have fun! As a local, I've always wanted to do the dining plan, but we can't get it since we are passholders. Oh well, we get to enjoy Disney very very often, so I guess it all evens out somewhere! Headed over to Animal Kingdom in a few hours for trick or treating actually :)

DFW has great weather 8-9 months of the year?? Nah. I do think there's a lot to do there, but I lived there 6 years and wouldn't say the weather was great for 8-9 months of the year at ALL. I love hs'ing in Florida. The state is pretty hands-off and we can get to the beach in an hour, Disney in 15 minutes, SeaWorld, Gatorland, etc... there's a lot to do here for kids! And lots to see and experience.

I read book 1 to my girls. We're waiting on the others. We'll read the whole series in a few years, but they really liked book 1.

Brilliant- this is great advice, all! Thanks! Kimberly

thanks kck... With Disney 15 minutes from our door, this area has a lot of performance stuff going on. All of the studios have Disney performers on staff. I'm not sure if her dreams of performing in the Festival of the Lion King will last, but we'll see. Do you think it matters if they have parent viewing windows always available or if they have closed doors and only let parents view once/month or once/quarter? She was diagnosed with a cyst on her brain when she was 3, and at the time she had very poor balance and was falling down a lot. We did intensive therapy with her on her balance, but were warned by the doctors that she would probably never be an athlete of any kind. It is so incredible to me now to see her hold a handstand solid for several seconds and see how far she's come from that prognosis. I hope I know when I walk in the "right" studio that it is the "right" one. I guess if not, we can always switch, but I think it would be easier to pick the best place first, of course.

Both of my daughters have consistently been at the top of the height chart... doctors have always predicted my girls will be between 5'10" and 6'1". I don't mean "Oh, she might be 5'4"..." I mean TALL. Could she level out at some point? Sure. But it certainly doesn't look that way for either of my girls... I think it is just realistic to look at that when I'm talking about spending a lot of money on classes for her. And if there's something similar that will fulfill the same outlet and allow her to grow into something she can do for a longer season of her life, it makes sense to me to pursue that instead... She's interested in dance and theater and singing, so this route also makes sense. Anyway, I'm not trying to get hung up on the "why acro?" and would like to focus more on the "what should I be looking for in a studio?" aspect. I do think it is a good idea to check out the acro class and make sure it is up to par- I can tell just from some websites that the acro class is just tacked on to fill a need and isn't a high-quality class... (i.e. they're throwing some mats on a wood floor for class vs having a true tumble track). Thanks all- and I still appreciate more input...

Hmm... not to sound rude, but I really would prefer my girls are not cheerleaders. If it happens, I'll be okay with it, but it is truly not my preference. I can see that encouraging her to go the cheerleader route if the other girls in the class are going that route though. I'll have to think on that. And I know not every kid in a tumbling class becomes a cheerleader... Maybe I just harbor too much resentment from the mean girl cheerleaders in my life! ;)

Do you think height matters in your daughter's tumbling class? I am looking at 2 gymnastics gyms for that reason, but I'm not sure if her height will end up being an issue...

Hey... Just wondering if some experienced dance moms can give me some help here. I'm picking a dance studio for my 7-year-old daughter. I am looking for tips on what criteria I should be looking at in the studios. I have it narrowed down to 5 in our area and plan to look at each of them this week. If this is helpful, here's background info: She specifically wants to take an acro class, but I told her if she wants to do any dance, she needs to do ballet as well, so we're looking at acro and ballet. I was a terrible, fat, awkward dancer for the 6 years I took it when I was a kid, but I do know that ballet is fundamental for having proper technique. She got interested in gymnastics maybe 6 or 7 months ago but we were in the middle of moving. Since moving, I've been taking her to a homeschool gymnastics class and she likes it, but it is a bit limited in scope because it serves a wide variety of kids with a variety of "talent" so to speak. It is more of a PE class with some cartwheels tossed in. She has fun, but she's not going to get much useful training out of it, because that isn't the purpose. I had my girls in a ballet/acro combo class in China for awhile when she was much younger (4?) but it was way too intense and they hated it (hitting kids, yelling at kids, etc...) That and the homeschool class are her only "experience". She can do the splits, cartwheel (pointed toes, etc...) and a front limber just from my directions at home. Because she is primarily interested in tumbling and because she is at the 99% for height, I'm thinking an acro class at a dance studio is better than putting her in full-fledged gymnastics. She's thin and flexible, but tall. I just can't see gymnastics being a good idea long-term and I'm not into the idea of investing tons of $ into something she can't do in a few years. I guess my thinking was at a dance studio she can be more well-rounded so her height doesn't limit her... I am not sure if I'm correct on height being a non-issue in dance. Thoughts? Criteria? I don't want to get blinded by price and overlook something more important... Thanks!

No mom jeans. I like jeans that hit just at my hips and adore trouser cut jeans as long as they have butt pockets. No butt pockets just doesn't work for me.

I only pay using Paypal and only accept Paypal. Paypal is very safe and reliable. I use it for my business as well and they have excellent customer service when you have concerns. (And they just sent me a Starbucks gift card for being a valuable business customer! Can't argue with that!)

Love your response, Dan! My daughters are very into Rocket Math!

oops, sorry, didn't see you had just posted. glad you had fun! were you at wdw- florida or dl- california? just wondering, because I was at Magic Kingdom last Friday... Animal Kingdom last Thursday... Epcot last Monday... (and yeah, maybe I should stop going SO often haha)

totally NOT scary! we have been on it at LEAST 30 times in the last 9 months- one of my girls' fave rides! be sure to take the "scenic" (left) route to the entrance when you are in line. It is very fun & interactive. Getting stuck in Haunted Mansion on our backs for 15 minutes because the ride stopped in the one single moment that you are tilted- that was UNCOMFORTABLE but not scary!!

2-3 times a week. Usually a glass of wine or a beer or a really simple drink like Malibu Rum & OJ or something. Vacations and holidays I definitely enjoy nights with 2-3- - drinks.

And another health benefit- do you know how many kidney stone sufferers are sent home to drink beer? I had a spurt of kidney stones one year and was told to drink a couple beers a night until it passed.

I am LOL at the amount of wine in a bottle vs wine glass size. I prefer drinking wine from a water goblet that holds around 20 oz. I am pretty sure I shouldn't fill it to the brim. So I fill it about 1/4" from the brim to make sure I don't get too much ;).

In America, I would say the bringer-of-the-dish takes it home. You didn't say if the person you were talking to was a local Malaysian or a fellow American or ___? But I would say (from our experience in China) that at any pot luck type thing, any food I brought *was* taken by other people. And when I brought food to someone's house, they would take the leftovers and give me back the dish. ESPECIALLY with Koreans. In fact, at our last church we attended a Korean lunch each week and the women would divvy up my leftover desserts to take home to their family. We NEVER left with our leftovers!

haha. yeah, that.

I don't consider FB worthy of telling another parent. Kid having unprotected sex with multiple guys every day... um, yeah, tell the parents. FB? No. You don't want to lose your daughter's trust over this...

that sounds amazing! and bad for my blood pressure. and amazing. I'm going to prevent myself from driving to the closest Persian market! I have to keep myself out of Indian grocery stores because I can NOT resist the spicy pickled mangoes and limes. Have you SEEN the salt content on those? Horrible. But they are so good!

That's a bit too deep for me today!

You might check at one of the specialized Disney boards like disboards.com (I think that is the address). Sorry, we live in Orlando but have never done anything with the horses at all. Kimberly

So sweet! And on the marriage, so far my girls just want to marry each other... ;)

oh, sorry, Old Navy Plus is only ONLINE. for both kids AND adults plus sizes they just do online only....