Enjoying Ourselves

I really did attempt to write this on our vacation via my iphone, but technology just wasn't going with me for some reason.

We had a fabulous week! One thing after another allowed us to build a lot of memories. My favorite part was simply being together as a family for more than a week. I'm currently going through Mikey withdrawals... We spent 3 days in Disney World, Michael and I did half a day at Universal (Harry Potter land) by ourselves, an evening at Chuck E. Cheese, and a lot of lovin' time with Hannah. We didn't get to swim 'cause it was chilly and overcast, but it didn't really dampen our vacation. Our biggest deterent was sickness. But we somehow managed with minimal meltdowns from the kids. Saturday we had extra adults in Magic Kingdom - i.e. the people who got us into the parks stuck around and hung out with us for the day. That was fun and I think they enjoyed seeing the park from a kids' point of view.

Rockin' the 3-D glasses! As will be evident through the pictures, Andrew just liked to chew on his, but everyone else was stylin'!

Dearest Kimberly who did us three favors throughout the course of the day: 1)got three of us into the park for free 2) held Andrew for an hour and a half during his nap 3) happened to have a sweater in her bag and gave it to Bekah who was freezing by 4 p.m.

The Magic Kingdom shot. There were many times when the kids didn't want to be in the picture and most of the time we didn't force them. However, this looks like one of the times we did. :)

Patrick wanted to give Bihz and hihg (Buzz a hug - he does something funny to that vowel) so we patiently waited in line to see Bihz. He was so beside himself with excitement that he ran up for his turn before the previous girl was done.
He gave Buzz an enthusiastic hug and high five and then RAN OFF!! We asked him to come back for a picture and he said, "I'm done now". ...Okay. All we could do was laugh. We did eventually get one out of him.
Poor Mikey had had VERY little sleep the night before. The darn tickling cough kept him up and because we were in a hotel room, he had nowhere else to go to try to solve the problem. So in the middle of our day he took a nap on a rocking chair in a back corner of Frontier land. We did a little napping of our own while in the Hall of Presidents. No disrespect meant, we just needed somewhere out of the rain and preferably dark where the kids would chill enough to conk out. We still managed to do a lot in that day and left early to go to bed. Sunday was the superbowl and we did a lot of visiting. Monday was a chill day and honestly we had more meltdowns on the chill days than otherwise. We spent a little time at Downtown Disney and got a few things that we weren't able to find in the parks. We did Chuck E. Cheese that night, but it was more exhausting than anything. Patrick was never content with the amount of tokens he got, Bekah wasn't acting normal and we wondered if she was starting to get sick, and Andrew seemed to be the only one content with his surroundings. Probably won't be doing that again anytime soon.
Priceless.

Tuesday we went to Animal Kingdom and ended in Epcot. The kids actually enjoyed all of it! I was worried they would get bored in Epcot. Bekah was in a mood throughout the trip and didn't want to be in pictures so there are very few in which she is smiling and cooperating...

These kinds of things are so stupid and so funny!! It's a flippin' piece of wood for cryin' out loud!! But we had a blast. The kids didn't want to do them until mom and dad got them laughing.
This is probably about as close as I'll ever get to real scuba diving. I have a fear of deep water. Mikey wants to take me on a cruise sometime - we'll see how that goes.

Not the only Safari we went on that day, but the only one we took pictures of.


Bless Hannah's heart, she was trying to help lift Bekah and get in the other spot all at the same time! Her face is so funny! I was a little slow on the uptake for help. :)
Like mother like daughter?
Oh, look! A giraffe!

I wonder if we'll ever visit the middle east?
Some things never change...
"I'm so excited!!"
All I wanted to do in the England section of Epcot was get a phone booth shot. Don't ask me why this is so fun to me. Maybe someday I'll get my wish, visit England for real and realize that it's really not as cool as I thought. But until then, I'll get phone booth pictures. :)
Bekah was king enough to join me for these, but I don't think she shared my excitement.
This was one of Hannah's friends who is either Snow White or Cinderella depending on the day. She was so good to Bekah. I swear she took twice as long with Bekah as the other kids waiting in line and she'd been there since noon (it was now nearing 5 p.m.).
Bekah had gotten this umbrella the day before and would NOT put it down unless we were inside. Snow White was very accommodating. She involved Patrick too and kept telling him that he was either Grumpy or Sleepy because he wouldn't come say "hi" to her or look at her with anything short of a scowl. The whole scenario was pretty classic.
Tut, tut, it looks like rain!
The other kids wouldn't get in for the troll picture, but Andrew didn't have a choice.
Patrick was totally content and had NO idea that he was demolishing Hannah's hair. She was such a trooper!

Waiting for Pooh and Piglet. 'Course Andrew had no idea what was going on, but he was along for the ride.
Looks like Andrew was a little interested after all!
There is a play-place outside of the Nemo ride that is also educational for kids. Welcome to Bruce's mouth!
The Epcot shot. The kids somewhat grudgingly got into this photo, but I think they'll be glad they did in 10 years.

Wednesday was our date day. Harry Potter land.

The first thing you see as you enter the gates - the Hogwarts Express. So cool. The conductor was the only "character" that took his part to heart. Most of the others are just kids with a job. Guess that's one of the differences between Universal and Disney.

The Hogwarts School choir. They were decently good! More than anything it was part of the experience.

Inside Ollivander's. Not all the shops are accessible. Most are just store fronts with cool things to see. But Ollivander's was an experience. They actually picked one person to "receive" their first wand and had a whole Harry Potter de ja vu. If you ever go, make some sort of noise or talk as soon as you get into the store. They're more likely to pick you that way. Wish I'd known.

The Three Broomsticks. It's connected to the Hog's Head on the other side. The Broomsticks part is the family/restaurant side and the Hog's Head is the "get your liquor fix" side for adults. But it's fun to walk through all of it. The ambiance is very fun!

At the entrance to Hogsmeade.

This is my favorite shot and is now a screensaver on my iphone. Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. You get a tour of the inside by going through the line of the main ride. You go through Lupin's classroom where you see Harry, Ron, and Hermoine. You go through Dumbledore's office and see him "lecturing", though I don't know if he ever really lectured in all of the books. You see a hall full of pictures and some of them even move. In the ride you encounter a dragon, the spiders of Aragog, fly with Harry on a broomstick, see Hagrid, and finally end up safe back in the castle. You exit through Filch's Emporium.
Each shop is extremely small. Rowling wouldn't let Universal make it any other way. She wanted them authentic english shops. Honeydukes and Zonko's are there. There is also Dervish & Bangs' and a small owlery from which you can send a letter. Honestly, I wasn't that impressed for the first 10 minutes I was there. But it really grew on me! The atmosphere was electric and exciting! For the record, butterbeer is very good - the iced butterbeer is REALLY good. It's an original recipe (non-alcoholic) by J.K. Rowling herself. I'm starting to wonder if there's anything she doesn't have her hands in... Very fun date.

Thursday was a catch up day and prep day for leaving. We wouldn't really get another chance because our last day was going to be at Disney and we'd be getting home later. So we took a lot of trips to Hannah's to do laundry and pack. Friday we finished up with Hollywood Studios and Magic Kingdom again. The kids were elated! Toy Story Mania was definitely the highlight of the day. We rode it three times. They didn't seem to care that the wait was 45 min. They just wanted to do it again!

G.I. Joe. What can I say?

Mr. Potatohead sang and talked to you if you moved enough. So Bekah opened her umbrella ('cause she had it, of course.) :)

She's so excited that she's already pulling her cannon string!

This was technically her first time, but I'd already been. I was super excited to see how they reacted!

Michael completely schooled us every time, even when he was helping Patrick on his first try. But Hannah and I got better. Poor Hannah was having to do hers whilst entertaining Andrew who either wanted to chew on her glasses, or pull the cannon string! Hahaha! Let's just say that when Mikey took me lasertagging on our second date, he was at the top of the list for accuracy and I was at the bottom.


A midday snack. Patrick and Bekah had those suckers that you always dreamed of as a kid but dread as a parent. Fortunately they were content with the small ones.

Andrew got to be out of his stroller and walk around!! Hannah had a friend who was head manager at Autopia and put us at the front of the line so we wouldn't have to wait for over an hour. While we were busy bumping back and forth Hannah had some bonding time with Andrew.
Funny story about the cars was that Bekah couldn't figure out which way to go. If the road went left, she'd turn right. If it was straight, she'd turn. Etc. I laughed the whole way and made a big deal out of having fun. When I got off I asked Mikey if his ride with Patrick was as exciting as mine with Bekah. He said that Patrick actually got it and had very little bumping around. He'd watched us through the whole ride and was amazed that we were so "all over the place". Ha! Good thing she won't be getting her license for another 11 years!

Hannah was dying to get this picture. Patrick really was happy, we just caught him at the wrong moment. She loves these kids! And we love her!
Our last ride home. Patrick was using Hannah's arm as a pillow and they all fell asleep leaning the same way. Hannah asked if that was normal 'cause she thought it was funny. It's probably not a regular occurence but it was worth the picture!


This is how things end every day at Disney. What a magical place!