Tuesday, April 9, 2013

Florida Adventures 2013

We had a wonderful, wonderful time in Florida and have been back now since last Friday(!) which means I'm really behind on blogging!  Thankfully, our weekend was rather calm and uneventful--just what we needed to take a collective deep breath and plunge back into the work/school week.

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The highs for Florida included spending time with our ever-hospitable, ever-supportive Gramz and Pappy, who treated us to lovely balcony dinners (and kitchen clean-ups while we put the kids to bed!)  They played on the beach with us, watched baby girls who were napping back at the condo, gave GG and I a date night out, and treated all of us to a fun-filled day at Disney World.  Their pool and oceanfront views are incredible.  The kids had pure enjoyment swimming and wave-riding to their heart's content.  MG and baby G played in the sand and basked in the protection of Pappy's beach tent (that almost blew away, but survived--thanks Pap).  We enjoyed a ride down the beach in their 6-passenger golf cart.  We squeezed in a trip to the pier and lunch at one of their favorite diners.   And we even were able to play mini-golf on the last day.  It was endless fun and the kind of vacation where GG and I really had the chance to enjoy great times with the kids, not just facilitating their fun.  Older children definitely equal more family enjoyment.  Three cheers!!! :)

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A fish!  Luckily they got to pose for the photo and give the fish back... :)
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Strolling with Pap
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The proudest big brother ever
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Disney Ride #1: Thunder Mountain and we loved it!
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The Main Street parade helped us see all the characters without having to wait in the lines!
The low points of our trip included sick and tumultuous baby girls, who had everything from runny noses to vomiting during the week.  They were both miserable at various points, which left all of us somewhat sleepless and often impatient with MG's behavior (brought on by her 2yo-ness and Tamiflu (which can make children irritable, fyi!)).  Thankfully by Disney day on Wednesday, MG was through the worst of it and really rallied for Mickey and Minnie.  Thank goodness!  I've never been so relieved to see her smile while riding the Tea Cups.  She was back--whew!!  We have been enjoying her sweetness since (sprinkled with moderate 2yo-ness :).
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This is the smile that told me things were getting back to normal!  Hooray!
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Baby G loved it too! :)
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T and Pap got two turns at the cars thanks to poor steering the first time around.  Win-win!
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Waiting for the carousel--MG really was excited, but you can't tell by the pic! ;)
And can I say again how amazing Disney was???  Just amazing.  They are so accommodating and make their park an enjoyable experience for everyone there, even if there are crowds.  We were there on a high-volume day and still were able to do a lot and check many boxes.  It was so, so fun and we are excited to plan a return trip including more parks!  The boys are excited and even MG asked the following day to go back, she had such a great time.  Future adventures to come...

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This boy couldn't have been more excited that day.  He is always up for an adventure.  How much we love our J!
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And this sweet girl rallied even in the evening rain.  What a doll baby!
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The next day during an intense game of mini golf.  GG beat me by 1 stroke.  Shucks!
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This little lady played so sweetly until "her" purple ball disappeared on Hole #18.  Total toddler bummer! ;)
What a fantastic trip it was!  Our big thanks to Gramz and Pappy for treating us to such a special week. Can we come back again soon, pretty please?

God bless,

7 comments:

Right Said Red said...

Love these photos and the update!

Carolina Girl said...

Glad you had a fun week! So good to see you and GG in some pics. Look at how long MG's hair is!!
Thank the Lord for Grandparents!

FL M said...

Always ready for a G-Ville visit! Miss you all after such exciting times!!

Shannon said...

what a beautiful family! looks like it was lots of fun!

The Hamiltons said...

Trip sounds perfect!!! Disney with 5 kids had to be no small task. We just started planning for our visit this fall. Any tips/must do's?

B-Mama said...

Erin, you're going to love it. It is truly a magical, magical place! I would definitely not be the one to recommend what to see/not see because I think everything there is really special and enjoyable. We cut off a lot of extra time by avoiding the pictures/signing lines with different characters. It just wasn't worth the time when we were only there one day. If you're planning to do more than one day at any of the parks (which I'm guessing you are) you'll have time to meet the princesses, etc. One thing we def. want to do when we go back is a character breakfast, where you get to meet certain characters first thing in the morning. Another thing for little girls is heading to the Bippity Boppity salon to get dolled up like a princess. Pretty cute! Friends of ours with a little girl loved Ariel's Grotto ride (we didn't get to go on this one).

Also worth mentioning is the ease of transport if you decide to stay at The Contemporary, The Polynesian, or The Grand Floridian, which are all on the monorail. They are pricier, but I think totally worth the $$ for time and energy saved as you go to and from the parks! Have fun!!

amyseiffert@gmail.com said...

Bethany your kids are beautiful!

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