Another day of up and at em’ began when the alarm went off at 6:30. Momma, I thought we were on vacation?!? Anyway, today was the day we got to use our “Give a Day, Get a Day” volunteer vouchers to get into any Disney theme park for free…except for me. I wasn’t old enough to help volunteer, but Momma said paying for one ticket is A LOT better than having to pay for FOUR!

We hit Will Call around 8:30 and were in line for SOARIN by 8:40. Since the park didn’t even open until 9:00, we, along with many others, had to follow a man in a blue suit around the park to the ride so that we could be one of the first riders of the day! I barely made the height restriction of 40”…thanks to Daddy and little stretching! I’m not much of a rider like Una, so I could have taken it of left it. You felt like you were hang gliding over the west coast and every once in awhile you could smell oranges and pine trees. Momma went on the ride, too. The sign clearly stated, “Don’t go on this ride if you are afraid of heights,” but she did it anyway. She even said it was pretty cool.

From soaring above the clouds to under the sea…NEMO! Again, because we were there so early, we didn’t have to wait a single second to board a two-seater clam shell that took us through the story of Finding Nemo. I rode with Daddy, and my favorite part was when the starfish talked to us at the end! When we exited the ride, we went right into an interactive show with Crush from the movie. He talked to us, asked us questions, and taught us how to speak turtle…Duuuuddddddeeee! It was really fun, but I didn’t let anyone know I was enjoying myself. I kept a very serious face on the whole time.

Next on the agenda was a Mission Control ride for Daddy and Una. I’m too short, and Momma’s too chicken for that ride! This was followed by a family ride in the big golf ball thingy. I rode with Una behind Momma and Daddy. It was a little car/train thing that took you all though the ages of inventions and communication. I really liked the star part. After, Una and I put together a human body on a computer with 3D glasses. I think we’re almost ready to have Dr. in front of our names. Imagine that, a duo team of Dr. Una and Dr. Parks. Who wouldn’t feel safe in those hands??

Another ride for Daddy (Test Track) which thank goodness he had a Fast Pass for. Otherwise the wait would have been 110 minutes!

After lunch, we hit all 11 countries in the World Showcase. They had this really cool thing there where you got a blank mask at the first country you visited. Each time you visited a new country you got a stamp on your mask and a paper shape that symbolized the country to attach to the mask. By the time we figured out what was going on, we were already three countries in, so we didn’t get the symbols from Canada, UK, and Morocco. Eight out of eleven isn’t too bad. In Japan and China, they wrote our names on the back in some super cool symbols. I showed them how I make a 3.

On our way to France we saw Alice, Mary Poppins, and Una got her picture taken with Sleeping Beauty! We smelled different perfumes, walked through a wine store, and let’s not forget to ask Daddy about the pastries in France. It was a “calorie nightmare, but oh so yummy.” Daddy came out of the shop with four different desserts and we left France with four empty plates.

We ended our day in Epcot with some super fast souvenir shopping. Of course, we got two new ear hats. I picked out a Cars hat and Una got some pink and yellow hat with roses and earrings. Girls are weird. We also smashed a total of six pennies on our trip that we’ll add to our collection back home. Thanks, Disney!

Parental Unit Notes:
Parker is now using the phrase, “that freaks me out.” He said it three times yesterday at Universal and a few times at Epcot.

Morgan’s advice, “I don’t recommend trying to poop on a full stomach.”

Brian to Parks at the beach after endless conversations about keeping sand off the towels and such: Yes, please kick more sand in the bag. In fact, I’LL kick some more in there.

Parker had to go to the bathroom at the beach. I, Momma, asked if he had to go pee or poop. He responded with pee. I whispered in his ear to just go in the ocean. He yells to Una who’s out in the ocean about 50 feet away from us that Momma said we could go potty in the ocean WHILE HE’S PULLING DOWN HIS TRUNKS AND RUNNING DOWN THE BEACH!!!! Not my proudest Momma moment!

Another spring break dominated…where to next?

Florida – Day 7

Today, I got a new cousin…Baby Mitchell! He is a boy, like me. He likes trains. Click on the picture below to see more. Welcome to the world, Baby Mitchell!

Today was a little different than most. Instead of waking up and making our way to some place with sun & swim, we woke up and…cleaned?!? We had to pack up and clean the house to get it ready for the next vacationers and to be on our way to the next leg of our journey. We grabbed some breakfast at Dunkin Donuts, some batteries for my Leapster (sometimes I call it my Hamster), and jumped on the highway northeast towards Orlando!

After a very strange ride through central Florida (which isn’t as picturesque as you might think, save for the orange groves), we finally arrived in Mouseville. We were too early to check in to our hotel, so we wound our way just down the road to Downtown Disney to get in the mood. First stop was lunch! We picked Planet Hollywood because we had a coupon for a free appetizer, but the lights, movies, and props were a pretty good draw, too. We ate like champs and then took a tour of the other levels of the restaurant to see the other movie memorabilia.

When we got back out, it was still sunny and hot, but LEGO and Disney-themed Potato Heads and build-your-own lightsabers helped distract us. We saw a huge LEGO dinosaur and sea serpent and even did a few LEGO car races (which Morgan and I both won!). The stores were huge and overwhelming, so after a few I talked Mommy and Daddy in to a train ride. Finally, we made a pit stop at a huge restaurant called T-Rex that had animated dinosaurs and even a dino dig area. After all that excitement, it was finally time to head back and get cleaned up and hit the hay. We aren’t exactly sure what we’re doing tomorrow after breakfast, but I hear there are a few options around this area.

Florida – Day 5

Today began with a trip to the outlet mall for a quick Gap shorts exchange, some fruit smoothies, and a cheese filled pretzel for breakfast (i.e., killing time while Mommy visited shops)! I love vacation food!

Next, we were on to Sanibel for some shopping and then lunch at The Island Cow. After a short wait we finally sat down and Morgan and I tried some conch and shrimp fritters…veto. But, I did like my cheese quesadilla and Momma’s beer battered French fries. Before we left, we made sure to check out the birds in the back and have Momma take our picture with our faces through a cow picture.

Bowman Beach here we come! We hit the beach a little after 2:00. We tried to go to a new beach, but the parking lot was so full that we just decided to go back to the same beach that we went to on Saturday. The afternoon consisted of Morgan trying to get Daddy to come play out into the ocean (which eventually happened), examining a HUGE dead jellyfish that washed up on the beach, more shelling, and Daddy and me playing in the sand with my new Marvel Heroes figurines. We’re down a Wolverine to a sand disaster, but Hulk and Iron Man are still in play. We had some snacks (lightly sanded, just how we like them) and played together for about 5 hours before we decided to pack it in and head back to Fort Myers. We just picked up some Wendy’s and have finished eating at the harbor while Momma and Daddy helped with this post. The rest of the evening consists of shower and bed. Whatcha’ got in store for us, Tuesday?

GO BULLDOGS!

Momma Note: Parks has spent 10-plus hours in the beachy Florida sun and STILL NO TAN LINES!!! (Thanks, SPF 50!)

Florida – Day 3

In case you missed the memo, you can track our trip and some of our updates here: http://trackmytour.com/1603