Home...

We are back, but let me review the end of the trip before I jump into reality. Our last day and night and half a day in Orlando was pure Disney magic. I was in a fair amount of pain because of the blisters on my feet so I did not complain when the family slept in. When they did get up and moving, we decided to head to EPCOT for a quiet day with no plan, just wandering. We did have a slight plan in that we had a 2:10 reservation to eat at our favorite Japanese restaurant. So...we entered the park and just wandered. We rode the Universe of Energy and Spaceship Earth before beginning our wanderings towards Japan. Our meal there was incredible, as always. I FINALLY got my hands on some sushi and was in heaven. I also had the chef prepare me stir fried vegetables, just so I could watch him. It is one of the restaurants where the chef prepares your food on the grill/table and puts on a great show in that preparation. Malachi is a terrific chef and loves to watch this display. Maybe someday he will have such skills?! We enjoyed both the show and the food tremendously and ate at a very leisurely pace. Malachi had decided that he wanted to spend some of his hard earned 4H money on a sword. So we studied the swords in the Japanese and British and Chinese pavilions. In the meantime, Off Kilter, the Celtic rock band had taken the stage in their regular afternoon show. I caught two sets. The first set was okay...well...I got to see men, playing bagpipes and wearing kilts, so it was better than okay. But the second set, the one my family missed, because they do not understand my love of this music was phenomenal. I got to hear Danny Boy, Scotland is Free AND Amazing Grace. They finished with Amazing Grace, so there were tears flowing from me. And my family walked up just in time to be embarrassed that I was crying. Oh well. Apparently it is not just a laughter problem that I suffer from, it is just an overall large emotion issue. After the show, I stopped off in the UK pavilion to purchase my yearly supply of smoked Welsh salt. I know, it sounds crazy, but it is amazing! Then the boys decided to head over to China and purchase the desired sword, so the girls headed to the France pavilion for pastries. Yep, I got sushi in Japan and a Napoleon in France. Sheesh...why wouldn't you love Disney World?! The Napoleon was divine and I was just glad to get off of my poor feet for awhile. After we had sat as long as we dared, we headed back to the front of the park to ride Test Track. It was awesome, as usual. By then it was time to head to the dock for our VIP viewing of Illuminations, the fireworks/music/water/laser show that they perform in EPCOT every night. Did you know that they use 1105 fireworks every night? And that they have only cancelled the show 3 times in 12 years. Twice because of hurricanes, whose winds would not allow for fireworks and once on 9/11, because the government demanded that they close down DisneyWorld at 1:00 PM. That is an amazing track record for a show of this magnitude. We were right there on the dock watching the men scurry around and then it started and the flames were just a few feet away and it was intense and then the firework cannons started exploding all around us and it was unreal. I cannot even begin to describe the sensation. My boys were literally in shock. I cannot thank Jerry and Tom and the crew enough for giving us that opportunity. I have always loved the music from Illuminations and so in commemoration of our VIP night, Karl bought me the cd. YEAH!!

It was a slow walk out of the park after that. Our last night always is, it is so hard to leave. But leave we must. We did allow the kids one more swimming excursion after we got back to the resort and then we all crashed. The next morning we packed the suitcases and loaded the car and then drove off, with a few tears, away from the resort and off to a few last hours at Magic Kingdom. The crowds were non existent. It was stunning. One cast member told us that it was the smallest crowd day yet recorded in 2010. We loved it. We walked on everything we wanted and it was a nice way to put an end to our trip. We thought that we had scheduled things well but as we went to leave the park and head back to the parking lot the monorail broke down so we had to wait for the ferry and so we had a bit of a rush. But we got to the airport in plenty of time and even had time to eat before the flight. Grandpa picked us up at the airport and everyone was much relieved that it was Grandpa and not Grandma. (Grandma tends to not handle manuevering around the airport very well and it is rather stressful for all involved.) Seviah got car sick on the way home and we had to make a couple of roadside pit stops. We got home to find that the dogs had run away. We searched for a long time but finally had to sleep. At about 4:30 they came straggling back and so life was good and we were complete as a family.

Reality hit hard today and we were plunged immediately into life again but I am still at peace. I did get another sweet afternoon at The Winery with good friends. But it was bittersweet as we must tell Mary Lou goodbye. But life goes on. Kodren is going to be a great football player. Michayla and I are going to learn Russian and Michayla is going to be a Disney intern in January and Malachi is going to head back to classes where all the girls will swoon over him again, while he is totally oblivious. Karl is going to learn the Maya animation program and wow us all with his new abilities. And Seviah is going to carry her new stuffed Steamboat Willie Mickey Mouse all over the entire world until he falls apart. Yep, life is hectic and crazy, but still mighty fine! I am home.