Disney World: On the Road Again

We went to Disney World! This was a trip that Chad and I had been talking about for almost a year. Last fall when he deployed we talked about going to Walt Disney World (in Florida) at Christmas as a big special trip when he returned. But that would have meant not spending time with families, so we changed it to spring break. Then his leave did not get approved in time, so we changed it to July. Fortunately we had kept all of this a secret from Abbey and Elliott so they would not drive us crazy asking every day for months when we were going to Disney World. 
When we did tell them in June, they were happy but not overly excited. After all, they didn't really know much about it. They started keeping track of their chores so they could earn "Disney Dollars" and we looked in books and online to learn about things we would like to do there. I began to feel very stressed about the whole thing. What if we drove over 1000 miles to get there, and spent a ton of money, and it wasn't even fun, let alone special?! So I did as much as I could to prepare for the trip to eliminate wasting time or money. But I'm getting ahead of myself.
The girls and I left a week before Chad to spend time with my family. We rode on the Amtrak train, the first time in four years. It was much easier and more enjoyable than the last time since the girls are older and could move around the train and entertain themselves more easily. 

Elliott (wearing her jacket as a Snuggy) and Hello Kitty are ready to travel

Abbey sat across the aisle from me and read her magazines

The day after arriving in Fort Worth, we took a day trip to Abilene (2 hours each way) to be at my cousin Kate's wedding reception. I also was able to catch up with my friend Christi!

Squished in the back of my Mom's Buick. So much together-ness. 

We also went to a Rangers baseball game, celebrated Independence Day with friends, and went to my cousin Grace's wedding reception. It was a busy and fun week! Then Chad arrived and we re-packed the car, said good-bye to Chico, Nana and Les, and hit the road... again. 

Our first day was a short trip, just a few hours to Pappaw Bill's house. The girls were glad to see him and the cows before getting back in the car. Then we drove most of a day through Louisiana, zipped across the southern edges of Mississippi and Alabama, and spent the night in Pensacola, FL. We arrived in time to go get our feet wet at the beach and check out the hammocks outside of the Navy Lodge. 

Chad relaxes after a long day of driving.

Then another day of driving... the girls really did well. They watched movies, Abbey read books on the Kindle, and Elliott wrote herself to sleep.

Find the pencil!

Wish I could sleep this well in the car!

We were all glad to arrive at Shades of Green on Walt Disney World and park our car in the garage for a few days. Next up... the Magic Kingdom!