We’re having some major internet connectivity issues around these parts.  I wanted to get this post up last night so that you could all check out some of my favorite vacation pictures, but alas, it wasn’t to be.  And rather than ramble on and risk losing my connection again, I’m going to let the pictures do the talking and get them up before my internet goes down again.  Enjoy!

Why is it that when you are waiting for your Walt Disney World vacation to begin, the two week countdown slowly drags by but when you are actually at  Walt Disney World for a two week vacation that same period of time scoots by like a scuttlebug cuttin’ a rug?

We’re home.  And, yes, even after two weeks at the Mouse house I was sad when our vacation came to a close.

We had an absolutely magical time though.  Here’s a breakdown of the good:

- not one but two Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Parties to attend
- seeing and touring with my SIL who flew down from DC to join the fun
- delicious meals in some of Disney’s signature restaurants
- visiting both Typhoon Lagoon and Blizzard Beach (Disney’s water parks) for the first time
- not worrying about planning for, preparing, or cleaning up after two week’s worth of meals
- tasting foods and wine from around the world during the Food and Wine Festival at Epcot
- being invited to attend a sneak preview of the new Tink movie (which by the way comes out on Disney DVD on October 28th).
- the opportunity to hang with my peeps when all but one of my Moms Panel crew (plus our beloved Disney Cast Member friends) flew in for the Expedition Everest 5K at Animal Kingdom
- and speaking of the EE5K, did I mention I was participating?  More on that later…

In spite of being surrounded by pixie dust for two whole weeks, we did encounter one or two less-than-magical happenings.  Luckily this list is much shorter than my first:

- bickering kids.  It seems that with only 13 percent of the square footage we’re used to having at home the 380 square foot hotel room was a tad cramped once we crammed all six of us into it. 
- weight gain.  I came home five pounds heavier.  Yeah, um, apparently the fact that my running shoes, shorts, and sports bra were hanging out in the suitcase didn’t do much for the toning and trimming of the mom bod.  Whatever.
- ER visit.  No, not the filming set.  Jayce developed a sudden onset of croup eight nights in that landed Jeff and I in the hospital with him from about 3am until 7am.  And wouldn’t you know it was the night before that 5k I was supposed to be running?  You can imagine what that did for my athletic stamina.

I’m proud to report though, that in spite of that little medical emergency, I did in fact not only complete my first ever 5k, but I did far better than I thought I would.  I anticipated that I’d walk (power walk that is) about 50% of the course.  In all my training I never was able to come even close to running 3 miles.  Of course, that training did take place here in Arizona where, believe it or not, we do actually have some elevation.  In case you haven’t heard we also have heat.  So that training I did in the heat and altitude apparently really helped because when it came time to run through the Animal Kingdom I was pleased as punch to find that the humidity wasn’t all that hard to overcome.

And my Torri?  Well let me just tell you that she is one HQP my friends.  She was all prepped to babysit that night but when Jayce suddenly developed the inability to breathe she stepped right up and agreed to be my running partner instead.  In her black low-top Converse shoes btw.  And her short shorts.  She ran right along side me in spite of not having trained at all.

See?  Total HQP.

Anyway, I just wanted to let you all know that I’m baaaaaaaaaaaaaaack.

And I promise to work hard at catching up with my overflowing email inbox and bloglines feeds.  Yes, I am totally dying to hear what you all have been up to over the last two weeks!  I hope you’ll forgive my absence and lack of commenting.  I’ll make up for it!  ;)

Oh, and if you’re the least bit interested, check back this weekend for pictures and highlights from our Summer Send-Off Bash at the Beach Club!

Toodles.

So here it is, our fourth full day at WDW and finally I’ve got a moment to fill you all in on what’s been going on.  

So far we’ve toured three of the four major theme parks; Hollywood Studios is on our yet to do list.  Today we visited a water park (Blizzard Beach) for the first time.  We don’t really frequent water parks because with the ages of our kids it’s just not all that feasible but Blizzard Beach was fun, as far as water parks go.  I even learned a tip to pass along: if your self esteem needs a boost, throw on a suit and head to the closest water park.  I don’t want to be too graphic so I’ll just say that you’ll likely be amazed (and not in a good way) at what the majority of the population looks like in swimwear.  ’Nuff said right?

We’re off to the Hoop De Doo dinner show tonight.  I really should be showering the remnants of the water park stuff off before I go.  I’ll leave you with some photos though.

Wish ya were here!

We’ve done it again.  We’ve braved three airports and two flights with four children in tow.  You might be wondering how we do it.  I have but one word for you: carefully.

We take up an entire row on an airplane – from one window, across the aisle and all the way over to the window on the other side of the plane.  We’ve discovered that the best seating arrangement is to have all three girls sit together on one side of the aisle, with Torri in the middle, while Jeff, Jayce and I sit just across the aisle.  That way the girls can share use of the portable DVD player.  Torri has been relegated to act as referee to her two younger siblings; without her to cushion them, those two tend to fight like Tyson and Holyfield.

Wouldn’t you know that our flights to Orlando just couldn’t go off without a hitch.

One of our neighboring flyers was definitely not a HQP.  In fact, I’m fairly certain she smelled bad.

About 3/4 way through the flight from Albuquerque to Orlando I ventured across the aisle to assist Cassidy in the tightening of her seatbelt.  While I was struggling with the latches, the woman (whom I’ll refer to as mean brunette) in the seat directly in front of Cassidy, ahem, addressed me.

Mean Brunette: Excuse me, I think I can propose a remedy to this situation.
Me: Situation?
Mean Brunette: Your child is kicking my seat.
Me: Oh, I’m sorry.
Mean Brunette:  Well you see, this middle seat is empty.  Perhaps she could move to the middle seat and kick away.
Me: Yeah, um, the problem is that her and her sister tend to rip each other’s hair out at the roots whenever they come within three inches of one another.  Unless you are a paramedic, that proposal isn’t such a great idea.  I apologize about the seat kicking though.  I’ll talk to her.

Meanwhile, Jeff pipes up from across the aisle.

Jeff: (addressing mean brunette) You know, you could move to the middle seat.
Mean Brunette: (completely taken aback) Well!  Are you proposing I move to accommodate your child?
Me: (butting back in) I do apologize for the kicking.  She is a special needs child and behavior is something we really struggle with.  I can’t put her next to the redhead because they’d both end up beaten and bloody and that would put a serious damper on our family vacation.
Mean Brunette: Well then.  Maybe the redhead should be more well behaved.

This is where I had to take a deep breath ya’ll.  My tendency would be to show her that I , in fact, could be more well behaved.  I’ve been working hard though on not speaking out of anger and you should all be proud because I totally held my tongue.

The mean brunette first moved to the middle seat.  By the time I had finished with the seat belt she had moved to the aisle seat of the empty row behind the girls.  As she went she told me, in no uncertain terms, that she was none too happy about moving to accommodate my child.

My response to which was to smile sweetly and thank her kindly for her consideration.

You know what they say, after all, you catch more mean brunettes flies with honey.

More updates to come!

Remember those Disney shirts we were working on?  Well, it took me awhile to get this post ready because, well, because I’m lazy.  When I finally finished ironing on all those transfers and neatly folding the shirts so as not to crease the transfers the last thing I wanted to do was unfold all of them to take pictures.

I had a few spare seconds today though so I snapped a couple of quick photos.  You’ll notice that I made every effort not to disturb that aforementioned folding.

I think you’ll agree that these babies are totally cute.

We have five shirts each.  Three of our shirts are personalized so that while it’s clearly recognizable that we’re a group, each person’s shirt is a bit different.

Here are those:

That last group is our Animal Kingdom shirt.  The logos we came up with may not make a lot of sense to you unless you’re a Disney World fan.  Each one sort of corresponds with an attraction at Disney’s Animal Kingdom theme park.  The “advertisement” is meant to be tongue in cheek on a few of them.  For instance, inside the Tree of Life is an attraction called “It’s Tough to Be a Bug.”  So, the exterminator bit kind of pokes fun at that.  The Mt. Everest Track Inspector (tough to read in this picture) refers to the infamous mangled tracks on the Expedition Everest ride.

Fun aren’t they?

And then we have two shirts that are not personalized.  Well, they are personalized in that we made them, but unlike those first three, these are identical.

Here are those:

And last but not least are the books we made.  We came up with this idea last year and it was such a handy tool that we brought them back.  They contain a daily itinerary, fun facts and trivia, and a “While You Wait” section that has all sorts of Disney-inspired games to help keep the kiddos (and adults actually) entertained while we are waiting in line for attractions.

See there?  Told you we put a lot of effort into our trips.

So, whatdya think?  Which is your favorite?