The happiest place on earth!

Yup, I believe it. I am a sucker for a good cheesy theme park, magical moments, and things that are shiny. If you know me at all, you know that this is true (especially the shiny things). We got back to reality a few hours ago and all our things are put away, the washing maching and dryer are running steadily, Rick is catching up on his DVR shows, and Kendall is down for a nap. So what better time then now to blog! Ok, I will try to make this short and sweet and just cover the highlights of our trip.

Day #1 Monday- Our flight was mid morning and Kendall did really well on the flight. She took about a 45 minute catnap and was hyper the rest of the way. Hey, she's two! We hung out at our pool (we rented a home) and relaxed most of the night.

Day #2 Tuesday- This is the only day it rained and it only actually rained in the morning and was dreary the rest of the day. We took advantage of the rainy day and ventured to Tampa Bay. We went to the Florida Aquarium which Kendall LOVED. She was so excited to see EVERY fish, EVERY bird, and EVERY other animal she saw. She stuck her hands willingly into the stingray touch and feel and wasn't scared at all. After the aquarium we headed to Tropicana Field for a Tampa Bay Ray's baseball game. They played the Angels and we had a good time. Kendall was super pumped to see the mascot Raymond...until he came up to her. Then she was pretty scared of him.

Kendall reaching into the stingray tank

Kendall and Rick with Raymond

Day #3 Wednesday- Disney day 1! We went to Animal Kingdom for the day and had a blast. Once again, Kendall absolutely loved the animals. Rick, Ryan, Tara (SIL), and Jim took in a few rides and it was a whole lot of fun. We *thought* Kendall would love the Bug's Life 3D show...NOT SO MUCH. The lights went off about 5 min in and spiders/bugs fell from the ceiling. Kendall screamed bloody murder and I had to leave with her ASAP. To this moment she still talks about the "silly bugs" that we saw. However, they were not too silly to her while we were in the theatre.

Uncle Ryan, Aunt Tara and Kendall at Animal Kingdom

On the safari ride, no, Kendall was not that tired, just a bad attempt at a self portrait!

Pluto and Goofy!

Kendall LOVED pooh bear

She also loved Eeyore

Day #4 Thursday- Disney day 2! Of course no Disney trip would be complete without a trip to Magic Kingdom. All of us except Kendall have been to Magic Kingdom before, but it is a staple park and of course wonderful for Kendall. Kendall had a blast on a ton of rides, absolutely LOVED the light parade, and met many characters (Goofy, Pluto, Pooh, Tigger, Eeyore, Rafiki, and OF COURSE the one and only Mickey Mouse). Rick wasn't going to let this day pass without taking in as much Disney as possible. We were at the park at 8am and we didn't get home until midnight after the fireworks, parade, and a couple last minute rides. I should mention that Kendall, Jim, Dana, and I came home around 4 and didn't come back until 8pm. The 4 of us needed a nap! Ryan and Tara were such troopers and survived Magic Kingdom the ENTIRE day with Rick. Thank god they did this with him so I didn't have too! 7 months pregnant + upper 80's weather+ tons of walking = one tired Momma. Day

Cooling off with Papa in the water mist area. Her hair was super curly from the humidity.

Day #5 Friday- Ryan and Tara went home this day and the remaining 5 went to Coco Beach to play in the ocean. The weather was beautiful and it couldn't have been a better way to end our trip! To say Kendall liked the ocean is an understatement. She was ecstatic about it, running head first into the waves, running up and down the beach, and picking up "gross" sand! The water was surprisingly warm and the sand was so soft. It was great.

Definitely loved the waves, check out the look on her face

The sand was very "hot" to Kendall, but oh so soft

Day #6 Saturday- This was traveling day. We woke up at 2:30am to be on our early flight. Thankfully Kendall slept for 2 1/2 of the 3 1/2 hour flight, whew!

Well, that's our trip in a nutshell, ok, a big nutshell...but I had to put in the highlights. It was definitely memorable and even though Kendall will only remember those "silly bugs" we have a lot of memories stored away for her. It was nice to come home and get back in a routine and see our puppies. Big thanks to both families that took care of our other two children!