Disney Fanatics

We recently landed ourselves in Florida for a week. When we found out that my parents were going there for a conference and Jeff and Jenn would be there too we just couldn't stay away! Here's a photo recap of our fabulous trip!

The Cast of this Disney Vacay: Grandpa, Brayden, Jenn, Chloe, Brielle, Melissa, Makenna, Grandma, Kevin, Emmitt, Jeff, Jonah

Emmitt's first ever swim!

Animal Kingdom was our first park of the trip. We had a great time jammin to the African music.

Brayden made Jonah his trip buddy.

Emmitt was such a good baby... as you can see- he was thrilled to be there :)

These (above and below pics) were taken on Kali River Rapids. One of the fun things about this trip is that Brielle was now tall enough to do a lot of the big rides... she even did Splash Mountain and Big Thunder Mountain. Makenna was a tall and brave rider this time too. She loved Splash Mountain the most but she also repeatedly rode Space Mountain and even went on the Tower of Terror. (which was much more terrifying for me than for her :)

Above: This picture was taken on our hot day at Disney Studios. These girls had a great time together. We bought them some super over priced popsicles. Sometimes though its those splurges that become the kids favorite memories... so I guess its all worth it. I remember churros at Disney from my own childhood and of course the infamous marshmallows on a stick from last year... all priceless memories...
And if you are wondering about Brielle's stylish hat- I missed some spots with the sunscreen and she got a pretty bad sunburn right behind her ears. Luckily I had this hat handy and she was a good sport about keeping covered the rest of the trip. (I;m learning that blonde fair skinned children are sure high maintenance in the sun!)
And here we are enjoying another one of those splurges that I am sure will pay for itself in memories... Wait did I really pay $16 for suckers???? Who's the sucker here :)

Dumbo photo op.
A trip to the Magic Kingdom wouldn't be complete without waiting the longest amount of time in line for the lamest ride in the park :)

Don't you think with her hat in this picture, Brielle looks like she belongs in the British Royal Family.

Mickey and Minnie Photo Op.
As a humorous sidenote- a few days after returning home Brielle began crying (serious real 3 year old crying) and as she cried, she exclaimed "I miss Mickey, I miss Minnie, I miss Pluto and Donald and Daisy... my whole entire family" --too funny

You know your on vacation when you are wearing your swimming suit and eating a lollipop while watching t.v. in bed.

My girls.

My boys.

Grandma and Grandpa and Brayden at the Rainforest Cafe at Downtown Disney.

And then there was the Princess Dinner inside Cinderellas Castle. This was a real treat. All of us girls enjoyed a fabulous fancy royal feast as the princesses walked around to meet and greet everyone. Brielle was in awe. Makenna had a good time and Chloe was hilarious. She asked the princesses all the best questions... like she had quite the conversation with Bell about whether or not the Beast/ Prince had gotten better at controlling his temper. It was great. And in case you are wondering- in "real" life, Snow White was the nicest princess with Ariel coming in a close second. Belle seemed the most "stuck up." Who woulda thought!

Shes covering her eyes to make a wish with her magic wand.

Watching the Parade.

Now if you can guess what ride we are on in this photo, then you get 100 points.
(hint: we got stuck and as a result I had a certain very monotonous, somewhat irritating song stuck in my head all day long)

Unfortunately our trip was not all sunshine. We had one full day of rain. It wasn't just sprinkling either- it was full out non stop down-pouring ALL DAY LONG. So we missed Epcot but we did venture out to enjoy a great time at the T REX cafe at downtown Disney. This turned out to be such a fun place. It will have to be added to our future trip itinerary for sure.

Jeff got the burger and it was no small bite!

Yes- its a dessert with dry ice... how cool is that!

And back to the pool we go...

Now if your level of post-vacation-exhaustion is any indicator of how much fun you had then WOW... we had tons of fun!
(These 3 pictures below are from the airplane ride home... another 100 points if you can spot Emmitt?)

So yes our family is a family of Disney fanatics. We didn't expect to go twice in two years but when the opportunity arises- who could resist. We just love that place! Brielle wins the prize for enjoying Disney World the most- but I'll have to admit I'm a close second :)

And another sidenote: Each day we went to a park Brielle asked us when we were going to the "real" Disney World. We kept thinking she must remember some different park but she never was convinced that we were at the real Disney World. When we got home and were back to our habit of watching old vacation movies, she was watching the Disney cruise and informed me that there is the REAL Disney World. She said to me in a distressed voice
"We went to the wrong place"

oops!