Day 3- Hollywood Studios (formerly known as MGM Studios)

On Sunday, we got up bright and early and headed over to Hollywood Studios to do some rides & see some Star Wars men and women! Each weekend in June is Star Wars Weekend so we wanted to do a few of the activities this day, but we really planned to do everything Star Wars on the following Friday since we thought it would be less crowded, which it was. As soon as we arrived, all Myles & Connor could see were the Storm Troopers on top of the buildings, and they were so amazed! I wish I would have taken a picture of the expression the first day because it was priceless! We did almost all of the rides at Hollywood except for Tower of Terror & Rock N Roll Roller coaster. Kevin did get to do the Tower of Terror and had a fast pass for the roller coaster, but when it was his turn to go back, the ride was down. The Lights, Motor, Action Stunt Show was by far the best show of the day and possibly of the trip. Each car that is in the show uses a set of tires per show & there are 3 shows per day! Of course the Indiana Jones Stunt Show is right up there too since we are huge Indy fans! We had front row seats to that show, and the boys, all 3 of them, loved it! The new Toy Story Mania ride was fun too. We were able to ride it a couple times! Here are some of our favorite pics from the day! It is so hard to choose which ones to use since there are so many!

The scene as we arrived Sunday morning!


Our first ride of the day was Star Tours & we were actually second in line for this ride! The boys really had great fun! It was much better than Day 1's first ride, Dinosaur!



Myles with Princess Leia. She spent so much time talking with him. It was really sweet. Connor wouldn't get in the picture so I don't have one of him with her. I'm kind of sad!

The Studio Backlot Tour ride. It's one of my favorites. Connor was really scared when the water was coming at him. He wanted to trade seats with me!

Fun with Power Rangers! The Power Rangers took a lot of time with the boys too showing them all kinds of moves. I took a lot of pictures of them doing the different moves, but I didn't put them on the blog.

Here the boys are with a Clone Trooper!

Here they are with another Stormtrooper!

Toy Story Mania. We got to do lots of shooting!

The boys riding a Star Wars hoverbike that the Ewoks rode!


One of my favorite pics. How fitting that mine & Kevin's favorite characters were out together. We were actually in line for a few minutes to get this picture, and it had been raining. This guy, Fabio, was in charge & felt bad because the characters weren't going to come out. So he closed off the line & let the these 2 characters come out for the few of us who were in line. We were very, very thankful!

Can you see the excitement? The boys getting ready to see Indiana Jones Stunt Show!

The boys with Indiana Jones & a Russian soldier after the performance. They were SUPER excited to get to go down on the stage area after the show.

The boys with the Fantasmic Hat! Connor is too funny sometimes!

Last shots of the day!

My Stormtrooper named Connor!

My Stormtrooper named Myles!

My Stormtrooper named Kevin!

And last but not least my three Stormtroopers together!!!

Coming up next will be a relaxing day at Typhoon Lagoon & our attempt to extend our holiday by a day!

Character pics at Animal Kingdom

We were able to get some really great pictures of the boys with some of the Disney characters at the Animal Kingdom. The park had a really great shaded area for the characters, which allowed for the characters to be out throughout the day!

Mickey & the boys (this one is for Aunt Dani!)

The boys with Donald Duck. I love the one of them hugging him!

Me, the boys & Donald Duck, who is my favorite character!

The boys & Goofy!

I love this pic of Myles and how he is looking straight up to Goofy!

Kevin, the boys & Goofy, who is Kevin's favorite character!


The boys & Minnie. It was really, really hard to get the boys to stand next to female characters, which you will hear more about in future postings!

Day 2 Animal Kingdom

Here are some of our favorite pictures from The Animal Kingdom! We had a blast & were able to go into the park an hour before the general public since we were staying on Disney property. It was really nice. We did all the attractions. The favorite ride of the day for me had to be Kali River Rapids. Towards the end of the day the boys & I rode it 3 times in a row! One time we didn't even have to get off to get back in line because there was not a line! The show "It's Tough To Be A Bug" was great. It was hilarious seeing the boys trying to grab the objects coming at them (it was a 3-D show)!!!! The best ride for Kevin was Expedition Everest, which I personally will NEVER get back on! Thankfully it was the last ride of the day for us because I got so sick! The first ride of the day us was Dinosaur, which did not go over well for the boys. They were terrified but soon got over it once the ride stopped. After that Connor would not get on Expedition Everest. Myles rode it twice! The best show of the day by far was "Finding Nemo-The Musical". We couldn't take pictures during the show so I don't have any. All in all it was a wonderful first day at Disney. I'll be adding some pics of the boys with the characters at Animal Kingdom next!

Waiting for our first bus!


Our first bus ride of the trip- Riding the bus was by far Myles' favorite thing to do the last time we were at Disney!


The boys after the Dinosaur ride. I could barely get them to take a picture by the dinosaur here!


Kevin and me riding TriceraTop Spin. I think one of the boys took this pic!


So much excitement riding the TriceraTop Spin! It was much better for them than Dinosaur!

Getting ready for "It's Tough To Be A Bug"

Riding the train to Conservation Station!

The boys with Rafiki from The Lion King!

The boys at The Affection Section, which is right up Connor's alley! He adores animals & he was able to touch and hug some billy goats! I was amazed that Myles let me take his picture because he's not very fond of animals!

This is me and the boys after riding Kali River Rapids. We were wet after the first time so you can imagine how wet we were after the third ride! It was great, though.

The boys with the Animal Kingdom sign as we were leaving. Yes, I did manage to miss getting a picture of the boys with the Tree of Life. We were supposed to go back & take one but never did. I do have a picture from the Disney photographers!

Yes, we left with a new monkey named Connor! I LOVE this picture of him. This shows his personality perfectly!

I hope that you have enjoyed the pictures, and there are LOTS more to come soon!

Lots of fun with one of our favorite aunts...Dani!!!

Aunt Dani has been a big help lately helping take care of Moo Moo, and we are so excited that we are getting to see her so much!! The boys are head over heels for her & love playing with her. She usually takes them down to the pond area of the hospital & lets them feed the goldfish! We're looking forward to hanging out with her for the 4th of July!

Day 1- Travel day & Set up day!

We made great timing to Disney. We only managed to have a few of the expected stops! Once we arrived at Fort Wilderness, we popped up the camper, and then headed to find a grocery store. We finished setting up camp just as storm was passing through! More posting about Disney to come tomorrow!

Beautiful Mobile Bay as we're heading towards Florida!

Our campsite (this pic was actually taken on our way out!)

Our nice set-up. The campsite was really nice. We were able to use our extra "outside" room for the first time. If we had known how easy it was to set up, we would have been using it all of the time!!! It was nice to have somewhere to keep the shoes so that they didn't get wet!

The boys, well Connor really, helping us set up camp!


Of course, we can't go anywhere without the baseball gloves! The boys LOVED playing catch and it helped keep them busy while Kevin and I set up the camper!


Finally after we finished everything we took the boys to the swimming pool for a quick swim, which they loved!!!!

Has it really been four years?

I've been dreading this day for awhile, and I think about the day my dad passed away four years ago nearly everyday. I replay the day over and over in my head. The loss of a parent is the most difficult experience of my entire life. I think that part of the reason that it is so hard is that I don't have anyone other than my sisters to share it with because none of my friends have had to experience this, which I am thankful for. I know that God is preparing me for the day that I need to comfort my friends. One of the hardest parts of this trial is that I want him to be there for ALL of the boy's special occasions like when Connor had his first at bat during t-ball or when he made an out or when Myles caught lots of line drives and hit lots of homeruns or when Myles lost his first tooth or for him to hear all of the stories from Disney World. And, I miss them not being able to just visit with him and play cowboys and Indians or go to the Baybears' games. I myself miss him immensely. I just want to touch him & talk to him. Lots of times I just close my eyes as tightly as possible so I can get a vivid image and just stay that way until the tears force me to open my eyes. I do know that I will see him again one day, and that is what gets me through the tough times! I know that I really need to add the Disney pics, which will take ages, but I'm still exhausted from the trip & since Kevin's out of town, I don't have much time. I will try tomorrow night and know for definite that I will on Thursday night and Friday. Here are a couple of my favorite pics from my wedding with my dad, who was the most AMAZING dad anyone could ask for & who had the hardest time telling me & my sister "no"!!! I am forever grateful for all of the values & morals that he taught me and that I'm teaching the boys!