We left on Thursday, October 10th, and drove about 12 hours to Brad's parents home in Oklahoma. We stayed in Oklahoma all day Friday and the kids had a blast riding the four-wheeler, playing with the dogs and running around outside! We got up super early Saturday morning and headed towards Mississippi. We arrived at Vanessa's sister's home in Mississippi and the kids enjoyed a break from the car with a cool swim. Yes, the pool was a little cool but the outside temperatures were hot! Heather(Vanessa's sister) made us hamburgers on the grill and we relaxed in their home until about 9pm. Then we hit the road again! Brad (a.k.a. Superman) drove through the night and got us to Cocoa Beach, Florida around 9am. We spent a bit of time doing some souvenir shopping at Ron Jon's Surf Shop and then let the kids have some fun on the beach. Boy, was the van a mess after all that sand was tracked in! Finally, we headed to the hotel in Orlando.
After settling in and a little bit of relaxation, we headed out to Downtown Disney for sight-seeing, more souvenir shopping and dinner at the Rainforest Cafe. We went back to our hotel with the intentions of getting a good night sleep for a full day at Universal Studios on Monday.
Universal Studios was pretty much awesome! We went to the Dr. Seuss land and the kids had a blast riding the Cara-Seuss-el, the High-in-the-Sky train and watching a performance with Cat-in-the Hat. Then we headed to the cartoon land where we got pictures with Spiderman (every little boy's dream). Next, Vanessa and I decided to have a little fun ourselves. We decided to ride the HULK (a pretty fast, intense roller-coaster). We asked the worker monitoring the lines how to do the parent swap. Basically you wait in line, one parent rides the ride and the other one watches the kids and then you swap (without having to wait in line again.) This guy was really amazing and took me in through the exit and so I wouldn't have to wait in line, he also allowed me to sit wherever. I took the front! The ride started up the hill at the usual slow pace of most roller coasters, but half way through the up hill the ride takes off and you come out of the hill with a few twists. This roller coaster had more twists and loops than any I had ever been on before. It was exhilarating. I was shaking when I stepped off. I went over to thank the guy for his help and he gave us six free fast passes to use on any ride! There are still nice people out there! I went to where Vanessa was waiting with the kids and then she took her turn. Next we went on the new Harry Potter ride. Reese was tall enough for this one, but the other kids were not. We toured through the castle of Hogwarts (you do this as you are waiting in line), and then I waited with the kids while Vanessa and Reese went on the ride. When she got back, she seemed excited about it and said the ride was great. I went on the ride and LOVED it. It was probably the best ride I have ever ridden. It was kind of a simulation type ride. You feel like you are flying on your broom behind Harry, Ron and Hermione. Anyways, it was fun. Afterwards, we went back to the Dr. Seuss section and let the younger kids ride some more rides. We rode the One fish, two fish ride and the High-in-the-Sky train again. We tried to go on the train a third time but for some reason Camden was suddenly too short for the ride. (He'd already been on it twice.) Oh, well. We had ice-cream and hamburgers and soda and then headed back to the van and hotel to crash.
Tuesday was a down day. We went to Walmart to get some grocery items and then headed to the pool for some swimming. This was a really nice pool. It had a nice big slide that Camden could ride in my lap. The kids had as much fun playing in the pool as they did going to Universal and Disney World. I think next summer will just stick to Water World. It's closer and cheaper!
Wednesday, we got up early to catch the shuttle to Disney at 8am. We got to Magic Kingdom just before they opened the doors. We watched the little show of them opening the park. We walked over to the castle and took pictures and then we went back to take pictures with Mickey and Minnie, and the princesses. Then we went over to the castle and watched a show. Next, we went to take pictures with Ariel and we rode the Aladdin Magic Carpet ride, we rode the Buzz Light Year ride and took pictures with Buzz. Then we rode the Goofy roller coaster and then got in place for the afternoon parade. We also rode a carousel and the Winnie the Pooh ride. We also toured Minnie's country house and rode the train around Magic Kingdom (Camden's favorite). Finally, we got in place to watch the night-time parade and fireworks display. Everyone was exhausted after a long day, but it wasn't over. The line to leave the park was worst than the line to get in or any other line we stood in that day. You have to ride the mono-rail or a fairy to get back to the parking lots and we stood in line for forever to ride the fairy back. That was a pain! But, it was worth it for the fun day!
Thursday was another down day of swimming at the pool and resting. Friday, we woke up early and began our long trip back. We took the more direct route going home. We stopped Friday night just outside of Knoxville, TN for the night. Saturday we got going around 9am ish and stopped in St. Louis for dinner. We kept on driving taking turns through the night, but again Superman drove the most! We made it back home Sunday morning around 10am. It was a long trip, but very fun!
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