Our First Trip to Disney World!!

The kids were SO excited for the 2nd half of our trip to Disney World this year!  Our first day was spent at Magic Kingdom.  It was a fabulous but long day.  Kate really wanted to do a princess dinner on our trip and the only night that had a opening was our first day there.  We did the Cinderella dinner at the Grand Floridian, and BOY was it AWESOME!!

The characters had so much fun which made it even more fun for us.  AND might I say, Prince Charming was SUPER good looking!  The mother sitting at the table next to us and I turned red whenever his handsome face came over to our tables!

Prince Charming showed Will how a prince must stand with his princess.  He was in LOVE with Cinderella.

The wicked step mother was funny!  She played the part really well.

And the wicked stepsisters were hilarious!  They would yell at each other across the dining room and ask everyone "What is the 1 thing you don't like the most about Cinderella?"  Kate & Will got quite a chuckle from that.

Kate got autographs and pics with all the characters to add to her Disney book when we got home.

And on top of the entertainment.... the food was so much better than we expected.  There was a little buffet for the children at the perfect height for them to make their own plates.  Full of kid favorite foods....chicken nuggets, French fries, pizza, corn  and a huge dessert bar and sundae station.   And for the adults..... sushi, prime rib, salmon, chicken, lots of fabulous salads and a yummy strawberry soup.  Brett and I definitely waddled out the door.

Animal Kingdom was our 2nd day stop.  We headed for the safari in the back of the park right away and that worked out great for us.  We were able to get right on the ride and see all the fun animals.

This giraffe walked right up to our truck.  No zooming here!

Lots of elephants by these "upside down" trees.

And if you look close, this gorilla is peeing!  Will thought this was the funniest thing EVER!!

Lots of places to climb....

And more characters to meet.

By the end of the 2nd day, Will fell asleep during 1 of the final shows we went to.

We hit Magic Kingdom for a second round later in the week.

It's amazing how long you have to wait to meet Mickey and Minnie compared to the other characters.  But thanks to my husband and his handy dandy Disney app on his phone,  he was able to time our stops just right so we didn't have to wait more than 10 minutes for ANYTHING!!!

Midweek we decided to take a day off from Disney and hang out at our resort.  The weather was perfect in the 80's all week.

Brett and I were so ready to sit by the pool and catch some sun while the kids played.

The snack bar had yummy drinks and food to graze on all day long.

The huge pirate ship in the pool had a big waterslide going through it.  Kate liked it for a few rounds, but then got flipped and knocked around a few times going down and decided she was done with that.

So Brett gave it a whirl.

There was a great kids station where Kate and Will got to do lots of crafts and activities.  Kate especially was
ALL OVER IT!!

Mickey's Very Merry Xmas Party was underway while we were there.  So we bought tickets to go 1 of the evenings.  Seeing the castle lit up like it was covered in ice and all the beautiful Christmas decorations was awesome.  AND everyone gets cookies and hot chocolate to sip on during the night time parade.

Will cashed out once again on the way back to the hotel.

On our final day at Magic Kingdom we hit all our favorite rides.

Will LOVED the go cart speedway.  He was big enough to drive as long as daddy pushed the pedals.  He told me that now that I know he is a good driver, he would like to get his drivers license when he got back to Iowa.

Kate loved meeting the princesses and the Under the Sea, Finding Nemo and Peter Pan ride.  She also loved the goofy roller coaster that she and Brett rode together.

Minnie gave Will a kiss good bye before we left.  OH he was in LOVE.

And who doesn't love Dumbo.

On our final night, we stayed up late swimming in the pool.

Okay, so now I have some random pics our of order from various points in the trip.

Christmas tree at the Grand Floridian.

There were a few mornings Brett had to spend some time working.  So he set up a little office on the balcony overlooking the pool.  I think he could get use to that!

Fun times making Christmas ornaments.

Yummy ice cream treats.

Cool Balloon animals.

And great movies to watch on the plane ride home.

I don't know how many times people stopped and commented on how much they loved Will's hat on the way home!  He spent his money on this magic hat and I think may wear it until he's 18!   He loves his hat!

There were a few hiccups in our road getting back to Iowa due to bad weather, but we finally made it!  An Absolutely Fabulous vacation was had by all!   Until next time....

Thanksgiving in Florida 2013

We had our 2nd thanksgiving in Florida this year & boy was it fun!  This time we decided NOT to take the 6am flight, but the 10 am flight instead.  That was much easier.  Although we still had a ton of stuff...4 suitcases, 1 car seat, 2 umbrella strollers....... In addition to 2 small carry ons.  We looked ridiculous!!!

Will really had no memory from flying 2 yrs ago.  He was super excited to take off.

The first few days were chilly, but that wasn't going to stop our beach time.

Brett was again in charge of carving the thanksgiving turkey.  

Kate was glued to her uncles Johnny & Josh since she really doesn't get to see them near as much as she would like to.

For something fun, Papa organized a family flag football game.  Nana made the flags & brought the face paint to make us official.

Cindy& Gary warmed up before the game, however still walked off the field with many pulled muscles.

Josh & Brett were the 2 team captains.  And they took their roles very seriously!

Half time was a much needed break after a huge dinner & lots of running around.

Brett didn't pick me to be on his team (surprise surprise). And even though MY team won, we continued to love each other in the end.

Kate & Will requested to go back to the Clearwater aquarium again to see Winter, so we did.

And they loved it!

It wasn't busy at all. We got real close the dolphins. Kate & Will even got to go on a platform with the trainer & pet the dolphin.  What a highlight!!

We found an awesome park in Clearwater that the kids enjoyed after a yummy

 seafood lunch.

Kate decided she wanted to jump on this giant trampoline.

And loved it!

A few days we just relaxed on the beach & in the pool.  One day an ice cream truck came to visit.

The kids thought that was awesome.

And a trip isn't complete without building a sandcastle.

And attempting to surf in the ocean.

Will kept a bag of Cheetos by his side to feed the hundreds of birds flying around.

Kate had so much fun.

We rented bikes one day for something fun to do.  Brett & I could ride on the beach, but it was a little tough for the kids.  So they ended up riding around & around in the parking lot instead.

On our last day in Clearwater we all drove over to the Tradewinds Resort in St. Petersburg.  This is the hotel that I stayed in with my family every year when I was growing up!

K

Johnny & I remembered so much of the hotel from when we were young. It was fun to see it all again.  The paddle boats were always a favorite of ours.

Kate really enjoyed them too.

 

We ended our time in Clearwater with drinks at the Tiki Bar at the TradeWinds.  Once again, we had so much fun and created so many memories together!  Brett, Kate, Will and I then headed over to Orlando for the 2nd half of our trip.  Mom and Dad, Johnny and Josh enjoyed 1 last quiet adult night at the condo before parting ways the following day. 
Until next time!!