The Happiest Place on Earth

If you haven't noticed, we've been pretty absent on here recently and it's because we are recovering from our vacation to Disney World! The week after Thanksgiving we were able to take a trip to Florida with my family. It was a blast and one of the really fun things about going at this time of year is that they have the parks all decorated for Christmas. Everything looked so festive and pretty!

Jeremy and I drove instead of flying, which added some time to our trip, but it was worth it! We love a good road trip and it gave us the opportunity to eat Oreo's, Cheez-its, and at Cracker Barrel (a family trip staple of mine). We also listened to some comedian's CDs which always creates a lot of inside jokes (Mike Birbiglia and Jim Gaffigan are some of our favorites!).

Juice at the Florida-Georgia State Line

During our four-day trip to Disney World, we were able to spend a lot of time with family and see all of the sights in the parks. My family is a little Disney World-obsessed, so it was fun to immerse Jeremy in that. On Tuesday, we explored Epcot. We were able to eat a lot of different foods from the different countries in World Showcase, including fried pineapple in Canada (which was delicious!), chicken teriyaki in Japan, and margaritas in Mexico! That night, we walked through the Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights at Hollywood Studios. It is a street with buildings on both sides, completely covered in lights. The lights are timed to music; for one song, practically everyone in the street paused to just watch and enjoy. That was really cool!

Christmas in Shorts

Our Lovely French Pastries

On Wednesday, we spent the whole day at Magic Kingdom, which is my favorite of the four parks. We rode ton of things and enjoyed being able to take turns taking my four nieces and nephews on rides. I had a kid's hand in mine basically the whole day! My oldest nephew is tall enough to ride some of the faster, adult rides now, and it was really fun to ride with him for his first time on Splash Mountain. We were all singing like crazy people and at the end he said the ride was amazing!!! That night, Jeremy and I watched the Main Street Electrical Parade and Celebrate the Magic. I had never seen Celebrate the Magic before, and it was very cool. They do projector work on the castle and show images of movies among other things on it. It's hard to describe!

Little Nephew Busting a Move

Thursday was a bit more relaxed day - Jeremy and my parents and I headed to Hollywood Studios to ride some of the "big kid rides." My dad still enjoys roller coasters so I was glad they could come with us! We all rode on Toy Story Mania (an arcade-type game), and then my dad, Jeremy, and I went on the Tower of Terror and Rock 'n' Roller Coaster. My parents left, Jeremy and I finished up the park with The Great Movie Ride and Muppet Vision 3-D, and then Jeremy and I parted ways. I headed back to Magic Kingdom to catch up with the rest of my family and Jeremy headed to the pool back at the hotel! It was a fun afternoon that included a round of Dole Whips (pineapple flavored ice cream that you can only get at one of the food stands at Magic Kingdom) and carousel rides. That night, Jeremy and I went out to dinner. We went to Giordano's which is a favorite of ours when we're in Chicago (or Orlando, apparently).

On Friday we spent the day at Animal Kingdom. My youngest niece really loves animals, so it was fun to go through the zoo portion of the park with her. For lunch we had our first ever character meal. We ate at Tusker House Restaurant; Donald Duck, Daisy Duck, Goofy and even Mickey were there! The kids were very excited! It was delicious food which made for a fun (and a little hectic) meal! Friday night we headed to Downtown Disney to wrap up our trip.

Christmas Tree at Animal Kingdom

Hippos on the Safari

"Look at that duck!"

Festival of the Lion King

The Big Mouse Himself

"That's my fish"

On Saturday on the way back to Indiana, we stopped in Tifton, Georgia at Adcock Pecans. Whenever my family and I went to Florida, we always stopped there, and I wanted to show Jeremy. He loved it. This place is filled with jams, sauces, and pecans! We bought a few things that I'm excited to try!

That's a Lot of Nuts!

Overall, it was a fantastic trip. It was so fun to be there with the whole family, especially the kids. I'm like a kid at Disney World too, so it was a blast. We created a lot of memories, and I am so thankful for our vacation!