Walt Disney World...Again!

Disney World.  We had made a quick stop at the Magic Kingdom about 10 days before Christmas as we flew into Orlando from Germany for home leave.  But that was just the warm-up.  The 28th found us once again saying goodbye to family (B's this time) and driving back to Orlando.  This time though was different; this time we were going to my brother P and his fiancee S's wedding!  A wedding.  At Disney World!  It doesn't get much more magical than that.  We had rented a huge house that we could all stay in together (with a pool for the kids to jump in and the adults to relax).  We let the kids jump and play for a bit but needed to get them, and ourselves, into bed as we had a very early wake-up call.  Seems that if you want to be able to ride the most popular rides at Epcot (Soarin' and Test Track) you need to be there an hour before the rides even open.  Which meant leaving the house at 6:40 in the morning.  Too early if you ask me but understood.  We ran/walked our way straight to Soarin' and only had about a 20 min wait; Test Track was not to be though as the line was already over 2 hours long by the time we got there.  Not a problem for us though as we moved on to Frozen and never looked back.  We spent our day popping into whatever ride we wanted and managed to drink our way around the World (which was the goal of the adults).  We even stopped for lunch in Germany.  

As darkness and even colder temps descended upon us we gathered all 18 of us back into our cars and toward the house for a dip in the hot pool, some dinner and another early bedtime as tomorrow's wake up call for the Animal Kingdom was just as early.  

The Bride and Groom

 And that isn't even all of us.

 We spent our time waiting in line playing Heads Up.  Highly recommended.

The new Frozen ride and the Troll afterward.

 

 In Norway, after the Frozen ride we stopped for a Skoleboller (not as good as my Norwegian friend, IH's but good) and a traditional shot of Akvavit (horrible).

  Stinkerbell bought herself a bubble wand with her Christmas money and spent the afternoon blowing it in peoples faces...

 Part of drinking around the world includes the Coca-Cola version of drinks around the World.  Most of them were very good but the Inca Kola that we used to get in Chile was my favorite.

  

 Mexico...

 A beer in Germany, a Limoncello in Italy

 A few more rides (piggyback and the other sort) and we were ready to call it a day.

Soaking in the Sun

Christmas afternoon we headed about 2 hours south of my parent's house to Boca Raton where we met up with B's family (who he has not spent Christmas Day with in over 15 years!).  We had a fabulous dinner at his aunt and uncle's house and then spent the next day shopping and just enjoying each other's company.  By the time the 27th rolled around the girls were ready for a little fun time so we decided to take them to the pool for the afternoon before heading out to another dinner at his other aunt and uncles house.  And strangely, this is the only place I took out my camera.  Not a single phone snap, no selfies, and no big camera.  I was off picture duty for a few days.  But then the second cousins (my girls included) started playing with the big kids (B and his cousins) and I just had to snap a few.  Or 50...I am glad I did because they bring back such good memories of a day spent with family who we don't get to see often enough.

Peek-A-Boo

And to all a good night...

Celebrating Christmas in Florida was a first for us as.  We were happy about the prospect of sunny weather, beach time and seeing the whole family just after but it was also a bit strange to not be skiing for the first time in many years.  We got over that pretty quickly while soaking in the Florida sunshine.  And we might have been in a new spot for the holidays but that doesn't mean we didn't bring all of our traditions to the beach - Ugly Sweater decorating, Nana and Grampa reading the Night before Christmas before bed on Christmas Eve, leaving out cookies and milk (and even carrots for the reindeer since Santa called personally to remind us).  We even did something new and decorated ugly socks.  It truly was beginning to feel just like Christmas...

And then we donned our Christmas jammies (that we got in our stockings) and went to bed with visions dancing in our heads of the presents we would hand out in the morning.  Those duties, as in all years past, fell to the girls while the adults had their mimosas and Kringle (flown in from Wisconsin, per usual). 

All in all, it went off without a hitch.  Stinkerbell and MadHatter loved the presents they got from everyone (Stinkerbell does not have a poker face - see proof below) and we all enjoyed watching them rip into their gifts.  Sadly, we did not have any time to play with them because we were due to leave for a few days with B's side of the family and we had to get packed.  We bid Nana and Grampa a very Merry Christmas and set off in our sleigh for Boca Raton.

I hope everyone had a day as fun and filled with family and loved ones as we did!  Merry Christmas to all...