Disney World Day 1

We had such a magical week at Disney World. I'm so sad it's over and trying to cherish all the wonderful memories we made that week.

The day before our vacation started I got a call from the school nurse that Samuel was sick. Worst.Nightmare. I rushed him to urgent care, and they prescribed a really strong antibiotic for what was most likely a viral infection (sore throat and fever but negative for strep). It made for a stressful day. Samuel ended up throwing up both times I gave him the antibiotic that day. Apparently we have a tradition of throwing up the day before a Disney Trip, because Nathan got a stomach bug last time. Anyway, Matt and I decided to stop the antibiotic after the second vomit incident. We put him to bed and packed extra Tylenol. He got to put on the very last sticker on our countdown Friday night. Look at his poor, sick eyes. Goodness, he felt terrible and never complains about anything.

We had a big surprise for our kids the next morning. We had always planned to drive to Disney because we assumed it would be significantly cheaper for our big family. We drove last time and our kids do awesome in the car, so that was our plan for this trip too. But randomly I searched flight prices about six weeks before our trip and found killer deals for a flight. Matt crunched the numbers and realized with gas/car wear/hotel/parking charges at Disney/extra eating out/etc, it was actually cheaper to fly, so we booked flights but didn't tell the kids. I had such a hard time getting them to bed Friday night because Nathan was convinced he could just stay up all night and sleep in the car the whole next day. They had no idea. We woke them up at 4:30 to catch our 6:00am flight and drove to the airport. Finally, when they kept asking why we were parking our car, we told them the surprise.



So Fun! They've never flown (except Nathan when he was a baby- which doesn't count), so everything was so exciting, especially the snacks and the window seat, ha!

We flew to Houston and then had a three hour layover, so we got some breakfast, rode on the moving walkways, burned off a little energy, and tried to pass the time at our gate.

The plane that took us to the magic!

Nathan spent the plane ride finishing up all his research, ha! He watched all the you tube videos about Disney World leading up to our trip.

Samuel ended up feeling okay on Saturday. Definitely not 100%. He napped on the plane which helped and we kept him dosed up on Tylenol. Thankfully, the Tylenol would completely break his fever each time. It would come back when the medicine wore off, but if we kept him doped up, he felt close to normal. He was also hungry and eating normal- so that was a great sign that he was on the mend. I think I gave him Tylenol for the last time Saturday evening and by Sunday he was mostly better. I was so grateful for that!

Snacks and a kindle is all this girl needs ;)

Once we landed in Orlando (after a little bumpy ride thanks to thunderstorms), we raced through the airport to find the Magical Express. We were so excited to get to Disney World. It was raining when we boarded the bus, which worried us a little- we had big plans for the night, but we were all pumped to be almost to Disney World.

A highlight of the bus ride was snuggling my sleeping toddler- the first of many opportunities for the week :)

We met Matt's parents at our resort and didn't even go to our room. Matt took a trip to our room to drop off our carry on luggage, while I took everyone to the bathroom and we immediately got in line for a bus to Hollywood Studios for the evening. Disney World tickets get significantly cheaper the more days you buy, and since the difference between a 6 day ticket and a 7 day ticket was only about $10 per person, we decided to go ahead and go to a park on our arrival day- use our three fastpasses and watch a nighttime show. It was a great decision, and it stopped raining, woo hoo!

Finally about 5:00 that day after planning our trip for almost a year, booking dining reservations in November, starting a countdown sticker chart in January, booking fastpasses in March, waking up at 4:00 in the morning, flying to Houston, three hour layover, flight to Orlando, bus ride to our resort, waiting for a bus to the park, bus ride to the park, walking to the entrance, security checks, and scanning our tickets, we had FINALLY made it. So of course the first thing we did was.... take a picture, ha ha! My kids are so good to fulfill my need for millions of pictures at Disney world.

After our picture, we walked over to the Disney Jr. area of the park. I really wanted to watch the Disney Jr. dance party- mainly for Kate, but I knew all my kids would enjoy it. I also felt our time at Hollywood Studios was more restrictive than other parks just because of  the way I planned our schedule, so I wanted to do it first thing to make sure we got to do it. We had time to meet Pluto and Vampirina before lining up for the show.


Kate wasn't too sure about meeting a giant "woof woof."

The Disney Jr. Dance Party was super cute. Katherine wasn't too sure what was going on, and she might have enjoyed it more later in our trip when she got more used to everything, but it was fun, upbeat with great characters, music, fun, and a little magic. I loved watching the kids dance and sing and ooh at the characters and catch everything that feel from the ceiling (leaves, bubbles, snow, and confetti). I almost teared up. We had been waiting and looking forward to this trip for so long. I was so excited and relieved that it was finally here and  that I got to watch my kids soak up some Disney magic.

After the Disney Jr show, we walked over to Toy Story Land which hadn't been built the last time we were at Disney, so we were all excited about it. Who doesn't love Toy Story?!?!

Of course the first thing we did was take a picture :)

We had fastpasses for Toy Story Midway Mania, an attraction that is always a favorite. It's such a fun attraction. I always want to ride it a million times to improve my score #goaloriented.

Even the line was full of fun- thankful though that we didn't have to wait very long thanks to our fastpass.

Matt always documents his score, so he can brag about it. He's a pro.

After that attraction, we got dinner at the Woody's Lunch Box- the new restaurant in Toy Story Land. I had heard some great things about the food, and it was actually really good. I've never been crazy about the counter service food at Disney- it always just tastes like overpriced, amusement park food, but I did really like the variety and taste of our dinner. Much better than usual!

After dinner we headed over to use our second Fast Pass for Tower of Terror- another of my favorite attractions. I'm a big time drop/lose your stomach ride girl. Elisabeth even wanted to ride. I knew she'd love the drop, but it is kind of a spooky/scary ride leading up to the drop, so I was holding her hand worried about her most of the time- she ended up loving it. And I did too! It totally exceeded my expectations. I screamed before we even dropped the first time, ha! I remember being underwhelmed the last time we rode it, but I think they improved it- made the drop longer, and multiple steep drops. It was so fun!!! Maybe it's just because I've forgotten how fun it was in the last 2.5 years.

After Tower of Terror, we had fast passes for Fantasmic (one of the two night time shows at Hollywood Studios). Unfortunately, the weather didn't cooperate and there were a few thunderstorms in the area. It rained a little too, but nothing crazy. But the lightning kept delaying the seating for the show. We waited it out for 20 minutes or so, and them figured that it was probably going to end up being canceled or at least delayed a long time. We had about 20 minutes before the park closed when we decided to give up on Fantasmic, and the boys decided to ride Star Tours. I'm not crazy about that ride, and didn't really want to mess with rider swap (Katherine wasn't big enough to ride), and Elisabeth didn't want to ride it anyway, so we split up. Matt took the boys to Star Tours- which they all really liked.

And the girls and I went to meet Olaf. Elisabeth enjoyed it. Olaf wanted to show her how he could swim since she was wearing her mermaid dress. I was a little underwhelmed with the character greet. I think the photographer and cast member in charge were just ready to go home since it was so close to closing, but it was still fun.

After we met Olaf, the girls and I found a spot in front of the Chinese Theater to watch the other night time show- Star Wars Fireworks. I guess since it's not in an outdoor theater with metal seats, that the show goes on even with some lightning and thunder. The rest of our crew joined us just as the fireworks were starting. I'm not a Star Wars fan, but the fireworks were still great, and since they were a must do for half my family, I'm glad it worked out to watch it instead of Fantasmic on our first night.

Whew, so after starting our day at 3:45 that morning in Oklahoma, we walked back to the buses at 10:00pm that night in Orlando to try and catch a little bit of sleep before another huge day on Sunday!

Eight Years Old

Nathan Wilson, you are eight years old! You are the sweetest boy, and I’m so grateful to be raising you. I always think that you are making it so easy to be your mom. I rarely have to discipline you and I can always trust you. I hope that doesn’t change.

At eight years old, you are smart, hard working, organized, helpful, compassionate, dependable, and bossy.

You’ve had a great year in second great. Your dad and I were so impressed with your teacher and how much you learned. You are a wonderful student, always excited to learn and very goal oriented. You improved six reading levels this year, and your teacher told us you were always disappointed if you didn’t improve a level when she tested you. You’re reading at a fifth grade reading level and always seeking to improve. You also worked hard in math and are working on multiplication right now. Tests and assessments motivate you, and you’re always seeking to improve. We are proud of you for testing into the gifted and talented program for next year and can’t wait to see how much you’ll continue to learn as you get older.

You are also a great helper at school. I care about your academic performance but even more so I am proud of your character. I’m so proud of the way your teacher shared about your willingness to always help other students and your humility in the classroom. She said she always told the substitutes to ask you for help because you’re a trustworthy student. You’ve also always been a rule follower, and I’ve never heard a bad report from a teacher or any other adult about misbehavior. I’m grateful that I can always trust you and know that you’ll do your best.

You are organized and a planner. You like to keep everything in a certain place, and for the most part you like to keep things clean and orderly. The problem is that you also never want to get rid of anything- school work, art projects, notes from friends, souvenirs from any trip- so your room still seems pretty messy even though you usually know where everything is. You always stuff your socks in your shoes and set them by the door in your room when you get home. And you don’t want your toothbrush or toothpaste anywhere near your siblings’ toothpaste and toothbrushes, because you keep your super clean and don’t want their dried toothpaste by your stuff.

You work hard at any chore- even though you usually grumble a little when I assign them. But I can always count that you’ll do the job right the first time, and you’ll do it as efficiently as possible.

You are the oldest sibling, and you take it seriously! You like to be in charge and control the play whenever you’re with your siblings. You have figured out how to get Samuel to do whatever you want- you’re pretty persuasive in your arguments. You have a hard time when your sister challenges your leadership- which she does often. You two butt heads the most, and it’s almost always because she doesn’t want to do what you want her to do. You adore Katherine, and the feeling is mutual. You are so sweet to read her books, comfort her when she’s upset, and you get so excited and cheer her on when she’s learning something new. You relationship is the sweetest thing. Sometimes I worry about the age gap between the two of you, but I think it’s going to be just fine. I adore watching the way you love and care for her.

You are outgrowing most toys, but you have a giant Lego collection. Building Lego sets is your favorite thing to do. You got your first expert set for your birthday and were able to build it with minimal help from your dad. I’m so impressed. You definitely have your Daddy’s brain with your exceptional spatial logic. I tell you all the time that God blessed you with a smart mind and that you need to use it wisely. You don’t really play with other toys. You like to play the Nintendo Switch with Samuel. When you’re playing with friends or your siblings, you always want to build forts or roller coaster rides using tables, chairs, laundry baskets and couch cushions. You also still like to put on shows and plays- and you’re always the director.

You became a Christian last summer, and it’s been a joy to watch your growth in Christ. You excelled in AWANA this year, learning how to hid God’s Word in your heart. You also have some wonderful friends in your grade at church, and I’m so grateful for that. I hope your friendships continue to grow as you get older and grow in your walk with Christ.

You’re a great eater. You recently have found a love for steak, and you also love any Mexican meal- fajitas and tacos, especially. Pizza is still always a favorite too. Your favorite snacks are popcorn and peanut butter granola bars. I can always count on you to eat everything, and if you tell me you don’t like it, I believe you and don’t make you eat it again.

You always like to know what the plan and schedule is for the day. If we have plans or friends coming over, you always want to know what time they’ll arrive and then start a countdown in your head.  You like to have a schedule and know what’s going to happen.

You have an excitement for life. You get so excited for everything. I love it! You can’t wait for birthday parties, get togethers with friends, new movies, vacations. You make everything so fun because of your zest for life. Everything is more exciting with you around.

You don’t really watch specific shows on TV. Usually you watch random YouTube videos. You watched so many videos about Disney World before we left on our trip. You knew the best snacks, told me to get mobile ordering on my phone, knew the back stories to all the rides, and which rides were the most popular. You love to share all your knowledge about the things you learn and are always wanting to tell me about something new that you learned.

You always stay up late reading at night and I’m always trying to find you new books that will hold your interest. When we go to the library, you’re drawn to the nonfiction section. I think you always like to learn new facts about everything. You liked the Diary of Minecraft Zombie series, the Wishmakers series, and you read the first two Harry Potter books, but you’ve stalled on the third. I think it might be a little too advanced for you right now to hold your interest.  You also always love National Geographic magazines. You’re a fact loving boy.

Nathan, you are such a gift to me. You are always so loving and sweet, such a helper and a hard worker. You desire to please and want everyone to be happy. Everyone is blessed when they’re around you, and I’m so grateful for joy and delight you add to our family.