We made it to Epcot by 8:30 and had a half hour before it opened. So what did the 10 cousins decide to do? That's right...wrestle..in line...next to strangers. And what did I do? That's right...yell. It was before 9 and I was already yelling at our boys. Ah, the magic of Disney. Lindsey decided to get a picture of all 10 grandsons with Grandma and Grandpa. And like all good intentions and great photo ops with all the grandsons, who consistently ruins the picture? Why, the 4 year old who hates pictures of course..my child, Nate.
You can see how excited they all were to be at Disney (well 3 of them were.) But smack dab in the center, who is that? The one not looking is my child. I am so proud.
And now their feeble attempts to get him to look at the camera. Zachary is embarrassed for me.
They finally open the gates and we rush to get to Soarin'. It is an awesome ride and all the boys love it. Not enough to do it again, but at least we were the first ones on and did not have to go back and wait in line later in the day.
In line for Soarin'.
Next we high-tailed in over to Test Track which turned out to be our favorite ride at Epcot and top 3 of all rides. In line, Nate decided that his parents suck and he only wanted to be with Grandma and Grandpa. We loved designing our own cars then racing in the simulator.
Nate still obsessed with Grandma in line for Test Track.
And upset that we are still his parents.
Outside of Test Track is a "cool-off" station sponsored by Coke which is set up like a car wash that sprays water at random from the walls and from the floor. It was not particularly hot that day but it was a welcome surprise that turned into one of our boys favorite things to do at Disney. As evidenced by the pictures below. They laughed and squealed the whole time while getting soaking wet. It was pure joy on their faces that brought pure joy to ours watching them.
I love Nate's face in this one.
Lindsey's comment after the car wash. "We spent thousands of dollars to come to Disney and it turns out we should have gone to the free splash pad by our house for the same enjoyment."
On the way to our next ride we ran into a crowd that was watching the Jammin' Janitors playing on the street. Now soaking wet, some of the boys started dancing. Nate while dancing also punched his cousin Will in the crotch. Meanwhile Drew, with cousin Lincoln, decided to roll on the ground and catch bubbles with their mouths. I have video evidence of the whole scene.
After the Jammin Janitors Dance fest, we all headed for the Little Nemo ride which was great. They incorporated animated fish into a real aquarium. I was impressed. After this we split from my brothers family and my parents, my sister's family and our family went to Turtle Talk with Crush. The sign outside said it was a "10 minute wait." We thought "that is great, it will be short, then we can go get some lunch, cause the kids are getting tired and hungry." Well, 10 minutes came and went. And we were standing in a line to get into a waiting area to then go into the theater. Then everyone broke down. Zachary got very hangry and tired of waiting, Drew started got very gassy and vocal about it, Nate was so tired he literally laid on Lindsey's back while she was still standing, my sister's kids were put on the "time out wall" for calling each other names, and one of them got stuck in the line barrier. Well see for yourself.
We do finally get in to see Crush and it was hilarious. Both Zachary and Drew got to talk to him and ask him a question. We loved it. Not enough to wait again, but we loved it enough for that one time. Now it was time for lunch. We split from my sister's family and only had Grandma and Grandpa with us now. We wanted to eat in the World Showcase with all the countries because Lindsey wanted to try something that we can't get anywhere else. The problem was that my parents are not into exotic foods and neither are the kids. So we initially started walking to Morocco but had to change plans after my brother's family ate there and texted telling me not to take our parents there because they would hate the gyros and lamb meat. Even though my nephew Wes reported, "those Moroccans can make a mean chicken nugget!" So we all agreed on pizza in Italy. The only problem was it was the furthest away from where we were and everyone was getting hangry. But more specifically, Lindsey was hangry. And when momma's hangry, everyone suffers. So with my iPhone and Disney map app I was trying to find the best way to get to Italy. All the while, hangry mommy is holding the backpack and camera bag pushing the double stroller and cursing my name as I am leading the group saying, "look guys, this is China. Now we are in France. Ooo Japan."
We finally arrive at Italy and discover there is no quick service only sit down restaurants that will not take our meal plan. To which Lindsey replies to me under her breath, "you think I was mad at you before?" So with some quick iPhone magic I found that we could eat at a place in Germany. And it was only 2 countries away. We get to Germany and get everyone Brats, frankfurters and off my back. I told Lindsey, "I have officially traveled half way round the world to make you happy." And she told me "I have now officially been angry with you in 11 countries in one day." New Record! Yea!!
Official world traveler and record setter,
The Joyful and Tired Dad
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