Jedi Training!

Yesterday (Sunday) we decided to go to Hollywood Studios for part of the day.  We woke the kids up early, got ready quick, and loaded up in the car.  We stopped at Dunkin' Donuts for a "special treat" kind of breakfast, and ate our yummy donuts on the way.  Silas LOVES donuts, and as soon as I got back in the car with them, he started saying from the backseat, "Me? Me? Me?"  Yes Silas, you can have one too. :-)

We wanted to get there right when the park opened, because Ava had decided she wanted to do the special Star Wars Jedi Training Academy, where they train kids ages 4-12 to fight with a light saber, and after their training, Darth Vader comes out and they each get to fight him.  It is super neat, and I think Eric and I were just as excited as Ava (okay....we were WAY more excited than she was) that she was going to do this. 

After we got Ava signed up for it, we headed over to her favorite roller coaster, Aerosmith's Rockin' Roller Coaster.  She LOVES this one, and it is tons of fun.  The ride starts off super fast, where it zips you from 0 to 60 mph in three seconds.  It is a fast one, and it goes upside down three times, all while blasting Aerosmith music.  I think it is awesome that she loves this, and when I asked her if it is scary to go upside down, she said, "No."  I asked her if she keeps her eyes open when she goes upside down, and she said, "Yep."  It is hilarious, because when it first starts, and it goes crazy fast, it takes a picture of you.  I can never manage to keep my eyes open because it is just so fast.  So when we were finished, the picture was of Ava and I in front, and there was a father and a son behind us.  All three of us have our eyes closed tight, and are either grimacing with our mouths, or have our mouths wide open in a scream.  My six year old daughter is sitting calmly, eyes open, mouth smiling, with both hands up in the air.  She is not even hanging on when it first shoots off like a rocket!  You would think she was sitting still looking at her picture if it were not for the other people in the picture looking terrified.  When she got off with Eric, she turned to him and said, "Dude looks like a lady!"  She is pretty awesome!

While we were waiting for her Jedi Training, Ava and I took a Disney art class, which was pretty fun.  We had to draw Perry the Platypus from the cartoon Phineas and Ferb.  I thought Ava did a great job, but she was too hard on herself and said her picture looked "ridiculous."  I told her it was not ridiculous at all, and it was really good for a six year old!!  You can definitely tell what she was trying to draw!  Plus, she has never watched Phineas and Ferb, so she didn't really have a mental image of what she was supposed to be drawing.  It was fun to do with her, and hopefully we can do it again.

Ava's drawing

Jen's drawing

When we were leaving the art class, Handy Manny and Jake from "Jake and the Never Land Pirates" walked by us.  Silas started waving at them, and then took off chasing them.  So clearly he wanted to meet them, so we got in line for that.  He was not shy with them at all, like he has been with other characters, and immediately walked up to each one and gave them a big hug.  It was super cute!

 

After a quick bite to eat (we happened to find the one and only place in all of Hollywood Studios that had self-serve beverage stations, which meant FREE REFILLS!  Trust me.....at Disney, that is a rare and exciting event!), it was finally time for Ava to do her Jedi Training!  Here are all the picture from that:

 

Doing the training.  The instructors are HILARIOUS!!

 

 

Ava was easy to see in her bright pink shirt right behind the instructor. :-)

 

See this kid right beside the instructor, facing the wrong way?  The instructor told him to turn around because "we do not hit our friends with our light sabers.  The dark side training is down the hall."  It was super funny!

 

Here comes Darth Vader!!!

 

Ava's turn to fight him!!  It was funny.....when she got up there, Darth Vader said, "I can sense the dark side in this one."  The instructor said, "I doubt it.  She is wearing pink." :-)

 

 

Good job, Ava!  You beat him!

The evil Darth Vader was defeated, and leaves.....vowing to return!

 

Ava gets her certificate as an official Jedi Knight!

 

 

We ended our day with The Great Movie Ride.  Here is Silas being goofy afterwards:

 

It was a really fun day!  And the best part is, we were home by 4:00 p.m. and still able to relax and get the kids to bed on time.  Living this close to Walt Disney World has its perks!!