A Magical Vacation

So, I know it's taken me a few days to get the blog updated with pictures from Florida, but after such a busy (and really fun!) vacation, I needed a couple of days of rest! We all had such a good time! We arrived at our resort, Old Key West, Thursday afternoon via Disney's Magical Express. We didn't waste any time enjoying the warm sunny weather and headed straight to the pool after we checked in. Okay, so the water was a little too chilly for me, but the boys and the kiddos all got in. But now on to the fun stuff. Here's the rundown of our trip...

Day 1: Animal Kingdom
We got an early start Friday morning and headed over to Animal Kingdom for breakfast with the characters. It was a really good time! The whole gang was there -- Mickey, Donald, Daisy and Goofy. We really weren't sure what Jackson would think of the characters (especially after how he felt about the Easter Bunny), but he LOVED them! And I mean, absolutely, couldn't get enough loved them! After breakfast we headed out to the park to enjoy some of the attractions, including my favorite, the Kilamanjaro Safari. One of the neatest things we saw on the safari were three baby elephants playing in the water. It was really cool -- National Geographic kinda cool! We headed back to our resort that afternoon so Emma and Jackson could take a little nap before going out for a yummy dinner.

Day 2: Magic Kingdom

(I took this one!)

We were all excited about going to Magic Kingdom Saturday morning, so we got there before the park even opened and caught the opening show on Main Street USA. We packed as much fun into the day as possible, with Jackson and Emma even napping in their strollers. I had done some research before we left (I know, I'm a dork) so I knew which ones of the attractions would be best for the little kids. We spent most of the day in Fantasyland and Toontown, where we found the Dumbo ride, Mickey and Minnie's house and a couple of playgrounds that Jackson loved! The highlight of the day was that afternoon when we joined Cinderella inside the castle for dinner at her Royal Table. Ryley was all dressed up in her Cinderella dress and her beautiful new crown. She looked just like a princess!! And the picture of her and Cinderella together is just priceless!

Day 3: Epcot/Hollywood Studios
We started out our day on Sunday morning at Epcot and our first stop was the Finding Nemo attraction. It was really cool because there's a ride, an aquarium and even an interactive show with Crush the Turtle all in one stop. Ryley had lunch reservations at the Norwegian Castle with all the princesses, but Sean and I decided to skip that one with Jackson. Cinderella was all the princess he needed! :-) It actually worked out pretty well, because Jackson napped in the stroller while everyone was at lunch. After he finally woke up, we went over to the Epcot Character Spot to meet Mickey, Minnie, Pluto, Donald and Goofy. He was soooo excited! He had the hardest time waiting to see each of characters -- it was hilarious to watch him! He wanted so bad to get to the front of each line!After Ryley and Jackson saw each of the characters, Sean, Jackson, Pat, Beth and me went over to Hollywood Studios, while Amy, Stevie and the girls headed back to the resort to hang out by the pool. I really wanted to take Jackson to Hollywood Studios to check out a couple of the attractions -- the Honey I Shrunk the Kids playground and the Playhouse Disney-Live on Stage show. He had a great time at the playground -- loved the slides! I think the Playhouse Disney show may have been his favorite from the entire trip. It was a puppet-type show featuring all the characters from Jackson's favorite shows -- Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and Handy Manny. He pulled out some sweet dance moves that I hadn't seen before! He had us all cracking up!!

Day 4: Sea World
We spent Monday at Sea World and did lots of fun stuff! Amy, Ryley, Jackson and I fed some dolphins, which was really cool! Of course we watched the all-time favorite Shamu show. Our seats were within the soak zone, but we ended up just getting sprinkled a little -- no soaking for us this time, even though we were ready! Monday seemed to be the hottest day, so taking a break inside some of the exhibits was cool -- literally! We finally made our way over to the kid zone that afternoon and Jackson had a blast! Ryley and Stevie had headed over to a water park at this point, so it was just Emma and Jackson hanging out. We found a little water area where they had lots of little sprinklers. It was the perfect place for them to cool off! After that, Jackson found a huge slide that he just couldn't get enough of! I bet he went down that thing a dozen times! He was having the best time!! By the end of the day, he was still playing hard, but we knew he had to be tired! He did great though!

Day 5: Back Home!!
After a fun filled few days, we headed back home Tuesday afternoon. I think we had all had enough and were ready for a break! There's just so much to see and do at Disney that it's hard to stop! But don't worry, we'll be back! Give Jackson a few years and he'll be ready to do it all over again!!

So, you may be asking, "Where are all the pictures?" Well, we took nearly 500 pictures while we were there, so it would be impossible to include them all in a blog post. I've edited them down to a mere 275 and into a slideshow. Click here to check them out!