we went to Epcot. In case you are wondering,(I'm sure you all are...) Epcot stands for Experimental Prototype Community Of Tomorrow (these are the kind of things you learn when you read a 900 page book!!!) It is a little more focused on educational stuff but there were still a lot of fun things to do there. 
We did great about getting up and going in the morning and got there a little before they opened the gate at 8:30. This was one of the few days where there was no rain and it was pretty hot so we were grateful for our spray bottle fans! Rylee was having a great time with hers and was drenching herself - She would spray herself, make this funny face and then do it again! 
She thought it was pretty funny, even though she looked like she hated the spray in her face. Logan really liked Epcot Center because of the HUGE sphere in the middle, which he called "The Giant Golf Ball!" He was always referring to it, and I think someone told him that Tiger Woods lives there. Whenever we say anything about Epcot, even now, Logan immediately tells us that that is where the Giant Golf Ball is! 
Uncle Dean held him up so that he could get a better view. We had our plan for the first few rides all mapped out - My mom went to get FastPasses for Soarin and the rest of us went to ride Test Track. I had to wait with Rylee while everyone else rode. The height requirement was 40 inches and Logan is about 39 3/4 inches with his shoes, so I didn't think they would let him ride, but Darren decided to try and they let him on! He is still talking about the really cool Test Track ride and loved it! The picture they took of him on the ride was hilarious - He was sitting between Dean and Darren and gripping both of their hands really tight with a pretty terrified look on his face! That ride goes pretty fast!
We rode the less intense version and it was a little lame, but I was a little nervous about the "Spinning version" and my motion sickness! While we were on that ride, my mom had the kids outside and they were having a blast in these fountains. They got totally SOAKED!!! My brother took these funny videos of them. I love how Rylee claps for herself and then nods when they ask her if she is all wet - I always think her little nods are so funny! And I think Logan fighting the water is hilarious, probably because he is usually such a chicken!
Then we headed over to The Land Pavillion and rode some little ride that talked about farming and stuff. They had some cool Mickey shaped pumpkins growing that I thought were really neat and lots of other food growing I had never seen before. Then we rode Soarin. Once again, I didn't think they would let Logan on, but they did (he was on his tippy toes, but they didn't notice). I waited outside with Rylee while everyone else rode it and when they came out Logan wanted to do it again. We had a swap pass so I went with Logan and Darren again. He really loved it - It is a hang gliding simulator and Logan thought it was so cool to fly over stuff and always talks about that ride and "smelling the oranges"! 
we went to The Sea pavilion where they had the Nemo ride. You ride in these little clams and Logan thought they were so funny and still talks about "The Clam Mobiles" we rode in! He thought that was pretty fun, but was a little nervous about Bruce the shark. At that pavilion, they also had some sea animal exhibits, like Dolphins and Sting Rays and Manatees and the Turtle Talk with Crush show. This show is so cool - It is animated but interactive, and Crush talks to the audience and answers questions and stuff. Logan laughed so hard at Crush! He likes saying "Pshaw" and "Dude" and "You SO totally ROCK!" just like Crush! Rylee really liked watching all the fish! 
By the end of the week, I think we all HATED peanut butter and jelly but it was nice to have quick and cheap lunches!After lunch, we went to the Imagination Pavilion and rode the little ride with Figment and then played on some of the exhibits after. 
The thing about Epcot is that after every ride, there are educational and hands-on exhibits so it can take forever to get out of there - especially with Logan who loved it all! Rylee really liked all the musical things too. Then we went to do a couple little things and Spaceship Earth, which Logan really liked, mostly because it was inside "the giant golf ball"! This ride also had all sorts of things you can do after you get off the ride and Logan loved this funny shuffle board thing where you moved energy to different parts of a city. We also made some funny postcards of ourselves!
After that, 
we set out on a Princess mission! I have a really weird obsession with Disney Princesses, but mostly Belle. I'm not sure why, but I do! Before we left home, I programmed the phone number for the character hotline into my cell phone (also thanks to my 900 page book) so I could call and find out any characters location and schedule on any day. I found out that Belle would be in France at certain 
times, so while my family went to the 3D movie (my kids don't like those!) we went to find Belle and also found Sleeping Beauty - Double bonus! I was very disappointed that Rylee did NOT share my fascination with the Princesses and was a little weary of them and not cooperative with pictures. Logan, however, LOVED them and was quite the Ladies' Man! Belle even asked him for a hug, and he just gave her a kiss on the cheek! So funny! He was chatting away to both of them about the "Giant Golf Ball called Spaceship Earth" and we had to drag him away since there was a line behind us. Here are our Princess pictures!
After the Princesses, we met up with the family and did Ellen's Universe of Energy ride. Logan and Rylee were both a little unsure of the big dinosaurs but did pretty well. Then we went and played at Innoventions, which is kind of like a Children's Museum with lots of different hands-on things to do. My brothers loved this! I wish we would have had more time for them and Logan to play around - It was so great for them. While the boys were playing at Innoventions, I went and got them these 1st Time Buttons at Guest Relations (They give these free and have them for birthdays and weddings and stuff too.) Rylee was asleep and Darren was off playing with my brothers so they missed the 1st Timer Picture!
I think Rylee would have had a great time too, but she fell asleep and took a nice nap while were there. I thought this picture was funny of her sleeping - She even poses for the camera in her sleep!
Epcot is really big though and we still had a lot to see - I wish we could have had 1 1/2 or 2 days there! It took us most of the day to do the rides and stuff, and then there was still the World Showcase, which is pretty big. We headed there next, but didn't have too much time to do everything we wanted to do. We rode the boat rides in Mexico and Norway. 
Logan really liked these rides - the one in Mexico had Donald Duck and the 3 Caballeros and the Norway one was a Viking one and Logan really liked the Polar Bears. For some reason he frequently tells people that the Viking Ride was his favorite in all of Disneyworld. It really wasn't that impressive! We ate dinner in Germany - Hot dogs! It was a major stress to get dinner, so we finally just settled on something fast and easy. While we were eating, I looked over and Logan was seriously ASLEEP!!! He was totally out at the table - It was pretty funny! We were all cracking up at him - Poor kid was exhausted!!!
After dinner, we just walked around the World Showcase. 
It is such a cool place that I wish we would have had a lot more time. There are really cool shops and performers and stuff. We were in a pretty big hurry though. This is one of my fav pics from the whole trip of my kids at the American pavilion.
We saw the 
show at the American Adventure and my dad got some sushi in Japan (GROSS) and we walked around the gardens there. We pretty 
much cruised by the other countries (China, UK, Canada, Morocco) and went to France to watch Illuminations. It is a really cool firework and lights show over the lake in the middle of the World Showcase. It was really neat and the kids loved the lights and music and fireworks. They always love this kind of thing! We had such a fun and LONG day! It was pretty hot too - I had to post these pictures of my brother Brad's sweet fro at the end of the day. 
He is very particular about his hair, so it was kind of funny to see him like this! I'm sure he will really appreciate me posting these!!!
Here are the rest of the pics!
It seems we always end up on vacation for Dean's birthday so we tried to at least do something to celebrate and make it special. This was his first cake of many during the cake as you will see from my posts. Everywhere we went, we ended up getting a birthday dessert for him everywhere we went!
Logan was SO excited to fly on an airplane, especially with his uncles, aunts and Grandma and Grandpa and to Disneyworld!!! Rylee also learned the sign for plane and was pretty excited when she saw them at the airport and they both loved looking at the planes out the window while we waited. 
Once we took off, Logan went and sat with his aunts and uncles and Rylee sat in his seat and took a nap, which was very nice. 
Once she woke up, Logan took a turn in the seat and also took a nap. I took tons of things for them to do, but with all the entertainment of their uncles and aunts, they didn't need much. Rylee's favorite thing was to play peek-a-boo over the seats! She thought she was hilarious!
We found some luggage carts and Dean pushed the kids around on them and they were in Heaven!!! Rylee especially LOVED it! She was on Uncle Kyle's lap and if you asked her if she was having fun, she would nod her head "Yes" very enthusiastically!
While we were checking out our place, we wondered outside. We were pretty close to the water and there was a lizard right outside the door! Also, once we went outside, all these ducks started flocking towards us. The kids thought it was so great!
Anyone who has spent time with Logan knows that he has the odd thumb holding obsession. I caught him holding Rylee's on the way to Disneyworld while she was asleep - I thought it was pretty funny! Rylee is pretty fiesty and I don't think she would have let him do that had she been awake. Anyway, by the time we got there, it was after 9, but it only felt like 7 to us with the time change, so it wasn't too bad and we were all pretty excited! 
It was really fun to go at night and see the castle all lit up. We watched a little light parade on the ferry on the way over. It was little boats all lit up to look like sea animals and was kind of fun. Some of our crew headed for Space Mountain, and we went with my mom and watched the fireworks, which were so great. The kids loved them and were so wide-eyed! 
We rode Buzz Lightyear and the Carousel 
and then met up with everyone for the Electromagic Light Parade which was also really fun! While we were waiting for the parade, Logan spotted this Buzz toy that he really wanted. It lit up and spun and he thought it was pretty cool. We decided if he was going to get something, he might as well have it for the whole trip, so he got it and I think he had it spinning during the whole parade! (That might explain why we had to change it out 3 different times during our stay!) We told him if he got it, that was it for the trip, and he did pretty good about asking for things when we reminded him that he already had his Buzz. 
Rylee also got a little light stick - The lady just gave it to her - and she thought it was really fun and liked to play it like a trumpet! 
After the parade, we rode Peter Pan and Small World. We were still going strong, but the park closed (at midnight) so we headed home! 
I thought the kids would be exhausted when we got back, but they were SO wound up! All Rylee wanted to do was jump on the bed! It was hard to settle them down - they had such a fun and busy day!
