Good Times in Orlando

Thanks to John's many travels we found ourselves with enough miles and points to take a trip to Orlando, Florida.  We were lucky to have John's Mom and Dad come with us too.  As soon as we checked into our hotel we headed straight to Magic Kingdom for some magic fun.  I told the kids before we left (knowing they are all super nervous on even mild rides) that I wanted them to do one ride that scared them.  The girls decided on Space Mountain.  Let's just say they survived but Lucy cried and screamed the entire time and Esther hated every second of it.  I was proud of them facing their fears and we had to take a picture to document their braveness.  We didn't even consider a mini rollercoaster for them from this point on.  Still there was lots of fun had by all of us on rides, shows, and experiences at Disneyworld.

 Brave Girls

 Coloring Perry at Epcot to get stamped in each country.

 Uncle Dan hooked us up with meeting Anna and Elsa--the kids were so excited!  

 Wes was an awesome Disneyworld baby--he nursed, got carried, watched some shows, and slept in his stroller.  His nighttime vacation habits were another story.  

 Token family picture by the Epcot ball.

My favorite day of vacation was the day John, Wesley,  and I went to Universal Studios Dan while Bob and Kathleen graciously watched the kids at the hotel.  It was a SO FUN and filled with lots of scary roller coasters!  

 I was most excited to go to Universal Studios to visit Harry Potter land and have a Butter Beer, which lived up to all it's hype.  So delicious!  

 Dan was such a great tour guide and got us to all the great rides and held Wesley a lot so we could have some fun.  

 We hit Joe's Crab Shack one night and got some balloon entertainment.  Esther got a balloon tinkerbell costume.

 Lucy had to plug her ears while her crown was made.  She ended up plugging her ears through much of Disneyworld... even Toy Story Mania!  

 Bob got the real deal at Joe's and had to get his bib on.

 On the Belle ride, John made a pretty fearsome soldier.

 The kids and Beauty

 We had two days straight of rain so I was very glad I purchased dollar store ponchos before we left because they sure came in handy and make for some excellent poncho pictures.  By the end of the second day of rain...  I was a little on the grumpy side but fortunately the sun came out the next day.  

 We loved loved loved Animal Kingdom.  So cool!  Especially meeting Mickey and Minnie with only a five minute wait.  :)

 We also made it to the beach and even got perfect beach weather for that day.  Wes enjoyed squishing his toes through some beautiful soft sand.

 The water was freezing but it didn't stop this swimmer girl.

 This guy loved collecting the shells.

 As with any trip.. swimming was a big highlight for the kids.  We kept joking that next time we would just stay at the hotel and have the kids swim every day and they would probably be just as happy.  They swam a lot--even on the cool rainy days.  

 Wes doing some more lounging.

 I just love his cute chubby face.  

It was so fun to get away and have a few days of sun (not a full week thanks to clouds and rain). I'm glad we got a vacation in before Wes is less than content to be strapped into a stroller all day.  Bob and Kathleen were patient with us and all our Disney walking and rushing.  We are so blessed and it was also so much fun to see Uncle Dan.  We sure miss him around here.