Not the Happiest Place on Earth...

Continuing from my last post, while Elizabeth and I were out having fun at Downtown Disney, Mike sent me a text to bring gatorade back to the condo, as both boys were throwing up. Upon return, I played nursemaid to the boys, who were quarantined in their room. At one point in the night, Josh crawled into our room and announced that he had thrown up 13 times so far. Such a teenage boy in keeping score!

As dawn arrived, guess who was feeling ill? Let's just say that it was good our condo had three bathrooms, because they were all needed. Elizabeth also joined the boys and I, ending up feeling under the weather that day too, so everyone but Mike and the girls were sick. I didn't want him leaving us for the Happiest Place on Earth, leaving the sickies with no vehicle in case I needed to go in to an ER for hydration (sometimes happens with T1 diabetes and puking), so he graciously played Florence Nightingale, making sure we had plenty of cola and crackers. I think the girls were actually thankful for the break from the constant go we had been on, and they got to hang out and do more swimming.

So sorry, no photos from this day, but trust me, you wouldn't want to see any!

More Than Animals....

Despite being tired from our busy Sunday, on Monday we roused out of bed early to make sure we arrived at Wild Kingdom early enough to see the animals awake. After all, it was predicted to be a 90°+ day! We slathered on the sunscreen and made the short drive.

Real animals are way better than the fake ones on the Jungle Cruise! You get to be quite close to the animals, which was way cool. Kellen could've reached out and touched this guy! The giraffe above had just crossed the road ahead of our vehicle. My animal obsessed children were ecstatic.

Next we went on the River Raft ride to cool us all down. Let's just say we weren't disappointed, as we were soaked! We went on a ride similar to this 10 years ago at California Adventure, but this time the designers were extra smart and included a waterproof section where you could place your cameras/backpacks. I was very grateful for that. I don't know how evident it is in this photo, but everyone is soaked!

Jaelyn deserves an award for her bravery this week, as she rode every single ride that any adult did, and several more than once! While at Wild Kingdom she rode the Expedition Everest ride three times, only matched by Joshua. She reminds me a lot of Joshua at her age, as he was the same way about roller coasters. Other highlights of the day were the It's Tough to be a Bug 4-D show (note my cute bugs in 3-D glasses below) and the Festival of the Lion King show, which was a super entertaining show involving music, dancing, and athletic performances.

There is not as much to do at this park, so we called it a day and headed out before dinner. Kellen wasn't feeling well, so Josh, Elizabeth and I headed to Downtown Disney for the evening, while Mike and the girls went swimming.

Halfway there, Josh declared he did not feel well, so needed to be taken back to the condo. Elizabeth and I enjoyed our evening out, but this photo below of Jaelyn sacked out in her chipmunk hat sums up how exhausted everyone was by the end of the night.

Little did we know that it was about to get worse....

Out of Order....

So I'm posting photos from our trip out of order, because today is Kaia's eighth birthday, and I wanted to show how we celebrated her day while at Disneyworld. On Thursday night we had dinner reservations at Cinderella's Castle for the girls, Mike, and I, while the older kids were out exploring on their own. This was one of the Disney Princess character dinners, which means that while you dine, the princesses interact with you.

As people check in for dinner, Cinderella greets the parties and poses for photos. Earlier in the week I had bought crowns for the girls so that they could look the part:)

Each of us "girls" were referred to as "Princess" the entire evening, and Mike was always called "Sire." It really was a lot of fun, as they made you feel quite special. Each female received a magic wand and the males a sword.  The young girls also received wishing stars, and at one point in the evening the crowd was told to make a wish, which caused the lights to flash. Each time a princess arrived, that was announced to everyone also. The princesses would meander around to each table to chat, sign autographs, and pose for photos. Here they are in random order:

Snow White....

Sleeping Beauty....

Ariel...

Belle...

Following dinner, Kaia was served a birthday dessert made of sponge cake, topped by a chocolate glass slipper and strawberries. She was stuffed, but couldn't resist licking the chocolate writing that read "Happy Birthday Princess Kaia."

 Princesses can't be all stuffy and formal though, so we needed a little silly time...

My favorite part of the evening was yet to come though. Since we didn't start dinner until 8:45 or so, we were still around when it was time for the evening fireworks. If you have ever been to Disneyworld/land, you know they launch them off from atop Cinderella's Castle, so what better place to view them than from within the castle. You can see the awesome view we had.

So tonight was a bit anti-climatic celebrating Kaia's birthday, but I think we all needed it. She picked a yummy french toast dinner, ate cupcakes (actually she just licked the frosting off), and the family played the new game she got called Suspend, by Melissa and Doug. If you are looking for a game that is fun for all ages, check it out. 

Hope you had a memorable birthday my sweet Kaia!

Disneyworld!

The day we have been eagerly awaiting finally arrived, as we headed off to Disneyworld for spring break! We went down to Seattle Friday night, as we had a 6 am flight Saturday morning. The girls were so excited for their first flights, other than them coming to the USA, and the day went off without a hitch. Having snow at home a week previous, we were a bit shocked by the 90° weather, but boy, did it feel good to get some much needed Vitamin D.

If you haven't been to Disneyworld before, it is divided into four parks, with Magic Kingdom being most like Disneyland. We started off the day (us and about 60 thousand other people) at Magic Kingdom.  Don't we look fresh at the beginning of the day?

We hit a lot of classic rides in the morning; Jungle Ride, Pirates of the Caribbean, and Splash Mountain. Splash Mountain ended up being Kaia's favorite ride of the week. Most of the roller coaster type rides take action shots during the ride which you can buy at the end. Well being the cheap thrifty person I am, we took a photo of the photo, which I love....

 Of course, we spent lots of time hanging out with the characters too....

Just one of the many things I was looking forward to about this trip was in meeting my online friend Eva face to face for the first time. I think we first met through the adoptive families limb differences yahoo group, as she has two beautiful children from China who happen to also have limb differences, and we have followed each others blogs since then. We were both excited for our families to finally meet, as they are located in Florida, and both of our husbands had to listen to us wives tell them about these other families whom they did not know.  I think our husbands thought we were crazy, but when we all met up at Magic Kingdom, everyone hit it off perfectly! The husbands chatted away as Eva and I talked as if we knew each other for years, and our young children were instant buddies. In fact, we had to chuckle as Caleb and Kaia hit it off extremely well, even holding hands for a few steps, and although it was never spoken between the two of them, I know Jaelyn felt very comfortable spending time with someone who has a similar limb difference as hers, and I think Madeline felt the same.

We started off with the Tomorrowland Speedway, where the kids got to drive their own cars. Look how serious Kaia took her driving. Let's just hope this focus continues into the teen years....

 Caleb and his dad Patrick were right behind Kaia and I...

Dumbo, always a classic, and more fun with new friends...

The gang....

After a few rides we left the Magic Kingdom and hopped the Monorail to Epcot, where Patrick and Eva generously treated us all to a wonderful dinner at the Chinese Pavillion. We topped the evening off by watching the IllumiNations show, which was quite entertaining. It's a shame that our two families live across the country from one another, as I know if we lived nearer, this would be a frequent exchange. Just tell us when Eva, and we will show you the sights of Seattle and more (just don't forget a jacket!).

Eva, you can't even tell you can't see a thing without your glasses:)

A great photo to capture a memorable day! Thanks again to the Domkowski family.

Since I am still fighting jet lag and spent most of the day catching up on laundry, I will divide each day of the trip into its own post. And yes, today is Easter, and we did acknowledge that our Savior has risen, but arriving at our house at 2 am and spending the day grocery shopping and unpacking, we did little else to celebrate the day, and I am now heading to bed (and neglecting the school work I did not finish grading). I need a vacation from my vacation!

St. Patrick's Day...

I forgot to post these earlier, but the kids and I had some festive fun on St. Patrick's Day. First of all Josh and I made these delicious mint oreo brownies:

Okay, so maybe that wasn't my photo, and ours weren't as pretty, but as you can see from this photo, they were devoured just the same!

The girls and I did a science experiment with some white tulips. We started with this:

And following a little green food coloring to the water and a few hours of patience, ended with this:

Giggles...

No wonder I heard giggles coming from down the hall last night...

It's said the Chinese like sleeping on a hard surface, but geez, sleeping on the toy box in the closet is a bit extreme!

Macho Volleyball...

Wednesday night the family went to watch Josh participate in "Macho Volleyball," a fundraiser for Travel Club at his school, that pitted nine all-boys volleyball teams against one another to claim the ultimate title of Machoness.  Well being a high school volleyball coach myself, I must say that my group of girls would have humiliated any of the boys teams, but it still was a fun evening watching them all try their best to be macho.

Warrior Josh leading the chant, "Mad Dogs on three."

Josh and his team mate with the coaches (real volleyball players).

Little did I know when I showed up that the staff team was short players. As a spouse of a staff member, and being they were desperate, I was quickly recruited to play. That counts, right? The staff was going to play the Macho winners, who would have a chance to win the ultimate of titles, beating a bunch of old people!  Josh's team, the "Mad Dogs," made it to the semi-finals, and I was hoping for a chance to play against him, but it was not to be. Team "Old Farts" crushed the winners, but their was still plenty of testosterone in the air!