Disney World Trip-My Take

I was way excited for this trip! I have never been before, and I love that we all got to experience it together for the first time.
Here was our place for the week. It had sort of a Southern flair, and had a river running through the resort. We arrived at 1:30 in the morning, and I loved being outside and having the air feel so warm and close,no jacket required. The hum of the bugs was almost deafening. It reminded me of my trip to New Orleans a few years back.

This is why I wanted to go so bad! For the first six years of my mothering days we had an annual pass to Disneyland most of the time, and it was my favorite place to be with the kids. I don't know if it's b/c I'm a stay-at-home and I'm around my kids all the time or what, but I always feel "on", I don't ever turn it off until they're in bed for the night. It makes it hard for me to stop and play and ENJOY them. I felt like every time I went to Disneyland I was off the clock and I just got to be with my kids and play. I never got enough of going, and I miss not being by it anymore. So going to D-world with the kiddos, seemed like an amazing gift, a whole week to just play and enjoy my babies. Jonah is not a snuggler, but he let me cuddle him a bit here. It IS a magical place.

I ain't gonna lie, it rained almost the entire time we were there. Unbelievable. It wasn't just regular rain showers, but torrential ones, monsoon like ones, with thunder and lightening thrown in for good measure.

So this is what our bathroom looked like every night. We'd hang up our clothes from the day's downpour to dry out before putting them away. We laid our shoes on the heater and used the stroller and additional chairs for clothes lines as well. Note to self, rock the ponchos next time!

We went swimming every day, even in the rain, b/c it was the kids' favorite thing in the whole world. One afternoon we got turned back though b/c the lightening was overhead, so we threw them in the tub instead. One thing I love about our family is that we can have a good time anywhere. The weather truly didn't get us down (maybe once or twice we were "bummed"), but we went with the flow. Thank goodness I have assumed some of Trav's positivity by this time in our marriage!

My girl. Some of my fondest memories of D-land are the girls' nights Payton and I had together just the two of us when we lived down South. She has the energy and enthusiasm for the parks to match mine and we were two peas in a pod in Florida! Our first day there we were at the Magic Kingdom, and it started to sprinkle and then to downpour. The boys were wet and headed back with Trav, but Payton and I stayed on w/ only my zip up sweatshirt between us. We ran from ride to ride under cover of that tiny sweatshirt, drank hot cocoa, talked for an hour awaiting fireworks that never came, but so what. It was a terrific evening. As we were running and splashing in puddles to find shelter Payton yelled out an impromptu, "I love you Mom!!" These are the moments I was looking forward to!
Here below, Payton and I closed down Epcot together just the two of us. We visited the countries, rode a few rides, had fancy drinks, she's such a blast.

Here was the second moment of sun we had during our week, if only for a few hours. It lasted long enough I couldn't believe I didn't goop up the kids with sunblock or bring hats! But not to worry, we went into a show with sunshine and came out to a complete drenching within 90 second. We went back to the hotel to begin our drying off routine once more.

We spent a great deal of time just getting to and from the parks and our hotel. One time we got on a bus and rode it all the way around back to the hotel b/c sheets of rain began falling that you could barely see. Lots of good times on the bus.

A kiss from my baby. He was so stoked on his balloon he was freely handing out the love.

I ate soft pretzels, churros, funnel cake, pineapple whip, and corn dogs, all my favorite treats, one of the most important parts of any disney visit. I also truly believe that after visiting both the Magic Kingdom and Disneyland I have to say D-land is much better. It has more atmosphere and is much more thematic and picturesque. It's just better! I was very relieved to realize that we indeed live by the best one!

We loved our trip, lots of fun memories, a great adventure. So glad we did it!