That one time we went to Florida

I know you're tired of me starting every post by saying something along the lines of "It's been a while...", but I'm pretty sure that was my longest break from blogging EVER. And now it's completely overwhelming to start again, but I've missed it. And the story of the summer of 2015 must be told. For now, however, you will have to settle for a post about the end of May.

Ed and I had been going back and forth (and back and forth again) about whether or not to move this summer. We were driving ourselves and the girls crazy with all the indecision, so we finally decided we were just going to stay in Illinois for another year. Maybe. Nope, that was DEFINITELY what we were going to do. And since we were staying we wanted to make the most of our Midwest location by taking a trip east. I've never been to Washington, D.C. and it kills me every time Ed goes without me, so we decided to take a family trip to D.C.

I started to do lots of research, and the more I got excited about going, the more I realized our girls would probably hate it. Museum after museum, walking, heat...yep, they'd hate it. One day we looked into the cost of going to Disneyworld instead, and just like that our plans had changed. We surprised the girls with the tickets a couple days before the trip and the excitement in our house was almost too much to handle.

For your reference, google says the drive from St. Louis to Orlando is 14 hours. But when you throw in a screaming baby, food and potty stops, and a major storm that you happen to keep pace with all through Georgia, it's really closer to 17 hours. Just for your reference.

After that lovely drive that got us to our hotel around midnight, we jumped up early to get to Magic Kingdom ahead of the crowds. Ha. We've been to Disneyland (pre-children) and Tokyo Disney (with 3 children), but Disneyworld threw us for a loop. People everywhere, so hot, and we didn't do nearly enough planning before hand. Everyone had told us Disney was so magical, but I'll be honest, our first morning there left most of us in tears, and all of us frustrated and angry. So not magical. Enjoy a couple pics of the morning's few happy moments:

Karoline and I waiting for the Winnie the Pooh ride while Ed had the other girls on the 7 Dwarves Mine Train. She loved Pooh.

And the other girls loved the Mine Train

We waited an exceptionally long time for Enchanted Tales with Belle because we really didn't understand what we were waiting for. Sorry girls, not a ride after all, just a silly little show. But Kassie roared the best during try-outs, so she was chosen as The Beast. She got to dance with Belle, and her shy roar was hilarious.

At lunchtime we headed back to the hotel for some lunch and a nap. That afternoon we went back to Magic Kingdom a little wiser and well-rested, and had a much better experience. The older girls loved Space Mountain and the Mine Train, and Kassie especially loved Splash Mountain and Big Thunder Mountain Railroad - she thought it was hilarious getting squished against the side by me every time we rounded a corner.

When Kassie woke up that first morning she saw the hotel pool and all her excitement for Disney flew out the window. All she wanted to do was go swimming. So to get her through Magic Kingdom we promised her we would swim the next day.

This was everyone's true happy place.

That afternoon was Epcot. Probably Ed's and my favorite.

I got sick on Mission Space, liked Soarin (although all the others were disappointed by it), and learned a lot at Living with the Land. The girls all agreed their favorite was Ellen's Energy Adventure.

We had dinner in Japan and got homesick.

The next morning was Hollywood. Bad choice, it was Star Wars weekend. WAY too many people. But we started with an Indiana Jones stunt show.

Kassie wasn't happy. Again. And then she was unhappy that I took a picture of her looking unhappy. So we tried again.

Ed took some of the older girls on Star Tours, and I parked myself in the shade. It turned out to be the perfect spot for character sightings. Chewbacca gave Kassie and Karoline high fives.

And these aliens gave KK a kiss.

The others came back disappointed that something had changed on Star Tours, and we tried to get some lunch. It was ridiculously crowded, so I believe Ed's exact words were, "let's get the heck out of here." Goodbye Hollywood.

We headed to Animal Kingdom and found some lunch, and then started the rides. Ed's car broke down in Dinosaur, we got soaked on Kali River Rapids, and everyone's favorite was Everest. We finished the day with a nice relaxing safari.

We had gotten a great deal through the military on 4-day Park Hopper tickets (and a great deal from Delta on the hotel), but when it came down to it, 3 days at Disneyworld was our limit. Here's what we learned: we are not theme-park people. At least not at this point in our lives. We had a good time, we're glad we went, but I don't see us going back to Disney-anything for a very long time. Next time we'll just go to the beach....we are definitely beach people.