
We're in the magical land of Disney! The five of us were invited to spend a week with the in-laws at a Disney resort, complete with Disney park passes and meal plan, so we took the kids out of school (haha) and headed for sunny Florida via Amtrak.
The Auto Train was surreal. We got on, spent a few minutes in our tiny closet-sized room, then spent the rest of the evening in the lounge eating dinner and watching Narnia. I put the baby to bed back in the room, the Boyz watched the rest of the movie and went to bed also, in pull-out bunks above ours. We woke up in Florida, had breakfast and got off the train about 30 minutes from Orlando. Unbelievable!

We met the rest of our group and ate lunch at the Old Key West resort, then headed for the Magic Kingdom. We had a fun luau-type dinner at the Polynesian resort and did a bunch of attractions, but not nearly all of them.


Day 2 was spent at Epcot, which was very cool. Everyone enjoyed the Spaceship Earth ride that traced the history of communication from the cavemen to today - especially me, having spent the last 4 years studying world history with Numero Uno in the homeschooling realm. Also interesting were The Land and The Living Seas exhibits - it's all good stuff. We ate in Mexico and spent a little time looking at the other "countries" in the World Showcase, then came back so the bigger boyz could swim at the resort before bed.

Day 3 was awesome - I got to take Numero Tres for the whole day by myself while the bigger two went outlet shopping with Dad (hey, their choice - I thought they were nuts!) I got to experience The Magic Kingdom through a three-year-old's eyes, which is probably the very best way to do it. I mean, the kid probably really believes we're sailing over London in the Peter Pan ride when he looks down. Unfortunately, he hasn't seen the movie Peter Pan in recent months, so he had no idea who these people were, even when I tried to explain it, which is why my mom has been bugging me to show him these silly movies for the last few weeks...

Well, thanks to Mom, he DID know about Cinderella, so he was thrilled to see her ordeal finally end as she was crowned Princess on the steps of the castle with all of her princess friends in attendance today. We munched on chicken fingers and applesauce near the steps while we watched the festivities together.

After numerous failed attempts to contact the hubby and big boyz via walkie-talkie (I did manage to contact several other families on the thing though...) we hopped on the Monorail and headed for Epcot. Eventually we met up with the rest of the gang in Germany for dinner, which was a tasty buffet with live Oom-Pah entertainment. Afterwards, we saw the American Adventure animatronic/movie experience which was cool, especially for Numero Uno who believes he knows everything about American history already. We stayed for the fireworks this time, which were spectacular of course.


After dinner, the grandparents and baby niece went back to the resort and we hung out with my sister & brother-in-law. We did the Peter Pan ride again, then took Numero Dos on the Stitch escapes adventure, which made him cry because Stitch the Alien gets loose and spits water on you while you're locked in your seat in the dark. I didn't like it much either, to be perfectly honest, but I was impressed with the effects. We made it up to him by going on the Buzz Lightyear ride again, which was probably the favorite of the Boyz.



The best part of today was after we put Numero Tres to bed and took the two big Boyz back to the Magic Kingdom. Did you know that if you stay at a Disney resort, the park sometimes stays open for you until 3 a.m.? Neither did we, until tonight! We only stayed until 1, but it was a lot of fun, going on whatever we wanted with hardly any lines, no heat, pretty lights and fireworks... it was a good time. After midnight, I think they sprinkle some kind of fairy dust on the place, because we all started to feel quite silly and wacky. Numero Uno finished his collection of signatures on his big hat with Goofy and Donald and we got some really nice pictures.

Finally, it was time to go. I would have liked another day or two - there were a few things I wanted to see at Epcot still, and we didn't go to MGM at all. We took the Auto Train back, feeling more relieved than ever that we didn't have to drive. I am wiped out. They must spray something in the air at Disney World - Pixie Dust or something - that keeps you feeling happy and energetic while you're there. I didn't get a single full night's sleep, but I still woke up feeling good every morning and walked 10+ miles every day without feeling fatigued. Today I woke up on the train feeling groggy, and I've been sluggish all day. I guess I'm feeling Pixie dust withdrawal!

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