First Day of School

Nothing like jumping into a school routine right after a busy vacation! As it is every year, though, our kids were thrilled to meet a new school year, new teachers, and new friends. The three youngest were also all at new schools.

Will is our fifth-grader.  The tree is too tall now to be in the photo, but when Will began preschool, I was able to be close enough to get both the little tree and the little Will in the picture.

Jon is in third-grade this year. We struggled a bunch this summer trying to decide what was best for the triplets. In the end, we asked what they wanted to do. Jon wanted to take the test to see if he could skip second grade and go to Innovation. He passed it with flying colors and he is thrilled to be a third-grader.

I got  to have a first day at school, too. I will be doing long-term substitute teaching for third- and fourth-grade science while that teacher is out on maternity leave. The neat part is that Jon is one of my third-graders.

When we were deciding about what grades the younger kids should be in, Ben and Maddie decided that they wanted "to be plain old second-graders so it isn't so hard." (Their words). They are in second grade at the local elementary school. Today, Allen took them to school and I took the other two boys with me.

Since I was busy getting set up for school, I completely forgot to take pictures of Jon and Will with their teachers. I am thankful Allen thought to get photos of Ben and Maddie. Ben has Mrs. Craft, and Maddie has Mrs. Wilson.

Early Morning Adventures - Day 5

After a really busy, but really fun, four days at the parks, I was ready to be home. We ate breakfast at the lodge, then loaded up and headed for the airport. Our kiddos began the day exhausted. The plane ride was pretty uneventful, and the drive from Austin to Waco was really, REALLY quiet.

Early Morning Adventures - Day 4

Early Morning Adventures – Day 4

Lights! Camera! Action! Get ready for an exciting day on the set!

Stroll onto a soundstage designed to recall 1930s - era Hollywood, hop on board for a tour of some the greatest film scenes, and cross over into a world that could only exist in the movies.

One of Thursday’s features includes state-of-the-art technology, including a flight simulator, digital 3D video, and special effects and music. We will be immersed in Star Wars mythology for an intergalactic adventure. During our voyage, we will interact with many of the characters and places of the Star Wars saga.

For the brave, we will have a chance for an interesting tour. Classic stars of the silver screen sought rest and relaxation at a particular hotel during the Golden Age of Hollywood. In 1939, 5 unfortunate hotel patrons were riding in the elevator when a violent storm struck the building… and they were never seen again. Whatever became of them and wherever they may have gone has remained a mystery to this day. The hotel closed down that night and has remained abandoned ever since. Those who dare will tour the famous Hollywood Tower Hotel.


Thursday, we started the day with an early breakfast at Magic Kingdom with Pooh and friends, then most of us went to Hollywood Studios.

I was feeling pretty sick at breakfast and had to leave the building a few times for fresh air. When I said I wanted to head back to rest in the room after breakfast, Ben asked if he could come, too, because he didn't feel well, either. He watched a Disney movie on TV while I slept. After a couple hours out of the heat, he was up to rejoining the rest of the family so we headed to Hollywood Studios to meet them for lunch.

It was a long, really hot walk to the back of the park and when we got there, I was ready to go back to bed with a headache and tummy ache. So... I don't know much of what the rest of them did when I wasn't there. Jon, Maddie, and Will were anxious for Ben to go with them on the Star Wars ride, and Jon and Will couldn't wait to take Ben on the Tower of Terror.

While I was there, the kids rode the Star Wars ride several times. Maddie was getting pretty worn out and Mom's back was hurting, so they both wanted to head to the room with me when I went. We left the guys to ride a few more rides and start shopping for souvenirs.

Mom slept, I did laundry and packed, and Maddie wrote in her journal and read on the balcony. When the boys returned with light sabers, Maddie was ready to go shopping. Allen took her and Jon to Epcot where she had seen a Chinese umbrella she was wanting. While they were there, Allen found a beer stein, and they looked for a satchel for Jon. Mom, Dad, Will, Ben, and I headed to the resort restaurant for dinner. While Allen was still out with the younger two, the storms began. Though it rained every day, that was the first we saw of it because it always happened while we were eating our sit-down lunches.

We didn't end up with many pictures today since I often wasn't with the group to snap photos, but, at the end of the day, we all felt much better.

Early Morning Adventures - Day 3

Early Morning Adventures – Day 3

How would you like to pose for pictures with a detailed, 13-foot tall, 40-foot long Tyrannosaurus Rex? Dating back 67 million years to the Late Cretaceous Period, Dino-Sue is the length of a 4-story building—and a fascinating sight to behold! The original Sue the dinosaur was discovered in South Dakota in 1990. The 67 million-year-old Tyrannosaurus Rex skeleton is one of the most famous fossil finds of the 20th century.

We will have a chance to discover over 200 animals and birds, including zebras, giraffes, gazelles, kudu and flamingos, and learn more about African animals and ecosystems. It will be almost like an African safari!

We will experience the art of African cooking with Indian flavors, as exotic animals roam before us.

Today, we were at Animal Kingdom most of the day. Parts of it were blocked off for construction, so I felt like we kept getting lost. We began at the safari which had a pretty long wait even first thing in the morning. Today just started feeling too hot. Though yesterday was hot, too, today seemed worse. After a forty minute wait, we were glad to sit down for a long ride through the zoo.

Animal Kingdom has an Explorer scout program based on the character in Up. Ben, Maddie, and Jon tried getting some of the badges (stickers) by learning about different things: specific animal groups, geography, animal habitats, and more. On our way through the maze of construction detours, we found Pocahontas.

We enjoyed lunch at Sanaa which is at our resort and enjoyed the African-inspired cuisine. After a restful detour to our room and exploring the grounds of our hotel, we went back out for more fun. As we expected, Ben really liked the dinosaur models and ride.

One of the highlights for the boys was riding the big roller coaster with the Yeti and Mt. Everest theme. They LOVED it and I think they ended up on it three or more times. Maddie and Gramma sat out for all those rides, but the boys could not get enough.

We ended our time at Animal Kingdom on a really wet ride -- twice! After we got soaked, we thought we should stop for a picture.

While we attempted to dry off, we aimed for Magic Kingdom for the night parade and fireworks.