The Great Family Vacation of 2015

  You can't choose the family that you're born into or raised in and you don't really think about it growing up. At least I didn't. As the oldest of 9, I got a new baby doll to play with every few years (AKA a new sibling) and we all played together every day, we schooled together, fought, ate together, talked and made memories. Of course, at the time, it was just life and we had no idea the great memories we were making.

 At 18 I got together with my first and only boyfriend and after a little while it became clear that we couldn't live without each other and would get married, which meant I would move far away to Texas. Suddenly, the family that I spent every day with and didn't think much about (although we were close and loved each other fiercely) became treasured jewels. Every day spent with them was a day closer to the long awaited wedding day, but one less day to live under the same roof and I tried to value it the best I could while being madly in love with my man.

 Fast forward to marriage. Less than 2 months into it my sister visited, and the visits haven't stopped. Thousands of dollars spent over the past 8 1/2 years on traveling to see each other. People marvel that we see each other "so often" as they say, but really, a few weeks here and there throughout the year with the family you spent every day of your life with is nothing. I don't take a minute of it for granted and love our concentrated time together. 

 A year ago my dad emailed us while still on their vacation. "We rented again for next year. We'll be here if you guys want to come". My grandparents winter in a gorgeous, quiet trailer park (for ages 55+) that we vacationed in growing up. My parents try to go once a year and rent their own trailer. Within a few days of the email, I called them and I'm sure they could hear me beaming. "We rented number 409," I said. It was still a whole year away and seemed like forever to wait, but perfect time for us to save and plan for a 2 week vacation spent with my heart and soul: family. 

 This post is picture heavy, so be prepared...

 The best thing about where we stay is the huge pool that is hardly occupied, or if it is, it's a few older people who have all grown to love our family from my dad's preaching and our singing over the years. It's a free way to keep the kids occupied all day long, and we all get to sit in the sun and chat--one of our favorite things to do as a family!

My Grandma turned the big 8-0 while we were there, (I know, she doesn't look or act it!) so we all got to celebrate together one night. We loved getting to spend time with them and for our kids to get to know them better!

And speaking of my grandparents, my Grandma works at Disney World and was able to get us all free tickets. I'm not gonna lie--I love me some Mickey and Minnie and princesses. We all do, actually. Going there 2 separate days was so fun and special, and of course the kids loved every second of it! The first day we went with Greg and Claire so that all the kids could be together and it was such a blast. My Mom and Grandparents also got to spend the day with us, just to see the kids reactions to everything. ;)

 Here Nathan was quite offended that we were getting a picture instead of getting on the ride. Ha! This picture was just too classic not to share.

The lighting wasn't the greatest, but a picture in front of Cinderella's castle is a must!

His first visit!

Cousin love waiting for the parade...

The second time we went, it was just us and we spent our day at Animal Kingdom and Hollywood Studios. It was really special to spend a day with just us and I think Nate and I locked eyes 100 times throughout the day, saying without words, "we are so blessed. How are these beautiful children ours?!"

The safari at Animal Kingdom is so incredible and we saw several different species up close and personal. We could have reached out and touched the zebras!

Nicolas was unimpressed 

Most of our time was spent either at the pool, eating ice cream at the best soft serve place ever, or shopping. The entire time was completely relaxing with a perfect amount of fun mixed in.

One night we drove toa quaint little town called Celebration, sipping coffees and chatting while we walked around. Perfect evening!

This picture... Joel's missing shoe (that was never found), Joe wearing one of his Aunt's sweaters, Michael and Nathan's faces... BOYS! All I wanted was a cute picture of them in front of the fountain, and this is what I got, which was better than a boring old pose anyway and deserves to be framed. ;)

Love these girls...and just missing Julia :(

OK. So it's no secret that our family loves food probably more than 99% of the families in the world. Soft serve ice cream is no exception and when it's ridiculously cheap and a 1 minute drive from where you are staying...it becomes an almost nightly event!

We headed to Downtown Disney one night where the kids (and me ;) got to spend part of the Christmas money they had saved.

Aunt Nicolea with the love of her life

On our last night, we took one more walk to take in the beauty one last time. Growing up I loved this place, and I will always love it. Now my husband and kids love it too and it will always hold a very special place in our hearts.

We arrived home exactly the way you are supposed to from a vacation: completely refreshed and ready to hit the ground running. Which was good, because 8AM the next morning had me calling the Dr. to schedule a visit for a very sick little baby. Right now we're knee deep in hand sanitizer, fevers, runny noses, coughs and cuddles galore, feeling very thankful we're home to deal with it!