Florida Trip–Day 6

This was our last day in Disney and in Florida, so we made sure to get an early start!  I didn’t get a ton of photos this day because we were too busy riding rides, but this is what Mia wore…

I mean, if you can’t dress like this in Disney World, then where?!?!

She was thrilled we let her wear this.  :)

Our first stop of the morning was the race cars – the kids got to steer, which was most definitely a highlight for them.  Drake could barely see over the steering wheel!  They were lovin’ it.

We rode so many things that day.  I think their absolute favorite ride was Buzz Lightyear.  We rode it 3 times.  :)  Thank goodness for the Fast Pass system!  Some other things we did – Pirates of the Caribbean (I thought it might scare them, but they LOVED it), The Jungle Cruise, Winnie the Pooh (again!), Peter Pan, and Aladdin's Magic Carpets.

(waiting in line for Pirates of the Caribbean)

So – funny story.  When we were first preparing to go to Disney, I had read somewhere to bring ponchos.  They said you didn’t want to get caught in a rainstorm and have to pay the park’s outrageous prices for ponchos.  So I stopped by Target and picked up for ponchos for $1 a piece.

So on our second day in Disney, we go into the Buzz Lightyear ride shortly before lunch.  It was sunny and warm.  Because we had a Fast Pass, by the time we stood in line and actually rode the ride, probably only 10 or 15 minutes had passed.  When we came out of the ride, it was POURING DOWN RAIN.  I mean, people were literally screaming outside.  You could see sheets of water falling from the sky.

But guess what – we had our ponchos!!  We put them on, bundled the kids, and ran out into the park!  Rain means the crowds scatter, so we rode Aladdin in the rain!!  Drake is kind of like a cat – he hates to be wet.  But we all just kept laughing and joking, so he had a good time, too.  By the time we got back to the room, our shoes and clothes were SOAKED!

After lunch and their naps, we headed back out.  The weather was nice again and we kept on riding everything the kids wanted to!

Shortly before we had to leave the park, we took a quick family pic, too (um, I think this might be the 3rd photo EVER that we have as a family – so sad).

The kids wanted to ride the carousel one last time before the park closed.  We hop on, it’s sunny and nice.  About 30 seconds into the ride, I notice the skies getting DARK, this band of blackness quickly moving in.  Brock noticed it at the same time.  As soon as the ride ended, we picked up the kids and hauled patootie to the front of the park.  We made it to the main gate when once again it started to POUR!!  Ahh! 

We were almost to the buses but didn’t quite get there.  There were literally currents moving along the pavement, the water was up to our ankles.  It’s amazing how much rain fell so quickly both times!  So once again we pulled on our ponchos and ran out to the buses.  We got drenched, but we were all (except for Drake) laughing at the ridiculousness! 

(you can’t see how wet we were, but we were on the bus back to the hotel to dry off!)

We hadn’t gotten dinner yet, but we were in no shape to go anywhere!  So we ordered room service and warmed the kids up in their bath.  They thought it was the coolest thing when our dinner arrived because they brought a table with linens and everything.  It ended up being the perfect end to our day.

And that was the end of our time in Florida!!  :(  What a great first family trip.  My 2 words of advice about Disney – Use the Fast Passes when you can (they are awesome), and BRING PONCHOS!!

The next morning we caught our flight back home.  The kids did great on the plane.  Drake has a new appreciation for Angry Birds.  :)  When we were driving home in our car from the airport, they were already talking about going back to Florida.

Well, if you’ve made it to the end here, thanks for reading!  I mostly blog so I can look back and remember all these crazy little things and fun times with the kids.  But if you’ve followed along, thanks!

I’ll post some pics from Drake’s birthday party soon, too.   :)

Florida Trip–Day 5

So today was Disney Day!!  We had waited to tell the kids about going to Disney until that morning.  They just would have gotten too excited and would have probably driven everyone crazy!  So we woke up at Auntie Maggie’s, gave them their drinks and movie (Mia was still obsessed with the dog)…

… and told them.  We had the video camera on and everything, expecting them to go crazy.  Well, it was a big FAIL.  They were too engrossed with their movie and the fact that Maggie’s TV made the bees in the Bee Movie pink that it didn’t even register when we told them where we were going.  Ha!  lol  I haven’t watched the video back yet, but I’m sure we are going to crack up given they pretty much had NO response.  It was our fault for giving them all these distractions before we told them!

However, as the morning rolled on, they started getting really excited.  I’m definitely glad we waited to tell them – ‘Are we going now?!  Are we going now?!’

Anyways, we checked in at the hotel – a HUGE perk of Brock traveling all the time and his ‘Executive-Platinum-You-Must-Stay-Here-Too-Often’ status was that they gave us 2 adjoining rooms so we didn’t all have to stay in one room!  That was awesome, because we were wondering how it was going to work with the kids napping midday.  It worked out perfectly.

We got to the park, and the first thing we see was Pluto.  Of course the kids wanted to see him, so we waited in line. 

And here is Classic Mia for you… we are standing in line on the first day of our first Disney experience, and she says, “I sure hope that Pluto is real and not just some guy in a costume.” 

Brock and I just look at each other like, ‘Oh great.”  Ha!  But they loved it, I was too afraid to ask her what her verdict was.

From there we got sucked right into waiting in the Meet the Princess line.  Man I wish we had a Fast Pass for that one!  But Mia almost couldn’t talk, she was so in awe.

Her favorite was Belle, I think she liked her dress best.  I just love the look on her face!

Then on to Mickey!!

For some reason, Drake didn’t want to see Mickey and Minnie (or the princesses) and was crying after Mickey.  All these Disney employees were giving him suckers from the gift shop and stickers to make him stop crying.  I don’t know what happened, because he loved Pluto! 

But his new Mickey ears cheered him up.  Of course Mia got the ears with the crown on front and the veil in back.  :)

(I don’t know what’s with the new pirate eye he’s been doing lately…)

We ate and went back to the room so the kids could nap, then back to the park.  Time for some RIDES!

We first hit the Teacups…

They were LOVIN’ it!

Afterwards, Mia says, “Mom!  I LOVE those chai tea cups!”  Brock’s Starbucks addiction has affected us all.  :)

Drake on Dumbo…

They really loved Mickey’s Philharmagic…

Winnie the Pooh, It’s a Small World, and the Carousel were also big hits!

Time to go! (again, not sure what’s up with the pirate eye…)

Such a GREAT first day at Disney.  One more day to come!

Florida Trip–Day 4

We woke up and Grandma Linda took us shopping for souvenirs!  Drake picked out a blue shark, and Mia picked out a stuffed cat in a purse.  She named her Trinity Mae. Lol  Mommy got a new dress. :)

After that, we went to the pier over the ocean.  People fish out there, but it was so windy I don’t think anyone was doing any fishing that day!  But it was sure awesome to be out there.  So beautiful and powerful!

It was also very sunny, but we got a shot of the crew!

There was a sprinkler park by the pier, so the kids played there the rest of the morning.  Drake brought his shark with him everywhere.  :)

Mia loved the sand there!

Our time at Poppy and Grandma Linda’s had come to an end.  The kids had such a good time.  Drake was crying, but we finally got one last shot of them all!

They sure loved being spoiled by Poppy and Grandma Linda.  We had such a great time and were sad when it was time to leave!

Next we hopped in the car and drove to Orlando.  We stayed the night with my cousin Maggie and her hubby Sam the night before Disney World.  They have two dogs, Elvis and Trinity, that the kids just LOVED (especially Trinity – they were scared of Elvis because he nips!  Ha!)  They fixed us all a yummy dinner, and Drake got to enjoy some more salad.  :)

MIA LOVED TRINITY!

I think it’s so funny that when we told her we were going to see Auntie Maggie and the dogs that she ended up naming her new stuffed animal Trinity after the dog.  :)  She was in heaven with a dog just her size to hold on to.  Another great day of the trip!

Florida Trip–Day 3

Onto day 3 of the trip!  One quick funny – the night before I had called my mom, and Mia wanted to talk to her.  When my mom asked Mia what kinds of things we were doing, Mia said, “They don’t have any toys here, so we have plans.”  Hilarious.

In the morning, we got up and went to the Alligator Farm!  It was so cool.  We were up close and personal with the alligators and crocodiles. 

We had such beautiful weather and had such a great time.  So neat!

Yes, we were VERY close to them!

Look at all these guys!  The kids got a kick out of it all.

There were these big pink birds with flat bills up in the tree!

I had to get a picture of this – it was so confusing to Mia – she said, “Mom, look!  That one is connected!

They also got to have their first slurpee – Ha!  Now that’s livin’ on vacation.  :)

That afternoon we went swimming at the pool!

Grandma Linda was prepared with lots of flotation devices and other goodies for the kids!!!  Lovin’ it!

Then we went back to the house and had a little birthday party for Drake.  He is so excited to have his very own Leapster Explorer.  Mia’s glad that he’ll stop hijacking hers now.  :)

In their glory

It was another great day.  More to come!