Disney World Day One- Magic Kingdom

Our first full day at Disney was spent at Magic Kingdom.  We had a breakfast reservation at "Be Our Guest" restaurant, which is in the Beast's castle, to kick off our morning.  Scott was feeling a little better and was trying not to miss out on anything, so he came along with us.  We arrived at the park in time to see the characters come out and do their little show for the park opening.  Once we entered the park we walked down main street and admired Cinderella's castle on our way to breakfast. The castle is truly magnificent and was one of my favorite things at the parks.  Breakfast was yummy and the Beast's castle was very cool- like what you would expect for a movie set for a real-life version of "Beauty and the Beast."  They even had an enchanted rose and it looked like it was snowing out the windows! That was about all Scott could take, so he rode the bus back to the resort and the kids and i set out for a morning of rides and fun.  We rode Journey of The Little Mermaid, Goofy's Barnstormer roller coaster, and a couple of the classics- Dumbo's Flying Elephants and It's a Small World.  After grabbing some lunch at Cosmic Ray's Starlight Cafe and watching a parade on our way out, we headed back to the resort to check on Scott and have a little bit of down-time.

The view of Cinderella's Castle walking down Main Street.  The park was all decorated with Christmas trees, wreaths, and lights for the Holidays

Quick pic of the kids in front of the Cinderella's Castle before breakfast

in front of the enchanted rose in the Beast's castle

Breakfast at Be Our Guest restaurant 

Beautiful stained glass window at the Beast's Castle

Our first ride at Disney- Under The Sea- Journey of the Little Mermaid!

Do you think we like the castle? I took about a billion pictures of it!

Judson participating in Enchanted Tales with Belle

Judson going up to the front to play the part of Chip

  

Judson and Belle

Scott was feeling much better after getting some more rest and we headed back to the park mid afternoon to use some of our fast passes.  That afternoon we rode Peter Pan's Flight, which was one of my favorites because it was so visually stunning.  I have to hand it to Disney on making you feel like you are immersed in the world of the story on their rides.   After that we used our fast pass for an interactive experience called Belle's Enchanted Tales.  The little cottage was very impressive as were the animatronic, talking characters like a magic mirror, the Wardrobe and Lumiere the candlestick.  Judson was chosen to participate in the story telling and got to be Chip the teacup.  He really enjoyed going up to the front to play his part and to have his picture made with Belle.  The girls and I tried a delicious pineapple Dole Whip for a snack and quickly saw why the are famous.  After eating that, I was already plotting out the next time I could get one! That evening we ate Mexican food for dinner at Pecos Bill Tall Tale Inn and rode several more rides including The Haunted Mansion, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, and the Mad Tea Party.  Judson used the first bit of his souvenir money from Mimi and Poppi to buy a light-up, coloring changing Mickey staff.  Very fun, especially in the park at night!

With Rapunzel's tower in the background

They had the castle all decorated in white lights for Christmas.  It looked like something from "Frozen".

Avery and Kendall loved the night-time version of the castle

riding "Mad Tea party"

Surprise! We're going to Disney World!

We had been telling the kids for several months now that we were going to Orlando for a perio conference, which was true, but they had no idea that we were actually planning a trip to Disney World!  We picked the kids up early from school on a Friday and brought them back to the house to reveal the surprise before heading to the airport.  As Scott videoed I told the kids we had something for them to wear while we were in Florida.  I opened the box of Disney MagicBands to show them and explained that they were for Disney World!  They were lots of squeals and screams, follwed by a few I-can't-beleive-it "what's?" and then Avery saying, "Are you sure?".  It was such a fun surprise and the kids were all giddy with excitement.

Our magic bands- Bedicheks are Disney-bound!

ready to check in at the airport and begin our adventure

All was fine and well until shortly before we boarded the plane and Scott began to feel sick.  Turned out he had a stomach virus and had to endure the flight, waiting for me to get a rental car, and driving to our hotel before he could go to bed.  Poor guy!  Luckily he had nausea medication with him and so he only got sick once, but he was really miserable and it was less than ideal for me to have to handle all the luggage and getting the rental car by myself.  But somehow we survived, and we arrrived at our hotel,Art of Animation, in time to get some dinner and explore. We stayed in the Lion King Family Suite, which was so much fun for the kids and well-equipped for our needs as a family of 5.

After grabbing some pizza at our hotel restaurant, I took the kids to explore all the different areas of the hotel with the giant statues, pools, and playground-type areas, which included Lion King, Little Mermaid and Cars areas.

This served a table by day and pulled down to reveal a bed for Judson by night

there was a walking bridge leading to some of the other resorts across the lake

The elephant graveyard from the Lion King area was a little playground. The kids were climbing around on the tusks.

The kids in front of the Ursula statue in the Little Mermaid area of the resort

Kendall and Judson by King Triton.  The statues were absolutely HUGE and so impressive.

Volleyball and Football Wrap-up

Avery and Judson both finished up their fall sports this month.  Unfortunately, Avery's team lost in the first round of playoffs, but a pizza party at Double Dave's helped smooth over the disappointment a little.  Avery received a trophy and also an award from her coaches for "Most Improved Serve."  She was really proud of her progress and really proud of her award.  Judson's football season also came to a close in November.  He had a fun time playing and was thrilled with getting his very first trophy.

November school events

This year, the girls had a 50's dress up day at Granger.  Im not sure whether it was part of Red Ribbon Week or if it was maybe to celebrate the 50th day of school?  In any case, the girls had a lot of fun wearing poodle skirts and ponytails (or pigtails)!

Also in November was the third grade field trip. This year they did something a little different and went to tour AT&T Stadium where the Cowboys play.  The kids had all worked in groups to use what they had learned in science about force and motion and came up with exercises for the Dallas Cowboys to use in training.  They were able to present these as well as have a lot of fun playing on the field while they were there.  

Last of all was the annual Turkey Trot race.  Avery and Kendall both ran hard and finished in the top 25 in each of their respective grades.  Avery was so busy talking to friends afterward that I didn't get many pictures of her!

Halloween 2015

Halloween lasts for several days around here with Judson getting to wear his costume for school and the girls getting to wear costumes for Hero Day at Granger.  Judson went as The Incredible Hulk (minus the face paint).  Avery dressed as Queen Esther for Hero Day, and Kendall went as Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz.

On Halloween night we did our usual "Connemara Lane -style"  party in the Childress's driveway with lots of kids from our street, plus a few others.  We had pizza, fruit, and goodies, and then took the kids trick-or-treating around the neighborhood while some of the adults stayed back to pass out candy.  The kids had tons of fun and got oodles of candy as always.  Avery swapped her Queen Esther costume for  a bee costume , which was really fun since she was also a bee when she was 6 mo old. Kendall stayed in her Dorothy costume since she adored it so much and The Incredible Hulk (Judson) got to have his face painted green for Halloween night.   I think they were some of my all-time favorite costumes for all of them!