My parents decided to take our entire family to DisneyWorld this Christmas. It was definitely an exhausting trip. Now that Kaiden is walking, we weren't sure how Kaiden would do on the long flights. So, in preparation for the trip, we loaded Mickey Mouse Clubhouse episodes on E's phone and packed Kaiden's diaper bag full of crackers and puffs. He slept during the first flight and stayed awake for the other 3.5 hour flight. Things weren't going too badly until we landed at our destination. We took the tram to our rental car facility, only to find that they wanted to charge us $450 more than the quoted price. It was back to the airport for us, where we continued to get ridiculous quotes from various car rental places. We decided to book our reservation online through Orbitz, and then proceeded to walk up to the car rental counter where we paid less than half the price they initially quoted us, and for that, I love you Orbitz! After loading up the car, we were about to drive off the lot when they told us that we were in the wrong vehicle... the one we were in was parked in the wrong spot. It was already a hassle to buckle Kaiden's carseat in so E wasn't too happy lol. We re-loaded into another car, drove up to the gate and AGAIN, we were in the wrong car. It was the same color and model, just the wrong number. Soooooo, we negotiated with the rental car people and they let us stay in it and threw in a free tank of gas. That whole ordeal took 3.5 hours until we could finally leave the Orlando airport...not to mention we still had to drive another 3 hours to my grandparent's house. When it was finally time for bed, Kaiden wouldn't sleep. He woke up every 15-30 minutes consistently until 5 am. It was a nightmare and I'm so incredibly glad it's over with now. Just thinking about it all melts my brain.
Thankfully, the rest of the trip was smooth sailing. After having lunch with my grandparents, we headed off to Clearwater (where I went to college years ago. I still can't believe I went to college there... I miss "studying" on the beach haha.) It was a relaxing evening eating seafood and doing some midnight swimming in the pool. The next morning I was off to do a photo session (check out the preview here!) After that was over we hung out at the beach for a bit and then headed off to Orlando.
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| You can see why they call it Clearwater, Florida |
Seaworld offers free tickets to all active duty military members so we spent our evening oohing and ahhing over sharks and fish. On a side note: I can't express how grateful I am for companies that give so freely to their military members. I know they don't have to but it's rare that we get to go on a vacation, (or can afford one for that matter) so free tickets is HUGE to me.
My family met up with us the following day and that's when the real adventures begun. We went three days straight moving from park to park. It was crowded...holiday crowded and I quickly realized how much I don't like lots of people all at once. Despite the shoulder to shoulder walkways, I loved spending time with my family. It pains me to know how much I'm missing out with my brothers and sisters and how much they are missing out on Kaiden. Unfortunately, it's a reality I have to face. I just focused on the fact that we were all together there and we were having a great time! I was nervous that Kaiden would be afraid of Mickey but he loved him! He ran right up to him and started grabbing Mickey's nose. I don't know what it was about Winnie the Pooh but Kaiden actually hit him in the face and the security guard had a fit. I had to laugh. He's only one. What can a one year old really do to a person covered in layers of stuffing? Oh, well.
We are now safe and sound at home and back to reality.
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| I felt like a little kid watching all of my favorite characters dance on stage. |
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| Kaiden's new thing is to start giggling and stick his belly out (like this right picture)...he's a goofy boy! |
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| We couldn't get a picture where everyone was looking :( |
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| And there he is...attacking Pooh. |
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| My brothers and sisters with E on the Teacup ride! |
By the way, you should be proud! I actually didn't take many pictures this trip. I made it appoint to leave my camera behind and just enjoy the time instead of worrying about camera settings and people placement and I'm so glad I did. When you're worrying about your kid, your family, the crowds and trying to get on rides, the last thing you want to worry about is your camera :)
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