The Hopkins Family: Zip-a-Dee-Do-Dah

My oh my what a wonderful day. We had an AWESOME time in Disney World. Before we even got home everyone was planning the next trip back. My kids were in heaven, there was a pool, cousins, and lots of treats. Not to mention Disney. I am pretty sure they didn't stop smiling the whole week. We came home exhausted in the best possible way.

Saturday

We got to Orlando and headed out to do all the grocery shopping for the week. We stayed in an awesome house with 8 bedrooms, a game room, and best of all...it's own pool. I don't think I'll ever want to stay in a hotel if we travel in that area again. It was great to all be in one place but still have enough space that we were comfortable. It was also really nice having a kitchen so we weren't eating out for every meal. Once we got to the house the kids headed STRAIGHT for the pool. I think they would have stayed in the entire week if we had let them. We had a BBQ and just hung out and enjoyed all being in one place for the first time in 2 years.

The kids at the airport getting ready to leave

Sunday

We took time to relax and hang out some more. We went to church and then headed home for more family time. The night was rounded out with a great FHE led by my parents. They taught us about an "inukshuk" and how are part of the First Nation. They are made out of stones usually and are meant as markers to show people the way. Alyssa and Paul had fun "playing" a card game called Don't Break the Chain. They basically just ran around doing crazy things and laughing.

Monday

Monday was our first trip to Disney. We decided to start of the week at Epcot. The kids had a great time, especially on Soarin'. I took the little kids home after lunch to hang out in the pool and nap. I got a lot of funny looks since I had 4 kids on the SINGLE stroller (Lily in the seat, Sammi sitting on the food tray, Paul in the basket, and Alyssa holding onto me and sitting on the handle) as well as Hailey walking next to me. I think people felt bad for me and also thought I was a little nutso to have so many kids. That night we planned on going to a water park, but it was going to be too much so we headed to Downtown Disney instead. We just walked around and wandered in the stores. Most of the kids got a treat from the candy store and so they were set for the rest of the night. They were all exhausted that night!

Paul with his treat at Downtown Disney

Tuesday

After a hot day at Epcot, we headed over to Typhoon Lagoon to cool off. It was difficult with Lily and not my favorite day of the week. However, the kids had a great time and were excited to spend even more time in the water. We did get rained out and had to head home early though.

Just being goofy

Wednesday

Wednesday was the big day at Magic Kingdom. We got there early and had a pretty good plan of attack. The kids got to ride all the rides (I think) they wanted, and got to ride their favorites mulitple times. Sammi and Paul both liked Splash Mountain the best and I think they each rode that one 5 times. Not too bad considering we didn't wait in line longer than 20 min for any ride (and that was It's a Small World!!). We did take a break in the middle of the day and then went back at night for the parade and fireworks. Paul kept saying how awesome the parade was and pointing out all the cool lights. I didn't like it so much since I had him on my shoulders the whole time...what we do for our kids. Adam kept Lily home since we were going to be out so late. I think Wednesday was my favorite day.

I love everyone's face in this picture

All the kids wearing their matching shirts

Yes my sisters and I are wearing matching hats and shirts. Yes we are THAT awesome.

Going back that night

On the ferry going to the car, the kids were EXHAUSTED!

Thursday

Thursday was another great day...we headed out to Cocoa Beach to swim and play in the sand. Again, Lily wasn't thrilled but I think the other kids could have been there forever. The bigger kids especially like the boogie boards.

This was poor Lily most of the week, hot, sweaty, and tired

Friday

After discussion on what we wanted to do on Friday after having such a busy week already, we opted to go to Hollywood Studios. Good thing we did! Hailey and Grant LOVED the Tower of Terror...except for the ghosts in the movie. My kids liked the Indiana Jones stunt show and the new Toy Story ride. The new Toy Story ride was one of my favorites too, so was the Rockin' Roller coaster. I rediscovered that I'm a roller coaster junkie, I kind of love them!

Paul looking at Phineas and Ferb. He was too nervous to go talk to them or have his picture taken with them, even after waiting in line (luckily it was only about 5 min)

The awesome glasses for Toy Story

Saturday

Saturday was our final day and it was H-O-T. We opted to go to Blizzard Beach and it turned out really fun. My parents kept Lily so Adam and I really got to hang out and go on a lot of the rides. It was another one of my favorite days. Paul really liked all the water slides and wanted to spend a lot more time on them. Luckily (maybe?) on one of the last rides he went under at the end and struggled a little bit. That curbed his enthusiasm enough that we were able to try some other things. Grant liked the wave pool and was swimming away and then kicking so we wouldn't take him out. I guess they liked it. That night we went out to dinner and headed back to Downtown Disney to go to DisneyQuest. We had no idea what it was and that with our tickets you could play all the arcade games for free. That was another place that we struggled to get our children out of.

Sammi said the best part of the vacation was eating in the pool. Awesome.