READER ALERT: The following post is a boring travelogue. If you choose to read beyond this point and end up falling asleep, don’t say that I didn’t warn you.
For nine glorious days, our Tolbert tribe basked in the sunshine (and a day of rain) in Orlando, FL over Thanksgiving break. I even embroidered/appliqued matching shirts for us to commemorate the momentous occasion. If only I could come up with these grand ideas a little sooner than the night before we leave … but nonetheless, I miraculously got them done.
Gran joined us on the front-end of our trip, but after having to ride everywhere we went in the cramped hatchback area of the small SUV we rented and ducking whenever we spotted a cop, I think she was thankful that he had only booked her ticket to spend part of the time with us.
The kids were mesmerized with the magic of Disney, and for the first two days of our trip, it was almost like we had the parks (Magic Kingdom, Day 1; Animal Kingdom, Day 2) all to ourselves. We literally walked right on any ride we wanted to. The girls even got to ride the Tea Cups with Alice!
And because we had Gran with us, BT, Ari and I even got to ride a few of the more rambunctious rides together. We never would have purchased the $Splash Mountain$ picture they snap as you plunge 50 feet … but it was just so dang funny, we couldn’t resist!
Day Three, we went to Coco Beach. Although it was a bit ghetto by So. Cal standards, no one seemed to care. Vivi spent hours collecting sea shells, Ariana loved splashing in the waves, and I even curled up and took a nap with Baby Tad in the warm sunshine. When it came time to leave, Baby Tad threw a full on tizzy fit.
Day Four, we loaded Gran back into the hatchback and went to church. BT was mortified that he forgot his Sunday shoes, but I reminded him that Jesus likely wore sandals to church, too. We got more funny looks about Gran stuffed in the back of the car than about his sandals, anyway. The evening was spent playing Skip-Bo together.
Day Five, back at Disney (Hollywood Studios) … along with the most of the population from the Eastern half of the U.S. and parts of China, Japan, Europe and the Middle East. Crowded, crowded, crowded.
Day Six, back at Disney (Epcot) … along with hordes of other people. Clearly, we weren’t the only ones who thought that Disney would be a fun way to spend Thanksgiving break. Despite the chaos, we got to ride our favorite ride–Soarin’–but Ariana and BT were disappointed that Test Track would have to wait for another day.
Day Seven, in the midst of a torrential downpour and determined to eek out every last penny of our Disney passes, back at Disney (Magic Kingdom) … after a stop at the $1.99 store to get rain ponchos (yellow plastic bags w/ a hood). I honestly thought that this would be the most miserable day ever, but the rain helped keep the crowds down.
Day Eight, back at Hollywood Studios … with massive crowds.
Day Nine … you guessed it … back at Disney (Epcot) so that we could ride Test Track and Soarin’ for one last time. By this point, I was ready to soar back to the solitude of my own home, which we did later that evening.
Yes, Disney was the happiest place on earth.
But so was the beach.
And church.
And our run-down condo (from which water poured from the vent in the ceiling as Ari showered our final morning there).
And even our home as we spent Saturday together as our vacation week came to a close.
I give thanks for my dear family who makes anywhere we are together the happiest place on earth.
