Disney Day Two: Hollywood Studios!!

We started out Monday morning with breakfast at Chef Mickey's at the Contemporary. Such a fun way to start out the day. The kiddos loved meeting all of the characters. Finally, no tears from any of my children...they are now over their fears of characters! It makes for a much more relaxing trip!

All of the main Disney characters came over and took pictures with the family. Joshua was completely enthralled with this new experience! But the highlight for my kids was...all you can eat BACON on the buffet!!

After breakfast, we headed out to Hollywood Studios for the day. We started out early with the Tower of Terror. My big two decided to brave it and try it out. Anna Caitlin was not a fan, but hung in there. She was more afraid of the ghosts than anything else. Drew LOVED it! He is my little daredevil! The good news, was after that ride, I could tell Anna Caitlin that there was nothing she was going to ride in all of Disney that would be scarier than that one :)

We got to meet the characters from Jo Jo's circus and Little Einsteins over by Playhouse Disney. And then, the worst part of the trip happened...we lost Drew! I thought he was with my mom and she thought he was with me, but he was NOWHERE to be found. We were running all over the place looking for him, along with Disney workers and a policeman. This probably went on for about the longest 5-7 minutes of my life. Some sweet lady found him sitting behind a trashcan in the shade, taking a break. He had NO idea that he was lost. Very scary!

The other rides we enjoyed were Star Tours and Toy Story Mania. It was our first time riding that and it was SO much fun. Even better than Buzz Lightyear! Afterward, we got to meet Buzz and Woody, only waiting about 20 minutes. And sweet Drew was SO excited!

The grownups also really enjoyed riding the Rockin Rollercoaster. I was pregnant with Drew the last time we were there, so did not get to ride. This was my first time and it was alot of fun! One of the better roller coasters I have ridden!

We had lunch at the 50's Prime Time Cafe, which I would definitely recommend. A fun setting with really good food, probably the best I had the whole trip. Defintely go with the homemade fried chicken...yummy!! Poor Drew was so exhausted that he took a nap at the table without finishing his meal.

We ended the night watching Fantasmic. I had never seen this before and it was GREAT! We loved the water and lights show. A perfect end to a great day!

Disney Day One: Epcot!!

We had the best trip to Disney World for Spring Break this year. Everything was perfect from the beautiful weather to the wonderful memories. I am going to have to blog for each day we were there, because we had a fun but jam-packed calendar.

Mom and Dad rode with me, Jonathan, and the kiddos on the way down. They did SO good! Much better than expected. Joshua was so excited because not only did we get to finally turn his carseat around, he got to sit in between his brother and sister. He was so cute with his little smile the whole way there.

We stayed at the Movies All Star Resort, and I was pleasantly suprised by the accomodations. The rooms were nice and the pool was great. Drew loved the huge Toy Story section! The first afternoon, we took naps, played at the pool, and got ready for our first day at Disney.

Sunday we headed out early to spend the day at Epcot. We thought we better go there first, or the kids would not be happy after going to other parks. They actually really liked it. The favorite rides of the day were Soarin and Test Track for everyone. It was so nice, because dad is a GM employee, we got to go to the front of the Test Track ride and ride several times. We loved it!

Our not so favorite ride was Mission Space. I will not be riding that again. It made me so chlosterphobic that I could not enjoy the ride. Mom took the little ones on the "not intense" ride, but they did not like it either. Drew and Abbie did enjoy the playground there.

Another highlight of the day was the jumping fountains. The four big ones thought that these were great! They played for a good hour and got soaking wet, but they were all very happy! A very fun day to start off the vacation!

Jonathan's Birthday

Okay, so it has been a while since I have had a minute to sit down and catch up on our blog. Jonathan's birthday was at the end of March. My sweet husband celebrated his 33rd birthday this year at Whirlyball. I had never played before, and neither had our friends, but it was SO much fun! it is a cross between bumper cars, basketball, and lacrosse. We had a great time celebrating!

Afterward, we went to dinner at Mellow Mushroom. A very fun night with lots of good friends!

Easter Egg Hunt

We were out of town this year for Easter, so we had our egg hunt the weekend before. We had Easter dinner with mom, dad, Shanna, Brent, Macenzie, and Abbie at our house. Lucky for us, mom cooked, so we did not have to :)

After lunch we hid the eggs in the backyard and let the kiddos go. They loved it this year!! It was Joshua's first Easter egg hunt, and he was happy with just getting one egg. That is all he really cared about. We had a great time, but look forward to the church hunt again next year!

Good Times with Old Friends

There is nothing better than getting together with old friends for a relaxing night of just hanging out! Karen and Matt were in town, so we got to spend the evening with them, their boys, Brady and Cal, and the McLendons. We ordered pizza and let the kids play. It was so nice to hang out and spend some time catching up.

The boys had a great time playing in the playroom with all of the toys. Anna Caitlin and Cal enjoyed hanging out and watching a movie. Matt and Karen may not let him spend any more time with Anna Caitlin. Before he left, he told his mom and dad that he really liked Barbie's Mermaid Tale and thought he might want it for himself :)

Soccer Season

Upward Soccer Season has officially begun. Anna Caitlin has been so excited to start her third year of soccer. She is a natural at it...not sure where she got that from!! Anna Caitlin is a super fast runner and can get the ball down the field great. She scored three goals at her last game and is a star on her team. She absolutely loves everything about it.

This is Drew's first year playing soccer. We should have had an idea of how his season was going to go when, at evaluations, he sat down on the field crossed his arms, and said "I not play soccer. Soccer is too hard." Last Saturday was his first game. He and Anderson are playing on the same team, and Jonathan and James are coaching them. They are the only two who have NO interest in participating. Drew, yet again, sat down in the middle of the field with the game going on all around him with his arms crossed. This past Saturday, we think we may have found his calling...GOALIE!! He does like to hang out in the net with his arms wide open. We will see how the rest of the season goes...

We LOVE Kindergarten!!

Anna Caitlin's Kindergarten year has been SO much fun!! We have had so many activities to enjoy and take part in. At the beginning of the year, they had career day, where they got to dress us. Anna Caitlin wants to be a nurse like her Grammie and Aunt Shanna. She got a real stethoscope and borrowed Aunt Shanna's scrubs. The cutest nurse ever!!

The Ford Fun Run was a highlight for Anna Caitlin. Her friends and family contributed money toward the Ford Foundation. Anna Caitlin ran over 40 laps. As you can tell by the smile, she loved every minute of it!

I am the proud parent of a Kiwanas Terrific Kid!! Anna Caitlin was recognized with the award out of her whole class. She was chosen for the character word Community. We are so proud of our sweet little girl!

In the fall, there were lots of celebrations. Anna Caitlin's class went to the Pumpkin Patch, which was alot of fun. I even got to chaperone. We played games, went to the petting farm, and finished up with a hayride. For Thanksgiving, the whole Kindergarten put on a Thanksgiving play. Anna Caitlin was a "puritan woman" (aka a pilgrim). They were too cute.

The class also made Indian outfits for the Grandparents Luncheon. Grammie and Granddaddy came to eat the Thanksgiving feast with Anna Caitlin.

In February, we celebrated the 100 day of school and Jonathan helped Anna Caitlin make her very own shirt.

The whole Kindergarten also celebrated the Q and U wedding in February. How cute are these little brides and grooms! They had a judge preside over the ceremony and celebrated with a real wedding reception afterward!

In March, the Kindergarten had their Storybook Character Parade. Anna Caitlin got to do her first book report and dress up like the character. She picked Aladdin and dressed up like Jasmine. The whole class looked great!

We will be so sad when Anna Caitlin's Kindergarten year is over. Ms. Nix and Ms. Foster are the best teachers EVER and Anna Caitlin will be so sad to leave their class.