The Mickey Adventure Day 6

The kids paying close attention to the tram driver's instructions to take off their hats and sunglasses :)  We got up a bit earlier to head to Animal Kingdom and were not sure what to expect since we hadn't been there before.  We arrived just as it opened and headed for a few rides the older kids wanted to be on in hopes of getting Fast passes.

 A big toad right as we entered the park.

Caleb and the gigantic Tree of Life.

We headed toward Dinoland and found that there were no people in line for the rides so Caleb and Chels went on the Dinosaur ride and we found this little dinosaur ride for Christian and the younger kids with no waits!  Then Christian found a Primeval Whirl ride that he was allowed to ride continuously..he was so excited to have the ride mostly to himself!  We really liked the overall feel of this Disney park..it was like a shaded zoo in most areas, had easily marked signs and paths making a map only slightly necessary and it was fairly peaceful.

This is how the teens looked after Dinosaur..said it was the scariest thing they had ever done!  

Awesome Dads ride dinosaurs when they hate motion rides even when the zany 7 year old is in charge of the joystick in the back...

We loved the Kilimanjaro Safari and seeing all of the animals up close!

Caelyn and Corey share a tender moment while waiting in line!  She was being so sweet and helping him learn the Disney characters on her shirt to keep him busy.

This was hilarious..the baby elephant was acting nutty and chasing birds which made everyone laugh!  The older kids wanted to watch It's a Bug's Life which was too scary for the little ones so we took a snack break and met a few ducks (Caelyn tried to tell me to offer our peanut butter and jelly sandwiches as a peace offering...)

Our favorite parts of today were seeing the Finding Nemo musical and then running across the park to hope to get into the Lion King show (which was starting in 5 minutes).  We made it and were given front row seats due to Corey's pass and it was hands down our favorite show of all of Disney!!!  It was a great way to end our morning there.  We then headed over to Downtown Disney to the Lego store and enjoyed various stores including a toy store that had Mr Potato head parts!!  Afterwards we enjoyed using a gift card for Cracker Barrel for dinner.  Then we returned home to do some swimming before bedtime and afterwards noticed that Caelyn's face rash that had started yesterday after swimming was getting worse and now the boys and Chels had some rash too.  We have decided that it probably is due to something with the pool water so we are hoping we can get it fixed tomorrow (and sent some kids to bed with Benadryl).

(I was surprised to receive a message during the opening of Finding Nemo..from my sweet date)

Cam got to the Star Wars lego section and said "that what I talking about.."  That kid makes me smile!  He asked Christian for some buying advice and now keeps asking "how long regular home" because he knows his mama won't let him open it to we return home :)

*Corey says "look mom..I did it..I didn't get all fussy-ated (frustrated)"  I was so proud of him and it was adorable the way he said it.  He was proud of himself since the first time he tried to put together the lego it didn't work and so he threw it.  This was a big deal for him so we took a picture to celebrate!

A serious game of checkers at Cracker Barrel.

The Mickey Adventure Day 5

Today we finally used some common sense and stayed in our beds til 9am!!!  We told the kids that we'd swim for a while and then head out later to Epcot for the rest of the day!  The kids all enjoyed the family swim and the older boys and Chelsea and Caelyn stayed in for some extra time of playing "Marco Polo" in the pool (which Caelyn exclaimed at the end of this day..that it was her 2nd favorite part of the day)

Corey did a great job helping get water bottles ready for the day.  Each morning we move into high gear to make sandwiches and pack snacks and water for the entire day for all of us..spread among 5 backpacks!

The tiny princess ended up with some sunburn in the morning swim so Dad got her some strawberry lemonade to help out!

We had lunch at Wendys..and had a fun talk with a regional manager there who was originally from Philadelphia but was currently living near Columbus OH so he put together our history due to Christian wearing a Phillies shirt and Rick wearing an Ohio State Buckeye one.  It takes a special teen to let your baby brother force feed you fries :)

The chipmunks were available for autographs and pictures so we enjoyed stopping to meet them while Rick ran around trying to round up some Fast Passes for a few key rides the older kids wanted to do later in the day.

We enjoyed the Land ride (which Chels remembered from our visit when she was little) and also the Nemo ride and Turtle Talk with Crush (very neat show!!!)

We split up again so the older kids could use their Fast Passes to Test Track and we found a neat ride and play area about the senses that the little ones liked!

The day before, I was in need of a way to entertain Cam for a few minutes and he was fussing so I pulled out one of our lemonade singles and showed him how I made magic lemonade...he was sold on the idea and loved helping me make the magic lemonade again today (those packets are an amazing thing in Disney..allowing you to transform your bottle of water into something different for a change!)

We had only a few moments to walk past some of the countries in the World Showcase.  Caelyn wanted to see more in China so we stopped for a few moments before walking to the American Adventure theatre where we saw a neat presentation about the history of our country.

We had decided to leave a bit earlier to return to our house tonight, so we crossed over the lagoon by boat at night (wish the camera could capture the beauty of Epcot at night!) and then the older kids finished off the day by using their Fast passes to the ride Soarin' which they enjoyed (and told us all of the little kids should try it...then a disclaimer..well we think we were 50 ft up in the air..but if their shoes were on tight, they'd be ok...yes teens I'll think about that one LOL)

We loved Epcot..we had been there before and that helped, but the layout was so much better and the overall landscape so much more peaceful and relaxing than the day before at Hollywood Studios.  Even many of the activities for the younger group were calming..watching fish in a large tank...taking a leisurely boat ride to listen to innovations in agriculture etc.  The park is beautiful, the crowds were a lot less and there was always nice music playing in the background and beautiful fountains to look at.  We all agreed that this would be one of the places we'll return to later in the week as we had just 5 hours there and wanted to see more of the countries as well as to explore some more of the technology centers there.  There is also a great meet and greet section for characters that we think the little kids would enjoy so we hope to return again on Thursday.

The little kids went right to bed and our older 3 decided that if we were already going to Walmart could we find some fries for them :)  They enjoyed a Tim Hawkins comedy video we had brought from home while munching on fries and uploading pictures to facebook.  Rick and I headed to Walmart to replenish the snacks and drinks supplies and found matching Disney 2012 tshirts for entire family at a HUGE discount over buying them in the park!

And I've spent now 2 hours til 12:30am updating my blog!  Good night!!!

The Mickey Adventure Day 4

This morning was our breakfast with Mickey and friends at the Contemporary Resort!  It was a little frazzling getting there even though the breakfast was close to 10am due to travel times and just exhaustion from the night before!  The sky was so blue and beautiful this morning and we have fond memories of eating here when the big kids were very little!  We enjoyed the characters so much and the food was delicious..especially the Mickey Waffles!  Caelyn, Cam and Corey all did well with hugging the characters and asking for autographs.  Corey really liked Donald Duck the best.  The buffet was wonderful and we enjoyed sitting for some time after eating and just resting up a bit before we went on with our day.

Cam had not found anything he liked and kept saying "Cam not find something" and then...

He found the perfect thing..a little kids' set of Star Wars figures..it was so adorable watching him walk out of the Contemporary with his little bag in hand..so proud!

We headed to Hollywood Studios for the rest of the day.  None of us had even been there before (not even 11 years ago when we visited Disney) so it was a bit confusing and overwhelming for us.  We also were feeling some of the effects of tiredness from the previous days but ended up having a good day together!

One of the things we had been looking forward to was the Muppet 3D show.  Ever since we watched the new Muppet movie, Corey has loved them and he calls himself "Waffle the Muppet".

See he really is about the same size as Walter the Muppet! We enjoyed a Studio Backlot Tour which showed a bit about film making and special effects (which our older boys really enjoyed) and then went to Toy Story Mania which was an amazing game/ride (here we were super thankful for the Corey Pass since there was a 100 minute wait and we bypassed the entire wait!)  I had the privilege of beating my teen son who rode in the car with me on that ride and it was a fun experience!

Our younger ones really enjoyed the Disney Clubhouse stage show (and our older kids were great sports to go along with us!)  After this we looked at the schedules and realized we'd have to split up.  We had bought a cell phone with some prepaid minutes in case we needed to separate so we sent the older 3 off for 2 hrs on their own.  They enjoyed the Star Wars ride and then a cars stunt show (which would have been too intense and loud for our younger ones).  While they were busy, we took the little ones to see the Beauty and the Beast show and we had front row seats!!!!  

Cam told me to take a picture of the teapot and the cup..he whispered during the show "you and me"..what a sweet boy!  He had some serious wiggles today!  I think he was tired and that was his way of expressing it!  Afterwards we took the little ones to the Little Mermaid show which they also enjoyed.  We made our way back to the Indiana Jones stunt set and our older kids finally made it back to us!  All of the kids enjoyed the show since we sat in the back of the seating to keep the noise levels down (and used headphones).  I think the older boys really enjoyed the behind the scenes aspects of movie making throughout the day.  We were all very tired today but made it work.  I think overall Hollywood Studios is a great place for shows and a few wonderful rides, but as a family we found the part overall to be very hard to navigate and very overwhelming from the layout, to the overall noise as well as less "Disney" like.   We did enjoy the shows that we saw but decided that it wasn't a park that we'd go back to for a 2nd day on this trip.

Corey happily eating raisins during the Indiana Jones stunt show :)

Some funny memories of this day:  Caelyn explaining that a tram was "like a train without seat belts..and there is no smoking, no drinking and no eating" (clearly she is listening to the instructions).  Cam being very serious on the tram each night and insisting that the driver said to take off all hats and glasses..and he dutifully obeys..maybe I should start talking to him via microphone so he can focus on what I'm saying :)  Chels..when we were deciding about jackets vs. no jackets...says "well I found that either you need a sweatshirt or you don't" (umm that clears a lot up Chels!)  Corey ending each day very perky while everyone else sleeps on the way back to the house and he suddenly pipes up and starts his sentence saying...."Well...." and then proceeds to share his day and the things he remembers.  It's so cute!

We actually got back to the house in time to snap some before bedtime pictures of the kids here (they have a few Disney themed rooms that the little ones enjoy!)

Don't you love the new additions to our fam???  Chels stayed up doing some college class work while the boys and Dad and Mom went for a late night swim ...ahhh heated pools are an amazing thing!!!