Disney Day 2 - Magic Kingdom

The kids were so excited to go back to Magic Kingdom for the day. Even though we were up late - we got the kids up early, ate a quick breakfast and we were on our way. We knew that the best time to get on rides without much of a wait was first thing in the morning - so we (Jeff and I and the kids - the rest of our group slept in a little bit) were waiting for the bus a little after 7am! We were able to get on 4 rides in an hour: the Astro Orbiter, Buzz's Space Ranger Spin, Tomorrowland Speedway and Stich's Great Escape. It was crazy how fast the park filled up with people after that! The rest of the gang joined us and we got Fastpasses for Space Mountain to use later and some went to ride the Astro Orbiter and some went on Space Mountain (since the wait was still short). Then we headed to the Speedway again and after that over to Fantasyland to ride Small World and Haunted Mansion.

Andrew driving me around on the Tomorrowland Speedway. I'm not ready for Andrew to drive - that's for sure!
Popsicles - yum!
Elyse drives Kailey around the speedway!
We rode several more rides, had some lunch, collected some Fastpasses and then decided to head back to the hotel for a break and naps since the park was getting extremely crowded at this point! I was especially ready for a break as I was starting to feel a little of an upset stomach. I was hoping it was something I ate and that after a nap I would feel better . . . well, needless to say I never made it back into the park this day. It was so hard to watch Jeff and the kids leave to go back into the park and know that I was missing out on making memories with them! The minute that hotel room door shut I started crying and once I composed myself enough I called my mom to ask her to pray that I would start to feel better and that no one else would get sick (especially the kids!) I spent the rest of the day in the hotel room with severe stomach pain and multiple trips to the bathroom - not my most magical Disney memory for sure!

Andrew, Christopher and Elyse on the teacups - not so sad that I missed going on this ride but missed watching the kids enjoy it!
Kailey and Elyse met Chip and Dale!
They enjoyed a fun evening in Magic Kingdom!

Next up - Epcot!

Evening at Magic Kingdom

After leaving Animal Kingdom, we got back to the hotel and brought all our luggage to our rooms, ate dinner and then headed to Magic Kingdom for the evening. Do you think someone is excited to be at Disney!?!

Here is one of the many pictures that we had the Disney Photopass photographers take of the whole group. I added the border afterwards.

A view of Main Street USA all decorated for Christmas!The reason we went to Magic Kingdom this evening was because we had reservations for the Wishes Dessert Party. It is an all you can eat dessert buffet and then you can stay right there to watch the Wishes Fireworks. Since we were there during the busiest week of the entire year - it was so nice to have a place to sit and relax while waiting for the fireworks to begin. Plus - the dessert's were yummy!!! Here is a view of the castle from the dessert party.

And they had a photopass photographer at the dessert party so you could get a pictue with the castle all lit up behind you. Unfortunately, the kids were tired and don't look too thrilled in this picture.

After the fireworks, we rode Buzz's Space Ranger Spin - one of Andrew's favorites! On our way out the light parade was just starting so we decided to stay and watch - here comes Mickey!

And here is Andrew getting a 2nd wind at 11:30 at night!!

It was a very fun day!!

Animal Kingdom

We spent part of our first day in Animal Kingdom. We checked into All Star Movies so we could get our tickets. Here are the boys ready to go!

The girls are ready to go too!

We headed straight to the safari ride while Jeff and Matt went and got Fastpasses for Expedition Everest. We were so surprised to find that there was only a 20 min. wait for the safari!! The week between Christmas and New Years is considered to be the busiest week of the entire year at Disney - so we were anticipating long lines everywhere! When we were at Disney in June 2010 we waited for an hour to go on the safari - so only a 20 min. wait was great! Andrew said the safari was one of his favorite rides. My favorite part of the safari was seeing this baby elephant!

You can't see it in the picture but the baby elephant kept chasing a flock of birds - the birds would land and then the baby would run after them and they would fly away - it was super cute!

One of my favorite things at Animal Kingdom is the Finding Nemo show! This is definately a well done show and I think could be a hit on broadway! Love it!

Andrew was really looking forward to riding Dinosaur! Here he is in front of the sign looking so brave!

Well - some consider Dinosaur to be one of the scariest rides in all of Disney and we warned Andrew that it was dark inside, etc. But - he was determined to ride it . . . he was very brave and didn't cry but he announced as we were exiting the ride that he was never going to ride that ride again! The huge Carnataur at the end of the ride that comes towards you from the ceiling did him in I think! He still talks about the ride but whenever you ask him if he wants to ride it again - the answer is always NO!

And a day at Animal Kingdom would not be complete without a ride on Expedition Everest! Since Matt and Jeff used all our tickets to get Fastpasses - those of us who wanted to ride could go multiple times - fun! But - 2 times in a row is enough for me! We were hoping to convince Elyse to go on it but she opted out. The landscaping around the ride is so cool!

The kids enjoyed a few other rides and they enjoyed playing at the playground before we headed back to the hotel for dinner.

Next post will be our night at Magic Kingdom and the Wishes Dessert Party!

Disney 2011

Finally getting around to blogging about our Disney trip over Christmas break! We left in the afternoon of Christmas Eve to drive down to Florida. We decided to drive through the night - then the kids sleep a lot of the way. Christmas Eve was a great time to be on the road as there was hardly any traffic. Jeff said it was almost eerie the lack of traffic on the way down. We couldn't even find a McDonald's open to have dinner so we picked up a few things at a gas station and continued driving. The kids did great as usual - they are such good travelers! We checked into our hotel near Downtown Disney, changed into shorts and t-shirts and then decided to walk around Downtown Disney while we waited for our room. We ended up eating dinner at T-rex - a dinosaur themed restaurant - Andrew loved it!!!

Here we are eating under the jellyfish!

Andrew and daddy outside of T-rex.
We spent a lot of time at the Lego store and Andrew used his Disney gift card from santa to buy some dinosaur legos. Here are the kids in front of the Lego store. The sculpture behind them is all legos!

We headed back to our hotel so we could get a good night's rest!

Critter Barn

We went to the Critter Barn with friends over spring break. The highlight of our time there was helping with feeding the 17 baby goats that were born this spring at the critter barn. They told us to get in groups of 4-6 kids and they would bring us a baby goat and a bottle to feed them with. It was so much fun!

Here is Elyse feeding the baby goat - she was so excited!

Andrew's turn . . .
All the kids by one of the goats that we fed.

Elyse also liked holding the bunnies.
It was a nice day so after the Critter Barn we went to a nearby park so the kids could run around and play. It was a fun day with friends!

Fun in Terre Haute

We went to Terre Haute, IN to visit my grandma and my Aunt Chris over spring break. The weather was beautiful there! We went to the Children's Museum, saw The Lorax, spent some time walking and riding scooters around the neighborhood and enjoyed playing at the park! It was in the 70's and sunny so we tried to spend a lot of time outside enjoying the sunshine. As always, it was great to spend some time with my grandma and my aunt! Here are a few pics from our time in Terre Haute.

My grandma decided not to join in on the silly face picture.

Elyse and Andrew enjoy some time at the park. This park is within walking distance from my aunt's house and the kids love it!

Lunch with Great Grandma.

Elyse in a bubble at the Children's Museum.

Elyse climbs up into the tree house at the Children's Museum.

Andrew liked shooting the nerf balls with the air guns at the Children's Museum.

Our tradition on the way home from Terre Haute is to stop for dinner in Monon, Indiana at The Whistle Stop restaurant. It is a restaurant that has several train tracks mounted from the ceiling with multiple trains that run on the tracks. Plus, the parking lot is full of train cars, railroad crossing signs, etc. The kids love it! Unfortunately, we were traveling home on Monday evening and they close at 3pm on Monday - we were all so bummed! We stopped a little later at a subway and dairy queen that were together in a gas station - so the kids were excited to get some ice cream after dinner.

It was a fun little getaway!

Happy 5th Birthday Andrew!

Well - it's been a while since I've posted anything . . . since the the last time I posted it was around Elyse's bday - guess I'll post about Andrew's bday.

He wanted a dinosaur birthday party. He loves Dinosaurs! When I asked him what kind of cake he wanted - he said he wanted a cake with a Carnataur (a type of dino) on it . . . ok - we'll see what we can do about that. I called my friend Cindy and she delivered! Andrew loved his cake!

It was such a beautiful day when we had his party that we all sat outside while Andrew opened his presents. Here he is opening his Lego City Airport. He loves to play with Legos and will sit for hours and build things.

Waiting to open all his presents!

He has been going to preschool 2 days a week this year and loves it. We just had his preschool conference and he is doing great and is very ready for kindergarten. They tested him on his numbers, colors, letters, letter sounds etc. and he knew almost all of them! He forgot a few letters and a few letter sounds but that is it. And the teacher said he sits and listens when it is time to listen and plays well with the other kids. She had no concerns with him academically or socially - so it's off to kindergarten next year! It will be quite and adjustment as kindergarten will be all day, every day next year! He is excited to ride the bus with Elyse and to go to the same school as her. We'll see how long his excitement lasts once school starts in the fall!

He also just had his 5 year old check up and continues to be a healthy boy. He weighed 42 lbs and was 43 1/2 inches tall - a growing boy for sure!