Epcot

Today we decided to visit Epcot.  Race cars are some of Owen's favorite things, so we knew
he was going to love the ride Test Track.  You basically design your own race car, then race
around the track at speeds upwards of 60mph.  Needless to say, he and Ryan both
thought it was pretty cool.

Meanwhile Joe and I went exploring.  We had gotten there right as the gates opened
because we knew how busy Test Track would be, so Joe and I had the park to ourselves.

After Test Track we went on a few other rides, then headed over to a Meet and Greet with
some of the characters.  In case you didn't realize by now, Owen LOVES hugging them all.
As soon as it's his turn he runs right up and gives them the biggest hugs.
It is the greatest feeling to see him so genuinely happy.

 And Joe made huge strides today in his comfort level with the characters.  

Goofy and then Minnie both got big hugs from him today.

 We walked around a little more and went on what turned out to be one of Owen's favorite
rides there, Gran Fiesta Tour.  It is essentially the Mexican version of It's a Small World,
 hosted by the Three Caballeros, one of whom is Donald Duck.  Obviously anything with
Donald is sure to be a favorite of Owen's.  Then we made our way over to Disney Springs
for a very special lunch date we had planned with my Aunt and her husband Hector.

My aunt moved to Florida a few years ago and I haven't had a chance to see her since.
Between being pregnant, having babies, and then small kids it simply never worked out for
us to take a trip there.  So I was really excited to not only be able to see her, but introduce
her to Owen and Joe, and in turn meet her husband Hector.

While in a perfect world my kids would have been on their best behavior and given the best
first impression, that was not the case during this lunch.  We had to wake the kids up this
morning so Owen was absolutely exhausted by the time we got there.  He cried through
roughly half of the entire lunch.  As frustrated as I was, I couldn't help but feel bad for him.

We took them right home after lunch for naps and ended up having to wake them in order to
make it to dinner on time.  Dinner followed the same path lunch had taken.  Owen was
overtired and nothing could make him happy.  It made me realize that we need to slow
ourselves down a little and just relax.  At Disney it is so easy to get caught up in squeezing
in as much as possible, but when things stop being magical it's time to step back and
reevaluate priorities.  My goal for tomorrow is to slow things down a bit.

Looking back at the picture we took this morning upon entering Epcot, 
this sheds so much light on how the kids were feeling.

Tomorrow will be a better day. 

Magic Kingdom - Day 1

Our first full day in Florida we went to Magic Kingdom.  

(outfit credit to my doctor - I had my 20 week appt the day before we left and she tried to
convince me to cancel our trip because of the Zika Virus scare.  She agreed to let me go but
insisted I wear pants, long sleeves, shoes and cover myself in bug spray.  Thus the lovely
outfit I had to change at the last minute and the wonderful Off fan attached at my hip.
Thanks for making me look like a complete nerd, Doc!)

Anyway back to the magic...The Magic Kingdom has the most for the kids to do, plus it's
always been my favorite park.  What's funny is it always seemed huge and overwhelming to
me.  This time, being the one in charge of the map and having to find our way around, it
became a lot more clear.  It no longer seemed as big and crazy.  I feel like I became very
familiar with how to get us where we needed to go.

The morning started out pretty rainy.  Not ideal, but awesome because we were able to get
on lots of rides since there weren't as many people.  The boys started out the day racing
around the Tomorrowland Speedway while I raced around trying to find a good place to get
pictures of them.  I remember a picture from when I was little of my mom and I on this ride,
laughing our heads off (most likely because I kept driving us into the center rail).
I wanted the boys to be able to look back on similar memories.

Then we moved on to The Little Mermaid and Buzz Lightyear.

  

Joe loved having control of the rides.  I was the lucky one that got to ride with him on Buzz
Lightyear and Dumbo.  Both have joysticks that control how your cart moves.  In Buzz
Lightyear it spins the cart around so you can shoot different targets.  Joe could have cared
less about the targets.  Instead he preferred to continually spin our cart around, most of the
time away from the targets.  I think Ryan bribed him to do that so my score would be lower.  

 Then on Dumbo the joystick raises and lowers your elephant.  Owen and Ryan were flying
high.  Meanwhile Joe made our Dumbo nose dive to the ground.  For a minute I thought we
crashed so hard we were stuck down there but eventually we made our way back up.

And what better place to seek shelter from the rain than a spin on It's a Small World.

When the rain cleared a little Ryan took Owen to try out his first roller coasters, Barnstormer
and the Seven Dwarves Mine Train.  He was very brave and did great, but with him being so
little he got tossed around a little bit on the Mine Train.  He told me he "bonked heads"
which I'm guessing means he hit his head when they went around one of the sharper turns.

 While the boys enjoyed their thrill rides, Joe and I relaxed.  He ended up catching a bug the

day we left for Florida and spent most of the vacation coughing and with a fever.  Pair that

with all of the excitement from the parks and it is safe to say he was pretty exhausted.  Not

even a marching band walking by could wake this little guy.

When Owen and Ryan were done, we grabbed some lunch then went back to the hotel to

let the boys nap (Ok, I might have taken advantage of that napping time too).  I wasn't sure

if they would even be able to fall asleep, but they had no problem at all.  They both slept

over 2.5 hours and we actually had to wake them to make it to dinner at Epcot on time.

They both look pretty happy to be awake, don't they? ;)

 

Tonight's dinner was another character dinner, but Joe was a little more relaxed for this

one.  He didn't run up and hug the characters like Owen did, but he also wasn't terrified of

them anymore which was a nice improvement.

 

He wasn't so calm during our interaction with Baymax on the walk out of the park however.

 Ryan and I showed him there was nothing to be afraid of,

and that seemed to ease his fears.

We had such a great day!  It was so much fun being back at the Magic Kingdom after so

many years.  I remember so much of it, yet there is lots of new stuff to look at as well.  Plus,

it is completely different being there as a parent and watching your kids experience it.  Joe

might not enjoy the characters quite yet, but Owen absolutely LOVES it!!  And they both are

having a blast on all of the rides.  I can hardly wait for the fun that tomorrow will bring. 

Hollywood Studios

Our first stop was Hollywood Studios.  It is currently under construction as they are building new Star Wars and Toy Story lands, so it was the perfect park to spend a half day at.

 There was still more than enough for us to do.  It was Owen's lucky day because as soon as we walked up the main path, there was Donald signing autographs.  Donald is Owen's absolute favorite!  It was so cute!  He and Joe patiently waited for their turn.  Then when the time came, Owen cautiously took a few steps towards Donald then proceeded to full out sprint towards him and went in for a big bear hug.

 Joe was a little more reserved, but still managed to give Donald a high five.

We couldn't have asked for a more perfect way to start our vacation.  After that we went to a Disney Junior Live on Stage show.  Both boys loved it and sat completely engrossed in the show for the full half hour as puppets from Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Sofia the First, Doc McStuffins, and Jake and the Neverland Pirates entertained us.

   Then we got to meet all the characters.  We bought the boys autograph books so they could get signatures to look back at everyone they met on our trip.

 Next we headed over to the Toy Story ride, one of Ryan's favorites.

 But the highlight of the day for Ryan was definitely taking a picture with the Storm Trooper.  If money and location were no object, that would be Ryan's job of choice.

They were hilarious, and to be honest I can actually picture him doing a great job at it.

 We spent some time in the Honey I Shrunk the Kids Playground,

 then headed to Hollywood & Vine for our first big character meal.

Owen loved having all of the characters visit our table

 and even got a special kiss from Daisy.

Joe, on the other hand, wasn't quite sure what to think of the characters coming up to him and would have preferred to eat his dinner in peace.

With an early start to the day and no break for naps, the boys were exhausted by the end of the day, but we had so much fun.  What a great start to our vacation!