For some reason it didn't dawn on me until we were at the Magic Kingdom and I was riding a ride while Matt was on Cade-duty that our vacations are forever changed. Because from now on out, we have kids. One for now, but more someday we hope. We traveled quite a bit before starting a family and traveling now is much, much different than before. There's no such thing as having no responsibilities anymore. Because as long as your little people are with you, you have responsibilities. Even packing stressed me out. I wanted to be sure we were prepared for everything. Bottles, breast pump, burp cloths, enough diapers and wipes, changing pads, extra clothes in case of accidents, stroller, Baby Bjorn, toys, ponchos/rain gear, camera, etc, etc!
There was only a slight panic attack when they asked to see Cade's proof of immunization and birth certificate before boarding. Excuse me, what?! I didn't bring any of that...and I thought I was SO prepared. Turns out they just want verification that your child is under 2 so they can fly for free. Um, look at my child. He's under 2. So other than that, it was a very smooth trip. We didn't forget anything and everything went really well. We still love Disney World...just in a different way. Now I love the Baby Care Centers and people-watching not just the Fast Passes and their impeccable attention to detail.
Cade was perfect on the flight. He ate and slept and was quiet the entire time. I'd gladly give him the award for best behaved child under 5 on the flight. And our flight had at least 25 kids under the age of 5...or so it seemed.
Matt spent the entire flight working on how to make a pig out of a dollar bill. Finally, success.
Yea for the Magic Kingdom! Sporting the Family Reunion t-shirts. 18 of us hit the parks. Cade wasn't sure what to think.
We stayed on-site at Disney's Port Orleans so we took the buses or monorails everywhere.
Since we were staying on Disney property we got to take advantage of the "Extra Magic" park hours...Magic Kingdom was open until 1am...and we stayed until 1am.
Headed back to the hotel...feeling a little bad for keeping Cade out so late...but he was fine. We let him sleep in, we promise. :)
How did Cade spend his time at Disney?
We let him kick around a little on the changing pad at meal times. I did give him some pizza crust to appease him at one point. Don't worry, he didn't eat it. I knew he wouldn't. Matt freaked out because he thought Cade picked it up off the floor.
Meal times were the toughest. He was pretty restless so Matt and I had to eat in shifts and pass him back and forth. Speed-eating is my new hobby.
We only got rained on a couple times. But we're talking raining cats and dogs rained on. Good thing we had the disposable ponchos!
Cade did his fair share of napping no matter where he was.
I, of course, couldn't pass up my favorite ride, The Carousel of Progress. Matt insisted we take this picture for Jamie. Okay, so the ride is a little old fashioned. But it's the story that I love. Progress. It's everywhere!
Cade met Mickey and Minnie, Pluto, Goofy, and Donald. If they could talk, I'm sure they would have gone on and on about how cute Cade is. :)
The whole point of taking the trip now was to take advantage of the free dining promotion. Each day each person gets 1 snack, 1 counter service meal (drink, entree, & dessert) and 1 table service meal (drink, entree, & dessert) for FREE! I love food and I especially love free food. We ate some great meals...stuffed ourselves!
One of our table service meals was at the Japanese steakhouse at Epcot.
Dad struggled with the chopsticks before...
Asking a nearby random man for help. I kind of expected the man to be offended and say he was from Detroit...but instead he pulled out his own chopsticks that he had brought from home and gave Dad a lesson.
Pizza Safari
Prime Time Cafe was a really fun place with good homestyle cooking and cranky waiters and waitresses who tell it like it is and don't let you put your elbows on the table. It was decorated really cute and had TVs playing old shows. I think I could work there.
Character Buffet Dinner at the Grand Floridian where Cinderella's ugly stepsisters were all about the eligible bachelors in the family!
We celebrated the September and October Birthdays...again and again!
Gentry and Mom were recruited as extras in the Backlot Tour
We took Cade to see their performance without even thinking...
He HATED it!
Nathan has a really nice camera and is a great photographer. I tried to take pics when I saw him taking pics. :)
Cade won't remember, but he rode many rides and took in a lot of shows.
We sat out when the crew rode Splash Mountain...
Instead we hit up the Baby Care Center. They had one at each park and they were super handy. They had nursing rooms with changing tables and an area for kids to rest and watch Disney movies. It took a day or two to get our routine established but the Baby Care Centers helped us out a lot!
Time to head back to the real world...we don't look very enthused about it.
But before we depart, some pics of our resort.
We were in a different part of the resort than the rest of our reunion...not sure if that was intentional...
Cade was so tired after the long days he slept like a champ, 8-10 hours straight!
Waiting for the Magical Express to take us back to the airport...
Cade really was great during the trip. We can tell he too loves Disney World!
