Our Trip to Florida (by way of Savannah!)

Well, I figure better late than never to wrap up the posts about our (ahem...August) Florida vacation. This post is much shorter than the others, but still noteworthy, because instead of staying on 95S we took a detour and visited Savannah for a few hours. Savannah is a beautiful city and we'd never been there before. The main draw for us, since it was such a short detour, was to eat at either Paula Deen's restaurant "The Lady and Sons" or her brother's restaurant "Uncle Bubba's Oyster House".

If you know me, you know that I love to cook and bake. One of my Food Network favorites is Paula Deen. A few years ago my brother-in-law brought me some spices and sauces from her store in Savannah, and I was sold! Alas, the line was too long at "The Lady and Sons" (since we wanted to hit the road again after lunch), but I did stock up on some goodies from her store.

We decided to head on down the road (about a 10 min drive) to Uncle Bubba's Oyster House instead. Ok, so if you're ever in Savannah, you have got to eat here! The food was delicious the atmosphere was much more relaxed and appropriate for our 2-year-old to enjoy. We opted to eat outside, where we were able to enjoy live music and a beautiful view of the water. We ended up staying in Savannah for about 2 1/2 hours and then continued on our trek to Florida- bellies full and happy. =)

Highly recommended: Shore is Good Seafood Dip

Finally made it!

The First Full Day of our Florida Trip

On our first full day in Florida we visited Green Meadows Petting Farm in Kissimmee, FL. While it was a bit expensive, there was so much for John to do and enjoy that it made it worth it. John was able to ride a horse, feed goats, hold a chicken (!), milk a cow, pet a chick, and even take a train ride!

That same evening we visited Disney's Boardwalk. We enjoyed dinner and walked around a bit, just enjoying each other's company and the beautiful scenery. =)

Disney's Animal Kingdom =)

Our first Disney day was spent at Disney's Animal Kingdom. We had a great time! John loves any place with animals, so naturally he was a big fan of this park. The highlights were the Safari Ride and the Nemo show. ;)

Our Visit to the Magic Kingdom

Well, I'm still working in reverse order. ;) On the 3rd day of our trip we visited the Magic Kingdom. Our day started out with a visit to Chef Mickey's- a character themed breakfast experience at Disney's Contemporary Resort. I can definitely see why Chef Mickey's is as popular as it is- besides getting to meet the characters and get pictures with each one, the food is fantastic. John, of course, was too excited to eat very much. He was so eager to meet each character... until they got to our table! On of my favorite pictures is the picture below with Donald Duck- poor Donald can't figure out why our little man is fussing and won't give him a hug. =)

Here's a little back story about our experience at the Monster's Inc Laugh Floor... cameras weren't permitted inside, BUT Will was called out from the audience and had to stand up and dance in front of the whole audience- on camera! He was a good sport about it!

Johnny and Will on the boat ride- I LOVE this picture.

All the boys.

Maw Maw and Johnny on "It's a Small World."

Scuttle says, "I think I spy bad weather coming!"

Disney's Hollywood Studios!

One of our Disney vacation days was spent at Disney's Hollywood Studios. We started the day off with a character breakfast at Hollywood and Vine, which was delicious. Of course, the main attraction of some of the Disney buffet breakfasts isn't the food (although it is delicious). Nope, you're mainly paying to meet some of the Disney characters- and Disney in all their wisdom features different characters at each of the restaurants. We chose those this once because it featured the Little Einsteins. =) Sadly, they weren't all there, but Johnny did get to meet June and Leo, which thrilled him.

The other main highlight was meeting Lightning McQueen and Mater! Anyone who knows Johnny knows how much he loves cars, especially the cars from Cars, the movie. Lightning and Mater are his favorites, so it worked out well for him.

Johnny, Daddy, and Leo.

Johnny, Mommy, and June.

Grandma and Johnny.

Lightning!

If you know John's love for Cars, you'll know how big of a moment this was for us!

I love you, Mater. =)

Staring at Mater.

Caught in a web!

Sliding down a leaf!

It was HOT!

Hugging Rocket.

Excited!

The star of the show: Mickey!

The Little Einsteins.

Enjoying the show in Daddy's lap.

John was so excited to see Tigger!

Daisy

Minnie

The Little Mermaid show was awesome!

Model used for Pearl Harbor.

Stunt show.

Herbie!

Costumes from "Enchanted."

Our Day at Epcot!

On our next to last day in Florida we visited Epcot!  While I remember REALLY enjoying Epcot during our last Disney trip, it was a bit different with an almost-3-year-old.  The highlights of this day were the walk "around the world" and the Living Seas exhibit featuring Nemo!  Also a highlight was the food you can get in each of the countries!  (a little guacamole in Mexico, a frankfurter in Germany, a pastry in France...)  MMmmmm, I'm getting hungry just thinking about it.  =)

Disney Vacation- Magic Kingdom (Last Day)

Last month, Will, John, and I joined Will's family for a vacation to Walt Disney World.  When I originally started this post, I thought I'd do one big Disney post.  Who was I kidding?  So now, I guess my posts will be a little disorganized since I am starting with the last day of our trip.  ;)  Oh, well.    

Our last day in Florida began with a second trip to the Magic Kingdom.  The highlights of this visit were meeting Mickey and Minnie and John's first roller coaster ride, which he LOVED!  (video of the roller coaster ride to follow)

After a busy day at the Magic Kingdom, we concluded our day by celebrating Angie's birthday at Maggiano's in Orlando.  =)  

Train ride at the Magic Kingdom.

Mommy and Johnny on the train. =)

Mickey's house.

Daddy and Johnny in Mickey's house.

Daddy kissing Minnie. 

Group pic with Mickey and Minnie!!!!

The Barnstormer!

Impatient in line.

Riding with Daddy.

That was FUN!

Riding with Mommy.

It's a Small World.

Jungle cruise.

Elephants (yes, they're fake).

The Castle!

So tired- and trying to nap in the stroller with his "new friends".

Maw and Pop- can't wrap their heads around the portion sizes!

John enjoying his spaghetti dinner!  YUMMY!

Angie- the birthday girl.  ( I have no idea why Dennis is making that face!)

Happy Birthday, Angie!  We love you!