Disney

Disney World was great! We did realize that July was not the time to go...95 degrees with 45% humidity. The kids were great about it though. Their sweaty little bodies enjoyed every ride they went on and every show they saw.

The first day we went to Magic Kingdom (MK) and headed straight to Tomorrowland. The friends that we went with convinced all the big kids to go on the Astro Orbiter. I had a feeling Tatum and Keaton wouldn't like it, but they begged to go so we let them. Jarrek and I don't do spinning things so they went with our friends. Jarrek and I waited with the little ones. When they got off the ride, Kara was carrying Tatum who was hysterical and Keaton wasn't much better. Tatum swore she was about to die on the ride and Keaton was upset cause Tatum was upset. He also thought he was going to fly off the ride. Lesson learned: Hartsell children do NOT like spinning rides. It was the first day so we went all out and stayed for the parade, fireworks and the extended hours. We didnt get back to the hotel until 1:00 am. 2nd lesson learned: kids are cranky at 1:00 in the morning.

The next day we had our first character meal...Breakfast with Mickey. The kids loved seeing the characters and getting their autographs. It was a pretty hectic meal, but in the end it was worth it. After breakfast it was off to Epcot. It was HOT again and everyone (adults included) was tired and a bit fussy. We rode some rides, saw some shows and headed back to the hotel early for some much needed rest. After nap we headed to the Pirate Pool. 3rd lesson learned: nobody is pleasant after only 6 hours of sleep and alot of walking.

Animal Kingdom was our third park to visit. We started the day off with another character breakfast...Donald's Safari Breakfast. It was a little better, mostly because we had sleep. AK was awesome. The kids loved the Safari ride and even Weston liked looking at the animals. There was a parade that went through the middle of the park. It was so cool! 4th lesson learned: Hartsell children are fascinated with animals. They LOVED AK.

We headed back to MK to catch all the stuff we missed the first day and to have another character meal...Character Dinner @ Crystal Palace. We saw the Winne the Pooh characters. The kids went back and rode some the their favorite rides...Pirates of the Caribbean, Buzz Lightyear. The kids also rode the Haunted Mansion ride, which turned out to be kinda fun. Before we rode it they were worried it would be scary, but when it was over they thought it was kinda funny.

Next it was Epcot again. Too much to see in just one day. My favorite ride there was Soarin'. Keaton and Tatum liked the flight simulator ride. Tatum and Kayla also got to get their hair done at the Bippity Boppity Boutique for their Princess Dinner that night. While the girls went to the boutique (which was in Downtown Disney) the guys hung out at Epcot and did some male bonding. We stayed for the light show which was awesome. 5th lesson learned: Take it easy.

Our last park was Hollywood Studios. There weren't many rides, but we saw several shows which were great and inside ;-). Keaton had been talking about the Stunt show since he saw the promotional DVD Disney sent us months ago. So, of course we had to go see it and it was worth it. Tatum wanted to see the American Idol Experience. We headed back to the hotel early, had a little dinner and went swimming. It was a nice little family time.

On our last day in Disney we went to Downtown Disney to do a little shopping. It was nice to just relax a little. Keaton made a Star Wars light saber, Tatum helped me fill a giant Mr. Potato Head with Disney characters and Weston grabbed everything he could.

All in all it was a great trip! We are actually planning on going back...in about 4 years! Weston will be 5 and can really enjoy it and Tatum and Keaton will be old enough that they can go on rides by themselves.



Pictures coming!