Vomit...

... is apparently the theme of my day.

I know, I know.  You don't want to know.  Really?  You're still reading...

I literally did vomit, this morning, after biting into what I thought was an omelet stuffed with cheese but what ended up being an omelet stuffed with something else altogether.  I think it might have been salsa.  I think I might have sensory issues.  At any rate, not the best way to start my day.

Then I wrote about vomit... no kidding... in a story that I'm working on.  Bet you can't wait to read that one...

And finally, a friend of mine mentioned to me that I might be vomiting my feelings all over the Internet.  And she was absolutely right.  I am.  On a daily basis.  And, here I go again...

I legitimately hate drama (the bad kind, not the, "Hey it's a musical!" kind).  For years I have walked around shaking my head and wondering why some people seem to thrive on it.  My preference would be to never be in crisis.  It just would.  But something awful occurred to me, today (soul care days sometimes do this to you, fair warning).  Sometimes when we have been dealing with a crisis for an extended period of time, it almost becomes easier to keep dealing with it than to let it go.  This must be why people hold on to their drama.  It is comfortable, convoluted as that might sound.  It becomes a part of us.  But I don't think it has to be this way.

I think, whenever possible, the best thing to do is to communicate with the people in your life who are causing you to struggle.  Let's be real, friends.  That's not always possible for a variety of reasons.  Today, I have been thinking about friendships that have just run their course, and let me be the first to say, it is a terrible thing to think about for too long.  I don't like it when friendships end.  I guess nobody does, but it is the absolute worst when they end without closure, when they just sort of fade away and you don't know why... and they don't know why... and nobody knows why... or everybody knows why but nobody wants to talk about it. 

When that happens, I'm pretty sure I write... incessantly... in code, because let's be real (again), I'm actually not nearly as real as I'd like to be.  Honest, yes.  But honest people can not say a lot of things, too..

Which, I guess, is exactly what I just did... again...

L.

This Is The Part...

... where we try to see how many things we can still cram in to this vacation.

We're a little "off", partly because being sick has cost us some hours, partly because of that move we had to make in the middle of the night, and partly because Disney decided to close Blizzard Beach for refurbishment before it was originally scheduled.  We always plan well, but this has been the best planned trip to date with the worst actual following of the plan!

This morning, we went back to Hollywood Studios to catch a few of our favorites one more time.  I think I have enjoyed Hollywood Studios more on this trip than ever before, and I just about can't wait until the new Pixar and Star Wars additions!  We couldn't get back on Toy Story Mania (without waiting a really long time), but we did get fastpasses for another showing of the Frozen Sing Along, one more ride on Rockin' Roller Coaster, and Star Tours (which only Seth and Grace did again):

The Cold Never Bothered Me Anyway...

"Snow" to end the Sing Along:

I have decided it is simply impossible

to get a flattering ride photo on

Rockin' Roller Coaster:

Posing outside of Star Tours:

And... you know... Don't forget the food...

Traditional Pizza Planet Picture:

 This kid has been waiting his entire life

for a giant Disney turkey leg... True Story:

We had hoped to spend the afternoon at Disney Quest, but now Phil is feeling sick, so instead we purchased more cold medicine at Walmart and spent some more time at the cabin.  No big deal.  Plenty of time left.

One of the hidden gems of Disney that we discovered on our last trip was the Chip and Dale campfire sing-along followed by the electric water pageant and fireworks viewed on the beach at Fort Wilderness.  As a kid, I remember seeing the electric water pageant from the monorail and loving it.  It's not really a major attraction or anything, but it is a fun little show.  We hauled hot dogs and more stuff for s'mores than any one family could actually consume down to the campfire and proceeded to have a tasty (if messy) dinner followed by the Hokey Pokey (wait, where did my teenagers go) and a trip to the beach.  I'm not sure there is anything more peaceful than just sitting at the seven seas lagoon, in the dark, watching the night light up.  The only complaint I have is that the speaker system was really quiet, so we couldn't hear the soundtrack for Hallow Wishes.

Hot Dog, Hot Dog, Hot Diggity Dog:

Miah and I met Chip and Dale

I might have been kissed by a chipmunk

Electric Water Pageant:

Fireworks view from the beach:

Oh look!  Another hidden Mickey:

As it turns out, it was also a fabulous day for family selfies...

In Tatooine:

On the tram:

 And at the beach:

One more full day of magic coming our way...

L.

Pictures Taken Today: 199

It's Been Another One Of Those Days Where We Didn't Do Much...

... primarily because I am sick, and since no one really wants me to die on this vacation, it made sense to let me sleep in.  Then I spent the afternoon pumping myself full of albuterol, steroids, cold medicine, and cough drops.  As a rule, I do not "do" sick very well.  On vacation it is almost unbearable.  The good news is, I am still breathing, tonight, and better than last night, at that...

We did have a reservation for Rainforest Cafe'.  I have always wanted to go there and managed to drag myself out of bed long enough to do so.  The food was incredible, and it's just completely unfair to bring such a delicious dessert to people who are already full.  I mean, who can really eat a volcano?  As it turns out, we made it on the last tram back to the parking lot, which was a blessing, since I don't think I could have walked that far...

 She just had to touch the frog...

With any luck, I will get my late schoolwork done, tonight, go to sleep at a somewhat reasonable hour, and the rest of these meds will kick in by morning so that I won't be holding everyone back at Animal Kingdom...  One more mountain to knock out on this trip... 

L.

Pictures Taken Today: 33 (and they're pretty much all blurry...)

P.S.  My kids are crazy today...

A Whole Day In Fantasyland...

If you'd asked me, before the huge Fantasyland addition, if we could spend an entire day there, I would have told you no.  Now it is completely possible.

We started out our day at Cinderella's Royal Table.  It is always a big deal to eat in the castle, even though I have to say that the food, itself, seems to have deteriorated in quality.  Not that we pick character greetings based on the food, but we might pick dining options based on the food, in the future, so this is more of a reminder to myself than anything else.  Still, you just can't beat the view, and the princesses were great (Jasmine was pretty concerned about the level of pixie dust at our table).

I just love this face:

From there, we proceeded to take in as much of Fantasyland as possible, which ended up being all of it, because the Magic Kingdom hours changed, so instead of a 10:00 close with extra magic hours until midnight, we ended up with extra magic hours until 2:00am. 

I have mixed feelings about "New" Fantasyland... I guess they're not actually referring to it that way anymore, but whatever.  Now, part of how I'm feeling about this is undoubtedly influenced by the fact that I am really, really sick.  I wasn't even sure I could do Disney when I woke up, and it got worse as the day went on.  Sore throat, nose running all over the place, asthma kicked in full force, whole body aches.  And I'm grumpy.  Really, really grumpy.  Which is probably why I loved the Seven Dwarves Mine Train...

Beast's castle and Gaston's tavern are less than impressive to me, but maybe I am just bitter about not being able to get a reservation for "Be Our Guest".  Ariel's castle is pretty cool, and the ride is fun, but it seems a bit redundant considering the Little Mermaid show at Hollywood Studios.  Some of us still rode it three times, though.  Miah and I only rode it twice, because we took some time to wait for Elsa, Anna, and Rapunzel.  I'm a little bit sad that character greetings are completely obsolete for "the big four"...

If you've ever complained about the It's a Small World song running through your head all day long, guess what?  Your wish has been granted and the song no longer plays, in excess, at It's a Small World.  I mean, the music is still there, but you are only subjected to the lyrics a couple of times.  In theory, the lyrics are sung in multiple languages throughout the ride, but the soundtrack drowns this out.  As someone who loves It's a Small World, I was kind of disappointed.

Miah has been wanting to ride Prince Charming's Carousel for months, and she got to ride it three times, today.  I think she was pretty happy with that.

I was really worried about the modifications to Dumbo, since this is my all time favorite Disney attraction, but I think it turned out OK.  At least, it turned out well enough to ride it four times and to take more Dumbo pictures than anything else... all day long...  The best part was when there was no line and they let us stay on to ride twice in a row!

How many kids can you fit in one Dumbo?

Three...  Just three...

Or maybe five, if it's the trained photo Dumbo:

We got the pink Dumbo!

Don't judge us.

We have been trying to get the pink Dumbo for years:

The Barnstormer, The Many Adventures of Winnie-the-Pooh (can't believe we all made it in one honeypot),  the Mad Tea Party, and Mickey's Philharmagic were fun, as always.  And I think that only leaves Peter Pan, which had a typical hour plus wait throughout the morning... afternoon... and evening... but finally dropped to 25 minutes during extra magic hours.  I have always liked this ride, but I have never understood why it is the most sought after attraction in all of the Magic Kingdom.

Of course, somewhere between the riding, we watched the Main Street Electric Parade, Celebrate the Magic, and Wishes.  I was super impressed with Celebrate the Magic.  Wishes is, as always, my favorite.  The parade caused a little bit of stress, because we had been sitting in a prime viewing location for about 90 minutes, eating ice cream (while Phil went in search of Ian's lost magic band), when a full grown man decided it was appropriate to push Ian out of the way and to sit on him.  Are you kidding me?  I made mention of this and was completely ignored, which I thought was rather rude.  Perhaps he could have said, "I'm sorry"?  Then, at the very last minute, a couple of other people pushed in beyond the barrier where you are supposed to leave a walkway, and stood right in front of my kids with their cell phones held up above their heads to get some pictures or video or whatever.  I cannot believe how rude people can be.  In the end, we managed to find a way for everyone to see alright.  Geesh!

Who thought this ice cream sundae was a good idea?

We did eat dinner at Cosmic Ray's and ended our night with Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin (again), so I guess we didn't spend the day exclusively in Fantasyland.  Close enough... 

 Lovin' us some Sonny Eclipse...

Well, except Miah...

She thinks he's "creepy"...

But she does love to drink frozen stuff:

These don't really fit neatly anywhere, but...

All five year olds are entitled to a late night

Disney meltdown:

Because sometimes you just need a nap...

at 11:00pm... on a bench...

L.

Pictures Taken Today: 429

I think we finally found the rightful leader:

Sometimes Things Are Different Than We Remember Them...

Today was like that.

It was a good day, filled with experiences that we have been looking forward to... waiting for... some of them for a very long time.

For example, we started out our day at Typhoon Lagoon.  We had not been there in almost ten years, for various reasons.  We remembered Typhoon Lagoon fondly and were a little sad each time we took a Florida trip and couldn't get back there.  And it was fun today.  It was really fun.  But it only took us about four hours to enjoy the whole park, and then we were done.  This is a far cry from how it was with two, four, and five year olds all those years ago...

I'm pretty sure we have now been successfully eaten

by every shark in Orlando:

There were quite a few moments where I heard words like, "That slide was kind of boring..."  It can be difficult to admit that there are some things the "big kids" have outgrown.  Much of Typhoon Lagoon was like that.  However, we did find the Crush 'n' Gusher water coaster slides, which kept us all busy for quite some time while we took turns playing with Miah in the wading pool.

Look!  We're a Hidden Mickey:

Ketchakiddie Creek:

Crush 'N' Gusher

After a stop at the cabin to get cleaned up and reset for the second half of our day (how weird is it that we have now done this two days in a row), Phil, Seth, Grace, Caleb, and Ian dropped Miah and me off at the Ticket and Transportation Center where we caught a monorail to the Magic Kingdom for an appointment at Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique.

The best part of this experience was just having some time alone with Miah.  She was super excited about going to the BBB, although she kept saying, "I have enough hair?"  Honestly, she doesn't.  I was pretty miffed by how her hair turned out, and to make matters worse, I felt like the fairy godmothers in training (yes, they sent two) were sort of snooty about her hair.  There was definitely an eye roll when she told them her favorite Disney princess is Rapunzel.  But here's the thing.  The kid just cannot grow hair.  We don't know why.  And that's OK.  She is beautiful all the time, and she loved her BBB hair, even if I had steam coming out of my ears.  It's about the experience.  I say this all the time, so I guess I'd better be able to suck it up and live into it.

"I have enough hair?"

Miah's eye roll cracked me up:

Seeing her princess makeover

for the first time:

Just hanging out at the castle:

We met the rest of the family at Epcot, where they had been having some fun of their own, taking another spin on Mission: Space and Spaceship Earth and having dinner at the Electric Umbrella.  This makes me smile.  I'm not sure exactly why these are favorite things, but they were happy.  We rode Mission: Space, again, Nemo, and then we found some food, too.  And by found, I mean that it was pouring rain, so Phil ran through the park hunched over Miah with an umbrella and dropped us off, again, at the Electric Umbrella, because that is where she wanted to eat (of course).  He then ran back across the park, in the downpour, to get me fish and chips in the UK, because that's just who he is. 

We considered watching Illuminations in the rain, but in the end exiting the park won out, because we are exhausted.  Honestly, I am also getting sick, which feels extra miserable on vacation and is probably adding to my propensity to be grouchy about every little thing.  I'm almost certain the water at Typhoon Lagoon was teeming with germs.  We'll see how this all pans out... 

L.

Pictures Taken Today: 267