Jenni's Blog: Disneyworld (warning:longest post in the history of my blog)

Well, we survived the week long trip to Disney with three kids in tow . . . barely. Next time, I need to train as if I was training for a marathon. Disney is magical and fun but it can suck the energy right out of you. We shot nearly 300 pictures, don't worry, I only am making my readers browse through 30 or so. We started the first day at Disney Hollywood Studios. We still had lots of energy and smiles this day. The kids are about to go on Toy Story Mania in the above picture. That is an awesome ride, it is 3D and allows the rider to earn points by shooting at different 3D targets. So cool, we rode it as many times as we could.

Since we don't see snow in Mississippi, we thought we better snap this shot.

Addison Kate enjoying herself at lunchtime.

Luke and Grandpa Steve ready to fight Zurg on Toy Story Mania. Grandpa and Daddy went head to head and Grandpa Steve was the champion. Sorry honey, better luck next time.

Addison and Jo Jo, we have kind of an unspoken rule in our family that we only see characters if there is no line. The kids usually just walk by the characters and wave at them and are happy with that. Thank goodness, we don't have to spend too much time in those lines. Quite a few times there were no lines and we would ask Amelia and Luke, "Do you want to go see Tigger, Chip and Dale, Alice, etc. ?" We would always get the same answer, "No thanks, we already met them." I couldn't resist having Addison meet a few characters though. She gets so excited and laughs and laughs at all of them. It was so cute. She loved Jo Jo the Clown, ( the only clown in the world who doesn't give me the creeps).

Christmas Lights Disney Style, A-M-A-Z-I-N-G! These lights danced to the music and spun around and flapped wings, it was awesome. To top it off, snow fell down on us too so it was pretty cool. As you can see by the picture, Addison was too mesmerized by the lights to bother looking at the camera. See Luke's fierce Star Wars pose, he was really brave there in mommy's arms but not earlier in the day. Luke adored the Star Wars ride, he insists it's his favorite ride in all of the parks (though it's kind of lamo and makes me nauseous so I only ride it if my eyes are firmly shut). However, the park also has a live Star Wars stage show where children can fight Darth Vader, we let him watch videos online of it, it's all he talked about leading up to the trip. Mommy and Daddy stood in line an hour and Luke was picked to be a Padawan! He took one look at Darth Vader and was like "No Way!" He watched the show safely from Daddy's arms instead. So cute that little Luke is. As soon as the show was over, he was swinging his light saber and destroying everything in his path again.

Magic Kingdom Park, always a favorite in our house. It was the first time we went to Disney in the Christmas season and it really was decorated so pretty. Our little Mickey and Minnie were so excited.

The Dumbo ride is the first Disneyworld ride each of the children have ever been on. Couldn't change tradition with Addison either, she loved it and clapped her hands during the ride.

The Carousel is another favorite for our kids and Addison enjoyed it too. She was laughing and trying to make her horse bounce higher by kicking her little legs and flapping her arms.

This was the first year Amelia and Luke were big enough for the big rides. Daddy took this picture while in line for Splash Mountain. I asked Stephen if he told Luke to pose his hands like that but he said nope, that was all Luke.

After mommy took them on Thunder Mountain. Smiles now but Amelia was screeching, "IS IT DONE YET???????????????????????" Even the people behind her and in front of her were soothing her. So... we only rode that ride once.

I love this one.

Addison's piggy face.

Addison on It's A Small World ride. She was so enamored with the characters and the song, the ride has just so much to look at, I loved bringing her on it.

Whew, Day three was Epcot! Do you see us starting to look weary.

Love this, Addison and Daddy. Addison would only sleep about 20 or 30 minutes each day in the parks so she was pooped. But, she slept great at night, usually sleeping 13 hours or so. Loved that, that was worth traipsing around Disney all day long.

Amelia and Luke loving each other in front of an Epcot fountain. They also loved the fountains where the water hops out, from fountain to fountain. It was great watching them play because I vividly remember playing in those fountains as a child.

Amelia and Luke ready to ride Test Track with mommy. Seemed like a good idea at the time.
Amelia was okay throughout most of the ride although nervous wails kind of kept creeping out, but I thought she was going to be okay. Well, at the end of the car ride the car goes outside and goes fast, I mean like super fast around a race track, like 70mph. It was tummy tickling fast and I was holding both their hands, shouting "Boy, isn't this fun, wow, how fun!" You know, the mom trick of trying to not let them get scared but Amelia was right next to me screaming at the top of her lungs repeatedly, like a chant, "THIS IS NOT FUN, GET ME OFF THIS THING!" Luke of course loved it and went on again with daddy. Amelia still says Dumbo is her favorite ride but oh well, not everyone is a thrill seeker right?

Going through the worlds at Epcot. The children loved the Chinese acrobats in China. Daddy loved the beer in Germany. I loved the Bao Bing tea in Japan. I swear, I was up for the next 36 hours and feeling great. I don't know what was in it but I wish I could have it every morning.

Have to get the sombrero picture, come on, that's just cute no matter what.

I know, what's the big deal with this picture right? Look at the sign behind the children. Lost and Found. This is at the Magic Kingdom, day four. Day three was Epcot, half way through the Epcot morning, I realized I lost the full video tape of our whole trip so far of Disney, all of Addison's firsts, etc. So Epcot was tainted by my crying, anyone that knows me, knows that pictures and videos of my children are almost as important to me as my children themselves ( okay, maybe not quite; but close). I was on a wild goose chase retracing my steps begging for cast members to help me who kept pointing me in different directions. As a side note, my dear husband, immediately thought, "Thank the dear Lord that Jenni lost it and not me." Fair enough, he may have been seriously harmed if it had been him. So, at the end of the day, it hadn't shown up but some cast members swear they had seen it. I was so sad but had to leave, they said, if anything is found it goes to the Magic Kingdom lost and found. I'm thinking, um great, it's a three inch unmarked video tape. What are my chances of it showing up? So, the next day was Magic Kingdom day and we went to Lost and Found our first stop. Well, what do you know, I told the guy (blubbering again of course) how I lost my tape in Epcot and he pulled it right out and said, here it is! Seriously, oh my gosh, I hugged him and cried some more. Disney Magic at it's finest.

Yes, we are those annoying people that take the picture with the Mickey ears and then don't buy them.

Okay, one of my favorite moments was Addison meeting Mickey and Minnie. She laughed and squealed and kicked her arms and legs and reached for them and grabbed their noses. It was so cute. Loved it, loved it.

Animal Kingdom, our last day, wow we made it. Notice the weather change, brrrr! It was rainy too so we only stayed a few hours. That was plenty for us though. We were wiped out.