Orlando

So, I have a confession to make...I love Disney World. There, I said it, it's out there and now you know. I could go there every year, with or without children, and be ok with that. It's just such a happy place and I LOVED the movies when I was younger (and still do). My friend Julie was surprised that I had seen a recent Disney animated movie when my child is clearly not old enough to sit through a full length movie and I had to confess that I really enjoy those movies and watch them without children :) Having a mother who is a flight attendant and also loves going, meant that we visited probably more then most families.

Nick's parents were able to get a week in January to Orlando through their time share and graciously invited us to come along with them. The happy thoughts immediately started dancing in my head and the idea that we could start those memories with Miles just made my heart happy. Now, I would never dream about taking him to Disney World at this age intentionally, but since we were going to be in Orlando, we HAD to take him. It was are parental duty as I see it.

So we went. We got such a good deal on airfare that we actually bought Miles his own seat and what a great idea that was. I honestly don't know if we can go back to lap flights after this. He did so well.

The flight was right around his nap time so we thought he would sleep through it, but of course he didn't....until literally five minutes before landing. That's ok though, he was a champ and we kept him entertained.

While we were there Auntie Andrea and I took Miles to Sea World while Dad, Grandma, and Grandpa golfed. It was actually pretty chilly that day but we bundled up and made the most of it. Miles really enjoyed the Shamu show and petting the sting rays (which kind of creeped mom out).

Then it was Disney day!!!!!! So I knew I had to lower my expectations a little bit when taking a 13 month old to Disney, but I probably should have lowered them a little more. Don't get me wrong, he did ok, but not what I had in my mind and it was partly my fault. When we walked in we saw some characters and I wanted to get a picture with one for him (like he cared) so we had to wait in line for that.

Then I really wanted to get him one of those souvenir Mickey Mouse ears with his name on it (like he cared) which took a little time.

Because he was a fairly new walker at this point, that is all he wanted to do which we couldn't just let him do around the park. So we had to find someplace he could walk around and explore which meant Tom Sawyer's island. Not that exciting for adults, but he had a good time.

Luckily for the adults, my in laws (who weren't that excited about going to Disney) were going to pick Miles up in the afternoon so he could take his nap and the rest of the adults could hang out as long as we wanted. We wanted to have Miles go on at least one ride before he left, but of course all the little kid friendly rides had such long lines, but we were determined. We chose small world because it had one of the shorter waits. I did not realize that you can not bring your strollers in line with you so we took turns holding a squirmy child. About 20 minutes into waiting they made an announcement that the ride was shutting down and everyone needed to leave. So we walked around and found the shortest line for a ride that he could go on and settled on the tea cups. Now none of the adults do well on spinning rides, so we weren't too thrilled but they actually weren't too bad and we all survived.

So now it was time for Miles to head out and I was a little sad that we hadn't been able to do more rides with him but we did check off a few things that he I wanted to do.

1. Picture with a character....check!
2. Mickey ears....check!
3. Ride...check!
4. Completely stressed out at an amusement park...check!

After he left, Nick, Andrea, and I had a great time reliving some of our childhood memories and we can't wait to take Miles back....when he's a little older.

But I do think my goal of turning Miles into a Mickey lover went over well although I could have killed the sales person in this store for giving him this huge Mickey. The fit that followed was real fun to deal with.

 He had a blast playing in the fountain for a VERY long time but when it came time to go into the pool, he was scared. Go figure.

Dad was very excited to see him with all these legos (dad was a BIG fan when he was a kid). I had a minor heart attack...so many tiny pieces....for a little guy who puts everything in his mouth! Luckily we left without having to do the heimlich.

Playing the "piano" with Grandpa Doc

We had a great time and I can't wait to take him again!