Disney World

Okay, I finally feel rested enough from my vacation to contemplate blogging about it.  Disney World is not a restful destination, and I took a week "at-home" vacation when we got back in order to recover.  An at-home vacation for a stay-at-home mom means only doing the things that must be done and nothing more.  I fixed meals and did dishes, but didn't attempt any cleaning.  For several days, my main occupation was finishing a novel (Clash of Kings by George R.R. Martin).

I'll try to keep this brief, since I know vacation stories and pictures are boring for all except those who got to go on the vacation.

When we (me, the kids, and my mom) left Dulles Airport it was somewhere around freezing.  We arrived in Florida to sunny skies and 80-degree weather.  I can now fully appreciate why some people overwinter in the Sunshine State.  If this is what a Florida winter is like, I can't imagine how hot and miserable the summer is.

On Sunday, I insisted we attend church.  As we exited the church building, the kids exclaimed (loudly), "Thank goodness that's done!" and "That was boring!"  Such well behaved children I have.

After church we visited Leu Gardens.  It was quite extensive, but my favorite part was the rose garden.  It was in full bloom.  In January.

Some of the roses were quite large.

Lots of Spanish moss made some things look ghostly

And we had to look out for local wildlife.  No alligators were seen.

After the beauty and serenity of the gardens, we were ready to tackle an amusement park full of asphalt and stimulation.  The Magic Kingdom was the destination for Monday.

Jesse insisted that Space Mountain be the first ride of the day.  Michael and Jesse were both tall enough to ride, so they went with Grandma and Grandpa (who flew in Sunday evening) and I watched Isaac and Peter.  Reactions from Space Mountain?  Jesse:  "That was awesome!"  Michael: *shivering and shaking*  I forgot that Michael is scared of the dark.  Oops.

That was the theme for the day (that and losing track of children in a crowd).  Jesse would like a ride and Michael would think it's too scary (such as Pirates of the Caribbean, and the Haunted Mansion), or Michael would like it and Jesse would think it's boring (it's a small world).  However, there were plenty of rides that everyone liked, and a good time was had by all.  My favorite pictures of the day were by the stocks, set up near the Haunted Mansion.

What a nice smile Michael.  But you're not supposed to  be happy when you're in the stocks.  Give me a sad/angry face.

Bravo!

Hollywood Studios was home to the ride Star Tours, the ride Jesse and Michael wanted to go on again and again.  It's a simulator ride, where you sit in a seat and there's a screen in front of you and the seat moves and tilts to match what's happening on the ride.  The premise of the ride is you're transporting a Rebel spy and trying to elude the Imperials.  However, what made this ride fun to ride again and again is that it has several different beginnings, middle and endings.  I think I read it had 54 different combinations.  So the first time you ride you could escape from Darth Vader in the hanger, fly through the forests of Kashyyk (Wookie planet), get a message from Leia about the Rebel spy, and zip through Coruscant to a landing platform.  And the next time you ride you could escape from stormtroopers, fly through a pod race on Tatooine, get a message from Yoda, and go through the core on Naboo and almost get eaten.  With short lines, Jesse and Michael rode this six times and saw almost all of the possible segments.

Near the Star Tours ride there was a Jedi Training Academy show.  If you get to the park right at opening, you can sign up your child to participate.  We arrived on time, got in line, and got in on the last show of the day.  All the slots were gone within 45 minutes.  It's open to children 4-12.

All younglings were given their own Jedi robes.  Then they were taught to use a lightsaber.

Here's Isaac demonstrating a proper lightsaber pose.  Sorry for the blurry pic, but it seems my camera doesn't do as well in the dark.

Then, BUM, BUM, BUM! Darth Vader shows up looking to draw the younglings to the Dark Side.  Each child got to fight Darth Vader using the skills they had just learned.  Vader made it easy by holding his lightsaber rather still so spazoid and shy kids could hit it.  Still, it was pretty fun to watch.  They were supposed to aim for his right shoulder, left shoulder, left leg, Duck!, other leg, and go for the head.  Jesse spun around instead of ducking, and I don't think Michael ducked at all. 

Jesse and Vader 

Michel looking up at Vader 

Michael and Vader

 In the end, none of the younglings went over to the dark side, and diplomas were handed out letting them know that they are now padawans.

Other days were spent at Animal Kingdom, and Sea World, but I'm trying to be brief, so we'll stop here.  But we were very busy having fun, and most days ended like this:

Many thanks to my parents for making this trip possible.