NinjaGO! Andy is 4!

Andy turned 4 this past weekend.  He still lets me sing lullabies to him, but more often then not he wants to do the singing.  In one way he is not a baby is that he likes the show Ninjago.  Don't get me wrong, James likes it more, but Andy seemed to like it enough that when I asked him if he wanted a Ninjago Party, he said YES!  Whew, because the CARS party we were going to have was going to be pretty lame.  First thing up, cool cake.  I got a cake topper from ebay and put it on a cake I made.  Andy LOVED his cake.  He kept wanting to look at it and show it off.  So cute:



We had the party at a local park.  Truth be told, this is the FIFTH party I have had at this park and truth be told, I really have it down pat.  First of all, to make sure it is not just another lame trip to the park, I bring lots of outside toys from home, such as chalk and the rocket blaster:

 



As kids arrive, I like to have a laid back craft/activity and the one for this party was Throwing Stars.  I  halfheartedly mentioned it to Mark and before I knew it, he had made 15 of them using these directions.  The kids practiced throwing at a target.



And some kids made and decorated their own.



Then we had ninja training.  Turns out, teaching ninjas is a lot like teaching kickboxing:





Just wanted to point out in the back, there is another party.  I had reserved the shelter/park for this party, but they just showed up.  I was a little annoyed.  Perhaps that is wrong, but it is one thing to go to a park where there happens to be a party.  It is another to have a party where someone is already having one.  Just my two cents.

Anyways, after training, I tried doing an obsticle course, but the kids were ready for the main event...the scavanger hunt!  I just took pictures of different areas of the park to show where the next "clue" was.  I  have done this at past parties so I tried to increase the level of difficulty this year.  I had hard to find places and 8 clues.  The older kids were all over it.





At the end of the hunt was the "full potential"  in the form of ninja headbands:







Then we had cake and party favors.  Since Ninjago is pretty new, I had to be creative.  Everyone got a plastic snake (The Serpentine), a Lego Mini Figure (these were a big hit), bubbles, cheese its, Scooby Doo fruit snacks, bubbles, and stickers. 



Andy ended up having a great party and a wonderful birthday!

Disney Wrap Up

Day 5 had us packing up to drive back.  I was so sad to be going home!  Although if we would have stayed longer, I don't know what we would have done.  There was really nothing left.  I wanted to have a post where everything was in order, so here it is:

Day 0:  Condo and general info
Day 1:  Magic Kingdom
Day 2:  Hollywood Studios and STAR WARS WEEKEND!
Day 3:  Animal Kingdom
Day 4:  Epcot

People keep asking if they kids had fun.  They did.  I think it was a little different from what James had pictured, but he got it towards the end.  Andy just did his own thing.  As a wrap up, here are some pictures of the kids favorite things:

Andy really had something going on with the trash cans.  He had to touch each one:



Climbing railings.  Really, why were there even rides:





Curb walking, or the balance beam:



General brothers goofing off:





And sure, we could get ice cream, but MOM, there is a WATER FOUNTAIN!



More Jedi fighting while in line:



I think I might have already posted this picture, but Andy eating Chickadees.  These were Andy's comfort item.  At 10:15, when he would say, "I want to go HOME!"  We would give him a bag and all would be right with the world.



Thinking about going back when the kids are upper elementary....3 and 5th grade maybe?

Day 4 - Epcot

By day 4, we were still having fun, but we were tired.  Again, from looking at the guidebook, it didn't seem like Epcot had much to offer for kids, especially since they seemed to turn into little thrill seekers ("No shows, just rides!"), but we felt the same about Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom, so we went.

Oh, Epcot....



We got there right after it opened again, but in hindsight, maybe we should have come later.  Then again, it is not like anyone was sleeping in, so it didn't matter.  Mark went to get Fast Passes for Soaring and then we met him at the Nemo show.  Nemo show - totally lame, but the Crush show afterwards was worth it.



The good thing about Epcot is that they did have a lot of hands on exhibits, kind of like a children's museum, after many of the lame-o rides.  The ones pictured here were from after the Imagination Ride.







At my Dad's insistence, we made reservations at the Coral Reef.  We had eaten here twice during our family trip growing up.  Special thanks to Mark for doing the math on this.  It was TWENTY SEVEN YEARS AGO!  I know.  That kind of makes me want to throw up.  Here is me and James waiting for our reservation:



Here is Mark's lunch.  It was delicious!  Better than mine:



We rode Soaring, then went in search of Aladdin.  That is Aladdin, not Jasmine.  And Aladdin was clearly on the schedule.  But when we got there, just Jasmine.  Oh well, we did see Tigger and Pooh in an air-conditioned store with no line.  Sweet!



This was another day where we left early.  We tried REALLY hard to get the kids to take a nap.  Eventually, we went back to the pool, ate dinner, then went back to Epcot about 7.  Our goal was to see the fireworks.  We spent some time shopping for souvenirs then got ice cream:

 

 

We got a great spot for the fireworks and it was amazing.  Really, this is why the tickets are so expensive.

 



However, Andy covered his ears the whole time and said, I "don't wike it".  James said is was awesome, but then driving home said we shouldn't have let them go cause now we was really tired!  Oh well....

We had concerns about going to the fireworks, but even with the negative comments, I am so glad we did!  Epcot did redeem itself!

Day 3 - Animal Kingdom

By day 3, we had kind of gotten into the swing of things.  I had booked our character breakfast at one of the restaurants at Animal Kingdom, because it was one of the only ones with the basic characters AND no princesses.  ;)  Unfortunately, it turns out to be the same day as the extra magic hours so instead of a nice quiet walk into the park, there were still lots of people.  It was a bit annoying, but not too bad. 

The restaurant was at the back of the park, and since we were trying to make our reservations, I really didn't have time to enjoy the walk.  It is a really great park with lots of trees and shade. Our breakfast theme was "Donald's Safari".  We took pictures with Donald on the way in, but they had to give me a separate photo pass for that one and I apparently lost it, but trust me, we met Donald.  I think James was more nervous than when he met Darth Maul...weird huh?  Anyways, once inside, we got our table and the characters started coming by.  However, the no breakfast thing also caught up to us, and it was really hard to eat and meet characters at the same time!  Here is Mickey!



Daisy:



And Goofy!  Turns out Goofy is pretty tall.  Way taller than Darth Maul.



Andy with his beloved waffles:



"Jungle Juice" and coffee were included, but even so, Mark said it was the most we have EVER spend on breakfast.  ;)  Worth it though.  Didn't have to stand in line for autographs.



We aren't the fastest eaters, and by "we", I mean, Mark, but even still we were the way slowest in our section.  Again, it is just hard to eat and take pictures! 

They had a little area set up with different drums!





They had a cool Dinosaur park!



It is really great that they have parks like this to let the kids run around.  There is only one entrance in and out and it is guarded.  However, it is so big with so much stuff in it, it is pretty easy to lose your kids!

We met the UP characters.  I had relaxed on standing in line for the characters at this point.  Good thing because they took a break when we were next in line!



This was really the first park where the fast passes worked out perfectly.  We went from the Safari, to the Rapids, to the Dinosaur Ride, back to the Rapids.  We took one of those little walking paths, which didn't go well.  We also attempted to go see one of the shows there.  The kids revolted.  "No shows, just rides!"

They had these nice learning stations scattered through the park.  We did a few when Mark and I needed to plan.  James and Andy were at this one when we came up with the grand plan.



Do you want to do one more ride, and then leave and go swimming at the condo?

YES!



It was a really great pool.  They had a water spraying area:



And a cool slide!



James was able to do the slide the first day.  Andy had to practice because of the rules (I couldn't go down with him, I couldn't catch him, and no flotation devices).  He was able to go down the next day.  He was ok with that.



That night we went to Downtown Disney for dinner at TREX and to see the Lego store.  So cool!