Splish! Splash! Mommy needs a nap!!

We had wanted to get away this year for Mother's Day, but weren't quite sure where to go. Months ago I had ordered tickets to the Space Shuttle Launch, but thought the crowds and the fact you had to be there hours before the launch for security checks were going to be too much for the kids. As such, we gave our tickets to some friends and all worked out!

We still headed to the Orlando area as we had season passes to Disneyworld and the kids (big and small) still enjoy going and seeing the magic! We spent two days at the Disney waterparks ---- the one looks like a ski lodge and they have a ski lift to get you to the top of the "mountain" for the really big rides.

This was one of the most relaxing vacactions, mainly because we spent a few hours in a lazy river pool!

After the heat of the day had burned off we would head to a park: Magic Kingdom the first night and Epcot the second. The kids had not been to Epcot and there was surprisingly more for them to do then we had remembered. The flower show was going on there, which was a hit to see Disney characters in topiary form, and there were some other new attractions we took in throughout the afternoon and evening.

We capped the night off with a character dinner, which happened to have all the "major" disney princesses there: Belle, Cinderalla, Snow White, Ariel and Sleeping Beauty. These are worth every penny to me as you get a great meal, have the characters all come to your table and they usually have some special drink/cup for the kids.

Avery was thrilled as Ariel was her favorite.......... Cole has been "over the moon" for Aurora (aka Sleeping Beauty) since we first watched the movie. He literally could not take his eyes off of her when she was in our area! Too cute! She acknowledged the crush with a little peck on the cheek, which Cole still thinks is there!

Disney will always be a magical place as you see the innocence in the eyes of the children and the return to youth for the adults (assuming you haven't stayed too long!).

GOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLLLL

Avery played Spring soccer with practices once a week and Saturday morning games, it was manageable and she really enjoyed it. Cole did too as we typically took a blanket, cooler and a Play-Doh pack for him to engineer new creations.

The games were 4 on 4, with Avery's team most weekends only having 4 or 5 at most. She was with much older children (ages ranged from 5-7) and varying skill levels. One boy was definitely a ringer as his Dad was a professional European player -- fun to watch.

She enjoyed it, but is glad to be moving on to swimming lessons as it is "not so hot"!


The other pictures in this slide show are of Avery's science experiment. The children had to present something scientific to their class and only had 5 minutes. The teacher stressed it should be fun and easy to understand. Admist the 4 or 5 baking soda volcanos, Avery's "Egg Vaccuum" was a hit. Essentially, a vaccumm is created when a lit match is placed in the bottom of a glass bottle and a hard boiled egg is placed on top. The oxygen is consumed and the fire drawls the egg in (creating a vaccuum) to try and get more air.

Avery's teacher said it was too cool!!! The kids really enjoyed it as you can image!