Disney Day 3 and Beyond

This post is WAY overdue, but I didn't want to forget our last few days at Disney. I was in a conference from Wednesday evening through Friday evening, so I had to miss out on some of the real fun, but learned some great things for my job in the meantime. Barrett, Ryan and Mom and Dad had a wonderful time together and for that I am SO grateful that we could all share in this trip together.

Here's the gang enjoying a quick breakfast before starting their day at Hollywood Studios

Yummmm - lunch!

So cute!

Mommy got to say hi to her little guy on a quick break before dinner

Mmmmm

This my friends, is what we call "Made in the Shade"

Mr. Incredible!

Our last day was SUPER fun - as we had a chance to visit the Animal Kingdom. We were up and at 'em early so that we had a great view of the animals on the Safari Ride. On our way, I had to have a picture by the sign for our resort...just to preserve a memory. :)

The Polynesian is beautiful - and right on the Monorail - so convenient!!

I LOVED this picture. So sweet with Baby Simba in the background.

Safari Mickey!

Thumper - you can see that Barrett never tired of meeting these guys.

Blurry family shot - but it's the only one I had.

Ready for the safari!

Grammy and Pops are ready too!

The older I get, the more I appreciate the beauty of God's creation. It is amazing to me how each living thing was created for his specific purpose. We were able to see some of his most beautiful creatures up close and personal in a "wild" setting and I was just in awe! Call me sappy if you want to...

Some gorgeous giraffes

Elephants

Such a great ride!

Barrett really enjoyed practicing his walking with his daddy.

Waving to everyone on the train

Grammy, this popsicle is deeeelicious! Can I have another bite?

Oh, hi Mom!

On our last night, we had reservations for O'hana, one of the most popular Disney restaurants. Getting a reservation here is almost impossible, so I am very glad we had the chance to go! Mom and Barrett stayed behind for a nap, but it was a nice opportunity to get to visit with two of my three favorite guys in the world.

O'hana is a family style Hawaiian restaurant and everything is done in true Hawaiian style, the Disney way. You get served an all you can eat feast, with several different courses. YUM!! This lady was singing and leading a parade of kiddos around the restaurant. She was a little wacky, but good entertainment nonetheless.

With my two favorites

Our favorite Disney restaurant was probably Boma. Located at the Animal Kingdom Lodge, this is an authentic African buffet. They had some of the most wonderful unique dishes! We had a late night reservation, but Barrett did a great job keeping up with us! He was SO good the entire trip and we were so glad that we braved taking him to Disney. It was WORTH it!!

Daddy and B



High five Dad!!!

Our trip was entirely too fast, but entirely too much fun! I hope we can go back again someday. Until then, See Ya Real Soon!

Disney - Day 2

Our second day at Disney was filled with excitement - Grammy and Pops were coming!! We got up and ready for the morning and took a long walk (to help encourage a nap) and waited for their arrival. As we were visiting the Grand Floridian (GORGEOUS), Mom and Dad had arrived! We walked back to our hotel to meet them and say hello. They were so excited to see Barrett, and as you can tell, he was excited to see them too!!

Sleepy man getting some lovin' from Pops

Hi Grammy!

If I could just get a little closer to those ducks over there, that would be awesome -thanks!

We headed back to the room so everyone could rest a bit and fed Barrett some yummy lunch before heading off to the parks. We decided to visit Epcot and see some of the Food and Wine Festival. Barrett's favorite part was meeting the characters, so of course, we did our share of that as well.

Mmmm, lunch!

Pops, you are SO hilarious!! Lemme see those teeth! 

Loves that Mickey Mouse

Sweet boy with Minnie hugs



The whole gang!!

We spent the rest of our day wandering and enjoying the sights, but there weren't too many rides that we could ride - due to the huge festival crowd. We decided to call it a day and head back for a special birthday dinner for Mom! Stay tuned for part 3 of our adventure.

The little music man

Family shot

Hello, ladies! 



I think I can walk from here, thanks.

Mic-key M-O-U-S-E!

Well, I know some of you have waited a long time for this update with the pictures, so here goes! In October, we had the wonderful opportunity to visit my favorite place - Disney World!! I had a conference for work that was held at the resort, so we decided to stay a few extra days and make it a vacation. My parents were kind enough to join us so that we could have some fun for the whole family!

We prepared for weeks for the big trip and I did TONS of research to find out all things about the Mouse. I guess you could call me a real Mouseketeer now - so if you are planning a Disney trip any time soon, I have lots of GREAT tips for you!! Luckily, the internet is a fantastic resource and offers information on everything from the best restaurants for your money to the best day and time to visit each park - who knew there were so many strategies for visiting Mickey Mouse??

In anticipation of our visit to the Mouse, we packed all kinds of things and decked out Barrett's stroller so that he would be riding in style - complete with his own personal fan and a rain cover for those Orlando afternoon showers. I printed out "touring guides" that told us what time of day to visit attractions and even downloaded an app for my iPhone to make sure that we would not wait in any ride lines longer than necessary.

Once we arrived at the airport, Barrett was so excited to try out his walking skills and wanted to walk Mommy all around the airport. He was a wonderful little traveler and enjoyed meeting all of his "fans" on the airplane. The little guy loved playing with Daddy's hat and trying to eat the window clings that I brought for him to play with.

We arrived at our resort that evening, thanks to the Magical Express (wonderful service) and took a look around the place. We were greeted at the front desk with leis and a Mickey Mouse towel animal on our bed. Dinner was at The Wave and then we settled in to get ready for a big day on Tuesday!

Gotta check this place out!! 

My dinner dates - LOVE!! 

Tuesday morning we were so excited to get up early and head to the Magic Kingdom. The very first thing we did was meet Mickey and Minnie. This was a wonderful moment and a memory I will never forget. Barrett was SO excited to meet "his Mickey Mouse" and squealed in delight when he finally saw them. He gave kisses and hugs to both Minnie and Mickey - it was so precious that I cried!!!

 

After meeting our favorites, we headed off to ride some rides. The wonderful thing about Disney World is that little ones can ride several of the attractions. We rode the classic Dumbo elephants and Barrett just loved them!! Naptime was non-existent this day, as there was entirely too much excitement going on!

Our second big adventure was Barrett's first hair cut! Harmony Barber Shop is a fantastic little place on Main Street USA where you can schedule a special appointment for baby's first hair cut. Barrett was wonderful during the whole process. He was so excited about the stickers they gave him that he didn't even notice his hair. He looks like such a BIG BOY now!! Notice the proud parents in the mirror...

These stickers are AWESOME!! 

Okay, lady, I'm only sitting still here because of those sharp things in your hands...

Hey Mom! How do I look?

Almost finished! 

Lady, where are those ears you promised?

YEAH!! My first Mickey Ears

Harmony Barber Shop

After a hair cut and some rides, we went to meet Tigger and Pooh. Barrett also met some other friends while we were in line. He wanted to play with the little girl's mouse ears and she was so sweet to him! Such fun! We were all pretty tired after this, so we walked back to our room for a little rest...

This was enough to tucker this guy out!! We had a wonderful first Day at Disney World - more to come!