Disney Trip 2011

Both the kids birthdays are in the first week of February.. Owen on 2/6 and Molly on 2/5. Yeah it's fun remembering that when we're filling out forms! Before we were considering this assignment, we had already made plans to take them to Disney World for a few days as a birthday present for them both. After we had decided to move, it was even more perfect an opportunity because we probably wouldn't get back down to Disney World for a few years.

To make it even better, my brother Seth, his wife Mary and their girls also planned to come down and join us.... then as a final surprise, Allison's parents happened to be in Florida on the same week, so they stopped in for 2 days to join us in the parks with the kids.

The trip was so much fun. Molly was the perfect age to be excited about everything and Owen was now big enough to ride some of the rides "that he's wanted to for his whole life!". We had a rental car to drive to the parks and stayed at the Disney property Port Orleans. The room was basic, but nice. We've stayed at many of the local hotels, on and off the Disney property, and we still prefer being on site as it makes everything so easy. So here's some pictures from the week.

Our little travelers at Philadelphia airport, ready to go! The flights were great and we had no issues with the kids. They have flown several times with us now, so we're prepared with stuff to keep them occupied... and they know all the rules. NO kicking the seat in front of you! :)


Owen is obsessed with trains... here he is showing little sister the ropes on the shuttle tram at Orlando Airport.


Our little man.

Seth and Mary drove down with their family, and met us at Epcot on the first day. Seth gritted his teeth and did not vomit after riding Space with Alyssa. The first characters we saw were Chip & Dale. Dale has a red nose for those of you that are wondering.

On to the sea where Molly just loved the aquarium. I think the kids would have spent most of the afternoon there if we let them. As usual, Turtle Talk with Crush was a huge hit.

Still in Epcot for dinner and we ran into the Chipmunks again.

First Mickey sighting of the trip!

Making memories.

Magic Kingdom on day 2. Molly on the ever-favorite carousel.

And brother right behind her.

Molly was so silly with her 3D glasses. Here she is laughing it up with Aunt Mary.

Two peas in a pod. Owen and Riley in Tomorrow Land.

I can say enough how happy we were with how the kids played and occupied themselves during meals. This was a pretty typical picture of the gang as we waited for food. Busy coloring, filling in mazes, playing tic-tac-toe. It was great to see.

Molly's birthday was a rough day... for Owen. Unfortunately he came down with a 12 hour bug that we discovered as he bolted to the bathroom at 7am in the morning and threw up. Then again... and again.. and again. My poor little guy must have thrown up at least 10 times or more every half hour or so during the morning and early afternoon. Finally during the middle of the afternoon I packed him up and we drove to the resort store and picked up some ginger ale... after some sips the sugar and hydration kicked in and he was able to sleep for a few hours. When he got up, we hydrated some more, no more puking and we were on the mend. We met the family for dinner at downtown disney, where Grandma and Grandpa joined us as well. Allison, Molly and the rest of everyone enjoyed Animal Kingdom during the day.

Molly and her cousin "mommies" Ellie and Alyssa.

Dinner with the family... Molly's birthday cookie and scoop of icecream!

The next day, Owen was back in shape and ready to take on the world. For his birthday we took him to the new RC car shop at Downtown disney, Ridemakerz. Here, the kids can pick out the type of car they want, wheels, stickers, build the car and test it out. Owen was in his glory.


Chef Mikey's

Riding the teacups with crazy Uncle Seth!

My princess.
Owen with Mr. and Mrs. Incredible.

At Hollywood Studios on our last day... waiting in line at the Toy Story ride. Molly was watching Mr. Potato head. :)

After we made it home to Philadelphia, we told Owen about our decision to move to Canada. He took it reasonably well initially, then as he started thinking about it more, he really took it pretty hard and cried about moving away from our house, his school, his grandparents and all his friends. Allison is in the back-seat crying with him and I'm trying to hold it together piloting the car down the turnpike. After talking things through with him for 20 minutes or so, he fell asleep and we had an awful quiet ride home. The next morning, he was like a different kid... we looked at pictures of Vancouver, and he started getting excited.