Park hopping

We started out today at Typhoon Lagoon, Disney's other water park. We usually skip this one because the first time we came we all got pretty beat up in the tidal wave pool. It's still not my favorite. After spending the hottest part of the day in the water, we headed to Epcot (again!) were we had dinner reservations.

First though, we left Epcot and wanted to find the Boardwalk. When L came with Cindy and mom in March, she said they couldn't find it. We were curious to see what was there. We hopped on a ferry and it took us right there.

Not really much to do there - some restaurants, shops, and my favorite, people watching. We took a picture in front of the restaurant they were trying to find in March and texted it to Cindy. We couldn't resist. She replied that it would have been nice if L could have found that four months ago!

We took the ferry back to Epcot for our dinner at another Italian restaurant, Via Napoli. This one was more casual than the one we ate at yesterday. The kids were able to have individual pizzas. B had cheese and L had pepperoni, of course. They both liked dinner here.

Water park!

Another hot day today - we are certainly in Florida. We spent the morning and a good part of the afternoon at Blizzard Beach. We rode the family raft ride and the double inner-tube ride, then spent time in the lazy river.

This evening we went to Epcot for a lovely Italian dinner at Tutto Italia. L was thrilled that she found a Dr. Who shirt in the United Kingdom portion of Epcot. I didn't think they'd have any Dr. Who things, but I was proved wrong.

Epcot & Hollywood Studios

Temperatures were expected to reach mid-90s today (and they did!) so we went out early to Epcot to ride Soaring and Test Track. That afternoon, B did a little swimming at the pool outside our resort room:

L and I went into the resort lobby to get a snack and came back to find Andy napping on the patio. He didn't have his key with him.

After relaxing in our room, we went to Hollywood Studios. They were really promoting the "Monsters University" movie. We had to take a picture of the topiaries outside the park, then watch the "Monsters University" dance party for a bit:

We were able to walk around a bit before our dinner reservation at the Sci-Fi Drive-In. Here are the kids goofing off, pretending they're singing in the rain:

And finally, our dinner at the Sci-Fi, one of the kids' favorites.

After dinner we went on the Hotel of Terror ride. I knew it would drop us several stories, but I had no idea it went up ... then down ... then up again .... and down, etc. L held my hand the whole ride. I couldn't believe some of the little kids on the ride. Yes, they were crying.

And we're at Disney

We got up this morning around 3 a.m. for a cab to take us to Midway at 4 a.m. The cab driver was going 60 mph on residential streets - a little scary. Our flight was so early. Andy's plan was to get to Disney and go into a park, rest in the afternoon and go back out this evening. When we arrived at our resort, our room wasn't ready yet so we sat by the pool. Once we got into the room, Andy took B and L to Magic Kingdom and I stayed in the room and tried to nap. This was the first time we've stayed in a Port Orleans Riverside mansion, rather than the bayou rooms. B was a bit upset that it didn't have a trundle bed and he'd have to share a bed. We thought about switching rooms but then decided not to.

We went to Chef Mickey's for a character buffet meal. The kids aren't much into the characters, but they like the buffet.

After dinner we took the Monorail to Magic Kingdom and rode a few of the rides. Here's Andy with the kids on the teacup ride. The lines were pretty short.

And she's off

E joined the Pilgrim youth group this morning and left for the mission trip to Canada. B went along to say good-bey while L said her good-bye earlier and opted to go to the block party. (Pretty safe to assume she'll be there all day long!) Instead of getting two, 15-passenger vans they requested, they ended up with two minivans and a big delivery-type van that is being used for luggage. Apparently the rental place messed up. The kids were pretty cramped in the minivans, but the leaders said they'll make the kids rotate seats during the trip. By tonight they'll be in Rochester, Mich., near Detroit, to sleep in a church. Tomorrow morning, they cross the border into Canada.

Birthday dinner

We weren't planning on taking L for her birthday dinner yesterday. Thursday was Andy's first day of work after coming back from a four-day business trip to Colorado and we thought it would be best to just relax at home. I had planned to make L's favorite dinner, Hamburger Helper (really?!), for dinner. However, L was moping around yesterday afternoon, asking if we could go out for her birthday dinner. I told her to call Andy and see what he wanted to do. She called him and said she thought we should go out for her birthday dinner and he said he had been thinking the same thing; that it wouldn't be fair to make her wait when the other kids had their birthday dinners on their actual birthdays. She hung up the phone and said, "I don't want to sound spoiled, but I've got him wrapped around my little finger." Yes, dear, you do.

We ended up at Chuck E. Cheese and L said it would be the last time she'd ever pick that restaurant for her birthday dinner because she's getting too old for it. (She's chosen it every year I can remember.) Age didn't stop E and B from hoarding their tokens to play games all night. They did, though, pool all their tickets together and let L pick out all the prizes - a big Chinese yo-yo, a Webkinz bag, a foam gun and a couple pieces of candy.

Happy birthday, L!

L got a package from Aunt Cindy today. She just knew she'd get something today. She laughed when she got the cardboard box opened and found out the present was wrapped too! She's happy with the present because she's been wanting the Headbanz game for a while now. And we measured her on the bathroom door, as we do each kid on their birthday. She's 5 feet, 1 inch.

Good morning?

We woke up today to find a ball of string that E left on the living room table strewn all around the room. Not only did the cats unravel it during the night, they wrapped it around the legs of the piano bench, the living room chair and a chair in the dining room. Must have been quite a party while the rest of us wee sleeping. They also knocked over a glass of water E left sitting out in the living room. Luckily, her iPhone only got damp and still works.

Fun flash drive

E was looking around the Internet today about how people turned ordinary objects into flash drives and decided she needed to try it herself. She walked down to Walgreens and bought a little toy car, went in Andy's work room and started using tools. I wasn't sure what she was doing until she showed me. Still needs a little work, but it's coming along.

Camp shirt

This is the shirt E brought home from her engineering camp. It's pretty cute with Rosie the Riveter on it. Her camp counselor gave all the girls bandanas at some point during the week so they could all look like Rosie.

Andy's in Colorado on business so I had the kids all to myself today. We went to the Lake Theater to see "Despicable Me 2." I was pretty happy that all three of them wanted to see it. The movie was OK. The kids liked it. I never saw the first "Despicable Me" so I had nothing to compare it to.

And, of course, while we were in the movie Kate and William had their baby. I was watching the news this morning to see whether the next heir of the British crown would be a boy or girl (I was hoping for a girl) and it happened while we were at the show.

A blessing

The youth group members were asked to show up in church today to receive a blessing for their upcoming mission trip to Canada. The group leaves Saturday morning - 11 kids and four adults. They all seem pretty excited. Each kid received a mission T-shirt that shows a logo of the world surrounded by people and the church's name. Around the world are the names of the youth going on the trip, their chaperones and everyone in the church who contributed one way or another toward the trip.

E's home

We went to U of I today to pick E up from the engineering camp. Above she's standing over a creek that runs through the university's engineering quad.

This is the rocket she built. She won second place in the rocket launch with her rocket traveling 802 feet into the air. She got a book about space facts as her prize.

The highlight was going up in a little plane with the "hot pilot." Here's the view she saw of the campus from the air:

Here she is with a few girls from camp, also taken at the airport.

She also built a glider and experienced a huge wind tunnel. They also had time for some bowling, playing a ninja game, hanging out in the restaurants near campus and performing their version of "I'll Make a Man Out of You" (from "Mulan") for the camp-wide talent show. Here they are practicing for the talent show in their camp T-shirts:

Here she's trying to pick up a golf ball without using her fingers:

And this was after the closing ceremony. A few girls from the aerospace camp went down to talk to their fearless leader, Doctor Professor Uncle Baby Teddy Bear Brian. (The girls came up with that themselves, of course.) He recently earned his doctorate in aerospace engineering and is a professional pinball player. Really. He even showed off his skills to the girls at bowling. E played him and lost - 1 billion to 199 million.

Mexico night

Tonight was the finale of Bible School with "travel" to Mexico. L, who just had to bring something for snack, made chocolate sandwich cookies filled with dulce de leche. The dulce de leche, which you can make yourself but we bought canned, was delicious! I could eat it straight out of the can. Here's L at the snack table serving her sandwich cookies:

Tonight was also family night at Bible School so L brought all of us along and her neighborhood friend, M. They had a good time eating ice cream, hitting a pinata and playing drums on the church's front lawn (M is the blond in the middle of that picture).

This was B before we left for church:

He had his last day of summer school today, then came home and went out in 90-plus degree heat to buy his friend, IR, a gift card for his birthday. He then delivered it to his house, came home and went to sleep. Who sleeps in a position like that? But then he gets to church and swings at the pinata so hard he knocked it off the rope, starting a massive candy-grab by all the other kids.

So, Bible School is over and L leaves with a few worldly souvenirs:

Popcorn cake

L got such a positive response from the Jammie Dodgers she brought to Vacation Bible School, she decided she needed to take a treat for tonight's travels to Australia. She researched lots of recipes on the Internet and when she came across the Popcorn cake that required no baking, we decided she had found a winner. She popped up a bag of popcorn, then we mixed that with melted marshmallows and tossed in some M&Ms. It's kind of like Rice Krispie Treats, but with popcorn instead of the cereal. Here she is explaining it to the kids:

And then she served it up. The kids and adults agreed it was good. She only had one piece leftover to bring home.

This is a cute picture of her and her friend, R, while doing crafts. L had no idea R was behind her.

Jammie Dodgers

L was pretty excited to hear that the Bible School was "traveling" to the United Kingdom today. She's been a recent fan of Dr. Who and asked Maureen, who is running the week, if she could bake some Jammie Dodgers to bring in for snack time. Not knowing what that was, she said sure. So L tells me this about 3 p.m. this afternoon. I had no intention of making them, but she found a recipe online that received from jolly good reviews from the English so we figured it had to be good. L mixed up the dough all by herself. I helped her cut out the cookies and we filled them with milk chocolate rather than the traditional jam. The cookies tasted great. She used this recipe.

At snack time, L stood up and told everyone about the cookies she baked. Then she served one to each kid (and a few adults). Everyone loved them! Now she wants to bake something for tomorrow's lesson on Australia. Temperatures were in the mid-90s today so the parents said she deserves credit for baking on such a hot and humid day.