Orlando trip - Downtown Disney & Animal Kingdom

On Saturday, after Connor's last soccer game of the season, we drove to Orlando for our fun family weekend. We ate at Uno's for lunch, then we checked in to our hotel and went to the Rainforest Cafe at Downtown Disney for dinner.

We told the kids they could each pick out a toy on the weekend trip and they decided they had to have their toy immediately, so they each picked out a stuffed animal at the gift shop in the Rainforest cafe. Connor picked out a light blue/green tiger and Paige picked out a pink giraffe.

We got some cotton candy after dinner and walked around and did some people-watching and enjoyed the Christmas decorations.

There was a dance party/competition at the outside stage area in Downtown Disney and we stopped in and watched the show. We all danced a little bit, but it was late and we didn't stay out too late.

On Sunday morning, we woke up and went to the Animal Kingdom. The weather was a little warm, but it was still much nicer than most summer days would be.

On this trip we decided we'd try and see a lot of the things we don't normally do at the park. We rode a train over to the Rafiki's Planet Watch area and did some exploring.

We normally just gravitate towards the rides, but this trip we looked at all the animals and Connor participated in their Wilderness Explorer game. He got a little log book and at various stations throughout the park he would earn "badges" (stickers) by completing tasks.

At the Conservation Station we took our picture with Rafiki and got to see some animals up close.

The animal petting area was probably the nicest and cleanest "petting zoo" that we've seen, but we didn't stay too long since it was a bit gross with all the kids and animals running around.

 

We got a snack, watched the Animal Kingdom Christmas parade, the Nemo show, rode some rides, then we eventually left and went to Uno's for dinner!

Connor took a nice picture of us at dinner.

Overall, it was a good day. Connor's favorite part was the Lion King show and Paige's favorite part was the guy that spun a flaming torch during the Lion King show.

The day was fun, but it was very stressful at times. For our trips, the entire day's enjoyability is based on Paige's mood and behavior. Unfortunately, at the Animal Kingdom, Paige was not in a good mood. She got in trouble and timeout probably ten times from the time we got to Orlando until we were done at Animal Kingdom. There were so many incidents I can't even remember them all, but she got in trouble for not using her manners, kicking Connor in the stroller, and for not listening. On the train ride, she decided she wanted to sit in the back seat and when Andrea asked her to move, she threw a fit and stuck her head and arms out the side of the train. Andrea made Paige sit by her and Paige screamed for the entire ride. I don't think the people around us were thrilled to be sitting by us.

Once Paige starts throwing a fit, it's not something you can snap her out of. It's a force of nature and just has to run its course. Typically it's inconvenient to deal with at home. In public, at an amusement park, it's pretty stressful to wait the 10-15 minutes that it sometimes will take. Eventually, she will come around and get over it, but it's not much fun to deal with. We've found that it's important to stay patient and calm and get through it.

I took a 2 minute video of her during one of her fits.

Thankfully, Connor was on his best behavior throughout the trip. He is so patient and sweet. He definitely helps us all out.

Halloween Trick-or-Treating 2013

Thursday we celebrated Halloween. After school we got the kids dressed up and went out to have some fun in the neighborhood. Our neighbor Gina had a Halloween party and we went over for some snacks, games, and pictures before we went trick or treating. 

We grabbed a group shot with the kids that would cooperate before we set off on our trick-or-treating adventure.

As we should have expected, the trick-or-treating started off with a frenzy of sprinting between houses, unsupervised children running through the streets, and general chaos. Andrea and I worked hard to keep our children going down one side of the street, but it was very difficult to keep things together. Most kids ran through traffic between houses and Connor was irritated that we wouldn't let him go along with the herd. We'd hoped to keep the trick-or-treating down some of the less busy streets, but instead we ended up going right down the main drag of the neighborhood. At least we went down the main street during the first part of the trick-or-treating, while it was still daylight.

Paige and Connor were real troopers. We brought our double stroller in case they got tired, but neither one rode in it much at all. They both wanted to go to every house possible and were not shy at all going up to doors and ringing doorbells.

Some of the houses had really neat decorations, some of the neighbors really go all out!

Grandma and Grandpa Vernon had gotten in town the night before and met up with us.

A few of the kids were pooped before long. We ended up pushing other children around in the stroller most of the night!

 

When we were all done, we went back to Gina's house to make s'mores and enjoy all the candy. Connor got an upset stomach and threw up in the grass. I guess that means it was a successful Halloween... He was fine afterwards, so it definitely appears to be a case of too much excitement, running and candy all together.

When we got home I asked the kids what their favorite part of the night was. They both said that it was seeing the baby kittens. Apparently a neighbor found three feral kitties in their yard and the mother cat was nowhere to be found. Gina volunteered to take them and after we were done trick-or-treating, she brought them to her house. The kids loved petting them and holding them.

Fall Centers - Connor's Halloween party

In the afternoon on Halloween, Andrea and I went to Connor's school for "Fall Centers". The kids split up in to four groups and every few minutes would move between activities (centers). Andrea ran the bingo center and I hung out and snapped pics of the kids. 

They had a snack at one of the centers. I think there were mandarin oranges, marshmallows, whipped cream, apples, and candy corn in the cups. It looked awful, but the kids really liked it. I asked Connor what was in it, and his answer was pretty funny.

It was neat to see Connor in his classroom environment interacting with his teacher and class. He has an awesome school and his teacher Ms Benson is perfect with him.

Halloween parade at Paige's school

On Halloween, Andrea and I went up to Paige's school to see her participate in their Halloween parade and celebration. The kids all dressed up in their costumes and walked around to the parents and trick-or-treated for candy. 

Paige's costume this year was pretty complex and had a few accessories so we put her in her cute Halloween dress instead and told her she was a pumpkin princess. She was happy to wear it and her costume stayed nice.

Pumpkin Decorating

This year we decided to do something different with our pumpkin decorating. The kids are still too young to use sharp carving instruments and carved pumpkins turn in to big bug covered disgusting messes shortly after they're carved up. Andrea thought up using stickers on the pumpkins and the kids loved it. They turned out pretty cute and the stickers have held up and stayed on nicely even out in the heat, cold, and rain.