Two weeks since my last post...things got a little crazy the last few days getting ready for our trip...and we've just been pooped since we got back! Laundry is washed but not put away- suitcases are almost emptied out (except the sand we need to go dump outside!), trying to get back to normal. I don't recall being pooped out while we were ON vacation (until the last day and then the travel day home).... is reality really this exhausting?!
SO--since we took a TEN DAY vacation I'm going to fill you in on everything thru a few posts. I'm allotting myself ten minutes of blogging time right now. So we'll see how far I get!
We flew to Orlando on April 29th. We flew on Continental...everything went great. I've never had such ON TIME flights ever. The girls did wonderful. Hannah did the same thing Brooke did at this age-- fell asleep the last 45 minutes of each leg. Other kids konk out the entire flight, not ours. But she was good. Brooke sat with grandma and grandpa, and except for some whining when we were landing because of her ears, she did great too. Mommy was a little panicked on the flight out of Wichita- we took off in a storm (and ironically, our friends were delayed because of a storm the next morning. difference in pilots I guess). It was a very turbulent first 20-30 minutes. Brooke was giggling, and I was downing the dramamine and wondering if those Catholic "Hail Marys" really got you anywhere..lol..! But we made it!
It took almost 45-stinkin-minutes to get our rental cars at the Orlando airport. I was annoyed - it threw my afternoon off kilter. You know me and schedules...or maybe you don't- But I'm a schedule person. We finally found someplace to eat (some Wendy's hidden off an exit ramp), and then were on to Sarasota to see my family. They were supposed to meet us at the hotel pool to relax for awhile that evening- and meet us at 5. We got checked in at 450. So while Matt brought in luggage, I threw the girls into their swimsuits and took off down to the pool. We got to spend a few hours with my cousin Kelly, her son Kai, hubby Scott; my aunt and uncle, and my cousin Mick and his wife and kids too. My grandma was there as well. It was great to see everyone and have some time unwinding and playing in the pool after a long day of travel.
The view from our Balcony at the Hyatt in Sarasota
Thursday morning we got up, had some breakfast (complimentary of the hotel because they messed up our reservation and did not have connecting rooms for us). Matt's parents stayed behind (they had their own rental car) and did their own thing for the day while we went to spend the day with my Grandma. We hung around at her house, went out to lunch, and hung out some more. At 3p.m.; we were on our way back to Orlando!
The girls with their great-grandma Nanny
We checked into the Dolphin side of Disney's Swan/Dolphin resort. This I think is owned by Disney but operated by Starwood...so not a complete Disney property but ON Disney property with the busses, etc. It was a gorgeous hotel. We took the girls to the pool for awhile; they had 5 different ones and it was gorgeous!!! Here we did have connecting rooms with Matt's parents; so we put Hannah to bed in the pack-n-play, then hung out in their room. We were able to see the Epcot fireworks from our windows. Brooke would not go in and go to bed without us for some reason (when we're in a hotel room with 2 double-beds, she sleeps with one of us). So we all went to bed about 930.
Friday morning was the BIG DAY. We were off to MAGIC KINDGDOM for the day. I was sooooo excited! I love MK. It was Hannah's first visit to WDW and we were pumped. We got on one of the first busses and got there about 25 minutes before the park opened. We could tell it was going to be a hot day. We started the day off with our friends; and after the little opening-show thingy- it was off thru the gates, down Main Street, thru the Castle and onto FANTASYLAND. When you have little ones, it's best to head straight to Fantasyland and ride as much as you can back there before the lines get long. Dumbo is popular with the little ones and it doesn't have a fast-pass. So we rode Dumbo first, then the Carousel twice, then It's a Small World. Hannah got to ride all of those with us. She LOVED "Small World." She was smiling, and pointing, and giggling, and clapping. It was so cute. Brooke was so excited to be there she was grinning ear to ear!
Hannah's first Disney ride!
Hannah's first Disney ride!
After a potty/diaper break, we took a few minutes to regroup. We were bound and determined to get a ride on Splash Mountain and Big Thunder Mountain, but our friends weren't planning on heading that way (it was their first visit to WDW). So... Grandma and Grandpa took Brooke with the Barnes' to Peter Pan, and Matt, Hannah and I headed over with our park passes to get fast-passes for those two rides.
Well my time is up- by the time I added in the pictures I was more at 20 minutes. So much for being disciplined-- lol....off to figure out dinner so I can leave to workout when Matt gets home...
Up next....Finishing up Magic Kingdom.... "Zip-a-dee-do-dah, Zip-a-dee-yeah, my oh my what a wonderful day"....
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