We finished out our mommy-solo week with an evening at Epcot. Zach actually landed from Ireland that same night but it was good for him to be able to get home and get some SOLID SLEEP and then have us arrive the next morning rather than all of us to get home at the same time. That flight is no joke and I was thankful for all the timing.
The downside for me was that we ended with Epcot rather than Animal Kingdom. I didn’t stay for the night show at Animal Kingdom but I LOVE Illuminations and wasn’t about to skip out on that! So it meant I got VERY little sleep that night as I needed to be all packed up for myself and all four kids from our 9 day trip down there AND have the house all picked up and in order including all the owners items that we leave there etc. It was a LOT to do. But it was all worth it and we really had SUCH a great week!
I felt bad because Zach missed us BIG TIME and I felt guilt that really the whole entire week went SUPER smoothly for me solo with the kids! We had a great time and made great memories and really enjoyed it all. I’m thankful we’re not doing it again anytime soon as it really put a BIG dent in our summer, but I also think I made the best of the situation and was able to not have a single resentment or bitterness towards Zach for being gone for so long. I truly wanted him to enjoy himself and have a great time!
For Epcot evening we again left the babies back at the house and just had big kid time. I will say this part of the trip was probably my favorite. We were all so relaxed and just had a good bit of freedom and truly laughed and joked around and just soaked in all the fun together! Perfect ending to a great time!
Want to be sure to give a shout out to Casie’s All Things Crafty as the shirts all held up awesome and were SO CUTE!
Must. Have. Coffee.
Kye and Colt LOVE getting to ride stuff together!
I saw this on another stroller and thought it was pretty genius!
They used this stroller glider board (which we already own) to carry their cooler! SO smart and this way it avoids another stroller tip over!
I LOVE that Disney is stepping up their pass holder game and doing more for pass holders lately. They have started making special magnets and we picked up our Donald Duck ones while at Epcot!
G-Mama also let each grand baby get a present from her and Britt struggled to pick between like 15 stuffed animals and we added several to her birthday list haha
Boo for our Little Boo
Time for Tessie’s Favorite!
Love Kye in a hat…but dude has gotta learn to tuck the ears 😉
As we left the ride in Mexico we walked out into RAIN. Yall. I ALWAYS pack my rain gear. But we hadn’t had ANY rain the forecast AT ALL and with all my rushing around to get things ready for all the kids each day and trying to pack up to head home I didn’t even CHECK. I had NONE of our stuff with me! I always keep an umbrella in my book bag at all times but other than that we were without a single piece of rain gear.
It was funny because out of all of us Courtney didn’t bring any rain stuff on the trip but bought it when we arrived and she was the only one who actually had it with her! Ha!
We just went with it and it was actually really fun running through the rain. The kids LOVED it!
Casey wanted a solo pic in front of Italy and it was so funny that this huge group of European guys asked to get in the picture with her. What was even funnier was right after all their girlfriends must have seen it happen and immediately came running over to get in the picture too haha
Colt and Kye are at such a funny age. That pre-teen stage is so interesting because one minute they are acting silly and the next they get super embarrassed. I guess there was music playing and they were dancing and being funny and a group of girls walked up and Kye was mortified haha
My big girl!
Waiting for American Adventure
We ate dinner in America which worked out really well. We packed a lot of food for the kids and all just got our own dinners. I went on a hunt for a Mickey pretzel and lucked OUT! First of all they hooked me up with TWO pretzels and they didn’t have my regular coke icee so I tried something different and LOVED IT. If you’re looking for a snack in the America area def try out “The American Dream.” It has frozen strawberry slushee, vanilla ice cream, and then blue raspberry slushee on top. SO GOOD.
Tess is at her absolute most adorable self when she’s running on very little sleep. She’d had a late night the night prior and didn’t sleep AT ALL during her nap so she was exhausted and hilarious.
These tiaras are so cute! I really need to go back around World Showcase and grab ’em for the girls!
Stickers Galore!
Both Britt and Tess were just in love with this cast member and her dress and style. They kept saying how pretty she was and wanted a picture with her. So cute and I bet it made her day!
We had a pretty chill afternoon and did a lot of just kinda hanging out while we waited for our Frozen fastpass! Everyone loved the ride!
I hate that my crunk hands are covering what looks like it might be a terrified Courtney haha
Check out how adorable the four big kids look together 🙂
Adding more to her wishlist…yet another doll that would never be played with 😉
Gotta have a pic with the troll!
G-Mama always getting the hook up with the special snacks 🙂
I tend to enjoy watching Illuminations from Norway as it’s usually pretty easy to find a good spot along the fence and it’s not nearly as crowded as Mexico or the entrance to World Showcase. The walk isn’t much worse to get to the exit and it’s not as congested because the big rush of people is further ahead when the show ends!
While we waited I heard from Zach that he’d landed safely and gotten back home from Jacksonville and that he was ready to see his wife and babies! We missed him SO MUCH and couldn’t wait to get home to him too!!!
It’s such a blessing that Zach has such a close bond with his Dad and is able to make these memories together. I’m also thankful that I am able to stay home with my babies and that I was able to take advantage of this quality time with them! The week was split up so well that it all flowed easily and we had a great time together!
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