FLORIDA!
We finally took the plunge and got our whole family out to Florida for a visit. Luckily Connor still counted as a lap child (woohoo!)
We left just before midnight January 12th. We put the kids down early, so they got a couple hours before we had to leave for the airport...
Hence, they were wide awake at the airport...and unfortunately MOST of the flight. we spent 3 hours on board before we even took off, thanks to the ice storm that arrived just as we were about to depart.
But we did arrive, and we rented our first car! Kinda loved this little Elantra.
We drove straight down to Grandma and Grandpa's for time at the beach! It took about 4 switches driving the 3 hours while mom and dad took turns napping.
It was warmer than Utah for sure, but not quite warm enough for a dip.
So we wandered down the beach collecting shells.
Connor was in heaven running around barefoot.
We made it to the turtle rescue, our favorite place to visit in West Palm. The tanks are so well thought out-with low windows for the kids to make friends with their sea friends.
We also found another wonderful place in Stuart, FL: "The Florida Oceanographic Coastal Center."
Connor was fascinated.
They had so many fun things for the kids to play in and it was totally quiet! Every volunteer was so excited to have small children there and encouraged them to TOUCH EVERYTHING! A mother's dream...
Olivia would run around the Sting Ray tank and chase them as they swam
We even got to feed them! Don't worry, they were de-barbed. Olivia loved it, and after some observation Connor really got into it as well.
We took a walk through the Mangroves out to the Lagoon. Perfect kid hike.
Being so close to the water there were lots of puddles. Some how we made it out of there without any wet children.
At the end of the trip to Stuart we said goodbye to Grandma and Grandpa. Thank you so much for having us! It was so fun to spend some quality time with you. Some other adventures that weren't pictured-but just as memorable-as follows:
Swimming in the hot-tub, usually before breakfast at Olivia's request.
Swimming at the club pool
Ian and Ravonne spending each evening with us! Sure love them.
Super delicious banana cake from Ray's
Watching movies and reading books with Grandma and Grandpa
Reminding Casper (the cat) that life is pretty awesome without youngsters to put up with most of the time-he was a good sport.
Driving out to the lighthouse
Can't wait until we can go again!
We arrived in Orlando in time for a delicious curry dinner, with roasted broccoli. Yum. The Hicken's know how to spoil. We hit the hay and woke up early to smash as much Disney as we could into one day. I'll be honest we almost didn't go...but I'm so glad we did! Best memories ever!
Our first character to meet was Tinkerbell. We went through a magical door that shrunk us down to Tink's size.
Followed by Mickey. Olivia seriously wasn't going to stop hugging. It was one of those, "umm is this going to end, or should I just keep hugging..." If mickey could actually have an expression I'm sure that would be it. And did you know that Mickey talks now!?! Mind. Blown.
We caught a glimpse of Mary and her Penguins
These Main Street Residents stopped and asked Olivia if she was from Salt Lake City. Creepy...until they said they recognized the area code on her arm. We took a tip from Matt and Annie and wrote both our numbers on her arm, just in case. Luckily it never had to be used-she was super good about staying with mom and dad.
Thank goodness for the Bob! Both kids sat happily as we raced all over the park.
And of course our phone batteries drained to the last bar from gaming while waiting in line.
Waiting in a 120+min line to meet Anna and Elsa. Worth it.
Olivia made some friends while we were waiting.
The moment arrived. I think Connor was freaking out more to meet her than Olivia! He kept pulling and pointing trying to get closer. Olivia ran right up to her and started telling her this really elaborate story...she seemed very engaged, but then said, "oh dear, I must have some snow in my ear, I'm not sure I understand." Poor Olivia. She tried to explain again, but Elsa just looked inquisitively at her. Seriously girl? What the deuce? Olivia looked over at me like, "Mom, this girl is broken" Ha ha! So I came over and interpreted...but by that time it was time to move on. Needless to say she was still excited to meet her, but a little nervous after that.
Connor came right up to her. She called him "my little snowman."
Anna was THE BEST. Seriously she totally made up for the "ice queen's" failure to engage. They talked about how they both wore boots. (Side note, those boots made Olivia another 2 inches taller...thanks for the tip Becky!...and got her on a few extra rides.) I didn't quite get a picture of it, but as soon as they both put out their shoes to compare, Connor got in on the action and did what looked like a parkour move sticking his leg straight out to show his shoe too, and fell backwards catching himself and just siting back with one leg in the air, balancing on his one hand and foot. HA HA!
She was SO happy.
I know Connor's face doesn't really show it, but he was so excited too. :)
Ok, Anna and Elsa were good, but these two were off the hook! Cinderella came over and picked her out of the line, and just said how she was so excited to meet another princess.
AND prince.
Laundry...i mean Rapunzel was awesome as well, and dare I say it the one Olivia probably was most excited to see. She had brought her doll and kept saying how they were the same, but she was bigger and real-er. :) Laundry sleeps with Olivia every night.
So I guess I should explain...Laundry is what Olivia named her Rapunzel doll. She got her from the Easter Bunny, and when she saw her she ran over to it saying, "Laundry!" Adam and I looked at each other..."what?" But she insisted that was her name...and that is what she has always been, even when her little girl friends correct her and tell her, "no, it's Rapunzel," she comes right back and says, "No my girl's name is Laundry."
Rapunzel told her how excited she was that a little version of her got to go on all the adventures she was going to have today.
O's first roller coaster, The BarnStormer. HUGE SUCCESS. She loved it. I wish I could have taken a video. I think she held her breath most of the time...and when we got to the end, she looked up with these big eyes. I waited for tears or laughter...laughter! WOOT!
She couldn't wait to get back on with daddy, since we had baby swap passes.
Waiting in line at the tea cups realizing that we didn't have a whole family pic yet. This is the best we could do. This is about 6 hours in and still going strong. Thanks to Cari's sweet snack pack. THANKS AGAIN CARI!
I love that so much of Disney is accessible to the whole family.
This was a surprise! We went in to what we thought was a "show" for a quiet time, but didn't know it was a live show were you get to be in it AND meet belle! Olivia got to be Chip in the play.
Because it's a group by group this one seemed to be the most intimate. Loved meeting Belle!
Connor went right up and gave her a hug.
Towards the end we realized we hadn't ventured much beyond fantasy land, so we ran down to frontier land, and tomorrow land. It started to get cold. Sweet Connor was such a champ waiting for his sister to ride the big kid rides.
At first Olivia was a little upset that she wasn't the one that got to drive, but then realized that the car was just her size, and she got to sit in the front seat and that was enough for her. "FASTER DADDY FASTER"
We left as fireworks wrapped up and the kids were asleep before even pulling out of the parking lot into the Disney highway system. AWESOME FUN FILLED TIRING DAY. (one more side note...we got free parking! We pulled up to the front and the guy that is supposed to rob you of another $17 to park said, "Is this your first time? Mickey just called and said parking's on him today. this place IS magical!)
The next morning we went and picked strawberries. These were THE BEST strawberries I had ever, ever had. So much flavor!
We hit up the farmer's market and the petting zoo. So much fun.
Three Boys in the Tub.
Olivia and Henry were best buds. This is right before Church.
Tait arrived late Saturday. It was fun to have another cousin around!
Can I even write words that will capture Cari's cooking? NO I cannot. If gold had a taste it would be her cooking.
We went to the discovery museum, where we dug up dino bones...
chatted over penny tornadoes....
And watched alligators bake in the glow of heat lamps.
But all fun must come to an end. It was so fun to spend time with these guys in their beautiful new home! Thanks to Jane and Paige for letting us take over their room. We only wish these types of adventures could happen more often. It was the perfect vacation.
Other un-pictured events:
Tait's arrival
Story times
T-25 workouts
SO many delicious meals
Taco runs
Pizzokie night at Busters...(is that right, Cari?)
Connor sleeping in the closet
More of Chet and Connor just being buds
Dolls and dress ups
Who knows...maybe Adam will be offered a job in Florida!
