We are home from Florida. It was sooooo fun. It is going to two weeks' posts to cover it all, but that's okay since I am still behind by one anyway! Nothing we did before we left two Mondays ago was that exciting nor is anything we did since we got home this Monday! We have been planning this trip since I was pregnant with Beckett. Tate was the age then that Beckett is now and he seemed like he would be a great age to take to Disney World, so we decided then we would take the kids when they were 3, 5, and 7. We'll start at the beginning...
1. The kids were ready to leave for the airport bright and early Monday morning at 8:30...including shoes on, hair brushed, and backpacks on. The only problem with that is that the driver wasn't coming to pick us up until 12:30! They were troopers in the airport waiting for our delayed flight due to storms in Florida.
The flight went really well, too. It was Beckett's first flight and Tate's first flight that he can remember. They both loved the entire thing from beginning to end.
Avery, who did great on our flight two years ago, decided the last 20 minutes of the flight that she does NOT like turbulance. Due to the thunderstorms our descent was pretty bumpy. She cried the entire time, while the boys acted as though it was the best ride at Disney. Beckett even shouted "That was
off the hoozle!!" after the plane jerked and he bumped around in the seat. Avery asked if we could drive home instead of fly, but actually did very well on the flight home.
2. We tried to spend every other day chilling at the pool at our condo. I say tried, because we did get rained out one day. We loved our hotel condo (especially having a kitchen and laundry!) and the pool was awesome for the kids. We ate our breakfasts and lunches at the condo, out on the balcony when we could!
3. Of course Disney World was the most exciting part of the trip. Because we knew it was the trip of a lifetime, we decided to get our annual family pictures taken at the park. I will eventually use the next post for all of those when I get them, so I'll have the complete funny story on those when I get them.
We spent both Wednesday and Friday at the Magic Kingdom. We would go early in the morning, stay for 4 hours, come home for lunch and a nap or swim, then go back to the park at 5 and stayed until 11 or midnight. It worked out perfectly! Some things we rode together as a family and sometimes we split up with the kids to take them on the things they liked best. Tate was tall enough to ride roller coasters and loved Space Mountain the best. Avery HATES anything that goes up and down so her favorite rides were the Teacups and It's a Small World. Beckett adored the Buzz Lightyear ride. E and I honestly loved every ride we took the kids on and watching their faces through it all. We watched fireworks and the electric parade late at night. By the time we decided to ride the ferry back to the parking lot, the kids were pooped and we ended up carrying them (E carried 100 pounds worth of kids at once!) all the way back!
I didn't take many other pics in the park except for a couple with characters. We took most of those pics on E's camera phone, and unfortunately most turned out blurry. Bare with me here, people.
Both Tate and Beckett loved and gladly embraced every character we met. They even posed with the princesses.
Avery, on the other hand, was completely shy and wouldn't go near any of them until the very end of when we were meeting the princesses. Princess Jasmine was especially good and Aves ran over to her right before we left and hugged her for about a minute until E finally intervened and asked if he could take her picture. Avery was beaming. Again, sorry for the blurry pics, but its too good of a memory for us not to include!
4. We spent one day at Cocoa Beach. It was the kids first real trip to the ocean and they loved it. We built sand castles, jumped waves, made Avery and Beckett into mermaids, Tate chased seagulls, and we played football in the sand.
As much as Avery is scared of airplane rides, roller coasters, and Disney characters, she is fearless in the water. We were constantly reminding her to come back in as she kept wading out further and further to jump another wave.
We are also amazed at her ability no matter where we are to find friends. Every time we were in the pool she would find a little girl to play with. The day we were at the beach, she hung out with a little girl named Gillian for most of the afternoon. They were so cute together and asked if they could get a picture together. Gillian asked if Avery could come back this Saturday...I wish we could honor her request!
5. Half of our last day was spent at Gatorland. The kids did love the gators and especially loved feeding the birds, though I am hoping for Sea World or Universal next time we are there! =)
We rounded out the day back at the pool and packed to go home. Usually by the end of vacation E and I are both ready to come home. This time we were both wishing we had a few more days...the kids were so well behaved and we had so much fun!
