I'm still feeling crummy from the sickness that took over this week, and Ryan is in a coma-like state after I just fully medicated him again. His pain level has begun rising, so he's pretty miserable today. The doctor said the first couple days would be manageable but days 3-7 "will be hell." We are on day 3, so I guess it's par for the course. The doctor is sure he was able to remove all the tumor and it hadn't invaded the other muscles, which is promising. We won't get pathology results until the end of this week, but we don't feel worried anymore.
The kids rode to church with Napiers while Ryan and I stayed home to rest. I'm very sad I wasn't able to attend today. I always need the weekly spiritual boost that church offers. I'm looking forward to General Conference this next weekend, though, which will fill up my spirituality cup.
I've been looking through all the pictures from our vacation and want to record the memories while they are still fresh in my mind. We flew to Orlando on Saturday, March 15th and spent a week basking in the Florida sun. Ryan's parents have a condo timeshare and allowed us to use the points for this vacation. The condo was enormous, so we had more than enough room to spread out. Ryan and I had a Master bedroom with an attached bathroom that was at least twice as big as our bathroom at home. We even had walk-in his-and-hers closets. Who needs that much space on vacation? The boys shared a bedroom with two full-sized beds and their own large bathroom, and the girls shared a King-sized bed in their own Master suite. The kitchen had nicer appliances than we own, and the dining/living room area allowed the kids to sufficiently scatter their belongings and do cartwheels.
We had our own patio that led to a grassy area where the kids could play (that's Lindsey mid-handspring). We also had two pools within 50 yards of the back door.
Over the years, Ryan and I have perfected our Disney trips. We always wake up fairly early and get going so we can arrive at the parks before they open in the morning. We have a daily agenda with the biggest priorities for the day, and it always includes leaving the park at lunch time to rest. The kids need the break from stimulation by this point, and Ryan and I need a nap. Then we head back to the park about 4:00 and stay until late to see the nighttime fireworks/parades. We have usually gone to Disneyland in California, but wanted the whole experience of Disney World this time, which includes the Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Animal Kingdom, Hollywood Studios, Downtown Disney, Disneyquest (a 5-level arcade), and 2 water parks. Needless to say, we will never be going back to Disneyland again! The Florida experience makes Disneyland seem like a stroll through the neighborhood park.
Our agenda included two days at Epcot, one day at Animal Kingdom, one day at Hollywood Studios, a day-and-a-half at Magic Kingdom, an evening at Disneyquest/Downtown Disney and an afternoon at a water park. It was perfect, except we wish we'd included a day at the actual beach in the middle of the week.
Our trip was during the Flower and Garden Festival, which was incredible. My pictures won't do it justice. In Epcot alone, there were 100 topiaries of Disney characters sculpted out of plants, 70,000 bedding plants around the lake, and over 200 mini-gardens floating in the water.
Rather than give a full account of each day, I will just mention our favorite activities at each park.
Epcot: visiting the countries was hands-down my favorite activity. I loved trying foods from all over the world, meeting natives from the countries, and feeling like I'd traveled the world while staying in Florida. We also loved the Test Track (where you design a car before taking it for a test drive) and Soarin'. For future reference, the Mission: Space ride made many of us sick and it took a couple hours before we didn't feel like puking. Brevan loved Epcot because of the science and modern technology used, such as when we rode Sum of all Thrills.
Hollywood Studios: Tower of Terror (only Ryan and I - the kids were too scared - silly children), Toy Story Mania, the stunt shows.
Animal Kingdom: The Kilimanjaro Safari is awesome! The bird show was amazing and hilarious, we all had fun getting wet on the Rapids ride, and Brynlie rode Expedition Everest 3 times, which was a roller-coaster we all liked. This was Ryan and Brynlie's favorite park.
Magic Kingdom: Space Mountain (I rode in the front seat and screamed happy sounds the whole time), Monsters Inc Laugh floor (how do they do that?), and of course Peter Pan, Haunted Mansion and Pirates of the Caribbean are all classics that can't be missed. The parades, atmosphere and firework show are completely magical. This was probably Logan and Lindsey's favorite park.
We loved the realistic landmarks of each country. We visited Mexico one evening so we could enjoy delicious nachos while watching the sunset.
This pelican is no dummy - it hangs out by the humans, just waiting for a chance to steal their food. After watching us for a while, it flew over to Logan's table and grabbed a few chips before quickly taking off.
We all enjoyed The Great Movie Ride at Hollywood Studios, which included this fun scene from The Wizard of Oz.
It was fun to attend The American Idol show and vote for our favorite contestant!
Fastpasses are the ONLY way to go at Disney parks. A couple times we decided to wait in normal lines, though, including the day we rode Toy Story Mania. The Fastpasses for the ride were gone before we got to the kiosk immediately after the park opened - crazy! It is one of our very favorite rides, though, so we stood in line for over an hour. The kids started whining a bit, but Lindsey entertained herself pretty well.
We all loved spending time with Ryan after his busy travel schedule of the last month. Brynlie was especially attached to her Dad on our vacation. This picture of Logan happened on the only day we didn't leave the parks for an afternoon break. THIS is why we are such believers in keeping to a schedule. By the time we got to the front of the Toy Story line, Logan was throwing a fit. The stubborn boy refused to move, so we had to pick him up and force him onto the ride. He refused to wear the 3D glasses and pouted the entire time. After falling apart and making a scene, we told him he wouldn't be able to fight Darth Vader in the Padawan training anymore because of his attitude. I think I was more sad than him about the punishment because I was excited to see my little Star Wars dude fight the bad guy.
The musicals and plays at Disney are unmatched in their quality. We attended every event!
In the afternoon of our Hollywood Studios day, the sky opened and we were drenched. Most of the park visitors had umbrellas or ponchos, but we were braving it on our own. The magic of Disney World still couldn't bring us down, though! I danced in the rain with the kids while singing "Singing in the Rain" at the top of my lungs.
Lindsey had a little too much fun on the race cars at Magic Kingdom. I'm scared for the day she can drive an actual car.
The gardens at Epcot were amazing! I couldn't stop taking pictures of the beautiful scenery!
We loved the monkeys at Animal Kingdom because they were very active and entertaining!
Isn't this picture awesome? What a cool moment to capture!
Brynlie looks so much like her cousin, Bailey, in this photo.
Super cool story about this owl. We were in a large, outdoor auditorium to watch a bird show (sounds boring, but it's super fun!). The Cast Member asked for a couple volunteers, and I enthusiastically raised my hand. He picked me and I ran up on stage. I was told to keep my video recorder running while the Cast Member gave instructions to the owl. All of the sudden the owl came flying at my head from the back of the auditorium. I kept the recorder going, but flinched badly as the owl went directly over my head and landed on the arm of the Cast Member.
Many of the rides take pictures of the guests when they arrive at the scariest part. These are some of the funniest photos we had taken. The first one is from a scary ride called Dinosaur that we should not have taken the younger kids on. Me, Logan, Lindsey and Brynlie are in the front row, and Brevan is directly behind me. Logan hid his face in my arm the entire time, and the girls have terrified looks on their faces!
This picture cracks me up, because Bryn and I are enjoying the roller coaster with our arms in the air while the people in front of us look terrified!
Where's Lindsey in this picture? On the floor in the back of the car. She was a little scared on this ride, but it was Logan's favorite!
The Spaceship Earth ride took pictures of me and Brynlie mid-ride before putting our faces into a futuristic story. The photos made us giggle!
Although we had passes to the Disney watermarks, we chose to spend an afternoon at the condo waterpark. It was relaxing to spend some time in the sunshine but away from crowds.
Logan took a comfortable ride around the Lazy River on Ryan's back.
Our Test Track selfie!
Brevan is the best big brother in the world! When the girls would get tired of walking, he would put the on his back for a while. What a stud!
These two were rather excited to buy the Frozen movie the day it came on DVD. How fun to actually buy it the first morning it was available while at the Magic Kingdom! We also let each kid pick a souvenir during the week we were in Disney World. Lindsey picked this Minnie Mouse doll, Logan chose a pirate sword and gun set, Brevan got a cool shirt and Brynlie bought a charm bracelet.
This isn't a great picture, but I kept it because Logan is so darn handsome and Brynlie looks ridiculously goofy in her photobomb.
We had a lunch buddy one day. This squirrel ate it's nut while sitting right next to us. It felt very Snow White-like.
These boys endured a ride through It's a Small World without complaining. Those are some good guys right there.
Our last evening in Disney World was depressing, but we had saved some of the best for last. We watched the Electric Parade with the castle shining in the background. Then the firework display was lighting up the sky as we walked out the Magic Kingdom and prepared for our return to real life.
On the way back to the condo on the last night, these crazy kids fell asleep on top of each other in the back seat of the car. They were pretty worn out from the week of fun.
We flew back to Kansas City last Saturday and dove right back into the chaos. I'm grateful for the times we spend relaxing and having fun as a family. We made memories we will never forget!
The phrases that will always remind us of our Disney World vacation are:
Sweet Gloria!
and
Sizzler Butt
You had to be there . . .
1 comment:
What a fun vacation! Your condo looks amazing, Brevan's photos on the Safari ride are so cool, and eating nachos in Mexico while watching the sunset sounds divine. Such great memories for y'all.
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