Family Vacation- Florida

  Pete and I were able to get an unbeatable deal on a 3 bedroom condo at a Marriot resort in Florida for an entire week so we packed up the family and went on an amazing vacation in October. 

It didn't start out amazing... We did a red eye flight to Florida. Not a great idea. Pregnant Bekah threw up at the first lay over, Adaliah threw up after getting off the plane in Florida, and then Norah threw up moments after we picked up our rental car.  Pete and I were wondering what in the world we had gotten ourselves into. 

Packing up and loading all three car seats. Traveling with 3 toddlers is not easy. 

Waiting at our first lay over in the middle of the night

Luckily things turned around fast as soon as we checked into our beautiful resort.

Norah knows how to vacation

The next day we hit Disney World's Magic Kingdom .

The girls did amazing and had the time of their life. Elizabeth was brave on the roller coasters. Their favorite rides were Snow Whites Mine train and the Goofy Coaster. 

Norah and Elizabeth had a pre-dinner nap to hold them over

The next day we took it easy at the condo again. The girls seemed to have just as much fun on our down days as they did when we were out and about. We had an outdoor balcony with a beautiful view that the girls loved playing on. Pete and I both agreed the best part of the trip was just watching the girls laugh and play together. They got along so well all week. 

On Saturday we made it to Epcot with the Smith Family (Mellisa, Abbie, Corbin, and Jefferson) 

Elizabeth was so excited to meet Mary Poppins. Right now it's her favorite movie. 

Look at all these cute kids! 

On Sunday we went to church and then Karen and Collin met us at Aunt Judy and Uncle Al's house. It was SO FUN to visit Aunt Judy and have the girls spend some time with her.  She took us to the Sebastian Beach. 

On Monday Karen and Collin joined us at Sea World. Sea world was a dream. It wasn't busy at all! We didn't have to wait in hardly any lines which was such a change from Disney. We were able to hit all of the shows they had to offer and the kids walked right on all the rides over and over again. I think it was everybody's favorite day that week. 

This bird was trying to steal Norah's fish crackers and she was less then thrilled. 

On Tuesday Karen and Collin were so nice to stay at the condo and watch Norah while Pete and I took the two older girls to one more day of disney. They got pretty burned out pretty fast so we made it a short day but it was fun spending some one on one time with them with our having to worry about diaper changes and naps.

Wednesday was another relaxing day at the condo. Lots of swimming, enjoying the sunshine, and relaxing before it was time to make our trip home to cold Utah.

We hid Carson Courage Cars all along the way during the trip.

The flight home went a lot easier- thank goodness. Pete got put in charge of Norah and Adaliah who both slept the entire time and Elizabeth was my flying buddy who didn't want to miss a thing.

I wrote some of my thoughts on the plane ride home:

A family vacation with 3 toddlers is not a vacation at all if your looking for relaxation and a break from the every day grind. So why do we do it to ourselves? We do it so they can experience people, places, and things they wouldn't be able to experience at home. So they can build confidence as they try new things and step out of their comfort zone. So they can have mom AND dad loving and snuggling them all day. So they see that no matter how far we are away from home- the gospel is everywhere and we still spend our Sunday's worshiping at church. So they can learn that it's okay when things  don't go as planned (and so they can remind US, "maybe we should say a prayer")  So they can grow closer as sisters as they spend their days laughing together and making memories. Was it exhausting? Absolutely. Was it completely crazy at times? For sure. But was it worth it? No question.