Disney - Day Three

On day three, we went to Magic Kingdom and we could tell as the bus was pulling up, this day was going to be different.  There were people everywhere!!  We used our fast passes for splash mountain, buzz light year's space range spin, and peter pan's flight. We all loved splash mountain, really enjoyed the buzz light year ride, and the peter pan flight we thought was OK.  They all had long lines, so the fast pass was helpful.    It was another hot day, so splash mountain felt wonderful!

Ready to start the day!

We had a little time before our first fast pass, so we went to "Captain Jack Sparrow's Pirate Tutorial."  Jack came and got kids from the audience to be a part of the show.  Brodie wanted to go up, but Isaac didn't. 

Here comes Jack

Captain Jack looking for volunteers

Isaac's not so sure he wants to participate, but Brodie steps up.

Getting some instruction from Captain Jack

At the end, Jack asked for other kids to come on stage to take the pirate pledge.  Isaac hesitantly agreed to go up.

Here's a picture of Isaac's hair - Jack wasn't so sure of it

Jack checking out Isaac's hair

Jack trying to flatten Isaac's hair.

We also had a character breakfast at the Crystal Palace.  It was a buffet and the food wasn't fantastic, but the boys loved meeting the characters (you definitely need to make a reservation here if you want to eat here - the line was enormous!)

And here is Splash Mountain! 

Here's the sign at the top before getting on the boat.

The ride has lots of climbs and drops.  The final drop is the biggest and the funnest.  This is at the beginning of the big drop off. 

Brodie's favorite ride/activity:  Buzz Lightyear ride and Splash Mountain and Jack Sparrow's training.
Isaac's: Buzz Lightyear ride and Splash Mountain
Abel:  Jack Sparrow training
Mom:  Splash Mountain and Captain Jack Sparrow Show. 

Disney - Day Two!

We went to Animal Kingdom on the second day of our Disney experience.  The boys didn't like Animal Kingdom as much as I did.  We used our fast passes for Dinosaur, Kali River Rapids, and a safari.

Ready to start the day!

 The dinosaur ride took us back in time.  It was a little scary as it was dark and sometimes dinosaurs would jump out at you.  Brodie didn't like the ride very much, but Isaac loved it!

We're in the front row checking out the dinosaur that just jumped out at us. 

We all loved the rapids because it was hot and we got wet.  It was just too short of a ride.

After the Rapids.  Isaac was in need of some food at this point.

We all also liked the safari.

There were long lines for all of these, so the fast pass was worth it for each of these!

We all also liked the Rain Forest Cafe.  Good food and a great environment!  This is a restaurant worth making a reservation for a few months in advance!

Someone cleaning the tank.

We did a few other fun things that day.  One of Abel's highschool math teachers was at Disney at the same time as us and we ran into him!  We also had a caricature made of the family. 

The boys thought it was hilarious watching him draw Abel and I. 

They had a hard time sitting still when it was their turn to be drawn.

I will have to take a picture of the caricature and post it!

Abel and his high school teacher.  (Brodie learned what a photo bomb was on this trip)

Favorite activities of the day:
Brodie: Rapids, safari, primeval whirl roller coaster (Isaac wasn't tall enough, so he and I did not go on it).
Isaac: Dinosaur and Rapids
Abel:  Rapids, caricature, and primeval roller coaster
Mesha:  Rapids and Dinosaur ride

It was a great day!!

Disney!

We had a fabulous trip to Disney World!  We had no idea what to expect or how it would all go, but honestly Disney makes it all very easy!

Ready to board the plane!

Apparently Disney starts at the Orlando Airport!

It was nice not having to stop and get our luggage!  We just got on the Disney bus and they took us to our hotel which we were already checked into (our bracelets let us in the room).  We ate a fabulous meal that evening and then went to bed. 

Day One:  
We got up early the next day for our first adventure at Disney.  We decided to try and tackle Hollywood Studies first.   It was opening weekend for their summer Star Wars Weekend theme, so it was a little busy!

Brodie built his own light saber

Brodie also got his face painted

Yikes!

Isaac didn't want to get his face painted or make a light saber.

We all enjoyed going on the Star Tours ride which is a 3-D ride that makes you feel like you are flying with the characters of Star Wars!

Ready for Star Tours

Isaac was the spy the storm troopers were looking for on the first ride!

We went to a couple of shows (Frozen sing along - which was funny and much funner than I was expecting and an Indiana Jones stunt show) and a few rides.  It was a busy, fun day!!

Brodie's favorite ride/show of the day: StarTours (get a fast pass for in the afternoon if you are going to Disney anytime soon), Indiana Jones stunt show, and 3D Disney.
Isaac's favorites:  StarTours
My favorites:  3D disney and StarTours
Abel's favorite:  StarTours

Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day Mom!

I love my mother!  My Mom, who taught me all the important things in life by her daily actions: loving unconditionally, endless patience, loving Jesus, always making others feel welcome, living without judging others, and working hard without complaining! You make every day brighter (even in this white out we're in on Mother's Day) and I feel so blessed to call you Mom! I wish you were here to make snow ice cream with us! Have a great day and give Grandma a hug from me!

I guess the weather people were correct this time.  I think it snowed all night, I-80 is closed, church is cancelled, and Mitchell lost electricity!  I just hope it doesn't continue to snow until the winter warning expires at 6 pm!  We're all warm and enjoying the view!

This is when the snow first started after 3 inches of rain.

This is before bed with the snow bowl ready to catch some snow

This is when we woke up in the morning. 

I'll still take this over all the flooding and tornado's the other side of the state earlier in the week!

We had a great day playing in the snow!

Brodie throwing a snow ball

Isaac's turn

Simba loved the snow, but Dinah wasn't so sure about the flying snow balls

The momma bird wasn't enjoying the snow very much either

Look at the size of those snow balls. 

Enjoying hot chocolate and hot apple cider

We also got Isaac's room clean!

and hung up the boys new signs

Brodie read his new book to us

It was a great mother's day!!