I hope the summer of 2016 was as incredible for you and your family as it was for the Meade’s! For us, the final thrill of this summer will happen in just a couple of days as all five of us will travel to Orlando, FL to spend 6 glorious days at the Walt Disney World Resort. This will be the first time the Meade family has visited Disney World and we don’t know what to do with ourselves!
Here are a few comments about the trip and our upcoming school year…
First, planning a trip to Walt Disney World has been a breeze. As most of you know, I have a fun little website called RexandtheBeast.com where me and my crazy brother, Rex, visit theme parks, record videos, write reviews and commentary, and record podcasts. We have been doing that since 2007 and although our lives have changed dramatically over the last 9 years preventing us from visiting parks and producing content as much as we once did, we still enjoy participating as much as we can. We have recently started a new kind of podcast called “Lunchtime with Rex and the Beast” where we record our phone conversations over lunch about theme park news that interests us. You should take a look! (By the way, my nickname is “Beast” because when I was a young tennis player, my doubles partner starting calling me “beast” due to the crazy “mane” of a hairstyle I had in those days).
When my brother and I plan trips to theme parks, we approach the trip much, much differently than when we are with family. So, this is the first time I have ever used the full blown “My Disney Experience” planning opportunities, and I am just so impressed. Right on the Disney website or smartphone app, we have our Fast Passes picked out for the week, we have our dining reservations already confirmed, we have Magic Bands in our possession, we have the “magical express” airport shuttle ready to deliver our luggage to our room, and so forth. I have spoken with Disney on the phone several times while planning the trip and every time they have been so helpful, friendly, and ready to go above and beyond to make our trip “magical.”
Second, I plan on recording a “Meade 5” video every day of our trip and will do my best to post them online every night in our room (after the kiddos go to sleep). We are staying at the Caribbean Beach Resort and although editing and uploading a video takes hours to complete, my will do my best to make it happen. If you haven’t yet subscribed to our YouTube channel, you should do that now so you don’t miss a video!
Third, I can’t believe my own children will be able to experience the wonder of The Haunted Mansion with me. Well, I mean if they will ride it. Which Eli has already told me there is “no way” he is getting on that ride. And Callie isn’t too sure. And Justus is trying to decide as well. But I am confident they will want to get in line once they see the beauty of that spectacular mansion nestled in the corner of “Liberty Square” in the Magic Kingdom. Grim Grinning Ghosts is just too catchy to not experience the ride! Wait, you don’t know what Grim Grinning Ghosts is? Then listen to it right here! Seriously, this is a huge life moment for me – being able to ride The Haunted Mansion with my children. Wow.
Once we return from Disney, it will be time for the Meade Academy to start school. For the first few years of Meade Academy, I have been rather silent on the joy of homeschooling and the approach, successes, and challenges Andi and I have faced during the journey. I have not wanted to inundate people to the point of annoyance with homeschooling articles, social media updates, etc. However, Andi and I receive questions every week about school and so I have decided to spend a little more time writing and recording about our experiences. For those who are currently homeschooling, I hope it will be comforting and fun. For those who are considering homeschooling, I hope it will be informative and encouraging.
So, I hope you will enjoy more homeschool content this year from PhilipMeade.com. In addition, I promise more frequent articles on a variety of subjects, from theology to pop culture to my family, will be coming this school year.
So, be looking for those Disney videos next week. It has been a wonderful summer. May the Lord’s blessing be on all of you during the 2016-2017 school year.
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