Tri-County Field Trip

The Scott Home School Group set up a field trip with the Tri-County Antique Club. I found the field trip fascinating because these people taught us what it was like to grow up on the farm before there was electricity and modern conveniences. Each of the stations we went to was given by a different person who offered their own unique insight to the past. A couple of the kids' favorite things was shucking corn and riding behind the tractor. They also learned how to make butter and soap, learned the advatages of a pully, how to pump water, watched bees in a bee hive, use a witch to find water and they learned an old time kid's game I forgot the name of. We brought sack lunches, so after the field trip was over we enjoyed PB & J while hanging out with friends.

Ethan's Soccer Game

Ethan's had a slow start with soccer. He seemed to be content to not try and get the ball. However, we've seen a huge improvement during the season and it's so fun cheering him on. He's even made a goal at a few of his games.

Indoor Soccer

I admit it...we're nuts! Doug signed us up for and indoor soccer league that plays on Friday nights. I didn't think much of it, but I've been surprised at how much fun it's been since I haven't played for 20 years. During our second game I had one assist and one goal. Doug had to miss that game, but he was proud of me and it was great to hear his excitement when I told him.  

We had to take a picture of this since we are both 39 years old right now!

Eckert's Apple Picking

We went apple picking with the Scott Home School Group. The kids had a great time picking apples and it was a great way to spend a Friday afternoon with the kids.

Day 7 & 8 - Driving Home

No pictures for this post. The drive was long and we were all exhausted. We were very glad to arrive home on the 11th. There's no place like home!

Day 6 - Epcot

We could either take a boat ride or walk from our hotel to Epcot. We chose the boat ride not realizing how short of a walk it actually was. However, we really didn't mind. Any time off our feet was enjoyable.

In my mind Epcot has always been the pinnacle of Disney World. It almost seemed as if the two terms were interchangable in my mind. So, besides Magic Kingdom I figured this was going to be more than I could have possible imagined. We started off the day at the Living with the Land Pavillion. It was interesting, but Doug was surprised that it didn't seem to have changed since he was there when Epcot opened in 1982. After that we moved on to the Spaceship Earth Pavilion and on the way we got some pictures with a few Disney characters.

Spaceship Earth was interesting. I didn't know what to expect since Doug did all the research for this trip. The ride took you through the history of the earth. I found the 70's to be fun to look at and point out to my kids that that was what it was like when I was young. Also, seeing how large the first computers were compared to what we use today was a reminder of how far we've come in the last 30 years.

The real fun for us started when we went to The Seas with Nemo & Friends Pavilion. As we waited for the  Turtle Talk with Crush show to begin, which by the way we talked about for the rest of the day, we explored some things about sharks and the characters from the movie Nemo.

Our next adventures took us to the Mission: SPACE® ride and Test Track. Audrey was to short to ride Mission: SPACE, but the boys road it twice, once with Doug and once with me. On the ride you go on a mission to Mars aboard the X-2 Deep Space Shuttle at the International Space Training Center (ISTC). It spins and tilts to simulate the illusion of speed and gravitational forces where you experience forces up to 2.4G—more than twice the force of the Earth's gravitational pull. It was no big deal for Doug and the boys, but my stomach was pretty queasy afterwards. Audrey was able to ride Test Track and car speed up to 60 mph which is one of the fastest rides at Disney World and that was a lot of fun for everyone.

For the rest of our day we toured the countries which was actually the most disappointing part of my day. The architecture was inspiring and it did feel like you were walking the streets of the country, but there was nothing historical or educational beyond shopping at their stores, eating at a restaurant or watching a movie of their country. Also, by the time we were done seeing a movie from most of the countries it started to lose its appeal. I would have loved to of learned a word or phrase from the country and what their main contributions were; seen paintings, attire, and maps of the countries to show the kids. The things in the stores were interesting to look at, but it lacked the information that a museum would provide. Although, I didn't necessarily think there would be a museum for each country, but something along those lines to provide more information would have been nice. The possibilities could be endless and as much as I enjoyed the buildings it kind of started and stopped there for me.

In China the kids got to take a picture with Mulan.

I love this building Doug is standing in front of that was taken in Japan.

Morocco wouldn't be Morocco with Jasmine and Aladdin.

In France the met Marie from Aristocats.

Day 5 - Hollywood Studios and More Magic Kingdom

Toy Story Mania!

We got to Hollywood Studios before it opened and once we got in it was a mad dash to Toy Story Mania. I had never seen anything like it before. Thank goodness Doug had done his research to know that we needed to go there right away and get a fast pass. We realized once we were there that the line wasn't too long so we decided to just get in line to ride Toy Story Mania instead of getting a fast pass. This turned out to be a good decision. The ride was a lot of fun, but I'm not sure it was worth all the hype except for the fact that it was the only kid ride in Hollywood Studios. 

While we were in Pixar Place the kids took a picture with Buzz and Woody.

After leaving Pixar we headed over to Animation Courtyard. Playhouse Disney—Live on Stage!™

was enjoyable, but the downside was that we sat on the floor and the puppets were controlled from the floor of the stage so they weren't very easy to see. They were a couple feet too short so we didn't get the full effect of the show. However, the kids didn't seem to mind which is really what matters.

Star Wars: Jedi Training Academy was by far the coolest part of our day. The kids were trained to be young Jedis by joining forces with a Jedi Knight against the Dark Side! The kids were trained in the art of fighting with a lightsaber, then put to the test as they face off against Darth Vader himself. Jacob, Ethan and Audrey handled themselves very well, but I definitely saw some children shaking when it was their turn to fight Darth Vader.

In the picture below Jacob is in the back, Audrey is to the right in a pink shirt and Ethan is to the right of her with the hood on his head.

Darth Vader shows up!

Jacob battles Darth Vader!

Audrey was much braver than I thought she would be.

Ethan was ready to fight!

After a tough day of Jedi Training we headed over to Pizza Planet for lunch.

We finished our day at Hollywood Studios with a couple more shows. Indiana Jones™ Epic Stunt Spectacular! was really cool, but Voyage of The Little Mermaid was not very memorable. Disney World has so many shows that it almost becomes numbing after awhile. It's important to make sure you only pick the ones that you really want to see and don't waste your time with the maybes. The only thing we wish we could have done while we were there was Star Tours. It was closed that day and it was one of the things we were really looking forward to doing.

We spent the second half of our day at Magic Kingdom riding all the rides we loved from the day before. We went on Space Mountain, Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin, Thunder Mountain and Splash Mountain. We didn't do any shows that afternoon which was a nice reprieve.

Day 4 - Time to Relax

We all slept in on Wednesday morning and didn't have breakfast until 10 am. We did some laundry and then went down to the pool. The Pirate Ship slide and pool was closed for a while so we had to hang out in a different pool until it opened. Once we were able to go over to the other pool Ethan, Jacob and Doug went down the Pirate Ship waterslide for the next hour or so and we found a smaller water slide for Audrey that she never grew tired of. It was a nice change of pace from the park adventures we had the last two days.

That night we went to the Hoop-Dee-Do dinner show at Disney's Fort Wilderness Resort & Campground. We had front row seats and Ethan even found a way to work himself into the show. Since the stage was right next to us two of the actors were standing over Ethan at one point. So, Ethan decided to stick his tongue out at the guy, who is shown on the right in the picture below. It made the actor laugh and he actually worked it into the show.

Day 3 - Magic Kingdom

There is a reason it is called Magic Kingdom. It was nothing but magical for us and the kids all day.

Ethan was tall enough to ride Space Mountain and loved it. Even though Audrey was very close to being able to ride it I'm pretty sure she would have been scared.

Audrey was still a little skiddish after the Flick show from the day before. A few minutes into the ride we realized that she should have rode with Doug or I.

Car racin'...sort of!

The kids got to tour Mickey's and Minnie's homes!

Jacob was chosen to be in Storytime with Belle. We knew that Ethan was a disappointed it wasn't him, but Jacob did a great job playing Gaston.

He even had a speaking role. He had to say "You will marry me Belle" three times.

Ethan didn't want to be in the picture and meet Belle. Hmmm, I wonder why?

Lunch at Cinderella's Castle

This was the highlight of our day. Audrey got a professional picture taken of her and Cinderalla. The food was great and the kid's loved meeting all the princesses.

They gave the boys swords and wands to the girls.

More princesses!

Thunder Mountain was our favorite ride. First of all, Audrey was able to ride it, and second of all there were no lines. We rode the ride four times back to back and Audrey raised her hands the whole time. The screaming coming out of Audrey and Ethan was hilarious.

It started to rain so we hung out in a few shops while we waited for it to stop. The boys had fun playing with the merchandise while we killed time.

So sweet!

The fireworks show was great, but Audrey had had enough. Thank goodness we borrowed a stroller from the Simmons to take with us to Disney World. I don't know what we would have done if we didn't have it. It was definitely a lifesaver.