ICES Convention at Disney

Magic Kingdom with Walt


Mickey Ears!


Dinner at the Land with Mickey!


Who's there Nate?


Disney is exausting...Nate fell asleep talking to Mickey.


Tuesday, we drove to Savannah. Nathanael was a good sleeper so we didn't have to stop much.

Wednesday, we took our time getting to Orlando, until we were eating lunch at a Panera in Jacksonville. That is when I realized that the registration was only open till 6 pm. So Jimmy put the petal to the metal! Unfortunately we got stuck in tons of traffic. We didn't get to the hotel till way after 6 pm. We decided to take our time in getting checked in, then we stopped by the convention hall. The registration desk was open till 9 pm. Yea!!! Nathanael got a first timer badge. :) We got a quick dinner at the Grab and Go, then headed back to our room to rest. I was feeding Nate when I heard fireworks going off, so I made Jimmy open our window. We could see the top of the fireworks from our window. Very cool!

Thursday, I had my first class at 8 am! Oh my this is early after being on maternity leave. Anyway, I made it to class on time it was 3D cakes. It was ok but I really didn't learn much. The Cake Diva (a lady who likes to dress up and do cakes) created the lips from the Rocky Horror movie. It was a sheet cake with about 3-4 inches of buttercream on top then rolled fondant on top. Really not that hard of a cake. Then I went back to the room to meet up with my boys. We headed to the Magic Kingdom. Nate's first ride at Disney was The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. We then went on Small World and Haunted Mansion. After these exciting rides which he loved, we found the Baby Care center. We were able to diaper and feed him (they have a special nursing room). Liberty Tavern was our lunch destination, it was fantastic and super fast! I had two classes in the afternoon, chocolate boxes and baby blocks. We had dinner at the newly opened Wave restaurant at the Contemporary. It has only been open 6 weeks, Nate was older than the restaurant. Yummy! We headed back to Magic Kingdom, and saw Mickey's PhilharMagic, then went on Carousel of Progress, saw the Monster's Inc show, had some ice cream, watched Tinker Bell fly and saw the fireworks!

Friday, I had the convention breakfast and meeting till noon. Jimmy and Nate explored Hollywood Studios (MGM). We had a quick lunch at the Grab and Go and I was back at class learning about Wafer Paper then Fairy Tale Carriage cake. After classes, we headed to dinner at Epcot at San Angel Inn, in Mexico. It was very good. Then we went on the boat ride at Mexico the Grand Fiesta Tour starring The Three Caballeros. Then we picked up fast passes for Norway and continued over to Japan. We purused the store in Japan, then headed to Germany to puruse the stores. We went to Norway for the Maelstrom attraction, watched the fireworks and headed home.

Saturday, I got up early and headed to a class about the Cake Challenges on Food Network and left Nate and Jimmy to sleep in. We went thru the cake hall then I had a hands on class on how to make a sugar castle. During that time Jimmy and Nate chilled out at the hotel. Then we met up for lunch. I took two more classes that afternoon. After class, we went to the Chefs de France for dinner. We had a wonderful 3 course dinner. Then we headed home early.

Sunday, we slept in. Jimmy and Nate headed to Epcot to look around while I took classes. We met up for lunch and I took two more classes. Jimmy and Nate went to pick up Mom at the airport. We then went to Cafe Kona at the Polyonesian. Downtown Disney was our next stop, for some shopping and a sundae at Giradelli. We watched fireworks from the Monorail and when we got back to the Contemporary the water electric parade had just started. So we stayed to watch and then headed in for the night.

Monday, we had breakfast at the Crystal Palace with Pooh and Piglet. Then we went thru the Tiki Room, Haunted Mansion, and Small World. It was dreadfully hot so we decided to go to the hotel. We took a nap and headed to Epcot around 3 pm. Mom, Jimmy and I went on the Segway experience. It was great, we also took advantage of the Baby Swap at Disney (it is where one person stays with the baby and then they get to ride after the other parent is done.) After the Segway experience, we went to The Land. We rode on the boat ride tour at the Land, then had dinner at the Garden Grill. Then we quickly walked over to the Ellen's Energy Adventure. It was great! Nate got a bit fussy so he nursed a bit on the ride and then heard all of the excitement so he wanted to watch the show. He loves the rides! We walked to the Baby Center at Epcot, changed and nursed then headed to Mexico. Again we went on the Three Calebraos water ride. Jimmy wanted a good spot for the Epcot fireworks, so we walked over to Germany. Fireworks were great and Nate really found them exciting.

Tuesday, we got up and had a grab and go breakfast. Epcot here we come! Starting Innoventions, we went thru the Innoventions house of the future. While waiting in line I noticed a bunch of Disney employees with Mickey Ears. So I went by and got a hat, we receive a hat as part of the year of a million wishes. We had a snack at the Electric Umbrella (including Nate) and then headed to Mission Space. Luckly Jimmy had gotten fast passes to it and Soarin. Mission Space is awesome! We had some Mickey ice cream and headed over to the Cool Zone for Coke refreshments. Around 2 pm, we ventured back to the hotel for napping. Our next fast pass was for Soarin at 5 pm. Mom and I went thru the ride, while Nate and Jimmy hung out. Soarin was a neat experience of flying. Then I took Nate to the baby care center for diapering and feeding, while Mom and Jimmy rode Soarin. We had dinner reservations at San Angel Inn in Mexico, Nate and I got there on time and waited for Mom and Jimmy. Shopped in Norway, and Japan, saw the film Impressions de France. Nate jumped at one part of the film. We got to spend extra time in Epcot for extra magic hours, so we shopped in United Kingdom, then saw the attraction O Canada. Nate was very excited thru this movie. Again he jumped at a part of the movie. Off to Journey Into Imagination With Figment, rode Maelstrom in Norway, then off to the monorail for bed. What a busy day! Nate was such a trooper for 10 weeks old!

Wednesday, we packed up, and went to Mimi's Cafe for lunch. We dropped Mom off at the airport and we headed to Hollywood Studios (MGM). When we parked a huge thunderstorm had started. Luckly, we were prepared! Nate was in the car seat in the stroller with the rain protector over all of him and the stroller. Once inside the park we headed straight for Lights Motor Action Stunt show. Jimmy wanted to see the Opals. Thankfully the audience is under shelter for the event. We met another family from NC with a baby as well. It was a great show. Then we went to the Muppets in 3D. We ended up in the middle of the theater, unfortunately Nate decided to have a major breakdown, which was really a giant poopy, Then we headed home. We drove to Brunswick, GA and spent the night.

Thursday, we drove home and had dinner with some friends.