Day 4: A second visit to Magic Kingdom and relaxin' at the resort

Rachel's 1st time behind the wheel

(blue car)

The Disney train
sweetest girl ever

our family saying goodbye to DW...for now!

collecting seashells

Bradley LOVEd getting in the water!

Trenty tasting some sand-YUCK!

Headin' for the water

sweet Trenty enjoying his Gerber banana cookie

Rach and Brad dancing on our cabin deck

Rachel is showing off her Pooh bear wearing Trent's hat

2 VERY handsome fellas

little swimming champ

" ooooh! An extra-large tub!!!" -Trent

"I like it!" -Trent

"Ribbit! Ribbit!" -Bradley the frog

Trent's first experience with being thrown up into the air

All my babes! 4 blessings in my life!!

On our last day at Disney, we could have gone to another park, but we knew we wanted to go back to Magic Kingdom and do a couple of things we had not gotten to do the first day. We took a train ride on the Disney RXR around the park, rode the race cars, went on Buzz Lightyear again, rode the Barn Burner again, and Nick and Rach rode on Thunder Mountain Railroad. It was fun to go back to the BEST park in Disney one more time. We left around 3:30 and went back to Fort Wilderness where the kids played on the "beach" and got nasty in the sand. Trent tried out the sand for the first time and loved it!! He ate a little sand (oops!) and kept crawling for the water. He was perfectly fine with crawling straight into it! After that, we played on the Fort Wilderness playground for a little bit and then visited the horse area. They had several clydesdales (sp?) and some miniature ponies. They offered pony rides, but it was too late in the day to do one, even though Rachel wanted to. Then we went back to our room for our last night and ate food that we had brought with us. Rachel had been begging to go swimming, so even though it sprinkled a few different times, we got our suits on and headed up to the pool, which was about 10 minutes away on foot. The pool was huge and had had long, shallow steps that were great for Bradley to play on. There were only 4 other people there and they left after a few minutes, so we pretty much had it to ourselves. It was dark outside, but warm, and the pool was heated, so it felt great. Trent got to try out the pool for the first time and he loved it!! He was fascinated by the water and kept splashing his little hands. He was precious! Bradley loved hanging on the steps and being a "frog". Rachel jumped back in and swam as well as she did over the summer! She's a little fish! It was the perfect way to end our wonderfully, awesome vacation at Disney!! We swam for about an hour and then came home to get some sleep. I have to say, I would have loved one more day...one more day to go to a different park (or 2) and one more day to just relax and maybe swim some more or do some shopping. This was definitely a "taste" of what a Disney vacation can be and it's exciting to think that we can do even more the next time we go. I really can't wait to go back!!!! Disney World is truly a magical place!!!

Day 3: Animal Kingdom and Downtown Disney

waiting on a bus to take us to the A.K.
Rach and Brad roaring in a cave

a look at the "jungle-like" atmosphere where some of the animals lived

Nick and Rach looking for animals

Mommy and Bradley looking for reptiles

Trenty ridin'...believe it or not, we DID get him out of his stroller!!

Rachel and Bradley are getting ready to go on a safari

"we discovered a dino!!!!"

Rachel being transformed into a "Bird" girl

She had been begging to have her face painted!

our lovely bird girl!

The Tree of Life

Everyone on the safari

wildebeasts (I think) on our safari

cool elephants

Rach and Brad with Buzz in Downtown Disney

We were actually a little disappointed in Animal Kingdom. Most of the rides were for older/taller kids than ours, so there were only a few that we got to ride. However, we did like the Triceratop one, even though it was like Dumbo and Aladdin. The cool thing about the kingdom was that there was a jungle-like atmosphere and lots of animals. From wild boars to lizards to ducks and birds. It was neat getting to see all the animals. And, there was a really cool dino area that had some dino replicas, a playground and some rides. Our absolutely favorite thing about Animal Kingdom was the Kilimanjaro Safari. It was as close to a real safari as I'll ever be...and it was pretty close! We all loaded up into these heavy duty trucks that had open sides and all terrain wheels. There was a tour guide who pointed out all the wildlife we could see, and we actually saw alot! Right outside our vehicles was the Harambe Wildlife Reservation and it's home to so many wild animals: lions, zebra, giraffes, wildebeasts, flamingos, elephants, cheetahs, I can't think of them all. It was so cool how the reservation was designed...several different eco-systems appropriate for each animal. Anyway, about a 20 minute ride through the reservation, full of twists and turns, oohs and ahhs, lots of bumps in a rugged vehicle and I was super impressed! The kids loved all the animals and Bradley kept asking, "mom, is that animal real?" He was confused since all the animals we had seen at Magic Kingdom were fake. THAT was the coolest part of Animal Kingdom and well worth the trip to the park!

We left Animal Kingdom in early afternoon and decided to go to Downtown Disney for dinner at the T-Rex Cafe. The cafe' was of course, designed around dinosaurs. The restaurant was full of dinosaur replicas, there were constellations on the ceiling and every 20 minutes, there was a "meteor shower" where the room would change colors and all the dinos would get upset and riled up and begin roaring as hard as they could. It was quite entertaining (and loud!!). The food was NOT very good, but it was VERY expensive. I'm sure we were paying for the atmosphere. After we ate, we went to their paleo-dig, which was a rock pit where the kids could take a dry paint brush and "uncover" dino bones. The bones were huge, permanent fixtures underneat the pebbles. The kids LOVED it and looked so cute using their brushes to move the pebbles off the bones. After dinner, we strolled around Downtown Disney and looked at some of their unique shops: Lego Land and Toy Stores, and lots of Disney specialty shops. We actually got home at a decent time that evening and just relaxed after our busy day.

Day 2: Meeting up with JuJu

about to ride Dumbo
the magnificent castle!!

in a tunnel in Pooh's Corner

in a tunnel in Pooh's Corner...wearing cool Buzz Lightyear shades

on a honeypot in Pooh's Corner

snoozin' while the kids play

the awesome, comfy stroller
(but, it was heavy to push with 80+lbs. in it!)

dancing on the street in front of the castle

YAY!! Juju's here!!

some of the parade performers

Mickey and Donald on their float

Woody and Jessie from Toy Story 2 (Bradley's favorite!)

Me and Trent waiting on everyone to finish their magic carpet ride

some silly animals being transported to the zoo

the cousins in Mickey's house

Meeting Mickey and Minnie

Juj meeting Mickey and Minnie

After our awesome breakfast, we anxiously waited for the Lanes to arrive at DW so we could all be together. While we waited, we went ahead and did a few rides by ourselves. First was Snow White's Scary Adventure, which was so cute, but basically a boat ride through the story of Snow White. It was dark, so it was a little scary, but the kids liked it. Then, Nick took Rachel and Bradley to ride Dumbo. I decided that Trent had been patient and sweet for long enough and decided he deserved a comfy diaper change and nursing. I found the Baby Care Station at Magic Kingdom and was so impressed!!! The station had an attendant who told you where you could change, nurse or feed your baby. (And, I'm sure to make sure there weren't any perverts or weirdos hanging around...) There was one large room with 10-12 baby changing tables, and then a huge kitchen complete with several microwaves and probably about 10 high chairs where you could feed your baby. And, there was a shared nursing room with dim lights and rocking chairs where you could nurse your baby. I thought the whole thing was so cool!! It was comfortable and very accommodating. And, even though we didn't use the baby care station every time, since it was at one end of the park, it was nice to use if we needed to. Anyway, Trent and I met Nick and the kids and went to Pooh's Corner where they had a cool playground for the kids to play on. And, Tigger and Pooh were also available to sign autographs and have your pictures made if you felt like waiting in line to see them. After that, we headed to the kiddie section of Magic Kingdom and saw a cute roller coaster in Goofy's Wise acre Farm called the Barn Stormer. Trent had fallen asleep, so Nick stayed with him in the stroller and I took Rach and Brad to ride the roller coaster. As we waited, it seemed a little bit scary and really fast. I wasn't sure if Bradley would get scared while he was on it. Turns out, he LOVED it and wasn't scared one bit! After we rode it once, the kids wanted to ride it one more time with Nick. (We also rode it another time with JuJu later!) Finally, it was time to meet up with Matt, Wendy and Juj! We were so excited to finally get to see them! We met on Main Street and right after we all met up, there was a parade that went down Main Street, so we got to watch that. The parade was cute, had lots of great music and dancing and some of our favorite characters on floats. Once the Lanes were with us, we headed to one area of the park and worked our way all the way around to the other end. We rode as many things as we could and explored as much as was possible. We walked to the top of Swiss Family Robinson's tree house, rode Aladdin's magic carpet ride, went on a fake safari, went through the Pirates of the Caribbean boat ride, did the Haunted House, Merry Go Round, It's a Small World, Goofy's Barn Burner (again) and the teacups. Needless to say, after our early start that morning, we were POOPED!!! Shortly after going to the last section of the park, Fantasyland, we parted ways with the Lanes. Nick and Brad shot some evil Zurg characters in the Buzz Lightyear ride, and I hung out with Rach and Trent till they got out. We walked to the front of the park and caught a little bit of the end of day, very impressive and beautiful parade that DW puts on with lights, music, floats, dancing, etc... We caught our boat, our bus and walked to our cabin and went to sleep. It was a GREAT day at Disney!!!!!!!!!!!

Day 2: Breakfast at Cinderella's Royal Table

Waiting on the ferry
so excited!!!

my fearless knight

my beautiful princess and her magic wand

a view of the elegant dining room

Trenty enjoying his breakfast

Sleeping Beauty and little miss Sleeping Beauty

Jasmine

Snow White

peek-a-boo with Belle

Belle

For our first morning at Disney, we made reservations to eat with all the princesses at Cinderella's Royal Table. We were running behind that morning trying to make sure we had everything...strollers, extra clothes, sunglasses, snacks, etc... AND I forgot sunscreen and sandwiches. Oh well, hard to remember it all! Anyway, we got on our bus that took us to the ferry boat that took us to the Magic Kingdom. It was so exciting! We went through the entrance (with thousands of others), had our bags searched and then put our plastic card/ticket in the slot and went into the park. Our breakfast was literally inside the castle. We got to have the kid's pictures made with Cinderella. She looked so like her character! Then, we went upstairs to have breakfast. There were tons of little girls in their princess gowns and Rachel loved wearing hers!! The princesses were all given a magic wand and the knights were all given a sword. All the kids were given magic stars to "wish upon". The breakfast food was delicious (and by FAR the BEST during our entire trip!!). The kids were all given french toast sticks, bacon, eggs and OJ. Nick and I could choose between a stuffed french toast or omelette with fresh OJ, fruit and pastries. We really enjoyed our food!! At various times during breakfast, the kids were all instructed to hold up their wishing stars and tap them with their swords or wands and say: "Bibbidy Bobbidy Boo!" And then the lights would twinkle all over the dining room. It was so cute! The princesses rotated around the dining room and spoke with each princess and knight and then would sign autographs (which we didn't do) and/or take pictures. All the princesses were so sweet to Bradley and Trent as much as they were to Rachel, which I thought was great. Bradley liked them all...especially Snow White. When she was leaving our table to see the next little princess, he stood in front of her, roared very seriously and said, "I'm a t-rex dinosaur!" (While his little body shook intensely.) Snow White thought it was funny and said, "Oh my! A t-rex!" Rachel said, "Oh my gosh, you do NOT do that to a princess!!!!" Nick and I got a kick out of it!! The breakfast was a GREAT way to start our Disney vacation!

Disney Bound: Day 1

Trent was ready to crawl and stretch his legs each day after riding in a car or stroller!
Rachel is in the bedroom watching tv

this is the disorganized mess where the kitchen/den and pull down bed were; all our luggage was in here too.

the kid's luggage...packed and ready to head to Disney!!!

We left early Thursday morning to head south to Disney World, or "Disney Woy-old" as my kids call it. The drive was LONG and RAINY and not too fun, but the kids did really well. The good ole DVD player is our BEST friend in the car and keeps R&B so happy while they ride. Trenty was awesome, but did get really tired of riding in his unmovable, rear-facing position. Any time we stopped, he wanted to stand up and stretch his little legs. The weather was so bad that

northern Florida was actually under a tornado watch for most of our drive. Thankfully, we didn't experience any, just really hard rain. At times that was nice because Nick and I couldn't hear the kids fussing over the pounding rain on our car! We made it to our resort/campground in 9 hours after stopping about 3 different times. We were all so glad to be out of the car...and the cabin we rented was adorable! It had a full kitchen, nice sized bathroom, den with table, sofa and pull down bed and a bedroom with bunkbeds and a full bed. We had plenty of room and the place was very cute. I thought we would be using the kitchen much more than we did, but the logistics of leaving a park and catching a boat and a bus and then walking to our cabin took about 45 minutes to an hour, so we didn't get to just "hop" home to eat. Oh well, lesson learned for next time! Everyone slept pretty well each night. We were all so pooped each evening that the kids had no trouble falling right to sleep. Trent did fine, but didn't want to sleep in the pack in play, so he and I shared the double bed and Nick slept by himself in the den. Rachel loved getting to sleep on the top bunk and both kids thought it was so cool to play up there. The cabin was a little single wide trailer with a porch. Most people in the cabin community had brought or rented golf carts. We were right next to the campground and only a short walk to our bus stop. We parked our car that first day and didn't crank it up but once while we were there. We loved using the Disney transportation and didn't wait more than 10 minutes for it the whole time. The kids thought the buses and boats were as cool as the rides at the amusement parks so they loved them. I loved that we could just ride and chill out and not have to figure out directions to anywhere. Nick had the worst deal because he had to fold and carry our 2 awesome strollers anytime we got on the boat. And, even though they were lightweight, 2 strollers are still heavy at one time! The strollers were a very worthwhile investment...I rented them from a stroller company in Orlando and they were at our resort the morning I requested them. They were really nice, very light and easy to push, comfy for the kids, had large canopies/covers over them to keep the kids out of the sun AND they prevented us from having to transport 2 strollers in our car, which we didn't have room for. Unfortunately, we were gone from our room so much, we didn't have much time to organize it, so things were pretty messy and disorganized the entire time we were there. Oh well! :)