Disney #2 - Hollywood Studios

The first park we went to was Hollywood Studios. It was our second favorite one. Of course Magic Kingdom was our very favorite but that's the next post! We went to Hollywood on two different days because there is so much to see!

We tried not to go too crazy on souvenirs which is really hard to do! Ethan picked out Donald Duck, which Caleb kept calling Daffy Duck.

Caleb LOVES the chef from the muppets. He watches him all the time on YouTube. One of his favorites is when he makes popcorn. So we had to buy him when we saw him!


Caleb was not happy in this picture. He ran up to Lightening McQueen and slipped on the wet cement and busted. He screamed (mainly out of embarrassment) and we had to get out of line to calm him down. Then we jumped back in for the picture but he was upset.

So Ethan got an up close picture by himself.

We had lunch at the SciFi Drive In. It was a really cool place!

All of the tables were made out of cars. They showed clips of old movies and cartoons. The kids loved it!

Caleb wore his birthday button everyday (even though his bday wasn't until Friday). He got lots of perks! He had a free dessert and all of the waiters signed a card for him.

Mondo rode the Rockin Rollercoaster with Ethan so then it was my turn to ride something with him. We rode the Tower of Terror. I didn't think it would be a big deal...maybe like the Cliffhanger at 6 Flags. Then we walked into a room with a group of people waiting, the doors shut, the lights flickered, and we watched a clip about some people getting killed on the 13th floor of the hotel. Scary!

I told Ethan we didn't have to ride it but he said he wanted to. Secretly I didn't want to! I am fine with the drops but not with the scary story! This is a picture of us being scared right before the ride started. It turned out that it wasn't so bad. I'm glad I put on my big girl pants and rode it...and I'm pretty sure Ethan had his eyes closed the whole time. ;-)

This ride was called Star Tours. As with most of the rides, you can't take pictures inside. It was a 3D Star Wars ride that I shouldn't have ridden. The seats moved and with the glasses it looked like things were flying at me. (Barf)

This was right outside Star Tours.

Toy soldier from Toy Story.

Waiting in line at Disney World isn't so horrible. We waited about 30 minutes to meet Buzz and Woody but there was a lot to see in the line.

Caleb loves Stinky Pete...yes, another villian!

Finally, Buzz and Woody! Caleb is containing his excitement. They also got their autographs. We really wanted to meet Zurg but I don't think he was anywhere in Disney!

Sully and Mike from Monster's Inc.

We watched Muppets 3D. It was a cute show. It was funny to watch the boys reach out in front of them. They had never been to a 3D movie.

Of course you had to have the old guy muppets making fun of the show.

Phineas and Ferb.

The kids were really excited to eat at Pizza Planet.

Pretty yummy pizza.

The highlight of Hollywood for Ethan was probably the Indiana Jones stunt show. We saw it both days we went.

All of the grounds were beautiful.

The Incredibles!

Getting Mickey's autograph.

Ahh, Toy Story Mania. One of the best rides. Caleb LOVED it and wanted to do it over and over. The average wait time was an hour. Luckily we used Fast Passes a couple of times. We ended up riding it once the first day and twice the second day.

There was lots of entertainment while we waited. That Mr. Potato Head talked and moved around.

The point of the ride is to sit in these car type things and shoot at different scenes on screens.

The cars go along a track and park you in front a screen. With the 3D glasses it looks like things are flying at you or popping out at you so you pull a string on the back of the gun to shoot them. Then it moves you around to another screen and so on. It keeps a tally of your score on the car. It's really hard to explain but it's SO FUN! And I have to mention that I beat Mondo's score...all three times. ;-)

We took a little break and played with some new toys. Ethan picked a gun from Indiana Jones.

Caleb played with his Darth Vader Mickey.

They also really loved the set of Honey I Shrunk the Kids. They got to climb all over it, go through tunnels, and go down slides.

Remember the giant ant? I used to love that movie.

Just a cute pic of Caleb and Daddy waiting to go into a show.

We love you Hollywood Studios!!!

Disney #1 - The Hotel

I can't believe our trip to Disney World is already over. So much planning and discussing and it's over before you know it. As you can imagine we took a ridiculous amount of pictures so I am splitting up my posts and will write about each park separately. This first post is probably the most boring...it's how we got there and shows our hotel. It takes a long time to search through pictures from my camera and Mondo's phone so these posts will be coming for a while.

Here we are waiting at the airport for our 0830 flight! It was the boy's first time to fly so I was a little nervous...especially about Caleb.

We had some time to get some donuts for breakfast. Caleb watched out the window for our plane to come.

Caleb did great on the plane! He watched a movie, played with guys, ate snacks. He was very quiet until the last 20 minutes or so then he was ready to get off. He got whiny but no big fits. Whew!

Of course Ethan was easy. He didn't even sit next to us.

We took the Disney Magical Express from the airport to our hotel. I'm still shocked about the lack of seat belts in buses!!

Watching cartoons on the way.

Our first day we stayed at Caribbean Beach Resort. We stayed the remainder of the time at another hotel. Flight was cheaper, etc. It was a bit of a hassle to wake up the next morning, pack, rush to a new hotel, then rush to the park. Next time we will just stay at one hotel. This hotel was nice but very spread out. It had a few beaches and a nice pool area.

The weather was low 70's and the water was heated. But it was still a bit nippy for me.

Of course the boys had no problem being cold. They were so excited to be swimming again.

The big pool. Ethan had fun doing the slides.

They roasted marshmallows on the beach.

The next morning we went to Fort Wilderness Lodge and stayed there for the remainder of the week.

We got a room with bunk beds thinking the boys would love them but it backfired.

They argued over who would sleep on the top bunk. I knew it was a waste of an argument. Caleb won't sleep alone and I wasn't going to sleep squished up there.

Caleb played up there but ultimately Ethan slept on the top bunk. Caleb slept with Mondo and I. Until the next night when Ethan wanted to sleep with us too. Then Mondo ended up on the bottom bunk alone. There was just a lot of bed switching throughout the week...we'll leave it at that.

Ethan was excited about the totem poles in the hotel since he had just learned about them at school at Thanksgiving.

There was a giant Christmas tree in the lobby. Perfect for a family photo.

This is a view of the back of the hotel and part of the pool. There were also two hot tubs and a wading pool for kids.

I don't know how many times the kids went down this slide! Good old Mondo stayed in the water the most because I was freezing. I opted for the hot tub or picture taking.

There were lots of poolside activities for the kids. They got tattoos....

Did some hula-hooping...

There was a geyser that erupted every so often behind the hot tubs.

There was a beach and a playground.

One night the kids watched "The Santa Clause" on the beach. Caleb didn't last very long. He was so tired so I took him back up to the room.

Everything has Mickey ears!

Another family photo on the grounds of the hotel.

We took several pics of the kids around the back of the hotel. There was too much great landscaping not to!

This was inside our hotel. Every time we passed it they begged to "try it".

***Whew, that completes blog #1. Stay tuned for Hollywood Studios!***

Thanksgiving Plague

What's that you say? How do Thanksgiving and the plague go hand in hand? At my house they sure did! The day before Thanksgiving, Caleb woke up around 0100 throwing up. Next was Ethan around 0300, and then yes, next was me at around 0500...all while Mondo was blissfully sleeping. The three of us continued taking turns hugging the porcelain all morning. Mondo had pity on me (or maybe he felt sorry for the fact that the sick kids were being ignored by their sick mother) and he came home from work around 1p. I went to bed and he spent the rest of the day with a mask on and spraying everything with industrial strength disinfectant and washing sheets/towels. By the evening we were done with the vomit but still felt bad.

Fastforward to Thanksgiving day. The kids were a bit more perky but still not eating. I felt like I had been hit by a truck. Achy joints, chills, nausea, and complete exhaustion. Mondo spent day #2 in his mask and sanitizer. No turkey and dressing for us. We all stayed home and layed around and watched Mondo clean. We made fun of him in his mask but it has now been a week and he never got sick.

So now onto more pleasant topics! We did have some small Thanksgiving celebrations before the plague. Caleb had a Thanksgiving feast at his school. I laugh at what they call a feast...you will see in a minute.

Caleb is thankful for apples and milk. Odd since he really doesn't eat apples. He probably meant apple juice. He can drink a gallon of that stuff a day.

Here is his "feast" which is extra funny because all he ate was the bananas and marshmallows. He did nibble on some cheese.

"I am thankful for bread, apples, snowman, milk, strawberries, and gum." I love that most of his thankfulness revolves around food.

They were supposed to be praying.

Daddy came to the feast on his lunch break.

Sad little Indian.

Just kidding!

He made a little bead bracelet at the end of the feast. And then he got lucky and mommy and daddy took him home early. :-)

The next Thanksgiving feast was at Ethan's school.

We played dumb and had Ethan show us how to go through the line in the cafeteria.

He opted for chicken nuggets instead of turkey. He still hardly ate. That's a pumpkin cookie in his mouth.

Loving on mommy.

These are totem poles that the kids decorated for Thanksgiving. That's Ethan's yellow one on the bottom with the dreamcatcher on it.