In late February, we flew to Florida to visit Grandma Clarke and Mike for a few days. We then headed over to Disney World for a few more days. We had a great trip! Here are some details and pictures:
We flew out from Hartford mid-afternoon on February 17th. The boys were so excited for their first plane trip, which went mostly well. They laughed so hard when the plane was taking off. Brody did have a few moments on the plane where he was done with the whole thing and just wanted to get off. Thankfully the man in front of him was understanding and forgiving because his seat did get pushed on a bit. It was short lived at least and then he settled down. For the flight down, we had Jay and Brody sit with me in one row and then Justin was a seat over from us. For the flight back, Justin and I each sat with a boy. That worked a bit better! We flew into Tampa, where we then had to rent a car and drive the additional hour to Sarasota. We arrived to Grandma Clarke's condo pretty late in the evening. The boys had a snack and then headed to bed!
 |
| I have a feeling Jay was being reminded to listen to Mom and Dad here |
We had a lot of fun while visiting Grandma and Mike. We visited Myakka River State Park one morning. We saw lots of alligators and birds. We kept our distance from the gators!
We went to Siesta Key Beach one afternoon. After driving around for a long time to secure a parking spot, we went and enjoyed the beach. The water was a bit chilly, but that didn't stop Jay!
Here are some shots from Grandma's condo and the pool. Justin and I also got a chance to golf while we were there. It was a nice time, though very weird to have to be on the look out for alligators!
After spending a few nights at Grandma's, we headed over to Disney World. The drive took awhile and we were excited to finally arrive at the Animal Kingdom Lodge. We surprised the boys with a bunk bed room. They loved it!
 |
| The view from our balcony the first morning |
We started our first day with a character breakfast at O'Hana. located at the Polynesian resort. We arrived quite late for our reservation because, holy cow, is traffic at Disney World crazy. I expected it to be crazy, but it exceeded my expectations! Anyhow, our tardiness was not an issue and appeared to be a common occurrence due to transportation delays, and we were seated after a pretty short wait. The food was ok and the boys enjoyed the character visits, except for poor Lilo. They didn't want anything to do with her!
 |
| Everyone's headed to the Magic Kingdom! |
 |
| Jay's first autograph! |
 |
| Who's coming next?! |
 |
| Mickey! Brody couldn't be bothered to stop eating, even though he loves Mickey! |
 |
| What's coming now? |
 |
| Maracas! |
 |
| Stitch and the Clarke family |
 |
Jay thought Stitch was a riot, especially after Stitch pretended to write on him with a permanent marker. Jay knew Mommy wouldn't like that one!
|
After breakfast, we took the monorail to the Magic Kingdom. We had fast passes for Splash Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad and Peter Pan's Flight. The boys LOVED Splash Mountain and would have gone on over and over again. Unfortunately, the wait was 90+ minutes, so that didn't happen. Big Thunder Railroad was a hit too, but Peter Pan was kind of a flop for us. I guess we all like more thrill-type rides! We also went on the Winnie the Pooh ride and the carousel. Otherwise, we just took in all the sights. The park was jam packed and there was so much going on! We stayed until pretty late in the afternoon/early evening and then headed back to the hotel for a quick dinner and then some relaxing before bed.
 |
| Splash Mountain! |
 |
| Brody was getting tired |
The view from our balcony that evening:
 |
| The baby giraffe was so cute and funny! |
The next morning we headed to Animal Kingdom. The weather did not cooperate for us and we were rained out after awhile. We did get to go on the Kilimanjaro Safari, which was what I was most excited for. We also did a couple nature walks and one other ride. The boys played in the Boneyard, which was a playground/sandpit. We then had a yummy lunch at Yak & Yeti before heading back to the resort to relax for a bit before dinner.
Kilimanjaro Safari
 |
| Brody was still waking up |
 |
| I asked for a smile... |
Nature Walk/Expedition
 |
| Playing at the Boneyard |
 |
| We got another ride in during a lull in the rain. It was still pretty wet. |
 |
| Bye, Animal Kingdom! |
Back at the hotel, Jay loved watching these red hogs from our balcony:
Later that evening we went to dinner at Whispering Canyon Cafe, located at the Wilderness Lodge. This was a super fun dinner because we surprised Jay and had dinner with his best friend Sean and his family, who were also in Disney World! While the initial meeting didn't go the way Sean's mom and I had envisioned (the boys walked right past each other!), the evening was a great success. I don't think we annoyed too many other patrons at the restaurant, which is always a positive!
 |
| Jay and Sean walking right past each other in the hotel lobby |
 |
| Still processing the surprise |
 |
Yes, we have a lot of ketchup! When you request ketchup,
other guests bring you the ketchup bottle from their table. |
 |
| Tuckered out after all the excitement |
The next morning we headed back over to the Magic Kingdom. We started out with a ride on the Pirates of the Caribbean, which was fun. Then we headed back to Splash Mountain because I had been able to secure another fast pass for us. After that we met up with Sean and his family for a bit. We rode the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train and It's a Small World with them. We said goodbye to our friends after that, had some lunch and headed over to Tomorrowland Speedway. The boys really liked that one too. After that we walked around for awhile longer before heading back to the hotel. We went swimming that afternoon and the boys had a blast on the water slide. After swimming, we headed to our room to relax for a bit before dinner, which was at Boma, located right at the hotel. Boma was a buffet with a lot of African dishes. I enjoyed it the most out of the four of us, but everyone found some food they liked.
 |
| Waiting for the bus to the Magic Kingdom |
 |
| All ready for It's a Small World |
 |
| This was on It's a Small World. It said Justin, Brody and Jay on the screen, but I didn't catch it early enough. |
 |
| Seven Dwarfs Mine Train |
 |
| My face cracks me up! |
 |
| Brody looks like he's not having fun. He assured us he loved the ride! |
Tomorrowland Speedway
 |
| Justin and Brody are in the orange car |
 |
| Cotton candy before leaving the park |
Back at the Animal Kingdom Lodge
The next morning, we checked out of the hotel and headed to Epcot for a character breakfast at The Garden Grill. The food was good and the whole restaurant rotated very slowly, which was a neat effect. The boys loved seeing Chip, Dale, Pluto and Mickey.
 |
| Good bye, Animal Kingdom Lodge! |
After breakfast, we walked around Epcot for awhile and went on some rides. Test Track was awesome and was the favorite by far. We also went on Turtle Talk with Crush, Figment and Spaceship Earth.
 |
| Test Track |
After all that fun, it was time to head to Tampa to catch our flight back to cold, snowy Connecticut. Writing this post really has me wanting to go back!
