Wow I have been busy I guess and have not blogged in a bit. We flew to Orlando on Dec 16 and stayed in a hotel near Disney World for six nights while we enjoyed five days at the parks and really loved the warm weather. It was in the 70s and 80s all week which was perfect. Some of us had to buy sunglasses because we did not pack ours. I could have worn shorts if I had packed those. I did wear capris. So our impression of Disney World...all of the parks have a few really cool attractions and all have a few we don't really care about so one is not a lot better than another to us. However, Epcot felt old and outdated. They are not keeping up with technology in some areas. The whole world thing at the back was not impressive to us. They need some cool rides or shows to go along with it and actual authentic food. The kids did love the rides Soarin', Mission Space, Test Track, and the one inside that big globe. We also liked the ride that took you through their greenhouse. It was interesting and we would have done the more in depth tour but it was closed by the time we thought to do it. I really hate it when parts of the park close before the rest. Avery loved the Nemo show at Epcot and we all enjoyed looking at the manatees in the aquarium there. This made me feel better about deciding not to go swim with the manatees. There just wasn't the time and energy for it this trip and half of us didn't want to do it and would have been really bored while the other three did it. Bradley and Ish went with the scouts while we were there though and had a good time even though it stormed on them that night while they were camping out.
Since we have been to three other Disneylands, Magic Kingdom was nothing new. Well they did have a few things the others don't but it was so dang crowded I just couldn't enjoy it. The electrical parade was cool and we stayed for the fireworks and castle show at the end of the night. One more thing I didn't like about Magic Kingdom was that you can't go in the castle and there wasn't really any attractions that were not rides. It's fun when they have things you can just walk through and look at or play areas and such, not just all rides with long lines. They do have the Tom Sawyer island and that was nice and fun and not crowded. You have to ride the raft over to it and I think people just overlook it. They also have the Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse but we have seen it a lot of times and it's just extra stairs and you can't really play in it, just look at it. I was also surprised that once I had paid to park at Magic Kingdom I still had to take the boat or monorail to the park. It doesn't have parking right at it that you can walk to. I don't like that because you can't go to your car to get something easily and when you leave you have to fight crowds on the train or boat.
Animal Kingdom was fun and not too crowded. We have been to lots of awesome zoos so the animal part was nothing new but still fun and they had some fun attractions like the Bugs Life show and Expedition Everest which Avery was not happy I made him ride because it went backwards. It's a roller coaster but not a crazy one but it goes through the mountain and makes you think the snow monster is after you and then it looks like the tracks have been destroyed and you can't go further and then sends you back down the mountain backwards. Avery did not like this element of surprise. The other kids love the coasters but only Aiden likes the ones that go upside down. I liked how this ride and some others take you through a building with museum like displays to look at while you are in line. I was a little bummed when there was no line and I had to keep going instead of looking at the displays. They had some nice gazebos where you can get your picture with the characters. This makes a much better picture than just having them randomly in the park. We convinced Cory to speak to Donald Duck with his voice and it was funny. I think he just said Merry Christmas to him. The characters are not allowed to speak because of course they do not sound like the cartoons but Donald made a gesture with his arm as if to say, you got me you can say it better than I can. hee hee Cory rarely does his duck voice. It's funny. He usually pretends he can't do it and doesn't know what you're talking about.
I enjoyed Hollywood Studios the most. I was surprised. I had no expectations and no one has said much to me about it before. I like that it is more shows than rides. That means more sitting and less standing and waiting in lines. The new Star Wars Star Tours ride is fun and I wish we had ridden it several times because apparently they have like 50 something different experiences so it might be different every time. The kids loved the little show with Darth Vader and Storm Troopers. The kids loved the Honey I Shrunk the kids playground. We had just watched the movie a week before. The Indiana Jones show and the stunt car show were real fun too. The end of the night show Fantasmic was amazing! We were in awe. Avery was so overjoyed he came over and gave me the biggest hug at the end and told me how much he loved it. The Beauty and the Beast musical was pretty good too and would have been even better if Aiden and Tristan had not gotten into a full out punching fight right before it started. I was so embarassed. They wouldn't stop. I thought they might kill each other. We had to pull them apart. Cory refused to intervene and told me to ignore them so I got mad at him too. Other parents were trying to make them stop before I could get down to where they were sitting. Crazy boys. I guess they were tired and grumpy. That sort of thing doesn't happen often. We really liked the Tower of Terror ride. It's a freefall ride but you are in the dark and don't know when you will drop and it keeps dropping you randomly. It's scary but in a fun way. I was giggling and screaming. Avery and Lidia thought it would be too scary and didn't want to ride it. Afterwards Avery declared it his new favorite ride. I'm not sure Lidia was convinced though. Cory and Aiden were able to just get to ride the Rockin' Rollercoaster before closing and they loved it. I didn't get to ride it because the other three were chicken because it went upside down. Cory and Aiden said it was a good smooth coaster, their new favorite. After all the rides shut down we went over to the Christmas lights display and it was amazing! I loved it. So many lights and they changed with the music and fake snow was blowing. It was great.
We drove up to Dothan on Saturday. It's a nice easy drive, mostly freeway, which is nice when you have to go 5.5 hrs. Tristan declared how nice and relaxed he felt in America as we drove along the freeway. We stopped at a little shop on the side of the road near the state line and bought yummy boiled peanuts, a rebel flag, and gator jerkey. The jerkey tasted like any other but it was fun for the kids to say they had eaten alligator and we brought some back for a few friends here. I also brought back a little bit of American candy or "sweeties" as they say here for some friends. I didn't really shop much like i thought I might. The stores were pretty wiped out and it's just easier to shop online and get it in the mail.
We had a good Christmas and it was nice to spend time with my family and the kids always love to be around cousins. Lidia loves playing big sister with all of her little girl cousins, Aiden and Bradley pal around together as do Tristan and Jackson. Avery enjoys everyone but also likes to do his own thing a lot. He just doesn't understand Morgan at all. It's rather funny to watch him around her. I guess I shouldn't laugh but he gets mad at her and is afraid she might bother him or something that he's playing with. He just can't understand how someone can't help doing things at that age. He did let her sit close to him when they were all absorbed in a video game though. I always enjoy just hanging out with my family. It was good to see my dad and sisters again. We missed Micah! It's strange not having him close anymore. I hope he's nearby when we move back to UT. We went to the movies a few times since it's something to do there to get out of the house and it's cheaper there. Cory and I saw Les Miserables and we all saw Life of Pi. I am still debating wether to see the Hobbit or not. Both movies were good but not as good as I hoped and the more I think about Life of Pi the more I hate it so I just won't think about it anymore. If I had read about it more before I probaly would not have gone to see it. We saw Wreck it Ralph too. It was fun and cute. We ate lots of good American food. It was yummy but not so amazing. We are adjusting to eating here. I think going back to the states made the younger two a little homesick but for me this is home rigt now and I was happy to get back to my space whereever that may be. Vacations are great but they also make you happy to get back home and settle back into things.
Oh I am super happy that we baptized Avery in AL with family. It went really well. It was small and simple and relaxed and happy. Lidia and Aiden gave the talks and did a good job. Avery was excited and a bit antsy but managed to pay attention I think. He wanted to conduct the meeting but we let Brother Hall do that. Heather played the piano and I lead the music. Heather gave the opening prayer and Dad gave the closing. Dad and Ish were witnesses. The water was nice and hot. Avery was quiet but brave and went right under the water then came up and raised his arms up high like a champ. He did it and was so proud of himself! He says now he can do it again and again at the temple like Lidia and Aiden do for the dead. He also loves his flashlight he got as part of Lidia's Holy Ghost talk. We got blizzards at Dairy Queen right after his baptism and then we changed clothes and went to Outback for dinner.
We also celebrated Lidia's birthday while there. We had lunch at Olive Garden and had presents there but Lidia didn't want cake so we decided to make brownies but then we forgot. Oops! The YW celebrated with her here Friday night and had brownies though and I will make her some too now that we are home. So her big birthday surprise was that we got her an ipad mini! She doesn't show much emotion but I could tell she was very happy. She had been complaining for a while that she needs a new ipod touch. She had my old one which was the first one that came out and it's getting outdated. Some newer apps and movies will not work on it. I just ignored her or told her to save her money and buy her own. But what I really wanted to say was I got you something even better for your birthday because you are sweet and helpful and never ask for anything. I kept my secret though. I can't believe Lidia is 15!
While we were away some friends of mine that are now stationed in Germany came and stayed at our house and had a nice time visiting England. They left us a basket full of German chocolates and treats which are so yummy. I won't be buying chocolate for a while. They also tidied up the house so I came home to nice clean house. I think it was even cleaner than I left it because they dusted but I didn't. I'm glad they had a good trip.
We got home later than expected Friday because once we got to our car at the airport in long term parking, it wouldn't start. It said immobilizer error. Darn computers in cars! They can be so nice but so annoying because it's not something easily fixed. It requires the dealer and their fancy software. So after calling AA and him trying for a few hours to repair the car we had to have it towed to the nearest dealer and we had to rent a car to get home. It was a very expensive day. Insurance gives you $50 a day towards a rental but the one we required was 200 a day. Insurance gives you $100 towards a tow. We will see if that covers it. The car repair will end up who knows how much. I hate unreliable cars so much. My dear old Sienna never gave me a lick of trouble except for the one time we had to replace the belt but that's normal wear and tear. I should have bought a Toyota or Honda. I guess we will get the car back later this week. No one gets in a hurry here. I knew all of our trip had just gone too smoothly.
I slept so good Friday night but I guess I slept too long or my internal clock is just fighting my desire to sleep regularly. I slept twelve hours Friday night but then Saturday only four hours and last night only one hour. I took a nap yesterday but only a couple of hours. I think part of ot was anxiety. I never sleep well the night before going back to school after a break. It's silly but I get nervous about getting everyone there on time I guess. The kids are sleeping fine, normal hours. I think maybe Lidia's body is giving her a bit of jet lag though because she acted so tired yesterday at church and today she begged not to go to school but I made her go. She cried and had a little tantrum and said he felt dizzy and lightheaded but I just told her to eat and go. Anyone who makes such a fuss is not really sick. I did make Cory drive them to school as sort of a compromise though. They will have to walk home though because I can't drive Cory's little cheap car that I don't care for anyway. The boys seemed happy to go back to school. They were bright eyed and bushy tailed this morning. My only real goal today is to try and stay awake most of the day. Maybe I can take a two hour nap then go get the boys from school and stay awake till bedtime and then actually fall asleep. I hope Cory is managing at work all right and will be OK to ride his bike home. He insisted on riding it today. I thought he should drive. It's not as cold here as it was before we left so that's nice.
I don't really want to even think about another trip right now but if we are going at Easter we gotta start planning. I think we are going to Italy. I need to talk to a few people and do some reading. We are also looking at going to Scotland this summer and maybe a quick trip to Holland to see the tulips this spring. I gotta see what our time and budget will allow.
Oh right before we left Avery got sick again. I went to get him from school on Thursday and he was sitting at the table in his class with his head down. I was surprised the school had not called me earlier because his teacher said he had acted like he felt poorly all day and that he was really cold when they went outside. When I felt him he had a fever and he was coughing a lot and he started crying and gagged and vomited. I hurried him home and then called the school and asked them to tell Tristan to walk home himself since I couldn't wait for him. I took Avery to the doctor that night and he put him on antibiotics. He said he thought he had a sinus infection. Luckily he felt better soon after starting his medicine and was all right on the trip. While in AL I came down with a sinus infection too and had the local doctor call me in some antibiotics whcih helped a lot and I got better before heading home. Cory and the other kids got congested but never a fever and seem to be getting better. Tristan has quite a cough though. I need to give him some mucinex and if it doesn't clear up soon take him in to the doctor.
I was able to go see my Nana while in Dothan which was nice and on New Year's Eve my cousin Joely and her family met us for lunch and then we went to the movie Parental Guidance which was fun. I always like Billy Crystal. Then we hung out at Mel's house for a while and her daughter, Emma, stayed for a sleep over. Her son Adam just turned 18 and is a senior. We used to babysit him some when he was a little guy. Now he is a grown man. Crazy. I also went by and saw my friend Natalie and her mom Janie. Avery played with her son, Garrett who is the same age. They are moving back from Switzerland. We also took the kids to the miracle playground like three times. It's pretty much the only good park in Dothan.
