Our Disney Vacation - Day 1

What an exicting morning! We were all up early and in good moods. We had been marking down the days until Disney. Jackson wrote "less than 7 hours till Disney" on the board. We fed everyone, packed the car and headed toward the airport. We will meet Papa, Grandma and the kids at the airport in Orlando. The flight went much better than I anticipated. I was so afraid we would be the family with the screaming kids, but all three were wonderful. Cooper even slept most of the flight!





We park our car at the Parking Spot and take the limo to the airport. That was a HUGE deal for the kids.

The kids in their Disney shirts from Papa and Grandma.

The boys proudly and excitedly showing off their shirts in the airport.

The boys sat together and the girls sat on the aisle across from them. Poor Cooper fell asleep within 10 minutes of takeoff both coming and going.

Jackson, ready for his drink!

Ainsleigh of course didn't sleep but talked the ENTIRE flight. She was very good, but busy. She was very concerned about getting her drink. We had some turbulance and didn't get our drinks until late in the flight. I bet she asked 100 times where her juice was.

Ainsleigh, Jackson, Cooper, Kennedi, Aidyn, Brendan and Bailey - ready for Disney! We met them at the airport and then headed to the cabins.

Our cabin at Fort Wilderness

The bed had Mickey's head made from a towel. We randomly got different animals during our stay.

The kids were very excited about the bunk beds!

Ainsleigh and Kennedi on the boat ride to Epcot for dinner. Don't you love how Ainsleigh wears her sunglasses??

No nap, 9:30 or so at night and the energizer bunny is still going strong!

With a nap, he still gave it up around 9:30! Poor thing!!

Disney -Day 2 - at the Magic Kingdom

We headed to the wonderful Magic Kingdom today. The kids were just wide eyed and could have gotten whiplash from looking at all of the things at the park. We took the boat over and arrived at the end of the opening show and the dancers were counting down 5 - 4 - 3 - 2 - 1
to the opening of the park. Very dramatic entry that was not planned! Wow, where do we start? There was just so much to see and take in. We first headed to Splash Mountain and Big Thunder Mountain Railroad roller coasters for the boys. They walked right on each one. The babes and I had fun watching for the boys to come down the "mountains" as Cooper said. We went to ride Dumbo, It's a Small World and others. It was just "magical" as they say! Dinner tonight was with Cinderella at The Grand Floridian hotel. The girls got dresses, crowns, shoes and more while the boys got shirts, swim trunks and more from Papa and Grandma. The girls got all dressed up in their dresses, shoes, and had spray glitter in their hair. Check the next entry for pictures. Lots of fun was had by all!

My baby who just turned 8!

Big Thunder Mountain

Waiting to ride Dumbo

The boys wanted the Dumbo with the green hat.

When we got off Dumbo, we noticed Pinocchio hanging out so we went to get his autograph and picture. Ainsleigh refused to even get close.

Mom and Cooper waiting for the People Mover ride.

Mr. Cheese waiting for a drink.

Daddy and his crazy girl!

Mom and Ainsleigh did pretty well on the Buzz Lightyear ride. Not as good as the boys though.

The castle lit up at night. The kids loved that it changed colors. How cool!

Disney -Day 2 - Dinner with the Princesses

Check back....I need to get pictures from Papa and Grandma

Disney -Day 3 -at Epcot

We spent the day at Epcot. We rode the boat and Mono-train as the kids call it. Once we got there, we hit the Character Spot. We got to meet Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Pluto and Goofy. It was so much fun and the kids actually got close to the characters and talked to them. We then hit Turtle Talk with Crush. That was worth the wait. It was so cute. We had lunch with everyone and took the little ones home. They were having "moments" as Papa says. They were tired and needed a break. Taylor stayed with Brendan and Jackson to ride more rides.


The kids with Minnie. She was Ainsleigh's favorite.

The girls...Taylor thinks I look not so happy.

The Riggs Family waiting for Turtle Talk with Crush.









Mater and Lightening

Lightening McQueen

Mater looking cool!

Disney - Day 4 - Hollywood Studios

Disney - Day 5 at the Animal Kingdom

Today, we took a bus from the cabin to the Animal Kingdom. It was so much fun. The kids loved all of the different animals. We headed to get our fast pass for the safari ride. The wait wasn't all that bad, but with 7 kids, the fast pass worked wonders. While we were waiting for our time to ride, the kids ate (of course) and the girls had their faces painted. The boys hit a roller coaster while the kiddos rode some smaller rides and saw the Musical Finding Nemo which was extremely well done. The kids loved it. After Nemo we met up with Grandma's daughter Kara. She is a brave soul to come meet our family at Disney! We ate lunch, rode a few more rides, went to the petting zoo and headed home because we were all tired. Today was Taylor and I's 13th anniversary. Papa, Grandma and Kara kept the kids while Taylor and I went to Citrico's at the Grand Floridian for dinner. It was nice to eat a full meal without having to take three kids to the bathroom!







Ainsleigh sat as still as I have ever seen her while getting her face painted.

She was a beautiful kitty cat!

Kennedi and Aidyn got their faces painted too. Don't they look beautiful?

We are off on our safari. Jackson and Brendan were checking out the guide to the animals that was on the ceiling of the jeep.

An island of penguins (according to Ainsleigh).

This is a crazy tree that only has leaves a few months out of the year.

I wish I would have paid more attention to the animal key on the jeep. The kids call these reindeer, but I know that isn't right.

A really tall giraffe who was eating leaves from the trees.

This was one of the jeeps that we rode in through the safari.

Look at those antlers!

We saw a baby elephant too.

A flock of flamingos.

The rhinoceroses were funny. One was rolling around in the mud which made the kids laugh.

A wildebeest

The lion was perched on a rock while we were there.

Ainsleigh and Cooper on a ride like Dumbo but we were riding Dinosaurs...ROAR as Cooper said.

The kids at the Dino Play Park.

Taylor, Jackson, Papa and Brendan rode this water ride. They loved it and got soaked on a hot day.

Taylor, Jackson and part of Papa (sorry I cut him in half!)

Jackson and Brendan soaked and ready for more water play!

We found fountains for the kids to play in since some of them were too short to ride the water ride. Bailey, Aidyn, Kennedi and Jackson got soaked and loved every minute of it.

Ahh, the petting zoo. Cooper is my cautious, mild child. Ainsleigh on the other hand had no fear. She would chase the animals as they tried to get away from her!

Cooper finally got close enough to pet the animals. One animal was laying down and Cooper said "Looks like he is in a bad mood. Maybe we should leave him alone" as Ainsleigh charged after him!

Ainsleigh and Jackson

Ainsleigh screamed "Twins like me and Cooper".
















They really did like petting those smelly animals!














This picture is small, but this was a ice cream treat after some major hand washing.

Poor Cooper, he fell asleep again after a long hard day.