The Rest of Toll Family Vacation to Florida

Samantha: 73 Months, Week 1
Aedan: 37 Months, Week 4

After a fun first couple of days of vacation at the Kennedy Space Center and then a full day at the Magic Kingdom, we were ready for a more relaxed day and decided to sleep in some before heading to the beach. We found a beach that had free, public access and was just south of Cocoa Beach. It was about an hour and fifteen minute drive to get there, but the kids did really well in the car. We arrived at the beach around 11:00 and then worked on getting everyone dressed in their bathing suits and lathered up with sunscreen.

It was fun being back at the ocean again, since our vacation last year mostly revolved around going to the beach and playing in the ocean. The girls were excited to jump in the waves, of course, whereas Aedan got right to digging in the sand, filling up his bucket with wet sand and dumping it out, over and over again.

After awhile of playing in the water, Samantha stopped to build some sand castles and decorate them with shells as well. It was a hot, sunny day in Florida, and we were there in the hottest part of the day, so we knew we wouldn't be there for too long that afternoon, but the kids were having a blast, and it was fun having a more relaxing day at the beach.

Ben got his camera out for awhile so he could take some pictures, which I appreciated because I often am the one who thinks of taking pictures first. He captured these fun moments where Alaina is burying Aunt Jeni with sand, and Aedan and I are are digging in the wet sand together.

I went into the waves some as well, but I didn't feel as comfortable going too deep where the waves would hit up high on my stomach. I didn't want one to accidentally hit my pregnant belly too hard. However, Samantha and Alaina loved getting out into the water as deep as they could, jumping each time a wave came up, and not minding much if they fell and got splashed with the water some. Ben and Jeni normally took the girls out in the deep water, but at one point they convinced Ema and Papa to go out with them as far as they were comfortable. They are good sports, and will do anything (within reason) if a grandchild has invited them along.

Aedan and I were in the waves together for awhile, which is something he was not interested in last year when we were at the beach. He preferred to stay digging on the sand and didn't really have much interest in getting in the ocean. This year, however, was a different story. Once he tried the water and felt what it was like to have the waves jump up and splash him, he just couldn't get enough. However, he needed a lot of help in the water so that the waves didn't knock him over or splash him in the face too much. He would jump, but you mostly had to pick him up. Aedan actually really enjoyed trying to kick the waves when you picked him up, but it was tiring me out some picking him up so much, especially since my big tummy was getting in the way, so Ben lovingly took over Aedan duty. Family was extra sensitive with me during this vacation, trying to make sure I wasn't overexerting myself, that I had enough water to drink, and that I wasn't carrying Aedan around too much. I appreciated them looking out for me.

After a full, fun afternoon in the water and in the sun, we stopped at a Dunkin' Donuts for some iced coffee for the adults before driving the hour and a half back to the vacation house. Aedan was super tired and conked out pretty much right away. I love this little guy so much. He plays hard, and he sleeps hard. It doesn't matter if other people are talking or making noise around him when he's tired. I also love it when he props his head up on his arm like this. 

Wednesday was our second day planned for Disney World, and Epcot was on the agenda. We got there in plenty of time, and it was much easier to get into Epcot than the Magic Kingdom. We had our Fast Passes sprinkled throughout the day, with our last one being the new Frozen ride that evening after dinner. Again, I tried to get Aedan to pose for a picture with Samantha in front of the big ball, but he wasn't in the mood to get his picture taken that day.

Since we knew we wouldn't be able to use up our Fast Passes until the end of the day, therefore meaning we couldn't get any new ones, we tried to take advantage of getting to the park early to get on the ride Soarin' that usually has a pretty long wait as the day progresses. I was actually able to ride this one, but Aedan wasn't, so we used the rider swap to let some people stand in line while others waited to go next. Ben, the kids, and I waited down in the air conditioned waiting area, while the rest of the family went in line. We took advantage of the time to get our sunscreen put on and just let the kids talk and dance. It worked out well, and it was nice for me to be able to ride a fun ride with Ben and Samantha. Here are the kids dancing while we waited.

Living with the Land is another ride in the same building, so we decided to ride on that while we were there. It's just a nice, calm boat ride, and Aedan was excited to sit in between Ema and Papa.

Again, I don't remember exactly what order we went on certain rides, but at some point that early afternoon, we had a Fast Pass for Spaceship Earth. Ben rode with Aedan and recorded their video at the end. I rode with Samantha, and  as a part of the interactive game on the screen at the end of the ride, she chose work as what she likes to do and wanted to live in the country. I think she had flashbacks to Space Mountain or something because she got nervous on this ride even though she knew that it was just a slow-moving ride, not a roller coaster. But the parts of the ride in the dark made her feel a little bit nervous. This is one of those rides that is not that exciting, but it's a classic ride, and it's kind of cool thinking that you are riding around on the inside of the big ball.

We went on a Finding Nemo ride and then had a chance to explore the aquarium area where we saw dolphins, lots of different fish, sharks, and scuba divers.

There were several times throughout our trip that I noticed places where there were objects put in the shape of Mickey Mouse ears. I thought it was cute and clever, just a nice little added touch by the people that work at Disney. This picture shows the rocks in the bottom of the aquarium placed in the shape of Mickey Mouse ears.

By the time we got to the aquarium, it was getting close to lunch time, so we moved the kids along a little quicker so that we could get back to the cafeteria area for lunch. Aedan in particular had not been eating very well, so he was often getting hungry sooner than others. He is a boy that does better with many small snacks/meals throughout the day rather than three bigger meals. When he's hungry, he's cranky, and sometimes when we wait too long to eat and he gets tired, it's too hard for him to eat anymore because he's so sleepy. Anyways, even though Aedan was too cranky to join in the picture, Alaina and Samantha were happy to pose inside the shark's mouth.

After a good lunch that gave everyone some much needed energy, we made our way to a building next door to ride the silly Figment ride, mostly to get to the interactive sound, music, and movement exhibit at the end.

After leaving this building, we happened upon an area with fountains where the kids enjoyed splashing and getting wet. It was a hot and sticky day, much worse than our afternoon at the Magic Kingdom. It made me thankful that it rained that first afternoon, even though it meant we got wet, it at least cooled things off for awhile in the heat of the afternoon. On this afternoon at Epcot, as we walked around the lake to the various countries around the world, the heat was almost unbearable at times. There just wasn't enough water for us all to drink, and we tried our best to keep the kids as cool as possible. Aedan was extra sleepy that afternoon and really just needed a nap, so we had him sit in the stroller as we walked around. Ema offered to push Aedan around until he fell asleep and as he napped to help him get through the rest of the day. It didn't take long for Aedan to pass out in the stroller, and I was glad that he let himself sleep, even in the middle of the park in the heat of the afternoon. You can tell in these pictures how sweaty his head was and how red his little cheeks were. Poor guy. (He's also getting much too big for this stroller, but it worked for the purposes we needed for this trip. His feet almost dragged along the ground at times or even rubbed on the wheels if he was sitting in a certain way.)

As we made our way around the world, we looked for different princesses we could meet, coming across Snow White in Germany. She didn't have too long of a line, and we took advantage of this time to get a frozen flavored lemonade drink to cool us all off. Here is Samantha meeting Snow White.

After meeting Snow White, it was time for our Fast Pass to meet some of the classic Disney characters. Aedan slept in the stroller as we crossed back over to the other side of Epcot. In fact, we had to wake him up when it was time to go in to meet the characters. Normally, he is really grumpy when we have to wake him up from a nap, but when we told him we were going to meet Mickey, Minnie, and Goofy, he perked up pretty quickly. Aedan was really excited to meet these characters, and Samantha enjoyed it a lot more than I thought she would. I loved watching the interaction between the characters and the kids, the silly things they did to make their visit personal even though they didn't talk, and the big smiles on the kids' faces. Aedan had no trouble leaving us and going up to give hugs and get his pictures taken with these characters. Here are the pictures of the kids meeting Mickey Mouse, Goofy, and Minnie Mouse.

After visiting these characters, we decided to make a stop at a gift shop to let the kids pick out their souvenir for the trip. Aunt Jeni wanted to get mouse ears for Alaina, and Samantha already has some from our last trip, so we tried to steer her toward picking something else. Both kids were very indecisive in the store, so it took us quite awhile. Aedan went from a Mickey stuffed animal to a car to Bullseye, the horse from Toy Story. Samantha wanted a princess dress, which would be too expensive, and then some frilly princess pajamas, then a princess Barbie, and finally as we walked around the store one more time, we noticed a jewelry section where you could get a necklace with different charms to attach to it. We decided that the necklace would be a much better choice than a Barbie that would rarely get played with. However, Samantha likes to wear jewelry quite a bit, and it's something she could wear any day and keep for a long time. She picked a few different charms like one that had a picture of some princesses, a crown with a jewel, and a Sofia the First charm. She was super excited to get the charms hung on the necklace so she could put it on right away.

The reason I shared so much about their souvenirs is because in this next picture, you can see Aedan's Bullseye toy. Alaina really likes Pluto, so we made sure to stop and meet him on our way to ride the little boat ride in Mexico. However, Aedan decided the best way to greet Pluto would be to throw Bullseye at him. It took us so off guard that he would do that, that it made me laugh out loud. He throws his Happy Bear at people when he wants to show them his toy, but not usually complete strangers. It made me wonder if Pluto ever had a toy thrown at him before, and if he remembered Aedan that evening after his work day was over. Aedan thought Pluto was so silly with his big, floppy ears, and we got some cute pictures of Aedan, Samantha, Bullseye, and Pluto together. :)

At this point we were just trying to find some things to do to fill the time before our next Fast Pass for the Frozen ride, so we decided to ride the Gran Fiesta Tour ride in Mexico before having some Mexican empanadas from a Mexican food stand for dinner. The best thing about Epcot is the good, authentic, ethnic food you can find around the park. We ate well that day.

The other amazing thing that Aedan kept doing that day at the park was using the potty and mostly keeping his diaper dry all day. In fact, as we were sitting down for dinner, he mentioned that he needed to go potty, and he was able to hold it all the way until we found the closest bathroom. I couldn't believe how well he was doing with going potty in the toilets and not in his diaper. It's just like he decided he was ready, and there was no stopping him. He was already at the point where he felt uncomfortable when he needed to go and didn't want to go in his diaper. I was so impressed, and we will always remember that Aedan began to potty train himself on our trip to Disney World.

After dinner it was time to use our last Fast Pass for the Frozen Ever After ride. This ride is brand new to Epcot, and as a result, the line is super long. There's no way we would have gone on it if we didn't have a Fast Pass for it. The kids were all very excited to go on it. We didn't have to wait in the long, regular line, but the Fast Pass line had about a five minute wait. Even though that wasn't long, Aedan just couldn't contain his excitement, expressing himself through his favorite phrase, "It's taking for too long!" He saw the boats we were going to get on and didn't understand why we couldn't just go get on right away. Everyone was giddy with excitement as we boarded. The ride was really well-done with a combination of animatronics and some kind of projection where the faces moved and looked like the characters really do in the movie. The girls (and adults) were singing along during the ride, especially during "Let It Go," doing the hand motions and everything. I love the Toll family. They know how to have a good time and how to make things special for the kids. They don't care what anyone else may think about them at the time. The part of the ride in Elsa's castle was really cool because you enter in going straight, and then when she sings "Let It Go," it's like she's sending you backwards and you leave the room going backwards in the boat. There is also a part with the large snowman, Marshmallow, where he roars at you like he does to Anna and Kristoff in the movie, and then you go down a small drop, which everyone was excited about, especially Aedan, since it was similar to the small drop on the Pirates ride that he liked so much. Anyways, here are some pictures and videos I took while on the ride.

It's funny how going to Disney at different times changes things. For example, now that the Frozen Ever After ride is at Epcot, the meet and greet with Anna and Elsa was moved there, in the same area in Norway. Back three years ago when we came, the line to meet Anna and Elsa was three hours long, but that's not the case anymore. We only had to wait for maybe ten minutes to meet them after riding the Frozen ride. These cast members that played Anna and Elsa did a fabulous job of playing the part, interacting with the kids, and making it a wonderfully personal experience. Here are Samantha and Aedan meeting Anna. (I love how the princesses get right down on Aedan's level to talk with him and make him feel comfortable.)

Elsa was by far the best princess we met. She did an exceptional job engaging Alaina and Samantha, talking all about building a snowman with a carrot nose painted green so that way Sven wouldn't keep trying to eat it. The kids had a very long conversation with Elsa, but never did I feel like she was trying to brush them off or hurry them along.

Here are Samantha and Alaina posing with Elsa...

...and then Samantha had to show Elsa her hat with Elsa on it, and then they had a whole conversation about their clothes and shoes. I think Samantha would have stood there all day and talked to Elsa if we would have let her. (I love how Samantha adopted the princess pose by copying how some of the princesses stand when they get their picture taken.) We have a cute little girl. :)

Going on the Frozen ride and meeting Anna and Elsa was the perfect way to end our day at Epcot. It had been another long, full day, and we had done pretty much everything we wanted to do. As we were leaving, the sky started turning pretty cloudy and grey, and we were all ready to get back to the house, get the kids to bed, and relax and cool off some. It was a fun second day at Disney, and the ball was so pretty all illuminated in different colors as we left that evening. I hoped Aedan would pose for a picture this time, but he didn't want to get out of the stroller. So, instead, I got some more cute pictures of my sweet Samantha.

Thursday was another down day, and I'm glad that we decided to do Disney every other day so that we would have time to relax in between. On Thursday morning we relaxed more around the house before getting ready to go swimming at the clubhouse pool which was larger, had some shallower water, and also seemed a bit warmer than the pool in our back yard. The kids had fun floating around with their floaties, throwing the beach balls back and forth, and Samantha even swam some all by herself since she could touch the bottom. After swimming for close to an hour and a half, we decided to head back to the house for lunch and nap time. We had many late nights and Samantha wasn't getting as much sleep as she needed, so we actually had her nap as well. I think this was the only day that Aedan actually napped in a bed rather than in a car seat, a stroller, or not napping at all. In fact, I'm pretty sure Ben and I napped as well. It was a nice, restful afternoon.

Following nap time, we had more time to go swimming in the pool behind our house. In fact, Ema and Papa offered to go in the pool with the kids even though they aren't the most comfortable in the water. It was fun sitting at the table working on my blog, watching the kids play and swim in the pool. I had to stop every once in awhile to take some cute pictures and videos, but they didn't need me to join in as they were taking care of everything just fine on their own. Samantha was being a little fish and swimming around really well on her own with her goggles. Aedan was making Papa a little nervous in the water, climbing up and down the stairs, in and out of the big pool to the small pool, but they sure did have a fun time splashing each other. It was fun having our own pool right behind our house to enjoy when we wanted.

Friday, June 23 was our last day at Disney with the Toll family. We had plans to go to Hollywood Studios in the morning and then possibly go to Animal Kingdom for awhile in the afternoon, if everyone felt up to it and we felt like we got everything done that we wanted to do at Hollywood Studios. After arriving, Ben, Tim, Ema, and Papa went to ride the Tower of Terror while Jeni, the kids, and I went to see Disney Junior Live on Stage. The kids really liked this show more than I thought they would, even though it was just little puppets that popped up from underneath the stage. There was lots of fun music, interaction with the kids in the crowd by calling out, "Oh Toodles!" and using different tools to call up the different characters from Sofia the First, to Jake and the Neverland Pirates, to Doc McStuffins. The kids were pretty enthralled with the show, sang right along to the theme songs, and enjoyed the bubbles and things that fell from the ceiling. Eventually Ben joined us after their ride was over, and he and I got some cute pictures and videos of the kids during the show. It was a fun way to start our day doing something that everyone really enjoyed.

We tried to get the bigger rides that would have the longer waits out of the way as early as we could so that we could leave the park and even go to Animal Kingdom later in the day. So, after the Disney Junior show, all the adults except for me, since I'm pregnant, went to ride Rock n' Roller Coaster while I took the kids on Toy Story Mania. We had a Fast Pass, so we didn't have to wait in line long. We got our 3D glasses, and we ended up all having to ride in the same car since the girls are only six. It was a bit of a tight squeeze, and I know they would have all preferred to have their own laser to shoot, but we didn't have a choice. Samantha and Alaina shared one laser, and Aedan sat on my lap to control the other laser. Shooting the targets took some coordination though, as you had to point the laser and pull the ball at the end of the string at the same time. I steered for Aedan while he pulled the trigger. I tried to get the girls to take turns steering and pulling the trigger, but it was too hard for them to work together to hit the targets, so we eventually switched to having each of them do both things and then each time the car moved to a new target, they would switch turns. That worked out much better, and the ride was really fun. Everyone, Aedan especially, wanted to go on the ride again right away, but of course no one really wanted to wait in the long line in order to ride it.

The rest of the adults were still over at Rock n' Roller Coaster, and I didn't want to have to walk the kids all the way across the park by myself, so we decided to wait the twenty minutes to meet Buzz and Woody, that way everyone would be able to meet back up with us. They had cute little props to pose with while you waited, and as we waited the kids seemed to be fading some. I told them that we would have a snack break after meeting Buzz and Woody, but Alaina seemed to just keep fading fast. She didn't have much energy, and even though we tried to interact with her, she didn't seem too eager.

Buzz and Woody have been Aedan's favorite characters for some time now, which is why he got them for Christmas presents this past year. He was super excited to meet them, give them hugs and high fives, and get his picture taken. There was no shyness in going up to them. Plus, they even gave the kids stickers! Aedan and Samantha had quite the sticker collection going on their shirts that day at Hollywood Studios.

And here's Alaina meeting Buzz and Woody. We were able to still see them from outside the window on the door. In fact, it was difficult to pull Aedan away from watching Buzz and Woody inside. I was glad we were able to meet them. :)

After taking a break for some snacks and a bathroom stop, we used our Fast Passes for the Journey of the Little Mermaid. We probably didn't really need Fast Passes for this show, but it did enable us to sit in the front row. It was a bit of a cheesy show, a little behind the times as far as technology goes, but the kids still enjoyed it.

After that, we noticed the Disney Junior characters were back out again to meet people, so we waited in the shorter lines to meet these characters as well. We certainly didn't expect to meet so many characters during our trip, especially at Hollywood Studios! Here's Jake from Jake and the Neverland Pirates.

Aedan has a couple pair of pajamas with Jake on them, and I think he's seen the show a couple times, but for some reason he was too shy to go up and say hi and meet him. He just stood clinging to my side, saying hello from a distance.

Since we don't have cable, we don't get the Disney Junior channel, so the only reason Samantha knows Sofia is because a lot of episodes are on Netflix, and she was on a pretty big Sofia the First kick back in Oxford. In fact, she even picked a Sofia charm for her necklace, which she was sure to show off when she met her. (Again, Aedan was too shy that afternoon to meet Sofia as well.)

The last Disney Junior character was Doc McStuffins, who is another favorite in our house. There are a few shows we can watch through our Apple TV, but we mostly like her from playing doctor and the game on the kids' Leap Pads. Aedan warmed up to Doc the most, and after I took him up to her and let him get more comfortable, he held her hand for a picture.

We stopped for some lunch after that, as everyone was getting hot, tired, hungry, and thirsty. From there we tried to make our new game plan, as we were pretty much done with everything we wanted to do at Hollywood Studios. Alaina was pretty out of it through most of lunch, even laying her head on Ema's lap and taking a nap for awhile. However, after she woke up and ate some food, she seemed to perk up, so we decided that we could head over to Animal Kingdom for the rest of the afternoon to check out some things there.

We drove over to Animal Kingdom so that it would be easier to leave later in the day. However, Animal Kingdom was very crowded that day, and since we were arriving in the afternoon, a lot of the lines had built up quite a bit. We decided to head back to Expedition Everest to do a Rider Swap, and as we were on our way back there, Aedan fell asleep in the stroller. Since I couldn't go on the ride anyways, I took advantage of standing in a shady spot and pushed Aedan back and forth while he slept, while the rest of the family rode the ride, and while those that waited enjoyed a frozen treat to help beat the heat. It was amazing how Aedan just passed out in the stroller. I didn't know if he would do this or not on this vacation, as he was so used to sleeping in his bed every afternoon.  However, he would just turn sideways in his stroller and rest his head on the back or side of the seat. No screams or noises seemed to bother him, but I felt kind of bad for him at times when his head was all slumped over like this. Nevertheless, he got a good rest in that helped him get through the rest of the day at Animal Kingdom.

After a good nap and a frozen treat for Aedan, he was ready to go on some more rides. We went over to DinoLand and rode Triceratop Spin, which Aedan loved. Then, while the bigger kids went on Primeval Whirl, Aedan and I went on Triceratop Spin again before going to a playground area called the Boneyard.

The Boneyard had places to climb and slides to go down, but Aedan was immediately attracted to this area with a small waterfall. He noticed other kids playing in it, sticking their heads in it, and getting wet, so he decided to follow suit. At first I almost stopped him from getting soaking wet, but I figured, what's the harm? It was super hot and getting wet would feel good. He was filling up his Cars hat and throwing it around, dumping it on his head, and having a great time. By the end of his time playing here, he was soaking wet from head to toe, but he didn't mind one bit.

The girls joined in and get a little wet before we moved on to another area of the park. We had a Fast Pass for the Kilimanjaro Safari, and on the way there Ben started up a dance party, which others joined in as well. He's such a great Daddy, trying to turn a hot afternoon and walking across the park into a fun activity. 

As I've mentioned a couple times, Aedan has not been too into posing for pictures lately, especially if he is specifically asked to, so when we were waiting for some people to use the restroom and he asked me to take his picture, I was very much obliged. I got some pretty good ones, too! What a handsome little man with a great smile!

The kids were very excited for the safari ride, and we all looked to spot as many animals as we could in more natural habitats than what you would see at the zoo. It was a fun ride, feeling like you were more up and close and personal with the animals. Here are some pictures from our ride.

After the safari ride, we thought about going out to the petting zoo, but it actually was already closed for the day. Everything else that would be interesting to ride had too long of lines, so we decided to call it a day and eat a later dinner back at the vacation house. We had a fun last day at Disney World, visiting Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom. It was a good trip, and I know we were all sad to see it coming to an end.

On Saturday the rest of the Toll family got ready to fly back to Indianapolis. However, all of us had to get packed up and leave the house, regardless. This vacation house was a perfect spot for us to stay while in Orlando. The fun part for our family was that our vacation to Disney World was not over yet. Awhile back we decided to extend our time in Florida by a few days since we would already be down there and the flight was already taken care of. Plus, adding a few extra days of park tickets on to the three days we already went with Ben's family wasn't too expensive. So once everyone was packed up and ready to leave the house, we dropped Uncle Timmy off at the airport before heading to Leesburg to visit my grandpa.

There was no way we could make a trip all the way down to Florida and not stop to visit my grandpa, so we decided Saturday would be the perfect day to make the forty-five minute trip to see him. We got together with him the last time we came to Florida three years ago, and Samantha vaguely remembers meeting him, but Aedan was just nine months old at that time. Our family has changed quite a bit in the last few years. We arrived at his house between 11:00 and noon, and the kids were excited to see pictures of themselves around on shelves. (Especially since having kids, I have tried to keep grandparents and family up-to-date on pictures of our family, particularly the kids.) We sat around and talked for awhile, trying to keep the kids from messing with too many things. Luckily, he doesn't have too many knickknacks in his house to begin with. Then, he offered to take us out for lunch, and we decided on Wendy's. Ben and I were craving some healthier food, and we knew we could count on Wendy's to have good, fresh salads. The kids did a really good job of eating and waiting patiently for others to finish their food, and then we went back to Great Grandpa's house for awhile longer. We debated whether or not we should put Aedan down for a nap there, but then we knew he would pass out for a long time. We still had to drive back down to Orlando, check into our new hotel, and get settled in there, so we didn't want to stay for too long, but we also wanted to have enough time to visit with Grandpa since we don't get to see him very often. We put on a show for the kids so they could just sit and relax while Ben and I talked more with Grandpa, and then once it reached about 3:00, we decided it was time to head out. It was a really nice visit, and I'm glad we were able to see him. As we pulled away and waved good-bye, I almost got a little teary-eyed. This man is 97, he is very healthy and still lives on his own with relative ease. He is very with-it mentally, but at the same time, he has lived a long, full life, and who knows, this may very well be the last time I see him. I was very glad that I thought to take some pictures this time. :)

After leaving Grandpa's house, we drove back down to Orlando to check into the hotel we would be staying at for the next few nights. It was a vacation club that was part of Holiday Inn Express, so we were able to stay there mostly using points that we have saved up over time. It was basically a two bedroom villa, and it was very nice, a great size for our family. It had a kitchen area, which was nice because we planned to make breakfast there in the morning before heading to Disney. Plus, we ended up buying food to bring in for lunch as well to save ourselves some money. There was the living room area and a table to eat at, a small screened-in balcony, two bedrooms, and two bathrooms. The kids shared a room, each getting their own queen size bed. Aedan did just fine sleeping in the big bed at the other house without falling out of bed once, so we figured he would do fine here as well. We did stick two pillows under the blanket at the edge of the bed to provide a little buffer zone in case he started rolling. Samantha and Aedan were excited about sleeping in the same room together. Here are some pictures of our hotel.

We got checked in to our hotel and then went out to get deep dish pizza at Giordano's. Since this is such a tourist area, they had several restaurants that would interest an out-of-town traveler. The kids were very tired that evening though, and eating out was difficult for them. We had thought about going back to go swimming, but instead we just stopped at the store for some groceries and went back to our hotel to get the kids to bed before another day at Disney.

We were surprised at how many rides we went on with Ben's family during the previous three days. When planning the trip and our Fast Passes, we didn't know how long they would want to stay at the parks, and the crowds were less than I expected them to be for summertime, so we really got a lot of the main attractions done already. That allowed Ben and I to cancel some Fast Passes and change them to others, and we were able to do pretty much everything that we wanted to do. On Sunday we started off the day back at Hollywood Studios because there were a few more things we wanted to do there. One thing was the Frozen Sing Along show. Samantha really enjoyed this show back a few years ago, and even this time, she sang right along with most of the songs even though she's not as obsessed with Frozen as she used to be. Ben took some really cute videos of Samantha singing along, and Aedan just sat quietly listening.

The best part of the show is at the end when snow comes down from the ceiling. You can see Samantha's smile of joy and excitement, and Aedan with his hands up in the air ready to catch the snow.

We went on a few other rides and just got Fast Passes as we could, one at a time. We went on the Great Movie Ride and Toy Story Mania again so that Daddy could ride it with us and Samantha and Aedan could each have their turn shooting the laser. As we were eating our lunch, Daddy convinced Samantha to try Tower of Terror with him. She was pretty apprehensive about it, but once she learned a little more about what it was like, she decided she could try it. As you can see in this picture, she sat up really close to him, but she liked the feeling of her tush coming off the seat on the drops, and it definitely was not as scary as she pictured it in her mind. We were so proud of her for trying it and being brave, and after that she was telling everyone how brave she was to try the ride and how it's her favorite ride at Disney World.

Hollywood Studios has a lot of fun shows, another one being Beauty and the Beast Live on Stage. Aedan and I went in to save seats while Daddy and Samantha finished riding Tower of Terror. It was nice to sit in the shade for awhile, and the kids really enjoyed the show, especially Samantha. In fact, at one point she started shouting, "Boo, Gaston! Don't kill the beast!" There were quite a few people around us who looked back at her and smiled. She didn't know that the show wasn't interactive. I didn't mind. I thought it was cute how involved she was getting in the story.

Aedan has always been much more snuggly than Samantha. I got a lot of hugs and snuggles from him on our vacation, even when we were both hot and sticky. I love this picture because you can see his little hand resting on top of mine as I have my arm around his shoulder. I don't know if it was because my tummy is getting noticeably bigger now, but Aedan also wanted to kiss the baby in my tummy a lot and would ask me quite a bit how the baby was doing. He is going to be a great, proud big brother.

After doing everything we wanted to do at Hollywood Studios, we decided to head back to our hotel to give the kids a nap in their beds so that we could go back to Magic Kingdom that evening to see the Happily Ever After Fireworks Show. We knew there was no way we could stay out that late if the kids didn't have good naps. We had Samantha sleep in our bed so we didn't have to worry about them waking each other up, and that made Aedan kind of sad. He didn't want to sleep alone in the room. He wanted to sleep with Sissy. We reassured him that she would be back next to him again that night. After letting the kids sleep for a couple hours, we woke them up so we could go swimming for a little while before dinner. Our hotel complex was huge with lots of different buildings with rooms and villas to rent, as well as something like five different pools. That afternoon we walked to the pool that was closest to our hotel and enjoyed some swimming time. The water was warm, and the kids had a blast swimming and splashing around in the water for over an hour.

They probably could have stayed in the water longer, but we wanted to stop at Chuy's for dinner that evening for some delicious Tex-Mex before heading to the Magic Kingdom. Since we were arriving in the evening, it was much easier to get across to the park. In fact, we were able to get a Fast Pass for the Haunted Mansion ride before finding a spot for the fireworks show. People claim their spots over an hour in advance, which we were not willing to do, but I think we still found a fairly decent spot. The lamp was in front of part of the castle, but we could still see the pictures projected on the castle pretty well and the fireworks were high enough for everyone to see. Samantha stood on the stroller seat to get a better view, and I held Aedan on my hip so he could see above the crowd of people in front of him. I'm glad we came back for this show because they do such a great job of telling a story through everything they do at Disney, from the rides to meeting the characters to how they project images onto the castle with perfectly timed fireworks in the background. It was pretty cool to watch. Here are some pictures and videos we took, even though it doesn't do it justice.

After the show was over, there were masses of people walking all over the park, most were trying to exit, but you'd be surprised at how many stick around as well. Since we knew the lines would be super long trying to get on a boat or a monorail, we decided to stay in the park a little longer and go on a few rides, in order to let some of the crowds dissipate. I think we went on the Winnie the Pooh ride as well as Buzz Lightyear Ranger Spin. The kids were tired and it was after 10:00 before we left the park. They were ready to get back to the hotel and collapse into bed. And so were we.

Monday morning we kind of played things by ear. We hoped that the kids would sleep in a little bit since they were up so late the night before. But of course, young kids don't really do that sort of thing. Aedan was up at the same time he always is. Samantha was up going to the bathroom, so who knows who woke up first or woke the other one up, but Ben and I thought we were up far too early for our own liking.

However, we got up and got ready to head to Animal Kingdom for the day. We decided that there wasn't anything else we wanted to do at Epcot, but there were a few more things we could do at Animal Kingdom. However, getting there a little later that morning made it difficult because the lines had already gotten so long. It seemed like the parks were much busier that week than the week before when we were with Ben's family. I was glad we seemed to have gone on a week that had less of a crowd so that they were able to experience more rides and attractions. We passed by a meet and greet with Pocahontas and decided to meet her, since Samantha never had before. She was excited that she was a Native American, especially since she's learned so much about the Native American culture at school. In fact, Samantha greeted Pocahontas by saying Aanin, which is hello in Ojibwe. Pocahontas seemed to recognize that Samantha was saying hello, and she did a great job carrying on a conversation with her about her native culture and even congratulated me on my expected baby. Aedan decided he was okay with getting his picture taken with Pocahontas as well.

Samantha and Daddy had a Fast Pass for Dinosaur while Aedan and I found other things to do. You can see Samantha next to Daddy in the second picture. She was not a fan of the Dinosaur ride. I don't know if I've ever been on that ride, so I wasn't able to help them know what it was like. While they rode in the big ride, Aedan and I rode on Triceratop Spin again before going to the Finding Nemo show together.

The Finding Nemo show was really fun and really well done. I didn't really know what to expect, but the props were so colorful and larger than life. Each character was controlled by a person that you could see on stage, and that person was also talking and singing for the character. The voices were amazing, and the sets and performance that they put on was great. Aedan really enjoyed it, and there were a couple times we would start singing along with Dory, "Just keep swimming..."

Here is the Tree of Life in the middle of Animal Kingdom. It's so fun to see all the carvings of the animals.

We decided to get Fast Passes for The Lion King show because we remembered this show from the last time we were here as well. They have so many great shows at Disney World with world class performers and amazing costumes. The kids loved watching the man that juggled fire as well as the woman who looked like she was a flying bird. It really is a show you shouldn't miss if you go to Animal Kingdom.

There is a new area of Animal Kingdom called Pandora, the World of Avatar. Since it just opened a couple weeks ago, the lines are super long for those new rides. However, we were able to get Fast Passes for the new boat ride, Na'vi River Journey, in that area. It was cool and pretty with lots of bright colors, but I didn't think it would be worth waiting for a couple hours to ride it. Here's the main sculpture in the Pandora World, made to look like the world from the movie. Maybe I need to go back and watch Avatar to gain more of an appreciation for this area.

Our last activity of the day was taking the train back to Rafiki's Planet Watch to visit the petting zoo. The last time we came here there were tons of animals to brush and pet. On this afternoon there were just a few, and most of them were hiding in the area where you are supposed to let them rest. However, Samantha and Aedan were able to reach a few goats to pet and brush.

As we walked around inside a building, we noticed Doc McStuffins was there to meet. Even though we already met her, there was no line, so we decided to stop and say hello again.

It was really nice having done a lot of the main attractions the week before because we didn't feel pressured to have to cram our days full again. There were a couple other things that could have been fun to ride at Animal Kingdom, like the Kali River Rapids, but the line was too long and we weren't sure the kids would like it (and I couldn't ride it anyways), so we took the train back and then headed out of the park to have dinner before heading back to our hotel. It was a fun day at Animal Kingdom, but we decided a good night's sleep would do us all some good before another full day at the Magic Kingdom, our last full day at Disney World.

(Blog about June 20-26, 2017)