To the House of Mouse...

Summer has begun and this year we had decided to go on a large vacation, now that Brynn was a little older.  We had started planning a Disney trip with my entire family last year, and decided to go a few days before Memorial Day.  The kids were pumped and we were gearing up for the 12 hour drive.  We started at 8 pm on May 24, and pulled into Orlando around 7:45 the next morning.  The kids were beyond excited once we arrived at the Art of Animation, and we patiently waited for my family to arrive.  We ate with princesses, rode a ton of rides, met many characters, had the boys turn into pirates and even got to be apart of Star Wars Weekends (which I strongly encourage any Star Wars fan to visit Hollywood Studios during that festival... it was a ton of fun!) The week went quickly, but we were able to get a ton of memories and enjoy one last big family vacation.  Locations like Disney are just too difficult to take a huge group, so we are going to stick to beach vacations when traveling with extended family.  

Another great thing we were able to do while in Disney was visit with Travis' grandmother.  We have not been able to visit since the last time we were in Disney (five years ago) and it was really great to get to see her.  This was Riley's second time meeting her, and the first for Andre and Brynn (I was pregnant with Andre last time we saw her).  The kids loved getting to hang out with her and it was a joy to get to introduce them to her.  

So here are some pictures to show our week in the Florida sun:

Hanging out on the Boardwalk after dinner at ESPN cafe.

Found out that Brynn LOVES carousels!

Meeting Princesses at Cinderella's Royal table (worth the money or dining credits to anyone taking a little girl to Disney)!

Brynn loved the Princess attention!

Making her own cupcake creation at Cinderella's Royal Table!

Mark Backbender...the newest pirate to Jack Sparrow's crew! Another great experience for any gender of child at any age! Such a fun time :)

Thomas Squidcheese swashbuckling his way onto the crew! The Pirate's League was a great time!

Chef Mickey's breakfast buffet! A great way to meet characters (that usually have the longest lines in the Magic Kingdom) and good food!

Running through Nemo's playground at Art of Animation!

Family pic after we just did a 12 hour drive to FL!

Visit to the Elephant graveyard playground after everyone arrived!

The many photo op stops in line waiting to take a picture with Buzz and Woody!

Snuggling with Daddy at Mama Melrose's

Perry decided to climb a tree to do some spy investigating :)

Trying on some hats in China :)

Their favorite character meet of the entire trip!

Dinner at Be Our Guest (the Beast's new restaurant in his castle)!

The enchanted rose in the Beast's room.

The kids being thrown in prison with Zurg :)

It was a great trip, but we definitely will be staying away for a few years so Brynn can get a bit taller to ride more rides.  I'm glad we got this experience, and I can't wait for our next Disney vacation!