Disney World!!!

The Moores attack Disney World:
Day One: Magical Kingdom
Day Two: Epcot and Hollywood Studios
Day Three: Animal Kingdom
Day Four: Magical Kingdom Revisited
FAQs

Day One: Magic Kingdom
Before we left, Hannah watched a "plan your Disney Vacation" DVD and made a list of all the rides she wanted to ride, Dumbo being number one. She was so thrilled to actually see the ride that she started jumping and yelling. With the new Fastpass that Disney has started, we managed to ride 10 rides the first day. Yes, TEN RIDES in peak season. It took some planning, but we had to make sure we got all those rides on her list!! Hannah and Sam also really liked It's a Small World (as did I).

Snacks were a well-planned relief. I brought a small cooler that fit in the stroller, and after a couple hours in we would sit down for some cookies and juice. It was good down time and got us to lunch time. In just a few seconds, hannah is going to try and stick her oreo onto Sam's cheek.







Day Two: Epcot and Hollywood Studios
We spent two hours in Epcot tuesday morning, and both were spent at the new Nemo ride. After a cute little jaunt in a clam shell, we were herded into an aquarium of sorts. They had dolphins!! I have never seen them live before, and it was beautiful. There were also Manatees (Barbara was there), and all sorts of tropical fish, including, of course, Nemo, Dori and the gang. Hannah was excited to be the one who found the elusive clownfish- he was darting about all through the coral.

There was also a shark exhibit, and daring kids could crawl into Bruce's mouth. Sam, well, not a chance. But Hannah stepped up after a while and let me take a picture of her being eaten by a friendly shark (kids are friends, not food).









Day Three: Animal Kingdom!!
I LOVE THE ANIMAL KINGDOM!!! It is by far my favorite park. The tree of life is spectacular, as well as the safari (the best time to go is first in the morning). We had a white rhino just a few feet from our jeep, and Hannah loved spotting the birds for me. I don't think I'll ever make it to a real savannah, but this is pretty good. And for the thrillers, the new Mt. Everest ride is by far the best roller coaster I have ever been on. My dad and I rode together, so we have exclusive bragging rights. It makes me smile just thinking about it. It also makes me loose feeling in my legs thinking about it!
Aside from all the rides, there were great places to stop and rest. Hannah and Sam really loved these elephants- sometimes it was hard to get them going agian! In fact, after a while Sam just gave it up and slept for a good hour or two. All that fun can just wear you out!





























Day Four: Magic Kingdom Revisited
We let Hannah choose where she wanted to visit on the last day, and no surprises she chose Cinderella's castle. We rode It's a small world again, along with a few other favorites, including Winnie the Pooh and the Teacups. Hannah agreed to ride on any color teacup, except yellow, which was just not pretty at all. To her elation she got a blue teacup with blue stripes, thanks to some pretty serious maneuvering by her mom. Silly, silly mom. I let Richard take control of the spinning wheel so I could take some pictures- and, well, he took his job seriously. Sam was so funny. He would start to panic, then look at me and Hannah, who were having a blast, and give a few nervous chuckles. Those kids literally wobbled out of the teacup when it was over.








No kidding, that sword came out of the stone just seconds after Richard took this picture.






















FAQs
Did you drive? Yes. We consider ourselves professionals at 14-hour trips now, and so far the kids have always been surprisingly good in the car. But, I think I will fly next time.
Were there any major Meltdowns? Yes, but only one, and on the first day. Hannah, while in line for the Mad hatter's teacup ride, decided that she wanted to ride in a blue teacup, since blue is her favorite color. As fate would have it, some bigger, faster, purely malicious (I'm sure) kids got to the blue teacup before her preschool legs could carry her there. We opted to wait for the next go around, until a nice worker found another blue cup for her. We all happily climbed in until Hannah realized that this cup, although blue, had purple stripes, and so she cried through all the spinning madness. After she got off the ride and had calmed down, I asked her if she wanted to try again on the condition that she would be okay with any color. Her reply: "Maybe we should go back to the hotel."
Where was Richard? He was at an engineering SPIE conference. But he got to come with us to the Magic Kingdom Monday and Friday
Do you have the coolest parents in the world? yes, absolutely. they dropped everything and came to play with us. Incidentally, Hannah and Sam have the coolest grandparents as well.
Will you go back? YES! I am already planning our next trip. In fact, I asked Sam what he wanted to do today, and he said he wanted to go to Disney world.
Did Hannah like the characters? Not particularly. Both kids were happier to look from a distance, which was good because as soon as a character made an appearance an hour-long line trailed after.

Any mom taking kids to Disney World needs a Super Mom shirt.

It Snowed!

It snowed! and in March! and we thought spring spring was on it's way!! We took, no kidding, 231 pictures. Here's the top 25:



Actually, it was the best kind of snow. Warm on Thursday, cooler on Friday, 17 feet (er, 3-4 inches) of snow on Saturday, and all melted by Sunday. It was light and fluffy in the morning, good packing snow in the afternoon, and slushy by late afternoon. We had so much fun! We woke up early and make an igloo big enough for all of us to crawl through, and then we went to Johnson road park to go sledding, er, slushing, well, mudding. There is a huge hill there with a lake at the bottom- Richard went down a little too fast and almost flew into the water, but he rolled off at the last second...but the sled kept going! He had to wade a few feet into the water to rescue the sled. Fortunately by then it was warm enough outside that there was no danger of frostbite and we could keep playing. Hannah went down several times, and took a tumble once with Sweetie. Sam was scared, of course, but I made him go down with me and he laughed the whole way. Towards the end a snowball fight turned ugly and Richard grabbed me and we went rolling and sliding down the hill together, met Mimi at the bottom and stuffed snow down her coat. Then it was time to go home.

Trampoline

We have a compromise in our house: It is permitted to jump on Hannah's bed. It's old and sturdy, and kids have just got to jump on beds. Of course, you can't jump on mom and dad's bed, you can't fly off the couch, and you can't hop on pop.

Every kid that comes to our house thinks this is the coolest thing ever ever ever ever. And it's totally safe, because well, let's face it: Hannah usually has a layer of padding about a foot thick on the floor made from stuffed animals.

Here's a picture of Chandler (Hannah's boyfriend, with superhero glasses) and Sam going at it.