Epcot (Wednesday)

Epcot truly is best suited for older kids and adults. But it was one of my favorite days. I think it felt a little more relaxed because we weren't rushing from one ride to the next. In a way, I wish we had spent more time there but it was hot. (There is a theme running through this week long trip. Have you caught on yet?) And so the kids were tired. It's not so hard for Micah and Sammy. They sit. But Callie was hot and tired. She did fine though. Again, we  got a 2nd wind later in the day, so we could have pushed through, but we wanted to make this trip fun. I was afraid of being burned out and the kids not enjoying themselves because they were overly tired and we would be cranky. So, we didn't stay late. While we were there, we had a lot of fun.

Among the notable rides, Soarin' is among the cooler ones. You just fly over an IMAX show of scenery. But it was really cool and Callie loved it. Sammy could have probably gone it it even, but I had never done it and was afraid it wouldn't work well.

Epcot isn't a terribly busy park. That made it nice too. There aren't long lines and there's space to walk around. I didn't feel like we were constantly running into people. And Micah had more freedom to walk and move around because I wasn't afraid of him getting lost in the crowd.

There were some fun shows at Epcot too. This was the show with Crush from Finding Nemo. I forget the actual name of the show. But it was fun and interactive.

Yes. While in Canada, we took some pictures. I was too short to really get my head in there. Here's the thing...why do they make those circles so large? Do you know anyone whose head is that big? I get it that they want it to be comfortable, but I think it would look so much better if you saw more face than background. Parks need to work on that. It's one of my silly pet peeves.

 Callie and I headed to Morocco while everyone else did something else. The only character Callie cared about seeing and getting a picture with was Jasmine. And so, that's all we cared about. Our kids just aren't totally into the character pictures, so when they want one...they want one. Jasmine, and apparently Aladdin, were in Morocco. The line was actually not too bad. And, while we waited, we were handed these cool fans. They wrote "Callie" and "Jenny" in Arabic on the back, but apparently I didn't take a picture of that.

In the streets of Morocco....

 and then Callie saw a dead Florida sized cockroach! It freaked her out.

We had dinner at this restaurant in Epcot...it was this massive aquarium. The kids thought it was really cool. However, it was the roughest meal! Micah was all over the place. Sammy wouldn't stop crying. Callie, well, she was great. None of this really would have been a problem except this was a nice place. Like, it was quiet, families were happily enjoying their meals. The food was delicious. Marcus had a steak and I had fish. mmm It really was great. But we were stressed out the entire time.

Our waiter was phenomenal. He did everything he could think of to make things easier for us...all without making us feel like we were causing problems. He was ahead of the game, so kind, and truly one of the best waiters we've had. Ever. I took time to write a raving review of his service. They didn't have comment cards, so they just gave me some paper and said they would make sure it got read at their staff meeting. Good.

Cupcakes for dessert are always welcomed...

The view from our table. At this point, Lisa had swooped up and taken Sammy somewhere away. They walked around the park or something while we finished up our meal. See what I mean? Lisa. She's a life saver.

Just a normal picture in front of a massive aquarium...

  until a sting ray shows up behind you.

 The last ride we did was Mission: Space. My dad hung out with Micah and Sammy while we went on the ride. He said he had no interest. I should have taken this as a warning myself. When you go in, we were asked if we wanted the intense experience, or the lesser? Psh. Intense! Thank you very much. Do I look like someone who does anything "lesser"? Well, what does that mean? It means you spin 35 mph...but he assured us that you don't feel like you're spinning. So in we went while Micah played with planets.

Callie says goodbye before her space voyage...and in we go. Now, the man was right. You may not feel like you're spinning. But my insides sure did. I learned I could never go to space. Glad I know that before I made some huge mistake! The ride, itself, is pretty cool. But at one point, I broke out sweating and felt super hot. I no longer questioned why they had little airplane barf bags within reach. Callie was the navigator, or maybe the engineer. She was so concerned she wasn't doing her job and that the ride wouldn't work if she didn't push a button. She kept asking me, "Wait, what do I push?" I was trying to just keep looking ahead, like they say to do to avoid getting disoriented, stay focused, but let her know it's was ok. She had fun. But it took me awhile to bounce back from that ride. In fact, Lisa took Sammy...again...while I sat and Marcus and the cousins did another ride. I really felt...not well...and needed my stomach to rest. I should have known. If I can't do the tea cups in the Magic Kingdom anymore, what made me think I could spin at 35 mph? Yikes! I should have stayed with my dad...or done the less intense version where there's no spinning.

Live and Learn.