Day 3- Hotel Day

After two days of open to close parks, we decided to give everybody a little mid-week break and spend the day at the hotel. They had a GREAT kid pool with fun slides and waterfalls and the kids were dying to put it to use. We slept in a little bit, breakfast at IHOP, the headed to the pool.

It ended up being a little overcast that day and drizzled on us from time to time, but no one really cared. The kids were super happy, plus this was the first day they were going to get a real nap.





That evening, we had reservations at the giant ship/resturant in the middle of our hotel. So we got all fancied up for our super nice, super yummy meal. While we were waiting for our table to be ready (since we literally took up the entire back half of the ship...) we did some family photos.

My brother and his family.

My mom and step-dad with all their grand-kids.

My dad and step-mom with all their grandkids.

They were kind of over it by the time it was our turn...

Everybody!

Day 2- Hollywood Studios

Hollywood Studios was DEFINITELY Cale's happy place. Toy Story and Cars! We also learned there that our kids do NOT like shows. At least not ones in the dark, in 3D where witches and monsters and such comes out at you. No, no not at all. Yet... we kept trying? Lol. Outdoor, bright happy singy shows- good.

The adults were pretty big fans of this day as well. Tower of Terror and Rockin Roller Coaster... LOVE.

We found Toy Story pretty quickly. Cale had been waaaaiting for this. He really would not even consider meeting any characters the day before. But Woody... Woody, he was considering. It took him a minute, but he just couldn't resist.


We did the Toy Story ride after that, which was really fun! A little friendly competition...


Next up- CARS! One of my only regrets from the week is not having my camera ready when we were walking away and Cale ran back over to give Lightening McQueen a kiss. It was precious.



Ice cream break. A few more here's and there's, Indiana Jones stunt show (how many times have I seen this?... but it was Evan's favorite thing that day!). Then the littles went back to the hotel with Deda, Poppy, and Ba for naps. And the rest of us stayed to do the "big" rides (again).

Good day in Hollywood!

Disney Recap- Day 1

I'm behind... again. But if you could see the three computers on my desk and the set-up I have going on just to type this, you would understand why! Plus, the last two weeks since we've been back have been INSANE. Moving onward....

To summarize: we had a BLAST.
Fifteen of us alltogether. Our five, all four of my parents, my two brothers, sis-in-law, nephew, niece, and other brother.

The kids did GREAT in the car both going and coming (thank you, Jesus). Poppy rode down with us and Deda hitched a ride back.

We are very very lucky that my mom has an awesome job and one of it's benefits got us a great deal at the Gaylord Palm. Beautiful. The rest of the elders (I'm gonna get in trouble for that one...) were already checked in when we got there so when we arrived at 8pm Sat night, we were able to go strait up to our rooms and unload. Then we all gathered it their suite for some chinese takeout before crashing. The bus for Magic Kingdom was coming bright and early!


We (at least my five!) were soooo excited the next morning! Thanks to Nathan's military discount and Deda and Ge owning FL property, a TON of money was saved on our 4-day passes- then EVERYBODY was excited lol. As soon as we got in, we happened to walk right into a parade. Perfect way to start our day. Plus, it was good for all the kids to see their fav characters from the floats first (I think) before we shoved them into their arms for pictures.

We grabbed some lunch and then knocked out a few key MK classics: teacups, Princesses, and the Barnstormer. The little ones LOVED the roller coaster! And of course, my girls were in heeeaven meeting REAL princesses. Layla even started doing her own Princess pose for pictures!


We hit a few more rides and such before stopping for ice cream (the beginning of a five-day habit).

And then waited in a very long line to see Ariel. She was very high on our priority list anyway, but then we found out that tat Sunday was her LAST day with a tail. Her exhibit was going to be closed the rest of the week and then she would return the following Monday on legs, and Disney will keep her on legs for the next 3-4 YEARS! So we were pretty stoked to get to see her :) She's been Layla's (and mine!) favorite for her whole life (but Tiana is stealing her heart!).

Brynn- "Hey, Mermaid!"
Ariel- "Yes, Princess?"
Brynn- "You fix my shoe?"

I have a picture of just that. Brynn, leg up in the air, panties showing, while Ariel fixes her shoe. Love it.

After that, it was sort of a whirlwind of 'Must feed children', 'Must catch bus', and "It's a small world after all, It's a small world after all....".

It was a GREAT day.