A frisky tiger and a little Pooh!

I know you have been dying to know what happened next and I didn't want to leave you hanging!! Cause I know it kept you awake with the suspense and excitement of it all!!!

Wednesday was our day off. We slept in and went to the pool. Ate lunch at the condo and went to the pool some more. Evening we took the kids to McDonalds which is supposed to be the worlds largest. I thought it might be a fun place to go. The pics online looked bright and fun. In reality it was congested, dirty and loud. The older kids did some games and Delaney got lost in the tubes and finally gave up and asked to go home. We grabbed some icecream and headed back. Overall, it was a nice, kick your feet up and do nothing kinda day!!





Thursday was the BIG day for Delaney. I was so excited to be taking her to Disney. She had been there before but didn't remember and we had spent the entire summer talking about this moment.

At this point, backtrack to Universal and the big green man and keep that in mind cause he will play a huge roll here too!

We loaded up and headed off and got there at opening! The gates opened and we headed for the ferry! We were walking the streets by 9am!

We had about a good hour and 1/2 before our scheduled breakfast, so we headed to the most important ride at the park.........Dumbo! That one went over well. Then we did the carousel. The park was fairly slow that early and so we were basically able to just walk on. Then did the the worst thing in the world..........We went for the Mickey 3D show and all hell broke loose. Delaney was having none of it. I had to take her out the exit as she was screaming and crying to loud! (this is where the haunting of the green man comes in! I am sure he will be a lasting memory from this trip for some time to come!)

Any ride that was enclosed was OUT! Which pretty much covers about half the rides at Magic Kingdom! Open air rides were ok. Anything inside was a complete no go. Anything that required 3D glasses evoked such a fit that I began to worry someone would call child protective services on me! One cast member took pity on Delaney (or more so on me who was having to deal with the screaming child while on the Pooh and Friends ride line........or probably to shut both of us up cause we were causing a scene in the middle of the happiest place on earth which is a HUGE no-no.........) and gave her a fastpast for the day on Pooh. That calmed her for about 2 seconds and off she went again crying about having to go on the most scariest ride around. Cause Pooh gives most people nightmares, right?!

We struggled and got her on and as soon as her butt hit the seat, the tears shut off and she says "Look mommy, it's POOH!" *seriously!?* I was sore and tired and covered in sweat trying to assure this child that Piglet was not going to come out and eat her......only to have her say happily a second later......."It's POOH!" I don't know how I made it through that day!

Soon it was time for breakfast at the Crystal Palace. For those that don't know, it is a character meet and greet breakfast. The characters come and make the rounds at the tables while you eat. One has to be very talented to eat here. A parent has to be on the look out for the characters cause if you miss a stop at your table it is about another hour before they come again! So you greet a character, take pics, let them pass, make a mad dash for the buffet, all the while keeping an eye out over your shoulder for the next character....all while balancing two plates on one hand, picking up food with the other and trying not to get the camera in the syrup! A talent indeed!

Just some advise here....be aware of that Tigger. He is a bit frisky! Not only does he try and get your food, I think he wouldn't have minded a few extra hugs and kisses than was appropriate!

We ended our day with a few extra parades, rides and odds and ends..............

The end of a looong day!

Universal...the joys and the horrors!

Our next day was at Universal. Monday we did Island of Adventure. Tuesday was did the Studios. In comparison to our local parks, these parks were rather small! Two main roller coasters in each and one could view the end of the park from the beginning at Islands (it is in a circle formed around a lake). If I did not have a 5 year old with me, we could have not only kicked out this park but the Studios too in one day!

The main thing that I didn't like about this park was the stores. There was a lot of wasted space between attractions and a TON of stores. And not theme park stores. But stores for purses and stores for glasses and stores for shoes.............HELLO! I am on vacation! If I wanted to shop I would have hit one of the many malls around us! I found it rather disappointing! And each ride lead you into another store based on that ride. So if you didn't notice any stores walking to the ride, they made sure you noticed it ending the ride!

But we took our time, ignored the stores and walked around. One of the 1st attractions you come upon is the Spiderman ride. Now Delaney is not into superheros but I was told we would enjoy this ride and so we stood in the line for a fun 3D ride. That was our 1st mistake. And one we would pay for on the rest of the entire trip!

Spiderman was cool. To me. And to my teenagers. And to Todd. But NOT to Delaney. She did NOT appreciate some funky costumed looking creature coming at her. But what made it worse was 'the green man'. One of the villains on the ride. He jumped on the ride, he came at you, he laughed in your face. Of course, the older people knew this wasn't real and that spiderman would recuse us! But the 5 yr old was not having any of it! And with the end of this ride ended the hope for any future rides the rest of the entire trip. Even if it was meant for little kids. Even if it was Pooh or Cinderella. Even if it wasn't 3D. All she would ask is if the 'green man' was coming to get her. And if the ride was inside..........forget it. Done.

We spent the rest of the trip being 'one of those parents'. You know....the ones who stand in line with the screaming kid and everyone gives them looks because they are such horrible parents to put their screaming child on any rides or even consider the thought! I have a new outlook for 'those kinds of parents'. It is one full of pity and complete understanding. It was a hard lesson learned. Do NOT take your 5 year old to Universal!

So we divided and conquered. The older kids and one parent went off to fun attractions and one adult spent hours on end in kiddie playland. Where there were no green men to scare the crap out of you and only sunshine, open air and happy music that would drive anyone insane after listening to it for 3 hours straight!

Here is an example of how one attraction went.....

I was lost in kiddie land at the Studios. Barney has a show there and so I took Delaney back there to see it. The start of the show is a small stage outside of the building where the parents and kids wait to go inside. Delaney is already freaking out and asking if the green man was there and that she wanted to go. I am telling her over and over, loudly mind you, over her tears, that it is BARNEY. Barney! FREAKIN BARNEY! Barney is happy, happy, happy!!! But she was getting more nervous as we waited.

At one point she jumps in my lap and tells me the stage is moving. I look and notice a panicked squirrel up on the mini stage. He is more scared of the kids as he is trying to figure out how to get off that stage without all those little kids jumping on him. But Delaney is freaking out. I explain to her that the squirrel is just trying to get out. And she looks at me with panic in her face and says...... "But what is the squirrel going to DO TO MEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!??????" *seriously?* At this point I began to pray for the strength I would need to get thorough the rest of the week!

This was about the closest thing to thrilling that Delaney got! The seat check!

We're back!

Well we have returned to reality! Vacation is over. And summer is soon to follow! But we had a wonderful time and, except for some cabana boy bringing me a drink on some sandy beach, we couldn't have asked for more!

We left Friday morning at 6am. I woke sleepy heads, loaded up and out the door we went. Although it doesn't look like they actually woke up!

(Yes Delaney is under that blanket! Completely asleep already!)

Notice this picture! It is probably the ONLY shot of the sun you will see from here on out!

Delaney didn't really understand the concept of vacation and began asking when we were going. As far as I was concerned it began when my alarm went off Friday morning! To Delaney, it didn't seem to begin till she set eyes on Mickey! So her "are we on vacation yet?" basically turned into a version of "are we there yet?" the whole trip!

We drove through with one overnight stop and then met up with an online friend, Kathryn, and her family! We had a wonderful lunch and it was great to finally meet up with them!

To introduce her crew......there is Emma, Ryan and Lily!

(Can you tell who the ham is!?)

We stretched our legs, filled our bellies, laughed, talked and got some candy at the store for being good. Then we packed up and off we went again!

We had not driven more than a half hour from the restaurant before the skies opened up! This was our welcome to the sunshine state! And it was a warning of the week to come! Although this was the worst day we had with rain, it was still not a nice site!

As we drove, we noticed the traffic backing up. Then we saw this........

Lesson learned.....do not drive 80 mph in a blinding rain!!

We finally made it to the condo and unpacked. The kids checked out everything, we toured the resort and pool and then headed back out for groceries and dinner!

This was the early morning view from our balcony.........

Now the last few years we have vacationed in Tennessee. One of the things we loved about TN is the relaxing morning environment. Each morning we would grab our breakfast and sit out on the cabin deck, watch the sun rise and chat. This was an issue here! There was not always sun. It was so humid that one would need a shower just sitting out there. And if that didn't change your mind, the lawn guy coming at 7am with his power tools basically killed any idea of peace to start your day!

But I shant complain! I just grabbed my breakfast and headed inside. It was still better than working! And the view was lovely all the same!

And so begins our activities..........

Sunday we headed to Sea World. This was our hottest day by far! The humidity was oppressing. But we dressed as cool as we could, drank a lot of water and tried any attempt to keep cool. Even if that meant taking an extra long time in the air conditioned bathroom!

The park started out slow. We got on a few rides and walked right into shows. By lunchtime the crowds picked up. And so did the rain. But we just pulled out the ponchos, I gave up on any hope for my hair, and we moved on! It was really a nice park and the kids got to feed and pet the dolphins which I think was the highlight of the day!

Notice Megan in this picture? The dolphins loves her so much they swam right up and SPLASHED her! The trainers said this is their version of play! Megan didn't appreciate it very much. Myself? I thought it was about the funniest thing that happened that day! And I have to say they have good aim cause it got her right in the face!

My penny collector!
This was the highlight of her trip. To see how many she can find. And let me say that the parks pray on little collectors like this cause there was hundreds of these machines in the parks! She almost filled one book on this trip alone!



Stay tuned for the excitement of the rest of the week............