July Cash Giveaway hosted by Ohsoamelia

Welcome to the £200/$300 Gift Card Giveaway!

How would you like to win some free cash to perhaps brighten up your wardrobe, 

treat the kids, or even yourself? I've teamed up with some lovely bloggers 

to give you the chance to win a £200/$300 gift card of choice! 

Simply complete the tasks below to earn entries for this giveaway. 

Rules:

-July 31st at 12:01am GMT – August 22nd at 12:00am GMT 

-Open to everyone worldwide 

-You must have a paypal account 

-You must be at least 18 years to enter 

-All entries will be verified, so please don’t cheat.

Please take a moment to visit our co-hosts below. 

Hosted by: Ohsoamelia
Co-hosts: Berice Baby, Life In A Break Down, Handbags To Change Bags,
Aka Chymecindy, Mama Fashion Flies, Then I Laughed, My Turn For Us,
Daddy Space, To The Sea, Tied The Knot, Crafts A La Mode,
& A day in the life of Calleigh Emma

Good Luck!

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Disclosure: I have received no compensation for this post. Any opinions are my own and may differ from your own. Please contact ohsoamelia@hotmail.co.uk with any questions or if you would like to take part in the next big event sign up to the mailing list here.

Magic Kingdom and My Birthday

The morning of my birthday I woke up to hear Paul banging around in the other room of the hotel. As I sat on the bed with Calleigh beans waiting for him to be finished, Paul made his entrance with a cup of tea in hand. 

Perfect. 

He invited me into the room and I was amazed to see he had decorated it with streamers and birthday balloons and on the table lay my birthday cards and presents. It was lovely. Thank you to everyone who sent me cards! 

Of course Calleigh was straight in there with the balloons and the confetti. By the time I had finished opening my presents confetti was everywhere and we found out that the dye in it also dyes your skin after freaking out when we saw little pink circles all over calleigh's feet.

Afterwards, as planned, we headed to Disney's Magic Kingdom Park. When we arrived we chose to take the ferry boat across, Calleigh loved looking out the window as we went across the lake. Our first stop was to pick up my birthday badge from customer service. While there we saw Snow White and Marie from Aristocats.
I had dressed Calleigh up in her Sofia dress and everyone commented on how beautiful she looked. And she did, it brought tears to my eyes to see her looking like a little princess.

It was a very hot day again and the sun was shining so when we decided to go for something to eat and were told we had to leave the stroller outside we didn't think much of it and went inside. We had chosen to eat at the new Be Our Guest Restaurant. It was gorgeous, it was like walking into Beauty and the Beast! We had carved Turkey sandwiches with fries and Calleigh and I also had dessert. Dessert was the cutest, tastiest small cake I have ever had.

After we had finished we went back to pick up the stroller, only to find out it had rained, a lot! The stroller was soaking wet. We ended up having to buy a towel to dry it off so Calleigh could go in and have a nap. After the rain had stopped we walked around the rest of the park. Unfortunately the rain had made it so humid it was almost unbearable so we left a bit earlier than planned. 

It continued raining on and off that afternoon so we didn't have chance to do much outside of the dry hotel room. 

That evening we went out for a birthday meal at TGI Fridays. It was gorgeous and Calleigh loved tucking in to my free birthday sundae (two treats in one day!). When we got back that night Calleigh was asleep so we tucked her into bed and then Paul came out with my birthday cake, all lit up with 24 candles. It was carrot cake- my favourite! 

I blew out the candles and Paul and I enjoyed a beer together before joining Calleigh in the land of nod.

Thank you for an amazing birthday Paul!

You can see more of our trip to Disney here

Playing in the Pool

We had a spare afternoon with nothing planned to do and the sun was out so we decided to take Calleigh down for a swim in the pool. As I mentioned before she has recently been showing a new found love of water so we thought she would really enjoy it. 

Well we were not wrong. 

When she saw the pool she ran straight over and kept pointing, indicating that she wanted in and now. At first we sat on the steps paddling our feet in the water. Calleigh began splashing around which drew the attention of another little girl a bit older than Calleigh who enjoyed being part of Calleigh's splash-a-thon.

Eventually when I felt brave enough I held Calleigh in my arms and swam out into the pool. She loved it, playing in the pool and giggling the whole time and trying her hardest to swim off on her own. 

Daddy kept watch of us from one of the sun loungers, amazed to see how much fun Calleigh was having. And I thought it was a blast too, I was so happy to see her splashing around with no fear.

I can't believe that, having a community pool just 5 minutes away from our house, that this was the first time we had tried Calleigh in the water. But now we know we will sure be going down regular and maybe even en roll in toddler swim sessions at our nearest aquatic centre.

Disney's Hollywood Studios and Disney Junior Live

On Monday we went for our first day at a Disney theme park. We chose to go to Disney's Hollywood Studios instead of Animal Kingdom after we found out they did a Disney Junior Live stage show. 

I had planned to get up early and go and have some breakfast before we go but me being me turned off my alarm when it went off at 7 in the morning and instead stayed in bed until gone 8. So we skipped breakfast and headed straight for the park. Our first stop when we got there was to go and see the stage show before it got too busy later. 

We were ushered into the theatre but unfortunately it was quite full so we could only get a seat at the back. It didn't make any difference though, Calleigh could see fine and wasn't in danger of getting knocked over by others. 

As the show started and all of Calleigh's favourite characters came on stage Calleigh's face lit up. Her eyes were glued to the stage for the whole show and I was so impressed to see her playing along and singing and clapping, she even had a little dance. I swear I don't think I've ever cried so much, I was so happy to see her so happy that the tears just came flooding out. 

Calleigh's favourite Disney program is The Little Einsteins but unfortunately due to the release of Sofia the First they seem to have been scrapped from the show. I was quite gutted that Calleigh wouldn't get to see them, she always loves to pat pat along with them. We have also been looking for some Little Einsteins toys but they don't have any, anywhere! Besides spending near $200 for a limited edition Rocket toy on Ebay. 

After the show we went to meet Jake and Handy Manny. Calleigh loved seeing Jake and gave him a big hug and shared a little dance with him. She wasn't so keen on Handy Manny though. 

We stopped for lunch at the Pizza Parlour and walked around the rest of the park whilst Calleigh had a well needed nap. When she woke up she was so hot and sweaty that we decided to call it a day and headed off home. I must say though we had the best day and I will never forget how excited and happy she was. She kept giving us the biggest hugs, a little thank you in her own way. 

Fountains at Downtown Disney

We arrived late on in the afternoon on Saturday and didn't plan to do too much as we were quite tried from the long journey. So we decided on Downtown Disney to check out some of the shops. Calleigh fell asleep in the car as usual and remained asleep for a short while whilst walking around. This allowed Mummy and Daddy to have a sneaky celebratory drink together in some peace and quiet. 

When she finally awoke we came across some fountains. We unleashed Calleigh from her stroller to let her explore them seeing as she has found a new love for water. 

She absolutely loved it! 

She laughed her little head off when a jet of water squirted near her and I laughed when they also got Daddy (she had to drag Daddy in with her). She was running around with the other kids like a maniac. Her attention was mainly focused on a much older boy, hmmmm, she followed him around pointing and laughing. 

When she had finished playing she was absolutely soaking wet and as I had not thought to bring any spare clothes out with me we had to make our way back to the hotel for the night. 

On another note It's my birthday today!! Yay!! I'm 24 years old and right now I am spending the day at Magic Kingdom with my beautiful little girl and my lovely husband who booked this lovely birthday present for me. 

Thank you Paul! 

Our Florida Trip: The Journey Down

After waking Calleigh up far too early for her little head to take we managed to get her to have some breakfast before leaving and we were on the road by 7:30am. 

We had a long journey ahead of us, 16 hours driving 1000 miles over the course of 2 days. We did however feel fully prepared after filling the iPad up with Calleigh's favourite episodes of the Little Einsteins. 

The first leg actually went really well as Calleigh had a nice long nap, god bless those long naps. 

When we arrived at our hotel in Atlanta we were ready for a good rest, Calleigh on the other hand, after being stuck in a car seat most of the day, had other plans. We took her for a walk to the pool to tire her out a little. She enjoyed paddling her feet in the shallow end and splashing her legs about. 

When we got back to the room she still wasn't tired and carried on even when Mummy and daddy had gone to bed. They didn't have a spare cot at the hotel so she ended up sharing the bed with Daddy. It was a cracking sight waking up to Calleigh spread-eagled across the bed and Daddy just hanging onto the edge. 

After a hearty breakfast at Ihop we were back on the road for the final leg of our journey. A few wee breaks, a McDonalds and another long nap from Calleigh later we arrived at our hotel. It was a lovely room with a small kitchenette and seating area. We all got scrubbed up and headed out to explore some of Orlando before turning in for the night. 

If you want to see more on our road trip you can find it here. 

My Birthday

My Birthday is coming up very soon and Paul has planned the best best birthday ever for me. 

We are taking a road trip down to Florida and taking Calleigh for her first taste of Disneyland!!

We will be hitting the road very early Friday morning. It is a 16 hour drive from St Louis to Florida so I decided it would be best for us to stop for the night on the way down as it would be a little unfair on Calleigh to keep her cooped up in a car for that long. We have planned to take a short break whilst driving through Nashville, Tennessee, for something to eat and a little air and then we will carry on to Atlanta, Georgia, where I have booked us in a hotel for the night. On Saturday morning we will resume our journey to Florida and should arrive by 3 or 4 in the afternoon. 

I got a great bargain on a fancy hotel room from hotels.com for the week on Universal Blvd so we are close to all the attractions. We have also booked 2 days at Disney World and have decided the parks we want to do are Disney's Animal Kingdom (because Calleigh loves animals) and Magic Kingdom (which we will do on my birthday). 

On our way back we have chosen a different route and will be stopping overnight in Birmingham, Alabama and travelling through Memphis before getting back to St Louis. 

As you can imagine I am beyond excited and think this little trip is just what we need. I'm starting to miss my family and friends quite a lot. Luckily when we get back it will only be a couple of days until my mum and sister arrive in St Louis to visit! 

I hope to try and post whilst we are there but if I don't get chance I will be sure to fill you in on all the details when we get back. 

With that being said, on the off chance that anyone is interested in guest posting while I am away do get in touch. 

You can find my contact details here

From our last trip to Disney World in 2009

Cooling Down In the Pool

Remember the Princess Ball Pit we got?
Well it also doubles as a paddling pool. And with summer finally here we ditched the balls and filled it up with water to cool down on these hot days.

Calleigh really enjoyed splashing about in the water and it was great to see her having so much fun in water. With her previous dislike of water I was worried we would never get her in the pool. Now she is much more confident I plan to start taking her down to the local community pool and have some fun there. 

The St Louis Zombie Run

This post is a little different to my usual posts, mainly because it's not about Calleigh but about me instead. There's no shame in writing a little bit about yourself on your daughters blog. 

Today I took part in the St Louis Zombie Run.... as a Zombie. 

I have been looking forward to this for about a month since I found out about it on Facebook. The event itself is a 5K run (if you choose to take part as a runner). Or you could opt to be a Zombie instead and face the task of scaring the living daylights out of the innocent runners and trying to take their lives by popping the red balloons they wear around their waist. 

We headed down to Queeny Park and arrived just before 9am for check in. Once checked in I joined the queue to go and have my make up done. It all went relatively quickly and before I knew it I was an official Zombie. 

I got to ride in a school bus as me and the other Zombie's were taken to our positions along the course. I was fortunate enough to get the first Zombie spot just after the race start. We hid in the bushes and waited for the race to start. 

The runners were released in waves and I put on my best zombie act as they ran past, managing to get a few screams out of them. It is so much fun scaring random strangers, although I did get scratched by one of them near the end, accidentally of course, but it was hard to tell how bad is was as I couldn't distinguish between my own blood and the fake blood. 

Calleigh wasn't bothered much by it at all, she just kept looking at me strangely. She is a brave girl and I'm pretty sure that if I did scare her at any point she would of headbutted me anyway. 

All in all we had a brilliant day out. 

Even if I did burn my shoulders and get eaten alive by bugs. 

Customer In Training

So we went shopping earlier.....

Calleigh found the customer in training shopping cart. 

I spent the whole time running around after her zooming down the aisles. 

Watching other customers dive out of the way. 

And fearing for Paul's wallet when she made her way over to the wine aisle. 

And of course after a while she got bored! 

So I ended up pushing the tiny cart instead.. Fun

All in all a successful trip to the shops... I think. 

Our Weekend

This must have been the first weekend since we have been here where we didn't get any storms. So we made sure we made the most of it by taking Calleigh to enjoy the outdoors. 

We went down to the Boathouse at Forest Park for the day, unfortunately it was very very hot and poor Calleigh got so sweaty so we couldn't stay out too long. 

We spent the time investigating the different rocks and watching Daddy trying to skim them across the lake (and failing) and then we stopped for a bite to eat before heading home to give the sweaty one a much needed bath. 

We wanted to go for a ride on a paddle boat but I think Calleigh may still be a little too young and they had no way to secure her in. Maybe next time.