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.

Day Two--Epcot Center

Sunday, April 12th--Happy Easter! Our next park, on the 2nd day, was Epcot Center. We'd been warned by many that Epcot is a place more for adults. Children tend to get bored and our kids were no exception. They were pretty bored most of the time but found some moments to have fun. I LOVED the different countries represented. It was so awesome to walk from country to country and see the shops and authentic merchandise as well as design styles. We got to ride one of our favorite rides, "Soarin' Over Califonia". Epcot is a "laid back" type park, we just took our time looking around and seeing the sights.

Elise and Brady were anxious to reach the Chine section and look for "Mulan". Unfortunately, we missed her. In China, I found the most adorable kimonos for boys and girls. I would have bought them in a heartbeat had they not been $60.00........each! In France, we saw a movie on France and then stopped into their bakery/deli for some snacks. We got some amazingly delicious pastries and sandwiches to hold us over for our dinner a few hours later. There was a pastry called the "Napoleon" that was a dessert with a flaky crust and custard layered, it was so good!

All throughout Epcot we saw topiary's shaped in many of the various Disney character. In one section there were all the Disney princesses and another was the main fairies from Pixie Hollow (home of Tinkerbell) as well as many others. It was pretty cool, I think I got pics of the kids with them all.

We ended our visit to Epcot rather early and to top off the end of the day Elise decided to throw the biggest, most embarrising tantrum of all from the back of the park all the way to the front and onto the bus back to the hotel---all because we wouldn't let her buy an expensive puppet we knew she wouldn't care about once we came back home. Unfortunately, this would not be the last of her tantrums. Ug!

Aside from the tantrum, I had a pretty great day in Epcot, Nate did too. It is a quite beautiful and fascinating place to visit, in my opinion.

Disneyworld, 2009--Day One

Saturday, April 11th--We flew into Orlando the day before. Nate and I had got a pretty nice offer, via email, from "Disney Destination". Basically, the kids hotel, park entrance and food was free with 2 paying adults. It ended up being a fantastic deal and we got a killer deal on airfare too. Part of the package is that we had to choose from one of the Disney "value" (cheap) hotel resorts. We chose "Pop Century Resort". Pretty neat place full of giant-sized figures from different decades all over the place. The rooms were basic but the resort more than made up for it with pools, food court and an over-all great atmosphere.
Day 1 we woke up pretty early and got ready to go. Our first day plans were to be in Magic Kingdom. We opened the door to our room and found the resort was covered in thick, muggy fog (not good for my hair!). The hotel provided buses to whichever of the 4 parks we wanted to go so we caught the one to Magic Kingdom. Once we got there we noticed the park was foggy as well. Fortunately, it cleared up a few hours later.
Once we walked through Main Street we veered to the left side of the park and that's where we stayed all day. The left side consists of: Adventure Land, Liberty Square, Frontier Land and Fantasy Land (more in the center). The crowds were big, as expected, so we got Fast Passes as often as we could. There were a HUGE amount of British tourists. I asked one of the cashiers, from London, why so many and she said it was because England takes a 2 week "holiday" off around Easter time and many come to Disneyworld. Lots of Europeans and Middle Eastern tourists as well. As weird as it is to say, we kind of felt like the foreigners but didn't mind at all. I loved talking and chatting--I even met a lady from Camaroon, Africa!
The rides in each of the "lands" were similar to Disneyland, as was Main Street. Nate was thrilled that Elise and Brady were willing to go on any ride he wanted to go on. And while they rode on the rides I can't stomach, I gladly hit the shops!
One of the highlights of the day was when we were on the "Jungle Cruise". The "tour guide" let Elise drive the boat through a dark tunnel. She thought it was so cool and even got a card/certificate because of it. Elise had a smile from ear to ear after that!
This day was really hot! That would continue to be the trend for the rest of the trip, minus one of the days when it rained. We managed to keep as cool as possible by going on indoor rides and finding shade, which was plentiful.

Happy Easter----Early!

Sunday, April 5th--We "called" the Easter Bunny and asked that he/she come a week early since we'll be on vacation next week. The kids woke up this morning and found their hidden treat-filled baskets. They were pretty happy, even though the Easter Bunny made a mistake in picking out some of the treats that Elise couldn't eat due to her braces. Oops! I took an article in the April "Ensign" to heart. It basically said to try and "spititualize" our kids Easter baskets. I found a pocket-sized Childrens Songbook for Elise and got some CTR rings. I also found a pocket-sized hymn book for Nate to put in his scripture bag. Elise has loved looking at her mini songbook all day. She even commented on how fun it will be to learn to play the piano so she can read the notes in her songbook.

Usually I take pictures of the kids in their Easter outfits as well. Because we'll be in Disneyworld on Easter day, we decided not to buy Easter outfits this year. Elise's Aunt Jenny bought her an adorable summer dress for her birthday and I will be taking pics of her in it soon and we'll call it good. Brady's got some cute summer outfits too that I can dress him in. When we planned the dates for our vacation we failed to check the calendar for when Easter would be. I'm kind of sad we won't have the traditional Easter festivities on that day but we'll do our best to think of the Atonement of Christ, His resurrection and all that He's done for us all.

Hooray! A New Piano!

Saturday, April 4th--While my parents have been in town we decided to go to The Piano Gallery and look at piano's. I've been wanting one for several years and well, they're just too darn expensive! We looked at basic digital piano's and really liked what we saw, and the price, so my dad generously helped buy one for us. It was a true blessing! This digital piano has a built in metronome, demo songs, different sounds, a recording button, a head-phone jack and a computer port. It's really cool and it feels just like a piano. We brought it home and put it together. It's been fun to play and it's here just in time for Elise to start piano lessons at the end of April. I'm so happy to see her interest in learning already. Nate and I are excited to brush up on our piano skills too.

A Visit From Nana & Papa

Wednesday, April 1st--My parents arrived today for a 6-day visit. The two of them decided to take a vacation that started out with 4 days in Disneyland--just the two of them! They had a wonderful time going on rides, seeing shows and munching on great food without whining kids and grandkids. ha ha ha From Anaheim they flew to Salt Lake to visit family here. We've enjoyed their visit, it's been several months since we've seen them. They've also been able to spend time with my grandma. My dad was able to give her a very tender-hearted blessing. We know her time on earth is short and I'm happy they've been able to see her and say their "good-byes".
Friday night we challenged my parents to a game of Wii bowling. They had never played before and it was quite entertaining. The more and more they played they got better. However, Elise beat us all.....again! Just like she did when she played with her other grandparents at Thanksgiving. It was a fun night!

I wish we could see my parents more often. Brady and Elise just adore their Nana & Papa. I love to see them play together and joke around, making each other laugh. I love to hear Nate and my dad have conversations--they care and respect each others opinions and advice, it's so wonderful. My mom is so helpful and fun to talk to. Maybe some day we'll be able to live closer to each other and see more of each other. In the meantime we enjoy the time we have together and treasure it.