One Mom and Three Kids Tackle the World in a Week - Dec '09 Trip Report - Complete :)

[DisMomAmy]

Hi friends!!! I'm here and working on another update for today. I meant to do it yesterday actually but Photobucket was being really flaky. I hope it cooperates today for me. It's been kind of a busy week too.

In good news, we signed Michael's adoption papers on Tuesday night. They were filed this week after a judge signed off on them. We'll appear in court next month with our friends and family by our sides, take everyone out to a nice lunch and all will be said and done. Exciting stuff!

In not so good news, I've gotten a couple phone calls from daycare about Michael. He was diagnosed with autism through our school district as well as a couple other learning obstacles. Unfortunately, he's been having a very rough time behavior wise and it's been really draining. I've spent a lot of the time on the phone with our doctors and school contacts, trying to see what else we could possibly do for him.

But, I will work hard on our first Epcot update and will get it posted this afternoon!! I will also do my very best to get caught up on all of your awesome TRs too!

Just caught up with your Epcot update - sounds like you guys had a great time depsite the rain!

We've been where you are with the Michael/daycare situation... It's a really tough situation to be in and I commend you for standing by your new son even with these challenges.

I know schools do things differently in every state, but does Michael have a behaviorist? As part of Alex's school program (even before he was actually at "school") he had a behaviorist that worked with us outside of school. They were helpful when we were having behavior problems at day care. Unfortunately things didn't work out because the daycare wasn't being very flexible or willing to work with the behaviorist... The hard part for us was that it was the daycare center at my DH's work!

 

[Lovemy3babes]

Hey, Kelli! Congratulations on the adoption!
Please e-mail or PM me if you want to talk...


Kathy

Aw Kathy, thank you!! I might have to take you up on that you old pro! I'm really new to all of this and am just really overwhelmed some days. It's not easy, that's for sure. You're very kind for offering your ears.

You got some very good pictures on Nemo! That's a tough one since it's dark and moving.

I agree on the Mexican nachos. We had them too and they were nothing special. Very Taco Bellish as you said!

Congratulations on your adoption. That is very honorable of you and your DH. It really takes a very special kind of person to do that. My DH and I have talked about it since we cannot have anymore children, but we are very uncertain about it all. You will surely be blessed for being so generous to that child and thank goodness he has someone to love him.

Nemo is dark, isn't it? It's cute so I wanted to try and grab a few shots. I hope that wasn't a no-no. And thank you so much for the congratulations. Michael is our biological great nephew and he was in foster care when we started our process. Adopting out of foster care is not for everybody but the costs are very minimal. Let me know if you ever have any questions, ok?

 

[Lovemy3babes]

Just caught up with your Epcot update - sounds like you guys had a great time depsite the rain!

We've been where you are with the Michael/daycare situation... It's a really tough situation to be in and I commend you for standing by your new son even with these challenges.

I know schools do things differently in every state, but does Michael have a behaviorist? As part of Alex's school program (even before he was actually at "school") he had a behaviorist that worked with us outside of school. They were helpful when we were having behavior problems at day care. Unfortunately things didn't work out because the daycare wasn't being very flexible or willing to work with the behaviorist... The hard part for us was that it was the daycare center at my DH's work!

Hi Amy!! We did have a fun morning, even while wet! I'm not sure we have a district behaviorist but that pretty much sounds exactly what we need right now. The Autism specialist is planning on observing him again at daycare tomorrow and I'm just really hoping she can help. SOme of these behaviors will not be tolerated for very long I am afraid. I really appreciate the suggestion and I will bring it up at his next team meeting for sure!

 

[Lovemy3babes]

Another update will be coming today! I've had very little Dis time lately and I feel horrible. I hate when people abandon their TRs and I promise I will not be doing that. Our Epcot night will be coming next!

 

[SoonerGirl]

Take your time, we know you've got a lot going on right now. We'll be here when you're ready!!

 

[Lovemy3babes]

When I last left off, we were taking an early afternoon break. The kids and I could probably have gone for awhile longer but being pregnant, my sister got pretty tired easily when we were in Disney, which is understandable. And we all were wet and the weather wasn’t exactly “warm” while being that wet so we decided to head back to OKW for a few.

When back in our rooms, we didn’t nap but just took a little downtime and put on some warmer clothes. We planned on staying until closing so I didn’t want anyone to be uncomfortable while we were there. My sister and I made plans to meet back up at the bus stop around 4pm or so. We had a 6:20pm ADR and we wanted a little time to get a few things in before we ate.

So, back to Epcot we went! It was still cloudy but the rain had stopped for the most part minus a little drizzle here and there. We were prepared to have a wonderful night. After doing the mandatory bag check and fingerprint scans, which the kids were pros at by now, we decided to take a few Photopass pictures before it got too dark. Here are those results-

And my sister and nephew-

I took these too-

When those were done, we thought we’d take a spin on Spaceship Earth. Woo hoo!! I knew it had been rehabbed since we last were here and I was excited to see the changes.

It was a walk on and we did as they asked, walked right on! This is such a cool ride. I know that some think it’s a bore or whatever but it’s an Epcot classic. We all enjoyed it very much!

Everyone’s favorite cool chick-

Dimitri and I were riding together but you can barely see his little face here unless you look really closely. I let him pick our course and this is what he came up with. He was not impressed seeing his face though in those pictures. I think I embarrassed him when I couldn’t quit laughing about how silly these turn out.

Next we were off to Club Cool!! I had talked about this forever and the kids were thrilled to give it a try! (and me too of course!) We could not wait to try all the next kinds of flavors available here. They thought it was sooooo cool that you could try these little cups of soda for FREE! Free is always good. I’m a bargain shopper and I think I have already installed some of that into these guys. LOL!

These two were my favorites. Yummy!

You know what picture is coming next of course. Each kid did try the dreaded Beverly and somehow I managed to get only one on film. Poor Dimitri. Thankfully he wasn’t too mad at me. This picture makes me laugh out loud every single time I see it.

He was trying to “wipe” it off his tongue!! Hahahaa. Aw, poor guy. In all fairness, I did try it myself too. Gag!

Continued in next post...

 

[Lovemy3babes]

Ok, we were off for another stab at Figment. Hopefully it would be running this time around. I asked the friendly lady CM manning the door and she directed us right inside. So, we took a fun cruise with Figment.

Don’t you just love the smelling part? How cute is this?! We all enjoyed it very much. That Figment sure is a cute little thing.

Then it was time to start making our way to Japan, which is where we were eating. Teppan Edo! The kids and my sister had never done any sort of Japanese grill so I hope they would all enjoy it. I was crossing my fingers were would get a fun chef to make it that much better.

Along the way, we took these. Anywhere we go and there is a hole to stick your head, my children must do it. Me and my husband too, where do you think they get it from? We’re cheesy that way I suppose.

Continued in next post...

It takes a long time to walk around World Showcase, doesn’t it? Wow, we were running a little later than I wanted to but thankfully we made it just in time. The waiting area was packed!! And there isn’t much room to sit down. A very rude man was taking up a big area of the booth and when one of the kids tried to sit down on the edge where there was a tiny area open, he shooed them away like a big jerk. Seriously? He also was talking loudly about the ridiculous wait times at Disney World restaurants. He mentioned they had no reservation but just shouldn’t need one after paying Walt’s insane ticket prices. I smiled hugely at him when our name was called before his. Later gator.

We had a blast here! I had been here once before and loved it just as much as I did the first time. This kind of food is right up my alley though. Yum. The three kids got chicken and I got the Ueno, which is a chicken breast and large shrimp combo. Yum, yum, yum. I’m hungry now and could totally go for some grilled shrimp and noodles. I adore the sauces that they bring you too. We poured the soy over our rice to make it more flavorful. We ate everything available, it was that good. While waiting-

Our awesome chef!! He made this so fun for the kids. I hope he gets part of the big tip I left.

They loved the onion volcano!

We sat with a family of three. It was two grandparents and their cute little grandson, who was so good at the table. They had taken him to Disney many times and they were just the nicest people to sit with during our meal. We enjoyed talking with them very much. Soon we said our goodbyes and wandered off into the night. We still had lots of time before the park closed and nothing on the agenda really. I let the kids choose.

While walking along, the found these fun creatures.

Continued in next post...

 

[Lovemy3babes]

We hit Maelstrom next. Fun stuff but no dancing inside the boat. Got that?

We found some fun things in Mexico. I’m not sure it’s wise to put your head into a sombrero that hundreds of others have put on their head but oh well. It’s vacation!

The tree there is so pretty, isn’t it? Disney does Christmas trees well. Wow!

I would have like to spend more time in World Showcase but I let the kids choose what they wanted to do. It was their vacation as well as mine and I didn’t want anyone to think I was a weirdo, obsessive over planner, which actually is pretty close to the truth. I purposely left the evening open to just do whatever struck our fancy that evening. Next time, I’d like to spend a day in WS, when the light is out and you can really explore what they have out there for you to enjoy.

But, it was time for more rides of course. My children do not let me down. We like to see things but we really like to ride things!! Back to Soarin’ to use our set of FPs that we had scored that afternoon! The FP line was a little longer in the evening but not bad at all.

After that? Test Track of course. Dimitri’s tummy had started to hurt a little here (he probably overate) so he and my sister sat together outside, while we took another trip.

We rode with two fun girls. They made the kids laugh during our ride.

Dimitri wanted to take this home to his dad. LOL!

Hmmm, what else could we fit in before the park closed? My sister and I wanted to do a little shopping but decided to wait until the next night, when we were going back to DTD. I had purposely put off Mission Space because I thought I couldn’t handle the motion sickness aspect of it and that the kids would find it boring. Well, I was wrong on both accounts actually. It’s neat when things surprise you in a good way. Dimitri thought this was going to be scary but it ended up one of his favorites! Jayse was too short to ride and my sister couldn’t of course so we headed up, just the four of us.

We rode the “easy” side of course but the kids still talk about what roles they had. It was really neat the way the enjoyed it. Very cool! I also had taken plenty of Dramamine that day and was just fine with the ride. Score. I’m glad we decided to do it.

It was getting late. Wah. It was one of those great nights. We were on vacation together. We had no agenda and just were having fun doing whatever we came upon. The kids were happy, the moms were happy, it was great. It was tough to have to leave. We all wished Epcot stayed open later! Once again, we really took our time heading towards the exit. I took some photos to help draw out the time until we bid goodbye.

(nice hand in my pretty photo Kenah, lol!)

As we passed Spaceship Earth, they all begged for one more ride. Who was I to say no? Ok, let’s go! This time, Mykenah rode with me and Dimitri and Morghan rode together. Poor Morghan. She was messing around with her shoe and didn’t have her head up in time to get the shot of her face. She was so sad, “Now I have no head mom!” It was so cute, the way she was so upset about it. Poor girl had no head. Heehee. She wouldn’t let me take a picture of her minus a head so here is just Kenah and me.

We emailed the pictures back to grandma and played around in here for a short while. The kids really did not want to leave!

But alas, we must. We decided to skip Illuminations after we last minute remembered about them on our way out for the night. Oops! I was so gungho on making sure we saw Wishes that I sort of stiffed Epcot's show. I'm sorry Illuminations. I'm sorry Epcot. That will go on our next-time list for sure. It was just one of those nights that we wanted to “do” things and not have to stake out a great spot an hour ahead of time so I put them out of my mind. We will see it though someday.

And as it turned out? Once our bus came, we got to see some of the great fireworks in the sky from the bus! That was pretty cool.

We made it back to OKW in no time and said our good nights to my sister and nephew at their building. It was just a fun night for everyone! We knew we were getting down to the end of our trip and everyone was starting to feel it I think. That makes me sad remembering. The kids and I dreamed up scenarios lying in bed that night. What if we lived inside the castle? When can we move to Florida? When can we come back? What rides would dad and Michael love? Just lots of fun things. I love that I helped transfer the love for Disney onto three little people, who I love so very much myself. It was awesome. We said prayers and were all fast asleep in no time.

Up next....our last park day!!!

 

[Lovemy3babes]

Take your time, we know you've got a lot going on right now. We'll be here when you're ready!!

Thank you!! Just got another one up. I see you have a trip planned with your mom. Lucky! What a wonderful time of year to visit too. I bet you're stoked.

 

[DisneyJo]

What a lovely epcot day, Teppan edo is one of my favourite WDW restaurants it's so delicious

It sounds as though you leave literally when we arrived which was the 12th of December!!!

Congrats on the adoption I hope it all goes to plan and you and your husband are wonderful for doing this

 

[Lovemy3babes]

What a lovely epcot day, Teppan edo is one of my favourite WDW restaurants it's so delicious

It sounds as though you leave literally when we arrived which was the 12th of December!!!

Congrats on the adoption I hope it all goes to plan and you and your husband are wonderful for doing this

Teppan Edo is so yummy! I'm glad you agree. And you are correct, we did leave on Saturday, December 12th. You're so sweet Jo, thank you!!

 

[SoonerGirl]

Great update! I love how you guys just went with the flow that night and did whatever struck your fancy!

We really liked Teppan Edo too, I'm sure it will get a return visit in the future.

 

[Megablocks]

Oh no, coming up on the last day already?!

I love the "no dancing" signs! My mom thinks that the other one means that we have to hold hands.

So cute that Dimitri wanted to take the car home to his dad! What a guy. I loved the picture of him after trying the Beverly, too. I love Club Cool. There are times that we'll duck in there if it's nearby and we're thirsty. Your two favorites are my favorites, too!

 

[Lovemy3babes]

Great update! I love how you guys just went with the flow that night and did whatever struck your fancy!

We really liked Teppan Edo too, I'm sure it will get a return visit in the future.

It was a great night! I'm sure we'll return to Teppan Edo too. Yum!

Oh no, coming up on the last day already?!

I love the "no dancing" signs! My mom thinks that the other one means that we have to hold hands.

So cute that Dimitri wanted to take the car home to his dad! What a guy. I loved the picture of him after trying the Beverly, too. I love Club Cool. There are times that we'll duck in there if it's nearby and we're thirsty. Your two favorites are my favorites, too!

Your mom is sooo right! That definitely means we have to hold hands. I love it! Club Cool is a ton of fun. We really enjoyed ourselves, maybe a little too much with the free soda. But some of it was really yummy!

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

What a great Epcot evening! Sometimes it's fun to go along with no plans (although it goes against everything that I am! ) and just do whatever you feel like at that moment!

Teppan Edo looks so good. You are so lucky that your kids are not picky eaters. Mine would never eat anything there!

You definitely have to see IllumiNations next time!


Loved all the pictures ~ Thanks for sharing!

 

[Charleston Princess]

What a great night at Epcot!!! All of your Photopass pictures turned out great! Isn't SSE fun? We love riding it and seeing our favorite go-go boot wearing computer engineer! I couldn't help but laugh when I saw Dimitri's Beverly picture! I must admit that I always want to wipe it off my tongue after trying it.

Teppan Edo is one of our favorite places to eat. Yum, yum, yum! Your chef was our chef the very first time we ate there. He was great! I will never forget him tossing shrimp tails on Chelsea's plate.

 

[brookelizabeth]

What a WONDERFUL day and evening at Epcot! You certainly did cover a lot - most everything in FW! Teppan Edo always sounds and looks amazing. It is on our "next trip" list (along with 82829 other places ).

I laughed out loud at the Segway Love comment - that would SO be Joe and I, we are such geeks!

The Beverly picture is hilarious!!!!!

CONGRATULATIONS on the adoption!!!! That is very, very exciting! I hope the issues with the daycare and such works out soon for you too.

 

[MeMom]

Brooklynn tried to wipe the Beverly off of her tongue, too. She was momentarily unhappy with her adults. China's watermelon drink is my favorite, although since I rarely drink anything by water, it seems very, very sweet.

Teppan Edo is fun. Glad you all enjoyed it.

Love the pictures of you guys at the front of Epcot.

 

[jordanyosh]

Great Epcot pix. Teppan Edo is awesome. I'm glad everyone enjoyed it. What was up with the guy in the waiting area? I didn't know that people existed who don't know about ADRs...

 

[Blessed99]

Hi! I have sat down and read your whole trip report today and cannot wait until the next installment! I am so glad that your family had a great trip and I can't wait until your husband and Michael get to go with you next time! I just wanted to say hi! You have 2 beautiful girls and a handsome boy and a handsome nephew! I loved your installment about Epcot. We were there in June 2005, it was my first and only trip, I am planning a trip next year with my DD10! But last time we went, Epcot was my favorite on our trip!