Disney!

We are an active vacation kind of family.  By this I mean we aren't very good at relaxing.  We like to capitalize on opportunities and on vacation we really kick it up a notch.  After many months of planning and preparing we headed to Orlando on November 11th.  Let me clarify a little--we headed to the airport (for our first plane trip!) at 5:15am on November 11th headed to Disney World!  Our kids acted like flying was something they had done a dozen times and were as cool as cucumbers about the entire experience.  Aidyn did not want to eat any breakfast prior to boarding the plane because she was so excited about the airline snack and was sure it would suffice.  I talked her into part of a muffin just in case it didn't.  Going through security was no hassle and our seating arrangements all worked out well.  Mom sat with the girls and Dad sat with baby boy.  Perfect first flight experience and the snack did not disappoint.

After a few short hours, we were on our way to Disney World!

The big planners that we are thought our travels would take longer than they did.  By lunchtime, we had already flown to Orlando, taken a 30 minute bus ride to our hotel, checked into and gone to our room, hopped another bus to Magic Kingdom and ate lunch in the park!  We had not made a big schedule for the day so we considered it free play.  We ate lunch at Liberty Tavern and then leisurely headed to the Hall of Presidents and enjoyed a nice history lesson.  Girls, this is how I convinced myself it was okay to miss 4 days of first grade--it was educational!

Of course we took plenty of time for fun rides.  Houston loved Aladdin's Magic Carpet Ride.  He probably rode this half a dozen times during the trip.

Could this face be any sweeter?  We also rode the Buzz Lightyear ride, which was fun for the whole family.  Mom and Dad didn't realize you got to keep score so we were way into it.  Ask Dad if you get a chance who had the highest score.

When we first arrived at Magic Kingdom a plane was spelling "love" in the sky.  We were headed to dinner with Tigger and Pooh and saw the plane again.  I didn't get a full picture, but this time it wrote "U + God = smiley face".

We had a lovely dinner at the Crystal Palace with Tigger, Pooh, Eyore & Piglet.  Houston was not afraid of any character.  He loved them.

In fact, at times, he loved them too much.  He examined all of the costumes and I'm afraid was a little too hands on at times.

It was such a treat to see Cinderella's castle decorated for Christmas.  The picture hardly does it justice.  They describe it as "covered in ice".  It was beautiful.  That was a glimpse of our first day of vacation.  We were tired and needed to rest for our first full day of planned activities.