Walt Disney World 2013, Day 2--Shrine and Hollywood Studios

Our vacation plan initially only included four days at the Disney parks.  Steven really only wanted to spend three days at the parks, but I convinced him to add just one more when we paid for our trip.  And then the week before we watched their promotional video, which made me start to think about adding just one more day to make five.  We were going to skip Hollywood Studios, but realizing that it would be a small cost and might have some attractions we'd really enjoy, I thought it would be worth it.  But we didn't tell the kids or decide anything until Sunday morning.  Sunday had been scheduled as our "rest" day, but we still took it slow with a very early mass, some time resting and swimming at the hotel, and then arriving around 3pm at Hollywood Studios.  Here are some photos!

The Basilica of the National Shrine of Our Lady Queen of the Universe.

It was a huge and gorgeous church!  

The 7:30am wasn't crowded, and a few of our kids even fell asleep.

There were beautiful statues and stained glass windows throughout.

I believe this is a replica of the St. Peter statue in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome.  The one in Rome has been touched so many times that the foot is worn down, but this one, not so much!

You can't see the perspective so well, but this Madonna and Child was huge!

Outside was a lovely rosary garden and a beautiful statue of Blessed Pope John Paul II.

The kids refused to pose, but here is the entrance to the basilica.

And this was their huge gift shop!  I could have spent all day in there!

We took a taxi back to our hotel and had some breakfast.  Here is the crazy food court area!

There was a seating area with movies and coloring for the kids.

Then, another long walk back to the room for some rest time.

Later, we suited up for some time at the pool!
Daddy did the laundry while we were swimming :)

Thomas played for nearly an hour with a leaf there on the steps of the pool.  He was pretending it was a surfboard.

After cleaning up, we were ready for the bus ride over to Hollywood Studios!

We arrived around 3pm and had a nice afternoon and evening there.

We'd skipped lunch, so we found a little spot to eat.  With the meal plan, we got a dessert with every meal.  Here's MC eating a giant cupcake!

  

It was starting to rain a bit, and the girls went on the Rockin' Roller Coaster with Daddy.  The boys and I stayed in the gift shop area, which was Aerosmith/Rock 'n Roll themed.  It was apparently a very scary coaster, and Ellie kept her eyes closed the whole time!  Steven really liked it though.  Here's SJ in a crazy hat...

 

We headed over to the Disney Junior Show next.  Tommy loved this!

They had things falling from the ceiling, this was paper coins, but they also had bubbles and later confetti.

What a Daddy!  Singing along!

Then it was time for the Beauty and the Beast show.  I loved it!

The Toy Story Mania ride was a favorite with all the kids, especially Thomas.

We went on the Great Movie Ride (okay), and walked around a bit.  We were looking forward to the Honey, I Shrunk the Kids playground, but it was closed.  The big kids went on the Star Tours simulator ride, and then we decided to cancel our dinner reservations at the 50s Prime Time Cafe since we weren't very hungry.  We walked to the back of the park to grab some pizza for a couple hungry kids, but it had just closed!  Bummer!  So we found another place (Backlot Express) and then headed over towards the night show.

 

The night show at Hollywood Studios is called Fantasmic.  We got Fast Passes and sat in the middle front reserved section, but it probably wasn't necessary.  But during busy times, this show apparently fills up.  It started with some cast members getting the audience riled up.

We had brought some glow swords and glow sticks from the Dollar Tree.  I'm glad I bought a bunch of those, because the glowing items sold at Disney are pricey!

Fantasmic is a laser, light, water, and firework production including music and the Disney characters.  It was impressive, but a little scary for the littlest ones.

In the end, I was glad we paid the little bit extra (I think it was $50 for our whole family) to add another day of park tickets and spend the afternoon and evening at Hollywood Studios.  I really enjoyed the Beauty and the Beast and Fantasmic shows, Tommy loved Disney Jr, and the other kids and Steven had fun on Star Tours and the Rockin' Roller Coaster.  I'm also glad we took it slow with an early mass, time at the pool, and then arriving in the afternoon at the park.  It was another great day at Disney!  Next up: Animal Kingdom!

What I Wore Sunday

Happy Sunday! Happy November! Happy Fall! It's finally cooling off a bit here in south Texas. We've had a busy weekend, and getting to mass was no different!

Steven was on a hunting trip for work, so I was flying solo for a soccer game, Nutcracker rehearsal, grocery shopping at 8pm, and cleaning the whole house in preparation for some guests who probably won't be staying here after all!  I'm so glad we gained an extra hour this morning. I needed it!

We were planning to attend mass this evening after Steven got back, but around 9:30am while cleaning up our pancake breakfast I realized that the girls probably wouldn't be back from their 4-H Food Challenge in time for mass. I jumped in the shower and somehow got all four kids to church just as Father was entering the church! Mass started about seven minutes late...thank you, Jesus!

Here's what I wore: maternity shirt from Ross, old black peasant skirt with holes, my black clogs, and my hair soaking wet in a clip! This might be my first belly shot on the blog? 22 weeks today!

I didn't hear any of Father's homily since I was dealing with both the boys and bathroom issues, but I always love the Zacchaeus gospel. May we do whatever it takes to get a glimpse of Our Lord and invite him into our hearts and homes!

So the girls are off with some friends for their contest, somehow we located their contest clothes, they didn't eat lunch (oops), but Daddy is home and it's a quiet house. Now it's time to take a deep breath and get some rest to prepare myself for another busy week. Hope you've all had a lovely weekend!

See more Sunday outfits over at Fine Linen and Purple:

http://www.finelinenandpurple.com

Happy 3rd Birthday, Thomas!

Well, I'm finally getting to the September birthdays.  Poor Daddy won't get his own post.  But we had a little celebration at home a few days before our trip to celebrate Steven's birthday (the day we left for Disney) and Thomas' birthday (September 21st).  I knew we'd be in Houston for Thomas' birthday and Daddy would be on a work trip, so we had a little cake at home to celebrate early.  Mary Clare made Steven a German Chocolate cake, and Tommy had a simple white sheet cake.

Just a little over a week after our trip, we spent a weekend in Houston since I had a Monday doctor appointment.  At the last minute we were able to get almost all of our Houston family together for a Saturday lunch at Skeeter's Restaurant in town.  We were even blessed to share it with Steven's Aunt Winkie and Uncle John visiting from Virginia!

Here's the birthday boy!  He was so excited to be "swee" years old! (Now he can say thwee)

I got a yummy cake from my favorite bakery, RJ Goodies the day before, not sure if we'd just celebrate with my parents or have a little party.  But it all fell into place and I picked up a balloon, plates, napkins and a candle on the way to lunch.  Now this is an easy way to do a birthday party!

Here's most of the family who came...both sets of grandparents, three aunts, a great aunt and uncle, and four cousins (the others had sports events).

Covering his ears while we sang Happy Birthday!

Blowing out the #3 candle!

He wouldn't touch his lunch because he was so excited about the presents!

PaPa helps open a present.

Cousins and siblings help, too.

And here's a little phone pic of Tommy hitting his homemade pinata from Ellie, with a sword!

Happy Birthday Tommy!

All Hallows' Eve

I'm going to move forward on the blog, and hopefully go back to catch up when I can.  Last night was Halloween and the All Hallows' Eve festival at our church.  Our homeschool group and parish here celebrate with a Vigil Mass for All Saints' Day and a big carnival.  So we don't go trick-or-treating anymore, but we do enjoy a fun-filled evening with costumes, friends, mass, games, and candy!

Here's our cast of saints:

Thomas as St. Florian, patron of firefighters.  I had to bribe him with candy to put the costume on for this one picture, and he refused to wear it again.  He was so excited to buy it at the store (his was the only store-bought costume), but just wasn't interested in dressing up.

Ellie as St. Therese.  I made her costume out of fabric a kind friend gave me since she didn't need it.  I made a simple brown tunic, a white hood and neckpiece (I think it's called a wimple) and then the black veil sewed onto it.  The veil gave me quite a headache and I actually ended up going out to buy more fabric since I messed up the first one.  It was fun to sew again, though.  It has been too long!  I found her roses at a church rummage sale last weekend, and the crucifix we already had at home.

Steven Joseph as St. Michael the Archangel.  We already had the knight gear and wings, bought in previous years at resale stores or for gifts.  He has been St. George in the past, but was excited about St. Michael with the wings this time.

Mary Clare as St. Cecilia.  She wanted to sew her own costume.  We bought that same kind of thin, stretchy, non-fraying fabric on sale at Hancock Fabrics.  I think it was $3.50/yard.  I had visions of a long maxi dress, but she had her own plans, drew them out, and sewed it all herself with no help from me!  In fact, she showed me a few things I didn't know about the sewing machine!  She wore her First Communion veil, a lacy sweater, and lace tied as a belt.  We made a last minute harp out of a pink coat hanger wrapped in ribbon.

The kids lined up outside the church and processed in behind Father for Mass.

And here's a little vision of the carnival out behind the church.  One mom of seven pretty much puts together the whole thing each year.  The kids had a blast and played games and ran around until about 9:30pm!  It got dark so quickly after this photo that I didn't get any more good pictures.  But it was a blessed evening!

All you holy men and women, Pray for Us!!!

Slowing Down

This weekend the baby will be 22 weeks along.  I can hardly believe we are in the twenties and just a couple weeks from viability.  That always seems like a huge milestone for me, even though I've never had a late-term loss or a preemie.  I'm feeling lots of movement throughout the day and I imagine in the next few weeks the kids will start to be able to feel some kicks from the outside!

As much as I've been blaming my lack of blogging on our computer issues, I've come to realize now that even though our computer is mostly functioning and I have added all the photos, I just don't have the energy to sit here and blog.  I also realized that the evening cramping and contractions I've had with the last couple pregnancies have all been during late nights sitting at the computer.  My body is just tired and my belly and baby need me to lie down and rest at night.

Hopefully I can still find some little spurts during the day to catch up with our Disney trip, the September birthdays, and other little events of the past two months.  But I think I'll go ahead and post about All Saints' Day and move forward and go back to catch up when I can.

The past couple weeks I've also felt a general lack of peace.  My body is tired, I'm worried about the baby, and I'm so very short and annoyed with the children's antics.  I can't stay on top of housework or cooking, but am trying so hard to keep them on top of their schoolwork.  I do well with cooking for a few days or a week, and then I have a day where I just can't do any more.  It's usually when we have lots of outings. 

Last night was the big saint party at church, and today it took all that was in me to get the kids dressed and ready for their Atrium classes and a soccer game.  I felt so horrible with an upset stomach that I just couldn't foresee how I would make it through the evening.  I nearly threw in the towel, but I knew I was being counted on to help in the Atrium and to get the girls to church for their "dress rehearsal" for the 4-H Food Challenge.  We made it there, about 20 minutes late, and after sitting on a rocker on the porch at church for awhile, I wearily walked into the Atrium wondering how I would be able to help wrangle a room full of preschoolers!

But amazingly within a few minutes I was feeling myself again!  Maybe it was the Christ-filled environment, or just walking around a bit and making myself useful, but I was so grateful that we were able to be there.  Steven Joseph made a beautiful drawing of a cross and hearts and worked so hard to write his name just perfectly.  Thomas was thrilled to get to choose the bells to put on their prayer altar, and then to spend time setting up their actual miniature altar and pray with a candle (he loves using the snuffer!).  He also worked hard to glue little cut-out parts of the altar onto construction paper, and Steven Joseph was brave to ask the teacher if he could be the one to ring the bells to signal clean-up time.  It really is a gift to spend those precious minutes in the Atrium with my boys.  They are so rambunctious and needy that I need that reminder of the sweetness in their hearts.

Tonight I was reading one of my favorite blogs "My Child, I Love You."  I think of all the blogs I read, some by moms of grown children, this mom of a similar age to me speaks the wisest words and has such a pure heart and innocent love of her children.  What I would give to just spend some hours at Lindsay's house watching her interactions with them.  I know I would be inspired.  Tonight she spoke about her children dressing in Narnia characters for Halloween, and these words of hers will stay with me...

"I made the decision in my head at the beginning of the day that nothing was going to bother me about anything.  I prayed to embrace their excitement, special desires for all the small things that were important to them, and mostly I was going to enjoy their smallness today and be fully present.  They commented at the end of the evening over and over that this was our best Halloween."