A Disney Duck Encounter

Ok, so somehow we pulled off a little vacation during Spring Break.  It wasn't pretty at first...I mean, I wasn't pretty, but that's boring to talk about.  I was just sick with the crud Jesse had the previous week and anyway...bla bla bla...it's all Good.

Moving on.

So, we drove to Orlando...the four of us, Grandmommy and Aunt Kelly.

As soon as we landed and busted out of that Tahoe, we hit the pool.  I was watching the kids when Kelly brought my attention to this little fellow swimming in the water.



"Look at the duck swimming in the pool!" said Aunt Kelly.



Wow, you don't see this every day.



"What's up buddy?" we said.



"Ahhh, it's just a normal day for me, what's up with you guys?" said the duck.



"What's this?"



"Girlfriend's got some cute flip flops," he quacked.

"Thank you.  Please don't take them with you," I responded.



"What kind of duck do you take me for lady?"

"Oh, I'm terribly sorry, " I responded.



"Seriously, I'm a Disney duck.  You might want to keep an eye on those black birds back there though."



"They are constantly trying to steal my food and such."

"Good tip, thanks!" I said.



"So, I would appreciate a snack pretty quickly...if you don't mind," the duck asked.



"I'm waiting," he quacked with a little impatient concern.



"Sit!" commanded Jesse.



"I can sense you have a dog at home and he is well trained on this command.  I'll try, but these black birds are moving in, and I got places to be," the duck responded to Jesse.



"Bring it on.  Yeah baby.  That's what I'm talking about!" the Disney duck happily exclaimed.

He enjoyed his snack, then walked to the bar and had a Margarita.  He probably chatted with the bar tender about the weather and such and was on his way.  Perhaps on his way to visit Donald.  Who knows?

And that is how our vacation started.  I knew it was going to be good.

Epcot

Ok, so maybe I should have just printed all these pictures out and put them in an album and called it a day, but I have this thing about finishing something I have started.  Here's to seeing it through.

It had been such an incredible week so far.  We were really trying to see it all and doing a pretty good job of it.  We had hit all the Disney parks except for one.  My love and I were stoked about Epcot, which would be the last new park to visit before our final park hopping day.  We were just praying the kids would like it too.



They could hardly wait to go inside the "big ball."



I thought about it a minute.  I was sure the "big ball" could wait.  I was sure there were much more interesting things to do and a better plan of action.  For example, I thought the internet told me to hurry on to the world tour and go counterclockwise while bouncing on one leg.  Well, not the last part, but sometimes reading all that stuff online just felt as stupid as that.

I learned a long time ago that well thought out plans are not the best for us...so we rode the "big ball" first.  The kids loved it and wanted to ride again.  It really is cool.  Just remembering it right now made me think of something.  If I thought it was sort of neat, then the kids thought it was really, really neat.  Everything is magnified in a child's eyes.  The simplest things become enormous memories for them.  So, yeah, we liked the "big ball" a lot.



But then, we had to go on a little mission...a Mission to Mars!  Now, you know I was so excited about this one.  We had two choices...ride A or ride B (I forget what they really called them, so I'm going with A and B.)  Ride A was for beginners and less intense. Ride B was for trained Astronauts.  We decided to take ride A, and then we quickly decided we were ready for Ride B.



I finally got to experience it.  I was amazed at how the kids handled themselves.  We all had responsibilities in the flight.  At one point during the "B" mission, I was holding on during an intense maneuver while Jesse was playing with buttons.  The girl was a natural and seemed completely unaware of the significant force we were feeling.  It was a beauty to watch.



Jinx put Mickey in Space?  If you haven't seen Space Camp a million times like I have, that comment means absolutely nothing to you.  I'm sorry about that.



I was amazed by the aquarium at Epcot.  We spent a lot of time here.



Absolutely amazing.



I heard a lot of "Look over here!" and "Wow!" from them both.



Hey Nemos.  I love your story.

We also road the ride, Soaring, before heading off towards the countries.  That one is a must do as well.  You really feel like you are soaring across the country.  It is a beautiful experience.



It was time to travel the world though.  I couldn't wait!



I was amazed by the first beauty we saw.



I wanted to jump the fence and do cartwheels on the grass.




I'm sure Jesse wanted to pick the flowers.



I liked this place they called Canada.



Wait though..."Is this the telephone booth that takes us back to Hogwarts asked the kids?"  They didn't actually ask me that.  They just loved playing in it.



Nice to have been there.



Let's move on!



I love how Disney really thought this through and how much we felt like we were really experiencing each country.  Beer really helped too.



I'm not going to give a break down of everything we ate and everything we saw.  I will say that we ate and drank all that was humanly possible.







In France, we stopped here.  We walked in to see, smell, taste the fresh pastries.





I will say this though.  Jonah, you had a warm croissant with heavenly ham and luscious cheese.  I have tried to mimic the sandwich.  It was amazing.  Jesse, all you ate was anything with chocolate.  My taste buds are alive and well in you my sweet girl.



We spent some time in a beautiful shop here.  Jonah was very impressed with French soap.  I went on a little wine tour.  It was lovely.



One day we will do this for real guys.



It is still really cool leaving one culture and entering another.



I don't know when or if I would ever get to take the kids to all these places, so I am proud to have this journey at least.





I think one of our favorite places was Germany.

It was beautiful.



We stopped here.



Heaven help me.



If only I could have tasted one of everything.



I remember the smell...the chocolate and the caramel.  Heaven help me.



And the shops here were fantastic!  Jesse stopped to color.



Then, we were home.



Our tour ended in Mexico.  This is truly where we belonged.  We dined in the most fabulous restaurant and went on a boat tour when we were done with dinner.  It was Margarita heaven, and the food was divine.  I think I could move in and be just fine.



But all things must come to an end.  We were going to stay that night for fireworks, but the bottom fell out.  This was the hardest rain we had seen.



We were running with our ponchos on...trying our best to catch the earlier bus back.



Till the kids saw this along the way and had to stop and make some music.  I absolutely adored this moment.  We also stopped at a tiny, little table and umbrella to eat some chocolate on our way to the bus.  We ate chocolate in the rain.  I have to say, it was one of the best moments of my life.

Then, we had to start moving.  A rocket lit under my love and all of the sudden, he and Jonah were almost out of my sight in the dark rain.  How were they moving so fast?  Was it the chocolate?  I didn't have that kind of chocolate.  I was pushing Jesse along and trying to keep up.  I realized I needed to start sprinting to make it.  Now, this was not a lovely moment.  I believe I got to the bus stop and admitted that I might have peed my pants a bit.  Jesse will never let this go.  She says all the time, "Remember when we were running and you wet your pants?!  Ha ha ha ha ha."

Oh my, my, my.  Some things you just shouldn't say out loud...not even to family.  She's going to bring this up in public soon.  I just know it.

But Oh Epcot, I love you.  J&J, I think you are going to love it even more when you are older.  I can imagine all of us sitting in a pub together later in life (when you are of age of course.)  It's a beautiful moment in my mind.

I just hope you stop to play drums with me again.  Love you guys.