To some this may not seem like anything extraordinary, but for JACK this is amazing! He actually played with his toys, in a way that resulted in something constructive! There was no putting them in the toilet or down the air vent; it was an actual line up with purpose! I loved it, I think I did a little jig on my way to get the camera.
2nd Monumental Moment: On our flight back to NY, we had a bit of turbulence. Now this was the worst I've ever felt in a plane, we tilted, and for a moment I thought we were going down.....Mayday! Mayday! Sam and Lyv are laughing, Sam even makes a sick comment like "We're going to have a Crash Landing!" I'm trying to shush him, while trying to remain calm and praying that we don't die. I look over at Jack and he is white knuckled, gripping the arm rests for dear life. He finally takes a breath and says, "This is the craziest flight I've ever seen!" He was terrified for the rest of the flight and only let go of the arm rests when he saw people standing up and walking. Jack had the normal reaction! Seriously!
The kids really loved seeing the animals, but I have to say Jack and Lyv's favorite part of the day was playing in the giant sandbox they have!) We were able to go on the Atlantis water ride and the Kraken rollercoaster, which is my all time favorite ride anywhere! Unfortunately we didn't time our ride on the Manta ride very good, and it started to downpour and the ride closed right when we were about to get on! Next time!We had a great trip and enjoyed watching our kids get excited about things. It was an extra special bonus to be there with family who we love and miss!
Our kids love swimming and since our days were jammed packed with parks, we took a dip in the morning - luckily the pool was heated! Day 3 was a fun filled day at Hollywood Studios. Shawn could hardly contain his excitement and started singing in the rain!
I have to say how fun it was to be able to have Sam go on most of the rides with us. He was really a great sport to at least try it once! Here we did the Tower of Terror (which he didn't like), Star Wars and Aerosmith Rockin' Rollercoaster (which he LOVED). I was able to take Jack and Lyv to a few things like a Disney Junior show with Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and Jake and the Neverland Pirates; and their favorite a jungle gym with Honey I Shrunk the Kids theme - it was awesome, but a little scary because the kids could get lost in its tunnels and slides way too easy.
We saw Cars 2 Mater and McQueen and Lyv kept on saying "Bye Mater!" all day. Shawn and I took Jack and Lyv back a earlier and let Sam stay with the older kids to go back to Magic Kingdom to ride some more. He came back with an awesome light up mohawk! Sweet!
Lyv was surrounded by 4 girl cousins that loved her! They would hold her, push her stroller, sing with her, and talk to her. She was showered with attention - what a lucky girl.
Sam stayed with the older cousins at went to Haunted Mansion, Pirates, and Splash Mountain. We made our way over to Pirates of the Caribbean and then back to the Indy Speedway, Buzz Light Year Ride and Space Mountain. Another round on the Carousel (Lyv loved the horses so much I had to literally pry her little fingers off the pole each time we got off), Peter Pan, and TeaCups.
Jack's face in this picture was too funny, really pulling the Sword out! A disney worker also took pictures of Jack, and said it would probably be on the castle during the firework show. We watched, but didn't ever see it since the pictures came so fast.
The Kelly Summers Family descended upon Orlando this past weekend for four fun filled days of Disney! Our kids have been anxiously awaiting this day, saving money for over a year, and counting down the calendar for our trip with cousins. After some crazy rescheduling issues and long flights everyone arrived on Sunday morning, and we headed over to Disney's Animal Kingdom! 
Our first stop was the Bug's Life show, which everyone loved except for Jack. He proved to be a little more timid on the rides and shows, which really surprised us since he's such a maverick around the house. Shawn then took Sam to the Dinosaur ride, and I took Jack and Lyv to see the Nemo show! Lyv LOVED Nemo - she ate up every second of the show, and it was so funny to watch her get so excited. 
We then traveled back to Africa for a Summers' Safari. We saw a lot of great animals, and I think all the kids loved this ride. 
We took the kids back over to Dinoland and Jack was able to ride his favorite ride the Triceratops, while Sam hit up the Dinosaur ride a few more time. We ended our evening with a stomach dropping ride on the Everest Ride. I'm pretty good with rollercoasters and such, but that going backwards really got to me - or maybe it was the chocolate milkshake and churro lunch that I decided to have?
Shawn and I took a picture at this very spot 10 years ago on our Honeymoon to Orlando. It is crazy to think how much our life has changed since that day - and how much Monkey Business we've been up to!)
I can hardly believe that an entire year has come and gone since my brother Ryan passed away. As I have been reflecting upon this past year and on the impact that Ryan made in my life, I am forever grateful for family. I have been blessed to have 2 incredible parents, 3 sisters, and 3 brothers who have been such a source of love, support, and friendship. When everything has come and gone, our family is what remains. Ryan always treated me with kindness, generously opening his home to me and my family. He had a wonderful laugh, a very "eclectic" taste for music, love for good food, a wild adventurous spirit, and a quite strength- Ryan I love you, I miss you, and I'm blessed to have you as a brother.
