Disney - Day 1

Monday: Our plane left bright and early Monday morning - 5:45a.m. to be exact! This meant we had to leave our house at 2:00a.m. for the 2.5 hour drive to the airport. I thought we would have plenty of time but by the time we parked our van in the economy parking lot, took the shuttle to the terminal, got checked in, checked out luggage, and went through security, they were actually loading our plane! No waiting around for us although I would not have wanted to cut it any closer!!!

The girls have flown one other time (the last time we went to Disneyworld) but this was Brax's first time. He was a little nervous about it but also pretty excited. He did fine although afterward he said it was "scary" and the whole time we were in the air, he wanted "to go back down!" We flew to Milwaukee and had about an hour layover and then got on another plane for Orlando.

We got to Orlando about 1:00p.m. and got our luggage, picked up our rental car (minivan, actually!) and headed for our hotel. We stayed on Disney property at Pop Century. I know you can get some pretty good deals on houses and condos off-property but we feel the closer to the action the better. I would reallt recommend looking into it if anybody goes in the near future. It really isn't too much more expensive than off-site and you get some great benefits!

We checked in and then headed to the food court for a snack. Nate and Julia took the kids swimming while I unpacked our room and got things organized. We had a dinner reservation that night for around 6:00 so we went ahead and got around and headed that direction about 5:00. The hotel that the restaurant was in was really nice and our dinner was good. It was kinda a crazy place. The kids got to do some horse races and we all stood up and did the Hokey Pokey in the middle of dinner.

We got back to our room about 9:00. My mom had to catch a later flight and was supposed to arrive via Disney Transportation later on so the kids went to bed and I stayed up to meet my mom. She finally arrived anout 11:30p.m. after landing at 9:40p.m. I was beginning to get a little worried! We got her something to eat and then we were off to bed. Breakfast with the Princesses bright and early Tuesday morning!!!

Dreams

I am going to do a post to recap Disneyworld (more for my benefit than yours!) but first I have to mention a couple of dreams Brax has had recently. One night a couple of weeks ago, he came downstairs in the morning and told me there was a penguin in his bed under his pillow. "A weally, weally mean one!" I told him it must have been a dream and to go back up and check and I would bet that there wasn't a penguin under his pillow. He said, "No, I want you to do it!" So, I went upstairs with him tagging along behind and lifted up his pillow. You should have seen the look on him face. Complete shock! He looked around his bed and then under his covers. He couldn't believe there was no penguin in his bed!

Last night, I heard him crying in the night and got up to go see what was wrong. He was really upset. It wasn't his normal half asleep cry - it was more like an I'm terrified cry! He said, "Brecca pushed me in the thing where the crocodiles live and I was trying to get out and I couldn't." It was sad. This morning he really thought that Brecca had done that to him! It took some serious convincing for him to believe that it was all just a dream!

We're Home!!!

We made it home! Only probably most of you didn't even know we were gone! Actually, I didn't want to announce to the whole world (okay, maybe just the three people who read this blog - who already knew we were leaving) that we were leaving town and our house would be completely empty for an entire week. Like I said, not that it mattered since the few people who read this already knew we were leaving but it made me feel better and that's all that matters! OK, so moving along.....


We went to Disneyworld for the week. We had a great time but are relieved to be home. It is true when people come home and say they need a vacation from a vacation! I have spent the last couple of days catching up on laundry and trying to get things back in order.

I will post in detail about our trip later but just had a quick story. Disney has signs up all over the place advertising "Disneys Best Kept Secret - Disney Vacation Club" (Disneys version of timeshares basically). On our last night there, Brecca (who can read now) said to me, " Mom, I think I figured out Disney's secret." "Oh, you did?" I said. "Yeah," she said. "The characters at Disneyworld are actually just people who are dressed up in costumes. That's their secret!" I think I was a lot more disappointed that she had figured that out than she was! The next day Braylee asked why Pluto had a big zipper down his back so I am pretty sure she is onto them as well! :)



Here is a picture to tide you over for a couple of days....

Dance Recital

The big Dance Recital is this weekend for anyone interested! It really is a pretty good show. The girls are pretty cute in it too!

Brecca has another costume but my camera battery went dead so pictures of that still to come! Something to look forward to!

Pool Pictures!

Here are a few pictures from the last couple of days!

Larsen

Brax

Braylee

Kam

Brecca

It has been brought to my attention (Thanks Tave!) that the last time I posted was May 6! Wow, time flies! In my defense, my computer had kinda been on the outs for the last few weeks. Apparently the fan isn't working properly and the computer will only stay on for about 5 minutes before it overheats and shuts off. Yes, I should probably get it fixed instead of just using it about 5 times a day in 5 minute increments but that would involve actually unhooking it and being without it for a few days and I'm not sure if I could handle being computerless for several days! My plan is to take it in when we leave on vacation in about a week and then pick it up when we return. That way it will seem like it was never gone! Genius, huh! :)

It has been an exciting couple of weeks. Brecca's last day of Kdg was on Friday! Can you believe that! She is going to be a 1st grader next year! We have had lots of activities going on. Swim team and T-ball will be starting within the next couple of weeks and will continue pretty much throughout the summerfor both girls. The girls have their dance recital next weekend and then on the 1st of June, we are leaving for DisneyWorld!!! Yaaaahhhh!

Two major events for the last couple of weeks would be Avrey falling out of our swing and breaking her arm and Brax swallowing a penny! I would post the pictures Kenny sent of Avrey's arm but I think they may be a little disturbing for wek stomachs! Let's just say it was not pretty! She will be in a cast pretty much all summer but seems to be adjusting well to it! She is a tough little girl, that's for sure! Keep her in your thoughts and prayers as I know it won't be an easy summer for her.

The penny passed within 36 hours of being ingested and didn't cause any problems. I did call the clinic and they said to give it a couple of days to pass and if it still hadn't, he would need x-rays to find out where it was. Luckily he told us he ate it, - "Mommy, I ate a penny!", so we were able to watch for it. I won't go into details but "watching for it" probably entailed exactly what you are envisioning! Braylee said, "Yeah, he really did." Nice! I need to do a post on all of the things Brax does to keep us on our toes! I think it would be never ending!

In other exciting news, I got my new camera! Just in time for summer! I am still adjusting to it but am having lots of fun with it! I will post some pictures soon but have a feeling my 5 minutes is about up so I better get this posted just in case!