Journeys Are My Diary

Life, Adventures, Entertainment and more - A little bit of everything blog!

Disney Countdown – Days 79 to 73

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Monday (79) – Jan 12th – Draw or Make Disney
Tuesday (78) – Jan 13th – Play a Disney Game
Wednesday (77) – Jan 14th – Dress up Disney
Thursday (76) – Jan 15th – Read a Disney book
Friday (75) – Jan 16th – Watch “The Little Mermaid”
Saturday (74) – Jan 17th – Make Disney themed food
Sunday (73) – Jan 18th– Paint “Ariel” peg doll

I seriously can’t believe how fast the days are flying by. In terms of weeks, we have a little over 10 weeks to go! Anyway, this is what we got up to this week. Monday was draw or make disney again and since we were so into our hair bows, the girls and I made a Baymax bow. On Tuesday it was play a disney game and since none of us could really be bothered, it was to iPads and iPhones, to play on Tsum Tsum! Wednesday was dress up disney and Megan was back to being Elsa again while Lily was Cinderella this time. Thursday the girls were at mum’s, so we had to be prepared. I dropped off a Disney book at Mum’s in the morning and left strict instructions as the selfie rule! Megan sent me the pictures later and I combined them into one for our Instagram countdown picture. On Friday it was watch a Disney movie and this time it was specifically The Little Mermaid. I will admit its been ages since I watched this, so it was really nice to watch again. I also spent the evening sewing Amy’s “Kiss the Girl” dress so it was very atmospheric!

On Saturday we had to make Disney themed food and honestly we’re running out of ideas a little. We want to avoid always making cupcakes or biscuits that just look or are shaped like Disney characters. We resorted to the Disney Cakes and Sweets magazines that I once had on subscription but sadly majority of those recipes are very tenuously linked to the disney characters. We decided on Winnie the Pooh – Honey and Vanilla biscuits, since Pooh Bear does at least like honey! Sadly no one was particularly fussed about the biscuits and after forcing Chris to eat the majority, the rest went in the bin! That leads us right up to Sunday where the task was to paint a peg doll – specifically Ariel. She decided on doing the “Kiss the Girl” look, probably partly because I’d been making the dress and really it was a very mermaid themed weekend. On Sunday, though it was nothing to do with our tasks, we also played Disney DVD Trivial Pursuit as a family, which was a lot of fun!

Disney Countdown – Days 86 – 80

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Monday (86) – Jan 5th – Draw or Make Disney
Tuesday (85) – Jan 6th – Read a Disney book
Wednesday (84) – Jan 7th – Watch Tinker Bell & the Pirate Fairy Play Tsum Tsum
Thursday (83) – Jan 8th – Play a Disney Game
Friday (82) – Jan 9th – Make Disney themed food
Saturday (81) – Jan 10th – Paint Cinderella peg doll
Sunday (80) – Jan 11th– Watch a “random” Disney movie

This week has felt very busy and incredibly tiring, due to it being the first week back at school for the kids. Even though I’m not currently working, I’ve still felt just as tired – making me wonder how I even functioned before. Monday was make or draw Disney and Lily opted for making a picture on her computer while Megan sat down to actually sketch. As always, Megan made a beautiful drawing, this time of Mickey Mouse. Tuesday the girls were with their dad after school and it was the first day back at school. Luckily the task was read Disney, meaning when they got home we could all snuggle up in Lily’s bed and read a Bedtime Story. We’re now onto the second Never Girls story and its called “The Space Between”. On Wednesday we were due to watch Tinker Bell & the Pirate Fairy but as we’d watched it recently as a “random” pick, we decided we’d watch Snow White as we’d skipped it last Sunday in favour of Big Hero 6. However in the end we were all exhausted and just wanted to sit and do nothing. Both girls ended up on the sofa, on iPads, playing Tsum Tsum so we classed this as our Disney task for the day.

Ironically the next day’s task was play a Disney game. The girls were ready early for school so Lily got in half an hour of Disney Infinity before school. The girls were both staying at mum’s that night so I dropped off Megan’s iPad there for her and she played Tsum Tsum again after school. I believe she also got my mum sucked into it! When the girls got back from school on Friday we discovered our task was to make Disney themed food. We didn’t have much in and it was very last minute so we settled for making Mickey Mouse shaped cupcakes. Sadly we didn’t have time to decorate them and although we vowed to do so the next day, the temptation to eat them for breakfast got the better of us and they were gone before we got around to it! Saturday the task was to paint the next peg doll, this time it was Cinderella. Since Megan had the blues and yellows out anyway, Lily decided to paint an Elsa figure which we’d bought in a sale, just before Christmas. Finally, Sunday’s task and when we looked it was to watch a “random” Disney movie. Luckily we had tickets booked to watch “Into the Woods” at the cinema, so we used this as our task for the day, since it is a Disney movie.

As always, every day is full of Disney, not just the tasks we’ve set ourselves to do. Megan and I attempted making Disney bows this week and though it was pretty tricky at times, we had a lot of fun!

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Disney Countdown – Days 93 – 87

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I’m a little late making this post, this week – but I’m actually going to cheat a little and backdate it. It’s been such a busy week but so nice to have plenty of time with the kids!

Monday (93) – Dec 29th – Play a Disney game
Tuesday (92) – Dec 30th – Dress up Disney
Wednesday (91) – Dec 31st – Read Disney
Thursday (90) – Jan 1st – New Year’s Day (Disney Infinity)
Friday (89) – Jan 2nd – Dress up Disney
Saturday (88) – Jan 3rd – Make Disney themed food
Sunday (87) – Jan 4th – Watch Snow White Big Hero 6 movie

So this week, Disney Infinity has still been a huge hit. While we had all the plans to play some board games, Disney Infinity has won out when it comes to “play a Disney game”.  Both the girls have spent a lot of time on the Xbox this week, but certainly Lily the most! Tuesday was dress up Disney and Megan only having a few options, picked to be Tinkerbell, where Lily picked to be Ariel. New Year’s Eve was “read Disney” which was nice as we all got to read a bedtime story together to see out the end of the year. New Year’s Day came around and we had no specific task so the girls just got in more Disney Infinity. They both then headed off to their dad’s for the day and night, meaning that the following day they were back pretty late and realised they were supposed to dress up Disney. Since they didn’t have time, both girls picked to wear Disney nighties instead. However the next day they dressed up, as well as doing their next task.

On Saturday we were around to make Disney themed food again. As we didn’t have much in, I suggested Mickey Mouse shaped waffles. The girls weren’t too sure but they were a big hit in the end. For me, they were far too time consuming, taking over 5 minutes to cook each waffle! Finally that took us to Sunday when we should have been watching Snow White. However there was a one day preview of Big Hero 6 on at the Odeon and we couldn’t pass up that chance. We’ll have to catch Snow White another time!

This week also saw the 3 month mark for our countdown to Florida. I can’t tell you how much nearer it feels now. So exciting!

Disney Countdown – Days 100 – 94

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Making a countdown has made me notice just how fast the days fly by. It was 121 when we started and now we’re down to day 93! Crazy! I seriously can’t believe we’re a quarter of the way through.

Monday (100) – Dec 22nd – Frozen Workshop – Day 1
Tuesday (99) – Dec 23rd – Frozen Workshop – Day 2
Wednesday (98) – Dec 24th – Christmas Eve (Disney PJs)
Thursday (97) – Dec 25th – Christmas Day (Disney everywhere!)
Friday (96) – Dec 26th – Boxing Day (Disney Infinity)
Saturday (95) – Dec 27th – Make Disney themed food
Sunday (94) – Dec 28th – Watch a random Disney movie – (Tinker Bell) The Pirate Fairy

Majority of this week, we didn’t set specific tasks as we knew it would be a busy week. However, without trying sometimes, we’ve managed to make the week very full of Disney. On Monday and Tuesday the girls were attending a Frozen drama workshop. They were out of the house from 10am till 4pm on both days and they put on a performance at 3pm on the second day. While the production was very basic, the girls loved the workshop and Megan even got the part of Young (middle) Elsa which had two lines (haha). I really enjoyed seeing them perform and somehow I’m still not sick of Frozen! Next came Christmas Eve and again we had nothing planned. That said, we all had new Disney PJs to wear (even the adults) so that was our Disney input for the day. Christmas Day and Boxing Day were a similar situation. Christmas Day we all got at least one Disney themed gift though and Boxing Day the girls played with a lot of their toys, especially Disney Infinity 2.0 which I’d purchased for them and Chris to share. Having a few non-festive days meant we had scheduled a few tasks and so there was making Disney themed food on Saturday and watching a movie on Sunday. In the end we were pretty busy Saturday as the whole family came around for lunch, so both tasks were completed on Sunday. We made Mickey Mouse Oreo cookies as our Disney themed food and then watched Tinker Bell and The Pirate Fairy as our random Disney movie. Its been a really great week and I’m looking forward to the next one!

Disney Countdown – Days 107 – 101

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It’s that time of the week again when I round up our Disney Countdown! I can’t believe our third week of doing this has passed and as of tomorrow we’re 100 days till Disney!

Monday (107) – Dec 15th – Make or Draw Disney
Tuesday (106) – Dec 16th – Read a Disney book
Wednesday (105) – Dec 17th – Dress up Disney
Thursday (104) – Dec 18th – Read a Disney book
Friday (103) – Dec 19th – Watch “Frozen”
Saturday (102) – Dec 20th – Dress up Disney
Sunday (101) – Dec 21st – Make or Draw Disney

This week has felt a little repetitive with some of the tasks, but its really the way we planned it because of December being so busy. Monday we had Make or Draw Disney and while Lily was so tired she went to bed without bothering, Megan started to use her Frozen loom bands, to make an Anna. Tuesday was Read a Disney book, largely because Tuesday is often a Daddy day and it was this week so this fitted in perfectly. Wednesday the girls dressed up, the first time since Megan’s birthday party. Since Lily had hurt herself getting out of the car, Megan let her be Elsa and as Rapunzel is Megan’s only other fitting dress, she had to be her. Thursday – because Tuesday or Thursday can be Daddy days – was Read a Disney book again. We didn’t mind though as we’re really getting into this book and actually read two chapters that night. On Friday the girls had their first day off school so we knew picking a movie night was a good choice. Frozen was the particular movie we were tasked with and this is because the next few days were going to be very Frozen-tastic. On Saturday it was Dress up Disney again, I think because the girls had wanted a full day to be able to dress up, not just after school. This time Megan insisted on being Elsa and so Lily chose to wear Megan’s Rapunzel dress. Sunday was the first of many FROZEN days. We were going out for lunch with Anna and Elsa, the girls were dressing as Young Anna and Elsa and everything would be very Frozen orientated. On top of that, the girls had to fit in Make or Draw Disney so Megan worked on her loomband Anna, while Lily chose just to do some colouring in.

This coming week is going to have two more days of FROZEN mania, before we settle down for Christmas. I already know that there will be no shortage of Disney in our house, even on the days without tasks! Check out my post next week, to see what we got up to!

Disney Countdown – Days 114 – 108

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Our 2nd week of Disney Countdown has passed and its been another full week of Disney fun!

Monday (114) – Dec 8th – Watch “Beauty & the Beast”
Tuesday (113) – Dec 9th – Read a Disney book
Wednesday (112) – Dec 10th – Make or Draw Disney (turned into Harry Potter)
Thursday (111) – Dec 11th – Megan’s Birthday
Friday (110) – Dec 12th – Make an Elsa Peg Doll (which turned into Katai comes and sleepover with Enchanted)
Saturday (109) – Dec 13th – Day with Katai (finally time to get the Peg Doll done in the evening)
Sunday (108) – Dec 14th – Read a Disney book

So this week was another busy one and Monday I was worried we wouldn’t have time to fit in a movie. However we did get Beauty and the Beast crammed in and it reminded me just how much I love that movie. Tuesday we had read a Disney book and that’s because Tuesday is often the kids day with their dad. However for one reason or another he didn’t have them this week but we enjoyed reading the book without being too late to bed this week. Wednesday was Make or Draw Disney but with Lily’s school play taking us till 7.30pm and then Megan’s birthday cake to make – the best we could do was honour the other Florida park (Universal) with our Harry Potter cake. Next was Megan’s Birthday on Thursday and as I mentioned before, having December as part of our countdown came on the condition that some days were easier to relieve the stress. Megan’s birthday had no specific task but there was no lack of Disney – from cards, to wrapping paper, to gifts – it was mostly Frozen but plenty of Disney everywhere! Friday our task was to paint our first peg doll (Elsa) as we had originally planned for Megan’s friend Katai to come on Saturday. However it ended up being Friday so we put off the peg doll for when we had more time. Luckily for the girls sleepover, they chose to watch Enchanted so we had watch “Enchanted” as our task for the day. Saturday we spent the day with Katai and that was marked as such on our countdown. She was gone by 5pm though so in the evening Megan got her Elsa peg doll done, to make sure she was up to date. Sunday was read a Disney story again, so we got another chapter of “in a blink” read and I have to admit I’m quite into it.

Aside from all this, there has been loads of other Disney influences in our life! I can’t wait till next week and work being over, so we cram in even more!

Disney Countdown – Days 121 – 115

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I posted earlier in the week about our Disney Countdown to Florida. It started on 1st December and will count down right up until the day before we actually travel to Orlando. From the day we started, it was 121 days to go and to keep track, I’ve been posting pictures on Instagram to mark each day. This is my recap of the week.


Monday (121) – Dec 1st – Decorate the Disney Christmas Tree
Tuesday (120) – Dec 2nd – Read a Disney Story
Wednesday (119) – Dec 3rd – Watch “Tangled”
Thursday (118) – Dec 4th – Make or Draw Disney
Friday (117) – Dec 5th – Make Disney Inspired Food (actually Disney Sing-a-long)
Saturday (116) – Dec 6th – Megan’s Disney Party
Sunday (115) – Dec 7th – Play a Disney Game

Originally we weren’t going to add December to our Countdown Calendar but when the kids convinced me into it, it was on the proviso we made some of the days really easy as December is such a busy month. Monday was 1st December and as such we were putting up our Christmas Tree anyway. As its Disney themed, it covered the criteria anyway. Tuesday was a night with Dad and as he didn’t have the kids back till 8pm we were really pushed to get in our Disney task. Luckily it was read and so we snuggled up in bed and read one of the new Disney stories we’d bought. However it still wasn’t ideal. On Wednesday, Tangled got watched while eating Disney, sewing costumes and blogging. Basically everything at the same time just to fit it in. Thursday Lily wasn’t really in the mood to participate (she was still tired from Tuesday) so she just chilled out while Megan drew pictures and I did more sewing. On Friday the hope had been to make Disney inspired food, in preparation for Megan’s party the next day. However I was so far behind on my sewing that I really didn’t have time to supervise the kids. Instead we blasted out some Disney and had a sing-along, just to get our Disney fix. In the end, Saturday was such a rush that we still didn’t end up making any Disney inspired food and it was all just finger food with a vague theme. However the whole of Megan’s party was Disney so that ticked all the boxes for our Disney Day. Finally that left Sunday which was to play a Disney game. While we plan to make the most of some board games, the Wii and the Xbox, this week we were all so tired that the iPad was about the most we could manage. Megan and Lily played a variety of Disney games and I tried out Tsum Tsum.

This has been our first Disney Countdown week and I’ve really enjoyed it, as have the kids. I’m looking forward to having more time to breath in the upcoming weeks and hopefully have a lot more fun with Disney themed projects.

120 Days till Disney – and counting!!

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I’ve mentioned recently that the girls and I have had a TOP SECRET Disney project going on and this is it!

Over the last month we have been making our very own Countdown to Disney, in the form of Paperchain Princesses, each with a Disney activity inside of their loop. Our countdown started yesterday, which was actually 121 days till we go to Florida, but since we won’t be doing anything on the day before we fly either, its out 120 Day Countdown.

December is Elsa, January is Tinkerbell, Rapunzel is February and Anna is March. The girls made the top parts themselves, but I’ve helped with the writing on the chains and sticking it all together. It’s been quite a big project but we got there in the end!

Over the next four months, we’re going to be going even more Disney crazy than ever. We have all sorts of activities planned from reading Disney stories, to dressing up in Disney costumes. We’re going to make Disney inspired food and also do Disney themed crafts. On top of that we plan to watch every Disney movie we own – and maybe even some we don’t! It’s going to be a huge big Disneyfest and I’ll be updating weekly to let you know what we’ve been up to. You can also follow along on Instagram, where every day I will be posting our Disney task of the day!