Lewis Family

Thursday, August 4, 2016

Disney 2016

We just got back from a wonderful trip to Walt Disney World. We had so much fun. We'd been once before with the kids. Here's a link to the post from that trip. The kids were all so little then (KG was 6 months, T 2, C, 3 1/2, K 5) so this was a different trip but both were great! Before we went we did look up Janelle's blog to read about their trip since her kids were around our oldest kids' ages when they went. Here's link to her trip. We did borrow her T-shirt idea and James made these great T-shirts with ACU fabric!

We had a great trip! We usually leave at the crack of dawn but this time K had an indoor soccer game so we left after the game. And we're so glad we did. What a great game! We got there a little later, but we still had Sunday to get settled in and get ready for a week of parks! We played some mini-golf, did some grocery shopping, went to Disney Springs (formerly Downtown Disney) and then hit the pool! Such nice pools- a ton of fun!

Monday we started off at Epcot which I learned is Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow- who knew? First we went to Mission to Mars where we got our first rider swap- so nice that we could wait once and all the adults ride once and the big kids ride twice! And c and V had fun playing on the completely empty play area inside. We had such a good time. We ate lunch in Japan and Morocco. The food was good both places but it was a little tough to share soup without extra bowls :) Everyone loved the Moroccan food. It was really neat to walk around the world in a few hours. You really felt like you were in that country!

Nana, Papa, and kids in Mexico!

Tuesday we went to Magic Kingdom which was crowded but fun. Our longest line of the trip was Dwarfs Mine Train- it was a fun ride. I didn't realize V was too little so I stood in line the whole time but we made it! Disney always puts some fun things in the waiting areas too to make the wait seem shorter. We did some splitting up and going different ways so that the roller coaster people could ride coasters, the short people could rest, ... We did use the rider swaps a good bit so the people who liked "Space Mountain" (and some other rides) got to do it several times! C had been saying we didn't need to go on Jungle Cruise but we went and he really liked it- so many funny jokes!! We waited out the storm in the tiki show. Then we enjoyed some sunshine for a while. I still liked "A Small World"
Papa got to be "that guy" at the laugh factory. V and I missed most of it but I heard it was really funny!

Love the Disney topiaries

We were excited to go to Casey's at the end of baseball season

We did get drenched on the way out- but a fun day!

James and I went back that night to nighttime Disney- it was packed! I was glad we didn't take kids at night because it was so crowded (and so late) but James and I had a good night!
(So did the kids since they were in the room sleeping :)

The kids were shocked that we ate dinner at 10 pm one night!

Wednesday we went to Animal Kingdom. The safari was really neat- we got to see a ton of animals. V loved dancing in the streets! Lion King was wonderful! Turtle Talk was fun! We all enjoyed the Dole Whip! Everyone loved the river rapids! Very fun!

The Dole Whip was a big hit with all!

Thursday we went to Hollywood Studios. The kids did the Jedi training- that was neat! The crowds at Hollywood Studios are different because they go up and down as the shows get out! The RockNRoller Coaster was a lot of fun (to most of us :) Some of our crowd went to Tower of Terror while the rest of us went to Beauty and the Beast show- which was really good! We also really enjoyed the Frozen Sing along show and everyone loved Toy Story Mania! Even V got to play!The Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular was neat too- and it was out of the rain!! We did go see the Fantasmic show at night- we were worn out but had a super trip!!

We spent Friday at the pool! A great end to a great trip!

Saturday, July 23, 2016

Camping Lessons Learned

Oh I had so many lessons learned that are already fading from my memory as we go from tents back to house. But it was a great trip. I guess the ones I remember are the important ones (or the ones I forget are the ones we need to learn over again :)

What worked well:
-Hobo pie makers were really fun!
-keeping cold weather stuff packed on top of the car so we had it in case we needed it but not in the way.
-quick oats were great for breakfast. I didn't package individual- we just put a lot in a old cashew container (those worked great for lots of packing.)
-freezing water bottles worked great for cold water and keeping cooler cold.
-2 tents for sleeping.
-Having a good plan for the trip- we could have changed parts of it but it was much easier to do most research before we left so we were just deciding what to do at each place instead of where to go/ what to stay.
-Having the kids be big part of set up / tear down. It makes them part of the team, gives them something good to do, and once they learn it really helps all go better!
-$1 solar lights worked well for lights around campground/ to use to go to bathroom.
-Audio books are great!

What we need to improve on:
-Less is better (next big trip we really need to think through what we actually need and only take that- less butter, less toys, less stuff in the camping box
-Walmart bags worked better than trash bags- you can't leave out a big bag anyway- walmart bag is big enough for most meals and we could take that to the dump. next time just pack a couple trash bags.
-water shoes would have been very good to have.
-we had a pretty good packing list but ended up taking lots of extra things/ just in case. It really adds up fast with 8 people. Next time pack everything the day before so no last minute add ins (it would help to not have such a busy day before leaving!)
-Pack the National Parks Passport!! we got stamps and we can add to the book but Pack the Passport!
-we probably could have stayed with people on another couple nights if we'd planned early. Don't be scared to ask.

Meal ideas
Breakfast- burrito, eggs and bacon, pancakes, bagels, oatmeal

Lunch- wraps, sandwiches, taco salad

Dinner- walking taco, hotdog, brats, white clam pasta, foil packets, hobo pie, kababs

Snacks- fruit, granola, chips, nuts, trail mix

Desserts- hobo pies, s'mores

I'm sure I'll think of more but what a great trip!! can't wait to go again!

Saturday, April 23, 2016

OBX 2016

so what else would I be doing at midnight than updating the blog. Years from now I may thank our little man for keeping up so I could update this :) Well, I could thank him if I'd actually updated the blog. Now let's see if I still remember our trip :)
I'm sure memories are just like I heard someone say on a podcast today about people: you may not remember the details but you remember them overall.

Pictures will help with remembering the details! I did leave out the pics of the people taking turns being sick in the room- not the most fun part of our trip :)

We had lots of fun in the game room- the NC game was a new addition. So were the new good ping-pong players- amazing how much better the kids have gotten!

We watched lots of beautiful sunrises and sunsets from the balcony and the beach!

Too cold for ocean swimming but we had lots of fun in the sun! And found cool shells!

Amazing to sit and see God's beautiful sun and ocean (and cute kids too!)

We love this place!

And we had an amazing day for Jockey's Ridge- perfect temp, almost no wind, beautiful!

Love!

Rolling down sand dunes- sandy but fun!

Our new favorite part of the Wright Brothers National Monument is the hands on model-
perfect place for a picnic and pretend!

We also spent a lot of time on the tennis court. Our big four were in the middle of 6 weeks of free tennis clinic which made it even more fun to go practice new skills!

Kids love our souvenir shop (AKA Good will/ thrift shop)- KG was so happy with these roller blades! And the boys each found nice shirts- can't beat the price.

our newest walker loved the deck!

We saw deer several nights as we went to see the sunset by Sunset Grill

Ts half birthday breakfast! My favorite 8 year old boy wasn't feeling his best that morning but it was great to spend some time just me and T!

We were excited to get to go on a ranger lead trip looking for animal signs. We rode on the 4WD only beach area. We saw signs of horses but no horses. Still fun!

Love this bridge and our tree!

Even V enjoyed Roanoake Island- learning about Native Americans here!

And settlers!

They welcomed our school trip there with blacksmith, coopering, and woodworking classes!

Our lunch out- yum!

Kids enjoyed our scavenger hunt from the OBX Barrier Island Station

V helping pick out the donuts!

A sweet way to end a great trip!

KG is Seven!

How does time go by so quickly? That saying the days go slow, but the years go fast is pretty true. Although lots of days go fast too!

So we got to celebrate KG's birthday a lot this year.