The Happiest Place on Earth

We just got back from the BEST vacation! We drove through 10 states, visited family and friends in 4 cities, and played in Disney World for 3 days. We started off visiting Travis's sister Heather and her kids who now live near Atlanta and we were able to stay with them for 2 1/2 days, which was SO great. We hadn't seen them in a long time and we got to meet her new guy, Michael, and his 2 kids, Victoria and Ashley. Then we drove to Orlando where Travis had continuing education classes at the Hilton in Walt Disney World, while the girls and I shopped around Downtown Disney with my sister Susy, and her husband and daughter, and her friend from when she worked at Disney, Danielle. We had a blast and bought a lot. We ate at Rainforest cafe, and got up early the next morning to do Hollywood Studios with Susy, Todd, and Lily. We got to meet Micky, and Bolt, Mitten, and Rhino. We saw several shows, danced at the parade, and rode the big rides. The next day was Sunday, so we went to church in Orlando, then drove out to the Tampa area to visit Travis's aunt Bobby and uncle Don. We had a wonderful relaxing day and hated to go back, but Epcot was calling! We got up extra early the next day for a princess breakfast in the Norway pavillion and got to meet Cinderella, Belle, Ariel, Aurora, and Snow White! The girls were practically speechless! And guess who got all teary-eyed when the first princess approached our table. That's right. Travis. The look on his daughters faces staring up at Princess Aurora was almost to much for our big softy. He sure loves his girls. :) After that we turtle talked with crush, rode some rides, and walked around the world. We got to eat in Norway, Japan, and France, all in one day. (and you know, that's what I really liked :)) We met Mulan, who was REALLY nice!! She talked with the girls for a long time. You gotta love that. But we still had one more day, so we went to bed and slept for a few hours so we could get to Magic Kingdom at the opening. Which I must say is the best idea. For some reason, about an hour after opening, the population of Main St. USA doubles! That first hour we were able to do more things then the whole rest of the day combined! And we did a lot! Rode Dumbo, Space Mountain, Pirates of the Caribean, Small World (which wasn't nearly as annoying as I'd imagined), and a bunch of others. We had a wonderful time, but were thoroughly exausted by the end. So we were glad that the next day we could just relax and drive to NC. We visited with our family there for a day, then drove to our old haunt of Greenville where Travis was teaching a class at ECU, so I met up with some friends from church while he was doing that. It was so great to see them! I forget sometimes how much I miss having friends!! :) After that we headed back to Wake Co and visited our fam some more, then headed back to Ohio after church on Sunday. It was a fabulous 2 weeks!