Disney, Tourist Style

Many of  you know that I'm a Florida girl.  Born and raised in Orlando for almost 30 years.  I also worked for the Mouse for 8 years.  That's Mickey Mouse.  Yes, he hired me, signed my check, and gave me raises.

Well, that's not the whole truth, but it's close.  Mother got me a sweet job at the ripe old age of 16.  It was a glamorous teen job.  While my friends were working short little shifts at the mall, I was sweating my little booty off selling popcorn and ice cream at the happiest place on earth to tourists that do not speak English. I did eventually leave those dear wagons I had grown to love, and move on to bigger and better things over the 8 years I spent there enjoying the magic.

And since Mother worked for the mouse for nearly 30 years, I basically grew up there.  I even met the Hubs there and my girls both celebrated their 1st birthdays at Disney. But then we moved to Georgia and well, Mother no longer works at the happiest place on earth so we don't visit often.

Did you know that a one day, one park ticket costs $89!  Seriously, eighty-nine dollars for one person!  That is why we don't go.  Let's say that now I appreciate all those free tickets and park admissions!

I say all that to tell you we were privileged to get free tickets!  Score!  Both my brothers work on property and have connections.  Connections means free tickets!  Yippeee!

So, while on vacation we spent a day at Magic Kingdom tourist style.  It was like being a kid again.  The girls enjoyed all the classic attractions:  it's a small world, space mountain, splash mountain, the carousel, the tea cups, and pirates.

  To make the visit complete, we even enjoyed the classic Mickey Ice Cream bar just like the ones I used to sell! 

And, to top it off, it rained.  What's Disney without rain and ponchos? 

Of course in addition to all the attractions, we had to ride the monorail.  As kids, we used to ride the monorail around, and around, and around as if it were an actual ride!

 Our Disney trip was complete with a $28 lunch (which was cheap by the way) which included 2 hot dogs, a kids turkey sandwich and chicken nuggets.  Ugh, it killed me!

We had a fabulous time and I was so glad that the girls were able to make Disney memories just like I used to!  I'll leave you with the best picture of the day!

Sorry Little Brother, I just couldn't resist!

Toodles!

Orange Lake Resort, FL

During our 17 days in the sunshine state (also known as home), we were blessed with 5 nights free at Orange Lake Resort courtesy of my uncle and his new wife! 

Orange Lake Resort is a massive timeshare property located outside Disney.  It features 5 pools with water slides, lazy river, put put golf, and a ton of restaurants and shops.

Mother came with me to assist with the girls and my sweet niece!  While it wasn't the beach (sniff, sniff), it was so much fun for the girlies!

And, since my girls are such great helpers, they watched my 4 year old niece and I supervised from my chair!  ahhhh!

I'm pretty sure triple sliding was illegal, but no lifeguard meant we made our own rules.  Such rebels we were!

The girls would literally go down the slide, climb out, and do it all over again.  For like hours! 

 My youngest brother and his girlfriend came for a visit!  It was nice to see him and the girls totally took the opportunity to beat up on their uncle!

 

We also celebrated his birthday a couple weeks early!  What's better than having ice cream cake with your adorable nieces?

The girls made friends with a family of cranes and ducks.  The cranes were Ralph, Sofia and baby Sylvester. And the duck was George and family.  I'm pretty sure we weren't supposed to feed them, but it was obvious that they were accustomed to tourists.

Thus, the girls would go outside and scream their "names" as loud as possible.  They would actually come, eventually, and enjoy a meal of bread!  It became quite comical as one day they nearly came into the condo.

Fortunately, Hubs was able to drive in for the weekend and enjoy the for a couple days.  And even though it rained.  The. Whole. Week! It was a fabulous and free.  Did I mention free? 

As you can imagine, we ended each night with giggles and laughter and finally peace and quiet!

Happy Birthday Grandma

Happy Birthday to my dear Grandmother who turns a young 75 today!

Grandma is mother to 8, grandmother to 13, and great grandmother to 8! A busy woman who has loved on many many  babies and passed her wisdom on to us all!

Love you Grandma!

Visiting Grandma's B&B

We are home!  Had a blast in the sunshine state visiting family and friends, but after 17 days, I'm so glad to have had to have a couple nice nights of sleep in my own bed.

When we travel to Orlando, we are blessed to stay at Grandma's B&B.  My grandparents are the ultimate hosts taking care of every meal and watching the girls so I can visit friends and run errands.  That coupled with my mother bringing over bags and bags of goodies daily, makes for a very pampered stay!

Grandma's house is a very special place to me and I'm overjoyed that my girls get to make the same memories there that I did.  I grew up walking to Grandma's nearly every summer day, swimming in the lake, driving the paddle boat, fishing, and just having good ole fashion outside fun!  Grandma always took care of us as if we were her own kiddos.  She was good at it too, for she raised 8! Yes, 8 and currently 6 of the 8 range from 50 to 55.  Two sets of them are the same age for about a week and there are no twins.  Now do that math!

This visit brought the same memories for my girls that I had growing up.  And it was a pleasure to watch them just play.

The girls fished in the lake, caught minnows, and swam.  It made me smile to see grandma sitting in the chair watching them giggle.  She had to remind them that the ooey, gooey, bottom was perfectly fine and I often heard her say, "your mother swam in this lake all the time." That I did, and fun it was!

The famous paddle boat...we used to take this baby to the middle of the lake and jump off.  Last one off had to drive it back!  I'm pretty sure I was the last one off.

 

You can see that Grandma's B&B offers a humble, sweet, cozy place to relax, unwind and enjoy the simple things in life!

Thanks Grandma & Grandpa for taking such great care of us!  We love you!

In the sunshine state

I realized some of y'all might be curious as to where I've been!

The girls and I left for the sunshine state June 1st. We've had fun visiting dear friends and family, hanging at the beach and pool, watching my nephew graduate high school, and helping Bestie B prepare for her upcoming nuptials!

We will be back soon and I will be sure to share lots of pictures and details!