See you real soon!

Here are a few parting shots as our time at Disney World comes to an end. This Mickey Mouse statue greeted us everytime at our hotel. I was trying to read a map and take a picture of the See you real soon at the same time and you can see the map won. We had a blast and made lots of memories, now it's time for vacation :-)
I don't think Ethan and Rachel would've lasted for another action packed day, what do you think?
Special thanks to all who gave us tips and information! I have to give a special shout-out to Wendi, for giving me the pin trading tip, Ethan and Rachel loved it. For those interested and in case you don't know, you can buy a lanyard and a few pins and trade with any castmember at any of the parks, very cool.

Last Stop: Magic Kingdom

We ended our vacation enjoying the late evening at the Magic Kingdom, complete with the Spectomagic parade and Wishes, the nightly fireworks display. Ethan and Rachel got to co-pilot the Monorail on the way there. I love the picture in the front of the monorail, if you look close Cinderella's castle is right in front of Rachel and Space Mountain is in front of Ethan in the distance. Rachel had been begging to get her face painted the entire time, very colorful isn't it? We had front row seats to the parade and fireworks, right on the curb in front of the castle. Beautiful weather for our last evening there and the parade and fireworks were second to none.

Disney Hollywood Studios

This park has the best attraction ever, Toy Story Midway Mania! It is a 4D midway-style game-playing adventure, AWESOME! We rode it twice, again, thanks to fast passes. While we were waiting for our fast pass time we watched the Indian Jones Stunt Spectacular and got pictures with a few popular characters. Jason tried his best to get me to do the American Idol audition process. They have the new American Idol Experience here. I only agreed to do it if he did and we all know that didn't happen.

Animal Kingdom

We were up bright and early again because to see all the animals on the safari, morning time is the best. We got lots of pictures with characters at this park, which I think is by far the best place for character greetings. Kilimanjaro Safaris is the attraction that takes you on an exciting expedition through the African-style savannah. The picture with the lion is special because right after that he started roaring, A LOT! Gives me chills even typing this, none of us had ever heard a lion roar in real life, very powerful. After the safari we took the wildlife express train to Rafiki's Planet Watch, Ethan and Rachel's favorite part was petting and brushing the goats. Then it was onto the River Rapids ride, which thankfully we didn't get too soaked. Rachel and I took a break while Jason and Ethan boarded Expedition Everest(high-speed train aka rollercoaster), which by the way is rated the number one attration at Disney World. Ethan loved it so much that they rode it a second time, thank goodness for fast passes! As you can tell in the last picture we were tired and ready for bed. Everytime we got on the bus almost every kid fell asleep within seconds. Ethan and Rachel don't look very comfortable but they were out cold.

EPCOT

After our much needed nap we decided Epcot should be our next stop. Spaceship Earth was our first ride there and that was really interesting. Then it was time to blast off to Mars on Mission: SPACE. The first time we rode it we were all assigned certain positions: Ethan-engineer, Rachel-pilot, Jason-navigator, Crystal-commander. I need to add that we were part of the Green Team (milder version without the spinning). It was like being in a real spaceship. Ethan had to be the pilot so he rode it a second time with Jason while Rachel and I fed the birds popcorn. Then we headed to The Seas with Nemo & Friends. I actually captured their faces in a picture the first time seeing the ride, got in trouble for taking the picture but it was worth it. Turtle Talk With Crush was totally awesome dude, very cool interactive show. We ended the day with IllumiNations: Reflections of Earth, Epcot's nightly firework display.

First stop: Magic Kingdom

We checked into the hotel and headed to our dinner at Liberty Tree Tavern. We rode our first ride, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, the same ride I rode when I was Ethan and Rachel's age, as will be the case with many of the rides. Then we rode Cinderella's Carrousel and the Mad Party Tea Cups. Well, Jason, Ethan and Rachel rode the tea cups; I can't handle the spinning. We were pretty tired from being up early and it was late so we headed back to the hotel and got a good nights sleep. Extra Magic Hours are the best idea, we were right back at the Magic Kingdom at 7:00 the next morning and rode more rides in one hour than some people stand in line for to ride all day. Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin is really neat, we raced around the Indy Speedway, and rode the Astro Orbiter twice. Monster's Inc. Laugh floor was funny because Ethan and I were featured as the human with two heads, he was sitting in my lap and they put us up on the big screen and everybody got a laugh out of that, almost filled the laugh tank. Finally it was time for what Rachel had been waiting for, her appointment at Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique. We headed to Cinderella's castle for a transformation complete with hair, make-up, and pixie dust. Ethan even got the "cool dude" look, complete with painted hair and pirate's treasure sprinkles. Then it was time for our Royal Table lunch with Cinderella and all the princesses. When we took pictures with Cinderella, Rachel asked to see her glass slippers only to find out that she didn't have them on because she leaves them in a special place in her room. After lunch we went back to the hotel to take a nap and get ready for the next stop, Epcot.

Mission Disney World

We left early Thursday morning headed to Disney World for our first family vacation. The drive took 9 hours and once we arrived it was 4 days of non-stop action, making memories that will last a lifetime. We stayed at the Shades of Green Resort and it was awesome, very close to the Magic Kingdom. I am going to do a different post for each park we enjoyed: Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Animal Kingdom, and Hollywood Studios. I captured our memories with almost 200 pictures.

Happy Easter!

We wanted to wish everybody an early HAPPY EASTER! We will be spending ours with Mickey Mouse, Lighting McQueen, Mater, and all the Princesses. In case you didn't figure it out, Disney World is where we are headed and Ethan and Rachel couldn't be more excited. Enjoy the cartoon above, I am still "dying laughing" at that one.

Show Time

Wow, what a day! LOUD LOUD LOUD, my ears are still ringing. Ethan got a picture with his favorite jet, the A-10. He has a bullet casing from the nose gun and thinks that is so AWESOME. Rachel even got in on the action with one of the guns on the Jolly Green Helo. Last but not least, we ended the day enjoying the Thunderbird performance.

Pre-Show

I hung out with Jason today on the flight line and had the chance to take some pictures of mine and Jason's favorite plane of all time, the F4U Corsair. The pilot for the Corsair is from Midalothian, TX; it's a small world. Today was the practice run through for all the performers and here are some random pictures I was able to snap. The Corsair, Golden Knights, and the C-17 Globemaster; tomorrow should be LOUD and FUN!

Sneak Peak

The air show is this weekend and we were able to get a sneak peak at one of the Thunderbirds, the Budweiser clydesdales, and the Budweiser dalmation. Rachel loved the horses and even got to pet one, his name is Dylan. Ethan was more interested in the dalmation. We can't wait for this weekend, more pictures to come.

The Infamous Shelf

I paid dearly for this shelf, almost lost my vision in one eye. Back in September, the night before we evacuted for our first hurricane Jason built this shelf. It served as a make shift pantry. I was cleaning up the extra pieces and a splinter flew into my eye. I went to the ER they gave me some drops and told me to keep my eyes shut as much as possible. Needless to say that didn't happen because we had to be up at 0530 the next morning to evacuate. After 10 hours of driving to Birmingham, AL, my eye became infected and swelled shut due to the lack of keeping my eyes shut (hard to do when you're driving). I made another trip to the ER and they referred me to a specialist because they were concerned I might lose my vision. The specialist gave me more drops and ointment and told me it might be 6 months before I have 20/20 vision again. Keep in mind this is all going on while we are living out of a hotel room and good friends are taking care of Ethan and Rachel, while another friend is driving me around to all the doctors, FUN STUFF! So, here we are 6 months later and while my vision is still a little blurred I finally painted the shelf a fitting color. It had me seeing RED!

Night Night!

Rachel loves her babies! I had to capture this with a picture, tried to lighten it up so you could see both babies on the sides of her. The one on the left is named Ally, after a friend from Grand Forks; which is how she names all her babies. Notice the baby has her own pillow and blanket, she also tells them bedtime stories to put them to sleep. The babies have their own baby bed in her room but tonight I guess they needed to sleep with their mommy.