Florida Spring Break Vacation

At the end of March we all headed south for our very first, just us, just for fun, family vacation. It was a dream come true. :)

Roll your mouse quickly through and, voila!, a slide show. For those of you who like to linger longer, read captions etc., enjoy! :)

Heading South. :)

Day One

Rainy Day at Daytona Beach

There is no such thing as a bad day at the beach. My Mom used to take us as often as she could (thank you, Mom). The Atlantic Ocean is in my soul and even in the rain it felt great to be there. And, because our AC froze us out and repair men were in our room all day, the beautiful hotel, where we spent the night, gave us a complimentary stay for one more night at the end of our trip. 

Day Two

Bibidi Bobidi Boutique at Downtown Disney

Prince Charming Waits for His Princess

Our Beautiful, Little Princess!

Ben couldn't keep his eyes off Hannah. When she was done, he gave her a big hug and then took her by the hand and walked away with her.

Sea World

 ...A Gwyn family tradition, thanks to my Dad! :) It was so fun to take my kids! Some time we'll have to gather up Papa & Nana, all of us Gwyn girls and Gwyn grand-babies and go together!

Clyde & Seamore Show

They laughed and loved it!

Carosel

Shamu Roller Coaster

This is Ben hearing the roller coaster and all the screaming riders race by. Hannah loved the roller coaster, she road with me and then waited in line all over again to ride with Jared.

Shamu ShowHere's what it looked like in the Splash Zone! :)

Ben, with his watermelon juice chin, was amazed and had his mouth open most of the time. When Shamu beached himself in the middle for the finale (we were only 2 or 3 rows back, right there in the middle) Ben looked, dropped his jaw and then exclaimed, "wuv oo, wuv oo!"

After the show Hannah talked to Megan, one of the whale trainers. She told Megan that sometimes its scary to put her face in the water. Megan said it was scary for her too at first, but she kept practicing and her friends and her family supported her and now she swims with whales.

Ben and "fish." 

That night when we took her hair down before bath, Hannah thought her hairspray after-do was pretty funny!

Day Three

Animal Kingdom-Disney World

Look out Disney World, here we come!

"Roar!"

Safari Ride

Lion King Musical Show

Gorrilla Preserve

Lunch

We stopped for lunch in a nice, cool, "African" restaurant. Men in native dress danced and played drums outside. The whole Africa area (we spent most of our time in Africa with a couple of visits to Camp Mickey-Minnie) looked awesome and you could tell they took great care in trying to make it authentic. We quickly learned that Disney is all about two things...amazing service and leaving no detail untouched by their famous magic! :)

Train to Affection Connection
Affection Connection


On the train back for the parade.

ParadeWe sat and ate ice cream while we waited for the parade. :)Lots of waving and a couple of high fives from the characters. By the time the parade was over the kids were super excited to head back to Camp Mickey-Minnie to meet them. :)

Greeting Characters

Ben waiting to meet Mickey.

Smooch! :)

The Princess pose! :)

Benjamin was so excited to meet each character that Jared, literally, had to hold him back. When it was finally our turn he would run at full speed with his mouth wide open with laughter and smiles. He would hug and kiss and high five like crazy. He especially loved kissing their noses. It was more than adorable, it was total joy! When we got to Donald, Ben approached him in his, by now, usual fashion. Hannah, older, with a bit less abandon and feeling a bit shy, sat in the stroller wondering how she could jump in there and then didn't for a few minutes. Donald went to her, held out his hand, as if helping a princess out of her carriage, and brought Hannie, by the hand, back to hug and pose for pictures. What a sweetheart that Donald! I have to say the characters were totally sweet and adorable, every one! This was for sure a highlight for the kids, if not their very favorite time of the whole trip. Thanks to Disney for making the magic happen for my little ones!

Here we are with our "First Visit" pins! Dream come true Disney vacation!!

Day Four

Sea World & Daytona Beach

Our Sea World Tickets had a second day free, so we headed back to feed the dolphins and see the show we missed on our first visit.

Feeding Dolphins

Our dolphin. :)

It was awesome to feed and pet the dolphins. Jared says next time we're going swimming with them. :) I loved our dolphin's eyes...gentle, playful, intelligent. It was really neat to be so close and to visit for a while.

Blue Horizons

We watched one last show before heading back to the beach on our way home. At the beginning of our vacation Hannah was a little shy about clapping for the shows. By this one, she was clapping up a storm and loving every minute. They released beautiful macaw birds and allowed them to fly over the audience. My favorite part! :) 

Back to Daytona Beach

Day Five

Daytona Beach

Sunrise Breakfast, Overlooking the Ocean

Walk on the Beack, Play in the Ocean

Hannah's "Dolphin Show" :)

Since we've been home, if someone says ocean, Ben says, "cold!" :) He loved it and cried when we finally had to head in to clean up and go home. :)

Passing the Daytona Speedway on the way home was pretty cool. No pictures, but we thought of my brother-in-law Tim, a NASCAR fan, and were amazed at how big it is!

It was fun until we dropped every day. We had an amazing time! We are so grateful to our good friends the Hogues for taking such wonderful care of our dogs while we were away, making our vacation possible!!