Day 1: First Flight
Day 2: Just Hanging Out
Saturday was a busy day! It started with what I thought was a sleep-in morning, but when I got up to check the time I found the kids sitting quietly together. So sweet!
A quiet start to a busy day.
When everyone was up and ready we headed off to Cape May at the Beach Club Hotel. Mike and Andrea did much of the Disney planning, so I only kind of know where we were at any given time. :) I should say when *most* everyone was ready. Poor little Lucas came down with a fever during the night so he and Andrea missed a few exciting days.
When we first mentioned the Florida trip to the kids Eve got really excited about meeting Minnie Mouse. How she knows anything about Minnie Mouse, I don’t know. She doesn’t have Minnie stuff or watch shows or anything. I was expecting excitement for princesses, but instead it was Minnie. We actually had no Disney plans originally, but after her Minnie excitement we decided we’d better make that happen. Andrea booked reservations for a character breakfast with Minnie, Goofy, and Donald. Off we went.
A quick photo stop in front of a beautiful Disney fountain.
The highlight of breakfast was the Mickey waffles.
Judging by that expression you’d think someone was forcing her to eat giant Mickey waffles smothered in whipped cream and sauce. Poor child! (actually, I think Eve was a little overwhelmed by the whole character breakfast experience)
Eve with Donald Duck.
Joe is a pro at this and was eager to jump in with each character.
Eve wanted a family picture with Minnie Mouse. The only way we got Lex near the characters was to promise Alan would be between them. Otherwise he wanted nothing to do with any of them.
Eve and Joe with Minnie Mouse.
Meeting Goofy. Everyone laughed because Joe was wearing a a Goofy shirt.
We stayed so long that Donald came back around again.
After breakfast we did a little exploring. You can’t put waffle stuffed children back in the car too quickly! It was a bit chilly, but absolutely beautiful!
An awesome pool outside of the restaurant.
What do you do with sugared up kids?! Let’em RUN!
A lovely sandy beach at Disney. I let them walk for a few minutes but then made them get back on the path. Boring mommy didn’t want shoes full of sand.
I love these kids!
Ahhh… a crazy man is stealing the kids!!! Oh wait, it’s just Alan.
We wanted to go up into this cool ship, but Mike said it’s a water slide to the pool and the slide is the only way down! Maybe another day. :)
Alan was amazed at how clean things are at Disney. So amazed, in fact, that he decided to lay down right in the middle of the path. Notice how my kids join right in, but Joe looks a little confused. :)
Mike told us that there are hidden Mickey heads all over Disney, including one on this globe. We had fun finding it.
A beautiful Disney rainbow.
After running around for awhile we drove over to Animal Kingdom Lodge for some animal watching and playground playing (and gift shop browsing for me). This place is pretty cool. Probably not my first choice in Disney hotels, but fun to explore for the afternoon.
Mike says there are Mickey heads hidden in the lights at the Animal Kindgom Lodge lobby. We didn’t take the time to find them. Too much exploring to do!
It took us awhile to find, but the playground was worth it!
These seeds are called Monkey’s Ears, or so says Mike. I’m not sure what they are seeds from. I missed the beginning of the conversation.
We learned that flamingos get their bright pink color from a certain type of shrimp they commonly eat. Based on the whiteness of these flamingos, I’m guessing those shrimp aren’t to be found at Disney.
A cool view of the lodge. From the rooms you can look out over the Savanah at all the animals.
Wild animals and video game arcades go well together, right?
These two are so sweet! They held hands several times while we were out and about.
Based on the length of this post I bet you’re thinking it must be tomorrow by now, but nope, it’s only lunch time! A late lunch, of course, after a big brunch. For lunch we headed to Downtown Disney and the T-Rex Cafe, a wild restaurant with a dinosaur theme, meteor showers, and creatures that “come alive” every so often. While Alan waited in line for us, the rest of us went to check out the nearby Lego store. They had Lego creations all around and inside the store.
Buzz, Lex, and Woody. I wonder what it would cost to have someone build a Lego Lex?!
He was pretty amazed with these figures.
The store was full of these little windows with cool Lego creations inside.
This is a better picture, without the glare. One of many Lego scenes.
We were seated in the ocean room for lunch. It was a cool, but overwhelming restaurant!
Everyone was pretty tired by this point.
Especially this one!
Eve and I took a walk around and she touched as many dinosaurs as she could. They are quite realistic so it’s a bit of a thrill to touch them, especially for a 5yr old.
After lunch we went on an archological dig (in the park area next to the restaurant).
I’m posting this picture only because it makes me laugh. Eve’s crayons kept falling out of the box. I snapped this photo just as the crayons fell and Eve said “Oh REALLY!?” Her preferred response these days for when things aren’t going her way. :)
By this point it was late afternoon and we decided to head home. However, we passed a cool looking pick-your-own orange grove earlier in the day, so we agreed that if the kids were still awake at that point we’d stop and pick some oranges. Despite everyone’s pure exhaustion they were all awake so we stopped. By this point the wind had picked up and it was getting down right cold! Our orange picking efforts were less than successful, but we had fun anyway.
A funny weather sign.
It looks like a beautiful day, doesn’t it? It was FRIGID! But sunny and fun. :)
Arrg! Thar be gators in them waters!
Shark!! Quick, rescue Joe!
They were less quick to rescue Alan from the gator!
These are not oranges. I think they are kumquats, but Mike tasted one and said they tasted like poison. We didn’t pick any more.
After many empty trees, we finally found some oranges!!
A beautiful day in the orange grove.
Unfortunately the oranges weren’t very nice looking. Possibly good tasting, but we were losing interest fast. We grabbed a few and took off.
Funny boy in daddy’s sweatshirt.
Joe and Eve discovered a fun new way to go down the slide.
I love those happy faces!
THEN we went home! I’m tired just writing this post! We were all so tired I suggested a movie night, thinking that would be a chill thing to do. Turns out it was more difficult than expected to find a movie everyone could agree on, and not be afraid of! We stared one (Aliens v. Monsters – a cartoon) and had to turn it off five minutes into the movie when Eve was trembling and on the verge of tears. Poor girl. We ended up with Ratatouille, a cute movie but everyone talks way to fast with their French accents!
I love this shot. Tired people everywhere!
They match!
Alan says there aren’t enough photos of me. Look! I was there too. :)
And then, then… then we went to bed! Resting up for another busy day! Florida vacation is not for the weary!
Day 4: Lego Land
Day 5: Kennedy Space Center
Day 6: The Zoo
Day 7: A Drive Along the Coast
Day 8: Heading Home
