day 4 - Animal Kingdom

july 28th - we made our way to the animal kingdom. this was our first time there, we didn't make it there last time.

it was HOT HOT HOT that day. but we did so many great things, that it made it worth it. first we watched the lion king show and it was awesome. the music, the performers, it really was so good.

then we went on a safari ride. there was a warning that expectant mothers should not go on the ride. i thought about it, but figured it was fine. well, it was a bumpy bumpy ride. i tried to get some pictures, but i had to put the camera away and hold on.




after the safari, we had lunch at the tusker house. the food was good! the kids enjoyed the donuts they had for dessert. when i made our lunch reservations, we were able to get priority seating at the finding nemo musical. so after lunch i made the most important purchase of the week. i bought a binky at the child care center. usually hadley doesn't get her binky except for bed/nap time, but we were desperate for her to nap in the stroller. it worked. she got a nap, and i brought the boys to a bug's life 3D experience. it was awful!!! scary, and dark... we were not fans at all!

but how cute is mason with his glasses on waiting for show to start?


the nemo show was really good too!!! it was a great day! we went back to the resort to rest and swim, and then headed over to epcot for fireworks.

day 3 - hollywood studios

july 27th - we hit hollywood studios. the boys had a blast with all the star wars things. i really enjoyed the little mermaid performance. i walked around a lot with hadley while craig and the boys kept busy. all carter wanted was to make his own light saber... he was so happy when he was able to do it. mason also got to make one too...



oh, boy! what was i thinking? i'm sure they will fight with these now that we are home...


look at how happy they are... mason just wants to be like carter and do everything he does. it is annoying for carter, but cute to watch.



i'm usually not one for waiting in line to meet characters, but while we were walking around inside enjoying the a/c there was mickey, and there was a very short line, so i figured we should go for it. mickey was cool and did lots of poses with the boys. we were able to get a family picture with our photo pass...


the only bummer of the day was we got our fast past for the toy story ride, which we heard was awesome. when it was finally our time, the ride was broke. i think craig was disappointed the most. all the fast passes for the day were gone by 10 am, so going back another day really wasn't an option.

later that night, we met up with our friends for dinner. it was a coincidence that we were both there at the same time and stayed at the same resort.


when we were talking about what we had planned, we both booked dinner at ohana's on tuesday night at 5:25. so we met in the lobby and traveled over to the restaurant together.

the food and atmosphere was really good. our server was an ass. we asked for the kids menus a bunch of times, and he pretty much told us we should feed our kids our food and then if they won't eat it, then we can try food for the kids. really, do we need to ask for kids menus multiple times?

we also got so much food fast, and then that was it. our waiter was m.i.a. anyways, the food was so yummy! and it was fun to see the kobs family.

on our way home, we walked through epcot.





after a long day, the kids were ready for bed... so cute!!!

Beach Club Resort - pool pictures

this was the 2nd time we have stayed at the beach club resort. we stayed in a 1 bedroom villa, and it was just awesome! the pool at the beach club is amazing... it was one of the reasons we decided to stay there again. it is perfect especially since we have 3 kids that all had something different to do.



carter met a friend at the pool and introduced him to the big water slide... we were shocked he was so willing to do it, but he did, and he loved it. mason also went down, as long as craig was on the bottom and could catch him.











although it was very HOT & HUMID, the pool was a great place to hang out and relax. it added a nice balance of chill out time after we tackled the parks during the day.

day 2 - the magic kingdom

monday, july 26th ~

the kids got us up early, we ate breakfast in our room and headed over to the magic kingdom. we decided to just tackle tomorrow land and see how we were feeling after.

we had so much fun, and carter loved the monster's inc. laugh factory. buzz lightyear is also one of my favorite rides!







i will note that i didn't take as many pictures as i would have liked... it was HOT, and it is harder to accomplish with 3 kids. i think i got about 150 when all is said and done, but i was really trying to enjoy the moments and not worry as much about the photos.

we headed back to the resort around 1ish so hadley could nap... she was not napping in the stroller like i was hoping. not a big deal, she crashed, and craig brought the boys to the pool. i rested a bit, and did some laundry. i was not expecting to do laundry on vacation, but there was a washer/dryer right there and they left detergent everyday. so, i was able to do a load everyday while hadley napped, and we came home with all clean clothes... not bad at all.

we then headed over to the wilderness lodge for dinner at the Whispering Canyon. carter was in a mood b/c of our dinner experience the night before. he is a picky eater, and was just so sure that there would be nothing he liked there. boy was he wrong! they had milk shakes, and grilled cheese... life was good! i loved dinner too! it was ribs, bbq chicken, corn on the cob, mashed potatoes, etc. so yummy!!!!

the restaurant was funny... they brought craig out a giant refill of his root beer. and when mason asked for ketchup, the waiter yelled for it, and we got all the bottles delivered to our table. it was a fun experience! mason drank a little too much of his milk shake and felt sick, and we ended up leaving before dessert... but it was still a good dinner.

disney vacation - Day 1

july 25th - our day started nice and early. craig and i were up by 4:30 to get showered, put the rest of the luggage in the car and get the kids up so we could leave by 5:30ish.

we got some coffee and munchkins and were off... craig dropped me off, we checked our luggage, and he went to park the car. we made it through security easy, and then waited for our flight.



the flight went well. we flew on jet blue and the boys did great with their tv and DS's. we sat in a row with extra leg room and it made such a difference.


we finally made it to disney, and got settled in our room. it was beautiful!!! we stayed at the beach club resort villas. there was plenty of room for our family!!!







we hit epcot first... it is right next to the resort, so an easy walk over. we did all the rides we were interested in doing, and then headed to the Garden Grill for dinner. i wasn't really excited about the food there, and neither were the kids. craig was the only one who liked it actually. the restaurant spun very slowly which was cool, and there were characters too. so the overall experience was good.







after a fun first day, it was time to head back to our room. i got hadley ready for bed, and craig to the boys for a swim. my legs broke out in a heat rash which was odd and looked gross. i have never experienced heat rash before, and it lasted 3 days.

hadley also took this trip as an opportunity to go on a food strike. she just refused most foods, and survived on grapes, wheat thins and cookies. clearly not the diet of champions. she did drink plenty of water, and that was my main concern with the heat.