Our International House of People: September 2011

Friday, September 23, 2011

Disney Day 6

Well it was our last day in Disney and of course we could not have left without visiting Magic Kingdom again. We started off the day at Chef Mickey's for breakfast. It's always a fun breakfast with Mickey Mouse so the kids of course had a good time. Plus it is just a hop, skip, and a jump away from Magic Kingdom. After breakfast we hit our destination and I was determined that we were going to get into see Rapunzel. Anyway I was hoping since it was still early the line would not be that long but unfortunately it still was. We decided to brave it out and it did take us an hour to get into see Tangled. It was definitely worth it since the little ones had not gotten to meet her before either. Since the girls have been to disney several times it was nice seeing them experience something for the first time as well.

After checking out Rapunzel we hit up some the rides we did not have time for on our first day. The kids loved almost all the rides in magic kingdom and since they are revamping some parts of magic kingdom it was nice that we got to ride a few before they are gone forever. We also took time to meet Tiana which was super cool; althought the last time we were there we did get to see Tiana and Naveen so that was a little disappointing. Anyway it was a great last day and of course I cannot wait to go back again.

Thursday, September 22, 2011

Disney Day 5

For Day 5 at Disney we started off our morning at breakfast with Alice in Wonderland and Mary Poppins. I think the kids weren't quite sure who Mary Poppins was so I think I may have to rent the movie so they know exactly who she is next time. We decided that this would also be a wind down day so we went to Epcot after breakfast for a little while. We hung out there for a little while and rode a few rides and we headed back to the room. It was time for the babies to get a real nap in since they basically just caught little cat naps in the stroller here and there. After they woke up and we had a little pool time we headed back over to Epcot.

While we were there we had dinner at the Garden Grill. It was our first time eating there and we loved it. That has to be one of the best places to get salad in Disneyworld so I highly recommend it. Anyway we also decided to check out all the countries we didn't have a chance to on our first day there and stick it out for the fireworks. Since the little ones cannot hang well it was the only night we chose to stay late for fireworks.

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Disney Day 4

For our 4th day at Disney we hit up Disney's Animal Kingdom. It was a great day overall. In the morning we took the kids over to Ohana at the polynesian resort to have breakfast with Lilo and Stitch. The kids totally loved this breakfast. I think this is one of the best breakfasts at Disney.

From there we headed over to animal kingdom. I really think the kids had such a good time at this park. They seemed to be really into the safari and loved the rapids ride. Delylah loved the fact that she got totaly soaked on this ride. She just giggled the whole entire time while she got splashed. Zach thought the safari was one of the coolest things ever because a giraffe basically came over to the truck and was amazingly close. I definitely think this was one of the best safari rides we had in Disney because so many animals were out.

Luckily Animal Kingdom closes early because I think the kids were ready for an early night off. They just couldn't wait to get back to the resort and hit the pools.

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Disney Day 3

The fun never ends at Disney. For our third day we went ahead and went to Hollywood Studios. We started off the day with having breakfast with Handy Manny, Agent Oso, and June and Leo from the little Einsteins. They kids had a blast and they were all dancing around and singing to this guy who hosts the playhouse Disney breakfast. I totally recommend this breakfast because they kids just love the energy; even the big kids.

In the past when we went to Disney, at least since the girls were little, we hadn't visited Hollywood Studios for longs periods of time. Now that the girls are a bit bigger we figured there would be more for them to do there and decided to spend a bit more time there. Anyway we went ahead and let them ride tower of terror. The boys refused to ride and we took all the girls. Well I think all of them, including Heather, will not be riding that ride again anytime soon. We got off and they all crying, it was not good. The boys are terrified of heights so they skipped out with Uncle Billy while we waited anyway.

The big attraction to hit at Hollywood studios was Buzz Lightyear and Woody coupled along with the toy story ride. The kids had a great time and totally loved this ride. r

Overall it was a fun day and luckily everyone had a great time but next time no more tower of terror for the kids.

Monday, September 19, 2011

Disney Day 2

For the second day of our disney trip we hit up Epcot. Epcot is one of my favorite parks so I was excited to see the older kids experience it for the first time. To kick off our experience we had a lunch at Akerhaus, which is the Norweigan restaurant in Epcot. You also get to have lunch with the Princesses here. I really enjoy this lunch since the Castle in magic kingdom is more expensive and so difficult to get into. The lunch was awesome and the kids got to see Belle, Sleeping Beauty,Cinderella, Ariel, and Snow White. So it really is a great lunch if you are trying to give your kids the whole experience. Anyway we also spent a lot of time on the rides. Heather and Logan fell in love with the ride Soarin'. We couldn't get Zach to go on this ride because he is scared of heights but at least the big ones loved it. At least Zach fell in love with the finding Nemo ride.

For dinner that night we had dinner in Germany. I was worried about having a dinner like this because we figured the food might be a bit foreign to the kids and there would be no characters to compensate. The kids wound up having a blast at dinner. They had music and dancing so they all got out there and had a great time. The little ones even made a friend who happened to also live in Georgia.

We had another great day.

Sunday, September 18, 2011

Disney Day 1

5 Kids totally keeps me from blogging. We have been home from Disney for a week and a half and I am just now getting to update about our trip. Well Disney was awesome. We told the kids about a week and a half before we were going to get there. We felt that with the older kids they needed a heads up about the trip and we definitely think we made a wise decision. Anyway on day one we got to our resort and celebrated Zach's 10th birthday. I know being one vacation would not allow us the opportunity to throw him a birthday but I am sure being at Disney world would definitely trump a party. So we had a relaxing time at the pool and celebrating Zach.

The next morning we hit Magic Kingdom. We decided to give the kids the ultimate Disney experience and we decided to start them off with breakfast with Winnie the Pooh and friends since Heather, Logan, and Zach had never been to Disney before. The kids loved getting autographs and taking a ton of pictures. Even the big ones through getting autographs was cool. I was really surprised at how kids at any age are willing to run up to the characters with their autograph books waiting to be signed. Honestly, I thought they were more excited than the little ones.

I also had the boys get pirate make overs and all the girls got a bibbiddi boutique make over. I think this might have been the best part of the trip for the kids. The boys totally got into the make overs and we could hardly keep all the pirate get up away from Logan throughout the trip. The girls just loved being pampered and getting all princessed out. I think for Heather this was especially an awesome experience since she loves doing make up at home and here someone took over and did it for her. Heather and Lennah went for the Diva princess look and Delylah got into the classic princess look. It was such a cute experience and as expensive as it was it was totally worth it watching the kids get all that attention.

For dinner on the first night of Disney we had dinner at 1900 park fare. It was with Cinderella, Prince Charming, the wicked step mother and the step sisters. The dinner was totally awesome and this was the first time we had ever gotten to see Prince Charming.

Overall it was a great day one.

History of Ethiopia

Ethiopia is one of the oldest known cradles of civilization known to man. Christianity was brought to the Kingdom of Axum around the 4th century AD and later in the 7th century Islam was introduced. Foreign missionaries were introduced to the region around the 1630's. Because of these unwelcomed guest Ethiopia did not welcome foreign Christians and Europeans into their lands. Its isolationism may have saved the country from 19th century colonialism. In 1936 Italian facists entered the region and forced its emperor into isolation but was later returned when the British and the French defeated the Italians. Civil unrest would lead to the demise of the aging emperor and in 1974 a socialist sort of government was named. The country went through a period of red terror that was funded by the Soviets and Cuba. This lead to the implementation of a communist government being installed in the late 1970's, early 1980's. In 1989 the country went through a period of famine that also lead to a change in governments. Finally, in 1994 the country would declare its independence and later hold free elections.

History of Vietnam

For about two thousand years Vietnam was ruled by China, following this period it would become independent for the next almost thousand years. In the 1800's it would be colonized by the French. The early 20th century would bring about visions of an independent republic. In 1945 Ho Chi Minh declared Vietnam independent and renamed it the Democratic Republic of Vietnam. By 1947 a full-scale war would break out between the French and the Viet Minh (Ho CHi Minh's followers). China also began to aid the Viet Minh at this time due to its own communist revolution. July, 1954 the Geneva Accords would be sign paving the road to France leaving Vietnam; however, it would partition Vietnam into 2 independent states seperated by the 17th parallel. The South was helped by the United States, while the North would be dominated by the Viet Minh. By 1963 the South's government was very unstable. 1965 President Lyndon Johnson would send troops into Vietnam. The North would lead a massive attack in 1968 destroying much of the South. In 1969, Ho Chi Minh died but his forces remained in tact. By the early 1970's many Americans viewed the war as unwinnable and would prove unsuccessful at containing communism. January 1973 the Paris Peace Accords were signed ending the United States role in the war. In 1975 Saigon would fall to the North Vietnamese and in July of 1976 the two parts were reunified into the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. The war was disastrous for the Vietnamese people leaving an estimated 1 million to become boat people, 1 million imprisioned, and more than 100,000 killed. Today, Vietnam still has a communist form of government and although they are a developing nation many people remain extremely poor.