What I Did on Vacation

Do y'all remember having to write those paragraphs back in grade school?  

Last week (and the week before last), my family took a much-needed vacation.  Since I've been sorting through hundreds of photos to send to Snapfish, I thought I'd share a few pics from our trip.

First, we visited Main Street...

Then we met up with these characters...

And my husband got cozy with this goofy guy:

 My boys had lunch with some of the gang from the Hundred Acre Wood...

That last guy liked us so much, he even gave us some dessert*:

We got to see fireworks over a castle:

We even went on a safari to meet up with this fella:

It really is the most magical place on earth!

*True story: while walking through Fantasyland, a cast member approached me and asked if we had time for a story.  We stopped, and she told us that Winnie-the-Pooh went looking for honey, but he found something else, and that he'd like to share his find with us.  She then handed me 5 spoons wrapped in napkins.  A second cast member then walked over with this giant sundae and told us it was a gift from Pooh.  We love you Winnie-the-Pooh!

Is it Tuesday already?

We are having a major case of the Mondays around here.  I'm not sure if I should blame it on the rain or if we're still tired out from all our traveling...either way, today has not been very productive.  I do have some pictures to share, though - including a picture of the prize for the "week in pictures" challenge I'm running.

Last week I wrote about my Mom and her scary post-surgery complications (we're talking blood clots in both lungs scary).  I'm happy to report that she is now home and doing really well.  We are so thankful for her healing and recovery!

But Mom's situation led me to think about how much life can change in one week, and I posted a week-in-photos type of challenge.  So, here's how my past week shaped up:

We had a mini-family reunion with my husband's family in Orange Beach, AL.  On our first day, we visited the Naval Aviation museum in nearby Pensacola...my boys are WWI and WWII junkies, so they were loving it!

We visited a seafood restaurant and enjoyed feeding the turtles outside.  I've never seen turtles move as fast as these!

Of course, we had to spend some time at the beach...this is my youngest enjoying the Gulf of Mexico.

In my family, no vacation is complete without a round of mini-golf!

And we can't forget the arcade...my little guy really got into his game of skee-ball!

Before we left, we tried to get a picture of the cousins...at least most of them are looking at the camera.  ;)

And finally, back at home, I think it was safe to say the kitten missed us.  (Yes, we do have winter sheets on our bed in August...call it wishful thinking.)

Before I sign off, I'd like to share a layout I finished while we were at the beach.  (I wanted to be prepared in case of rainy days.  That's my story, and I'm sticking to it!)  Here's what I made:

That's it for this Monday.  I look forward to seeing your pictures, and I hope you have a great week!

Max's Birthday Trip

 A few years ago, Max decided that instead of gifts for his birthday, he'd like an experience.  With that in mind, this year, we took some Christmas money and had a mini-vacation in Orlando.

Our first stop was Legoland Florida.  I scored some buy-one-get-one-free tickets thanks to google, and we left early New Year's Day.  The Legoland portion of our trip was a complete surprise to the boys.  Unfortunately, I didn't get a reaction shot when they first saw the sign in the parking lot...thrilled was an understatement though.  :)

Once inside, I scored a map and used my planning skills from our Disney trip to set a course for our day.  The park is a decent size...we were able to hit everything we wanted in the one day we were there without being overwhelmed.

The first stop was the Duplo Play area.  They had an indoor farmyard with slides and climbing toys for the younger set.  There was also an outdoor play area (seen below) and a couple rides.  Christian and Andrew rode the rides in this area...Will decided he was too big.  

Andrew enjoyed the stocks in the Lego Kingdoms area.

And Christian made friends with one of the guards.  Max, Will, and Christian enjoyed the Dragon roller coaster in the Kingdoms area and rode it twice.  It was behind the castle, so I didn't get any pictures. 

The last attraction the boys visited in the Kingdoms area was a jousting ride.  The kids got their own horse and went through a circuit.  Christian took it very seriously.

After the Kingdoms area of the park was the Land of Adventure.  Christian and Andrew got cozy with one of the guides.  :)

 I think their favorite part of the park was Pharaoh's Revenge, an enclosed area where you could shoot foam balls at other guests.  Max and the boys got into a little battle with a family from Japan.  Random children kept shooting at my head, so I waited outside after taking a couple pictures.

Lego City was the next area of the park.  This area had a really cute show that dealt with fire safety.  We took a little boat trip...Christian had a run-in with a shark.  :)

There was a driving school for kids in this part of the park as well.  Andrew visited the junior version of  the ride while Will and Christian went to "driving school".  They did really well on the course (I have to be honest - I was nervous that one of my boys would crash into one of the other cars).  Christian drives like Max; he was super cautious and took things slow.  Will was a bit more confident behind the wheel.  I'm so proud of my guys!

We hit a pirate show...

Met up with some old friends...

And watched the 4-D show (THREE times!).  Here are Max and the boys posing by the tree outside the theater:

There's a large garden area attached to the park.  Unfortunately, we didn't hit the gardens this time, but we did take a small detour by the waterfall.  All the animals are made of Legos.

This is the second Christmas tree.  It was really cute lit up at night.

The park closed at seven, which worked out perfect for our family because we had a 40-minute drive to Lake Buena Vista.  We didn't go to any of the Disney parks, but we're more comfortable on that side of Orlando (plus I found a great deal on a hotel).

We surprised Max the next day with a trip to Dave & Buster's.  We had lunch and then spent the afternoon playing games.

Max and the boys played a group Pac-Man game and then tested their skills on a racing game...

And since we were in town, we made a side-trip to Downtown Disney.  Of course, we hit the Lego store.  They've added some new Lego sculptures outside.  I enjoyed the Snow White display:

And one last one with the Lego dragon.  We also hit the Disney store...it's become tradition to grab some of the Goofy Cherry Sours when we're in Orlando.  I also scored some popsicle molds.  Now I need to do some pinterest-searching for homemade popsicle recipes.  :)

In the three-and-a-half years we've lived in south Georgia, we've yet to hit a beach.  Orlando we've done five times.  It's all about priorities.  :)

Happy 36th Baby!  I love you Max!