• Travel & Vacation: Walt Disney World Epcot (Orlando, FL)

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    Spending the day at Epcot

    Thankful for a chance to spend time with the family at Disney’s Epcot.  It was so much fun.  The kids kept up remarkably well and had great attitudes the entire busy day.  I am grateful for kids who love to learn and explore new places.  They just soaked in all the neat stuff going on at Epcot in.  The second day was not as hot which was nice too.

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    They got me to go on Mission Space again.  This time we went on the Orange ride which is more intense.  Let’s just say I was looking a little green after this ride, thankfully this picture was taken before take off.

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    Jake and Brina cruising along

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    Image Works was a cool place to explore

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    Playing music at Image Works

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    Our own little Mickey Mouse.  Karlie wanted the black hat and ears.

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    Our own little Minnie Mouse.  Brina wanted the headband with a red and white Minnie Mouse bow.

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    Walking with Dad, so exciting!

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    Sweet girls.

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    All smiles

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    Pausing graciously to let me take a picture even though she’s worried about missing something!

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    Brina Bee

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    On the move

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    Taking in all the cool sights around her

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    We found a place that engraved names onto leather bracelets.

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    The girls have unique names which makes it impossible to find items with their names on it so we got these for them as a souvenir.  They were fascinated watching the worker do the engraving and proud of their bracelets.

  • Travel & Vacation: Disney’s Fantasia Gardens Miniature Golf (Orlando, FL)

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    Fun times playing miniature golf!

    While in Orlando the girls and I got tickets to play miniature golf.  The golf course was across the street from our resort so it was a short walk.  We went to Disney’s Fantasia Gardens Miniature Golf.  It was a lot of fun playing together even though we lost 3 balls.  We quickly realized that we would not be playing any professional miniature golf soon with our crazy scores, but was a great time.

    It was a warm day, but they had several courses with shooting water that seem to help cool it off.  After playing 18 rounds of miniature golf we headed back to the hotel for lunch in the room then out to the pools to have some more fun.  Thankful for some time with the kids.

    Brina was the only one that didn’t loose a ball.   I lost mine on the first hole in the bushes.  Karlie managed to lose 2 balls throughout our adventures.  The workers let us get more balls at the counter.  The girls both got “hole in ones”, but I never got one (2 shots was my lowest par).

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    Hole 1 – each hole had a storybook with information and cute sayings on it.

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    It was bright and sunny that day!

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    Brina ready for her next hit.

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    This hole was in a cave.  It was cool.  Both girls got a hole in one on this one.

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    So close….  They were concerned a few times about me accidentally hitting their balls further away from the hole (a couple of times it was a valid concern).

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    The greenery around the course was beautiful!

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    Found a spot in the shade to rest for a minute.

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    They had some cute decorations.  This elephant sprayed water when you shot the ball through the middle of the base.

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     Lining up for a good shot.  This was harder than you think.

  • Travel & Vacation: Downtown Disney (Orlando, FL)

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    Walt Disney World – Where Dreams Come True! We made it!

    Recently our family had the opportunity to go to Orlando, FL.  Jake had a work conference and the girls and I tagged along.  He spent the majority of the week working, but was able to join us at the end for some fun family time together.  We got up at 3 am on Monday morning and made the drive to Orlando.  The kids slept the first few hours and entertained themselves the remaining distance with books, games, a movie, and more.  Thankful for kids who travel well.  They love going on road trips.

    We made good time on our way down to Florida so we decided to stop for a little bit and stretch our legs at Downtown Disney.   We still had a some time before we could check into our hotel and Jake heading off to the conference.  It was a beautiful sunny day and Downtown Disney wasn’t too busy.   There was some construction going on at Downtown Disney and from what we hear it will soon no longer be called Downtown Disney, but rather Disney Springs.

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    Mickey Mouse! Made out of greenery!

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    The Lego store Downtown Disney had some amazing lego displays.  This dragon breathing fire on the knight was in front of their store.  It was massive!

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    Jake and the girls standing next to another lego display!

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    This dragon was actually partly in the water!  Very neat!

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    Snow White and the 7 dwarfs working around the mine.

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    Outside of the T-REX Restaurant

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    Inside the T-Rex Restaurant and gift shop!

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    This was a ride you could go on in Downtown Disney.  It looked like fun, but we were not there long enough to investigate it further.

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    Hotel with a flower Mickey Mouse across the water from Downtown Disney.

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    Look out for that alligator!  It actually comes out closer to you and opens it’s mouth much to the fascination of the kids.

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    The girls always love the fish tanks inside the Rainforest Cafe.  They also have a neat gift shop just watch out for the python (I have learned to look out for this creature from a past encounter)!

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    On the outside of the Rainforest Cafe is a volume.  The volcano erupted as we were walking by.  Very cool to watch.  The random explosions probably lasted about 5 minutes.  The kids loved it!

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    Learning more about this pretty white bird.

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    Frozen!  Thankfully, it was a warm sunny day for us!

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    Karlie and Brina near the Disney Christmas shop!

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    Having fun in Downtown Disney!

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    Three shirts with familiar faces on them!

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    Had to sit on the bench next to Pooh, Tigger, and Piglet!

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    Once Upon A Toy was a neat shop.  The girls brought their spending money and looked around this store a couple times during the week we were there.  The Disney items are really neat, but for their budget were a little pricey.  They ended up coming home with most of their money because they wanted to shop around for better prices instead of spending it all in one place.  Glad to see them choosing to wait on some items.

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    Walking through Downtown Disney with Daddy!