Fun in Atlanta, Georgia

After leaving DisneyWorld, we made the 8 hour drive up to Atlanta, Georgia to visit Craig's brother Matt and his family. We spent the next morning playing some Nintendo Wii--MarioBrothers and then in the afternoon we headed out to play some Mini-Golf and Go-Karts.

 

 Austin had a great time playing in a group with his cousins.

No matter how many times I tried to show Mikayla how to hold the golf club she just couldn't remember......but somehow she still was able to get it into the hole.

Matt and Tanner having a good time

Sariah looks a little serious about this race

 Maddie showing off her driving skills

Papa Dave focused on the road ahead of him

 Craig and Austin having fun

That night was the baseball game
Atlanta Braves vs. Cincinnati Reds

Tanner waited the whole game hoping he could catch a homerun hit but came away dissapointed.

It was a tie ballgame over 4 hours long that lasted into the 12th inning until Chipper Jones #10 came up to bat.

Craig had purchased a Braves shirt with Jones' name on the back earlier in the night and Jones happened to hit in the winning run for the game.  The Braves won 7-6.

Fun family times.

Pop Century Hotel

While we were at Disneyworld we stayed at the Pop Century Hotel....it was awesome and fun!! Here are a couple pictures: 

One of the many pools they had....this one shaped
like a bowling pin

The hotel lobby had a game room and Austin discovered they had a tank game.

Austin loves watching his dad play "the tank game" at home and this one was easy enough for Austin to play by himself. He was super excited about that.

We purchased several DisneyWorld souvenirs.

Austin got a Pirate Treasure Chest filled with Pirate stuff, a Pirate sword, Disneyworld buses, and Peter Pan figures.

Mikayla came home with Mickey Mouse Clubhouse bath toys, a Minnie Mouse accessories set, and DisneyPrincess figures.

They also got cute Disney piggybanks so we can start saving up for our next trip to DisneyWorld!!

Hollywood Studios

On Friday we went to Hollywood Studios. Since we were up so late the night before it took us a little longer to get going Friday morning so by the time we arrived this placed was pretty packed and busy. One reason was because it was the opening weekend for ghe Star Wars tours/rides.

This storm tropper welcomed us into the park.

Just to give you an idea how busy it was, we went over to get a FastPass for the Toy Story Mania and even though it was only 10:00 in the morning the next FastPass time was for 5:00pm.  So we just decided to focus on other things the kids would really enjoy.....

We met the Little Einsteins.....the kids were excited about this. This was Austin's favorite show when he was 2-3 years old and it is now one of Mikayla's favorite shows.

We also found Minnie Mouse

And then it was time for the show:

I had been waiting for this show all week anticipating Austin's excitement. One of his favorite Disney cartoons is Jake and the Neverland Pirates.....and he kept asking if we would get to see Jake the whole week long to which we responded "maybe".....

The show focused and getting things ready for Minnie's Suprise birthday party and so we had short live episodes from
Mickey Mouse Clubhouse

Handy Manny

Little Einsteins

and then Jake and the Neverland Pirates.

Austin was super happy!! It was fun watching the kids singing with all the theme songs. They had bubbles fall from the ceiling as well as Gold Doubloons.

The kids showing off their Gold Doubloons

After the show it was time for lunch.

When we walked in the door the Little Einstein's characters June and Leo were dancing with the kids. Austin and Mikayla went right over to join in the fun. While June was dancing Mikayla kept tapping her on the skirt trying to get her individual attention.

Mikayla got her own personal time with June shortly later as all the characters come around the room to eat table while you are eating lunch.

Leo from Little Einsteins

 Special Agent Oso

Handy Manny

After lunch we did a little souveneir shopping and then headed over to see Beauty and the Beast Live On Stage.

And like everything else we had seen at DisneyWorld.....it was a spectacular show!!

After the show it was pretty obvious that the kids were getting pretty worn out from 4 non-stop days of fun. There was a lot of walking, waiting, and hot sunny days.

Thank goodness for strollers.....they were lifesavors.

And thank goodness for Grandpa who was willing to push Mikayla around. Everytime someone else tried to push her she would cry and say "No! I want Papa Choo to push!"

It was a GREAT vacation.......WE LOVE DISNEYWORLD!!!

Magic Kingdom

On Thursday (May 26th) we went to the Magic Kingdom. 

 The Magic Carpets of Aladdin---Austin's favorite part was the camel that would try to "spit" on you as you were flying around.

Austin, Craig and his dad enjoyed The Swiss Family Treehouse

 Peter Pan's Flight....here is Kayla with her grandparents who were in the flying ship just behind Austin and me. 

I loved this ride....flying around on the boats looking at the different scenes from the Peter Pan Movie. Austin really liked this ride too and voiced wanting to do it again---but there was so much more to see.

Here is the classic "It's A Small World" ride

I can remember this ride from when I went to Disneyworld as a young child and can still sing every word of the "It's A Small World" song.  

Snow White's Scary Adventures

 The kids saw this movie for the 1st time just a couple days before we left for Disneyworld

Mickey's PhilharMagic---LOVED this one....one of my favorite 3D shows we saw during our whole vacation.....it was funny and had all of the favorite Disney characters from TV and movies throughout the show. 

 We loved looking at Cinderella's Castle

 Austin attempting to pull out the "Sword From The Stone"

Austin trying to help his dad pull out the sword

 We just happened to be walking around the castle at the time when the "Dream Along With Mickey" stage show started.

 It was in the afternoon, hot, and sunny but the kids enjoyed seeing all the fun characters on stage

Granny Deb with Mickey and Minnie Mouse

The other classic....Pirates of the Caribbean. This ride was broken down that morning and all day Austin kept asking about going on the Pirate ride. We were able to go in the evening. I know in Austin's mind he was probably thinking of Pirates like the ones in the cartoon/movies we watches so it probably wasn't quite what he was expecting. But he still enjoyed the ride and got his first introduction to Captain Jack Sparrow.

 Main Street Electrical Parade......this was awesome as I am sure you can imagine from the 2 pics I picked out to show. Definately unique and the best parade I have ever seen.

 Wishes Nighttime Spectacular......and it was spectacular!!!

It was fun watching Cindarella's Castle change to different colors

 The first part of the show they played music and projected different images onto the castle....whether it was children's pictures projected on the castle, or Tinkerbell flying around the castle, or the castle lighted up different ways......at one point the castle even looked like it was on fire. It was pretty awesome. And then....

 The Fireworks!!!!

It was a great way to end the night!!!