Starting our 'summer', we took the family on a 10 day road trip to Florida. We visited w/Aunt Jeannie and Uncle Jay in West Palm Beach for a day before heading to Orlando to visit The Mouse. There we met Darren's cousin Jenn, her husband (Deron) & their 2 boys (Jacob-8, Kyle-5) and Jenn's college roommate Karen, her husband (Brian) & their kids (Evan-8, Emma-5). We all stayed together in what felt like a palatial abode... 3 bedroom, 4 bath villa at Animal Kingdom lodge. We enjoyed our 7 fun filled days at Disney World! While we were there, I noted my favorite Hoy kid memories of the trip. Day 1- Magic Kingdom
Jackson pointing and saying "bus" at all the Disney transportation buses (and there were 5-10 buses around at all times)
Alyssa seeing Cinderella's castle for the first time
Riding Its a Small World (still one of my favorites)
Day 2- Epcot
Jackson running up to Pluto at dinner..."guess the kids aren't afraid of the characters"
Aly giving high 5s, hugs & kisses to all of the characters
Pluto sniffed my backpack while we were w/taking a picture w/Mickey (very cute)
Day 3- Disney Studios
Jackson saying "Buzz" at Buzz Lightyear
Aly waving to all the characters during the parade
Day 4- Animal Kingdom
Chip following Jackson as he walked away after a photo
Jackson was totally enamored w/Donald
Timon flirting w/Aly during the Festival of the Lion King & Aly blowing him kisses
Alyssa yelling "hello" to Donald and Mickey during the parade
Day 5- Epcot
I got to ride Mission: Space, closest I'll ever get to being an astronaut which was my childhood dream
Jackson riding the pool cue around the hotel room (there was a full size pool table in our room)
Day 6- Magic Kingdom
Aly & Jax waving to Zazu and Iago at the end of the Tiki Room performance
Jackson saying "Donald" (very emphatically when he saw Donald)
Alyssa wanting to know where Raja & Abu were that day when we talked about meeting Jasmine and Aladdin--Jasmine told her Raja was at Animal Kingdom hanging out with his friends
Alyssa waving to Mickey & gang at the parade
Alyssa showing her Mickey Mouse Clubhouse book to the characters at dinner
Day 7- Disney Studios
Alyssa singing w/Ariel at the Voyage of the Little Mermaid
Alyssa reaching out to touch the 3-D jewels in Mickey's Philharmagic
Jackson playing find Donald in the gift shop while it rained (He found about 100 of them)
I think we have finally recovered from vacation, which is good given we've been home for 2 weeks today. This weekend we'll celebrate 'Daddy's Day', which is our Hoy House tradition. Instead of exchanging gifts for Mother's Day or Father's Day, the respective parent gets a 'you call it' day the day before the holiday. The entire family does whatever that parent wants to do. I think Darren wants to go to the pool and to see the movie Up for his day. It should be great! Sunday, we'll celebrate father's day by visiting the grandfathers. Happy Father's Day and have a good weekend!
