{ Disney World }

We love Mickey Mouse! Another wonderful family DISNEY vacation has come to a close. As always the days flew by and it was over as quick as it started. What a sad day it is to say good bye to family and blissful days full of Disney parks. Hopefully it won't be too many years before we can find an excuse to go back again! And of course, and epic trip requires and epically long blog post so just check out the photos if you want.

Our vacation began at 3:45am on a Thursday morning. We moved the baby from his bed to his car seat and we were off to the airport to catch our 7:00am flight. We had an easy go at everything, missing DC rush hour traffic, getting a parking spot, and getting through security. The only hitch was that Peanut was wide awake at 5:15 am and did not fall back asleep. On top of that he had a diaper blow out first thing when we got on the airplane. Timing is everything. This is how we all felt later that day:

We finally arrived good and tired in Orlando at 9:45am where my parents picked us up. My mother jumped from the car to hold her grand baby and the first thing she noticed, that we somehow failed to see, was that Des had sprouted a tooth! What a fun surprise. He is one tough cookie. He hadn't been extra fussy at all. He had already been gnawing and drooling on anything in sight for months now, so I failed to notice the tell tale signs. What a day!

We dropped our things off at our hotel and headed to our first park, Epcot. Why wait?! 

We headed to Epcot to meet my sister at her work site. She was the reason for our whole trip and boy did she get us special treatment. She's works at the greenhouses in the Land pavilion. She had reserved fast passes for the whole group to Soaring Over California and was giving us a complimentary "Behind the Seeds" tour of the green houses. This tour was my favorite part of the trip. If anyone has a chance to go on this tour it is worth it. We had an amazing tour guide.

Peanut's first ride: Living with the Land

This was the day we realized just how much slower you move through Disney with a baby. It was still fun just a bit more challenging to keep up the usual pace. We did Disney like normal people. We took rests. **GASP!**

We cruised all four parks for the next five days.  

Sunday, we rested for a bit, went to church, toured Katie's apartment and took a little dip in the pool, which means Des had another first here in Florida. He went for his first swim. I was so excited! We ended that day with food and fireworks at Epcot's World Showcase. 

 

Our last night in FL, we made sure to follow tradition and just eat ice cream for dinner. I think we've done this at least one night every Disney vacation that I've been on. It was just as much fun at this age as it was when I was a kid...and it gives you the exact same stomach ache every time. We love food. Can you tell? The dessert  we indulged in is called the Kitchen Sink and it's served at Disney's Beach Club resort. $24 of ice creams brownies, cookies and a whole can of whip cream piled into...a mini kitchen sink. Mmm! Worth every penny.

So to finish off this brief summary this picture about sums things up: Disney rocks and my siblings are super cool.

Oh and don't forget, it all started with a mouse.