Well this last month or 2 (or 3 or 4) have been a whirlwind for us. We started house hunting which was fun but stressed us out most of the time and we FINALLY went to Walt Disney World!
We left on January 27th at night and drove our way down the I-75 to arrive in Florida on the following Tuesday. My in-laws have a time share vacation club thingy so that is where we stayed. It was a cute little condo apartment on the main floor with 2 bedrooms, 2 baths a full kitchen and a laundry room. After we got settled in Shawn and his mom went grocery shopping while I bathed the kids in the "bubble tub" (jacuzzi). They loved it!
On the Wednesday we headed for the Magic Kingdom first thing in the morning. We were there for the opening of the park which is a big song and dance number. My first peek at Cinderella's castle brought me to tears as the realization of a life long dream was finally coming true. The first ride we went on was the Haunted Mansion. After we got off we were thrilled to learn that we had won Disney fast passes to all the major rides and shows for the day. We wore lanyards with cards that had rip off tabs for each place. It was nice to be referred to as the "dream family" all day. We met princesses and Mickey and Minnie and lots of other characters. It was great that they were all out there so you could have that interaction with them.
Mickey's Philharmagic is really cool. A lot of shows are 4-D which means not only are you watching a 3-D show but there are accompanying surprises like water or smells to make the experience just that more intense.
Jenna had a wonderful experience meeting her favourite princess, Jasmine. She was so good to her and spent a ton of time with her. Aladdin was there too and he was great. He kept trying to find Apu in the tree's for her, but he kept hiding...silly monkey. Ethan met the one and only Jack Sparrow and became part of his crew. I think he would make a great pirate one day. Ask him how to fight...it's fun!
The day ended with a remarkable fireworks show. Tinkerbell even made an appearance flying from the top of the castle! It was simply amazing!
The next day we went to the Animal Kingdom. This was Charlene (the MIL's) favourite park. We went on some really cool rides there. One where we were attacked by dinosaurs and then another where we were nearly eaten by the Yeti!
The animal kingdom tree with hundreds of carvings on it!
Expedition Everest - the Yeti lives there beware!!
The Lion King show was so much fun with acrobats and lots of great music. I love how interactive this place is! Again we met lots of great characters and saw an awesome parade. There is a great safari ride there where you feel like you are literally in the Savannah. There are trees there nicknamed the "upside down" tree because they grow little foliage and the branches look like roots. We saw a lot of wildlife that day which is great because you are always afraid they will be napping.
Our next Disney park was Typhoon Lagoon which isn't so much a Disney Park but is one heck of an amazing water park. They have a wave pool like nothing I have ever seen before! I have ventured into many a wave pool in my day but this one had tidal waves you could literally surf on. I got knocked on my butt so many times it wasn't funny. Not to mention....it doesn't make you look very cool! They have a water roller coaster tube ride. That was a lot of fun and Ethan's favorite ride of the day. Unfortunately for Jenna she was a bit to short to ride. Shawn and I ventured on many a waterslide and even went snorkeling in a mini diving area. It was nice and relaxing to just scull the water and look at all the live vegetation and the beautiful sea creatures there. We even convinced Nana to go on a water slide....no small feat I might add!
Then off to Hollywood Studios, formally the Disney MGM studios. This is a great park for all the movie buffs out there! There is a great ride that takes you into scenes from various films like Casablanca and Wizard of Oz. Really well done. There is also the Tower of Terror and the Rockin' Roller Coaster....great thrill rides (and trust me with this place being geared to small children thrill rides are hard to come by!) Jenna got to be part of High School Musical and become a Jedi Knight...much to her big brothers dismay! And can I just say....Darth Vader.....kind of intimidating! The night ended with an amazing fireworks and light show called Fantasmic. It featured some of Disney's greatest villains ever. Ethan loves his villains!!! By the end of the night the kids were exhausted and we carried them to the car.
No joke....that dude is scary!
We took a couple of days off and went shopping, hung around the pool at the hotel. The kids did some crafts and we generally took it easy and recharged the batteries for the rest of our vacation.
Our next Disney experience was EPCOT....probably my favourite after the Magic Kingdom. It is the one park where you actually feel like you are being educated while having fun...just don't tell the kids that! ;)
Soarin' was our first ride and it was amazing! We loved it. My MIL and I got freaked out at one part on Honey I Shrunk the Audience....I won't spoil it for those who have never been, but I dare those who have to guess which part I am referring to! We toured the World Showcase and thoroughly enjoyed seeing the different cultures. From the Mayan Temples of Mexico to the Terra Cotta warriors of China. Then off, to the immense patriotism of the USA and the drummers of Japan. Jenna and I tried on Kimonos while we were there. It took a lot of self control to not walk out there with my arms full of japanese clothing....it is truly gorgeous! Then off to France, the UK and finally Canada. There were other countries in between as well. We saw a show about Canada and hooted and hollered with Canadian pride through the whole thing. I think people thought we were nuts but we all know that Canada is the greatest country in the world! We saw a Finding Nemo show which was fantastic as well as the Finding Nemo ride. We went riding on test track which Jenna loved. She's a little thrill seeker like her parents! We took Ethan on Mission Space as well (you can call me Commander Rachel LaFrance!). And of course we rode the iconic Spaceship Earth. The night ended with Illuminations, a fireworks and light spectacle over the World Showcase lagoon
Our last Disney day we spent back in the Magic Kingdom. We went on the rides we loved and tried out some new ones (in the tiki tiki tiki tiki room!). It was nice to finish our trip where we started. We didn't win those fast passes again though! LOL
I have wanted to go to Disney World for as long as I can remember. I had a book with photographs of all the different rides and a stack of 45's with the songs from all the Disney Movies. I would spend countless hours in my room listening to my records and flipping through my book. This trip was a culmination of a lifes dream for me. I am so happy that I waited to share it with my children and my husband. The Disney spirit really comes alive in their eyes.
Well, enough about that, now onto the next chapter in the life of the LaFrance Family.
Once we got back from Florida we got into full house hunting mode. We have this amazing real estate agent, Frank Russumanno. He is a saint and we all love him to death! He took us to house after house after house. Finally at the end of February we found "the one". We put in an offer and after a little "finaggling" the house was ours! We are so excited! We've waited a long time for this. It's a great little 2 story in Stoney Creek. It has 3 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms and even a pool in the backyard! We fell in love with it immediately! We aren't moving until the kids are done school so it been a trial of our patience to say the least! We are dying to finally get into a home of our own.
Home sweet home!
Then the last little bit of news is that I have given notice at my job. I am not out disparage anyone so I will leave it to say that things just haven't worked out and I have daycare issues so it was best to just leave now and look for something in Stoney Creek for the fall. I'm ok with my decision and look forward to what awaits me in the future.
I can't think of much else to write for now. If I do I will make another post I guess! ;P
If you want to see my photo albums of the house and Disney check out my facebook profile! Hope you are all doing well!
