DISNEYWORLD!!! The best way to move . . .

Our favorite place to go when we want to celebrate something big- like graduating from residency! Reminiscent of Extreme Makover Home Edition, where the lucky family gets to go on a trip while their new house is being built... while our truckload of belongings was crossing the frozen February country, we decided to go on a vacation to somewhere warm and wonderful. It was such a convenient time- - since we were in transition, the kids didn't have to take time out of school, and the travel arrangements were AWESOME. We DROVE to Orlando, then shipped our car and flew to our new home in Spokane, WA when the trip was over. We made it to Spokane just in time to close on our house and have our stuff delivered. Since our move was paid for this time (a one and only luxury out of 12 moves in our married life!!), our only travel cost was the gas to get to Orlando (and then we didn't have to rent a car), park tickets food and souveniers. Our stay in the awesome luxury condos was at no upfront cost (besides our cost of being timeshare owners which is spread out). What a glorious time. Our theme song for this time period was from the Disneyworld commercial "Good Life" by One Republic- - we knew good things were coming!! (just a quick note, I was soooo disappointed when I downloaded the song and realized there is one swear word- that is nicely ommitted in the radio version- makes me so mad!) Anyway, now that it is 6 months later, we really DO have a GOOD LIFE. All the hard work, tears, and sweat are paying off. Anything we wen through for Jon to become a Doctor is paying of- not just financially (which IS awesome), but emotionally for everyone. We truly are so blessed.

Anyway, back to Disney- my parents came with us and we had a blast in the gorgeous 60-80 degree sunny February Orlando weather!

The first day in Orlando was Sunday, and we took a nice rest day and then started our fun on Monday at the magic kingdom. It was a bit nippy that day, but warmed up nicely, and the weather stayed in the 70's pretty much the whole week.

One of my absolute favorite memories was my parents treating us to the AWESOME buffet at the Crystal Palace. It was pricey but soooooo good and so fun. I don't think I have ever eaten so much in my life. The Key Lime pie was to die for, and the kids loved seeing Winnie the Pooh and his gang!

We love Disney's 3-D attractions!!

AND the Haunted Mansion . . .

Ending the day with the Main Street Electrical Parade and Fireworks, perfect, despite the crowds!

Tuesday, our second day was Epcot- -

We love the world showcase! We did half this day and half another.

While the adults enjoy the atmosphere and culture, the kids (including my husband) love getting stamps for the passport and doing the Kid-cot station craft. One nice memory from that day is when Lillian dropped the bear puppet she had colored and decorated into the lake, and with big tears streaming down her face Cynthia came to the rescue and gave Lillian hers. Lillian brightened right up and gave Cynthia a huge hug. Warms my heart!

At one of the Kid-cot stations:

Third day was at Disney's Hollywood Studios:

Tower of Terror is definitely a favorite!!

And of course the Rock n Roller coaster

And just the Hollywood FUN!

If anyone is wondering how we handled this kind of a trip with a two year old who still needs naps- this is it!!

Every once and awhile we would have to split up for the rides that the little kids couldn't go on, so there was some down time. The great thing about Disney is how they handle the ride share- we could get a pass that allowed the second half of our group (the ones waiting with the little ones) to go throug the fast pass line- up to three people. This allowed some of our group to go more than once and the person waiting behind didn't have to wait alone. Truly, big rides still took longer overall, but it was very nice and usually there were things to look at or do while waiting. Truly, Tyler did GREAT and had so much fun too, though I do have to admit he was pretty exhausted the last few days.

Daddy's need down time too! Ha Ha. I think this was actually during lunch one day (another great thing about Disney, you can pack in your own lunch!! A stroller and wheelchair helped transport it all . . . ) Due to her foot still giving her some problems (she had surgery a few months previous), my Mom rode in a wheelchair this trip to Disney. Super handy, because Lillian ended up in her lap when she got tired and it was a great place to stash bags! Mom said she really bonded with Lillian on this trip . . .

Treats were also a daily tradition!

Funny Grandpa!

Another favorite memory from our whole trip was seeing Phineas and Ferb at Hollywood Studios. While the kids were waiting in line, they had all kinds of fun songs and games which they took volunteers out of the line to help perform. Marcus got to be in the "Backyard Beach" and Cynthia had to dance with "Squirrells in her pants!" Even seeing the characters was a party. My kids all love Phineas and Ferb!!

Fourth day: Animal Kingdom.

Honestly, I think this was Tyler's absolute favorite park- he loved seeing the animals- - this is the coolest zoo a person will ever go to! I won't bore you with the scores of animals we took pictures of- but here are a few pics of us enjoying the park!

Marcus' favorite souveniers- - His green puffle (club penguin), and the pins! He even got to trade some . . . We were all in on the fun for that one.

Day 5- Friday at the Magic Kingdom again!

Taking the boat over:

Cynthia- our meat eater, loved the smoked Turkey Leg!!

Tired but happy on our last night at the Magic Kingdom!

Day 6: a REALLY crowded day at Hollywood Studios

Phew- I just have to say, the one downside to the whole trip is that it was SUPER crowded while we were there. I was suprised, with it being February, but apparently half the people there were from South America (mostly Argentina and Brazil), since it is their "summer" holiday - - AND it was the week leading up to Presidents Day, so the weekend was the worst. For the most part, Disney does a great job of handling crowds, and if you time things right and get fast passes for the most popular rides, you really don't have to wait that long. Saturday at Hollywood Studios was beyond reasonable, though. We headed to our favorites to get fast passes- and by late morning all the time slots were gone! We really wanted to see the Toy Story Mania ride- but the wait most of the day was over 2 hours. We found ourselves doing kind of the lesser known things for awhile, or playgrounds for a good portion of the day. Still fun! Glad this was our second day.

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As afternoon came, we realized that we really couldn't do much without waiting in really long lines, so we decided to take a little swimming break back at our resort, and then go back for a late night back at Hollywood Studios. This worked out great, because we got in some nap time, some relaxing fun, dinner, and then went back to a much more manageable crowd and saw the rest of the things we wanted to see!

We DID get to do Toy Story Mania! Still not a short wait, but not as bad as earlier. This one is actually really fun to wait for- as you weave along the Candy Land game board and see the life size toys . . .

Day 7: Epcot for our final day

We love Canada . . .

Princesses in France:

and best of all French Pastries, treat of Grandpa, in France!! It's tradition since that is where he served his mission in 1973-1974 (the real France, of course).

What a wonderful way to end our trip!

Our last day we had a later flight, so we stopped by Downtown Disney for one more stop at the Lego store:

Golden Corral on the way to the airport- great to fill our tummies before the long flights, and long night to get home. (We love that we live close to one here in Spokane too . . . )

Time to go home- our new home!! It WAS a long flight home. When Tyler cried the entire first flight, I just had to remember how the miles were just slipping away below us, and that a few hours of ahem *heck* on the airplane was better than a weeks worth of driving, like when we moved to Michigan (that WAS worse).

Luckily after our first layover both Lillian and Tyler were passed out and they slept the last leg of the flight.

Arriving in Spokane truly DID feel like coming home! Coming home to our wonderful new life! Our time at Disney will definitely be my favorite set of memories for 2012- and that is saying something.