All rested up and ready for some magic!! We headed to the right place... Magic Kingdom!! Awww.... now this is DisneyWorld! However, we were so tired the night before that we didn't get to the park at opening. The crowds were breathtaking! 10 out of 10 on the crowd level! It was madness!
The sun was a little bright! But I'll just go ahead and tell you right now that my kids were amazing this whole week! I was so proud of them. Each one had their "moment", but Avery and Austin never complained about walking. And Addie and Ashton stayed in their double stroller (a godsend from our friends Tyler and Amanda Vaclaw!) so we were never concerned about losing our kids. That was my biggest concern leading up to this trip!
We had barely gotten into the park and were taking pictures in front of Cinderella's castle when we realized that a parade was getting ready to start. We were in the right place at that right time! Front row to the parade! Here is Ashton seeing her favorite character for the first time... MINNIE MOUSE!! You can kind of see her tiny hand up in the air waving while she's holding her minnie.
Addie was in awe at all the characters that were coming down the street! We soon realized that this was what we really wanted to do. At one point they let us all go out onto the street and dance with everyone!
After the parade, we stayed around again for some more pictures. We were still overwhelmed by the sight of the castle! And then a show began on the castle, so once again we got a great spot to see everything. We couldn't believe when all the princesses and prince came out and started dancing and singing songs from their movies.
And the Disney characters were up there as well! This show was about dreams coming true. Peter Pan and his crew were in it too! It was so amazing and fun!
When you think of DisneyWorld, you always think of the classic ride Dumbo.
But like I said, we didn't get here early so this line took about an hour to get through. Yes, it just goes around in a circle- but you have to do it!!
Even now, when you ask the younger kids what their favorite ride was, they will tell you Dumbo! I don't know what it is about this elephant, but he sure has an impact!
While we were waiting in line for Dumbo, Randy and Avery went and got fast passes for Winnie the Pooh. After Dumbo, we headed over to a super cool 3-D movie, Mickey's PhilharMagic! I loved it!
Addie was the one who wouldn't leave her glasses on in this one, but Ashton sat on my lap with her glasses on the whole time! Such a cute show... I would highly recommend it.
Next we headed over to Pirates of the Caribbean. Another long line but the kids really enjoyed it. Randy was going to let Austin get his face painted like the pirates, but they closed right when they got there.
Classic picture! Ashton fell asleep on the way to the Pirates of the Caribbean, so she and I stayed outside so she could get some sleep. I parked in the sun next to a little house-like building.
Next thing I knew, Captain Jack Sparrow came out to do a little show! Once again I was in the right place at the right time! Front row!
The kids came and found me so they got to see the show from up close too. Austin got this cool Mickey hat in the shop right after the ride.
Next ride, The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh! I was sure glad we had fast passes! Luckily Randy and I are so much alike! Our idea of DisneyWorld wasn't to get everything in, but to have fun at what we did get to do. This day was super overwhelming with the crowds and lines. We were ready to go after this. But there was one more show we wanted to get in...
A Christmas show at Cinderella's castle with Mickey, Minnie and gang!
On our way to Magic Kingdom, we took a bus. But we thought we would try the ferry boat on the way back.
We had a great day, Ashton got a nap in (and Addie was taking a nap in the stroller now). We were all ready to go back to the hotel! Actually, we hit up Outback Steakhouse after this day if I remember correctly!
Exhausted, but still smiling! A great way to describe each day at DisneyWorld!
After our fun day at the beach, we decided we could attempt DisneyWorld again. So we went back to our hotel, cleaned up, and headed out! 
Our new plan was to get in as many shows/parades and then do a few rides here and there. One of the parades I really wanted to see was the electric parade and firework show at Magic Kingdom.
Look at the smiles on these kids! The Magic Kingdom is so magically at night! We couldn't believe the lights on the castle... and they kept changing colors!
The electric parade was so fun... it was exactly how I remembered it when I was a young girl at DisneyLand. Here is Cinderella in her coach.
And the firework show was so cool! At the beginning they have Tinkerbell start the show by flying down from the castle We were standing right under where she flew... the kids loved it!
After the show, a lot of people were leaving so we thought we would take advantage and get a few rides in. We started at Buss Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin. I think Ashton had fallen asleep so I took the kids through this one. After that, Randy went with the older kids to Space Mountain. While they were there, I took Addie and AJ to Monsters, Inc. Laugh Floor. It was a lot better than I thought it would be. A comedy show, and I was laughing so hard. Ashton woke up after this show (probably from me laughing) so I took her and Addie back through the Buzz Lightyear ride. They loved it.
Here's another pick from Buzz Lightyear. We met back up with Randy, Avery and Austin and then I went through Space Mountain with them while Randy stayed with the younger girls. This was one of the rides Addie wasn't quite tall enough for or I'm sure she would have done it too! But I had to go to Space Mountain... another ride you can't miss at DisneyWorld! We ended up leaving the park this night at 1am! I know, I told you the beach was rejuvenating!
Once again, we slept in! We were going to go to Magic Kingdom again, but we just weren't quite pumped up for the crowds. So we headed to Cocoa Beach instead! All we brought were tennis shoes, so our first stop was to Ron Jon Surf Shop to get some more beach appropriate shoes!
We also picked up a frisbee and a volleyball so we would have a few activities to do! 
Now this was our idea of a great vacation! Just the break we needed! The weather was great!
The kids, especially Avery, were so excited to find seashells all over the beach!
The sand was so nice and warm! At first we had fun just playing in it...
But it didn't take long til the water was more enticing!
Addie was trying to beat the water before it got to her, but it was pretty fast! We weren't planning on getting in the water this day, so we didn't bring our swimsuits.
But it didn't take long for the kids to get all wet! Oh well, they were having fun!
Even Ashton removed her shirt after it was soaking wet! Thank you, daddy, for letting me take my shirt off!
Avery was a little jealous that Ashton could take her shirt off! Because even though the weather was nice and the sand was warm... the water was COLD!!
But it didn't stop them! Avery said after a while you just get numb and don't realize it's so cold. I just took her word for it!
What a great day, we needed this so much! I told Randy our next vacation will just be to a beach house where we can stay for a whole week!
We were even tempted to not go back to DisneyWorld after seeing how much fun the kids were having here. This was Ashton's first time in the sand. I hate sand... but I don't mind it on vacation because it wasn't going back to my house or my car!
Our day of rejuvenation!
My shirtless kids, trying to warm themselves in the sand....
This year, we surprised the kids with a trip to DisneyWorld for Christmas! We have been debating for a long time when we should go. We wanted all the kids to have fun and be old enough to remember it! We finally decided this was the year. Randy and I had never been to DisneyWorld, so we were just as excited. We both did DisneyLand when we were kids, but this was my first trip to Florida. Randy had a work trip to Orlando a couple years ago but I had just had Ashton and so I didn't tag along that time.
The kids were such troopers! We had to get up at 3:30am to make our flight out of Tulsa. I was so nervous about our flight change in Atlanta but the kids did great! We had no layovers either way... we hopped off our planes, took the monorail (which the kids loved) and got to our next gate in time to board. Perfect! 
When we got to Orlando, we rented a car, dropped our stuff off at the hotel and headed straight to DisneyWorld! We wanted to make the most of our days.
We started our Disney experience at EPCOT. We knew this park was geared more to the older kids and since we only had half a day we thought it would be a great place to get started.
We couldn't believe Daisy was standing right at the front! We were so excited to grab this picture with her!! A great welcome to DisneyWorld!
Our first building we entered was geared toward the old show on Disney Channel, Kim Possible. Avery and Austin used to watch that all the time. There was a game show we attended, which Austin and Addison were asked to participate in. They had to see who could build the biggest tower. As you can see, Austin and Addie's team won! The other team had a bigger tower but it fell down at the last second.
And then they asked Avery and I up to participate! Avery was to attach as many animals onto me as she could in a certain amount of time. I believe we tied with the other team. It was a lot of fun.
So one of the first things I learned when I got to DisneyWorld was just how big my kids are getting! I thought Austin was barely going to pass all height restrictions, but it was Addie who was passing almost all height restrictions! She was able to go on the Soarin' ride (which was so much fun!). The other thing I learned is that Addie will try it all, she isn't afraid! Austin was also more daring than I realized! And it was Avery who was more timid and we had to push to try all rides at least once! The kids are standing in front of The Seas with Nemo and Friends ride. That was fun too!
