“Where are your brother and sisters?” Silas grumbles from beside me, still half asleep.
The kids have started referring to Katie as their sister, and the counselor she is seeing said to take it at her pace, and that we could correct her if we wanted, but we are planning on officially adopting her. After seeing her so much when I worked at the school, all the school events, then seeing how much she has blossomed since being with us, we don’t want her to lose another family. Regardless of how shitty her mom was, she loved Victoria.
“What time is it?” Callum asks in between yawns.
“It’s eight. We slept later than I thought.” Silas replies, groaning.
Arden climbs on the bed to snuggle up next to me, since he’s always been the one who loved getting cuddles the most. “Maw-Maw had breakfast delivered. They are all eating and getting dressed. She sent me in to get y’all. We are going to the Magic Kingdom!” He kisses my cheek, then jumps up and runs back into the living room.
“Ugh, come on, let's get up. I’m sure my grandmother sent the kids after the others too.” I roll around like an upside down turtle until Silas takes pity on me and gently pushes me out of the bed. The beds here aren’t big enough for everyone like we are used to. I have the room with the only king bed. Bodie and Orin took one queen bed, Odin took one for himself because we wanted to stretch out, and we will of course rotate who stays with me. Last night it was Silas and Callum. Maw-Maw and Will have a bedroom, and the boys took the pull out couch so the girls could take the last bedroom. Thank god they had a big enough villa to accommodate our large group.
After everyone is fed, dressed, and packed up, we head to the first park of the trip. I think this is the one I’m most looking forward to. We decided to take the ferry boat, which makes me nervous with kids, but we manage keep hold of all of them. We are all speechless when we walk into the park. It's so stunning.
Katie is holding my hand as we walk over to the Jungle Cruise ride. “Can we live here?” she asks seriously.
I start laughing, causing the others to glance back at me. “That would be so cool, wouldn’t it? However, If we lived here, we wouldn’t get to stay in the super cool hotel, ride all the buses, and eat at all the awesome places. Since we would live here we would have a house, our own car and Bodie would cook most of the time just like at home. It wouldn't be as magical without all the extra bits.” I boop her on the nose, and she gives me a big smile.
Thankfully there are a good amount of rides I can go on while pregnant at each park, and the kids won’t go on anything too high so I get to do most of it with them.
The ride was so fun and the kids loved seeing all of the animatronic animals. I’ve never been a big fan of Six Flags or any other amusement parks since I don’t like being upside down or going super fast, but the kids really enjoyed it. I love hearing their laughter and seeing their faces light up. We hit the Haunted Mansion, It’s a Small World, Peter Pan’s Flight, and Dumbo before we decided it was time for a late lunch.
My feet are killing me, and my back feels like I’m carrying a thousand pounds. We are headed to Be Our Guest since my favorite princess is Belle and I’m trying to make it there before I pee everywhere because my bladder is screaming. If one of the twins kicks, it’s all over. Thankfully, Maw-Maw made sure to make reservations, so we are seated almost immediately. The guys get a kick out of me dragging the girls to the bathroom with me.
When we make it back to the table, I feel so much better, and I realize how hungry I am. I’m seated with Vivian on my right, Odin to my left, with Lochlan next to him, followed by Bodie, Arden, Orin, Katie, Silas, Maw-Maw, then Will, and ending with Callum on the other side of Vivian.
“Angel, I ordered drinks and appetizers while you were in the bathroom and I checked about allergies as well,” Bodie says as he picks up bread from the table to butter for Arden.
We all take a second to look at the menus while the kids are snacking on bread. When the waitress comes back, I order the kids’ chicken breast, the ‘Beast Casserole’, which is just mac and cheese, and grilled tenderloin. For their sides, we picked sauteed zucchini, fries, and sweet potatoes. We’ve found that getting different dishes and giving all four of them some of each helps with arguing. I’m never letting my grandmother pick where we eat again because nothing on the adult menu looks good, but I figured the safest option is the steak without the weird sauce. I’ve already decided I’m finding something else to eat after this. I can tell most of the guys aren’t amused by the choices, either. We are too country and small-town for fancy food like this. Bodie and Odin look like they are on cloud nine though.
I take a minute to actually take in the room, and holy shit, it's stunning. It looks just like Beast and Belle’s castle. We were seated in the West Wing room. Along the far wall rests a replica of the rose from the movie. Every 10 minutes or so a petal falls from the rose as lightning streaks along the window behind the flower display. The torn tapestries and destroyed portrait add to the overall forbidding feeling of being in the forbidden West Wing from the movie.
It doesn’t take long at all for our food to be brought out, and after passing around the kids’ dishes to separate everything, I’m so hungry I have to remind myself to slow down and take my time so I can actually taste the food. It isn't awful, but I’m way too picky for fine dining. It’s food, though, and I am starving.
The kids absolutely devour their food, which is great. I’m glad they are getting full. Silas is the only other one that doesn’t look like he’s going to eat much either.
“Isla Claire, do you not like your meal?” my grandmother asks when she notices I’m just pushing around the veggies on my plate.
“Uh, not really. You know I’m kinda picky when it comes to food, and nothing on the menu looked even a little bit edible to me. I’m getting a corn dog when we leave,” I reply, taking a small bite of the potato puree.
“I completely agree. It’s okay but not quite my style,” Silas agrees, grabbing the bread basket to grab a piece before passing it to me. I have to admit the bread is amazing.
As soon as we finish eating and pay, Silas and I haul ass to Casey’s Corner to get a corn dog while the others take the kids for ice cream.
Once we all have a full belly, we do character meet and greets. The kids got to meet Cinderella, Belle, Jasmine, then Mickey and his crew. After our food settles, we ride Dumbo and the Flying Elephant, Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin, and Monsters, Inc Laugh Floor. We decided on a late dinner, so we could watch the fireworks. Since it’s only the end of March, it’s a bit chilly. Thankfully, we all packed light jackets. We walk around for a few minutes until we find somewhere to sit and watch the show.
The look of wonder on my kids’ faces makes every moment in my life that brought me to where I am worth everything we’ve all been through.
Lochlan crawls in my lap and wraps his arms around me. “Thank you for being the best mommy ever. I love you bunches.”
“You don’t have to thank me, baby, it’s my job. I love you bunches too.” I kiss his nose, and he turns to face the firework show again.
The next couple days both fly by and drag on. Day three, we hit Hollywood Studios; we took our rental car instead of trying to put all thirteen of us on a bus. I was in absolute heaven since I love Star Wars, and the boys love Toy Story, so it was their favorite. We ate a quick breakfast at the hotel, planning to have a sit down lunch. We rode the Mickey and Minnie’s Runway Railroad, Toy Story Midway Mania, and the guys took the kids on the Slinky Dog Dash and Rise of the Resistance since I couldn’t go on those. Lunch was Hollywood and Vine. You can never go wrong with a buffet, plus Mickey and Minnie visited the tables so that was a lot of fun.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen any of the kids so carefree and happy, and it’s the best feeling in the world. Being twenty-seven weeks pregnant, all the walking isn’t great on my body–especially my ankles and feet–and Braxton Hicks are already kicking my ass, but it’s worth every second, seeing them so excited.
Day four was Epcot. This time we took the bus because the kids asked if we could. While Maw-Maw and Will head off separately to enjoy the World Showcase, the guys and kids went on Mission Space and Test Track. We all went on Frozen Ever After, Soarin’, and then Nemo and Friends. The aquarium was absolutely stunning, and it was amazing getting to show the kids all the sea creatures. For lunch, we ate at the Coral Reef restaurant.
After meeting up with Will and Maw-Maw for dinner, we decided to turn in early so we would have more energy for our last full day. All four kids needed to be carried to bed because they passed out on the ride back to the villa.
