Epcot

Many family’s would have chosen to go to Animal kingdom over Epcot feeling as though Epcot is not geared toward kids as much as other parks. We feel differently, the boys have always liked Epcot and learn so much when they are there.   

One thing they were all excited for was Agent Perry’s Adventure. The boys got to choose a country in witch to help Perry stop Dr. Doofensmertz from taking over the Tri-State area. The boys chose England in honor of our friend “The Mister Hampson”.  They received a cell phone and followed the instructions around completing different tasks, and had a great time doing it 

Getting the first message

Sitting by Marry Poppins getting another message

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  After, we explored the different countries stopping by a kids booth at each one where C and A received a stamp and saw how their names are spelled in different languages.  While in France C was looking strangely at the people working there when I asked him what was wrong. He told me he was looking for Cadeau, a former Groton School French teacher who has since moved back to France. Apparently Disney does such a good job that C really thought he was traveling the world and was in France.  Again a great day.

Magic Kingdom

The next day still had an early start but not as early as the day before. We had no big agenda but wanted more to enjoy the day. We started in the new Fantasyland and made a stop at Gaston’s Tavern.  

 Upon leaving the tavern we all heard a loud boom and turned to see a women who had slipped was bleeding badly from her face. As you would suspect Dad went straight to work to help her while mom and the boys took her 2 kids to a nearby table so they would not have to watch. The women ended up having her front teeth go through her bottom lip and then break and also had a large cut on her chin. After the medic came for the women the dad walked over to check on his kids and ended up passing out near mom. Dad came over to help him as well. When we all felt as though the family was taken care of we set out on our way, it was a crazy start to the day.  We rode all the rides in Fantasyland that day including It’s A Small World and The Little Mermaids new ride.

We spent time in all the worlds of the Magic Kingdom and rode most of the rides.

 C even did Mission Space 2 times and Space Mountain once. After Space Mountain C was upset. Thinking that the ride was too much for him, mom and dad felt bad for taking him on it. After talking to him a bit more it turns out he was upset that he had lost his Cheetos bag on the ride.  We ended the night seeing the castle all lit up for Christmas and headed back to the campground by boat. Little did we know it was the best place to see the nightly firework show and we were able to enjoy it from an almost empty boat.

A little late....

While this post is very late it’s worth recapping our adventures in Disney. We stayed at Fort Wilderness campground and it was great but I will share more on that soon. Our first full day was spent at Disney Hollywood Studios.

We took advantage of the extra morning hours and joined the hundreds of other people in line at the gates a half hour before that park even opened. Why you may ask would we do that, well C wanted more then anything to do the “Jedi Training” inside the park. Mom had read that the slots fill up fast and unless you go first thing you will not get a spot. So with mom in the lead the gates opened and we made a beeline straight to the Jedi sign up. All three boys were given a spot to get training, what a relief. Now we all know J is to old for this and was less then happy to do it but took one for the team in case C needed a little support. (What a good brother)

The boys waiting for the Jedi's

J battling the dark side

A's turn

C wanted to really fight him but had to do as the lead Jedi told him to

The park itself was not busy and we more or less just walked onto rides throughout the day. The big hit was start tours witch we did 4 times. The big boys loved going on Rockin’ Roller Coaster and Tower of Terror while C and mom took in 2 shows, Beauty and the Beast (it was really for mom) and Disney Jr. live on stage. And we saw some Disney stars.

The boys and stich

Jake from Neverland Pirates

Disney is always a magical place but Christmas time is even more magical. Since mom was little she always wanted to see the parks all lit up with holiday cheer. The back lot of Disney Studios has a wonderful light display that turns the whole back lot into the best lit city block in the world. Every thing was covered in lights from the buildings, light post, bikes, basketball hoops and even a tire swing brightly lit.  Snow fell on the people below as Christmas music played and mom may have teared up just a bit. It was a great way to end our first day in Disney.

So many lights

 Be a good boy Briggz

Well after having Briggz with us throughout Thanksgiving and Christmas we had to drop Briggz off to his good friend Darcy's house. He will once again be part of the Marks family....  We miss him already.

Kissimmee

Dear Briggz,

            Our next stop was Lake Kissimmee. We chose this park because it was not far from our next BIG stop DISNEY!  This park was huge it had lots of water, hiking trails and campsites. While the park had many signs warning about alligator’s we never saw any in the park. 

Maybe they were all low in the water eating all the fish because despite trying many times we caught no fish.   

Along this trip we have seen many animals and as I wrote in the last post we have seen deer already in Florida. The deer at this park are so very use to people they almost walk right up to you.  One morning Dad was sure he heard one nuzzling the tent end right by mom’s head. 

We rested up here and planed our trip to Disney. It’s hard to believe that after Disney we will be on our way back to see you!

Love you

           

Manatee Springs

Dear Briggz, 

 

            Our next Florida stop was Manatee Springs. 

The Spring

We had high hopes of seeing manatee swimming in the water warmed by a deep underground spring but the government shutdown is still causing problems for us. By closing National parks we lost around 3 weeks and arrived to early to the springs for the manatee to be there. 

The only Manatee we saw

While we did not see any real manatee, we did see snakes, deer, armadillos, and BIG banana spiders. The spiders freaked dad out. They were bigger then his hand! 

A real armadillo who came to our site each night

The banana spider

While there we did some school work and made a big decision to head back north sooner than we had originally planed.

Be good and see you soon

Mom's Happy Place

Dear Briggz.

            I have found my happy place!!!! When someone tells you to close your eyes and picture a place where you feel calm and relaxed, I have found it in Henderson Beach State Park in Destin, FL. 

White sandy beaches, blue green crystal clear ocean, & warm breezes this place has it all. The sand is so perfect that all the grains are the same shape so when you walk on it they rub together and squeak. Yes I said squeak, your brothers enjoyed running in circles just to hear the noise. (I may have to) We spent each day at the beach playing football, swimming, taking walks, eating lunches and watching sunsets.

A jumping off the sand bar

J playing a little football

            

C loved playing with the flying ring

J surf casting

 I wish we could have stayed there forever but the trip must continue.

Be a good boy

Love, Mom