Orlando, FL 32836
Sorrento, FL 32776
Merry Christmas!
Our week started off in perfect fashion, at Disney World. Since we have such little space in the trailer we decided to treat the kids to Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party as part of their Christmas gifts this year. The park closes early, but, with special tickets, the event starts at 7pm. When I was researching online I found multiple blogs that referenced the fact that the gates were actually open to the event at 4pm! Three free hours at Disney? We’ll take it!
When we arrived on property we went to the Grand Floridian and the Contemporary Resort to view the annual gingerbread displays that are just amazing. The Grand Floridian gingerbread house even had smoke coming from the chimney. Pretty cool. Then we ate lunch at the Polynesian at around 2:00, then headed over to the park for the party. In true Disney fashion the gates opened even earlier at 3:40 sharp! We entered the park and had 3+ hours to explore before the party started. We started at Monsters Inc Laugh floor and both Brytan and Charlie were part of the show! Then we went on the Tomorrowland Speedway and Charlie got to drive her own car for the very first time. She was so excited.
After that we hit a few more rides before we headed to the castle for the big lighting ceremony. There were tons and tons of people standing there waiting for the show to start and then the most terrible thing ever happened…… it started to pour! It rained the kind of rain that soaks you to the bone in seconds. Yuck!
We dried off the best we could and waited out the rest of the deluge. When the rain stopped we headed over to Fantasyland and enjoyed complimentary hot chocolate and cookies. The night was wonderful but wet. The rain was off and on but luckily stopped long enough for the Christmas firework show — which was truly amazing — and the Christmas parade. We caved and bought ponchos so that helped too. (I think we buy ponchos on every trip.) We were in the park to the bitter end and the kids were full energy until about midnight, then it was a pretty quick shut down. I think they were both asleep before we got out of the parking lot. What a perfect night, well almost perfect.
On Wednesday we played Bingo again and boy was it an exciting night! Scott and I won game on the same number at the same time! Crazy! If we keep winning, they aren’t going to let us play anymore. Brytan also added excitement when he pulled out his tooth during intermission! He told every person there and they were all sweet to be excited for him. The tooth fairy was very good to him too, she had a wide variety of unwrapped Christmas presents to choose from for his gift.
On Friday Charlie and I met a group of ladies at the clubhouse to bake Christmas cookies for the campground. We all wore red aprons and hummed along with the Christmas music while baking yummy cookies. Charlie is a very accomplished baker and kept up with all of the ladies there. She also got the honor of decorating all of the cutout cookies with sprinkles. She was the only kid there and definitely the star of the show. By the end of the afternoon, all of the ladies were calling her by name and talking about how sweet she is. Of course, she loved every minute of it!
Saturday we did some cleaning inside and out. Scott had to repair the screen door from an unfortunate incident with the dog. And I used our shiny new ladder to clean all of the outside windows. When we were done with all of that excitement the kids needed help decorating their bikes for the annual Christmas parade through the campground. All of the golf carts and even some Larks were lavishly decorated for the parade. Our kids were the only kids who decorated their bikes and rode all through the campground in the parade. It was really cute. Later that night we attended the annual Wekiva Falls Christmas program. It was just about what you would expect for a campground. The resident Karaoke expert crooned a few Christmas carols and some crazy “elves” sang a few songs too. It was interesting to say the least. When it was over, we enjoyed the Christmas cookies we had all made the day before and headed to the mall to finish some Christmas shopping. It was a lovely day.
I have to admit that I have been a little homesick for family and friends this week. I am so thankful to be spending the holidays with my little family, and God has blessed us and given us so much to be thankful for this year, but it feels strange to be missing some of the annual traditions that have become such a part of our memories. The Christmas Program at church, hosting my “Favorite Things” party with all of my girlfriends, concerts and snow. Yes I said it, snow (although Scott doesn’t miss that part at all). I am truly enjoying the palm trees, and I am all about the fact that it is projected to be 88 degrees on Christmas but it’s not what I am used to. I guess it’s good to try new things and make new memories, but to everyone that has been a part of our Christmas before now, know that you are truly missed and are appreciated even more this year for how much you make our holidays special. We love you all and wish you a Merry Christmas!
