Tales of a Fulltime Mom: Epcot

Yes, we did it. We finally made it back to Disney World. When I use that phrasing it makes it sound like it was something that I was hoping to achieve when the reality is that I probably could live a perfectly contented life never going back. Actually, that sounds really harsh. I don't have anything against Epcot. It is a perfectly nice park and you can learn quite a lot there, in fact. So I think I'll save my Disney bad-mouthing for when we got to Magic Kingdom when it's 95 degrees out and we're being jostled by millions of people.

We have not been to a Disney park in nearly three years and we only went then because we had gotten free tickets from my cousin. The kids, being kids and all and living in Orlando where they are constantly bombarded with Disney stuff, have been begging to go back. We finally succumbed when I worked out an agreement that we would go in place of having birthday parties (I really hate doing birthday parties). They have a special Florida Resident "deal" where you can go to three parks for just the low price of $xxx. Ugh. I hate to even say the number. But it's that number times five and before you know you realize it you have just spent practically more money than it would take to fly us all to Boston if we were to find a good enough deal. This is why we only go every three years (or, part of the reason, at least).

The deal is only good through the beginning of June so it looks as though I'm still going to have to have a party for Colby. Darn it. But it also meant that we had one extra park to go to so we decided to use it to go to Epcot this past Sunday to celebrate Maddy and Kohlden turning five. The Isidros, of course, have annual passes which we absolutely don't judge them for getting (promise Allen!). Some people like Disney, some people don't. Some people like Super Bowl winning football teams, some people don't. We are all different.

The day actually went really great. We were there right when it opened at 9:00 am and hit up pretty much all the rides within the first two or three hours with virtually no lines. Soarin' had a line of 90 minutes so we decided to skip that one. It was a tough decision but we thought Colby would probably only make it for about 60 to 70 minutes of standing in line doing absolutely nothing.

The first ride we did was the "big ball" Spaceship Earth and the ride has a little interactive story at the end complete with your picture. This was their favorite thing about the whole day. Calleigh and Colby were on the ride with me hence their pictures.

I thought Colby would cry when we saw the characters since he didn't like the Easter Bunny but maybe he is more comfortable with these guys since he's seen them on TV.

Poor fella didn't even make it to lunch.

In the early afternoon we met up with the Isidros and Clarks so we could do Test Track together. You are able to get three fast passes in advance and that was one of the ones we got since that line is always so bad. Duncan wasn't feeling his very best so he volunteered to stay with the boys (they weren't tall enough) and Maddy in a playground and I got to go on the ride with the girls. I'm sure that ride has been there for decades but I had never gone on it and it was admittedly quite fun.

Brady and Maddy playing while we were gone.

These girls were so excited to go on Test Track together.

You get to design your own car and this is what Aubree came up with.

Calleigh works on hers and Braelyn's.

Aubree loves to be part of the "older girl" group.

After that, we hiked over to France where the Isidros were kind enough to get us all ice cream cones to celebrate the big day since no one had snuck a cake in. The rest of the clan then went on their merry way afterwards and the Grodacks were left to wander among the countries. About this time was when the "I am SO hot," "I'm SO tired," "When are we going to go on another ride?" "I'm SO thirsty," complaints starting rolling in. Had we been at a park where we had an annual pass, Duncan and I would have looked at each other with glee and said "It's time to go!" But this time, I said "We aren't going home. We are staying here and you are going to LIKE IT." We met the Bergherms at Canada to watch the movie and when we came out, the weather had taken a turn and it looked like it was going to storm at any minute. We decided that was our sign to go and we started running for the exit. We made it just as big drops started hitting us and literally 30 seconds after we got into the van, it started pouring. Whew. So, we were there for 7 1/2 hours.

WHY does his favorite flavor have to be chocolate??

Waiting for the Chinese acrobats to start.

Just in case someone comes to EPCOT who has NEVER gone to the bathroom before....they have you covered.

That didn't take long. Wow, that's a giant Croc.

This week Aubree and Brady started swimming lessons. Aubree took lessons two years ago (when she was four) from a college student that came to Ron and Elaine's pool. She was swimming by the end of it and later in the summer but somehow over the winter, she lost it all and never got it back. For whatever reason (I'm going to blame Colby though), I didn't pursue more lessons for her last summer. I've pulled myself together this year though. I didn't want to have to drive to Ron and Elaine's again so I had come to the reality that I was either going to need to go to someone's house or go to the YMCA. To do the Y, though, you have to actually go there IN PERSON to sign up. That's right. Physically go there. What?? Not to be outdone, I tried signing Calleigh up for a class (not swimming!) at Jo-Ann Fabrics. And you know what I had to do? I had to call someone on the PHONE and register. Arghhh! I absolutely hate not being able to do stuff on-line. Isn't is so annoying having to actually talk to people to get things done?

Anywho, a couple of weeks ago someone named Robin had posted an ad on Next Door (basically the equivalent of Facebook for communities) about teaching swimming lessons. Since this person lived in the next community over, I thought it was perfect. I called and left a message and then the person called me back. I was expecting a women in her 30's but I got a man in his mid to late 50's! Now I know how everyone feels when they think they are going to be talking to some dude named Corey. I will admit that I felt just a tiny bit strange about it being a guy doing the lessons but I asked for references and googled him. As it turns out, the first reference he gave me was for a guy I used to work with at FH so there you go. I talked to him and he gave a great reference. Robin works during the day so we are doing the lessons in the evenings at 6:30 which works out well because Duncan is usually home and one or the other of us can stay home with Colby.

Aubree is doing well but strangely she is only able to swim underwater, or with her head breaking the surface, at least. Robin assured me this will eventually change so I'm going with it. Brady is getting used to putting his head under water and is already doing really well at floating (with assistance). Hopefully he'll be swimming at the end of the eight lessons. They are each doing a 30-minute lesson by themselves. Calleigh is in heaven because she's getting to just swim around for that whole hour.

Our other activity of the week was going to the Zoo on Wednesday for a special homeschool class on Amphibians. Did you know a frog can only eat something that moves? If a fly is dead, he won't eat it because he can't see it. Just one of the many interesting facts we learned. We also learned that Florida has the second highest population of Bald Eagles (second to Alaska) which I was really surprised to learn. And yes, Bald Eagles are NOT amphibians but they brought one in at the end to show us, nonetheless, and it was really awesome to see one that close. It was full grown and only weighed 8 pounds which was another thing I didn't know. I thought they were much heavier since they are so large.

Colby was smitten with this frog. He would laugh hysterically every time it jumped.

Seeing how far they could jump compared to different species of frogs.

Getting a stamp for her "passport." They had to go to eight different booths that had various activities.

Their favorite station....making their own button.

Pretty awesome.

A Grodack selfie on the train.

Tuesday I had a dentist appointment and the kids were at Ron and Elaine's for several hours. Elaine encouraged me to take my time so I stopped and had lunch at Panera by myself and it was so lovely. Quiet should never be underestimated. As far as the dentist, everything is pretty good but they reminded me that at some point I really need to get an implant for my front tooth that has the crown on it. I will have to put that on my ginormous "To Do" list.

Today we we did yard sales, of course, and it was a fairly routine day. I'm only mentioning it because of what happened with Brady towards the end of the outing. We were at one particular sale out in the boondocks of Longwood. Everyone had gotten out at this sale but then Brady decided to go back to the car. It wasn't that far and it was a dead end street with nothing happening so I said he could go back. We shopped for a few more minutes and then the rest of us headed back. Aubree was in the lead and all of a sudden she let's out this bloodcurdling scream "BRADY PEED ON MY TABLET!! AAAAAHHHHHH" Sure enough, when I got to the van, I could see the tablet which had been placed dangerously close to the potty upon Aubree's exit from the vehicle, was noticeably damp. Brady had a sad little look on his face and said "Sorry, Mom." It was so sweet so I couldn't stay mad. His claim was that he had called out that he had to go potty but we didn't hear him so he took, uh hum, "matters" into his own hands and went in the potty without assistance. Or, sort of in the potty as it turns out. This sort of thing just doesn't happen with girls!! That flailing appendage causes all sorts of problems. Aubree was in a downright panic but I assured her that pee was actually sterile and that we could wipe it down and it would be okay to use. Then Calleigh chimes in "Yeah, Aubree. Pee is actually more sterile than water." Uh yeah. Don't think that's true but thanks for trying to make her feel better.

Another Brady pee story. We were playing hide and seek one night this week and there was this big buildup for it since we hadn't played it in awhile. I was the first "It" and I went into the laundry room and counted to 30 and came out to find the rooms eerily silent and empty. As I walked through the living room and into the dining room searching fruitlessly high and low, I suddenly see this figure stand straight up on the serving table thingy. It's Brady and he says "I peed on the table." I hadn't been searching for more than 30 seconds but I guess he just couldn't hold it. By the way, Duncan had hidden him up there behind a plant...he did not climb up himself.

What would my blog be without some smarty mouth comment from Calleigh? When I was at Ron and Elaine's picking them up Tuesday this is what happened...
Me: "Alright kids. We need to go. We need to get home and have school."
Elaine: "So Calleigh, what are you going to do for school this afternoon?"
Calleigh: "Probably complain."

Check and check.

While we were walking around at EPCOT, this conversation happened.
Me: "Girls, this is Norway. There used to be this cool boat ride here but it's closed and they are building a new Frozen ride."
Calleigh: "Cool! Will it be here when we come next time?"
Me: "Yes, probably."
Aubree: "When are we going to come here again?"
Me: "Oh, most likely not for a long time. It's pretty expensive to come. I would say we will probably be back in another three years."
Girls: "Yes!!"

Isn't it nice when they have such low expectations?

A few more pictures...