• Travel & Vacation: Main Street Electrical Parade & Fireworks at Disney’s Magic Kingdom (Orlando, FL)

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    Electric Lights Parade

    After dark at Magic Kingdom they do a Main Street Electrical Parade and Fireworks every night.  You will need to check the schedule for the days you want to go, but it is pretty consistent most weeks.  The electric lights parade was awesome.  Even though we squeezed in all the rides we could before the parade the kids were still able to get front row seats for the parade (thankfully it was less crowded when we went).  The parade was fascinating, the girls loved it.

    A little bit after the parade was done we found a spot to sit down and watch the lights, music, and fireworks next to the castle at Magic Kingdom.  It was beautiful.  We ended up sitting right in front of the castle and had a great view!  The kids really enjoyed it.  After the fireworks we decided to go do a few more rides which we walked right onto since the majority of people were leaving at that time.  It was a great day at Magic Kingdom.  We had a few hiccups with a couple rides and shows, but everyone took it in stride and we had an amazing time together.

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    Fascinating

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    Bald eagle, flag, and fireworks!

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    Colorful castle!

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    Beautiful castle, lots of colors, music and fireworks who could ask for anything more!

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    Blue castle and fireworks!  I lost count of the number of times the castle changed colors and the number of different songs they played during the show.

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    Red, white, and blue – The castle is dark blue with white stars (a little hard to see in this picture) and the fireworks were a bright red.  Gorgeous!!!

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    Turquoise blue

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    Pretty pink

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    The kids loved it

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    A great ending to a wonderful show

  • Travel & Vacation: Swiss Family Treehouse, Tom Sawyer Island, Hall of Presidents, and Tomorrowland Speedway at Disney’s Magic Kingdom (Orlando, FL)

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    Silly Karlie!

    While at Magic Kingdom we had so much fun!  It was great to get a chance to spend time having a grand time together as a family.  We enjoyed our adventures and exploring the various places around Magic Kingdom.  While we were in line we had opportunities to talk and catch up on the various activities that had been going on over the past few days.

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    Jake and Karlie exploring the Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse

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    Hanging out with my girls at the Swiss Family Treehouse

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    Having fun

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    My handsome man

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    Hiking through the treehouse

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    Target practice… on Tom Sawyer’s Island

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    Look out!  Did she hit the target?!

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    Fun times!

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    Checking to make sure we were coming

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    Exploring

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    The girls loved this moving bridge over the water.

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    This was my view across the river when I was crossing the bridge.  Pretty, but at a funky angle.

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    Jake figured out that he could splash the water on the girls when he bounced a little on the bridge, they thought it was great.

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    Hanging out

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    Pausing for a moment on Tom Sawyer’s Island

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    Hall of Presidents Show, very educational

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    The girls enjoyed learning about all the different Presidents

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    My driver on the Tomorrowland Speedway

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    She was a good driver and all smiles!

  • Travel & Vacation: It’s a Small World, Pirates of the Caribbean, Jungle Cruise at Disney’s Magic Kingdom (Orlando, FL)

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    Brina and Jake riding on the boat through It’s a Small World

    The lines weren’t too long so we were able to get onto several rides, however, we had a couple hiccups with some as well.  The kids liked It’s a Small World so much that we did it 2 times.  The Pirates of the Caribbean was a little bit of a disappointment because we stood in line for an hour and were 10 people from the front of the line when it broke down so we didn’t get to go on it.  It took us another 30 minutes to get back out because we had to wait for all the people behind us leave.  The girls did well and had a great attitude despite the long wait time.  The Jungle Cruise was a fun boat ride with lots of neat sights along the way.  The kids really enjoyed it.

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    Smiling and soaking in all the sights at It’s a Small World

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    It’s a Small World banner as you go in

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    Fascinating!

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    Always something to look at on the boat ride

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    Still smiling while waiting in the long line for the Pirates of the Caribbean

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     Catching up and chatting while in line

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    Yay, found a place to sit while waiting

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    Going on the Jungle Cruise

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    All smiles on the Jungle Cruise

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    Beautiful waterfall

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    They loved looking at all the animals and sights on the Jungle Cruise

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    So much fun!

  • Travel & Vacation: Tomorrowland Transit, Monsters Laugh Floor, Prince Charming Carrousel at Disney’s Magic Kingdom (Orlando, FL)

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    Brina relaxing for a few minutes on the Tomorrowland Transit Authority PeopleMover

    The girls never stopped moving all day while at Disney’s Magic Kingdom.  The only time we paused was standing in line, on the rides or at the shows.  We did have a few bathroom breaks since the girls were drinking about 50 ounces plus throughout the day from their camel backs.  The camel backpacks have been a life saver or should I say back saver.

    Each person carries their own food and drink.  The kids never have to ask for a drink or something to eat they can reach in and get their drink, sandwich, snacks, etc…  Of course hand sanitizer is on every backpack to for all the germs we encounter while we are out and about. The had no problem carrying the backpacks and you’ll see them wearing them in almost every picture.

    The kids have really enjoyed having the freedom to eat and drink whenever they need to.  Usually when we are standing in line for a few minutes I would remind them that it was a good idea to grab a sip and something to drink.  Although by mid-week I no longer needed to remind them; they did it on their own.  Usually if someone had a snack out it would prompt the rest to get something as well.  This helped a huge amount with preventing dehydration and hungry plus we never had to stop and get something to eat we just kept on going from sunup to sun down.  We wanted to squeeze every last minute of fun out of our trip.

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    Karlie soaking in all the cool activities and figuring out where she wants to go next.

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    Karlie was not sure about the transit when it went into the pitch black, she ducked and said, “What’s going to happen now!?”

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    One last ride on the Transit after a very long, but super fun day at Magic Kingdom.  We were there at opening and until closing.  And yes, we are still smiling.

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    Having a good laugh at the Monsters, Inc. Laugh Floor Comedy Club

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    So funny!

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    The first time we went to the show it froze in the middle of the show so they had to let everyone out and gave us free fast passes for almost any ride at Magic Kingdom.  The girls were disappointed, but the fast passes helped us get onto Peter Pan much quicker.

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    Smiling contently as they ride the Prince Charming Regal Carrousel

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    They LOVE anything pertaining to horses and this ride was relaxing too with a short wait.

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    Karlie riding hands free

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    She cracks me up…it takes skill to ride hands free on a moving horse

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    That was fun!

  • Travel & Vacation: Ariel’s Undersea Adventure, Enchanted Tales with Belle, and Astro Orbiter at Disney’s Magic Kingdom (Orlando, FL)

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    Being silly in line for the Under the Sea ~ Journey of the Little Mermaid Ride

    Thankfully the lines were pretty mild most of the morning at Magic Kingdom.  We got onto the Ariel’s Little Mermaid ride fairly quickly, however, we did stop to snap a few pictures.  We had a great time at Magic Kingdom going from one activity to the next.  The girls were troopers and did awesome not only in line, but walking everywhere.  It is nice at their age they can do almost everything too!

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    Waterfall outside Little Mermaid

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    Entertainment while in line!

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    On the ride

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    On our way to see Belle

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    Karlie with Belle at the Enchanted Tales with Belle

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    Brina with Belle at the Enchanted Tales with Belle

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    Brina getting a bookmark from Belle!

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    It was a bright sunny day, somehow this is the only picture I got of the girls in front of the castle (a quick shot on our way to another ride).

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    My co-pilot on the Astro Orbiter

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    Karlie went by herself on the Astro Orbiter.  She was very excited to fly!

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    Karlie giving me the thumbs up.  Let’s just say this was not my favorite ride at Magic Kingdom.  I get dizzy and nausea on a lot of spinning rides.  This one was one of those rides.  Thankfully it wasn’t as bad as some rides (like the spinning teacups…oh, boy).

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    Yes, that is Karlie way above Brina and I.  I am not entirely sure we ever left the ground, but Karlie was having a grand time!

  • Travel & Vacation: Train, Dumbo, and Winnie the Pooh Rides at Disney’s Magic Kingdom (Orlando, FL)

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    Brina having a blast and laughing.

    We had the opportunity to go to Disney’s Magic Kingdom in Orlando, FL recently.  The girls and I headed out first thing in the morning while Jake was at his conference.  He was able to join us in the afternoon after the conference ended which was really nice.  We packed in as much fun as we could while at Magic Kingdom.  We were there only one day, but we had a blast!

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    Karlie all smiles as we ride the train to our next stop!

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    We walked onto the Dumbo ride that morning with no lines.

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    Enjoying the ride!

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    Something is laugh-out-loud funny to Karlie!

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    Playing in the garden while waiting for the Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh ride

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    We got onto the ride pretty quickly and now we are all set to go!

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    Silly tigger

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    Tigger pounced on Winnie the Pooh