The Trip Home

EARLY in the morning at the airport. One last pose with Mickey. Kate, Bryn and I traveled together and then everyone else flew on a different flight. They left earlier than us girls so we were all at the airport very early.
We had some extra time to kill at the airport so we had breakfast at McDonald's. Bryn got to try the hashbrowns...loved them! Of course, Deb had to take a picture to document this first...I didn't really want to admit that she has already had McDonald's.

Kate, killin' time with some classic cartoons at the airport. She was laughing out loud at The Pink Panther with a little boy sitting next to her.

Bryn is wondering if we are ever going to get home. She screamed for 45 minutes straight on the flight to Chicago. Poor guy next to me got an ear full. Then as soon as we landed she was happy as a clam.

She was really happy during our final landing. It helped that there were extra seats so she had her own space, but I think she could sense that we were HOME AT LAST! Can't wait to do it again, though:)

Disney: The Finale!

Again, my blogging abilities are lacking because I absolutely cannot get these pictures in the right order. Sorry! Our last day at Disney started at the Animal Kingdom and ended at Epcot for some final fireworks. This is Bryn at the end of the night...BEST baby ever!!! Kate in front of Test Track. Our final ride of the vacation.

Because not everyone could go on Test Track at the same time, Kate spent some time running through a fountain near by while we waited for our turn.

We had a great lunch at the Rainforest Cafe before we left Animal Kingdom.

This is a family shot inside of the Rainforest Cafe...in front of a giant fish tank.

Kate braved "Everest"!!! The mountain you see behind her is the ride. She almost didn't make it. There were some tears, but after some deliberation she went for it and loved it! She did it "for her mom."

Here we are on the way in to Everest...before the tears started.

The four of us in front of the "tree of life". I swear Bryn was with us, but always in her stroller and never in the pictures:)

You might notice that we look soaked here. This is the "after" picture after we were on Kali River Rapids, aka The "totally soaked" ride according to Jack.

So Jack finally got in to the picutre taking business on the final day. Here he is posing for a picture by one of the animals carved in to the tree of life.

The kiddos on our way to Dinoland in Animal Kingdom.Bryn, patiently waiting while some of us were on rides. Having a snack, of course!

Kate and I on Triceratop Spin.

Auntie Kristin with Jack and Taryn on Triceratop Spin.

A "before" picture on the "totally soaked" ride.

Another before picture...you saw the "after" picture above.

Kate, Mike and Jack stopped for a little drummin'. I have a picture of Mike at this exact spot when we went in 2001. He looks exactly the same...minus the children.

First thing that morning we went on a Safari and saw tons of cool animals. Here is Jack posing with a great smile in between animal sightings...hippos, elephants, rhinos, giraffes, you name it, we saw it!

Waiting in line for the Safari.

Here we are at the start of the day. It was a little bright that morning...but we weren't complaining!

Disney Day Three...A Day of Rest!!!

A day of relaxation. We did nothing but swim and play. Everyone slept in and then we headed to the pool. Tatelyn and Kate posing. We played a little Marco Polo, dove for some princesses and relaxed in the hot tub. Bryn got in for a short swim, but she was more interested in drinking the water, so that didn't last long. Crazy swimmers!

Jack, Kate and I pretty much closed the place down. We swam until the sun started to set. We finally had to give in to go get some dinner and some rest before our final day of fun. Here are the two fish after we got out for the final time.

The bathroom off of one of the bedrooms had a huge jacuzzi tub so after swimming all day they went for another swim, with suds this time.

Along our entire journey, Kate kept a journal of all of our adventures. Even when we returned at 11:00 at night she took some time to write everything down before she snuggled in to bed. Here she is hard at work!

The End of Day Two...

Bryn didn't do a lot of riding while we were there (besides the stroller) but she did do Cinderella's Carousel, Finding Nemo and Buzz Light Year. She was going to do Pirates of the Caribbean, but she chose to nap during that ride instead. Here we are on the Carousel. You may not know this, but it is not easy climbing on one of the horses in a skirt with a baby in your arms! I'm lucky we lived to tell about it!

Kate enjoyed the carousel, as well.

This is the gang having a quick bite to eat before we got up and started running again!

This one is way out of order, but it is the kids watching the sting rays and sharks while we were waiting to get in to "Turtle Talk, With Crush." They were fascinating to watch.

This is what happens when a 4 year old has been on his feet for 14 hours. Couldn't even make it out of the park. Where is Bryn, you say, if Jack is in the stroller? Bryn is in my arms, flirting with any stranger that will pay attention to her. This might be the night she held the French Man's hand all the way home, while he spoke french to her...bonjour, bonjour, bonjour...and she just smiled! It was an exhausting day, but SO fun. The kids (and adults) had a blast. We also hit Splash Mountain a couple more times before the fireworks this night because there was no line. No rest for us! Hence...the sleeping four year old.

Disney Day Two Cont...

These pictures are a little out of order, but this is Bryn falling asleep in the MIDDLE of the LOUDEST parade ever. I was dancing with her, and it put her right to sleep. Have I mentioned that she was the best Disney baby ever?!?! Here are the "kids" enjoying the music and showing off their moves.

We caught Daisy Duck to get some autographs.

And Stitch, too...Bryn was not so sure about this one!

We went to Nemo before we left Epcot and talked with Crush, the turtle from Finding Nemo. He picked Jack out of the audience to "chat" with. Jack introduced the audience to Mike, where Crush's response was: "Dude, Mike on the mic!" It was hilarious! Here are the girls outside of the Finding Nemo area.

Disney Day Two (Epcot and Magic Kingdom)

Here I go again (Ann)...trying to update the blog on my own. Day two of Disney was just as busy as the first. We started at the Princess Breakfast in Epcot then headed to Magic Kingdom for the rest of the day. This first picture is actually from day 1. It's all of the big kids and their cool tattoos they picked out at Hollywood Studios. Thanks Grandma!!!

This is what you get when you ask the kids to SCREAM!!! They follow directions! This is at one of the parades we caught while we were there.

Here is a family photo minus one in front of the tower of terror. Jack and Kate rode twice:)

Here is half of the gang waiting for the Princess Breakfast to begin. They are in front of the lake at Epcot.Here is Bryn in her Mickey high chair at the breakfast. She wasn't so sure of the princesses, but she sure loved the food!

Cinderella and the boys!The big kids with snow white.The whole gang with Cinderella.

Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween 2010. This year brought some pretty nice weather compared to years past, so we didn't have to bundle the kids too tightly. Kate is a fairy, Jack is a pirate and Bryn is a clown. Just returning with all the treasures. The kids had fun going out with the neighbor kids. Mom and the little clown.

This may be our only child that actually smiled bigger when we put on her first Halloween costume. Thanks to Super Deb for another great costume.

I love this picture. They are so smiley. You can't help but think they are a good looking bunch.

Looking forward to Thanksgiving.