Word Web Vocabulary

Hey guys! So I just got back from Disney this week. We had a blast. We spent 5 total days at Disney World. And I thought I'd givea few tips for parents about to embark on the whole Disney Experience with multiple kids. It can be a bit of a challenge if you have some kids that can and want to go on certain rides (and so do you) and one that can not go on a lot of them, so you...(and the other older kids) have to work with it.

First off, there is SO much to do at Disney World. I have been there several times. So I know the place pretty well. I know what to expect. I've been there as a single person, as a married person....

 I've been there once with a baby....once with a 2 and 4 year old....and this time we had a 4, 7 and 9 year old... Or the better way to say this is a 37 inch, a 45 inch and a 54 inch child. Obviously this is what matters when going on rides. And the personality and daredevil level of your kids (and you allowing your kids) to go on the big thrill rides.

 The great thing about Disney is that the vast majority of their attractions are "visual" rides, meaning any size person can go on them,because the excitement of the ride is in what you see. As opposed to the motion of the ride...So if you have a little one like we did (under 40 inches) there is still plenty to do for your family.

And I think there was only ONE ride that Jada could not go on, and that was the Aerosmith Rockin Rollercoaster. I think you had to be 48 inches for that one....but other than that, every other ride that we went on, she was able to go on. In that case, (or in the situation that you /and your older kids want to go on a ride that a smaller kid can not) a good idea to do is go get a fast past right away for that ride, that way you don't have to wait in a long line while that ONE kid waits around with you in a long line and they aren't even able to go on. Get a fast pass EVEN for the kid that is not able to go on.

Each Disney ticket you hold will allow you to get one fast past per ticket at a time. Once you use that fast past you can go get another fast past at another ride. It's free. It saves alot of time waiting for the "longer line" rides and in the meantime go hit up some of the rides with the shorter lines.... and if you get a fast past for the extra kid who can't even go on the ride, then the older kid will be double happy, because they can go ononce with mom, make the switch and go on again with dad.
If that makes any sense...

The unfortunate thing for us is that my son, Wesley had studied up on every single ride at Disney World. So he already had set in his mind what he wanted to do and he would not let up until he got his way. Which obviously meant all the faster thrill rides. So every time we went on a family ride, he would moan and complain...and then every time we waited in line for a thrill ride, he would try to back out because he got scared. After waiting in lines and using our fast pass opportunities on certain rides, that did not make me happy. He ended up only officially backing out of one ride. And that was the best ride on the planet: The Hollywood Tower Of Terror. Jada is smaller and younger...and she loved it. She went on that one twice... (thanks to our extra fast past we picked up for Leila)...Wesleys fast past just went to waste as he waited on the other side of the line until Jada & I got off... But the rest of the rides both our older kids LOVED, even if they were a little nervous at first, they got off laughing...

We didn't do any of the water parks because it was a lot of extra money to get a hopper and pay for water parks...plus it was actually a little chilly in the mornings and evenings for us so it worked out good. The days were in the 70's & 80's so it wasn't too hot! Yay. Jeff gets super grumpy when its too hot.

Day one we did Magic Kingdom. Day two was Epcot because it was supposed to rain and we knew there was alot to do indoors. Day three was Animal Kingdom. Day four was Hollywood Studios. Day five we went back to Magic Kingdom and spent the entire day there doing rides we missed the first day. It was absolutely magical... Haha. It really was. Magic Kingdom is probably the best and definitely has the most to do for a family.

My top 5 thrill rides (not for the littles under 40 inches) I say YOU MUST ride are:

1) Hollywood Tower of Terror-Hollywood Studios (Twilight zone Elevator drop-Jada was cracking up so hard!!)

2) Aerosmiths Rockin Roller Coaster-Hollywood Studios (coaster)

3) Soarin-Epcot Center (simulated flying over the earth) AMAZING!

4) Dinosaur-Animal Kingdom (fast pace ride while you are stuck with Dinosaurs coming after you)

4) Expedition Everest -Animal Kingdom (coaster with a Yeti chasing you)

All these tend to have LONG wait times, so these are the rides that you'd want to get fast passes for.

My top 5 family rides I say YOU MUST RIDE  with the littles are:

1) Pirates of the Carribean -Magic Kingdom (just because Pirates  **and johnny depp** are so cool)

2) Kilimanjaro Safaro -Animal Kingdom (an actual safari ride through the the territories of  live safari animals)

3) Toy Story-Hollywood Studios (its like you are in an arcade game! so so much fun)

4) The Little Mermaid-Magic Kingdom ( a slow paced musical  journey through the movie. So cute)

5) Peter Pan-Magic Kingdom (Flying through and above the sets of Peter Pan scenes)

All these tend to have REALLY long lines too, so fast passes might be good. However if you have to choose between fast passes

for the thrill rides and fast passes for the family rides (because really you are only able to get maybe 4-5 per day), I'd get them for the thrill rides. Only because, you can wait in a family ride line all together and all go on together....but if you make a little kid wait in a line with you for a thrill ride they can't go on, they probably won't be happy)

 My top 5 extras I say  you should do with kids:

1) A Bugs Life 4d show-Animal Kingdom (hilarious)

2) The Little Mermaid Stage Show -Hollywood Studios (magical)

3) Monsters Inc Comedy Show-Magic Kingdom (characters interact with audience)

4) Dance Party with Disney Characters in Tomorrowland -Magic Kingdom (kids have so much fun and are in awe, as they dance with random Disney characters to pop and club songs-haha)

5) Talking Turtle-Epcot Center (Crush from Nemo interacts with the kids and audience-super funny)

And of course standing in line to meet characters and watching various parades are fun too and great photo ops.

We also played a couple games that the kids have to go to the different lands and find clues and beat villians. 

Wesley LOVED that!!

So that's about all I got for you. Hope that helped a little if you are planning on making a Disney trip with kids soon! You're gonna have a blast!!

Oh one more thing. about the price of food and meals. You can plan on probably at least $35-$40 per meal. For us it was a family of five. The girl shared a kids meal. Wesley and I shared an adult meal. Jeff had his own. That was $40 right there. There is pretty much NO WAY to go out to your car and eat so don't even think about it. The parks are pretty far from the parking lot. And you have to take trams and monorails to get in. It would take too long anyways. It's not like Six Flags.Plus, think of any extras...ice cream, cotton candy, drinks, etc... You're at Disney World. So it's pretty hard to deny your kids all the fun extras! We probably spent about $75 a day on food. Then at our dinner late night outside of the park.

You know how it is. You take 500 photos and out of those, you try to find ten that you want to show off. But I can't manage to squeeze it down to only ten. So I chose seventeen. For now. Vacation is far from done, but I'd thought I'd stop in with a photo update at the very least. We've been having lots of fun all week. There has been more complaining from the kids than I would have liked considering the amount of money we dropped on this trip. (Having three kids pays off during tax return season... it does anyways, but you know what I mean....
cha-ching).
Anyways, it's been so much fun taking the big kids on the big rides. I have felt bad for little Leila getting left out of so much, but making sure we cater to her a lot as well (these are the moments in which complaining from the other kids kicks in). Anyways, more updates later. I'm off to rub Wesley's legs. This isn't due to lots of walking. He just makes me do this every night whether he spends four days walking Disney or sits at the computer all night long.  Ahhhhh, the life of a mom.

P.S. I'm not completely up to date on whats going on, but from what I see, GFC/Google Reader will actually be obsolete in July.  Like for real this time??? Maybe?  If so, and if you are a reader of From Awkward To Art that uses GFC, stop by my BLOGLOVIN and follow me that way instead.  I mean, unless you already follow me on twitter or facebook. If you like reading my blog, just follow along, someway, somehow. I'm not picky!! Love you all!

You know that girl who split her pants? At Disney World? This week?

Sure you do...

And this is not a metaphor for something deeper.

Nor is it a tiny split. This is the real deal, people.

What the heck? Right? They were like the baggiest pair of shorts I've worn in years.

I'm in Florida today. At Disney World. 

Monday, I'm sitting down on a curb, while holding my sleeping daughter and I felt it happen.

Granted the angle at which the lower half of my body made its way down probably wasn't

my cutest move ever. But there was no need for complete humiliation. No, not like this.

Nevertheless, it happened. To me. I'm pretty sure it was Gods way of telling me to start my 

50 Shades of Stupid series again.

 Luckily it was beautiful out and I was able to use my sweatshirt to 

tie around my waist and cover it up. And luckily it happened right before we left the park.

Meh whatevs. I got myself a new skirt out of it.

And now we can call Monday... a success.

Right now, I am sitting in a hotel in Oklahoma. With my mom and dad. After 13 hours, I'm exhausted.
 

I realize as of the last month I haven't been the best bloggy friend you could ever have. As most of

you know, I spent all of February working hard raising money for the Mocha Club, helping
Women At Risk who are stuck in the sex trade industry due to fear, poverty and lack of opportunity.

My goal was $800 which would help completely rehabilitate TWO women. Well, we have far exceeded that goal and were able to help THREE women because we reached $1248.
 

The experience had me in tears at several points, not because I was discouraged, but because I was 

encouraged by the people who stepped up to plate and whose heart connected with mine in this effort.

I will say this. 95% of the people who stepped up were not family members or close friends, which

surprised me in a way, yet moved me also that I didn't have to rely on them. I was able to do this with

the help of people I have only met once or twice, a few church friends, people that I only know through blogging, people I haven't seen in 20 years and a few complete strangers walking up to me or emailing me after hearing about what I was doing and donating money. I know now that it was people whose heart connected with this specific cause. And that's ok. Every person is different. With different passions. 

This was mine. And it reached some of you and I want to thank you.

Needless to say, I have not been on my best blog behavior. Because my focus has been elsewhere 

all month. But that's ok, right? Sometimes we have things we have to do. I've tried to keep up,

but it's nearly impossible sometimes. I hate to say it, but my bad blogger rep is going to have to 

continue for another month. Like I said, I am on the road right now and the day after I get back from 

Oklahoma, I will be leaving again for awhile.

I was originally going to disclose all the deets of my busy month, but I decided against it for now.
Anyways, we have a few other plans up our sleeve this month which I am pretty stoked about!

It's just crazy busy.

There is just so much other stuff going on right now. If you are the praying kind, please keep

 my family in your prayers. I really appreciate it. Love you all...

P.S. I am guest posting today over at bouffe e bambini on MY MESSY LIFE while Hanna
takes a bit of a baby break! Congrats to her and her new little Tosh!
I'd love if you stopped by there!

Dear The Cranberries. I seriously want to cry.  I am completely starstruck when I see you in concert. Your music brings back so many memories. Memories from my teen years.  Happy Memories. It was a simpler time.