Easter in Orlando

Easter Egg Hunt, a photo by tracyg00 on Flickr.

We went to sunny Orlando for spring break this year. We stayed at a Sheraton resort that was really close to the Disney theme parks. We arrived on Saturday evening. The Easter Bunny visited our room while we were sleeping and the kids got up for a fun little egg hunt. We then ventured over to the resort's big Easter Egg Hunt! They each filled up a bag of treats. Mimi and Papa drove up from West Palm Beach to join us. We headed to Epcot later that day. to meet the Cleavelands.



When we were near "Italy" at Epcot, Darin became part of the show. He didn't disappoint (he's always up for stuff like that).



After a bit to eat, we made all four kids take a quick photo together. Obviously, Jake was not into my little photo shoot!



I took Megan and Lili on the Test Track ride. Jake went earlier with Pierce and Darin (otherwise I would have had a photo of him, too). The line was really long, but we made it up to the front (looking just a little nervous):



This ride got going REALLY fast right out of the gate:



Even though she looks a little scared, Megan loved it and wanted to immediately go on again. If the line wasn't so long, I would have let her ride again and again!

We ended up staying at the park until the fireworks ended and then everyone slept well that night!

On Monday, Jimmy drove down to join us and brought along Michele and Dane (who got to ditch school that day). We went to the Magic Kindgdom.

Here's a pic of the kids waiting in line for the Pirates of the Carribean ride:



And the Jungle Boat ride:



We took a break to eat and I snuck in a photo of myself (hee hee):



And then one parting family shot on our way out of the park (note how exhausted Jake appears):



The Cleavelands were heading back to Chicago on Tuesday, so we took advantage of their awesome pool while they were still there:



We headed back to our resort for a quick rest and then headed to Downtown Disney to see Circque du Soleil. The show was great (a little long for Jake).



Then we walked around downtown for a bit and got some ice cream before calling it a night:





Now that's good stuff!

Mimi and Papa headed back to WPB on Wednesday, Darin played golf and the kids and I just hung out at the pool. It was actually nice to not have anything to do that day! I think Thursday was the same deal, but now I can't remember! On Friday, Darin took the kids to a character breakfast at Disney's Polynesian Resort.







Then, we drove to Daytona Beach to meet Jimmy, Michele and Dane (who got to ditch school AGAIN!) It was a little chilly with the wind, but the sun sure felt good!



I think Jake was just happy to have a boy to play with!



And Megan was just lounging and enjoying the day (my little beach bum!):



The Space Shuttle was supposed to have launched that afternoon and we would have been able to see it from Daytona Beach, but it was postponed. Boo!

We got back at around dinner time, and headed over to the pool restaurant. The kids played a bit and then we visited our lagoon one last time to bid farewell to Jake's Duck Buddy. He had been feeding these guys bread and one little duck followed him around each time we went out there. He wanted to bring it home. Some final feeding pics:







We headed home bright and early Saturday morning. The kids were great travelers!