Monday, December 14, 2009

Trimming the Tree

We got a late start on Christmas this year, with being out of town. One of first items of business upon return was getting a Christmas tree. I require a real tree, this actually being a compromise. I want to go to Utah and cut one down, but Dave HAD A BAD EXPERIENCE (it involved poorly tying the tree to the van and having to stop at every exit to retie it).

The kids love going through the ornaments and finding the ones that are theirs, or talking about where or who we got them from. They are actually getting better at spacing them more evenly around the tree.

Seth's turn to put the star on top of the tree was last year, but he freaked out a little and one of the girls did it. This year he did it with no problems.

The kids did a great job! Camryn was a little mad she didn't get to put the star up.

The Happiest Place on Earth

WEDNESDAYOn our last day in Florida, we went to the Magic Kingdom. Honestly, it was just like Disneyland, but I think Disneyland is WAY better. We bought our tickets (choking sounds) and rode the monorail over to the park entrance.

We started the day with Splash Mountain, so we could dry off throughout the day and Thunder Mountain Train ride. Camryn left her Princess Mickey ears on train and was totally devastated. I went back later and they actually had it!

We began terrorizing Seth again by going on Pirates of the Caribbean . . . .

and the Haunted Mansion ride. We also visited The Hall of President, which the kids hated, where animitronic presidents gave a presentation.

The It's a Small World ride was weird, because it wasn't in it's own building like at Disneyland. Dave wanted to skip that ride, but me and the girls outvoted him. Afterwards, we saw a 3D show where Donald Duck goes on a musical adventure through different Disney movies. This was Seth's favorite activity of the day.

We took a break from rides and saw a Princess show in front of the castle while we ate hot dogs for lunch.

Dave and I have tradition of always taking a kissing picture in front of the castle.


After lunch we were off to go on more rides - teacups, a small roller coaster in Toon Town, the race cars, and lots of Tomorrowland rides. We also went to the Laugh Floor, where the monsters for Monsters, Inc. put on a comedy show. It was really funny.

We had a Fastpass for Space Mountain, and decided to watch the lighting of the castle they do at Christmas time, before going on that last ride.

The castle looked really pretty all lit up.

I took Seth on the Buzz Lightyear ride, while Dave took the girls on Space Mountain. Well, Dave left his cell phone in his front pocket and the phone did not make it through the ride. So I took the kids to watch the light parade, while Dave visited the lost and found. They said if the phone was found they would mail it to us - the phone wasn't found, but it was insured so it didn't cost too much to replace. It was a long day and we were ready to go home.

Islands of Adventure

TUESDAYFrom the hotel we could see a The Hulk roller coaster. The girls were dying to ride it, so as soon Uncle David got us into the Islands of Adventure Park, we headed straight over to it. Our hotel room keys worked as an Express Pass, kinda like Disney's Fastpass, but you could use it as many times as you wanted on any ride. Dave and Lex (Cam wasn't tall enough) went on The Hulk. Then Lex and I went. It was very fast - with a jet propulsion launch.

Next we went to meet Spiderman. He was funny - he kept asking the kids to help him watch out for Doc Oc. Then we went on the Spiderman ride. It was 3D and you had to help save the Statue of Liberty from the bad guys. They used the 3D effects to even make you feel like your little car was falling from a skyscraper.

Over in the Toon Lagoon we went on some very wet rides. This was a Popeye raft ride and there was a Dudley Doright log ride. We were soaked! It could have been worse, but luckily we had our ponchos.

In the Jurassic Park area we went on these pterodactyl swings that ran on a track high over the park. Again, Seth was freaked out, but loved it and talked us into going on it again later that day. We also went on the Jurassic Park ride that was based on the movie. At the end, there was a huge T-Rex that looked like it wanted to eat you, before the ride sent you a big, wet drop.

Next, we went on the Dueling Dragons roller coaster. Two roller coasters run at the same time right by each other. They are building a Harry Potter World right over the ride. The replica of Hogwarts looks pretty cool.

Next we visited the Poseidon's Revenge attraction. They took you through different rooms to find Poseidon's trident and defeat the bad guy. It was dark and they kept talking about ghosts and such. Our usually fearless Camryn, totally freaked out. I could feel her little heart practically beating out of her chest. I had to take her over to the side to calm her down. When we were done there, we went to watch the Sinbad Stunt Show.

We headed over to Suess Landing and met the Cat in the Hat and went on a train ride.


We watch a "How the Grinch Stole Christmas Show". They made it snow at the end of the show using bubble foam.

We ate lunch and went on more Suess rides, including this carousel.

Dave and Alexis went on The Hulk 3 more times in a row, while the rest of us went on the Spider man ride again. We took this picture with Wolverine - we thought Uncle Bo would love it!

After revisiting some of our favorite rides, we went back to the hotel to clean up and meet Uncle David and Aunt Amy for dinner. We went to B.J.'s. It was nice to visit with them.

Where the Wild Things Are

MONDAY


Monday we went to Disney's Animal Kingdom Park. We had heard great things about it. There are animals all over the park. Right when you walk in you start seeing little animal habitats with animals from all over the world.

Our first stop was to see Winnie the Pooh, Tigger and Eeyore. They made Seth a little nervous.

We went over to Dinoland. We went on a ride similar to the Dumbo ride at Disneyland, but you rode in Dinosaurs. Seth was very nervous about this. I love that we force our kids on rides that terrify them because we want to get our money's worth out of the ticket price. He ended up loving it and had Grandma Hill take him on it a second time while Dave and I took the girls on a ride he wasn't tall enough for.

This is Camryn coming off the Primeval Whirl. Next, went to watch the Finding Neemo show. It was a really good musical- Broadway quality.

We took a train out to the Affection Section, a little petting zoo. It was mostly goats - the Iron County Fair's 4H tent is better than this!

Next we went on the Safari. They loaded everyone up in giant jeeps and drove us around this huge animal preserve area. It was very cool - they had lions, giraffes, rhinos, elephants, gazelles, crocs, flamingos, hippos, jaguars, and more.

The safari was one of the highlights of our day. We totally don't need to safari in Africa now!

We headed over to the Everest Expedition ride. It was like the Matterhorn, but way better. It was our favorite ride at the park.

We ate pizza for lunch, while waiting for the parade to start.

The kids were excited to catch their first glance at Mickey.

In the middle of the park was a giant tree with animals carved into it. Small animal habitats were all around it. We ran into a girl I knew from college and got her to take a picture of all of us. Notice all the jackets around our waists and shoulders. The weekend before was pretty cold, but Monday was so warm and, of course, humid. We were so hot and we were stuck lugging our jackets around.

We ended the day by watching a great Lion King show. It was very circus-like, with acrobats and a fire dancer. We took a picture with Mickey on our way out of the park. It was a fun day and I enjoyed the slower pace of the park and all the great shows and activities.

Sunday, December 6, 2009

We Love to See the Temple

SUNDAY
On Sunday, we went to see the Orlando Temple.

The grounds are so green and beautiful.

In back of the temple, they had a Nativity statue.

We spent the rest of the day at David and Amy's house, visiting with them and Dave's cousins.


The kids found a small lizard on the walkway up to the house, that they caught. They were sad to let him go when it was time to leave.

A Bunch of Monkeys

SATURDAY
On Saturday, we needed to find something for the kids to do while Dave's relatives slept off the night before. We found a place called Monkey Joe's in the local mall. It was kinda like Pump It Up, but better. The slides were faster and they had an area set up with leather chairs for the adults to relax in.

We met up with Dave's family later. The kids watched a movie while the rest of the family watched a football game. At half time, we all went down to one of the hotel's restaurants and ate. Cousin Kelly sat with our kids and kept them entertained. Everyone was saying how alike Camryn and Kelly are - apparently they both have a talent for finding trouble or having trouble find them.

Party On!

FRIDAY NIGHT

The reception was held at the hotel. They had a buffet dinner that was delicious - and we managed not to spill on our nice clothes (a challenge for some of us, especially Camryn). There was dancing and Aunt Amy had the brilliant idea to set up a craft table for the kids.

Stefanie and Mike cutting the cake.

Dave and I not dancing. We obviously don't party that hard.

The reception was fun, but it was getting late, so I took the kids to our room. Dave stayed a little longer. It was a good thing, because shortly after I left, some family members started doing shots to remember the people who are no longer with us, and Dave was needed to help get them upstairs.