Feeling Spoiled - Epcot - Day 6 - O.E.A.

Sunday - my favorite day of the week.  This day is the reason we broke down and rented cars - much more convenient, but more money and stress - especially for Jared.  :)  Anyway, we took a lazy morning, woke up, ate breakfast and got ready to go to church.  We had looked up where the closest church was and were excited to attend in Florida.  (I think it is a fun tradition to go to church wherever you are on vacation.  It is such a testimony builder to know that no matter where you go there are good, strong people who keep the faith and live the gospel.)  I didn't get any pictures of the church, which is unusual, usually I do pretty well with that.  Anyway, it was December 12 and the ward we attended was having their Primary Program!  Crazy!  I was surprised it was so late in the year - but it was perfect for the kids and for me too.  It was so different from what I have seen before.  Each child had a speaking part, as well as a singing part, either individual, in a small group, or with their family.  It was pretty fun.  The pianist played throughout as well, really did not stop, not through the talks or anything.  The program did go long, but I think everyone enjoyed it anyway.  It was amazing to me that we had just been to the Candlelight Processional the day before in Epcot; and, attending sacrament meeting was so much better - more spiritual, much more testimony building, more uplifting, etc. Don't get me wrong, the C.P. was wonderful - but this was so much better.  Another interesting thing was that there were so many different ethnicities in that ward - I think caucasians were the minority - that surprised me - I didn't know Florida was so diverse.  There were some Christmas songs, and all the program songs.  Anyway, it was awesome.

The other interesting thing that happened at church was that we sat right across from a woman my mom thought she recognized and later realized was her cousin.  Funny, right?  She lives in Celebration, FL - the town Disney built and this was her home ward.  Grandma didn't recall that her cousin lived in Florida.  It really is such a small world.

Jainie pretending to be asleep on our ride back to the cabins.

Anyway, after we finished church, we went back to our cabins to change our clothes.  I liked this as well, because it was the only day that we were at our cabins in the middle of the day.  It was nice to enjoy the woods a bit before running off.  When we are  vacationing on Sunday's, we always go to church and we continue to use the day as a vacation day to explore, learn things, etc.  But, we try not to shop - this is one reason we went to Epcot - not as many exciting rides, but more learning about things.  Not perfect, I realize, but it seems to work for us.  I guess everyone has to decide what works for them and feel at peace with it.  

The sign that would always welcome us home.

 You'll notice that Grandma and the kids were ready to head over to the parks first.  I was busy trying to clean up a bit, I have no idea what everyone else was doing.

This is in front of our cabin - the open door led into the kitchen area while the other door led into the bedroom.  There was another pull-down bed in the family room.  I still wish we would have had more time to explore the area.  Jaxon really wanted to try out the basketball court, but we never got over there either.  I guess it's a good excuse to go back!  Jake is getting tired of waiting - and just getting tired.  (Notice how beautiful the weather is).  

Yeah!  The happiest place on Earth!  

By the time we got to Epcot, it was POURING!  Not Utah pouring, but Florida pouring.  And, the wind was horrendous - it was whipping doors to their widest point and banging them, it was pulling papers and garbage out of open trunks, etc.  It was crazy.  We opted to sit in the car for a minute to see if it would settle down.  When the wind slowed for a minute, we jumped out, all put on our rain jackets, got everyone all wrapped up and headed for the entrance.  Gpa, Gma, Ry, Sar, and Jaxon hadn't come at the same time as us, they weren't quite ready by the time we left.  So, Jared and I were taking the kids into the park, when I remembered I had forgotten a bag we needed in the car.  So, Jared ran back to get it with Josh.  Meanwhile, I took Jainie, Josie and Jake into one of the Innoventions buildings - then, I remembered we would need a stroller so I left Josie with the other 2 yea-hoos and ran to the stroller rental place, thinking it would be quick.  Of course, it wasn't.  (Crazy, right.  The things you do on vacations - sometimes I don't think I have a brain - probably it is just been all used up by day 2 :)).  Anyway, they were fine and we all met back together.  By that time, Gma called wondering where we were.  We were supposed to meet at the UK for Fish & Chips.  They had beat us there - goes to show how much longer everything takes with kids.  

So, by the time we were eating our lunch, the other group was finished.  They decided to go off exploring - I think this is when they checked out the U.K.  Actually, I think this is when Jaxon and Gma bought my Christmas present - which I love - a beautiful necklace from Ireland.

 Jared and I LOVED these Fish and Chips from the U.K.  If anyone knows how to make them like this, I would love to know!  MMMM - hope you're not hungry!

So, Josh is showing what the Fish & Chips come in.  Just like newspaper, cool right?  Anyway, I thought this was the perfect weather for this day.  I told the kids that Britain was trying to make us feel just like we were really in Britain.  It rains all the time there, right?  And, it was overcast and kind of cloudy - wonderful - not pouring, just drizzling.

There were also some seagulls flying around us trying to get us to feed them, which we did, but just a little.

 Heading into the U.K.  Sara and I had just bought our matching beanies, I later gave mine to Josh because he decided it was the one he wanted.  I love this place!  The Fish & Chips place is right behind us.  You can tell it's a bit chilly.  I used the big green poncho because it would go over the camera bag I was carrying on my back, and keep it dry.  I am sure I looked like the Hunchback of Notre Dame, but we are in Disney, right?

While the rest of us met characters, Ry, Jake, and Gpa hung out by the cute U.K. houses.

We got to meet so many beautiful princesses on this day.  I consider Mary Poppins a princess - I love her, she is one of my favorite characters.  When we went into the U.K., we found her and Tigger and Pooh.  Unfortunately, my camera ran out of batteries so the rest of the day we had to use Grandma's and Josie's.  Thank goodness Josie got one for her birthday a couple days before.  Anyway, Mary was very nice, of course, and told the kids to eat their vegetables.  I like her dress and hat.  I could be her when I get my job at Disney.  :)

We also met Alice in the U.K.  Jainie has always loved Alice and has an Alice dress, too bad it is a size 3 and she is 5.  That is what she told Alice.  So, Alice told her she better buy a new one!  I guess she lives in a daydream world. :)  Jake didn't care to meet Alice - too bad the Mad Hatter wasn't there, then he would have gone.

After leaving the U.K., we headed into France.  France was beautiful, loved the Eiffel Tower replica.  They have a delicious pastry shop here, but we didn't stop to get anything this time.  Actually, on our 3rd day here, while the kids busy for a minute, we actually stopped and got chocolate crepes, which were divine, of course.  We did go to the attraction here, which is a movie "Impressions de France."  I thought it was beautiful, unfortunately it doesn't have any labels of what you are seeing, so if you don't know, you end up with a mystery.  It is very relaxing, hopefully you aren't sleepy when you view it.  :)  Just to note, Gma thought it was quite boring, as did Jake.

After coming out of the movie in France, there is a little shopping area where the Kidcot stop was, this was the woman working there.  It was fun to have one of them sign our books with something in their own language.  They were very nice as well.  It was fun to visit with them.

Josie and Jainie bought these adorable berets in France - I think they both look so cute in them.  They are made of 100% wool, so they could only wear them when it was cold, not rainy.  I think this is looking back into France.

So, Jaxon is modeling here with a pretty cool camel in Morocco.  One of my favorite parts of Morocco is the tile decorated archways (background).  I also love the stucco work here.  It is really a beautiful pavilion - there isn't an attraction or movie, which I think is too bad.  I think it would be good for us to learn more about these people and their culture.  So, we enjoyed walking through their little part of DW.  They do have a restaurant which I have been to before - it has a great belly dancer, one I didn't want my boys to see. :)

So, this was the nice lady who signed our books here.  She didn't speak much English but kept mentioning how beautiful Jainie and Josie were.  She wouldn't look at the camera, hopefully she was okay with me taking her picture.  You'd think she would be used to it, it is Disney World.

So, at this point, it was time for our reservations.  We had two options on this day.  I knew Josie and Jainie would want a princess dinner and Norway has one.  I didn't think the boys would like it however.  And, Jared LOVES sushi - I know, go figure.  He learned to love it on his mission - his mission was in Tennessee.  Weird.  Anyway, I thought the boys would really like this too - where the chefs cook right in front of you and do their knife tricks.  And, we hadn't tried either place, which was a bonus.  So, everyone chose for themselves.  

It turned out that Jared, Jaxon, Josh, Ryan, and Sara went to Japan to Teppan Edo.  I, obviously, wasn't there so I can't give it a full review.  And, the other four are probably the worst ones for giving me reviews.  I know they said it was good.  Jaxon got an awesome video of Josh trying sushi.  Josh is the pickiest eater we have and in the video he starts gagging and about loses it, I am impressed that he tried it - very unlike him.  I think Jaxon thought it was alright - the sushi.  (I have to say I am just glad that Jared took a picture, as per his instructions.  We gave him Josie's camera to use and we used Gma's).

I am so glad someone took this picture, I am guessing Sara, of the boys outside of Japan.  I think it was fun to break up for a minute, let these guys enjoy for a bit on their own.

 So, the rest of us headed to Norway.  I am not sure why Gpa and Jake wanted to go to Norway.  I think Gpa doesn't particularly like sushi and Norway is all you can eat - you can get your money's worth there.  I think Jake is still young enough to enjoy the princesses and I like to think he really likes his mom!  :)  

As I have mentioned, just because you have a reservation doesn't assure you on-time entry.  So, while we waited to get into our dinner, Jake, Jainie, Josie and Gma listened to the "Holiday" story in Norway.  We had heard it the day before, it is pretty entertaining.  It is about their "Santa Claus," a gnome called Julesnissen.  Families will leave rice porridge out for him to keep on his good side.  He likes to play tricks on people, especially those who don't believe, which is where this cute lady comes in.  She doesn't believe and so Julesnissen comes to teach her a lesson.  He chooses someone from the audience to tease her with a bell.  Jake was hoping he would get chosen and this time he did.  It was pretty funny - this is his ideal role - thinking he is getting away with something.  (I am thinking someone probably filmed all of these stories and they are probably on youtube, that would be interesting.)

Anyway, as soon as the story was over it was our turn to be seated.  First off, we went in and met Belle, she was the main princess of the castle - at least for us.  She was wonderful and Jainie loved that she looked just like her.

The only thing Jainie didn't like was that Belle's dress was "poofier" than hers and that she had to wear a shirt under hers AND that her hair didn't look as pretty because of the rain.  I think she looks adorable!  She decided to keep her beret on because Josie told her it was from France, which is where Belle is from.  :)

So, to start off, there was a "princess parade," where, depending on which room you were seated in, would determine which princess you would follow.   And, then you would follow them throughout the castle walking to show everyone else how beautiful/handsome you were.  Our princess was Sleeping Beauty/Aurora, which Josie loved.  She is still Josie's favorite princess.  Then, they would take turns coming to your table to visit and for pictures and autographs.

 Cinderella was Jake's favorite, I am not sure why.  Apparently, we were lucky to see Cinderella because she usually just stays in her castle at the M.K.

 Jake was hiding under the table at this point, he had had enough of the princesses.  Jainie was super excited to meet Ariel because she has always been Jainie's favorite.  However, as you can tell, she did NOT enjoy her as much as she thought she would.  Ariel was very outgoing and non-stop talking.  Jainie couldn't get a word in.  And, she called her, "Jainie, the jubilant jumping jellyfish," which Jainie took as a HUGE insult!  Not sure why.

(I decided California must have prettier girls).

I think our waitress was the prettiest princess that we saw. She was really from Norway, her name was Linda - or that is what she went by anyway.  

So, on to the food, like I mentioned it was buffet but a bit different.  It had a koldtbord, which is a cold buffet of cheeses, meats, rolls, fish and salads.  You could get as much of this as you wanted.  It was pretty good, I tried the herring and cold salmon.  Man, I was adventurous!  Then, you would order something hot from the kitchen.  You could order more than one if you wanted, but only 1 at a time.  And, they didn't make it too well known that you could order more than one.  I ordered the traditional Kjottkake - ground beef and pork dumplings served with mashed potatoes, seasonal vegetables, and lingonberry sauce.   It was okay.  (They had a grilled venison sandwich with sausage, this is what I am sure the boys would have ordered - we could probably make that here :)).  Jainie and Jake both choose meatballs with mickey-shaped cheese ravioli.  This was Jainie's birthday lunch, so we sang to her and she got a yummy cupcake for dessert.  

Unfortunately, everything is a bit hazy after this.  I know the first thing we did was that we decided we had better head back over to Future World, since it closes before the World Showcase to explore a bit over there.  Jaxon had to write a report for school and I thought it would be awesome if it were on manatees, because I have always loved them, so we headed to "The Living Seas."  

Here, you can see we are waiting for the Japan people while getting some great fish face pics outside of "Nemo and Friends," which is the entrace into the Living Seas.  We all loved the song to the attraction, "Big Blue World."  We looked around for a bit and saw the cool aquarium creatures for a little bit before it closed up.  We did miss "Turtle Talk with Crush,"  which is great, but we have seen it every time we go to Dland so we were okay.

We ran to the "big ball" to go on "Spaceship Earth" next.  I love this ride, too bad the line always seems so long.  This is one of Jainie's absolute FAVORITE rides, this and "Soarin."  They have updated it since the last time I was here.  You get to go to the top of the ball, watching about how communication has evolved.  Jainie has 2 favorite parts, the first is when she sees "the guy on the bunk bed painting on his ceiling" - Michelangelo - Sistine Chapel.  And, then, when you start going down from the ball, there are strings of white lights strung up to look like stars, "I love the part where you go on your back and look at the sky and see all the pretty stars".  Works for Jainie.  Anyway, then, a computer in your seat takes your picture and you answer questions and it decides things about your future for you.  Pretty great.  At the end of the ride, there are various kiosks to play at.  One of our favorites was one where you would drop the body parts into a body in the right spot - all computer animated, of course.  I could not get the kids to leave this area, and by kids, I am including my dad, Jared, Ryan and Sara.

Ry and Jake

Dad and Josie with beret

Grandpa and Grandma

Jaxon and Jake

Mom and Jainie

Jainie and Sara

After this we headed over to the "Imagination Pavilion," which I really think is fun.  We got to go on the "Journey into the Imagination with Figment"Oh,ride which I still think is fun.  We didn't have to wait at all, in fact, we may have been the only ones there.  It was really close to closing time.  Plus, I found one of my favorite shops here, right outside the exit.  We did miss the "Michael Jackson, Captain E.O." film that I wanted to see.  I haven't seen that forever!  

Since Future World was now closed, we headed back to World Showcase and actually enjoyed the Canadian pavilion a bit more.  It really is a fun pavilion - beautiful waterfalls and rock cliffs and gardens.  

Oh, and a few cool totem poles and these ?, I don't know what they are called, good thing I took a picture.  :)  Anyway, we finally found the time to go into the movie in Canada.  Hands down, my favorite movie at Epcot.  It has changed since I was here last and now Martin Short narrates it.  He is too funny.  Plus, it has wonderful landscapes and fascinating people and places.  "O Canada!" is what is it called and I remember seeing it as a child and have always loved singing the first couple lines of the song, "O Canada" - it is a great song.  The kids all liked the movie too, no one even fell asleep, and it had been a long day, it even got a few chuckles from the kiddos.  Needless to say, I really like our neighbors to the north and I wouldn't mind visiting again sometime. (the real Canada, but DW Canada is great too!)  But, probably not until summer, when it's warmer - probably not this summer. 

After coming out of the movie, it was time to head out, we watched a bit of Illuminations again as we were leaving.  Time to go to bed.  And, it was getting COLD!

This was our towel pet when we got home, laying on top of Josie's beloved blankie.  Pretty cool towel snake, eh?

Oh, how I love thee - EPCOT! Day 5 - Dec. 11

 Epcot is probably my absolute favorite Disney spot.  I seriously loooove it!  Maybe because it feels like "safe travel" - everyone does speak English, you know, albeit a bit broken up sometimes.  I guess is goes with the explorer part of my personality, I would travel to each country for real, if possible . . . maybe someday.  Anyway, I was so excited for this day to come.  Honestly, the kids really did enjoy it as well, I think I had prepped them enough on the fact that it is not all about rides at this park, so they were pretty much okay.  Oh, and I must not forget that it has my FAVORITE Disney restaurant - one of my favorite all - time, anywhere restaurants - Le Cellier in the Canadian Pavilion.

 Jared and Jake by the Epcot entrance - the big silver ball.  Maybe this is why Jared hurt his back so badly - Jake was like 60 lbs.  He looks excited though, right?  (Don't worry, it didn't last long. :))

One of the best parts of Disney at Christmastime, is the fun decor that they have - Jaxon liked this Pluto with his doghouse.  I liked that it was surrounded by poinsettias.  The only signs of winter that are visible are when you look at the trees and they have no leaves.  Disney hides it well.  However, this day was probably our warmest - we all wore shorts and short-sleeve shirts.  Perfect.  (Jaxon wore his BYU shirt a couple days, it was interesting that we saw a few other people there with BYU apparel).

So, entering we knew we had to get fastpasses to "Soarin" quickly. (In Dland, it is called "Soarin' over California,"  in Dworld it is just called, "Soarin'" - it is exactly the same ride).  The fastpasses here go super quickly, like within an hour.  We also wanted to get on "Test Track" first thing.  So, most of us headed there, while someone (Gma or Gpa) went to get fastpasses for "Soarin."  Unfortunately, the line for Test Track was sooo long - maybe our longest line - which is weird, I don't even think it is that great of a ride.  Too informative, maybe - really, who wants to learn something while on a ride?  Not me.  The best part is when you go really fast - I like that part.  And, there is a cold section that I usually love when it is hot outside - this time not as much of a thrill.  Anyway, after that ride, we decided to go over to "Ellen's Universe of Energy."  Last time Jared and I went to Florida, we got to see an "Ellen" taping at Universal - it was so fun, I even danced with her.  I find her quite humorous.  Anyway, we hurried in there, it is kind of a long attraction, older, but I still love it.  I am a bit nostalgic, however, and I do remember this ride for as long as I can remember.  Somehow, all of us got separated from Gpa and Gma.  Oh, and how could I forget!, Sara came on this day.  It was so fun to have her there - Ry was still with us for a few more days as well.

So, there are Ry, Sar, and Jaxon coming out of Ellen's show.  Mom got this picture and I am so glad she did.  It is the only picture we have of the strollers.  There are lines of strollers everywhere - outside of every single attraction.   And, we spent a good part of everyday getting our strollers back, parking the strollers, getting out of the strollers, and in, etc.  We had 2 this day.  I decided that these days were getting long and Jainie was ornery because Jake kept "stealing her stroller,"  so I rented one for Jake, Josh, and Josie to share.  Everyone likes to sit awhile, right?  Jake ended up using it 98% of the time though.  

I won't bother giving a play by play of each ride we went on and when for the most part, I wouldn't be able to keep it straight at this point anyway, but I will add in things when I can.  That being said, next we went to "Mission: Space" - uugghhh!  Not one of my favorites - I am a little too claustrophobic - plus, I don't care what the cast members say, I can feel it spinning . . . spinning . . . spinning (that is how I show an echo).  You can decide if you want to go on the spinning side or the non-spinning side.  This time, the line was longer on the non-spinning side.  Jainie and I didn't care, we were going non-spinning.  Until, everyone else lined up for the spinning side, so we acquiesced and went with them.  Then, the best part (imagine sarcasm) was that somehow Jake, Jainie and I all got to go together, with no one else.  WHAT!?!  Keep in mind that I do get sick on this ride and almost lose it every time (meaning throw-up).  Jake doesn't do too well and Jainie doesn't do well at all.  But, we made the best of it.  None of us liked the ride too much,  I swear I couldn't breathe - I couldn't wait to get off.  Although, I am glad I went, you know, the experience.  No one wanted to go back on that ride however.

After this, we decided it was about time to head over to World Showcase.  But, first, we wanted to stop in one of the Innoventions and pick up a "Kim Possible" cell phone.  We didn't get to spend much time in Innoventions, but decided to come back later. So, we got our K.P. cell - "Kimmunicators" and headed off.  Our K.P. mission started in Norway, so we decided to head there first.  

This is Josie in front of the Vikings exhibit.  I love how all the buildings are unique to each country they represent - the architecture, I mean.

This is where we get our yummy Norwegian desserts - School bread, danishes, lefse, cloudberry horns, and sweet pretzels.  My favorite is the school bread.  Anyway, I thought it was so great how they had grass on the roof.  Underneath is where we sat to eat our treats - there was even a sprinkler up there!  Ah, the ingenuity.  I want grass on my roof - can you imagine a better place to sunbathe?  Unless you have a steep roof, then you'd fall asleep and roll - that wouldn't be good.

Jaxon and  fierce Nordic viking!

Oh, and did I mention the best ride in World Showcase is here - in Norway?  So, we also went on that, it is called Maelstrom, there we see Vikings, trolls, waterfalls, and stormy seas.  I used to go several times a day during trips when I was younger.  I loved it!  It is the most exciting ride in W.S.  It could probably do with a little update.  Ah, but I miss it!

We did get our K.P. mission plan here, but it sent us somewhere halfway around the world (heehee) so that was about all we did with it this day.  In fact, we forgot we had it  and took it home with us.  We did bring it back the next day - the staff was grateful - but not that grateful, I think it must happen a lot.  I wonder if they charge you for it or something?  I guess I'll never know.

So, Le Cellier is like the hardest spot to get a reservation at in Dworld - it and Cinderella's Castle - which is a wonderful experience as well.  Anyway,  you seriously have to book 180 days in advance and be on the phone as soon as they open the lines for the exact day you want.  Other than that, you can hope for a cancellation, but they are very rare, especially for so many people - there were 11 of us.  Anyway,  I tried to get ressie's when we decided things permanently - which was only a month and a half"ish" out.  Luckily, most restaurants had half of the restaurant reserved for "Candlelight Processional" priority seating customers.  That basically means that half of the restaurant wasn't full yet, you can only book those on a certain day, which was about a month before we went.  Then, you get the reservation, priority seating at the Candlelight Processional (will explain more later) and priority seating at the firework show, Illuminations - Reflections of Earth.  To get these elite ressies, I was on the phone at 4:00 am one morning, I laid on the couch and redialed for over an hour before someone finally picked up!  Hallelujah!  And, then it was perfect - they had Le Cellier and on the day and time I wanted.  Unfortunately, my phone person wasn't fast enough, so we lost it!  AHH!  Luckily, she found something else a day earlier and a different time, but I was happy.  I couldn't believe it - she said I was about the last one for Le Cellier total - the whole time in December!  Wow!  Am I lucky!  Too bad my kids didn't fully appreciate the toil and turmoil I had gone to to get these reservations!   Anyway, our reservations for lunch were at 2:00 and we were supposed to arrive 1/2 hour early, so we headed toward Canada.

On our way, we passed Mexico and these guys were out singing - it was beautiful!  As they were leaving, they saw Josie and Jainie, who both had Birthday buttons on, and serenaded them with their own "Happy Birthday" song.  It was darling!  I hope they will remember it always, they really were great singers - I was hoping they had some sort of CD available in the Mexico pavilion - but I didn't see one.  Which reminds me, we went in the Mexico pyramid - Chitzen Itza? at this time, and went on their new ride - well, new to us.  It was really fun - the 3 Caballeros took us on a gondola ride. We didn't get to spend much time there, unfortunately, I really like Mexico - we never got back there either.  Still feel bad about that.  It will have to be my first stop next time!

 So, when we got to Canada, they gave us a beeper for when they were ready for us.  We had to stay close, so we'll just say we had quite awhile to explore everything about Canada except the shopping and the movie, "O Canada."  Here, Josie and I were trying to admire the cool waterfalls and rock sculptures that they have.  You can tell Jake has had his limit - always, however, he did get in the picture.  :)

Every country has a Kidcot Fun Stop where kids can sit and color their bear - can't remember his name - apparently he traveled to the USA from Paris Disney, where he is really popular?  I have never heard of him.  Anyway, and you'd get a stamp from each country.  Luckily, these 3 found this very entertaining for quite awhile.

 I love this picture of Grandpa and Joshua enjoying the little river and the gardens in 

Canada - they are supposed to be a small representation of the Butchart Gardens in Victoria, Canada.

 Here you can see Jaxon, Ry and Sara enjoying as well - maybe enjoying the sunshine too.

After awhile, Jainie got bored with coloring so she performed a beautiful little dance for me and dad.

This restaurant is so small that they couldn't even put tables together to fit us all in.  After waiting about 45 minutes, we didn't care too much.  The last time Jared and I went to Dworld we ate here and I have always remembered the delicious steak and the best mashed potatoes I have ever had!  I was dying to get them again.  So, I ordered the Mushroom Filet Mignon - mmmmm - with wild mushroom risotto, white truffle and herb butter sauce - mmmmm!  So good!  Jared and Jaxon ordered New York strip steak with bercy butter, served with Gruyere-Yukon Gold potato gratin.  Josh had to eat off the kids menu the whole time there, which he didn't mind usually, he is very picky - they did have steak for him today though.  I have no idea what the other two kids got - probably pizza.  I am ready to go back!

 Josie was the lucky one who got to sit at the grown-up table.  She ordered a Chicken Crepe - it was pretty good too - she agreed.  She also got Canadian Cheddar Cheese soup - which she wasn't too fond of.  We all got yummy drinks too - the red ones are "Red Maple" - raspberry smoothie with a splash of Sprite.  The orange ones are "Niagara Refresher" - mango smoothie with a splash of Cranberry.  They were tasty.  Then, everyone got desserts too.  The kids all chose ice cream sundaes - they could make themselves.  The rest of us got these cute chocolate mousse in the shape of a chocolate moose!  Clever.  The maple leaf cookies were good too.  Most of us ate these during the fireworks later that night.  

If you noticed from the above picture, Jake wasn't too happy about taking breaks to eat.  Luckily, he loved this Kim Possible "Kimmunicator," it was his turn to hold it - so it kept him distracted for quite awhile during dinner.

This was probably my absolute favorite meal the entire time!  I just love it!  I wish I could go there every single time!  Good thing we had that dining package, it would have cost us more than an arm and a leg!  :)

After feeling super full and content, we decided to go use our fastpasses for "Soarin," so off we went back to Future World.  Of course, this is always a favorite of ours - one of Jainie's absolute favorites.  We all fit across one row and off we went.  We even saw the hidden Mickey head on the golf ball - scares Jainie every time.  All the kids favorite part is the smelling times - oranges and forest.  I would go a million times if I could.

Jainie enjoying sitting and relaxing for a few minutes in a busy day.

 It was almost 5, so time to head over to the Candlelight Processional - it is a retelling of the Christmas story - the Birth of Christ - taken from the Bible.  Read by a celebrity, different ones on different nights - with a choir in the background and 4 of the "Liberty Singers" as well (Disney's employed singers for the American Pavilion).  I was pretty excited to see it - I never have before and I thought it would be a perfect way to get in the true meaning of Christmas while we were back there.  Unfortunately, it is held at the "America Gardens Theatre" which is on the opposite side of the world by the American Adventure pavilion - whew!  So, we pretty much had to run!  We got there in time, which was great and found that people had been waiting for hours, literally.  If we wouldn't have had our priority seating, there is no way we would have been able to see anything.  We rushed in and got seats toward the back, but it wasn't very big so it didn't matter.  Then, they let 4 people in from the stand-by line, that is the total number of how many they let in.  They said they had been waiting since 10 am - it was 5pm!  What - that is crazy!  It was because of our narrator/celebrity - it was Whoopi Goldberg.  I don't have any feeling really toward Whoopi, I loved her in "Ghost" and "Sister Act" but haven't been too impressed with her time on "The View."  Apparently, I am in the minority, I figured out that is why Epcot was so busy that day.  Crazy!  I had no idea that many people would come to see Whoopi.  Anyway, there were thousands of people standing behind us trying to catch a glimpse.  (We walked past on Tuesday when we were there and there was a different narrator, I think Steven Curtis Chapman? and it was full but really no one standing.  I would have been fine with him.)  To me, it wasn't who was narrating but the story itself, the time, the season and showing my children that priorities are priorities and the gospel and Jesus are always the MOST important thing, no matter what!  Anyway,  it was beautiful - I loved the long trumpets they played.  And, I thoroughly enjoyed the message.  

You can see Whoopi in the middle of the picture - we didn't have the zoom on the camera because
it was too dark, so this is really about how far we were, I think we were actually a bit closer.

After finishing our magnificent performance, we decided to just start going around the world from where we were.  So, Italy was next.  Another thing Epcot did for Christmas was that they had storytellers from each land who would tell a story about who brings presents to their children at Christmas time or Christmas traditions - or some of the countries that weren't Christian told stories of other traditions their country has.  In America they told of Santa Claus/baby Jesus, the story of Hanukkah and Kwanza.  In Italy it was the story of La Befana - we listened to the whole story, which most of the kids thought was interesting and then we got this picture with her.

 Jake enjoyed the story, but also loved the fountain to play in.  Italy is a pavilion where you really feel like you are in Italy, you go in and can't see anything else once inside.  It also doesn't have an attraction at all so it is very chill.  I bought my beanie there - it says "Italia" and is Puma brand, which the Italian sales rep told me was a brand from Italy. :)  I will always love Italy.  And, now that there will be a temple in Rome, another excuse to go visit, right?

So, Josh was being a buckethead and wouldn't let me take any pictures of him this day. But, we got this cute one - I think Jared actually took it, he is sitting by Jared's feet - you can see the cool cobblestone street.

I can't remember who this is, but this is their fountain of luck.  There were lots of coins in it, you can see water coming out of the fish's mouths.  Josie was the only one at this point who was willing to get a picture.

The newest restaurant in Epcot is in Italy - Via Nappoli.    Jared and I had eaten in the older one and one of my early Epcot memories was eating in Italy and flirting with the cute Italian waiters - yes, before I was married.  Anyway, it is gone and this one has replaced it - I was showing these guys the cool open wood ovens they cooked their pizzas in, they go in these men's open mouths - they are supposed to represent 3 "gods" of Italy - volcanic mountains maybe?  Anyway, it is supposed to be delicious - they fly everything in from Italy, including the water they use to make the crust.  We were too booked to fit it in, maybe next time.

The Germany pavilion was next and a lady told stories about Papa Noel and showed us Advent Calendars and Nutcrackers, which both originated in Germany.  Then, they had this giant Nutcracker come out to take pictures with us.

China is the next pavilion, which we went to, but we missed most of the Acrobats, which are the coolest part, we did get to see the movie "Reflections of China,"  which I remember being quite boring growing up, but now I love the movies.  Love seeing the different cultures.  The thing I remember best about this one is the Great Wall that surrounds you - it is a circle theatre 360 degrees.  We also got to see the little statues that guard the tombs of the dead.

Then, we were back in Norway, which we had time to check out the shops - this big troll has ALWAYS been one of my favorites and the kids loved these cool hats to try on.  We couldn't buy them, they would be too hard to get home. The funniest part was that Jake was, once again, being very difficult so everyone was already in the picture besides him.  When he saw they were doing something fun, he wanted in - he ran and grabbed a helmet, not noticing the crooked horns.  It was perfect - totally shows his personality - a bit kooky.  :)

We were freezing after this time but needed to get back to the right spot for viewing Illuminations, my favorite firework show.  Somehow we ended up back in Norway, not sure how.  I think we went back to go to the movie, which was indoors.  But, left early because we wouldn't get out in time to see Illuminations.  I did buy a sweet blanket there though that we used the rest of the trip.  Anyway, this is Jake's favorite spot.  He fit perfectly in this crevice, he slid his feet back so you couldn't see him at all.  Then, people would walk on that bridge you see around the corner and there he would be standing still as a statue.  I think it was one of his favorite things on the trip - he loved making the ladies eek in surprise!  Silly boy.

The show Illuminations was more amazing than ever.  It was a special holiday edition and  they played the song, "Let There be Peace on Earth,"  unfortunately, they didn't sell the CD of that either.  But, I loved it, one of my favorite things there.  I watched it all 3 nights that we were in Epcot.  I really loved it.  Afterward, everyone was exhausted - it was 11:00 - Florida time, which is only 9 - Utah time, but I guess some of us had adjusted.  

Jainie was completely out - absolutely.  Jake was mostly asleep - and heavier than Jainie to carry, so he got the stroller, which meant we had to carry Jainie dead weight.  You wouldn't think it would be that hard, but I tried it and it was tough!  Luckily, Uncle Ry was there to help us get her to the van.  Thanks Ry.

 Another picture I am glad Grandma got.  This is a picture of the bedroom - cabin"ish" right? It really was fun.  I think Sara must have slept on the other bunk and this night was Josie's turn to sleep over.

This was our towel surprise on this day - elephants - with sticker eyes even.  Creative, the things I learned about towels.

Night night Epcot, luckily I will see you again tomorrow!