Disney, the end

Friday was checkout day. Jen's parents along with her sister's family elected to head back to Magic Kingdom for one last trip while we decided against it. The weather in Orlando is very, very humid and we didn't feel like getting sweaty just trying to get through the turnstiles to enter the park let alone walking around it. We finished up things around the house, packed up our final sack lunch and headed out for a little trip around downtown disney. Our guide book we had stated things open around 10a there but we found out it was actually much later... oh well, WDW didn't get to take any more of our money. Next we hit an outlet store and bought some disney souvenirs.

Finally, knowing that storms were predicted for the afternoon, we decided to use one final fastpass and headed to the airport early. With a little research help from my dad, we elected to try and standby for the 3:15p flight and arrived right at the 4 hour limit for checking in to standby for a flight. We hung around the airport, ate our snack lunch, laughed at the crazy prices being charged at the Disney stores and then finally headed out through security to the gate. In the end, our plan worked perfectly. My many years of flying non-rev standby as an airline employee kid taught me that one of the main factors for the standby list is checkin time (well, after class of service). Once the 2p flight left, nearly 20 revenue standby passengers rolled over to the 3:15p... they all ended up on the list after us because we had actually checked in before them. I knew the 2p flight didn't have many seats, let alone seats together, so that factored into our choice. In the end, we ended up getting 3 seats together and one seat right behind them and maybe 4 or 5 people behind us on the standby list made the flight. It was a God-send as the 4:30p, 5:40p and our original 6:30p flights all got delayed with none of them leaving Orlando before 7p. We were even able to make it home early enough to pickup a very happy Bailey from the kennel before it closed.

All in all, we had a wonderful vacation. A couple of bumps along the way but it all turned out well. I'm very thankful for the touring book that we had that talked about tricks for getting on rides, what might be scary for kids, which parks are the best ones to visit on which day, etc. (thanks to the Webbs for letting us borrow it!) as it definitely allowed us to get more done. We were definitely exhausted after all the walking and the sauna heat (I lost nearly 5 lbs on the trip, and Jen lost a few as well). The girls did awesome and only a couple of times really got tired or tried not to ride some of the rides. You would not believe how many young kids we heard complaining about the heat, being tired, etc. Awesome Job Girls!

It will definitely be a cherished memory for all of us.

Disney, Part 5

Thursday was an open day and it had us heading back to Epcot. This was the only day for us to go to a park that had 'Extra Magic Hours'. We chose Epcot for the morning due to its staying open late for resort guests and it seemed to workout ok. We arrived early once again with Jen's parents, got a quick pre-rope drop picture with Daisy and went straight to Soarin. I convinced Emma to ride it again if we sat in the third row, which stays the lowest on the ride. She actually did just fine the second time and probably could've ridden it again... but oh well. After that we hoped right onto the Living with the Land boat tour... some pretty interesting growing techniques they have going on there. Next, we snagged some fast passes for Mission:Space and headed over to the Universe of Energy show. After watching Ellen magically learn about alternate energy, Jen's parents and I used our FPs and went on the mild version of Mission:Space. I can't imagine what the more intense version is like.


Next we finished off our sack lunch and hit the other side of the lagoon. The girls enjoyed finishing off their passport stamps, decorating their country masks and got to visit once again with Belle and Aurora. We purchased some very tasty pastries in France, watched the Viva le France show and O' Canada. For some reason the girls didn't have any desire to meet up with the other Disney characters along the way (Mary Poppins and Alice in Wonderland to name a couple) but that was fine with us. When we finished, we met up with Jen's parents (who were doing the other side of the lagoon) and headed home for a rest (aka kids go swimming) and dinner.


That evening we finally put our Park Hopper option to use and the 4 of us headed to Magic Kingdom. It had early morning 'Extra Magic Hours' so our hope was that a lot of people used that and it would be a light crowd in the evening. First up was meeting Ariel to complete the girls' autograph books, then we headed to the tomorrowland speedway for one of the girls' favorite rides. Emma drove with me doing the pedal but Abby did both by herself with Jen just along for the ride. They had a blast! Next, we headed across the park for the Country Bear Jamborie and the Enchanted Tiki Room (both childhood memories for me). During this time the rain started showing up and we finally put our host of poncho's to use as we headed back to fantasyland to ride the tea cups. That was followed by one more ride of Small World (while most of the crowd was out wondering if the parade would run) and then the real downpour showed up.

Since the outside rides were now closed (which canceled any return plans to the speedway or me getting to ride Big Thunder Mountain) we headed out. The parade indeed was canceled and Main Street was fairly open for us to walk on during the rain. We elected for the fairy ride as the monorail line was quite long and checked out the fireworks from the parking lot. As a future reference, the fireworks appear very visible from the ferry station at the transportation center and really helps you to beat the crowds. We said goodbye and goodnight to WDW and all its magic.

Disney, Part 4

Wednesday had us going to Epcot. We arrived early once again and right at rope drop (not much of a presentation is done here compared to the other parks) we headed to Soarin'. This was a really neat ride, but Emma wasn't so sure about it (we were on the first row which ends up being the highest off the ground during the ride). Afterwards, I ran to get fast passes for test track while everyone else went on Spaceship Earth (Abigail's favorite ride for some reason). Then, the 10 of us headed off to Chef Mickey's for late breakfast. The monorail trek was not as fast as I had hoped for, but we were seated by 11a for our 10:45a reservation. We got to meet Mickey, Minnie (who did a really neat thing by signing the girls' Minnie dolls that they brought), Donald, Pluto and Goofy (my girls had a hard time figuring out which one was the real goofy).


After stuffing ourselves with the tasty buffet, we headed back to Epcot and used our fast passes for Test Track while Jen & Emma (who didn't want to ride it) waited outside. Then we headed off to the countries. We did a Kim Possible mission in Japan, checked out the American Adventure presentation, visited a number of Kidcot spots to get the Abby and Emma's passports stamped, and checked out the Viking ride in Norway. Then we joined back up with Jen's parents and headed out for the evening to avoid what looked like some approaching showers. The girls went swimming again at the house and rested up while watching TV and eating pizza with their cousins.

Disney, Part 3

Tuesday had us going to Animal Kingdom (this was the only rope drop we didn't make, but we got there within a couple min of opening. We would have made it sooner, but we were waiting on the thunderstorms to pass). My brother-in-law and I quickly went to Expedition Everest to get fast passes and then we met up with the rest of the family for the Safari ride. Just as we loaded we got delayed about 10 minutes while the wildabeasts were migrating across the roads on the Safari tour. This turned out to be the longest wait we had at WDW (a good 30+ min after Jason and I got there from getting the fast passes). Not too bad. Anyway, after that, Jen, the girls and her parents opted for the Nemo show while Jason and I rode everest twice (my only roller coaster experience of the week). I do love one thing about WDW rides, they really are made for 'the family' in that there wasn't any mile long drop like you have on most rides here in Texas. I could see kids being able to handle this ride (well, not my own who are scared of even the smallest roller coasters). Since we had FP, I was able to hurry across the bridge and catch of with the rest of the clan at Nemo, which was a very neat show.


Next up was our sack lunch and then we caught the Flight of Wonders show, a VERY awesome bird show. Its still amazes me how strong, bold and charismatic a Bald Eagle looks. The tricks they got the birds to do was the highlight of the day. Finally, we did a small jungle trek while Jen's parents went to check out The Bugs Life show (heard it was a little scary for my very easily scared girls) and we headed back to the home. The other 4 headed over to ride the water ride (no real interest here) and the met us at home a little later.

The kids got a little swimming in before the storms showed up in force. There are some pretty amazing lightning storms in the Orlando area. That night we had our one group outing for dinner during the rain and rested up from our long Monday trek and our expected Wednesday adventure.

Disney, Part 2

Monday had us spending the day a Magic Kingdom. Having heard about the crowds, we arrived fairly early and were in line by 8:25a to catch the monorail. Lucky for us, the platform had just cleared out and we were able to ride up front. What luck! After watching rope drop, we headed straight for Dumbo, Peter Pan, and Small World. While the girls rode the carousel, I ran off to get fast passes for Buzz Lightyear.


Next up was a late breakfast at Cinderella's Castle. I spent hours back in March calling in trying to get this reservation and was lucky enough to get the exact day and time that I wanted. It definitely was magical. The girls had a great time meeting Cinderella, Belle, Aurora (i.e. Sleeping Beauty), Jasmine and Snow White. And the food was good as well.


Afterward, we went to Mickey's Phillarmagic (probably my favorite MK attraction) and stopped by Belle's story time. I snagged a fastpass for Winnie the Pooh and we headed to tomorrowland. We rode Buzz (not nearly as good as Toy Story), checked out the Monster's Inc. comedy show (got our joke that we texted in announced during the show!), and the Carousel of Progress (one of those rides I remembered as a kid). We headed back over to ride Winnie the Pooh and to checkout Mickey's Toontown. Next up was a train ride to Frontierland and claiming a spot for the afternoon parade.


After a break at the house for the kids to go swimming (not my idea but who can keep them away from an inviting pool?) and dinner, we came back with all 10 of us via the ferry to check out the jungle cruise (which I had gotten a fast pass for before we left but we stood in line anyway), pirates of the caribbean, and small world again. Then we went to find a spot for the evening parade, headed back down main street and watched the fireworks. At this point all the kids were tired, so we headed out to the monorail platform a bit early and watched the rest of the fireworks from there.

Disney, Part 1

Our trip to the land of magic and fantasy started out Saturday morning. After I took Bailey to the American Pet Spa for her week of pampering (well, kinda), we headed to the airport. Once we got there, Jen noticed something in Abby's hair. After looking through Abigail's hair, she suspected that she had lice after finding what she believed to be nits. It has been going around our school on a number of occasions, and I guess it was just our turn. We've dodged the bullet on this one time and time again (we strongly recommend the tea tree oil shampoos that repel lice..haven't been using it since school's been out..big mistake). Needless to say, things weren't starting out well.


After a fairly uneventful plane ride (with Emma beginning her first airplane ride with a big Weeeee and looking in the clouds for Jesus), we stopped at a Walgreens for some hair treatment. Also, we made it to the grocery store for our weeks worth of supplies to share with Jen's parents and her sister's family who were all sharing a big 6 room house with us. Of course, this turn of events put a small wrench in my Disney plans... but we survived. A couple hours after hair treatments we finally made our way to Epcot. We jumped right into 3 attractions (Spaceship Earth, Nemo & Friends, and Turtle Talk) all within an hour and made our way to the lagoon for the fireworks show. Oh yea, if you get to the park really late (like after 7p) there is no one at the parking booths and they say head right in. We were fairly disappointed with the Epcot fireworks display and beat the crowd out before the show ended.


Sunday had us up bright and early and heading to Disney Hollywood Studios for a very successful morning. We quickly learned about Central Florida heat and humidity as we were sweating just waiting to get in and we couldn't take pictures for 5 minutes because the camera was all fogged up. Yikes! At rope drop, we went and rode Toy Story and then walked into the Little Mermaid with one minute to spare. Next, it was off to watch Jedi Training (and the beyond scared Emma who literally hid behind me when Darth Vader came out). Next we snagged a fast pass for Star Tours and made it just in time to follow the moving line into the Playhouse Disney show. Once done, we just hit our FP time, and got a FP for Toy Story for later in the afternoon. Next, we walked right up on the High School Musical show and then made our over to the Indian Jones show. After that finished we put our Star Tours FP to use and got right past the long lines. What a great concept! After all of that, we made it back to the house for lunch and an afternoon rest. Not bad for 3 hours of park time.


Later that afternoon we headed back w/ Jen's parents and put our Toy Story FP to use, hopped on the Back Lot tour, caught the last showing of Beauty and the Beast, and experienced the Muppet 3D show. It was a non-Fantasmic night so the crowds were fairly light around the park (except for Toy Story, which stayed busy all day long). We ended the evening with some Mickey ice cream bars and watched a little of the American Idol experience on their outside big screen. All and all a perfectly timed day for our first WDW park.

Family Reunion

In addition to the dance recital, we had a family gathering during the weekend. My aunts, uncles and cousins on my Dad's side were in town for my cousin's wedding. This quickly turned into chaos with the tornado that strolled through town on Wednesday night causing my 2nd cousin (who's son was getting married) to lose power for 2 days. By Friday, we ended up having some extra house guests.

Regardless, all was well. After attending the very hot outdoor wedding on Saturday night, everyone in town came over to our house for a family reunion, and I fired up the grill for dogs and burgers. Lots of fun and socializing was had by all. The happy couple are pictured above in the middle standing up.

I ended the evening by heading to our softball playoff games, where we finished up the perfect regular season by finishing 3rd in the playoff tourney. I guess you can't win them all.

Dance Recital

Abby had a great dance season. The recital was split into 2 shorter recitals this year. Abby performed in the opening number and a tap dance in the first recital and the opening number and a jazz and tap dance in the 2nd recital. We are very proud of her!


Emma performed in her 2nd recital; one ballet dance and one tap dance. I loved the green costumes her class wore. Both of her dances were Elvis songs, and the 2 boys in her class added so much to the performances. We are so proud of you, Emma!

End of Second Grade

Abby had a great 2nd grade year. The picture on the left is from the 1st day of school and on the right is the last day of school. We are ready for summer!

Bowling Party

Every year, Abby's teacher coordinates an end of the year bowling party for her class held after school at one of the local bowling alleys. Being a former teacher, the amazing thing to me was that she allowed the parents to drop off the kids at the bowling alley and return at the end to pick them up. I can assure you that by the end of May, teachers are very tired, and the kids are very wild. Not such a great mix. It is so nice of her to do this every year though, and the kids all seemed to have a great time!