More Vacation!

Well, we are finally moved into our new home! We will miss our awesome neighbors, but are excited to finally have a place of our own. It has been an insane week! Not only did I have to move a family of 9, but I had kids taking turns getting some kind of 24 hr fever, Little Sis' elbow got pulled out of the socket, Little Bro. locked himself in my new bedroom and fell sound asleep, and on and on. We finally got our internet hooked up, so here I am!

Anyhow, before I can move on to "new house" stories, I want to finish off my vacation story.... When I found out that Downtown Disney had a Ghiradelli ice cream shop, I knew we were going to have to visit it! It turned out that they also had a Haagen Daas shop, but, sorry, Ghiradelli got me first.

At $9 per sundae, I informed my children that we would be sharing--unless they wanted to buy their own!
We did get a discount due to the coupon book the resort gave us, so that was nice.

The little girls and I shared a chocolate covered strawberry delight, the bigger girls shared some kind of strawberry cheesecake one, the boys had a regular sundae, and I don't remember what The Dad had.  They were totally awesome and I am SO glad I budgeted for this sweet treat!

Another fun thing was a golden-statue lady we passed by.  The Dad and I saw her on Friday night and people were taking turns going over and standing by her to take pictures.  The Dad told me to go stand by her for a pic and I was like, "No way!".  So, when we saw her there on Saturday with the kids, The Dad told them to go stand by her for a pic.  The older kids were like, "No way!", but the younger ones were game. 

Just to be clear, this is a real, living, human being, dressed in some gold to look like a statue. 

So, after the kids got their picture with the golden lady, they started to walk away.  As they did so, the golden lady took Middle Sis' hat!   It was so unexpected that I had to giggle (and of course, there is a crowd gathered around watching all of this). 

Without missing a beat, Middle Sis turned around, grabbed Little Bro. around the stomach, and lifted him up while he tried to reach the hat!  It was too cute! 

Next, the golden lady pointed to Little Bro. and then to her cheek.  The Dad told Little Bro. to kiss the golden lady on the cheek.  He did so and turned around and walked back to me while Middle Sis received her hat back.  Totally cute!

Photo Opp by a refreshing fountain!

 More photo opportunities outside of the huge Disney store. 

I think I have shared most of our highlights with you.  We had a WONDERFUL time and I am SO glad we were able to go!   My father asked what my favorite thing was and I'd have to say the uncreative answer of The Magic Kingdom.  Love taking a vacation that had something for everyone!  Even 2yr old baby sis will still see a picture of the Disney World castle on my computer and say, "Dih World".

Another favorite thing of mine, was just relaxing on the balcony and not having to go anywhere or do anything!   Just for a bit anyway. 

When The Dad and older kids went to Islands of Adventure, I took the little ones swimming in the morning and then went back to the villa, had some lunch, and they watched the Disney channel while I went to relax on the balcony.  I dozed off for a bit and when I woke up it was quiet.  I went inside and found that Little and Baby Sis had both fallen asleep on the couch and Little Bro. was asleep on his bed.  Middle Sis was quietly playing on my laptop.  It was at that moment that I was SO glad we didn't join the older ones at Islands of Adventure!  I got a wonderfully quiet and relaxing afternoon!

The drive home was a bit longer than the way down (or seemed that way), but it was nice as well.  I love this pic of Baby Sis all tuckered out in the middle of the blanket!