Vacation!

We experienced Walt Disney World and lived to tell about it! ;)

They boys are STILL talking about it 2 weeks later, so I'm taking that as a good sign that it was a successful vacation!

We were avid park-goers while we were there. We arrived on Tuesday, and it was kind of cool & VERY windy. So cool & windy in fact, we didn't bring enough warm clothes! We braved it thinking the wind would die down. We got to Animal Kingdom & eyed up the $35 sweatshirts, but decided to pass. We're tough, right? Right! After the first day being chilly, the next day was cool, but after that, we were in shorts!! Yippee!!

Brandon got to ride the much-anticipated "Dinosaur" ride at Animal Kingdom. He was like a little sponge all throughout the trip. He could tell you every detail about everything... if you've got several hours to listen. (He's very precise when describing things!)

Ryan held true to his promise of riding roller coasters... and that made mommy VERY happy! She finally had someone to ride with! We rode on every rollercoaster in every park, with the exception to the Aerosmith's Rock'n Rollercoaster at Hollywood Studios. That one goes upside down at some point, and Ryan wasn't sure he was ready for that. We set that for our goal next trip! Ryan also was brave & went on the "Tower of Terror" ride at Hollywood Studios. He's decided that while yes, it was a grown-up ride, he'd like to be a little more grown-up the next time he rides it! ;) I told him that was fine. I was so proud of him for trying new things!!

We thoroughly enjoyed each & every park, and got to do just about everything we set out to do. We had painstakingly planned each day, and well, that sort of went out the window once we were there. I mean, we ended up using our plans, but weren't so rigid... and that was just fine!

Disney was having records set on the amounts of people in the parks. There were so many people there that they were actually closing parks because they were at maximum capacity! We remembered to bring our patience with us... oh, and our iPods too! The iPods were our best decision ever. We had lots of longing looks from other kids; as well as other parents. We had several parents comment that they were going to do the same thing the next day! I had downloaded not only music, but also videos for them to watch. This really helped pass the time while we were waiting in some pretty long lines.

After a friend had given us a tip of staying at the parks until pretty late at night, we were able to ride on so many more rides, and multiple times. Disney allows their hotel guests to stay 3 hours past park closing on certain nights. We took full advantage of this at the Magic Kingdom several nights we were there. I know it sounds crazy, but we were at the park until almost 2 a.m.! However, we could walk onto just about any ride we wanted, and if there was a wait, it was only like 5-10 minutes! Can't beat that!

We opted to take a day off from the parks & just hang by the pool one day. That was our best decision. Not only were our "dogs barking", but we all just needed the down-time and relaxation. We decided to skip out on Sea World this trip, but maybe next time we go we'll catch it. On this day, we decided that we'd like to hear about the Disney Timeshare opportunity. We have a few friends that have done this & thought we'd check into it, seeing as how the kids were having so much fun & were already planning their next trip! While it sounds wonderful, and IS wonderful, we decided it just wasn't for us right now. However, for listening to the opportunity, they rewarded our children with FAST PASSES. 24 of them, to be exact! And these weren't any ordinary Fast Passes. These were INSTANT Fast Passes!! WOW!!! We were so grateful that we had chosen to listen. And again folks, the Disney Vacation Club IS a really wonderful thing!

Our last day at Disney, we hit all 4 parks in one day. Yes, 4 parks in one day. F-O-U-R parks in O-N-E day. The more I say it, I still can't believe it. It makes me tired to remember it! I have to say though, everyone was a trooper. With the 24 Fast Passes, we made a plan. We chose our most favorite rides we wanted to do again; those we hadn't done; and those we just couldn't live without riding again! We were on a mission.

Animal Kingdom: Dinosaur & Expedition Everest

Epcot: Soarin' & Test Track

Hollywood Studios: Tower of Terror & Toy Story Mania

Magic Kingdom: Big Thunder Mountain, Splash Mountain, Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin & Space Mountain.

Now, we didn't ALL ride all of these rides, but just about! We split up... it was usually Brandon & Mike; and Ryan & I together.

After hitting all 4 parks, we left the next morning. We were all so tired. The plane ride home was pretty quiet. The car ride home was very quiet. Getting ready for bed - meltdown city. The fatigue had finally caught up with everyone. Mike & I were walking zombies. The boys were crying hysterically. At the same time. Apparently, they thought we were going to take up residence at Disney. Hmmmm. We heard how awful we were that they had to come home. How much they hated school. How they missed Disney. Brandon coined a new phrase that night. He said he was "Park Sick". I asked him what that meant. He said, "Y'know, it's like I'm homesick, only I'm Parksick". So there you have it. My boys are parksick. Parksick & so incredibly tired that Mike & I haven't had to console both kids at once since they were babies!! It was worth it though. They played hard, and were such troopers.

The entire vacation was SO. MUCH. FUN!!! Like I said, we're all still talking about it... so that must be a good sign, right? I think the boys would go back tomorrow if given the chance.

P.S. I'm having some technical difficulties with uploading my pictures, so I guess they'll come later!

Love,

Jenni

Oh my...

Okay, so the boys and I are out at lunch today. A conversation pops up about having babies. Uh oh...

Just a little back story... we were watching a show on TLC last night titled "I was pregnant and I didn't know it". Okay, probably NOT the best choice of shows for the boys, but they really seemed intrigued by it, so I sat with them just in case any questions popped up -- and they didn't.

Today at lunch, Brandon announces, "I'm so glad I'm not a girl." I ask him why. He says, "Well, that way I don't have to have surgery... y'know, to get the babies out." I smiled and said, "Well, not all mommies have to have surgery to get the babies out like I did." I left it at that because really, I didn't think Subway was the place to have "the talk".

He sits there for a minute. Thinking.

Then he says, "Well, when I get married and if my wife dies while she's having a baby, I'm DEFINITELY getting remarried."

And, there you have it.

Where that thought came from, I'll never know. I had to turn away & keep chewing on the bite I had just taken so I didn't choke on it!

Ryan immediately started laughing and said, "Mom, are you going to blog about this?"

Oh, my kids know me too well... ;)

2 More Days...

until we leave for DISNEY!!

The boys are so excited, they can hardly sleep. And I have to admit, I am too! ;) I think this is quite possibly the most excited I've ever been to go on a vacation. Not sure why. But I think it has to do with how pumped the boys are... I truly cannot wait to capture the looks on their faces when we enter the parks!

We're trying to decide if Sea World is in our plans or not. Here's the deal... Disney really takes care of the military. Mike scored a FREE 5-day Park Hopper Ticket. That's pretty major! He also scored us 4 FREE tickets to Sea World. Sea World takes care of the military as well! WE LOVE THEM!!!

On Tuesday, we will have to wake up at 0'dark thirty; leave the house by 5:45, drive to the airport (which I'm guessing, we don't hit much traffic at that hour!), find parking, check bags, and go through security...all to take-off by 8am. Okay, no big deal. We land, a towncar picks us up, we stop at a grocery store for 30 minutes, then we go to the resort and check-in... ready to go.

Our dilemma is this: do we hit one of the Disney parks Tuesday, when by the time we get there, everyone may be ready to crash; go to Disney parks until Saturday, then take in Sea World on Sunday? OR, do we just hang out at the resort & go to the pool and relax on Tuesday; hit the ground running on Wednesday & do Disney all through Sunday? We're not really sure what the best answer is. We have already paid for the tix for Disney, so we know that's a constant at 5 days. BUT, do we skip the free Sea World tickets and relax for a day, or do we try everyone's endurance & do a marathon vacation of both Disney AND Sea World?

I think the answer to this is, we'll just have to play it by ear.

And you thought vacation was relaxing! Mike & I have already said that we'll need another vacation to decompress from THIS vacation! ;)

Oh, and in case you're wondering... no, the boys are NOT getting cell phones! However, they turned their interests to iPods. Mike & I worked out some details with the boys in order to actually GET the iPods. It's a "use by privilege" deal... they do work, they get to use the iPod. When they don't do work, Mom or Dad keep the iPod. So today, I've been downloading music & videos like a fiend, getting it all ready for vacation. We thought this would help alleviate excessive whining while waiting in line; seeing as this is one of Disney's most busy weeks & we foresee a lot of waiting in line. Sounds good on paper -- we'll see if it works in real life...

Love,

Jenni

SPRING BREAK!!!

Official Countdown... 5 days until we leave! Where are we going?

DISNEY WORLD!

We're SO excited!! We've been twice before, but the boys were so young... I think they only remember it from the pictures & video they've seen.

So, we leave on Tuesday morning, and will party with "The Mouse" until the next Monday! YAY!!

We will be visiting the Magic Kingdom

Epcot

Hollywood Studios

Animal Kingdom

Blizzard Beach and Typhoon Lagoon

Downtown Disney

and Seaworld!

It's a little overwhelming to figure out what parks we're going to hit on what days; if the weather will cooperate; and if little legs (and big legs, for that matter!) will be willing to walk so much! A good friend advised us that we should rent a stroller. She has kids our exact kids' ages, and she said they rented a double stroller while at Disney this fall -- she said her oldest was in it just as much as her youngest was! I've made that mental note... and am wondering if I could somehow crawl into it as well??

Brandon is SO into dinosaurs. Animal Kingdom has "Dinoland USA", and he is so excited about it, he can hardly sit still. But really, how is this different from any other time he can't sit still? Hmmm. Anyway, he's already told us that he's only going to ONE park and ONE park only... Animal Kingdom. I think he's convinced that we'll just leave him there to go on a dino-dig, ride the Dinosaur Ride, and do his stuff. WRONG!! Oh, and did I mention that he's asking for a cell phone for the trip?

Ryan has decided that he's going to try some of the bigger rides at Disney this time, like roller coasters! I will be so excited if he follows through with this! Um, and did I mention that he also asked for a cell phone for this trip? Who do these kids think they're going to call? Mickey himself?!! I've pointed out to them that I was TWENTY FOUR when I got my first cell phone. That doesn't seem to phase them. (sigh)

We have logged onto Disney.com so many times, I'm sure they're sick of us! We've mapped out what rides we're going to ride. I also became a member of a "secret site" of sorts that gives explicit details on how to avoid crowds, get the best times for Fast Passes, and essentially, make the most out of your vacation. We'll see if it works. I, of course, have our vacation mapped out, and loaded nicely into a binder. I have an itinerary for each day; which parks we'll go to, what time we'll leave to "take a break", etc... Again, we'll see if that 'plan' really works! ;) We may end up throwing the binder to the side & just winging it! At any rate, the week we'll be there is one of Disney's busiest (of course). So, we'll need to remember to bring our patience with us. I've already decided that the boys will be able to bring their Nintendo DS's along in the park -- to kill some time while waiting in lines. Also, the iPods will be out in force... mommy may even resort to hers!

We'll keep you updated on the vacation. We're just so excited!!! I've been excited for our past trips to Disney before, but this time is really special. The boys are SO excited, and therefore, I'm excited just to see the looks on their faces. I CAN'T WAIT!!!

Love,

Jenni