Birthday Vacation!

Have you ever been to Disney World?  Most people would say yes, at least once.  I think my husband has been there a couple different times.  I, however, have never been.  Growing up in Minnesota, we weren't really close enough to make a day trip or even drive 10 hours or so to get there.  Flying our family of five was out of the question because of the expense and my dad's thriftiness.  Plus, although we lived in MN, both of my parents are from different parts of the country and that is where the majority of their families stayed, so any time we took a vacation (usually twice a year) we went to visit family in South Carolina or family in Montana.  Sure, there were there were the occasional detours to Mount Rushmore, Arkansas, Ohio, and DC, but only because a family member was living there at the time and we had a place to stay or we were driving through that area to get to MT or SC.  For the most part, though, we were frequenters of the South and the West every year.  And I did love going-- if we hadn't, I would probably have never really known my grandparents and many, many cousins because we were isolated from them, being so far away, and in all of my nearly 30 years, I can only recall one or two of my cousins from SC coming to visit us in MN and maybe a handful of aunts and uncles.  Pretty sad, really.  All of this to say, though, that we never did make a family trip to "the happiest place on earth,"  Disney World.  And I had always felt like I missed out on that fun part of childhood many of my friends had experienced.

Well, folks, that is about to change.  I am going to be the big 3-0 next month and my oldest (baby) girl is going to be 4 the day after (yes, I nearly had her on my birthday!) so we have decided that these two ladies are due for Disney!  Actually, the truth is, Disney wasn't exactly on the radar at first.  The story goes like this: When I turned 28, I was pregnant with my sweet second girl and I thought, "Man, it would really be awesome do something FUN for my 30th birthday.  By then, I (hopefully) won't be pregnant or nursing and I should be comfortable leaving the girls with our parents for a few days.  I would love to take an awesome trip somewhere warm and sunny with just Mark..."  And so began my campaign for such a trip.  Fast forward to around Thanksgiving 2012 when my parents were here visiting.  I posed the idea again and my parents said that they were thinking of doing something fun for THEIR 40th anniversary (big shout-out to them for making it 40 years and for being amazing examples of what God intended marriage to be, especially in a society that devalues marriage so much) in March, so since they both still work, that would be too much time off.  I understand that, so I thought we could ask Mark's parents to keep the girls.  At this point, no official plans had been made-- we, of course, wanted to secure things for the girls first.  Anyway, before we even had a chance to ask Mark's parents if they would be up for it, they mentioned to us that they would be spending all of February in Florida at a vacation place someone they know owns but won't be at home that month.  It is only 2 bedrooms and is in the middle of the state, but it is an hour away from Disney and an hour away from the Gulf.  When they told us that, we started thinking about plan C.  We decided that we could still have our little childless getaway and maybe go to Disney too!  They said they would keep the girls for a couple of nights if we wanted to drive to the beach and stay there just us, and then we could drive over to Disney for a day or two as well.  Big thanks to Mark's parents for being willing to take on both girls for us and allowing us to have much needed away time to recharge and celebrate my birthday and our relationship without the distraction and stress of two little girls underfoot.  We love our parents!

We still haven't solidified our plans... it's hard for Mark to commit to things so I have found a couple different bed and breakfasts, but he isn't sold. I enjoy certain elements of b&bs over hotels... they are usually child-free (which is what I am looking for in a vacation), provide amazing breakfast (this girl LOVES a good breakfast), include "free" things like bicycles and beach chairs, and feel more romantic in general.  I am not overly friendly at first, though, so the part of b&b culture I don't love is having to mingle with other lodgers.  That is something I am working on. However, their cancellation policies aren't as liberal as hotels are, so that might be a problem if something unplanned comes up-- with kids, that is always a possibility, not to mention they are more expensive.  I would like to get that part buttoned up soon.  Do you have any suggestions for great vacation spots and secrets around the Clearwater/Anna Maria, FL area?

As for Disney, having never been there before, I know very little about what to expect, except for what I have learned from experienced friends and the internet.  I have found LOTS of info about what to bring, where to go, etc. and honestly, the more I read, the more overwhelmed I feel about it!  Since we really only want to be there for a day or two, I have to try to pack all the best things to do and see into that time, which is proving challenging.  I hope we will be able to get back someday and spend a whole week there.  Is there a significant difference in the crowds on a week day versus a weekend in February?  That might determine how we plan our time there.  Any tips you might have about navigating Magic Kingdom would be helpful!

Well if that wasn't the longest blog post ever, I don't know what was.  Are you readers asleep yet?  Good grief, I really need to learn how to post pictures so your interest remains throughout the whole thing.  I will get on that, pronto!