Disney

I have finally been able to recuperate from our trip and thought I would finish telling y'all what we did the rest of the time we were there. I'm sure y'all have been patiently waiting. (haha)I should warn you now that this post is going to be very long. Sorry.

So, on Sunday evening we went to Downtown Disney. We ate dinner at Planet Hollywood and it was pretty good. My dad didn't enjoy it so much because it is just so loud in there. After dinner, we (Bryce, the kids and I) walked around Downtown Disney to window shop. Legoland was awesome! Cooper had alot of fun playing with the legos and looking at all of the different things made out of legos. Man, whoever put those things together, are some very talented people. There were some really neat shops down there. I could have spent soooo much money, but I controlled myself. (OK, the truth is we didn't have the money to spend on knick knacks and toys.) As we were leaving Downtown Disney, they had a fountain that would spray sporadically for kids and adults to play in. Cooper had so much fun, after he got over the shock of not knowing where or when he was going to get sprayed. By the time we got on the bus to go back to the hotel, he was soaking wet!

Monday was spent at Hollywood Studios, formerly known as MGM. Have I said how stinkin' hot it was there? We were able to meet some of the characters and ride a couple of rides. The Toy Story ride was by far our favorite. Of course, if we had the chance to ride the Rock N Roller Coaster or Tower of Terror, I'm sure those would have been our favorites. We took the kids to see Playhouse Disney Live and the Voyage of the Little Mermaid. While Cooper loved Playhouse Disney, he did not like the Little Mermaid. The whole time we were watching the show he kept saying, "Go home." We also learned some interesting facts about Walt Disney. It is amazing the imagination that man had. Cooper got to meet Lightening McQueen and Mater. He also got the coolest toy. It is Lightening McQueen, but it has interchangeable parts. (Kind of like a Mr. Potato Head) He is soooo in love with it! Cooper also really liked the Honey, I shrunk the kids playground. Everything that you would find in a backyard was in this playground, just really huge. So, it was like we were the kids that had been shrunk. It was pretty cool. It was a very long day. Neither one of the kids took a nap that day, so I am sure you can imagine our day.

Tuesday, we decided that we were going to wait until the late afternoon to head to Magic Kingdom. While we were eating dinner, it started to pour. Needless to say, our stroller got soaked. We had hoped that the rain was done for the evening, but it wasn't. So, Bryce and I got soaked too. We were able to ride several rides that Cooper just loved. Then, it was time for the Spectro Magic parade. That was the best parade I have ever seen. Unfortunately, our camera sucks and does not take good pictures at night. I hope my brother was able to get some good ones of the parade and then I can share them. After the parade was over, we went and rode the Haunted Mansion. As we were leaving the Haunted Mansion, the firework was starting. So, we watched the fireworks as we were leaving the park.

Wednesday was our last day in Orlando. We spent another day at the Magic Kingdom. The lines at the Magic Kingdom were ridiculous! So, we were only able to do a couple of things. We did ride the Mad Tea Party though. I feel really bad that we weren't able to ride more rides that the kids would enjoy, but there was no way that Cooper and Sara would have stood in a line for an hour just to ride Dumbo. I have to say, for me, the highlight of our trip was eating at Chef Mickey's that night. It was a buffet and all of the characters came by each table to take pictures or sign autographs. Cooper was so enthralled. Everytime he would see a character coming he would get so excited. It was really cute. Sara, on the other hand, was terrified. I think maybe it was just because she was tired because after she woke up from her little cat nap, she was OK with the characters. There really are no words that I can use to tell you how wonderful it was to see your kids so excited and experience things for the first time. Our waitress even brought Sara and me a cupcake with a candle and sang Happy Birthday to us. The best part of the whole dinner was when Donald Duck got down on the floor and was playing with Cooper and his firetruck. Even though the food wasn't the greatest, the characters totally made up for it.

All in all it was a pretty good trip. It was really nice to see my family and spend some time with them. I get very excited thinking about the next time we go to Disney World or Disneyland because the next time we go, the kids will be a little older and I think they will enjoy it much better. I do have to say that this trip definitely humbled me a bit. I have had a very hard time adjusting to living in Washington, well Warden really. I missed Washington and Cooper really missed his cousins and his Aunt Cindy and Uncle Brent. He literally asked about them EVERY day we were gone. Florida is not my home anymore. It is just where I grew up. Washington is now my home and it is great to be back home!