Florida February: February 12, 2020

(click here for today's pictures)

As you probably guessed, we didn't make it to Magic Kingdom for opening this morning. We quickly realized that it would be difficult getting oursleves and the sleeping kids awake. I do think that Campbell was the most bummed about not going. We might do some speed park things in the morning so that will probably make up for it.

Since we didn't get up and go, I had to pull out the rest of school for everyone. Today was finished our 10th day of school since we have been here. Now, I know that doesn't sound like a lot of real schooler people, but since we just did 12 days in January, I am feeling pretty good about accomplishing 10. My super de-duper goal would be 20, but since that won't happen, 15 will thrill me! 

Graham didn't start off immediately on his school. That was fine with me. I worked with Whitman first. Then on to Keaton, Graham, Anderson, Reagan and finally Campbell. We were all finished in time for us to work together-that I have been lacking on.

Next up was swimming by Graham, Campbell, Keaton and Whitman. Whitman was the one who wanted to go first and was even determined to swim if no one else did. I sat our there some, but quickly found out that the water was icy cold. Even though it was hot outside, I would still shiver when I was splashed.

Around 12:30, Robby heated up bagel bites which we ate before packing our suppers for tonight. Then it was off for the day. We parked our car at Hollywood and jumped on the Skyliner. We rode to the first stop to walk around the Carribbean Beach resort. We have stayed there before, but it has been years.

We had forgotten how huge that place is. Also, we did take a break from walking in the heat to buy a child's plate of jerk chicken. It was delicious rice and some of the best chicken ever. It was also topped with tomatoes and some other green veggie. Of course I am the only one who eats these so I had myself more food than anyone else. And in case you are wondering, we do pretty good at splitting a child's portion 8 ways.

Then we walked on to the Riviera Resort. It was new and swanky, but I wasn't too impressed with the lobby. Some of these lobby's are massive and just neat to see while others are average hotel lobbys. I know you don't spend anytime in a hotel lobby, but I do tend to like the large ones like Animal Kingdom Lodge or the Grand Floridian.

We then rode on the Skyliner back to Hollywood. Our first stop was the Beauty and the Beast show. It was our first time to see it in many years. It was really good-Whitman told me that he loves plays. Then we walked right into the Lightening McQueen show. Keaton and Campbell had already seen this with the Crafts, but I think they enjoyed it again. Robby did ask them if Lightening won the race in the show that they watched!

Graham, Campbell, Reagan and Keaton decided to ride Tower of Terror. Whitman, Anderson, Robby and I headed to see the Frozen show. First we sat down for some popcorn. Anderson did say that he was probably ready to build his droid so off with went. 

When we had walked over there the other day, the line was crazy-out the door and down the path. I had looked to make a reservation that night, but they wanted a credit card so I decided I would wait. Tonight, Anderson and Robby were able to walk right on up.

The droid pieces go by you on a conveyor belt so they waited until the found exactly what Anderson wanted. Then they had to assemble it which I think was pretty neat. Whitman and I watched from behind a rail since we couldn't go back into the assembly area with them. 

Anderson drove his droid around for a bit before we boxed him up and headed to eat our supper. After eating our lunchables, we went straight for Rock N Roller coaster. The original plan was for Anderson to hold the droid box on the coaster, but his car had a large front area so we switched my bag for his droid as we were loading.

That left me on the ride that I dislike trying to hold on to that droid with one hand and trying to hold on for dear life with the other hand. My thighs were even sore when we stopped because I was squeezing that box for dear life. 

I survived the ride and so did the droid. I am pretty sure that everyone loves that ride except for me. Put me on Tower of Terror any day of the week, but not that ride. I told Whitman that I would ride one more time on this trip, and than I would be done with it.

It was 7:50 by now so we hurried over to Slinky Dog and jumped into that line. The line said 40 minutes, but by 8:15, we were off the ride and walking towards the exit of the park. It was a pretty productive day. Here are the things that were marked off of the list:

-Explore Caribbean Beach Resort

-Explore Rivieria Resort

-Watch Beauty and the Beast

-Watch Lightening McQueen show

-Build Anderson's Christmas Droid

That isn't too shabby at all. Now, I still have 64 more things to mark off of my lists. I guess I will have to content with not accomplishng it all!

Florida February: February 11, 2020

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Once again it is late, and I really can't remember when or how the day started. After sitting here for a bit, I do remember that our alarms went off at 8. I was up first because school had to be done. Graham was already finished with his so by the time I was ready and started the laundry, I worked with him. It must be nice to be finished with school by 8:30.

I wasn't quite finished with my school though. I did soon work with Keaton and then Whitman. Sometimes I just want to strangle him-he is so distractible. Of course at this house, there is always something interesting happening-today they were emptying the pool behind us, men come and clean our pool, they mow the lawn and even take our garbage cans to the street. So there is always something going on.

By 11, everyone was finished, and we were working together. I had a shower and then called NASA to make reservations for next week. For what I paid for us to go (even with a decent homeschool discount), I believe that one of the children will actually get to go into space. 

Soon we were all eating our lunch, grabbing snacks and heading out the door. Today we went to Animal Kingdom. We managed to stop at a few Wilderness Explorer stops-I think just 3 (we still have like 15 more to go). Then it was time to ride Dinosaur followed by a short break for some water, email sending (by Robby) and snacks.

The weather here today was warm. It was pleasant in the shade but hot in the sun. This was the first day that I think that we were actually sweaty while in the parks. Now tonight, I was still wearing my shorts but did have to put on my light jacket.

We then rode Everest, and some even rode it one more time in the single rider line. We bought Whitman some popcorn so he wasn't disappinted at all about missing that ride. He will be 7 when we come back so he will be able to ride in the single rider lines by then-it will be super nice!

We had a Fast Pass to see Minnie and Mickey, but since the line was not moving at all, we decided to head back to the house. Now, we did mark off a few stops for their Wilderness Explorer badges, but I still didn't get anything marked off of my list. Urgh!

Back at the house, we unloaded, I pulled out school for tomorrow and grabbed ourselves a snack. Then Robby, Anderson and I were off for the evening. Robby had seen a movie preview ad pop up on his Facebook. He signed us up-you had to be 13 or older and from the questions he could tell that it would be an action film so we knew Anderson would like it.

They said that we were the first theater to see the new movie. I would tell you the name, but since I did sign that million dollar confidentiality agreement, I better not say anything. I was hoping that it would have been Star Wars for Anderson. Some one even thought it might be Black Widow. Those would have been great for a nap for me. However, this ended up being a movie that even I enjoyed watching.

It was super fun-and watching the people was so entertaining. We thought we were near the front of the line, but we were just near the front of the outside line even thought we arrived over an hour early. Then we waited in massive lines to have pictures with our ids, fill our paperwork, be metal detected and finally go into the theater. We left our phones in the car (as instructed), but they even took up phones. It was so very interesting-security even watched the audience during the movie. 

After the movie, we headed to the Lego store to look around. I would have loved for Anderson to have seen something that he wanted, but he did not want to spend his money. I guess I love that trail even better. Then it was the the chocolate store for a sample followed by some BBQ at the Polite Pig. And since it had been such a good evening, we did top it off with some cookie dough from a food truck on the way to the car.

It was nearly 11 when we made it home. The others ate leftovers for their supper, had snacks, took showers (without even being asked) and most were almost asleep when we made it back home. Graham was sound asleep, while Campbell, Keaton and Whitman had just laid down but were pretty tired. Whitman was snuggled up in Keaton's bed tonight. Reagan was wide awake though and gave us a rundown of the evening.

Now, the plan had been to go to Magic in the morning for rope drop. However, since it is midnight right now, I am not too sure that will happen. Our 3 littles were wanting to go, and we can't go tomorrow or Friday so maybe we still might. But I do know that I better find a Tums (BBQ at 10:30) and get myself into bed!

Florida February: February 10, 2020

(click here for today's pictures)

Anderson and Graham were awake early this morning. Graham went right to work on his school while Anderson waited as long as he could to get started. When I finally did go to wake up Campbell and Keaton, they were actually already awake in their beds working on their school. 

Whitman and Reagan were a bit more difficult to wake up. We didn't rush through school today-I was able to fold laundry and sweep the floor of the house while we worked. I tell you the broom in this house is horrible. However, that doesn't change all of the stuff we have on the floors here. I guess our carpet at home hides the filth in our house. I sure don't like our carpet at home, but I sure don't like seeing stuff on this floor all of the time.

We even did our work together today which has kind of fallen by the wayside. Around noonish we all had a bite of lunch. Then a bit later, Graham, Campbell, Keaton and I went to the basketball court while Robby ran to Chilis. Robby had a coupon expiring and wanted to use it. While we waited on him to return with our snack, we played a few rounds of basketball. Actually, we played some basketball but did a lot of sweating-it was warm today!

Robby picked up cheese dip, salsa, a cookie along with some nachos. It was delicious, and we devoured all of that at the basketball court picnic area. The others opted to stay back at the house so they missed out on that round of goodies.

I did lay down for a few minutes today. Then around 3:30, we loaded up for the evening. Tonight's adventure started at the Contemporary. We parked and rode the monorail there. Keaton has been collecting Transportation cards, but there are also Safety cards to collect. Those are given out by the police men. However, Keaton is a bit intimidated by them and rarely asks. Actually she is losing her nerve and is asking few people lately.

The Contemporary was neat. We looked at the murals, watched the monorails go by, and even ate a cupcake (two actually) from the bakery. The cupcake was delicious-the cake part was just okay, but the ton of icing on the top was what was really fun.

After exploring for a while, we walked to the Magic Kingdom. It wouldn't be a bad walk, but all of the construction happening caused it to a be a bit longer than usual. Once we got to Main Street, the little 3 all wanted their picture in front of the castle. I am glad that they still enjoy coming!

We did the Tomorrowland Transit cars once tonight. Then we rode Space Mountain. After Space, we stopped and ate what we had packed for supper-sandwiches, crackers and cheese. Then it was to Buzz for a spin. The fireworks were happening when we left that ride, so the lines were less. Everoyne but Robby, Reagan, Whitman and I went to the speedway cars again. We chose Winnie the Pooh. 

Then the kids all rode the Speedway cars again. They really wanted to do it one more time tonight, but seriously, we have to save something for another day. We did walk all the way across the park for Thunder Mountain. And finally, we ended the night and closed the park at Haunted Mansion.

My goal is to stay super late one night and have to be kicked out of the park. That wasn't tonight since they were having an afterhours party. We walked through one gift shop on the way out tonight, but were soon on the monorail back to our car.

The kids all had to have showers tonight so it was after 11 when everyone finally did go to bed. We are sleeping until 8 around here so they still should get plenty of sleep!

Florida February: February 9, 2020

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The alarms seemed to go off pretty early last night. Not nearly as early as last Sunday though. The kids all woke up pretty good. Surprisingly, not everyone ate the leftover donuts for breakfast. I am pretty sure that there are a few left in the box even right now. 

Today we went back to First Baptist Orlando, but we tried their modern worship service. It is indeed modern. I think that anytime a smoke machine is used in a worship service, then modern would be an adequate word to describe it. 

The preaching, however, was very good. It was actually a very clear salvation message. We did sit in a less distracting spot today so I was able to concentrate better. I did, however, keep my eye on that countdown clock. I have heard that we need on at our church too!

On the way home, we made a stop at the craziest outlet mall ever. The mall wasn't that crazy, but the parking lot was. We almost gave up, but finally found a parking spot and had to squeeze our not so little car into it. It was dicey there for a few minutes. 

We went to a Disney Outlet store. It is things that they are no longer selling in the parks. For example, when we were at the parks in December, there was a Christmas bag that I really wanted. You had to spend 50 dollars then and could buy the bag for 19.99. However, there were stacks of them today for 10 dollars. You better believe that I got myself one!

I also bought a 12 days of Socks box for 10 dollars. It has 12 pairs of Disney socks in it. Yep, those babies will show up in some stockings. And Whitman found a shirt that he wanted so we also bought it. They even had some Mickey ears, but Robby couldn't get the girls interested in buying another pair. They all said, "we already have a pair." I am glad that think that way, but these ears were 1/3 the price of in the park. It was a fun stop, and we will definitely stop there again.

Robby and I had baked a frozen meal last night so it would be partially ready today when we came home for lunch. By the time everyone changed, Robby had our baked ziti heated up along with a loaf of bread. We ate on it-it didn't go super far. Reagan decided that she needed to finish it off and licked the pan clean.

We had a short rest this afternoon and then got started on tonight's adventure. I went to bed last night a bit concerned about my fairly massive list of things to do while we are on our little trip. I had no idea that today I would be able to mark off nine different things from the list. I probably should have kept a copy of the list before I started marking things off. Here is what we accomplished today.

-Disney Outlet Store

-Explore Pop Century Resort

-Explore Art of Animation

-Animation Class at Art of Animation

-Boardwalk at Sunset

-Explore Boardwalk Resort

-The Flight at Ample Hills Creamery

-Canada Film

-Canada Kidcot Card

This afternoon we left and parked at Hollywood. We took the Skyliner to the first stop and changed to ride towards the Pop Century Resort. We walked around that resort-it is massive. The kids enjoyed seeing all of the things there. Graham is convinced that he wants to come back and stay onsite so we can have the meal plan. 

We then walked across the bridge to the Art of Animation Resort. As we swifly walked, the kids ran ahead to slide down a Little Mermaid themed slide. Inside that resort, we looked around, traded pins, window shopped their food choices and did another drawing class.

The kids did really well as we drew Tigger. I have a pile of papers from all of the art classes that we have been to. I think that we might even go to another one since they all do seem to like it. From there, we had intended to continue on the Skyliner and ride it to Epcot.

However, that line was down so our options were bussing it to Epcot or riding back to Hollywood. We chose riding back to Hollywood. That worked our well because by this time, it was a bit chilly, and we needed our jackets.

Robby went back the car with Graham to get the jackets while Keaton, Whitman and I hunted for transportation and safety cards. We didn't do too good in our search today, but I do think that she found a few new cards.

We then walked towards Epcot on the mile-ish pathway. The weather was absolutely perfect for us on our little walk. Now in November, Robby and Graham made that walk in pouring rain so our weather was much better.

We stopped to explore the Boardwalk Resort. It was sunsettish so the walk was beautiful. Also on my list in that area was to eat The Flight from Ample HIlls Creamery. And since we walked right by there, we thought that we had better stop.

The Flight is just 6 smallish scoops of ice cream. We bought ourselves two-all different flavors of ice cream. We did quickly scoop Whitman's vanilla in a cup so he could have it to himself since that is all that he eats. Keaton isn't an ice cream fan either so she herself a few bites before digging into the goldfish.

We then continued our walk to Epcot. We went towards Canada to watch the new movie. It was in a 360 degree theater. After the movie, the kids received their final Kidcot card. They have collected cards from each country so they were given a postcard that reads "I traveled the world at Epcot."

Our next plan was to buy some flavored popcorn on the way to Soarin. However, the popcorn place was closed. The kids just want butter popcorn, but this spot had 3 different flavors-don't worry, it is still on my list.

We did go to Sunshine Seasons to sit for a bit and eat a few cookies from the bag. Then it was time to ride Soarin. Whitman banged his funny bone on the chair as soon as the ride started, so he was teary eyed throughout the show. He did recover and enjoyed some of the ride.

Now after Soarin, we could have walked back towards the Skyliner, but we didn't know if it was open or not so we headed to the busses. A new adventure is always fun. On the way, we did ride the Nemo ride. It is nice to just walk on ride without a line.

Then it was to the busses. We all enjoyed watching the busses turn the corner and trying to figure out if they were stopping for us or not. We didn't have to wait long and were soon back at Hollywood walking to our car. Robby had moved it much closer when he ran back to get the jackets so it was a super short walk.

Back at the hosue, the kids all found some type of snack to eat before bed-they had apples, sandwiches and other odd things. I probably don't need any more ice cream tonight so I guess I will skip my tonight's snack. Tomorrow the current plan is a full day of school, then to explore the Contemporary and back to Magic Kingdom.

Florida February: February 8, 2020

(click here for today's pictures)

Some days I have to think really hard to remember what we have done. Today would be one of those days. I had a few opportunities to work on the blog during the day, but I squandered those. That was fine though because it has been a pretty great day.

This was our first day without the Crafts so we were on our on. We left about 7:15 this morning to make it to Hollywood Studios. We knew that we were a bit behind the other day plus we knew that the crowds would be weekend level. We were shocked though when we made it to the front parking gates, and the lines were 20-30 cars deep stretching across 8 lanes. 

We were pretty sure by this time that we were not going to get in the park by opening at 8. That was fine though because we have rode Rise of Resistance quite a few times already. We left the bags in the car to optimize our chances and headed to the gates.

We did make it in and were near Tower of Terror when the clock struck 8. We were both trying our hardest to get a boarding group. Robby was able to (my phone never even got me close). Our group was in the 70s. It could have been a good number if it would have happened in the morning or even much later in the evening. 

We did watch the boarding groups tick by in the morning, but not quite fast enough. Our first stop was Tower of Terror. This is my absolute favorite ride. The group that we were on the ride with was lively and that made it more fun. I laughed the entire time we flew up and down.

Then we headed to Rock N Roller Coaster. Whitman had been so patiently waiting for this day-his first upside down roller coaster. They checked his height twice, and we all let out a collective sigh of relief when he was tall enough to ride. He loved it and said that it was his favorite ride. Now, he also said that this was his favorite ride before he actually rode on it.

We debated staying longer to watch Beauty and the Beast (it is on my must do list) but opted to head on out. Not too many people were leaving the park around 9:30. We decided that we needed some Krispy Kreme doughnuts. This shop was nice and new and pretty yummy. There were no free samples, but we bought plenty for today and tomorrow's breakfast.

Back at the house, the kids finished up some of their school from yesterday. Then Robby, Keaton, Campbell and I went to the Walmart for some more groceries. We will end up taking more food home than what we brought. I can't say enough how odd this Walmart is-they definitely cater to beach people and theme park people. For example-most stores probably don't have hundreds of strollers for sale or shelves and shelves of ponchos. Plus the crowds, oh my, the crowds! It is exciting yet also makes me pretty nervous.

Once we came home, the boys watched a little bit of football before we loaded up around 2 or 3. We dropped off Robby and Graham. Then the rest of us went back to Hollywood Studios. We rode the Rise ride. It is always enjoyable, but also much fun watching people ride it for the first time. 

Then we walked around the Droid place where Anderson is going to come soon for his Christmas presents. I tried to get the kids to stop at a character for autographs, but when Campbell and Keaton saw the line they said that they were fine. Keaton did get a new Safety Card-she is working hard on her Disney collections. Today she said that she couldn't wait to show Grannymom all of her cards and stickers that she had collected.

We then went back to the house for supper-chicken nuggets and mashed potatoes. I still had some school to finish up with Keaton and Whitman that we did. Then we played a few games and just hung out until I had to leave to pick up the boys.

Graham received the NBA experience for his Christmas present. He loved it-he would go back tomorrow, he enjoyed it so much. There were lots of stations-wing span, shooting. You could hold the trophy and take a pictures with the commissioner. There was a list of things that Graham rattled off telling me all about it.

They played until super time and then found some yummy burgers to eat for supper. Graham said that his was so big that he couldn't finish it all. When they finished supper, they went back to the NBA experience for some more playing. Graham even left with a new personalized magic band with his name on it along with a basketball playing Mickey Mouse. He was so proud of it!

When they had done everything there was to do, they went to the bus stop to ride to the Animal Kingdom Lodge. Now I could have come back to Disney Spings to pick them up, but Robby decided that this was more exciting. 

I drove right over there and soon found them. Instead of picking them up, I got out and joined them in exploring the lobby. The lobby was beautiful. The two highlights were using the night vision goggles to see the animals (we really didn't see any animals though), but the night vision goggles were cool. And we stopped for a zebra dome for a little dessert before going back to the house. 

When we made it back home, it was almost 10 so the kids were scurried to bed. We opted not to do laundry tonight (I did one load today), and instead we are baking our Sunday lunch before we go to sleep tonight.

Florida February: February 7, 2020

(click here for today's pictures)

Today was the last day for the Crafts so they decided to rope drop Flight of Passage at Animal Kingdom. We were there around 7:45 and again pulled in at the same time. We were surprised that we made it there on time since we struggled a bit waking our people up. Starting at about 5 minutes until we left, Robby kept calling out how many minutes we had left.

Whitman did run to the refridgerator before we left saying that he "needed to get his thing." It took us a minute to realize that he thought he needed to pack a lunchable. However, we weren't staying all day today so we just packed a bag of snacks. 

We found our spots in the line-it is just a massive line that stretches probably a half mile. Since we were there before park opening, we were actually almost on the ride by the time that the park did officially open. Avatar is just pretty amazing. 

We then saw that the Everest roller caoster just had a short wait so we headed that way. Robby and Whitman had to get in the real line since Whitman isn't old enough to ride in the single rider line. Casey and the rest of us went in the single rider line and were soon on and off of the roller coaster.

Then Reagan joined the Crafts in the second Flight of Passage ride. Their child swap sure benefitted my kids this last week or so. While they headed that way, Campbell and Graham went on Everest in the single ride line two more times while Robby and Whitman were still in their line. 

After they finished their ride, we went to the dinosaur playground for the kids to play a little bit. The weather today was quite chilly. The high was 65 but the sun never really came out plus there was some wind. I had on both of my light jackets but probably would have liked my hats and gloves which I wore tonight.

When we had had enough playgrounding, we rode the Triceratops Spin. My big boys went to find Robby during this ride because they didn't care about riding it. We then watched It's Tough to Be a Bug. It is always a fun little show. 

The Crafts found a treat before they left while we just grabbed some snacks from our bag. We walked them back to the rig and said our goodbyes. My kids will be a little bit sad not having buddies to run around Walt Disney World. Our schedule will probably change a little bit-maybe lighten up. Though we are rope dropping tomorrow!

We headed home to work on our new Disney pins. Everyone picked some new ones to keep and to trade. Robby made hot dogs for our lunch, and then the kids did some of their school work. I didn't give them much school work today because the plan was to take a nap. 

I certainly took my nap, but Robby never got to one since he was busy working on his emails. You would assume that with it being 65 outside, swimming would be out of the question. But not with Campbell. She, Whitman and Keaton spent quite a bit of time in the pool. Robby could see them easily from his spot so no worries there. They said that the pool was super warm-I think they are crazy and probably don't really know what the work "warm" means.

Around 6, we loaded up to go and eat at Panda Express. We are getting one in Bryant and thought that we should try it out first. Our meat was super delicious, the value was really pretty good (fed us all for 38 dollars with some leftovers), but we weren't super crazy about the rice or noodles. Overall, it was pretty good, and we might stop there again.

Since we had a Fast Pass tonight for Tower of Terror, we did head to Hollywood Studios. We had thought that they were open until 9, but it was just 8. That was fine since an earlier night always helps. We went right to Tower of Terror and had lots of fun on that ride. Whitman still doesn't love it, but he does tolerate it. It does continue to be my favorite ride.

Then we went on Toy Story Mania at the last minute before the park closed. We debated which ride to pick and probably should have done the Slinky Dog, but we have more nights like this that we can do that. After Toy Story, we walked to the car with the rest of the crowd.

Graham was the first to head to bed. He has a bit of a cold so he probably doesn't feel great. Then Keaton and Campbell asked for me to lay down with them. I did that for a few minutes-Keaton was out super quick, and Campbell was almost asleep when I left. Whitman, Reagan and Anderson are my 3 that could probably stay up all night! That can't happen today-though I still have a load of launry in the wash and dryer!

Florida February: February 6, 2020

(click here for today's pictures)

This morning was so long ago-it was actually 21 thousand steps ago and over 9 miles ago. I do know that I woke up around 8. The kids all had a half of day of school to do this morning. As usual, the early birds got my attention first and were soon finished.

I did manage to again give out spelling words while pointing to Whitman's math problems. I don't remember how early we did go to bed last night, but everyone, even Reagan, woke up in a good mood and started right to work.

Whitman does have a little bit of a cold which is mainly presenting in a super hoarse voice. Other than that he seems to feel fine. A bit before 10, we loaded up to head to Magic Kingdom. The Crafts were already there eating breakfast so we joined them before our first Fast Pass of the morning.

Robby dropped us off at the Transportation Center. He is trying to find a route with the least amount of walking. Then he and Reagan had to double back through the entrance gate to park. I took Anderson with me through the dreaded bag check while the others walked through the no bag line.

The kids wanted to ride the monorail, but the line looked really long so we just walked to the ferry boat. It is dependable and never crazy crowded so it is always my first choice. We entered the park, and then stopped for a bathroom for someone. I am not sure why my people can't get on the same bathroom schedule or better yet, go before we leave the house!

Anyway, while I think Graham was in the bathroom, Whitman saw two men in a firetruck and enjoyed turning their siren. Then we went towards Dumbo to meet the Crafts. Soon Robby and Reagan arrived from the parking lot, and we were soon on the ride. They have a playground inside of the Dumbo line, but we haven't been able to play on it yet, and that playground is on Whitman's short list of things to do.

From Dumbo, we walked right on the Pooh ride. Anderson really wants to buy an Eyeore stuffed animal, but won't let himself do it. We used to call him Eyeore when he was little so he now calls Eyeore his spirit animal.

We then went to the Dance Party parade on Main Street. It was around noon by then so my crew ate their lunchables as we waited for the parade. The parade was fun, and Whitman was a hoot doing the floss during the dance party.

The weather today was supposed to make it to 87. It probably did, but the wind was absolutely crazy. They had a wind advisory out all day long. Thankfully, we were never hot because of that crazy wind. So eating our lunches on the pavement was not a problem at all.

The next stop was the Philharmagic 3D show. I don't think that 3D stuff works with my eyes-the kids were all trying to grab the objects that were floating. Nothing looked close enough to me to reach my hand out and grab. Maybe I'm just a fuddy dud!

Small World was our next Fast Pass. It is just iconic so how can you pass it up. This was our first Small World ride on this trip. Afterwards, we braved the crowds-and crowded it was today. This was probably one of the most crowded days. We would have assumed that February wouldn't have been that crowded, but I guess now every day is crazy crowded.

We went to Monsters Inc. show followed by The Carousel of Progress. The kids all enjoy Monsters Inc. On the other hand, I can be done with it for the month. Then the Carousel is an educational classic-but the only thing that kept me awake today was trying to find the animatronic that lost his hand during the show yesterday. It was well fixed today so I could have closed my eyes for a bit!

The Crafts were headed out then, but we convinced them to leave their big 3 with us. They did, so we headed to the Pirates scavenger hunt. Maybe picking an activity where you have to walk up and down searching for clues in a crazy crowded environment with 9 kids wasn't actually the smartest choice, but it worked out just fine. We soon had completed two scavenger hunts and were riding Pirates with our newly acquired Fast Pass.

Now, the little 2 Crafts didn't ride Pirates so Reagan waited with them while we rode. They also snacked a good bit while waiting on us. Whitman did almost have a meltdown when he didn't get to stay back with Reagan. We don't know why he didn't want to ride Pirates-he has at least twice already this trip. Maybe he was tired, maybe he was scared-I just don't know.

Whitman did perk up after the ride and was happy to walk back across the park. Keaton and Campbell have been in heaven having their buddies here with us while Reagan loves having all of the little girls to take care of. They all look up to her and want to sit by her on the rides. My boys have also enjoyed the extra buddies here.

We rode on Buzz followed by a quick spend on the tea cups before leaving Magic Kingdom. The initial plan was for me to monorail to Epcot with the kid crew while Robby would move the car to Epcot. We shoved our way into the monorail and headed to the Transportation Center.

It would have been so easy for my crew to just walk across to the Epcot monorail except that it was closed. So that meant that all of us had to hoof it back to the car. Some of the crew stopped to trade pins so by the time I had put all of that stuff up, I wasn't exactly sure where we were going. I was able to spot Reagan and Abigail so tried to keep up with them in hopes that they could still see Robby and the others.

We did all make it to the car. It was a short drive to Epcot from there. I ended up in the bag check line with the Crafts who had also brought supper for us all-ChickFilA. We found a spot to sit and eat while we made plans for our firework viewing spot. Except that while we were doing this, we saw that the fireworks were cancelled due to the wind that we had been dealing with all day.

That was fine though because Epcot is our favorite park and new foods were waiting to be tried. The kids at the ChickFilA-the adults held off for the Epcot foods. Robby bought deconstructed BLTs first. They were different-there really wasn't much to actually call it a BLT. It was some hog jowl type meat on the bottom, some sauce and a poached egg on top. No L or T to it. It was different-that's really all I can say about that!

We rode the Mexico little ride after the kids got their cards from that country. We also stopped in Italy to get cards from there. Then it was on to Morocco for our supper. My kids enjoyed the Pita bread that we bought. Graham really liked the lamb which was also Robby's favorite. I enjoyed the chicken, cous cous and hummus the most.

While we were eating, Reagan took a crew to Japan to buy snow cones. They came back with two huge snow cones which they ate happily while we finished our Moroccan meal. By this time, it was 9 so the park was closing. We strolled out of the park to find our cars.

It was pretty late tonight so it didn't take too much begging for the kids to put on pjs and get ready for bed. Except we received more Disney pins in the mail-well, on the porch. You can't get mail here-isn't that odd? The kids all love those silly pins. They were soon trying to find their favorites. We probably stayed up 15 extra minutes looking at all of those!

It is supposed to rain and rain good tonight so a bit of thunder will certainly help us sleep-but I don't think that we will have any problems at all though.