Disney World!

Almost all of the advice we heard about going to Disney World was to wait until the kids were older so that they would remember it. So we had decided, at first, to skip it. But  we felt that we were done in the Daytona area, and I had never been to Disney, and we just decided to go for it. I'm very glad we went! It was a lot of money, but the kids were free!  And if we waited until they would remember to do stuff with them, we would never do anything. Of course, there were a few meltdowns and some tears along the way, but that would have happened no matter where we were. We were able to take them on some of the rides, and the fireworks were a hit. The weather was wonderful, too.

 We waited in line to see Mickey, and they were really excited. Gideon especially kept pointing and saying "mouse!" But the second it was our turn and we walked up to him....you guessed it: unhappy campers. We quickly made our exit.

 Stella and I refrained from teacup-riding.

Tough guy carousel riders.

 "It's a Small World" was a hit.

I plan on posting more pics from our vaca on facebook...so stay tuned!

Ormond Beach

For the majority of our vacation, we stayed at a condo in Ormond Beach. Ormond Beach is right next to Daytona...pretty much the same city.

Our condo was excellent! We enjoyed having a kitchen and being able to eat most meals there (going out to eat is great, but it can get stressful with our kids!). It was also nice to have a separate bedroom with a balcony and a great view. We had a pool and the ocean was right down a flight of stairs.

It was a bit cold, though (low 60s and windy), and the kids didn't seem to like the beach too much. We spent a lot of our time at local playgrounds. One particularly cold day, we had an enjoyable time in the local mall, which had a play area for kids, a train ride, and a Chcik-fil-a--what more could we want?

We also drove past the Daytona Speedway...um...I felt like should mention that, but I can't say it was that exciting. So on to the pictures.

 This is just one of the parks that we liked. Nice view.

 The balcony at our condo. 

 

 Everyone enjoying our premium rental. I can't even tell you what it was...a van-SUV-car-thingy.

Birthday boy

More to come from Kim when she gets the time.

We clean up nice (Paul & Amy's wedding)

never too late for thanksgiving

I just uploaded all the pictures from our camera...turns out it has been a while! But that means you get more bloggy updates. Yay. This was our humble thanksgiving...The kids were not big fans of the food. Stella only ate cranberry sauce (but loved it).

Family Vacation

We had a fantastic trip to Florida! We flew into Orlando and stayed there a couple nights. Then we went to Ormond Beach (right by Daytona) for several nights, and ended the trip in Orlando again. It was a welcome break from winter.

Our first day was probably my favorite. It was perfect weather, and we spent the day doing free stuff around Orlando. We started the morning with a trip to Downtown Disney, where the kids enjoyed looking at stuff and playing in the fountains. After naptime, we found a lovely city park that had a splash park. We ate a picnic supper there, and then played on the playground before heading back to downtown Disney for the evening entertainment (where Gideon and Stella were dancing in the video previously posted).

Thanks Aunt Judy!

Here are some pictures of Stella and Gideon wearing their cute 'big brother' and 'little sister' shirts from Aunt Judy! Too bad Stella will only be the 'little sister' for a few more months. We enjoy these shirts because we will ask them "Where's the monkey?" and they point to themselves (like Stella is demonstrating in the first picture).

Ladies man (another girl demands a dance)

Dance Party 2012