Will I be Herding Cats Again?* **** COMPLETED *****

Wow that nap sure helped Katie get through the MNSSHP. We were long gone after the parade. My kids were beat. Anyway hopefully sometime we will stay for the entire party like you all did :thumbsup2. BTMRR always seem bunpier when your holding a small kid in the seat. just seems to jerk them around alot more I guess. I love the picture of you all on Splash :lmao:, the girls faces arre so funny. And Michael with the poncho, can't even see him.
 
What gorgeous photos and I love the Splash Mountain faces, well those we can see :rotfl:

Your kids did great lasting till the end of the party :thumbsup2
 
Wow that nap sure helped Katie get through the MNSSHP. We were long gone after the parade. My kids were beat. Anyway hopefully sometime we will stay for the entire party like you all did :thumbsup2. BTMRR always seem bunpier when your holding a small kid in the seat. just seems to jerk them around alot more I guess. I love the picture of you all on Splash :lmao:, the girls faces arre so funny. And Michael with the poncho, can't even see him.

Thanks Nichole! :goodvibes I know - I was shocked that she was still going strong all the way to the end. She slept from like 6:00 - 7:00 and that's all she needed, I guess. The other two had been up since that morning, so I was shocked that they pretty much made it to the end as well! Guess all the sugar in the Kona Cone helped! :lmao:

Another fantastic update!! I love love love all the pictures!

Thanks Jill! More to come soon, I hope...popcorn::

What gorgeous photos and I love the Splash Mountain faces, well those we can see :rotfl:

Your kids did great lasting till the end of the party :thumbsup2

Thanks Jo! :hug: I know - that Splash Mtn picture cracks me up! I just had to buy it of course! :rolleyes1

I was pleasantly surprised they lasted as long as they did - guess I really got my money's worth out of the party!! :goodvibes

Sara
 

Sara, this is my favorite update ever!! I love the pictures, and the girls faces on Splash Mountain cracked me up. You make me want to go back so bad!! I am so happy that you guys had such a wonderful time. We also saw the witch in 2004. I'm wondering when Lynn went in '04. Wonder if we crossed paths back then too? Anyways, that picture of the building that you didn't what it was is creepy! There is a profile in the smoke!:scared1: What an awesome night. I'm happy for you!
 
Sara, this is my favorite update ever!! I love the pictures, and the girls faces on Splash Mountain cracked me up. You make me want to go back so bad!! I am so happy that you guys had such a wonderful time. We also saw the witch in 2004. I'm wondering when Lynn went in '04. Wonder if we crossed paths back then too? Anyways, that picture of the building that you didn't what it was is creepy! There is a profile in the smoke!:scared1: What an awesome night. I'm happy for you!

Awww...thanks Monica! :hug:

That's too funny about you and Lynn! You two are like strangers passing in the night! :laughing:

That smoke-face is freaky! :scared1:

We had a great night and I would love to go to the MNSSHP again!

Sara
 
Great update Sara! Love the Splash Mountain faces - they are classic! What an awesome party night for you guys! I am so impressed that your kids made it so long.

The picture of inside the castle is great!

What a great way for Katie to start her birthday celebration!
 
Sara, this is my favorite update ever!! I love the pictures, and the girls faces on Splash Mountain cracked me up. You make me want to go back so bad!! I am so happy that you guys had such a wonderful time. We also saw the witch in 2004. I'm wondering when Lynn went in '04. Wonder if we crossed paths back then too? Anyways, that picture of the building that you didn't what it was is creepy! There is a profile in the smoke!:scared1: What an awesome night. I'm happy for you!

Monica
We always go the last full week of September. Our kids get out for the county fair that week. If I recall we were at the first night of MNSSHP for that season . Were you there then too?
Lynn
 
Monica
We always go the last full week of September. Our kids get out for the county fair that week. If I recall we were at the first night of MNSSHP for that season . Were you there then too?
Lynn

We were there in 2004, but we were there the 3rd week in October. So you're not fair people?:rolleyes1 I like to visit for a couple of hours, but I cannot imagine staying there! Um, pew.
 
Day 4 - Magic Kingdom
Part 1 - Happy Birthday Katie!


:sunny: Good morning everyone!

Today we all slept in! Surprised? :laughing:

I got up about 8:30 and wandered downstairs for coffee. :coffee: Mom was already up and we sat and talked for a while. The plan for today was to get up and give Katie her birthday present (her Cinderella dress and special frame for her Cinderella dinner) and then let the kids decide if they wanted to go swimming or just leisurely head over to the MK for a while and do some anytime/filler attractions before we had to go to the BBB by 1:45. Then we would split up - guys to Ft Wilderness for an archery lesson, girls to the castle for BBB appts! We would be meeting back up at the Grand Floridian for Katie's birthday dinner. :thumbsup2

That was the plan anyway. :rolleyes: Tick tock tick tock. :hourglass

9:00 came and went with only Shawn and Pop Pop stumbling down for coffee.

9:30 came and went.

10:00 came and went.

Still no kids or Grammy!

Around 10:15, Michael and Emily finally arose from Dreamland and meandered down, followed shortly thereafter by the birthday girl! I can't remember my kids EVER sleeping in like that! It was comical!

:bday: We all sang her Happy Birthday and I gave her her present- she loved it. Her card told her what she was in for this day. The card had a picture of Cinderella on the front and said,

“Happy Birthday Katie! Please make sure to bring your sister Emily for your magical makeovers in my castle at the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique and remember to bring your finest Princess dress!”​

On the inside it said,

“After your makeover, please come meet me, Cinderella, at Cinderella’s Gala Feast, in honor of your 4th birthday!”​

The back had a picture of Cinderella dancing and the words “Having a Royal Birthday at Walt Disney World”

party:

I also gave Michael a special invitation for his archery lesson! With help from my dear friend Monica, it had a target with the Disney version of Robin Hood on it, with his bow and arrow. It said,

“Good News Michael! You get to sharpen your archery skills today”! Bring Daddy and Pop Pop and meet us at Ft Wilderness for your archery lesson. The fun begins at 2:45 and goes until 4:15”​

He was thrilled! He has become very interested in archery lately, so when I saw that they had started giving lessons at Ft Wilderness I figured we should let him try it out!

The kids all decided they wanted to go swimming again this morning. Somehow, we convinced the guys to take them down to the pool this time while we got ourselves ready.

Just as they were leaving, around 11:00, Grammy was waking up. :eek:

Phew – those 2 late nights really took a toll on poor Grammy.

Grammy, Mom, and I all got ready in our matching red Disney shirts (I was really hoping for a group picture in front of the castle in our festive red shirts), and waited on their return from the pool.

As they did the day before, they had a fabulous time swimming in the Windsor Hills Resort pool.

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(Katie was trying to do her back-kick)

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(Then Pop Pop came to help)

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They returned to the house about noon and the guys showered and changed while we threw the kids in the showers and got them ready.

I think we must have thrown a snack or two at them on the way out the door, thinking we could grab a hotdog or something for lunch at the MK. :rolleyes: For thinking we had a lot of time this day to just relax and take it easy until the BBB appts, it sure seemed like we were just going to get there and go straight to the castle! Ugh.

It was ok though, I hadn’t planned on doing anything, just thought maybe we would be able to.

On our way in, Shawn snapped a series of pictures of the sign.…

Not In Disney….
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Not In Disney....
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Not In Disney….
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Not In Disney….
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AHHH....DISNEY!!!! :cloud9:
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Up next...We attempt a first for us - taking the ferry over to the Magic Kingdom!!! How'd that work out for us?

Sorry for the kind of mini-update....thought I would get more done today....maybe tonight...

Sara
 
Am I first this time?

Love the update as usual Sara! The birthday girl looks like she was having a lot of fun swimming! Love the goofy face too. :lmao:

Looking forward to reading all about your magical afternoon and evening!

Oh, and I love the series of WDW sign pictures! :goodvibes
 
That's it? More, more. It would make me feel better...:rolleyes1 You make me want to go on vacation with you. Well, I HAVE been on vacation with you, but you know what I mean.;) Your MIL cracks me up. My mom couldn't sleep past 8am no matter what time she went to bed. You guys must have worn her out! I'll be sad when your report is over.
 
Am I first this time?

Love the update as usual Sara! The birthday girl looks like she was having a lot of fun swimming! Love the goofy face too. :lmao:

Looking forward to reading all about your magical afternoon and evening!

Oh, and I love the series of WDW sign pictures! :goodvibes
Woo-hoo Michelle - you're back to being first! :laughing:

Thanks for the sign pics comment - I always thought of you and Sam! :goodvibes



That's it? More, more. It would make me feel better...:rolleyes1 You make me want to go on vacation with you. Well, I HAVE been on vacation with you, but you know what I mean.;) Your MIL cracks me up. My mom couldn't sleep past 8am no matter what time she went to bed. You guys must have worn her out! I'll be sad when your report is over.


Thanks Monica! I was hoping to get up more tonight, but I found myself chatting with some friends...:rolleyes1 I want to go on vacation with you too! How fun would that be? Well, we know it would be fun, but can you imagine our kids? They would have a blast!!!

We really did wear her out - I felt kind of bad. But honestly, she can sleep really late if she wants. I can't do that - I end up feeling worse if I do that. And my Mom? Geez - she is up at like 6 regardless of when she went to bed. (see, even our moms are alike)

Ok, ok...so you want more...but you don't want it to be over...which is it, girl? :laughing:

Sara
 
Just found your report and I love it! That is so great that you got to go with the grandparents. Sorry about all the rain that keeps coming down on you guys!
 
Just found your report and I love it! That is so great that you got to go with the grandparents. Sorry about all the rain that keeps coming down on you guys!

Hi! :welcome: to my trip report! It was a really nice trip to take with the grandparents! They have a lot of fun with the kids! Thanks so much for reading! :goodvibes

Sara
 
Wow the Birthday girl must have been tired :rotfl2: Glad she finally woke up and what a cute present, I bet she was so excited and the archery sounds cool too!
 
Wow the Birthday girl must have been tired :rotfl2: Glad she finally woke up and what a cute present, I bet she was so excited and the archery sounds cool too!

Thanks Jo! She was tired, that's for sure! Grammy was even more tired! :rotfl:

I'm probably going to the archery next...popcorn::

Sara
 
Day 4 - Magic Kingdom
Part 2 - The Best Laid Plans....


As we got to the parking lot for the Magic Kingdom, we noticed it was really crowded. :crowded: Ugh. I enjoy my early mornings so much more now that I see the huge difference it makes. But no worries...I didn't plan on us doing anything, remember? Just take in the atmosphere, maybe ride some filler-type rides, get a FP for something, just take it easy. :cool1:

We parked, rode the tram, and got to the monorail when I noticed the ferry boat sitting there. :idea: Hey, I thought...let's try out the ferry boat. I thought it would be a nice change of pace...something different. So we headed over to the line, thinking we were minutes away from our lovely boat ride. For some reason, the ferry that was sitting at the dock right there, wasn't loading people. :confused3

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(Shawn does have hair...not a lot...but he does have some...he looks totally bald here for some reason)
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It looked in service, but no one was being let on. We stood for a few more minutes, watching the ferry that was just starting to leave from the other side (by the MK), and realizing that that would most likely be the ferry we would have to wait for. :scratchin So, since we aren't accustomed to waiting (LOL) we backtracked it back to the monorail and jumped on. So much for something new! Maybe next time!

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We got to the Magic Kingdom and had about 30 minutes until the BBB appointment. I don't know why I didn't go get FPs for something right away to use later on, but for some reason, we decided to shop for a while. ::yes:: We went into the Emporium and wandered around. Katie wanted a Minnie Mouse (with the Year of a Million Dreams "blue" outfit) and I, being a sucker, obliged. It was her birthday afterall!

I remember looking at some mugs that I absolutely loved, but didn't want to carry around with me, as they were quite heavy. I couldn't do the pick up later, as I wasn't sure if we would actually be back after dinner. So I passed. Figured I could get them when I went back to Disney for my girls trip in December!

But you know what I did find? My Mickey Ears family members stickers that I had looked for at Epcot but couldn't find!!!! I was very happy. I think we ended up leaving the store with a few more things, but for the life of me, I can't think of what they were. I think it included some lollipops, the matching YOMD Mickey Mouse, and a picture frame. I'm sure there was more...

As we were checking out with our new-found purchases, I noticed the time. It was already 1:40. :sad2: Geez! Are you kidding me? Where does the time go, for crying out loud. We said our goodbyes to the guys and sent them on their way to the boat dock to catch a boat to Ft Wilderness and we hightailed it down Main St like salmon swimming upstream, to the castle for the girls' appointments. :wave2:

I'm going to talk about the archery half of the day first, as it can be summed up in pictures (since I wasn't there....I don't have a whole lot of details...and I don't think I have to remind you how good Shawn's memory is...LOL!).

Shawn, Michael, and Pop Pop took a boat over to Ft Wilderness and found the spot for the archery lesson in plenty of time. After the initial safety lesson and instructions on how to shoot, they were given the chance to try to shoot it at the targets!

Michael was the smallest one there.

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Here he is getting started:

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Assuming the position....
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Nice form....
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He shoots...and...




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BULLSEYE!!!!


Yep! Don't know if you can see it or not, but yes, that is a bullseye - right dead center. Shawn said this was on his 2nd shot.


The instructor was very impressed and asked Michael how old he was. When he told him he was 7, a couple of the adults that were there started laughing about how sad they were that the 7 year old could totally out-shoot them! :rotfl2: Michael was very excited. He continued to do well as they moved further back. Got it on the target a few more times, but also hit the white sheet in the background a lot too!

Here he is again, shooting from further back...

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(Love the action shot...arrow just released...)
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(you can see the white sheet being hit in this one...LOL!)
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Overall, they LOVED it! Shawn said it was the perfect amount of time - any longer would have been too much time. He said it was very safe and controlled at all times, and the instructor was very good at helping people of varying levels of ability. This was a real bargain, too...only $25 for a 90 minute lesson. The archery was a highlight for Michael and he even wrote about it for school when we got home!

Some pics of the scenery before they left...
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Ok, girls side of the story coming up next....

Sara
 
Woo Hoo - first again! :wave2: (Someone moved the smilies around again!)

Hmmm - wonder if you finally got your mugs on our December trip......:scratchin

Isn't it amazing how quickly the time passes when you are shopping?

The archery looks like so much fun! I'm so glad you found something cool like that for Michael to do while the girls were getting their makeovers. Shawn got some great pics too!

Looking forward to seeing the little princesses!
 
We totally should have taken the archery lesson on our girl's trip! That would have been...interesting.:rotfl: I love these pictures and I'm sure Michael had a great time. I'll have to put that on the list for next time we go. I also laughed at the fact that your family is dressed nicely, and the one woman didn't even bother to GET dressed! Just threw a coverup on. I'll give her a break, she's on vacation.

I can't wait to see your little princesses.princess: princess:
 

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