Disney - Traveling, Our House and Random Fun Vacation Stuff!

 

(Hazel told me she was all packed and ready to go to the airport.  This is what I found when I opened her suitcase to check for myself.  LOLOLOL!)

Two weeks ago we were in Florida soaking up the sun, the warm, the pool, Disney, family time, and a chance to get away from the daily life (and cold of Feb in Illinois!).  We'd planned this trip back in the summer of 2021 and surprised the kids with it for Christmas.  Spoiler alert - we got COVID while we were there...but we're doing just fine...and I don't regret a thing!

I'll share about our time in the parks in a few other posts but today's post is really just a roundup of all of the fun non-park pictures and activities.  We had a great time and I wish we could go back in time to when we were just starting out on our adventure.  Joey and Andy flew out of Peoria, closer to their house.  We flew out of O'hare.  Mom and Dad and Dan all drove (leaving on different days) and even Erin joined us for part of the week!  Mom and Dad rented a perfect 6 bedroom house for us in Kissimmee that was just minutes away from the parks.  The house had it's own pool (which we got a LOT of use out of) and a bigger clubhouse near the main gate that included bit water slides, a splash pad, a game room and all sort of amenities the kids loved.

I have to say, it sure was nice traveling with Ryan and his fancy flight status!  After nearly 2 years of traveling almost every week, he's reached priority status on United meaning we get to fly extra bags for free, get free snacks on the plane, get to board early and get seats closer to the front of the plane.  I can't wait for Jamaica!  We're flying first class and it'll be the first (and maybe only?) time I get to experience that!

The pool at the house was a huge hit.  Mom and Dad gave the kids all sorts of blowup toys for the kids for Christmas and I almost wonder if the kids would call THOSE the best part of the trip.  My personal favorite was the rainbow hamster wheel....it was fun seeing all the creative ways the kids used that one.

The weather in FL was a little bit of a roller coaster - though we had exactly zero rain so I will not complain one ounce!  We had a wide range of temperatures though, from around 45 in the am on Monday when we were headed into Disney to around 85 on Friday afternoon when we sat poolside watching the kids run through the water slides.  In stark contrast to the heat when we last went to Disney - these temperatures were perfect for walking around the parks.  We were in the Magic Kingdom on Valentines Day and that day we all dressed in pants and sweatshirts. There were a few times in the afternoon, when we were sitting in the sun, that it felt warm enough to take off a layer or two but, for the most part, I stayed bundled up the entire day.  Even Ryan mentioned that he'd wished he brought his hoodie along that day - so you know it must have been chilly!

Our trip was a mix of parks and unplanned days.  Both our family and Joey's wanted to go to Magic Kingdom but in addition to that park we both wanted to do one other park day.  McGrath's wanted to go see Harry Potter (at Universal) and Bergthold's wanted to do Animal Kingdom.  And, my parents, bless their hearts, just wanted to do everything with everyone so we really ran them into the ground with activities.  It played out like this:

• Saturday: Travel day
• Sunday: Hang out and chill day
• Monday: Magic Kingdom (everyone)
• Tuesday: Animal Kingdom (not McGraths)
• Wednesday: Island of Adventure (Dan, Erin and our group, minus Bergtholds)
• Thursday: Clearwater Beach
• Friday: Hang out and chill day
• Saturday: Travel home

And, sadly, just like that - a full week of vacation is done and in the books.  Why do vacations go so fast and work weeks take so long!?

So - on our "free day" while a part of the group was at Animal Kingdom, we took the girls to their first ever mini-golf course.  It was right down the street from our house, and while the course itself left something to be desired (it was pretty run down once you got inside), the kids had fun...we all got a hole-in-one and it was a nice way to spend a few hours hanging out.

Abby and Dan were neck and neck for about half of the game, matching each other stroke for stroke, until Abby had a bad hole, got frustrated, and it was all down hill for her from there.  Ryan kicked all our butts though - not surprised.

Somehow I only got this ONE picture from our day at Clearwater beach.  The group decided to make the longer drive to the gulf in search of warmer waters and hopefully the opportunity to actually swim in the ocean.  But, in hindsight I wished we'd have done a tiny little bit more research.  The water was cold no matter which side we'd have gone to (58 in the Gulf, 61 in the Atlantic) and the extra drive time to Clearwater sort of didn't seem worth it in the end, but I think we were all glad to each lunch oceanside and at least dip our toes in the ocean.  It really was too cold to get in...though I think Ryan, Erin and Andy all got in waist deep.  I could barely get in up to my ankles before I felt like I was getting an ice cream headache from the cold - I'm a wuss though!