Fantastic Family Vacation for Nanny and Grandpa's 40th Anniversary!

On Saturday, October 10, we set off on a crazy wonderful fun family vacation!  Nanny and Grandpa celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary this year and wanted to take the whole family on a trip to celebrate.  We flew out on Saturday to Orlando and spent Sunday and Monday at Disney's Magic Kingdom, then drove to Naples and stayed at Nanny and Grandpa's new vacation home in Naples for Tuesday through Thursday, flew to Chicago on Friday morning, drove to South Bend (in the cars Nanny and Grandpa had driven to Chicago the previous week), stayed in the South Bend area until Sunday, attending the Notre Dame vs USC football game on Saturday, then drove home Sunday.  It was a crazy busy trip, but we had a blast with our family!

Now, I am going to test the limits of photos allowed in a single blog post...here we go!

The kids excited to head out on Saturday!

On our first flight on American Airlines, we boarded the plane and the cockpit was open.  I pointed out the cockpit to Trevor and the pilot hopped up and said, "Do you have your phone?" I wasn't sure what he was getting at right away, but then realized he meant I could take a picture of Trevor by the cockpit.  I stood Trevor by the door and got ready to take a photo on my phone when the pilot hopped out of his seat, stepped out of the cockpit and encouraged Trevor to sit in the pilot seat!  Trevor thought it was pretty cool and I got a picture of my 3 year old pilot!  (Don't worry!  He didn't touch any buttons!)

 A little excited to get going on our fun trip!

We arrived at the Disney Contemporary Resort in the late evening after a nice dinner in at Bonefish Grill right across from Sea World.  Topiary bushes shaped like Mickey Mouse greeted us in the courtyard.

Ready to get going on Sunday morning. First, we had breakfast at the Contempo Cafe, where the kiddos got to have mini-Mickey Mouse waffles.

We were so close to the Magic Kingdom that we could walk there faster than the monorail would get us there.  Here were are gathering the group to walk over.  Sarah figured out she could get Owen to laugh hysterically by blowing raspberries.

We all had "Magic Bands" that got us into our rooms at the resort, held our park admission tickets and Fast Pass info, and allowed us to pay for things in the park.  Owen didn't like wearing his, so Kevin told him it was like a watch.  If you ask Owen what time it is, he'll tell you, "Mickey time!"  So cute!  Check it out.

October at Disney includes, of course, Mickey Mouse pumpkins!

Main Street riding on Daddy's shoulders.

By this point Austin was already throwing a fit about something, so we tried only somewhat successfully to get a family photo in our Mickey and Minnie shirts on Main Street in front of the castle.  Can't visit Disney World without this photo!

We tried the Tea Cups first!

We headed back toward the front of the park because we had a Fast Pass to meet Mickey Mouse.  On the way, we encountered a fun show in front of the castle.  Dancers, princes and princesses, Mickey and Minnie and friends, Peter Pan and Wendy, Captain Hook and Mr. Smee all put on a fun show!

Then it was time to meet Mickey Mouse!

After meeting Mickey, you are, of course, let out right into a gift shop. The kids had fun checking out the toys and trying on funny hats.

Then we managed to catch all the grandbabies with Nanny and Grandpa (and Goofy).

Then we peeled off to use our Fast Passes and first headed over to the Monsters, Inc. Laugh Floor.  It was a comedy show based on the Monster's, Inc. movie characters, but interacting with the audience.  Trevor thought the energy canisters by the door were pretty cool.

The Adventures of Winnie the Pooh ride was popular with all of the kids (and adults). 

And Pooh Bear's house was out front!

Trevor said the other kids in the house were "woozles" because they wanted to take his honey.

Dumbo's Flying Elephants

Mickey shaped ice cream treats!

I guess Austin is not the King of England, but he tried to pull the sword from the stone!

We let the kids drive the adults for a change...on the Motor Speedway ride.

Then we got the larger group back together for some classics.  First was It's a Small World.

Cousins having fun hanging out in line.

The Thailand part of the ride!

The kids loved it and were leaning forward in their seats eagerly watching the scenes go by.

Then it was off to the Pirates of the Caribbean.

We had some dinner, then hit up the Jungle Cruise.  We had gotten Fast Passes for this one late in the day when I couldn't get one for a different ride Austin really wanted to go on.  We managed to get everybody on the Jungle Cruise despite only half of us having Fast Passes.  It was really fun and the guide was hilarious!

We weren't sure if the kids would make it long enough to get to the fireworks they do each night, but we figured we would see how it went and try to make it until imminent meltdown was coming.  We tried to squeeze in one last ride before the night time light parade, but the line for it was too long for us to make it back in time, so we went right to our spots for the parade.  Austin was VERY upset about it and threw a massive fit!  It surprised me that my 3 year old was doing great despite his exhaustion and my 8 year old was melting down.  He was grouchy the rest of the night, but we got to see the lit up floats in the night time light parade and then they did an AMAZING light show projecting ON the front of the castle.  I got a few video clips of it (though they really don't do it justice).

The castle was gorgeous all lit up at night!

After the light show, the fireworks show began.  It started with a lit up Tinkerbell (actual human being in a lighted costume) zip lining from the very top of the castle all the way across the center of the park over to the "Tomorrowland" region of the park!  I want to know how to get on THAT ride!

The fireworks were an impressive display set to music behind the castle.

The little kids did SO well despite the late hour!  As soon as the fireworks were over and Trevor got back in his little stroller, he was completely asleep.

This was the view within minutes of getting the kids in bed after the first day at Magic Kingdom.  So sleepy!

We got up bright and early the next day to try to take advantage of the "Magic Hours", the time when only resort guests get to enter the park before general admission hours begin.

My princess Sarah in her sequined Minnie Mouse ears.

The park opened at 8am for magic hours and we got there around 8:05am, hoping to get Austin on the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train right away since he really wanted to go on it the day before, but the wait for the ride was consistently 2 hours all day long!  However, when we arrived, we realized that everybody had the same idea.  The entire traffic pattern of people entering the park was headed straight for that ride.  When we got there, the line for that ride was out of the waiting area and completely wrapped around the block.  We figured it was still a better bet than later in the day, so Austin and Sarah and Daddy waited in line for that ride while Trevor and I took advantage of the lack of lines on some of the little kid rides.  In the time it took them to do the Mine Train ride, Trevor and I went on 3 rides.

Dumbo the Flying Elephant

The Winnie the Pooh ride again.  When we first went over to the ride, it was closed.  The park employees ("cast members") are always in character.  When they said the ride was closed, they told us it was a "honey spill."  Cute!  After going on Dumbo, the Pooh ride was open again.  This time, we didn't have the Fast Pass, so we went through the regular line (short one so early in the AM).  They have little toys and games for the kids to play while waiting in line (so smart!).

Trevor was enthralled!

Then we went on the Tea Cups again. 

By then, the big kids and Daddy were done with the Seven Dwarf's Mine Train.  Disney also does a parent swap, so we got to get a parent swap ticket when they went in to the ride.  That allowed me to swap out with Steve and take the kids on the ride again without waiting in the big line again.  So then I got to go with Austin and Sarah through the Fast Pass line. 

 It was a fun ride!  They even made a video of Austin and Sarah and Steve on the ride, but I don't have copyright rights to it, so I can't put it here.  Trevor has watched the video about 15 times in the last couple days though!  Maybe next time we make it to Disney he will be big enough to ride it.

While we went on the Mine Train, Trevor and Daddy hung out across the way at Pooh's house.

I love this photo of Trevor!

Still pretty early in the day by then, the lines were not very long at Space Mountain (~20 mins) and that one is usually a longer wait, so we decided to pop over there and get that ride in before meeting up with the rest of the family.  Again, they have parent swap.  Austin, Sarah, and Daddy went on Space Mountain first and the line for the Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin was even shorter at the time, so Trevor and I popped over there to try that ride while the big kids were on Space Mountain.

Sarah decided she didn't want to ride Space Mountain again with the parent swap, so only Austin and I went the second time.  I'm not sure my neck is thanking me for that ride! It is fun, but a roller coaster with sharp turns in the dark (which does not allow you to anticipate the sharp turns) makes it hard to protect your neck from whiplash.  It was fun, but it definitely made me feel old!

Trevor tried on Sarah's headband for a bit, but it didn't last long.

Then we met up with the rest of the family (13 of us in all) and went on the carousel together.

I LOVE this photo of Sarah and Steve!!

We went on Peter Pan's flight somewhere that day too and enjoyed seeing the story play out below us as we flew by on little pirate ships!  We saw Captain Hook, the Tick Tock Croc, Peter Pan, Wendy, Tinkerbell, etc. Trevor was especially excited about it, as the pirates are the main focus of his play lately.  He was disappointed that we couldn't get right back on and ride it again, but it had an 80 minute wait!

For lunch on Monday, we had reservations at the Crystal Palace for a yummy buffet and meeting the Pooh friends!

Tigger!

I love the looks on Owen and Trevor's faces in this one!

Big hugs for Tigger!

Theo doesn't seem so sure about this big orange guy next to him.

Poor little Piglet got...well...mauled a little bit by our crew.

This picture is just so random and I love it.  Theo is pulling Piglet's ear.  Sarah is giving Austin bunny ears, though there is no camera in front of him to make it a photobomb, and Trevor is hugging Piglet.

Snuggles for Eeyore.

Pooh Bear!

The weather was gorgeous and the castle was looking like a postcard with the pretty blue sky and little white clouds behind it.

I think this is the only photo of the whole family that I got while we were at Disney. 

We attempted a photo of my 5, but the kids were not into it.  They had fun climbing on the fence with the pretty castle in the background though.

Then we went on the Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin with the rest of our 5 (the big kids and Daddy were on Space Mountain when Trevor and I went on it), and with Nanny and Grandpa, and Kevin, Keng, and Owen.

Hard to see photos, but you can see Austin and Grandpa having fun!

When we came out of the ride, you could line up to meet Buzz Lightyear!  Owen loves Buzz, so we definitely stayed for this one.

Trevor got a hug, but wasn't so sure once Buzz stood up to his full height.  He's big!

Back to the Motor Speedway, this time with Austin driving Nanny and Trevor driving Grandpa.

I don't think Nanny particularly enjoyed this one.

Then we made sure to get in place in time to see the parade, since we missed the afternoon parade the day before while trying (unsuccessfully) to get Fast Passes for another ride at one of the Fast Pass kiosks.  We got spots right in front by where the parade enters the parade route in front of the castle.  At that location, there was a "cast member" that was guiding park guests to allowed seating areas (you weren't allowed to be in certain areas where they house equipment or something).  The cast member was named Eduardo and he was quite entertaining.

He had a messenger bag filled with stickers, character cards, buttons, and even a giant binder with photos and fun facts from the history of the Magic Kingdom.  One of the fun facts he shared was that the Magic Kingdom goes through enough ketchup packets in (I think it was) 1 year to line them up end to end and reach from the castle all the way to Minneapolis/St. Paul (home!).  Wow!  Trevor was goofing off and lifting up his shirt, so he nicknamed Trevor "belly button".  He gave the big kids some special edition cards of the characters from "Inside Out" and gave Trevor a certificate as an "Honorary Citizen" of Walt Disney World with a special button after the parade.

The parade was really fun and the floats were impressive!  They were so detailed and packed with character and movie references that you couldn't see it all as it went by.  I found things on the photos that I never even noticed the first time around.  The kids and adults really enjoyed it!

The Tangled float had so much going on! The axes were swinging back and forth with the guys standing on them and Maximus the horse climbing up one of them. Rapunzel's hair is wrapped around most of the float. They've got the cherubic ruffian from the Ugly Duckling up top, the flying lanterns, the frying pans, the wanted poster for Flynn Ryder...

Then the Little Mermaid with all her colorful fish friends.

Peter Pan and Wendy on the Jolly Roger

And, of course, Captain Hook!

HUGE Tick Tock Croc!

And Tinkerbell hanging out on the back of the float on her flower.

Merida from Brave (and the cute little bear peeking from the top of the float).

Flora, Fauna, and Merriweather

Maleficent's dragon was really impressive!

And breathed fire!

You could feel the heat emanating from it from where we were sitting.

Snow White walked along with her dwarfs.

Pinocchio riding Monstro

Mickey and Minnie bringing up the rear.

Sarah got to meet some of the princesses at Fairytale Hall!

(We brought the boys with us too, but they were not interested in meeting the princesses.)

Cinderella with my Princess Sarah

Chatting with Rapunzel about the celebrations they have at her kingdom.

We all enjoyed some yummy treats too.  Here is Trevor attacking a huge root beer float.

The rest of the family was tired and ready to call it a day, but we had a couple more things we wanted to check out, so they headed out to start the drive to Naples while we stayed a little longer.  Steve really wanted to go to the Haunted House, so we headed over there.  But he didn't want to go on it alone and make us wait, so we went in together to check it out and decide if the kids would be OK with it. We didn't make it onto the ride before we pulled the plug and left out the side door.  They kids aren't quite ready for that yet.  We ended the day by going on the Little Mermaid ride. Like the Peter Pan ride, it was a journey through the story and it was very well done. We all enjoyed it and it was a good end to our day.

The "Under the Sea" song part of the ride was really fun and colorful!

We headed out after that and took the Monorail back to the hotel since the kids really wanted to ride it but we had walked to and from the park each time so far since it was quicker.  This was the last opportunity to ride it and there wasn't a line, so we got on the Monorail.  It should have been a quick ride, but we got on the one going the wrong direction and ended up having to go all the way out past a few other resorts to the ticketing/parking area, having to get off that one and get on another one and then riding it all the way back past the resorts, past the Magic Kingdom and all the way to the Contemporary Resort. Oops!  We got back to the resort, piled in the car and headed out for the drive to Naples.
Borrowing a phrase from Grandpa, Trevor declared his feet hurt by saying, "My dogs are barking!"

I got the address of our destination from Grandpa and he told us we could just put it in our map app to get directions.   Our map app took us a very rural route and we were in the middle of nowhere for most of the ride. We were planning on stopping for dinner on the drive, but there was nowhere to stop for food.  On top of that, the kids all fell asleep as soon as we started driving, so we figured we'd let them sleep for a while.

As soon as we made it into the middle of nowhere, Austin woke up not feeling well and threw up!  We eventually made it to Naples and, within minutes of entering the house, Sarah threw up!  We got them bathed and fed and in bed pretty quickly.  Trevor and Sarah shared a mattress in Nanny and Grandpa's room.  Trevor is a snuggler and tends to take up most of the bed by scooting over to cuddle!

While at Disney World, they each got a Mickey or Minnie toy. Austin's was the Fantasia Mickey.

Sarah with her Minnie Mouse stuffed toy, her sequined Minnie Mouse ears, and her new Minnie Mouse sundress that I found on clearance at Kohl's right before we left for the trip.

After a busy couple of days at Disney, the kids were happy to hang out in their jammies and play for a little while the next morning. 

Then it was swimming time in Nanny and Grandpa's pool.  I got a little help blowing up the 3 piece caterpillar toy after getting a little lightheaded blowing up the first few toys.

On to the pool!

Ramming speed!

Story time with Grandpa.  Grumpy Bear has jammies matching Sarah's, a Mickey Mouse sticker from Disney, and a front row seat on Grandpa for story time.

On Wednesday, we spent some fun time on the beach.  The water is amazingly warm (82 degrees when we were there) and the kids had a blast exploring the sand and water.  Here is a jellyfish some friends on the beach next to us found.

Beach babes.  Nanny with her friends from Minnesota that also have homes in Naples.

Sand castles.

I showed all the kids the coquinas on the beach. They are little creatures in small colorful shells that burrow down into the sand. When a wave comes along and washes the sand off them, they stick out a little foot process and dig themselves back in the sand.  You can find their empty shells on the beach sometimes and we used to string them together and make shell bracelets out of them when I was a kid.  The empty shells usually have a hole in them from the birds or other animals pecking through to eat the creature inside.  The kids had fun watching them burrow down in the sand.

The kids also found treasure on the beach!  Austin first found a (plastic) gold coin in the water and then Sarah found one too.  Then Austin found another one and gave it to Trevor so they each could have one.  Everybody in our family assumed I had planted them for the kids to find, but I had nothing to do with them.  Someone must have lost them on the beach.  Nanny ended up finding some more on the sand, so Owen got some treasure too.  I also found a (plastic) golden cup in the sand at the bottom of the shallow water.

Argh!  We be treasure hunters, matey!

We had a yummy lunch on the beach and Trevor had fun burying his legs in the sand.

That evening, we had a photographer take our family photos since we missed doing them at the lake in the summer when Kevin, Keng, and Owen didn't make the trip due to illness.  I can't wait to see how the photos turned out.  We had a gorgeous setting on the beach at sunset and the kids all cooperated pretty well!

More pool play time!

On Thursday evening, we enjoyed a delicious dinner at La Playa.  They had a live piano player there that Trevor enjoyed watching and listening to.  Austin asked Nanny to dance and it was quite adorable.

Trevor was pretty excited about the giant bowl his ice cream came in and he downed the blackberries in the bowl before he even at the ice cream!

Nanny and Grandpa got a special "Happy Anniversary" dessert.

And we attempted a photo with the grandbabies.

There was also a great fireworks show over the water just south of LaPlaya that we enjoyed from the patio during dinner. 

The next day we were up early to head to the airport to travel to Chicago.  Sarah fell asleep as soon as we got going in the car to drive to the airport.

Once we arrived, we headed to Uncle Jim's house where our minivan and Nanny and Grandpa's SUV were parked.  We drove to South Bend, had some dinner, and settled into the house Grandpa rented there.  The house was so wonderful!  The house was clean and comfortable and the owner had even made us brownies for treats and an egg bake and fruit for the morning.  She had everything we may need, including extra cold weather gear, rain gear, hand warmers, etc. that we could borrow for the game day.  She had put fresh gorgeous flowers in every room and bathroom.

We were bummed that she is selling the house, so we probably won't be able to rent it again next year.

On Saturday morning, we got to visit Tommy and Mary for a while. 

Aunt Kathy and Kyle were there. Kyle brought his guitar and showed us some of the new songs he has learned.

Trevor and Kyle had fun playing with the giggling puppy toy that is always a hit with the kids when we go to Tommy and Mary's.

Then it was off to campus for the game.  We had fun hanging around campus, walking to the Golden Dome, and tailgating with family.

Trevor got rides on Daddy's shoulders and was excitedly cheering on the Irish!

My Grandma's old car Tilly was, of course, in attendance.

And Uncle Jim set up a fun tailgate complete with our family's alumni flag.  It has all the graduation years of our family full of ND/SMC alumni.

We walked around campus and got to show Trevor the "pirate ship" statue that we found in the COBA courtyard last time Steve and I were on campus for the Texas game.  He is still talking about this ship!

We walked around campus and made it up "God quad" to the Main Building and even took the kids inside to look up under the Dome.

On the way back to the tailgate, we had a traumatic experience.  Austin was between Steve and I while we were walking in the busy parking lots outside the stadium to get back to our family's tailgate. He was right behind me and in front of Steve. I had Sarah in front of me and Steve had Trevor on his shoulders. Right before we made the last turn into the parking lot where our tailgate was, we LOST Austin!  He was just GONE!  I still have no idea how we got separated. We all spread out looking for him. He was wandering around trying to find us.  I started crying and got the security guards on the radio with the police to help us. Eventually (probably about 20 mins later, though it felt like 10 years!) Michelle made another pass up the main dividing road between the parking lots and found him!  He was scared and a little shaken up and I was a complete mess, but we were reunited and he is safe.  It helped us drive home a lesson on what to do if you are lost and I think we all learned from this horrible experience.  The little stinker did use this as an opportunity to ask for his own cell phone!  We told him, nice try but there are plenty of adults around with cell phones that can call me if you are lost.  Now he knows next time to stay put, ask someone in charge for help (police office, security guard, a mom with kids, etc) and we will find him much easier.  I definitely didn't let him out of my sight after that and I had a vice grip on his hand when we were in crowds the rest of the day!  We did get to the enjoy the rest of the day, but I think I probably lost a year off my life!

Our family at the tailgate, now all reunited.

Steve took the younger kiddos (Sarah, Trevor, and Theo) back to the house and got them bathed and to bed before enjoying the game on TV.  The rest of us headed to the game.

GO IRISH!

The band makes the shape of the leprechaun in pregame now!  Love it!

The Irish won the game, 41-31 over USC.  The Irish scored a few really quick scores in the beginning of the game (touchdown in a 4 play series, blocked kick for a touchdown, etc) but then we started to get worried when the offense went a little cold and USC tied up the game. The Irish won out in the end and it was a fun and entertaining game.  The guys behind us are from Florida and didn't handle the chilly weather well, so they left at halftime and Aunt Kathy and Kyle got to sit by us for the 2nd half.  It was chilly, but we all dressed warmly and didn't have any trouble keeping warm.  Yay for ending our trip with an Irish victory!

Then on Sunday, we wrapped up the trip with a long drive home.  By the end of the day on Sunday we were all SO ready to be home!  It was a fantastic trip, but utterly exhausting.  It think we are all still recovering this week.  

We are so blessed to get to spend such fun quality time with family!  Thanks for the wonderful trip Nanny and Grandpa!