last week we returned to Disneyworld for a week – the first time around we bought annual passes (which are much cheaper in the long run if you plan to go to the theme parks for more than a few days), so this time around it was almost somewhat economical!

one of the highlights of our trip was visiting my sister Linda and her family in Tampa; we went trick-or-treating with my sister, her husband and their kids in their suburban neighborhood. My parents also came by for the occasion, visiting from Ellenton, somewhat south of Tampa and just north of Bradenton, where they spend their winters. It was very fun! Callum went as Luke Skywalker (Yvonne sewed his outfit for him), while Mia dressed as, yes, Darth Vader. Lachlan, who is 2, had a tiger costume he refused to wear, but fortunately he was sporting some surfer clothes underneath, so when he scampered up to the doors of my sister’s neighbors they thought he was dressed as a little surfer boy and as such got candy from the good candy bowl and avoided getting candy from the “bad candy for lamers without costumes” bowl.

here are a few pictures from the trip:

Callum in the line for the Test Track ride at Epcot, being a dummy. And by dummy I mean crash test dummy.

Amelia and Lachlan in the stick-your-head-in-the-totem-wall thingy at the Canada pavilion in the World Showcase at Epcot. Not sure how to better describe that.

four of us on the Expedition Everest roller coaster at the Animal Kingdom. If you look closely you can see me in the dark red shirt raising the roof near the middle of the coaster with Callum to my right, and Yvonne and Mia behind us.

Mia, who is 5, had a love-hate relationship with Expedition Everest. She rode on it, cried throughout the whole second half of the ride… then wanted to go on it again. Again she cried and said she didn’t like it, but afterward wanted to go on it a third time. After the third time she was done! Callum on the other hand couldn’t get enough of the roller coasters – he loved Space Mountain as well! Next time we go (though who knows when that will be) we’ll have to get him on the Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster at the Hollywood (formerly Disney MGM) Studios. Though I don’t know if we’ll be able to get Mia to go on that one, and she certainly won’t be riding “that scary elevator ride”.

the week before we took the family to Disneyworld. It was of course pretty fun, and everyone had a great time. Some of the highlights included riding the monorail around and around, meeting up with my sister (who lives in Tampa) and her daughter, doing the Princess dinner at Norway in the World Showcase at Epcot, and eating at a variety of character dinners. We also went on a whole bunch of rides – Callum really liked Expedition Everest, the roller coaster that features the elusive yeti. Mia, on the other hand, wasn’t so keen on the Tower of Terror or Splash Mountain. Maybe in a few years.

a personal highlight was watching the International Space Station pass over central Florida on April 28th. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect, having never seen it, but I certainly didn’t expect it would be so bright and clear. I waved; not sure if anybody up there waved back.

of course we took a bunch of pictures while we were there, and so of course I’m going to post a few here (clicking on them makes them bigger).

Obligatory picture of me hanging with Mickey Mouse. Looks like he’s about to do some farming.

Callum, Von, and Mia hanging out at Disneyworld. Oh no wait, that’s not Von, that’s Pluto.

Callum and one of his favorite things – the Disneyworld monorail. Callum actually loves monorails even outside of Disneyworld… one of his favorite movies (perhaps tied with the first Harry Potter movie for first place) is a documentary called High Tech Monorails.

The kids outside the LEGO store at the Disney Marketplace. Those aren’t real dogs. They’re made of LEGO. FYI.

Von and Lachlan outside the LEGO store. Von is trying to listen in on the LEGO lady’s cell phone conversation, while Lachlan is simultaneously trying to beep her nose.

Callum and Mia with Goliath from JoJo’s Circus. If you don’t know what JoJo’s Circus is that’s probably okay. I almost got into a fight with Goliath because I kept calling him “Dudester the Lion”. Well okay that’s not really true, but that would have been pretty funny.