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Monday, May 22

This Is It

I'm finding it more difficult to get on the computer, get my crap together, and post a something worthy of your time! I don't want to half-a$$ it so....maybe our final post? 6 years...there's a lot of memories on this blog.

I'll cap it off with our trip to Florida. WHICH WAS FANTASTIC! Ya know how you don't want to put too high of expectations on your kids just because you're going on vacation but you spent hard earned money and started booking over a year ahead and sat in front of a computer (for more hours/days/weeks than you care to admit) planning, reading other families' do's and don'ts, how to prepare for the crowds - but you KNOW your kids and then it's the week before and you're packing. The lists, schedules, reservations are packed. You are on your way to the airport, everyone is EXCITED and you say screw it! I. WILL. HAVE. A. GOOD. TIME - regardless if I see my kid meltdown, throw a fit, or whine about something I can't control because we are hundreds of miles from home. But I think we prepared perfectly for this, something I don't say often. The kids surprised me, which made me think I didn't give them enough credit for growing up! These pictures are in reverse order (hey, I don't have everything in my life together!) and I'm missing a couple 100 that are on my camera, where I just conveniently yanked these off my phone.

Awe, Drew. Not my picture ready kid, as you'll see when we went to Legoland who was in all the pics!
On the way home


This was even first thing in the morning! Ha! Believe me, this was just his attitude towards photos, not the Disney experience.
Swimming at the resort pool

Napping on the way home from Cocoa Beach

Disney Springs. Drew and Craig went 400ft up in this balloon

We made it til 10:30 at Magic Kingdom! This was something I was trying not to make a big deal about, but seriously wanted to get every ounce out of our day. We left the resort at 6:45, made it to the front of the castle by 7:50, headed to the first ride at 8:00 and were on the ferry back to the parking lot at 10:20. Drew had fallen asleep already so we watched the fireworks as we walked to our car.


Resort pool day


Yay, Cocoa Beach! We went there every year I visited Florida as a kid. We walked the beach, had a picnic, picked up shells, crashed in the waves, and built sand castles.


Legoland driving school!


Lego Movie stars Emmet and Wild Style




Everything is made out of LEGOS!!
Best things we did on vacation: we did not over crowd the schedule. We went to 2 theme parks (Legoland and Magic Kingdom). We mixed up the week and planned one whole day at the pool - our first day to help the kids acclimate to being on vacation (it was their first time being gone for a week). We did the beach in between the theme park days to give our brains a stimulation break. When Disney says you can make restaurant reservations 180 days out, do it! Same thing for ride passes at the theme parks or you will not get on some "cool ride" without standing in line for 60+ minutes. We used strollers! At first I was like, really my 6 year olds need a stroller?! But I tell you what - it saved my sanity, my back, possibly my marriage! We never would have made it all day at Magic Kingdom, that park is just too darn big. And it was nice that the kids knew to go straight to the stroller after the ride. I wasn't looking for them in the crowds, they were always in front of me. Also, the kids had Disney gift cards so they knew anything they wanted had to be bought with them and when it was gone, that was it!

Things that didn't go so well (come on, you didn't think it was all sunshine and rainbows?): we didn't get to Orlando till 7, then you have to get luggage and pick up the rental and drive 30min to Kissimmee (where our resort was). So there was some hungry, ready to sleep people by 8:30. Kelsey got car sick on the 1.5 hour drive to the beach and I burned pretty bad. Drew fell asleep at Magic Kingdom in the stroller around 9 so he was crashed by the time we put him in the car and had a pee accident on the way home!

It really was a fabulous time; we didn't lose anything, it exceeded my expectations, the kids talk about it all the time so it was a big win;) The kids are already trying to plan the next vacation! (I'm just ready for summer to show up!)