Florida! Disneyworld!

Last week, we were freezing cold and snuggling in the basement by our fireplace eating popcorn and watching Tinkerbell for the hundredth time this winter when I looked at Brian and I said, "I wish we could go to Florida and see the sun and beach!" He said, "Ok! Let's go!" Thinking he was kidding, I shrugged it off. But the more we talked about it, the more we realized there really wasn't a reason NOT to go! Brian was injured at work this summer and has been out ever since. With his frequent doctors appointments and pain, it's been an interesting season in our lives. We missed all of his vacation time from work last year and we realized we had about a 10 day window of open time this week which meant plenty of time to drive to Florida and back. Gas prices are super cheap. We have a free place to stay in St. Petersburg because Brian's grandparents lived here but both recently passed away and the house is unused. And the cherry on top is that we have an old friend who works at Disneyworld who could get us in!

We had no idea what a looooong roadtrip would be like with three kids three and under but we were just crazy desperate enough to find out haha. It wasn't so bad. We left as early as we could on Sunday (which was actually like 10am by the time we got everyone ready and the car packed lol) and we drove as long and far as possible. We had to stop every few hours for toddler potty breaks and to nurse the baby, but other than that.... drive drive drive! Around 1 am the girls were losing it. They couldn't sleep sitting up any longer. They cried and said, "I just want to sleep in a bed!" Heartbreaking haha. So we pulled over to a rest stop. As soon as we got situated to let them sleep, they got a boost of crazy and were hysterically laughing and jumping. So we hit the road again and let them watch a movie on my laptop... at 2am haha. When the movie was over, they lost it again, so we stopped and all took a 3 hour "nap" in various creative positions around the van haha. When we woke up refreshed and stiff at 7am we drove all day again and got here at 7pm. Phew! On the way back we are hoping to stop and sleep at a few friends homes. That should help.

Our first day here in Florida, we met our friend at Disneyworld Magic Kingdom! I can't even describe how excited we were!!! I whipped up a couple new Minnie Mouse skirts and ears for the big girls last week and Edith wore a hand me down from the Vivi and Lulu. My biggest fear was the girls running off in different directions in excitement to go see something, but they did pretty well. We pushed our "crazy train", aka our double stroller with the glider board attachment for Vivi to stand on. It really felt like pushing a train haha. But it was awesome! We mostly stayed in Fantasyland or Tomorrowland all day and road the kid rides. Their favorites were Small World and Ariel which we rode both twice. The girls got to meet Elsa & Anna, Tinkerbell and Ariel. Just adorable! They also enjoyed the Haunted Mansion and LOVED the parade and fireworks. I can't believe that they did so well after a two day, all night drive and then the over-stimulation and fun of Disneyworld in the sunny heat of Florida. All three passed out for a couple hours in the stroller and we woke them up to have a dance party with The Incredibles. Viv is our dancer and LOVED it! Lulu thought the music was too loud and the characters were scary haha.  All in all, a totally awesome day! We just LOOOOOOOVE anything Disney :)