Our First Family Vacation

So, in a moment of weakness we decided to take our first Family Vacation. We've taken many trips to visit family, and Chad and I have slipped away on our own a few times, but we've never had an official Family Vacation all together...

I've always had a thing for Disneyland. I like the way it smells, the flowers in the shapes of characters, the feel of Main Street, all the old classic animation. I would live there if I could. We decided to try Disney World since it was something new, and we were all about something new with this whole family vacation thing. And at the time I was planning this I was feeling frugal so we decided to drive. I regretted this decision as our trip got closer, but by then plane tickets had gone up too much.

The drive actually ended up not being that bad. The girls had a portable DVD player, a laptop, iPod, and 2 iPhones to play with. It's not like they suffered. Very different from the road trips I remember. On the way back we stopped in New Orleans for a few hours and that helped break up the drive as well.

We had a great time and I'll give you a synopsis of the highs and lows and some pictures for the grandparents.

Highs:
- Getting to go to all four parks: Epcot, Hollywood Studios, Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom
-Watching the girls' faces when the met the characters. Especially Izzy. Izzy has a love for The Princesses like you wouldn't believe. Since she's three, I think it's cute. The last time we were at Disneyland Rylee was her age and totally content to have the princesses pointed out to her from afar and then move on. Not Izzy. I tried to get away with this maneuver, but after the first day Izzy informed me, "Jasmine likes kids. I saw her talking to them. I want to have my picture with Jasmine too, not just look at her." Which brings me to...
-Lunch at Cinderella's Royal Table inside the castle in Fantasyland. Most expensive chicken nuggets ever, but so fun to see the girls' reactions as the princesses all came to our table. Although Ariel seemed a bit baffled when Avery asked her about Melody (supposedly her daughter according to Little Mermaid 2, a library rental that was watched probably six times on the drive to Florida).
-Not cooking for 9 days
-Getting Izzy onto Thunder Mountain multiple times despite being a good 2-3 inches shorter than she should be (thanks to some creative puffy hairstyles, tall shoes, and tissue paper stuffed in the heels)
-Relatively low lines
-Fun memories that should last a good five years :)

Lows:
-The last three hours of the drive there
-Avery and Rylee crying to go back to the hotel to swim the first two days instead of visiting Epcot and Hollywood Studios
-Avery crying from the moment we left the hotel until we got on the first ride (sometimes this could take over an hour) usually due to an injury or desire to stay at the hotel. Some of Avery's injuries included but were not limited to: walking into a car's rear view mirror in the parking lot, collapsing herself in the stroller, being cold, and getting her tongue stuck frozen to a popsicle.
-Having to constantly stuff Izzy's shoes and adjust her hair in order to sneak her on the 40 inch height requirement rides. It only worked 60% of the time. Sometimes she had squooshed the tissue paper in her heels down too much by the time we got to the front of the line and they would send her back. I'm afraid this whole experience traumatized her, to be measured and found wanting was a little confusing. The first couple times we went on rides with no height requirements she was baffled. "Why they don't measure me?"
-Wednesday night we decided to stay for one last ride on Thunder Mountain. Big mistake. While riding the coaster thunder and lightening started and they stopped us on the high point of the track. Then it started to sprinkle. Then it started to rain. Then it started to pour. Then a hurricane came. Well not really, but it felt like it. We got to finish the ride then walk back to the entrance from the farthest point in the park in the hurricane. It was super slippery and Rylee fell once and I pulled a lot of muscles trying not to fall. Then we had to wait for a ferry to take us to the parking lot. Fun times.
-Me slipping and almost breaking my neck in the rain while walking down the stairs from our hotel room. Who covers outdoor stairs with slippery tile??? Do they want a lawsuit?
-Chad throwing out his back on Expedition Everest trying to cover a terrified Avery's eyes.

By mid-week we'd found our vacation groove and there were definitely more highs than lows. So for those who care (read grandparents) here are some pictures from the trip...