The Vander"blog": The Happiest Place on Earth

Contrary to what it appears, we did make it home safe and sound last week. I always get such an amazing sense of accomplishment after we step off a plane with the kids and the flight actually went well. I don't call it luck. There was a lot of thoughtful, strategic planning that went it making it a success...i.e. DVD player with 30 movies to choose from, snacks galore, more markers and coloring books than you could shake a stick at...well, you get the idea.

When we arrived down in Tampa we had to come up with the same such entertainment when it disappointingly rained, no, POURED, the first two days of our trip :( It was also only in the low 60's, so the beach was out of the question. So Chad, always the Biology minor and a student of life, piled us in the car and took us to view the manatees trying to stay warm in the waters by a power plant. You can imagine my excitement!

Ky and I stayed under an awning and watched from afar while dodging puddles.

There was also a hurricane simulator that was actually pretty cool. Brynn said it was like a "big blow dryer"...with 80 mph winds. Now that would get your hair dry in a jiffy.

For more entertainment, I let Brynn run around with my camera at the condo. It wasn't until after I downloaded our pics that I found this gem. LOL.

Finally, the clouds parted and we were able to go outside. Here is B in her usual mode...running from my camera.

Gotcha!

Funny side note...this is her new Matilda Jane dress from their Hammond Bay Collection. It did not come in in-time for us to bring with us, so my sweet friend Kersten shipped it to us down in Florida. Now, had I known that this was the ONLY outfit she was going to wear while we were there, I would NOT have spent an hour packing her own bag and getting her input on what she would and would not wear while we were there. I know, she is such a diva and I am sure it is my fault. My mom gets great pleasure out of seeing her dressed in all her layers as it reminds her of my youth. Yeah, yeah the apple doesn't fall far...yada yada.

Anyhoo, the ONLY time she took this dress off was when I pried it off her while she slept so I could wash it. She was none too happy with me when she awoke those mornings in her actual pj's.

My boys. You think they look alike?

We had a great time at dinner with Grandma & Grandpa Van at "Crabby Brynn's", errr, I mean, "Crabby Bill's." Freudian slip.

Yes, the dress AGAIN.

The dress also made an appearance at the beach in Clearwater. It was breezy and cool, but the sun sure felt good.

The pool water was colder than the ocean, but she somehow sweet-talked her Grandpa Van in to getting in with her...then she got out ;)

The dress was hanging up at the hotel this night as she didn't want to get it dirty before making its appearance at the Magic Kingdom the next day.

I have always secretly coveted the photos I have seen of my friends with their kids smiling in front of the castle at Magic Kingdom. After about 20 shots, this was the best one we got. One big happy family ;)

Long story with these shoes...I'll spare you the details.

"It's a Small World" was a crowd favorite. Even Kyler loved it.

Paying homage to my Irish peeps...

and the Dutch wooden shoes.

The other item that made an appearance everywhere the dress went, was this little plastic replica of our Berkeley. Grandma Van had gotten it to put out in front of the condo to welcome us and also so B would know which one was their's and not cruise in the front door of their neighbors'. Well, as she got comfortable with her surroundings, she just decided to bring him with us EVERYWHERE we went. While in Orlando, he had a very unfortunate accident and fell out of the car while we exited it to go to dinner. You can imagine the horror of watching his ear, nose and tail shatter into a million little pieces right there in the middle of the street. Her reaction? You would have thought someone had just ran over Berkeley.