Solid Rock Ranch Updates: 11/22/09

Thursday, November 26, 2009

Disney World: Saturday and Sunday, November 7 and 8

"Then He left them and went out of the city to Bethany, and He lodged there."

Matthew 21:17

Saturday morning we all were up early and packing. We ate a small breakfast and then packed the cars. Once everything was cleaned up, put away, and packed we piled into our cars and drove to the Outpost where we decided to take a bus to Downtown Disney. (I almost forgot the camera but Uncle Greg saw it and got it for me!)

Before we left, I took this picture of the trees that surrounded the cabins.

It looked as if they had drained a swampland and decided to put the cabins there! :)

Some flowers by the outpost.

We parked and waited for the bus...

...it took forever to arrive and when it did we were already making our way back to the cars (we decided to just drive there).

We were going to Downtown Disney to go to The Earl of Sanwich restuarant where we were going to try and use up our 40+ lunches. (That means that we had enough meals left on our cards for 40 people to have a sanwhich, side/dessert, and a drink!) We had to be in the train station by 12 PM to make sure we all got seats together so we were in a big hurry. We were buying sandwhiches left and right, Grandma was buying meals for people in line behind us, we were picking out desserts, trying to remember to get silverware and napkins, etc. It was hectic! :)

So, to make a long, tiring story short - we still had around 20 lunches left when Grandma just decided that we couldn't spend any time longer there and so we left. All of us were really hungry so we decided to eat the sandwhiches in the car, though we saved the desserts for the train station! (On a side note: the Earl of Sandwich Pizza Sandwhich is really good!)

We had a little bit of a problem making sure everyone had the sandwhich they wanted when there were over 4 bags with different food in 2 different cars. Then, to make things worse, we went past the exit and so we ended up driving a whole lot longer than was planned! (Thankfully, Uncle Greg had a GPS)

But we arrived safe and sound in the train station much better prepared for an overnight stay on the train (for example, I brought jammies! :)

It was another 2 hour wait in the train station but we enjoyed some of the delicious desserts (they had cupcakes bigger than your clenched fist! :-D) and walked around until we could board.

We were out on the sidewalk waiting for the doors to be opened this time (last time we were just waiting until they called you to board). Thankfully it wasn't too hot outside! :)

We made it on our train car first because we were a big party of 17! (Another advantage of big families! :) We got settled and went and got the same snacks they had on our trip down. (One thing I didn't like on this train was that the foot rests didn't go all the way up...it must've been an older train - or maybe I'm just picky :))

Dinner was at 5 so we held out and didn't eat too much of our abundance of desserts and bottled waters (the sandwhiches were gone).

Dinner was good like always. They had nice staff on this train too but they weren't quite as friendly or funny as the first train.

There isn't much to tell you about our train ride back home Saturday since it was very similar to the previous one. We did watch Fireproof (7 of us were huddled around a laptop trying to hear) and Hannah, Alexis, Diana, Daddy, and I watched The Soloist, that they were playing in the lounge room, after that. (I didn't really like the movie...it wasn't very exciting)

This was the sunrise Sunday morning.

I had completely forgot that it was Sunday in the rush of things! We did all those things you do in the morning and then prepared to leave the train.

Once again we were in the train station earlier than planned so after our cars were called we all parted after many hugs and kisses.

I loved being back in Virginia. There is nothing like your own home state!

We were really hoping to get to church on time since we were really missing hearing from the Word. We all were praying hard that we could make it and we made it with time to spare! The sermon was, I think, good (when is it not?) but I was having a hard enough time trying to keep myself awake that I really didn't hear anything! :-/

We left for home soon after church ended because we were all tired and worn out.

(The crisp Virginia air was quite refreshing after a week of Florida fall weather)

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Thus ended our wonderful family trip to Disney World! We are so grateful to Grandma (and Grandpa!) for the expense they went through so we could go. It'll be a memory we'll never forget! All the food was excellent, the rides were fun (most of them!), and the times together as a family were wonderful!

All for Jesus,

Kimber :)

Disney World: November 6th

"Of clean animals, of animals that are unclean, of birds, and of everything that creeps on the earth,"

Genesis 7:8

Friday morning we woke up really early and went to breakfast at the Pioneer Hall Restuarant in Fort Wilderness. They had lots of yummy food such as blueberry mufifns, cereal (;-D), fruit, and more! :)

Daddy at the breakfast table eating something that looks like biscuits, sausage, and gravy. (We also wore our Redskins shirts with Grandma and Grandpa that day)

After we all had filled ourselves to the brim we waited for the bill. That's when we found out that we had 40+ lunches left on our card. Being Friday, we couldn't exactly eat 40 lunches in one day! (There'll be more about this later)

Anyways, once we got the bill and everything mostly figured out (and clear as mud) we went to the bus stop.

Lydia was being her usual self...cute! She had 2 Mickey stickers that were on her belly and every time someone asked her "Where are your Mickey's?" she would...

...pull up her shirt

...and smile and pat her belly! :) It was so cute!

Playing with Hannah and Diana.

Copying Hannah

Finally we hopped on the bus and waited to arrive at Animal Kingdom!

We're there!

We went along one of the trails that led to Dinoland to meet up with Uncle Greg who had felt so bad that morning (with the flu or something) that he went back to his cabin and said he would meet us later at Animal Kingdom instead of coming to breakfast.

2 of the weird animals that were encaged beside the trail.

The tree of life.

Can anyone find Hannah?

The Dinoland entrance was right by a bridge that went over a little river and Uncle Greg was waiting for us there.

Yes, it was a beautiful day on Friday. It was probably the hottest day the entire week but that's only because the sun decided to make his own appearance.

Amanda overlooking the river.

Our first ride, after a bathroom break, was Dinosaur.

One of the skeletons that you walked around while waiting in line.

Another one on the ceiling.

We all rode in the same "car" together on the ride. (Grandma, Grandpa, and Mama had went to some little rides with the younger ones) This ride was pretty freaky. It was very loud and dark and every now and then a huge dinosaur would loom around the corner, eyes glowing, and it would feel as if he was about to come and tear you to pieces. (This might be a little exaggerated but that's what I thought it was like :) Anyways, we survived and our picture was really funny! Everyone looked scared except Uncle Greg.

(We rode a few more rides but I don't remember the names of them.)

One of our next stops was a trail that you walked along and you got to see all these different animals that you normally don't see in your backyard.

Hannah and Amanda on the trail.

A lizard (kimodo dragon)

An animal that is a cross between a rhinocerous and a horse(tapir)...don't ask me who thought of that.

A tiger.

I think that they are one of the most majestic things that I've ever seen (along with the bald eagle).

He was enjoying basking in the sun! :)

Another tiger.

Palm tree.

After all the different animals we got to the part of the trail that had the birds and such.

A flower in the trail.

One of the weird birds.

A beautiful plant.

Hannah, Daddy, and Mama pausing for a picture (you can see Grandma through the reeds on the right side of the picture).

In case you were wondering, Hannah and I (Kimber) did wear skirts the whole week. We never had a single problem with them!

A monkey in some ancient ruins.

Caleb refreshing himself at a shop.

At some point within here we went on the Kali River Rapids ride. This ride was one that was supposively supposed to get you SOAKED. Of course, we (the kids) were excited to see how wet we could get! Grandma stayed with Lydia (who was sleeping in the stroller) so Mommy could ride with us too! We had 15 riders altogether and only 12 riders went to a raft, so we were split up, but we still had fun! The disappointing part about it was #1: It was extremely short compared to the 20+ minute wait and #2: Most of us, to our disappointment, didn't get soaked. Guess who did get soaked? Mommy and Aunt Amy! I think it's kind of funny that the ones who wanted to probably be the least wet were the ones who were soaked! All of us were wet to some degree but we eventually dried off. (Aunt Amy ended up being wet for the rest of the day)

We then ate lunch at Yak & Yeti's. All 4 of us older girls got beef chinese food and it ended up being really hot (like spicy, peppery hot), but we still ended up being really full after it also!

After lunch we decided to browse around some shops since it was our last day at Disney World and we hadn't got anything yet! :) Hannah and I went with Aunt Amy, Amanda, and Diana and everybody else went other places. After looking in a shop or two, we stopped by just in time for the Birds of Flight show before meeting up with everyone else.

This great horned owl greeted us as we waited for the show to open.

Once it opened we sat down and enjoyed the wonderful display of winged animals from chickens to bald eagles.

Hannah and I had mixed emotions when we saw this African Grey Parrot up on stage. It reminded us of Smoky and that he is no longer ours...but we still love and miss him!

Anyways, this parrot could solve math problems! The only "problem" being that all he could say was 4! So if you said "What is 100 - 23" he would answer with "four"!

I forgot the name of this bird too!

At the end of the show they brought out a gorgeous bald eagle. They are just so beautiful!

Some parrots that flew out at the end of the show.

After the show was over we went and met up with everyone else so we could go ride Expedition Everest which we had Fastpasses for. Once again, Grandma stayed with Lydia and Josiah so we all could go! (Thanks, Grandma!) Caleb and Stephen ended up being in the very front (or 2nd row) and Diana and I were somewhere behind them. Everyone else was in different cars behind us also. Everest was fun though it had some parts where there was so much pressure on you that you couldn't move! (Grandpa didn't like it)

After the ride we went to get our reservations for dinner at the Tuscan House.

Lydia playing with Grandpa's hat as we waited outside for dinner.

We had a bit of a wait but we did get to go in eventually!

Amanda reading the menu.

Hannah, Lexi, Diana, Amanda, and I got our own table! :)

Lexi showing us her marvelous talents!

Our waitress took our drink orders and then we went and got some food! They had so much food (all of the buffet-style restuarants did) and, of course, we stuffed ourselves on dinner though we definitely saved room for dessert!

Some of the dessert.

I must add that in Animal Kingdom they had nothing plastic in their restuarants because they didn't want to hurt any of the animals there (they were into the whole enviromental thing). So, instead of plastic straws we got cardboard. If you are ever given a cardboard straw my advice is that it would be so much better if you just drank out of the cup itself. The straws turn the water into cardboard tasting water (not that I eat cardboard...it just tastes like it smells, if you know what I mean). So skip the straw and use the cup!

Anyways, after dinner everyone went home except for Daddy, Diana, Alexis, and I who decided to stay in the parks late and ride some more rides. We went on Expedition Everest again (it is so dark at night on that ride) and then we tried to make our way to Disney's Hollywood Studios to ride on the Rock 'n Roller Coaster (most of us hadn't rode it on Thursday) and the Tower of Terror. We were disappointed when we found out that MGM Studios closed at 7 PM that night and it was just after! So, that plan failed and went back to Epcot to ride Test Track one last time! We stopped in a store and bought some candy and then rode our last ride of the week before going home. Once home, we were going to go swim in the pool til midnight, to close out a wonderful week, but that didn't work so we just got ready for bed and packed up.

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All for Jesus,

Kimber :)

Monday, November 23, 2009

Disney World: Flower Pictures

"The flowers appear on the earth; the time of singing has come, and the voice of the Turtledove is heard ....."

Song of Solomon 2:12

When we first arrived at Disney we went to the "Fort Wilderness Check-in Area" and I took Lots of pictures of all the beautiful flowers while we were waiting. I also told Kimber I (Alexis) would post them. So Here they all are!