Vacay

I know you are all waiting on the edges of your seats for house details and real quick we got the keys Sunday and wouldn't you know it I forgot my camera and what are details without pictures? So, you'll have to settle with vacay. And can I just say it seems like such a long time ago we went but really it was just 2wks ago.
This is going to be a 2 parter there just no other way around it. As we spent part of our time in Disney and the other part at the beach.  My in-laws joined us in this trip and we created some memories! We flew direct flight from our home town to St. Petersburg, FL.

Day 1 (travel day): Now, we have a very dinky dinky airport in which the be there 2hrs prior to plane departure does not apply you are good with 45min before departure.  We went in with the intentions of carrying our luggage on  however the plane was full and everyone was carrying on so they were checking bags for FREE. Umm...we didn't even have to think twice as we were only carrying on to save money not because we enjoy walking onto a plane with 2 carry on bags, diaper bag, personal bag and a 17mos old.  We all survived the flight Ian played with the reading material in the seat and then the window and then slept for about 1.5hrs the total flight time is 2hrs 20min.  We arrive safely retrive our luggage and rental car, load up and head over to Orlando.  About an hr and half later we arrive at our resort with the help of my sister on the phone, to say we had directionally challenged people in our vehicle would be putting it lightly.  A quick trip to the grocery store and a chance to freshen up (note, this is where I went into a bit of a tailspin as I learned I forgot my straightner, my straightner to me is what a curling iron is to my grandma's...IMPORTANT.  I quickly texted my sister to have her bring me hers) my sister (my hero) arrives to escort us to Downtown Disney to meet my grandparents for dinner.  We ate at Raglan Road which is a fun Irish restaurant with Irish dancing and all!  From there we headed to my sister's place for homemade apple pie, visiting and for Ian to run a muck of my sister's house.



Day 2 (Magic Kingdom): My sister and her entourage arrived at our resort to escort us to the park.  My MIL is still recovering from having the arch in her foot rebuilt, and bones realigned in her foot so she got a wheelchair (which is basically you're golden ticket to the front of every line, thanks MIL).  Our plan was spend about 4-5hrs in the park and then head back to resort so Ian could sleep. We parked hopped on the ferry and made our way to Cindy's Palace.  We did It's a Small World (Ian clapped and danced along w/the music), Pirate's of the Carribean (he stayed awake this time on it, last year he fell alseep), Country Bear Jamboree (he LOVED this one), Buzz Lightyear (gotta admit this one is so much more for adults than a 17mos old but it did kept his interest and he was able to do a little bit of it but I got way more into than he did), and Jungle Cruise (gotta love corny jokes) were our attractions for the AM.  Ian fell alseep on the monorail ride back to the car and then was completely awake and wanted no part of a nap once back at the resort so my sister and I put our suits on and Ian's suit and too the pool we went.  After a refreshing swim and some relaxing we ate dinner (well some of us did Ian got a milkshake) at Fuddruckers from there we headed back to Magic Kingdom for the Light Parade, changing of the castle (which is AWESOME), and the fireworks show (which is also AWESOME and starts right after the castle).  Now here's a little Disney tidbit for the fireworks the best place to stand is anyone on Main St that the train tracks cross. Stand there and you won't miss ANYTHING!!

Day 2 (Animal Kingdom): This a smaller park when is comes to attractions.  It has the most land out of all the parks though.  We sent out to It's Tough to be a Bug which is located inside the Tree of Life, on the docket next was Kilimanjaro Safari this is worth the wait (we waited 80min) if you can get a fast pass then GET ONE after this my sister had to leave us as duty called and she had little ones to teach.  When you get off the safari ride you walk right into the Pangani Forest Exploration Trail which is a self guided tour where you can see more animals.  From there we headed to the Wildlife Express Train which is a train ride over to the Conservation Station (do this early sometimes you can watch actual procedures, check-ups, etc being done on the animals that reside at Animal Kingdom), Affection Station (petting area).  We called it a day after that now if we hadn't then I would've gone on Expedition Everest and then called it a day.  Now, when Ian is older there is more that he would enjoy to do there but since we are still pointing, grunting and calling everything a doggie we aren't ready for fossil finding just yet. Future visit. We kept it simple that night and ordered Ian's favorite for dinner PIZZA and he ate NONE of it.  He barely ate any type of meal while were gone he survived on grapes, apples, puffs, french fries (when he would eat them), milkshakes, and milk.

Day 3 (Hollywood Studios and Epcot): this is our final day doing the park thing so it was go time with no time to waste.  We started with Hollywood Studios so that way we could end with Epcot and watch their firework show, but more on that later.  A must (so we have heard) is Toy Story Mania my advice is the 1st thing you do when you get to the park is gather everyone's ticket in your group ditch them at the enterance and run like you have never ran before to the fast pass distribution area for Toy Story Mania and get your fast passes. As it is apparently a great attraction, we were not smart and did not do this therefore we didn't get to experience the greatness. We did instead the following: Disney Junior (warning this is without a doubt for the kids, Ian loved it), we meet Winnie the Pooh and Mickey (we totally used our smarts on this as the line for Mickey was about 45min wait and the wait for Pooh was about 30min so as I searched for Marcus my sister waited in line for Mickey and then Marcus, Ian and I waited for Pooh for FIL was our line informer and right after Pooh we walked over to Mickey and my sister was next in line...PERFECTION. From there we headed to the Back Lot Tour, and then the Great Movie ride.  Now, if it was just Marcus, my sister and myself then we would've done Rockin' Roller Coaster and Tower of Terror. We headed back to the resort where once again Ian had NO interest in napping, after some freshing  up we headed over to Epcot where we visited all the countries.  Ian and I took a trip to the Yacht and Beach club which is the Disney resort my sister works at part time to meet her co-workers who I have heard so much about.  After a while we headed back to Epcot (it's all with in walking distance) and meet up with Marcus and my in-laws. We did more venturing around and waited for the clock to hit 8:45 at which time we headed to the bridge that connects England with Paris (best in-park spot to watch the fireworks if you don't book a pontoon at the resort my sis works at).

Day 4 (Downtown Disney and travel day aka My Birthday): we packed up and headed to downtown disney where we were meeting my sister for a sandwich from Earl of Sandwich and Ghirardelli ice cream and of course to fulfill all of our souvenir needs.  We also rode the carousel which Ian disliked A LOT, and played in the water fountain which after some warming up he loved.  Big thanks to my sister who during lunch took Ian outside so Marcus and I could eat without a Ian taturam although she did take him to the water fountain and he ended up shirtless I still thank her! We then hopped in the car and headed west.

Enjoy some pics of Day 1-4: