Day 6:
When we woke up this morning, it was hard to realize that our much anticipated trip was half over. Things always start getting a bit sad at this point. In the past, this is when weve had meltdowns, tantrums, etc. Things had been going so well, I wanted to keep it that way! I got the troops up and going! My goal for the day was to get Jacob picked to be in the Jedi Training Academy! His cousin was picked the year before and now, he wanted a turn! So, we dressed him in a Star Wars T-shirt and hoped for the best. The first session would be at 10:35 in the morning, so that was our goal!
We ha a quick breakfast at the hotel before leaving. Once again, we loaded up on apples for later in the park, and quickly were on our way. We were in the park by 8:00, and made a quick run to Frontierland for a ride on BTMRR. Sadly, it was down for a while. None of us wanted to wait around, so we looked around for something else to do in the same vicinity. The Mark Twain was just pulling into the dock, so we decided to hop on board for a tour around the Rivers of America. This is something that my kids had never done. If Id been a good Disney mommy, I would have rushed my kids up to the pilots cabin and asked if they could steer the boat. However, with 12 grandkids, that could have led to many, many meltdowns, so I didnt even let them know that was an option. Instead, we picked seats in the forward of the boat, so we could watch what was coming toward us. This is a nice gentle ride, which was good for me, since Timothy really wanted to eat at this point. I covered up with a blanket and we were all good! The commentary on this ride was very interesting, and even the kids found things they liked hearing about. What was most interesting to them was the close up look at the old Tom Sawyers Island, now Pirates Lair. My kids have never been there, so Alan promised them a trip before we left for home on Saturday.
As the ride ended, I took Leslie and Timothy to the hidden bathrooms by Rancho del Zocalo, while the rest of the group headed toward Tomorrowland to stake out places for the Jedi Training Academy. By the time we caught up with them, they had a good spot, and had got the kids who wanted to try to get picked up front. The kids (Jacob, Mary, Ian, Jamison, and Shaun) were all ready to go! As we waited, the CMs for this show came out and started getting things ready. As they set up, they would talk to the kids, and tell them what to do to increase their chances to get picked. Pretty soon, the show started! This was such a cute show. As they started to pick the kids, it became a feeding frenzy. Kids were jumping up and down and screaming at the top of their lungs! Jacob was really trying his hardest, but they always seemed to look right by or over him. Finally it was down to just 2 spots left. My heart was sinking! Then I heard, And the little brown haired girl in the red shirt. I looked up. That was describing Mary. Sure enough, she had been picked. I couldnt see Jacobs face, but I knew he would be disappointed!
It was so fun to watch Mary as she trained hard! She was so intent on listening to all the instructions. Finally, Darth Vader and Darth Maul came out! Darth Maul was SCARY!!!! The younglings were separated into 2 groups; one to fight Vader and the other to fight Maul. Mary would be fighting Darth Maul. You could tell that it was serious business for her! She absolutely believed that she was fighting for real! As she defeated Darth Maul, she headed toward her group, but one of the CMs grabbed her and pushed her up the stairs to fight Darth Vader. Im not sure why she was picked to fight both bad guys, but I tend to think it was the intense look on her face as she battled Darth Maul that made the CM give her another chance. Anyway, she defeated Vader, too, and the look on her face told the whole story! She was so proud of herself! As the show ended, all the participants were given diplomas that made them Padawans for the Republic. They were excused, and she literally flew to where we were all standing! I was a little nervous about what Jacob would say, but he was so thrilled for her! I was mighty proud of him! He swallowed his disappointment enough to tell Mary that she was a great fighter! I pulled him aside and told him that we would try again, if he wanted to. Oh, he wanted to!
At this point, our group decided to split up. Alan and my BIL took half of the kids over to DCA for some Grizzly River Run and Soarin. Since Timothy had fallen asleep in his stroller, I wanted to go someplace where he could sleep for a while. Dad, Marina, my sister and my other niece Olivia and I headed to Innoventions. I cant remember the last time I went in here! Its a lot like the house of the future in EPCOT. Its neat to walk through once, but I really dont feel the need to do it again! Anyway, we spent about 45 minutes poking through the house, before we were done! While we did this, my SIL, Dana, took Leslie to Pixie Hollow to meet the fairies. Leslie loved it!!!!
Timothy was awake, now, so we headed over to DCA to meet up with the others and do Turtle Talk with Crush. As we made our way over, the clouds really started to darken. We had been so lucky with the weather; it was always overcast in the morning, but it would burn off by noon, and wed have sunny afternoons. Well, it didnt look like today would be so lucky. In fact, it was downright chilly! As we started walking down the Hollywood Backlot area, it started to sprinkle. As we ducked into the Animation Building, we could hear thunder, and raindrops really start to come down. We checked on Turtle Talk, but the next show wouldnt be starting for another 30 minutes. While we waited, we went into another area of the building, where there was a demonstration of the animation techniques used to make Toy Story. Very cool! The kids loved it! After about 15 minutes, we moved over to the Turtle Talk lobby and sat down in front of the doors. As I looked around, I realized that all 25 of our group was here for this! That was cool! Wed done some things all together as a group of 25, but not everything. We all visited, passed the baby, and nibbled on some snacks as we waited for the auditorium to open up. Finally we were let in, and the kids made a mad dash for the front. The parental units sat in the comfy seats and settled in to watch the show. This was darling, as usual! I tell you, I could watch this show over and over! I love to hear all the things Crush has to say!
Once we were done here, our group split up again! My sisters family and my family went down the road towards Tower of Terror. The twins, and my sisters Olivia and Ian did not want to go on this ride, which was fine with my sister. She stayed off and watched those kids plus Timothy with my dad. The rest of us went into the Tower Hotel. There was literally no wait here! Jacob was a bit nervous, and so was my nephew, Jamison (hes the one with Asbergers Syndrome). When it was our turn, our group fit nicely along the top row. Jacob and Jamison were right in the middle, and they were really afraid, now! I couldnt understand this, since Jacob has been on it at least 5 times in the past! Finally he told me hes not afraid of the drop, but hes terrified of the ghosts. So, I told him when to close his eyes and when to open them, and then he was fine! The ride was spectacular! I love this one, and could do it over and over! Unfortunately, no one will do it over and over with me, so I only get to do it once. Oh well. Ill take what I can get. Maybe Timothy will be my daredevil and love it as much as I do!
At this point, Alan and my Dad left the park. Dad had to do an interview at a tv station, and Alan was going to drive him. We took the kids to Monsters Inc. This is a really cute ride, and since my kids know the movie backwards and forwards, they really enjoyed it. Even Timothy seemed to like the bright colors.
No one wanted to do the Muppets 3-D. My kids dont know the Muppets, so it doesnt mean anything to them. We slowly made our way out of DCA and over to the hotel for a lunch of sandwiches and quesadillas. Alan and Dad hadnt left yet, but they were on their way. Dad did tell us that my moms nephew, V.J, and his wife Grace had called and wanted to meet up with us later that afternoon/evening. That sounded good to us! We let the kids swim for a little while (until we saw lightning, and heard thunder), then we pulled them out of the pool and got them dressed. While we waited for Dad and Alan to get back, Mary took all the cousins to the parking lot and taught them all the jedi moves she had learned that morning. I wish that I had thought to video tape that. It was precious!!! All the boy cousins were lined up behind her, earnestly striving to learn from the Padawan. Leslie and Emilee were doing the same moves, but with a very girly attitude. It was darling!
When the men returned, we gathered up the troops and headed back to DCA. It had been raining off and on all afternoon, so we were hopeful that crowds would be gone, and we could enjoy some of the rides that we hadnt done, yet. As we entered the Sunshine Plaza, we called V.J., and found out that they were on the Pier. We told them to stay put and wed be there in minutes. We had a fun reunion with V.J., his wife, Grace. and their daughter Mariah. I havent seen Mariah since she was 2 and now shes married, has a baby of her own and is expecting daughter number 2 in 2 months! It was fun visiting with them, and getting reacquainted with Mariah and her darling family! They asked if they could just hang around with us, and that was totally fine with us! We hadnt seen V.J. since Moms funeral, so it was nice to catch up. While we were visiting, we decided to take our chatting to the line of Toy Story Midway Mania. The posted wait time was 40 minutes, which was the shortest we had seen. We hopped in line, and the kids were so excited! I was amazed at how quickly the line actually moved! We were anticipating being able to listen to Mr. Potato Head for quite a while, but the line moved us inside the building fairly quickly. As we got to the front of the line, I noticed that my Leslie had weasled her way into riding with Grandpa. Thats been the biggest argument all week: who gets to ride with Grandpa! She was very pleased with herself! I rode with Mary, and it was so much fun!!! What an incredible ride! How I wish that we could have done it over and over! Even my dad enjoyed it, and he hates video games! This was amazing!
Next up for me was the Maliboomer! I adore this ride, and so does Alan! My sister wont even consider going on it, so I traded her Timothy for her daughter, Marina. In the end, Alan, me, Marina, Katie and V.J., ended up being the only ones going on this ride. I dont understand why no one else likes it. Its just the Tower of Terror in reverse. Well, this was Katies first time on the ride, and I was worried that shed psych herself out as she watched it. Not! It ended up being her favorite ride of the whole trip! We did it a couple of times, as there really was no line! At that point, I agreed to let Alan take Katie and Jacob back on California Screamin, and I took the twins to do some rides they wanted to do. Dad agreed to push Timothy in his stroller and watch us. My sister and her youngest, Olivia came with us, as did Grace, Mariah and Mariahs daughter, Sadie. We took them all on Jumpin Jellyfish, which they all proclaimed boring. Next up was the Golden Zephyr. Ive never been on this ride, so it was a fun new experience for me! The girls all loved it! The moms all worried that the girls would fall out, but it all ended well!
Alan and my sisters husband met us at the exit with Katie, Ian, Jacob and Jamison. They were all set for a ride on Mulholland Madness. I HATE THIS RIDE! I hate all Wild Mouse type rides, but the boys begged me to go with them. So, I caved to peer pressure. Somehow, Im not sure how, I ended up riding with Mariahs husband, Mark. He just laughed at my screaming. No sympathy whatsoever. Glad I could be the source of enjoyment!
Timothy was demanding attention by this point, and the rest of the crew were hungry. Alan took the baby to the restroom and changed him, while we finalized our plans for the evening. DCA was closing, so we decided to head over to DL for dinner at the Plaza where we could continue to visit with V.J., and Grace. I split from the group as we entered DL, and took Timothy to the Baby Care Center for a good round of nursing! We both needed it! I cant say enough about the Baby Care Centers here and in DCA! So beautiful, and peaceful! Timothy was able to concentrate on the job at hand, and within 25 minutes we were joining everyone for dinner at the Plaza. Alan had gotten us 2 chicken dinners to split with the kids, and a Cobb salad as well. The food here is so good, and the portions are HUGE. No one went hungry! Not even close! We also like that we dont feel rushed here. No one tries to get you to leave, and you can enjoy a leisurely meal. We pushed several tables together (with the CMs permission and help), and enjoyed ourselves immensely!
After dinner, we were slowly starting to make our way to Tomorrowland, so Jacob could make his own lightsaber, when there was an announcement. For the enjoyment of the patrons,
Disneyland would be previewing their new fireworks show in 10 minutes. Well, that changed our plans! We plunked our whole group of 25 around some of the outside tables where we could view the castle and waited. The fireworks show was amazing! Not as good as the Dreams Come True fireworks, but still really good! We got to see Tinkerbell fly several times through this show, and then we were stunned to see Dumbo fly as well! Very cool!!! At the end of the fireworks, cannons around Main Street shoot confetti into the crowd. It was amazing! All in all, it was a magical end to a great day!
We said good bye to V.J., and Grace, and then began the walk home to the hotel. The kids were so hyped up by the fireworks show, that I was afraid they would never go to sleep. Not so! They were sound asleep within 5 minutes of heads touching pillows!
for an induction between 7:30 - 12 tomorrow. My SIL is coming over to spend the morning with DS & I incase I get a call I need to be there immediately or could lose my spot. If I am not called by noon tomorrow, then I will be a priority induction on Wednesday.......ugh, frustrated a bit. Who knows there is still tonight.
she was sound asleep still. 
No wonder she was still asleep at 9, she is usually the first one awake and yakking my ear off while I am trying to wake up. 
Finally someone in line realizes it belongs to an older gentleman who for some reason put the bag on the belt and got in the next line over. 
eat beet soup!
and 
for Liam and his team!!
) we will drive to the Mountain town of Volcan where we sill stay at night (its cooler up there) for 10 days and each morning we go down into the village of Bongo. In trips past we have built a dining room on to a school, built a kitchen, poured cement for the Adult school and painted. This year we are hoping to build a septic tank. This a new adventure for this part of the country so please wish us luck. We will need it. We bring school supplies, clothes, shoes and of course candy for the children. Oh I could go on and on but suffice to say it is a life changing experience that is priceless. I sure could use your prayers or whatever you feel comfortable with as these trips are very hard for me as I am such a "girly girl" and this takes me right out of my comfort zone. I took a cool shower last night just to see if my shampoo will come out. 
Nighty Night Mom
