Disney World

 **********CAUTION: PICTURE OVERLOAD IN BELOW POST**********

The first weekend in May we took a little family vacation up to Orlando. Right now Florida residents can get a 3 or 4 day pass to Disney World at a pretty cheap price. And Doug still had some personal days left that needed to be used up so it was the perfect opportunity to go. We drove up Thursday morning & went straight to the park.

 ~Disney Hollywood Studios~ 

 Neither of us had ever been here before so since we only had a half day left we figured we would check it out. I am sooo glad we did because we all loved it! The first thing we did was well yes...we took a picture.

 But after that we headed on over to the Disney Junior Live Show. My boys love watching Disney Junior at home so I knew this would be a real treat for them.

Waiting in line to get into the show.

 Mickey Mouse Clubhouse! 

 

 Liam has become completely obsessed with Mickey Mouse & says his name all the time. It's so cute. 

Don't mind me & my drowned rat look. It was raining outside & mixed with the humidity, my hair is a hopeless wreck. Blah.

 So why not add to the look by making this wretched face?! Haha! The show was super cute

& I had fun singing along too. Being a stay at home mom, I have all the songs memorized as well. Haha!

After the show we got to meet Jake & Handy Manny. The area we were in had a ton of characters so we went around to meet as many as we could.

 

 Gavin loved meeting Wreck It Ralph & Venelope!

He was super excited about meeting Stitch, but he was a little weary when it came to actually being so close. I just LOVE his face in this picture!

Giving Minnie Mouse some love. So cute!

Donald & Daisy
Gavin was pretty insistent that he hold Donald's hand because he's a boy & that I hold Daisy's hand because she is a girl. Haha!

Such a sweet & patient boy waiting in all these lines to meet these characters. Can't get over those big brown eyes & long lashes. So handsome!

So happy to finally meet M-I-C-K-E-Y   M-O-U-S-E!

It rained off & on all day so we did as much as we could that was indoors. We found our new favorite ride too! Toy Story Mania-Andy's Room. So fun! It's a lot like the Buzz ride where you shoot things, but way easier to actually do. We went a few times it was that much fun. :)

The rain really wasn't letting up so we decided to call it a day.  We grabbed some dinner & then went to the resort to check in.  Not long after getting in the car Gavin fell asleep.

At least I was able to see & capture a pretty rainbow out of all the rain we got. I was just praying that it wouldn't be like this the whole time.

Day 2

{Disney Animal Kingdom}

Well the boys started out the day bright dark & early. They didn't go to bed til 9:30 & they both woke up at 6:00 AM!!! Why can't kids get it that when you go to be late, you sleep in?! Ahhh. They must have been just so excited right? So after having some Fruit Loops we got an early start.

Animal Kingdom is one of my favorite parks at Disney. The shows, animals, & the overall beauty of the park is just wonderful!

The first thing we did was go on the Safari ride. This is one of our favorites here at Animal Kingdom.

 You wouldn't guess by his face, but Liam really did love seeing all the animals. He would ooo ooo & jump around while pointing to them all.

 

 

 

Liam fell asleep in the stroller afterwards so Doug & Gavin headed on over to It's Tough To Be A Bug 3D show. Gavin completely flipped out in to hysterics last summer during the show. We were hoping now that he's a bit older & having had been there before would be a better experience.

 But it wasn't. Doug said he got scared & had a death grip on his hand/arm the whole time.

 We saw the Lion King show & it was fantastic! These acrobat monkeys were amazing. Loved everything about this show from the music, costumes, performances etc. A must see!

 Just drummin

 The characters from the Hundred Acre Woods were there so we just had to stop by & say hi.

 Look at that grin on Gavin's face. Ear to ear joy to have a hug from Pooh Bear.

 A little more weary of Eeyore.

 But having fun bouncing with Tigger!

 Dino Land was fun, but there was only one ride that the boys could go on.

 My two boys did so good waiting in all of the lines. I thought Liam would for sure try to run off or just get mad staying in one place. But I guess with so much to look at that kept him entertained.

We called it a day around 4PM & headed back for some dinner & swimming at the hotel.
I loved that there was a kiddie pool with more shallow water for the boys to play in.

These boys sure love their Daddy. And what a good daddy he is too. Always willing to get down & play with them. We got the boys in bed & down by 8:00 & we hit the sack around 9:00. Yep, it felt great to go to bed so early.

Day 3

{Disney Magic Kingdom}

Holy canoli, the boys didn't wake until 8:00AM. Wahoo! Today was the day we were going to Magic Kingdom & I was SUPER excited. To me, this park is where it all began. It's classic Disney & really does have a sense of magic that you can feel.

 I didn't realize til just now that we are all matchy matchy. Haha!

 My cute boys in the Mickey Mouse shirts. Liam is quite obsessed. It's so cute how he says Mickey Mouse. It comes out like, "Mick-eeee Ouuuse". :)

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 Gavin & I on the Goofy roller coaster. I got him to raise his arms above his head on the climb up, but he got pretty nervous as soon as we dropped. :)  But he loved his first roller coaster experience. 

After a few rides we headed over to the newly finished Beauty & the Beast castle. This part of the day was 100% just for me. Doug & the boys could have cared less, but I was super giddy & excited about going in & having lunch in the castle. I guess the princess in us never really leaves does it?

We didn't have to wait in line too long either. I think it was like 20-25 minutes is all.

These knights were sleeping. You could hear them snoring while we waited in line. Haha!

Gavin was a little nervous to get too close.

 So the whole process is pretty sweet. You go up to the computer, register your rose (in Gavin's hand above), then simply order your food & pay. Then you get to pick out of three dining areas where you want to eat & that it. Your food simply shows up wherever you are. Gotta love Disney for putting tracking devices in the rose to find you. Sweet huh? Anyways, while I was ordering our food, the boys were running a muck & wrestling on the ground.

You can count on us to give a good show. Any place, any time. haha! 

As we were looking at all the dining areas, it was Doug that made the call for us to eat in the Beasts West Wing. I couldn't help but roll my eyes as it was typical that he'd insist on eating in the manliness room possible. :) 

 

 The enchanted rose

Happy boy!

The food was really good & we all had a great time. I was thankful for my boys indulging my inner princess request. :)

Gaston's Tavern was really cool too. But we only looked as we had just eaten.

 Swiss Family Robinson tree house.

Ariel's grotto was super cute. I love that all the rides in Fantasyland allowed our entire family. Liam got to go on everything that Gavin could go on. Score!

We went back to the hotel to take naps because we wanted to return to Magic Kingdom after dinner to stay until dark for the fireworks, parade etc.

We did a few more rides & shows after we returned to the park. Gavin loved Pirates of the Caribbean.

 Pirate Gavin 

 Riding the train around the park. The boys loved this! As did we as it gave us a little break from walking around. 

These two just melt my heart!

We found a spot for the parade right in the circle on Main Street in front of Cinderella's castle. Gavin & I both had been wanting some cotton candy so I went off in search of some. There were soooo many people settling down for the show that it took me like 25 minutes to go only 5 minutes away. Geesh.

 But worth every tasty, sugary bite! 

Kisses!

The Electrical Parade

Not the greatest pictures, but so cool!

Pete's Dragon

 These two boys were loving getting to stay out late. I don't think they have ever ever stayed up this late before. Yes, we are those parents that stick to bedtime quite religiously. :)

After the parade we just turned ourselves around & got to watch the light/music show displayed on the castle. This was awesome! They basically went through every Disney movie made. Loved it!

 The Cheshire cat

 Wreck It Ralph

 Lion King

 Getting ready to see the firework show

 

So beautiful & breath taking. I must admit that I had a little moment sitting there where I became a little emotional. This was the very first time my little family has ever been on vacation just as us. We've been on lots of trips, but have always gone with family or friends. It was this magical moment that I realized this was our first experience just the four of us. I think that's what got me a little teary eyed. I just love my sweet family with all my heart & to come to Disney & see them light up over all the magic just really pulled on my heart strings.

Day 5

{Hollywood Studios Part II}

Our last day was only going to be a half day as we needed to drive back home. We decided to hit up Hollywood Studios again since we didn't get to do everything there the first day.

 I'm glad we did because we saw some fun shows. Doug & Gavin watched an Indiana Jones show & then we all went to watch the Live Motors Extreme Stunt Show. They demonstrated how stunts are done in movies. It was pretty cool.

 

This guy was in heaven! He was a giddy little school boy watching these fast, crazy cars fly around corners, jump over cars, fire & through buildings. He said it was the best part of the whole trip. :)

 One part that I thought was beyond cool was when they explained how drivers are capable of driving in reverse for so long. Well the secret is....they don't. The cars outer frame is built backwards. So the driver is facing the rear but actually driving forward & his helmet has two sides & the body suit has extra arms on it to hold the fake steering wheel. So it's all an illusion that the car is going in reverse. Pretty cool huh? So you're probably asking then how can they have close ups of the actual driver? Well when the real/normal car goes behind a building or something, the fake/tricked out car is waiting there & they switch places in the chase scene. Yep. Doug was in heaven alright. :)

 And Lightening McQueen made an appearance which Gavin was super excited about. :)

Squeezing in another Toy Story ride. This was by far the favorite!

We just had to get Mickey Ice Cream Bars before we could leave. The boys devoured them!

Goodbye Disney World! We'll see you again next year.

This is what happened about 5 minutes after being in the car. My boys were soooo tired from having sooo much fun! They really did amazing over the trip & we had seriously the best time ever!