disney world!

{we went to Disney World the last week of December. it's almost the last week of February. nice blogging skills, Kaci.}

 here is a super detailed, most people don't care, post about our trip, just because i want to remember!

back in the summer, kyle's parents asked us if we wanted to go to DisneyWorld with them in december.  i was still pregnant with Kade and we thought awhile about it (a lot), and finally decided to go. only because we knew we could cancel as late as november! our cancel date passed and there was no turning back! 

well, there was almost turning back! seriously. both the kids got sick right before Christmas and i took them to the doctor on the 23rd. both kids had RSV and ear infections! as i was picking up all the prescriptions for antibiotics and breathing treatments, and buying a nebulizer, i was thinking..we are so crazy to take a 20 month and 3 month old kids to disney world sick like this. a lot of other people told us we were crazy to take them healthy!

so on christmas night, we were all so exhausted, the kids hadn't slept in days, on top of the holiday craziness, we were giving breathing treatments around the clock, and about midnight, kyle and i looked at eachother, and agreed there was no way we could put these two on a plane like this, and expect it to all go ok! 

but alas, we pushed on. we woke up at 4 am on the 26th and headed to the airport. the kids slept the whole way (to the airport), while i was physically ill, because i was soo nervous about the whole trip!

we got to the airport and security and everything went perfectly smooth. i was carrying kade and they didn't even make me go thru the machine everyone else was. i had kade swaddled, and they just asked if i would unwrap him so they could see under the blanket. {i was terrified that they were going to want to pat down one of the kids}. but thank goodness, we had really nice workers.

we got on the plane, and our bags were so loaded down with entertainment for jillie, but she drew on her magna doodle and watched the ipad, then fell asleep after about 30 minutes! we were so shocked! kade fussed a little, maybe just 5 minutes. i knew when we started our descent, we were going to make it!

we were so exhausted by the time we got to our rooms. us and the kids took about a 3 hour nap, then we were off to the races! at this point, i was actually thinking, we had not made a terrible decision!

so here's a ton of pictures, although a fraction of all i took. you can thank me later for not posting them all!:

{jillie with kyle's parents}

{woody kade - sweet boy slept half the trip!}

 

{jillie decided to have some popcorn with minnie mouse}

 

{our family, with jillie making a funky face!}

 

{one of our really late nights at the park. after quite a bit of work, sara 

and i had both kids to sleep! success!}

 

{a lovely sight at disney world! this was a really cold night, and i didn't quite have enough blankets, so we piled on jackets, and bought jillie that hilarious hat. this was, of course, the one day i forgot her toboggan}

 

{jillie got this little buzz and woody, and she was in love with them!! here she was telling kade all about them, and you can see how interested he is! on our last full day, woody fell out of the stroller. kyle was quite upset, because it's just like the movie (jillie liked buzz more anyways). so we had to go buy another set. not because jillie wanted to, but kyle!}

 

{we wasted a ton of time waiting in line to meet mickey and minnie. the sign said 15 minutes. it was not. kyle was not pleased. but when he saw the sheer joy on jillie's face, all of his frustrations were gone. we didn't know how she would like the characters, but she was ecstatic to meet them!}

 

{giving minnie a kiss before we leave.}

 

{jillie's first "all to herself" ice cream cone}

{at the character dinner. this was probably the highlight of the trip for me, because it was for jillie. it was so fun to see how excited she was to meet each character! and have a buffet of desserts! we decided to just let her go all out! and that she did! here she is 'tooting' minnie's nose. kade was pumped too!}

 

{kade and donald. this sweet boy was such a champ! almost near perfect. the few times he decided to melt down, happened to be quite inopportune times, but we allowed it, because he was so good the other 99% of the trip!}

 

{animal kingdom. normally my least favorite park, but it was the least crowded of the week, so it became a favorite this time!}

 

{this was the first day jillie got to really get out of the stroller and run around a lot without being engulfed by insane crowds. so she decides to play in a puddle?}

 

{me and my kade man. this was our last day, and we're both looking a little weary!}

 

{on the last night, we took it easy, hung out at our  hotel, ate pizza, and colored some pictures. disney world has these random color stations everywhere for kids - genius.  a good way to end the trip!}

 {jillie watching airplanes! the only airport/airplane picture i took! on their first trip! i was just too nervous to think about documenting! the trip back went just as well, if not better!}

so the trip was a complete success! kyle and i were just talking about how we can't believe it went soo well! not sure how we pulled that one off! well, besides all the help from kyle's family! we could have never ever done it alone! the only group picture we have is from the character dinner, taken by a photographer there, so i couldn't upload it. bummer.

there were minor bummers, like it was so insanely crowded. you couldn't just walk. you had to wait in line just to get down sidewalks! 

and the kids were sick, but were unbelievable troopers! they got their antibiotics and breathing treatments and kept on trucking! (can't believe RSV didn't hit kade worse, being so young).

so for all the people who said we were crazy, yes we were. and it was such a great, yet oh my gosh exhausting trip, that we will remember forever. 

i'd do it all over again with a 20 month and 3 month old. but kade might appreciate it a little more if we wait awhile longer =) so we will.