My Nephew's a Teenager

Yesterday, my nephew Brady turned 13. I still remember very well my sister telling us she was pregnant with him in the Oak Park Mall. I remember the night he was born seeing him about 2 a.m., and how Mom and Dad and I drove all over Kansas City looking for a motel room and finally wound up sleeping on the floor of Kim and Dan's apartment. I thought he was the most wonderful baby I'd ever seen, and I think it's probably the first time I really knew (had some physical proof) that God existed. He's always up for playing ghost or monster with the girls he's surrounded by (two sister and two girl cousins), and Uncle John loves playing XBox with him. Happy Birthday, Tater Man.

Olivia's Vocabulary

I thought I'd give you a break from Disney to tell you a couple of funny stories about Livvy's vocabulary. This morning we took Emery to the Dr in Topeka (both ears are infected again!), and we were in the bathroom changing her diaper. Olivia said, "Mommy, I saw one of those things hanging on the door. You know, apricots?" I was a little unsure what she was talking about - apricots hanging on a door?? "You know, apricots. They were green suits and yellow shirts." Now I'm getting really confused, and Olivia is getting increasingly frustrated with my inability to follow her. "Well, I don't know if it's called apricots but it sounds like that. You know, they pick clovers." Finally, the light bulb goes on. "Oh, a leprechaun?" I ask. Of course. It does kind of sound like apricots, now that she mentioned it.

This afternoon while Emery napped we were playing hotel. I was checking in all of the various dolls and stuffed animals who were visiting the hotel, and Olivia was the maitre'd. We have a cash register with a microphone, so I would get on the microphone and page Olivia "Maitre'd, can you please show Elmo to room 216" and so on. Later on, Olivia was tired of being the maitre'd and wanted to be the front desk clerk. So she said "Mom, can you be the Sandra Dee for awhile, so I can check people in?" That was a good one too. That girl.

"My Disney Vacation" by Olivia

I thought it would be fun to hear about Disney from Olivia's point of view, so I'm going to type while she talks. She's going to pick the photos for the post too.

"The picture is of the Barnstormer. The ride was very, very fast. It made me go "Wah, ah, ah, wah!" It made me scream kind of. It was fun. I want to ride it again the next time we go to Disney."

"I want to tell you guys about when I went on Test Track. Test Track was very fun. You should get on it because it was fast and fun. My mom did it."

"Emery was very unique about Disney. She didn't ride on Big Thunder Mountain or anything. Me and my mom and my dad went on that. Emery loved Winnie the Pooh."

"In the picture of Grammy and Daddy, they were drinking mint tea. We were in Morocco. I loved the belly dancer."

"My favorite ride was Splash Mountain. It had a very special drop that my mom didn't know about. She was really, really scared. But I wasn't, I loved the drop. You got wet."

My Favorite Day - Magic Kingdom

For me, Magic Kingdom was the best park. Each park has a lot to offer, but for pure family joy, this park was it. We had such a great time at Magic Kingdom. Olivia rode her favorite, favorite ride - Splash Mountain. Emery loved all the rides she went on (which was all but two). Grammy enjoyed Pirates of the Caribbean with Capt. Jack Sparrow. My favorite ride was

Big Thunder Mountain Railroad 'cuz it's basically a roller coaster for wimps. It was gorgeous weather, and we rode most of the rides with little wait. It was just so much fun watching the girls experience it. That evening offered up the most magical moment of the trip - Olivia meeting Cinderella. We went to dinner at 1900 Park Fare (big thanks to Aunt Kim for setting it up) and all of the Cinderella characters were there. Cinderella was going table to table greeting the guests and it took her quite awhile to get to us. Olivia was getting more and more excited as she got closer to our table. Finally, she got to our table and greeted Olivia and Chesney. Olivia was being kind of shy. Grammy said, "Olivia, did you tell her you love her more than any other Princess?" And Cinderella just lit up, hugged Olivia and gave her a kiss. That was it for Liv - she was over the moon. She got Cinderella's autograph and pictures taken with her. As Cinderella walked to the next table, Olivia couldn't contain it any longer -- she jumped up and down and clapped her hands and squealed. John and I both got misty-eyed over that. The pictures tell it better than I can, so I'll let them do the talking now.

Photos from top: Olivia crashed out after a long day with her new Disney friends and her dog, Fudge. Walt Disney and Mickey Mouse in front of Cinderella's castle. Emery's first pair of Mickey ears - she's thrilled. Chesney and Olivia meeting Cinderella. Olivia's first pair of ears. Kim, Emery, and I meeting Prince Charming. Grammy and Olivia on the Buzz Lightyear ride - you had lazer guns to shoot targets and I kicked John's butt! Emery checking out everything during the It's a Small World ride.

Day Two - Disney MGM Studios

Our 2nd day was spent with the Lunds at Disney MGM Studios. It was John's favorite park, as far as the look and atmosphere went. He loved all of the old Hollywood stuff. The restaurants were good too. We started the day with a Playhouse Disney breakfast where Olivia got to dance and meet the stars of Jojo's Circus and Little Einsteins. Olivia and Jojo are pictured above. Then John and Dan rode Tower of Terror, but I chickened out. John's favorite ride of the day was Rockin' Roller Coaster -actually, it was his favorite ride of the whole trip. Olivia had fun at the Honey, I Shrunk the Kids playground, especially since she got to play with Chesney there. We got lots of attention for our Incredibles shirts, but the highlight was definitely when we got to get our picture taken with the actual Incredibles. That was fun. I included one more pic, of Olivia and Emery taking a break and enjoying frozen lemonades. They really look like they're having a deep conversation, don't they? I liked The Little Mermaid show and our dinner at 50s Primetime Cafe. The seating areas actually look like your in your mom's 50s kitchen, and the waiters make sure you use your manners and eat your veggies. Olivia's favorite thing that day was Star Tours. It was a lot of fun to meet up with Grammy and the Lunds and spend the day together!

Our First Night - Epcot Center

Our first night in "The World" was perfect. The weather was perfect - the crowd level was perfect. When we arrived in Epcot Wednesday night, we walked straight on to the Finding Nemo ride. Then we hopped over to see Turtle Talk with Crush, where Crush from Finding Nemo interacted with the kids in the audience. It was a fun show. The best part of the night, however, was walking around the world showcase. Epcot is so fun and interesting, and we didn't begin to scratch the surface of what they had to offer. But we did like touring the countries, especially Morocco. That's where we had our dinner reservation for the evening, and you truly felt transported to a different place. The food was good, the atmosphere was amazing, and the service was excellent. John, Olivia, Grammy and I pigged out and Olivia had fun dancing with the belly dancer later on. It was a great way to start our vacation, and I think it was everyone's favorite meal while we were there. In Japan, John just had to buy a glass of sake. It took him about three drinks to decide that was $5 down the drain. That stuff tasted like poison. Oh well, we enjoyed the music in Japan anyway. We headed back to the hotel to get some sleep, but I was too wound up from finally getting there to actually sleep. The pics are of Olivia and the belly dancer, my family outside the restaurant in Morocco, and the Epcot ball (which houses Emery's favorite ride - lots of pretty lights!). Tomorrow....an Incredible day.

We're baaaaack!

Walt Disney World was amazing!! Olivia cried when we left this morning, cried on the plane, and I wanted to (but I didn't). I'll be blogging a lot in the next few days with lots of pics from the trip, but I wanted to post a few of our highlights tonight. Top Photo - Olivia meeting Prince Charming at our 1900 Park Fare dinner. I have lots more great stories and photos from this event. It was one special night!! 2nd Photo - The Incredibles gather at Disney MGM Studios for a day of fun and food. This was taken outside 50s Primetime Cafe where the waitress repeatedly called John "Mr. Elbows" because he always had his elbows on the table. 3rd Photo - Emery with Mickey antenna on. This was taken at MGM. I always like to buy silly headwear when I'm in Walt Disney World. 4th Photo - I just posted this because I can't believe I survived it. This is Expedition Everest at Animal Kingdom. It's really tall and really frightening. The coaster goes forward and backward - in the dark - with a scary Yeti screaming at you and grabbing for your car. But I lived!!