Bye Bye Orlando!

Friday, May 15
Friday...our travel day home. It was pretty uneventful. We had to wake up SUPER early and return the rental car and fly back home. Fortunately all of us had to be at the airport around the same time. Aunt Dinah rode on Southwest with us through Denver. We deplaned and she continued on to Phoenix. I think the most excitement occured when it was time to board the plane. I had taken Taylor to the restroom and they started our boarding. Well I had put the boarding passes into one of our carry on bags. Wouldn't you know, Aunt Dinah happened to pick up that bag and take it on the plane with her. Of course Tony and the kids and my mom stayed behind to wait for me because they didn't have their boarding passes and we had a slight moment of panic that we couldn't get on the plane. Fortunately, it all worked and we were able to board the plane BUT we had to sit in separate rows from each other.

When we got back to Tucson, Papa left my car at the airport and we went back to the store to say hello and bring him lunch. Then we went on our way home to try and unpack and do laundry. Back to the real world and our busy lives.

Orlando Fun...Day 9

Thursday, May 14
Kennedy Space Center
In all of our travels to Orlando, we had never driven down to Cape Canaveral/Kennedy Space Center. Being that my mom and aunts were with us on this trip, we made sure that we drove down to visit. We could have used 2 days at Kennedy because there was still another leg of the tour and more IMAX movies to see and we just didn't have enough time to do it.

At Kennedy Space Center there are model shuttles that are on the grounds that people can look at. There is a restaurant, souvenier shop, iMax theater and the bus loading station for the rest of the tours.

Waiting to load the bus for the tours. The boys love to play around but this family shot is so typical us!

On stage 1 of the tour, this stuck racoon was the highlight of the viewing.

This is one of the 2 launch pads available for shuttle launches. A few days prior Atlantis was launched into orbit. This was the backup shuttle.

The above shuttle model is an actual replica showing the size and stature of the an actual Space Shuttle. Jackson and Anthony LOVE running underneath it.

We had dinner reservations at Cinderella's Royal Table at the Grand Floridian. So we had to leave before we could see the last part of the tour. We will probably be going back again the next time we are in Florida.

Cinderella's Royal Table
This is a buffet dinner with all of the characters from Cinderella. We saw Cinderella and Prince Charming. We saw Lady Trumane (Stepmother) and the wicked stepsisters (Anastasia and Drusella). The best part of this buffet were the desserts! YUMMY!!!!

A family picture before we entered the ballroom for our meal.

Taylor was so excited to see Cinderella. I think that Cinderella is her favorite princess. I know she is mine!

Prince Charming...swoon!

Drusilla and the kids. The characters REALLY played up their roles.

Anastasia was AWESOME. She was loud and rude and so proud to be evil!

Lady Trumane and the kids. She is so evil! However, during the dance portion of the meal, Anthony did dance with her and she was tolerant of it. :-)

Time to leave on our horse drawn carriage.

Bye bye everyone, our carriage awaits to take us back to the timeshare.

Orlando Fun..Day 8

Wednesday, May 13
Disney's Hollywood Studios
On this trip, we went to Disney's Hollywood Studios 3 times. That's kind of unbelievable considering in previous trips it seemed like this was a half day park. But they really seemed to expand the place and add more attractions and we needed 3 days to see every single one. What we did during part of this day was split up. My mom and my aunts when their way and the rest of us went our own way. But first we had to ride on Toy Story Mania!

Aunt Rosie, Nana and the three kids wait their turn in line. It turns out that one of my Aunt Dinah's friends has a son who worked on designing part of this ride...Toy Story Mania!

We got a little bored in line so I started snapping pictures of me and the boys. This is me and Anthony.

This is me and Jackson

This is me and Tony

In the building across from Toy Story Mania, we saw a sign out front that had Buzz and Woody from The Toy Story movies were inside. We were a bit early for their arrival but upon our surprise, they were actually there and signing autographs and available for pictures.

We saw a cute little movie all about Disney Animation and then at the end of the gallery tour got to get pictures with Scorcerer Mickey.

This is me and Taylor waiting outside to see Playhouse Disney Live on Stage. The boys didn't want to see it again so they went on to ride on Star Tours with Tony and Aunt Rosie.

On our way out of the theater we saw Handy Manny and June from Little Einsteins walking out to greet guests at the character autograph spots. They were on the move so it's a good think my shutter is fast on my digital camera!

The kids all gathered for a picture with Quincy from Little Einsteins. Taylor had the most fun of all of them getting this picture.

The Mickey Mouse Ears Water Tower from the Disney Hollywood Studios Backlot Tour. Tony and I took Taylor on this ride while Nana, Aunt Rosie, Aunt Dinah and the boys went to see the Lights, Camera, Action Stunt Show.

Tony and Taylor and one of the Star Wars legends...Darth Vader.

Tony and another "new generation" Star Wars Legend, Darth Maul.

Waiting for Beauty and The Beast Live on Stage show to begin. Tony went off to ride Hollywood Tower of Terror.

Afterwards, we met up again and watched the finale show of American Idol. It was nice because the guy who we had seen earlier in the day that won the round for our show also won the finale show. By the time the show was finished, the park was getting ready to close. So we went on to dinner and then headed back to the timeshare to get some good rest for the last day of fun in Orlando.

Orlando Day 7

Tuesday, May 12
Epcot center
And per usual...it rained! Tony and I have been to Orlando 4 time and no matter what time of year we go, it rains on the day we go to Epcot. Crazy! But knowing this, we at least were smart and packed our rain gear for our trip.

Mommy why is the golf ball so big?

We woke up early (as usual) and got to Epcot with time to spare. We were able to get a group photo and after we entered the park we headed straight back to The Land to ride on Soarin' over California. Nana gets motion sickness so she stayed behind with Taylor and did some touring of The Land. Tony got us rider switch tickets and fast passes while we stayed in line. After the ride was over we went on The Land boat ride to kill some time before our fast pass time. Then Aunt Dinah, Tony and I went back to Soarin' using the rider switch and rode it again.

We then over to The Living Seas and rode on the Nemo ride and got some great pictures of the kids in the shark's mouths.

Entrance to The Seas with Nana, Aunt Rosie and the 3 kids. Anthony is hiding in there somewhere.

Ahhhhhhhhhhh, Bruce swalled my kids! Hee hee, this is false front and the kids stand in the back and everyone is able to get a picture of them in the Shark's mouth. Everyone has to take turns. With this line being self monitored, it's surprisingly organized!

Then Back to The Land so we could take the behind the scenes tour. I now want to learn how to garden using hydroponics!!!! Our tour guide was awesome and since our kids were the only little ones on the tour, she involved them a lot while we were on the tour.

Each kid received a vial of cold ladybugs. They had to warm the vial between their hands so the ladybugs become active. Then when our tour guide prompted them, they were able to release the lady bugs onto the plants in growing inside The Land.

Some of the ladybugs the kids released are going to work, fighting off the disease and helping the plants.

This is a wilting plant. Part of it's self defense mechanism is that the leaves wilt after they are touched. Then a few hours later they'll perk up and reopen. It was crazy seeing how you can barely brush up against this plant and the leaves droop.

This is a hydroponically grown dragon fruit! No harsh chemicals and no pesticides. Hydroponics allow the fruits and vegetables grow quickly and about 2.5 times (or more) their normal size.

There was even live alligators on this tour. We are in Florida afterall so it would be crazy NOT to see a Gator or two or 20!

A Cinderella Pumpkin earning it's "ears". The growers in The Land stimulate the pumpking plants and place the gourd into a mould training it to grow into the shape of a Mickey Mouse Head just in time for Halloween.

This is a mould for a cucumber. All of the fruits and vegetables grown in The Land are harvested and used in the restaurants in all of the Disney properties.

After our tour was over, we went into The World Showcase and ate Japanese food in Japan. We chose to eat at the Hibatchi bar because Nana and Aunt Rosie had never eaten there before. It's a great show and the food is delicious.


Then we went to the store underneath the restaurant and purchased cultured pearls for the kids. Jackson got picked by only female candy maker from Japan to get a candy treat made for him and his brother and sister to share.

The green porcupine that was made for Jackson out of taffy. Once this candy hardens, it's very difficult to break into smaller size pieces.

Orlando Fun...Day 6

Monday, May 11
The Magic Kingdom
We did a short day so we could come back to the timeshare and rest and relax before a LONG day at Epcot Center. Aunt Dinah and Aunt Rosie came in today from Chicago so the kids were wired. It's like having a 3rd vacation for them with so many relatives coming in at different times to visit with us. Taylor immediately attached herself to Aunt Dinah's hip...I think she even slept with her that night. And the boys are alternating between hanging out with Aunt Rosie and Nana. Hee hee, I LOVE the additional hands and the kids LOVE the extra entertainment.

We got there around 8:35am (TCC) and rode on the Ferryboat over to the Magic Kingdom. Today we rode on:

Peter Pan's Magic Flight (all of us)

Splash Mountain (Dad, Jax, Me)
-- We immediately walked into the ride and sat in the front row. Normally this ride has a 30+ minute wait. We got soaked and almost rode it again but decided against it since we were split up from Nana, Anthony and Taylor on the other side of the park.

Dumbo (Nana, AJ, Tay)

Mickey's Philharmagic (Nana, AJ, Tay)

Corn Dog/food stop (Dad, Jax, Me)

Peter Pan's Magic Flight (all of us)
It's A Small World (all of us)
Haunted Mansion (all of us)
Columbia Harbour House for lunch (all of us)
Monster's Inc. Laugh Floor (all of us)

Anthony and Jackson inside waiting for Monster's Inc. Laugh Floor to arrive.

Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin (all of us)

The three kids inside the jail cell with the Evil Zurg.

It's A Small World (all of us)

Then we got ice cream/popsicles and left for the Timeshare around 2:45pm.

Nana and I left to pickup Aunt Rosie and Aunt Dinah from the Car Rental Place. Then we came back to the Timeshare and off to Key W. Kools for dinner. It was AWESOME Oak Wood Grilled Steaks. My aunts found out what expensive palettes my kiddos have. Calamari, Shrimp Scampi, Ribs, Steak, Seafood Bisque were just a little bit of what the kids ate. Plus Gator Bites...Fried Alligator Tails and they taste...like CHICKEN!!!! After dinner we headed home and Anthony had to complete more homework, while Jackson and Taylor entertained Nana, Aunt Dinah and Aunt Rosie some more.

Tony checking over some of Anthony's homework.

Orlando Fun...Day 5...Happy Mother's Day

Sunday, May 10, 2009. It's Mother's Day Today.
Disney's Hollywood Studios
Nana was here to enjoy her first full day of vacation with us and we had a great time. We of course started the day at Toy Story Mania. Then we headed over to The Voyage of The Little Mermaid. Then we went back to Toy Story Mania on our Fast Pass.
Nana and Taylor rode on Toy Story Mania together. Poor Taylor kept getting her knocked around because the ride spins a bit. But they still had a great time together.
We took a small detour towards Muppet Vision 3-D and saw the Club Penguin Penguins. The boys know who they are because of their friends at school. Taylor did not want to stand next to them because she was scared however after she saw that the boys took pictures with them, she wanted to go back and take a picture with them. By this time it was too late and they were gone.

On a very happy accident while walking towards Muppet Vision 3-D, we got to see the Power Rangers.

Jackson and the Green Ranger.

Jackson and the Yellow Ranger...a girl one.

Jackson and another girl Ranger - Pink.

Jackson and Taylor talk with the Blue Ranger.

Taylor likes the Pink Ranger.

After some picture taking and autographs we went to see Muppet Vision 3-D. It was great timing because the Power Rangers needed to take a break and they would be back later in the morning. As soon as Muppet Vision 3-D was over, Jackson immediately jumped off his chair and asked what time it was so we could go back and see the Power Rangers that he missed seeing earlier. So Taylor saw the Green Ranger and Jackson saw the Red Ranger.

Anthony stood back so the younger kids could get autographs and pictures with the Power Rangers. On this trip it became more evident which shows and Characters he's grown out of.

The boys then went over to ride Star Tours while Nana, Taylor and I sat at our lunch destination and made phone calls to Bok Bok, Aunt Rosie and Aunt Dinah. Then we ate at the Hollywood & Vine restaurant and had a character meal buffet with Jojo and Goliath from Jojo's Circus and June and Leo from Little Einsteins.

The kids and Goliath the Lion from Jojo's Circus. The boys were excited to see Goliath. Taylor was a little unsure about him.

It's June from Little Einsteins. June ballet dances and Taylor was so excited to see her!

Jojo Clown from Jojo's Circus! Taylor really got excited seeing Jojo.

Leo from Little Einsteins. The boys liked Leo, Taylor was excited because she had just seen June but was still asking for the other Little Einsteins characters. Leo is a music conductor.

Then we split up and the boys went to Indiana Jones and the girls went to Beauty and The Beast Live on Stage. We then met back up and had a Frozen Lemonade break and saw the Toy Story Block Party parade. That was a lot of fun especially because we scored these Nerf Super balls for the kids. They got shot out of cannons towards the crowd from each float. Then we all went to see the story of Walt Disney, Man Behind the Magic. Our last event of the day was the Lights, Motor, Action Stunt Show. It was great! The boys really liked the car chase scenes and Taylor was eagerly waiting the arrival of the motorcyles. I think she's been in love with motorcycles ever since Papa got his. Oh well, I hope that phase will end before she's 16. :-)