Orlando Vacation Part III: Disney World - The Magic Kingdom!

After a long and wonderful day at Sea World, we all crashed and prepared for an early wake-up call to catch our shuttle to the Magic Kingdom! The boys were filled with anticipation, as one might guess...
We arrived around 9am and took the monorail over to the main gates. Our first ride was Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin. That was the one Noah wanted to do the most! It did not disappoint. We were able to do it twice in a row with hardly any wait. Ethan loved it too.

Then we did Aladdin's Magic Carpet Ride and visited the Swiss Family Robinson Tree House. It's amazing how some things never change.

We did get to see Captain Jack Sparrow give us some lessons on how to be a pirate! That inspired us to go on the Pirate's of the Caribbean ride, which we did once more at the end of the day. That time we got stuck in the "Yo ho, Yo ho, a pirate's life for me" room for maybe 15 minutes with the boats all backed-up. It gave us plenty of time to notice all the details and secured the song to our minds the remainder of the day. (c:

We boarded Senegal Sal for The Jungle Cruise!

We took a break for a picnic lunch in Liberty Square on a bench under an awning and let the first batch of rain come through. Noah and Michael enjoyed Mickey's Philharmagic while Ethan and I found Peter Pan hiding in a nook behind the Castle! We felt bad that Noah wasn't with us when we met him, but he got a chance later on.

Noah and Michael did Splash Mountain, which was a joyride compared to Atlantis (at Sea World)...probably should have done this one first. Our fast passes let me return with Noah and do it again later that afternoon.

Of course, we got to see Mickey and all his buddies!

I think Woody was Ethan's favorite.

But Noah's clear favorite was Peter Pan. What a thrill!

Ethan got some much-needed naptime during the would-be afternoon parade that was canceled for a thunderstorm.

And here's the Kodak moment:

We had to do all the classics... Michael and Noah did Dumbo during Ethan's nap.

We did the Mad Hatter Tea Party, which Ethan wasn't so sure of at first, but once he saw Noah laughing, he began laughing too.

We thoroughly enjoyed the dazzling Evening Electrical Parade and found a great spot on the Tomorrowland Bridge to watch the 10pm fireworks - yep, 10pm....

...they were tuckered little pumpkins as we waded through the crowds of people, taking the ferry boat, and praying we would make it back to our 11pm shuttle bus.
Fortunately, the bus waited for us!

What a day. We got back to our condo around mid-night, completely exhausted. In the morning, we mustered the strength to pack-up and enjoy a half day at Sea World (for free) on our way to the airport. Ethan just had to see the Pink-Lady and dolphin show once more!! We arrived back to DC where Mom and Dad picked us up around 10pm, and the boys were just spinning in circles, so excited to re-live all their adventures to Grandma and Grandpa.

We are so grateful to both sets of grandparents for making this trip even possible!!!! Thank you so much for what you did to allow us to have a most memorable family vacation - I believe our first ever, just the four of us. It was so special to be able to take the boys right now, at their ages - all the awe and wonder was so worth all the exhaustion.

Orlando Vacation Part II - Sea World

We arrived at Sea World around 9 am and visited these Sea Lions first. Michael and Noah got to feed them!

We saw the dolphin show, which was pretty incredible.

The show left such an impression on Ethan that he cried when we left the arena. For the rest of the day he said, "I wanna see the Pink lady!" The picture below was taken when we went back to Sea World the last day, just before going to the airport. We had to see the "Pink Lady" once more!

Noah got to pet a Wallaby - so soft!

Of course, we had to say "hi" to Shamu!

Visiting the dolphin viewing area.

Those Sea Lions are always so funny to see.

They had this awesome climbing and play area. (for the BIG kids too!)

We both got to ride with Noah on his first roller coaster, The Shamu Express. He loved it!We had a very special treat for dinner, sitting by the shark tank!! Pretty wild.

We pet the graceful and slippery stingrays.

We also got to pet dolphins, but I didn't get a very good picture of that. (c:

This was the flume ride, Atlantis, that Noah decided he would ride with Daddy. Perhaps it was a little too scary...

Don't know if you can see Noah's face. Shear. Terror.
They survived.

Orlando Vacation Part I

We had a lot of fun getting ready for our trip.

We drove to Arlington the day before, so we could make our early morning flight.
We woke the boys at 5:30 am.

The boys did great on the plane; the first one since our return from Peru, 2 years ago.
They were so excited!

We arrived safely, picked-up the rental car and headed to Summer Bay Resort.

Over the next two days we took full advantage of all the fun the resort had to offer us.

There were lots of places to swim!

We also enjoyed seeing lots of wildlife - turtles, ducklings, toads and frogs, and some neat birds.

These Sandhill Cranes were quite bold - they approached our patio daily and were delightful to watch. They adult ones were taller than Noah.

The boys did a great job sleeping together for the first time, in a hide-a-bed.

Sunset from the patio.

Father's Day

The Summer has already been very full of fun...but one of the best parts of Summer is having Daddy home with us during the day!! We feel very blessed to be altogether during these warm summer days. The boys wanted to celebrate Daddy's special day by painting him some special cards...

...and making him a pancake breakfast after letting him sleep in.

Michael definitely deserves the "Best Daddy" award for all the ways he loves our boys. He is always up for taking them on a long explore, giving them the gift of loving Creation and pointing their sweet little hearts to our Creator.

Michael has passed down his "Billy goat feet" to his sons - they are both quite sure-footed.

He loves to rough house with them, cuddle with them, sing with them, inspire them with music (listening to it or making it), pray with them, garden and read with them. He just began reading "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe" with Noah - so many sweet lessons to learn in those wonderful books.
Ethan summed it up well tonight when he prayed, "Thank you for Daddy."