We are here!

Our princess made it to Disney World!

We left our house at 8:00 am and drove and drove and drove. We only made two quick stops for gas, bathroom breaks, and lunch and arrived at our hotel at 4:30. We experienced the Disney magic with a seamless check in process where we never lifted a bag and were drove to our room in a golf cart, while getting a tour of the beautiful resort. Once we got to our room, the kids jumped on the bed and explored the closets and drawers while I unpacked and put a few things away. Luke found a lizard thing (not in our room, he was outside).

 Maiya put on her  Cinderella dress and we took a walk to the quick service restaurant at our hotel and had dinner. Luke liked the touch screen computer where we got to order our food. Part of our hotel package was that we got a refillable mug to use while we are at the resort. The kids loved their first souvenir.

The part of the meal plan that the kids like best - dessert with every meal. Maiya choose a cookie, Luke a brownie, and Evan a popsicle. They are enjoying their desserts on the balcony outside our room.

Here are a few pictures of our room. The kids had already ransacked the place, so that's why there are pillows and other things all over the floor. The couch in the bottom right flips out into a day bed.

After dinner, we decided to check out the monorail train. We rode it around the loop that goes by the Magic Kingdom. Everyone was happy.

We walked through the lobby of our hotel. It's beautiful and there are plants and waterfalls everywhere.

Our busy days of the parks starts tomorrow, so we are back in the room for the night. Showered, in PJ's, and watching Aladdin on TV before turning in for the night. Tomorrow is Animal Kingdom and our breakfast with some Disney characters!

We are going to Disney World!

We have been getting clues every month about a special family vacation that we are going to take. We knew we were going somewhere fun, but didn't know exactly where it was going to be. Tonight, we got our final clue and figured it out!

 

 

We are going to Disney World! We leave in 4 days! We are all very excited!

Sky Top Orchard

We went to visit the apple orchard today. It was a beautiful, sunny day and temps up in the NC mountains were in the upper 60's. It was simply gorgeous. The kids enjoyed the wide open spaces to run and play, and we all enjoyed picking apples. Luke climbed a lot of trees to get to the perfect apple that is very high up in the trees. Evan and Maiya both climbed trees, too, but not quite as high.

We had lots of opportunities for family pictures. Thanks to Luke for getting a picture of Mom and Dad together!

Friday Fun Day

Evan and Maiya don't have preschool on Fridays, so we decided to hop on the light rail train and head downtown.

 

 

We played with the panels on the side of one of the buildings downtown. The building has these long panels every 40 feet or so, and when you hit them, they make a funny noise like a bong, a laugh, a snort, etc. We walked around the entire building and hit each panel.

 

Then, we went to Discovery Place and had a great time. All of the big kids are in school and there were so few people there and Evan and Maiya got to explore and play with exhibits that they usually don't get to use!

 

Pulling down the large lever. He was proud that he was so strong.

 

Walking on the jungle rope bridge.

 

After we went to Discovery Place, we walked over to Grandad's new office and ate lunch at his work. We were on the 33rd floor and Evan was very happy to look out of the floor to ceiling window and see the city from so high up.

 

We also decided to celebrate Friday and have some frozen yogurt this afternoon. Luke enjoyed the celebration.

Keeping busy

Evan and I have been working on drawing and writing. He has been asking how to write some letters, so we are practicing making letters and then drawing a picture to go with the letter that he wrote.

 

 

There is a new splash pad in our area. The kids went to check it out last week.

 

Evan started soccer last weekend.

 

Maiya started gymnastics. Here she is on the cartwheel mat. It has hands and feet on it that is supposed to help them figure out how to do a cartwheel. Maiya usually just falls on her face. But, she laughs when she does it, so I guess she likes it!

 

Here she is discovering pom poms for the first time.

 

Ever since starting preschool, Maiya has been very interested in wearing her dress up clothes. I think she sees her friends at school dressing up and so now she wants to do it at home, too.