Florida Day 2

The original plan was to go to Sea World the day after Magic Kingdom. Well call me old but I needed a day of recovery. Our whole approach to this trip was to be laid back and flexible. We decided to take a day to hang out by the pool and relax. Ryan and I also had something special planned that night with the conference so we felt like we needed a down day. 

I-pad in the morning. Harrison watching TV at age one. Don't judge. 

I loved getting to feed the kids at the bar. Our new house has a really big island and it made me excited about getting to do some meals there. I also loved having a full kitchen so we could eat and feed the kids easily.

After Harrison took a nap we headed over to Nana and Pop's hotel. It had great pools and things to do. 

Uncle Eddie and Aunt Shelly along with Sidney and Savannah drove to spend the day with us. It was great to see them! 

Nana even brought new pool toys! 

Harrison LOVES water

After we ate lunch we went up to the room and Ryan's mom had planned a surprise birthday celebration for me. It made me feel so special, especially since I knew I wasn't going to get to celebrate my on my real birthday with many family or friends. 

We had mouse ears for the celebration

This kid was super excited

My sweet mother-in-law

The cake was delicious! 

Love this sweet boy

Poor Harrison finally crashed

Island of Adventures- And it was an adventure!

On Sunday night we had the opportunity to attend the grand reception for the AUA at Universal's Island of Adventures. Basically the park is shut down and only people with tickets from the conference can be there. The park had three major sections opened for us with lots of food, drinks, and entertainment.  Ryan's ticket was provided by the hospital and he bought one for me as my birthday present. Nana and Pop were willing to babysit so off we went!  

First we boarded a bus at our hotel and they took us straight to the entrance of the park. 

One of the first things I saw was the stand with the Butter beer.  Now for the record I have not read or seen Harry Potter. And apparently according to everyone we told that to we are awful, uneducated people that are missing out on one of life's greatest joys. Whatever. Anyway, even though I had not read them even I had heard about Butter beer and had to take a taste. It actually was great! Frozen was much better than the chilled.

Then we saw the first roller coasters, the Dueling Dragons. Now granted I had been on these 5 years ago with Ryan, David, and Greer (and David almost got stuck in one of the chairs permanently!) so I had lived through it once but looking at all of those drops and turns and flips did make me a little hesitant. But- on we went!

So the coolest thing about this night was how there were such short lines. Have you ever waited in line for over an hour to ride a 2 minute roller coaster? We sure have. This night we rode a coaster, got off, ran around and got right back on. There seriously was no wait which was awesome. I will say that maybe you need the wait because after doing this a couple of times I was starting to feel a little green.   I convinced Ryan we needed to try some of the many food samples and walk around the park for a little bit.

All different types of food and for some reason we decided to get a picture with a corn dog.

After we did a few more things we noticed that the most popular Harry Potter ride was back in service after it had been temporarily shut down. Even with such a small crowd the wait was still around 30 minutes so we went to get into line. I will tell the short version of this story but this ride ended up ruining our night. First of all we got stuck on it TWICE when it broke down. Anyone who knows me well knows that I am extremely claustrophobic and tend to get a little anxious in those situations. I seriously almost had a panic attack and was about to pass out. The whole being stuck and strapped down in a seat and can't move in a hot area for an undetermined amount of time- not cool.  Then when the ride was finally over Ryan and I were SUPER sick.  I have been on so many roller coasters in my life and it has never affected me like that one did.  Maybe it's the fact I have had two kids or that I am now 30 but boy I will not be going back to Harry Potter World anytime soon. And poor Ryan. Oh my.  I ended up having to practically drag him back to the bus. It was definitely a night we won't be forgetting anytime soon! We finally made it back home and boy were we ready for bed. And just so I can always remember the joys of raising small children, after being so sick that night and not getting to bed till around midnight sweet Harrison decided to get up at 3:30 and never went back to sleep. Gotta love vacations with kids! :) 

Magic Kingdom!

If there is one thing I can guarantee it's that my kids always miss the memo that after a long day of travel and minimal napping you are supposed to let your mom sleep until at least 5 a.m. Sooooo we were up bright and early. 

Hello bedhead 

Which lead to this before we even got to the theme park. Yikes! What are we getting ourselves into?!?!

At least the rest of the family seemed excited. 

Before we even left I broke my sunglasses and Ryan confessed he forgot to bring the camera- the one thing he was in charge of packing. Thank goodness for cell phones! And Nana had her camera so we will be doing another post once I get her pictures because hers are much better than mine. 

Turned around and caught the boys holding hands. Gotta remember those moments!

I love the feeling you get when you drive in- it really is magical! 

After parking we got on this golf cart thing for a ride to the monorail.  Getting the double stroller on here- not so easy! 

Riding the monorail was a huge hit. James probably would have been content to just ride that thing the entire day!

The first thing that happened was a little mini show on Main street. 

 

Then we had to attempt to get the golden Disney picture: a picture in front of Cinderella's castle (even though my boys don't even know who Cinderella is). Needless to say from the following pictures, no, we did not get the coveted perfect picture. Or if we did it is on Nana's camera. :) 

This is our one family shot from Disney world. Come on boys- give me something I can put in a picture frame because this is not it. 

James's version of "Look at the camera and smile"

He decided he was NOT having his picture taken anymore. 3 year olds. Got to love them. 

Next stop the carousel. I hate those things so I was thankful for Pop being willing to take James. 

Then the teacups. Another one of my least favorites. I just cannot handle the spinning. Wow, I sound pretty pathetic. I will actually ride just about anything as long as it doesn't spin. 

I wanna ride the teacups. 

Then we hit up all sorts of other rides! James loved them. Harrison was a little freaked out by some. 

Without a doubt Harrison's favorite ride was "It's a Small World." For a kid who gets excited about seeing a ceiling fan, all of those twirling whirling dolls and objects was just a dream come true. He was memorized. 

Not sure what ride this was but Harrison doesn't seem impressed. Also the amount of selfie pictures we took on this trip should not be allowed. 

After a while H started to look like this: 

So I attempted to get him to take a nap but no such luck.  During this time James was riding the race cars which I think was his very favorite ride. He loved it so much that when it was over Ryan brought him to me kicking and screaming because he wanted to keep riding. Yep, we were that family.  

Our attempt at a nap

 When your kid acts terrible at Disney world what do you do? Reward them with ice cream at 10 a.m. of course! It may have helped that I was really wanting some ice cream as well. 

All is right with the world again. 

 After eating dessert first we went and had lunch. It's vacation - gotta be flexible! 

This boy can eat!

So glad we rented the double stroller. I'm wishing I had one at home now. 

Then- time for more rides!

Both of my kids hated this one- too loud! 

Once again Harrison looks miserable, lol. He really did have a good time, I promise. 

James LOVED Dumbo

 Ryan was getting ready to have to leave for the conference. Before he left we decided to take James on his first roller coaster. I was surprised- he did great!

After waiting in line 30 minutes this starts to happen.

Hang on tight! 

Then we road the train back to Main Street to tell Ryan goodbye. 

Final selfie of the day

After Ryan left we rode a couple more rides and then we had this/  

Miracles do happen. First time James has fallen asleep in a stroller. 

 And we had this. 

Double miracle- both kids asleep at the same time. 

 I don't have any pictures to document the next couple of hours but let's just leave it at James having a huge meltdown, me losing my cell phone, waiting in line forever at Buzz Light year, breaking out of the middle of the Buzz Light year line due to a meltdown from both kids, riding some more rides, and Mommy feeling like she needs a glass of wine or a sedative. Have I mentioned how glad I am Ryan's parents were with me??? Hey- it's not Disney if you aren't miserable at least part of the day! Just kidding. I have been with kids enough to expect a few hiccups throughout the day.

Sweet Pop took James to ride the race cars again and Nana, H, and I took a nice snack break in the air conditioned restaurant. It was at this point I decided it was time to call it a day. 

Of course James REALLY wanted to ride the tea cups again. And he REALLY wanted to meet Mickey Mouse (which ended up being quite the lengthy experience).  So off we went to ride the teacups and meet Mickey. After all- how often are you at the Magic Kingdom? 

Waiting for Mickey

Final monorail ride 

It actually was an amazing day. As corny as it sounds throughout the day I kept tearing up at times. Getting to have this special time with my husband and kids and wonderful in-law was incredible. I loved getting to witness special memories being made. And believe it or not I'm already ready to go back!