Walt Disney World - Day 1

We had such a fabulous time at Walt Disney World, that I just can't help but give you a blow-by-blow of what we did and experienced. This may not be what ya'll signed up for, but it's my blog, and I want to have a record of it, so buckle up people! :o) At least I'll try to put in lots of photos so it's more fun for everyone. Jeff told me that if I made it too long no one would read it, but I have faith in the people that read this because they know me (and are related to me) and care about my family. No one else would read this blog, anyway.

Well, first we woke up at 4:00 am, got ready, and then woke up the kids at 4:30 and got them dressed, etc. We were in the car, pulling out, at 5:09, which I was quite impressed with. I was also really glad that I had insisted that we load up the car the night before. We got to the airport around 5:30 (it was really cold!), and got on our flight at 7:05 am.

The people on Southwest were so nice; getting little activity books for the kids, even setting up a little bed for Taran on some empty seats (I know, I know, a flight that wasn't full or over-booked. What a miracle!). It was the first time I had flown Southwest in over 15 years, and I was quite impressed. I think we'll do it more often!

Anyway, we got to Orlando, and made our way down to the "Magical Express," the shuttle run by Disney that you can take directly to your hotel. They even pick up your luggage for you! The kids were so excited from the moment that they had gotten up that they couldn't sleep on the plane, or on the bus, like I had hoped, but what else could we expect, really?

We finally got to our hotel (one of the "value" resorts), the All-Star Movies, around 10-ish. We checked in, and went to our room, which was, of course, in the building the farthest away from the main building. But since I hadn't wanted to pay extra for a "pool view" room, I wasn't surprised. We walked past the "101 Dalmations" buildings on the way to ours, and the kids just had to look up close and personal at the fun decorations.


After we checked out the room we went back to the main building and waited for the bus to the Magic Kingdom. We had our lunch reservation at 11:35, which we should have made easily, but we waited over 30 minutes for a bus. The whole week it was like Murphy's Law of Buses. Wherever we wanted to go to had almost no buses coming, while the other stops had bus after bus coming and going. But we got in plenty of practice at waiting. :o)

We ate at Tony's Town Square (that's the outside, in the picture of Pinocchio), an Italian Restuarant themed out of "Lady and the Tramp," which was right at the beginning of Main Street. The food was great (although my pasta was doused in butter) but the ambiance was even better.

When we finished eating (dessert was amazing! Chocolate Bomb and Lemon curd Layer cake! YUM!) we made our way down main street, and the kids got their first look at the castle. The kids faces were so cute; they were struck dumb with amazement that they were finally seeing the castle that's at the beginning of the Disney movies.

After walking through the castle we went to Fantasyland. We pretty much stayed there the whole time we were at the Magic Kingdom that first day.

 
First, we went on Cinderella's golden carousel (how can you not?), and then we went over the Mickey's Philharmagic, a 3-D show. Jarom LOVED that, and wanted to go again the second we were out of the theater. Next we went to the Dumbo ride, which I had never been on, but the kids really enjoyed it. After that we went on the Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. That was also a first for me, and the kids had an extra good time because they knew the story so well from watching the movie.

After that we needed to take a break, and eat a snack, so we got some cotton candy (the kids' choice, but it was part of the Dining Plan, so yay!) and went over to the Hundred Acre Woods play area. I 'm not sure if they are a relatively new addition, or what, but now several areas of the parks have these great playgrounds. The one in Fantasyland is awesome, but they kids also really enjoyed the one in Toontown and in the Animal Kingdom. They are perfect if you have little kids and need a place for them to run around for awhile. Disney really knows what they're doing!

After the kids played for awhile, we went on the Teacup ride, which was enjoyable for most of us, but not for Kelcey. Her transformation is hilarious, and I just have to show you.

First, she's having a great time.

Then she's not so sure.

Then she is absolutely positive that this is not where she wants to be.

After that we went on Snow White's Scary Adventures, and then on Mickey's Philharmagic for the second time. At this point it was almost 5:00, and we were getting hungry, so we went to Pinocchio's Village Haus for dinner. The kids had pizza, and we had yummy salads, which was a necessity after the huge lunch that we ate. We had gotten "FastPass" tickets for the Peter Pan ride (it had the longest line of all the rides, 45 minutes) and so we rode that after dinner. We followed that up with a ride on "It's a Small World", and then decided to make our way over to the parade route. On the way we stopped by the Castle and caught the tail end of one of the shows they have there.

There were so many people that we couldn't get too close to the parade route, but there was a nice family that let Jarom and Taran sit with them right up front on the sidewalk. Talking with them afterward we found out that they were members of the Church, the Dad taught CTR 6, which Jarom thought was so cool. The "Spectromagic" Parade was good, but almost too long, at least for those of us who had been up since 4 am without a nap.

After the parade was done we decided to stay where we were, on the left side of the castle, because Tinker Bell's flight path from the top of the castle was right overhead. Jarom had lost it at this point, and was asking to go back to the hotel, and Kelcey was asleep in the stroller. We discussed it as a family, telling Jarom that we could leave right then, but that this was our only chance to see fireworks ("Mickey's Not-So-Scary halloween party" was going to be the next night, and we didn't have tickets) while we were at Walt Disney World.
 
Once Jarom heard that the fireworks were going to be better than the ones at the Carolina Mudcat's games, he was on board to stay. And, boy, were they spectacular!! Disney really has some kind of magic at the Magic Kingdom. It feels like all the holiday's rolled into one, even the 4th of July. After the fireworks were over we did the "shuffle, shuffle, step, step," back to the bus station, with all the other people who had decided to stay too. We waited an incredibly long time for a bus. No buses came to our stop, but the stops on either side had bus after bus after bus. When we finally got the first bus at our stop after almost a 1/2 hour, the entire line burst into imprompu applause. We finally got back to the hotel around 9:45, and everyone was in bed by 10:00. We were so tired, and we had had so much fun! And it was just the first day!

We're Back

Well, we made it back, and we had an absolutely wonderful time. The only problem is that it wasn't long enough. :o) But is it ever?

The kids were absolute troopers. Since the two oldest don't take naps, and it takes so long to get back to your hotel from the parks, we never ended up taking a break in the afternoons, like we had initally planned. So poor Kelcey had to take one for the team. :o) But we were usually able to get her to sleep in the stroller for a little while every day, so she could make it through the day.

Jarom was a complete hero, walking everywhere, being a "happy helper", and just rocking it in general. Taran was wonderful as well, and was almost beside herself with joy whenever we met one of the "Characters".

I will be posting a day-by-day report of what we did, but I just wanted to give you a quick update, and let you know, that yes, it is the most magical place on earth! :o)

We're Going to Disney World!!

I am so excited!!! After almost 7 years, and a lot of subtle (and not so subtle) hints, suggestions, and pleading, we're finally going to Disney World!! I make it sound like Jeff didn't want to go, but that's not really true. He did want to go, but he never thought that a big vacation was the thing to spend our money on (and he was right) and that our kids were too little (which was also right).

But now Jarom is 6, Taran is 4 1/2 and Kelcey is 2 1/2. Everyone can walk, if they want to (but we'll be taking the double stroller, believe me!) everyone can eat the same food, everyone has basically the same sleep schedule. Most importantly, everyone LOVES Disney movies and characters.

When we got our "economic stimulus check" last May, we weighed the different options: We could invest it, we could re-carpet our bedroom, or we could make some memories. And my wonderful husband and I decided that we should make some memories. So we did our part to help America's economy and spent the check on a vacation to Disney World, and airfare. We only had to pay about $200 of our own money, so woo hoo!

Our flight is tomorrow morning at 6:55, which means that we need to be at the terminal at 6:00, which means that with dropping off the car at long term parking we need to leave at 5:00 (we live about 30 minutes from the airport), which means that even if we all take our showers the night before, we have to get up before 4:30! AM!! But it's worth it, because we should get to Walt Disney World at about 10:00 or so, and after we check in, we can probably get to the park around 11:00 or 11:30. I AM SO EXCITED!! I can't believe we 're actually going! TOMORROW!!!

We're going to be there for 4 days (Wed., Thurs., Fri., Sat.,), and we've got a lot of fun things planned. Like the second day we're there we are going to have a "character breakfast" with Winnie the Pooh and friends, and another day we're going to have a "character dinner buffet" with Cinderella and the other princesses. Taran is just going to freak out. :o) And I just can not wait to see the kids faces when we go into the Magic Kingdom and we see the Castle for the first time!

I will have details and pictures when we come back, which I will post sometime next week, after we've recovered. :o) See ya later! We're outta here!

Why I should never cut my girls' hair

Taran really wanted to grow her hair out last winter because all the girls in her class have long hair. One in particular even has waist long hair that is naturally curly and falls into beautiful ringlets. I tried to soften the blow and let her know that when her hair was long it wouldn't get curly, but to no avail. She had to grow out her hair. So we tried it for about 5 months. Her hair doesn't grow very fast, but it was actually the longest she's ever had it. Unfortunately, it didn't look as cute on her as a short little bob. She has the most adorable little pointed chin, and she just get's lost with longer hair:

I took her to get her hair cut in July, and it was cute, but around the time school started she needed another one. I decided to take matters into my own hands, literally, and cut her hair myself. I have done it before, and it always turned out cute. This time, however, she had the wiggles, and so I had to keep even-ing it out, until the poor girl was just butchered. At least I didn't do her bangs too short, which has been another challenge for me in the past (see above photo), but her hair didn't even reach to the bottom of her ears!
When I was all done, I couldn't believe how short I had cut her hair, and she even said, "Mommy, it's soooooo short!" when she looked in the mirror. Fortunately, she's so cute that she could pull it off, and she just looked adorable!! Jeff and I kept telling her, "You look so pretty!," which seemed to help. But even though it turned out beautiful (on her), I have learned a very valuable lesson: I will never cut my girls' hair again, except for trimming their bangs. Neither one of us needs the stress of going through that again. :o)

Giddyup video

Here's the video I promised. It's not fabulous or anything, but it's a few seconds of fun in our house. Enjoy!

Giddyup!

When I was about 10 or 11 my little sister, who is 6 years younger than me, was getting a "pony ride" from our dad. She was almost too big for them, but my dad gamely let her get up on his back, and was puffing his way up to her bedroom, when she said, "Ok, Daddy, now. . . prance!" Of course we all laughed ourselves silly, and the story has made it into the folklore of our family history.

A little while ago Jeff was perfoming the same feat for our kids, even doing three at once, when they told him to "Run, Daddy!" The wonderful faith that kids have in their dad's super strength, huh? :o) I have been trying to post a video with this, but I can't seem to get it to download. So here's a couple of pictures to hold you over until I can (hopefully) get my technology to behave, and post the video too.

Shelly Lake

On Thursday mornings I go to the Relief Society walking group at Shelly Lake. The route around the lake is 2 miles and takes about 45 minutes, but let me tell you, it is quite a workout, especially since I've been pregnant. Add pushing a 2 year-old and a 4 year-old in a double stroller that is definitely NOT meant to go on a trail, and you'd better believe that I am doing more than just "glowing" by the end of it.

The trail ends at a bridge where we go to feed the ducks. I haven't brought bread the last couple of times, mostly because I'm focusing on the exercising part, and I forget about the ducks. However, this week the girls were so disappointed not to have anything to give the ducks that they decided to sacrifice the goldfish crackers that I had brought for a their snack. So they had a wonderful time throwing "fishies" to the ducks. Kelcey thought it was hilarious, and kept laughing hysterically whenever the ducks would fight over a cracker.

After the walk we always go to the park there so the girls can play for a while. I've included some pictures of that too, for your viewing pleasure. :o)

Jarom Can Tie His Shoes!

We've been working on this on and off for quite a while now, but since school started I realized it was "do or die" time. I just could not continue to tie the shoes of three kids when we were trying to get out the door, especially when Jarom was perfectly able to do it for himself. Jeff and I tried to teach all the different ways to tie shoes we could think of, but it just never seemed to make sense to him, you know?

Well, we finally had a breakthrough yesterday. I'm not sure if it was one specific thing, or if Jarom had just had enough practice, but when Jeff was helping him with his shoes in the morning, and trying to get him to do it himself, things finally clicked, and he actually did it! He was so proud of himself, he was bursting. When he got home from school he excitedly told me that he had even tied his shoes himself on the playground. Now he walks around putting his shoes on and tying them, just for the fun of it! We're thrilled! Now. . . it's Taran's turn. Ha ha ha ha (that was an evil cackle, just so you know). :o)

Pumpkin Time

Yesterday morning, before General Conference (one of the advantages of living on the East Coast - conference doesn't start until noon) we went to the Farmers Market and got our pumpkins. Jarom was very particular, and wanted to get the biggest one that he could, but I made it a requirement that he had to be able to carry it himself, so that limited the options. Phew! :o) Taran kept changing her mind, first picking a white one, then a tall skinny one, and finally ending up with the small round one. Kelcey wanted one that she could carry, that was "just her size", so she ending up choosing a multi-colored gourd she could handle with no problems. I gently tried to steer her to an actual pumpkin, but she had made her choice, so that was fine. For some reason the kids also wanted a couple of the decorative "mini-pumpkins", and since they were only 50 cents a piece, we gave in. We also got a large pumpkin for Mom and Dad to share. When we got home Jarom and Taran arranged them on the porch. As they did, Jarom was so sweet, telling me that the biggest one was for me and Jeff, the next biggest one was his, the little one was for Taran, the multi-colored gourd for Kelcey, and the two gourds were for Benjamin and Becca. "Becca" is the girl's name that we were thinking of, in case we had a girl, and we are holding it in reserve for the next pregnancy. Anyway, I thought that was really cute.

I love Autumn!!!

Ok, so I really really love Autumn. It's my favorite time of year, always has been, ever since I lived in Chicago growing up. The nights are cool, the days are warm (but not too warm!!), and everything just looks beautiful with the green grass, the orange pumpkins, and the turning leaves. One of my favorite things to do when I was growing up was to put up our halloween decorations, these cardboard cutouts of black cats, witches, ghosties, etc. Since I've become an honest-to-goodness grown-up, and had my own house, I've taken the decorating for Fall to a new level. I make myself wait until October 1 before I make the changes, but then, look out! :o)

I have a different comforter and pilows/shams for my bedroom:









I change out the flower baskets on the porch, and the wreaths, not to mention adding scarecrows and light-up pumpkins:










I also switch out my inside decorations in the living room on the mantle:










--on the computer:










--and on the movie cabinet:










I actually have a couple more things, like pictures on the wall in the kitchen, and indian corn hanging on the back door, etc. But I didn't want to bore you. More than I already have, that is. :o) Yeah, I might go overboard. Just a bit. And yeah, I have to spend the entire morning lugging plastic storage boxes down from the attic, then lugging them back up, and putting flower baskets up in the attic, etc., but it's worth it. Having the change inside to go with the change of the seasons makes me happy, and the kids get a real kick out of it. Taran was running around the house, exclaiming over every single thing, telling me, "Mommy, it's so bee-uuu-tiful!!" Yup. . . I love Autumn!

Kelcey has Cold Sores! (Sort of)

I thought that would get your attention. :o) Ever since Sunday Kelcey has been running a low fever and complaining that her mouth hurt. I thought she was teething, maybe getting her last baby molars, but then the last couple of days I noticed that her gums were really red and swollen. I called the doctor to make sure that nothing was really wrong, and as soon as I said that her gums were red and swollen, the nurse said, "How far away do you live? Do you think you could be here in 20 minutes?"

Of course, I freaked out, and berated myself the whole way to the doctor's office for not calling the very first time I noticed her gums. There's always such a fine line between being the over-protective mom who goes to the doctor for anything and everything, and being the neglectful mom who doesn't go to the doctor unless their child is bleeding profusely, or has a broken leg or something. Sigh. . . I can never get it right.

Anyway, it turns out that Kelcey has the cold sore virus, or Herpes Simplex I. Not the STD, obviously. I have cold sores occasionally, and I was afraid that the kids would have them too, but I was relieved that Jarom and Taran seem to have dodged the bullet. Not Kelcey unfortunately. I also learned that the first time that little kids gets the cold sore virus they don't actually get cold sores. Instead, they do what Kelcey is doing: their gums get really really dark red, and swollen. It's really painful, and I feel so bad for her. Here's a picture for illustration. She's such a trooper, and I'm not making it any easier, am I? :o) So she's on Amoxicil four times a day, plus the doctor prescribed Tylenol with Codeine for nighttime. Knocks her out completely, which is a good thing, because she hadn't been sleeping well for since Sunday--ergo, neither was I. Unfortunately this virus is a lot like the chicken pox virus, and it's going to last for 14 days all together, so she's just going to have to suffer through it. Poor thing. I wish there was more I could do that would help her feel better. She hates taking the Amoxicil, so I have to hold her down on the floor to squirt it into her mouth. Not exactly soothing, is it? So just a little more than week to go. I'm sure we'll both survive, but I'll keep you posted.