Fast forward to February, when Emmett was barely a month old, I brought up the possibility of going on this trip again when Ron was on midwinter break and had the chance to really think about it. Although he had his reservations, he agreed to go and gave me the 'green light' to buy our airplane tickets and make our hotel reservations in both Orlando and Destin. Within a few days, I had everything arranged and it started to become a reality. In addition, his brother, Derek, who has three children and who we haven't seen in six years, agreed to drive down and join us for the Disney World portion of the trip. Unfortunately, his brother, Robbie, and his wife decided not to come since she would be 36 weeks pregnant at the time of the trip and would not be feeling up to the long hours in the car and the long hours on her feet. Regardless, we were just thrilled to have one of his two brothers joining us--especially the one who has children the same ages as Lia and Logan.
I will admit, as the trip approached these past few weeks, I became very nervous about it. I was very worried about how baby Emmett would survive our long travel days--especially the one coming back home as we had scheduled to complete the six hour drive back to Orlando in addition to the six hour flight back to Seattle all in the same day! I felt very overwhelmed by the thought of going to Disney World since it is so much larger than Disneyland and I knew absolutely nothing about it. I was also very worried about how Emmett would survive being in such extreme heat and humidity for three days in a row while we were visiting the parks. And if all of this wasn't enough, I reinjured my left knee last week after standing up too fast from a chair in the kitchen when I heard the neighbor girl who was playing with Ella in the backyard scream really loudly. By the intensity of her scream, I assumed that she had really hurt herself, but quickly learned that she was simply throwing a tantrum due to not getting her way. As simple as this injury may have seemed, I knew the second I stood up from that chair and felt the same pull on the outside of my left knee that I did skiing back in 2004 that I was in for some trouble. It took exactly three years (including surgery and hundreds of hours of physical therapy) to get my knee back to where it was before I injured it. However, this reinjury threw a major monkey wrench into this trip as I knew that we would be walking for miles and standing for hours during our three days at Disney World.
After many prayers, a doctor's appointment, hours of icing, a new knee brace, and a Priesthood blessing, we headed out very early the morning of June 27th. Ron and I woke up at 3:30 in the morning and woke the children up at 4 a.m. After getting dressed, feeding everyone breakfast and nursing Emmett, we headed out into the dark morning by 4:50 with my very kind friend, Mariah, who had agreed to take us to and from the airport. Needless to say, I was a bundle of nerves. I was so worried about making it to our airplane on time (with really long, security lines), how Emmett would behave on the flight, and how my knee would react to six hours in a sitting position, but I really felt as though Heavenly Father heard and answered my prayers. We were able to get through the security lines with just enough time to fill up almost all of our water bottles before our flight began the preboarding process for families with young children. The only way that we were able to make it to preboarding was due to the fact that our gate was literally next to the security screening area that we had just come through. If we had been required to walk a long distance or take one of the trains to our gate, we would have missed the preboarding process. It was such a blessing to be able to board the plane and get situated before everyone else came on. I was also able to go to the galley in the back to get some ice for my knee before the aisle was full of passengers trying to get to their seats. Thanks to Lia, I was able to prop my left leg up on her lap to ice my knee for most of the flight. She was so kind to let me do this and I was able to keep my knee pain free the entire flight because it was numb the whole time. In addition, baby Emmett took a huge morning nap and slept for over three hours in Ron's arms. Overall, we were able to make it to Orlando as smoothly as possible which was such a relief to me!
Emmett, Lia, Ella, and I smiling for a picture before our plane took off on the morning of Thursday, June 27th. Ron and Logan sat on the other side of the aisle from us while baby Emmett was passed back and forth between Ron and me throughout the flight.
A close-up of our cutie on his first flight ever.
After our long flight to Orlando, we were able to retrieve our luggage, rent our car, and make the relatively short drive to our hotel on Thursday night. We were so pleased to learn that our hotel provides a free dinner (in addition to the free, daily breakfast that I already knew about) Monday through Thursday nights. So, instead of having to check into our hotel and then turn around to head back out to a restaurant for dinner, we were able to eat a quick dinner in our hotel dining room right before they closed for the evening. Also, since our children had been woken up at 4 a.m. our time, they were all in bed asleep by 9:30 p.m. Florida time (which is only 6:30 p.m. our time) that evening. This was such a blessing as it allowed our children to adjust to Florida time the very first day that we were there!
After a slower morning, we left our apartment around 11 a.m. on June 28th to head over to Derek's hotel where we spent the day. They were able to stay in a much larger resort with a fancier pool, so we decided that it would be better to go to their hotel instead of them coming to ours. Here is the sign that we passed as we drove onto the grounds of their resort. Since Lia was so paranoid about being attacked by an alligator during our stay in Florida, Ron and I thought that this was particularly funny.
After reuniting with Derek's family for the first time in six years and eating a pizza lunch in their hotel room, we headed down to play in the pool. The kids first enjoyed playing in this interactive game room where you try to jump on moving images projected onto the floor.
Logan and Jake and Addison and Lia reunited again!
Ella, Logan, and Jake all decided to get their faces painted before swimming in the pool. After waiting in a long line with Ron and Derek, they were able to get the most elaborated and detailed face paint done on their faces that I have ever seen. Sadly, it washed off right away as they went swimming in the pool. Oh well. At least, Ron was able to take some pictures before it disappeared. Here is Ella as a mermaid.
And Logan as a pirate.
Logan standing in front of the awesome pirate ship inside the pool with his pirate face paint still on.
I took Emmett 'swimming' in the pool for the very first time that afternoon. I had fun dressing him up in Logan's first swimsuit that he wore seven years ago.
Emmett did a great job and really wasn't bothered at all by the water.
Lia, Addison, and Logan posing with the baby and me.
Ron taking Emmett for a swim.
There was a water slide that was located inside the pirate ship. Logan had a great time going down it.
Logan getting out after one of his runs down the slide.
A fun group picture that I managed to take. I got everyone to swim over to be in it except for me.
Since Lia does not have any girl cousins her age on my side of the family, she was so excited to see Addison again. These two girls hit it off right away as though they hadn't been apart for six years. Here is a darling picture that I was able to get of the two of them.
Ron playing with baby Emmett in the water.
Since Ella had just wrapped up an entire school year of taking swim lessons at the Y twice a week, she was very comfortable in the water. Here she is getting ready to do a 'cannonball' in the water without a life jacket on.
Ella also enjoyed doing some funny jumps into the water where she would first spin into the air. Aunt Renee couldn't get over how comfortable Ella was in the water at her young age. That's my girl.
After getting dried and dressed, we all headed out for dinner at a Mexican restaurant before saying goodbye for the night. Here is the gang eating their dinner.
After setting our alarms to wake up at 6:30 on the morning of June 29th, we managed to get everyone dressed, fed, and packed up by 8:30. We headed out for day #1 at Disney World by going to Hollywood Studios where we had planned to spend the entire day. Here is the sign at the entrance as we drove into the park.
After parking our car, picking up our tickets, and getting through the entrance, we happened to run into Derek and his family right inside the main gate after I had gone into customer service to get a disability pass for my family and me. This was one of the two blessings that happened as a result of my injured knee. After learning about it from my friend, Wendy, I was able to get a disability pass put on my ticket and everyone else's ticket in my family. This allowed us to avoid waiting in lines for any ride of our choice as long as I used it one ride at a time. The only catch was that we would be required to return to that ride at a later time, depending on how long the ride's line was when we first arrived there. We were able to use this disability pass in addition to our fast passes. As a result, we never had to wait in a line more than ten to fifteen minutes the entire three days we were in the parks which was a huge blessing! The other blessing that happened to help my knee survive this part of the trip was the fact that the first aid station is located next to the baby care center in every park. As a result, I was able to easily pick up a fresh bag of ice right before nursing the baby every time I needed to feed him. This gave me the opportunity to put my leg up to ice my knee for twenty minutes every three hours which helped my knee survive the long hours of standing and walking for three days. If I hadn't been required to nurse Emmett and if the ice hadn't been this accessible, I don't think that I would have taken the time and made the effort to ice my knee that often during our three days there.
After running in to Derek's family, we sadly had to separate ways with them since we did not get FastPasses in advance for any of the same rides at the same times. Since Disney World allows you to get three FastPasses a day in advance, we were unable to just spend our two days together in the parks like we had hoped we would. We actually did not meet up with them again until several hours later which was a definite disappointment. Here is a family photo we were able to have taken in front of the stage where the Star Wars show is performed after walking down Hollywood Boulevard.
We first went to Toy Story Land to go on all three popular rides in this area. Here is Ella and papa on the Alien Swirling Saucers.
Lia and Logan sharing their own saucer.
Thanks to the benefits of 'Rider Switch,' I was able to go on this ride with the kids without waiting in line. Here is adorable Ella sitting next to me with Lia's Ariel ears on her head.
No Toy Story Land experience would be complete without seeing the Green Army Men march by.
Thanks to the my disability pass, we were able to ride the Slinky Dog Dash roller coaster as I had not been able to get FastPasses in advance for this ride since they were already gone 30 days in advance. Once again, Ron and I were able to take turns going on this roller coaster with the two older kids since Ella was still too short to go on this ride. Here is a picture I took of Lia and Logan before I hopped in my own car.
We then left Toy Story Land to use our next FastPasses at Star Tours. Here are the kids waiting to board our 'space ship.'
The kids and I posing in front of the giant, walker statue that is located next to the Star Tours ride.
We then went back to Toy Story land to go on the third and final big attraction in this area. Here are the kids and me winding through the line inside of Toy Story Mania.
Lia and Logan ready to board their car with their awesome 3-D glasses on.
My cute, riding buddy shooting away.
We then left Toy Story Land at the end of the morning to spend the rest of our day in other parts of the park. Here is a picture I took of the sign at the entrance of Toy Story Land on our way out.
At this point, Ron and I separated with our kids. I had gotten FastPasses for Ron, Lia, and Logan to go on the Rock 'n' Roller Coaster while Ella and I went to the "Frozen" Sing-Along Celebration.
It was so fun to go to the Frozen Sing-Along with Ella as I had done the same thing with Lia several years ago in California when she was about the same age. Ella loved singing along to all of the songs and couldn't get over how it 'snowed' at the end of the performance.
After nursing Emmett, I met Ron and the three older kids at the baby center which is near the entrance of the Hollywood Studios. We just happened to stumble across Daisy Duck with practically no line! So the girls were able to get a picture with her and a signature in their autograph books. Unfortunately, Donald Duck had a very long line, so Logan didn't have the time to meet him.
While buying the kids a frozen treat after lunch, we discovered that we were in the same area as Derek's family. We met up with them for a few minutes to say 'hello' and check in before parting ways again due to being off sync in our schedules.
We headed over to the amphitheater to watch The Beauty and the Beast live performance. Here are the kids and me waiting for the show to begin.
Belle reading her book during the classic, opening scene of this story.
Belle and the newly-transformed Beast dancing at the end of the show.
We then wandered over to see The Voyage of the Little Mermaid--a short, live performance of several scenes from the beloved movie. Since it was so hot outside and everyone needed a break from the heat, both Ron and Logan had no problem sitting in a dark, air conditioned theater for a few minutes.
After The Little Mermaid show, we met up with Derek's family one last time in the afternoon for everyone to go on the Tower of Terror except for Ella, Emmett, and me. This was another ride that I was unable to get a FastPass for 30 days in advance due them being gone, but thanks to my disability pass and Renee agreeing to be me, the entire group was able to go on this ride without waiting in the really long line. We were able to get one family photo before our group separated.
While most of the group went to ride Tower of Terror, I took Ella to meet Fancy Nancy which was such a treat since she is new to the 'Disney family' and we have never met her at DisneyLand before.
We also waited in a short line for Ella to meet Vampirina, too.
We met back up with Ron, Lia, and Logan in the Animation Courtyard where Ella, Emmett, and I had been waiting for them. Since the Star Wars Launch Bay is located in this same court yard, the three older kids and I decided to run in to meet the one Star Wars character who we LOVE and who is not available to meet at DisneyLand--our favorite droid, BB-8.
Although I had hoped that we could eat dinner with Derek and his family both evenings that we were in the parks with them, we learned that they prefer to leave early and eat dinner outside of the park. Since we pack our lunches in every day, eating dinner in a restaurant is a treat for all of us that we were not willing to pass up! Plus, we just couldn't imagine leaving the park to head back to the hotel that early in the evening every day. As a result, we chose to eat dinner at a the ABC Commissary.
After dinner, we decided to head back to the hotel since there was really nothing else we wanted to see or do at Hollywood Studios and it was after 8 p.m. On our way out of the park, the kids stopped for this cute picture in a 1950s style car.
As we were walking past the building where the Olaf meet-and-greet is located, we noticed that the line to meet him was only five minutes long (which was unheard of for how long it had been all day long). Ron reluctantly agreed to let the kids and me wait in the short line to meet Olaf which turned out to be an unexpected bonus at the end of our day at Hollywood Studios. The kids had a fun time meeting Olaf before we officially walked out of the park at 8:45 p.m. which didn't put us back to our hotel until almost 9:30. It was a good, first day for the books and I was so grateful to see that we all could survive the horrid heat and humidity--especially baby Emmett and my bad knee!
After a late night, Ron and I set our alarm clocks again for 6:30 on Friday, June 30th, to get ready and head out the door for our day at Animal Kingdom. This was the one day that Derek and his family did not join us as they had made other plans with Renee's sister who just happened to be in Orlando at the same time for her daughter's dance competition. Here is a picture of the entrance to Animal Kingdom. Since DisneyLand is similar to the Magic Kingdom and California Adventure is similar to Hollywood Studios, I was most curious to see what the Animal Kingdom was like as there is nothing to compare it to in California. It turned out to be our least favorite park of the three, but we still enjoyed our day there nonetheless.
After arriving in the park, we made sure to have our family picture taken in front of the infamous, tree of life.
We then headed over to the new Pandora area where we spent the entire morning. The scenery is just amazing here and looks so much like the movie. Here is another family picture in front of one of the stunning "floating islands" with a waterfall coming down from it.
An unusual sculpture in Pandora.
Another picture of the stunning scenery in Pandora.
And another shot.
Although I was able to get a FastPass for the Na'vi River Journey ride in Pandora, I was unable to get one for Flight of Passage which is the most popular ride at all four of the Disney World parks right now. Once again, thanks to the disability pass, we were able to go on the Flight of Passage which was such a blessing as the wait time for this ride was over three hours long! All six of us were able to go on the river journey ride together and Ron and I took turns going on the Flight of Passage with Lia and Logan. The kids and I enjoyed exploring some of the interactive and fun parts of Pandora while we waited to go on the Flight of Passage ride.
Lia pounding away on some drums built into the scenery.
And Ella doing the same.
Logan drumming away, too.
Ella, Lia, and Logan posing for me from inside a cave.
Logan and Lia waiting to ride our own banshee for the Flight of Passage. This ride was so real and amazing, but it turned out to be a little too intense for Logan. At one point, I asked Logan who was sitting next to me how he was doing. He yelled back, "I am NOT enjoying this!" Luckily, he made it through the entire ride and opted to wander around the Pandora gift shop with me while Ron went on the ride with Lia.
After eating our lunch outside a restaurant in Pandora, we left that area for the day and headed off to the Africa area to catch our safari ride that I had gotten FastPasses for. We really enjoyed this experience and all of the amazing, African animals that we were able to see on the ride. Here is sweet Emmett in daddy's arms while waiting in line to board our safari jeep.
Lia and Logan waiting for our jeep to take off on our safari ride.
Ella, Emmett, and me doing the same.
Some alligators that we saw on the safari ride.
A giraffe.
And an elephant. I took so many pictures of the various animals that we saw during our ride, but just chose a few to include in this post.
We then walked over to the Asia area to go on the Expedition Everest--the large roller coaster in this park. Once again, Ron and I took turns going with the two older kids while the other parent stayed in an air conditioned, gift shop with Ella and Emmett. Here is a picture I took of Lia and me screaming as we went down one of the steep drops on the roller coaster.
A picture of the scenic Mount Everest with Discovery River in front.
After riding the roller coaster, the girls and I broke off from the boys so that we could go meet Pocahontas--the only princess found in Animal Kingdom. Since I had explained to Lia and Ella in advance that we would just not have the time to go 'princess hunting' like we have done in years past at Disneyland, we were all excited that we would have the time to find this rare princess during our day at Animal Kingdom.
And here she is! Ella and Lia meeting Pocahontas. Since she is normally not at Disneyland, this was a special treat for the girls to meet this Indian princess.
After meeting up with the boys again in Dinoland, we went into an air conditioned theater to see the musical production of Finding Nemo. The production was amazingly well done and provided a well needed respite from the heat. After the play, I nursed Emmett in the baby center while Ron took the kids to meet Mickey and Minnie dressed up in their African safari clothes.
We then met up again to finish off our evening eating a delicious barbecue dinner at the Flame Tree Barbecue restaurant on Discovery Island.
The kids enjoyed running around the exotic grounds around the restaurant after finishing up dinner.
As a last hurrah, Ron agreed to stay back at the restaurant with the baby while the kids and I walked all the way back to Africa to buy ourselves the infamous Dole Whips. Here is a picture of the kids enjoying their frozen treats before meeting back up with Ron. We then decided our day was complete at Animal Kingdom and headed back to our car at 8 p.m. to get everyone into bed a little bit earlier than the night before.
We kept with the same schedule of the previous two days and started the morning of July 1st with our alarms going off at 6:30 and leaving the hotel by 8:30. Here is the sign above the entrance to the Magic Kingdom that we drove through before parking and walking to board the ferry.
Since the Magic Kingdom is actually located on an island, we either had to take a ferry or the monorail to get out there. We opted for the ferry ride as it just seemed funner and more unique. Here are the kids on our ride out to the island.
After getting off the ferry and through the gates of the park, we had to stop for the traditional family pose in front of Mickey's face inside the entrance.
After walking down Main Street, we stopped for another family picture in front of Cinderella's castle.
1st stop: the Pirates of the Caribbean ride in honor of Logan, our die-hard, pirate fan. Here are the three older kids standing in front of the sign outside of the ride.
Our pirate and his favorite ride.
After going on the Pirates of the Caribbean ride, Logan and Ella had fun running through the splash pad to cool as it was already very hot by that time in the morning.
We then went for a spin on the Magic Carpets of Aladdin before
climbing around in the Swiss Family tree.
We then headed over to Thunder Mountain to use up our first FastPass of the day. Ron and I enjoyed taking turns with the older kiddos.
Ron taking a selfie of the kids and him before taking off in their Thunder Mountain cars.
We were able to meet up with Derek's family afterwards who just happened to be in the same area.
We were able to eat lunch with them at the Pecos Bill restaurant right across from the Pirates of the Caribbean ride.
Luckily, it was during lunch that Jack Sparrow made his last appearance of the day right outside the restaurant where we were eating. Since I had promised Logan that we would find Jack Sparrow during our one day in the Magic Kingdom, I made sure to pull Lia, Logan, Ella, and Jake (who said that he would like to join us) away from lunch for a few minutes. Since we were one of the first in line, we were able to meet Jack just a few minutes after he sauntered out to meet his fans. Here is the group photo I got of the gang.
After lunch, I split off from the group to feed Emmett in the Baby Care Center while Ron and the kids went with Derek's family to race cars around the Tomorrowland Speedway. You can see by the sweat in Logan's hair how unbelievably hot and humid it was again on this day!
We then met up with Ron and the kids to head over to the Splash Mountain ride. I went first with Lia and Logan while Ron waited with Ella (who was not tall enough) and Emmett in an airconditioned gift shop. We then swapped kids so that Ron could go on Splash Mountain while Ella, Emmett, and I headed over to find a spot to watch the Festival of Fantasy parade.
Although we only got to there a few minutes before the parade started, I was able to find a pretty decent viewing spot for Ella and me and some shade to park Emmett in who stayed in his stroller. There were so many beautiful floats in this parade including this elaborate one with Belle and the Beast.
Prince Charming and Cinderella.
Tiana and Prince Naveen on their float.
Rapunzel and the boys of the Snuggly Duckling restaurant.
After the parade, we met back up with Ron, Lia, and Logan who had actually managed to catch the second half of it after finishing their ride on Splash Mountain. We all decided to head over to try out something that two of my friends had recommended--Enchanted Tales with Belle. Once again, Ron and Logan were both on board to do this because it was is an air conditioned building. This turned out to be such a fun and unique experience as anyone in the audience who volunteers is allowed to participate in this interactive experience with Belle and Lumiere. Logan wanted nothing to do with it, but both Lia and Ella jumped at the opportunity to participate. Luckily, Ella was chosen to be the Beast which meant that she got to dance with Belle all alone at the end of the performance (which was a total surprise to all of us). In addition, Ron and I got seats on the front row in the little theater which meant that Belle came up more than once to play with Emmett's little toes that were sticking out of his car seat.
Lia was chosen to play the role of Belle's father, Maurice. Here she is shivering behind the bars of the prison that the Beast had locked her inside of at the castle.
Belle walking past Lia.
Belle playing with Emmett's baby toes.
Ella and Belle dancing together at the end of the performance. This was such a fun surprise for Ella especially since we didn't have the time to meet princesses during our one day in the Magic Kingdom.
The only people who were allowed to get their picture taken with Belle were the ones who participated in the performance. So, luckily both Ella and Lia were able to get a picture taken with this beloved princess.
Lia and Belle.
While Ron took the two older kids to go on Space Mountain, I took Ella and Emmett to the one princess shop in the park so that Ella could pick out a few souvenirs. While we were in the store, one of the employees dusted Ella with pixie dust out of a 'magical' wand that she had. It was so cute!
A picture of the Beast's castle which is home to the very expensive, Be Our Guest restaurant that we did not eat in. Nevertheless, it was fun to see it from a distance as there is nothing like this at Disneyland.
We met back up with Ron and the bigger kids outside of Gaston's Tavern. Here are the kids and me posing in front of Gaston's statue.
All six of us then went on The Little Mermaid ride. Here are Ella, Emmett, and me in our large seashell.
A close-up of our cutie enjoying the Ariel ride.
The girls standing in front of the King Triton statue after finishing the ride.
Thanks to my disability pass, we were able to go on the Haunted House ride after finishing up with the Little Mermaid ride without waiting in a much of a line. Here is Logan peering around his massive, 'doom buggy' that he was riding in with Lia.
After going on the Haunted House ride, we decided to stay in the same area of the park and eat dinner in the Pinocchio Village Haus. Here we are just starting our dinner.
Like Logan with Jack Sparrow, I promised the girls that we would take the time to meet one princess during our day in the Magic Kingdom which was Ariel. Not only has she been Lia's favorite princess for over eight years, but this is the only park where you can meet her as a mermaid instead of a human (like at Disneyland). Once again, thanks to my disability pass, the girls and I were able to bypass the long line and meet her within a matter of minutes. It was so fun to see this favorite princess of ours flapping her fins while sitting in her large seashell!
The girls posing in front of the Ariel statue after meeting her in person.
As the sun set, the lanterns in front of Rapunzel's tower lit up. It was so fun to explore this part of the park that is full of princess-themed buildings and rides as there is nothing like this at Disneyland.
Although we had fast passes to go on the most popular ride at Magic Kingdom, Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, at 7 p.m., a brief thunder storm rolled through a few minutes beforehand. As a result, the park was required to shut down the ride for a mandatory 60 minutes. So, instead of going on the roller coaster after dinner like we had planned, we made the walk to go back to Adventureland from Fantasyland to take Logan on his promised shopping spree in the pirate store. After some shopping, we went and bought the very popular frozen treat, the Citrus Swirl, which is only available at Disney World. Here are Logan and Ella enjoying their delicious treats.
By this time, it was almost 9 p.m. and we still needed to make it back to Seven Dwarfs Mine Train as I knew it would be years before our kids would ever have a chance to go on this ride again. The only dilemma was that the firework show was scheduled to start at 9 p.m. and I really wanted our children to be able to watch it before leaving the park. After thinking it over, I decided that the ride was more important as we can always see a similar firework show at Disneyland. At this point, Ron declared that he was done for the day and offered to stay back at the empty restaurant where we had just eaten our Citrus Swirls with baby Emmett as he had no interest in walking all the way back to Fantasyland to go on this ride. So the three older kids and I sped walked all the way back to this ride as the fireworks were going off over our heads. Although my knee was hurting at this point (as we had walked twelve miles that day), I just tried to savor this moment of walking through the Magic Kingdom with my kids as the music played and the fireworks exploded all around us. It was definitely a Disney moment I will never forget! After walking all the way back to Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, we had to wait quite a few minutes to get on the ride, but it did not disappoint. The kids and I loved it! After getting off the ride, I found several text messages and voicemails from a very upset Ron with a very cranky Emmett who had also hit his wall while were gone. As a result, the kids and I quickly walked back as fast as we could to meet up with Ron at the Baby Center where he had gone out of sheer desperation. After we found Ron and the baby, we headed out of the park at 10 p.m. with the masses of people. I managed to take a few seconds to stop and turn around to take this picture of the castle all lit up as I never had gotten the chance to admire it from the front all evening long. After a long walk, a long wait, and a bus ride back to the park, we got to our car and drove back to the hotel arriving at our room at 10:50 at night. It was a very long day, but everyone did great (with the exception of Ron and the baby hitting their wall at the end of the evening) and I am so grateful for the fun and wonderful memories that we made during this final day at Disney World.
We started off the morning of July 2nd pretty exhausted, but we managed to summon up any left over energy we had to pack up and check out of the hotel. The kids enjoyed one last morning eating Mickey shaped waffles in the hotel dining room before loading up our belongings into the car. Here are Ella and Logan eating their special waffles.
After leaving the hotel, we drove to a diner style restaurant to meet up with Derek's family one last time for an early lunch before parting ways. The kids really enjoyed this last morning together. Here are all of the cousins eating lunch together at their end of the table.
After finishing our meal, we all gathered outside for a final, group picture. Here are all eleven West and East coast Hartleys.
All seven of the grandchildren together!
And a final picture of the two brothers before we parted ways. After saying a sad goodbye, we got in our cars and drove our different directions. Derek and his family left to drive to South Carolina to stop and spend the night with Renee's other sister. We got in our car to spend the rest of the day driving the 6.5 hours to Destin on the Gulf Coast. We stopped for dinner at a McDonald,s somewhere in the panhandle of Florida before making it to our condo around 8 p.m. It felt so good to finally reach our final destination and to spread out in our large condo for the more relaxing, low-key portion of our vacation. I was so relieved to have the Disney World portion of our trip successfully completed and to be starting the much more slow-paced and easy portion of our trip. We sure had earned it!
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