This year, Florida Hospital Zephyrhills had their board retreat at Disney's Grand Floridian Hotel Resort & Spa, and as a gift to their members, they gave away three one-day passes to Disney. Colton and Khloe were super excited, because they had never been to Disney World before! Once Billy filled them in on what they would be seeing, they talked about it for a month before-hand. Colton was most excited to ride the Buzz Lightyear ride and to drive the cars. Koki couldn't wait to meet Cinderella!
The resort, as a whole, was amazing! There were several pools, water slides, splash parks, and play areas ... as well as, many restaurants, shops, and spa areas. It was a beautiful resort over looking Disney's Magic Kingdom.
The hotel room.
Cute towels on our bed at the resort.
A cool carriage outside of our resort.
Billy stalked this lady at the hotel ... she looked really weird ... too much plastic surgery and attempts to stay young (she was about 90, I would guess)!
On Wednesday, we took the whole day to visit Magic Kingdom. It was a HOT Florida day ... and I was pretty much melted by the time we arrived to Magic Kingdom. When we arrived, Khloe was SO excited to see Cinderella's castle. She gasped when she saw it! After we watched a little show in front of the castle, we made our way to figure out how to do "fast passes". Years ago, when Billy and I had been to Disney (and vowed never to come again without kids ... too many strollers), you got a fast pass by walking up to the ride you wanted to go on, getting a ticket, and coming back during the time stamped on your ticket. Now, it's all done online, and it goes on your Disney ticket band. We didn't know that at first. We thought our day was ruined, but alas, a Disney cast member helped us out ... and we were on our way to having a day filled with magic!
Our awesome Disney tickets. Pretty amazing, Disney!
Ready for a big day!
Watching the show at the castle.
Koki is clapping to the music!
First, we hit up the Flying Dumbo ride. The kids LOVED it so much ... we went on it twice! Luckily, we didn't realize how the fast passes worked yet, so Bill took the kids (only Colton's fast pass matters, because Khloe is under 2) ... then I took them. The people working the rides let Colton go twice, even though his pass was already used ... what nice people!
Dumbo Ride!
A big wave from Dumbo!
After Dumbo, we went to meet Goofy and Donald. Khloe and Colton weren't too sure about them. They were excited until they got up to the characters ... and of course afterwards, they were really excited about meeting them. During the whole thing ... they were questionable. Luckily, I read that kids have a hard time meeting the characters who don't have "people" faces, so I was prepared.
Meeting Goofy!
Meeting Donal Duck!
Allie sleeps the day away!
Following our meet and greet, we went and found food in Tomorrowland. $$$$ ching-ching ... we spent a pretty penny on some not-so-fab food, but the air-conditioning in the restaurant was worth it for me! (Plus, there were some fancy songs sung by a "chucky-cheese" type robotic character resembling a dinosaur in the dining area. Can't beat that!)
After lunch, Bill and Colton rode the Lilo and Stitch 3-D ride. Then we went to Monster's, Inc. Laugh Factory where Colton picked up a few good jokes! Ask him the next time you see him, he LOVES to tell jokes!
When we left the Laugh Factory, it was POURING down rain! We were pretty sure that was a good sign to go back to the hotel for a nap ... you think we were only there for an hour or so, but all of that took about 3 to 4 hours! Everything takes a million years in Disney.
Ready for nap time at our hotel.
After nap time, it was still pouring rain outside. We grabbed dinner at the hotel, and we made the decision that rain is just water ... surely it would stop ... maybe Disney would be less crowded ... so we went back.
Disney was NOT less crowded. I guess when you pay that type of money to go on your one vacation of the year, you are not leaving due to some simple, albeit annoying, rain. By the time the monorail got us back to Disney, it was just sprinkling, and we walked to Tomorrowland (again) to ride the Buzz Lightyear ride.
We had some fun on the Buzz Lightyear ride!
We, also, got to ride the Teacups! A Disney classic! The kids had so much fun! They loved spinning and spinning around. No one got sick or threw up ... that's a good thing!
Billy having fun on the teacup ride!
Everyone is having fun on the teacups!
By this time, it is nearly 7:00 p.m., and we figured the Princesses Hall would probably be less of a wait ... NOPE! It was still 170 minutes to see Elsa and Anna ... and 70 minutes to see Cinderella and Rapunzel (which jumped to 110 minutes when I blinked). So, we got on the carousel. The kids love to ride the carousel! After that, it was time for some ice cream! We all shared one expensive treat ... then we headed to Ariel's Grotto.
There they are on the carousel!
Mickey is everywhere!
Koki and Cole got to meet Ariel (thank you, Fast Pass), and Khloe thought that was pretty amazing! She was so excited to meet her ... she froze up, and she could only say her name to Ariel, but afterwards ... she was really happy to talk about meeting Ariel! "Her hair is SO pretty!" she said.
Koki was so happy!
Colton was excited to meet Ariel, too!
The kids meeting Ariel!
We decided to walk through the other side of the park after meeting Ariel ... it was nearly 9:00 p.m. by this point. That's when it happened. We got stuck thanks to the Fantasy of Lights Parade! So, we watched the parade ... then we got cattle herded to the castle for the Fireworks ... it was nearly 10:00 p.m. We just needed to get back to the hotel ... so after about 20-30 minutes ... we cleared the masses heading to watch the fireworks, and we got to the shops.
Colton and Khloe each got to pick one thing to buy at Disney. After some searching, Colton picked a boxed set of "Star of Wars" (as he calls it) figurines. He said, "Look, Mom! Dark Vader!" I said, "No, Cole ... it's DARTH Vader." "That's what I said," he replies, "Dark Vader!"
Colton with his "Star of Wars" characters.
Khloe wanted a princess ... and she picked out Belle. She was so excited to get her back to the hotel, so she could brush Belle's hair!
Khloe with Belle.
We had such a fun day! We watched the fireworks from the monorail all of the way back to the hotel. It was really beautiful! Some day when we don't have an infant, we'll stay for the fireworks, but that was not the day.
The next day, we spent at the pool and recouping from Disney. Here's a video of their awesome splash park.
Chilling at the pool
On Friday afternoon, we braved the rain (again), and we went to Disney's Animal Kingdom ... which is good, because it stopped raining by the time we arrived there! We spent about 3 1/2 hours there which we found was perfect for Animal Kingdom ... much more than that with the kids at the age they are would've been overkill. We got to do everything we wanted to do (minus a couple of shows).
A day of fun at Animal Kingdom.
Our first stop was the safari! It is such a good ride, and the kids loved seeing all of the animals. Bonus that we fast passed it, so we didn't have to wait in line at all. We got to see most everything except, of course, for the lions. Those lazy beasts ... always sleeping during the heat of the day! My kind of animal! We saw rhinos, gazelles, wildebeests, giraffes, elephants, flamingoes, cheetahs, etc. It was a super fun safari!
There's a giraffe back there!
Here he is! Up close and personal!
Khloe was excited to see the giraffe so close.
She sees something ....
Allie was awake for the safari!
After the safari, we headed to the Bugs' Life 3-D show. Billy and I really like this one, so we knew the kids would like it, too. They did! Colton kept trying to grab the bugs in front of his face while Khloe kept dodging them as they flew at her head! Alice did not like it ... we forgot how loud the show is! She was not a fan of the noise! Next year, maybe!
They loved the Bugs' Life show! It was cute to watch them grabbing for the bugs when they sped at us in 3-D!
We had a buggy-fun time!
After the show, we walked through Asia. Disney does such a great job making each area feel like you are actually in that country! Even the crowds help make it feel more realistic ... and then we happened upon Mt. Everest. It brought back some great memories!
The kids with Daddy in front of Mt. Everest.
Hey ... we've been here before ... and the next picture is of us and the REAL Everest!
Everest ... for real.
Hiking there ... for real.
We walked through Asia and came upon Dinosaurland. The kids really liked it there! They rode some triceratops ride ... much like Flying Dumbo. Then Billy took them into an "excavation" area, and they played and played. They had the most fun running around that play area!
Flying dinosaurs!
Our final stop, we went to meet Mickey and Minnie Mouse! They were all safaried out and ready for pictures. The kids seemed much less afraid of them than Goofy and Donald. They were very excited to get their picture with them ... even Alice had a big smile!
Big smiles all around!
Allie with Mickey and Minnie ...
By the end of the day, we were all exhausted. Khloe walked the entire time ... and she was ready for a nap! When we made it home to Tampa and pulled into our neighborhood, Khloe woke up and cried and cried! She wanted to go back to the hotel. It was pretty funny! That girl loves hotels.
We had a long few days ... she was wiped out!
We had to wait another week before we could go back to Magic Kingdom ... we were required to use all of our passes within 14 days. So ... last Sunday, we reserved our fast passes and headed back into the crazy land that is Disney. Khloe was sad that we didn't get to walk through Cinderella's castle the last time we were there, so that was our first stop. We walked through, and she was SO very excited! There are pictures of the story of Cinderella on the walls, and we looked at each one. She thought that was pretty cool!
Ready to walk through the castle.
Anybody home?
Trying to be strong enough to get the sword!
Trying to get that sword!
The look on her face! She is serious!
After that, we headed to the Princess Hall to meet Cinderella and Rapunzel. She was very excited, but again ... she froze when she met them. She was okay to say 'hi', but she was very quiet while she took pictures with them. After we left, she chatted and chatted about meeting the princesses. And meeting Cinderella was her favorite part of the day ... but silence encompassed our actual visits with the princesses. I'm glad she liked it, though ... even if she seemed awestruck!
Meeting beautiful Rapunzel!
She was so happy to be meeting her favorite princess, Cinderella!
Colton seems like he is having fun !?@#%
After we met the princesses, we rode on the carousel again. Those kids love carousels ... and with a 5-minute wait ... why not!
Such a pretty girl!
She picked out her horse!
Daddy and Colton ... Cole picked a tall horse.
When we finished the carousel, we walked the opposite way than we went the last time we were at Magic Kingdom ... this time, we went towards Frontierland. We passed by a Disney classic ride ... the Small World ride ... so with only a 10-minute wait, we rode the most annoying ride. The kids loved it, of course, because Disney is made for them! It is fun to see them having such a good time.
Small World Ride
From the Small World ride, we went on the river boat around Tom Sawyer's Island. It was a nice, slow trip. It felt good to be in the shade for a while. When that ride was over, we went to get some lemonade and ice cream! It was such a hot day! While eating our ice cream, Khloe saw the Magic Carpet Ride, so we went on it. It was only a 15-minute wait ... and even though, it's much like Dumbo (and the dinosaur ride), the kids seemed to think it was pretty awesome!
Billy and Colton rode behind us on the magic carpet ride.
When we were heading back to Tomorrowland, we passed by the Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse, so we climbed up through that. The kids wanted to live there! I think Billy did, too. It was so hot, and the kids were getting tired. We had to race across the park to make it in time for a fast pass that we had booked ... so Billy carried the kids. What a great dad!
Two tired kids ... no stroller ... what a good Dad!
Two lucky kids!
We made it just in time to drive the cars around the track, and luckily, both kids are tall enough to ride that one! They loved it, and I had whip lash by the end. Khloe got distracted when she saw Cinderella's castle from the ride, and it was downhill from there ... her driving wasn't too good!
She may have her Disney license, but this girl shouldn't be allowed on the road ... we bumped back and forth a lot ... #carsick
A wave from Billy in the front car ... Colton is driving!
Our last ride of the day, we took one more trip on Buzz Lightyear's Laser ride. We defeated Emperor Zerg, and we had a fun time doing it as a family! Luckily, Billy's parents were in town, and his mom watched Alice for us that day. Poor Allie ... she couldn't do another long, hot day at Disney!
On our way out, we ran into another parade. They were really excited to see Woody and Jessie! Khloe waved and waved!
Watching the parade.
Giving a smile on the way home ... or the stink-eye!
I'm thankful for FH Zephyr and the chance they gave us to take our kiddos to Disney. It may have been hot and crowded, but seeing how much Cole and Koki loved it ... that made it all worth the effort! Next year ... we'll see if Alice has some fun, too!
So, we were sitting at our kids' soccer practice a couple of months ago, when a few friends of mine started saying how we should go on a girls' trip somewhere ... of course, I chimed in with "there's no way Billy will watch Alice this young!" My friends were thinking of flying somewhere or doing a bigger trip ... but ultimately, they thought just a night at a hotel on the beach would be perfect. I still thought that I would have to join them next year ... as Alice (at the time of the initial discussion) was only 2 1/2 months old. But they had settled on a date that put her near the 4 month mark ... and so, I passed the idea along to Billy. And ... he didn't totally throw it out.
He said he thought that would be okay. I wondered how he would do with three kids for two days and one night all by himself ... I knew he would be more than fine with the older two ... but Alice ... sweet, baby Allie ... she is just too small. Don't get me wrong, he is VERY good with her. He is better than he gives himself credit for ... he just prefers them to be walking ... and eating solid foods ... and probably feeding themselves! I knew all would be fine, but I worried that he would forget something that I told him or be anxiously awaiting outside of the house for my return home while the kids tore up the house inside.
But ... I decided to take his gracious goodwill and go on my girls' weekend with two of my friends from MOMs Club and my good friend, Gwendy.
The weekend started out ... in a crazy way! I got out of the house late due to some unforeseen circumstances. Upon picking up my second friend from her house, I get a text about a broken bottle ... and then ... I realized that when I showed Billy how to put together the incredibly annoying Dr. Brown bottles, he may have been watching the NBA finals at the same time. I may have said, "Billy, do you see this? Are you paying attention?" He may have answered, "Yeah, clean this, put together that, I got it." But he wasn't paying attention, and no, he did not get it. It's partially my fault for not diagramming it on paper or with photos for him (and for thinking he could possibly pay attention to me with Tim Duncan's big face stretched across the TV screen) ... and it's partially his fault for not paying attention and telling me that he "got it". In the end, it got figured out ... it only took--4 trips back and forth to the house from where he had the kids eating lunch, 2 picture texts diagramming the contents of a Dr. Brown's bottle, a few annoyed phone calls, some long descriptive texts, and a few tries getting her to drink from a different bottle.
But I have to say, he never asked me to come home ... and he figured it out, so that I could have an enjoyable weekend with my friends. We may have hit a small snafu, but it was nothing Mr. Mom couldn't handle!
As our fun commenced ... we did some lounging at the beach, lounging poolside, shopping, eating at a fancy restaurant, chit-chatting, got some massages, and spa time ... and all without one kid interrupting us or needing something ... no potty breaks, snack time fiascos, meltdowns, early wake-up calls, sand eating, loud-yelling, screaming, diaper changing ... it was very nice ... but I can't say that we didn't talk about our kids and husbands often!
We all agreed that next time, we need two nights, so we can have more beach time ... and we need to get the 80 minutes massage instead of the 50 minute massage. Other than that, it couldn't have been more perfect. It's nice to have a break once in a great while, and we enjoyed it ... and then we were really excited to get back to our families! We all snuggled a little longer at bed time and read an extra story ... just because even though our lives may feel overwhelming sometimes ... hectic ... out of control ... we love our kids more than our need for sanity, and we miss the snotty-nosed kisses and the constant need for our love and attention ... because those little angels make our lives better with each passing day.
Cheers to Girls' Weekend 2014 ... and our husbands who made it possible!
It was a gorgeous evening at the beach!
A most beautiful sunset!
Most beautiful evening on the beach ... the clouds were gorgeous against the sand and sea ... and the weather was so cool and breezy!
Our view at dinner ... those clouds are above the ocean ... which it is too dark for you to see in a picture.
Dinner selfie!
Enjoying our beach time!
Getting ready for our massages.
Love this girl! We're enjoying spa time!
Lunching at The Original Frenchy's Cafe ... mmmmmm .... poutine!
Aren't these the cutest chocolates!?! They are so beautiful ... like jewels. And they were SUPER delicious!
