Florida/Disney

Now that we are with child our annual Vegas trip for Western States doesn't seem as practical anymore. Luckily, NAVC is in Orlando every January. My parents usually try and travel in January and my Aunt and Uncle winter in Florida so it made sense to go ahead and go this winter. We are lucky that Allegiant flies directly to Orlando. Here we are on the plane for Viv's first plane ride. I had her under quarantine at least the week before we left to help ensure she wasn't sick on the plane. I was very nervous about how she would do (I'm not a great flier anyway). Knowing that we were flying to Orlando and the high probability of having a lot of kids on the flight helped to ease my worries. She did fantastic and was kept entertained with the iPad and a pill container filled with puffs. 

Having fun at the kiddie pool...we had fantastic weather the whole time we were there.

Playing chase on the resort's lawn...

We stole one day away from the conference to go to Walt Disney World...Nathan had never been to Magic Kingdom and I hadn't been for over 20 years. We had a beautiful day and a lot of fun. 

Yep...we were 'that family'. I ordered matching t-shirts off of Etsy for everyone for Christmas. Not too soon after we entered the park we had purchased Mouseketeer ears and Donald Duck hats. Viv had a really cute Minnie Mouse tutu as well...she got lots of compliments. 

We rode as many rides as we could...I really can't imagine going in the summer with the heat and the crowds. The lines for some rides were still 45 min-2 hrs long. 

Riding Dumbo...

Viv was obsessed with pushing her stroller. 

Waiting to ride Space Mountain...I had to 'conquer' this roller coaster because I got horribly motion sick when I rode it in 3rd grade....and I'm glad to report that I survived. And I didn't make Dad go with me this time. 

No one does a parade quite like Disney...

Taking it all in...

We got to meet Mickey! I was certainly more excited than Viv...

We all rode the carousel...

Disney'd out...I think we made it about 10 hours total in the park. I wanted to stay for the lighted parade and fireworks show....but I got out voted :( Guess I'll have to wait until she gets older. 

We visited Animal Kingdom the next day...

Nathan had to go back to Iowa to go to work so it was just the 4 of us for the Animal Kingdom. In front of the Tree of Life. 

We saw some amazing animals on the Kilimanjaro Safari ride... 

I did not 'conquer' the Mt Everest Expedition roller coaster....the ride goes backwards for a portion and I was pretty queasy after I got off. I thought it would improve as I walked around but only got worse once I got back to the hotel. I skipped dinner and caught a quick nap and felt much better. Luckily I waited until the end of the day to ride it. The dad I sat next to had ridden it 3 times that day with his two sons! 

My mom actually got a picture of me on the roller coaster. She was just going to take a pic of the people on the ride and when she looked closer she realized that I was in the picture. Can you see the red shirt? 

Mom enjoyed the Disney ice cream...

Learning about the animals. 

The park is organized into continents/countries...here we are in 'Africa'. 

Animal kingdom was a lot of fun! 

We were going to also visit Harry Potter world at Universal Studios but after doing some brief research decided against it. We'll have to wait until Viv is a bit older (not that she got a lot out of WDW, but the lines are longer and you almost have to ride the rides to the get the whole experience). We visited Downtown Disney instead and had a lot of fun shopping for all things Disney. We then drove down to visit Al and Nancy...ready for the beach! 

The weather was warm but it was a bit windy on the beach...Viv did really well in the sand. I've heard that little kids don't really enjoy sand when they are really young. She was a bit unsure about walking on it with her shoes on and actually did a lot better once you took her sandals off. 

The water was cold! 

But we had fun digging and looking for shark's teeth. 

Nancy and Mom played Blokus on the beach. 

Viv has become completely obsessed with technology and will throw a fit when she's not able to watch Elmo on the iPad/phone....Wonder where she gets it from...

Ready to head out from Al and Nancy's. We had a great time visiting! 

We spent the last day scouting out possible vacation spots around Boca Grande and Gasparilla Island. We enjoyed our fun in the sun. Our flight home was delayed but we made it!