Our Awesome Trip to Disney World!

Well we made it! We're back from vacation!

We've been looking forward and planning (mostly Brooke and my Dad) this vacation for a long time, and I'm happy to say that it paid off! We had such a blast. But we are definitely tired from all the many things we did.

Saturday we left at 7:00 A.M. turning around only once for forgotten items. On the way down we sang our Disney favorites, The Circle of Life, I Just Can't Wait to be King, Bear Necessities and many more. (We don't always do this...I promise.) I was especially impressed with my brother Jeff's talents. My favorite was when he sang "A Whole New World". He did both Aladdin and Jasmine's parts-quite good too! It was very funny!

Traveling with 13 people isn'e an easy task, and it means a lot of luggage. What a joke for us to be lugging around all this luggage! I couldn't believe how much it took for us to get it all! Once we checked most of it, it was better, but still so much. Especially with car seats, kids and kids bags and getting it all through security, my goodness! I don't know how people with young children could possibly travel without a few extra arms and hands to help hold stuff.

Once we finally got to Orlando and some what situated, we took off to the Magic Kingdom. It was pretty late, around 9:00 P.M. to be getting to the park and lucky people were leaving. We were so excited to be getting there that we kinda just wanted to run around and do whatever, so some of us went to rides and Brooke and Darren and their kids, and my Mom waited to watch the fireworks. We went and rode Space Mountain first, which is my favorite ride! And then we went to Peter Pan and It's a Small World. We had a blast, and it was probably the only night that we weren't exhausted and our feet weren't aching.

Sunday we of course went to church. The vote was 12 to 1 on leaving after sacrament, but we stayed because the one vote has always counted for more. The ward probably had more visitors than ward members, and I was surprised how many stayed for the whole block. I guess my dad isn't the only one who goes to all of church while on vacation though the rest of the people who do, happened to be visiting the same church as us.



We celebrated Dean's 25th birthday Sunday night. (since on his birthday, July 15th, and Tuesday of our trip we would be getting back late - every night but Sunday we got back late. But really this was only the first day of celebrating - we didn't stop celebrating at all.)

Monday we spent the day at Epcot, or the "Big Golf Ball" that Tiger Woods lives in. (Which we told our nephew) Last time I went to Disney World, I was 12, and I wasn't impressed all that much with Epcot. I mean, it didn't have any real rides, and why would I want to learn about things, right? Well at 12 this is what one might think. But going now nearly 10 years later, I had a change of heart and was looking very much forward to Epcot. And I wasn't let down. I didn't know that there were so many rides there. It took us most of the day before we even started the world showcase - which is what I remembered from my trip as a 12 year-old. We really had to rush to see the countries, and we didn't get to see everything. We were all getting very hungry, and while my Dad would have liked most to eat in "Japan" we were still pretty far away and didn't want to miss the countries in between, so we ate in "Germany" Which was definitely not the best food we had on our trip. When we did get to "Japan" my Dad (who served his mission in Japan and sings in the mornings in Japanese) wanted to get sushi. He got some for everyone to try - but only Jay ended up liking it, the rest of us spat it out, or gagged and chocked it down. Jay went back and got more for him and my Dad to enjoy some more of. We watched a firework show to end the day. My favorite thing at Epcot was the "Talking Crush" It was an interactive show that they did after the Nemo Ride, and it was so cool, and funny!

This first day we all really learned how hot and humid Florida is in July, and how crowded Disney World is in the Summer, and how hungry and how sore your feet get walking around all day. But at least it didn't rain on us!

On Tuesday (Dean's Birthday) we started early, just like every day. We went to Disney Hollywood Studios (Formerly MGM Studios) and raced around to all the rides: Tower of Terror, Rock and Roll Roller-coaster, and Toy Story Mania were are favorites. We also went to a awesome stunt car show and part of an Indiana Jones stunt show. We watched a Beauty and the Beast show, and Fantasmic. We found some characters, which was tolerated very well by myself I thought. I'm not a fan of people I don't know smiling at me and very blinking, and willing to take pictures with anyone who walks up to them. But I only cried once, and only for a second. I don't even think anyone noticed but Jay, so well improved since the last trip.

It rained in the afternoon, flooding the walkways. Luckily we were prepared with ponchos, but not everyone brought flops, (we brought them every day after and it made it much more pleasant when it rained.) so we had lots of soaked socks and shoes for the rest of the day. Jay got tired of his soaked shoes and socks, so we bought him some "Jack Sckelington" flops. He also bought a couple books - Jack Sckelington themed. Jay really likes the Nightmare Before Christmas (He had me watch it for the first time when we got home).

At one of the gift shops, Logan told me it would be a good idea to get a "Mickey Treat" which I couldn't turn down. So we got him a lollipop. He was so funny and was jumping around so excited to get a treat, which probably was a bit of a mess for his parents.

We ate at this restaurant at the park that was themed as "Mom's Kitchen" where we celebrated Dean's Birthday again.

Wednesday (we started early) we went to the Magic Kingdom. We went first to Slash Mountain, where we got soaked, but not from our slash, another log coming down at the beginning of the ride slashed us. We really liked Pirates, Haunted Mansion, and Monsters Inc. Laughing Floor. We rode Space Mountain a couple more times too. I got to meet Mickey at ToonTown and watched a parade and fireworks. We had dinner with the characters, where we celebrated Dean's birthday!

Thursday, Me and Jay, my Dad, and my brothers and brother-in-law went to Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure. There were so many awesome rides - they were pretty intense. On some of the rides, such as the Hulk, the Dragons, and the Mummy ride, they provide lockers that you have to use for any bags to ride the ride. We also went on water rides, that got us totally soaked but we did come prepared with ponchos and flops! Our favorite ride was Spider Man, and we liked the Simpson ride because it was humorous, but I felt really sick after. There was a show called Fear Factor Live that was pretty fun to see too. Jeff was casted in one of the shows we watched, and played in a basketball contest on our way out of the park.

Friday we went to the Animal Kingdom. By this time in the trip, we were all pretty tired, and everyone's feet were aching. We were glad that the fun was almost over. We went to the Dino Land first and went on the Dinosaur ride, which was really cool and it was so scary! Kyle got a huge Dinosaur that is so awesome, I almost got one too, just cause it was so cool. It rained a lot, and we got soaked - but were prepared! We went to the Lion King show, Nemo the Musical (which Logan asked to watch while he was here yesterday, but we didn't record it) and a safari that we saw a ton of animals on.

Logan wanted another "Mickey Treat" and so of course, we got him one! It was quite a mess for Darrnen and Brooke.

We ate at the Rain Forest Cafe, which seems to be tradition and favorite for our family, and we celebrated Dean's birthday again!

After we got home or to our hotel, we got packed up and some of us went swimming.

Saturday we woke up early! We went to Down Town Disney for souvenir shopping! Which is always the highlight of any vacation for myself. I got some scrapbook stuff which I'm excited to use, and a minnie for Daphney. We also bought a duffel bag to put everyone's souvenirs in which was probably the smartest buy.

Of course the airport was craziness, but after checking everything in and go through security we were all happy again. On the plane, Logan was seating in my lap when his diaper must have gotten to full, and I got peed on!

After getting home about 10:00, we took Jeff and Susan (who'd just finished at BYU Idaho for the trimester and was staying at my parents house) and went and saw The Dark Knight (Oh I did make sure to first take a quick shower) And it was awesome! We really liked it, and even stayed awake for the whole 2 in a half hours! Once we got home, we crashed!

We are happy to be back! But now need a vacation!

Thanks Mom and Dad for taking us!! We had so much fun, and it was great to spend time together! We love you!