The Rice's are "Running" at Disney....

[kristenrice]

OK, better late than never...I always seem to start a PTR to quell my excitement. Then, by day 2 of the trip, I forget to update...I get home, and forget. So here goes...my first attempt to start AND FINISH a trip report

The Backstory...
In August of 2012, I discovered RunDisney. I was never a runner and decided to make it my goal to do a 5K at Disney World and I chose the Wine and Dine weekend as my target date. I started training using the walk/run method and the C25K app. My older daughter, Kamryn, who had just turned 9, started running with me too. Within 6 weeks, I could do a 5Kso Kam and I signed up for a 5K in February 2013. That would be our first of TEN 5K races that we did together in 2013!


I set my goal a little higher...
In November 2013, DH and I participated in the Wine and Dine 1/2 Marathon.

When we got home, our younger daughter (Kaedyn) loved the medals. She decided that she wanted to earn one too. At the time, she had just turned 8 so there would be no 1/2 marathons in her near future. Most of the 5K races have those rubber "medals" and she was not interested in those. Then, she saw the medal for the Expedition Everest Challenge. She said she had to have one. She'd already done a 5K fun run with me and her older sister so I knew she'd be up for the challenge.

I looked into the race and when I saw that the minimum age is only 9, I told her it was a possibility....and then we had a problem.

Kaedy started having knee pain which we thought was just typical aches and pains from her gymnastics and playground activities. Then one night, she said it "popped" while she was at gymnastics and she would not put any weight on it. She hopped around all night like a bunny and asked to be carried up the stairs to bed. She never cried or complained of pain, just that she "couldn't" walk on it. At first, we thought she was being a little drama queen, but the next morning, she still would not put weight on her leg. DH took her to the orthopedic walk-in clinic and they took x-rays immediately. Of course, since she had no swelling, pain or obvious source of injury, we figured they would be negative...we were wrong She was diagnosed with osteochondritis dessicans and had a stable lesion on her left femur. In basic terms, she had a spot on her bone that was not getting blood flow so it was starting to separate from the bone. This lesion was at the part of the bone that absorbs approximately 60% of the impact of each step. She had an MRI the next day to confirm the diagnosis and the first treatment was to put her on an immediate impact-restriction. She was prohibited from running, jumping, hopping or skipping...pretty much all the things 8 year olds love to do. She had to stop gymnastics and she could only go on walks that were less than 1/2 mile. This went on for 6 weeks and she was re-evaluated...more x-rays and another MRI...result? No progress. The lesion was not healing, but it wasn't worsening either. So we continued the restrictions for 6 more weeks. Then after another MRI, we were told that the lesion was starting to worsen. It was widening and starting to pull further away from the bone. It was still stable (attached) but it was not healing. We were given the option of surgery, or another 6 weeks and then a re-check. We talked it over with Kaedyn and she said that she just wanted it to get better so she could get back to playing "normal" again. On January 23, 2014, she had surgery.



The doctor drilled 8 holes through the lesion and into the bone with the hopes that blood would flow through the lesion, into the bone and promote new bone growth and healing. For the next 6 weeks, Kaedy was 100% non-weight bearing. She had a wheelchair at school and crutches at home. She was a trooper and never complained of any pain, except in her armpits from using the crutches. Her incentive to heal was the promise from mom and dad that she would get the chance to do the Expedition Everest Challenge and GET THAT MEDAL!

...Up next: The Planning Begins!

 

[kristenrice]

The planning begins...but by now, it's mostly done, so I will reminisce...

Step 1: Secure lodging! I knew that staying at a host resort was paramount. We'd stayed at AKV for the W&D and it was NOT a host resort which made race transportation a bit of a challenge. AKL/AKV is a host resort for the EEC and since we own DVC and our home is AKV, I was able to get us a standard studio for April 30-May 5. We typically stay in a 1BR and we have never stayed more than 2 nights in a single room at a hotel so this will be interesting.

Step 2: Register for the race! This was actually the hardest, most nerve-wracking part! When it was announced that this would be the final running of the EEC, I knew it would be popular. When the early registration opened for DVC members, I didn't quite have enough funds available in the vacation account to cover it. Within a few days, the DVC registrations were sold out and I had to wait until it opened to the general public. I was on my computer at noon sharp to get us registered and, boy, am I glad I did. The race SOLD OUT within an hour! Once I had the confirmations, I was able to breathe easy.

Step 3: Get to WDW! We live in Western Michigan, about 10 minutes from the Grand Rapids airport. Southwest has decent prices to Orlando, but the times aren't always the best. The girls got approved to miss school for the race (their teachers thought it was a great idea!) but I still needed to try and keep them in for as long as possible. Well, as it worked out, we are taking the roundabout way to and from Orlando. We are flying from the GR airport into TAMPA on Thursday morning. Our flight departs at 6:25am and lands at 9:05am. There is a non-stop flight into Orlando, but it doesn't land until almost 5:30pm. I'd rather not lose that whole day...plus it was $40 more per person. Even though we are renting a car to get from Tampa to WDW, we are still saving almost $100 and we have almost 10 hours of park time available to us on our arrival day.

To get home, I wanted to fly out of MCO and take DME. I have no desire to try and drive to an airport that is an hour away to make a flight on time. I would probably leave about 6 hours early, just to make sure that if we encountered traffic, a flat tire, aliens from space or any other unforeseeable circumstance, we would still make our flight. Well, the non-stop flight from MCO into Grand Rapids departs at 10am. There is NO WAY I am getting on a DME bus at 7am to go HOME. So, we are going to take the 2pm flight from MCO into Flint. It lands at 4:40pm and it is about a 90-minute drive home from the airport. I rented a car and the total cost is about $20 more than if we'd flown into Grand Rapids. I will gladly pay $20 if it means I don't have to get up at 5:30am to leave my happy place.

...Up Next: Kaedy's knee...will it ever heal???

 

[kristenrice]

Kaedy went back to the orthopedic doctor...several times. Each checkup gave us the same news...the doctor was "disappointed" in how her knee was healing. After the initial 6 weeks of non-weight-bearing, she was given the OK to start walking on it again. The doctor still did not want her doing impact activities for another 6 weeks because it was only about 50% healed. At the next appointment, we got the same news...still only about 60% healed. While it was improving, the doctor was not pleased with the results because typically, the patient is 100% healed after 3 months. The good news was that since she was not having any sort of pain or problems with it, he said that she could begin running up to a mile at a time. She was told that if she had any pain, she needed to tell us so that we could let her rest. He also said that as long as she remains pain-free, he sees no reason why she can't run the EEC. Let the training begin.

As I suspected, her desire to go out in this wonderful Michigan weather is non-existent. She has been to the gym a few times and run laps around the track so that we can make sure that her knee is up to it, but the track is B-O-R-I-N-G....13 laps = 1 mile. I was getting nervous...not only am I worried that SHE might not make it, I realized that I have put on 20 pounds since that 1/2 marathon and *I* might not make it. I was also worried about Kamryn since she has not trained at all either. Then, last week, DH and I took the girls to the gym and told them that we weren't leaving until we'd done 41 laps, which is the equivalent of 5K. I told them we'd run and walk and we'd go at their pace, but we were going to do all 41 laps. Leave it to me to mess something up....I was so focused on gathering the clothes for the kids (shoes, shorts, socks, iPods, headphones, etc) that when we got to the locker room, I realized I'd forgot to pack MY running pants. So, I toughed it out and I did the full 41 laps in my JEANS. Kaedy did great! We broke the run into 5-lap intervals. We started by walking the first 5. Then, we did 3 laps of walking followed by 2 laps of running. We did that until 40 laps were done, and then walked out the final lap. We had a few pauses for earbud malfunctions (Kaedyn's kept falling out) but we did not stop the clock. When we calculated our pace, we finished with a 15:15/mile average. I'm sure that once we can get outdoors and we are not running in a circle, our times will be much better. The silly thing is, Kamryn never even got out of breath! I heard her SINGING along with her music while running. She didn't even break a sweat! She is teamed up with DH (who runs about 7 miles at any given time) so I think she is ready for the challenge. Kaedy is with me and I just want to make sure that we finish and get her that medal!

 

[wishicouldgomoreofte]

I am enjoying your report. Poor Kaedyn! I hope she heals well and soon. That is so great that your family runs together like that. Your girls are beautiful. And that picture of Kaedyn in the kerchief and sunglasses is cute. Was that a kids' fun run?
Looking forward to your next installment.

 

[kristenrice]

I am enjoying your report. Poor Kaedyn! I hope she heals well and soon. That is so great that your family runs together like that. Your girls are beautiful. And that picture of Kaedyn in the kerchief and sunglasses is cute. Was that a kids' fun run?
Looking forward to your next installment.

Kaedyn's only fun run was the Color Me Rad 5K. It wasn't specifically for kids, but there were a lot there and it was not a timed event. That is my favorite picture of her.

 

[wishicouldgomoreofte]

Kaedyn's only fun run was the Color Me Rad 5K. It wasn't specifically for kids, but there were a lot there and it was not a timed event. That is my favorite picture of her.

It looked like a color run. So she has already done a 5K, and you all have a wonderful family energy for running together.
I pray she will heal well and completely, and have a GRAND time at the Expedition Everest Challenge.

 

[kristenrice]

Training update...

We have had some beautiful weather here over the past few days. Yesterday, it was in the low 60's so I took the girls out for an outdoor run around the neighborhood. You would have thought I hitched them to a wagon and whipped them...they were complaining and whining and moaning about it...but they did it! We only went one mile (Ok, Garmin says 1.07) but it was a great effort. We walked and ran and our final pace was 14:30. Kaedy was excited when she hit the 1-mile mark and I told her she could walk the rest of the way home...which was basically across the street.

Let me back up to Tuesday...Kam was at gymnastics class and so I took Kaedy down to the running store. She had been complaining that her BRAND NEW (like, worn 3 times!) running shoes are "too tight". Ok, fine...let's see if they have any on clearance because I am not inclined to shell out $65 for a pair of shoes. She tried on 6 pairs and found one pair that she LOVED...Brooks PureFlow in hot pink. I was afraid to look at the price since I know that Brooks is a pretty pricey brand. I was expecting them to be about $50 since the Saucony's that she'd tried on were on sale for $40 and I believe they are usually cheaper than Brooks. What a great surprise when the sales associate said they were $29.99. SOLD! When we got home, I looked at her most recent pair...NewBalance ones that glow in the dark. They are a size 4.5...and she wears a 6. OOPS! No wonder she said her feet hurt when she ran in them. Now she has her nice, new hot pink kicks and she is ready to do the 5K pajama run with me in two weeks from today. That will be her first, timed run and she said she "wants to win her age group".

 

[kristenrice]

Time for a practice pack!

Every time we take a trip, I over- or underestimate the amount of stuff we need. For this trip, I am fairly certain that we can get by with just our carryon bags for our clothes and gear, but we are planning on eating a few meals (mostly breakfasts) in the room.

We are planning on stopping at the grocery store, but there are a few items that I just don't want to buy and I'd rather bring from home. For example, our microwave pasta cooker, "real" plates/bowls, and dry, non-perishable items for breakfast and lunch. Since we are flying SWA and our checked baggage will be free, I broke down and decided that we will check one bag.

Now, it's time to inventory the spring and summer clothes. With two girls who are growing like weeds, I have to sort out what still fits them and what is going to the garage sale. On top of that, I gained a few inches over the winter so I am not sure what will still fit me. I'm not thrilled at the prospect of shopping for spring/summer clothes at the start of the season when everything will be full price. I did luck out a little bit with Kamryn's wardrobe. She is "big" for her age...11 years old (turning 12 in June), 5'2" and 115 pounds...so she is pretty much out of girls' sizes. I hit up the Eddie Bauer clearance section (online) and scored her (2) pairs of shorts (reg. $40 each), a pair of jeans (reg. $70!) and (2) long-sleeve shirts (reg. $40 each) for a total of $60. Luckily, she wears a women's XS or a 2/4 so they had a lot to choose from...nothing for me since I wear a 12.

I'm getting anxious already since I worry about the fact that I am working the entire day before we leave. You know that anxiety and last-minute jitters that everyone gets when they do their last-minute preparations? Well, I get to experience that a full two days before we leave. Our flight departs at 6:25am so I will have to be online at the 24-hour mark. I leave for work by 6:30am so my plan is to line up our iPhones, each with the SWA app open and ready to go...then just click them down the line to check us all in...then out the door for a 12-hour shift at work. Since I am a paramedic, there is no guarantee that I will be done at 7pm and Ol' Mr. Murphy will pretty much guarantee that it will be one of my take-a-call-at-6:45-and-go-home-at-8:30 days. My dad is picking us up at 5am sharp to head to the airport so I am planning on getting up around 3:30am...and of course, I'll be too excited to sleep. Because of all that business, I need to have myself and the kids 100% packed and ready to go by Tuesday night. Therefore, I need the practice.

Time to dig out the bags and see how it goes...wish me luck.

 

[Krissy04]

Good luck packing! My friend and I are heading down for EEC as well, no husbands, no kiddos so only having to worry about myself will be a breeze packing...I hope!

 

[twinsouvenirs]

How fun! I have to figure out what our 3 year old's endurance looks like They loved the kids race last year!

 

[kristenrice]

Kaedyn did it! She completed her first official 5K! It's FREEZING cold here in West Michigan...sunny, but the temperature is a brisk 26 degrees now. It was in the teens when the race started. She was so nervous, she didn't want to eat anything for breakfast so I was only able to coax her into a few bites of an egg sandwich. We started the race with a 5-minute warm up walk. Then we did intervals of run 2 minutes/walk 1 minute. She was pretty tired, but she kept on trudging and never stopped running before the "walk alarm" went off. She crossed the finish line running. Her goal was to finish in under 45 minutes, which is is just under a 15:00/mile pace. The only other time she did a full 3.1 miles, her pace was about 15:30 so she really had to push herself. Well, she did! Her official race time was 41:39 with a final pace of 13:15. To top it off, this year, they decided to hand out finisher medals so Kaedyn earned her FIRST medal ever...and boy, is she proud!

 

[Krissy04]

Woo Hoo! Congrats Kaedyn! Awesome time!

 

[kristenrice]

Last week, I got a HUGE surprise...

My birthday is in October (the 16th) and I had a pipe dream that I would go to WDW from the 15th-20th for F&W to celebrate my birthday. The kids can't miss school and DH has no interest in going so my only hope was to find a friend to join me. When this year's vacation requests came out, I secured those days off, just in case. I asked several friends and they are all unavailable (between jobs, new jobs, recent surgery and other planned vacations) so my hope for a birthday trip was dwindling. Then, my dad suggested that I ask my mom. Her birthday is the 27th of October and she is more into the Food and Wine stuff than my dad is so he said this would be a great opportunity for her. I think he did a little coercing, but she said YES! Now I have TWO trips to plan, with a third in the hopper (the big, extended family trip next June!) so I have a lot to keep me occupied. Alas, I am out of points for this year so mom and I will be exploring a value resort, most likely Pop Century. I've stayed there before so at least I am a little familiar with it and won't have a lot of research to do.

 

[kristenrice]

The Magic Bands have shipped and they should arrive today or tomorrow.

Last week, I received the envelope from Magical Express, but it wasn't as exciting as usual. That's because we are flying IN to Tampa so no luggage tags and no DME. The envelope had our confirmations for our trip home....the Tragical Express.

After flipping the calendar yesterday, it is so exciting to see that giant "VACATION STARTS!" on the page...OK, it's the LAST day of the month, but we are in the home stretch.

 

[kristenrice]

Wow! Time is FLYING by...but it will soon be coming to a crawl. I am fairly certain that we have everything we need as far as gear, food and clothing is concerned. As far as I can tell, I have all of our paperwork together (flight confirmations, rental car confirmation, dog vaccination forms, etc) but I am still waiting on the waivers for the race. The RD website says that they are now available to download and print, but there is no link. I guess I will just keep an eye out.

I was a little concerned about our arrival time at the airport. We've never flown out this early on a weekday and I have no idea how busy the airport is with business travelers. We are flying out of Grand Rapids and our flight is at 6:25am. I had figured that since we are only checking one bag, DH and the kids could go straight to the gate while I check the one bag. Since we are all pretty efficient in getting through security, and the GR airport is not very big, I was thinking that getting to the airport (i.e. dropped off at the curb) by 5:30am would be plenty of time. I told my dad to be at our house between 5-5:15am since we live just 5 miles from the airport. Then, I read the airport's website. That says that passengers with checked baggage need to be at their airline's ticket counter at least 90 minutes prior to departure. That means that we have to be AT the airport by about 4:45. I told my dad that we can take a cab and so he does not have to get up so early, but he insists on taking us. I told him that I've moved our time up and he needs to be at our house at 4:30am on the dot and we will be in the driveway waiting for him.

In addition to the fact that I am scheduled to work until 7pm the night before, I also found out that the girls have their final GEMS (girl's church group) meeting that night and it is a pool party at the local aquatic center. It runs until 8pm so they won't be in bed until almost 9pm! On top of that, I will have to wash, dry and pack their swimming suits before going to bed....maybe I will just buy them each a second suit.

That's all for this installment....stay tuned as I start to watch the weather reports and freak myself out a little more.

 

[kristenrice]

In case anyone missed my posts on the Transportation board, I scored a nice budget victory today. I had a reservation with Alamo through UnderCoverTourist for a full-size car from TPA to the Car Care Center that I pre-paid in full...$63.80. At the time I booked it (back in mid-November), most of the other rates I'd found were around $100 so I was ecstatic to get it for under $70. Today, on a whim, I happened to check the Alamo website. To my shock and amazement, the price was down to $28.11. I quickly went to the UCT site, used their chat feature, and canceled my reservation. They are currently processing the refund and I'm sure it will be back in my account by the time we leave. Then, I went through Sunshine Rewards to earn a 2% rebate, logged into to Alamo and entered my SWA code to earn 600 RR points and secured my reservation. I saved over $35 AND got 600 RR points.

It is sunny and windy today but I think it's time for a run. The girls are not interested. We have a big weekend ahead of us to close out spring break. Our local minor-league baseball team is opening their season today. Yesterday was the scheduled opener, but it was rained out. So, now we have tickets to the game tonight, the DOUBLE-HEADER tomorrow and the afternoon game on Sunday. This was a totally budget-friendly weekend since they offered tickets to Friday, Saturday and Sunday's games for $1 each to their FB fans. For the girls and I (DH is working all weekend), I paid a total of $28 for 4 games. Now, if the weather will only cooperate.

 

[kristenrice]

ONLY 5 MORE DAYS!!

So far, I have myself and the girls almost completely packed. I have received wardrobe approval from Kaedy...just waiting on a few final decisions from Kamryn. I managed to find a few pairs of shorts for me and, after checking out the 10-day forecast, it's looking like t-shirts, shorts and tank tops will be all we need. Since we are leaving early in the morning from Michigan, we will travel in our light jackets and pants. The 3-1-1 bags are all set with the exception of Kamryn's face wash which will go in just before we leave.

Here's what each of us have as our primary luggage...http://www.ebags.com/product/ebags/...-convertible-junior/241465?productid=10209114 . These bags are phenomenal! They hold EVERYTHING that we need, they are not too heavy AND they fit UNDER THE SEAT on the SWA planes. In mine, I have 5 pairs of shorts, 6 tops, ECCO sandals, running shoes, underwear/socks/bras, and my swimsuit and cover-up. That's just in the main compartment. In the outer compartments, I could* have my Kindle, headphones, iPhone, camera, all the chargers, and my "Disney folder" which contains all of our travel documents. (*I say "could" because I will move my Kindle, headphones and iPhone to my purse before we board the plane so that I can keep them handy.) I cannot say enough great things about these bags because they truly make our packing and traveling much easier.

I have packed our rolling duffel bag as our only checked bag. This bag contains a wide variety of items that are not appropriate or necessary in the carry ons. I have dry, shelf-stable foods (pasta, canned peas, tuna, Pop Tarts, peanuts, trail mix, Nutella, powdered peanut butter and a squeeze bottle of mayo), some microwaveable cookware/dishes (pasta boat, egg cookers, plates and bowls), glow sticks, measuring cups/spoons, liquid OTC medications (purely a "just-in-case"...I know that medications shouldn't be checked), sunscreen spray, laundry detergent, plastic straws (staying at AKV...only paper straws there) and our larger toiletry kit which contains moleskin/scissors, q-tips, disposable razors, shaving cream, full-size face wash and floss picks. We are flying non-stop both ways so I am not too concerned about a baggage delay. I know it can happen, and if it does, nothing in the checked bag is a necessity. There is plenty of room in it for anything extra we may accumulate.

There is not too much left on my to-do list. I work all day on Monday. Tuesday is the FINAL day for me to get everything in its final locations and prepare the house for our absence. After school, Kaedyn has an appointment for her haircut and "pedicure" and both of the girls have all of their schoolwork to do. Their teachers have been gracious enough to prepare everything in advance so I told them that they will have Monday and Tuesday after school to get it ALL done. Kamryn has decided to skip her gymnastics class on Tuesday night to make sure she gets her assignments completed before she leaves. Wednesday, I will check us in for our flight at 6:25am and leave for work by 6:30am. After work, I will head over to the gym to pick up the girls from their church outing which ends at 8pm. Then it's off to home and straight to bed. I will have the alarm set for 3:30am...the girls will get up at 4...and the ride will arrive at 4:30am sharp.

I will do my best to post random updates throughout the trip. I have no idea how to add pictures to my TR from my iPhone so there won't be much in that regard.

 

[kristenrice]

We are here! I left the computers at home so I'm posting from my phone...bear with me.

Everything went very smooth in the morning and our flight was only half-full so we got great seats with nobody in the middle. We landed right on time and the flight was flawless.
Once in Tampa, we picked up our rental car (Chevy Impala) and made the drive to WDW. We stopped at Chick-fil-A for lunch ( we don't have those yet in MI and we love them) and then Target for groceries. I had a $50 grocery budget and spent $50.04...so close!

At 11:30, while we were at Target, I was stunned to get a text that our room was ready. I had requested a room near the lobby but it wasn't a big deal. We went straight to the room...and walked and walked and walked...but I knew that the kids would be surprised when we got there. We have a "reclassified" standard room! Frankly, I have no idea why people complained. We are in a corner so there is no "sweeping vista" or beautiful panoramic view, but there are plenty of animals (giraffes, ankole and others) that I would definitely consider this a savanna view. Yes, there is that unsightly people pen below us, but it is part of the savanna here.



I drove the car back to the Car Care Center while DH and the girls chilled in the room. They had a shuttle at the CCC which took me back to the AKL. All total, I was gone 45 minutes so it was pretty quick.

Then we headed for Epcot after a 25-minute wait for a bus. None of us were antsy and we just sat on the bench enjoying the wonderful weather. I won't complain about the wait since it was 2pm and I don't expect a bus every ten minutes. Since the Epcot bus had just pulled away as we walked up, I was not surprised.

At Epcot, we rode Spaceship Earth and then headed for The Land to use our Soarin FP. After Soarin, the troops were starving, but with Via Napoli just two hours away, we didn't want to load up. We went to Sunshine Seasons where Kevin and Kaedyn shared sushi, Kam just got a bottle of water and I had some grapes. Then we rode Living with the Land and headed towards Mission:Space to use our last FP. There was no wait anyways since we ride on Green. I can't handle the rides that spin so the family graciously takes it easy on me.

After that, we started wandering towards Italy. We still had about an hour so we stopped in at Norway and grabbed a schoolbread. None of us had ever tried it before but it was a hit! Moving on, Kam and I stopped at one of the festival booths and got a watermelon passion fruit frozen drink. I had a sip and let the girls share it. This also earned high marks.

We finally made it to Italy! Now Kevin was starving so we ordered the arancini appetizer, a mezzo metro pizza (1/2 Quattro formaggio, 1/2 pepperoni) and a kids pizza for Kaedy. The girls each had frozen lemonade, Kevin had a beer and I had a soda. With the DVC discount and tip, our bill was $98.



After dinner, we walked through the caramel shop in Germany. Kam got a caramel apple (for later) and Kaedy got a marshmallow caramel roll...which she ate immediately. Then we headed to Test Track and waited in the standby line for 41 minutes. After that, we were exhausted so we called it a day....a long, fun day.

We headed back to AKV and went to bed around 10pm.

Next up: it should be MK, but everyone is still asleep!

 

[kristenrice]

Kam and I went to MK while Kaedy and Kevin caught up on some sleep. We rode Space Mountain with our FP and then headed towards Adventureland. We shared a Dole Whip (Kam's new favorite snack!) and then waited 20 minutes in the standby line for PoTC. By then, Kevin and Kaedyn we en route so we took the train from Frontierland to Main St where we met up with the stragglers.

We used our FP for Haunted Mansion and then we needed food. Kevin and Kaedyn didn't eat before they left so we grabbed some lunch at Pecos Bill's before heading to the 7DMT with our final FP.

After that, we decided to head out and go back to the resort for some swimming. We hung out at the pool and hot tub and Kaedyn even braved the slide for the first time. (*Side note: she had a near-drowning when she was 6 so it is a BIG deal for her to go under water.)

For dinner, I made some macaroni and cheese in the room (fancy, huh?) and the girls wanted to go back to Epcot for the evening. We arrived at Epcot around 8 and headed for The Seas. We spent close to an hour in that pavilion since the girls are fascinated by wildlife. When Illiminations started, we rode Journey Into Imagination and had the whole ride to ourselves. Since Epcot had evening EMH that night, we took advantage of the completely empty Imagination Institute. France was next on the agenda. Kevin and I wanted some Grey Goose slushies and the girls wanted a snack. The girls got gelato and then we went to the bakery and got a beignet, ham and cheese croissant and a lemon tart. Yummy!

At that point, everyone's legs were sore and with the race still on the horizon, we decided to call it a night.

Next up: The Race Has Arrived!

 

[kristenrice]

The morning of the race arrived and we headed to AK to start the day. The girls wanted to ride Everest but my stomach was objecting. So, since we all had FP's, Kevin rode with Kaedyn while Kam and I waited. Then, I gave him my MB and he rode it again with Kam while Kaedy and I waited. It was like a rider swap, except MOM was the one who didn't want to ride. After that, we rode Dinosaur and then grabbed some food at Restaurantosaurus to calm my stomach. Next up was Kali River Rapids...I hate that ride too...but I wasn't going to sit out another one so I put on my big-girl pants and rode it. I hate getting wet, particularly my head and shoes, but I lucked out and only ended up with a wet right leg. Phew! After that, we dried off by walking to Africa for our next FP...Kilimanjaro Safari. We had about 20 minutes to burn so we let the girls get their faces painted. (*As soon as I figure out how to post the pictures from my iPhone, I will add them in).



By this time, Kam and I were getting tired and we were ready to head back for a nap. Kevin and Kaedyn decided to take the train up to the Conservation Station to see if anything interesting was going on up there. They returned to the hotel about an hour after Kam and I and we all took a nap for a couple hours.

After a quick nap, it was time to start getting ready for the race. I had made a tuna-pasta salad in the room and we each ate a small bowl of that to fuel up. We headed out to the bus around 8pm and went to the staging area. Then we just waited....and waited...and waited. Kaedyn and I were in corral G with Kevin and Kam were behind us in corral H. The first corral went off at about 10:05 and I *thought* they said they were sending out three corrals at a time...obviously, I did not hear that correctly. By the time Kaedy and I started, the race clock was already at 30 minutes! I told her that the first people that went out were probably already done and at the after-party. Kaedy decided to do 2:2 intervals, 2 minutes run/2 minutes walk. She did great. She kept up the pace and did all the obstacles for me. I did the first one (jumping over the hay bales) but she did the crawl under the net so I could get a picture of her. I tried to get a shot of her doing the tires, but she was too quick and had finished by the time I got in position. We finished the 5K in just a little over 41 minutes. Then it was on to the scavenger hunt. I wanted to jog from clue to clue, but Kaedy would have none of that...she already did her running...so we walked. By the time we reached the third clue, Kamryn and Kevin had caught up to us. That was pretty cool because we then decided to finish the race together.

Kaedy got her medal and showed it off.

She was so happy and she said her knee didn't hurt at all. We took a quick rehydration break, changed our shirts and headed back into the park. We were starving and unfortunately, the only restaurant open was...Restaurantosaurus...so we ate there again. Kevin shocked us all when he said that he was sorry that this would be the last EEC because he WANTS to do it again. Let me point out that he had repeatedly stated that he was not doing this race for himself and he was only going because Kaedyn wanted to do it. Basically, he insisted that we were forcing him to come with us. We couldn't believe it when he admitted not only that he really liked it, but he liked it so much he actually WANTS to do it again! C'mon, RunDisney....find a replacement!!

At that point, it was almost 2am and we were exhausted so we headed back to the resort for some well-deserved sleep.

Up Next: The rest of the trip...