There's a legend in my family regarding my first trip on the Tilt-W-Whirl.  It was many years ago, before I could pronounce the letter "L" correctly.  I believe it was at Grandpa's carnival (a Chicago church festival that wasn't actually Grandpa's, but since he took us every year, it became Grandpa's!) On exiting the ride (or perhaps during the ride?) I was heard screaming 

I YUV IT! I YUV IT! I YUV IT!

You can understand then, why I was excited to ride it again today when I saw it at Milwaukee's Winterfest! The kids are all tall enough! I could share one of my favorite rides with them!

But Abby wan't so sure.

'I don't want to go! It's too fast! It's too scary! I don't wike it!'

But Abby, it's perfect, you sound just like I did way back then - at the end I know you'll scream I YUV IT, too!

Despite her hesitation (screaming) we took her on the ride.

(Here it should be noted that Chris decided to go too, which is odd because just watching this ride makes him queasy!)

The ride operator took one look at us and put all 5 together in one car. It was a tight fit. Maggie, Katherine and I were giggling with glee. Chris was hoping his breakfast didn't end up in the car with us. Abby was still trying to decide if she was going to like it.

The ride started, and we slowly began to swing back and forth. Abby realized it wasn't so bad. Everyone was happy! SUCCESS!

And that happiness lasted about 3.2 seconds. Pretty soon Abby was screaming again, Chris was moaning for it to stop, and Maggie, Katherine and I continued to giggle with glee, having a great time! It was the longest Tilt-A-Whirl I've ever been on... which was fun for some of us, and horror for others. I didn't even take a picture of Abby when it was over because she was so crabby.

Lesson learned:She may be my mini-me in many ways, but NOT in her love of carnival rides!

But, lest you think I'm the meanest Mom ever - look how much fun she lad on the Merry Go Round!

A good time was had by all, and I don't think she'll have any permanent psychological damage!

I thought I'd bake cookies this afternoon. It's chilly and there are many other things I COULD/SHOULD do (like write a post about the month of November, which I seem to have skipped!)  But I kept thinking about cookies.

Until I opened our baking cabinet and thought to myself, "Self, you can NOT cook anything until you clean out this cabinet."

Um yeah.

About half of what I found.....

15 bags of baking chips (chocolate, white chocolate, butterscotch, etc) some opened, some not.

10 sticks of Crisco - some opened some not

6 bags of chopped nuts - almonds, walnuts, pecans

5 cake mixes-4 yellow, 1 chocolate

4 frostings - Chocolate, Vanilla, Funfetti (PINK!) and Peppermint

4 cans of baking cocoa - all opened

4 bags of marshmallows - 1 open, 1 expired

3 sweetened condensed milks and 3 evaporated milks, none expired

2 jars of molasses, both open, with the exact amount missing from each

And a partridge in a pear tree!

I guess I'm ready for holiday baking?

There are 3 very excited girls here tonight, expecting St Nick.

Here are the shoes they chose.....Katherine was quick to point out, "I used a boot-the bigger it is, the more stuff I can get!"



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Look who got her very first haircut today!






Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

On our drive home from church today, Maggie and Katherine started playing a game of "Guess which finger this is?" I didn't know that such a game existed, and I'm still not exactly sure the rules, as I was only able to grab a quick glance now and then while driving.

What I was able to understand, while listening to their comments and giggles, is that the idea is to cover  the fingers of one hand with the fingers of the other hand, letting one or two fingers peek out, to make the other person think that you are holding up your  *gasp* Middle finger!

Of course this led to Abby just holding up her middle finger, oblivious to the meaning.

Which meant that Katherine had to explain, "Abby, if you put THAT finger up all by itself it's the same as saying 'The S Word' and that's naughty."

Which of course meant that Abby continued to do it.

Oh the craziness of the big girls giggling about the naughtiness, while trying to convince Abby not to actually hold up her middle finger, but to hold up her other fingers instead. I only let it go on as long as it did because I was interested in what the 'S Word' was.

Finally, I got what I was waiting for. Abby exclaimed, "But I don't KNOW what that word IS!"

And Katherine advised, in a dramatic stage whisper, "The 'S word' is 'STUPID' and that is a very naughty word!"

So then we had a brief discussion about how putting any fingers up  was probably not a good choice when there might be confusion about what those fingers meant, and that perhaps teaching your younger sister bad things wasn't very smart either.

Spent the morning at preschool today and this song finally made sense!
Albuquerque was a Turkey

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

We had fun trick or treating with Edward and Daniel on Sunday (weird WI traditions)




For Abby's party at school today, we opted for something not quite as warm......she created a witch out of pieces from previous costumes




And now, after watching Charlie Brown, Halloween is over!

Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

From the "Funny things kids say" file

Last week, when I asked Katherine my usual, "Who'd you sit with/play with at lunch?" she told me,
"I played with Derrick, we were playing SLOTH on the bar."
I couldn't resist, so I asked "And how does one play Sloth?"
"You just hang upside down on the bar until someone decides it's time to wake up!"

Today, while taking Abby to school, she told  me "I want #21 on the CD!"
Turns out that is a rather dramatic song from Disney (I guess it's from Mission Space?) It's very show-choir -ballad sounding.  As the first notes played she told me, "You just snap, Mommy, I'll do the singing."
And so I snapped the beat and she sang, like the Diva she is!

Maggie came home from school today and said, "Um, I think I want to have boys at my birthday party."

That was easy. NO!
(But I started deep breathing, boys, really? Already?)

It's cold and rainy this Saturday morning. Katherine has claimed this heat register, these blankets, and a bag of books. She might not move for hours!



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Ahhhh, TGIF!



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

When we arrived home from Church today, the girls stayed outside to play.  When they came in a little later, they all stopped dead in their tracks and moaned, "MMMMmmmmm what smells so good?"
"I'm cooking some wild rice for our dinner, we're going to use it in soup."
"I don't like rice!"
"I don't like soup!"
"I'm not eating that!"

Sigh.

A little later, the questions again
"Are those carrots? I like carrots!"
"They're going in the soup"
"I'm not eating carrots in soup!"


Groan.

I served dinner, with a small serving of soup for each girl.
"Ewwww, I'm not eating it!"
"I don't like it!"
"It smells funny!"

Seriously?

They were instructed to simply..... TRY IT!

"Mmm, this is really good!"
"I like it!"
"SLURP!"

Good Grief! Must everything be a battle?

Morning whining resolved by cranking the tunes and having a dance party.




- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Enjoying a nice quiet evening on the court. Chris is at church choir, and it's too early for bedtime, even if some of us are ready!
Observations from school today:
A boy left the playground covered in blood and was taken to an ambulance.
Maggie and her friend Claire finished their lunches fast,but sat at their table even after they were done because they boys were being "so funny, Mom, we couldn't stop giggling!". And so it begins.....
Abby didn't bat an eyelash when I left her at APL, she just threw her hand in the air and called, "bye Mom, see you!"
I spent my first day along going to the gym and run/walking 2 miles. And doing 3 loads of laundry.
Also, so far, my plan to have the kids plan The menu for the week is working, they've been eating so well!




- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Not much time to share too much, but we had successful first days of 1st and 3rd grades today! Tomorrow is first day of preschool.

When I asked the girls if they could each tell me one fantastic thing about the day, Maggie replied "I am sorry I can NOT answer that question, because my WHOLE DAY was FAN-TAS-TIC!"
Katherine couldn't come up with only one thing, she found the whole day exciting, from touring the school, to talking about rules, to playing with her friend Ibrahim at lunch (exciting because he's in the other 1st grade class, where they were in the same class last year)

Now, Maggie and Chris are at piano, where we'll do a car/kid switch in a little bit so that I can go to work from 7-11 and Chris can do the bedtime routines before another exciting day tomorrow!

Not sure they'll ever be this excited to do homework again. But for today, I'm going to enjoy it!



Although school doesn't start until Tuesday (Wednesday for Abby) each one got an "All About Me" project at open house this week. Lots of self reflection happening here.




Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

We had such a  fun day with Joe and Brenda, Gram and PopPop, and of course, Murray.  Chris was back at school so why not take a day to go visit? Especially since this might have been the only time a dog will ever be welcomed in the house at 1527 Washington!?!

The girls are absolutely in love with Murray, and during our usual bedtime routines of 'what was the best part of the day,' Murray won, hands down.

No, we will not be running out and getting them their own dog to love. They can be pen-pals with Murray! (Yes, they've already written Murray letters.)

However, Abby went without her nap today. This is not the first time. It shouldn't have been a big deal.  She made it through at Disney without naps, only falling asleep in her stroller by about 8pm.

Phew. She was a hot mess this afternoon.  She cried because Chris filled her apple juice cup and not me.  She punched Katherine because she was sitting where Abby wanted to sit. She had a total meltdown when I helped her get her nightgown on. After she ASKED me for help because she was stuck (head goes in the neck hole, arms in the arm holes, not the other way around.) After I got her all put together, she freaked out because she wanted to do it herself. She ripped off the nightgown and threw it on the floor. But then, of course, it was inside out again, and she needed me to help her.  Again.

It was not pretty. It was lights out at 715 for Abby, but then there was screaming because it was "TOO DARK!" Despite the bright hallway light and nightlight in her room. Her poor little brain was just fried and she could not handle anything else.

I crawled in bed and talked about our day, and asked her what she'd like to see at the Zoo tomorrow. She took some deep breaths and decided cows and elephants.

Sigh.  Wow. There are days I truly worry how we'll survive the hormones of the teen years.

And yet, look at this face?  How could she be as crazy as all that? Believe me, it is all true!

We are pretending that we are still on vacation, enjoying a free concert in the park.



The girls are looking for shapes in the clouds.



Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Home.
We're home.
It's a mix of emotions, because of course vacation is so much fun, and yet so exhausting. I'd love to have more time in the parks, I was not "done" yet. But, we're all exhausted, and it was truly time to come home.

No comes the "down" part of vacation, we've been planning this since January, and it's over now.

But not to worry. I took just a few pictures. And the girls are old enough to remember plenty of stories, I don't think we'll ever forget this trip!

Today we had a 445 flight, so our bus to the airport was scheduled for 145. That gave us plenty of time to hit Magic Kingdom one more time. We were up, dressed, fed, and out of our room (checked luggage checked in for our flight from the hotel, carry-ons stored at the hotel) by 830. We were in the park just after 9. We hit our favorites and some things we hadn't done yet, and just after 12 we caught our bus back to the hotel. We had meal credits to use, so we had a delicious lunch, bought one more souvenir, and said good bye to Disney.

The flight home was uneventful and we arrived ahead of schedule. Our awesome neighbors had left our car for us, so we just loaded up and got home just before 7 local time.

Our awesome neighbors had also mowed the grass, collected our mail and papers, and left us a gallon of milk, bread, cookies, and fresh flowers. GOLD STAR AWARD for awesome neighbors! and of course, the flamingoes had some fun while we were gone as well.

I'm waiting to go to bed until our 3rd load of laundry is done. Plenty more to do tomorrow. But, everything is unpacked and cleaned up, and I have to say,
It is good to be home!

















Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Time to go home, waiting for the bus to our hotel, to eat lunch before going to the airport. All good things must end...........




- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Packing to go home is easier than packing go on vacation, but not as fun.



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Ahhhhh, memories. I hope that we've create some good ones this week. We had lunch reservations for 245 in Epcot today. Originally we had planned to swim in the morning, and not go out to parks until mid to late morning, and then stay out after our meal.

However, the forecast called for heavy rain about 3, so we went out about 9 and ended up out until 5- our longest day. And it did rain, just after 2 as we ran toward Canada for lunch. We did end up wet, and then cold as we waited for lunch.

We ht our favorites in the morning, Soarin, Nemo, Figment. Maggie and I tried Mission Space, which was super fun. We took the less intense green side, with no spinning. It was a intense enough- a flight simulator that takes you on a rocket launch and flight to Mars. You are assigned a 4 person team, Maggie ended up the Pilot and I was the Navigator. Luckily, our tasks were simple-push buttons when the light up. The funniest thing was that as you sit Down get strapped in, you see a basket holding airplane barf bags in front of you. Really? It wasn't that bad.

When we got back to the hotel, the pool was closed, so we took the opportunity to start packing. Hard to believe we have to go home tomorrow, but it is true. All good things must come to an end! When we noticed the lifeguards out again, we jumped into our suits for one last swim. However, after the storms, it was actually chilly! Definitely a "stay under the water" type of swim.

After everyone was cleaned up, we checked the weather one more time and decided to take a chance going out for fireworks. The rain seemed to be going around the Disney area. But while we rode our us to Magic Kingdom, it started to rain. We ahead 3 choices. Stay on the bus and go right back to the hotel, get off and take a monorail ride and then go back, or suck it up and not let the rain stop us from seeing the fireworks.

We went for it, and Chris days he heard someone say loudly, "people are still coming into the park, now?" as we we going in and hoards of people were heading out!

But it was great. Yes we we're wearing ponchos, and it was drizzling. But we got back to Country Bear Jamboree, which we hadn't seen yet. And it turns out, we saw one of the last shows. Starting tomorrow, it will be closed for "Hibernation" for an undetermined amount of time.

W came out, strolled over to the Castle,a nd watched fireworks in the rain. The theme/story of the fireworks is all about wishes. And I have to say, my girls bought it 100%. We waited a few minutes to let the crowd thin before we walked out of the park, and both girls were staring AT&T the castle in silence, clearly making their last wishes.

As I held their hands in the crowd walking out, I asked if they had made wishes, and both replied with emphatic "Yes, of course!" but Katherine was quick to tell me, " I can't tell you what it was though, mommy, I need it to come true!"

Tomorrow, our bus will pick us up for the airport at 145, so we'll have time to catch a few more favorites at Magic Kingdom before crashing back into reality.










- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Heading out for our last night, hoping to see fireworks over the castle. Will the weather work with us or against us?



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

I don't recall every bring on a ride that had a barf bag dispenser on front of your seat! And this was the less intense version!



-
SUPER FUN THOUGH!


Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Let's start at the end of the day. After a few trips to Disney over the years, I've never see Fantasmic before. W planned our day today around dinner reservations that included "priority" seating for the show. We told the girls we'd see Mickey Mouse and fireworks tonight. We got there, rode the wave of the crowd to our seats, and sat through a mildly amusing per-show warm up act. I found a beer vendor and Abby begged me to rub the cup on her face because it felt so good, given the heat/humidity. We even got to see EMTs at work as a lady in our section fell and cut her leg and then had a panic attack. It was all very interesting.

However, there was lightening in the distance, and we were sitting on metal bleachers. The show started, Abby gasped, the music, the lights, the firework. Yes, one firework. Then everything stopped, and the announcement was made that the show was being cancelled for the night.
Abby shouted, literally shouted,"ONLY ONE FIREWORK?????"

Yup, big bummer. But, as we tried to make the best of it, ate big girls pointed out that we had a great dinner, we missed the big rain while we were in dinner, we saw 2 shows, and even found a street party with great dancing music. So it wasn't a total wash!

And, as we walked into our hotel, we saw the Epcot fireworks over the trees, so Abby got to see more than just the one.

Earlier in the day we had fun at Animal Kingdom. Although we we there for 5 Hours, we barely scratched the surface. But I do think it's a park best appreciated in cooler weather. Phew, it was a hot one!

Maggie made the best of Fastpass and Rider Switch and rode Expedition Everest 4 times. Katherine was brave and went on the River Rapids ride with Chris and got pretty wet. We rode the safari and saw giraffes so close we might have reached out to touch them, if we were allowed. We went to a petting zoo (ewwwwwww) and loved the Lion King show.

During our "rest time" Abby and I did laundry and Chris and the big girls had another lesson from Jason the Animator. Today they were the only students in class and drew Tigger!

I laughed today when I thought about postcards. I had Chris make a special trip to the post office before we left so I'd have stamps. I made a list of addresses so I'd be able to send them. Ad here we are 2 days from coming home and I just thought about postcards today. I was feeling bad about it, until I thought that I've been up dating the blog, and that's sort of like getting a post card for you, my faithful readers, right? We're having too much fun to stop for postcards!







Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Also, these birds tried to share our lunch. I did not scream, but I did not enjoy.



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

After a fun, but really really hot day at Animal Kingdom, Abby had to try so hard to stay awake on the bus. So she serenaded with classics, wheels on the bus, row row row your boat, and itsy bitsty spider. Even the bus driver was amused!




- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Riding home from Epcot tonight, with a sleeping Abby on my lap, I chatted with the big girls about what their favorite things were from the day.
As we talked about our morning at magic kingdom, our afternoon in the pool, and our evening in Epcot, we realized everything came back to food.

We had breakfast in our room, with some peanut butter, pop tarts, and snacks from the food court. After our first few rides in Adventureland, daddy bought ice cream for breakfast on our walk to tomorrowland. Granted it was orange flavored, so it counted as both fruit and dairy, but still, ice cream before 1030am?

After sweating through Tomorrow land, and since it was lunchtime but we didn't want to stop, we had milk shakes for lunch. Again, dairy! It was actually just what we needed!

When we got back to the hotel about 2, we had real lunch, pizza, carrots, grapes, yogurt, pudding (chicken Caesar for me!) the deal was, no pool until good eating - which meant the girls ate without complaining. (remind me to install a cool pool at our house)

We went to Epcot tonight because we changed our dinner plans yesterday. We decided that we could see/do more if we ate at Epcot vs downtown Disney. But the only place we could get reservations was Mexico. Chris is not usually a fan of Mexican, and the girls only eat chips and salsa. I was told they could get chicken tenders. Ole!

Everyone was a little squirrely as we waited for dinner, and when we finally got to our table and saw the menu I was pretty nervous. Not a chicken tender or Mac and cheese or pizza to be found. But guess what? The girls all loved their grilled chicken and some green beans and rice too! What did Grandma Geraghty always say? "Hunger is the best sauce?"
Chris was happy with his pork loin and I had carne asada, also yummy. The best was dessert. Abby was thrilled with her ice cream (more ice cream!) and Maggie tried churritos for the first time and LOVED them!

While we were eating, we were aware that outside it was pouring rain. We were hoping to enjoy Illuminations after dinner, but we're nervous about the rain. We came out and found barely a drizzle, but kept our ponchos on just in case.

Illuminations did not disappoint, always so cool. Abby slept through it all, but the big girls were thrilled, especially with their light up Minnie ears. And it never rained again.

Tomorrow Animal Kingdom!

Sometimes, on a hot day,lunch is a milkshake. And sometimes, a saxophone quartet shows up to entertain you while you drink!
Sometimes......



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Rain rain, go away. Or stick around, you won't stop us!
We started our day at Hollywood Studios today. We decided to do Tower of Terror and Rockin Rollercoaster first, before lines were too crazy. Maggie was brave enough to ride both twice (love the rider swap) but Katherine only did the tower once and was too short for Rockin Rollercoaster. And then, the rain. At first it was just a heavy drizzle. We found inside rides, covered stroller parking area, and went on with our day. But when we came out after Muppets 3D, we came out to a torrential downpour. We waited it out as long as we could, but then it was it me to venture out. Ponchos on, we took off in search of lunch. Chris carried Abby to keep us moving faster, and she wouldn't keep her hood on, they both got wet!
Once we found lunch, Maggie and I had to stand in a long, long line. I saw beer on the menu and made the executive decision that it was required for our lunch. Good decision!
The rest of our day there was incredibly humid, but not as wet. And all in all, we just had a blast!
We came back to the hotel to get cleaned up, no time for pool, today due to dinner reservations. We did have time for a little shopping, which we did. Each girl chose one treat. (see previous blog about the bee sting)
Then we went to the Backyard BBQ. I don't think we really new what to expect, but it was fun. Hot and humid, but fun. We had decent food, loud music, dancing, characters, and beer/wine was included for adults! And ice cream too! I had to laugh at Abby, the poor girl could not sit still, she just wanted to be on the dance floor shaking and grooving!
We came back "early" and plan to sleep "late" tomorrow.








Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Yet another awesome service moment. We were walking to the gift shop to pick out our first treasures when Maggie was stung by a bee. We went right to the hotel desk where we were given an Ice pack and a local anesthetic cream. Her tears subsiding we went to the gift shop. On our way across the lobby, we met the animator, Jason, who teaches a workshop everyday; today is the first we've missed. He stopped to see why Maggie was upset, and then engaged her to giggles, and then told us to wait right there, he came back a moment later with a stuffed "squirt" for Maggie, one of the characters he taught her to draw.
Above and beyond, that is Disney!




- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Day 3
Everyone was feeling a little slow this morning. Katherine more than anyone, she hid under her covers until the last minute. We actually took our time, sort of, and didn't rush to be first to Epcot, but we were still there early.

2 years ago I had one of my saddest "mom" moments when Katherine was turned away from the Epcot ride Soarin. She was tall enough for other rides with the same height requirement, but a change of shoes and more attentive staff meant she was not allowed on. Her tears were so sad it took all i had not to cry with her.

Today that all changed. And I got to see her glee, and watch her love the feeling of flying. Another highlight was Maggie and the Figment ride. For whatever reason, she loved that ride 2 years ago, even choosing a stuffed Figment as her souvenir, she has been singing the song since then too. So to see her ride it again today was really fun.

We made our way to Norway for our brunch with the princesses. We weren't sure what to expect, but we found Belle waiting for a picture as we arrived, and the as we ate, the other classics came through as well. Ariel, Cinderella, Aurora, and Snow White. Definitely one of those that they'll talk about for a long time......to talk to and old hands with the princesses? Whoa!

We decided to head back to the hotel for a bit, and not a minute too soon. It started pouring just after we got on the bus. So no swimming Today, but that gave me time to do laundry and for the big girls to take another lesson from the animator on drawing cartoons. (offered every afternoon!)

Also, I had to pick up tickets from the concierge for our dinner tomorrow. While I was chatting with her, I mentioned that I kept getting a different answer about where to buy a simple loaf of bread. She was able to confirm that it was not available on site, but asked if I'd like the runner to pick up a loaf for me. What? Sure enough, they sent a runner to the store (I was told not just for my bread) and in less than 2 hours, we had a loaf of white bread delivered, for only the cost of the bread. Now Katherine can have her peanut butter in the morning! Gotta love Disney service!

So we went back to Epcot for the evening. We rode Nemo, and talked with Crush (Duuuuuuuude!). Maggie even asked a question, check back later for video (I think I need to be home to load that). We weren't sure where to eat, so we wandered toward the world showcase. We stoppoed andpicked up a new "toy" - a gps/geocachingtype thing with Phineas and Ferb theme. It seemed cool, a small cell phone that guides you to find clues to solve mysteries. But with 3 kids trying to hold/see/hear the clues, and parents who also needed to see, it was complicated. Add in that there was a band playing loudly where we were trying to search, and it made it nearly impossible. We ended up in America, where it started to rain, or pour, really. We were inside, but knew we'd have to go out, so we unveiled the ponchos, and set out.

Sadly, we ended up skipping Illuminations, but wisely, we took a boat from the back of Epcot over to Hollywood studios to catch our bus, rather than walk all the way through to the front of the park. It was a nice ride, we saw some of the fireworks, and Abby fell asleep on me. Which was cozy, until I had to carry her.

Another exhausting day.....can't wait for tomorrow!














Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Sometimes vacation is glamorous.......



Sometimes it's not.......



But it's all still so much fun!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Day 2
We started during Early Magic Hours at 8am at Magic Kingdom. We went right to Dumbo, which had been Abby's request. We learned quickly, that Abby's trouble with sharing extends to theme parks. She had no clue that we had to share with everyone around us. We were walking to Dumbo and she saw it starting to move. Se freaked out shouting "mom they didn't wait for us, they have to wait for us, they started without us!" It took her 3 rides before she figured out that other people could ride as well, and that we had to wait in line until it was our turn!

Maggie and Katherine also got their favorites out of the way with splash mountain and big thunder mountain. I fact, thanks to 'rider swap' they got to ride each one twice! We played until about noon and then went to the Grand Floridian for a quick lunch before heading back to the hotel for rest time.

HA! Rest time on vacation? Abby was not buying that one, despite really needing a nap, it took me about an hour to get her to zone out to the TV for 45 minutes, and that was all we got. But it was good.

While I fought that battle, Chris and girls spent some time with an animator, learning how top draw 'Squirt' the turtle from Nemo, and then they swam for a bit. (til they closed the pool for lightening, we never had rain)

After getting all cleaned up, we went to OHANA for dinner. It was delicious, even Abby and Katherine were happy with the food, and Maggie did try a few things. We enjoyed the wandering musicians, playing Ukelele of course. And the girls land I took part in the group Hula lesson!

Then it was back to MK to wait for the electrical parade. Let me say this, it is still as magical as ever! The girls loved it, convinced that every character who glanced in our direction was waving to only them! Aside from the man who squeezed in front of us and then took a cell phone call during the parade, it was fabulous!

Before bed, no one could decide on only 1 favorite thing from the day, success!



-









Posted using BlogPress from my iPad