We recently returned from a trip to Florida. We love it there, it is such a great family vacation. I would love to take the kids to Hawaii, or Mexico, or Jamaica (Donovan asks to go there because a girl in his class went), but every time we look into a family vacation, we always end up back in Florida. It's the fail proof vacation. It's fairly inexpensive, it's almost always hot, and there is so much to do to keep the kids and me entertained. Jeff would be happy sitting in the hotel room all day reading, so he doesn't count. This time the trip was not geared around Disney, as sad as that made me. We were able to use Jeff's Hilton points from his traveling last year and we got 7 nights free, so we picked the hotel with the best swimming pool and this is what we got.
Let me tell you....I don't think swimming pools get much better than this. I am NOT a swimmer, in fact it has got to be my least favorite thing to do with the kids. With this pool, there was a huge lazy river, so we didn't have to do anything, just follow the kids down the river. I had an air mattress and it was heaven. There was a water slide...which I couldn't go on, but the kids got to go and the loved it. The hotel was gorgeous and the staff were so friendly...I would definitely stay here again.
We did manage to get one day of Disney. At the beginning of the year they announced if you give a day, you get a day. So if you volunteered a day you would get one free day at Disney. I signed up right away. The plan was to take the kids by myself, but then something happened (more on that later) and our plans changed. So Jeff kindly volunteered a day so he could come with us. I am so glad he did. I think he enjoyed Disney this time around, but he will never admit that.
Donovan got to ride Splash Mountain for the first time. He was finally tall enough. He was scared at first and spent most of the ride ducking into Jeff, but he loved it in the end and wanted to go again. I really wish I could have gone with them, but it was a lot of fun watching them as well.
Before we left the kids each got to pick 3 characters to meet. That was all we were standing in line to see, no exceptions. Clara picked Tinkerbell, Princess Tiana and Minnie Mouse. Donovan picked Goofy, Mickey and Donald. Lucky for us, 4 of those characters are at a character meal, so we forked out the outrageous price for one of those meals, and we didn't have to stand in line at all to meet them. That was nice. The line up for the fairies is always really long, but we went early enough that we didn't wait long at all.
Donovan was SO happy he got to meet Terence. We had never met him before and he was the only one Donovan wanted to sign his
We spent the weekend hanging out in the hotel. On weekend evenings they have a movie by the pool. We watched Ice Age 3 while the kids swam in the pool. They had popcorn for everyone, which was a really nice touch.
I got to spend some time shopping, which was super fun. I have been working more lately so I had a little more money to spend on this trip. I splurged on a couple of big ticket items that I am really excited about. After a weekend of hanging out we went to Sea World. We have been to Florida 2 times before this, but never visited Sea World, so this time we went. The kids loved it there. Jeff and I, not so much. It was super expensive there and the entertainment was not so exciting. I don't think we would ever go back there, but we are happy we can say we have been.
The kids got to feed the dolphins, it was really neat. That was the highlight of the day for me.
We spent some time exploring different Disney hotels, they sure have some amazing hotels. We also spend a couple of evenings at Chip and Dale's campfire sing a long. We roasted marshmallows, made some s'mores and got to meet Chip and Dale. It was lots of fun.
However, all trips come to an end. I must admit, I am planning our next trip already, but it will be a while this time. Not until next October and I think we will leave Jeff at home...we'll see.
Other news....we are pregnant. That is why I couldn't go on a lot of the rides with the kids. We thought we were done, but I guess we are not. Just found out it is a boy. I figured it would be since we moved the kids into one room around Christmas time and of course we picked the boy room for them. So I have been working really hard at painting the kids room to a neutral beach themed room, which is going to look awesome once I finish it. But...I am left with a pink room. Of course the baby is a boy, more for me to paint! Plus we can't agree on a boys name. Good thing we have 4.5 months to figure it out!!
We are headed to Victoria with my office in a couple of weeks. I am excited to have a vacation with just Jeff. It's been a rough few months with me being so sick that we haven't had much quality time together. Good news is I am starting to feel better, so hopefully we can really enjoy our time away.
