Florida- PART I

Hello everyone! We are having an incredible time and couldn't ask for better weather.

We flew in on Tuesday and basically got acclimated. I actually started feeling pretty sick on the plane so when we got to Bob & Jean's house I instantly headed for the bedroom and made myself at home- went to bed! For hours I fought off the fact that my body simply wanted to throw up. When I finally did it, I felt perfectly fine! I really don't think it was the flight that did it; I've never gotten sick while flying. I think it may have been a combination of the lack of sleep, nerves, excitment and a Sun Country breakfast sandwich.

Wednesday day was the start of our fun. We were at the gates of Epcot at 9:30 am to meet up with a guy (Bob's daughter's... sister-in-law's... brother...) and we got in using his free passes- he's an Employee of Disney. The first thing we 'experienced' was FINDING NEMO. It was very cute and a great way to start out the day. After a few attractions we made our way over to the Magic Kingdom.

Where to begin... LONG STORY SHORT- it was AMAZING! We watched them light the castle (which we had learned about on the Travel Channel just the week before) and it was incredible. We went on Pirates of the Caribbean. At first we though Kenzy would be a bit scared by it, but in the end she wanted to go on it again! We also went on the Jungle Boat ride where they have all sorts of 'fake' animals...but she didn't realize it so she was super excited to see a Hippos and Aligators...etc. It was pretty funny to watch her. Later on they had the Parade in Lights where Pluto came up to her (she was on Jason's shoulders) and gave her a big hug...the look on her face was worth every penny and every blister! On our way out of the park the parade was going again. We weren't going to watch it again, but Kenzy plopped her little butt on the curb and gave her Nana the thumbs up...how could we say no to that!?! Near the end of the parade Snow White graciously came up to Kenzy to shake her hand...well, our child doesn't have the ladylike manners of Snow White, so she gave her FIVE. Snow White was a bit surprised and said, "Well that's never happened to me before!"

Thursday was our first day of rest... we went to Bass ProShop so Jason could do a little shopping. Santa was there and his sleigh was hooked up to 7 tiny white-tailed deer (to Kzy they were reindeer!) We did a family photo because she refused to sit with Santa on her own... For dinner we took Jason's mom (Bob would have come but he was laid up with a broken rib) to our favorite Orlando restaurant, Salt Island. We found it two years ago when we were here for Jean and Bob's wedding. Jason had his prime rib steak and I had the routissere chicken- YUMMY. Waiting two years to have it again was far too long of a wait!

Friday was a day to give Jean and Kenzy some time, and Mom and Dad a day to themselves. Jason and I went to Universal and Jean and Kzy went to SeaWorld. Let's just say, we would have had more fun at SeaWorld. Universal Orlando is pretty lame...or at least we think so. The attractions are spread so far apart that you spend most of your day simply walking from one to the other. One bonus to the day was the fact that the park was empty! Waiting in line for rides was pretty quick! I was disappointed to see they really don't have any attention to the details. In Disney you'd never see dusty or dirty attractions. On the Men In Black ride many of the aliens or guns, etc. were dusty. On the Spider Man ride (which was our favorite) the bottom of computer monitor was melted. I could go on and on...but I won't bore you with the details of our disappointment.

If all you want to do for the day is eat and shop, then go to Universal...but if you want to have FUN pick another park!

We beat MacKenzy and Jean home. They had a wonderful time at SeaWorld. They had a 4pm reservation to have dinner with Shamu and the trainers. Jean said it was a really nice dinner but maybe more exciting for Kzy in a few years.

Yesterday Jason woke up sick during the night and didn't come out of the bedroom until about 7:30pm. We took the day for resting! I only left the house to run to the store for Gatorade. Kzy took a long nap and watched movies and I hung out and played cards with Jean. It was a much needed day of rest!

Today Jason feels better, but not great. All that we ask is that he feels good tomorrow- Day 2 of Disney. Tonight we're going to go to the Peabody Hotel to watch the ducks. They have ducks that live at the hotel and in the morning they put down the red carpet and make a big deal over them as they head to the water. In the evening they do it all over again to bring them in. Jean says its really cute so I'm sure Kzy will get a kick out of it. After that we'll head over to Celebration. It's a multi-million dollar Disney housing development. During Christmas the houses are completely decked out and they even do fireworks...how would you like to live there? Guess you buy the house knowing that though...

Tomorrow will be about doing the things we didn't get to on Day 1 of Disney. First things first, we're starting the day in Animal Kingdom. I'm sure Miss Melby will be over the moon when she sees all of her favorite animals! Once we've seen all there is to see there we'll head back to the Magic Kingdom.

MERRY CHRISTMAS! Christmas Day will be spent relaxing as a family and doing whatever comes to mind. In the evening we have to go back to Downtown Disney to pick up some items we had personalized, but other than that we have nothing planned!

When I get home and have better access to the internet, I will post our pictures!!

I hope all of you are staying warm...