What Worked For Us at Disney...

Before we aimed to go on this trip, my Mom had asked several thoughts and opinions on what would be the best things to see and do. Of course we got very different answers from everyone. So we put together what people said and put together what worked for us. Anyone who would think about going to Disney I would advise this,
#1-a lot of what you do depends on your family and the ages of everyone.
#2-depending on the ages depends on the parks you may want to visit.
#3-it takes about 3 days or so for everyone, (especially if you have little ones), to get into a good routine of vacation.
#4-If you have a 2-3 year old, plan on one melt down in the AM and 1 or 2 in the PM. Don't panic or get distraught and say, "we have to leave the park". Leaving the park for the sake of a child who is crying takes too much of your time. If you choose to leave the park-don't plan on coming back, unless you are staying in a hotel on site. There is always something to deter their attention.

#5-Take a plastic grocery bag of snacks and 4-6 bottles of water!!!! This was a must for us and it worked great!! It held us over until dinner...we did have strollers so this was nice to have to carry things.
#6-Travel light as possible. we had our "fanny packs" and a back pack, blankets for babies.
#7-We would eat 1 huge meal. Rarely we would eat 2 big meals a day. There are so many ways of going about eating while in the parks. We would have breakfast at the house we stayed in, then ate snacks throughout the day. Lastly we would eat a HUGE meal at one of the restaurants in the parks around 4 or so.

Our favorite parks??

Interestingly enough The Magic Kingdom was not one of our favorites! It was fun to see the characters though and a few of the rides were enjoyable. We went 2 days to the Magic Kingdom but would not recommend 2 days at this one park.
-Animal Kingdom-we enjoyed this one a lot, especially the older ones!!
-MGM for everyone too!!-this park was not as big as other ones-a good sized park when with little ones.
-Sea World-they have the BEST "little kids section of rides"-good sized park when with little ones.

-We had one shopping day our "down day" at the discount Disney stores-where we got most of our souvenirs.
We wanted to see Downtown Disney, Epcot, and Disney's Water Park. Those were the ones we missed and would like to see a next time!!
#8-Plan on having LOTS and LOTS of fun!

Home From Disney World

Yes we have returned to home sweet home. As a matter of fact I must say it was a little bitter sweet to have to come home. Maybe it was more bitter sweet for me because I know it is going to be a highlighted memory for our family and I didn't want to leave that. Lord willing we will have another opportunity to go again-we will seek to plan it. We all agreed we had a WONDERFUL time! We really did. I think we could have easily gone for another week of vacationing. We are VERY thankful to the Lord for the week He gave us. It was so nice and refreshing to have a break from the everyday routine of work, school, and such. We celebrated Mom's B'day there which was neat and fun!!! We had a Boston cream cake-one of her favorites and a few gifts.

Stefan was sick for a few days which I know for him, it put a damper on things. Towards the end of the vacation he asked for prayer-healing-so he could have as much fun as possible for sake of our family. The Lord was kind and allowed him to join in, (and with the help of meds), for our last day of park FUN. Thank you Lord!!!! He is much better!!
We arrived home around 11 last night. Thankfully my Mom's car and our car caravaned all the way home. The kids did AMAZING in the car!! With the help of DVD's, snacks/food, other items to occupy, and sleep (at times), and several potty stops, they did great!!!
We all definitely want to go down to Florida again at some point and cover what we did not see this time, boy there is so much down there!!! So a new vacation spot??? Maybe....
There was so much that we did while we were there, this may take several posts. I hope this will not bore anyone. So here it goes!!!! Enjoy these fun pictures of our trip to Disney!!

DISNEY WORLD HERE WE COME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

When you wish upon A STAR, Makes no difference who you are....

OK I'm getting carried away now. It's the kid coming out in me...can you tell I am getting excited?

This the day!!!!
Please pray for a safe trip and fun time!!!

Oh MANY pictures of the kids will be taken which means many too post!

We love you guys family and friends...

We will see you when we return!!!! Have a great week!!!!!!!!!!!

1 Day Left Before Disney!

We are almost all packed up now!!! Woohoo!!! Excitement builds, (especially for the chillins)! Thoughts of vacation where you can leave everything behind for a week is music to Stefan's ears...almost. He may be working by phone just a little-if calls come in-if not then he will have to resort to some more Disney fun. Maybe while he is riding the crazy, dangerous rides he'll be taking calls!! hmm...
He has been working so hard in school and work. He has had 2 papers to write for college every night. He has also been staying up until 3am to get the papers done, then he gets off to work around 9:30am, and gets home around 8:00 or 9. He has exemplified perseverance in the midst of a lot of pressure!! Way to Go Honey!!! God is pleased with you!!!

God is so kind to let us have a vacation once again...it's been 3-4 years since our last vacation. A real treat and blessing!

The house is getting loud as I type! Excitement, Excitement!
Today we have to get the car prepped to go and loaded up.

I hear my baby girl crying for her breakfast so gotta run!! I will post once more tomorrow before we leave!!!

Have a great day Everyone!!!

3 Days Left Until Disney!!!

We have been extremely busy with getting supplies needed for trip, washing, running more errands...and packing clothes. We actually started packing clothes early on this week knowing that it would be a HUGE mistake to leave the packing for this Friday. So my Mom has kindly come over each evening to help with the packing. Things are getting done, thankfully!! I am constantly reminded to keep things as simple as possible.

The kids are still sleeping through the night, there is no interrupted sleep yet due to excitement-that will come Friday night maybe.

Our agenda?
-We are staying in a 3 bedroom home that is about 15minutes away from Disney. It has a patio pool and it is fully stocked with all needed amenities.
-We are leaving at 6am on Saturday morning hopefully arriving around 4-5.
-Each day we are down there we have a park that we are going to. Disney-Magic Kingdom, MGM, Sea World, Animal Kingdom, Epcot?...
-We are also going to have a character meal (where you eat a meal with the Disney characters). We wanted the characters to be both boys and girls friendly, so Winnie the Pooh characters were chosen.
-On Saturday we return-probably all pooped out-but have had a blast!

Well now on with the agenda today for getting ready.

So What's New? Countdown For Disney World!!!

To be honest I am at a standstill of what to post, except for the fact that we are on the countdown for Disney! My Mom, Stefan, the kids and I will be leaving the second weekend in February. 1 1/2 weeks left. Our lists have been made so there is a lot to do to get ready. Though we are trying to keep things simple!!!

The kids are thrilled, of course!!
Kayla is joining Ava in her excitement about seeing "real princesses". It is fun to see their anticipation.
The boys? hmm...they are very excited of course but not to see "real princes".
Actually, I think they are anticipating the rides and only selective Disney characters.

I am also getting excited-the last time I went to Disney World I was around 9?

Yea! This vacation I am not a pregnant woman. This means I can whole-heartedly enjoy being with the family and I am able to go on the rides (even with Stefan)! Can you believe this-Stefan and I have never been on an amusement ride together? If at all it was only rides at the beach. That is soooo sad!!! I haven't even been to Carrowinds with Stefan. Every time we would try to even think about going to one of the amusement parks, we would always say, "Oh maybe next year, I won't be pregnant then". 10 years of that!!

Well, this is the year!! I am not pregnant and I am so excited!!

Stefan is looking forward to a vacation-period!! He has been working so hard at work and school. This will be a nice break for him.

It will be fun!!