Disneyworld

Good heavens, my rear is sore from sitting here trying to sort through 1300 pictures!  Yes, I smartly took 1300 pictures!  Sorry- feel free to skip out if you don't want to have to look through the remaining 200 or so here on the blog.  Just too many fun times to not put many of them on here.

So, with no further ado...

Todd and his brothers had a Disney Institute Conference in Disneyworld this month and his mom and Galen had a Beet Growers Association Conference there starting the week prior.  So, logically, we figured we might as well all meet up there when they were done!  This, however, did mean that we wives would be traveling alone with our children starting at 4:00 in the morning and arriving for dinner that night (the 11th).  We survived with only minimal behavioral hiccups.  :)

Todd, at an Orlando Magic game with his brothers the night before we arrived.

When we got there, the restaurant at our resort was pretty booked, so we killed some time at the resort arcade while waiting to be seated.  These pics were taken there.

Lainey and Camden on a simulator ride. (Phone camera pics)

The first day was COLD.  Literally only one degree warmer than it was back in Idaho!  I didn't think it got down to the 40's in Florida!  So we all wore our jeans... again... for two more days.  After that it warmed up to as high as 83 F and it felt fantastic.

Due to the weather, we spent our first day mostly indoors at Magic Kingdom Park.

Here we are waiting in line to meet some Disney princesses.

Ashton wasn't about to be seen with princesses.  

He kept a low profile and was happy to be outta there.

Next up was my favorite part, dress-up!  

Helping Lainey pose at the Bibbity Bobbity Boutique.

Brielle getting her pixie dust after getting made over.

All four girls in their princess dresses (shirts underneath because of the COLD!)

Meeting Cinderella (a different one from the one that morning :) 

at Cinderella's Castle where we ate lunch.

Heading up to the castle dining area.

A slew of princesses came through the restaurant to meet all the guests 

and give their "autograph".

I love Snow White.  I think she's my fav :)
She was the first Disney princess and she's just so classic.

Brielle should have been Ariel (in her dress- not mermaid fins) with her pretty red hair.  Maybe then she could have had her hair down.  I'm not especially a fan of the hair-do they give the little girls, all slicked back tight a'top their heads.  Lainey was just one month shy of 3 years-old, their requirement to participate at the Bibbity Bobbity Boutique so I did her hair myself while Brielle got her hair done. 

Moms with our little princesses.

At the Rainforest Cafe for lunch the next day. 

This is the kids' reaction to the periodic "thunder storms" where rain falls 

here and there and the animals come to "life".

It's a little cut off at the bottom, but this was their volcano dessert. HUGE!

Taking a safari ride in Animal Kingdom.

The Everest Ride

Getting their faces painted in Dinosaur Land.

Ashton and Raegan on a ride with Grandpa Galen.

Kris and Amber took their older kids on bigger rides most of the 

days and this was one of the days Raegan hung out with us.

The ladies.

Walking the sleepy girls in circles while the the other kids 

played the stuffed animal-prize games.

Lainey's Minnie Mouse outfit.  (Hollywood Studios)

Dancing like she always does!

We ate lunch at a "character dining restaurant" where Agent Oso, Jake the Pirate, 

Handy Manny, and Jane from Little Einsteins came by.

A kiss from Oso.

Watching the parade in Hollywood Studios while the kids each 

got their faces painted again on the side of the road.

Time out for ice cream.

Taking Brielle on the Rockin' Roller Coaster.

Later that afternoon we went back to our room where I had ordered cookies and milk from the kitchen that were there waiting for us for Valentines Day.  Then Todd and I got ready for our Valentine's dinner date with the other couples.  The older girls babysat all the kids in one room together.  They ordered dinner to the room and had a great time without their parents.

I also packed a little gift bag for each of the kids that I put together at home with treats and fun little things to entertain them on the plane ride home since they'd all miss their Valentine parties at school.  Todd ordered me flowers before I left, but I missed Val when she came to deliver them.  :(  I got Todd a card, but it was hard to find one!  I looked at all the cards at every store for several weeks leading up to the trip and finally just had to buy one.  But I can never find cards that say how I feel about that man.  He is so special to me.

V-day Dinner

Love my Valentine :)  We enjoy doing a romantic Valentine date 

just the two of us so we'll celebrate the holiday on a date back home later this week.

Back for a second round at Animal Kingdom.

Lainey and I took a train ride to the petting zoo while 

Todd took the older kids on bigger kid rides.

Taking the ferry to Magic Kingdom for the latter half of the day.

Another character dining restaurant for dinner.

It's A Small World

The carousel with Lainey.

The tea cups with the family.

Race cars.  (They're about as slow as molasses.)

The show and fireworks at the castle.

Grandma bought the kids light up toys, being dark outside.

Some of the many faces of the castle.

Blizzard Beach water park.  Todd forgot the memo to pack his blue shorts, 

but here the rest of us are all "matchy-matchy" in aqua blue.

Breaking for lunch.

I love Brielle's giggles and smiles in reaction to Todd and the things he says.

A snap of Taylor and Brielle before they headed back out 

from the kiddie area to ride big girl rides again.

The "Summit"

Heading up to the Summit.

Ashton did medium-sized rides like the iceberg walk, and some smaller 

water slides.  When I took him around, he was too scared to do the zip line.

Talking to Daddy about the zip line.

Todd's pep talk...

Ready and set...

Zip line!

I think this was Lainey dealing with her wedgie...

Cheering Lainey up after skinning her knee there for the umpteenth time.

The bus ride home from the water park.

Waiting for our dinner reservation at our resort and thought I'd take a couple pics. 

We stayed at Kidani Village at Animal Kingdom Lodge.  We LOVED it.

There were animals who roamed around the fenced grounds that you could see from your balcony of your room.  Our kids LOVED seeing different animals outside every day.

Eating dinner at "Sinnaa", the incredibly delicious African restaurant in our resort.

Just saying the name makes me crave the Tandoori Chicken.  I had it twice there.  Todd tried something new the second time and said he had complete platter envy wishing he'd gotten that chicken again, even though his steak was awesome.  If you EVER go there... you must try the Tandoori Chicken!

This was not a cruel new joke, she eats lemons at EVERY dinner.  She must like them 

to keep eating them every time, but she still always makes this face.

This was common by dinner time each night.  In fact, Lainey was soon to follow her :)  

You can see her head propped on my white jacket for a pillow in the background.

Dancing in the sparatic spouting fountain at Downtown Disney.  

The rest of these pics were taken with phones because we packed up our camera in our 

luggage being held at our resort 'till our airport shuttle came.

Lego Land!

Eating lunch at "Portabella" in Downtown Disney.  By this point, our meal plan, which included (per person) an appetizer, entre, and dessert for every meal plus two snacks each day... was beginning to wear on us.  We didn't always go for the dessert, but it's hard not to when it's paid for and included and yummy!  So, sadly, we had to skip the increditble looking Italian desserts here.  

But the food was amazing.

Bus ride home.  Daddy being silly.

In Downtown Disney the Micky Athletic Club had a Ridemakerz station where you build your own remote control car.  Jayden, Ashton, and Brielle each designed their own car.  The kids are crazy about them and have had a blast playing with them at home.  Here are Ashton and Jayden with their cars in their "garages" (boxes).

Brielle's car.

Ashton's car.

The shuttle bus to the airport.  Lainey all tuckered out 

from her week of long fun-filled days.

Ashton and Lainey on the plane ride home.  

We pulled up to the house at about 1:30 AM.

This was my Valentine's Day gift from Todd 

waiting for me at home- my favorite flowers!

(A friend took the delivery and brought them inside.)

The lilies made the kitchen smell so sweet when we first walked in!

As usual, being away made us appreciate being home that much more!  It was fun, but I am a huge fan of HOME.  I missed CrossFit too!  We walked at least 50 miles that week, probably much more with all the running around getting Fast Pass tickets.  Thank heavens for Disney's double stroller rental to add to the little stroller we brought.  So working out was out of the question all but one day.  But the day before we left I maxed on deadlifts and shoulder press with a PR in both!  I added 20 pounds to my deadlift and 10 pounds to my press! Woo hoo!  Made for a sore plane ride there though! :)  That week I also brought my 5 rep max of squats over 200 lbs!  I love progress!