In December, we took a much needed vacation to Disney World in Orlando. This was a first for all of us except Jason, and we had a blast. One of the main reasons for this trip was Jason’s upcoming 7 month deployment. Besides that trip, we were also finishing the work-ups portion of his deployment, which involved 4 mini-trips to his boat. From August through December, he was away for at least half of every month as the Marines prepared for their deployment. For our family, work-ups meant very little time with Jason sleeping at home, and long days and nights for him during the work weeks he was here. Needless to say, we missed him and were all ready for a magical escape.
We toured the Magic Kingdom, Epcot, the Animal Kingdom, and Sea World. The parks got pretty crowded as it got closer to Christmas day, but we arrived early and did most of what we wanted before the lines grew too long. It was a great chance for us to spend stress free time together as a family. No calendars or countdowns, but instead parks, characters and rides for all. Cathy and Mike, Jason’s mom and step-dad, joined us for the first part of the trip. Faye attached herself to her Grandma Cathy almost immediately and remained by her side for the rest of their visit. One of Cathy’s closest friends, Shirley, also joined us for a really fun day.
One of our favorite characters at Disney was Nemo. There was a large exhibit at Epcot, which we really enjoyed. There was also a live Nemo musical at Animal Kingdom, which was easily my favorite experience at Disney. That park wasn’t as exciting as some of the other parks, but the shows were well worth it. We also saw Lion King, which was a live show including acrobats, characters on stilts, loud noises and plenty of stimulation. Jason and I were in shock in this show when we realized both kids were asleep! And it was really, really loud! Besides that episode, though, the biggest surprise was how little Faye actually sat down. In 5 days of park visits and hours and hours of walking, Faye only sat in the stroller a few times, and only then when we gave no choice because we had to get somewhere quickly. We are so glad Faye enjoyed the parks so much, and so proud that she was such a trooper.
Gavin, I must say, was a really good boy as well. I think he may have been cutting 2 teeth during our trip, so he didn’t want to be held by anyone but me and really didn’t want me out of his sight. This made it tricky to have any privacy or alone time for me, but considering his age and the lack of activities for him, he did great. My Ergo baby carrier was my most used accessory, by far. In fact, Gavin spent most of his days attached to me, both while awake and asleep. So much so, that we almost forgot to get pictures of him! He was able to ride almost every ride with me and go to every show, just sitting with me. He even kept up his naps, taking 2 a day while I rode rides and strode through the park.
We spent our last day in Orlando at Sea World. After the excitement filled week at Disney, it was a nice calm way to spend the day. The Shamu show was as cool as advertised, and we really appreciated the salute to active duty military. Otherwise, it was a nice day of visiting sea life and watching well trained animals perform. A really nice way to end our vacation.
Awesome! Looks like you had fun! Great pictures!