Robert travels. A lot. And every time he goes somewhere he collects points at the hotels he stays at. We decided that it was time to cash in on a few of those points and go to...Disney World. Yeah! We beat the crowds and took the kids out of school for a week. By staying a week we were able to go each day until the kiddies got tired and then head back to the hotel. A couple days we only stayed 1/2 day and spent the rest in the pool at the hotel.
Disney World is exactly the kind of place that is hard for Ethan to cope with. There are crowds, loud noises, surprises and don't forget the heat. Another thing that I never realized was so difficult for him was the dark. And I never realized just how many rides and shows have moments of pitch blackness. Even some of the most tame rides like Winnie the Pooh and an Under the Sea Clam ride gave Ethan anxiety. The things that scare most people are exactly the parts that he loved. The drops, the speed, the turns and, his very favorite thing, the spinning. Ethan LOVED the tea cups. The rest of us were just plain dizzy. Over all, he was very brave and tried most everything once. Most importantly he loved the experience.
Austin was as happy as you could be, as long as you were carrying him. He is not a big 'walker' and prefers Rob's shoulder above all else. He liked the rides but got shy around the giant Disney characters. He wouldn't even get near Goofy. His favorite ride was Soarin' where you are brought above a giant curved wall where they show movie clips of different parts of the United States. It actually feels like you are hand gliding through the air. Austin was amazed at this and when he got off he shouted, "I was INSIDE a TV! I want to STAY there!" Yes. That just about describes my son. He introduced himself to every person there by saying, "Hi. I'm Austin. This is Laina and we are twins. We have the same birthday. May 30th. This is Ethan. He is 6." Here Ethan would continue the one-sided coversation with, "I turned 6. We came here for my birthday. I am bigger than them. I will always be bigger. I am older too." It was a little more information than they wanted, I'm sure, but who is going to complain at the happiest place on earth?
Now Laina. That girl. Seriously. She wanted to ride ALL the rides. Nothing scared her. She walked when the boys were too tired and hardly ever complained about anything. What a trooper. The only problem was that she got a taste of the good life. Today we were discussing a new chore chart with an award system. The main award is a day out with daddy. Rob asked the kids what they might want to do on their day out. Ethan wanted to play golf. Austin wanted to get ice-cream. And Laina. That girl said, "I want Daddio to take me on a helicopter ride." Oh. Is that all, princess? She also keeps suggesting that after school we drive back down to Disney World. You know...just for kicks.
Here are some of the fun pictures from our trip. I know the slide show is pretty long, but to help you know when it is over, there is a picture of the castle for the first and last picture.
Ethan was scared on space mountain, so even though we got fast passes for everyone he decided to sit it out. I stayed out with him and together we picked out a couple to give the fast passes to. When we did the guy handed Ethan $5. I tried to give it back but he insisted it was for Ethan to have a treat. Ethan got a huge smile on his face and said that he wanted to buy everyone a treat with his money. Robert didn't know just how generous he was about to be, since you can't buy anything for less than $6. So with Ethan's five dollars and Robert covering the $20 difference, we all had a nice sweet treat. Thanks Rob!
And I could resist putting this last picture in. Alaina started her sleep next to Ethan on the bed. Somehow she took a nose-dive towards Austin while she slept. Does this look comfy to you?
