The international language of yummy.

One of our favorite families goes to Orlando the same week each year.  They take advantage of the teacher work days and visit all the Disney parks.  Over the past several years, I've been fortunate to go down with either one or both of the kids for a long weekend and meet up with them.  It's become our thing and we all have a great time.

This year we did Epcot.  One of the coolest things I've ever experienced happened around lunch time.  We went to the American restaurant for lunch.  Our plans were to go right next door and check out the singing group and the show in the American pavilion.  The skies were gray and we knew it was going to rain.  As we were walking to the building right next to us, we noticed the pouring rain was coming towards us.  We could see it moving across the lake.  It was wild to witness this.  We made it in the building in enough time and timed it perfectly that when we were done and headed back outside, the rain was done too.  To see thick sheets of rain move rapidly across a body of water and head directly to you was something out of a movie.  So incredibly neat.

The first half of the day we spent doing the rides.  At 5:15pm we had reservations in Mexico for dinner. For the remainder of our day (until Epcot closed) we ate our way around the world.  A different dessert in almost every country. It was so yummy!  And a rare treat the kids don't normally get.  By the end of the day, my FitBit said I logged 23,000 steps.  Yowzer!  That level of activity was needed with all those sweets.

Eating our way thru Epcot is not for the faint of heart.  Good thing Ian and Samantha were up to the task. 

Four Very Special Days, Part 2.

It was Sam's turn to go down to Florida and spend some time with my family.  We had an amazing trip!  We boarded a plane on Friday, March 29th and made it in time for a birthday celebration dinner with my sister Meghan.  How nice that each of our trips allowed us the opportunity to celebrate one of my sister's birthdays.

I'll let the pictures tell the story of our four day adventure.

FRIDAY:

We went to Kobe, a Japanese steak house to celebrate Meghan's Birthday.  Sam loved the show!
 

Sam successfully ate with chopsticks

SATURDAY:

 

Spent 10+ hours at the Magic Kingdom with my mom, Amanda and her little girl Sammy.  I've known Amanda since I was 5 years old.  Her daughter is just 2 months younger than mine.  Coincidentally, they are both named Samantha.

The girls became princesses at Bippity Bobbity Boutique.  Afterwards we had lunch at Cinderella's Royal Table and enjoyed lunch with the princesses.  It was a magical day!

The girls bonded quickly!

SUNDAY:

We spent the day with my dad, stepmom, and sister Meghan at Green Meadows Farm.  This place was great and very hands-on. 

Sam milked a cow!

MONDAY:

It was time to hit the beach with my mom.  A sunny, breezy day with temps in the 80's.

Sam loves to pose on the beach!

TUESDAY:

Chilled at my mom's house until it was time to leave for the airport.  Lori (my other sister) came over for lunch.

Mom-mom and Sam used their time wisely and made a pumpkin pie together.

I loved that I could do these trips with the kids.  It means the world to me that we could spend some quality time with my family doing things that each kid would love.   Next year I think there is competition for my trip.  Jeff and Ian have plans to go down for Baseball Spring training.

All smiles!

Tuesday found us back in the big leagues, doing the Disney thing.  We planned to go to Hollywood Studios in the morning and then if all was well, we'd move on to Epcot.  Hollywood Studios is small enough that it can easily be done in a day.  But could we accomplish all we wanted having 5 young kids with us?  The answer is yes!

When Sam is good, she is VERY good.  And when she is bad, I can only liken it to being outside in a hurricane while trees are crashing down all around you.  You know you need to get out of the way, you just aren't sure which way to go.  And as we've experienced, this storm can last hours upon hours with no relief.   But I am pleased to report that just like the Tuesday before, Sam was amazing.  Exceptional even. All 5 kids were at their best.  It was the most phenomenal day. Even being caught in at least 3 major rain showers didn't slow us down one bit. 

We arrived at Hollywood Studios right when they opened and 7 wet hours later, we were heading back to the car.  Here is a list of all we saw and did:

Star Tours
Muppet Vision 3D
Met Phineas and Ferb
Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular
Lunch at Backlot Express
Toy Story Mania!
Voyage of the Little Mermaid
The Magic of Disney Animation
Disney Junior Live on Stage



Toy Story Mania!  It is as great as everyone says!!



Hanging with Phineas and Ferb

We hadn't fully decided if we would go back to my sister's house for some downtime or continue on to Epcot without a break.  Once all the kids were strapped in their seats, Jen and I looked at each other and decided to go for it.  As previously mentioned, neither of us is going to be the voice of reason.  It made more sense to keep going than lose any time.

Here is a list of what we saw and did at Epcot:

Spaceship Earth
The Seas with Nemo and Friends
Living with The Land
Dinner at Seasons
Journey into Immagincation with Figment
Phineas and Ferb World Showcase



In between rain showers, we arrive at Epcot.

Everything was a winner except our last thing at Epcot.  Saving the world with Phineas and Ferb is too hard to do after a long day at Disney.  It was too challenging to hear the clues with all the people around you and one device for 4 kids is just not fair.  The world is going to have to be saved by someone else.  We turned in our device and headed home.  Stick a fork in us, we had enough.

By far, the most favorite thing we all loved was Toy Story Mania!  This ride was so awesome and I can see why it is the most popular thing at Hollywood Studios.  

On so many levels we got lucky on both Tuesdays spent at Disney -- we managed to have little to no wait on every single ride we went on.  And then we'd look behind us, and there would be a big line of people!!   And when we approached a show to see when the next showtime was, it would be within the next 5 minutes, with plenty of seats still available.  The other thing that worked in our favor was the fast passes.  This is the best thing ever.  Fast passes has got to be one of the best inventions ever.   Toy Story Mania! for example had an 85 minute wait, but we walked right on with the fast pass.  Sweet!!   

Our stay in Orlando is winding down.  Wednesday was our last full day.  We met up with my mom and stepfather for lunch at T-Rex Cafe in downtown Disney and then took it easy back at my sister's house.

Mom-Mom and Ian...together again.

Today (Thursday) is our drive back to NoVa.  We decided to do the drive back during the day and hopefully get home by midnight.  If timed correctly, we will miss the traffic in Orlando, Jacksonville, Richmond and the D.C. Metro area.  It is going to be good to get back home.  I miss Jeff.  The kids are going to have a wonderful time here in Orlando with my family and I am in desparate need of a break.

The happiest place on Earth

This easily could've gone in another direction.  Heat. Crowds.  Disney.  5 young kids (ESPECIALLY my 4 year old).   It didn't have the makings for being a good day.  A fun day.  One we'd want to look back on, smile and be happy about it.

However, It couldn't have gone any better.  Really.  I know, I know.  I can't believe I am writing that sentence either.  Especially given our rocky start trying to get Sam out of the house.  She was being, well, herself, and it was not looking good for the day that followed.  I threatened her many times to behave or else she wasn't going to come with us. Miraculously, Jen was able to get her in her car seat.  More miraculously, by the time we got to the Magic Kingdom, Sam became agreeable and in a better mood.

Our big saving grace was that we didn't have to pay to get in.  Knowing that we weren't shelling out almost $600 dollars to get in to the Magic Kingdom made it a little more tolerable that so much money wasn't on the line.  Many thanks to my stepfather who took his day off from work and spent time with us.  5 kids and 2 adults may have had us outnumbered, but honestly, the kids did really well. 

Since having kids I've never done the traditional full day at Disney.  Since Jim can get himself and 3 others in at any time, it was never necessary to try to fit everything in, in one day.  But because we had Jen and her kids with us, we needed to use his special passes he is given.  He doesn't get very many of these and it was important we got the most out of them.  Therefore, our plan was to go when Magic Kingdom opened, spend a few hours and then return in the evening for the electrical parade and fireworks.   The time flew by and before we knew it, it was already 6:00pm.  Yes, we spent over 8.5 hours at the Magic Kingdom during the day and another 3 hours at night!  Jen and I worked the Fast Pass system and it was amazing.  We barely had a wait for anything and walked right on most rides.  I am still in awe over how well the day unfolded.

Sam had one crazy meltdown at lunch, but after 10 minutes, she rebounded.   Ian complained of his legs hurting from all the walking, but it was manageable and not enough to make me want to go running screaming from our group.

Such a great moment!  Sam was so excited
that Minnie was there too!

And if that wasn't good enough, we pushed our luck even further and took the kids back to the Magic Kingdom 2 hours after leaving.  Yes, at 8:00pm, the kids were loaded in the car and we were going back for the electrical parade and the fireworks.  We are crazy like that.  What an amazing day it was!

Sshhh!  Don't tell Jeff how late it is and these kids' night
is just getting started!

Because you simply can't go to Disney and not get ice cream, right?
Jen and I are so the fun moms!

Here is a list of all we saw and did --

• Philhar Magic Show
• It's a small world
• The many adventures of Winnie the Pooh
• Mad Tea Party
• Dumbo the flying elephant
• Lunch - at the park (btw, Sam does not like meatball subs, contrary to her insistence that she NEEDS to have one).
• Peter Pan's flight
• Prince Charming regal carousel
• Monster's, Inc. Laugh Floor
• Buzz Lightyear's space ranger spin
• Tomorrowland transit authority people mover
• Walt Disney's carousel of progress
• The magic carpets of Aladdin
• Pirates of Caribbean
• Jungle Cruise
• Met Mickey and Minnie Mouse

Dinner break at Lori's house

• Main Street electrical parade
• Ice cream
• The magic, memories and you! - show
• Wishes nighttime spectacular - fireworks

Pretty impressive, huh?  Yeah, it blew me away too. And not once did I threaten Sam that she was going to be sent to my mom's house in a taxi.  Sam really turned it around once we got moving and behaved quite well.   I have to say, there was not one thing we did that I wouldn't do again.  Everything was a winner!

A funny moment:
Within 5 minutes of getting the kids back in the car, Evan, Sam and Nathan were fast asleep.  Well, 8:00pm is their normal bedtime, not to mention the very full, active day they just had.  We parked the car and began unloading all the kids. Jen took Nathan out of his carseat and stood him next to her minivan.  Nathan continued sleeping standing up!  And then all of a sudden, he was running keeping up with us walking back into the park.  It was hilarious!

Once our day was finally over, and we were headed back to Lori's house, all 5 kids were fast asleep before we even left the parking lot.  This was something we were unsuccessful in achieving the whole drive down to Orlando. I guess you need to spend 12 hours at Disney to get results like that.

Wow!  Pretty impressive.  Too bad we have to move them.

Talk about funny, Jen and I each took one kid at a time from the car and put them directly to bed.  When it came to Ethan and Ian, we needed to wake them up to get out of the car.  Their seats were all the way in the back and it was impossible to reach them.  I said, "Ian, you need to wake-up."  Ian woke up and in the time it took him to move his hand to his seat belt latch, he fell back asleep.  These kids had hit their fun limit for the day!!

I have come to the conclusion that neither Jen or I are the voice of reason.  We will not talk each other out of anything, no matter how far fetched it sounds.  Drive 5 young kids to Orlando, straight-thru the night?  Sure!  Do Magic Kingdom, clearly outnumbered during a very hot summer day?  Sure!  Go back to the park again, and keep them up very late into the night to see the parade and fireworks?  Sure!  Give them ice cream way past their bed time?  Sure!  We seem to keep moving the bar higher and higher on how adventurous we are getting.

Some times you've just got to go for the whole experience!

Stay tuned for more from Robyn's crazy adventure to FL....