Disney World!

I had absolutley no idea, when I started planning our Disney trip, how much work would be involved.   Meals have to be booked far in advance and how do you choose where to eat when you have never been there before?  If you are eating in the park, then you have to know what park you will visit on which day in order to make the dinner reservation. Plus, I was planning for multiple families, so it was easy to second guess my choices.   There are books and websites dedicated to helping you make the best decisions, but be prepared to read read read!  Once we landed in Florida, though, I decided to quite stressing over details.  We got up when we were ready to get up, skipped the lines that were too long to stand in, and didn't make it back to the hotel once for a nap.  And do you know what????  Everyone had a wonderful time.  The girls loved all the characters, the food was much better than I expected, and although our feet were tired, the walking and waiting in line wasn't bad at all.  I do wish we would have been able to stay a few more days and had stayed at the hotel and rested on day 4, but other than that, I wouldn't change much at all.  I am thankful that my brother and his family and my mom were able to join us.  It can be hard to share your "family" vacation, especially since we don't take them very often, but it was so nice spending time together.  Although Elyssa only sees her cousin once  every couple of years, they really seem to enjoy each other's company and I love watching how they interact with each other.  Elaina took right to Baby Jay and even gave him her own little nickname.  This was a fantastic vacation and was worth every bit of the planning.

For those of you wondering, I didn't take my "good" camera.  I just didn't want to have to worry about lugging it around or keeping an eye on it.  So, I bought a Canon Powershot S95 off of Craigslist.  It is small enough for the little cell phone pocket on my little purse.  I wish I had had more time to learn to use all the features before we left, but it is obviously a great little point and shoot.  I am suppose to sell it now that we are back home, but that is going to be easier said than done. :)