Disney World! Monday & Tuesday

Monday morning we finished packing up all the camping gear and were on our way to Disney World! We stopped along the way for a small cooler to take with us into the park and continued on our way. Then... we were there! We stayed at the Pops Resort IN Disney World! The woman who checked us in was soooo nice - everyone was - yes, the Happiest Place on Earth... we were there - ha! Behind us at check-in was another family of three who had also decided to come at the last minute. He is in the military and stationed in Georgia and decided to take advantage of the military discount. All five of us got a "First Time" button and the boys all got "It's My Birthday" buttons. We each got a card key and off we went to check out our room. We stayed in the 70's building. It was situated between two pools and one of the closer ones to the parking lot - thankfully as we had a TON of stuff to bring in! The boys & I remained in the room as Alex unloaded the car. At first the boys wanted to watch Disney Jr. but were convinced to take a bath as they were excited about the Mickey Mouse shampoo and Mickey Mouse bar of soap. Unfortunately before I could stop them they had opened the shampoo and poured it all into the tub with them. Luckily Alex found housekeeping and was able to get an extra as their toiletries were still in the van. Finally - they were CLEAN! Yay! After that it was nap time and Alex and I both got showers - MUCH NEEDED! Finally around 4:30 or so we were dressed and ready to head to Downtown Disney! We went straight to the T-Rex Restaurant! We had dinner there and got to walk around and see meteor showers every 20 minutes as well as see the dinosaurs start moving around - very cool! Alex and I split the paella - yummy! (Except for the shells I kept finding) Then we were on our way to the Lego Store - sooooo many Legos! And pictures with Lego Buzz Lightyear and Lego Woody! Then on to ride the train and the carousel. Then we discovered the location of the toy store with all of the Mr. Potato head accessories... Alex went into full engineer mode and was determined to get as much as physically possible in the all you can stuff box for $19.95. Alex had read about Mr. Potato head prior to our trip to Disney and asked me to buy a Mr. Potato head as they are all the same size and that if you don't put Mr. Potato head in the box you can get more items - mouths, ears, hats... (unfortunately this was not the case... more on this later). I didn't think we would EVER get to leave - ha! So the bedtime of 7:00 we had hoped for turned out to be more like a 9:30 bedtime. Housekeeping had brought us a pack-n-play when we first arrived for Owen and bed-rails for the boys. Avery still managed to fall off of the bed during the night. Disney World opened on Tuesday at 9:00 so that is when we planned to be there... but we arrived around 9:10 after getting ready, eating breakfast on our new Mickey Mouse plates, loading into the van and driving there. After we parked we had to either ride the monorail or ferry boat - so we let Evan choose - ferry boat it was! Once in the park we went straight to Dumbo as Becky had told us to - obviously everyone else had done the same thing as it was a 40 minute wait - good news is that is the longest we waited all day (trip) for a ride. Then Alex, Evan and Avery rode a roller coaster while Owen and I went in search of Fast Passes for Winnie the Pooh - we found the ride, but couldn't quite figure out where the FP's were... so we asked. We were told they were over by Mickey Mouses Philharmonic. I put in one of the keys and it stuck... ok - not off to a great start here. I found an employee and she came right over and was very helpful and not only did the FP machine give us a FP for Winnie the Pooh, but also for Mickey's Philharmonic! Then we were back at Dumbo to search for Alex, Evan & Avery. Snacks were necessary at this point so we all had some of the peanut butter pretzels we had brought with us. Next... the teacups! Wow! All I have to say is Alex sure can spin them  We all were quite dizzy after that - ha! (Upon returning home Evan has talked about how it made him hit his head and how daddy made us go round and round REALLY, REALLY FAST! Ha! Quite accurate!). At this point we had some sprinkles off and on so we headed towards Winnie the Pooh, but it wasn't yet time for our FP so we went on Snow White's ride. I had been warned it was scary - but it didn't phase our boys - should I be concerned or proud - ha! Then more rain - so the perfect solution of Mickey Mouse's Philharmonic! I wasn't quite sure what it was, but it turned out to be a 3D Movie with Mickey and Donald and several of the Disney characters all participating. We LOVED it! Evan is still talking about Donald ending up in the wall behind us at the end of the movie. Then it was time for Winnie the Pooh! Let me just say we made the most of the FP system and loved them! After Winnie the Pooh we headed over to Peter Pan and got another FP and decided it was time to eat. We went to the restaurant right there and Alex and I were craving a salad so we split one and the kids had their pretzels and peanut butter/apple butter sandwiches. Next was an all-time favorite - It's a Small World then one of Evan's favorites Peter Pan (in two days we rode it 3 times). Then daddy was off to get FP's for Buzz Lightyear! By this time we were getting hungry again and it was time for a big snack... a Mickey Mouse ice cream on a stick! We shared that then ventured over to The Haunted Mansion. Avery was taking a nap in the stroller by this time so Evan & Alex rode the Haunted Mansion. At that time Evan said "it was scary!", but then when we went back to the Magic Kingdom on Thursday he wanted Avery, Owen and myself to go with he and Alex - so we did ;o) Nobody was scared this time. Next it was time to head on over to Buzz Lightyear! We got to shoot at all sorts of aliens - the boys loved it, they got to shoot and control the car. Each time we rode it Evan HAD to go with Alex - ha! So Avery & Owen went with me each time. We then tried to watch the Laugh Floor - got up to the doors and their was a power surge... shut down! They did give us 5 FP's to use at other attractions. So then to the People Mover - at this ride there were people stuck on it due to that power surge. Then who should appear? Buzz Lightyear - so we rushed over to meet him! Of course there was already a line - then Buzz went to take a break, but we continued to wait! Eventually we got up there and met Buzz - we got signatures & pictures with him. By this time the People Mover was up and running again. At this point it was time for dinner - we decided to try Tony's (from Lady and the Tramp). Tony's is located at the very front of the park so we ventured up there - we did not have a reservation so we sat on the porch - a bit warm, but probably not a bad idea for the boys to be away from the many other guests - it had been a long day. Avery and I ended up going out to the lobby and watching "Lady and the Tramp" while Alex, Evan and Avery had ice cream. It was then time to leave and Alex had Owen and I had the other two - I stopped to blow Avery's nose, turned around and Evan was GONE!!! We told the man who worked outside the restaurant then I went in search of him - I am not sure I have ever prayed so hard. I ended up finding him watching people meet Pluto - so then we had a LONG talk about staying with us! (Mind you we had lost Avery at the Dumbo ride and Evan at the It's a Small World lines earlier in the day, but this was by far scarier.) I must say the other parents at Disney are very thoughtful and helpful! (When Evan was lost in the It's a Small World line there was a family who refused to move in the line until someone was found for Evan - how wonderful were they?). So now we had 5 FP's to use prior to the Electric Parade... we asked Evan and he requested Buzz Lightyear - so off we went - we all rode it again - how fun! We still had two FP's since Owen and Avery did not need them so we asked Evan what else he wanted to ride... Peter Pan. Alex took a smelly Owen, to change him and got us seats for the Electric Parade. I rushed over with Evan and Avery to Fantasyland and rode Peter Pan. Evan wanted to come back to Main St THROUGH the palace - but it was closed due to a show. So around we went and were able to find Alex and Owen. Avery had pooped in the potty and earned a lollypop so Evan, Avery and I went to the candy store at the corner of Main St and let the boys pick out lollipops! And did they ever - ha! Evan got a large round Strawberry one with Minnie Mouse and Avery picked the large round multicolored one with Lightening McQueen. So back to daddy and time to sit and wait for the parade to begin. The parade was awesome - Evan was sooooo cute and blowing kisses to all of the princess's - already such the lady's man! When the parade was over we headed straight to the car - this time we decided to try the monorail. As soon as we were in the car at the Simba parking lot the boys were OUT! When we got back to the hotel I carried Owen in and Alex loaded the boys and stuff into the double stroller. Who knew Evan's head could bend back so far - ha! They were definitely OUT! So into their PJs, into bed and sleep to prepare for the Animal Kingdom!

String Break, camping, & family!

So... after barely surviving the Medieval Festival we looked at the calendar and considered the possibility of camping at String Break (music festival thrown by Alex's cousins down near Dade City, FL) being held the last weekend of April & continuing on to Disney World. Then about a week prior we decided yes, bought 10 days of no expiring tickets, booked a room, contacted friends & family and I packed like a crazy woman - yes, I had to pack for 9 nights for a family of five - camping gear, food, clothing, Disney items, multiple locations... and we did it! I started by packing each of the boy's outfits in Ziploc bags so I could just hand them an outfit and they could get dressed - including socks, shorts, shirts, underwear/diaper/pull-up. I also packed lots of snacks for everyone and lunch meat for sandwiches and made a pasta salad with cheese & salami. I also packed bags for each location for which we would be staying so we didn't have to totally unpack the car at each location. So we left around noon on Thursday and got to Marsha's in time for dinner - we met at a Japanese restaurant and ate - yum! Thank you again so much Marsha & John for dinner! I think the boys thoroughly entertained Marsha's entire family - ha! The boys just loved their cousins Abbee & Noah. We then proceeded on to their home where we got to catch up a bit - much to short of a visit - but very nice! We look forward to doing it again sooner than 3 years ;o) The next morning we proceeded on down to String Break. We arrived, set up our tent, got something to eat, acquainted ourselves with the new festival layout, and started listening to music after tasting the beer selection! I must mention that as soon as we were out of the car Avery was amazed by the sand/dirt - he kept picking it up and pouring it over himself. He even laid in it face down and made snow-angels. Evan immediately found the ice cream vendor. He walked right up to him and asked for ice cream! The man asked what flavor and he replied "strawberry". They did not have strawberry but we did buy a dish of chocolate and vanilla for the boys to share. Who needs to be able to read? HA! The music was great, we especially enjoyed The Stone Family and The New 76'ers! We got to meet and hang out with them some too which we really enjoyed. Evan made a new friend staying in the camper next to our tent - a 5 year old little boy, Dillon - he didn't want to go anywhere without him. He loved Dillon's "blue juice" AKA blue sugar water... Evan proceeded to have a crazy break-down. (That started my investigation of man-made petroleum food colorings when we returned home.) Saturday morning after breakfast and playing in the playground we went on a hayride throughout the camp then did some craft projects. Evan & Avery loved playing in the sand pile - unfortunately Evan threw it in Avery's face and it got in his eyes. So I got Owen and Avery in the double stroller and quickly got them across the festival to find Alex in the food tent where we poured water into Avery's eyes to flush out the sand - thankfully that worked! Alex went back to the sand pile and he and Evan decided Evan could paint a robot. We each went and checked on him, but when Alex went again - Evan was gone! Alex came back to the tent to inform me - I quickly went and checked out the playground, back to the kids area - I asked if they had seen him, she was surprised he still hadn't been found and immediately sent out several young girls to look for the little boy in the bright yellow boots. My next stop was to the ice cream vendor - he said he had been there about 10 minutes prior - so I took this as good news that someone did not have him, I then proceeded on to the food tent where he was with Alex, Avery & Owen - whew! So Alex rushed over to tell the kids tent that Evan had been found - we then discovered we had the ENTIRE festival in search of him - gees! Sunday morning we had breakfast at our tent then went to the playground again. Mitch was really sweet and hadn't signed us up to work any shifts thinking for some reason we would have our hands full - ha! I did end up helping out and working the front gate Sunday morning with Karen (girlfriend of one of Mitch's long-time friends) while brave Alex took on the challenge of watching the boys on his own! The boys all really loved hanging out with their cousins - Mitch, Deb, Garrett & Ryon. Mitch had hired Jeremy to prepare food for the musicians - it was amazing! There was a porta-potty right there by the food and the boys could not get enough of it - in and out, in and out - I guess they thought it was a smelly play house - lovely (and the reason we believe the entire family was attacked by parasites after returning home - what a lovely week that was! NOT!)! Boys! Getting everyone to sleep an entire night in a tent - not easy so we were exhausted and filthy by the end of the weekend but had a great time and would attempt it again in the future... crazy  probably!

Medieval Festival!

So on March 31, 2012 we had a big medieval festival to celebrate all three boys' birthdays (1, 2 & 4)! What an undertaking! Much de-cluttering, cleaning, new sliding glass door in the basement, new wall in the basement, revised deck railing, beer brewing... Aunt Kristen was great and loaned us tables & chairs from her work - so we had several big round tables set up each with silver or black plastic tablecloth as well as a potted plant in the middle. At the entrance to the party there was their new castle bed for everyone to play in. Many came dressed as knights and princesses. All three of the boys were dressed as knights, Alex as the king and of course I was the queen. We had WAY too much food (thus I was in the kitchen or running food up and down the stairs for most of the event - next time I think we will order pizzas!) - grilled chicken legs (mini persons version of medieval festival turkey legs), grilled pork tenderloins, homemade meatballs in homemade marinara, cheese platter, rolls from Harvest Bakery, chip dip with veggies & chips, spinach dip, pasta salad, baked beans then for dessert half brownies and half icecream and an AMAZING dragon cake that Aunt Diana and Uncle Tim made for the boys - it actually breathed FIRE! Events were searching for treasure, a dragon egg hunt, decorating their wooden shields, wearing their satchels that G'ma helped make, discovering the treasure had been stolen and eaten by the black dragon so they had to slay it (pinata). I think a fabulous time was had by all. Then all the children got to take home a knight rubber duck  There were three banners (one for each of the boys) that G'ma also made. We were supposed to have 42 children and their parents but a few couldn't make it at the last minute so it was somewhere in the high 30s. Evan is already talking about his next party!