But before I get to that there are a few notes that I feel like I need to share about the second half of our Florida trip!
The first is that pretty much EVERYTHING that was part of our Disney/Orlando vacation was made possible by my parents! Really, truly. This vacation was the combined birthday and Christmas presents for all of us for a year...though to be quite honest they probably spent enough for 2 or 3 years worth! They SPOILED us! Not just the theme parks, but special activities for each of our kids, treats, meals out, and on and on. One afternoon Lily got to go to the Bippity Boppity Boutique (more to come on that) and Eli stayed back at the condo with Joe and Bubba. My incredibly thoughtful mother brought these fantastic light up remote control cars so that Eli would feel special that afternoon too and not feel left out while his sister got to do something just for her! THIS is how this vacation was...my parents pretty much thought of everything! We could NOT have done this vacation on our own- there is just simply no way that we could have afforded it. So a HUGE thank you goes out to my parents for giving our family this wonderful experience and sweet, sweet memories! The kids are still talking about it all of the time! And it's not just all about the expense of it...I love it even more that my parents were there with us, experiencing every ride and meal and laugh right along with us! THAT is what made it even more special. I love that our kids will forever remember that their grandparents did all of these things with them!
The second thing I want to note is that I didn't take as many pictures as I anticipated I would. Let's be honest, I like to take a lot of pictures. I sort of expected that I would take around 100-200 pictures each day. Frankly I could easily take 100 pictures just around our house in a day if I wanted to. And this was DISNEY...how could I not take hundreds of pictures? But I really didn't, not even close. Looking back there are a few reasons. First, I've realized how much harder it has been to take pictures since we had the baby. We are outnumbered and my hands are often full (literally) with Liam. My camera is big and heavy and there is no taking one handed pictures while holding the baby. Even with two extra sets of adult arms this was still a factor in Florida. Second, Florida was CRAZY crowded while we were there. Most of the theme parks were a bit insane and it made it nearly impossible to get good pictures (there were people everywhere you turned). Also, many of the rides were inside, dark, and in closed quarters (not good at all for my kind of camera). I've decided that the next time I can upgrade my phone for cheap (every two years) I'm going to get an i-phone so I can use Instagram in these situations. And third, somewhere along the way I just decided that I wanted to be a part of the fun more than I wanted to photograph the fun. I wanted pictures and of course I did get some, but more often than not I decided to put away the camera and join in. Did I want that great picture of my kids on the flying Dumbo ride? Sure. But in the end it was way better to go on the ride with them and settle for a quick picture with my crummy camera phone. It was a good decision!:)
So, we had a wonderful vacation and I look forward to sharing a few of the pictures I did get very soon!
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