WDW Day 8 Magic Kingdom

 

So far Halley has gone on anything she was tall enough for. Wouldn't you know that the Haunted Mansion would be her undoing. We put the hunting headphones on but as soon as she stepped through the turnstiles she would have nothing to do with it. I tried to get her to close her eyes but the tears continued to flow. Spencer was so cute and did not like seeing her upset so he offered to sit out with her. That kid has a heart of gold.

 

When eating at the Crystal Palace you get to see characters from the Hundred Acre Woods. Every 30 minutes or so there is a parade with characters and kids. Tigger grabbed Halley's hand and they skipped through the restaurant. I loved witnessing those Magical Moments.

 

Evan giving Pooh a "Kiss". Evan was a character magnet.

 

I was not sure how the whole Pin Trading was going to go over with my kids. Each pin can be from $8 to $20. The idea is you wear your lanyard full of pins and when you see someone else with the same you can trade pins. I found pins online in February for $2 a pin so I bought enough for each kid to have 7 or 8. From February until we left I gave out pins when I saw a child come home with great homework, or acted unselfishly at home. It worked better than I could have hoped. My kids had so much fun trading pins with the Cast Members. They had way cooler pins than my kids started out with.

Day 7 evening Magic Kingdom

 

After Animal Kingdom we hopped on a bus to the Magic Kingdom. We stopped at the barber shop and Evan got his first haircut. I was not emotionally ready for it, but the coolness of having your first haircut be on Main Street won out.

 

We had dinner in the Liberty Tree Tavern which was again terrific food. We got to see Chip and Dale, Minnie, Goofy and Pluto. Having character dinners is the way to see all of the characters. They all come right to your table without having to wait in line.

 

All Pooped Out

 

We headed home for a late day swim. I love Florida's weather.

WDW Day 7 Animal Kingdom

 

We went back to try to finish up things we did not have time for before. We went to a wildlife show with Pocahonatas and her friends. I love how the whole park helps you remember that this earth is not just for us to live in. So many other creatures are a part of this beautiful world. Wow that was a bit of Ashland coming out of me.

 

Those statues were so cute.

 

I remember loving to sit on my dads shoulders.

WDW Day 6 Disney Studios

 

I am finally getting around to blogging again. Sorry to the two of you that read this! We went into an attraction that talks about animation and shows kids how to draw a character. It was so entertaining and interesting. When we were exiting out came Sorceror Mickey. Evan got so excited he crawled right to Mickey. Mickey got on the floor and played with Evan. In a future blog I will show the excitement on Evans face. Classic!!

 

We got to eat in a place called Prime Time Cafe. It turned out to be one of my favorites. It is set up like a kitchen from the 1950's and "Mom" is your waitress. She began to inform us that we are to have clean hands at the table and no elbow's allowed. I eventually got lazy and had my elbow on the table and got "caught". I was forced to set the table for everyone else. I ordered pot roast and mashed potatoes and it was the best meal I had the whole vacation (and I had a lot of good ones).

 

My mother in law Dona did not eat all of her potatoes so she hid them in her napkin. When dessert was served Dona had what looked like a huge pile of whipped cream and sprinkles but was really Dona's mashed potatoes covered with the cream and sprinkles. It was so funny to have Dona think she was being sneaky only to have "Mom" serve the last laugh!!!

 

We had a contest during dinner where we had to think of twelve Disney movies that had only one word in the title ie: Dumbo. As expected my side of the table kicked their trash, so "Mom" hung our homework on the fridge as we departed. We make Mom so proud.

Happy Birthday Brea!

 

It is so hard to believe my Brea is 10 today! Double Digits! Here are ten reasons why I love my Breanna Kay.
1.She has a fabulous sense of style
2.She always tells me whe I look cute
3.She can organize circles around me
4.She always makes me breakfast in bed on my special days
5.Always willing to be my companion at baby showers, bridal showers, enrichment night, Mom parties, etc.
6.Early to bed early to rise makes a girl healthy, wealthy and wise.
7.Plays with my hair/ gets my grey's
8.Great helper with her younger brother and sisters
9.Becoming a good cook
10.A sweet girl who knows what she wants and sticks to it!

We are so lucky to have you in our family. I love you!
Mom

WDW Day 5 evening

One of the highlights for me on this trip was being on the dining plan. On previos trips we ate as cheaply as possible, which is fine, but the dining plan worked for me. No longer was I reading the menu right to left. I ordered what I wanted and did not worry about it. On this night we ate in Germany. It was themed as a traditional Biergarten with authentic German food, something I grew to love on my Europe trip. The kids had a blast dancing to the oopah band. There is Halley behind the red parasol she purchased with her Disney Dollars in France. So much fun!

Shane took the opportunity to scuba dive in the largest aquarium in the world. (Well second largest now that the one in Atlanta opened up last month) It is located in Epcot in a pavilion called Living Seas. He had the time of his life and if you visit I am sure he will show you the DVD.

Here is the money shot. If you have ever tried to take a picture of fireworks you know how hard it can be. Before my trip I read several blogs on how to take good pictures. I really wanted to improve my skills. For the Epcot nighttime show Illuminations I staked out my spot 1 1/2 hours before so I could have the best conditions. Wouldn't you know pushy people kept encroaching on me. I finally said something. Just because you are at the happiest place on earth does not mean you can ignore bad behavior! I got out my tripod and took picture after picture trying for a good one. Yay! I got one.

This one was another cool shot I took. I love the lights in the waterfall, the reflection in the water and the monorail buzzing by up above.

WDW Day 5 morning-afternoon

 

Once again I have to break the day into two segments because so much happened. Here is Halley waiting for our bus to arrive. One luxury of staying at a WDW resort is free transportation. Buses come by every few minutes from each park to take you to or from.

 

Here is my 'poser' in France. If you are not familiar with Epcot it is broken up into two sections. The front section is Future World and the back section is the World Showcase. The World Showcase is broken up into eleven countries France being one of them. Here in France we enjoyed some amazing pastries and a wonderful film of French scenery with French composed music in the background. I love this film!

 

Here the kids are participating in a program outside of The American Adventure. They each got their own copy of the Declaration of Independence and were part of a march for liberty with some Minute Men. Very Cool. Afterwhich we went into the rotundra where the Voices of Liberty sing. There are 8 men and women dressed in traditional colonial wears. They sang beautiful patriotic melodies and folk songs. At the end they sang our National Anthem dedicated to our soldiers. I was moved beyond speech being in that patriotic setting and hearing that most tender song. A true unheralded treasure.

 

Each country has a Kidcot (Epcot) station where they get to decorate a mask and add little trinkets significant to the country. My kids loved doing this and it helped distract when they may have been bored. This picture is outside of Italy. France...America...Italy all in one day. No wonder why I shed a few pounds!

Cherry Blossoms - Part II

I can never seem to get my pictures accepted along with the caption. But I'll try once more. If this succeeds it goes along with my earlier caption about visiting the East Coast. If it doesn't succeed, you may have read my last blog.

Cherry Blossoms

Well, the Schmidt's are not the only ones who have vacationd on the East Coast. The Bringhurst's linked up with the Bringhurst's (Justin and Jenny) and the Bringhurst (Jeff) back East and enjoyed good times together.

WDW Day 4 afternoon - evening

Several reasons why I love this pic, but here are just a few 1. Capturing Halley's thrill of WDW. This was her reaction pretty much the whole time we were there. 2. Spencer with his arm around his little sister. This is why my girls adore their older brother.

I loved to roam around the park and take pictures. I didn't mind volunteering to have Evan because it gave me a chance to explore on my own. I love this shot, my kids could care less. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

Again, another time I whipped out my camera for scenery. I had to be quick this time because I am on Splash Mountain and there is a drop around the corner. I loved this picture taken at dusk.

At the end of the day I had Lindsay, Halley and Evan and it was fireworks time. I decided to try out my little tripod to try and capture a good fireworks picture. It was a little hard holding Evan and balancing my tripod on a trash can but I think I did okay for my first effort. I love how you can see Dumbo whirrling in the foreground. It's a good thing I found some success with my pictures or I would have been annoyed that I had to navigate the throngs of exiting visitors with one arm holding a sleeping baby and the other hand trying to push an exhausted 4 year old in a stroller.

WDW Day 4 (morning)

 

We had the wonderful opportunity to have breakfast with the princess' in the castle. If we hadn't been running late I would have taken pictures of Main Street because no one was there. Our breakfast began before the park opened. Lindsay was the only one without a princess dress before we went. I went to order one on line and she said Jasmine was her favorite. I cringed knowing her outfits are immodest. Luckily I was able to find one that covered her tummy and her dream of meeting Jasmine came true..(maybe I should should Jasmine where I found L.J's outfit :)

 

I did not think Breanna would want to dress up because she is 9 going on 15. But she suprised me and here my little girl is again with her princess. I love how WDW can bring out the kid in my kid!

 

I had to capture Cinderella cascading up the steps to her banquet room. It took two dining credits to have this breakfast but worth it in my book! Exit humming 'A Dream is a Wish your Heart makes'.

Happy Mom's Day to me

 

My girls woke me up a 6:23 a.m. to bring me yogurt and granola for breakfast. My favorite part of this day is the homemade treasures. Spencer made me the watercolor flower, Breanna made me the flower card and the necklace made with rolled up magazines and beads. Lindsay made me an earring dish that has a crushed up marble fired into the middle (so cute!), and Halley made me a pot with flower pens. I love all of my treasures and am grateful for my five children this day...we'll see what tomorrow brings!

Happy Mother's Day

 

I wished all day today that I could do things to make you feel special. I brought beautiful blue Hydrangeas to my mother in law and I wished I could do the same for you. I wished I could watch a girly movie with you and soak our feet. I hope that through the miles you can feel my love and admiration for you. The more children I have had the more I realize the sacrifices you made. Thanks for being the best Mom that you knew how and for helping me discover who I am! I love you, Cricket

WDW Day Three

 

We started off our day at Disney's Hollywood Studios which used to be known as MGM Studios. We decided to tackle Tower of Terror. For those unfamiliar it is thrill ride where you are in an elevator that rises and drops..possibly multiple times. The drops are managed by a computer so every ride is different. Sometimes you shoot up to the top the elevator doors open showing you how high you are and then drops you. It may drop you part way and shoot you up again or it may drop you all the way. Sometimes the ride begins with a drop and then shoots you up to the top. My favorite is when it shoots you up and drops you without stopping at the top. I can't tell you how many times I rode it. It has replaced Pirates of the Carribean as my number two. Halley rode it and did great. I asked her if she wanted to go again and she said no. It was Lindsay's favorite.

 

Here we are killing some time waiting for everybody to ride Rockin' Rollercoaster. I grabbed a child swap pass so me and two others can go through the fastpass line when they are done.

 

This is the restaurant we ate at that night. It is called the sci-fi diner. The setting is a bunch of cars as tables and we are watching a sci-fi movie at a drive-in. It was such a fun theme. The best part is that they kept the lighting low so you couldn't see what a huge mess Evan made with Shane's BBQ ribs.

 

The night ended with the show Fantasmic. It was the only time we had to deal with rain and it was minor. After going to Florida with their famous rain showers I am sold on going in Apr/May. We had gorgeous weather. Back to Fantasmic. It is an amazing show that combines laser lights, Disney Characters, movies, music and a little magic. A great way to end the night....after a quick ride or two on Tower of Terror!

Happy Birthday L.J.

 

My goodness I can hardly believe that you are seven years old. You have been a bright spark in our family. Here are seven reasons why I love you.
1)Your smile is so contagious
2)You love your family so much. That must be why Halley calls you "Smoocher"
3)You make a friend wherever you go: airplane, the park, waiting in line for WDW
4)You are a night owl like your mommy. I will always have a movie buddy.
5)You have become such a good student
6)You are such a good eater. You hardly ever complain about what mommy cooks for you.
7)You try to choose the right. I know you love your Heavenly Father.

I am so glad you are in our family! We love our little Lindsay Jeanne.
xoxoxo Mommy