Disney World Vacation 2011

We consider this our first real family vacation. We flew to Florida, not for a wedding to visit other people, but to create our own schedule of things to do and see in Orlando. We had a blast! Dave and I keep saying it was the perfect family vacation. The girls had a great time and parents did too!

By God's grace Dave and I were relaxed and didn't get into major arguments over the trip. There were some high stress moments and surprisingly we laughed them off sometimes. Like when Mia cried/screamed almost the entire flight there and the flight back, or when we decided not to bring the stroller to Epcot at night and to carry two tired girls back to the resort. So really, thank you God for such an enjoyable trip!

We couldn't have asked for better weather that week. It was 65 degrees when we got there and got warmer as the week went on. It was 80 degrees two days out of the week. We were able to go to the pool at our resort and Lilly said that was one of her favorite parts of the trip. Both of the girls love water and love playing in the pool! I think Mia threw tantrums both times we had to leave the pool.

Food at Disney was really good! We thought we'd be eating pizza and burgers at every meal but we ended up having a much wider selection than that! Well we did have pizza for dinner one night (it was a really good deal). We decided to go all out and get the meal plan too. I'm glad we did because it was convenient, ate some fun snacks, and saved some money too. Now, if we stay off Disney site in the future we might not get the meal plan but since we stayed at Disney's Polynesian Resort it was good for us.

Some highlights from the vacation:

- Lilly met her favorite princess, Princess Aurora, 4 times that week. She seemed to be excited to see her all 4 times too!

- Lilly's favorite roller coaster was Goofy's Barnstormer.

- We met Aladdin and Jasmine at Magic Kingdom. Lilly showed them her Baby Tiger and told them about Mia's Mustache Bear.

- Mia did not like the animal characters and cried whenever one got too close to her. So lunch at Crystal Palace at Magic Kingdom was not a very relaxing lunch for her. All of the characters from Winnie the Pooh visited our table and Mia cried every time!

- Lilly laughed throughout the entire show Turtle Talk With Crush at Epcot. I don't think she's seen the entire Finding Nemo movie but talking with Crush was still really entertaining.

- Pineapple Dole Whip soft serve is delicious! We had it at Magic Kingdom and then found out that our resort had a Dole Whip machine too!

- Dinner at Cinderella's Castle on our last night at Disney and for Lilly's 4th Birthday. It was so special to be in the castle and have the girls dress up in their princess dresses.

Each day was packed with fun-filled family time. I'm so glad we had the chance to go. It was such a blessing to be together, making memories, and vacationing in Disney for an entire week. On our flight home, Dave and I were already brainstorming when and where we could vacation next as a family.

I think I have over 400 pictures + videos uploaded to Flickr. Check them out and read the descriptions to read/see more of our vacation. Look in our Disney World Vacation 2011 set.

Here are a few favorite pics:

Lilly's 4

Sweet, silly, laughing, and often loud Lilly turned 4 on February 3rd. We were in Disney World, at Magic Kingdom the day of her birthday (update on Disney to come later). Lilly wore a birthday button and was wished 'Happy Birthday' by all the workers and characters around the park. She got very good at saying, "Thank you. I'm 4 now."

Lilly's always seemed a little older to us. So it's no huge surprise that she's 4 years old now. I guess she might seem older than her actual age to us because she's a firstborn and she's always been well above average for her height and weight (currently 41'' and 38 lbs.). Lilly also speaks clearly and is coordinated. We think she's athletic. Yeah, we're proud parents. :)

At 4 years old, Lilly loves to be with people. She likes when we have visitors and when we visit others. She likes to go to Sunday school, ballet class, and any other class we go to. Lilly has a great love for animals, especially cats/kitties. She prefers caring for her stuffed animals over baby dolls. Her favorite animals have been changing lately. Mama Tio isn't always first choice these days (a little sad for us to see). Lilly has some new lovies, like Baby Tiger, Mimi Tio, and Baby Simba (bought at Disney). Lilly is still into princesses and claims that she loves all the Disney Princesses (although when asked Aurora's still her favorite). She loves to color in coloring books and play dress up with her princess dolls. Often, when she's playing by herself, she'll break out in song. It'll either be a Disney song or a song from church. Lilly's currently in a dance class learning tap, ballet, and jazz, but I really think she's more of a "freestyle" dancer. :) That's more her personality!

Thank you, Lord, for blessing us with a healthy and joyful little girl. God, we pray you will save her soul and one day she will confess that Jesus is Lord of her life.

We love her, dearly. She's always been our sweetheart. Happy Birthday, Lilly!