Disney World Day 2

So, day 2 started off a little slow...

But then we hopped a tour bus to Universal Studios/Islands of Adventure.  We got there early enough that the entire park was EMPTY.   

The kids and I wandered aimlessly for a bit.  This was a tough day for us because every ride we thought we’d like to try, my kids were to small to ride without an adult.  Well, there was only one of me soooooo....it didn’t really work out.

Jake refused to be in the pic with the T-Rex.  He was slightly freaked out by it.

This swing ride had zero people in line.  So even though each child required an adult rider, they were each able to wait their turn to ride with me because there was nobody around to steal them.  I rode six times in a row.

Then we found this giant play area.  I have no idea how big it is because I never saw the whole thing.  We played here for several hours before meeting up with hubby. 

Hubby took us all on the Spiderman ride which was pretty amazing.  Jordan hated it and screamed and cried the WHOLE TIME.  But everyone enjoyed meeting Spiderman afterward.

Then we walked over to the kid area.  WHERE WAS THIS WHEN I NEEDED IT EARLIER IN THE DAY?  Kid rides!

It was a bright, bright sunshiny day.  I know it seems like Jordan is pouting here, but she was showing me her diva pose with her new Diva sunglasses.

Hula hooping outside of Bubba Gump Shrimp at lunch.

After lunch a group of us walked to the Universal Studios side of the park.

We met Scooby!

and Curious George!

We watched break dancers!

At some point during the walk through Universal, the kids and I ended up on our own again.  By then the crowd was intense and I was overwhelmed by trying to keep track of the kids in the midst of the crush of people.  

I found another area geared towards kids and the kids ran around another giant playground for about 10 minutes before a small bathroom emergency erupted.  I ended up leaving two kids alone while dealing with the third, and when we came out of the bathroom, I couldn’t find them for several minutes.  That was enough for me.

So I took them out of the park into the Citywalk area between Universal and Islands of Adventure.  Here we found a geyser fountain and played for a couple hours while waiting for our group.

The kids were soaked and they had each only brought one pair of shoes BUT, they were having fun (finally) and I didn’t care.  So I just dried their shoes out with a hair dryer later that evening.  :)

And that was Day 2.

Disney World Day 1

On our very first full day in Disney, we hit Blizzard Beach water park.  I think it was in the high 70s that day, which means it was too cold for anyone but us Alaskans to be there.  So the place was nearly completely empty, except for us Alaskans.  

 The kids had a great time doing water slides.  I have to laugh at these photos now because by the end of this day, they were all doing to super duper crazy adult water slides but they were all nervous to go on these baby slides when we first arrived.

My kids are awesome.

The thing about Blizzard Beach is that well, it’s decorated like a snowy mountain top.  All the water slides are reminiscent of ski slopes and they are all named after snow sports.  So after flying 13 hours from frigid Alaska to sunny Florida, we spent our first day...in the snow.  Fun.

I’m not much of a thrill seeker, so I did a lot of laying around on the “beach” while my kids played nearby and hubby and the basketball team ran around doing the exciting stuff.

As we we leaving the park, we found photo ops, of course.

Jordy posed.  Of course.

We were all exhausted and the day wasn’t over.  So we hit the hotel for a short bout of quiet time before heading out on our next adventure.  And evening at Downtown Disney.

While waiting for the group to assemble at the bus stop, Jordan found sticks.  What!?  I’m shocked.

On the Disney bus to Downtown Disney, Jordan found time to pose some more.  Pretty princess.

Here we are at Downtown Disney.

Here we have Coach Powers giving instructions before sending us all on our way. 

 Oh snap, look what we found.

This dragon is in the water.  And it’s made up entirely of Legos. 

We met up with the group a couple of hours later at Disney Quest, which is a 4 story arcade.  It was dark and confusing and the perfect place to lose babies.  I was kind of on my own with them in there FOR FOUR HOURS so it was not my favorite thing I’ve ever done.  Actually, it was pretty awful.  Imagine Chuck E Cheese times ten with the lights off.  My own personal hell on Earth.

After the arcade, we danced in the streets.

 And found this store.

This is a glorious Disney toy store.

We danced there too.

On our way back to the bus, the basketball team found a geyser.  So we everyone got a little soaked.

And that concludes our first full day in Disney.

Our Disney Adventure Begins!

Being the wife of a high school basketball coach isn’t always as glamorous as it sounds.

*cricket....*

*cricket...*

It does come with a few perks however.  Like trips to Disney World for the whole family for a basketball tournament.

*ooooohhhhh!*

I’ll admit, that my mind wasn’t really on the trip at all during the weeks leading up to it.  I’d been busy with photography, decorating for Christmas and redecorating for Christmas.  Suddenly we were leaving the next evening.  So I started the laundry and got to packing for five people.

Our flight left at nearly 2 in the morning so 5 in the morning was the perfect time to meet my Mommy and our friend Annie at the Seattle airport Starbucks during our layover.  Driving an hour to the airport to hug your grandbabies for a bit before driving an hour home?  That’s love.

Back through security and back on the airplane.  We don’t look too excited do we?

To be continued....

It has been brought to my attention that I haven’t blogged in over a month.  I have plenty to catch up on for sure.  To tide people over, here’s a big huge MERRY CHRISTMAS from our family to yours.  We attended a wonderful morning service this morning and all the kids went up on the platform to listen to the Christmas story being read by our pastor, Dr. Prevo.  It was awesome to see a packed house on Christmas morning!