Animal Kingdom

Today we went to the animal Kingdom. It started out hot and miserable, so we decided to give up on the zoo and just do the rides. But first we found a lot of characters that Logan and Haley could get autographs from and get pictures. It was in an air conditioned building so we were fine waiting for them.

We went on the safari ride and it is really cool because you are so close to the animals and they aren't fenced off.

Haley, Kevin and Logan went on a Dinosaur ride so Isaac, Derek and I hung out. It was a pretty scary ride, but the kids decided to be brave and go on it a second time with me.

We also went on a Mt. Everst ride, and every one but Derek and I went on the river rapids ride. We also saw a Live Lion King show that Derek loved. He sang, yelled, clapped, and danced the entire show. The kids were amazed by the guy who twirled fire.

We again closed the park and didn't get home until past bedtimes.

Then to Chevy's for an awesome dinner of flautas. The kids got balloons, Isaac got an orange dinosaur.

Derek gets to sleep in the closet. Here he is one night with his little foot poking out.

First day of vacation

• 5-22 In the morning, Derek started to cry at 7:30 so Kori took him down to the lobby so he would not wake all of us up. When the kids woke up, they went down with Kori to have breakfast while I watched the monster, and then we packed up and waited for our van to arrive. Lisa, who had purchased a van for us, had it towed to our hotel because she was afraid to drive it without a tag on it. Once it got there, (a royal blue 99 Ford Windstar), we loaded up and headed to our condo where we would be staying for 10 days. It was going to cost a fortune to rent a car and drop it off in Indie, so we bought a van instead. It was cheap, but as long as it gets us to Indi, it will work great. And lisa actually found us a pretty good van (all things considered). We got to our new condo a few hours before check-in time, and since we did not know what else we could do, we went swimming.

The pool here is great, with a lazy river and bath tub temperature water. Unfortunately, Kori and I got fried (not smart on the first day of vacation before heading to Disney for the next 4 days). We tried our best, staying in the shade until Lisa showed up with the sunblock, but we got burnt anyway. For the most part, the kids turned out much better. Haley is the only one that got burnt. I went and picked up burgers from Checkers for lunch, and then we swam until about 2:30. We got out and loaded all of our stuff into the condo and then headed off.

Next we headed to East Lake Tohopelega lake for an everglades swamp airboat ride. It was neither in the Everglades, or a swamp, but in the tall, tall grass on the edge of a very large lake. They claimed the lake drained south and eventually made it into the everglades. The ride was awesome. Airboats are a blast. We did not see much wildlife, because it was 95 degrees outside. Mostly birds, timptons (or something like that), snake birds, egrets etc, and a few turtles. Logan and Haley loved the boat ride, but Isaac mostly sat hunched up from the wind with his eyes closed until somebody said they saw something. Derek slept through most of it. We looked pretty funny because they had us wear large ear muffs do dull the noise of the boat. I actually took mine off almost immediately, preferring the noise to the muffs, and many of the other passengers joined me by the end of the ride. After we got off the boat, they had a 2 year old alligator with his mouth taped shut. They let each of the kids hold it. (Kori and I held it too - it was really cool) and then they suckered us into buying pictures of the kids holding the gators for $32 bucks. Eeesh!

Afterwards, we headed to Cici's for dinner, then back to our condo. Kori got the kids bathed while I ran to the grocery store to stock us up for the next month. It was a pretty good start to a vacation.

This is the baby alligator the kids got to hold. I'll have to scan the pics in when we get home.

4 days at Disneyworld

• 5-23-11 - Well, today we went to Epcot. We did not get there until noon because I had to register the van this morning, and then we decided to go to lunch before we got there. The kids were amazed by the big golf ball, which was our first ride. It’s a very boring ride, but they enjoyed it. Next to Mission to Mars. Kevin took Logan and Haley first while Derek and Isaac played on an indoor playground, and then thanks to Baby swap I got to walk onto the ride through Fast Pass with Haley and Logan. Then we went on the energy ride where Derek kept waving at the dinosaurs. We then went to Test Track where again Issac and Derek had to sit out, so Kori bought them a popsicle to share. Isaac was feeding it to derek and they were taking turns, but it was started to melt, so Kori took it from Isaac and was feeding both of them. Derek didn't like that he took the popsicle from her and gave it back to Isaac. Kori then took Haley and Isaac back on the ride. Then onto the Finding Nemo ride, which is also an aquarium and they also had Talking Time with Crush which is an interactive show with a turtle. Logan got to ask Crush a question, and he asked him "are all sea turtles green" he said "no, but I'm a green sea turtle and it's because I eat things that are green. What do you eat" Logan answered in an are you stupid voice "food" . Then we went to the imagination ride where Derek liked the Dragon. Then Captain EO which was Isaacs favorite ride. After that it was to the country of England where we had the best Fish and Chips we've ever had. Logan absolutely loved them until he threw everything up. We went to the rides in Mexico and Norway. Then on the way home we stopped by McDonalds to get some Frozen Strawberry Lemonades.

Unfortunately I accidently deleted all our pictures from our day at Epcot and the first half of the magic kingdom.

5-24-11 Magic Kingdom. To get to the Magic Kingdom, you park, take a tram, then take a ferry across the lake and then into the park. At the ticket counter, you are still over a mile from the park entrance. We had a great day and hit a ton of rides. Alladin's magic carpet, pirates (2x), Splash mountain (the kids got to go 2x), we got Goofy's autograph, Lunch, Big Thunder mountain (Haley and Logan went 2x), Small world, Merry-go-round (2x), Mickey's Philharmagic 3D, Speedway, Buzz Lightyear (Isaac, derek, and Kori 2x), Got pics and autographs with Buzz, Kevin, Haley and Logan went on Stitch's Great Escape, Monster inc. Laugh Floor, Space Mountain (haley and logan 2x) Peter Pan and finally the Jungle Cruise. We got a dole whip and then on the way out (yummmm) and then picked up a Giordano's Chicago stuffed pizza on the drive home (also yumm). The kids have been excellent. Haley pushed Isaac's stroller almost all day. There has been very little if any arguing, and almost perfect behavior except for the last 30 mmins or so of the day. However, considering that we did not get home until 2 hours after the kids bed time and had not had dinner yet, you can hardly blame them. Haley and Logan are really getting into the bigger rides. They are cute as they get so excited about Big Thunder Mountain and Space Mountain. Isaac is tall enough for the first time for rides like Splash Mtn and Big Thunder Mtn. He liked Splash Mtn (except for the dark cave right before the big drop in which he scrunches his eyes closed as hard as he can). He was not as wild about Big Thunder Mtn. He did the eye-scrunching thing the whole time. However, he did not cry or complain on any ride. I think he did better than any other kid we have had on the first time. Derek loved Small World and the Carousel and was nearly as monstrous as we expected.

Father and Son Campout

Kevin got to take his boys to their first Father and Son campout. They had a great time.

They did not put the top on the tent so that they could see the stars from their sleeping bags.

They had dad's favorite version of smores. Marshmallows and oreos.

Can anyone say sugar high.

Since the boys were going to be gone I asked Haley where she wanted me to take her for dinner and she picked Texas Roadhouse where she ordered a 6 oz steak and mashed potatos and Gravy. Here she is being so ladylike with the steak in her mouth.

BYU Baseball Game

We took the kids to a tailgate party and BYU Baseball Game a couple saturdays ago. We got to meet Cosmo the BYU Cougar. Eat JDAWGS (famous Provo hot dogs, they put BBQ sauce on their dogs) and play some games before the baseball game.

Logan won the sunglasses and BYU blanket

Haley won some too and is using her frisbee as a plate.

Bought some popsicles for the kids at the game.

Haley and Logan got to meet Bronco Mendenhall, the BYU football coach, and get his autograph.

The kids enjoyed being at the game, it was a fun family day.