Nobody Does Fireworks Like Disney!

When I blogged about "You Only Got a Hundred Years", I mentioned cramming life into my days, and making the most of moments. And here in living color is an example of that. When I went to Walt Disney World for my 50th birthday, I was blessed to serendipitously cross paths with a "Disney Master Photographer". As we sat and waited the hour and a half for the Very Merry parade to start, we chatted about many topics, and my ear caught and held onto the phrase "perimeter fireworks". 

When my brain could finally remember this phrase while I was actually sitting at my computer, I Googled it and had a light bulb moment...The idea to be AT Walt Disney World ON the Fourth of July to SEE the perimeter fireworks was born. And being married to my very own Yankee Doodle Dandy, he was up for the idea and the reservation was promptly booked for 2015. We got lucky, in that my work had attached a floater to the holiday weekend, and with the 4th falling on a weekend, we were looking at a four day holiday weekend without any of my precious vacation days needing to be allocated to such a whim. ;-) The boys working at college during the summer months added to the feasibility of trip. Who wanted to sit home alone, when they could go to Walt Disney World and see "perimeter fireworks"?! Not us!

We opted for the tropical setting of the Polynesian Resort. Whenever we go on super crowded weekends, I'm all bout minimizing transportation time. Monorail properties are the best way to do this. We had never stayed at the Poly, shying away from its dark motif. But a peak at the recent remodel, and the fact that the Grand was booked and the Contemporary undesirable after having stayed there in February, we felt like it was time to try the Poly. {I should add at this point that we have sort of stopped telling people when we are going to WDW. We have annual passes. We have frequent flier miles. We like to go already. ;-)} So, trip booked, and the realization began to set in that we were actually going to take a trip for our anniversary, ON our anniversary!

I should add in here quickly, in case you don't know, that we were actually married ON July 4 in 1987 and it was hot, hot, hot in humid Houston, but it was the Saturday that worked for both our families back then, and, so national holiday aside, a July 4 wedding for us was meant to be. Every since that 1987 Saturday, though, our July 4 holidays have been spent in a whirlwind of extended family cookouts, and excursions with our sons to Sea World, and picnics, and parks, and other various fireworks locations around the state. July 4 growing up was always about family and food and fireworks, and it coinciding with our 1987 nuptials made no matter over that mentality. 

In fact, it wasn't until earlier this year, as we anticipated our July 4 trip approaching, that we even realized we had never been on an "anniversary trip" - just the two of us - ON our actual anniversary! No better way to remedy that than a "tropical stay" in our favorite World, right? ;-) The relaxing atmosphere of the Polynesian seemed to fit the bill perfectly. And being able to watch the fireworks from its beach across Seven Seas Lagoon? Yes, please! It seemed like the perfect agenda for our inaugural anniversary trip. After all, if you get married on the 4th, and want to see some fireworks for your very own anniversary, we learned long ago that nobody does fireworks like Disney!

Would the parks be crowded? Yes - at capacity! Potential of closing early? Check! Would Florida be hot? Yes - it's summer you silly goon! Potential of humid rain? Check! Would we have fun anyway? Yes - absolutely! Potential of new, adventurous experiences? Check! I don't know of anyone that gets more downright giddy about going to WDW than Steve and I. And it is the same excitement for every trip - the same magical anticipation. And we are both perfectly okay with that! Lucky us! ;-) As the days toward July 4 counted down, and as I stared at my Google search of WDW July 4 images, giddy began to describe the mood.

We walked to condition ourselves. We went shopping to buy some shorts out of fabric better capable of handling the humidity. We considered the Chill-e cloth. And passed. We evaluated shoes and regrouped. I planned to go into the parks for the first time ever without a bag. Got shorts with extra pockets. We strategized how we could get there with only carry-on bags, taking just the minimum amount of things. We made our meal reservations. We booked our Fast Passes. We were ready! We were so ready, and so excited, in fact, that we got to the airport an hour before we needed to be there, my aging brain confusing the time we needed to leave the house with the time we needed to be there at the airport. No matter! We relaxed in the terminal, and were ready to go when boarding finally began, and napped on the plane.

The trip was wonderful. It truly exceeded my every expectation.  We loved the Polynesian. Loved. Our "hot shorts" worked great. Reveled in our decadent anniversary dinner at Narcoosee's on the 3rd. We park hopped like young 'uns on the 4th and met Revolutionary Mickey, Donald, and Goofy, Chip and Dale. Took in unexpectedly the Voices of Freedom special holiday concert. Were pleased at the crowd level all weekend.  It was truly a magical July 4th. And the fireworks? The fireworks? Truly spectacular. Stunning. Jaw dropping. 360 degrees of pyrotechnic magic.  I was blown away by the perimeter fireworks, as was Steve. So thankful we saw them July 3 in the park, and July 4 from the Poly beach. We planned immediately to return again for July 4, 2016, wanting more of the big show on our big day. We really learned the meaning of the phrase we coined years ago as a family. Nobody does fireworks like Disney!

Magical July 4th Fireworks ~ Walt Disney World ~ July 4, 2015

This layout was featured in the July issue of Create by Scrapbook Generation which can be seen here on their website. 

Sketch Credit: Scrapbook Generation 

Paper: Authentique

Title: Silhouette cut file and Kerri Bradford cut file

Summer's in Full Swing & There's a Hot New CREATE Issue!

I look at the calendar and marvel over one half of the year being in the memory books already! I don't know about you, but I have thoroughly enjoyed my summer! We had an unseasonably and pleasantly mild June, and so when summer rolled into town at the end of June I was oh so ready! One of my favorite things is getting into a car warmed up by the sun. It's right behind wearing flip flops and smelling suntan lotion.

Of course, June held for the CREATE team another chance to work on our fun assignments. Getting the email every other month with our "To Do" list is sort of like opening a birthday present! You don't know what's in it, but you know it's something just for you, and it's gonna' be good! I love, love, loved my assignments this issue! I'm always down for anything to do with music and my beloved July 4 holiday. Additionally, I opted to submit for the featured manufacturer, We R Memory Keepers, and documented some of my traveling bucket list items.

Here are some sneaks of the projects. Be sure to check out all 277 pages of {free and amazing!} goodness at the magazine tab on Scrapbook Generation's website. I'll be back later to share the stories that I crafted with Pebbles, Authentique and WRMK paper pretties. I just get giddy when it's CREATE time!

These Smiling Faces

I am a hopeless patriot. I'll never apologize for it. I can cry every time I watch Mel Gibson and Heath Ledger battle in The Patriot. I get goosebumps on the high note of America, The Beautiful. I loved singing, "This land is my land, this land is your land....this land was made for you and me," along with Mrs. Collins and her ukelele in elementary school. When I watch Les Miserables, I can lay the solemnity of that redemptive revolution over the grid of American history, and weep on both behalf's. 

I love America the Beautiful. Old Glory waves from my porch column more days out of the year than not. I can see her flapping in the north Texas breeze from the chair in which I sit and type. I have a tiny bound copy of the Declaration of Independence - in love with it's little book form as much as the words it proffers. I sing along with the national anthem any chance I can, and probably often when I'm not supposed to. I can watch the National Treasure movies over and over, enthralled by the history thrust into the plot.

It was chance that landed us with an anniversary on the birthday of our country. A chain of events involving more than ourselves led us to that day. And I'll tell you - it does not offer much in the way of romantic interludes and recollections of courtship. We have been teased relentlessly about giving UP our independence ON independence day. No matter. We did what we could, and picked the date in the summer of 1987 that worked for so many of our family, and we married on an incredibly hot, humid, summer Saturday afternoon in July. And it happened to be the fourth.

The upsides: we are off together every year on our anniversary, and if we are lucky, there are fireworks. We usually conspire some getaway, or even an extended vacation, during our anniversary. It is special in that we are always together as a family, and we are usually doing something fun together, and we also get to embrace the celebration of the land that I love.

When we contemplated celebrating our 25th, cruising with the boys, and our lifelong friend, Mark, that introduced Steve and I way back in January 1984,  aboard the Disney Magic seemed so appropriate. After all, anyone knows that hitting the 25 year mark of a marriage comes with plenty of fireworks, requires a fair bit of magic, needs the ability to stay afloat in any kind of weather, and has the goal of sailing in smooth waters. ;-) 

Steve and I have been extremely blessed. I always say that every marriage that stays together is one that consciously decides to stay together. Exit doors will pop up all along the way. We have seen those doors. We have pushed past them. We have reached the phase in our life together where we are deep friends and gentle companions. We miss each other when not together - not in the earnest sorrow of an eighteen year old, but in the sincere affection of wanting to share a moment, a memory, a word, a thought, with your most prolific friend, with one whom has seen all of your life events spanning, as of this writing, three decades.

I loved celebrating our 25th anniversary on July 4 in the waters off Alaska. I loved seeing the boys get excited over the dinner that night in Animators' Palate. I loved that Mark was with us to experience his first Disney cruise. I loved that all five of us embraced adventure and were equally mesmerized by the wildly extravagant beauty of Alaska. I loved that we ran into Americana Mickey. I loved that those silly shipboard photographers captured some of all of it for me. 

I can sit here and remember each moment in these photographs below - and I can remember a lifetime of moments spent together across our country. We have pieced together a story that is as rich as the colors in our flag. We have been blessed with a bountiful tale - a tale I love - our life, our liberty, and the pursuit of our happiness. You have only to look at the faces below. You can see it plain as day. I love all these smiles, and the stories that go with them.

It's always my joy to hear Happy Anniversary...and say Happy Birthday America. "This land is my land, this land is your land...this land was made for you and me." Chasing life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness freely in the land that I love is a rich gift, one for which I am forever grateful. Just as much as I am grateful for the life I have with these smiling faces.

Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness - Disney AK Cruise, Fourth of July - July 2012

Sketch Credit: Scrapbook Generation http://scrapbookgeneration.com/index.php?route=product/category&path=213 This is actually a Generations Kit by Debbie Sanders. She is an amazing talent and I only add a few trinkets here and there to complement her incredible layout.

Paper: We R Memory Keepers