We just got back from Disney!! My MIL and FIL took our family plus Eric's brother's family to DisneyWorld this past week. I gotta be honest, I was nervous about taking a good, but regimented, 9 month old on this type of vacation. By the middle of the week, I was able to relax a little. Vivian was really, really good and the kids had a BLAST!!!! How could you not? I'm hoping to get more photos from everyone else's cameras and post them. Until then, I will start with the unfortunate, but non-deterring hiccups....every vacation has them, am I right??

1. Some mild GI issues for a couple of people in our party.

2. Jay collided with the hotel....yes, I mean the building. He spent the rest of the week with a scrape over his eye as the swelling went down and the bruising colored his face yellow.

3. Even though I told the boys twice to pack trunks, they both forgot them. I distinctly remember it, because I also said I wasn't sure they could use them, but bring them anyway. (It was in the 20's when we got to Orlando!)

4. Jay made friends with the ice bucket on night 4. He only blew chunks the one time, but felt pretty crummy for the next 12 or so hours. We thought the fact that he rode the Mt. Everest ride 6 times in a row had something to do with it, but turns out it was a bug-maybe even the one that caused issue earlier in the week.

5. NOT to be outdone by Jay, Vivian had her own explosion, only out the other end. My MIL and I basically bathed her with baby wipes in a restaurant bathroom. Let's just say my first order of business on arriving home was to soak certain clothes.......







We had dinner one night at a restaurant in a ginormous log resort. I thought our waitress was from the Ed Debevic's school of waitressing. Turns out, I think she was just that way- a refreshing smartass. Loved her. At one point, Ally asked for some ketchup. We hear her turn around and yell, "ANYONE GOT SOME KETCHUP?!" About 5 people from a table nearby come bearing 5 bottles of ketchup. It was hysterical. Then, when the next person wanted ketchup, we got to return the favor. The kids got a kick out of that.

As you can see in the photo, Al was upset. Dad and Jay were in the car next to us, and Dad told Ally we sucked cuz they got in front of us. The combination of sleep deprivation and a sugar crash had something to do with the mood she was in for the next 25 minutes.

Jay loves anything military and was excited to visit Germany at Epcot. We had fun in Japan, Norway and only after we left Mexico did we notice that Jay was missing. I run back through South America and Europe and find Jay standing in the middle of the walkway right outside a Norwegian huset. His eyes were red and he looked like a lost puppy....as opposed to a lost child??? Anyway, we were reunited and grateful. It was difficult to keep tabs on 6 kids ages 3 to 11. We thought we did okay only losing one in 7 days.

The gift shop outside the "Pirates of the Caribbean" ride proved nearly fatal for Eric as Vivian branded a deadly plastic knife. Although I enjoyed looking at 10 versions of Johnny Depp, Viv was less than impressed. She seemed to really like looking around, but was mostly "wowed" by the characters Donald Duck and Pluto.

I'm not even sure what building this is behind me, but the fact that it was sunny and I didn't have a hat, gloves and down vest on was worth a picture. Yes, we were disappointed in the weather. We were hoping for mid to upper 60's, secretly pining for low 70's. We got....brrrrr. It was in the 30's until Monday, then slowly warmed up to the low 70's by the time we left. ARGH! Oh well, it was still loads of fun.

Ally got an autograph book and hit up at least 15 characters. I'm hoping to get the photos from my SIL and MIL of Ally dancing with the "High School Musical 3" group. They performed several songs from the movie in the middle of the park. As we sat and watched, one of the performers came and grabbed Al to go out and dance with her. I know her adorable face probably lured the performer in, but what put her over the edge was the HSM coat Al wore almost every day we were there. I had 2 people ask me where I got it. They were disappointed to hear, "Target in Columbus, Ohio".

Look closely at this picture..........do you see it? Jay was really mad at Al. That wasn't a silly stick-your-tongue-out-face. That was a I-wish-I-could-really-shoot-daggers-out-of-my-eyes-face. The kids got along ok for the most part, but at this particular moment, there was definitely tension (times 10).

I feel like we have experienced a rite of passage going to Disney. The kids were at perfect ages. They were tall enough to ride any ride they wanted and will, hopefully, remember it. We decided we would go again when Vivian is old enough to experience it, too. It's definitely true that Disney is for people of any age. My favorite ride? The Rockin Rollercoaster, followed by the Tower of Terror :)

Watch for more pictures....there has to be hundreds of them between the three families and all the cameras.

*No, I will not post hundreds of Disney pictures, but there are more out there that will be fun to see. The best part? You are not sitting in my living room, watching slides of our vacation. You can choose to look away at any point. You also don't have to pretend to be enjoying the display. It's a win-win.