5th Annual Disney Trip

Our house and our lives are in chaos. I'm sure most of you know, but we are completely redoing our kitchen. And when I say completely, I mean the only thing left when we demolished it was half of the tile floor. Because of that and because of our travels, I have been a bad daughter, a bad sister, a bad friend and a BAD blogger. Now that I'm feeling a little more organized, I can update the blog a bit...

We recently returned from our annual Disney trip. I was shocked when I counted and realized we have gone five years in a row! Our first trip was when I was 35 weeks pregnant with Austin. It is a lot of work to take the kids, but each year, Jared and I leave knowing everything and every penny spent was totally worth it. Even now, five years later, I can remember the first time we took Aidan. He can't remember anything about that particular trip, but I remember so clearly the look on his face when he "met" Buzz Lightyear for the first time and when he high-fived Woody and when he saw his first Disney fireworks display. I am a corny Disney lover, and I hope we're able to keep the tradition going. I know it might not be possible to go every year once we move again, but that just may add to the magic. :-)

Highlights from this year's trip:

• For the first time, we all stayed in the same hotel room. In previous years, we've done two rooms that connect or we've stayed in a suite. This year, we stayed at Shades of Green, and their family suites were beyond our kitchen-remodel adjusted budget. The kids did awesome staying in the same room, but Jared and I had to adjust to "lights out" when the kids went to bed.
• Austin was big enough to ride some of the roller coasters this year. With him being so shy, I was worried, but he did GREAT! Of the roller coasters at Magic Kingdom, he got to ride Splash Mountain and Thunder Mountain. I was shocked at how well he did, and he rode both of them multiple times. The only ride at MK he wasn't big enough for was Space Mountain.
• Aidan was tall enough to ride everything, so he got to ride Space Mountain for the first time this year (three times - one extra time thanks to me leaving my cell phone behind on one of the trips).
• At Hollywood Studios, the boys and I went to watch the Lion King performance. One of the performers chose Aidan and Austin out of the crowd to come up and help out. Austin was too shy to go, but Aidan ran up without a problem. I'm so bummed that I didn't have my camera with me for it!
• Anna, our new favorite (haha), fell asleep and took a full nap in the stroller! We have never had a child do that, so we were beyond thrilled that she cooperated for us. It really helped out on our shorter day at Animal Kingdom.
• Aidan rode the new "Everest" roller coaster at AK. He rode it once with Jared and then once with me, and then he said he was never going to ride it again. I think the part where the coaster went backward really freaked him out. I think it's so sweet that he obliges us by riding with each of us once even though he's scared. That's what he did with Tower of Terror last year, and he stuck to his decision this year and did not ride it again. Once we were back home in MS, he told me he wished he had ridden Tower of Terror this time, so we'll see how he does next year. :-)
• Austin did a great job with meeting all of the characters, but Anna was much more tentative. She was great from afar or if Jared or I held her, but she was not interested in going up close by herself. She would go a little bit and then run away if the characters got too close.
• At Animal Kingdom, Jared took the boys on the "River Rapids" rides. The boys had a blast, and they all escaped relatively dry. Aidan and Austin had so much fun they wanted to ride it again, so I took them the second round. To Jared's delight, I was most certainly not as lucky. I was "that person" that everyone looks at and feels sorry for. I was completely soaked to the point that I could wring the water out of my clothes. The boys thought it was GREAT!