John, Laura, Kyle, Christopher (CJ) and Alyssa Mullen

Day Seven at Walt Disney World

What a day it was!

We decided to do a few things at Magic Kingdom that we hadn't gotten to before, just to make sure that we had checked everything off our list. :-) We started by riding the train around the park. We did the complete circuit through Frontierland, Toon Town and Main Street USA. The boys were very excited about being able to see the whole park and the breeze from the open air train was a great way to cool down from what was proving to be a very hot day.

After the train ride, we played at the Brier patch near Splash Mountain. The boys were not brave enough to ride that ride yet but they really enjoyed the miniature playground of Rabbit's home in the laughing patch.

We made our way next to Tom Sawyer's Island and ended up spending almost all the morning over there. CJ's favorite was the barrell bridge (we had to cross several times),
and Kyle loved the caves and mine shafts and escape tunnels. Basically anything that was in the dark. Mom didn't mind those parts even though with her night blindness she couldn't see ANYTHING AT ALL because it was air conditioned! We found Tom and Huck's secret fort and made our way to the Soldier's Fort on the far side of the island. The best part was the guns actually made shooting sounds when you pressed the trigger and they were pre-aimed at objects on the shore. Lots of fun! I thought it was cute that they labeled the bathrooms on the fort the "powder room". :-)

After Tom Sawyer, we rode on Peter Pan's flight one last time. We think that this has to be one of our favorite rides at Magic Kingdom. Everyone is a big fan of Peter...the boys have been watching that movie lately at least three times a week.

We had lunch at Casey's (like the poem Casey at the Bat) where the boys could watch Goofy sports videos while they ate their hotdogs. Mom and Dad opted to sit at a table as we were not so into watching tv while we ate. I know....old fuddie duddies already.

We headed for Mickey's Toon Town Fair as the boys wanted to go through Donald's boat one last time. This was the area they wanted to do again before we left. We let them choose. They ran and played inside the boat and on the splash grounds around the boat. Mom and Dad found some shade and sat on a park bench. Kyle and CJ even created an elaborate game while they were playing involving the map on board the boat.

On our way out of the park and back to our resort, we took the long way around and rode the monorail...up front of course! We rode all the way to Epcot and back. The boys liked to see the track as it came up towards us rather than just seeing the scenery out a side window. We found out from one of the monorail attendants that Disney is making plans to buy up land around DisneyLand in California in order to expand that park like DisneyWorld is. Very interesting prospect.

We went to the Polynesian's marina once we got back and rented a pontoon boat to take us out on the lake system at Disneyworld. We rode around the Seven Seas lake and the Bay lake for quite awhile...long enough to give Mom a sunburn. She didn't wear her hat on the boat and swears she wasn't in the sun that long but time flies when you are having fun and it was already evening when we got back.
Everyone took a turn "driving" the boat...some more than others, but Dad was the Captain.

We went swimming afterwards and then relaxed on the beach in the hammocks along the shore. It was a great way to end our trip to Disneyworld. The boys built sandcastles and played in the water and Mom and Dad swayed in the breeze on the hammocks. We might have napped if we didn't have to keep checking on the pirate map pieces Kyle was finding and help CJ with his sand castle and deconstruction of sand castles. :-)

Here is Kyle splashing down into the pool from the Volcano slide.

We also made a trip to the arcade at the Polynesian --- playing racing games, bowling games, pinball, air hockey and a boxing game. We watched the nighttime shows out on the lake and have now made it back to the room to crash for the night.

Tomorrow, we have to be at the bus stop at 11:30 to go to the airport so that doesn't leave time to do a lot. We got everything in that we wanted to do and then some. It has been an amazing family vacation. We are looking forward to the next time and bringing Alyssa.

Day Six at Walt Disney World ---- Hollywood Studios, the Pool and the Grand Floridian

Kyle and CJ plotting our route through Hollywood Studios --- helping today be so much better than our last visit here!

Since Star Wars weekend was officially over for the weekday, Hollywood Studios was MUCH less crowded making our day much more pleasant. We didn't have to wait longer than 15 minutes on any of the rides or shows...in fact, most of them we walked right onto without any wait.

First, we let Dad ride the Great Movie Ride. We decided that CJ was way too spooked to try this one and Kyle was an iffy so just Dad rode. It is a 22 minute ride through the great movies of our time with live action and animatronics. While Dad was on the ride, CJ, Kyle and Mom played on the walk of fame with all of the famous Disney actors' foot and handprints. We found Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Donald, Jim Carrey and many, many others. Mom had fun explaining who all of them were!

For Breakfast, we ate at the Play and Dine at Hollywood and Vine (yes, that is the official name). It is a buffet restaurant with characters from Playhouse Disney who come around and greet the diners and sing and dance at random intervals in the restaurant.
CJ was too shy to hug or talk or at times even acknowledge the characters when they came to our table, but Kyle hugged and was hugged by several of them...JoJo, Goliath, Leo and June.

Mom tricked CJ into being into pictures with the characters by playing games with him while the characters were in the background....gotta go with what works.

We went back to the Playhouse Disney live show that we saw the other day. The boys were just as excited to go as they were last time. It is kind of like the shows on TV...they don't mind seeing the same thing over and over and over again. :-) This time we sat in the center so we got to touch the bubbles, get streamers and leaves when they were thrown into the audience. Yay!

After the Playhouse Disney show, we went towards the arena for the Extreme Stunt Show with motorcycles, race cars, pyrotechnics, and stunt men. Along the way, we found several star wars photo ops.
Storm Trooper John tries to decide if he should eliminate the junior jedi threat.....

Kyle on the auction block on the slave planet Tatooine...

The toy version...official Jedi Knights...

Before we got to the Extreme stunt show, we stopped and watched the Muppet 3D movie since it was on the way and there was no wait. It was funny with a lot of goofy effects playing on the 3D aspect. CJ was still worried though throughout the show. That Dino ride really freaked him out. He kept expecting it to get scary.

After the Muppet show, we headed down the main street to get to the back part of Hollywood Studios for the show. We had to stop and snap a picture of "New York" for Daddy.

The extreme Stunt show was a live action stunt spectacular where they showed you a finished film and then showed you how each stunt was performed and how that was turned into the finished film. It was very interesting. The boys liked the car chases especially when the car jumped into a building and over a truck. They also liked the motorcycles and water craft parts. CJ's favorite part was when they brought out Herbie and showed how he split in half and still drove. The stunts were amazing especially the fire ones --- the man who caught fire and then driving through flames.

After the stunt show, we were hot and hungry so we went to a cafe for Hot dogs and drinks. Right next to the cafe was the Honey I Shrunk the Kids playground, a series of slides, climbing nets and water sprayers made to resemble someone's backyard if it was from the view of an ant. The boys LOVED it. We stayed there at least 45 minutes until they were so red in the face, we made them stop running around.

After a couple of drinks, we headed to Pixar place to use our Fast Passes to ride the Toy Mania ride again. It was so much more fun to ride when we didn't have to wait two hours. This time....fifteen minutes!
This is what the cars look like that you ride in to shoot at the arcades.

Kyle and my scores on the ride.

CJ got 26,000 and Dad got 114,000. I'll let you guess whose is whose on the scores above. :-)

After Toy Mania, we headed to the Main Street for the Block party parade but that is when it started to pour rain. The rain helped us make our decision...time to call it a day.

We headed home, and then once the rain stopped out to the pool. Kyle and CJ splashed and played for two hours in the water. Kyle really likes the Volcano slide! We had to get Kyle a life vest because the Spiderman suit is too small for him and uncomfortable to wear, but because the slide lets off into deep water it is safer for him to have something to help him be buoyant.

After swimming, we got dressed again and headed to the Grand Floridian to try dinner at one of their Cafes. The boys got Captain Hook glasses with a special light up charm on it (that looked like Captain Hook). It gave them something to play with while Dad enjoyed his steak and Mom, her Salmon. The boys had hotdogs and pizza. :-) We decided that next time we come, we want to stay at the Grand Floridian. It is a Victorian mansion...perfect for Mom.

Day Five at Walt Disney World --- Pirate Adventure and Epcot

We were awoken this morning by Stitch and Mickey so we could get a headstart on the day. It was off to the Caribbean Beach Resort to go on the Pirate Adventure. The cruise set off from the Marina and to get there we had to take a bus from Magic Kingdom. We were the only ones headed that direction! (away from a park)

When we got to the Marina, CJ got nervous and a little panicky about going, so just Kyle set off to find buried treasure, chase pirates and learn the tales of the cove. First, he was made an official pirate complete with pirate bandana and life jacket because...all pirates have to be safe!

Kyle said that they heard the tales of Captain Jack Sparrow and his crew. They sailed around looking for pieces of the map hidden around the lake. They found bottles with hidden notes. They chased a pirate in his boat till he gave up and threw his sword in the water. They climbed on abandoned pirate ruins looking for a skeleton key. They found cannon balls and of course, the treasure. Kyle says that Captain Jack Sparrow lied and told them that he had already gotten it but he hadn't because Kyle and his crew found it first. They dined on peanut butter sandwiches, fishy crackers and apple juice ---typical pirate fare and then headed home with their treasure.

While Kyle was off pirating, CJ, Mom and Dad went around the Caribbean Beach Resort. We found a playground with a slide and in a sandy beach area. CJ played while Mom and Dad sat on the shady part of the beach and conserved energy. :-)

Once Kyle disembarked, we headed to Epcot. Epcot was a lot of fun for the boys because most of the things that we chose to do were hands on and interactive. They took part in Kidcot which were six separate stations around FutureWorld and one in each of the countries of the World Showcase. At each station, they made a trinket to hang from their lanyard and Kidcot ticket or in World Showcase, a mask. We did all of the stops in FutureWorld but only made it to Canada's kidcot stop before the Illuminations show at the close of the park. The boys loved the stops though and took their time at each one to color and make it look just right. They were very concerned about getting all of their ticket filled up!

We started at Spaceship Earth, traveling through the history of communication. They have revamped the ride from when John and I rode it last. Now, it has an interactive part where they take your picture and then put you in a future world according to how you answer a series of questions. They boys loved seeing themselves!

After you got off the ride at Spaceship Earth, there were several interactive games. You could drive a futuristic car --- Kyle and CJ both drove like maniacs at 200 to 300 miles per hour careening from one side of the highway to the other. It was cute.

Next came an energy game where you had to supply a city with the energy it needed to operate. You used hockey like clubs to knock energy bubbles into the areas and businesses that needed it. The boys were able to power over six million people's homes.

Directly off the ride leads into the Innoventions East where you can
explore Waste management and recycling. We competed in a game about recycling your trash, burning waste and making landfills. It was interesting although the educational aspect kind of went over the boys' heads. Here is Kyle and CJ pushing our garbage truck.
We also went to the lab where they test products. Kyle and CJ loved to jump on the pads that made doors slam, turn on and off the buzzers to overload circuits and pull back the rope to smash a TV. CJ was even still talking about it on the monorail ride home. While in the Innoventions building, it started to rain. Luckily, we had ponchos so it didn't affect our fun.

We went to Ellen's Energy Adventure next which took you through the different sources of energy in a moving movie theatre. Because of the Dinosaur ride the other day, CJ is scared of dark rides thinking that they are all about attacking you. I had to hold him in my lap and tell him that nothing would hurt him. He didn't really believe and kept asking if it was over and if we could get off. He was the first one out the door when the ride stopped.

To give CJ a break, we stopped and ate lunch at the Electric Umbrella next to the dancing fountains. Then, we went over to Innoventions West where there were video games, a fire safety section, a robot lab and a photo lab. We sent home a picture of ourselves with a fireworks background and a space one. Kyle, CJ and John played some of the newest games from XBOX and some touchscreen games by Disney. In one section was a fire safety zone. There was a game that used two teams the FindMores and the Searchwells. You had a six room house with large screens. In the house were 300 fire hazards and you had to find them before the time ran out or the house "burned down". We each had a Xray flashlight that we used to find the fire hazards and then when you clicked on them you fixed the problem before they caught fire and burned down the house. Our team won....we beat the Find Mores. Yay! (Kyle and CJ were very excited and cheered loudly when it was announced that we won). After you exited the game, there was a playhouse that you practiced getting out of during a fire. They lit a fire (shown a colored light) on an area of the house and you have to get out the nearest exit and to the safe meeting place. There was also a big fire engine that you could climb on and look at each part. Needless to say, we spent quite some time in the fire safety section.

We went to the Living Seas next, where we rode clamshells through an aquarium and Nemo's story, talked to a turle in Turtle Talk with Crush and then played with sharks in the Shark playground. CJ loved the Turtle talk where Crush seems to be real making jokes and answering questions from the audience. Amazing technology!
Here are my men getting eaten by a shark....

We went to the Land to visit the kidcot station there, stopped by Canada so the boys could make a mask and ended our adventure at the Test Track's kidcot stop. The Test Track itself had closed due to the rain.

We ended our day by watching the Illuminations firework show over the lake at the World Showcase. All in all a great day!

Day Four at Walt Disney World -- Hollywood Studios and Downtown Disney

We started our morning at Ohana (Family) --- a character breakfast. As you ate your sausage, bacon, eggs, fruit and Mickey waffles, four different Disney characters came to your table to sign autographs and poise for pictures. We were visited by Pluto, Mickey, Lilo and Stitch.

CJ was scared of Lilo for some reason...he hid in his chair in a small little ball (very cute). The rest of the characters were okay in his book. In fact, he ran up to Mickey at top speed and crashed into Mickey to give him a hug. It was adorable.

There was a parade for any kids who wanted to be part of it around the restaurant. They gave them shakers and they made "music" as they paraded around the room with the characters. CJ was too nervous to join in but Kyle proudly walked with his music makers.

After breakfast, we got on the bus to Hollywood studios --- a park we will revisit on Monday because this is Star Wars weekend and well...that means that weird, obsessed people stood in line since 4 a.m. to see the Star Wars part of the park and that meant that there were a TON of people at the park. The shortest line was 90 minutes!

We started out at Playhouse Disney live show --- a puppet and live actor mix show starring Mickey's Clubhouse, My friends Tigger and Pooh, Handy Manny and the Little Einsteins. The boys were enthralled, mouths open the whole time. Their favorite part --- when Handy Manny fixed the bubble machine and bubbles filled the audience.

After the Playhouse Disney show, we went to the Toy Story Mania ride --- the one that said 90 minute wait. It was every minute of that 90 minutes and during that wait we decided to come back Monday when it wasn't so busy. The ride itself was really fun....shooting arcade. Kyle got 45,000 points, John got 120,000 points, CJ got 21,000 points and I got 68,000 points. You had a little guy that you pointed at various targets that reappeared after you shot them like a shooting arcade at an old fashioned carnival.

On the way out of the park, we stopped and watched the Block Party parade featuring Disney Pixar characters. At one point, they threw little nerf balls into the air. Kyle got one and got to keep it :-) When we go back on Monday, we'll get closer and try to nab one for CJ.

We headed to Downtown Disney on Disney buses. We went to McDonalds for lunch --- once the boys saw it there was not another option. It was actually a very nice McDonalds with a "happy meal factory" on the ceiling. Happy Meal boxes ran on tracks on the ceiling through drinks, fries, etc. like a little train. The boys thought it was fantastic.

After lunch, we went to Legoland. The boys spent quite awhile on the lego playground where they built all sorts of fine inventions with legos. Kyle made a plane with slides and cranes and hooks. CJ made a Cranky the crane house like concoction with a lot of really cool features.

We went shopping at World of Disney and Once Upon a Toy and while we were there, we played with Mr. Potato head --- they had a bunch of different accessories from Star Wars costumes, to Princess outfits, to Pirate costumes to Toy Story costumes. CJ made a very, very interesting Potato head.

We headed back to our resort and the boys played in the room. We watched the movie Spy Kids and ordered room service. The boys were really excited about room service. Kyle had to open the door for the waiter and help organize who was eating where. It was very cute.

Now, we are off to bed as we have to be rested for more adventures tomorrow.

Day Three at Walt Disney World -- Animal Kingdom and Typhoon Lagoon

With the early magic hours, we got into Animal Kingdom just as it opened its gates which meant that we made it through all the rides on our "to do" list in less than three hours with basically no waiting.
We rented our stroller of course...the only way to travel!

First we went on the Kilimanjaro Tours ride which takes you on a "two week" trip through the African wild animal preserves "800 square miles". We were on the look out for poachers, a fact which Kyle took to heart after pondering what a poacher was and how he/she made the choice to kill animals or steal them and what ethical choices must be made in the universe in order to catch them. He is quite a philospher in the seventy questions a minute category. Needless to say, he was quite glad when we caught the poachers and made it back safely albeit sooner than the guide told us we would be back.

After our Safari, we went to Bug's Life's show, "It's Tough to be a Bug". Do not, I repeat, do not take anyone younger than ten on this one. Bugs come out of the ceiling, attack you from the 3D screen and there is a lot of noise and sensory experiences that made our two little boys scream with fear. They were both crying at the end despite the lighthearted conclusion. Big mistake on that one.

We took them straight to Dinoland next. That helped a lot.
We went to the Dino Dig where they got to play amongst the bones of a dinosaur excavation and play on a jeep and on slides and in tunnels. They would have stayed all day if we would have let them.

They loved pretending to drive a jeep.

CJ playing in the cargo boxes. Hard to catch him being cute without trying but I did it!

After they tired themselves out and it started to get a little more warm, we headed to more dinosaur attractions. First, there were dinosaurs to climb...

Then, there was a Tricertops spin --- think the Dumbo ride but tricertops instead. Not sure why Tricertops are flying but....that's okay, I guess I don't really need to know. Anyway, they loved it so that is all that matters.

After the Spin, we went to the Dinosaur ride. You go back in time to find a Hadrosaur and bring it back to the labs. Of course, it goes horribly wrong and you end up in feeding time with carnivorous dinosaurs who jump at you and make a lot of noise. Once again....NOT a ride for young children. John spent the whole ride covering CJ's eyes and ears and I spent the whole ride protecting Kyle. We even got photographic evidence as the ride has a camera embedded in the scariest scene to snap your reactions. There were a lot of cool decorations as you waited for the ride. Most impressive was the Tyranasaurus Rex skeleton. Grandpa would have loved all the sedimentary layers and fossils.

We then went to lunch at the Restaurantsaurus --- a hot dog, hamburger, nugget sort of place which the boys loved and once again actually ate all their food. We left after lunch and headed back to our hotel to change.

We decided to cool off at Typhoon Lagoon -- a waterpark with sandy beaches, slides, and a wave pool. Except for a brief pause when we had to leave the water because lightening had hit five miles from the park, it was an excellent time.

Kyle and John rode wave after wave in the Wave pool.
Before the wave hit....

And...right before the wave hits...if you look close you can see the wave breaking right before it is about to hit Kyle and John. Kyle is waving at me.

While Kyle and John were being daredevils, CJ and I stayed in calmer waters (CJ was relunctant to even go down any of the slides). He even had fun out of the water building sand castles that we decorated with leaves that we found.

We went as a family on the innertube ride and played in the kiddie part of the park. We had Mickey Mouse ice cream and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.

As the waterpark was closing, we headed back to the resort and had dinner at Captain Cook's. It was a nice American/Hawaiian grill. A nice change.

Then we went out to the beach front and watched the water pageant. Boats carrying lightup panels go across the lake. First, a dragon lights up, then a whale, a turtle, octopus, dolphins, and lastly King Triton appears all to musical accompaniment. After the show, we took a boat across to Magic Kingdom and watched the fireworks show. CJ almost fell asleep on the way back.

Currently, I am typing this and both boys are sound asleep behind me. It took them five minutes to fall asleep. Success!

Day Two at Walt Disney World --- Ahoy Pirates!

Despite our initial disappointment that the Pirates of the Caribbean ride was closed for renovations...it has been an incredible day. The boys still chose the pirate theme for their choice of souvenirs from Walt Disney World.

Presenting Pirate Mickey Kyle

Presenting Pirate Goofy CJ

The pirates get to go on their own pirate adventure on Sunday from 9:30 to 11:30. They will search for buried treasure with other kids and Captain Jack Sparrow. Mom and Dad are not allowed to come! We'll report more once they return!

We began the day on the monorail --- early morning park admittance because of being a resort guest. We rented our double stroller (keep the boys from getting worn out) and went to the Dumbo ride. The boys didn't like the wait which was 30 minutes even with the early admittance, but they loved flying Dumbo.

From there, we went to Peter Pan and rode the pirate ships through Neverland. CJ came out with the biggest smile on his face raving about seeing Captain Hook in the crocodile's mouth almost getting eaten. Kyle loved seeing Peter Pan flying the ship. Both said it was their favorite ride! (so far)

After Peter Pan, we went to Buzz Lightyear and got on very fast. We rode our cars and shot aliens. Kyle got 104300 points, CJ got 6200 points, John got 64000 points and I got 3100 points. Makes me the least proficient alien killer of the bunch. We got pictures made on the ride. I'll show everyone when we get back.

After Buzz, we went on the Tomorrowland Transit authority -- a gentle track ride that goes through all the rides in Tomorrowland --- like a sneak peak of each one. We ended up riding it twice because the boys liked it so much....even the dark tunnels through Space Mountain.

We stood in line for the race cars at the Indy Speedway and just as we got to the front of the line, CJ and Kyle had to pee. Yay. So, out of line and to the bathrooms...the first of many last minute exits today....oh joy! When we finally got back, we got on our cars. Kyle and CJ steered and John and I held gas pedals down. They wanted to do it again but the line had gotten long so we put that on the shelf for another day.

We went to Laugh Floor next which is a show starring the monsters of Monsters Inc. It is an interactive show where they pick on people in the audience and make jokes about them. It was cute and luckily none of us were made fun of.

After the show, we headed to lunch at Village Fry's which is a McDonald restaurant at Disneyworld....serves Fries and hot dogs. Perfect lunch time meal for the boys! All proudly finished...no wasted food. Yay!

We went to the Pirates ride next and that is when we found out it was closed until the 19th --- the day after we leave. Oh well....

So, as it was getting hot, we went back to the resort and to the pool. Kyle liked the Volcano slide...I think he went down it at least twenty times. CJ did it twice, sunk under the water and Mom had to grab him out by the back of the shirt so that was enough of that. He and Mom and Dad played in the little water pools and waterfalls and left the adventuresome things to Kyle. He is the daredevil right now. :-)

We had to get out of the pool when the thunder clouds rolled in and lighting appeared in the sky. So, we came back and got ready for dinner. We went to the feature dinner show at the Polynesian -- the Aloha dinner show which features dancers and fire jugglers. It was amazing. The boys got glow cubes with their drinks. Little plastic squares that look like ice cubes that light up seven different colors in a variety of patterns. They were mesmerized with them and for the most part forgot to watch the show. The best part was the fire juggler/dancer who actually caught fire in his mouth and then lit a stick with it, twirled and threw fire sticks, and rested flaming ones on his feet. I still don't know how he did it!

Back to our room now...John is playing the quiet game with the boys...who can stay the quietest and the stillest. Our attempt to get them to relax and go to bed so we can have another full day tomorrow. CJ is winning. :-)

Day One at Walt Disney World

We began our day on the plane to Florida --- CJ's first plane ride and Kyle's first that he remembers. The boys found security to be very entertaining...they like that the airport keeps out bad guys and liked walking through the metal detector.

Once on the plane, they clicked on and off the lights, adjusted the air, checked out all the magazines in the pockets of the seat back and read the safety instructions carefully.

Then these cool dudes sat back and enjoyed the flight --- coloring, playing leapsters, reading magazines with mom, drinking their AA provided drink and keeping Mom on her toes. How many trips to the bathroom was it, Dad?

We took the Disney Magical Express service to our resort hotel. Along the way they showed a movie about Walt Disney World. We went to our room at the Polynesian and the boys checked out the beds, found every light in the room and turned it on, and opened and shut every single door and drawer they could find. They approve.

After we checked into our room, we went directly to the Magic Kingdom on the monorail and went to the Barbershop. The boys got much needed haircuts. CJ was scared and cried so Mom let him put the Disney fairy dust(Mickey confetti) in her hair. It kept him calm especially since Janet the lady doing the haircut gave him stickers as well which he stuck to the hair on Mom's arm. :p

Kyle was much braver...I caught him in this pose which reminded me of the Norman Rockwell picture where the boy is doing much the same expression and pose getting his haircut in the old fashioned barber chairs.

We watched the Million Dreams parade and the boys got very excited about the Peter Pan, Robin hood and Pluto characters that came by on floats. Then we rode It's a Small World, played on the Pooh Hundred Acre Woods playground, investigated Mickey's and Minnie's house and Donald's boat, saw Mickey's Philharmagic in 3D, and rode on Pooh's ride in honeypots! We had dinner at Pinochio's restaurant, and ice cream at the ice cream parlor. Then we headed back to our hotel to rest for another full day tomorrow.

As I finish this, the boys and John are on the balcony watching the magical fireworks show. They are enthralled and it is really cool that we can see it from our room.

Our Family Vacation to Walt Disney World

Countdown to a week of FUN!

Kyle gets his blue belt

Kyle has now taken his fourth belt test in martial arts --- the test for the blue belt (leaving purple, brown, red and then black.) He had to do a written test on what effort is and then show a six step combination, and then grapple/wrestle with a line of boys. He did very well.

Here he is with the written part that mom was allowed to help with for spelling purposes --- perserverance? hope she got that part right. :-) Kyle even drew an illustration of someone showing effort.

Kyle had to do the six step combination several times showing the correct form. He did very well especially considering most of the boys were much older than him.

Kyle doing take downs and getting out the guard. He had to wrestle/grapple with four different boys one after another.

After all that work....a blue belt.

First Day of Summer Vacation

Well, it has been an interesting day for Mom, Kyle, CJ and Alyssa on our first day with Mom home for the summer. We cleaned up our toys in the playroom, had learning time with workbooks on math and reading for Kyle and CJ, and had snacks outside (popsicles). Mom cleaned up the downstairs, did laundry and tackled the hall closet --- finally fully organized. Yay!

We went to Walmart, and were evacuated. That made for an interesting experience. We were buying milk and supplies and they came on the announcement system and said, "Please stop shopping and evacuate immediately." When we got outside they had four police cars out front and were locking the doors and shutting the gates to the garden center. Very, very strange, but we didn't stick around to see what was going on...we just left quickly!

We are getting ready for Walt Disney World...pulling out suitcases and making the list of things to bring. It is very close now.

We'll see if tomorrow is as eventful. :-)

Kyle graduates from kindergarten

Kyle had his kindergarten graduation today. They began the program by singing three songs with hand motions. Kyle did a good job singing and looked cute up on stage especially during the sunglasses song.


Then it was time to walk across the stage, get his diploma and hug his teacher. Yay Kyle!


Afterwards, cookies and punch! Kyle hung out with his friends and family to enjoy his last days as a kindergartner.

Kyle's Baptism

After accepting Jesus into his life on April 30th -- Kyle was baptized this morning at the 9:30 service. He was very excited and proud. He did a great job --- even annointing the children's minister, Charlie, with a mouthful of water when he came back up.
We are so happy for his decision.

Kyle tenatively walked into the baptismal...I don't think he expected the water to be that warm.

Pastor Charlie asked Kyle why he was here today, and he responded that he had asked Jesus into his heart at Awana.

They after a quick pose for Mom...

...he was baptized.