As most everyone knows, we made a huge trip to Disney World last month! We started planning this trip almost as soon as our last trip (in April 2013) ended. I'm so glad we were able to go! Disney World is a really special place to my family. My dad went to Disney World as a little boy, in the very first year it was open. He and my mom went shortly after they got married and once I was born we went as often as we could. We went with various family members and have so many memories. Nathaniel and I spent our honeymoon there. Caden's first birthday was spent there. Our Disney trips aren't about getting spoiled, my little family actually has very few souvenirs from Disney World. We don't go and just buy stuff. We go and make memories. Like my dad skipping through the park with us, the first time I rode Space Mountain (I loved it), pushing my Grandma Shirlee in a wheelchair that she didn't need, laughing at each other in bright yellow panchos, my aunt freaking out over a turkey leg, Caden, Isla, and Brielle's faces as they watched Wishes, holding my mom's hand on the old Snow White ride (I have a vague memory of being terrified). A lot of people don't get the "Disney thing" and that's ok. You don't have to get it. Just let it be special for me. Every time we go I'm reminded of such wonderful memories. Of times I can't get back. I'm eternally nostalgic and our Disney trips are so much more than just a Disney trip. It's remembering things that were, thanking God for things that are, and being a kid again. Plus a little magic. That we pay out the booty for. And that's ok ;)
So here are pictures and stories from our latest trip. We really had a wonderful time. It was hard with two little ones (specifically, my little diva, Isla) but still so much fun!
We arrived on a Saturday and met up with Courtney. We ate pizza in our hotel room haha the kids played together and we watched an intense thunderstorm. Our hotel was The Shades of Green. Military friends, if you ever take a trip to Disney you MUST stay there. It's every bit as nice as the super expensive ones, they have at least four restaurants, the nicest splash pad/toddler pool I've ever seen, two awesome pools, nice huge rooms...I could rave for days about that place!! Check it out!! And check out the Military Salute program (four day, park hopper tickets at a steep discount!!!).
On Sunday we all (my family, Courtney's, family, my parents, and Haley) went to the Contemporary Resort for breakfast at Chef Mickey's! Caden was super excited to ride the monorail there. We had a really good breakfast (but seriously, do not ask me how much it cost) and got to meet the "core" characters; Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Donald, and Pluto! Caden LOVED them last time (still does!) and Isla LOVED them this time! Soooo adorable!! Caden still asks me when Mickey's going to make us breakfast again!
My mom, trying to force Isla to love her. Isn't my mommy so pretty??? She's beautiful!
Isla reaching for Mickey. She seriously loved the characters!
Isla had to touch each character. So cute!
Holding Goofy's hands! Isla's missing a shoe...it got lost in all the excitement ;)
You can barely see Brielle being squished under Caden's girth. He got too excited about seeing Donald. He'd only been waiting FOREVER. hahaha
Does anyone remember the picture of Caden last time with Minnie? He nearly leapt from our arms, desperate to get to Minnie and hug her as tightly as his chubby one year old arms would allow. The three year old Caden was no different!
She gasped when she saw Minnie. Isla was in love!
Ok...this picture...zoom in. Prepare to laugh your head off.
Yea. Haley did this. She actually made this face. We're still not sure how it's humanly possible to make such a face or what in the world she was doing. But thanks for the laugh, Hay!
Headed to Downtown Disney! Although, but it's called Disney Springs. Same thing, just bigger and more crowded. Caden's pushing our new double stroller! That thing was a life saver. I seriously love that stroller!! I did months of research, tried out every single one I found in stores, even bought a different brand, but I ultimately settled on this one. It fits us perfectly!
We walked around for a while and ate some popcorn. Then we headed back to the hotel and got ready for The Magic Kingdom the next day!!!
So day one was spent at the Magic Kingdom. And it was AWESOME! We rode the ferry boat to get the full, magical experience lol
And there we are, in all our matching glory.
Up first was the new Seven Dwarves Mine Train. The queue was interactive! Caden loved it! Caden is 41 inches tall and was able to ride almost all of the rides. It was so perfect taking him on the rides! He loved them!!!
Eeekk! So excited! His very first roller coaster!
Aww! My Caden! However, my dad kinda steals the show here...
Splash Mountian! Again, my dad is stealing Caden's thunder. So is Aunt Haley. Mimi looks fabu though.
Hands up!
Ok dad. Stop. My kids' cuteness is being overshadowed by your weirdness.
I wonder where they get it from?? Papa? Do you know?!
My Isla girl, about to burst into flames. She may have been born in a horribly hot place but she's definitely an Alaska girl. Side note: Clovis is wretchedly cold in the winter. Like, super cold. Bone chilling cold. The wind just slices through you. It's awful. And then the summers are absurdly hot. I actually really hate it.
Brielle makes the funniest faces! I love her!
I'll quote myself from Facebook, "Oh yes we did. #matchers"
This picture isn't even at the midway point and the kids were dying. But we kept going! Heat exhaustion is no excuse for missing out on a single moment of magic! (No one had heat exhaustion...)
I cropped our friend in the background out. You can still see half of his face though. I always wonder, "how many pictures have I photobombed?? How many families pull out old albums and laugh at that weird girl in the background making some stupid face?" I hope I never see any of those pictures. That could be embarrassing.
My dad thinks he Captian Jack Sparrow. Who we didn't get to see, by the way. Pirates of the Carribean was closed. Insert angry face emoji here.
Caden's first Mickey ice cream!!
Isla had a strawberry bar and an immediate outfit change.
Isla's face reflects her thoughts on that kid getting in the car with her.
So if you're ever in line for the Dumbo ride and the play area looks appealing, try avoiding it. You don't get to just skip the wait while your kids play, you get to sit there forever wondering when your number will be called so you can get on the ride. Except it won't be called. You just get back in line and wait again! The signs were misleading...
The play area was actually awesome. Adorable and super well done. Just don't expect to skip the wait for the ride!
This is how we roll y'all. Courtney's making that face on purpose. At least I hope she is.
Ok I'm not telling the story behind the above and below pictures. Just know that
something/someone stunk up the Pooh Bear ride and my children reacted accordingly.
Caden said, "Oh my gosh. That smell stinks!"
Mimi with two of three grand babies!
"Back-a-yers!" Translation: fireworks! Caden used to call fireworks "back-a-yers" and it kinda stuck :)
The Disney Wishes fireworks show is seriously the best fireworks show you'll ever see. Yes, I cried a teeny bit. Don't judge.
So the next day we went to Epcot. We got up early and headed down for the free breakfast buffet. After we ate my dad showed up (they ate before us) and then kinda forced us back to our room and said that we needed to talk. Courtney asked if someone died and Haley was freaking out so I started to panic too. My dad told us that his dad, my Papa, had passed away that morning. Things between my Papa and my family hadn't been good for a while. We all tried but I feel like I had lost my Papa years ago. When my letters came back marked "return to sender" and my phone calls were rejected I knew that things weren't ok. I can't and won't go into detail right now, and please don't ask or speculate, but know this: my Papa loved us and we loved him. I have missed him for years but his death made it final. I'm still struggling with the loss because I really thought that I could pick up the phone one day and hear him say, "hey girl!" and carry on, as if we were old friends, the way we used to. No matter the circumstances, death is difficult to deal with. There was no service for us to attend and there is no grave. I have no outlet for my grief. Since there was nothing we could do we dried our tears, hugged each other, and went on with our day. That night was hard for me though. I'm going to move on now. Maybe someday I can talk about it but right now I'm not going to.
So Epcot is more for adults but we made sure the kids had a blast too. Of course, AFTER we got home I found a bunch of stuff for kids. Kinda useless now! haha
Sorry, no matchers today hahaha
On Soarin'!! Daddy and Caden are bffs :)
Mimi and Papa took the little ones for a bit so we could use our fast passes. We went on Mission: Space. It was HILARIOUS. Me, Courtney, and Haley rode together and seriously had the best time. We needed a good laugh after such sadness and we definitely got it. The kid riding with us was super serious about the ride, like telling us what to do, and we were dying. That's one of my favorite memories from this trip!!
Papa with #1 and #2! Mimi had #3 with her:) and please note, my mother is using flash photography even though the signs clearly state NO FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY. MOM. You belong in jail for that offense!!
And here's Isla in her most natural state: eating. She is exactly like me.
Yep, there's my dad again hahah he's a goofball but he's an awesome dad. I love you dad!!
It's like we're really in England! There's a real telephone booth and everything! haha ;)
And that's all I have from Epcot! We had fun. The guys ate their way through the World Showcase. Literally. The girls were starving and the guys are all like, "How can you be hungry?? We're stuffed!" Umm...some of us didn't eat something from every single one of the nine countries, fellas. Despite the starvation, it was so much fun! (I'm kinda kidding about starving to death) we ended up eating at a yummy Italian restaurant where Isla instantly fell in love with the bus boy. It was bad. Goo goo eyes and her happy scream any time he came near. Super adorable too!
It started pouring on us when we were just about done so Courtney and I took the kids on the ride in Mexico three times. Yes, three times. And as we left this happened:
Caden climbed on a low rail, fell off backwards, slammed his head (second time that day), hit his back on the concrete, and is now left with this mark on his back. It's still there. It's his Disney scar. He was totally fine, just needed several band aids and some hugs :)
I'm half way done with the trip now! I'll stop here and pick up again soon :)
