disney vacation part I (Pirates and Meals...)

My parents came to visit for TWO whole weeks this month.  They came first to honor lucas' baptism on labor day weekend.  (i'll post pics when i get them from my dad)  My mom, dad, and brother ryan came, along with one of my aunts and cousins and her family.  We also had two of joe's sisters and parents here.  I'll blog more on that later.

My brother ryan has been training to fly helicopters and after lots of hard work found out that he gets the "bird" of his choice.... BLACKHAWKS!  It was especially sweet because it is the same helicopter my dad flies.  YAY RYAN!!

Then we took time off to travel to orlando to go to DISNEYWORLD!!!!!  I have some 200+ pics so i'll just grace you with a few and let you browse the rest on FB...

For the most part, the lines were very short...

(case in point, this is space mountain smack dab in the middle of the day!)

 but when we did have to wait... we got a little camera happy.  Rather... I.... got a little camera happy.  I dubbed myself the family historian and at every possible chance i clicked away with pictures.  You will notice in many pics to follow that everyone stopped paying me any attention because i was always snapping pics.  Especially my sweet hubs that LOVES to have his pic taken ... ANYWAYS!

Let's continue:

These little guys are my very own pirates of the Caribbean.  They found these swords and dad had to pull out the plastic and buy them.  How can anyone resist these faces??? They were so tickled with their purchase that each boy slept with their sword under their pillow every night we were at our resort. Carter informed his dad as we tucked them into bed, "Don't worry dad, if anyone breaks in, I'll handle it!"

You would think with an attitude like that, you would see a face like this on the actual pirate ride the next day....

 He was terrified! He did not want to get on the boat.  So, being the mildly submissive parents that we are.....Naturally, we made him ride it!  To boost the moral of the ride we lifted our swords and yelled "ARRRR" to everything we saw... by the end we were all happy.  However, the riders in the boat in front of us, were ready to make us walk the plank i'm sure.

 Uncle ryan screaming ARRRRR with jaxon on his lap!

This was Carter pre-trip on pirates! The picture is blurry and the lighting is terrible... but his face makes this a MILLION dollar shot!

Eating food was another main event.  Every time we sat down to eat the question was what are you having... it was WHERE ARE WE GOING AND EATING NEXT?  By the time the trip was over, no one wanted to hear the word food or meal. 

We ate sushi, fillet mignon, seared tuna, more steak, pasta, turkey, prime rib, ham, potatoes and DESSERT at every single meal!

Here we are eating breakfast at Boma in the Animal Kingdom Lodge.  Omelets made to order, fresh fruit, pancakes, waffles, pastries.... DELISH!

Here we are at the Liberty Tavern in Magic Kingdom eating a family style Colonial thanksgiving dinner.  Smoked Turkey, Mashed Potatoes, Gravy to DIE for, cranberry sauce, rolls, garlic green beans, mixed green salad with raspberry vinaigrette, Prime Rib, Ham, and apple cobbler with vanilla ice cream for dessert! They ROLLED us out of there.  All of it was put on our table and we ate it family style.

Here we are eating at Kona Cafe in the polynesian resort.  We had bread with macadamia nut butter, steak, ahi tuna and salmon.

Here we are eating at chef mickey at the contemporary hotel.  It was a very nice buffet where the characters came to your seat.  It was like a party! As you can see standing on chairs is A.O.K... at this joint!

This is Ryan and Jax @ Wolfgang Puck in Downtown Disney.  Great Sushi, Great Steak, Great Fish, amazing dessert.

In Epcot we ate in Japan at a Steak House.  The best Hibachi Grill! Joe is giving one of those... "more pictures, really?" looks... PRICELESS!

We ate like this all day, every day, each day we were there! 

Next.... part II (riding rides and posing for the camera)