Life's Simple Pleasures

I am told that EPCOT costed over a billion dollars to build (and that is back when a billion dollars was a lot of money). I am sure Disney Studios cost every bit as much, years later when it was built. Believe me, no one is a bigger fan of what Disney has built than me. I love the fact that they always do it right and cut few corners.

With all of that said, I was stricken today by the simple things. I already said that the girls favorite show was Disney Junior which is basically a puppet show.

Emily Grace's favorite ride was the tram from the parking lot.

Olivia and Addison loved drawing with sidewalk chalk while waiting for dinner at Hollywood & Vine.

 

They had a blast playing Simon Says with Megan while waiting for the Little Mermaid Show.

Olivia got to play and dance with Phineas and Ferb (which I believe is just some guys in costume - not positive though).

All simple, but memories that will last for ever.

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Disney Studios (Episode 1)

Today we spent most of our time at Disney Studios. The big winner for the day were Disney Junior live and the Toy Story ride. These are the girls at Disney Junior Live.

Here are the girls about board Toy Story

The Muppet Theatre was one of the most anticipated events of the trip. When it was all said and done I think they just thought it was OK. They are not much on 3D. Here is Emily, though, at the Muppet Fountain.

The day ended with Fantasmic. Here we are anticipating the start of the show.

 

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EPCOT (Episode 2)

I already mentioned one of Olivia's big moments. Emily Grace seemed to like Maelstrom the most. She is pictured here in Viking helmet and sword.

Megan and Addison had a blast on Soaring. She said that ride was AWESOME! This is a picture of her about to get on.

We also found that autographs and meetings are more important at this age.

And less we forget we took one more ride on Spaceship Earth

 

 

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Voices of Liberty

So we went back to EPCOT this morning. One of the things that I was looking forward to the most was The Voices of Liberty at the American pavilion.

These guys are good. I like them a lot and have them on my iPhone and iPod. They are called "The Liberty Voices" when they are not at Disney so you have to search them that way on Itunes. They have a millions post on YouTube as well. Look for a song called "Golden Dreams."

Olivia got selected out of the crowed here is the video. I hope you can see it.

 

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EPCOT (Episode 1)

This evening we decided to go to EPCOT and ride a few rides. I guess the secret to the success of any vacation with kids is flexibility. You never know what kids will like. So far at EPCOT it is Spaceship Earth. They could not get enough of it. Tomorrow it will be something different I am sure.

We watched Illuminations and we were all wiped out. This photo of Addison was taken less than five minutes after getting in the door. Megan and I are wiped out too but I have enough energy to go to the 7-Eleven for a frozen Coke.

 

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Princess Breakfast

This morning we were invited to have breakfast with the princesses at Cinderella's Castle. Anyone with girls would know this is a big deal. We had a great time with all of them. This is Belle, one of our favorites.

We had to make a mad dash for breakfast because "someone" forgot the admission tickets back at the house and we had to go back. We got there late for our reservation but Disney was gracious enough to take care of my girls. I just love them, Disney and my girls.

After breakfast we took in a few rides at the Magic Kingdom and then home for lunch and a swim. Great start to a magic vacation.

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Home Away from Home

We have been in hotels for a couple of nights now and it has been good, but we finally arrived at our vacation house and somehow it feels like home. We have rented this house before so it may be the familiarity, but I think it is other things. A place to put our clothes, space to stretch out, space for solitude, everyone's own bedroom, and I could go on.

It is far and away the best value to us. Eight times larger, two more full baths, and yet cheaper per night than a hotel room. No brainier for me.

Oh yea, and our own private pool.

Let the vacation begin!

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Sea World (episode 1)

Today we went to Sea World first. We were fortunate to get to feed the dolphins. This was definitely the highlight of Addison's Day. She loves animals and dolphins are near the top of her list. Olivia was really into it more than I thought, although she did not want to touch any more of the slimy feeder fish.

 

We saw the Polar Bears which was Olivia's "must see" for the day. Next we rode a few rides while Emily Grace was otherwise occupied.

 

Everyone quickly started to hit a wall before lunch so we made our way to the vacation house to see if it happened to ready early. We will get back to Sea World sometime during this vacation.

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Orlando Renaissance

Our house is not ready until tomorrow so we elected to stay at the Sea World Renaissance. The Girls were as good as gold on the whole trip, we could not have asked for more.

The reason we chose this hotel is mainly for the splash park and the pool. Our girls loved it.

We had a very relaxing evening at the pool.

Great pool and facilities all around

After the good swim and s'mores and a movie provided by the hotel, Maybe we will be rested for the day tomorrow.

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Tybee Island

Sorry there was no post yesterday but I had no wi-fi. We spent the first part of this next day at Tybee Island. First we did some sightseeing. 

Then we decided to kick around on the beach - you know, no one getting wet or anything. Can you say pipe dream? No sooner were we on the beach before Olivia sat in a tidal pool and Emily Grace fell face forward in the same. Still it was a great time.

 

This brought us up to lunch time. We found a very different (in a good way) and delightful restaurant called The Crab Shack. There were live gators, exotic birds, and the seating was mostly outside under a thicket of shade trees, and believe it or not, it was not hot. All of this with a terrific view, maybe you can part of it behind Emily Grace in the picture that follows.

 

Great food and fun for the kids and then we were off again. This time with Orlando as our target destination (which translated means The City Beautiful).

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Savannah

So we made it to Savannah. It is just after 11:00 PM. Everyone is just starting to settle down except Emily Grace so far. We could not have asked for a better ride. Emily slept a couple of hours and the gifts the Megan got for the girls every hour or so worked great to keep them occupied. Megan had the forethought to take the girls to the pool this morning which certainly helped to wear them down and made for a very smooth ride.

 

So I got off a little early and Megan had the girls in the car waiting when I got there. We had prayer and took off. We stopped once for dinner and once for fuel. I tell you, these girls are troopers. Especially my wife who has had the longest of days.

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The Plan

Well this is the plan. We are hoping to leave around 2:30 PM as I said yesterday. We hope that we can get two or three hours under or belts before Emily Grace wakes up, but you never know, she might not sleep at all.

We plan to make it to Savannah on day one. After some sightseeing we will make our way on down to Orlando the next day. This is the plan but with children and especially a toddler you just never know - but for now that is the plan - well hopefully. You know, maybe.

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Cleaning the Car

I decided to clean the car inside and out the other day before we started loading up for the big trip. The girls decided to "help." Not long after we were all wet and I was getting ill. Then I realized that I would never remember our clean car. The clean car didn't mean anything. The spraying each other and the wet sponge in the small of my back are things that I will never forget. Forgive me girls when I forget that (and I forget often). I love you girls very much.

About fifteen minutes or so, I noticed that everyone was missing. I found that on the other side of the car there was work going on to clean their own modes of transportation.

 

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The Vehicle

I won't lie to you. We are a little nervous about the time in the car. To tell you the truth none of our girls have ever been particularly good riders - not at any age. Emily Grace really dislikes the infant seat, she just seems to be uncomfortable much of the time. The older girls do better but after a while it is always a challenge.

We have a few strategies. First we will go about six hours on the first leg, not the whole 11 to 12 hours.

Secondly, we are planning to leave on the first and second leg at about 2:30 PM. Emily Grace's regular nap time is about 2:00 PM so we are hoping to get two or three hours of sleep time in the beginning; but as always with toddlers you just never know.

Thirdly, my genius wife read about a ridding plan that we both really like. Each girl begins with a ticket (sticky note) for each projected hour of travel stuck their window. Every hour or so mom will say, "OK, pull ticket number two (or whatever)." The girls then turn in the ticket for a prize.

Above are some of the prizes. Don't get excited, most of it came from the dollar store, but we hope it will keep them at least a little occupied.

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