Like Father, Like Son

First cut with the clippers!! Look at all that hair.


Voilà...





So stinkin' cute!! And so grown up


Here is the before....lots of locks taken off

Florida Family Vacay 2011- Let the Good Times Roll

About a year ago my parents put the idea out to the entire family that if we wanted to do a trip to Florida they would provide the house if we could get there. Everyone except my oldest sister Sharon were able to commit(and we sure missed them- hopefully next time!!) We were already planning on going to Disney so we were in. They used VRBO(vacation rental by owner) and found an awesome 7 bedroom house with screened in pool about 10 minutes from Walt Disney World.

After months of anticipation we headed for Florida on Saturday, June 11. We left at 3 am to try to ensure some more sleeping from the kids. My nieces were in town already(their parents would fly in on Tues) so they rode with my parents and we caravanned to our first stop in Fort Walton Beach.

Dad the Driver

Girls all set watching a movie

First stop- Cracker Barrel of course! Boy did we pass a lot of those

Morgan, Lainey, Taylor, Case and Mallory

As you will see in my post on the way home Case is not much of a car sleeper- here is one of only two times he slept which totaled about 2 hours!

We were able to distract him for literally about 2 1/2 hours with his Tonka truck and finally he passed out.

We stayed at the Sheraton Four Points in Ft. Walton where the kids got to swim. Taylor, Lainey, Mallory and Morgan

Dolphin posing

Silly Face

The girls only went in the water for a few minutes but man was it pretty- just like Galveston??? ya right

Case wanted to stretch his legs and get in the pool

What's up Mom?

Water Babies!

World's Greatest Dad

On Sunday we would wake up and head for our final destination Kissimmee, Florida. My sister and her kids flew in that evening. Monday we relaxed at the house and let the kids swim all day. Tuesday was show time- see next few posts :)

Florida Family Vacay 2011- Where Dreams Come True

On Tuesday we headed to Magic Kingdom with the kids. I was so excited for them to get to experience everything. We took Mallory when she was 18 mos but I knew it would be much different this time around.

I wish I had Morgan on video talking about everything. She was soooo excited and in awe when we saw Cinderella's castle. If you look closely you can see Mickey and Minnie as they were performing when we got there.

My princesses

First person we met: Stitch

Mallory wanted to ride the dumbo ride but the line was ridiculous- she settled for a picture

And her and dad did the tea cups

A rare time where Case actually snoozed

We love Ariel

I wish I had taken more pics on Day one. The day started off a little rocky as Morgan, Mallory and Lonnie first rode Big Thunder Mountain. It is a roller coaster but the height requirement was well under what the girls are so I thought it would be no big deal. Well long story short- Mallory loved it and Morgan was traumatized. So much so that she cried through the next ride too Pirates of the Caribbean(which is hardly a ride) luckily It's a Small World and some ice cream saved the day! She loved the rest of everything.

Mallory as I said loved the coaster but was not a fan of Splash Mountain. Her and I rode that together and she informed me it was way too high. We made it in the heat from about 9-4. I couldn't believe how good the kids were. When we got back to the house they got to swim with all of their cousins so it was a great day. Even better was the fact that Lonnie and I went back to the park after we put the kids down. We got to see the parade, awesome fireworks and ride Big Thunder Mountain and Space Mountain. We also tried out some things to see if the kids would like them for our return the next day. It was a great evening for just the two of us to act like kids ourselves!

Florida Family Vacay 2011- Magic Kingdom- Take 2

Day 2 we headed back to Magic Kingdom this time with the rest of the fam. Since we came the day before we knew what we did and didn't want to hit up. Here is the crew after the Buzz Lightyear ride.

My precious honey bees

Ellie and Morgan

Colton, Morgan, Ellie, Lainey, Mallory, Taylor and Case

Mallory and Donald at Frontierland

One of my good friends Kenna had told me about the Bippity Boppity Boutique in Cinderella's Castle. Each "princess" is greeted by Fairy Godmother's in training and are given an invitation. They are then asked to choose from 5 different hair styles what they would like. This was definitely one of the highlights for my girls!

Princess Ellie

Princess Mallory

Princess Morgan who LOVED getting eye shadow and chose a traditional "up-do"

Voila...hair, make-up and nails

Mallory chose what we called the Avatar Princess look! Here she was making a wish as she was getting fairy dust sprinkled

They went a little heavy on the blush but I wiped some off ;)

My beautiful girls

The three amigas

So much fun to get pampered!

After we got home our plan was to return to the park for the night parade and fireworks and to ride a few more rides with all the kids- the weather had other plans and that proved to be the only negative of the trip. Next time!!

Florida Family Vacay 2011- Disney Hollywood Studios

On Thursday we decided to check out Disney Hollywood Studios. This was our third day in a row to go to a park so we were hoping for more shows and a little less walking. We were in luck!

Hollywood Studios focus is the movies. The streets look like sets, there is more shows that you can watch and a few cool rides.

We got to meet some characters and see some real Disney artists at work. Case loved meeting Pooh bear. We got him giving a kiss on video- too cute.

The Incredibles

One of the streets made to look like a movie set

The background is a huge painted wall

Record temps in Florida made for some hot, worn out kiddos and parents :)

Aunt Becca and kids

Mr. Potato Head inside the Toy Story ride. It was an interactive 3D game that was tons of fun.

Pluto is still awake but Morgan not so much

Another cool thing they had was a Honey I Shrunk the Kids playground. Everything was huge. Here are the kids in front of a giant-sized Tinkertoy. Mallory, Taylor, Morgan, Lainey, Colton and Ellie

This could have been Case's favorite place! He explored every nook and cranny.

Here he found the wall with water trickling down and managed to fall in the puddle he was standing in. He got soaked but I didn't mind as it was so stinkin' hot outside.

More fun in the water

Such a boy!!

I have to thank Lonnie here because he watched our kids at the house after a long day at the park so I could go back that evening with my parents, brother's fam and sister's fam. I was able to ride Tower of Terror and the Rock-n-Roller Coaster with my sister and watch the Fantasmic show which was so much fun. Wish I had pictures from the rides as they were classic!