Disney World: Wrap Up

I know some families go to Disney World regularly, and not just people who live close to it! When we were waiting for a show we chatted with a family from Houston, TX (almost as far away as San Antonio) who had just been at Disney the previous year... AND they were departing from there for a Disney cruise! That is not going to be our family. Besides the distance and cost and stress (for me) of planning this trip, I just think there are too many other interesting places in the world to go to the same place every time we take a family vacation. So I want to remember all of this trip. 

We stayed at Shades of Green. It is a Armed Forces Recreation Center, which means a military and DOD only hotel. There were some things we didn't love about it, but overall staying there was a good experience.

It's so, well, green there!

The room was plenty big enough for us, which meant no one had to be kicked all night long sleep in the bed with Elliott.

Loving having a queen bed to herself! At least, until she started asking to sleep with Mommy. (Not sure why this picture is sideways. Sorry.)

At first Abbey complained about having the little bed, but she realized it was quieter over in the corner. She used a sleep mask and I really think it helped her go to sleep if Chad and I were still moving around. 

We walked from Shades of Green to the nearby Polynesian Resort several times so we could catch the monorail. We saw a little brown bunny on our way almost every time, and nicknamed her Poly.

Can you see her?

Our last evening at Disney, we went to the Downtown Disney area to have dinner and give Abbey one more chance to find that perfect souvenir. We enjoyed checking out the Lego store!

My favorite of the Lego statues outside the store- Buzz, Woody, and even R.C.!

Abbey immediately recognized this Lego Friends character... Olivia? Emma? Mia? I don't know.

Elliott found the perfect small Lego set to spend her last $5 of souvenir money.

The older my girls get, the more obvious their personality differences are. Elliott liked looking around in souvenir shops, but once she saw this Baby Minnie Mouse doll, complete with a blanket, that was it, she was sold and totally happy with her purchase. Abbey, on the other hand, could. not. make up her mind. She was driving herself crazy! Finally she decided on this "Nerdy" Minnie Mouse doll and a Monsters University pen. She also has been happy with her choices! 
One week after checking in, we loaded up the car again and waved good bye to Walt Disney World. We drove to Tallahassee and spent some time with one of my oldest friends, Chea, and her son Jesse. It was so good to see them! The kids all had fun and Chad got a break from driving. Then we pushed on to the Gulfport, Mississippi Navy Lodge, which was surprisingly nice. Our last day we drove from Gulfport back to Fort Worth. It was hot, everyone was grumpy, everywhere we stopped in Louisiana was yucky, and that last 10 hours was painful. We were all happy to be back at Nana and Les' house and see Chico! 
I am so thankful we had this opportunity. We truly had a good time being together and it left all of us looking forward to our next big family trip! 

Good bye Mickey Mouse! Thanks for the memories!