Disney World!!!

This might be a long post. I will try to sum up as much as possible, but I MUST say this was an incredible trip.

Simon has always wanted to take his family to Disney World. I will admit that I wasn't overly excited about this, thinking this was going to be a vacation that only kids would enjoy. But since we were taking a kid (Simon's 6 year old nephew), I was excited to watch him be a little maniac. Also joining us was Junior's mom, Cay, and Junior's older sister, Diana.

The REAL excitement started when I learned that this would be Sy's sisters first trip to the airport, first plane ride, and first time seeing the ocean. I was floored that at 36 years old, she hadn't done ANY of this stuff yet. Even Diana, at 20 years old, had never seen the ocean. Of course, I documented the entire experience. :)

No one slept the night before. We got up super early, and headed out to the airport. Junior looked like a pro pulling around his little carry-on. As soon as we walked into the airport, Cay started taking pictures of everything; even the plane when it pulled up! She was so excited, I pretty much watched her the entire time and ignored everything around me.

The plane finally took off, and I watched Cay watch the earth fall away below her, and she smiled from ear to ear with her eyes shining. We were FINALLY going!

After picking up our rental car and making it out to our AWESOME hotel (big up to Orbit 1 Vaction Rentals), we caught the La Nouba Cirque show in Downtown Disney. AMAZING. Its a must see fo sho.


The next day brought us to the Magic Kingdom. Now remember I said that I wasn't all that super excited about the Disney part - I was so excited to watch Cay freak out on the plane ride that I didn't give the theme parks much thought. It was a Friday when we went, and let me tell you - I rode EVERY RIDE. I didn't think about work ONE TIME while I was there. I was a total kid again, and was running around like a maniac with my nephew. I ate candy and ice cream and wore mouse ears and hugged the characters. I'm going back next year. :)


Day 2 brought us out to Clearwater Beach. We spent the most amazing day in the sun, sand, and waves. And, of course, my favorite part of all, the proposal of marriage Simon made to me while watching the sunset over the waves. *giggle*

Cay did not want to leave the beach; she claimed she was going to move there someday. We could NOT get Junior out of the water - he was a total fish! We walked up and down the beach picking up shells. We had an amazing dinner at a local sandwich joint (big up to Frenchy's) and the watched the sunset on the beach. I think the only thing that tore us away from Clearwater was the fact that there was more Disney the next day. :)

Day 3 we spent at Animal Kingdom. Most AMAZING zoo experience! We even got to go on a 'safari' and see animals in their natural habitats; no fences!! It was also hot as you-know-what that day, so we tried to spend all our time in the cooler jungle hike areas.

Day 4 was Epcot center. It rained that day (thank goodness for the cooler weather), and we all ran around in Disney ponchos determined to do it all. We rode most of the rides in the morning, and saw all the sites and characters. In the afternoon, we walked to the other side of Epcot to the world showcase. Sy and I kept our eyeballs peeled for a good place to have dinner, and we decided on a restaurant in France.


Now, I must tell you that Cay and Diana were NOT excited about this at all. They wanted to go eat in Mexico. ;) But, we trumped them, and forced them to go to Paris for dinner. After explaining the menu items to them (grilled sirloin is a fancy name for 'steak'), we put in our order. The waiter was AMAZING. Sy ordered the lamb, and they actually brought out an entire other table and made a big show of cutting the rack of lamb and laying it beautifully on the plate.

Diana and Cay cut into their steak, and are both a bit weirded out that the meat is so RED. They reluctantly take a bite....and their eyeballs popped out of their heads, and all you could hear was a chewy 'mmmmmmmmmmmmmm!!!' come from their faces. To this day, they still say that was the BEST dinner they ever had.

We headed back to Colorado the next day, but I think we have all carried a little 'mouse' with us in everything we do now. I even wear my ears at work. :)