Florida

We have never really taken our kids on a big vacation. We have done what we call “mini-vacations” with them—to Duluth, to Lutsen, to Wisconsin Dells, to Hayward, around the metro, and mostly to the cabin in beautiful Hill City, MN. The decision to delay a big vacation was very intentional on our part. We wanted to wait until they could really enjoy it, and wait until we could really enjoy it with them. We wanted to save up our money so we could do it without worrying about every little decision.

Well… we did it right! Our kids were at the perfect age to enjoy Florida. And both Paul and I had a fabulous time.  Our research and saving up was worth it.

Here’s the run down. Five nights at Cape Canaveral, which included…
 
Kennedy Space Center


 
 
 
 
 
 














Historic Cocoa Village



 
 
 
 





Faith digging at tide pool.
Sebestain Inlet State Park (the best part!).  The water was aqua blue, waves were awesome, and we swam in a real tide pool (and collected crabs and shells).
 
Waves were about 6 feet.





  


















Eco-tour on the Banana and Indian Rivers/Lagoons (the second best part!) with lots of dolphins and manatees. 


Manatee drinking from air conditioner drain.

Dolphin family jumping.




 
 
 














We also did morning runs up to Jetty Park and saw lots of cruise ships leave the Port (right from the beach of our condo).  We ate at the port twice at Grills. 



This ship is actually a ways out,
compared to how close they were when they left port.





Grills

 


Girls at our condo.
 









Our trip to Ron Jon





















Lots of playing in the surf at our condo.






















Then we headed to Disney World. Now, I am the type of person who dislikes both consumerism and amusement parks, so you can imagine my dread of this last stretch of the trip. However, I quickly changed my mind. Disney is obviously family friendly, and I felt so safe there with my kids. Meeting people from around the world was amazing, and the educational components were great. I didn’t love all the fakiness, but I loved witnessing the creative potential of humans. Additionally, I was consistently impressed with Disney’s care for people with disabilities. On the last night, after the fireworks, I left thinking maybe wishes can come true.

 
We spent three days at Magic Kingdom.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Standing at the start of parade route.
 
 
 


 

Samuel reading while we waited for fireworks.






















We spent two days at Epcot.
























 
We spent one day at Animal Kingdom.

Everest was a favorite of Samuel's.


 






















We spent one day at Hollywood Studios.
Samuel playing a bucket game for Studio's Public Works.
Waiting for Fantasmic, which was cancelled due to...
well, you can tell.

























With one day of rest in between.


Swimming with ducks at Wilderness. 
They weren't in the pool in this photo though.

 
Riding on a boat through a storm.

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