Welcome to the Happiest Place on Earth
June 30 through July 8 we spent in Florida, joining Nels' family for a fun vacation. We spent 3 days at Disney World and visted 4 different parks-Magic Kingdom, Hollywood Studios, Animal Kingdom and EPCOT. We loved it and had the best time. After Disney World we went to another Disney resort at Vero Beach. We saw and did so much, but I'm just going to sum it up with the Top 5...in no particular order.
1. Meeting Mickey Mouse
We met Mickey in the Animal Kingdom and that's why he's all dressed up in Safari clothes.
2. The rides and seeing the pictures of us after the rides was way fun. We went on tons of rides. Since we stayed at the Disney Resort we got extra hours which meant we spent almost no time waiting in lines! My top favorite rides were Tower of Terror, Rock 'n' Roller Coaster (you go 0-60 mph in 3 seconds!), Soarin' (at Epcot, it's not scary but just an awesome ride) and Expedition Everest in the Animal Kingdom. The pictures after the ride were so fun to look at. We didn't buy any though and I didn't learn about the Photopass until the last ride we went on which was the Test Track at Epcot. So here it is...
3. Everything we did there, even if it wasn't a ride, was well...Magical. The presentations, shows shops and just walking around was fun and happy. We had fun in some of the gift shops.
Rrrrr Matie (Nels makes a good Jack Sparrows. :)
Rockin' out after the Rock 'n' Roller Coaster.
Epcot in front of the Spaceship Earth
We bought these shirts--mine says "I'm with Goofy." :)
4. Guess who called me on my Birthday?! Goofy! It was so cool. I was at Epcot and we were going into the American Adventure which is part of the World showcase. The greeter stopped me and said "You look familiar. Where are you from?" I said "Indiana." Then he said, "We've been trying to get a hold of you. Go over to that box and open it. Inside is a phone and dial 2144. There's a message for you." So I did that, and surprise it was Goofy singing Happy Birthday to me! Amazing, and yes, Magical.
5. Walking along the beach, picking up seashells and watching the sunrise as we sat on the beach early in the morning. It was beautiful, quiet and calm. Very peaceful memory.
The last day of our trip we went stopped at Gainesville to visit my cousin Del and his wife Rachel. Del and I were really good friends growing up so I was excited to see him and catch up. I was really excited to meet Rachel too. They've been married for almost 3 years and I hadn't met her yet. It was so good to talk and hang out with them. Of course we ended the night with a big bowl of ice cream. Here's a picture of us....we left bright and early the next morning. They were sweet and got up to see us off. So that's why they're in their pj's. :) The picture is taken in their backyard which is pretty cool with palm trees.
Last 2 random things. Down south they have this extremely yummy ice cream called Blue Bell. Really good flavors and Nels' family and I love it. When the trip was over we calculated that we ate a total of 6 and 1/2 gallons. There were 6 of us, so if we all ate the same amount we each had a little more than a gallon of ice cream within a very short period of time. What can I say, it's that good!
Also, on our way back from Florida our car hit 100,000 miles...here's a picture of that grand milestone. :)
Now we are back. We are all moved in to our new place in Indianapolis. Nels started work yesterday. So we are starting to get back into a routine. We loved our vacation and all the fun memories we created there. Well, as they say at Disney World, I wish all of you a Magical Day!
