Day 3

We jumped right in to Magic Kingdom and loved being there when it opened.  There's so many things I didn't get pictures of with my phone because we ordered what they call the Memory Maker which means whatever pictures their photographers take around the park, we get to keep.  So I did rely a lot on that.  Here we are in line to see Pluto but of course I don't have the picture of Pluto on my phone.  Oh well.  Ava dressed up like Cinderella this day, so that was fun.  Apparently, it's the thing to do since we saw all kinds of dresses on little girls. We were able to see some characters and shows and then left for the pool in the afternoon.  We headed to Epcot that night and had Mexican food in Mexico.  Yum!  It was so nice to be able to walk to Epcot from our resort.   Then we watched the Frozen singalong on the beach.  Ava conked out in Epcot so didn't make it through that.  It must have been another good day!

Here's a trolley car show.  So fun!

Ava always loves the carousel 

Tea cups!

Tweedledee and Tweedledum - these two were adorable.  They did all kinds of silly things with the kids, and they don't even talk.  

Alice asking if Jack lost his teeth down the rabbit hole.  

Brass band show in the big top area by Dumbo

One of many Mickey shaped treats.  They are all delicious and freshly made.  

The show at the castle 

The afternoon parade.  For some reason, Steve Harvey was there.  From Family Feud.  

Day 2

I will try not to do a long post for every day.  I may not be successful but I will try!  Day 2 was our first day in the parks, and it was a beautiful sunny day.  By staying at the resort, we got extra magic hours which just means we got to go in early to Animal Kingdom.  We enjoy the Animal Kingdom, but it's not our favorite so it was a good starting place.  But we love the safari and the shows they have, and Matt and I got to ride a roller coaster!  It's been years since I have ridden one, so that was a blast.  I felt young again!  On a lot of the days, we would go to the park, do the things we had planned, and then head back to the resort to swim.  Or at least the kids and grandparents did.  Matt and I took that time to explore more at the resorts or parks.  This day we went to visit Animal Kingdom Lodge where you can stay in a room overlooking a savannah with giraffes and zebras and other animals just hanging out outside your room.  So cool!  So then we headed back, ate some supper, and sat on the beach for an outside movie and saw a few fireworks. Loved it!

Drums in Africa 

The kids being animals 

Rhino

Giraffe in trees

Fireworks on the beach

Day 1

Well there's so much to catch up on, it's hard to begin!  But we are home from our wonderful vacation, and we came home to the best weather I've seen in Minnesota at this time of year.  I really wasn't expecting that.  It's nice!  So we have over 500 pictures to go through.  Quite a job!  They will not all be on the blog, but we will just add the highlights so you can get the idea.  

We left our house Monday, March 2nd, and headed up to the cities, spent the night and got up early the next morning to get to the airport.  Jack said he was so excited about going through security.  Anyway there was hardly a wait and we were there early, and since there were blizzardy conditions, our flight took off late.  So we got to Florida a little bit later than we planned but early enough to enjoy the sun and to check out our rooms and the pool area.  What a contrast in weather and surroundings!  Green grass and landscaping, bright sun, blue sky - I miss color and light the most in the winter I think.  Ok and warmth!  The kids went swimming as soon as we got our luggage.  (Disney delivered it for us!)  And I organized our room for the week.  One awesome thing I noticed was that our room was facing the pool so I could see the kids, and then also the lake so I could see the Boardwalk resort across, and we could even catch a few fireworks from Epcot on our balcony.  Wow!  So that's day one.  Here are a few pictures.  

Jack said, "Mommy, do you smell that?  It's warm!"

The lobby of the Yacht Club.  The kids had their own waiting area.  

A welcome basket for the kids 

Our room 4217

From our balcony

Jack "obsessed"

Yesterday Jack said, "I did two pages on my paper because I was obsessed!"  I said, "Obsessed?  How do you even know what that is?"   He looked at me incredulously.  "I'm in second grade!"  Well, that explains it.  

Toothless!

With some spots on his face from some sort of reaction and a dangling tooth, Matt kept telling Jack to look away from him.  But now he's healing up and has lost the tooth, so he's able to look Matt in the face!  Ha.  Matt does not do well with dental issues.  Jack's a little disappointed that he's not really talking like Daffy Duck, but it's still pretty cute!

Ava Fun!

Ava has been making us laugh lately.  She is getting to be more chatty especially at the dinner table.  She likes to say, "So guys, what's yo favwit ________ (fill in the blank - food, colow, movie, etc.)  I like to do that with them every now and then, and I guess she has picked it up. Also she distracts us from the fact that she's not really eating her food.  

Yesterday when Jack needed some direction with tying his shoes, she said, "You yust yoop it.  You yoop it two times, then pull it." 

On a particularly cold day when coming out of the store, she said, "OK I hate this weathow!"  She has probably heard that a time or two as well!  

She is at a really fun age and is asking lots of questions like, "Why do I have to watch out fo people?"  And "Why do we have to do ow haiw?"  Pretty much anything we do, she wants to know the reason why.  

Big Baby

He loves my heated blanket almost as much as I do.  Thanks, Nanny!  I use it all of the time!