise all day until they were FINALLY ready to go in the oven. Teagan was happy (as was I) that she could stop asking "Are they done yet?" I promised her she could butter them when they came out of the oven and she was happy to help!



After dinner the fun began! Really, I have no pictures of dinner. I've never really understood why people try so hard to coordinate the cooking times of things such as the turkey, sides and wine pouring only to spend 20 minutes taking pictures of everyone sitting at the table ready to dig in like gluttens...when it's finally time to eat it's a surefire bet the potatoes are cold and the wine bottle is almost empty due to the stress of trying to figure out how to work the automatic timer.

I do, however, have pictures of the pie - simply becuase Teagan's only request this year was that she get to try Pecan Pie. What? A 4 year old wants Pecan Pie? We humored her even though neither of us have ever had a pecan pie and it seems so unbearably gross. To my surprise a Pecan Pie is filled with creamy caramel - very rich and delicious. They need to come up with a better name - Pecan Pie just does not sounds as tasty as Gooey Caramel Pie topped with Pecans. Here's a picture of heaven in a pie pan along with it's proud owner:




To top off the day we received a visit from a cute little Elf! He arrived while we were outside lighting up the house. When we got back in the house Teagan noticed him sitting on the ledge and could not believe her eyes! He brought along some special treats for Teagan and his book so we would know what to do with him. Santa sent him to watch her and each night he flies back to the North Pole to report on Teagan and her activities. If she's well behaved she might find a small holiday treasure the next morning near the elf. It's really been a lot of fun watching her try to interact with the elf. Each night when he returns from the North Pole he lands at a different location so each morning she runs around the house to find the elf. Did I mention she named him Elfie; quite appropriate! If you want to learn more about Elfie and his other elf friends you can at http://www.elfontheshelf.combut please don't ruin the magic for Teagan.



I'm hopeful you all had as much fun as we had on Thanksgiving! Now get out there and get your Christmas shopping done!!

Sundae Night

Okay, so it was really Saturday night that we enjoyed family sundae night! As you can see Teagan got a bit carried away with all the ice cream frills. It was a bit sugary for Ryan and I, but she loved every bite of her masterpiece!






We love Sundae Nights!!!!