Mickey & Shamu

So last week our little family ventured out on our first family vacation! We've been on vacation before, but not just the four of us - we've always had a set of grandparents with us during previous trips. But this time, it was just us. We went to Orlando to visit Mickey Mouse and Shamu. Here's a recap of our week.

Saturday morning I had to wake up the kids at about 4:00 a.m. Why I scheduled our flight at 6:30 a.m. is still a mystery. I swear I don't remember doing that, but I must have because I did the same thing for our return flight. Anyway, I whispered to Addi as I knelt over her that today was the day we got to go to Florida. She had her eyes closed still, but smiled great big and then jumped out of bed. She has NEVER been so easy to get out of bed. So we got everyone packed up and got to the airport. We flew Continental on the way there, which was less than a pleasant experience. First they didn't give us seat assignments from Indy to Houston. Then they didn't even have us on the flight from Houston to Orlando. Ike told them they had better get us on board since we had booked it back in March. Well, they ended up getting us on the flight and all was right with the world, other than the fact that Continental doesn't even give you peanuts or pretzels without charging you for them. Geesh.

So we get to Orlando safely, and get to the rental car place. Enterprise was super great. They saw that we couldn't fit our bus stroller into the trunk, so they upgraded us to a small SUV at no extra cost! We also rented two carseats for the week, and due to liability, the driver has to install them. So poor Ike was installing the car seats while I corralled the children. I had to keep yelling at Addi to get down from the pole that she kept climbing and swinging from. It was one of those concrete poles that are used as barricades in parking lots or gas stations.

So we got to our condo and my mom really hooked us up. We stayed at a Bluegreen condo, called The Fountains. Two bedrooms, full kitchen, living room, screened in balcony. We went to Publix to pick up some groceries for the week. Then that night we hung out in the indoor pool and hot tub. It was nice to finally relax.

Sunday morning we got up to go to Sea World. I have a love/hate relationship with Sea World. I love seeing and petting the dolphins and whales, but I feel sad that they are in captivity. That being said, we had a great time seeing the dolphin show, Shamu show, and all the other animals. Some funny stuff happened while we were there. Addison and I went to pet and feed the dolphins, while Camden went with Ike to look at the sting rays. Here's some pictures of Addi and me with the dolphins.

Love this!

I love dolphins

Looks like they're having a conversation

 
Now here's the back story - Cam has an arm on him. I swear that boy is going to be a pitcher or quarterback someday. He has been taking his binky out of his mouth and whipping it across the room since he was 5 months old. And he does it without warning, he does it so fast that there's no way to stop it. Okay, back to the sting rays. So Ike was holding Cam above the sting ray tank when all of the sudden Cam whips his binky out of his mouth and throws it into the tank! It was a feeding tank, by the way. Luckily the torpedo binky didn't hit any innocent sting rays and they all swam down to the bottom. Ike thought quickly and reached out to grab the binky so no sting rays choked on it, or developed a pacifier habit. No sting rays were harmed in this story.

We then went to the dolphin show right after the sting ray incident. Camden decided to throw his shoe while we were there. He whipped it down a couple aisles and it hit a lady. Poor thing. Luckily she was nice and smiled as we apologized. Ike and I decided we are going to tape his binky to his face and his shoes to his feet.

Cam approximately 2.2 seconds before winging his shoe

Monday, we hung out at the resort pool and went to Downtown Disney for dinner that night. We went to T-Rex, which was neat, but Camden didn't like it one bit. There was a "meteor shower" every 15 minutes and the lights flickered, the dinosaurs roared, you get the drift. The food was pretty good. I just wish Camden would have liked it, and felt better. He ended up spiking a fever that night. Not only that, but we watched the news when we got home as Tuesday. We saw that the weather on Tuesday, our first Disney day, was to be a washout - 1 to 3 inches of rain! A tropical storm was headed towards Orlando. Go figure. We had to go on Tuesday because that was the day we had breakfast booked with the princesses at Cinderella's Royal Table and you had to have park admission. So we just decided we'd go, make the most of it, and probably leave early.

So Tuesday morning, we got up and got the kids ready. Addi was all set to go as Ariel. The skies looked ominous with the threat of storms. Addison also looked ominous as you can see below. I think she was mad because I didn't let her wear her red wig. More on that later.

Angry Ariel

Threaten to leave and look how quickly her attitude changed!

The breakfast was a lot of fun. Addi loved it and I think I had just as much fun as she did. Camden didn't seem to like any of the princesses, except for Ariel. He tried to get away from all of them, except for her. He watched her the whole time she was at our table. Maybe he's going to have a thing for redheads.

Trying to escape from Snow White

Apparently Aurora doesn't do it for him either

Wait, he's not trying to escape!

Love at first sight

Once we left the breakfast it was super cloudy, but not raining yet, so we decided to do as much as we could before the monsoon arrived. Well, it ended up completely missing us! We checked out the radar later that evening and it went right around Orlando. We got sprinkles a few times through the day, but that was it. I'm chalking that one up to my dad. I think he put in a good word with God for us. He was supposed to be there with us, and I think he still was, just in a different way than originally planned. Thanks Dad - we had a great time! Plus, I think the threat of the rain scared people away, so we had little to no lines all day. It was just perfect. Perfect and exhausting.

This is a random picture of Camden, but it makes me smile

Wednesday, we totally relaxed and did pretty much nothing. Needed some recovery time. Here's a super cute picture that totally shows how tired we were on Wednesday.

Sleepy time

Thursday was the day we had tickets to Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party at Magic Kingdom. We got to the park at 4:00 p.m., as this was the earliest we could get in without also paying for park admission. My sweet mom bought us tickets to the party and it was so fun! Thanks Mom - you're the best! We were able to get some more autographs and pictures before the festivities began at 7:00. Most importantly - Mickey & Minnie!

Waiting to meet the mice

Minnie poses like a Colts Cheerleader - she's got the toe pop down pat

All day Addi had been asking to put on her red wig. If you've read my previous blog about this wig, you'd know how much she loves it. I promised her after dinner we would put on her red wig. We also decided we'd get Cam ready after dinner too since he gets everything all over himself. So we finished dinner and got Cam ready. He was The Incredible Hulk. I kept calling him Hulk Hogan and Ike kept correcting me. Well, they both have the word Hulk in them. Close enough. We put Addison's wig on her, and it was like she transformed into another person. She walked differently, posed differently, acted differently. She had an alter ego. Hey wait, I think that's the same thing that happens to strippers when they put on wigs. Crap.

Who knew a wig could cause so much happiness?

Hulk Hogan The Incredible Hulk

 

Check out that pose

We stayed for the Villain's Show and the Boo-To-You Parade. It was so fun. The kids got pretty worn out, so we left around 9:30. Here's a favorite pic from earlier that day. I broke down and wore ears. It's amazing how you become brainwashed at Disney. But I loved it. Don't worry though, I won't be sporting Mickey Mouse shirts around town or anything.

We love Magic Kingdom

Friday we went to Sea World one more time for a few hours, then went to the Rainforest Cafe for dinner. It was so good and so fun! The kids were in great moods too, so that always helps make any experience more enjoyable. We asked Addison what her favorite part of the week was and she said, "Just being with you and Daddy and Camden." It was so sweet - and I really think she meant it! However, earlier in the week I asked her the same thing and she responded, "The donuts!" So who knows?

Saturday we had to leave early and come back to Indiana. None of us wanted to come home. We would have missed our flight since the line at Delta was ridiculous. Luckily a worker lady asked if anyone was close to the 45 minute cut off for luggage drop off and we were so we got pulled out of line and sent on our way. Thank goodness. As much as we wanted to stay, we didn't want to stay in the Orlando airport.

We had a wonderful time and cannot wait to go back!!