DAY 3-DOWNTOWN DISNEY

EToday was suppose to be waterpark day but unfortunately the water park was closed due to weather.  Yes, it was cold here too, 60 degrees or so.  The hotel and our awesome travel agent got us rerouted to Downtown Disney.  The kids had fun.  Raelynn's favorite part was designing a rollercoaster again which was more crazy than the last one.  It was fun!  I am not sure Coop's favorite part because he's having a sleep over at Trenton's Room and I didn't get a chance to ask him.  For the adults it was a pretty long and boring day.  We had dinner tonight at Animal Kingdom.  It was African dining and definitely wasn't my favorite however afterwards the kids got to play some drums and participate in some Aftrican Dance which was a lot of fun.  

Tomorrow is Magic Kingdom or as Andrea refers to it, Disney World!  

DAY 2-EPCOT

Oh my gosh I am exhausted.  We started our day at 8am and we are just now headed to bed (10:40).  We walked over 9 miles today which is a good thing because we have to walk that much to burn off what we eat at night!  Once again the kids have been fabulous and had so much fun.  We  didn't get to everything at Epcot but what we did was a blast.  Raelynn's favorite adventure today was designing her own roller coaster and then taking it for a test drive!  Coop's favorite was designing his own race car and then taking it for a test run.  The technology here is unbelievable.  We have been very lucky because the parks are not very busy and we have had very little waiting but when we do, the kids manage to entertain themselves quite well.

Tonight we had dinner at Teppan Edo.  It  was delicous and we had so much fun there.  They cook your dinner at your table and were very entertaining.  The food and drinks were so good, by far the best food yet.  After dinner we watched Illuminations which was a light and firework show.  It also was pretty cool.  

Raelynn and Jackie got to pick an oyster tonight in Japan and if there was a pearl inside they could make it into a piece of jewelry.  Luckily Jackie had 2 pearls and Raelynn had a big beautiful one too.  She of course chose a horse shoe and it turned out beautiful.  

It  was another successful day.

I love this picture because if you know us you probably know that Coop's tastebuds are completely destroyed with all the meds and things. The kids took a drink and about gagged and Coop didn't even flinch!

Tomorrow it's to Typhoon Lagoon!!!

DAYY 1 AT DISNEY......

So we made it to Orlando and the kids did fantastic on their first flight.  Seriously they were wonderful and we had a couple people comment about what good travelers they were!  For those of you who don't know, we are traveling with our wonderful friends, The Cozadd's, so when I say the kids traveled fantastic I am talking about all 4 of them.  On our way out of the plane the girls and I ended up a little ways behind everyone else and Raelynn, who is not scared to ask anyone anything, asked the captain if she could see the cockpit.  He was more than happy to invite her in and answered ALL of her questions.  She loved it and her brother was super jealous.  I guess the trip home he might have to visit.

We made it to our resort after spending some time wandering the airport trying to figure out where the heck to go!  We spent the day at the pools in the resort.  They all have sand on the bottoms but the hot tubs kept the adults happy.  Coop's favorite part of the day was at the pools where there was a long slide that he loved.

Tonight we had dinner at Chef Mickey's.  The kids gathered many autographs and had a great time.  We ate way too much but after not really eating all day, it was soooooo good!  This was Raelynn's favorite part of the day.  She was dancing around with Goofy and being quite goofy herself.

To  sum the day up, it was a great way to start our vacation!!!!  I love family time!!!

DISNEY WORLD HERE WE COME.....

Finnally, after years or saving and waiting, we are on our way to Disney World.  We are all so excited.  There  are many "firsts" on this trip.  Monday and Tuesday were very long days but finally Tuesday night arrived.  We were all packed up and kids were in bed by 8:30pm.  There were so many last minute items to handle but it was all done.  Alaarms were set for 3am.  At 2:30 am we hear pitter patters and woke to Cooper.  "Mom I need a drink", so off to the kitchen we went.  We crawled back in bed and Coop asked, "is it time yet?"  I smiled and said no but almost.  3am alarm went off and I was up to Mop the floors, fold the last load of laundry and empty the dishwasher.  Yes, I am that person who cannot leave anything undone.  At 3:45am it was time to wake the kids.  I downloaded Mickey Mouse Club House last night so I hooked my iphone up to the speaker and blasted Mickey Mouse Club House to wake the kids!  I left it repeating over and over and over.  It  didn't take them long to get up and to ask me to please stop!  :)  We did pretty well staying on schedule and pulled out of the driveway just 8 minutes late!  For us that's not bad.  Terry dropped the kids and I off at the gate and went to park.  Raelynn, Coop and I checked our bags and found our way through the airport.  The kids were Rock Stars!  They did fantastic and with my bag weighing in at 50.0 lbs we were set!  Boarding was a little confusing because Terry, Raelynn and Coop were marked as early checkin but I wasn't.  Hmmm how did that happen since I was the one the prechecked us all!  Anyway it was no big deal.  We didn't send Coop through the scanners and expected them to wand him but instead  they took swabs of his hands and ran it through a machine.  Luckily he was cleared, lol.  The flight has been fine.  It was cute watching the kids reaction at take off and Raelynn ran video the whole time.  Raelynn decided we are half way to heaven at this point!  So many fun posts to come...........

  

WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY.......

I love my kids more than I ever thought possible.  As they are getting older they are getting even more fun if that is possible.  They make me laugh often!  Tonight as I was laying next to Raelynn talking about her day we discussed how it was suppose to snow tomorrow.  Raelynn says, "Oh I hope it snows enough to scoop the neighbors driveway."  I chuckled and asked her why.  She replies, "because this girl needs money, I have chickens and a bunnies to feed!"  I laughed and said, "Well what if they don't pay you for scooping their driveways?"  She said, "Oh they'll pay."  I told her she was not allowed to ask them for money.  She quickly responded, "Oh I won't ask them I will have flyer's that will tell them I will scoop their driveway for $10 Bucks!"  I told her that shoveling driveways was a lot of work.  To which she says, "And that is why I will have a disclaimer that says, *Don't expect much, I'm only 9 and don't look at our driveway, my Dad does that!*"  Where does she get this stuff!  The scary thing is she would really do this, all of it!

Cooper is making us so proud in school.  At the beginning of the year I was a little worried about Coop's reading level.  He was reading at a Level C which the teacher assured me was fine and that it is an average level for the beginning of First Grade.  Coop loves school and everything about it.  He works hard and never complains about what he has to do.  He loves to be read to but we have been having him read every other page to us and some other things trying to improve his reading.  Well last week I received the best text from his teacher telling me that Coop just jumped to a Level I.  This is such great progress.  I think with all the scary things we have been told over the years about delays due to his medical condition and brain damage in his frontal lobe I worry about how he may struggle in school.  Needless to say I think I can put those worries to rest for the time being.  Our sweet, ornery boy is doing just fine.  I hope and pray every day that his personality will always shine with the determination, love of life and true sweetness it does today.

LOVE MY KIDS!