Time to Be a Kid

Have I mentioned I have some amazing people in my life? One of the good things that came from my giant boat adventure was meeting Amy and Jen! These girls are such great example to me and so much fun to goof off with. When Amy suggested a vacation I was all over that. Where did we go? Hmmm yeah lets go with somewhere sunny and fun. Florida! It quickly became the chance to be kids for a week and let go of all adult responsibility.  

The first day was the long fun flight to Florida. Flying commercial just isn't the same after flying in a helicopter but I dealt with it. We had some time to kill after checking out of the hotel the next morning so what better to do than visit the Orlando temple. Amy's family has been working on these Chinese names for a while and she brought some with her for us to do. It was amazing to hear the story of how they came into her hands. Lets just say the church is everywhere. After a refreshing trip and getting some peace--life been different and confusing lately--we checked in and relaxed. 

Day 2 we had this brilliant idea to run a 5K at DisneyWorld. Soooo we did. 0530 was a little early to get up on vacation but the race was so much fun. The characters all came out to play on the path and the music was a lot of fun. I felt like I was swimming at the same time though. This Utah girl is not used to humidity! Because it was such a hard morning we decided to take a nap and drive to the beach. I know sounds rough. We played in the water, enjoyed some rain drizzle, and soaked up some sun. Denny's was a must as well as a movie night. Such a chill day I loved the break. 

Sunday was by far I think my favorite. Why do you ask? A childhood dream came true. I was among the Harry Potter Generation. I love those books and movies. To actually walk through the shops, ride in the castle, and drink lots of butterbeer had me jumping up and down. Yes, I bought a wand. Don't judge me. The rides were fun and did I mention the butterbeer? I may have had a few cups. We wandered around, shopped, and took pictures by the Hogwarts express. Eventually, we branched out to the rest of the park. Somehow we ended up riding 3 water rides in a row. Duddly Dorights definitely had me completely soaked. It was great though--Jen is Canadian so we got to ride the fast pass line. The wet felt great because it was so hot that day. Before the end we did somehow make it back to Harry Potter World. What can I say we loved it. 

It took 3 different People to get this shot!!

Monday was a Complete Downpour for most of the morning, which made it the perfect day to visit Magic Kingdom. I love the rain and due to the downpour most people hid undercover. The streets were clear so we got some great pictures without a million people. Fantasyland was probably my favorite. All of the princess had their own villages. Yeah I know but I had so much fun being a kid for a day. Belle made an appearance after we visited her cottage. She is my favorite Princess. In fact the highlight of the day was having dinner in the castle.  We even got to eat in the West Wing. Yeah I know total nerd but the food was amazing!! We even had the "grey stuff." I'm not sure what exactly it is but we all wanted second helpings. We overstuffed ourselves and then headed to take pictures with the Beast. Yeah I still prefer him to the creepy prince guy at the end. We rode a few more rides. But our big focus was getting ready for the castle fireworks. They were amazing. I don't know why but I still get a bit teary-eyed over them. I love fireworks. 

 

Tuesday was our recovery day. I mean we had been super busy and crammed a lot into 2 days. Animal Kingdom didn't really have a ton for us to do but it doesn't contain probably my favorite ride. Expedition Everest. Darkness, high speeds, backward I mean it had it all. Their shows are always fun. Finding Nemo is one of Amy's Favorites so we stopped and sang along with Nemo. The puppets they use are insane! Plus they had bubbles, lets be honest. After some lunch at Rainforest Cafe we headed back to the Hotel and laid by the pool. I don't know what is more relaxing but my skin sure appreciated soaking up the warm. My tan improved pretty significantly as well.

Wednesday was every little girls dream. We ate breakfast with all the disney Princesses. Yes, its true. I have pictures with all my favorites. Ariel was the best though. Totally played the part and posed with us. The potatoes were so good too! I could probably eat those the rest of my life and be happy. I had so much fun, I'm sure the princesses were so surprised to see all of us grown up ladies but we still got our pictures. Thats all the matters. Epcot that day was having a Food Festival. In each country they had stands with food from every country. We had a blast and about exploded by the end. Oh I haven't eaten that much food in so long but I just couldn't stop. We wandered around exploring the countries eating from great caramel until Sugar Ray!! yeah I know high school flashbacks but we sang along with the rest of crowd! I need to go to more concerts!! We stayed for the fireworks and headed home. I think Magic Kingdom has better fireworks but it was still fun to watch!

Thursday We conquered Hollywood Studios. After a lazy morning we suited up and hit the rides! Tower of Terror is still one of my favorites--especially is you can catch some air. We may or may not have ridden it twice. We also hit rock n roller coaster--I still remember Kevin refusing to go on that ride when we were there 14 years ago.  Again we did everything we wanted and had plenty of time to lay by the pool. 

Friday Was officially Minion Day. I'm a fan of the little yellow dudes. The Ride at Universal is hilarious and you get turned into minions. We even got pictures with them! The best part though--we headed back to Harry Potter World and got another butter beer :D. Yeah I'm an addict I know but the stuff was so good! To be honest my favorite part that day was the pool. Saturday we had to fly home so we spent as much time outside soaking up the sun before we headed back to freezing Utah. I seriously haven't stopped wearing sweat since I got home. 

Overall the trip was amazing. The perfect balance of chill and crazy time. Plus I was able to forget life and be a kid for a few days. Plus we ate amazingly well! Now its time to go back to reality. Dang it.