Florida. Family. Fun.

Thursday morning, we were up and ready to go bright and early, just before 4:00 am. Grace was a little groggy, and then said, "We going to Disney Woyled?" Tired? Yes. Ready for anything? Definitely!

The drive down to Orlando was an interesting one, it has been a while since we took a road trip longer than four hours. The kiddos did pretty well. We pulled off in Georgia, close to the Florida border, and thought we must have pulled into a really stinky town. I mean, rotten egg kind of stinky! We decided to get gas and check to see if it was us, or our car. Lifting the hood revealed a smoking battery. We went into the gas station with the intent of finding directions to a parts store, and on the way out, who did we run into but Aunt Sharron, Cheryl, and her wonderful family! What are the odds of that one! We were truly blessed, and they concurred we needed to figure that one out before continuing on our journey. We went five miles down the road, waited for the battery to cool, and had some fun conversation while the O'reily's staff installed a new battery, fixing the problem!

We stuck together on the way to Orlando, until I thought we were going to be late picking up my parents from the airport, and we decided to go ahead for a bit. Did you know that when you put a new battery in your car, it restarts the clock? I did know that, but I forgot. I'll explain later . . .

As we drove through Jacksonville, the skyline and bridges were pretty impressive looking, and the kiddos asked if we were looking at Paris? Um, no, maybe we'll have to visit there someday? Benjamin wasn't too sure though, they don't speak English there. Silly boy.

We made it to the Airport in plenty of time. I thought we were over an hour late, remember the whole new battery thing? This is about when I FINALLY remembered this little tid bit of information. :) Okay, I'll hopefully let the pictures do more of the talking now.

After getting settled, we headed over to Sweet Tomatoes for dinner, and to check out Downtown Disney.

We went in and explored this restaurant in Downtown with pretty impressive moving dinosaurs. Don't worry, we didn't let them eat anyone.

Such a great dinner . . . somewhere else :) Although from what we saw on other people's plates the menu looked pretty impressive.

We also checked out Lego Land. Great place for hands on building and racing.

Friday, was Jeff's Birthday! Here he is sporting his AWESOME shirt from Bestemor and Bestefar that they got while over seas visiting family recently. He's also sporting some pretty awesome excercise gloves, so Jeffery, it's your birthday, what are you going to do . . .

"I'm going to Disney World!"

We rode the monorail over, and the kids got to wear buttons that said "first visit" while Jeff got a special button too, letting everyone know it was his birthday.

We met a few characters . . .

Experienced the atmosphere . . .

Found some favorite rides . . .

Got a little sleepy . . .

Maybe a little bit wet . . .

Had fun with lots of family . . .

watched some parades . . .

and really had a magical day.

but, all good days have to come to an end.

We tried to make ours last as long as possible, and took the fairy back to the real world, hopefully keeping a little bit of the magic with us. Lily said several times during the day, "this is the best day of my whole life!" Truly it was one of the best.

Saturday, we went to Cocoa beach to play in the surf and sand, and had fun teaching Nanna and Grandy how to body surf in the warm water.

They were great sports, even when getting bowled over by a wave or two or four. ;)

In the evening we went back to Downtown Disney to let the kids get their souvenirs, and take in the atmosphere just a little bit longer. We found a Lego version of Herman. There was also a dance party going on teaching line dances to kiddos, we just had fun wandering.

Sunday morning, we went to a bit of church, and got to see the beautiful Orlando Temple. We didn't get to go inside, but enjoyed the calm that surrounds these wonderful buildings.

We sure enjoyed spending time with Nanna and Grandy, Aunt Sharron and family, and seeing the excitement in our kiddos' eyes reflected in our own. Thanks for inviting us Mom and Dad, and for everyone who helped us get there and back. Love You!