Vacation

We took our first family vacation last week.  We left on March 8, Josh's birthday, and made a quick stop in Orlando.  My parents saved passes they received from Disney when we were kids and we used them to give Samantha a trip to the Magic Kingdom, on our way to Miami.  She loves the traditional Disney characters and we knew that was a phase that would not last long.  She has begged to go to "The Clubhouse" for months.  Given all that she endured over the past year we felt that we wanted to be able to take her to meet her Clubhouse "friends" in person.  Below are some photos of her first meetings…

We started the day with a character breakfast at the Contemporary Resort.  She was a little apprehensive at first.  But, Jason gave her some confidence, and when Minnie finally came over she was ready to give her a big hug!

We spent most of our time at the Magic Kingdom in Fantasyland.  Unbeknownst to me, Toon Town no longer exists.  I was slightly disappointed.  But, Samantha had a great time.  I was impressed with her somewhat fearless attitude regarding the rides.  She rode her first roller coaster, The Barnstormer, with Jason, me, and Grandpa Jay.  We took a spin on the teacups.  She rode on Dumbo and the carousel.  And, of course, we made a stop through It's a Small World.  What trip to Disney is complete without that?  Her one disappointment was not being able to meet Daisy Duck.  Luckily, before we left, I happened to notice an exhibit with Daisy and Minnie, and Samantha officially accomplished everything.  When you ask her, she will tell you her favorite part of the day was meeting Daisy and Minnie.

The next day we left Orlando for Miami.  We got everything settled in at Jason's parents and had a relaxing evening.  The next day, Samantha enjoyed an afternoon date with Linda and Jay, while Jason and I took Joshua up to meet Fr. Flanagan (the priest who married us) at Sawgrass Mills.  It was wonderful to see him.  We enjoyed having lunch and walking through the outlets.  In addition to our wedding, Fr. Flanagan baptized Samantha and also performed the first half of Alli's baptism.  So, it was a nice opportunity to connect with him about what had transpired since we last saw him and have him meet Joshua.

On Wednesday, Jason, Linda, and I took Samantha and Joshua to the zoo.  I think the highlights for Samantha were the camel ride and the sprinkler park…oh yes, and the ice cream ;) .  See photos below...

On Thursday we visited Linda at her school and met some of her teachers.  Samantha played on the playground with some children in the pre-K class.  Funny story about this visit.  For some reason every time we introduced Samantha to someone at Linda's school she would say hello and then curtsy in front of them.  It was hilarious!  After our visit at school we spent the afternoon at the Seaquarium with Grandpa Jay and saw the Dolphin shows.  That night we had a mini birthday party for Joshua with a couple of Linda's friends and then started the process of getting packed up to come home.

We left Miami on Friday and returned home late that evening.  It was a long drive, but we were happy to be back in our beds and thankful to have some time to get the kids back in to their routine before the school and work week started on Monday.

There were a few firsts for Joshua while we were gone.  He started pulling to stand.  He enjoyed his first bites of steak and ribs.  His second tooth is coming in.  He is getting so big!

Overall, it was a wonderful trip!  I'm so thankful we were able to take the time to get away and look forward to many future family vacations.