Day #4 and 5, Epcot

Epcot was our family's favorite park. All I can say about it is "wow!" Literally I don't even know where to start. The first day we spent the entire time in the front half of the park. We rode the Nemo ride, spent a couple hours exploring the aquarium, and we had lunch at the Coral Reef, enjoying our view of the marine life, the glass view being one entire wall. It was neat. The kids had fun chasing the water snakes at te fountain, rode Fast Track, played some educational interactive games, rode the AWESOME ride inside the huge geosphere, and ended the night with the fireworks show.
As we were watching the fireworks, I noticed across and around the back side if the lake there were lots if big buildings.... And it was then that we figured out that was all the "COUNTRIES" that Epcot is famous for. WOW! We hadn't even made it to that part of the park! We spent the entire day just in the front riding rides and playing games.
So Day 5 we headed straight for the countries. We explored Mexico, China, Germany, I think? I mean, there were still lots of countries we never even made it to. Amazing. We loved it!
Even the second half of day 6 we squeezed in a few more hours at Epcot, and still only made it half way around the lake. I think we could spend an entire week just at Epcot. Maybe in the future we will!
It was our family's favorite!

The Castle Princesses @ Disney World

Princess Snow White


Princess Aurora, Sleeping Beauty


Princess Ariel


Princess Belle


Princess Charis


Princess Selah


My Beautiful Castle Princesses

Day # 3 Animal Kingdom

Wow! This was a FULL day of fun! Today was Animal Kingdom day. For my little 'zoo' lovers, this park was right up their alley. We started the day out with Mickey shaped waffles and an African omelet breakfast at the Tuscar House Cafe. We got to meet Daisy, finally! And Mickey and Goofy were there too.
As soon as breakfast was over, it was first things first... A pin trade or two, and then the safari ride!! We saw giraffes, hippos, elephants, and many other birds and creatures of the savanna.

Next we set off on a trail walk through the jungle. Our favorite part of Animal Kingdom was the Bugs Life show that took place in the roots of the Tree of Life. I laughed and laughed just watching the kids. I'm pretty sure I heard Bryson scream a time or two - Ha! Ha! It was a 3D show with added splashes of water, bursts of wind, and some creepy crawly feels of bugs and worms underneath us. Bryson and Selah both reached for bugs, ducked to avoid danger, and Bryce is sure he punched the head off of one of the bad bugs. It was so fun!! They LOVED this show! Hilarious!!

After an really neat parade, we headed back to the resort at about 4pm. We decided to head to the pool to cool off and play. I even got in the water and - got my hair wet! - which is rare! After a couple hours of fun and relaxation at the pool we deicided to be wild-and-crazy-die-hards and head to Magic Kingdom for the 9pm-midnight exclusive park admission for resort guests only. We hurried and changed clothes, and made it the park in time for the fireworks show above the castle. Instead, as soon as we arrived and found a spot, the kids and I went to get Mickey ice cream cones and when we came out of the parlor, a crazy wild storm came upon us out of no where! They advised everyone to take cover. The kids and I Ran back into the the ice cream parlor, and Alan was left to find cover for him and the stroller. About 30 minutes went by and the storm passed. It was a creepy hurricane type storm. Lots of wind, thunder, and lightening. It was kinda cool though. Poor Alan was soaked.

I fell in love with my sweet wet man a little more tonight. The kids still wanted to see the parade and Alan was totally willing to stick it out. I don't think I would have been so nice. but he was. He never even complained or acted frustrated about it. The show finally started about 10:15pm. Charis fell asleep on my lap during the fireworks, so after the show, he offered to take her back to our resort. Selah and Bryce were excited though about getting to stay at the park during the late hours, so I stayed with them until midnight. It was a fun special time for the three of us!

Needless to say, it was a long day. The plan is to sleep in and start Day 4 in the late morning and go as long as we can. We are having fun, but we gotta keep up with our rest. If we can.

Day #2 Magic Kingdom

After a long day of travels and a late night, we all slept in a bit this morning. We hit the park at about 10am. It was already hot and sunny. Only 90 degrees today I think, but it seemed really really hot. I mean, My kids hardly sweat when they run races or play soccer at home, but here we all had beads of sweat on our faces. So our tactic was alternating a ride or parade in the sun, and then a ride or show in a building. This worked pretty good, and it made it so Alan and I didn't get cranky, ha!

Selah and Alan rode Space Mountain. Her first big roller coaster ride. She was scared a little when on the ride, but as soon as it was over she told Alan she would like to ride it again if she gets the chance. Bryson, Charis, and I went on the Buzz Light Year ride. The kids had fun shooting lazier guns at the Evil Emperor Zurg's Z's, and I was mesmerized by the ride so much, that we wanted to take Alan and Selah on it.

We laughed along at the Monster's Inc Interactive show, enjoyed a live character performance show outside the castle, and rode our "doom buggies" through the haunted mansion.

We had a wonderful lunch outside on the verandah of Tony's Town Square, just as the parade went marching by. That was a great tip suggested by the WDW reservation employee that helped me book my dining spots. It was neat to watch the parade from there... We were the only people that requested the verandah, I guess, since we were the only ones eating out there, so it was like we had our own private viewing area for the parade. And it was in the shade under a fan. Perfect!

Another exciting thing going on for the kids is the pin trading. We bought them each a laniard and a handful of Disney pins. Each WDW employee has a laniard of pins that he/she will freely trade with you. The kids have had a blast trading pins. The WDW employees will trade any pin you want for any pin you want to give up. Your choice. In a couple cases the kids have even traded with other kids. That can get a little trickier since you have to make a more fair and desirable trade. I love watching them trading pins around. In fact, tonight the "Disney Fairy is leaving them each a new pin under their pillows!

Charis is getting tons of attention while wearing her big "it's my birthday" pin! A special dessert and Mickey confetti at each meal, lots of birthday wishes from people everywhere, and even the bus driver today gave her a Disney bus pin. The other kids finally tonight said "I wanna come here for my birthday!!". I was waiting for that.

And speaking of attention, we are all getting plenty of it because of the adorable festive outfits the kids are wearing each day. Even several of the ladies that work here have said they are some of the cutest they've seen. Wow! Cool! The kids get compliments all the time about how cute they are or whatever, but it's kinda fun cause for the first time, when people ask me if I made their outfits, I can say "yes!!!"
And the bag Heather made me is awesome!

Disney World 2010

We are here! We are here! We are here!
After two months of waiting, hours of planning, days of sewing and creating, and a few hours of traveling, we are finally here!

We arrived at the airport and they whisked us away to our resort to check in, and then we headed straight to Magic Kingdom! We didn't even have to wait and pick up our luggage. It "magically" appeared in our room while we were at the park.

Our first day here at Disney World has been great. We enjoyed a tour of the Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse, which was especially exciting for the kids because we recently read the book and watched the movie.

Bryson LOVED the Pirates of the Caribbean ride, and literally has not stopped playing with his souvineer sword since then. He is really into Pirates right now, and this ride was so cool. We all really liked it, and it made him even more excited about his special 2 hour pirate excursion coming up on Tuesday.

We ended the night having dinner at Chef Mickey's. This is one of the most popular character meal dinners, and it took me several times of trying, but we managed to land a 9:05pm reservation (and that was booked 2 months ago). The timing worked good though with it being our first night and being full of excitement. We were able to see Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Donald Duck, and Pluto. The kids got their autographs and I got pictures of the kids with each of them.

The sweetest thing happened tonight. A moment that made this Mommy and Daddy proud. I had come prepared with small pieces of colored
card stock and Sharpies for the kids to use to get autographs from the Characters. The last to visit our table was Mickey. He took a little extra time with the kids and even wrote their names and signed it "Your Pal, Mickey." Then he was off to another nearby table. Bryson asked me for a paper and Sharpie. I handed it to him and he wrote the words "thank you" and drew a heart. He waited for Mickey to finish at the table next to us, and then Bryson handed Mickey his note. Mickey stopped, read the note, clutched it to his heart, and then drew a heart in the air with his hands. He gave Bryson a big hug, and then came back to our table and motioned for Bryson and the girls to sign the thank you card Bryson made him. Isn't that so sweet? Mickey wanted their autographs! I love that boy. My rough tough sword fighting pirate sweetheart of a kid. Who also wasn't afraid to pause quick to pee in the bushes on our walk back to the resort. Ugh. Really? At least it was dark. I looked back and saw him and said "Bryce! What are you doing?!?!?" to which he replied "That's what boys do, Mom."

So yes... we are feeling the MAGIC!