We managed to keep the fact that we were going to Disney a secret from my nephews. My mom had to let us in on it, so we could arrange time off etc. but we worked really hard to keep it from my nephews. On Boxing Day we had our family Christmas celebrations. My mom had a whole system to let them know we were going to Disney. She put all of our names in seperate gift boxes and then one gift then eventually had the boys open boxes that said "On December 28th grandma wants you to join her at" and then they had to open boxes with Mickey ears in them. Their reaction was priceless.
This was a special vacation for many reasons but one of those reasons is that it was my mom's first plane ride ever. She was understandably nervous but the ride was fairly smooth and she did ok. Here is a pic of her and the boys on the plane ready to go on vacation.
We arranged it so Jim flew in from his parents house near Chicago and his plane arrived minutes after ours. We met him at his gate. It was so great to see him again! It had been a month or so. I was looking forward to 5 consecutive days with Jim! It was a great opportunity for him to get closer to my family. We would definitely be spending a lot of time together in the upcoming week.
I can clearly only give you the highlights of the trip but here are a few:
One of the things we did was take a side trip to SeaWorld so my youngest nephew could touch a real life penguin. As you can see in the picture above, he loves penguins. It has been his 9 year old life long dream to touch a real life penguin. So a few days into our trip he managed to do just that. Here is a pic:
Another highlight was spending New Year's Eve with Jim. Last New Year's Eve we were on a break and not even talking so this was special for us to be able to spend this one together. Here is a pic from our night spent at Disney's Hollywood Studios:
And me (with Jim) wearing the Princess Tiara that my mom bought me:
Jim and I didn't get to spend Christmas together so we had to exchange the gifts we got each other in Florida. One of the things I got Jim was a shirt that says "Property of a Canadian Girl". While we were at Disney he made me a shirt that had a similar message and gave it to me. We also picked up some headgear while we were there.
My nephews absolutely adore Jim. In fact I was a little annoyed that when I went to go sit next to my nephews they would say "Nope, this is reserved for Jim." But it was so great how much they all liked each other. Jim could only stay for 5 of the 7 days we were there. He can't afford that many days vacation this year with all the extra days he will be taking for our wedding and activities related to our wedding (and his brothers wedding which is also this year.) So before he left we snapped a photo of my nephews and Jim and I. Here it is:
After Jim left, a cold spell hit Orlando. The previous 5 days were wonderful but the last two days were there were downright freezing. I only brought one hoodie because I didn't think it would be that cold (everyone else in the family was more prepared than I and all brought two). So I had to go and buy another sweatshirt. They were all really expensive. The one I liked only came in really big sizes but I bought it anyway. Here is a pic of me freezing:
We had a great vacation! I was so happy to be able to spend so much quality time with my family (and Jim)! I think we were all tired and ready to get back home but we will have many magical memories from our time in Florida. The seven of us (my sister and her hubby, nephews, mom, Jim and I) will always have these memories! Thanks mom!
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