Winter fun

 Here are some pictures from some of the fun things the past few weeks.

Cookie Decorating.  The kids and Troy decorated the cookies this year.  I was stuck in the bedroom with Covid.

I made a pinata for Sunday School. We were learning about Las Posadas--a Mexican celebration of Mary and Joseph's journey to Bethlehem.

We visited Aunt Mary to celebrate Christmas with her.  We just went up for the day. we enjoyed chatting, opening gifts and having Pizza Hut lunch together.

Timothy is getting taller than everyone!

Troy and I went out on a "date" to the Live Natvity.

We did some caroling with church members on a Sunday afternoon.

I made gingerbread houses for the kids to decorate with friends.

It has been a full and fun December.  I am thankful for all the experiences we get to do!

Disney part 3

 Friday was our second day at Magic Kingdom.  I was feeling ready to sleep in, but the kids are pretty set on trying to rope drop.  We were on the first bus and were right close to the drop.  That was great...but we ended up having to wait for 30 minutes.  No secret early entry.  But we did make it to Seven Dwarves Mine Train right away for a short wait.  Before the park got too busy, we were able to get on some of our favorite rides.  And we got a LL for Jingle Cruise.  Jingle Cruise is the same ride, but with Christmas jokes!  

The crowds waiting for rope drop!

The Magic kingdom.

Our ride on Haunted Mansion was kind of an adventure.  We had a LL and got on quickly.  We were just a short distance into the ride when we stopped.  We assumed it was just someone needing more time to get on or off the ride.  But we sat awhile and then they shut off the sound and turned on the lights.  Then it was announced we would have to get off the ride. As we walked out, we saw an older man being attended to by EMTs.  We were bummed to get off and hoping the man would be okay.  We were given an extra LL for this.

After a lunch stop, we were all a little tired, but we did a few more rides and Monster's Inc.  Teresa finally got her churro and Timothy tried a root beer float.  The afternoon consisted of several rides on Splash Mountain, one Dumb ride! and Space Mountain for the 3 coaster fans--excluding Mom!  We spent the evening at Pop Century--no night shows this night.

Riding Dumbo!

Three brave riders on Space Mountain.

Our final day was at Hollywood Studios.  We once again set out early.  We got a LL for Slinky dog and decided to rope drop different rides.  The girls went to runaway railway and the boys Tower of Terror.  Of course the boys had a delayed opening for their ride.  Teresa and I went on ours and then had time for Toy Story mania.

The boys wait for the Tower of Terror.

The girls wait to enter the park.

Teresa got the courage to try the Rockin Roller Coaster with Troy and Timothy.  She was nervous, but loved it and went one other time during the day. 

Teresa conquered the coaster!

We had lunch reservations for the Sci Fi Diner.  It was kind of a neat atmosphere...with a drive in vibe.  But we also did not sit facing each other, so that felt a little odd.  I am glad we tried it, but this was not my favorite of the three.

Lunch at the drive-in. Teresa and I had Mickey pretzels.

A favorite treat of the week--Peppermint Milkshake.

We did go back to the park for the night show at Hollywood.  We got there about 30 minutes early.  The show was in a huge amphitheater and it was a combination of water, lasers, characters and music.  It was a 30 minute show and pretty amazing.  The kids both liked this one best!

A few of the characters in Fantasmic.

Enjoying the park at night.

It was a wonderful week and one we will not forget!  We were all sad to have to pack up and go.  But really we were probably too tired to dwell on being sad--since we left the hotel at 4am to catch our flight.  Thankfully everything was on time and we were home by mid morning.  We are thankful for another wonderful family trip!

Disney Part 2

 Day Four was at Epcot.  We like the parks that we get to ride the Skyliner to.  It seems easier than the buses and less crowded--you always get a seat on the skyliner.  Troy and I have gotten pretty good at snagging the favorite Lightning Lanes and today we had to try our luck at the LL and the virtual line for the new Guardians of the galaxy ride.  Our team work paid off.  Troy got a morning pass for Guardians and I got Test Track.  

Epcot!

Our rope drop destination today was Remy's Ratatouille.  We got a good spot in line, but the ride had some technical issues and had a delayed opening.  We waited it out and within 30 minutes we were riding.  It was a bit drizzly, but after the ride it stopped and no rain the whole day! Remy's was fun--sort of ride like Mickey and Minnie's Runaway Railway.  Fast moving individual cars.

Waiting for Remy's.

We waited awhile for Soarin, but thankfully a few gummy bears make the wait doable! Then it was on to Test Track.  The wait was not bad with our LL.  But right when we sat down and buckled in they announced a delay in the ride.  We blamed Troy and Timothy!  Thankfully it was only a few minutes and we were going.

We had an early lunch before our turn for Guardians.  The wait was not bad for the new roller coaster.  We were thinking it might be long like the Star Wars waits, but happily it was not.  Troy and the kids loved the ride.  I appreciated that it was pretty cool technology for a coaster, but could have been okay with a ride a bit shorter.  I needed a few minutes to sit after that ride.  Which brought about a favorite memory--the raisin lady.  Teresa was finishing a nut pack and offered raisins to us.  The lady sitting near us stuck out her hand and not knowing what to do, Teresa handed her the raisins!  The lady was very talkative and told us she was a producer and she had a new show and how she did me a favor by keeping Friends on the air.  It was funny and awkward!

Lunch before the Guardians of the Galaxy. 

Waiting for the ride.

We survived the Gaurdians of the Galaxy ride!

After another turn on Test Track single rider we rode Spaceship Earth.  We laughed at the man trying to take flash photos in the darkest area.  Very annoying!  We made a second stop at the free soda area before heading to walk around the countries.  Teresa really wanted churros, but the line was super long.  Troy instead found some Dole Whip, which both kids opted to try. Pretty yummy!  We did not look at a whole lot, but Teresa checked out the Corgi's in England and Troy got an English beer. Then it was back to the room to rest before returning for dinner and the night show.

Dole Whip: watermelon and pineapple.

We went back to Epcot for dinner at the Mexican pavilion.  The big Aztec pyramid that has the 3 amigos ride also has a restaurant.  This was our first time dining in a Disney Park and it was great!  We got a table right by the river for the ride.  The atmosphere was very pretty.  Three of us got kid's menu food, and Troy got an adult dinner.  So I would rate the food okay and the atmosphere really fun.  After eating we rode Frozen next door in Norway and came back for the 3 amigos ride.  Then we waited for the fireworks.  The light show was pretty amazing over the water with the music and lights and images.  I think it was my favorite show.

Dinner at the Mexican Pavillion. A table right on the water.

The light show at Epcot

Thanksgiving day was at Animal Kingdom.  An early start as usual and this time we did make rope drop and got on Avatar with out a terrible wait.  We then did the safari.  Teresa sat on the side that did not have good view of the animals, so she and I went again while Troy and Timothy went to Everest.  The line took awhile, but eventually we got on and we all met up for the bird show again.

The Animal Kingdom Tree.

Teresa wanted to ride Everest, so they all went and I waited As I had put in my one ride already!  When they were done, we found a table for lunch.  Lunch today included lefse to make it a little special for Thanksgiving!  We went to the petting zoo, but the animals were all eating, so much petting going on.  Timothy had seen a Yeti Sundae he wanted for a treat.  We found the stand and ordered up 2 for the kids.  When we picked it up there were 3 sundaes.  The gal working said she made an extra by mistake and wished us a happy holiday and to enjoy the extra!  We headed back to Pop Century for a break.

Thanksgiving lunch.

Yeti sundaes...with one extra!

Around 4:30 we were back at Animal Kingdom, for our 5pm dinner reservations at the Yak and Yeti.  The atmosphere there was nice, but the food was very good!  Troy had curry Timothy a hamburger, Teresa mini corn dogs, and I had egg rolls.  We all thought it was delicious! Non traditional Thanksgiving, but memorable! 

Thanksgiving dinner Disney style!

After dinner was very fun too.  Timothy went a couple times on Everest--in the dark night sky this time.  Troy joined in too.  Then we all went to Kali River Rapids.  There was no line, so we all rode twice.  The kids stayed on for a third ride!  When leaving the park we happened upon a light show at the big tree!

Disney Vacation Part 1!

 We spent our Thanksgiving holiday in a different place this year.  We opted for FL instead of MN.  It was the best week we could find that did not have Troy and I missing much work and the kids not missing much school.  On the down side, we knew it would be very busy at Disney.  On the plus side, we would get to see the parks decorated for Christmas.  We decided to go for it, and it was wonderful as always.

Hanging out for 4 hours in the airport.

Our start was a little rough.  We were up early to head to the airport for an 8:30 flight.  Upon arriving we learned our flight was delayed due to a bird strike.  The plane flying to Iowa got hit by birds.  To play it safe they had to turn the plane around and get a new plane.  We ended up waiting at the airport for 4 hours.  But we did make it to Disney arriving around 6pm.  Not quite what we planned, but we were happy the flight was not cancelled.

Pop Century Tree.

My first worry at Disney is my grocery order.  There is always something a little off.  The first trip, they couldn't locate the order.  The second trip there were a bunch of odd substitutions.  On this trip almost everything was in stock, but we were given a dozen eggs and breakfast sausages that I did not order.  But we had our food and it fed us well for the week!

We were in the 90's section by the computer pool again--on the fourth floor.  We had hoped to go to Disney Springs, but our late arrival kept us at Pop Century for the night.  We unpacked a little and then got some dinner.  We went for a walk after dinner but opted not to swim.

The Computer pool.

Our first day was at Animal Kingdom.  We were up and at the buses at a good hour we thought, but we missed rope drop and Avatar was a long line by the time we got there.  We skipped that and went to Everest and the Safari instead. It was drizzly after the safari and a bit chilly.  We donned our ponchos and tried to warm up in the gift shops.  Troy treated Timothy to a Starbucks to help warm him after lunch--the boys were in shorts!  by afternoon it was a steady rain.  Troy and Timothy decided to go on Kali River Rapids, while Teresa and I headed back to the room.  I spent a good while trying to dry out shoes that afternoon!

Trying to stay warm at lunch!

Posing with Everest in the background.  A favorite ride!

In the evening we ventured out to Disney Springs.  It was fun to see the decorations and stop in some of the shops.  Teresa bought a dog at the Happy Hound and Timothy saw a sweatshirt he would later buy.  I was afraid it was going to rain, but it never did. Troy and the kids swam for a short time.

Taking pictures of one of the many Disney Springs trees.

A cute bunch making a first visit to Disney Springs!

Checking out the Coke Store.

On day two we went to Magic Kingdom.  Again we thought we were up early, but there was a long line for the bus and we missed rope drop.  I got to do Small World instead of Seven Dwarfs!  We got on some favorite rides with short lines and used our lightning lanes for others like Big Thunder and haunted Mansion.  I also got to see the Monster's Inc. show for the first time and ride the People Mover! 

    Riding the People Mover.

Magic Kingdom!

We had lunch in a similar area as two years ago.  This spot had the hungry birds which were entertaining!  We also caught a little bit of the parade. by late afternoon we had gone on a lot of favorites, so we went back to Pop to rest.

Watching the Ibis birds eat french fries and not green beans!

After dinner we returned to Magic kingdom for the fireworks.  The boys also went on Space Mountain.  The fireworks were fun to see. And since they were at 8:15, we made it back to our room by 9pm.

The castle at night.

Our third day was a Holly wood Studios.  We finally got the rope drop down and made our way to Mikey and Minnie's Railway.  We had a short wait and were on the ride.  Troy and Timothy tried to do Tower of Terror while Teresa and I shopped.  Unfortunately the ride broke just as the were seated on it.  Huge bummer, but they did get a free LL which they used on Rockin Roller Coaster--which became Timothy's new favorite.  This became the running joke that anything Troy and Timothy were on would break!  We enjoyed some favorites like the Muppets, Indiana Jones, Toy Story mania and Slinky Dog.  We skipped a lot of the Star Wars rides, but did do Star Tours.  Troy and Timothy waited a really long time for a second Rockin Roller Coaster ride.  Teresa and I waited around.  We should have returned to Pop.  After dinner we returned to Disney Springs again.  Timothy bought his coke sweatshirt and Teresa got a water bottle. 

The boys waiting to enter the park.

Girls Selfie!

Coke to remember my dad on November 22nd

On the Skyliner on our way to Holly wood Studios.

Waiting for a turn on Slinky Dog Dash.

The Hollywood Studios Tree!