epcot

we had a sunny day to begin our epcot adventure... but you will notice from the layers that it was quite chilly. of course little man was running around in short sleeves most of the day, but that was because we were in public and more than just underwear was required. our first stop was soarin' ~ which was an amazing imax hang-glider type of ride. we rode that two times in a row since there was not a long line. all of the hands on things were great for the children. and the 3-d shows were phenomenal. we ate dinner at the coral reef restaurant while looking at the "largest inland saltwater environment ever built ~ containing over 85 species of tropical fish". that's according to their website! i did feel a bit guilty indulging on my wonderful seafood dinner while watching said entrees cousin swim around the tank. after dinner we bundled up (four layers including hats) for the spectacular fireworks show. you can see grammy and little man huddled together for warmth in the picture below.

some of the amazing fireworks... all in all a great day. lots of walking, tired but excited children, and yes, tired and excited adults. animal kingdom is on tap for tomorrow...

chef mickey

breakfast with chef mickey was a blast. seriously, what is not to love about a breakfast buffet... one word ~ bacon. love! it! the food was fantastic and many plates later we were quite stuffed. i have a feeling mickey shaped waffles and bacon will be on the menu each morning. the children were fascinated with the characters that stopped by each table. their smiles tell it all. don't you just love minnie's eyes? well, with breakfast over we are hopping on the monorail for our destination of the day... EPCOT.

downtown disney

downtown disney was our destination for friday evening. lego city was the main attraction. oh. my. word. little man was wide-eyed at all the lego sets and creations that were built. we were all amazed at the lego wall... every piece ever made!  little man and daddy headed to the sports store and i walked hand in hand in the rain with my favorite oldest daughter to the princess store. we tried on funky glasses, mickey ears and looked at every princess dress ever created. we joined grammy and granddaddy for dinner over looking the water. the children were still amazed that they had eaten breakfast at home and were now eating dinner in florida. the shuttle took us back to the resort and we prepared for a long next day.

the plane

a direct flight into orlando made the trip a breeze! no layovers, just a quick trip while coloring, playing tic-tac-toe with bendaroos, and travel connect four... oh and lots of snacks. granddaddy and little man ate and talked the entire trip... he colored for a while and they played a few games, but mostly talking and eating. funny quote from my dad "what is this... licorice?" when being passed the bendaroos for little man to play with. seriously. went. through. my. snacks. upon landing we made our way to the "disney magical express" for our trip to the resort. during this trip a video is playing showing all of the parks in detail and what to expect / do / see while there. at one point the announcer says (bear with me here i just don't want to forget this) "are you ready to set aside your fears?" he is talking about the tower of terror ride.  m1 is mouth-wide-open-eyes-wide-open taking it all in and she whispers "yes" (i am cracking up inside) after previewing all of the parks she looks at me and says "i'm not going to miss a moment of this".

the preparation

* this is mainly for me to remember*

the prep work for this trip began about a year ago. rooms were booked, grandparents invited, airline tickets secured, weather checked (and rechecked) park schedule discussed and meals planned. all of this right under the noses of our innocent children. there were times when i would have to quickly close the laptop as they rushed into a room and plopped down beside me ~ once little man told grammy that he "did not know what his parents were planning but whatever (it was it was going to be huge" (that was over the summer and then he forgot about it). when the invitation went out to the grandparents, mine accepted but due to jd's dad's cancer, his declined. during the fall and into christmas we were unsure the trip would even take place due to his quick decline. our plan to tell the children was hindered because of that... so we decided that should we have to cancel it would be better for them to not have even known. about two weeks after pops passed away (and three weeks prior to the trip) jd mentioned that he would really like it if his mom could join us. i made a few calls and had trouble with making all of the meals (reservations for the meals were made back in october) and room availability work. on her own my mom also began making phone calls to disney regarding the same thing... great minds. long story short ~ we could not make the entire trip work at that late date, but she could fly down on sunday and fly back with us on wednesday. jd talked with his mom and she thought about it and decided to join us.

our itinerary was downtown disney on friday for dinner, epcot on saturday and animal kingdom on sunday. we were saving the magic kingdom for monday and tuesday, with a flight back on wednesday. knowing that friday thru sunday would be long days trying to cram each park into one day, we decided to leave m2 with nana for those days and planned for them to fly down together on sunday. and yes, i cried at the airport when nana and m2 were left in the car and we headed in... still wondering what was going through her young little mind as we unloaded everything. to make it simple for nana we took her suitcase and m2's things with us. the only thing she needed for her flight was the stroller, a backpack and m2. 

the weekend prior to the trip we had a large snow storm... the children were out of school on monday and tuesday with rumors of a wednesday cancellation. i was starting to panic. i was not packed at all and could not get this done with them home. plus leslie and i cooked on monday. good grief! luckily school was in session on wednesday and my dad came to my rescue. he came and watched m2 so i could get the suitcases packed up. by the time i picked them up from school wednesday four out of five of the family members were completely packed (with the exception of those last minute toothpaste/toothbrush etc items). the remainder of the packing was completed on thursday while they were in school.   whew! friday morning was a breeze! the children enjoyed pulling their own duffel bags on wheels but were concerned that their stuff would arrive when they did.

okay, now on to the fun stuff...

what i have been doing

the laundry from our trip. we have all been there ~ we enjoy the trip while we are gone but don't like the coming home part and the laundry that lines the hallway. this laundry did not even make it into the laundry room, i just unpacked and formed the loads down the hallway. i remember a time when i only did laundry on mondays...

a secret revealed

on thursday afternoon (2/4) we had this conversation with the children during their after school snack. daddy was home since he was taking a mid-term exam all day long. we sometimes play this "game" with the children... would you rather (fill in blank) or (fill in blank)?

daddy: would you rather take a trip in a train or in a car?

children: train

daddy: would you rather play outside in the snow or outside in a pool?

children: pool

daddy: would you rather swing on the swing set or slide down a slide?

m1: slide

little man: swing

daddy: would you rather ride a scooter or ride a bike?

m1: scooter

little man: bike

daddy: would you rather go to school tomorrow or go to disney?

children: disney

daddy: what about you mommy ~ would you rather clean the house tomorrow or go to disney?

mommy: of course i'd rather go to disney. what about you daddy? would you rather work tomorrow or go to disney?

daddy: disney of course. mommy if we went who should we invite?

mommy: maybe grammy and granddaddy, all of us and nana.

daddy: well then let's go and let's stay for five days.

they were staring at us in disbelief until we sent them upstairs to search for their suitcases.  little man still did not believe us and had to unpack his things to see that i had indeed actually packed everything that he would need for a five day stay at disney.  m1 was easier to convince and was immediately eager to talk about all of the details. she was a little hesitant about the fact that we were flying (she requested the pilot who landed his plane on the hudson river) but was ready to give it a try.

i only have about 460 pictures to filter through and edit and then i can get them posted.