Disney World!

Well, we successfully completed the Disney World trip we've been wanting to take with the boys for a while. We were planning to go in the Spring right before Caleb's third birthday (they require a ticket to all the parks at age three!) but with Josh probably starting a new job this fall and us moving (yes, we are probably moving - more to come on that...) we decided to squeeze it in now.

We left for Florida September 21st and drove two days (yikes) to Florida. We decided to drive to save money and also because we've heard so many bad stories lately about flying. There were a few crazy moments but we had the dual DVD players and it wasn't that bad. We stayed at this AWESOME place. It was a privately-owned condo that I found on the internet. I was a little worried about booking a place, sight-unseen from a guy from England over the internet.... but I called around for some references and decided to go for it. It turned out really well. It was in a nice gated community and we had a big three bedroom, three bath home to stay in while we were there. Here is a picture:













If anyone is going soon, here is the info which I promised the guy I'd pass onto people: www.orlando-rental-home.com
It's awesome.

So anyways, we got the 6-day hopper passes which let you go to any parks you want however many times each day. The first day I think I had this grand vision that it was going to be just like when I would go with my family (as a teenager) and we'd go from 9 am to 9 pm non-stop and have a great riding every single thing, but I quickly realized you can not do that with a two year old and a four year old. The first day we stayed from 9 am till 5 pm and by 5 pm this was Gabe at the park:



Not to mention I wanted to do that as well. Plus it was like, in the 90's and humid everyday and we were just sweaty all day long. In the future, I would recommend October or later.








So after that first day we would go from about 9 until noon, come home, eat lunch, usually swim, rest, go back at about 4:00 and stay until park close. That way we were swimming during the hottest part of the day, which the boys loved. Gabe is such a little fish! I would watch him jump into the pool (at 5+ feet deep), go underwater, and swim all the way to Josh on the other side, without water wings or any help! It was crazy. Is it just because I am his mom that that amazes me? Do all four-year-olds do that? I don't know. Here is Gabe the fish, riding a fish:













and here is Caleb who also loves the water, but still preferred to hang out on the steps...













So, overall it was a very fun trip. We did all four parks (Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, Hollywood studios, and Epcot) and we did one whole day at Cocoa Beach, which was a perfect day. The water was warm, the boys loved the waves, and we all got a tad sunburned.














We left after a week and have been home for two days - now freezing our buns off in the 48 degree weather of Wisconsin! (Why can't I have the perfect 60-75 degree temperatures I love?!)

Here are a few more pictures. Some of our favorite moments were:
Gabe: "That SUPER fast train!" (Big Thunder Mountain Railroad ride @ Magic Kingdom), the "Honey I Shrunk the Kids" movie set/playland, Splash Mountain, Buzz Lightyear ride, Kali River Rapids, and the Playhouse Disney LIVE show






















Caleb: "Wacecars!!!" (The Speedway @ Magic Kingdom), "Musical!" (High School Musical 3 show at Hollywood Studios) "Nemo" (Finding Nemo ride, all the characters we met, and especially "Disney Mouse" (aka Mickey Mouse)

























Tiffany: The French Pastry Shop at Epcot with chocolate cake, Rock N' Rollercoaster at Hollywood Studios, Monsters Inc. Laugh Factory at MK(like a stand-up comedy show that the monsters do - it was soooo funny!)





















Josh: Expedition Everest (roller coaster at Animal Kingdom) and Soarin' (this really cool iMax movie/ride that feels like you're seriously flying)