Orlando- the last half

Loved it!

The magnificent lobby.

The thatched roof.

An African Mask.

Watching animals on the savanna.

Two little monkeys.

The animal keepers at AKL.

Enjoying the savannas.

Their favorite place to be is underwater.

Taking a snack break from swimming.

The grand lobby at the Grand Floridian.

Tranquil walkways throughout the Grand Floridian.

Looking at Cinderella's Castle through the telescope.

Having fun on the dock.

The pirate ship and water fountains at our resort.

Unfortunately, the girls were too small for the water slide.

Grace still enjoyed her day.

Winnie the Pooh, Tigger and Piglet at Downtown Disney.

Searching for Nemo.

Dinner at the Rainforest Cafe.

We sat right next to one of the moving elephants.

The chandelier at Disney's BoardWalk resort.

The fun pool area.

Hangin' out on the BoardWalk.

After the fantastic cruise, we rented a car and made the 75 minute drive back to Orlando. For the second half of our trip, we opted to stay at a non-Disney resort. Lake Buena Vista Resort & Spa was only 5 minutes from Disney World so we were still in the hub of all the activity. Even though the cabins on the ship were larger than the norm, it was wonderful to spread out in our two bedroom condo. We also had a full kitchen plus a washer and dryer. The kitchen allowed us to go grocery shopping to pick up all our usual items for breakfast and lunch and knowing that we were going to have a washer and dryer, enabled us to pack a little lighter. We didn't have any specific plans for the last 5 days in Orlando. We just knew that we wanted to play it by ear and relax in the process. On this half of the trip, I also took a slight break from taking so many pictures!

On our first day back to Orlando, although it wasn't cold, it lightly rained so that kept us pretty close to our resort. We were right across the street from outlet stores so it was a nice opportunity to get some shopping done that day. The rest of the days went by fairly quickly. We spent one evening back at Downtown Disney were we enjoyed the live entertainment and dinner at Rainforest Cafe. We also spent some of our days visiting 3 different Disney resorts nearby. We went to Animal Kingdom Lodge, the Grand Floridian, and Disney's BoardWalk. Our favorite was Animal Kingdom Lodge. We liked it so much that we went back to use their pool one day. Shhh, don't tell! We loved the African themed resort. The pool and water slide were perfect for the kids and the 33 acre wildlife preserve made it feel like you were on safari or at the very least, at the zoo. The Grand Floridian was truly a grand and beautiful Victorian style resort with an amazing lobby. And lastly, Disney's BoardWalk was fun, relaxing and whimsical. It was designed after boardwalks like Coney Island, famous during the turn of the 20th century. Each resort was so different and fun to explore. I can see why the whole gigantic area is called Disney World. It was truly a whole world in itself and we didn't even cover a fraction of it.

As the days rolled on, we decided against going to any more amusement parks. We felt like we got our fill of Disney and anything else would be overkill. We spent the rest of our days relaxing and swimming and slowly getting back into somewhat of a normal routine.

We are so thankful for the 10 days that we got to spend together as a family. I'm sure one of the reasons why it seemed like the girls were growing up right in front of our eyes was partly due to the fact that they received undivided and constant interaction from the two of us. We are aware that they may not remember the details of this vacation as they grow older but at least we'll have the pictures and this blog to remind us. It's funny because before we had kids, Morgan and I were that couple that said we weren't going to take our kids to any amusement parks until they were at least 5 years old. Since becoming parents, our mind frame has changed a little. Partly because our perspective on life changed. We see how precious each day is with our children and how quickly time slips away. Life is meant to be celebrated, enjoyed, and lived in the moment. The memories are not only for them but they are just as much for us. Each day is a gift and since only God knows when our days here will be over, we are embracing the gift of time with our children. Thank you, Lord for keeping us safe and healthy on our trip and for giving us the opportunity to share this as a family. We know that every good and perfect gift comes from You.

Lastly, we made some observations about the girls while on this trip...

* They never cease to amaze us at how well they travel, adapt to change and love adventure.

* They are definitely ready for big girl beds. They slept on twin beds for most of our trip and never had a problem.

* They gravitate towards any kind of music or dancing. We already knew this.

* They are quite the little swimmers and tend to scare everyone around them that doesn't know that. We were always close by and watching but sometimes, we weren't hovering over them, simply because we know what they are capable of. It's always amusing to us to see the reaction of other people. Some people tried to help them (including 2 lifeguards) but the girls were just happily swimming and playing on their own. They would yell back with a smile, "I'm OK!"

* And my goodness, they now know every single Disney character!

More slide video from the AKL pool.

Entertaining themselves with noodles.