Breathing Treatments

Alden has had to do some breathing treatments because he has had a cough. The first time we tried to stick that mask over his mouth/nose, he cried the whole time! Now, he's so good with it! He just sits on his Cars couch and watches Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. Sam even sits there with him, and sometimes I catch her putting her arm around him. It's so cute!

Pumpkin Carving

We carved pumpkins on October 27th. Sam and Alden were very patient while Doug & I carved a couple masterpieces! We decided to try to carve "awesome" pumpkins this year, so I got a kit with Disney characters. Doug did Minnie Mouse and I did Mickey Mouse. We were planning on doing Pluto, but it took forever to do the 2 pumpkins and our hand hurt so bad that we decided to just do a regular scary face on the 3rd pumpkin. I designed and carved it because Doug said he was done. They all turned out really nice and Samantha loved them! We put LED lights in them and it looked awesome, that way we didn't have to worry about the candles tipping over and catching the pumpkins on fire!

Pumpkin Ridge

We went to Pumpkin Ridge near Nebraska City on Saturday, October 18th. We have went to this pumpkin patch every year since Samantha was born in 2005. This year, we took pictures from the last couple of years to give to the owners to show then how much we enjoy their pumpkin patch. There's definately nothing flashy about their pumpkin patch, but it's FREE and their pumpkins are SUPER cheap! The thing that the kids really want to do at this age is just look at pumpkins and pick out their own pumpkins in the patch.

The day wasn't all that fun, as we had a few "issues" that day, and it turned out that Sam was starting to get sick with the stomach flu (we just didn't realize that's why her pretty smile is not quite as evident in the pictures).

Back in Kansas City...

Our plane left at 7:00am on Sunday morning to fly back to Kansas City, so that meant..... We had to get up at 2:30am (and we didn't go to bed until 11:00pm the night before), take showers and finish packing everything, get the kids dressed, load the car, check out of the resort, return the rental car, check our bags, get through security and we had our gate changed so we had drag the kids clear across the airport to get to our other gate. We had to get to the airport really early, because the day before, I had tried to check- in for our flight online to make sure that we got 'A' seats, but Southwest Airlines wouldn't let me check in online, so I had to call them and boy were they mean! They ended up telling me that it was because of the TSA (Transportation & Safety Administration) and they had block on me. I was in tears at our resort's front desk, because basically they were telling me that I might not be able to board the plane with my family! So, they gave me the TSA phone number and when I called them they said there must be a flag in the system for my name, so if I write them a letter- in 90 days, they will clear my name! What the heck? 90 days....I fly out tomorrow! Anyway, a long story short, I was able to board the plane and it was because I had a lap - child (Alden) that I was not able to check in on line for. Southwest has ALOT of stupid people working for them! Our flight was great, and the flight attendant actually helped us get the car seats back to the middle of the plane, so it was a lot less stressful than the previous flight. Alden & Sam slept the whole way there, with Alden throwing up a bunch in mid-flight. We landed in Kansas City and we waited for shuttle to pick us up and take us back to the hotel where we left our van at. Then, it was back to Nebraska! We had an awesome vacation!

Disney's Hollywood Studio's - The final hours

The last few hours we spent at Disney's Hollywood Studios involved visiting Playhouse Disney characters. First, we waited in line to see Jo Jo & Goliath at their meet & greet spot. Alden was asleep, so Sam did this one on her own. She was the last one to see Jo Jo & Goliath before they had to leave for the day. Goliath grabbed Sam's hand and they skipped together all the way to the "cast members only" sign. It was really cute! Then, we turned around and got back in that same line to see Handy Manny. Samantha hadn't seen him yet, so that was fun for her. (I wish Alden had been awake, but he was STILL sleeping.) Next, Sam & I went and got ice cream bars for all of us. Samantha really enjoyed her ice cream as it was VERY hot outside that day. After the ice cream, we went inside an air conditioned building to try to cool off. Inside the building was Sorcerer Mickey Mouse, so we took a family picture with him in our Nebraska gear. We got a lot of comments on our Husker clothing. We found out there are a lot of people from Nebraska that work as Disney cast members and also a lot of Nebraska tourists that time of year. We got updates on the Nebraska v. Texas Tech game that whole afternoon from all of our parents. We headed back outside to find that June & Quincy from the Little Einsteins were greeting people, so we jumped in that line and Sam & Alden & I got our picture taken with them. And, a few minutes later, we were able to get in line for Annie and Leo from the Little Einsteins. Samantha was so excited to see Annie. We had been waiting ALL afternoon to find her out and about. Annie fell down while we were talking to her, but we realized that she was just trying to sit down on the ground so that she could hold Alden for the picture. By the end of that meet & greet, we were all very tired and it was time to go home. He had to head home to pack for the plane ride and our plane left VERY early at 7:00am the next morning...

Dinsey's Hollywood Studios (MGM)

We walked to the Rock 'n Rollercoaster ride and Doug went through the single rider line while I waited with the kids, and then I did the same while Doug waited with the kids. (When I was waiting with the kids, we found a bathroom and I changed Sam into her Husker Cheerleading outfit. Originally, I told Doug that I didn't want her to wear the Husker outfit, but the more and more I saw those darn Texas fans in their burnt orange colors...the more it fueled me to put on her cheerleading Husker outfit.) After that, we walked over the the Playhouse Disney Live on Stage show that we had seen the previous night, and watched it again (check out how many strollers are parked outside the Playhouse Disney show!). The kids still loved it! After that, we walked to the Toy Story area and Sam & I waited about 45 minutes to see Woody & Buzz Lightyear from Toy Story. The characters were HUGE, and I think they intimidated Samantha. Next, we walked to the "Cars" characters (which was really stupid because we all waited in line to take pictures of cars that were just "cars" and didn't move or talk). Doug took the kids through that line and I just had to take the picture. They looked so cute in their Husker clothes. Then, it was time to ride the Toy Story Ride. It was pretty cool because it was a 3D ride and you shot at targets while you moved. (Alden loved it! He giggled as I shot things.) Doug and Sam watched the 3D Muppet movie, while Alden & I strolled around the park. Doug said that Sam loved the movie and giggled at everything. Next, it was time for lunch, so we found a restaurant that wasn't TOO crowded, and stalked every table until we finally got a seat. After lunch, we walked over the parade route on main street and got a good spot. Doug stayed with Alden while Sam & I went shopping. The parade was awesome! It was called a "Block Party," because it stopped 2 times on the parade route or every "block." There were lots of characters from A Bug's Life, Monster's Inc, and Toy Story to name a few. It quite a production and it kept both of the kids interested! After the parade, we went back to the Playhouse Disney area to meet some more characters...

Play 'n Dine with Playhouse Disney Breakfast

On Saturday (Our last day in Florida) we went to Disney's Hollywood Studios (otherwise known at MGM when I younger). The park opened at 8:00 for extra magic hours (extra magic hours are only for people staying at Disney hotels), so it was extra crazy for our 8:05am breakfast at the Play 'n Dine with Playhouse Disney (which was the breakfast we were the most excited about because Samantha and Alden watch Playhouse Disney on the Disney Channel when they wake up in the mornings). We were told to be at the restaurant 15 minutes early, but Disney officials wouldn't let us go any farther than the end of main street. So, we impatiently waited with the rest of the people and then ran to the restaurant when they dropped the rope. We got seated 1st, and our waitress gave us the BEST table! We got to be right be the characters when they sang and danced. It was really neat. We met June and Leo from the Little Einsteins first, followed by Jo Jo and Goliath from Jo Jo's Circus. Alden loved the characters! He LOVED the lion (Goliath). The food was really good, and there was never really a huge line like the day before at Animal Kingdom, so we got tons of food. Alden gnawed on a banana and ate pancakes the whole time. Alden danced to the music on my lap and Samantha reluctantly went up to the front to dance with other kids (only she didn't dance, she just stood there and watched). When we were almost done with our breakfast, I sent Doug to the new Toy Story Ride to get us fast passes for later in the day. (It was a good thing that I sent him early before the park opened, because the wait was never less than 2 hours and the fast passes were gone by noon. After breakfast, we walked to the Rock 'n Rollercoaster ride...