Florida Week 1 April 24 - May 1, 2009

Okay, so I am way behind and have to catch up. We will start with our Disneyworld trip. We had an absolute blast. We left on Friday, April 24, 2009 with our friends Crystal, Seth, Ethan, and Ciara Baker. The kids were great on the plane. They were especially excited to be with their friends and spend time in the pool.

On Saturday, we went to Epcot. Epcot was having their flower and garden show. The bushes were sculpted throughout the park in different shapes and figures.

We went and had pictures taken with Mickey and friends. Ciara's reaction to seeing Mickey Mouse was priceless. Her enthusiasm carried on throughout the whole week.

The favorite ride for the day was Nemo. We had lunch with the Princesses in the Norway. It was funny that Charles was just as excited about this as the girls. Once we got there, Ethan warmed up to the princesses as well.

Crystal and Seth took their kids back to the condo early. We stayed and took the kids through the world showcase. This was the first time the kids and done this. It was fun. They got these masks at the first country and then every country after that they had a different charm for the kids to attach to their masks. We then stayed to watch the fireworks. It was a great day.

On Sunday, we headed to Hollywood Studios. The highlights for the day were meeting Bolt and Rhino, going to Playhouse Disney, and meeting Prince Caspian.

My kids are fascinated with the "Narnia" movies. They have invisible friends from Narnia that play with them all of the time. Getting to meet Prince Caspian was a way big deal for them. Michelle was so bashful and as most of you know that is so unlike her. When we got outside she says, "Mom, Prince Caspian was sooooooooo handsome." Even at 3 she is smitten by handsome boys. Monday was Magic Kingdom. We had a blast. We all stayed together and rode everything we could together. The lines weren't that long. Ethan and Charles loved Splash Mountain and Thunder Mountain Railroad. Michelle loved seeing Tinkerbell and the other fairies at Pixie Hollow. Small World is always a hit. They also loved Winnie the Pooh and Pirates. It was so funny on Pirates. Michelle was sitting next to Ciara and covered both of their eyes when there were skeletons.

On Tuesday, we took a break from the parks. We went to Downtown Disney for lunch and a little shopping. We had reservations at the new T-rex Cafe. It was awesome. This cafe is similar to Rainforest Cafe except with dinosaurs. The kids were so excited and ran around all over wanting their picture taken with every dinosaur.

Even Gabe had a good time at T-rex Cafe. He was pretending to be electrocuted by the giant jellyfish that sat over out table.

And here is Gabe being eaten by the Triceratops.

Of course what trip to Downtown Disney wouldn't be complete without a trip to the Disney store and the Lego store.

The rest of the afternoon was spent driving all over Florida trying to find Charles a stuffed Bolt. All of the stores on Disney grounds were out. We ended up at the Florida Mall with a "GIANT" bolt that I didn't think would fit in a suitcase.

Wednesday we went to Animal Kingdom. Charles loved Mt. Everest and mom hated it. We all enjoyed getting wet on the river rapids.

Thursday we went back to Magic Kingdom and the Bakers went to Animal Kingdom. We didn't stay for fireworks because the kids were too tired.

Friday was a hang out day. We bid farewell to the Baker Family. We had a wonderful time with them. It was so fun our kids to have other kids along to play with. They had a blast together. We are very blessed to have special friends like the Bakers. We are very glad to have had this opportunity to grow closer to one another. We are especially happy that after this trip we are all still good friends!!