Disney World

We stayed at a beautiful Marriott resort in Orlando, Florida thanks to my parents' timeshares. It was a two bedroom, full kitchen and living room, with a washer and dryer and a patio that sat right behind the pool. Couldn't have asked for a better place. There were at least 10 different pools with the highlight being this pool with a big sandbox in the middle of it.

We bought tubes while we were there and they were a hit. I'm hoping my summer pool will allow them in so they weren't a total waste of money!

Justin lounging in the tube.

The water was so warm that Hans could last almost an hour before having to get out. With not an ounce of body fat he doesn't last long in the cold:)

Ashley is a great swimmer and a great help with Mia as I wasn't able to get into the pool this year. Mia loves her goggles and is very brave in the water. She loves swimming. And so does Ashley. Ashley gets to start swim team again in June. I love watching her progress.

Katelyn is my independent girl. She loved that she was tall enough for the water slides since she's not tall enough at our Colorado pool. Disney is all about how tall you are and she was thrilled to measure up this year.

Downtime with the phones on the patio. My kids would play media all day if I allowed it. Some days I wonder why I just don't give in completely! What are your media rules?

Katelyn is a master at Boggle already on my phone. It's impressive.

Justin is a doodle jump man.

Ashley is a doodle jump and cut the rope girl.

I love my people.

She got even more freckles in Florida and her perpetual scab that lives under her lip healed thanks to the humidity. I LOVE humidity. I miss it the second we get off the plane in CO.

There were miniature frogs everywhere. They were easy to catch and fun to play with.

Mia with Lena, her souvenir from Disney World. I let my kids each pick out 1 souvenir and they do it the first day so we don't have to agonize for the rest of the trip. Mia loves her baby elephant.

Mia and I spent a lot of time together waiting for the other 4 to do rides. This ice cream cone we bought on our last day at Animal Kingdom. Best ice cream ever, despite it costing like 40$ or close to it! I have the cutest video of this falling apart all over her and then she and I fighting over who got to eat the mess.

They loved the playground type places scattered throughout the different parks.

Not the best pictures from my phone, but you get the point. It was a blurry, nauseating ride in the tea cups. It takes me hours to recover from that ride.


Driving the cars was Justin's favorite rides. Katelyn came along for the ride while I pushed the pedal and Justin drove. He was in heaven. We rode this ride at least a dozen times.

I love that my kids all like the same rides and that the carousel still has appeal.


Our last day at Animal Kingdom I thought we'd get there right when it opened at 8 am. Turns out it didn't open until 9 am, but the kids had a great time running around and making obstacle courses for Hans while we waited.

Self-portrait of Mia and I watching the bird show while the others were doing the river rapids. She loved the Parrot singing songs. My favorite part of Animal Kingdom are the shows. The Nemo show is so great, as well as the 3D bug's life, and the bird show. I was grateful to have a place to just sit down in the air conditioning.

The girls LOVED space mountain. I got to ride it 3 times in a row with them. I didn't really recover from that one. It's intense. Notice them holding hands. They are great friends. I'm grateful they have each other.

The Buzz lightyear ride is always a hit.

We had such a great time at Disney. The flights were fun, the hotel was fun, swimming was fun, and of course Animal Kingdom, Hollywood studios, and Magic Kingdom were fun. We were fortunate enough to do Animal Kingdom and Magic Kingdom twice so we could hit all our favorite rides multiple times. It was so great to spend this time as a family and create a lot of memories. I love leaving CO this time of year since it snowed and hailed while we were enjoying 90 degree sunshine with humidity. I'm not sure when we will go back, but I know we will at some point in the next 5 years. It's my favorite vacation right now.