The "Needs a Catchy Name so People will Read It!" trip report!

DISNEYJAZZ

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Aug 16, 2007
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The 'WHEN CAN WE GO AGAIN?' trip report **PIX-A-LOT!**

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Well lets see if we can get'r'done and even try to add some pix! I have pix in photobucket but gotta get them here...we'll see...
Here is the cast of our crazy gang...
Me Nanna ~ 44 ~not been to WDW since 1976 when my granddad & his wife took me and 2 my cousins ,we were ages 11,12 & 13 and they just gave us watches,tickets and $$ and set us of on our own to meet up at meal times...i don't remember a whole lot about that trip,hall of pres.,small world,the castle,jungle cruise i think...we camped somewhere and shopped at buena vista.{ my dear brother chose to stay home and play baseball! what 11 year old does that? }
Pawpaw~45~ had not been since late 70's with his family as a teen.they camped and stayed for 2 weeks! he didn't remember much either. later after we got home he said he had thought that the other parks { epcot,ak & dhs were not much rides and that epcot was a convention center!...lol shows how much he listened to me as i chatted for 286 days prior to take off,about what we were in for! }
Brendi~24~dear daughter~she hadn't been sicne she was 9 when she and her lil brother who was 7 went with their grandparents and stayed at a motel 6 or the likes. { older dd had gone with the g'parents the year before at age 10 for christmas and stayed at the disney inn she thinks}
Kevin~33~dear son in law { he made all the ressies and such and did pretty good but i have learned fROm the boards we could of doNE it easier and maybe cheaper! his travel agent was a bit of a dits i believe because we booked for 6 nights/7 day w/park tix + water parks etc... and then after payoff when documents came it said 7 nights and only 4 day tix...so off we sent him with the proper info..we were ok with the extra night so we would get another day at mk but we had to have more tix days.well he comes back and says "i did it i got us 4 more days for only $$ and they even added on to the water park tix..." he was so full of himself { some would say proud of himself...hehe} i hated to burst his bubble and tell him the more you play the less you pay and also that the water parks had changed to same number of days as your park tix...he wouldn't of listened anyways...gotta love him...and the TA didn't catch it and make us 7 ressies...
Now for the REAL CAST for this wonderful trip! the grandest of grandbabies { our oldest of 7 grands ages 1~6!,the others will trip with us in 2009 & 2010 when they are a bit older}
Princess Cinder'Elli'`5 { trip 3 weeks before her b'day } our rowdy princess has never been to wdw and has no idea what is in store...i mean i have read and told them and showed them pix and we have planned and dreamed for mos. but they will be blown away i am sure...as will i Elli wants to see the princesses and also ride her 1st coaster! She also has Minnie Mouse & High School Musical show on her wish list! when we were chosing where to eat she chose Cinderella's Royal table for lunch...
Captain Blaze~3~ our skiddish pirate...he has never been to wdw either and can't wait to meet Mickey,Goofy and Donald...he wants to ride Soarin' and has been eating his veggies and doing exercise to grow taller...he was 38 in. when we booked the trip in aug.2007..will he make it to 40 in. and Soar at Epcot...time will tell...when chosing where to eat he chose liberty Tree with Goofy and friends.
OK so that part of the story is over...glad to meet you all....after months and months of planneing and buying and dreaming and reading the disboards evey day! we are packed in the car and ready to go at 6:00 a.m. Friday April 4,2008! headed to the happiest place on earth...not comin' back till sat. april 12,2008. kids in van,gas up and pack cooler with drinks and make sure the disney or bust bags are hid till we need them...be sure dvd players are secured to the backs of nanna & mama's seats and car seats are in place and we are off...the kids were so excited to be traveling in the dark..they thought it was the middle of the night,usually just getting light out when they leave for school,daycare,work. { last flordia trip 3 years ago they were 3 and 1 and when they got in the van at midnight Elli was talking about " i'm gonna stay awake the whole time' Blaze was saying " uh-oh,uh-oh" and looking at all the beach toys and rolls of tissue and paper towels stored all around his car seat..hehe,10 mins later ,as we get on the interstate, they were both zonked and slept the entire ride!} no such luck this trip..they are older and wiser and didn't wanna miss a thing.Blaze took nap and Elli didn't hush long enough to sleep...hehe.
so we are off... now to try to get the pix on here...
we do a drive through for breakfast after we get through Atlanta before morning traffic!{ we are coming from north georgia by the way...oops..slow here! } then the kids watch a disney movie and start to get antsie so out come the disney or bust bags! they love them..they get books,coloring books,stickers,colored pencils,journals,putty and anything else i have gotten at the dollar stores that had disney on them...also added calulators since they love them...kept them busy for awhile...

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we make it to kissimmee and are eating lunch at mickey d's by 1:30! we only stopped a few times for potty breaks and made really good time...the kids enjoyed the ride down and were on the look out for the 1st palm tree! when they saw it they knew we were "a long way from home 'cause they don't have those were we live!" we had a pretty good ride and the kids really enjoyed the scenery and after we crossed the GA/FLA line i broke out the mickey and friends dvd of classic cartoons i had gotten them...they loved it!
After we ate we checked into our '1st' night hotel the Americas Best Value Inn...not too bad...nice room,pool view,and micro & fridge for only $44 booked by dsil online! and Blaze learned a lesson in listening to his Nanna! when you get out of the tub and step in the cooler { I was just trying to get to the stuff by the sink } with your clean DRY socks on, your sock WILL get wet! and since these are the only ones you have that are not in the carrier on top of the van you have to hang it to dry over night! and in the morning when it is still wet and nanna tries to dry it in the microwave and it doesn't get done,just because pawpaw says it's ok for YOU to do it some more does'nt mean you should! Do you know how awful a sock smells when it is ON FIRE! yep that badboy was burnt to a crisp right in the middle and stunk something awful...so msiter Blaze has to wear his socks from the day before...hehe...anyways...after we'd check into the '1st 'hotel as the kids called it { it's not our DISNEY RESORT THAT WE CAN CALL HOME .IS IT NANNA!}and they all took naps { while i filled out the post cards we got at the shop beside mickey d's.} when they get up we head out for dinner and more shops. we ate at some buffet pretty good,elli tried the crawfish...someone showed her how to get into it and she used her finger to get the 'stuff' outof it head and she ate it! yucky... she said it tasted like " wet food"oh well she's a brave girl...not her brother...he won't try new foods at all...when we come out of the buffet we see this Aquacar! too cool...the guy is showing it to the kids and talking about and i click a pic...
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we do a bit more shopping and the kids get their 1st fibbets { faux jibbets} for their frocs { faux crocs...hehe } read so much about crocs for the parks so i got me and the kids some faux ones and we love them...and they were great at the parks!!
then it is back to the 1st hotel and sleep and get ready for the BIG DAY! WDW here we come ready or not!

i will post this lil bit of the report and see how the pix do..if good i will be back in a bit for more ...if not..i will be beating my head against the puter screen crying...boohoohoo.... i copied the img code from photobucket and pasted it here...not sure if thats right...d'oh!

if all goes well next up is WDW! and the looks on their sweet faces when They see mickey and minnie welcoming them!
 
GO ME!!! i did it.....my pix worked and i am so happy...i will do some more reporting now! i will probably overdo it on sundays as that is the day i have some free time to do things for ME. and let me just tell you all now i am the typo queen! my fingers don't go where they should and i miss letters here and there and also get them in the wrong order.i will check to see if i catch any typos but will miss many i am sure ,so bare with me...and my spelling is funky at times and i sometimes try to fix that but usually don't woory...
now that i know i can get the pix to post i will add a bit of brackground on our gang...i am a pre-k asst. in a day care center and dd works there too in the 4 year old room. pawpaw works at a cabinet shop and kevin is a body piercer ata tattoo shop. blaze is about to head to pre-k in aug { they go to another school because htey need to spread their wings since they have been at the daycare with mama & nanna since 6 weeks old} elli is going into the 1st grade...
now on to the trippin!
sat.april 5,2008~after the stinky burning sock event we went to breakfast at the pnderosa! really great breakfast buffet! we filled up and headed to WDW! we were all so excited to see the arch for the 1st time.it was all we could do to not go see it the day before...we wanted to enjoy the anticipation some more { insert the old ketchup commerical with carly simon singing anticitpation... } ** side note,just as i was typing this part pawpaw says soemthing about the ponderosa and how we were up so early we had to wait in the parking lot for it to open...i asked if he was reading over my shoulder...hehe...he said no he'd just seen the coupon we'd gotten there and brought to give to his mom and sisters who are headed down next month for 2 weeks at a condo!} too funny we both have disney on the brain...
so after breakfast we head to the "WORLD" and our home away from home... dada has the video camera rollin' and we are all so excited and chattering all at once. we had a blast the other day watching all the video/dvd and hearing all we said...Blaze is saying " we are at DISNEY!" elli is saying " it really is real" and " i can't see the castle because mama won't move her head!" we had to explain we have to go to magic kingdom to see the castle. { good planning on the disney peeps part to make ya wait for the great reveal!}
so down the road we go looking for the world and finding it...and seeing the sign for the 1st time is awesome! i didn't get as good a shot as i have seen on here but i was still a thrill...

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here's Ellibug & da Blazer!

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after all the chatter about " oh look it's disney hollywood studios,i wanna go there' and Oh look,tower of terror,mama and dada are gonna do that!"{ elli has said she might do it too! will she or want she...we wwon't know who does and does not take on the tower until thursday! now on for the rest of our sat. adventures...we arrive at our home away from home....

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we get in and dada and pawpaw go to get our keys to the world...the kids think these are awesome and love to see their names on them. { i have mine in my wallet and look at it once in a while and smile and think " i will be back" hehe} we really enjoy the lobby and check out the gift shop and food court and watch a few toons while we wait.

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after we get the keys we are off to the bus stop for our 1st ride and DTD!!!

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we noticed when we watched the dvd that most eveytime the camera was on Blaze he'd do his chipminks bow chicka wow wow. song/dance...sometimes it was just a wiggle and a wisper and other times it was all out loud and hips a twistin" too cute! he loves to sing and sings when he talks sometimes...and even trys to rap when he is talking to us.." nanna,nanna...can i hava,can i hava...a coke ,a coke ,a coke coke coke! " really weird this kid...
we all enjoyed the bus and by the end of the trip even blaze knew how to look for the bus stops at the parks and at the bus signs to see where it was going.
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they had to play in the water a bit and then off we were shopping and playing and having a great time...they made some friends along the way...


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"This is NOT the real Aurora!" he loves his Rory!
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Blaze and his GIRLFRIEND! i forgot to write that she was on the top of his " who i wanna meet' list! he calls her Rory! too cute...he wants to see " the real aurora at cinderella's royal table'

we got a taste of lego mania...blazer did the 'fill ya bucket' lego thing and later bug does the 'my lil pony' box...when she got to the desk to pay the cm says " oh no you have room for soem more stuff' and takes her back to stuff thatbox! just a bit of pixie dust...we get lots of it this trip..nothing big like dream fastpasses or dvc membership just lil things to make us smile and the kids bounce and nannas heart to swell for the love of them....
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even pawpaw plays with us!
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we really enjoyed the shops,the kids got to buy some things thanks to the $$ hook-up from their other grandma 'nennie'...she gave them $100 each to spend...sounds like a lot but as you all know disney stuff ain't cheap and they really enjoyed shopping since we are " not gonna buy junk here and there at home ' kinda spenders only buy toys at b'days and christmas and they buy second hand when we go yardselling..they really do good with a $5each budget and were overwhelmed when they'd ask if they could get this or that and mama and dada said YES! almost everytime in disney world...they had $20 each for being good in school { thats a stretch but hey nanna and pawpaw had to give'em something and also they had $10 in disney dollars we'd gotten at the disney store..they brought 3 back to save for next time.}
well thats it for now...i will be back in a bit after i upload some more of the dtd pix...
P.S. the ticker at the bottom of my siggy is the saddest thing i have seen...far sadder than when it read 268 days till disney world here we come...the 'getting ready for' is so much sweeter than the 'it's all over now'
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[/S more DTD fun

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sat. april 5,2008 DTD con't...
The kids decide they wanna ride the carousel and our easily woozied blaze is up to trying the spinning tea cup! he figures it will eb good practice for the mad tea cups at mk i guess.well, he is doing fine and elli is having a blast and going faster and faster as blazer's head get's woozier & woozier or should i say curiouser and curiouser..hehe... he was a site! he could hardly hold his head up and when he got off nanna was there waiting for him,camera at the ready! naughty nanna.... he was so funny trying to get his sea legs and find a spot to sit and wait for the world to stop spinning!

GOIN"!
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GOIN"!
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GONE!
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OH BOY!
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more fun ...dd Brendi ,Pawpaw & Elli posing in front of a store.
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...next up Cap'n Jacks for lunch...good food but kinda stuffy for us home grown georgia peaches...
P.S. the kids tee's are hand drawn/painted by their mama my dd Brendi...elli decided she wanted lavender bows,two of'em on her jolly roger and later said " if i had pink heart eyes it would look like me!' hehe...she's a nut and also says " when cinderella see's me in my dress and my hair up like her's she will think i look like her when she was a lil girl,'cause she has blonde hair too!" i'm thinkin' yeah 'cause cinderella ran around in her blue gown all the itme as a kid! hehe
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DTD afternoon

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After lunch at capn' jacks ...
capn' jacks
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from across the water...

we jump on a boat and go across to disney quest! we had a great time in there...kids really enjoyed the games and had the best time on the white water rafting ride! we could har Elli yelling from up stairs where we stood to watch.she was paddling with all her might and yelling " look,out hear we goi!' " oh no,we're gonna get wet!' what a blast just to watch and hear.
more dtd friends...
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we spent about 2 hours at disney quest and then were ready to jump a bus and go check out our resort. we made a potty stop and then Brendi comes in all paniced! "mom,do you know where our bags are?' oh no! i didn't have a clue...i had handed her my bag after lunch so i could get a picture of capn' jacks and we had sat on a bench to wait for the boat...she had left them on the bench! so back on a boat we went...not as fun a ride as the trip over...but would you believe we got back and there sat our bags with almost $200 worth of goodies in them! someone else had left their bag beside ours! we were truely blessed the entire trip with not a thing going missing from the strollers or bags....from here on out we just sent things back to the room since we got to check in....
then we were off to our home away from home to see our family suite and check things out . we were told by our travel agent { and i'd read online] that the suites were in the jazz buildings...hence my disneyjazz name! but we were in for a surprise! the calypso buildings have suites! and they are closer to the action,food court & bus stop! so next up is our resort & then head to mk for dinner ,a few rides and wishes!


 

:goodvibes thank you peterpan! you are my 1st victim ,i mean poster...hehe...thank you for tuneing in...i am off to do add pix about our wet adventuers to the magic kingdom on our 1st night at " THE REAL DISNEY WORLD!":lmao:
 
Hello again ....when i left off we were finshed at DTD and headed to our home away from home for the next 7 nights! we were so excited...i had rad online and been told by the TA that we would be in the jazz buildings since they had the family suites...well we were in Calypso! :thumbsup2 very cool,near the pool and so so close to the food court and shop and busses! but i don't think the walk would of been to bad form the other buildings...maybe coming 'home' after a long day in the parks the walk would be wayyy longer. But when we looked around later in the week the walk wasn't too bad and hey we were in DISNEY WORLD!:cool1: here are a few pics of our room when we checked in...
the much awaited micky head on mama & dada's bed [ nanna & pawpaw and the kids have riegn over the living room!]
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some pix of the room and the kids running around going woohoo! this is cool!
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sorry those are a bit dark...but when i lighten them they get grainy.
dada & pawpaw hauling up all our stuff!!!!
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30 mins later we are all unpacked! brush teeth,change into our shirts some dear diser designed for us { thank you stick figure disser! we had so many comments on them and we all loved them...even dada ,who i thought would think he was too cool to wear matching shirts,wore his with a smile!} my dsil works at a high school and i sent her the design and they put them on the shirts for us for $7! shirt and iron on and all the work! great deal!
1st the kids and nanna had to decorate the window! i had cut out mickey heads from wrapping paper with old world map design on it. added pirate patches & our names with sharpies.on the biggest one i used foam to make a banner that reads " around the world in 7 days' really cool looking and the kids loved it. we added our lil figures form the dollar store, one for each of us...pawpaw=donald,nana=eeyore,dada= captain hook,mama=ariel,blazer=opooh & elli= cinderella in her wedding dress...elli also added her velvet picture she had painted and we put a copy of our stick figure family in the window. they also added their minnie & baloo nanna gave them in their disney or bust bags on the road trip...
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now we are opff to the bus stop and so greatful they will all be when nanna breaks out the rain ponchos! thanks disser's for the heads up! they came in very handy as it started to rain on us on the way to the bus stop....a lil rain won't stop this crew!
mama,dada & the kids ready to rock the world!
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nanna & pawpaw & the kids...ready to roll with the world!


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The kids were tickeld to once again be on the bus and looking out the window at all the cool thinsg to see on the way and also all the ads for disney movies in the buses..they loved checking out the different ones in each bus. blaze was singing "cru'elli' deville,cru'elli deville,if she doesn't scare you no evil 'feng' will,she's like a spider waiting for the kill...cru'elli,cru'elli deville!" he loves to sing that to her...that and cinder'elli cinder'elli' fit so well with her name and personality! she is a princess with an evil streak! hehe...everytiem we are in the disney store 'her' song comes on the t.v. there and she has to stop and watch...hehe
so we get to the magic kingdom...only wish that elli had been on the other side of the bus..you can see the castle as you head toward the gates...so iif you have a wee one who's not seen the castle have them sit on the right side of the bus!..not that seeing it 'for real' was dampened by the peek on the way in or the rain drops falling on us,but would be extra special to not have a clue! as we get ready to head onto main street pawpaw has me with the camera and dad with the video camera go around the corner so we can get it all on tape. so we do and i snap a few pix before the excitment starts...i can hear them saying ' i can't wait!"
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then the big rveal! around the corner they come...i loved watcheing the vidoe with them...you can hear elli saying " wow" " it;'s beautiful" and blaze saying " i wanna go in it NOW!" just thinking about it gets me all teary eyed as i type...
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we really have a good time at Magic Kingdom this 1st evening even though we are only there a few hours...the rain turns to a storm with lighting and thunder and rides closing all around. we decid to grab soem dinner at pecos bills...loved loved loved this place...crowded and a bit unorganized and full of people because of the rain...we found a table in the back corner,a bit dark but we loved the themeing and the kids stayed busy looking at everythinga nd all the people and being in awre of it all...mama,dada & pawpaw made the food run while we staked out soem tables for 6! { this iis how we did it the rest of the trip and worked great! except for a snotty person we encounter later in the trip...but that will have to wait] after we eat we try to go on the jungle cruise but it is cloed so we walk around and then all heck breaks loose! it is pouring so hard we have to duck in for cover...then we realize it is the perfect cover! we are at POTC!!!!! and there is vertually no line! 20 mins and we are on a boat and having a blast...the kids loved it and i tried to take pix but with no flash { and i will hear this rule over and over as blaze discovers it is a big rule od disney and he will be the enforcer for our trip!] next trip i may make him a shirt that reads " no flash photgraphy & no smoking nasty cigga~rats~". well when we get off potc it is storming really badly and we don't wanna stay in it so we head to the busses and head for "HOME...it's baths,teeth brushed and books read and off to bed for the lil ones { and the rest of us tired adults too!} the kids had a blast when we were planning this trip,we went to the dollar general store and bought a new disney book each for each night of the trip to pack in their bags and not read until we were at disney! and we were blessed and found them each a huge mickey/minnie at the goodwill thrift store for $2.50 each! and disney pillow case too! nanna even got her a dalmations pillow case...they got cinderella/prince charming and mickey/minnie.. we folded out their cool beds and tucked them in ...

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heres a look at the chair bed folded out
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ottoman bed folded out
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they said they were comfy. pawpaw & i slept on the fold out couch and it was comfy,way better than the one at the cabin in Pigeon Forge! the only tiem the bar bothered me was when i was getting in or out of the bed...and there were plenty of pillows! soem in each bathroom/dressing area shlef and also some on the bottom of the flip part of the couch.
we all crash and have sweet dreams of Epcot! i know Blazer is dreamin' of Soarin' he has wanted to ride since we started to plan over 9 mos. before we went. he was only 38 in. so was doing his ' stretchin' excersises' and eating his veggies...do french fries count!?:rotfl: now to see if all his hard work pays off...
top of the list for epcot is to get a stroller { dada didn't use his noodle here,paid for 2 estra days because he got for length of stay not how many days at the parks! oh well ,it will be a blessing for someone at the end of the trip:cloud9:
will that is it for this installment...up next Epcot here we come....and thank god forht edisnoards and all the info on ponchos!
who will be our 1st character meeting & 1st to sign their autograph books form their greatgrandmother & grandfather who were at disney in nov. for thier anniversary! they also sent them pot cards form mickey & minnie saying they'd seen their GG & Papa G and heard they were coming to visit and couldn't wiat to meet them! thier very own fairygodmailers...
 
I'm back....
after a good nights sleep we are all up and redy to go by 7 a.m. { this is a wonderful thing since Pawpaw would lay in the bed 24/7 if he could,is not a morning person and sleeps late on weekends} well with Elli & Blaze and all Pixie Dust that was flying 'round who could sleep! so we head to the intermission food couert for breakfast. The plan had been to get groceries after the DTD day and before magic kingdom...we tried to tell the driver { insert Dad/dsil here } to stop at wally world before we went to the resort. just get things that could stay in the car till we checked in { juice/bagels,poptarts,more sodas} or see if the'd hold them but he was like " no i'll go out later and get stuff"...well once we were there and the van was parked we decided to eat in the food court or from the lil grocer's in the gift shop. worked out well since Pawpaw wanted a good hot breakfast,even used snack credits once for poptarts for the kids,the dining plan kept us stuffed and we ended up with 9 snack credits left on checkout morning! so we got mickey bars for all and poptarts for the kids breakfast the 1st morning back...wonder if the disney poptarts tasted better! hehe ...i know they did!
anyway back on track...we get up and dressed for Epcot and Soarin' which Blaze { and all of us} had been waiting for...it is 1st on our list. we eat breakfast...
Elli and her bagel
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...and Blaze " Eatin' Pooh's Huny!"
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When we were 1st planning this trip we had just thought about packing up and heading south to the fun...then i found this lovely place called the disboards.:disrocks: ..and man on man did our planning change! i was reading everything in sight :surfweb: and relaying it to everyone who'd listen. dd was interested in the boutique clothes...all so wonderful but since we don't sew we decided we'd try the iron on stuff...so i found th estick figures 1st and had them made. then dd decided she'd try her had at painting the kids soem shirts! ummm...ok.....well to our delight she was wonderful at this art! she got out their disney books and the kids decided which characters they wanted for each park and she was off..::MinnieMo :goofy: .their lil skull & cross bones shirts in the dtd post were painted by mom...then she'd look at the pictures the kids liked and draw them bigger on papaer then onto the shirts...then she'd us the fabric paints to color them in...she got so into it a friend at work had her do a Dora for her nieces b'day party and also my other dd wanted a Bambi for my dgd's 1st b'day shirt....
***tmi side note*** Elli & Blaze are the oldest of 7 grands for us,elli is 6 and blaze almost 4,Kensleigh & Gracie will be 4 in sept. and thier baby sister Chloe was 1 in feb. { planning on trip to disney next sept.2009, with them and hoping for free food!} then ds has Jackson who will be 3 in july and Avery { a girl} was also 1 in feb. { plan to go to disney with them in 2010 }***
...all the painted shirts in this report will be handpainted by dd Brendi..the kids got lots of complements on them at the parks...Blaze told me the other day he loves to sleep in his now! for epcot she didn't paint shirts because they were wearing thier 4th of july shirts! got all 7 grands each one after the 4th last year for 98 cents each at target! gotta love a deal...telli's had a kitthe with starts and stripes crown and blaze's is uncle sam pointing and saying " i want YOU to take me to the fireworks!" we thought it would be cute for them to wear their USA stuff even down to the red,white & blue hair bow and stars painted on elli's shoes! sicne epcot is about the earth/world.
back to Epcot...we get there and all is a bright and sunny day and we are thrilled...
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we get a stroller and head to soarin' for a fast pass...well oh boy ! no need ,standby is only 20 mins...so on we go...we get up to get Blaze measured and he has this look of dread on his sweet lil face...he has so wanted to ride this partly because he's seen bits of online video and we have talked about the smells and feeling like you were flying. but also because his sister sings high school musicals soarin' song all the time.... well the moment of truth is here nd i should of taken a picture but i was to busy watching the measuring { wish they just did it at the front gate and gave the kids a color coded band depending on what they could ride or a band with the names of the rides they can't ride on them...something easier than measuring and heart break for soem lil one's} but no heart break here...{ that will come later :sad1: }our lil man is 40 1/2 inches!!! he is SOARIN'! he does his best John Travolta disco fingure pointig dance all over the place yelling "woohoo ,i'm goin' soarin'" and everyone is laughing and clapping for him...he's so excited he even gives us a 'bow chicka wow wow' for the video camera ,complete with hands on head and hip a twistin'!:rotfl: and a big hug for his sister to celebrate!:hug:
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we ride soarin and loved it!!! what an awesoem ride...pawpaw was highly amazed as were we all...the kids sat criss cross in the seats and they would bob and weave and ohhh and ahhh with all the fantastic smells,sounds and breezes of this ride. at one point i reach down to scratch my leg and elli grabs my arm { they are on either side of me,the eintire trip they ride most rides with me and pawpaw,i told eveyone we'd be easy to find in disney world because we'd be the couple walking around with 2 blonde kids stuck up our bottoms..hehe,great to be well loved! } and says " nanna don't fall off!" now thats a 'real' ride!
after soarin' we trek over to the character connection i htink it was called to see who we can see...and guess who was our 1st character!
It's Belle! we had to be sure to meet her as well as Ariel since a freind at work has 3 daughters named for disney princess's...Ariel belle,Adella Paige [{ Adella is one of Ariels sisters] and Melodie Rose named by her big sister Ariel for Ariels daughter in Little Mermaid II... so we were tickled for Belle to be thier 1st autograph and picture!
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we weren't sure how Blaze would do with the characters,he can be shy but he loved them all and would yell " hey mickey" whenever he saw him like they were long lost friends...i think they are!

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then we went around to stand in line for a bit to see the others...not a bad wait and elli found what she called her 1st hidden mickey! a mickey head in the stars on the ceiling...picture didn't coem out clear so i can't share but she was so tickled to see one.
up next was our pal mickey & his side kick pluto who was so funny holding thier books right up to his eyes....
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up next is Elli's girl minnie...
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i didn't get it on camera and dada missed it on video,heck i didn't even see it,but Blaze kissed minnie on her nose and she did the shy lil hand over the face laughing thing. wish i'd of seen it! sweet boy wasn't afraid of any of his "friends!"
here's chip & dale,we didn't know they had different noses :confused3 elli clued us in...kids are cool! i like chip & dale but never watched them enough to see a difference.they loved meeting them!
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Mama & dada even got in on the fun. Dada had this blown up and framed for his mom for mother's day! Blazer's firend Goofy!
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to be con't.....
 
had to add this part to another post,had to many pix...oops!
****when we were done here and were leaving we noticed a charater we didn't know,even after he signed their books,it was Gideon.
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i think brendi said he was a sorta bad guy sidekick on pinnochio...:confused3 ,i'll have to revisit that movie.anyway while meeting him Blaze starts to jump up and down and holler " it's Robin Hood!"
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he loves this movie and pawpaw is surprised because he didn't know that disney had a robin hood movie! you learn something new everyday!
Robin Hood and Friar Tuck...
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after the meet and greets we do some sight seeing and walk through minnies butterfly house.
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i am so excited to see all the cool topiaries since we are there during the flower & garden festival.
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we have plans to see all the things mother nature has to offer and also hear some tunes later in the evening before we enjoy illuminations...

dd has decided we should go 'home' and nap each day..sounds good in the planning world,but not so good in the disney world...we go back this one day and look what we find from mousekeeping..
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minnie all tucked in with the kids blankets!
the kids sleep and then we head back to epcot for the afternoon...as we are heding out mother nature decides to sprinkle us with love showers....really nice,nothing too bad,handy dandy poncho's at the ready and we are ok! so back we go and walk around a bit in the rain and enoy the seas with nemo...love to see this on the video with the kids talking about how much they enjoy it. then we head into turtle talk with crush. none of my pix coem out form here since no flash and it's dark in there. but we do get soem magic...while crcuh is talking he ask to speak with the " little human child wiht the light colored shell' he says whats your name and we hear "ELLI!" oh i wanted to cry i was so happy for her...he ask if she is havinga good time she says "yes" he says who are you here with she says " yes! " hehe..everyone laughs and he ask who's with Elli...we point to brendi who is standing by the wall so she can see the kids better down front. kevin is filming the whole thing so that is awesome to see. he ask Brenid her name and he calls her Brendi Mom...talks with her about kids and ask how many she has she says 2, he said he has 65! he ask her several questions and she says yes to them all then he says do you say anyhting other than yes and she said of course...hehe...he laughs and says way to switch it up brendi mom...really cute show...he said they "totally had a parental moment!" this is a don't miss show....
well when we coem out of crush it is pouring rain so we go in and look around at the aquariums while we wait for out ressie time for coral reef...the kids really enjoyed the fish and dolphins and turtles.
next up ~ dinner at coral reef... then world showcase & illumnations...:yay:


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When i left off last post we were headed to the Coral Reef
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and dinner ressies at 5:20...
so we put back on the ponchos and swim on over!
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we love the themeing of this place and shake off our ponchos and go inside to wait,and wait and wait soem more...well not a bad wait i guess,the place was packled and i think the pixie dust was being sprinkled for us.it's kinda dark in there but it was so pretty and a bit fancy but not umcomfortably so like at Cap'n Jack's...this place was NICE but warm feeling,not the least bit stuffy.when our seater got us seated in a booth across from the aquarium and handed the adults their menus the kids were so excited about watching people swimming with the fishies<elli saying the whole time " hey i wanna do that Dada!" then the server got their attention by asking if there was anyone in our group named Elli or Blaze/ they said yes thats us! and she handed them their own menus with their Minnie Mouse & Tigger Halloween pix inside and Welcome to Disney World Elli & Blaze inside ! they were both saying " what?" "how?" Minnie & Mickey know we are here!?" it was awesome...!! dad and pawpaw were tickled and surprised too! here's the kids with their menus..kinda dark...
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the kids are reading and dicussing what they will eat as are we adults...the men had ny strip { really got our ddp money's worth here! it was $31 just for their steak plate...then add drink and dessert! woohoo what a diseny deal, love the ddp! we'll have to start a lil disney rap " i'm down with ddp,yo you know me" hehe...} brendi and i got the blackened catfish,i'm not very adventurous when it coems to food,i don't care for peppers/onions and all that stuff...but this was wonderful,a bit spicy even after i took the red tomato spicy stuff off...i'll be brave and ask them to leave it off next time.the catfish was on top of pepperkjack cheese grits...delicious! i want some NOW! the kids also had the fish,they eat fish really well...not many kids i knw like fish that's not in a stick and dipped in ketchup..hehe...as we are eating kevin does a double take at the diver and says to brendi.." look at that!' the kids see it and elli who can now read ,says out loud " welcome to disney world Elli and Blaze!" i about cry....pixie dust everywhere! everyone was looking at the kids because they were saying " look thats for us!" " from mickey & minnie" so wonderfully sweet for this nanna.
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at 1st the diver was upside down holding the sign right side up...the kids were inthralled and later he did a lil show with picking up the rocks and stuff from the bottom of the tank and letting it float aorund looked all sparkly and everyone was ohhh'n and ahhhh'n...really nice.
when we finished dinner ,complete with a chocolate wave which was to die for, and the kids had the build- your -own sundeas and dada has surprized them with the kids drinks with color change straws and blinking tinkerbell and pirate clip-ons...when we came out it was pouring but we were determined to walk through world showcase and see something...well it was a heads down and fight the wind and ran walk int he dark and i only got a few shots { dada and pawpaw were not thrilled ot be waking in it but hey this was our only day to enjoy epcot sicne we'd already decided that the extra day { friday } would be to finish up mk. but the kids were fine all tucked into their stroller {} or kids transporter as 'campbellscott' calls it in her wonderful trip report!,thanks to her the kids didn't feel like babies but later did revert to calling it a stroller and loving it anyways,beats walking} here are a few pix i got in the rain,not real clear though.
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i missed out on one of the 7 dwarves...boohoo...wonder if it is the smae one i couldn't find at the thrift store last week. someone had donated the set i guess but bashful was nowhere to be found. they were onlt 99 cents each so i got the 6 they had plus chip & dale for $2 each adn pluto for blaze for $1! great deals...ddil said she saw figment there too! i missed figment at epcot. we missed alot at epcot but we will be back...as we are heading to find our way out and get home ot dry gorund we happen upon spaceship earth and jump in line..well just walk right in...we had to wait in our seats for a bit and i got a pix of brendi & kevin
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at the end on the lil show kevin was not in it,we think because they couldn't get a shot of him sicne he had the camera in his face.
and elli & pawpaw
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but didn't get to snap blaze as the nice lady said no flash...i shoulda just snapped him anywyas sicne we were sitting,not riding yet and didn't get going for another 5 mins after that..we all enjoyed this ride...at the end when you answer questions and they show you your future i could hardly finish readingt he question before blaze was touching the screen to answer...but it was really fun to do and later watch on video. you can hear the kids talking and i never knew this ride was a religious one...blaze yells "look it's Jesus" and later elli see's " GOD!" hehe...really sweet to see and hear on the video. they really loved seeing thier heads flying space ships and al that fun stuff.
after the ride we head to the bus stop and back to the resort to get some baths and sleep . tomorrow we are going on SAFARI!

 
I'm still reading! I am glad you guys had a great meal at Coral Reef. We were not so lucky. :sad2: Anyway I can't wait to read more!

-Becca-

P.S. That font style is a little hard to read. Just thought I would let you know.:goodvibes
 
dreamer thank you for the heads up on the font...:)
i hope to update sometime this week if i have time,no time this weekend,going to Dollywood in Tenn, with dmil and dsil and pawpaw as an early b'day gift! then monday Elli is in the Memorial Day parade she's a twirl girl,got her 1st year trophy last night and she is so tickled...
cya soon....
 
I'mmmmm Back! :cool1: i had a wonderful time last weekend,we went to Cherokee,N.C. on sat and went to Harrahs:duck: ...i blew just a lil money and Pawpaw a lil bit more...but dsil won $237! pawpaw won $250 but doesn't have stopping sense and lost it all..d'oh! we only spent a few hours there then went over the mountain and headed to check in our hotel in Pigeon Forge,Tenn. We then went to eat at Boston's seafood & steak and then to the Lid'l Dolly Factory Outlet where i got the 2 youngest granddaughter's a lid'l dolly southern belle dresses...oldest greanddaughter Elli has a red & green one she has out grown {she wore the green in a pageant and never got to wear the red,not her moms style, and her momma thinks she's too old for these dresses so no new one for her,may have dsil grab one next time they go up} so the twins Kensleigh & Gracie can wear them this winter for christmas pix,. so i got their baby sister Chloe a white one and other granddaughter Avery got pink picked out by pawpaw...will be so sweet for her 2nd b'day pix since she is a sweetheart feburary baby:love: { chloe is too}. on sunday we had breakfast at a wonderful place called Applehouse something or other...wonderful yummy food,all the regualar breakfast fare but also apple fritters,apple butter and apple julep brought to all tables to get you started...really good food! then we spent the day at Dollywood and had a good time..i would of had a better weekend had i not been fighting a sinus infection...head ache and chills all weekend:sick: . but there were lots of cool rides and not a bad price to get in { but we got in for free with their season passes!:) } i hope to go here with some grands in the fall... ok so thats all done so on with the DISNEY stuff! :goodvibes
It's monday april 7th and we are up and getting ready for animal kingdom...we have breakfast in the room,donuts and milk nanna grabbed at the gift shop last night. our plan was to bring food and eat in the room. never made a grocery run and either ate donuts in the room,or ate in the food court.kids had poptarts one morning with snack credits! they had bagels one morning and blaze was bragging that he was eating poohs hunny on his! they loved it,eating in front of the t.v. and coloring in the food court.
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after breakfast brendi, the kids and i all dress in our tiki kingdom tee's from the disney store,i got moola for my b'day and spent it on us shirts and the kids flip flops and pj's from the disney store...what fun! got great deals, shirts were on sale for $5 each and flops for $2 ? and jammies for $8 and i got a $10 gift card at the door! so we racked up! it was so hard to save those shirts for 10 mos! i got eeyore,brendi got minnie,blaze got mickey and elli got marie...
we then hop the bus and arrive at the
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we are there in tiem for th eopening! we see the show
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abd elli and blaze wave like they are thier long lost friends!
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after the show we make the dash { with about a million other people it seems } to the safari where we plan to get a fast pass...but we are in luck,wait time is 20 mins so we park the stroller and jump in line... as we are looking at all the pictures of animals and rading their names blaze begins to cry...the real heartbreaking cry of a child that has just realized he has been gone from home for 4 days and he misses sockie their kitty...nanna had to snap a picture.
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..broke all our hearts poor fella was so sad...we assured him that Nennie { dada's mom} was taking good care of sockie and teddy { the dog} and that later in the day he'd get to talk to her when she was done with her mail route..he was ok with that. tears all dried up,nose still running as i see in the picture and sitting with his pawpaw he was ready to go on safari...
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we really enjoyed the safari .
we saw a baby elephant...
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an awesome rino...
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some talkiative lions....
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a graceful girraffe...
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and a wild moneky!
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they loved posing on thees stones...then we headed to what would be elli's 1st roller coaster! Everest!
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she can't wiat to see if she is tall enough...we tell her she is { nanna has checking in her lil book of world secrets1} but she wanst to measure..they think that is cool...blazer wants to ride but has been reminded he is not big enough yet...mama,dada & elli get in line...only 20 min wait here also...we luck out so often during this trip...hardly any waits more than 20 mins! later int he week we wait for 20mins for btmrr and to see ariel in her grotto,because she is on break...rest of the time was great only a few fast passes...
blaze doesn't believe he's not tall enough so heads over to measure for himself...i hold his hand and show him how much more he needs to grow but thats not good enough,he can't see it so he has me take a picture so he can look at it on the camera...
is this not the saddest face on a boy!
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after he realizes he isn't tall enough he cries for a bit and i tell him i won't ride it either { they'd given me and pawpaw a parent swap pass to ride with elli after her ride with mama and dada } i shuld of taken a picture of the reilef on pawpaw's face when he realizes 'he' doesn't have to ride everest...we head over to wait for them to return and blaze and pawpaw spy some friends on the lake...
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i dearly love this picture of blaze and his pawpaw watching mickey & minnie and friends on the lake.
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while we are waiting for them to return from their adventure on everest we look around the shop and nanna tried to make blazer feel better with shopping! works for me...he picks out some yeti snow mix stuff and ask if he can get elli some too! awww so sweet! they got along very well on this trip...the joy of them sharing it with each other was so fun to watch...
when brendi,kevin and elli get off the ride i tell them we aren't going because we pormised blazer so brendi stays with us and dada & elli { who is jumping up and down and shaking like a lil leaf and yelling,i did it ,i did it ,i wanna do i agian!" } are off to ride again through the fast pass line! this tiem she's not so excited after..they get the front seat and it is just she and dada so no one on the other side to hold her in! kevin siad he was holding her and she was latched onto his arm yelling ' hold on to me dada,hold on to me!" she says she will never ride it again...lol...we'll see in a few years when we go back...she stands by thi sorck for a picture of her after her everest rides! i tell her we can take the same shot next go round...
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after everest we go do kali river rapids...we all had our handy dandy ponchos but they didn't do a whole lot of good! nanna and pawpaw were int he hot seats! well wet seats! i should say...we were soaked..but it was so fun to be going backward and not seeing what was coming but seeing thier faces as they saw what was coming our way..they laughed so hard at us when we got soaked...that was 1/2 the fun ,watching them watch us.
2b continued......
 
we then head to the dinosaur bone digsite
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and the kids play { wish i'd of dumped the gravel out of thier shoes into a baggie for a take home souvie!} after we have our snack..blaze and i had the frozen chocolate dipped banana's yummy! we head to dinosaur and get a fast pass { liked dinosaur even though it was a bit rough and i ended up with a bruise n my hip...but i loved he picture from the end of the ride and bought it!} elli's face is pricless as is pawpaw's}
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then we ride the dino ride in dinoland or whatever it is called:confused: ...brain freeze from the banana almost 2 months later? :confused3 hehe...we ride dinosaur and then head to flametree bbq for some lunch...really wonderful food here...while pawpaw & dada wait to order food we scout out a table...brendi finds one down a winding path { i love how this is all laid out with the terraced areas for eating} we had a table by the lake with a wonderful view of everest!
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we spot a vistitor in the lake
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kevin got it on video as well as a lil turtle swimming about...
the only rudeness we witnessed at wdw was on this day at this table. the kids and i were waitig,mbrendi had gone to help carry the trays and show the guys where we were seated. this man came up and asked if the seats at the end were taken andi said yes. he stomped off sayin " you shouldn't do that you should get your food first!' i can't believe how rude so i come back with this..' well when you own disney you can make the rules" { i will hear this often through out the rest of the trip,pawpaw will remind me i don't own disney either...hehe] what ws even worse is He wasn't even holding his food his Wife had the tray full of food...i wish i'd of siad at least my man wnet for my food and didn't make me carry it ...i just know he would be the same guy who'd be all miffed if we were in line in front of or behind him with the kids who are antsy,wiggley and hungry and chatty . some people are just anal....hehe...i hope his wife didn't have to put up with crap because we had the forsite to get a table and wait for food. a lady at another table cound't believe him,she too was holding her families table..lots of people do this,specially people with kids...it's not wrong:( ! it's smart:thumbsup2 ! ok enough of the rude guy... after we eat we are off to look around and see some shows and also catch the parade later...here are the kids and pawpaw thier faorite 'kid transporter' driver!
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...shows,parades. characters & who has been in our room!
up next Elli says~ " Nanna we're having so much fun we can't feel time spinning!" :love: words to melt this nanna's heart!
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mmmm....lets' see if i can catch up...been busy & lazy and got behind...but mi dmil,dsil's and dbil and dniece & nepehw have all gone to disney for 2 weeks and it got me all excited and sad too. thye called to day form dhs where they were waiting in line for ' the back lot tour' we missed this ride but will catch it next trip!
when we left off at animal kingdom we had had our lunch and were off to see a show...we really enjoyed a bugs life..
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pawpaw and the tree of life
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brither & sister enjoying some ducks and flemingos in a pnd as we rest up for a bt before we shop and then stake out a claim on some walkway for a parade seat!
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while we are wiating on the parade blaze calls his nennie { other g'ma] and check in on sockie the cat he was missing earlier in the day...he finds she is well and then goes into this long story of allhe has seen and done...he is so animated and excited and it was so fun to watch and listen to him. we head to the restroom before the parade . elli & nanna and mama & blaze. as we are following mama & blaz,e elli,holding my hand and trying to keep up and take in allthe things aroudn us says to me " nanna,we're having so much fun we can't feel tiem spinning!" thi sfrom a 5 almost 6 year old..i wanted to cry i was so touched by her discription of our adventure. i scooped her up and kissed her all over her sweet face and carried that long legged bug to the restroom...what a joy grandchildren are...
after the restroom stop we head to our seats and wait for the parade and the kids loved it as did we all..i love the music { one of the songs is on my multicyltural cd in my classroom,music form around th eowrld...love it} anyway here are a few pix of the parade.
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blaze gets a handshake from a chipmunk!
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{ i have no clue which one this is...hehe]
after the parde we head for the gate so we can get a bus before the park closes at 6...as we are walking blaze starts to jump up and down adn yell' donald hey donald here we are!' he has spotted donald and the gang coming out fora meet and greet...before we can stop him he has attcked him as does elli so donald stops fo rth epic as the others go to their spots...
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we get a shot with mickey and then run to catch up with dad & pawpaw who are ready to go!
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one last shot with the animal kingdom sign...wanted to get it on the way in but were wanting to get in line so we could head to the safari...
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on the bus we go and head back to the restor for soem much awaited pool time for the kids....and look what they find when we get back...mickey & minnie have left gifts!!!!
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then it's into the pool for mama and the kids,dada orders pizza and pawpaw rest up and nanna decided to wash up the laundry instead of waiting till morning...
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:confused3 not sure how i did it but somehow it posted before i was done...oh well...here's the ending of this day...
elli making friends around the calypso pool center...
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elli came in to visit as i was doing laundry and wanted a picture of this coke machine
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to show her fieends,slacker nanna still hasn't printed it,or any for that matter $$ tight,gas eating up what lil paycheck i have,summer is part time at the daycare as we don't have as many kids as we used to,soem mom's staying home to save money.anyways i know thinsg are tough all over but i still need to print soem pix! it is wdw ya know...hehe...
up next pawpaw sleeps in,dada goes to play golf and mama,nanna,elli & blazer check out the other allstar resorts and do some site seeing! catch ya later...:hyper:
forgive all my typos...to lazy to go back and redo or use spell check...
 
Hi! I had to come see your window! Oh, but you have much more than a decorated window! Awesome pictures......I will be back tomorrow to read and see it all!!!!! Great job!
 
welcome disneyfun08 & englishrose47! glad you could drop by for a visit!::yes:: :) I seem to live on these boards and love lal the info and pre-trip and trip reports so i thought i'd try my hand at one...:thumbsup2
with gas prices so high:moped: ,coming to the disboards :surfweb: is like a free mini-vacation! :cutie: all the thrills,smiles,tears w/o all the money! hehe a true 'stay-cation' as they talk about all the time now...:dance3:
i'll try to add a new update this week if not sat. will be the day...thanks again for chekcing it out!
 












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