A "Magical" 1st Family Vacation

Over the past few months, we have been planning our first Disney trip as a family.  After a daily B countdown to Disney ("how many days we go to Disney?") over the past 60+ days, the day finally came.  My mom was able to fulfill one of her grandmother dreams, and joined us on our week-long vacation.  The toughest part about vacations, however, is realizing that they are over :(   We had some great times, and I learned a lot about myself and our family on this vacation:

• Disney is *way* more magical if you are 6, then if you are 39 (the place hasn't changed since I was 6!)
• Going to Orlando in August was probably not the best idea (what was I thinking?)
• My husband and I turn into crabs when we are hot, sweaty, and tired (our kids did better than we did!)
• Our favorite rides happened to be in Epcot and Animal Kingdom (thumbs up for the Safari ride, Everest, Test Track and Soaring from the whole family)
• I was hoping the kids would be in awe of Disney, but I didn't get the reaction I expected (part of this was probably due to the fact that they didn't know what to expect to begin with)
• M hates any rides that go "up and down" or are "in the dark'; he literally asked us about 50 times before each and every ride if there was going to be "up, down or dark" -- enough to want to make us all drink
• B was scared to death of Splash Mountain -- so much so that we had to take her out of line once we got to the top
• So, she was scared of Splash Mountain, screamed bloody murder on Thunder Mountain, and when Thunder Mountain came to a hault, she thought it was fun and begged us to do it again (my mom and I happily obliged)
• I had to tell a few white lies to get her on Everest.  Thank goodness she loved it (and it was probably 1,000 times more frightening than Splash Mountain -- go figure)
• I think they would have been just as happy spending the days at the pool as they were in the park
• Disney is very expensive when its hot!  Lots of drinks and ice cream were purchased throughout the week
• Never go to a theme park 2 weeks after the final movie (ie, Harry Potter World -- we waited 2 hours in the blistering sun at Ollivander's to get their wands, then the lines were over 90 minutes long for the rides, so we moved along to other parts of Universal)
• The kids were troopers....going 12+ hour days so we could do as much as we could in a short period of time
• Having Grammy Susie there was great; its always nice to have another adult there to keep in eye on the kids, especially in crowded parks
• 4 parks in 3 days.  Wow!
• I know that the kids will talk about this trip for years to come.  And now, when their classmates talk about "Disney," they can be a part of their conversations.....

Below are a handful of pics from our trip:

At the House of Blues in Downtown Disney, the night we flew in

M & B love Merry-Go-Rounds....apparently Doug does too :)

B thought these guys were 2 of her favorite 3 Chipmunks....close enough.....

Thank goodness for water, wherever it was, we took advantage of it!

They couldn't wait to get their picture taken with Pluto and Goofy.....but we did, wait that is......

I recall bribing them for this happy shot!

In Epcot, final night, and a perfect ending with the fireworks and Grammy Susie by their side.