Andrew & Leah

(Written by Ryan)

Thursday, March 22, 2012

I stayed home from work all day to clean up the house and pack my bags. Mom came home early from work and by 6:00 pm we picked up the kids at daycare and at 6:30 we were on the road to drive to Minneapolis to stay at Brian and Allison Axness’ house to catch our plane to Orlando early the next morning.

Friday, March 23, 2012

We woke up at 4:30 am to get in the car and drive about a half hour from Allison and Brian’s house to the Minneapolis airport. It was a 3 hour flight and at about 11:30 in Orlando we took the Disney Magical Express bus to our hotel, the All-Star Sports resort. We got to our room, our bags arrived and we went to the Magic Kingdom. We had lunch, at the hotel before we left, and dinner was at MK. Everybody went on the Winnie the Pooh ride, but Andrew like the speedway race cars with me the best.
Mom and Leah went to find a spot to watch the Electric Magic Parade and there was a big fireworks display after. Both kids slept in their strollers all the way to the bus, and on the ride to the hotel because it was almost 11:00pm. Leah really got tired and fell asleep earlier in the day, too. It was a long day for everybody.

Saturday, March 24, 2012

We woke up at 7:15 and ate breakfast in our room using cereal from home and milk from the café. Good thing, because the hotel eating area was busy! We took the first bus to Animal Kingdom and took the African Safari. There were lots of animals – tons of giraffes, some elephants, rhinos, and birds everywhere. Andrew like the end the best when we found out some “poachers” got caught with our help chasing them out, and a “baby elephant” was saved.
We saw a Lion King tribute performance with characters and live actors and gymnasts. Leah slept for most of it despite the good, loud music. After photos with Meeko, Goofy, Minnie and Mickey we had lunch and some baby ducklings walked by our table. Then we brought some Mickey Mitts on the way to the bus and everybody took a nap back at the hotel.
We got on the bus again around 4:00 to EPCOT and went on Under the Sea with Nemo and Friends. The seats were clams – Mom and Andy in one, Leah and me in another. Then our dinner was at the Coral Reef where the table is right by a window so you can see fish, sharks and scuba divers go by. We went on the clams ride one more time, then to the Mouse Gear store for Andrew and Leah’s ears. The night ended with Spaceship Earth, the ride in the big giant golf ball thing at the main entrance of EPCOT. Andy liked seeing our photos on the screens in the car at the end. Both kids had baths and went to sleep back at the hotel.

Sunday, March 25, 2012

We woke up early to take the 8:15 bus to Hollywood Studios. Mom had a plan and it worked. Tons of people were there half an hour before the park opened, and we wanted to go on the most popular ride, Toy Story Mania. I went in line as fast as Andy and I could get there, and mom and Leah got Fast Pass ticket before joining us in the line so we could come back later for another turn. It was a great ride where you could shoot targets, and I got over 100,000 my second time. Andy got 18,600 or so. We had to wear 3D glasses to see the targets.
After that, we went to see Buzz Lightyear and Woody across the street, but the kids were very scared. Lunch was at Pizza Planet where we got to play a Lil Hoop Shoot basketball game and some skee-ball before going to see a Beauty and the Beast Live Performance. We liked that better than the Lion King show. There was also a 3D Muppets show before lunch in Hollywood Studios, which was a little bit scary at times for the kids, but very cool effects.
It was nap time at the hotel and since we had been to all the parks, we decided to go back to Magic Kingdom at night time. We did lots of rides for everybody starting with a Monsters Inc comedy “Laugh Floor” show where Leah got shown on the video with a caption “Daddy’s Little Monster” and they read “Andrew from Fargo” ‘s joke that mom had texted to the show before it started. (What did the clock do when it got hungry? It went back four seconds!)
After the show we went on another Buzz Lightyear game ride, the Mad Tea Party, the People Mover ride exploring all of the Tomorrowland, and also did Dumbo the flying elephants. Dinner was at Cosmic Ray’s Starlight Café. It was almost time for fireworks but we left to get back for bed a little early.

Monday, March 26, 2012

We got up early to go to Magic Kingdom for breakfast at the Crystal Palace buffet with Winnie the Pooh, Piglet, Tigger and Eeyore. They danced around the restaurant to music and then visited each table to take photos and sign autographs. After breakfast, we walked to nearby Adventureland for a photo with Tinkerbell and then went on the Aladdin Magic Carpet ride which was a lot like Dumbo the Flying Elephants. From there we went to Frontierland where Disney’s Splash Mountain is. I had Fast Pass tickets for Andrew and me to go, and it was about 20 minutes ride in a “log” car that has a 50 foot drop at the end. Luckily we were in the backrow of our car, so we didn’t get as wet as the others. The morning ended with a Jungle Cruise back in Adventureland. We had taken the Frontierland railroad around the theme park to Future World and Fantasy Land to see “It’s a Small World” but the line was way too long. We needed rest.
Lunch at the hotel cafeteria was very slow service so after mom was in line for about 45 minutes, we took the food back to our room. The kids both had good naps on the bus back from Magic Kingdom and in their strollers, so we had about a half hour of swim time in the hotel pool (the smaller of the two) and also spent our complimentary 100 points in the hotel arcade. Andrew was very sad when his points ran out and he couldn’t play “Lil Hoops.”
Evening was at Downtown Disney where we made custom Rice Krispy treats dipped in chocolate and candy. They were very sweet and messy, and we couldn’t finish them. We picked out some things at the World of Disney Store and then ate at Earl of Sandwich for dinner. After a quick stop in the Team Mickey sports store, we took a really crowded bus back to the hotel and went to bed for the night.

Tuesday, March 27, 2012

After a few breakfast snacks at the hotel, we went to Magic Kingdom again to go on rides and started on Splash Mountain. Andy loves it even though he is barely the minimum 40 inches tall. He went with me once and mom once, and I took Leah on Aladdin’s Magic Carpet Ride again during the wait. Since it was slower in the morning, we were able to see, “It’s a Small World” before taking the monorail to the Contemporary resort for a brunch buffet at Chef Mickey’s. We got to meet and take photos with Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Pluto and Donald Duck. They all autographed Andy and Leah’s books. We took the monorail back around to Magic Kingdom and bussed to the hotel for nap time. Later in the afternoon we return to the MK after naps and some packing to get ready for Wednesday’s early departure. I had gotten Fast Pass tickets in the morning for Peter Pan’s flight, so we started with that ride before dinner at Tony’s.
We spent the last evening doing all of our favorite rides including the Mad Tea Party cups, which was Leah’s most fun. I went with Andrew on Tomorrowland Speedway and Goofy’s Barnstormer roller coaster, and we went over to Splash Mountain for our final run in the dark! Mom spent some of our unused snack allotments to buy treats to bring home, like graham crackers and Mickey shaped Rice Krispy bars. We all met by Winnie the Pooh’s Adventure for another ride on that and later at around 10:00 we watched the Wishes fireworks display behind Cinderella’s castle which kept us turning our heads back and forth to see the whole show. Mom held Leah because she was scared. I held Andrew so he could see both sides of the fireworks show easier. He was really scanning the sky with his eyes in amazement. Both kids fell asleep before the bus arrived, because hundreds of people were lined up waiting. We even declined a spot on one of the busses because we wanted seats instead of standing room which would have been hard with two bags, two strollers and two sleeping kids. It was after 11:00 pm before everyone got to sleep and we had an early wake up call in the morning.

Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Stephanie and I woke up around 5am to get ready and get the final items packed for our long trip back to Fargo. I checked our bags and got our airline boarding passes at the Disney curbside desk before we boarded on the Disney Magical Express to the Orlando Int’l Airport. We were there by 7:30 for our 9:30 flight and went through security before getting some breakfast food in the terminal.
We boarded on time and Leah sat with me in the window seat so she could enjoy seeing the clouds. She and Andrew watched Toy Story 3 Movie on mom’s laptop. Leah took about an hour-long nap, too. Our bags were waiting for us on the carousal in the Minneapolis when we arrived. We drove our car to Davanni’s for pizza at lunchtime in Eden Prairie. They had a neat Coke fountain that I had never seen before – there was a touch screen to pick your soda and flavors. I tried an Orange Coke, Cherry Coke and Regular Coke. We filled up with gas and stopped at the Axness house to see cousins Reese, Isaac and Marcus for about an hour of play time and looking at photos. Andrew was very sad when it was time to leave. We stopped for dinner at Perkin’s in Fergus Falls and made it home by around 8:00 pm. Both kids had baths and it was time for some rest in our own beds.

What a trip!

Happy birthday to Andrew! We had fun celebrating. Dad was out of town on Andrew’s actual birthday, so we celebrated with our family by going out to eat at a restaurant of Andrew’s choice. He picked Space Aliens of course for the games – he loves to play basketball anytime and when you get tickets even better! After dinner, we opened presents at home. He had a school celebration with his friends. He chose to bring yogurt over cupcakes! Can you believe that kid? What a healthy choice. He got a crown in Bison colors and a big number 4 on it.
On his actual birthday, Nana came to visit and we had to keep the tradition of celebrating at Sammy’s Pizza with Grandma Teresa and Papa Pete. Andrew got his very own pizza. He picked pepperoni. He had chocolate milk to go along with it, also a tradition. Grandma Teresa had a mini birthday cake for him. He thought it was so neat and shared a piece with all of us. Having the sweet tooth that he does, the cake was followed by an ice cream cone from Charlie’s, too.

Some of Andrew’s Favorites
Colors: Green (and gold) – Bison colors
Foods: Pepperoni pizza, pancakes, waffles, spaghetti, chocolate milk
Songs: I Gotta Feeling by Black Eyed Peas, anything from Jock Jams
Activities: Playing basketball and baseball, reading books, Playing chase with Leah
Movies: Monsters Inc, Toy Story, Despicable Me