Family – Page 41

Star Wars!

June 28, 2017

After our fun morning, we had something even more fun planned for the afternoon! Robert, the boys, and I, along with Keath’s family, signed up to do the Star Wars Guided Tour! It was a 7 hour adventure where we got to do ALL of the Star Wars stuff at Hollywood Studios including meeting all of the characters, riding Star Tours, Jedi Training, and marching with the Stormtroopers! We also got a LOT of facts, background info, and stories about Star Wars (which I probably could have done without but, it was interesting). We were all pretty excited about it because it guaranteed that we got to do everything – as long as the weather held out! The #1 thing the boys wanted to do was Jedi Training…and that’s the one thing they won’t do in the rain! It was threatening all afternoon and evening but, clearly the good side of the Force was with us because it all worked out!

It was fun to get to be a VIP with official Star Wars credentials!

star wars

We were in a group of about 30 and had headsets on the whole time so the guides could talk to us and tell us important facts! We got to go into all of the movies, shows, and rides with no waiting. It was pretty cool! Right off the bat, we got to meet Darth Vader! The boys’ reactions were PRICELESS! There was no joking around with ole Darth and, in case you’re wondering, he does not sign autographs!!

darth vader

Spencer’s eyes!!

darth vader

We also not only got to see the Stormtroopers march down the street being lead by Captain Phasma, but we got to march with them as well!

captain phasma

Captain Phasmo even spotted Maxwell and gave him a serious look over…wonder if it had something to do with that Stormtrooper shirt he had on?

stormtrooper

I think she must have reported him because at dinner that night, Maxwell almost got put into jail by the Stormtroopers! Thankfully they let him go after a thorough inspection…

stormtroopers

After dinner we finally got to do Jedi Training! This was the most exciting and best thing ever!! The boys were outfitted…

jedi

and then got to get up on stage to learn the ways of the Jedi!

jedi

Spencer was the youngest of all the kids and got a little extra special attention! 🙂

jedi training

They all learned how to wield that lightsaber!

jedi training

One of the most important light saber rules was to hold it down when not fighting. Spencer had a little trouble remembering this and by the fourth time the Master Jedi had to say “Spencer, put your lightsaber down” everyone in the audience had to laugh! ha!

They also learned to use the Force…

force

and then two villains came out! Darth Vader and the Seventh Sister Inquisitor. All of the young Jedis got to fight one of the villians…thankfully we got to fight Darth Vader!

darth vader

Spencer went up, down, and around with that light saber!

darth vader

spencer

Maxwell had some serious moves to fight off Darth!

darth

The power of the force was too much and Darth Vader retreated…

jedi training

darth

But then Kylo Ren came out!

kylo ren

Pretty sure Spencer was terrified…

jedi training

and Maxwell thought it was awesome….

jedi training

and they then both dutifully used the Force once again to drive Kylo Ren away!

jedi training

Have you ever seen such fierce (and cute!) Jedis?!

star wars

jedi training

Jedi Training was my favorite thing we did the entire trip. The boys loved it and it was worth every penny spent to get us there!

jedi training

The fun wasn’t over yet! We then got to ride Star Tours and then got to meet more characters while also enjoying the the Galactic Spectactular Dessert party! We got to meet Chewie…

chewie

Spencer continued to be skeptical of all characters! ha!

chewie

The kids meet BB8 and thought that was pretty cool…

bb8

and then, against Maxwell’s wishes, we met Kylo Ren! Scary!

kylo ren

We then got to watch the Galactic Spectacular fireworks show from a reserved area. It was the MOST fun day for our Star Wars loving little Jedis. I’m so glad we got to do it all and didn’t have issues with the weather. Like I said, the Force was with us!

See you tomorrow with Magic Kingdom fun!

Disney

June 27, 2017

We just got back from a two week stay in Florida where the first three days of that were spent in Disney! It was super fun as always but this trip included some pretty special treats and experiences! We loaded up and headed out Friday morning…

trip

and got all checked into the Grand Floridian. I attempted to get Samantha to take a nap while the boys enjoyed the pool. We then all headed over to the Polynesian Resort to go to the Spirit of Aloha luau!

disney

luau

disney

It was fun to see the hula dancers and we all loved the guy twirling fire! whoa!

luau

As another special treat, we got to see some of our cousins! My cousin, Amy, and her family and parents (my dad’s brother) were all there too! The little girl cousins all had matching Moana dresses…

luau

and everyone loved getting to meet baby Bennett for the first time!

disney

laua

What a fun crew!

cousins

We chatted for a while after the show was over and our kids had no problem taking over the stage! ha!

dance

We then stopped in the lobby and got a caricature done of the kids. I have one of Maxwell and Spencer from a few years ago and wanted one with all three. They of course wanted Star Wars…

caricature

cute! Though I can’t say that looks much like Spence and where are Samantha’s Princess Leia buns??

The next morning came early because we were over at Hollywood Studios before “rope drop” to start a day of fun! When they let people in, Robert and I made our way to the front and headed directly to Rock N Roller Coaster. We were one of the very first ones to get on! Success!

rock n roller coaster

GJ stayed back with the kids and met Donald! Maxwell was pretty excited to have an autograph book this time and got the signatures of all the VIPs!

donald

We then all met up and got to see Daisy!

daisy

Autograph! check check!

daisy

We then stopped for a group photo on Hollywood Boulevard, of course!

hollywood studios

We then all had Fast Passes for Toy Story and the Frozen Ever After Sing Along! After Toy Story we all took a quick break for water and bathrooms and, next thing I knew, Spencer was gone. GONE. We had all been standing together by the strollers but then crossed the pathway about 12 feet over to get into some shade. I thought he followed us but he did not. By the time I realized he wasn’t with us, he was nowhere to be seen. We all took of running in different directions screaming his name. I found a cast member to let them know and they immediately got me to show a picture of him to alert all cast members in the park. While I knew we would definitely find him – he had his Magic Band on with all of his info on it – I was still terrified and panicked. Robert took off looking for him and kept going down to the front of the park – much farther than I thought Spencer could have gone – but, there he was. Spencer had made his way all the way up to the shops on the Hollywood Blvd!! Robert saw him walking out of a store with a cast member who had seen him alone. I think it really scared Spencer – maybe not as much as it scared me – but he sure was good to hold our hands the rest of the trip! Phew…between the baseball game and now this, we need to be more careful!

We then headed into some air conditioning to sing along to Frozen!!

frozen

Samantha thought it was awesome but really just wanted Elsa to be on stage the whole time! 🙂 We then had lunch at the Sci-Fi Dine-In Theater where the kids basically had milkshakes for lunch! Ah, vacation!

sci fi

After lunch, we met the two main VIPs! Minnie and Mickey!

minnie

Autograph! Check check!

minnie

mickey

GJ then took Samantha back to the hotel to attempt a nap while Robert and I took the boys on another ride before our special adventure! Unfortunately, the ride was NOT Maxwell’s favorite to say the least! We convinced the boys to go on Tower of Terror which, in hindsight, was perhaps a mistake! ha! Spencer really did fine – he was scared but also thought it was pretty awesome. Maxwell did not do fine. That poor boy screamed as if he was in fear for his life…because he was! Terrified doesn’t even cut it. Robert might disagree but I have to share this pic…

tower of terror

Oh, poor sweet Maxwell! He might never let us forget this…and might never do another scary ride again!

We then took it easy on the Great Movie Ride before running over (in the pouring rain!) to our special adventure! See you tomorrow to tell you all about it. It was out of this galaxy! 🙂

Father’s Day!

June 16, 2017

A special post for a few special people! Wishing the very best day on Sunday to our Granddaddy in Alabama…

faterhs day

our Granddaddy in Arkansas…

granddaddy

our Daddo in Florida…

daddo

and our absolute favorite Dad at home!!!

dad

With all of you we get plenty of wisdom and knowledge (sometime more than we need!), lots of laughter (with a few corny dad jokes thrown in!), and more love than we deserve. We love you all very much and are so thankful for all of you!! Happy Father’s Day!