Since this will be a long post due to the pictures we are adding, I will try to keep the text to a minimum to eliminate so much reading and allow you just to enjoy the pictures. First off...I am still not sure who the Disney vacation was for, Braden or myself, because we BOTH enjoyed ourselves immensely - as you will see in the pictures below (Josh was our photographer, so there are not many shots with him in them)! We spent five nights and six days in Florida, and we LOVED every minute of it...okay okay, so Braden did manage to have a HUGE melt down at one point, and NO ONE was lovin' that I can assure you, but the "Cast Members" soon defused that one and Braden was all smiles again...they do not allow unhappy children and will do whatever it takes to keep a smile on their faces, yep even give away free stuff from the gift shops. Why you ask....because he was at Disney World and that is the Happiest Place on Earth!!! Seriously, those were their words exactly. All in all, we had a blast, and we will definitely be making another trip to Disney in our future!!!
Monday we spent all day at Animal Kingdom, and when it closed down we trekked on down to Downtown Disney to see what all it had to offer - which includes a 55,000 (WOW, right! I KNOW!!!!) square foot Disney store, and I just so happened to find a few things I needed there - yep, I said needed (you will see when my kitchen is finished). Along with the Disney Store, there was a big Lego Land area which fascinated Josh and Braden both, it was great fun to see them smile so much! We didn't arrive back at our hotel until well after midnight - such and awesome first day at Disney!
Animal Kingdom is full of awesome animals - go figure, right! Josh took this picture on the Safari ride and I love it, it looks like a postcard picture to me!
Here is one of the carvings on the Tree of Life, the tree is absolutely breathtaking and full of all sorts of animals in the circle of life
The best part of Animal Kingdom for all of us was the Finding Nemo Musical, it was absolutely fabulous...here is a picture from the performance. However, Josh was not suppose to be shooting pictures, they do the whole "No pictures of any kind including flash photography. No video taping of the performance...blah blah blah. Josh obviously does not obliged by the rules.
Josh and Braden with the Lego Dragon at Downtown Disney. It was actually pretty cool to see. We are standing on a bridge and the Dragon is actually in the water, along many humps from its tail, it seemed to go on and on. It was amazing to see what all they had built out of Legos.
Just when we thought we had had the day of our lives, Tuesday was our day spent at Magic Kingdom, and it is truly magical. We got up bright and early and headed for the park. At 5:00 p.m. we took a break from the park to go to our dinner reservations...which happened to be dinner with Pluto and Goofy at Garden Grover restaurant at the Swan Resort. It was such a great experience, and I highly recommend a character dinner with your kiddo if you ever plan to take a trip to Disney. The look on their faces when they get sit down with the characters and have one on one time with them without having to share them with 20,000 kids standing in a line is a fabulous thing! Then after dinner we returned to Magic Kingdom in time to see the night time parade, a fabulous sight to see, and the firework celebration Wishes - which is the most fabulous display of fireworks any of us have EVER seen! Fireworks ended at around 10:00 p.m. and then we were off to ride more rides and enjoy the park. Again, we didn't arrive back to our hotel until well after midnight - actually I believe it was after 1:00 a.m. when we returned this day!
A Disney post wouldn't be a post without this picture, besides the castle, this is the epidomy of Walt Disney World!
Monster's Inc. Laugh Floor was one of Braden's favorite rides in Magic Kingdom. I have to admit, it was a hilarious show!
Mickey and Minnie were the headliners of the Daytime parade. It was a fabulous display of characters and floats, it is amazing how much work they put into making this the "Happiest Place on Earth"
Here is Braden and Pluto at the dinner, see the other kids admiring Braden with the lovable pooch :) Look at that smile on his face (I am talking about Braden's) you cannot ever replicate that kind of pure joy and happiness on a child's face - this was a once in a lifetime experience for him.
Braden, Goofy, and Josh at dinner at the Garden Grove. I am not sure if Josh knew how to interact with characters who mime everything and don't say a word...otherwise the kids would know they are fake (hello, their mouths wouldn't move - never mind their big plastic heads)
Mickey Mouse ice cream cones, need I say more?
Wow right! Wishes was undoubtably the most fabulous firework display I have ever seen, these pictures don't even do it justice, but Josh did a great job of getting shots of the show!
End of the day, and we are headed out of the park and back to the hotel...do we look tired? Well, we were -ha! Here is a short video clip of the night time parade, it is a sight to see people of all ages were enthralled with this parade.
Wednesday has finally come, and we needed a break from all of the walking and all of the lines inside the Disney parks and resorts, so we decided to rent a car and drive to Daytona Beach - what an awesome idea that was! I think this was Josh's favorite day. He spent a long time going deep out into the ocean jumping into the waves and playing with Braden. That image will forever be embedded into my mind to see my son and his dad play and laugh together without a care in the world!
I was surprised that Braden wasn't intimidated by the massive waves and the huge ocean, but he got right in and started swimming away!
I didn't get much further into water than this, that stuff was COLD!
Braden was searching for sea shells, can you see one he found in his hand on display for the camera while dad is in the background fixing Braden's goggles so he can deep sea dive for more of those beauties :)
We thought it only fitting that we stop by the local Orlando Wal-Mart and buy some beach toys to build sand castles during our day on the beach. You be the judge, who is the winner?
This poor guy was pooped by sun down in Daytona. The beach patrol closes down the beach at sundown, and all patrons are made to hit the road. There weren't any arguments come closing time since everyone was so tired from the sun and fun!
Thursday was our family day...by that I mean we spent it with family that lived in Florida. Josh's Aunt Cindi, Uncle David, and cousins Marc, and Jill - along with their spouses live in Sanford which is about 45 minutes from Orlando. We kept our rental car from the day before and headed their direction to spend the day with them. Before we headed their way though, Braden and I snuck off to Downtown Disney to do some additional shopping before we headed to Sanford ;) We drove to Marc and Ashley's house to meet their new addition..little Ms. Adelynn. She was such a treat to met and hold. Josh, Braden, and I all spent time holding her and talking to her - what a sweetie! Aunt Cindi and Uncle David, and Jill and Jason arrived a little bit after we did and we had a great time catching up then went out to dinner as well. Everyone seems to be doing really well, and it was such a joy catching up with loved ones we don't get to see all that often.
Marc and Josh admiring the bundle of joy, what a sweetie :)
It was so fun talking to her and seeing her reach up to me, Ms. Adelynn was so wide eyed and alert to what was going on around her
Jill, Josh, & Marc...Josh doesn't get to see his cousin that often, and loved spending time with them
Jill and her husband Jason
Grandma Cindi and Grandpa David admiring their granddaughter, you can just see the love in their eyes, what a precious moment!
Uncle David, Marc, & Josh - what a crew!
Braden & I with sweet Adelynn
Friday arrived and that was our big day at Epcot Center - WOW what a day that was! We spent alot of time meeting characters and getting their autographs. Braden was definitely into meeting characters, which I didn't mind at all :) We were able to see Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy, Pluto, Chip & Dale, Genie, Princess Jasmine, Aladdin, Tigger, Pooh, Eyeore, and Snow White at Epcot. The only thing that I HAD to do while I was at Disney was ride Soarin'...it is a fabulous 4-D coast to coast parasailing ride - it is AWESOME and a must ride! I loved it, Josh loved it, Braden loved it...words do the ride no justice, you have to experience it to get it - so you have to go!!! We were at the park at 10:00 a.m., and didn't leave until midnight, but it barely seemed like we were there time just flew by. We loved Epcot and will definitely be visiting there again in the future.
The Family - aren't we cute :) I just love the topiary throughout the park. They had just added this part to Epcot on Wednesday, which is why we waited to go to Epcot until Friday...I really wanted to see all of the Character Gardens they were putting up...they are very neat to see!
Ahhh, my favorite :) Notice that I have a GAP shirt on...Aladdin made a point to tell me that he could tell that I was their biggest fan because I had their shirt on...Genie, Aladdin, Princess Jasmine!
Donald Duck and Braden had SO much fun together, he just kept playing with Braden and interacting with him, the characters have so much personality and are so awesome with the kids. It amazed me how excited they could be about hugging another kid - ha!!!
Chip and Dale were also awesome with Braden. We actually played around with them for quite a while and Braden just laughed and laughed...
At one point when we were with Chip and Dale, after Chip signed Braden's autograph book, he handed it to Dale but then put the pen between Dale's ears where he couldn't get it to sign Braden's book too - you know, that sibling rivalry stuff. It was so cute and I told Braden that they were NUTS. Well, that isn't a word you say around two chipmunks without them going crazy. It was so funny watching them run around looking for nuts, lifting Braden up and looking underneith him and stuff. Chip came running over to me asking for the nuts, and this is me shrugging and telling him that I didn't have them and that Braden ate them all - then they went running to Braden again looking for nuts - so cute, and so much energy!
Okay, so Snow White was the only Princess that Braden actually asked to stand in line and meet...I mean he met Jasmine and got her autograph, but she was with Aladdin and the Genie as well. He must have a thing for dark haired girls. He was actually the only boy in line to meet Snow White, and she LOVED having a boy...or should I say Prince... who was excited to meet her :) She called him her Prince, and he just blushed when she said "Oh it is my handsome prince here to save me...are you going to kiss me my prince...that is what led to the blushing ;)
Braden just loved trying on hats in the gift shop. He begged me and begged me for this hat, but I wouldn't buy it...I have to admit it is cute, but not worth the money to have to carry around the rest of the afternoon after his head got hot 15 minutes after we walked out of the store -ha!
Okay, okay...so maybe this is my favorite! I made Braden even get out of the shot so I could take my picture alone with Mickey...I actually had to "shoo" Braden away - ha!
More of the gardens, I just loved them!
The end of the night, we are walking back to the hotel...we were beat, and ready for bed!!! Notice the matching sweatshirts ;)
Saturday was our "return back to reality day". We were sad to go, but ready to be home at the same time, if that make sense. We woke up, did a little shopping and then headed back to the airport to come back to Missouri :(
Sorry this is such a long post, it is tough to put 700 pictures into a short and sweet paragraph :)
