Disney World and Elmo too!

In all of my years I have never traveled to Disney World more than in the past 7 months. And while I really, really like Disney and all that goes with it, I was never a Disney fanatic per se. So I'm as surprised as anyone else that we have visited Mickey as often as we have. Blame it on Johnathan and the fact that we would happily travel all the hours up to Orlando and back just to watch his face light up when it comes time for the night time parade. I get it, I totally get every minute of it, and it's all for and about Johnathan.

I would like to point out that Jeff and I have been very good about our expenses on these trips! For example, we have never once paid for an admissions ticket, we purchased packages that included the hotel and tickets or in this case we participated in the "give a day, get a day" promotion. Jeff and I volunteered at the Susan G Komen Race for a Cure event in Estero and were given two free admission tickets to any Disney park.  Just thought I would throw that little tid bit in there.

Anyway, this trip to Disney was extra special because it wasn't just the three of us. We were joined by Grandma Lois, Auntie Kris and Uncle Kurt. We set out on the way up in hopes that Johnathan would sleep the whole way, we left right after dinner just about at his bed time.

Johnathan loves this picture book, I will ask him to find something and he flips through the pages until he sees it . . .


Then we danced to some music . . .


Finally when the sun set he closed his eyes and we had a very peaceful and quiet ride. We carried him to the hotel room which was already ready for us and let him dream about all the fun we were about to have!

Up bright and early the next day ready to go go go! Johnathan had fun coloring with Uncle Kurt while we waited for everyone to get ready.




Then we were in the car on our way!


We took the ferry boat over!


Waited on line for some of our favorite rides . . .




Saw Alice and the White Rabbit


Rode the carrousel




Then as someone got sleepy for his nap, went on the People Mover . . .


Before we knew it Johnathan was out. Side note - it was HOT, I mean really, really hot . . . we were sweating buckets and we were in the shade. Jeff being the awesome daddy that he is got Johnathan a little fan and held it near his face while he napped. Father of the year award material right here! ;-)




Johnathan would have napped a while longer, but unfortunately a very loud, very rude woman stood inches from Johnathan and yelled to her family a few yards away, which startled and completely woke Johnathan up. I'm not a violent person, but I nearly became one right then and there. Making lemonade of lemons, Jeff and I found a very short line for the Rocket Launcher ride and decided to give it a try.




You might not be able to see it, but Johnathan was not happy on this ride at all. Thank goodness Jeff had a good grip on him because I think he would have gladly jumped out of the seat! Yikes!

We decided to head over to watch the afternoon parade. And I have to really take my hat off to these performers. I seriously don't know how they do what they do with a smile on their face and not faint! While we waited for the parade to start a Disney employee handed out hula hoops for the kids to play with.




Jeff and I could smell a melt down a brewing so we went back to the hotel so Johnathan could get a full nap and before we knew it were back on our way to the park.


We met up with everyone and got on all of the rides we had missed earlier in the day. Here we are in line for the infamous jungle cruise, we remained dry which definitely made my day a little happier!


Then it was time for my favorite thing of all, Johnathan's favorite too. The night parade. To me this is what puts the magic in Magic Kingdom. Grandma Lois got Johnathan one of those spinning light toys which he loved!


Waiting for the parade.


One of the families that was sitting near us let Johnathan play with this while waiting for the parade. He was very reluctant to hand it back to them!


After the parade we found our way back home to the hotel. It was a very full day of fun, but the weekend wasn't over yet!

Next up was Elmo at Busch Gardens! We got up Sunday morning and drove to Tampa to see our favorite little red monster and all of his friends.




It was another really, really hot day. The heat index was something like 106 in the sun, not kidding. And Johnathan had not napped like we had hoped in the car ride over. It was going to be an interesting day! We found a fun carousel to hop on and cool down . . .


Then it was time for the Elmo show. Johnathan loved this!






Then it was time for the water park play area. This is where Johnathan had the most fun. He loves playing in the water!
















Johnathan and some other kid ran right into each other and fell down. John (nap-less and cranky) really started crying, so I tried to calm him down . . .


But we realized it was definitely time to dry off and find some lunch.




We found a nice spot in air conditioning to have lunch and cool off. Johnathan had fallen asleep on the walk over and we were happy to let him sleep! By the time we finished eating we realized that it was just too hot to do much else. We really enjoyed our time at Busch Gardens but hope to go back on a cooler day so that we can enjoy more of all of the fun things they have there.

Jeff, John and I hopped in the car and started making our way back to Naples. John napped most of the way home and so did I, but we did manage to wake up and enjoy the scenery as we got close to home.




It was a wonderful weekend that we have wonderful memories from!!