I'm Goin' to Disney World

So, our vacation was great! We left from Minneapolis very early. Ethan took his first flight in stride and Elliot was totally well behaved and didn't annoy any travelers! We stayed with my parents at the Villages, which is a place for retired folk that have rockin' times every night and golf cart around every day. My kind of people!

We went to Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom and Hollywood Studios with Ethan and Emma, while my mom watched Elliot. Then we brought Elliot with to Epcot to give Grammy a day off. My brother Derek, his wife Melissa and little Julia went to Hollywood Studios the same day so we got to meet up with them for a bit. Julia was very preoccupied trying to vie for the attention of Handy Manny. Every park day was busy and a lot of walking, but the Es are troopers and we all had so much fun at each park. Here are just a few pics of our vacation.
At each park, there are lines for meeting the characters. Very long lines that take hours of precious park time. Thankfully, meeting all the characters was not on any of our agendas. But, when we saw Sorcerer Mickey standing around with no line, we had to get a picture.

I couldn't resist buying both Es some Mickey ears. I still have mine from when I was 10. I hope they treasure them and the memories of their first Disney World adventure.

This was a big deal for Ethan. An actual speeder that he could sit on. He went on the Star Tours ride twice and it ended up being one of his favorites. He also got to witness Jedi Training and an appearance by Darth Vader. We tried to talk him into doing the Jedi Training, but he resisted in his stubborn Ethan way. Ethan and Emma each got to pick out one souvenir for the trip. Emma picked out a cute Minnie t-shirt and Ethan got a Mickey that is dressed as a Jedi--he named it Mickey Wan Kenobi.

Overall, it was an absolutely fantastic vacation. I got to do awesome things with my awesome family and see my awesome parents too. Now I just have to figure out how to retire at age 30 so I can golf cart around Florida without a care in the world. -RL