Mickey Breakfast

A yummy character breakfast at Cape May Cafe at the Disney Beach Club resort.  Grandma Val and Tyson skipped this one and had a nice sleep in. 

Henry wasn't scared at all.  I wonder if it's because he has a dog?

Magic Kingdom Day

When visiting Orlando for the first time it is mandatory to visit the Magic Kingdom first.  We decided to head over in the late morning after a short visit to the park. 

Henry was weirded out by the astroturf. 

Grandma Val and 4/5 Grandchildren.

the Disney bakery

Grandma Val and her kids!

Waiting in line for Big Thunder Mountain railroad. 

On my top list of priorities this year was bringing Paige on Big Thunder Mountain--a favourite of mine and my family when I was a kid.  It sure brought back lots of memories.

Disney with 11 people requires a little more coordination than when we had fewer numbers, but the day went well.  It was so fun to see Lizzy enjoying Disney for the first time...as well as her parents and Uncle Tyson of course.  When you get to Disney there are still so many things that need to happen.  A tram ride in, followed by the ferry (as the monorail was closed most of the time this trip), followed by lining up to go through security, and then lining up to scan your ticket. As you can imagine there were a few baby meltdowns during this time, but we eventually got the babies fed and happy before continuing on in our journey into the Magic Kingdom.  The weather was great and the new fast pass system as well as light crowds meant that the day went by without too much waiting around for rides.  The original plan was to go to the fireworks on the next Disney day, but Jen had the (smart) idea to just push through and try to fit it in.  The day was going well and it was best to make the most of it.  The fireworks were awesome as usual and then we had the arduous task of making it back to the car.  Luckily we had agreed on a meeting place by the stroller rental area, because as soon as the fireworks ended our group of 11 promptly lost one another in the massive crowd.  The kids were all accounted for beforehand of course. All of the kids were exhausted and Henry passed out in the stroller.  The girls just got quiet as it was way past their bed times.  Disney at night is so fun and we realized there was a nightly dance party as well as other activities that we'll one day enjoy more when the kids are older.

First day with the team

As the rest of the family didn't arrive until late night on the Saturday (major delays), we saw the whole team on Sunday morning.  We went off to breakfast and enjoyed the sun and lack of snow. 

almost 4 year olds

Lizzy was so happy to meet up with her cousins after hours and hours of travel.  

Lulu

Grandma V with her boys

So exciting to share this incredible location with everyone.  And Grandma Val was happy to be back at a familiar place.

On route to Orlando!

An early early morning wake up to go to the airport. I think I was getting Henry out of bed at 3:50.  Unfortunately Rose woke up just after 1:00 for water or something and I never fell back to sleep.  Sleeping when excited is pretty much not possible for me. I decided to keep that piece of information to myself and try to be in the most cheerful mood possible.  It actually worked and I only started to feel really tired after dinner. 

Blankets and spring jackets

No problems wheeling their own suitcases. 

This year we had less luggage and 1 extra person.  The girls brought fewer books and toys and packed all of their clothes in their suitcases.

As per usual, we had no time to get breakfast or coffee before getting on the plane.  Really though, who wants to get up even earlier to have time to sit around in the airport.

I sat with all 3 kids.  Easier to feed Henry and let him sleep on me when not sitting beside a stranger. 

Paige has been on the plane more than 20 times.

It was great arriving in Orlando before 10am! By the time we got the rental car etc. and got on our way it was before lunch.  Unfortunately the plans of swimming and basking in the sun were thwarted by the rainy day, but we stopped at McDonalds for a lunch (I had a craving after that early wake up and lack of food on the plane!), and then went to the hotel and were able to check in early, which was a life saver! Being able to unpack and relax as well as grocery shop was fantastic.  I remember being insanely elated to be there.

Backyard friend

Florida bound

In 6 days we leave for our 4th annual Orlando trip! This time we have Grandma Val, Auntie Booze, Uncle James, Uncle Tyson, Lizzy, and Lewis coming along for the first week! This is sure to be a vacation to remember.  We will be staying an additional week--Paige will really miss a lot of school this time. 

We're staying at the usual place, so there's no stress in terms of worrying about what to expect, but of course it is a bit stressful to pack up a family of 5.  Mike worries about himself of course, but I take charge of the rest of us and hope not to forget anything. 

All 5 of us have Nexus passes now too which will make for a speedy bypass of customs, and Mike's Air Canada status allows us to go straight up to the business class line to check our bags.  Even though things should be quick at the airport we'll still have to wake up at 3:30am in order to get there on time for our 6:30 am flight. Nice.  

At any rate, we are over the top excited, which will make for a long week of waiting.  I will attempt to blog on the road...