Disney - day five (Sunday)

Sunday was our catch-up day. We had been to every park 2 or 3 times (except Epcot). There were still a few things we wanted to do. We really wanted to see the Nemo show at Animal Kingdom. We all loved the Lion King show and had heard great things about the Nemo show. We went over to Animal Kingdom on Sunday morning and rode a few rides before the show started around 10am.

Our little "Goofy" playing in Animal Kingdom!


They had a dinosaur ride that is very similar to Dumbo. We rode it over and over again and the boys loved it! Carter thought he was so big since he got to ride in the front by himself.


Zach rode Expedition Everest while we rode the dinosaurs one more time. Then the boys and I went and waited in line for Nemo. Again, we were amazed at the show! It was so good and the boys loved it. Seth cried when we left. He would have sat through it again. He still says his favorite part was Nemo and The Lion King.


One of the other things we wanted to do was visit some of the Pixar characters at Hollywood Studios. Seth wanted to see Mr. Incredible and Carter wanted to see the Power Rangers (not sure why - he has never seen the show). Unfortunately by this point in the day, Carter was sick. He rode in the back of the stroller and slept. Although he didn't get to see the Power Rangers, Seth was able to get his picture made with Mr. Incredible.


We had dinner reservations at the Sci-fi Theatre. It was such a neat restaurant. We ate in "cars", had car-hops for waitresses, and watched old sci-fi movies while we ate. It was great to enjoy some diner food after all the buffets we had eaten the last few days. Poor Carter slept on my lap the entire meal. Seth loved it. Here he is enjoying his sundae!


After dinner, we headed back to the hotel to pack and get ready for bed for the last time. On our way, the boys wanted to pose for one last picture outside our hotel.


It was an amazing week but we were all ready to go home and see Ethan. The boys asked about him every day and I missed my baby so much!! I will definitely never forget the boys' first week at Disney. It was magical in so many ways!

Disney - day four (Saturday)

Following our normal pattern, we were up super early on Saturday and ready to go. We had been told that we HAD to ride the Toy Story Mania ride at Hollywood Studios. When we were there on Thursday the wait was almost two hours and there were not any fast passes left. Hollywood Studios had extra magic hours on Saturday morning so we decided to head over there at opening. I really loved Hollywood Studios and the boys LOVED the Toy Story Mania ride! I wish we had been able to do the ride twice, but we had brunch reservations over at Tusker's House in Animal Kingdom.

We hopped on a bus and arrived at Animal Kingdom 20 minutes after it opened (getting to the parks early in the morning was a lifesaver for us - much less crowded and the boys had a lot more energy). The first thing we did was ride the Safari. It was great and the boys loved it. It was amazing how close we were to the animals. After the safari, it was time for breakfast. Tusker's House was great! The boys loved the characters and we all enjoyed the breakfast food.




The boys in front of the Tree of Life in Animal Kingdom. We didn't go inside, but the boys definitely noticed it - very cool looking!



We headed back to the hotel after Animal Kingdom. The boys played for a while before laying down for a nap. After taking a nap, we headed back to Magic Kingdom. (We did a lot of park hopping. We were very impressed with the transportation to and from all the parks and our hotel. We only had one bad experience and every other time it was really easy to get around to all the parks.) We went back to Fantasyland and rode Dumbo and the carousel. The boys also spent some time playing in Pooh's playground.


We had dinner reservations at Crystal Palace. The boys enjoyed meeting all the characters (Pooh and his gang) but we did not enjoy the food.



After dinner we sat on the curb on Main Street to wait for the night-time parade. I had promised the boys cotton candy during the parade and we also had several glow-in-the-dark bracelets that they loved playing with. The parade was great! After the parade we waited around for 30 more minutes until the fireworks started. It was definitely worth the wait to see the look on Seth's face when Tinkerbell flew through the sky at the start of the fireworks! I definitely could feel the "magic" of Disney that night. Again, another great, exhausting day! Only one day left!

Disney - day three (Friday)

Once again, our boys were up at the crack of dawn...literally. Although we didn't have breakfast reservations that forced us to get up early, they still felt the need to drag us from our beds around 6am. Since we were up so early, we decided to head on over to Epcot for their early magic hours. We were in line when the park opened and Mickey and the gang walked us into the park at 9:00.

I had heard great things about Soarin' and convinced Carter to go ride with me. Seth wasn't tall enough to ride so Zach took him to the Nemo ride. I had read all about Soarin' in my "Unofficial Guide to Disney" book (awesome book...carried it everywhere!). It mentioned avoiding the ride if you are prone to motion sickness. Carter or I neither one had ever experienced that so I wasn't worried. However, right before we were about to board, I noticed a sign that mentioned avoiding the ride if you are afraid of heights. That worried me a bit. I definitely do not like heights. I tried not to worry about it - I couldn't. I had Carter with me and definitely couldn't back out now. I had talked it up to him all morning so he would ride with me. Oh. my. goodness. I was so scared. Don't get me wrong, it was not a scary ride - unless you are afraid of heights. The first scene you "soar" into was over the Pacific Ocean and the Golden Gate Bridge. It is amazing (and terrifying) how real it feels. I took a peek at Carter and he was just fine...not scared at all. I did not want him to see me scared, so I pretended to like it. :) Let's just say that ride will NEVER be on my agenda again.

While we were riding Soarin', Seth was beginning his obsession with Nemo. Zach said they rode the ride 6 or 7 times in a 20 minute time period. Seth wanted to ride it again, but we also wanted to explore more of Epcot. After walking around Epcot, playing some games, and picking up a fast pass to the Test Track, we ate lunch at the Coral Reef Restaurant. Seth was getting really tired so I headed back to the hotel with him while Zach and Carter rode the Test Track. While Seth and I were walking out we ran across Daisy. Seth was SO excited!



The boys in front of the big golf ball - that's what they called it all week. :)


Zach and Carter riding Test Track. The two guys in the front (which we don't know) and Zach have such great looks on their faces as they race around the track at 60 MPH. Carter, on the other hand, looks as calm as can be - so funny!


After Seth's nap and Carter and Zach's time at Epcot, the boys wanted to spend some time at the pool. Carter couldn't wait to use his floaties again and get in the pool. I am just amazed at how far he has come. He also wanted to go down the dragon waterslide. I really didn't think he would do it, but he definitely proved me wrong. He went down several times all by himself while Zach waited at the bottom to catch him. He had so much fun!



After an hour at the pool, we cleaned up and headed over to Animal Kingdom for extended hours. We had a great dinner at Flame Tree Barbeque and then went to see a special showing of the Lion King. It was amazing! I don't think our boys moved (or blinked) for 30 minutes. It was definitely one of my favorite things of the entire trip. The boys talked about it the entire ride to the hotel and even most of the next day.

After the show, we rode the Triceratops ride (just like dumbo) a few times and then headed back to the hotel. It was another full day!

Disney - day two (Thursday)

Our first full day started very early in the morning. We had breakfast reservations at Chef Mickey's at 7:20. We had to ride a bus to the Magic Kingdom and then catch the monorail to the Contemporary. The boys were so excited to eat breakfast with Mickey and Donald that they didn't mind the early wake-up time. We fixed our plates, started to eat, and 5 minutes later Goofy walked out the kitchen door. I loved seeing the boys' faces when he first walked out - so sweet! Goofy was followed by Donald Duck, Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, and finally Pluto. It was a great way to start out the vacation.

Look at those smiles!


Seth showing his "goofy" face to Goofy.







Seth was still not 100% on Day 1. He spent a lot of time in my lap. :)


Sweet brothers excited to be on Main Street!


We were at the park early so we were able to ride a lot of rides without waiting in line. The boys loved Dumbo!


Daddy and Seth riding "It's a Small World"


Carter in his ears!


Trying to get a cute picture of the boys in front of the castle.

After lunch at Pecos Bill, we went back to the hotel for a nap. Since we were all in one little room together, Zach and I laid down when the boys did so they would fall asleep quickly. We didn't plan on taking a nap, but we all woke up 2 hours later and felt much better!

Carter had been asking to ride the Star Wars ride, so we decided to head over to Hollywood Studios and find it. Of course, once we got there, he decided it was too scary and didn't want to do it. The boys spent a lot of time in the Star Wars gift shop and each got a present from there. After walking out of the store, they both wanted to sit on speeder bike and have their picture made.



We also walked through the Pixar area of Hollywood Studios. We came across the green army man from the Toy Story movie. Several kids were waiting in line to see him and Carter went to the end of the line. All of the sudden, the army man started marching away, but stopped when he got to Carter. He pretended to inspect Carter, looked him over, and then saluted him. He then took Carter's autograph book, signed it, and marched away. Carter loved it!


Daddy and Carter at the end of a long day. Carter built his own light saber at the Star Wars gift shop. He LOVES it!


Seth is much more into stuffed animals. He had no interest in a light saber, but instead picked out a Jedi Mickey and sleeps with it every night.

Disney - day one (Wednesday)

We had such an amazing week at Disney! Despite a rocky start (Seth was diagnosed with croup 2 days before we left) and a rough ending (Carter woke up with a 102 fever our last day there), the entire trip went well.

We left early on Wednesday morning. The boys were very excited to fly. They both had window seats and stared out the window for a long time after take-off. I think I was the only nervous one!

Carter buckled and unbuckled his seat belt 10 times before we left. He loved the airplane!

Seth was very excited. He loved the tray table - he put his coloring book and markers on it and colored almost the entire flight. I am so glad Carter and I were in front of him because he also kicked our seat the entire time.


We were given a roll of stickers when we checked in. Before we knew it, Seth had put all of them on his shirt. Then he decided to "read" the map so we would know where to go. :)


When we walked into Magic Kingdom that afternoon, they were having a parade. It was a perfect way to start our vacation. It made the boys SO excited to see the characters in the parade! They also asked for Mickey ears as soon as we walked in the park - so cute!


Carter checking out the parade from the stroller.


We spent the afternoon in Toon Town - riding Goofy's Barnstormer and the train through the entire park. The boys wanted to drive the Indy cars as well. They had so much fun, but Zach and I suffered extreme whiplash. :) They jerked the cars all over the place - but had fun doing it! Here is a picture of Seth driving his car.


We did not have dinner reservations for Wednesday night, so we decided to go over to Downtown Disney and check out the T-Rex restaurant. The boys LOVED it! The boys enjoyed looking at the dinosaurs and they also had an area for them to dig for fossils.


Our first day of vacation was so much fun, but very exhausting. We stayed out too late and Seth suffered a major meltdown on our way home. He slept the entire ride back to the hotel. Poor boy - he slept so good that night!

Disney Preview

We are back! We had such a great week at Disney World with our two oldest boys! We missed Ethan like crazy (the boys asked about him every day), but we know he was well taken care of and much happier at home with his grandparents than in the stroller at Disney. :) I want to do several blog posts of our trip (since it will eventually turn into our family book), but here is a quick preview.

Family photo in front of the castle at Magic Kingdom:

Carter in his ears. He wore them ALL week. He loved them.

Seth, on the other hand, did not. He wore them the first day and didn't put them back on. This hat would have been much more appropriate for him!


Our kids LOVED the characters. They did not mind at all to wait in line to see them. We had several character meals and those were definitely their favorites.


Seth LOVES Daisy! Who knew? We sure didn't until we arrived and that is who he wanted to find. Strangely enough, she is not easy to find. Seth and I spotted her on our way out of Epcot on Friday. We waited to see her and he ran to embrace her. Precious!


He even gave her a kiss on the bill before our turn was over. I think she was shocked! :)