Vacation Recap

I never thought I would consider a trip to Orlando a “vacation”.  Sure, it’s considered a vacation hot spot for most of the world, but when you grow up in South Florida, not so much.   Mini spent the entire beginning of 2015 planning her “vacation” wardrobe.  I have never seen a kid so excited to wear a bathing suit.  Clearly she is not a fan of the Birmingham winter.  She marched out of her room a week before she left dragging her Minnie Mouse suitcase behind her and parked it right at the front door announcing she was ready.  When she went to bed I took a peek inside.  10 bathing suits.  2 bows.  Curious George.  And her hairbrush.  At least she makes hair-care a priority.

The real reason for the trip was not to lay around basking in the Florida sun.  We were headed South to watch my little sister Jessica graduate nursing school!  Celebrations were definitely in order.  She completed a one year accelerated program to get her Bachelors of Science in Nursing.  Yippee!   We are so proud of her!

My family rented a big house with a nice heated pool (for Mini, of course).  It was such a great idea I had, to rent the house.  (Because it was my idea Mom, don’t take the credit).  It’s so hard to stay in hotels when you have small kids.  Everyone is split up and all of the meals have to be eaten out.  You all know I’m way too cheap for that.  Our house was beautiful.  5 bedrooms, each with their own full bath.  Heat pool and hot tub.  Game room with pin ball machines & air hockey.  Kitchen, living room, dining room, you name it.  There was so much space and it was clean as a whistle; fresh flowers and everything!  It was the perfect size for our group of 8 adults and 2 kids.  I loved that we got to go food shopping and eat most of our meals in the house around the table just like if we were at home.  Going out to eat with 2 kids is really not the most enjoyable experience.  Sure, once in a while, but not 15 meals in 5 days.  No thank you.  Anyways, I digress.  If you are interested in vacationing in the Orlando area, I highly suggest renting a home as opposed to a hotel.  You won’t be sorry.

Naturally since we were in Orlando we had to spend a day in the Magic Kingdom.   It was a perfect day for Joey’s first time to Disney.  The weather was great and it wasn’t all that crowded.  You couldn’t ask for better circumstances to be in a theme park.  Even Mike had a good time and if you knew how he felt about walking around in a theme park all day you would understand how great the day was.  Mini had a blast ordering everyone around as usual.  Disney with your grandparents is truly a toddler’s paradise.  I don’t think she heard the word NO the entire day.  Joey was the cutest thing ever to ride a carousel.   I literally had to PRY his chubby fingers off of the horse when the ride ended.  (Follow me on instagram to check out the video).   I always love looking at Mini’s face during the parades and I finally got to watch one with Joey.  He did not disappoint.  His whole little face lit up in wonder and he was bouncing on my hip to the music.   His first trip was just perfect.

We spent the last day of the trip relaxing in the backyard.  It sounds silly to say, but it felt so good just to feel the sun on your face.  We have been out of Florida for too long.  I was feeling like such a tourist.   It’s hard being away from family so it was great to just spend time with everyone.   I’m already feeling homesick again.  Or maybe I’m just detoxing from a weekend of martinis and taboo…

Our trip in pictures