Mickey and Me...Day 6

Day 6 we decided to do Epcot.  The weather changed drastically overnight and it was chilly!  I remembered last year that we should head to the Character Spot there to see early if there was no wait..and sure enough it worked!  We had no wait to see Mickey, Minnie and Pluto and the kids were happy!

Throughout our time, I kept seeing large groups and they had flags to wave so those in the group could find them.  Cam must have heard me mention this because he made a little one out of Mickey stickers and a wooden stick from Starbucks..we all smiled when I started waving it so we could find each other in the busyness of The Land area in Epcot :)  (I love each morning when we stop for Starbucks and Cam yells "Mommy TIME" as he leaps out of the van with me!)

We rode Soarin again and had a snack break.  Chelsea decided to round up some pennies and take the little ones over to make souvenir pennies..they loved it!

Riding Living with the Land again...the little ones don't tire going on this one and learning about various plants.

This is a ride inside of Innovations that Chelsea and Christian went on..you can predetermine which moves you want it to make ahead of time and the robotic arm moves you to simulate a rollercoaster.  

The older kids convinced Rick to go on Test Track with them so I took the little ones on a small ride about the five senses...the weather was simply beautiful today..clear blue skies!

It was fun to take a picture of the kids just as the monorail went by overhead!

Trying to get some wiggles out!

Christian had seen something about different cokes from around the world and so we stopped there and it was fun..you could sample (for free) many different cokes with a variety of tastes!

Caleb made me smile when he told me he needed one more pin so he could be balanced!

We figured it was time to head back for a nap and break when Corey started laughing hysterically at his own shadow :)

We got a quick dinner at Chickfila before returning to the park.  We came back and toured some of the countries that we had missed on our first time through Epcot.  We enjoyed the 360 show in Canada (Cameron helped feed Corey his remaining dinner and kept reminding him not to be silly so he wouldn't choke..it was precious!) and decided to see the American Adventure again...the older kids went to one more ride and then joined us.  We had a funnel cake with the little ones and then watched the closing fireworks..it was freezing by then but still fun!

Mickey and Me...Day 5

On Day 5 we all voted for a more relaxed start to the morning.  We were starting to get very tired so we agreed to sleep in a bit and then go to the resort pool.  It was a chilly morning compared to the previous mornings but we still enjoyed fun times together.  Corey helped Daddy get some towels for all of us!

Then we showered, packed our sandwiches for the evening time and did 9 holes of miniature golf for free at the resort.

We stopped at Chickfila for lunch and enjoyed time to relax together!

Because the weather was a bit concerning as to whether rain would come, we decided to use this day to go to the Magic Kingdom again since we knew we'd spend one more day there (it's our favorite park!)  Somehow all of the roller coaster/thrill riding made our teens act nutty from here on out and they would scream and raise their hands..even on the tea cup ride!

We headed back to the Under the Sea ride and Mickey's Philharmagic 3D show.

We waited for Caelyn, Chels, Caleb and Christian to return from their time at Big Thunder Mountain (which Caelyn loved!) and ate snacks and watched the birds.  Cam posed in front of the Liberty Bell but kept reminding us that it was "not the real one"

This is Cam happily collecting leaves..before the meltdown!  He was getting tired and started crying about how the sun made his skin itchy and how he needed to keep these leaves!  We waited for the kids to get back and then went to the Hall of Presidents which was a hit for everyone.  It's fun to hear the little ones recite what they've learned from history this year.

Caelyn is becoming a rollercoaster riding nut like her sister :)

As we prepared to watch the evening fireworks, I must have been tired because I said to the kids "oh look at the casserole (castle) changing colors" and they started laughing :)

At the end of the day we were able to ride the Buzz Lightyear ride several times in a row with no wait which was so fun!

It took us a long time to get back to the resort due to crowds tonight!  On the van ride home, Scott called Chelsea and we all tried to be quiet but Corey kept giggling...he thought the names of the presidents were very funny...George Bush...Polk etc.  Even after 10pm when we got everyone in their pjs and the little ones had some animal crackers..this is the hysteria that resulted everytime one of us said GEORGE BUSH to him :)

Mickey and Me...Day 4

(Back to blogging post trip since our internet failed during our last few days at the resort!)  Our 4th day in Disney was spent at the Animal Kingdom.  We arrived soon after the park opened and knew from last year that the best place to head was near the Dinosaur ride since some of the area carnival type rides for the younger group are usually no wait at that time of day.  Caleb and Chelsea rode Dinosaur while Christian happily took Caelyn on the Primeval Whirl for her first time and she was ecstatic!

This year we planned our show times out a bit better so we could be at each one with time in between to spare.  I still think Lion King is hands down my favorite show in all of Disney!  Thanks to Corey's pass we had front road seating again.

We spent a little more time this year looking at some of the unique gift shops in Animal Kingdom.  Here Caelyn and Cam were happy to find little drums that look like Christian's larger African drum at home :)

Once again Dad rode the dinosaur kid version over and over again to keep little ones busy while I was in an area where they kept playing country songs about dinosaurs that made me laugh :)

Corey is very excited about elephants this year so the safari was a lot of fun..many animals were out and we had a very calm tour guide.  Caelyn found it challenging to take pictures during the bumps of the safari but did well for a first time photographer.

Corey decided to use some of his spending money from grandparents on a book about elephants!

He is really into posing lately..usually changing the pose right as I go to take the picture!

Our older three braved Mt Everest this year..mostly at the doing of our daredevil daughter whose thirst for adventure and speed clearly does not come from her parents (we have a suspect aunt on each side of the family who we think are to blame for this!)

We finished all that we wanted to see and do in Animal Kingdom in just a partial day so just like last year, we headed straight to Downtown Disney for some shopping (after making our daily trip to McDonalds for hot fudge sundaes/ice cream for everyone)

Cam's face lit up as he had saved up money to buy what he calls "Second Timothy starfighter"...he was so excited to be in the Lego store and find what he wanted.  This picture says it all :)

These pictures are kind of a sad end to a great chapter...although my teen boys still help out their younger siblings with legos, things had changed and they no longer bought anymore but sat outside enjoying the break from walking.

Cam has Star Wars radar inside of him that allows him to zero in on anything Star wars in any shop :)

Caelyn, Cam and Corey enjoyed playing legos outside of the Lego shop while the rest of us did a bit of shopping in the unique and fun (and quiet!) stores of Downtown Disney!

Caleb and Christian got into the pin trading collections this year and enjoyed finding a great one stop shop on our adventures.

Dowtown Disney has some fun places ..we love the Mr. Potato Head shop, the candy shop and the Lego store.  It's a great place to find everything Disney and very unique things as well.

We were thankful for a Christmas gift card to Dennys and a quiet restaurant with a kind waiter who seemed to enjoy the kids.  Dad decided that there must really be magic in the coffee beans.

Corey posing again!  We played I Spy in the restaurant while we were waiting for our food to come.

Caelyn made us all laugh when she sweetly and very grown up like ordered a jr side salad with her meal :)

At the end of each day, Chelsea still has to work on college classes and our internet was only working on occasion so it was a challenge :)