As I said in my last blog, we skipped Disney on Monday due to the Super Bowl MVP not being Peyton Manning, or a Seahawk we knew. But I had packed everything, down to the PB and J's waiting in the freezer. So when Wednesday rolled around, we woke up and the weather was lovely, I decided we should take advantage of the prepared trip and go to Disney, so we had lunch at home and then headed out.
Our first stop was Epcot, we hadn't been in awhile and I really wanted to get the boys excited about our Continent boxes, by walking around the world, learning about the different cultures, and trying some
different foods.
We first stopped to check out the new fast pass plus system. Here's what we've decided about this new system so far: it kind of sucks for passholders. We're not fans. Hopefully they tweak some things, or I don't see us utilizing fast passes very often. But then again, we seem to manage fine without them.
Then we stopped at Club Cool for a cultural dose of pop/soda/whatever you want to call it. Peyton was disappointed that the old flavors are gone. Last time we were there it was a mix of new and old. The Chinese coke will be missed.
Our next stop was the United Kingdom. We played the Agent P game, in which the boys were given a phone and clues where to go to stop Doctor Dufenshmirtz.
When we were done with our mission we rewarded ourselves. There is something pretty awesome about having some random ice cream concoctions in Epcot at the France Pavillion on a random Wednesday thats just so awesome. The Brioche ice cream sandwich with raspberry topping was awesome, but it still doesn't top the macaroon ice cream sandwich for me. SO. Good.
After wandering the French Pavilion, and deciding we need to find out whats so amazing about truffle oil to make it as expensive as it was (maybe a tax return purchase?), we continued on our way.
We stopped in Morocco and talked to some of the people there. Fun fact: Disney employees people from the countries to work in the pavilions, so they are very knowledgeable and they'll talk to you about anything. We also decided we need a tajine. It was described to me as a cast iron skillet and a slow cooker got together and made a baby.
After Morocco, we headed to Japan, where Asa was in Ramen Noodle heaven, and the boys learned all about Japanese soda. Apparently, there's a marble in the bottles and you have to push the top in really hard to release the marble so you can drink it. It's really random.
We picked up some little pieces of chocolate and Italian candy in Italy. If you know where to look, you can get these gems for 25 cents a piece. And the chocolate is AWESOME.
The German pavilion had a pretty impressive shop. The boys really got into the German spirit, and we picked up some potato-chip like sticks.
We checked the time and decided it was best to head back to Future World, as it was getting late in the day. So we took the boat across the lagoon, and went to guest services to get Hayden a Birthday button. Peyton took a minute to tell me all the flags and capitals they had on display. The only one he didn't know was the red one with the green star. We learned that is Morocco's flag, we haven't gotten to Africa yet.
We took a spin on spaceship earth, and then played some of the fun games they have when you get off the ride. Peyton and Asa put the skeleton back together again in a 3D game, while Calib and Hayden tried their best to use clean energy to power their city.
We had peanut butter and jelly for dinner, along with some snacks. We got some fries and some Polynesian chips (for $1.99 they're a steal!) at the Polynesian, along with some water. It made for a nice dinner on the go.
Since we didn't make it to a water park, we decided we could make a quick trip to the Polynesian pool. I'm hoping they never have magic bands entrances to the pools, because we love sneaking into the Disney hotel pools.
We arrived at the Magic Kingdom about 2 and a half hours until close. With the exception of the people on Main Street to see the parade, the park was deserted. We made it on 10 rides before closing.
First up was Space Ranger Spin. I got my highest score ever, but Asa maxed out at 999,999 points (the highest allowed), and collected his second ever Galactic Hero Award.
We walked on to Space Mountain, and the cars were pretty much the same way, before getting the best seats in the house at Philharmagic (the back row, in the middle-- the best!)
We walked on the carousel, and then went on It's a Small World in our very own boat. There was zero wait for the Haunted Mansion, we got right on the Platform for Big Thunder Railroad, and saw no other person in sight by the time we got to Pirates at 9:55. We had our own boat there, and Asa asked if we could get a name for it. They deemed us: Old Sack of Potatoes.
The next day, Thursday, we got to work on our Olympic activities. Everyone drew their countries earlier in the week, so we all drew our flags. One side of our flag is our countries, and the other side is our own flag that we made up.
For dinner we had Olympic Pancakes. I thought about getting out my cookie cutters to make them all neatly shaped, but figured that amount of OCD probably wasn't necessary.
I even made Washington, Buchanan and Simpson an Olympic Ring.
After dinner, we celebrated our opening ceremonies. We each had an Olympic 'torch' ice cream cone, and showed off our flags.
Then we had our torch relay (if that torch looks familiar, it MIGHT be recycled from our Survivor game in December)
And then Hayden got to light the Olympic flame. (A fan we decorated to look like a cauldron with crepe paper and easter grass)
Followed by our parade of nations, in which we all got to place our flags in their pool noodle holder.
Friday we took a break from all the Olympic madness to celebrate Hayden's Birthday! He didn't want to do anything for his birthday, but all his favorite things around the house. So, we spent a few days compiling a list of all his favorite things (think board games, nerf gun wars, video games), and then we put them in a bag deemed "Hayden's Birthday Fun Bag". He spent the day drawing out activities.
He specifically asked for a lunch of grilled cheese and tomato soup, which was easy enough. Oh, and chocolate milk.
And then he wanted to draw us a story on the chalkboard and tell us all about it.
After lunch we had his annual pirate treasure map hunt for his presents.
He got a lot of action figures, a new board game, and his favorite: Adventure Time accessories.
Knowing we were having fondue with dinner (two kinds of chocolate!) we decided to have birthday cake after the treasure hunt. He requested a chocolate cake, with chocolate chips, and chocolate frosting, with a chocolate 8 on top. Oh, and chocolate ice cream. He maybe likes chocolate.
A little later, we played the 'country game' where everyone builds and plays with in their own country, but eventually things go south and countries end up under attack.
I was pretty happy with my all-animal country, complete with my queen bear atop her Jenga tower.
But eventually, disaster struck, as Haydens dragons came and stomped on Mom-topia. So sad. The Jenga tower had fallen. Peyton-topia tried to send help, as Walle attempted rebuild the stables (complete with beep-bop-boop noises), but to no avail.
After some other activities and a viewing of Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2, Asa and I worked on dinner. He did the cheese fondue, while I made a dark chocolate crunchy peanut butter fondue, and a plain milk chocolate fondue. For the cheese dippers we had: two kinds of bread, apples, broccoli, and carrots. The the chocolate dippers we had: strawberries, bananas, pound cake, rice crispies, and graham cracker crusted marshmallows. There wasn't a better dinner for Hayden than one in which everything gets dipped in cheese or chocolate. We don't have a fondue pot, but my triple slow cooker worked just fine for the event.
Even though it was Hayden's birthday, we didn't want to miss the Opening Ceremonies. So, in order to make it a little more fun we made Bingo. The first person to win would get gold, second would get silver, and third would get Bronze.
Hayden fittingly, ended up with the gold. Peyton got silver, and I got the bronze.
After some night time hide-n-go-seek nerf gun fighting, the boys built a blanket fort for a sleepover. It was REALLY had to get any good pictures of it, but it covered the whole space of Peyton and Hayden's room. Somehow all three of them, a cat, and three dogs fit in there at bedtime.
Sunday we really started our Olympics. (We had double the events, and opened our first box). The chalkboard is Olympics central. So, each day we compete in an Olympic event. Three points are awarded for gold, two for silver, and one for bronze. Adding on to your total, however, is the same point totals every time the country we selected wins medals. It's making watching the Olympics really fun. You find yourself rooting for countries, people, and sports, you ordinarily wouldn't.
We also opened up the boxes. North America came with some activities for the boys to work on, some pop from Mexico, some chocolates from the U.S, and from Canada: some Maple Cookies, and some Fish Steaks.
The cookies were a hit--- SOOO yummy. Nobody could bring themselves to try the fish steaks though, not even Asa.
The boys are really enjoying their 'Where in the World' game.
And we had our first Olympic Event: Snowboarding. Now, here's the thing, you obviously have to get very creative with the meaning of each of these events. So keep that in mind for the next two weeks. But, we started off all making our own 'snowboards'.
But there was an avalanche! Our snowboards needed rescued, and so whoever could retrieve all 5 of them in the fastest time was the winner. This event was WAY harder than you would think it would be. The first couple were easy, the last two were impossible. At one point Asa even shouted at me: "Are you sure you put them all back in here?!?"
Peyton won the gold, I got the silver, and Calib got the Bronze. Now if you're wondering why there isn't a medal ceremony after each game, I guess you can say I'm being a bit lazy about it. I did not make medals for each event, and instead the winner at the end will get the medals. I'm just making one gold, one silver, and one bronze for the final total.
Some events, Asa and I aren't taking part in, it'll help even the score (so we thought, poor Asa is not doing well, and at writing time France hasn't won him a single medal-- at least for whats aired here, we're trying our best to avoid spoilers) So last night, we were the judges for the next Olympic Event: Ice Skating. How can we do that in FL you ask? Well, we decided it was about who could dress in the girliest costume. Below you'll see the score card.
While the boys rummaged through my closet for sparkles, accessories, an outfit, and shoes (the last category is presentation), Asa made us a very yummy dinner from the Caribbean, a different take on Enchiladas. The filling was black beans and pineapple. We served it with some yellow rice and it was delicious. My husband is becoming quite the cook. (At writing time he's in the kitchen working on our South America dinner)
After dinner, we held our Ice Skating Event. I was allowed to take one picture, and was under strict orders not to post it on Facebook. I was however allowed to post it here, so there you go.
Peyton won gold (he totally sold it! And look how well his shoes match his sweater-dress!), Calib won silver (the sparkles in his hair really made his outfit), and Hayden got the bronze. He wasn't so in to it, but hey, at least he matched his sweater and his scarf.
We finished up our North America day with Hot Vanilla from Canada. It was decent, much like it sounds.
Oh! And we all got a worry doll (apparently they originate from Guatemala), so the boys put them under their pillows last night.
I had to stay up till 11:30 to update the medal count. Since events haven't started at Sochi for the next day, and we've seen the whole prime time show at that point, it's really the only time I can update without getting spoilers. Asa is still medal-less. None for France, and none for him.
Todays event was the Luge. So, everyone had to make a Luge sled.
Hayden used a box from pop cans, with some hot wheels cars taped to the bottom. Mine (notice the swedish flag, a nice touch I thought), was made out of a sara lee container (from the pound cake for Hayden's birthday fondue), and half an empty oatmeal can. Everyone also picked a luger to go inside.
Asa put his childhood stuffed animal in the space ship, and sprayed it with Pam for some extra slippery-ness, Peyton used RC with his Luger strapped in. Calib originally started out with some weird boat like contraption.
At lunch time we took our sleds down to the park for a test run, and then came back home to make some adjustments.
We also opened our South America box. Everyone took a sip of the malta (gross), and enjoyed the mango wafers. We were pretty split on the Guava preserves from Brazil.
The boys post cards from South America came out pretty awesome too.
Hayden was excited to write to Asa about Brazil
And they located Coby Flaskerton is Brazil no problem.
After being in the washer all morning, my penguin was finally dry (yes, I'm 32 and I sleep with a stuffed penguin, don't judge me)- and I felt he needed some goggles to protect him on the luge track.
When Asa was done with work, we headed down to the park, and drew spots for our Luge event.
The spectators surrounded the track (the curly slide at the park)
And Asa timed how fast the different sleds when down the track while I pushed them all (gently at the exact same speed), down.
After two runs (the best of the two), Calib won gold, Peyton won silver and I won bronze.
Our South American dinner tonight, made by Chef Asa, was AWESOME. He made Chilean Coffee Cake, Peruvian Stir Fry, and chimichurri Potatoes (apparently they LOVE their potatoes in South America.. Maybe I should move there, I can have lots of potatoes AND own a pet sloth. Win, Win.)
Also worth noting: The chef is currently doing the dishes while I finish up my blog, I married keeper.
Thats it! Thats been our last six days! Stay tuned for more Olympic Events, Valentines Day, and a possible trip to the Florida State Fair (yes, our Fair is in February)
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