Florida Vacation!

Last week we spent the week in Florida for our first family vacation of the summer. It’s always great to go home to visit family and friends. We decided to travel the state for the week just to take everything in. We didn’t travel enough when we lived there and now that we don’t live there, we find ourselves wanting to check out the entire state (funny how things always work that way.)

We started off our trip in Orlando for a weekend at Disney World. Harlan couldn’t have been more excited and is at the absolute perfect age for this magical weekend. Avery just so happens to be obsessed with Mickey and Minnie and I knew she was going to fall in love as soon as she saw them.

We started our first morning at breakfast with the characters. Harlan likes to look at everyone from a distance, while Avery likes to get up close and personal with her favorite Disney friends.

We also had a chance to check out Animal Kingdom on our first day. I have only been to the park once, but that was years ago. MacKay and the girls had never been so it was exciting to watch them see everything for the first time.

As an animal loving family, our favorite ride was the safari trip. We got to check out the jungle animals up close and personal. Definitely a big change from the pigeons and squirrels we see in the city!

That night we had a very special spot watching the fireworks at Epcot. Har has never seen fireworks up close and personal and was a bit scared of the loud noise, but she couldn’t stop talking about the show as soon as it was over.

The next day we were a bit ambitious and decided to visit two parks in one day. We started off our day at Blizzard Beach. I was so impressed with their kiddie area. Avery and I spent all morning playing in the water while MacKay and Harlan hit the big slides.

Avery fell in love with this alligator and spent most of her time on him. She was very protective when other kids came over to play with him too. Hey, when a girl is in love, she knows it. 😉

We also spent a little time enjoying the good ole’ Florida sunshine.

The rest of the afternoon we spent at Magic Kingdom. We tried to fit in as many rides as we could. Har was just happy to get her princess balloon (and a Mickey chocolate ice cream pop.)

Avery and I spent most of our afternoon enjoying rides she could go on while MacKay and Harlan went on the big kid rides. This photo is a little blurry, but it captures the happiness on Avery’s face as we went through the Ariel ride. Having a big sister that is into Disney Princesses has paid off for this little girl. She knew exactly who Ariel was as we went through.

We also waited in line to meet Daisy and Minnie. Avery waited (patiently) in a 45 minute line to meet these two. I don’t think I’ve ever seen her so excited about it. There were definitely some tears shed when we had to leave. That girl loves her Minnie Mouse.