The Magic Kingdom

Our first exposure to the Magic Kingdom on Monday morning was a fantastic show at Cinderella's castle, complete with Mickey and Minnie, Peter Pan and Captain Hook, and even evil Malificent from Sleeping Booty (as Leigh calls it). As you can see on their faces, it didn't take long for the kids to be swept away by the Magic of Disney.

Mr. Dave and Cameron had fun flying high on Dumbo...

...while Hunter and Jackie yukked it up with the talking trash can and in front of the castle.

We had the good fortune of having Deane with us all week, and Nanny and Grandaddy for the first several days of our trip. It just doesn't get any better for us Mommies & Daddies than vacation with the grandparents.

Hunter and Cameron were thrilled to get their hands on some Buzz Lightyear toys Monday afternoon.

Disney Dinners: Mars vs Venus

Thanks to Miss Allie's ability to think 3 months in advance, the girls were treated to Dinner with the Princesses on Sunday night at Epcot. Jackie and Leigh were all agog at being up close & personal with their favorite princesses, with Belle and Ariel the clear favorites.

Meanwhile, the boys had dinner with Chip & Dale at the Disney equivalent of Denny's. Mistrustful of overgrown fuzzy creatures, Cameron kept one eye over his shoulder throughout the dinner, while Mr. Chad and Mr. Dave marveled in disbelief that they dropped $100 for chicken nuggets and mac-n-cheese. Clearly, this group had no sense of whimsy.

Looking Good at Epcot

We started out the trip with a day at Epcot. Before we left the condo, Leigh was styling in her Ariel sunglasses while Cameron took in a little Playhouse Disney.

The highlight of Epcot for most of us was the Nemo ride, which had the kids boarding a giant clamshell to ride through the ocean and meet Marlin, Dory, and the familiar sea gang. Leigh wasn't wild about meeting Bruce and his shark buddies, but seemed to like the rest of the ride pretty well. We also took a boat ride through The Land exhibit--which the kids seemed to like just fine--but was a little tame for us adult Agriculture Enthusiasts.

DisneyWorld: The Arrival

Last Saturday, we traveled with our buddies--The Pauls--to DisneyWorld for a week of fun, Mickey Mouse Bars, character signings, princesses, rides, shows, and lots of Pinot for Miss Julie and Mr. Dave. Upon our arrival at our "new house," as Leigh called it, Miss Allie surprised the kids with a treasure hunt for their own personal bag of Disney goodies.

Cameron was pleased and proud to tell us that he was indeed, "Cameron, SuperMan; Cameron, Superhero!"

Soon after landing, our boys sacked out to get some much-needed R&R after the 11+ hour drive.

Rocket Man

Hunter was absolutely thrilled with the Iron Man rocket launcher that Miles gave him for his birthday, and played with it for hours over the weekend.

Once he got the hang of it, poor old Iron Man landed in some pretty precarious places.

Once he got a load of this, Hunter's immediate response was:

"D-A-D-D-Y!!! Will you cut this tree down for me please?"

Pump It Up...Again!

So for the 3rd year in a row, Hunter chose to have his birthday party at Pump It Up. And I have to confess I didn't make much of an effort to talk him out of it. Afterall, a Pump It Up party is about as low-maintenance as you can get from the parent perspective. That being said, I still underperformed miserably on the Pizza Ordering, leaving all of the adults very hungry by party's end.

Despite the pizza shortage, the kids seemed to have a wonderful time. It was, in fact, a veritable Fun-A-Thon, from Mr. Dave and Cameron (not to be confused with Mini-Me) playing Wii, to Hunter and Seb beating the mess out of each other in the boxing ring, to the huge slide that even Leigh and Baby Robbie conquered by themselves.

Also for the 3rd year in a row (4th counting Jackie's party), Hunter and Jackie snuggled together in the big party chair. As the cake neared, Hunter asked Jackie to help him blow out the candles--and she happily obliged.

And before we left, Cameron and Leigh gave us some visions of more Pump It Up to come...

Cupcake Stress

Although serving a low-sugar, special birthday snack to 20 kids would not be stressful to most Mommies, this request from Hunter's teacher nearly sent me into counseling. After dissing the relatively healthy fruit/muffin or rice krispie treat options, I decided to make Superhero cupcakes and deal with the scorn of the Montessori community. Imagine my panic, however, when I discovered the night before the party that Harris Teeter was out of cupcake mix. Lucky for me--& Hunter's school buddies--Miss Allie tipped me off that there is no such thing, and generously whipped up the goods for me. Normally cupcakes wouldn't merit a separate blog posting, but given the grief they caused me, I felt it necessary to get some more mileage out of these beauties.

Happy Birthday, Hunter!

Hunter turned 5 years old on Friday! The first part of the celebration was at his school, where Miss Chris conducted the special Pinewoods birthday ceremony. This consists of Hunter walking around circle showing pictures of his life from birth to present, holding a globe (can't remember what that's about--but sure to be deeply significant), and serving cupcakes to his buddies. After a little coaxing, even Leigh & Daddy-O joined the birthday circle.