THINGS NOT TO DO AT SUNDAY SCHOOL

Jimmy is not a very artsy kid. He doesn't like to draw, color, glue or do art projects of any kind. He will cut paper in a million pieces and that the extent of it. Each Sunday at Sunday School the kids will do some sort of project. Sometimes he will participate and sometimes he will not. He's not a difficult child, that just how he is. Today he decided to participate and brought home his project which he colored and glued crepe paper to. I was very impressed.
Now Jenna will make projects all day long. She loves to draw and is pretty good at it. Usually I am very proud of her artwork, but not today. This is what she made in Sunday School:

As we picked her up from her classroom, she announced that she had made a picture. A picture of Jimmy being the devil. Really? In Sunday School that's what you choose to draw? Not a rainbow, butterflies, hearts or even a cross? There it is my little Jimmy with horns and a tail. She could tell we were not happy about her art at all. On the way home she said "Guess what. A boy in my class said the word P-O-O-P." I asked her what do you think is worse, saying that word or drawing a picture of your brother as the devil. The ride home was quiet.

READY ....SET.....GO!!!!!!!!

Already to go at 5:30 in the morning waiting for Papa Thornton to drive us to the airport. This was the first time either of the kids had been on an airplane, so they had no idea what to expect.

Jjimmy was watching the airplanes being pulled up to the gates and the luggage being loaded. He loved every minute of it.

Jimmy liked the flight at first, but was bored within 15 minutes despite the backpack filled with goodies. He had no intrest coloring, playing games or even reading a book. I learned my lesson and packed cars and trucks for the flight home. Jimmy had an ear infection the week before of course, so I was a little worried about his ears on the plane, but he did very well with very little complaining. His doctor had given us a saline spray to use and it worked amazingly.

Jen had a backpack full of a weeks worth of homework that she was going to miss while we were gone. The entire 2 hours were spent doing it without much complaining. We still spent a good amount of time doing homework during the week. Both kids did great - no bathroom breaks, no whining and were very well behaved. I cant imagine what the car ride would have been like.

SUNDAY MAGIC KINGDOM

This is the sign I've been waiting to see. We finally made it and it didn't feel real at all. I had worked with with my friend Pat since I had graduated from high school at North American. She has two children roughly the same age as Jim and I who work at Disney. For years they all have said come and visit and they'll show us around. Finally Jim and I were able to take the trip. Not only were they our personal tour guides, they also got us into the parks which saved us a ton. Eric, Heather and Pat gave us the inside scoop on everything from good restaurants to how to work the park rides and lines. We wouldn't have been able to see half as much as we did without them.

Jenevive and Olivia became good friends right from the start. They bonded and held hands almost the entire time.

Pluto was in the front signing autographs as soon as we walked in..

He has a special way of signing autographs. He places the book on his nose and signs.

Years and years of dreaming of this moment. We couldn't have asked for better weather it was a cool 80 and breezy. The lines were short and the crowds were minimal.

Heather, pat, Luke and Olivia joined us for a picture.

We walked down main street and the parade had just started. We had great timing and a perfect way to start the day in the park.

Since the tea cups were under renovation the next best thing was the carousal.

Beware princess overload. Jimmy had decided that he was only going to let the "boy" characters sign his book. He wanted no part in pictures with the princesses. Jenna was thrilled to see Princes Ariel.

Aladdin and princess Jasmin

Mary Poppins

Princess Aurora

Cinderella

Belle

Tinkerbell

Rosetta

We also visited Minnie and Mickeys house. This is Minnie's living room.

Jimmy standing in front of Mickeys bedroom.

One of Jimmy's favorite things to do was ride the train.

And of course we had to get a picture with Mr Disney himself.

After we left the Magic Kingdom, we headed over to Epcot, which I thought the kids would like - but I was wrong. By the time we got there, it was already dark and they couldn't see much.

But they did enjoy the ice cream and some more characters:

Mickey Mouse

Minnie mouse

Donald Duck

Daddy even had to get in the picture with Goofy. We got home late only to wake up early for another full day.

MONDAY

On Monday all of the boys went golfing, and the girls and kids did a little shopping at a cast members only store. Everything in the store is a already discounted and when you check out, you get an additional discount. My kind of store. After we went back to Heather's house and let the kids play for awhile. They played so well together that you never would have know there were four kids in the house. Later we played a little bit at a park and played at the beach in White Cloud while we were waiting for the boys to return. We had a seafood dinner on the water which was a great end to a great day.

TUESDAY ANIMAL KINGDOM

I had never been to the Animal Kingdom before, so I was looking forward to the visit. Wednesday morning we had reservations at the Tusker house for a character breakfast. We had a little entertainment while we waited for our table.

The mickey waffles were a big hit with Jimmy. He scarfed them down - ears first of course.

Heather, Eric and the kids decided to join us. My kids were excited to see Mickey, Goofy and Daisy come right up to them at the table.

During the breakfast they had a little children's parade in the dining room. Jimmy made it around a couple of times,but quickly noticed that people were watching him so he got back in his seat. Jenna however proudly marched around the room without a problem.

After breakfast we went on the Kilimanjaro Safari ride where the animals walk around freely. We saw gazelles, giraffes, elephants, rhinos, lions and a lot lot more.

This is an African Baobab tree. It is know as the up side down tree or tree of life. The inside of the tree is hollow and is used to store water or food and also is used as a shelter for animals.

Jenna was very excited to see an elephant since our zoo no longer has them.

There was a lot to do including a Dinosaur land which Jimmy loved. We also saw the Bug's life 3D show inside a Tree of Life. Jenevive went on a huge roller coaster called Expedition Everest, which went forward and backwards.

My kids enjoyed their daily Mickey Mouse ice cream and a little rest from the heat. We were planing on going back to the Magic Kingdom that night, but everyone was pooped out. We headed back to the condo for some swimming.

WEDNESDAY HOLLYWOOD STUDIOS

Jimmy and Jenna each had their own spending money which they could spend anyway they wanted, with the exception of the one stuffed animal only policy. Jimmy spent his money on anything with wheels. By the end of the trip he had bought 3 Disney buses, a T-Rex semi truck, a cars play set with multiple cars and a monorail. He was so excited to see the matching bus to his toy, that he wanted a picture of it.

I'm not really sure why they had us put our hands up in the air for the picture.

While we were waiting in line for autographs, they had a bunch of cut outs that you could take pictures with. My poor little Jimmy was strapped to a rocket.

Jimmy was in total awe when he turned the corner and saw them. I had to laugh because Buzz Light Year didn't sign the book, he just used a stamp with his name on it.

There is an amazing Toy story Midway Mania game/ride. It was probably my favorite thing in the whole park. You ride in a cart and get spun around while you play a bunch of 4D carnival games.

So, before I get any calls from CPS, I just have to saw the following: 1) Jimmy wanted to go on the Tower of Terror 2) He was tall enough for the ride and no one even led on that it might not be a good idea for him to go on 3) I didn't remember the ride being so scary 4) Never in a million years did I think they would place us with 2 small kids in the front row 5) Not to worry because neither Jimmy or I will never ever go on that ride again.

I felt soo bad after the first drop and felt even worse with each one after. Poor little Jimmy kept yelling " I do not like this ride" and "I am never going on this ride again". I held onto him for dear life. Jen went on again right after while Jimmy and I got a pretzel and we were very fine with our decision. Later Jen and Jim went on an Aerosmith Rock N Roll roller coaster which went up side down. Jimmy and I again found something better to do:

A $7.00 rub on tattoo. When he picked out the design and I handed over the money I had no idea someone was going to slap on a rub on tattoo. I could have done that for 50 cents back home, but it made my Jim Bobby smile. I still had some Tower of Terror Mommy guilt going on. So what do you do after you've spent $7.oo on a tattoo....

You buy another one. Two kids - two rip offs. They were both proud of them until they wore off in the pool the next day.

Jim took Jimmy over to see Lightning McQueen and Mater and then to an Extreme Stunt Show.

The boys had fun watching how stunts are done for movies.

While the boys were busy, Jen and I walked around the Muppet area and found a little arcade. After, she talked me into getting her face painted like a cat. It turned out very cute!!! By the end of the night she had one whisker, one ear and half of the bow on her face.

Jimmy had passed out in the car as we were leaving Hollywood Studios. We had already made plans to head over to the Magic Kingdom for the rest of the night to watch the electric parade. We had wanted him to sleep as long as possible, so Jim being such a good Daddy, carried Jimmy from the car to the boat and into the park. Not an easy task in the nice Florida heat.

We went on a couple of rides and then headed over to take our place on the street for the parade.

I really under estimated how much the kids would like the parade. It is like nothing I've ever seen before. They both danced the whole time and their little faces lit up as bright as the lights.

Prince Charming is Jenna's favorite, and of course she melted when she saw him. It is good to have high standards- she better keep them. After the parade they had fireworks, but we headed over to the back of the park and went on the Pirates of the Caribbean ride. We had the ride all to ourselves since everyone else was watching the fireworks. Jimmy is now addicted to watching that movie at home. We ended up getting out of the ride just in time for the fireworks to end, which was a crazy mess. We took our time and took rode the monorail for awhile. The kids crashed as soon as they got back.