Last week, we were in paradise. Luckily Brandon had a conference in Orlando, Florida, and so we were able to take the girls for a week's stay of Disney World fun. We flew down three days before Brandon's conference started so that we could all enjoy a few days of the parks together. It was litterly 80 degrees every day. How lucky were we?! Here are few pictures of arriving at the resort and a view from our room (the swimming pool was very fun):
Our main goal over the week seemed to focus on collecting autographs and photos from as many Disney Characters as possible. Lauren loved this part the most! Elle, however, liked the IDEA of visiting the characters, but reluctantly would have her picture taken with them. Therefore, I had to be included in most of the photos. The girls filled their autograph books... there are too many pictures to include.
Fun times at Magic Kingdom with Brandon trying to pull out the sword in the stone and Elle and I riding the Dumbo ride:
Magic Kingdom was elaborately decorated with Christmas decorations. We even attended the Mickey's Christmas party in the evening of our first day. The Christmas party included special holiday events and shows along with "free" cookies and hot chocolate (we had to buy additional tickets to get into the party). The lights on Cinderella's castle were beautiful, the Christmas parade was so fun, and the fireworks, of course, were amazing. By the time we got back to the hotel, the girls were asleep and we were all exhausted. 
The next morning we were off to Epcot Center. We enjoyed the World Showcase which included eating lunch in Norway with a visit from Belle, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Ariel, and Jasmine. Our lunch overall was good, and I even tried some pickled herring.
The next park we visited was the Disney MGM studios which included seeing a Playhouse Disney show, a Broadway performance of Beauty and the Beast, and a special effects movie set with an explosive car show. They had an amazing display of Christmas lights with "snow" falling for the proper effect in the evening.
The following days included more Magic Kingdom where Lauren was able to participate in story time with Belle.... she played the part of Chip. The following days included visiting Disney's Animal Kingdom with the highlight of taking the African safari ride and visiting Epcot Center for another day.
Here is Elle "enjoying" a show with loud noises... this was typical for most shows and fireworks. After watching the special effects of the car show at MGM, Elle wouldn't watch the anticipated Indiana Jones show... so I had to step out with her and let Brandon enjoy the show alone. Oh well!
Overall our trip was amazing!!However, on our way home we faced huge obstacles. Boston was having major snow storms and Delta wasn't about to let us get home easily. We ended up having three flights canceled and had to stay an extra night in a hotel nearby. The following morning we woke up at 4 am to catch our early morning flight. Boston was expecting more snow that day so we had a small window of opportunity to make it home. Our plane took off and I shouted for joy! About an hour and half into the flight (half way to home) our pilot said over the loud speaker that Boston was closed to incoming flights...... so they actually TURNED the plane around and went back to Orlando! We finally got home at midnight after taking a flight to Cincinnati and connecting to Boston. Wow! We came home to a winter world. The next morning included digging our car out from a foot of icy snow, rushing to get gas (the car was left empty), going to the grocery store, and a lot of laundry.
So we are glad to be home, but now I'm stressed about Christmas being only a few days away!
