disney family vacation: epcot

epcot is such a fun place and so full of experiences. we met so many characters including mickey and his gang. we also found alice & mary poppins in london and even aladdin and jasmine in morocco!  

going through each of the countries was the best.  we took a stop in norway to see the scenery that inspired frozen, and chased down the three amigos in mexico. and did i mention the tour of colonial USA?

i loved seeing the different styles of building, hearing the different accents and languages, and trying the yummy new food!  although, i'm not sure if croissants and creme brûlée in france and pizza from italy really count as stepping out of my comfort zone!

we also had a blast trying out the new test track ride, talking to bruce the shark, and experiencing mission space. 

walking log: 11.1 miles
favorite memory: dinner in italy was my favorite meal of the trip. i also really loved getting to see the behind the scenes inspiration for the movie frozen in norway! 

disney family vacation: animal kingdom

after our day at hollywood studios, the next park to conquer was animal kingdom.

we found the yeti on mount everest, experienced life as a bug underneath the tree of life, and even rescued a dinosaur! animal kingdom also has the most wonderful shows: the lion king and finding nemo.

we also had the chance to try african food for dinner.  disney is a great place to branch out of your comfort zone and try new things.

throughout the day, we found several friends for photo ops! the best moment of the day was when doug (the puppy from up) played charades with bub-hub to tell him he was friends with reveille (the texas a&m mascot)! grantham also taught pooh to "sic 'em bears".

i didn't want to leave.  our day at the animal kingdom was definitely my favorite.

walking log: 8.4 miles
favorite memory: even though the safari was probably my favorite ride, but by far, i loved the scenery the most. walking from region to region was amazing, and i definitely felt like i was being transported to another land.

disney family vacation: hollywood studios

a few weeks ago, my family flew to orlando for a disney adventure. we had been a time or two in the past, but this was bub-hub's first time to experience mickey-mania.  it was a week full of yummy food, fun adventures and lots and lots of walking. :)

we spent our first day at hollywood studios.  what a great place to start a disney vacation!

one of my favorite parts of park is definitely the pixar section. i love me some toy story and monsters university! i also really love getting to see all of fun behind-the-scenes-movie-magic stuff. who knew you could travel from san francisco to new york city in just a quick walk down the block?

we also explored the "honey i shrunk the kids" playground. hence the reason there is a picture of bub-hub and i holding on to a dog's giant nose.

after a great day of exploring and ride-riding, we ended our day with fantasmic. it's amazing how creative those disney folks can be with lights and water. so beautiful!

even though we started our day with a 6 am drive to the airport, our vacation adrenaline kept us going strong all day!

walking log: 7.2 miles
favorite moment: fantasmic!

forever honeymooners

bub-hub and i were fortunate enough to celebrate our anniversary in beautiful(ish) cancun!

i only say "ish" because our visit occured in the middle of tropical storm.
we didn't even bother to check the forecast before we left.

mexico always has perfect beach weather right??

so needless to say, we were surprised to be greeted with dark stormy rain clouds instead of clear blue skies.

despite the rain, we were so spoiled all week.

when we arrived at our room, we were welcomed with a fun anniversary banner on our door!

each evening, we came back from dinner to find our room was decorated with towel animals and rose petals and they even gave us a special "romantic" dinner. #awwwshucks

we spent our rainy days drinking lots of coca-cola light,

eating yummy yummy food,

playing mexican animal bingo,

trying new drinks at the martini bar,

getting fantastic massages,

and learning how to play chess.

#youknowyourejealous

 our last full day in mexico, we were blessed with blue skies and sunshine.

more sunshine than our sunscreen could block,

but we soaked up every minute we could!

i can't wait to go back again.

i loved getting to spend the week being lazy with my bub-hub.

 

back to reality

today, i am officially reentering the real world.

am i the only one who feels a down the first few days after vaca?

the last ten days have been full of fun, laughter, and celebration.

two beautiful weddings, time with family, sleeping on the beach in cancun,

eating too much guacamole and sipping yummy margaritas.

o mexico, you are the bomb[dot]com.

the real world is pretty fantastic too though.

i'm excited to start fresh and see what the week will bring.

bring it on houston.