Very Merry Christmas Party

It wasn't until our last day that the bad weather came.

It rained like crazy. We were all soaked - even through our ponchos.
The upside...
the parks were empty.
We rode Expedition Everest
until no one wanted to ride anymore.

After lunch at Tepan Edo
we headed back to the hotel for a little
rest before the Very Merry Christmas Party.
We found a Build-A-Dino
in the T-Rex Cafe which the boys loved!
The forecast said that it should be
clear by the party.

And clear it was!
The weather was perfect and better yet
the park was empty.
We got to ride Goofy's Barnstormer,
the Rocket Ride, and the Blue Line
over and over again without getting off.

Everyone loved Mickey's Philharmagic
and the all you can eat
hot chocolate, cookies, apples,
and apple juice.

The castle looked so festive
in all the Christmas lights.

The fireworks show was AMAZING!!
What a perfect end to a great trip!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Day 6

We started the day off as Disney Studios opened.
Aaron and Troy ran ahead to
get Fast Passes to Toy Story Mania.
Just as they finished getting the passes
we all arrived to walk on the ride.

After the ride we had about 30 minutes
before we could use our Fast Passes,
so the Dads and the 4 big boys
headed to their favorite...
Rockin' Rollercoaster.
Tanya, Ella, Dylan, Peyton, and I
went to meet Woody
and then we happened upon the Power Rangers.
Peyton insisted on meeting
everyone of them, except the pink one
because that's for girls like Ella,
twice. He's never seen
Power Rangers before, but he was intrigued.

After a fun morning at Disney Studios
it was off to Epcot for more fun in the sun!

Just a Week Ago

It's a winter wonderland here.

D and P had so much fun
sledding this afternoon.
They played in the snow for a good hour.
After a warm bubble bath and snuggly pjs,
P insisted on putting on all
his snow gear again, by himself,
just to watch a show.
That boy loves being outside!

It's hard to believe that this was just last week.

Day 5 - Magic Kingdom
Drew's homework assignment
was to get a picture with Tigger.
This was easily accomplished
at our breakfast at Crystal Palace.

Notice Drew's breakfast
sausages and bacon -
a breakfast of champions!

After 5 days of playing hard
everyone was ready to call it a day around 6:00,
but not Drew and Aaron.
They dropped us off at the hotel
and headed to Epcot.
They rode all of D's favorites -
Test Track, Mission Space,
Nemo, and the Ball Ride.
D told Aar,
This was the best day of my life!

Disney Studios

Day 4 - Disney Studios

First up, the new Toy Story Mania ride.

Definitely a new favorite!

Captain Ric -
this photo is for you!

D, Pey, and Dylan
loved meeting Lightning and Mater!

E, Al, D, and Nate
all said the
Aerosmith Rockin Rollercoaster
was their favorite ride.
Thanks to no crowds, they were able
to go on it as much as they wanted.
Too bad Tower of Terror
wasn't a favorite!

Animal Kingdom

Day 3 - Animal Kingdom

The day started out with Donald Duck's
Tusker House breakfast.

Donald's Breakfast was all
of the boys' favorite last year.
They all had a great time
this year too.

After breakfast we headed
straight to Expedition Everest
which turned out to be Ella's
favorite ride.
She is a major dare devil.

I think Ella rode
this ride half a dozen times.
She out did the boys!

Epcot

Day 2 - Epcot

First ride on the agenda
none other than Test Track.
Peyton was tall enough to ride this year.
It was so fun to go all together.

Even after arriving at 2:30 am,
Troy, Tanya, & Co
met us bright and early
to enjoy all the rides.
Favorites included -
Test Track, Mission Space,
Soarin', Finding Nemo,
the new Epcot Ball ride,
Figment,
and of course Club Cool.
It was great being able to spend the
week with you guys!
We had so much fun!!
Why don't we live closer.......

We ate lunch at Nine Dragons.
Yummy!! It was there that Peyton
discovered that he loves noodles and meatballs.
Dinner was at the Garden Grill
with Chip, Dale, Pluto, and Mickey.
What a fun day!

Notice no pictures of E with the characters.
He's too old now :(

Happy Birthday in Florida!

I had such a great birthday in Florida!

First on the agenda...
a trip to the Magic Kingdom!

We were the first people on Dumbo
and basically walked on all the rides.
In 3 hours we had pretty
much been on all the rides.
It was great!
The kids were so excited
that we had to run to keep up with them.

Next stop...
Lunch at Cheesecake Factory which is
always delicious.
Then off to Cocoa Beach!

The boys loved
collecting sea shells.

We played and played at the beach!

It was a little too cool to go in the water,
but that didn't stop D...

My handsome boys!

Oh how I love the beach!
What a perfect birthday!

Big #99

Tonight was E's football banquet. 

A Few Highlights

25 players

35 pizzas

5 great coaches

Awesome highlight DVD

2008 Toilet Bowl Champions

GO KNIGHTS!

Hill Aerospace Museum

Yesterday we finally had a chance
to go to the Hill Aerospace Museum.
It was absolutely amazing!
The boys loved it!

The planes were so much bigger
than I had imagined.

We saw the world's fastest plane,
the SR-71.
The boys loved learning that while
it's on the ground it leaks gas because
it stretches about 1 1/2 feet
while in flight sealing the gas tank.

The boys were very impressed
to learn that Great Grandma Schofield
had built P-51s during the war.
Drew wanted to know
what she wasn't doing this anymore
because it is so cool!

We could have spent
the entire day here.
We'll definitely have to come back!

Halloween

Thursday Mimi brought down decorations and sugar cookies

to begin the Halloween fun.
The boys had a great time decorating the cookies.

Peyton insisted on being a scary skeleton.
I painted his face
and luckily we took some pictures
before he looked in the mirror.

Because after he did, the scary
paint came off.

D was a skeleton too,
but he wanted no part
of the scary stuff.

The annual Halloween night
was a blast.
The weather was perfect.
Both E and Al were mad scientists.
We even made slime.
The kids had a great time
trick or treating!