The American Vacation

The adventure started the second we pulled into long term parking at the airport. The kids we excited, helpful and kind. Lexi looked up at me and said “so we do bus first, then train and then airplane and I get to sit by the window”. “Yep” is all I could come up with since I was trying to get 5 big bags of luggage to the bus so we could start our first Disney World experience.
The West’s, Spittle’s and Walton’s (Ohio group missing 2 families) planned a party in Florida for 8 days. We were going to hit Disney World for the week and also add in a few days on the Florida beaches. The kids were excited since we told them that we rented a home for everyone that had a pool and for the next week their bedtimes were going to be super late.
Magic Kingdom- We spent the first day at Disney Magic Kingdom with the Spittle’s while the West’s were still traveling in and as we arrived that morning the heat index was over 105 and would stay that way all week. The blanket of heat hit me so hard that I could almost eat it. I started to soak my clothes and for the next 9 days this process never changed. The first ride we did as a family was in Frontier land on the Pirates ride. The park was clean and fun and we had only planned on spending a half a day. We hit several other popular rides, had a good time and headed to our rental to get settled and cooled down in the pool.
Beach- The whole group made the first official day a beach day and we headed to St Petersburg for a great day in the ocean. All three kids had a funny face the first time they tasted the salt water. The sand was white, the sky was blue and we for the next 6 hours had a blast building in the sand, and playing in the water.


Magic Kingdom,Epcot,Universal and Animal Kingdom - Each of these parks rocked, We did every popular ride that Disney had to offer. We saw all the shows that we were told would be fun and by the end of each day we had very tired kids. In Epcot we watched the fireworks show, in Magic Kingdom we watched the light parade and Lexi even was able to take all the girls for a birthday dinner with all the Princesses within a 2 mile radius. The favorite ride for us was the Rock and Roll in Universal. Anne and I are not park people, in fact we never have been together on a ride in our 12 years of marriage. Thanks to Dawn she did her first without me. Then at the end of the trip we rode together and it was a blast.
Daytona Beach- We did this beach two times as well having so much fun on the boogie boards and the waves the first time we went back again. We had dinner at Bubba Gump’s and the older kids went to see the new Karate Kid. After getting lost just a bit we made it home just before midnight.
The Ohio group worked to squeeze every ounce of fun that we possible could out of this trip. It is a magical place where kids get along, friendships were renewed and future plans for the next one were started. I loved this trip and was pleased that we went with friends. Trips with friends are for sure the best way to go and I forever will try to rock our family trips this way. I have added the best pictures from this trip. Lexi falling asleep on me after the light show is one of my favorites. She struggled to stay awake for the show and then had no chance after, she was just too tired. Thanks to Jessica for planning the trip. Thanks to everyone for putting up with me and for making us realize how awesome friends really are. Love you all