Disney & the Beach 2015! Part 1 - Disney World

Family trip 2015 is in the books and summer hasn't officially even started yet. :) We took the boys to Florida for the week to spend a few days at Disney World and then finish the week off in Naples at the beach! It was the perfect combo vacation and we agree that following up the hustle and bustle of Disney with 4 days at the beach was the ideal set up. Now, to take a REAL vacation without the kiddos. ;) Only kidding. A little.


Vacationing with the Smedbergs is EXACTLY what we needed! They are Disney experts, told us exactly what to pack, had all the tricks, told me which Fast Passes to get and I didn't have to look at a map once. What a relief! Then, to spend the second half of the week at their waterfront home that is totally child-proofed, kid snack-approved, stocked with wine, with a pool and boat and FUN conversation was just what we needed. We are lucky to know them! We all agree that we look forward to vacationing together when there can be a few day camps for the kiddos sprinkled into the itinerary ;)

Orlando - The house!
We rented a great 5 bedroom 5 bath house in Reunion Resort. It was brand new, had a great kid-friendly pool, spacious kitchen and backed to a golf course. There are pros and cons to staying on property and renting a house but here are some quick pros that we enjoyed going the house route:

1) We enjoyed hanging out in the living room or outside or cooking dinner after the kids went down. In a hotel room, once the kids go down, you're kinda stuck there.

2) private pool that you can access quickly. A quick hour swim before bathtime? Why not. That wouldn't have been as easy at a huge resort. Plus, we were all right there so conversation was easier vs. chasing kids around a huge area.

3) Cooking our own dinners was nice, healthier and cheaper. Not to mention, beverages were cheaper than buying at a hotel restaurant!

4) Doing laundry, drying pool towels, etc was a breeze.

5) Space to spread out. 5 bed, 5 baths gave us the freedom to figure out sleeping arrangements when we got there and even gave us the option to change things up if we needed to.

Disney World
Day 1: Magic Kingdom
It's a small world, The Little Mermaid, Peter Pan, Dumbo rides, roller coaster for the boys were all great! The kids were the perfect age to really experience the magic :) We even got in on some parade action and ice cream before the afternoon rains came in and we headed back to the house for some naps.

Day 2: Animal Kingdom
A Bug's Life 3D show, Dinosaur show, safari ride were all really cool! I'm glad we changed it up and did this instead of a second day at MK, which is originally what I had planned.

Day 3: Lunch at T-Rex, Downtown Disney, Drive to Naples!

(Pictures from phones coming soon!)

Grayson graduates from Pre-K!

Grayson graduated from Pre-K after 3 fantastic years at Bright Beginnings! He will now move to our church school for a year of Transitional Kindergarden before heading to "real" school. Because of this, we'll have one more Pre-K graduation so we didn't really recognize this one much or feel the need to have the entire family there. But here are some pics to commemorate the occassion because he's just. so. cute.....

We adore our teachers Ms. Elizabeth and Ms. Debbie! They will be missed!

Unintentional fashion statement 

Bright Beginnings had 3 Pre-K classes this year: Two 2-day and one 3-day, which Grayson attended. Walker was a 3-dayer too ;)

Pop holding Walker for the 4 minutes that he sat still. :)

Hug me like this forever.

Mimi and Pop are so proud of their boy!

Easter 2015

I say it all the time but these special holidays keep getting more special as the boys get older. Easter was no different as the first one where Walker really knew what was going on. And let me tell you, he was FUNNY. He knew how to run after those eggs! No one had to tell him that there were tasty treats inside. :) Grayson had a great weekend too. With the exception of getting into a fire ant bed at our annual MOPS Easter Egg Hut.

MOPS Easter Egg Hut

Ready to begin!

Grayson's foot hurt pretty badly so he almost missed the hunt! Fortunately, we set it up to where each kid hunted a dozen eggs and stopped there. It went really well and there were still eggs left for him and the younger kids who weren't as fast. :)

Poor baby was in pain from the fire ant bites.

Our friends the Beattys. Rian, Katie and Tristan

Easter morning - couldn't wait for Walker to awake!

Walker's turn

Easter church - they looked SO adorable! 

This is more like it :)

A special bond - these two have. 

OPEN!

Walker does everything that Grayson does! 

Hunting eggs at Mimi and Pop's house 

We enjoyed the day with Ma and Charmaine also.