School!

Leiden was so excited to return to school, today.  I love that she loves school.

Mimi seems to be reacting a bit badly to the antibiotic, so hopefully the tummy side effects wear off quickly.

Real Life is Right

Yesterday on the plane I noticed Mimi tugging on one of her ears, but just thought it was the pressure.  I kept telling her to suck her thumb, and then I forgot about it.  Later last night, Mac told me her ear hurt.  Uh oh.  Hoping that it was just residual from the plane, I checked in her ear, which should have been cleared up from the 10 day stint on Amoxicillin, and lo and behold, it was FAR worse.  Like, even-I-can-tell-with-my-limited-knowledge-of-what-eardrums-should-look-like worse.  Red, with yellow bubbles--it looked bad.  It was too late to take her even to urgent care, so this afternoon we hopped off and I took Mimi with us after looking in the ear she was tugging on.  Yep.  Amox didn't work, and they both need more treatment.  Now we're starting something stronger.  Here's to getting well!

Back to Real Life

Whew.  We flew home today, after waking up at 4:45 Eastern time to get to the airport by 6:00 AM.  We were all really tired.  Unfortunately, that often translates into ornery for little kids.  With a dash of hyper.  It actually wasn't too bad, though.  Leiden and Mimi both fell asleep on the first flight, and Mac fell asleep for almost the whole second flight.  Our layover was in Detroit, and then we were home by 1:00 PM.  Naptime for Mimi again, and it's back to real life.  Church and primary lesson tomorrow, and finally for poor Leiden, back to school on Monday!

The view to my left side:

The view to my right. 

Day 7: Magic Kingdom Finale

It's our last day in Disney World!  We leave EARLY tomorrow morning to go home.  It has been a great time, and super fun for the kids to see their cousins.  We took off to Magic Kingdom, which seems to be the overall favorite for us, and took Grandma and Addie with us.  Leiden was really happy she could spend the day with Addie.

Mimi was just happy to get out of her stroller for a bit and wheel it around.  The weather, for the first time this whole week, is a little cooler today with misty rain falling.

Addie was a little overwhelmed by the idea of the Haunted Mansion.  Grandma took her out and a shop owner saw that she was sad and gave her a sucker.  So of course my girls got treats, afterwards!  (I don't know what the appeal is with those suckers...except that they are colorful, because they taste awful.  But the kids love them.)  Mimi got a really weird gummy Mickey face, which she thoroughly enjoyed.

Mimi and her gummy were actually a little disturbing...

Mac's only wish today was to go on Splash Mountain, so I stayed back with Mimi and Leiden and managed to catch this shot of them going down the giant 'tummy drop'.  (Yes, it is them, even though you can't tell from the picture!) 

Grandma got wet and I think was a little surprised at the ride!  Mac and Daddy are grinning!

Of course we went on a final tour of the Pirates of the Caribbean.

Mimi looks awesome in this picture.  SO excited to be on a ride.  She has been turning to us all week saying, "ride?  ride?"

Mommy and Mac on the same ride.

Leiden was in the restroom, and a kind stranger took this of us. 

We didn't stay long, today, just long enough to go on the rides we wanted one last time.  Leiden was super brave, today.  Addie convinced her that Space Mountain was a ride worth going on, so she actually went on it!  She looked a little shaken up afterwards (literally and figuratively), but claimed she liked it.

Mimi crashed after we got home, but not before trashing the port a crib.  She somehow completely picked up the 'mattress' inside of it, removed the sheets, threw them on the floor, folded up the mattress, and then finally fell asleep with one of the metal bars in her back.  It looked so uncomfortable, but she was out like a light.

While Mimi slept in metal bar bliss, the girls enjoyed a final swim in the pool.  Mac is in love with goggles, now, and has asked Grandma to get her some for her upcoming birthday.  Grandma also got her a new swim pack, which greatly reduces our worry and stress when Mac is in the pool.

As long as she has it on, she is very competent in the water.

Leiden has become a little fish in the pool this week.  It has been really good for her to spend so much time in the water.

She can swim (kind of doggie-paddle, anyway) from one long end of the pool to the other, deep end and all.

Poor Aunt Adria wanted a picture of us all wearing our Mickey ears at one of the parks, but it never worked out.  So, we got them on before bed tonight, and snapped one, anyway!

Thanks, guys, for all the fun and excitement!  Tomorrow we go home, and get back to real life.

Day 6: Epcot

Epcot Center!  Today was odd.  This morning, all the girls but Mac said they wanted to stay at the house and play together.  Ummm, we're in Disney World, and you guys want to play at home?!  Whatever.  We weren't going to argue.  So us (save Leiden), Grandma, Rob, and Alex took off to Epcot.

 

Here's Mimi with Nemo.  The Nemo ride, one of the few kids rides at Epcot, was closed, so we had to make do with the fish outside! 

Today was actually the first day we broke out the leash--for like 5 minutes, and then realized it wasn't going to work.  She's just too big with a young mind that doesn't listen. 

Epcot is really geared towards adults, but the kids loved the splash pad! 

Later this afternoon, Grandma stayed home with all the kids, while Brad and I went back with Rob and Adria.  This was a birthday present for Rob that Brad and I also benefitted from!  It was REALLY lovely to spend time without trying to keep track of kids, and to be able to go on grown-up rides was awesome.  There is a ride here that I think was one of my very favorites--Mission: Space.  It's awesome.  It made Brad sick, but I thought it was SO fun.

We had some video of Rob's birthday song and cheesecake with candles, but I've tried four separate times to upload it to Blogger, and it won't let me.  The adults enjoyed a variety of cheesecakes, and the kids enjoyed--maybe too much--little birthday cupcakes!  Mimi chose to smear her frosting all over the table.  Happy Birthday, Rob!

It's also an important day on another front--my parents 40th anniversary is today!  Congratulations, Mom and Dad!

Day 5: Hollywood Studios

Today we separated again, not necessarily on purpose, but because it's so hard to keep 12 people together and make any kind of progress through the park!  Here is Brad and I, in front of the Tower of Terror.  What a crazy ride.  You are taken up like an elevator, and then without warning dropped something like 5 stories, and then flung back up again, only to be dropped again.  Several times.  It got to the point where I couldn't tell if the car was headed down or up!  The craziest part?  MAC came on it with us.  She likes tummy drops, but I think this one was a bit much for her!

I gave the girls a snack, and Leiden and Mac were standing next to each other.  Mimi went over and in classic Mimi style, forced her way in between them.  Three little girls, all in a row. 

The girls looked awesome in their 3-D glasses.

We finally figured out, this late in the game, that the girls needed some spending money.  They both chose necklaces. 

These next few pictures were just funny because here was a reminder that it is, in fact, January!  Leiden kept saying that--"I can't believe it's winter!" in 85 degree Florida. 

 

 

The girls enjoyed playing in this park's 'Honey I Shrunk the Kids' playground, where everything is larger than life! 

 

 

Leiden is feeling a little better, today, and she ventured on Star Tours, which she then said she did not like.  While everyone else was on that ride, I got another Mickey ice cream bar to share with Mimi. What a mess! 

After we went back, there was swimming in the afternoon, as there has been every day here!

Day 4: Magic Kingdom Again

The loads looked good for Magic Kingdom, today, and yesterday it was a zoo, so we went again!  Leiden still wasn't feeling well, as you can tell a bit from the picture.  Poor girl.  Aunt Adria made the girls these Minnie Mouse shirts, which were super cute.

I tried to stick close to Leiden today, so she didn't feel like we were just dragging her around.  The girls predictably loved 'It's a Small World". 

We tried to spend a lot more time in Fantasyland, today, where there are more kids rides than anywhere else in the park.  Brad even got on the carousel with Mimi! 

Mac had heard someone talking about Mickey ice cream, and latched onto that idea, so we found her one to eat, today.  They are actually REALLY good. 

On our way out of the park, we ran into Grandma and Adria--Grandma wanted silhouettes done of all the grandchildren.  Mimi struggled sitting there, but Grandma caught this darling picture of her.  This woman was awesome.  She didn't draw or anything, just set to with her tiny scissors.  Amazing.  The silhouettes really captured the girls.  When I find a place for them at home, I'll post pictures.

Today was a much better day at the Magic Kingdom.  There were far fewer people around, so we were able to navigate more easily.  We didn't spend any time with Rob and Adria while at the park, because we left home at different times.  This bothered Leiden, too, as she wanted to wander around with Addie.  There's always tomorrow!

Disney World Day 3: Magic Kingdom

Sundays on vacation are always tricky. We found a Sacrament meeting to attend, even though we didn't bring any Sunday clothes. The girls went in little skorts and flip flops, with Brad and I in regular clothes, as well. I simply wasn't going to pack up big poofy church clothes! The girls were all really tired, so the meeting was a little hairy. It's always a circus, but even more so yesterday.

After church, the kids all headed out to some springs while I stayed home with Mimi so she could nap at the appropriate time. She was much more happy after that!   The rest of the day was lazy, and the kids got to bed early so we could go go go today!  These pictures were snatched from Grandma and Aunt Adria.

 

 

Today we headed to the Magic Kingdom, where I took a bunch of pictures, and then accidentally deleted them from my CF card.  Permanently.  Ugh.  I've only got the first hour or so of the day.  I was able to get some close duplicates from Grandma and Adria, but the frustration remains!  The girls chose to ride the ferry to the park.

The girls were very excited to see the Cinderella Castle.  Mac was especially vocal. 

 

Try to just picture all this in your heads...we took off immediately to go on Pirates of the Caribbean, and I got a great picture of Mac and Leiden under the black Pirates flag. After the ride, we all put on our Mickey ears, and got a picture of our family by a different Pirates flag.  Mac particularly was excited to wear the ears and she looked super cute.

Then we headed off to the Jungle Cruise, where Leiden was chosen to be the skipper!  She was so cute, being very serious about guiding the boat where it needed to go. 

We wandered through the Swiss Family Robinson tree house, and at one point, Rob and Adria were right above us and took this pic.  Blurry, but it's most of us. 

We found Jasmine and Aladdin shortly thereafter, and to my surprise, Mimi went right to Jasmine, and though her thumb was in her mouth, she was fine to be hugged by her.  They thought she was pretty cute.  The picture with Jasmine, Aladdin, and all three girls was deleted, but I got one from Grandma. 

And that's all I've got!  I've never before lost pictures, so this was a lesson learned.  We didn't stay at the park all day--only until about 2:00, when the girls were done and wanted to go back to the house to swim.  Leiden was complaining today of a hurting tummy, and she was definitely not herself.  I had hoped we would be over this, but something is bothering her for sure.  Hopefully it's a blip and we'll see improvement soon.  We returned to the park later in the evening, so as to be able to see the fireworks at the castle, and Tinkerbell flying from the castle!  The older two loved it, and Mimi was freaked out by the fireworks.  I don't know if it was the booms, or the flashing in the darkness, but it took her a good 10 minutes to calm down enough to stop crying and watch--but still clutching my neck!