The thing about post-vacation recaps...

The thing about post-vacation recaps is that they're boring. Unless you were there, you don't want to read about our trip in nauseating detail... "We left home at precisely 8 am, arrived at the airport with plenty of time to grab a latte and play on the people movers..." Yuck. I don't even want to write it, so I know you don't want to read it.

I hope you had fun "following" us via the pictures I posted while we were gone. Some of them were blurry - sorry about that. The iPhone's camera has limits, and does well when things are still but poorly when they're moving. It's hard to see how blurry they are on the phone's screen. I was surprised at just how blurry a couple of them were when I had a chance to see them on a real screen!

I do have a couple of favorite pictures that I'd like to share:


I took this one. Our friend Mandy, from college, and one of her daughters (Kelsey - Morgan was sick and couldn't come. :( ) met us at Seaworld. I took this one of the three girls in the underwater dolphin viewing area (which was one of my favorites - mainly because it was air conditioned).


Mandy took this one. I'm going to have it blown up and framed because I really love it. Kelsey and MG were so cute. They held hands the whole time and were just the best of buddies from the moment they met. I guess Kelsey's been asking her mom if MG can come sleep over ever since we left Seaworld. We're hoping to see them again in a couple weeks when they come north to see family.

MG just looks like a rock star in this one, that I took at Animal Kingdom. Claire was asleep in the stroller at this point.

The Magic Kingdom photos are almost entirely on my cell phone or on the disposable camera we bought because I'm an idiot and I left the battery for the camera in the hotel room that day. I'll get them processed (the 80s called...) and uploaded soon.

MG got sick yesterday at school. At least she waited until we got home from vacation!! When I picked her up, her teacher said she thought MG was tired, but she spiked a fever shortly after we got home and ended up vomiting once. She seems to be over it now. We're staying close to home today, just in case Claire comes down with it too.

Overall, the kids were incredibly good while we were gone. They didn't break anything at my grandma's or at Aunt Roz's house, which was the main thing I was worried about! There was very little screaming on the plane, almost no fighting, and with few exceptions that can easily be chalked up to fatigue or hunger, they were really good. Surprisingly good. I was so proud of them!

If you are going to DisneyWorld, I highly recommend the Nemo Musical and the Lion King shows at the Animal Kingdom. I also recommend the princess lunch at the castle (although it's really expensive!). I recommend not shopping while you're at the parks. We didn't buy anything at the MK, and only bought our Minnie dolls right before we left the AK. Instead, we did the bulk of our shopping at Downtown Disney, which is free. That way, we didn't waste our precious and expensive "park time" shopping, and we didn't have to worry about something getting stolen out of the stroller while we were in a show or on a ride. It worked quite well.

One idea that my dad gave us right after we got married, which I still love, is to buy a Christmas ornament every time we go on vacation. That way when you put up the tree in December, you get a physical reminder to help you remember every vacation you've taken as a family. We got our ornament at Downtown Disney, as well as some Disney themed Mr. Potatohead pieces (MG just loved playing with the Potatoheads!). We also got a gift for Pierre, who housesat for us.

I do wonder how anyone actually lives in Florida - between the bugs and the reptiles and the heat and the humidity and the tolls and the tourists... I couldn't live there. It was so good to get home. It's cold and wet and rainy here, and I couldn't be happier. The leaves are turning, and we've had grilled cheese and soup for lunch, and it feels like October.

It's good to be home.