Cake Wrecks!

Wednesday, April 29th--My friend, Ashley, recommeded this blog site. It is HILARIOUS! I check it about once a week and laugh my butt off! Enjoy!

http://cakewrecks.blogspot.com/

Welcome to the Family Baby Eliza!

Monday, April 20th--Tonight we went over to Bret & Marissa's house to see their newest child, Eliza Karen (she's the one waving "hi!" at the left). Eliza was born on March 31st, premature. She was in the NICU for a little over a week. She came home the day before we left for Disneyworld so the kids hadn't seen her yet. Nate and I were able to see her in the NICU. She's doing great and the family is adjusting to their newest little one. Another great blessing is that Marissa's gestational diabetes was gone right after she delivered. Hooray! This makes the 10th grandchild for the Armstrong family--5 boys, 5 girls. Eliza is a cutie and we're glad she's here and doing so well! I sure enjoy holding newborns, they're so cuddly! I noticed Nate was enjoying it too. Maybe someday soon we'll be able to announce the upcoming arrival of a baby.

Going Home

Saturday, April 18th--We packed up and then went down to the food court to eat breakfast. On our way we got some photos of some of the over-sized things throughout the resort. It was pretty cool! With our tummies full we went back up to our room to gather our luggage and head to the bus that would take us to the airport. It took a long time for us to catch a bus but once we did we made good time and was able to get to our gate with time to spare. By now, it was lunch time so we hit up the airport food court. Elise and Brady were delighted to see a McDonalds! As with the flight to Orlando, our plane was completely full so Nate sat with Brady and I sat with Elise, with a stranger sitting in the window seat. We landed in St. Louis, MO, but was able to stay on the plane while others got off and the plane was filled again with new passengers. The flight out of St. Louis was SCARY! The turbulence was horrific and I about lost it. I'm glad the kids were able to see it as kind of a ride and smile and laugh a little when we hit big bumps. I always kept my eye on the flight attendants. If they looked fearful then I knew to be so too. Still, being so high in the air, it's a pretty traumatizing feeling. Once the major turbulence was over, even the littlest bumps freaked me out. It was the longest 2 1/2 hours! When we landed in Salt Lake I about kissed the ground. I was happy to find that it was sunny but cool too!
For the most part, we had a great trip. The humid heat, tantrums and kids whining and fighting are still fresh in our minds but that will soon be forgotten and we'll just remember the wonderful times (the extra weight gain will be gone too! he he). I'm glad we went and with 500+ photos we'll have plenty of memories to look back on.

Day 7--Our Last Day--Magic Kingdom

Friday, April 17th--This was our final day. We were sad but also happy to get back home and have some good sleep and rest. The kids seemed to throw some kind of tantrum or fight just about everyday so we knew they needed to get back into a routine as well. We made our way into Magic Kingdom. We started out the morning with a Winnie the Pooh character breakfast. It was very yummy. The buffet had so many choices and we enjoyed them all. It was probably the first meal the kids ate where we actually felt we got our moneys worth. Usually, most of the meals they were picky and wouldn't eat much, with this delicious breakfast they chowed down! After we filled our tummies we decided to pick some of our favorite rides and go on them. We made it to every section of the park and Nate even got me to go on Pirates of the Caribbean (I hate dips!). I found some fun things at the pirate shop. We did Haunted Mansion again too. We made our way over to Toon Town and it was still crowded but we took the time to go through anyway. I was glad we did! We went on the Jungle Cruise again and got to sit in front. We were close enough that we had hoped Brady would be asked to drive the boat, like Elise had. For some reason, the "tour guide" didn't pick a child to drive this time around. Brady didn't seem to mind too much. As part of our vacation package, it came with a dining plan. We had been frugal all week and realized we didn't need to so today we were getting snacks galore with our credits. Nate was able to have a few of his favorite Disney treats, pineapple Dole whips. With the heat we got plenty of ice cream and frozen lemonade. (which would explain the extra pounds I gained even though we walked miles and miles everyday!).

As the day got hotter and hotter, we found a little spot in Fantasyland that was shooting out water from the ground. The kids went over and got soaked but enjoyed themselves. Nate and I sat in the shade and watched them while we cooled off.
Nate, Brady and Elise also discovered an interest that had them searching all over the park. They realized they like the penny press machines and decided to buy one every time they found a machine. Elise used the last of her money to buy a special book that holds them. By the time we left they had got 17 of them. They probably could have filled the book if we had started at the beginning but they had fun today.
We stayed in the park quite late. It was pretty cool to see Cinderellas Castle light up and change colors.

Nate heard the park was open till 3:00 am so he went back with us to the hotel and helped me finish up packing then he went back alone. He got back at almost 3:00 am. The next morning he told us he was able to go on any ride he wanted with little to no wait. Pretty crazy but he had fun and that's what matters.

As we walked away from the park I got a little sad. Our vacation was over. As Nate and I talked, we realized Disneyland is just as fun and much closer so I don't see us coming back to Disneyworld anytime soon.

Day 6--Wild Animal Kingdom

Thursday, April 16th--We got into the park and the first thing I thought was "CONFUSING!" Even the map didn't help all that much, not to mention the crowds were thicker than any we had experienced. Needless to say, this wasn't a park I enjoyed all that much. Once again, Nate was quite anxious to get Fast Pass tickets for the ride Everest, which is similar to Matterhorn in Disneyland. He ran to get them while I took pics of the Tree of Life, in the center of the park.....I think. We met up with him again and went over to DinoLand. The first ride we did was pretty cool, I must admit, it was a bumpy, intense ride that took us back in time to the dinosaur age. It was scary at times too as dinosaurs jumped out at us (if you've been on the Indiana Jones ride in Disneyland, this one is very much like it). From there we went to an area that was more like a carnival with games and rides. By now, it was quite hot outside. We did a few rides and then Nate took the kids into a jungle gym-type place. From there we headed over to Everest. Nate said the ride actually kind of made him sick, which is unusual, but the kids liked it. After that we got Fast Passes for a safari ride and then got on a train that went around the park. One of the stops was at a little petting farm. Elise enjoyed petting the goats, Nate and I enjoyed the misting fan nearby. After the train we got on the safari ride. Basically, we got in a large jeep and went on a long, winding trail with native African animals all throughout. It was pretty amazing! Next was an African parade and then over to a section where we were able to meet up with Disney characters and get autographs. Surprisingly, this area was not busy at all and we were able to see most of the characters. We did a few more things and then ate dinner and headed back to the hotel. Nate took the kids swimming while I spent some quiet time in our room. We all kind of got sad the next day would be our last day.

Day 5--Hollywood Studios

Wednesday, April 15th--This morning started out with a major panic attack. We got a call from our neighbor, back home. She informed us it was raining like crazy and one of our window wells had flooded (not again, #9!). She couldn't tell if the water had gotten in our finished basement but she had a pump and pumped the water out of the window well. She told me she'd keep an eye on the wells throughout the day and fortunately, none of them flooded again. I'm so thankful to you, Tamara! We called Nate's brother and wife, in Lehi, to see if they'd come over with our spare key to check the basement. They said they would and we got a relieving call from them a few hours later to say the basement was dry, just a little water in the window itself. Thanks, Bret & Marissa! So after that drama we headed over to Hollywood Studios. This is the park we all had been very excited to go to, Nate and Elise could see the top of the Tower of Terror ride from our hotel and just couldn't wait to go on it. As soon as we got to the park, Nate ran over to the ride to get Fast Passes. After that we went on a really cool ride. It took us into different famous movie sets: "Alien", "Raiders of the Lost Ark", "Casablanca", "Mary Poppins", "Wizard of Oz", etc. I would have gladly gone on that ride again but there was plenty to do. We went to a buffet lunch with some of the popular Disney Channel characters: Jo Jo's Circus, Little Einsteins, & Handy Manny. The kids had fun meeting these characters and getting their autographs. Elise realized her book was almost filled so from this point on she was selective and made sure no one signed her book unless they hadn't already. From there we booked it over to the Star Wars area of the park. I hit the gift shop and found some plastic figurines of Muppets dressed like Star Wars characters (remember that Muppet Show, anyone?). I bought them and some regular figurines for Nate and Brady. Nate took one look at the Muppet ones and got a big 'ol grin on his face! Elise was also excited to participate in the Jedi Training show. In Disneyland, we've noticed the kids that have Jedi costumes on usually get picked so I brought Brady's costume. For some reason, he didn't want to participate so Elise put the top on and got picked.....first! It was so cool! I was probably more excited than she was! The Jedi Master taught the kids how to use their light sabers and then Darth Vader and Darth Maul came out to fight each of the kids. Elise got to fight Darth Vader and then she got to use the "force" to push two Stormtroopers away from her. It was so awesome, she was the only kid that got to use the "force". I was in heaven watching my little girl kick some Darkside butt! I asked Brady if he'd like to participate in the next show and he still said "no". I guess he was a little scared of Darth Vader and Darth Maul.
Elise and Nate went on the Tower of Terror. I fully expected Elise to be shivering and, possibly, even crying after getting off the ride but she seemed to like it. Shocker! We went to the Indiana Jones Show next. It was, eh, okay, I guess. It was mostly a show "educating" us on the various stunts that took place on the "Raiders of the Lost Ark" set. There weren't a lot of rides in Hollywood Studios so we mostly went to shows. We saw a condensed version of Beauty and the Beast, Little Mermaid, a Walt Disney tribute, and Narnia: Prince Caspian. The park was quite huge and packed with people and props. We walked all over the place and feel like we did all we wanted to do so we just did this one day here. I enjoyed all the many fun Hollywood-type shops too!

Day 3 & 4--Back at Magic Kingdom

Monday & Tuesday, April 13th & 14th--Monday, we walked over to the right side of the park wehre there is Tomorrow Land and Toon Town. There was plenty to do in Tomorrow Land so we spend most of the day there. Nate got Fast Pass tickets for Space Mountain, the kids were stoked! And while they were on another make-my-stomach-sick ride, I ventured over to the shops. We rode on the Buzz Lightyear ride and went to a fun interactive show involving some of the characters from Monsters, Inc. (I discovered I can do a dead-on impression of Roz! he he) We pretty much did everything there is to do in Tomorrow Land and then headed over to Toon Town. It was way too crowded so we got on the train that goes around the entire park and got off at Main Street to watch a parade. While we waited for the parade to start, some of the cast members were playing jump rope and Elise stood in line to do that. She didn't do too well, only did 4 turns but she thinks it was because of her clumpy shoes. After the parade we went back over to Liberty Square, Frontier Land and Adventure Land. And finally, we went to a buffet dinner with Winnie the Pooh and friends.

Tuesday morning we woke up to find, outside, it was quite cloudy and looked like it was going to rain. We were all tired enough that we slept in and that was a really good thing. Usually we would have left an hour earlier, had we done so we would have been caught in a massive downpour of rain. Instead we were in our room all nice and dry. We got to Magic Kingdom and it was still sprinkling a little. Off and on, most of the day, it rained and drizzled. Luckily, I packed jackets and we kept warm. Even with the rain, I enjoyed the cooler temps. It was a nice break from the heat! As we walked into Magic Kingdom it was quite a site! Everywhere you looked, people had rain ponchos on with a big Mickey Mouse head on the back. Disney makes a killing on these rain ponchos, they know everyone will buy them at $8.00 each (yeah we had to buy one to cover the stroller!). We spent the day hitting various areas that we liked the two days before. We went back to Tomorrow Land for a few rides and then over to Fantasy Land, Frontier Land, Adventure Land and Liberty Square. We went into the Tiki Room show. It's been quite altered from the original show, which is still seen at Disneyland. Someone said the new show would make Walt Disney roll over in his grave......I agree. From there we walked over to Haunted Mansion (a family fav!) and went on it a few times. Finally, we took a raft over to Tom Sawyer's Island. It was pretty cool, we walked through a long rock tunnel and then over a bridge made of wobbly barrels. We ended the day early to head back to the hotel for dinner. We had promised the kids they could go swimming but it was too cold. We ordered pizza via room service and I did two loads of laundry. We thought hotel pizza would be nothing special but it ended up being delicious! The kids watched movies on our DVD player and then we all hit the sack early.