Epcot

We were lucky this year to go to Epcot with Grandma Cindi and Kyle and Jessica.  Last year when we went to Disney, we didn't get to spend hardly any time in the countries, so this year we decided to make it all the way around.  Of course, I had to introduce Kyle and Jessica and Grandma Cindi to the "Soarin'" ride which is my favorite ride of all the parks.  We went on it 3 times, but the second time the ride stopped in the middle.  After waiting awhile, they weren't able to fix it, so we left with fast-passes to come back later.  The ride was still as good as I remembered it, and I think I sold Kyle, Jessica, and Grandma on it too.  We had a great day visiting all the countries, and the weather and company made it even better.

 We started out the day at Test Track.  Then we went to a couple other rides before using our first "Soarin" fast-pass.  After coming out, we got another one.  The picture above is the second time we went on Soarin when the ride broke down and we were waiting.

Alex and Eric just before we got on the Maelstrom boat ride in Norway

The painting on the wall where you get on the Maelstrom

Coming out of Norway, the kids were interested in the viking hats, shields, and swords, so we got a picture by the troll.  Tessa was trying to take off the troll's nose.  I thought it was cute that the girl viking hats had braids.

Going into the China Pavilion

I found the tomb warriors interesting.  They were supposed to be Emporer Qin's protectors beyond the grave.  Each of the figures has a different face which has made archeaologists think they may have been patterned after real soldiers.  History is fascinating!

Aunt Jessica and Tessa taking a break near the tomb warriors

The warriors

Alex taking a break while we shopped in China.  The China Pavilion had a lot of beautiful dishes that I really liked.  I didn't buy any though.

Germany

Jarem loves his Uncle Kyle.  When the trip was almost over, he told Kyle that he had a really good idea.  He said, "You could move your house to our neighborhood in Stone's Manor."  It was so cute because he was one hundred percent serious and he was so excited that he thought of the great idea of them living next door to us.

Germany was one of my favorites.  Because my dad served a mission there, and I also have ancestors from there, it is a little more meaningful to me.  I particularly liked this cuckoo clock.

The dancing people that went around every certain number of minutes.

Jarem waiting for Dad to buy gelato

This is Jarem and Tessa when we were getting ready to go into the American Adventure.  That is a really good show, but it just happened to be at that point in the afternoon where everyone was tired.  It was about 45 minutes or 1 hour long.  Jarem slept most of the show.  I know I drifted off a time or two among others in our group.

Japanese taiko drummers

On our way out of the park, we went on Soarin one last time.  Everyone was tired and leaning every which way while waiting.

The girls were sitting on the floor

This is how they looked on the way back to the house.  Jarem was asleep almost instantly, but Alex is holding strong playing a game.

The girls were out very quickly too.