Just a Hike

Seems like I have been a little un-inspired lately. Have you been able to tell from my blog???

I mean, we have had some super-great visitors and hade a blast at the sand dunes with friends.
Of course we have been to the beach

and the kids have been having fun with friends.

Farmer Jaleigh was able to grow a few things this year, thanks to our kind neighbor "Farmer Dave"

and the big kids have been doing a lot of this...

but ya know, I just couldn't get into documenting (aka "blogging").

Then a few days ago we decided to hit a trail...

It didn't start out so good, we forgot the water in the van. So while Nathan and the big kids went back and got it, Miss J & I waited on a bench.

I just sat and watched her. I don't know if it is because it's not strange for her to want to hike in a dress

or because since the day she was born, her legs never hang without having her ankles crossed

but I just realized that I couldn't let these days slip by.
As the water and the rest of the family arrived, we continued along the way.

I just couldn't stop taking pictures!!

Miss J got tired along the way but as usual, Nathan came to her rescue by applying the very rare and efficient "energy plant".

It worked like a charm!!
She would look at me side sideways and say, "Mom- is Dad really serious?" I asked her if she thought he was. She said yes! Who am I to argue?

So as I sit here, I realize how behind I am and how much I let fall by the wayside. I need to get better at finding a better balance in my life. August is going to be a really busy month, and then it's back to school, but I need to do better. And I will.

I mean... who wants to forget this???

Happy Birthday America! (...and Nathan!)

Magic Day @ The Magic Kingdom

Wednesday morning started early with a wake up call from Mickey Mouse himself! (Is getting up before 7am ever ok on vacation?!?) We were excited because we had breakfast reservations at the Grand Floridian with Mary Poppins, Alice in Wonderland, The Mad Hatter, Pooh & Tigger. On top of that, we were going to be able to ride the monorail for the first time.

Walking into the Grand Floridian was stunning! It was... well, grand! Jaleigh was wearing her first of 3 princess dresses. As we were walking down the (very grand) staircase, I turned to see Jaleigh holding up the front of her dress- very princess-like- and Saroya holding up the back of her dress. I wish I had my camera out- it would have been priceless.

In the lobby, the florists were re-doing a flower arrangement and gave the girls some of the longest stem roses I have ever seen!

The breakfast was fantastic (again a chef to show me around and TONS of options!!), the Characters were really lovely and came around alot, we ate a ton and were ready to have a great day! We WILL definitely do this again.

We didn't get to the park until 10:30a because of our breakfast, so we started to the right and just started seeing things. I think we may have started with Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin because we liked Toy Story Mania so much and heard it was similar. It was fun, but Toy Story Mania wins hands down!

We hit Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor which was HILARIOUS. Then I got bugged because I think the longest wait we ever did that day was for Tomorrowland Indy Speedway, and we can do that exact kind of ride 5 minutes from our house. In the end of the day, the kids loved it, so I guess it didn't matter.

After the Tomorrowland ride, we decided to separate while Nathan, Ethan & Saroya went on Space Mountain (Saroya was NOT a fan!)

Jaleigh and I went for a walk through Mickey & Minnie's houses and then for a leisurely ride on the train over to "Frontierland". (I know, I know... ME on a train. It was nothing!)

We met up with everyone there and headed to Pirates of the Caribbean. LOVED IT! I was worried that the kids wouldn't like it, but Nathan said, "They will be fine." And they were!

We went to Aladdin's Magic carpets,

The Swiss Family Robinson tree house, The hilariously funny Jungle Cruise,

and then... THEN we ate Dole Whips for lunch! (Did you know that these dreamy desserts are dairy free??? :D)

On our way over to Fantasyland, we noticed a parade was coming through. We had a terrible view, and didn't even try to get closer, but Jaleigh was THRILLED! She kept saying, "Here I am Princesses!! HERE I AM!!!" So funny!!

We stopped to see a few things, but then ate dinner at Pinocchio's Village Haus. Again, pizza for the kids and DELICIOUS salads for Nathan and I. OH- and you see that book on the table in the foreground? It is a total Walt Disney World MUST have. It's called Passporter's Walt Disney World. Thank you SOO much BETH!

After dinner, we went on a few of what turned out to be MY favorite rides! Peter Pan's Flight and It's a Small World.

The girls really wanted to see Tinkerbell & Friends in Pixie Hollow but the wait was 60 minutes- at least 30 minutes longer than anything we had waited for. I figured that with the holiday crowd showing up in a few days, this would be the shortest wait we could get. The boys waited with us for a while, but then I told them to go ahead and we would catch up to them. They had TV screens showing movies, so the wait wasn't bad at all. I don't even think we ended up waiting that long. Reguardless- it was totally worth it for the girls!

One glimpse of the castle and we knew what time it was!

We got an "insider tip" from an employee on where to stand so that Tinkerbell would fly right over our heads- so we found our spot, got a few snacks, and waited for the show. (Saroya is on the phone with Grandma Pam & Grandpa Dave who called to say, "Why haven't we heard from you??" :)

Perfect end to a perfect day! Ok- and even though I flimed it on another day when the Garricks were with us, I just wanted to post it here too... I couldn't wait! :)

Day 3- Animal Kingdom!

After a late night, we were still determined to get a early start. We made it to the bus stop by 8:10am. Plenty of time to get there before the park opened at 9am. Hurray!!

As we made a dash to Kilimanjaro Safaris to get fast passes the scenery was amazing! There was so much attention to detail, I just wanted to walk slowly and take it all in. We knew we would have more time later, so we just soaked in as much as we could and got our fast passes. We were lucky enough to make it for the first showing of The Festival of the Lion King, and get front row seats!

It was in-your-face, high energy, great singing, and just spectacular! I think this was Nathan's favorite show. Might have been mine too!

We stopped for a few character greetings along the way to the Kilimanjaro Safari.

Kilimanjaro Safari's was probably the this I was looking forward to the most, and the biggest disappointment. It was cool to see all the animals close(ish), but they tried to make it seem too real, which just made it obvious how not real it was. That dosen't make much sense, and anyway- the kids loved it so that's all that matters. It was still fun!

After the Safari, we decided to catch a showing of the Finding Nemo Musical. I had a tip that this show was great, and it did not disappoint! The music, acting and costumes were awesome! We had close seats, but they were off to the left. I think I would have rather been further back to get a better view. We found what WE think was another "Hidden Mickey". (I love how Saroya is pretending to hold her breath like she is under water!) It's funny, because even today April 30th- Saroya pointed out a "Hidden Mickey" on a picture in my room. They are all still looking, like Disney sprinkled Mickey heads all over the world!We took a break after the show to have lunch. Nathan & I ate at the Flame Tree Barbecue which had the biggest most delicious sandwiches. I can't remember what Nathan had, but I know I LOVED my sandwich! :)

The kids ate at Restaurantosaurus, which is essentially chicken nuggets and fries. Perfect for mot having to fight with kids to eat! :)

After lunch we walked over to Kali River Rapids to see what the wait was. 10 minutes. Sweet! We walked on and everyone LOVED it. Actually the girls and I went on it again while Nathan & Ethan ran over to ride Expedition Everest.

The girls and I had some extra time, so as we were walking around, we noticed that "It's Tough to be a Bug" only had a 10 minute wait, so we went to see that. YIKES!! It was horrifying for the girls...ok and a little scary for me too. It was the centipedes running across my back I think that got me!

We all found each other, toured the Tree of Life and then only had a few minutes before the park closed.

Since Animal Kingdom closed at 5pm, we decided to make dinner reservations at Hollywood Studios @ Hollywood & Vine for 6:35p. Only problem with that was that we arrived there at 5:30p, and Nathan had some work that he needed to do and the kids wanted to go swimming. I checked with the restaurant to see if there were any earlier times available and she said, "How about right now?" I about screamed I was so happy! I was shocked that they had an opening, knowing how busy the park seemed to be. It was great service, and a buffet- which is normally scary to me with my food issues- but the chef came out and pointed out exactly what I could eat, and offered to make me a few things too! In fact- she even brought me dairy free ice cream, two chocolate chip cookies and a brownie! Luckily the cookies and brownies were pre-packaged so I took them with me.

Sometime during dinner, I noticed the kids talking quietly and pointing. When I asked what what going on, Saroya said, "Jaleigh saw Gabriella from High School Musical!" I looked over, and a waitress did look shockingly like her! Jaleigh was absolutely star stuck! Finally she asked me to go with her to say, "hi". I walked up to a girl named Daniella whose badge says she is from Mexico.

"Um, excuse me... My daughter thinks you are Gabriella from High School Musical."

She turned and said very humbly. "Aww...she does??" And knelt down to talk right to Jaleigh.

"Do you think I am Gabriella?? You are so nice!" and gave Jaleigh a really sweet hug. I could have kissed her for doing that. For never crushing her by saying, "No, I am not her" but let her have her moment. Her dream! Before we left we asked if we could get a picture and she said, "Of course!!"

We left as her manager approached her to find out what was going on. I really hope she gets some kind of recognition for the way she handled the situation, because it really meant the world to Jaleigh. Magic again- the best!

We headed home after dinner and had plenty of time for swimming, homework, and an early night to sleep. The next day we were finally heading to the MAGIC KINGDOM!!!

So, As I Was Saying...

We woke up early on our first full day at Disney World. Our plan was to get to Hollywood Studios before it opened. Then we would be the "only ones there" and be able to jump on any ride. (HA!)

We got to the bus stop about 8:45a, not as early as I had hoped but we were sooo excited. We watched the first bus come- Animal Kingdom, the second- Epcot, third- Magic Kingdom, fourth- Animal Kingdom.... We were starting to think we were at the wrong place. Then we realized that maybe we weren't the only people that had the idea of getting there "early". Eventually the bus came and we were officially on our way!

We had a plan (thanks to careful preparation and direction from Beth) and we ran to get fastpasses to the newest attraction Toy Story Mania. As far as rides go, this was Saroya's FAVORITE. It was pretty awesome. It involves 3D glasses, Midway games, and trying to beat Dad's score! So much fun.

Jaleigh and I hung out and watched the Jedi Training Academy while Nathan & the older kids rode the Star Tours ride- another big hit. We decided to run over and see if we could do something Jaleigh would like to do, and got to the Beauty and the Beast show just 5 minutes before it began. It was a packed house, but they led us straight down to the front of the auditorium, and we sat 2 rows from the front of the stage. One look at Jaleigh and I knew exactly what people mean about Disney World's "magic". She was beside herself with excitement. We had lunch at the Pizza Planet (from the Toy Story Movie), and it was SOO GOOD!! Nathan and I had salads that were fantastic, and the kids had pizza with grapes and rice crispy treats shaped like a Mickey Head. Not bad for "park food".

We watched the High School Musical 3 street show (which of course had the kids dancing like crazy!!) and Jaleigh was lucky enough to be called up to be in the show with the dancers. Yeah- magic again... :)

The kids had a snack credit that they could use every day- so they opted for the Chocolate Covered Mickey Head ice cream bars.

While we were waiting for the afternoon "Block Party Bash" Ethan & Saroya took the opportunity to trade pins.

By this time, Miss J thinks she is a "cast member" herself, and marches right out to the entertainers to dance in the show. She wasn't paying a bit of attention to what anyone else was doing, she was working the crowd. :)

We went to see the Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular, and it was great! I think I spent just as much time watching the show as I did watching my own family with smiles plastered all over their faces.

After the show, it was time for our dinner reservations at the 50's Prime Time Cafe. I was soo excited about this. The premise is you are at your "Mom's" house and you sit at a 50's style table with an 50's black and white TV playing old re-runs at the table. The waiters are supposed to treat you like kids reminding you to "eat your veggies" and "keep your elbows off the table". I thought it would be so fun. Nathan didn't think it was. (Which kinda was funny to me too!) He totally thought the guy was annoying and rude. Saroya was scared of the server and had a few tears because she didn't like the Mac & Cheese (GROSS!!!). We told her it was ok, she didn't have to eat it. Overall, I don't think I would go back there because I wasn't impressed with the food, and Nathan wasn't impressed with the service... (he! he!!) BUT!!! I do think I found a hidden Mickey there. Nathan says no, but I think it is. Can you see it?!

We took some time after dinner to get some character autographs and before we knew it we were into the "extra magic hours". That was so great because the whole place cleared out. We weren't really sure what to do. I asked a lady in the area for an "insider tip" and she said that all the big characters are in the Magic of Disney Animation show so you can get autographs. There was no waiting so we went. IT was interesting, but apparently all of the characters were at the Playhouse Disney Dance Party going on next door, so we went over.

Imagine a dance party with bubbles flying through the air, Disney Characters doing the "Locomotion" and a kid friendly CRAZY DJ running the show! It was a blast. Perfect thing to do at 11:00 at night. They announced that there were some guys making balloon things for kids. THEY WERE AMAZING!!! This one guy had crazy skills and all the kids walked away happy.

Happy that is until Nathan was trying to find a "safe place" to put Saroya's prized possession back in our room. It went a little like this.

"Dad, maybe you shouldn't put it there."

"No, it's Ok sweetie. Look."

"But Dad, the wall might pop it.... "

POP!!!!

Then lots of very, very, sad tears and a balloon Teddy Bear's leg shrinking quickly. It took a LONG time for her to get over that one. Nathan felt TERRIBLE!!! She forgave him quickly, but she was still very very sad. Luckily we got a picture forever! :)

The other bummer about that day was realizing that we missed Fantasmic on the only day we could have seen it. BLAH!!

Oh well. Next time..... :) It was an amazing start to an amazing week!