We made a break for it on Monday and flew to Orlando for a couple of days to visit Disney World. It had been two years since our first visit there and the kids were excited to see some new things and remember some others they had forgotten. We planned on two days of park visits. The first day was at the Magic Kingdom. Even though it was the same week of the year that we visited two years ago the temperature was completely different. Our last visit was 90+ and sometimes miserable in the heat. This time we were bundled up with temps trying to reach 50 degrees.

We started at Belle’s house which is a new ‘show’ and then proceeded to see some of the other princesses, fairies, and characters such as Buzz Lightyear and Captain Jack Sparrow who we missed in our previous visit. On the second day, the plan was to start at Hollywood Studios and then Epcot later in the day. Unfortunately, just as we were getting ready to pass into Hollywood Studios Elizabeth got sick and ended up with a short lived flu bug. The girls went back to the hotel for the day and Joey and I spent the day doing “guy stuff” and saw a few stunt shows and Starwars related activities.

It was a good trip and we made the best of it even with Elizabeth not feeling well.

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Cinderella’s Castle in the background.

We were early to the airport and did not make the first flight which Elizabeth was excited about so that we could hang out at the club!? 🙂

The ride to Magic Kingdom

The princess from Brave

Buzz!

Joey was picked to play the part of the Beast with Belle and danced with her (I was jealous)

Tinkerbell

Indiana Jones Show

The Star Tours show was awesome

The Lights, Motors, Action! show was very entertaining

Carolyn and I have been to Hawaii twice before and were very excited to have Elizabeth, Joey, and my parents join us this time around. We had a lot of fun in the water, we snorkeled, the kids saw their first sea turtles, many of us were tossed around by powerful waves at different times, we drove up to 10,000 feet to see the top of the volcano, drove the road to Hana, visited a luau, submerged in a submarine to 131 feet, ate at a Pirate bar, drank coconut milk, discovered star fruit, ate like kings, queens, princes and princesses, and enjoyed a lot of quality time together. Carolyn and the kids went home before Mom, Joe, and I. We stayed to hop over to Honolulu so that they could see Pearl Harbor and the USS Arizona. I hope to go back soon but I think that it’s time for a new island for Carolyn and me 🙂

Click here for the full photo album (almost 600 pictures)

Elizabeth drew in the sand

My snorkeling buddies

A couple of fish that Elizabeth waved to

Hanging with Gramps on the lanai

At 10,000 feet with the bright sun in their eyes

Above the clouds

Luau time

The submarine

At the floor of the ocean at 131 feet

A sunken ship

A beautiful black sand beach near the end of the road to Hana. Joey was really excited to see this because he had seen black sand beaches on Pirates of the Caribbean.

The blue of the water is amazing next to the black rock

Some of the wonderful flowers that can be found on the road to Hana

Mom and Joe on the submarine Bowfin

The view from our hotel in Honolulu

And finally, plenty of beautiful sunsets