Shane Willard

This morning started off with an apology to all persons on the trip. I had to suck it up and apologize to everyone for ruining one of their evenings. Surprisingly it went VERY well. KO didn’t seem very upset at all, Darin and Kodi weren’t upset, McCall was over it, and Tyson and Heidi seemed as almost as apologetic as me. Thank goodness. Now if only Kelli will get over it. HA.

This morning was to be special because KO wanted us all to have the breakfast buffet at the Swan Hotel. He had eaten there several times and wanted us all to be able to experience it, so he offered to pay. Since the Swan is just across the way from where we were staying it only took us a couple minutes to get to the restaurant. Kelli started off. She went for food that would work for both her and Kate. The kids were just going to get French toast, and I was waiting for Kelli’s return. Well, as soon as she got back Boston said that he needed to go to the bathroom. I asked one of the waitresses where the bathrooms were and the proceeded to give me instructions. I took Bubba to the bathroom and asked if he would be OK by himself. He assured me that he would be just fine, so I took off back into the restaurant to fill my first plate. I filled it with hashbrowns, gravy, French Toast, Eggs Benedict, sausage, and I made sure to have an omelet made to my specifications. When I finally returned to the table and started to eat Kelli asked, “Where’s Boston?” Crap, I had totally forgotten, and obviously he didn’t make it back. I calmly got up and walked out to find him. I talked to the janitors, and was in the middle of telling a security guard Boston’s description when I heard in the distance a faint, “Daaaaaad…….DAAAD……Daaaaaad. Dad….” I ran to where I heard him and started calling his name. He was SOOOO dang cute. He had a very insecure, worried, and helpless look on his face that broke my heart. I swooped him up and apologized for leaving him. He just clung to me and said, “It’s OK dad. I just got lost.”

Boston and I returned to the restaurant and sit down to start eating again. WOW, was breakfast GOOD!!! It had to be the best breakfast buffet I have ever been to. The food was to die for. I had some of the best hash browns I have ever tasted, the omelet was fantastic, the fruit was perfect, the Belgian-Mickey-Waffles were unique in shape and taste, the French toast superb, the yogurt was scrumptious, and to top it all off, they kept our glasses brimming with OJ by refilling them as fast as we could empty them (I thought I was in heaven). However, I didn’t get even half way through my first plate when Luci started grabbing herself and whining that she needed to go to the bathroom. So off I went again. I don’t seem to think much too sacred to capture, so I actually took a small video of Luci grunting on the toilet. It was hilarious.

INSERT GRUNTING VIDEO **Update: Grunting Video wasn’t near as funny as real life.  It will not be uploaded.

I finally got Luci back to the breakfast table and everyone was starting to finish their food. I was SO sad because I was going to have to scarf all this wonderful food down faster than I wanted. No matter. It was still amazing!!!

After breakfast we jumped on a ferry boat that took us directly to Universal Studios. For whatever reason today we weren’t as aggressive at getting on all the cool rides, and we were much more relaxed about doing whatever. This may have been because Universal is mostly for adults, and we weren’t very interested in going on rides without the kids. We only ended up going on a few rides, but we did see a couple shows that were great (Beauty and the Beast, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, and another). The last ride we went on for the day was the Buzz Lightyear one. It was AWESOME. It is a giant 3D video game. I went on it twice. We ended up leaving Universal at around 7:00.

After dinner Boston, McCall and I went back to Magic Kingdom. He is soooo funny. As soon as we got there we checked out the stroller that we rented earlier, and I told him he could choose whatever ride he wanted. Guess which one he picked……ok, I didn’t think you’d get it. He picked the Dumbo ride. I couldn’t believe it, but I wasn’t about to try to change his mind. We didn’t get 10 feet inside the park and notice the parade. So, we stopped and watched the parade for 10 minutes. After the parade we headed up toward the Dumbo ride. Along the way we stopped in at the Monsters Inc. show. It was really funny. Then we found the Dumbo ride, and it was AWESOME!!! Boston loved it, and I think it was the first time in my life I actually rode Dumbo. It was kinda fun being so high and seeing all the rest of the park.

After that we decided to go to Splash Mountain. We rode Splash Mountain once, and all the rides closed for the evening. It was only 11:00 PM. Fortunately for us there was going to be a parade in 10 more minutes. We waited. Boston LOVED it. He waved at EVERY character that walked by. It was so fun watching him because he is still so enchanted by the whole experience. Well, I was actually thinking about how exciting it was to be witnessing Boston in such a euphoric happiness when all of a sudden he started scratching vigorously at his neck. Some bug must have fallen from the tree onto his neck. It bit him and then got slapped away by Bubba. I tried to roust up some insect bite spray, but no one near us had any. He cried for a little bit, but then he was just fine. It still hurt, but, “Dad, I don’t think we need bite spray.” Okay, Boston.

Boston Intently Watching the First Parade of the Evening

Dripping Wet After Splash Mountain

Waving at EVERY Character in the Closing Parade

He LOVED Waving at the Disney Characters

The little tike fell asleep on me on the bus ride home. What a privilege.

Oh yeah, Kate is stealing my heart more and more each day. She LOVES snuggling her daddy, and I LOVE it even more. When she is tired she snuggles her face right into my neck, and starts to bounce and pat my back. It is PRECIOUS!!!! I’m a lucky dad. I also had some really sweet moments with Luci….I just can’t remember them right now.