DISNEY!! Days 1 and 2

We had the best winter break at Disney!   I absolutely love Disney and we love to go any chance we can.  Winter break has been the time 4 of the last 5 years!  This year we had a big family trip planned with the family.  All 11 of us loaded up on Sunday and headed down to Orlando.  We had made reservations at another hotel in Orlando for Sunday and then Monday we moved to POP Century on Disney property to begin our fun park time.  Since Sunday was mostly driving we didn't do much once we were there.  The hotel did have a fun kid area that the kids played in but after dinner we were so tired and ready to rest up for the next day.

Ready to go!! And yes Disney vacations mean Disney outfits!

Sometimes you just have to make do on a diaper change!

 Our hotel had all sorts of fun kids games and things to do.  Bryce was loving it.  As you can see he was on the move constantly...one little blur!

I loved these little signs that were hanging on the wall! They fit these 2 to a tee!

Hotel rules...I mean yes, you do need to always kiss your mommy! 

dinner fun includes snapchat filters and selfies!

 Monday morning we were up early and headed to POP Century to drop off our bags and hit the bus to Animal Kingdom.  It was so nice to be able to hand over our luggage and be able to head on to the park for some fun!   We wondered how this trip would go with a 2 year old BOY.  Never underestimate the power of the word boy.  We had been to Disney with Kate before she turned 2 and when she was 2 1/2 and she was so easy.  Bryce is a different story.  He is so active and on the go.  Throw in some terrible two tantrums and we were a bit nervous.  Kelly more so than me, but he really did so good the entire trip.  We also had a lot of help with Pop and Sug.  You will notice his little lion backpack leash.  I admit to being that mom who always wondered why you would put a child on a leash.  Well fast forward to Bryce and I totally get it, bought my own, and did all the bribery to keep it on him when I could.  He really wasn't bothered by it too much and we made it a game.  The best part was meeting Rafiki, the monkey in the Lion King.  He actually got the leash and held it to play around with Bryce.  He was a lot of fun with the kids.  And a sidenote, Bryce LOVED all the characters.  He was not shy one bit with them and gave hugs and high fives out to each one he met.  Princesses mesmerized him as you will see on later posts!

princesses on the move

trying to get a family selfie...attempt 1

attempt 2 was more successful.  Bryce made it in by the top of his head! Kate who knows??

This little nature girl loved the outdoor scavenger hunt

my own little animals

We found autograph books for the girls and they loved getting all the signatures from the characters.  We have done this every time we go and Cohen still loves it and gets all into it!

Meeting Rafiki!  Rafiki quickly took Bryce's leash and signed autographs while holding it and posed for pictures!

He then had some picture fun with Kate...

This was Bryce's face on the entire safari ride.  He LOVED it!

The baby elephant was too cute!

We took a break after lunch for naps and to get our stuff settled into our hotel room.  Bryce was out!

Later that night we had our first character dinner at Tusker House in Animal Kingdom.  We met Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Daisy, and Goofy.  The kids had a parade as well.  The food was great!  Bryce loved the characters again and even posed for most of the pictures!

Cohen had chosen a Pocahontas costume to wear and since you can meet Pocahontas at Animal Kingdom she was excited to wear it.  We had a full day and got our chance to meet Pocahontas in at the last minute of the day!  Thank goodness we made it.  They bonded over talking about what to carry in their satchel bags.  It always amazes me how well these princesses play their roles when meeting the kids.  They do such a good job!

Pocahontas...meet Cocohontas

Terrible picture of me but I had a blast taking Savannah on the Primeval Whirl.  This was her first "roller coaster" ride and she was a champ the whole time.  We even took a video of us laughing the whole way!

The tree of life at night!

Day 1 was a success!  We were tired by the end but so much fun.  Rain was clearly staying in the forecast for Wednesday so we had to do some schedule changing for Tuesday.  I wanted to be sure we were at Magic Kingdom on a pretty day!  The kids were so excited that we had adjoining rooms with Sug and Pop!  Every night one of them would be in there sleeping with them.  Sometimes 2 of them!  Kate and Pop were pooped out on this night and fell asleep together.  They would watch some fun National Geographic shows at night.