Kids

Disney Memories on Splash Mountain: The Thrill, The Joy, and the Terror!

May 22, 2012 By Colleen Padilla Leave a Comment

What a wild ride! This photo captures it all.

Splash Mountain is probably our favorite attraction at the Magic Kingdom – it’s a fabulous ride with just enough thrill to make us nervous but not too many giant drops to make my 4 or 6 year old “freak out” totally. Plus getting wet is a bit of an adventure and everyone feels like they’ve “survived” after the ride ends which provides all kinds of fun memories forever after.

We are still talking about our ride on Splash Mountain 4 weeks after we stepped off the log flume…… Truly a magical memory – even with that look of terror on Kenzie’s face!

Browsing through our Disney photos today, I found this crazy photo of the 4 of us.

Kyle, age 4, rode Splash Mountain for the 1st time and loved it. He was hysterically laughing about the drop while Kenzie is totally full of terror. She loved it but definitely has to battle her nerves during the entire ride as we tour Br’er Rabbit’s adventure prior to the gigantic plunge into the Briar Patch.

Filed Under: Disney, Kids Tagged With: splash mountain

A winning night at the Dogwood Festival

May 19, 2012 By Colleen Padilla Leave a Comment

There’s nothing like a local summer fair. We hopped over to Phoenxiville’s annual Dogwood Festival on Thursday evening for a fun night out with the kids. The excitement of the crowds and the transformation of our ordinary park into a giant carnival atmosphere was thrilling for my kids.

The expressions of pure joy on my children’s faces was priceless and non-stop during our 90 minutes of glorious fun.

And we’re still living the Dogwood Dreams after our surprise win of a goldfish at the fair on Kyle’s very last Ping Pong Ball toss. The kids are beyond ecstatic with the new life in our home and the fact that they now officially own a REAL LIVE PET.

Introducing…. GOLDIE KAY DOGWOOD. Named Goldie by Kyle, middle name Kay by Kenzie in honor of Great Aunt Kay and Kenzie’s own middle name Kay, and I had the privilege of selecting the last name – Dogwood, in honor of the Dogwood Festival where we won the little guy.

Let’s pray Goldie lives a long life as the kiddos are very attached and each night swap turns sleeping with his little fishbowl in their room

Filed Under: Kids Tagged With: dogwood festival, Kenzie, kyle

The things we do for our children……Like Dressing up as a Polar Bear!

May 15, 2012 By Colleen Padilla Leave a Comment

So sometimes we do crazy things for our kids. Blame it on love. Last week was a fun one that I’m sure we’ll remember for a long time.

Quiet unassuming Mike dressed up as the GIGANTIC Polar Bear Lars last week for Kenzie’s school’s annual “Teddy Bear Picnic”.

He played the “naughty” bear who wouldn’t listen to the teachers too – so this meant Mike did lots of gesturing, butt wiggling, and dancing while literally BOILING inside this humongous Polar Bear suit. Of course I was the one who volunteered Mike for the gig – but he was a great sport about it….. I was a “Bear Guide” to help the bears to and from the assembly as they had to perform their show and duties 2 times during the afternoon. Mike had a blast and did fabulous – but yes this costume was like a form of torture.

Here’s his video of his routine – and yes the little kids loved it.

During our various 10 minute breaks for the Bears to get a breather, Mike would pull of his bear head and I swear I thought he might have a heart attack. This is a guy who runs under 16 minutes for the 5K but I’ve never seen him so red, sweaty or exhausted looking. As if it wasn’t hot enough – he was also basically blind in the suit – they had you see through the nose but his nose got all fogged up from the steamy heat! The costume is supposed to have a fan running in it – but there was no battery included so Mike was stuck with the steam!

He says if he ever gets the pleasure to wear the ordinary “Teddy Bear” Cubby suit again – as he wore it at Christmas to hand out t-shirts to all the kids in the school – that he will relish it with delight.

And I’m sure he’ll get just that chance – Kyle will be in Kindergarten soon and 2014 will be here before we know it.

Filed Under: Kenzie, Kids Tagged With: lars polar bear costume

Mother’s Day Tea

May 12, 2012 By Colleen Padilla Leave a Comment

I live for these moments. Mother’s Day Tea is just the cutest thing of the year at our preschool. This age is so adorable I want to bottle it up and keep it with me forever – especially someday when I’m all old and alone – I’ll be able to remember and return to that time in my life when I was the center of the world for a sweet little kind, energetic and imaginative 4 year old boy. The days are long…..but the years sure are short.

At our very special and lovely preschool set up on a hill nearly 1/2 mile into the woods, magic happens every morning for the little people. And once a year us Moms get to totally become a part of it when during our special time at Mother’s Day Tea.

The teachers work so hard to prep it all up and the kids work hard to help. From making us special “desserts” that the kids help make- pudding, cool whip, crumbled cookies, and fresh strawberries, to all the decorations and crafts we get to bring home with us. Plus the kids all planted us marigolds from seed in little planters and gave all the Moms a beautiful single rose. And let’s not forget the concert singing songs full of love for Mommy. Really I live for this stuff!

Filed Under: Kids, kyle Tagged With: kyle

Spending the Day with Team USA Moms, Olympians, and Olympic Hopefuls

May 9, 2012 By Colleen Padilla 1 Comment

Raising an Olympian. Can you imagine? Yesterday I spent the day with TEAM USA Moms of Olympic athletes & Olympic hopefuls. As part of Procter & Gamble’s Thank You Mom Campaign, they announced yesterday they will be giving $1000 to EVERY single Team USA Mom – 800 of them – to help them get to London to see their children compete.

My day was extraordinary and beyond inspirational.

Tough to put it into words – so for now here’s just a great recap with photos. As the Olympics draw closer I’ll be able to share more personal stories and unveil the “Raising an Olympian” videos that P&G created for nearly a dozen athletes & their Moms.

We started the day off at the Today Show to film a segment on the Plaza to share the big surprise about the $1000 gift to every Mother and to preview the unbelievably incredible 2 minute “Thank You Mom” ad. This one gets me every time!

Here’s Ryan Lochte – Olympic swimmer with his Mom. They were adorable!

My friend Audrey and I couldn’t resist posing in the Plaza with all the London banners in the background.

And yeah, I could not RESIST getting up close with Ryan.

Besides being incredibly fast in the water he is clearly a Sponsor’s dream. And after posting this pic on Facebook to share with friends he is also apparently the Olympic athlete every Mom friend of mine will officially now be crushing on during the Summer Games in London too. LOL!

Matt, Ann and Al. And Ann is super duper cute in person and totally styling too.

Our next stop was a press conference with the Team USA Moms and athletes for the media. And then I basically got to hang out all day with the Moms and athletes. I truly got to spend quality time with the Moms of these Olympic caliber athletes and get to know them on the Mom to Mom level and learn their “stories.” Incredible.

This is Lois Clemens – mother of Kortney Clemons, ParaOlympian athlete in Track & Field who lost his leg in 2005 in Iraq. Heartbreaking and inspiring.

A true hero for the Red, White, and Blue.

And this is Roslyn Eaton and her son Ashton Eaton – world record holder in the Heptathlon! We spent a ton of time with Ros. She has a magnetic personality and is full of sage advice. After talking to her and absorbing her nuggets of wisdom, I could see why her son turned out to be an incredibly genuine person and accomplished athlete.

I am going to be following the trials so closely now after feeling like I know all these Gymnasts, Weightlifters, Swimmers, and Runners.

We also met the adoptive mother of Lopez Lomong – one fo the Lost Boys of Sudan who came to the USA to live in New York – and carried the flag for the US at the Beijing Games. Another major WOW story. And we chatted lots with Sarah Robles, 2012 Weightlifter and her mother, Diana Lopez, Tae Kwon Do Olympian, Jordyn Wieber, high school student and 2011 World Champion in Gymnastics! What a day.

Hanging out with our Digital Mom friends who came by to attend the press conference and a Blogger Q&A roundtable that both Audrey and I moderated together with the athletes and Moms.

Another fun shot of Ryan with gold medalist Gymnast, Shawn Johnson. She was a doll and so was her Mom.

I’ll be posting her Raising an Olympian video tomorrow!

Disclosure: Thanks to P&G for inviting me to attend this event, moderate a panel, and paying for my travel expenses. As always, all thoughts and opinions are my own.

Filed Under: Kids Tagged With: ryan lochte, shawn johnson, thank you mom

Animal Kingdom after dark!

May 7, 2012 By Colleen Padilla 1 Comment

Reliving the fun! Better late than never, I figured I’d share some of our fave memories from Disney’s Social Media Moms’s event where we partied at Animal Kingdom for a Dino-Riffic event after the park closed.

We snapped this Family photo walking into the park which captures that glorious tree of life in the backdrop.

The last week has been a whirlwind returning home after 10 days of travel and than battling a nasty sinus infection. The good news about posting a week later is that I get to relive all the memories again sooner rather than later.

I love this photo with Chip n Dale. They are ADORABLE in person.

And yes, no matter how many times you visit Disney, the magic never fades. There are always more nooks to discover, characters to meet, rides to test out, and memories to make!

Hitting a park after dark during special events is always extra exciting for kids and for parents. No lines for rides, yummy food, and endless entertainment. We rode the Triceratops spin no less than 5 times. The kids danced with Donald Duck and Daisy and we all enjoyed free carnival games – Whac a Mole and the Shooting Gallery were a big hit!

More fun posing!

Disclosure: Thanks to Disney for including my family in the Disney Social Media Moms celebration and giving us special media access, discounts, and many other extras as part of our experience. As always, all thoughts and opinions are our own

Filed Under: Disney, Kids Tagged With: animal kingdom, Disney

A Magic Morning

April 26, 2012 By Colleen Padilla Leave a Comment

Picture perfect weather at the Magic Kingdom made for another great set of memories. We hit lots of rides – many of which we’ve missed on our last few trips. Today’s favorites were the Teacups and the Haunted Mansion. Kyle also rode Dumbo for the 1st time ever! Lots more to come as the Disney Social Media Moms conference kicks off tonight.

Filed Under: Disney, Kids Tagged With: Disney

Video: 4 year old Kyle is riding a 2 wheeler

April 23, 2012 By Colleen Padilla Leave a Comment

How do you teach your kids to ride a bike? Apparently the easiest way is to not teach them at all!

This weekend with little Kyle it seemed he picked it up almost all by himself. Awesome! Amazing how what can be so easy for one child is difficult for another. We popped off his training wheels, showed him how to do it once and then pretty much ignored him as were focusing on helping big sister Kenzie master riding her bike.

Next thing we knew, Kyle just decided to start riding on his own. We weren’t really paying attention to him and then looked over and saw him tooling around all over the playground on his bike instead of riding the scooter we brought to entertain him. Awesome! Here is his video:

My advice on why it’s so easy for Kyle – forgetting he obviously has always had great athletic ability of course.

1. Buy the kids a super small bike so they can learn young. Be sure they have mastered pedaling obviously (usually have to be 3 to do this!)

2. Buy a Balance bike so the kids can tool around on it to get the feel for balancing on 2 wheels. I think our Kazaam bike really helped him master the bike riding 2 wheeler thing naturally.

3. Take of the training wheels off and keep them off.

4. Watch other kids riding bikes. Yes, it looks so easy because as we all know it really is once you can do it!

5. Believing you can do something is more than half the battle. After showing him how to how to do it and told him he was great, he believed us. Hooray!

Filed Under: Kids Tagged With: kyle

Kenzie’s Race Day Jitters – Then and Now

April 23, 2012 By Colleen Padilla Leave a Comment

And look how big she is now. Looks like that competitive spirit and focus before a race or swim meet has always been in her!

Filed Under: Kids Tagged With: Kenzie