Friday, August 27, 2010

After playing the role of a single mom all summer, and after Chad having worked 90 hour weeks for a 12 week stretch, and after going faaar too long in-between Gigi getting to see her grandbabies, we all met up in Orlando for a magical vacation! Unfortunately, Mike was unable to come, but we sent lots of love his way and fully intend for him to be at the next get together! :-) *Oh, and for those of you who prayed for a cold front - thank you! It was overcast the majority of the week, which cooled things off enough to make it nearly chilly...seriously, I saw goosebumps on my arms a few times! Goosebumps in late August???...that's a good thing. :-)* We started our trip at the Fountain's Resort on Monday. Our room was 1500 square feet, so we basically had a house to spread out in...when you travel with 3 kids, that is practically a necessity! We spent quite a bit of time in the resort all week playing games, watching movies, and relaxing. We started our morning on Tuesday at Animal Kingdom with the Lion King Show and it was the most fabulous show I've seen in a long time! In my opinion, it was about as good as a broadway performance, but maybe even better due to the close contact of characters and audience! The kids sat on the front row and the entire time they were being given tons of attention from the characters. My face hurt at the end of the show from smiling so long and laughing so hard - seriously, this show was AWESOME! Can you tell it was slightly humid outside?! We were walking through a fog and drizzle all day! We spent one day in Downtown Disney. This place was wonderful and F-R-E-E...or at least, no entrance fee's. :-) Lillie learned to walk (officially) while we were in Orlando! I think she finally decided (while crawling on the tile at the pool trying to make her getaway) that walking was much less painful for her knees! Anyways, she's still a little wobbly but is definitely walking more than crawling now. (See bottom of post for video footage of her walking!)*Oh, and she also had her first pony-tail. LOL!...I did it as a joke, but it made us all laugh so hard that I couldn't take it out - no matter how goofy she looked. Poor child.* Shep practically got lost in Lego Land...this place was awesome! Gigi took Rauly to be transformed in to a Princess...can you tell which one she is? btw: I've never seen anything like the Bippidi Boppodi Boutique...wow! We ate way too good while we were there! I brought several home cooked meals (thx Pioneer Woman!), and we ate out at the RainForest Cafe as well as the T-Rex Cafe - both had incredible atmospheres and the food was delicious! Let me introduce you to Julius "Squeezer". He sat right over our heads throughout the entire meal....Cuhreeeeeeepy! Ew! Everyone but Shep looks exhausted in these pictures... T-REX We ate inside the Ice Cave which constantly changed colors and had a meteor shower every 20 minutes...this place was absolutely amazing. I'm not sure who enjoyed it more...the adults, or the kids! Lillie Anna made herself at home while she ate her lunch! lol! Me and Shep channelled our inner-dinosaur. Gigi had quite a task in chasing after Lillie Anna...she was unafraid of the water and would've dove in...dived in...dove in...oh brother, I have no clue how to say that. Shep and Rauly raced down this slide a gazillion times! It was the highlight of the resorts Water Park. Rauly learned to back-dive by herself, and Shepherd perfected his front-dive! I tell ya'...we've been blessed by the fact that usually these two don't get discouraged by the other's successes...but rather, they only become more motivated to try hard and accomplish it for themselves as well. **See bottom of post to watch video's of them diving!** We played Volleyball...although their wasn't a lot of "volleyin'" going on... Over all, it was a WONDERFULLY relaxing week filled with many happy memories. :-) The next post will be about these two adorable soon-to-be ONE year olds! Chad's family, my family (Gigi included) and the Grastons are celebrating their lives tonight - can't wait!


5 comments:

Kristin said...

How fun! Glad you guys had such a wonderful vacation!

Michael and Hannah said...

LOVED this post. What a wonderful vacation... y'all earned it! Yay LA for learning to walk! We have never tried the T-Rex place b/c I was afraid it would scare my kids. You think it would be okay for just-turned-3?? We may have to try it. Glad you had such a wonderful family trip!

Anonymous said...

Looks like a blast!

Gina Harmon said...

I loved spending time with you and the kids and can't wait till our thanksgiving time together and making more memories going to big cedar! So glad I got to be there to see LA officially start walking and to be at her bday party!

Gina Harmon said...

I loved spending time with you and the kids and can't wait till our thanksgiving time together and making more memories going to big cedar! So glad I got to be there to see LA officially start walking and to be at her bday party!