Magical Reality - My first time to Disney World

Over my 30th birthday I happened to have a work trip take me to Disney World for the first time. 

Having grown up going to Disneyland a million times, I was interested in the differences.

Animal Kingdom: 

There is nothing like it in Disneyland, except the Matterhorn/Expedition Everest ride. To me they are the same ride. To true Disney folks they are not.

Delicious meal, because it is mandatory to post 1 food picture on a trip, right?

It is the animal kingdom, so we saw lots of animals.

Magic Kingdom: 

Basically Disneyland, only spread out a whole lot more with a few rides missing that ended up in other Disney World parks.

Emily my co-worker, friend, and adventure buddy for the trip. This was the only picture we ended up taking together. Naturally it was when we got stuck on my favorite ride Thunder Mountain.

For the most part I obeyed the rule to not take pictures so that we could "preserve the magic"... For the most part. Don't ask Thomas about all the other rules I like to break.

Glad we didn't get stuck there! All those stair along the rides make sense now.

You are still my favorite ride!

I think this is my favorite picture of the whole trip. This is where I get deep. The second I saw it, I thought that it was perfect. Even the most magical life, has the reality that it needs to be maintained. Perfect.

Did you know that when you leave Disney, Main Street is made to look longer while you leave to entice you to shop?

And shorter when you come in! Disney facts via Emily.

So up until this point it seemed very similar to Disneyland to me, only a million times bigger, and I saw a lot more animals. And then there were all the rest of the parks. Wow.

The Boardwalk:

We had dinner one evening at the boardwalk. It was adorable.

Epcot:

A whole new world. Literally. And the topiaries? I have no words. Made my heart smile.

Crazy cool clouds that day.

Love Finding Nemo! My favorite line from Pearl the baby octopus. "Aww man! I inked!"

I want this herb garden bad! Thomas, you are up buddy!

These ovens were hilarious.

And apparently I had to include 2 food pictures. Prosciutto, arugula, and cantaloupe on pizza. Sounds weird, but it was amazing!

Your welcome, Thomas.

I had a blast with my camera and the fireworks.

This was our hotel. Such weird fascinating people staying here.

Hollywood Studios:

Also completely different then Disney World, but they do have the Tower of Terror just like California Adventure does. And the detail is crazy amazing!

 

Overall, it was super fun to see the major differences between Disney World and Disneyland.

Great place to turn 30.

Chemical Free Laundry and Dishwasher Soap

Thomas and I have been trying to find replacements for all the chemicals (shampoo, conditioner, bar soap, laundry, and dish washing soap) we have been using. But at the same time, we are already making all of our own food and quite frankly I do not have the time to make our cleaning products as well. So far I have found a laundry soap alternative that I don't have to make. 

They are called soap nuts. They are my new best friend.

Well they would be if I did laundry. 

So really, they are Thomas' new best friend.

You use about 4 shells in a bag for 5-6 loads until they turn grey and then you compost them!

From Naturoli's website

"Very simply, soap nuts are the dried shells (or husks) from the soapberry (or soap berry nut). These berries are the fruit from a quite unique tree species. These shells contain a substance called saponin that produces a soaping effect. Saponin is a 100% natural alternative to chemical laundry detergent and cleansers. It can replace many chemical detergents such as those containing sodium laureth sulphate (SLS) that are becoming well known by consumers for being a skin irritant and health hazard."

If you want to try them out, I would suggest getting the trial size for just $5. 

Simply go to the website here.

And they will send you enough for 15-20  loads with a little muslin bag.

No I am not getting paid. I just love them.

I mean really? I get to wash my clothes without chemicals and I get to compost the little buggers as well? Dream come true in the Kucera house.

Of course I had to buy them in bulk and make a fun little bag to store them in.

The second thing we ran out of so I had to come up with a replacement quickly, was dish washing detergent. I could not find a one to one replacement like the soap nuts, but I did find a relatively simple recipe. I already had the Borax from a desire to make things naturally years ago, and I also already had the kosher salt from Thomas' bacon making days. The Washing Soda (yes, it is different from baking soda) I found at Winco, but I believe you can also find it at Walmart. The only thing I could not find in a store was Citric Acid, so I made sure I bought food grade Citric Acid online. I figure if I can eat it, it will be find on my dishes.

So here you are. Simple.

Dishwasher Soap

1 Cup Washing Soda

1 Cup Borax

½ Cup Citric Acid

½ Cup Kosher Salt

Use 1 Tablespoon per load.

Approximately 48 loads worth

So I made a double batch so I don't have to think about it for ages now.

2 less chemical inducing items in my house.

Love it.

Do you have a favorite homemade recipe you make? 

I would love to hear about it!

Pink and Green "Ready to Pop" Baby Girl Shower

My second baby shower these last few months was for my friend Laura who is having a sweet baby girl. It was so much fun to plan a girl shower as well. Erin, Kristen, and I all got together and those 2 ladies made a huge difference in making my life simple! We went with the colors pink and green as well as the theme "Ready to Pop"!

We tried to make all the food pop related. Cake pops, strawberry pops, rice krispie pops, 3 kinds of pop corn, and even sparkling pop to drink!

Kristen made these 2 adorable onesies, while Erin made the adorable tutu. Such creative ladies!

Erin also made these awesome paper pom poms.

Such good food!!!

I had a blast making personalized thank you notes again. Laura was having difficulties with names so we played 2 name games! And guess the number of jelly beans (which are super expensive for bulk food! $22 for jelly beans? What on earth!)

We also made little "pop"corn ball treats as party favors. Erin, Kristen, and I got together the day before to cook which was the best! Love my some girl time!

I got a Cameo Silhouette last year and it has made these banners a cinch! I just love it!

And the other game we played was guess how much the baby items all cost.

Laura, the sweet mama, myself holding Luke, and Kristen. Luke belongs to Kristen and they are the ones we threw the baby boy airplane shower for.

It has been so much fun celebrating these ladies and their beautiful babies.

Thank you Kristen and Erin for all your help!

Laura also wrote about the shower in her blog over at Storybook Reality.

Can't wait to meet her sweet baby girl in the next week!