Tuesday, September 11, 2012

Camille Pippin play - April 23-27

We got back from Orlando just in time for Camille's MDT play - Pippin.  She missed two days of practices while gone so was glad to be back for the rest of the week's dress rehearsals.  Camille was cast as Bertha's granddaughter and a featured vocalist.  The play, Pippin, is a little hard to understand with all of the weird twists.  It was a really fun play to watch, though.  The music is fun and the actors/actresses were amazing.  They really did a great job and it was fun to watch Camille on stage.
  The set looked amazing with all of the cool paintings on the wall. 
Cadan (Pippin), Camille (Bertha's grand daughter), Mrs. Reynolds (Bertha), and Hannah Dustin (Bertha's grand daughter)


 


 Camille with Hannah after the performance.
Parker, Carter, Johnathan & Camille - We all went 2 times to see Camille perform and loved it each time.

Cute Miss Nudd - she is such a great teacher.  Camille loves being in her class.

Monday, September 10, 2012

Disney World - Day 8

April 17, 2012 - Tuesday - It felt great to be able to sleep in after a very busy and full week. After living somewhere for a week, it takes quite a bit to clean the areas. Luckily it is pretty much just putting it all into suitcases. The condo we stayed out was so nice and was the perfect place for us all to stay for such a fun week. We had run out of most of our breakfast items that we had purchased at the beginning of the week, so we headed to McDonald's for breakfast.

We wanted to do some shopping before heading home so looked around for a fun place that might have some Disney memorabilia. We found a store that was huge that had a lot of different vendors inside like a flea market. We enjoyed about 2 hours just walking around finding some good finds. The kids loved seeing what they could get with the last bit of money they had left.

We found an all you can eat pizza place and had fun eating lunch there. It wasn’t the best food, but the kids had fun getting all they could eat, drink and eating the yummy dessert. We enjoyed going to a few more shopping areas as we were looking for some more shirts and other merchandise to take home with us.

We went back to the rental car place and returned our vehicles. They took us to the airport. Our flight didn’t leave until 6:09 p.m. and luckily it was a straight through flight. Dealing with no layovers was so nice. We arrived back in Utah at 9 p.m. The hardest part was dealing with Bradley falling asleep about 10 minutes before we landed, carrying all of our luggage and then all fitting on a shuttle to head over to our van in the parking lot. We all shoved onto a bus but barely made it with our 10 plus pieces of luggage. It was very crazy and probably would have made for a fun picture. We arrived home late and the kids had school to get up for the next day.

What an amazing trip to be able to have!!! Without Byron’s frequent flier miles it definitely would not have been possible. We had such an amazing time and loved being able to spend it with Dad, Mom & Melissa.
I found this adorable picture that Byron took the previous day at the park.  Such a cute cowboy!
These are some pictures I took the last day after cleaning up of our condo.  It was very spacious and so nice.  There were 3 bedrooms upstairs and 1 downstairs.  Plus a lot of living area including a garage gameroom and backyard pool area. 

This picture doesn't do this closet justice - it is MASSIVE!  Their are 4 sides where clothes can be hung - my dream closet!


Friday, September 7, 2012

Disney World - Day 7

April 16, 2012 – Monday - Byron’s Birthday!!!!! He opened his presents from his parents and Melissa. I will be giving him his present after we get home. It was hard to know what to do as it is kind of hard to bring the gifts along especially since we have so much luggage as it is. We had fun singing Happy Birthday to his during breakfast. We left to head to Hollywood Studios at 8:00 a.m. arriving around 8:25 a.m. Before going through the gates, we saw Minnie Mouse and Daisy Duck. We waited in line for about 10 minutes so we could get a picture with them. They are so cute – every time we see characters, there is always such a huge line and we usually don’t want to take the time to spend in those lines. So it was nice to see a short line, for a change, and really get a picture with them.

Byron ran to get FASTPASSES for Toy Story Mania as Mom Beck, Melissa, and the 5 oldest kids all went to ride “Rock n Roller Coaster.” It was pretty similar to California Screamer, but was mostly in the dark. The first part takes off really fast and does a couple of full circles and a corkscrew. It was quite exhilarating and fun! I don’t think Melissa and Mom thought it was very fun as the take off part threw them for a loop. Then Melissa and the 5 oldest kids went on Tower of Terror. I vowed after riding this ride last time we were at California Adventure I would never go on it again. It has too much drops for my liking.

They have an American Idol show that you can actually try out for. Camille ended up trying out and I was able to go in with her. We went into a small room with one man at a desk. He had Camille sing anything she wanted. After that he asked her if she could sing anything in the list they had provided. She ended up singing Reflections. I think if she would have thought about it more, she could have come up with a better song for her voice. The man was very nice, but said that she went flat a few times. Camille has such an amazing alto voice that I guess the other song was a little high (especially when she probably started on a higher note than she should have). She was bummed, but I thought it was great she at least tried out. She has so much confidence – it amazes me!!!

We enjoyed going on Star Tours next – It has been redone since I have ridden it last and boy has the improvements been awesome. It is in 3-D. Camille was picked to be the Rebel Spy on board and her picture showed up at one part on the screen. It was really fun to have her picked. During the day we ended up riding this ride about 5 times and each ride was totally different.

Some of our favorite rides were Toy Story Mania, Backlot Tour (like the tram ride at Universal Studios), the Lights Motor Action show, Muppet Vision 3D, Indiana Jones Stunt show, Star Tours, Beauty and the Beast show, Rock n Roller Coaster and the Great Movie Ride. The shows were top notch and so much fun to see. The Lights Motor Action show was a very high action car chase. It was amazing!!! We all were so glad we were able to see it.

We didn’t end up watching Fantasmic in the evening as the kids were anxious to continue riding some of their favorite rides again. Dad & Mom Beck along with Melissa ended up going to the show, though and said it was amazing.

Carter, Johnathan, Parker & Bradley on the tram ride in the parking lot.  Four very excited boys!


 Whose children are these anyways? 


 Waiting for Star Tours to start.
 Toy Story Mania - love, love, love this ride!
 
 Instead of standing in the ridiculous lines, we chose to take the picture from a distance. 

 Waiting outside of Rock N Roller Coaster for the older kids and Byron to come out. 


Wednesday, September 5, 2012

Disney World - Day 6

April 15, 2012 – Sunday - We slept in until 8:30 and boy did it feel good after having to wake up by an alarm for the past 5 days. We went to the local LDS Ward for Sacrament Meeting. I guess about 50% of the people in the congregation are visitors – so the Bishop told us that if the person next to us isn’t saying “hi” to us, they are probably a visitor so say hi to them. I couldn’t even imagine living in a ward that is visited that much. There were a lot of people there. All 3 talks had to do with talks from the last General Conference. I realized I really need to read them again – they are all amazing talks.

We headed back to our condo, ate lunch (sandwiches) and got ready to head to Cocoa Beach. We originally had plans to go to Siesta Beach which is on the Gulf Coast (2 hours away), but changed our mind to go to the Pacific Ocean instead since it was closer. We didn’t want to be driving for 4 hours and wanted to be home for dinner. So we ended up going to the closest beach. We had about 4 toll roads along the way – about $.75 each. It was crazy having to exit every time we came upon them and then get back on the freeway. On the way back Byron totally didn’t see one of the tolls and just stayed on the freeway. There was no way to turn around and go back – hopefully we don’t get a ticket for that one. I am so glad we don’t have to deal with those in Utah.

Cocoa Beach wasn’t the nicest beach, but had pretty warm water and a fun pier to look out on. We started out by finding a spot next to the pier to put our stuff and the kids quickly grabbed bags to collect shells or go into the water. They were having such a fun time going out to about their waist and letting the current pull them in. This was the warmest water they have ever been in at the ocean. We also enjoyed walking along the sand while the youngest collected seashells. Byron had fun going in with the kids and ended up going all the way under. After about 2 ½ hours, we went up on the pier and went out a little ways until it cost to go out any more. It was so beautiful. Even though it was pretty windy, it was still warm and the water felt great.

We drove back and enjoyed eating lasagna and salad together. The food was delicious. We had ice-cream cones – thanks to Grandma – for dessert. We enjoyed sitting around enjoying each other’s company laughing about different things that have happened since we have been here. Parker does the best impressions of situations and had us all laughing.

Dad & Mom Beck have been doing the 7 days of presents leading up to Byron’s birthday – the first one being the night we got here. Bradley makes sure Grandma doesn’t forget each night to give Byron his gifts. They are all small gifts with a cool saying that goes with them. They are so thoughtful to think of him.

Well – off to bed. It has been a full day and a full day ahead of us as we head to our last amusement park.
 

 Parker, Tanner & Carter playing in the ocean.
 Johnathan

 Byron & Carter looking for seashells.

 Silly Johnathan

 Carter all sandy after rolling around in the sand with a wet body.

 Tanner, Johnathan, Carter, Parker, Bradley, Camille, Tricia & Byron


Bradley with Mickey Mouse and Tigger that he just purchased.

Disney World - Day 5

April 14, 2012 – Saturday - We woke up early 6 a.m. and left for Magic Kingdom around 7 a.m. The weather was a little overcast and a bit chilly compared to the past few days. We got there early enough to be in the first parking row and headed over to the gates. We were one of the first waiting behind the gates. We had to wait for almost one hour. Once the gates opened, we all ran over and headed across the water in the Metro to the actual Magic Kingdom Park. It was quite the set up – pretty frustrating how we were waiting so long and then we had to cross on the metro to even enter near the park.

While we were waiting near the gates at the first, a worker that was manning our gate asked us what brought us to Orlando. We told her we were here for fun. Melissa mentioned it is Byron’s birthday. She jumped on this and grabbed out a huge pin that says “Happy Birthday” as she wrote Byron below that. Byron was not very happy about it, but willingly accepted the pin and put it on. She also gave “First Visit” pins on 3 of the kids. It was so funny how everywhere we went and saw employees, they would say “Happy Birthday” Byron (or Brian). After a while it was fun to see the spontaneous way so many of the workers just said it as they were cleaning up or just the gate workers. I was so glad Melissa said something – it made for a very entertaining day.

We headed first to Space Mountain with Melissa, I and the children (minus Bradley). We had about a 5 min. wait and got on the ride. It was so fun! I had forgotten how enjoyable and exciting that ride it. It has some differences than the Disneyland ride, but so fun! We then headed over to Buzz Light year, Winnie the Pooh, Snow White, Peter Pan’s Flight, It’s a Small World, Haunted Mansion, Slash Mountain, and Pirates of the Caribbean. Luckily we had an app to follow that got us through each line in 20 min. or less (most around 10). It was absolutely amazing! Most of the rides had a few slight variations from Disneyland. Pirates was a shorter ride, but great also.

For lunch we got 2 turkey legs and shared them. They were so good and every last piece of meat was eaten off them. I am always amazed at how much they can fill you on just $9.50 each – pretty inexpensive meal for Disney World where most are around $40-50.

After lunch we enjoyed the Jungle Cruise – our tour guide was amazing and had one joke after another – barely breathing between everything she had to say. She was awesome! We also saw the Tiki room, country Bear Jamboree, the Riverboat, Hall of Presidents and Mickey’s PhilharMagic. The Hall of Presidents was presented on a huge screen and also included life size wax figures of each of the American Presidents. It was truly amazing! I learned a lot from the short video and dialogue. Mickey’s PhilharMagic was a 3D cartoon on a screen – it was really good. We also rode Goofy’s Barn stormer – the line was one of the longest we waited (about 30 min.) It compared to Puff at Lagoon – roller coaster for much younger kids. Bradley sure loved it.

We ate dinner at a sit down restaurant. It felt good to eat a meal without sharing it. I had a cheeseburger with bacon. Camille & Byron shared a lobster sandwich – Camille absolutely loved it . The kids all shared meals with another child. They devoured everything. While we were eating, the workers let the kids play with hula hoops. Parker & Carter are all over that and were pretty good.

The 5 kids, Melissa & I all headed back to Space Mountain for one last ride. Melissa & I were in the front of the car and it was amazing how it was so much cooler. We even felt airborne at one point. There was such a huge rush of energy on that ride – it was so fun! Then we headed to Laugh Floor. It was so funny – Tanner submitted a joke for the show – they actually mentioned his name, but accidentally said another joke than he had submitted. The joke he actually texted in was “Guess who is the most vulgar character in Star Wars? It’s R2D2 because they beep out all the swear words.”

There was a DJ playing music with a lot of people dancing. Pluto, Goofy and Stitch were all dancing with the group also. Camille, Carter & Parker were all getting into it as we loved watching them. The music was really fun and had a great beat.

After the dancing, we went on the people mover. It was a really relaxing ride that just went through Space Mountain and the Buzz Light year ride. When we were almost done, it broke down and we were stuck in one place for about 20 min. It finally started up after a while – thank goodness.

When we got off the ride, I asked Parker where his Mickey hat was. He said he had put it in our stroller before the last ride. We had not seen our stroller since before dinner, so I knew he could not have put the hat in our stroller. Apparently had saw a stroller before the previous ride that looked like ours and he put his hat in. At this point we looked around and the stroller was no where in sight. Poor Parker was so sad. We started walking out of the park and then stopped at the next stroller area (about 30 sec. walk from last stroller area). We just checked in case we could find the stroller like ours. Just about the same time, we saw a lady walking around with a Mickey hat and looking for a stroller. I guess they had found this hat in their stroller, then ended up loosing their stroller and were looking for it. She was so happy we found her and was just so nervous that some kid had lost their hat. Then they ended up finding their stroller at the same time. Parker totally lucked out! Not sure how he got so lucky to find it, but he was pretty excited.

The electrical parade was going to start when we were wanting to leave the park. We ended up finding a small path way to exit. Camille wanted to go to one last store to buy some charms and a charm bracelet. Johnathan ended up getting a cute goofy hat while there also. By now it was around 9:40 p.m. when we headed to get on the ferry. We waited for about 15 min. to get on one and then it took a while to go across the water. After exiting the ferry, the fireworks started above the castle in Magic Kingdom. It was cool to see them – they were amazing and really fun to watch as they went with the music coming across the loud speaker. We finally were able to head to our van – it probably took us about 1 hour to leave. That was the worst part about this park – how it was surrounded by water so we had to take a Monorail or ferry. We had a great time and were so glad we had the opportunity to go. We are also so excited to be able to sleep in until 8:30 or 9 a.m.

Camille-Favorite show so far has been the 3D Mickey Mouse show.

Tanner- Liked Magic Kingdom the best. He finally got his Goofy hat there. Favorite ride was Expedition Everest. Favorite show was Bugs Life.

Johnathan- Favorite rides are Splash and Space Mountain.

Carter-Favorite ride has been Expedition Everest and Space Mountain. Loved swimming at the condo.

Parker-Favorite ride has been Test Track and swimming at the condo.

Bradley- Favorites rides have been Pirates of the Caribbean and Buzz Light year.

Byron- Loved being told “Happy Birthday” at day at Magic Kingdom. He even was sang to by all the workers at the restaurant we ate dinner at.

Tricia- Loved going on the safari, Space Mountain, Expedition Everest.

Melissa – Loved Soarin’, Expedition Everest, Test Track, Rapids ride and Splash Mountain. She also loved the air boat ride.

Mom Beck – Loved Soarin’ more than any ride she has ever gone on. She also loved the safari and the air boat ride.

Dad Beck – Soarin’ and Animal Kingdom other than Expedition Everest. The Laugh Floor at Magic Kingdom was also great.

 All of us wearing our new Disney shirts.
 Waiting at gates before the park opened.
 On the metro ride over to the park.


 Byron with his cool "BIrthday" pin.
 It's a Small World ride.


 Parker & Carter
 
Tanner & Johnathan with their Goofy hats.