Yesterday we returned from a week-long vacation to Orlando. It was our first "real" vacation since Harper was born. I say "real" because Portman did absolutely no work while we were there, and didn’t even bring his blackberry! We had an amazing trip and Portman and I were both surprised at how much fun Harper had. We expected that she would be a little bit overwhelmed and scared by the characters and rides, but we were so wrong! She loved every minute of it, was excited to hug all of the characters and laughed through all of the rides. We did 4 parks: Magic Kingdom (twice, actually), Epcot, Hollywood Studios, and Animal Kingdom. There were so many great moments over the week, so I’ll have to pick my favorites. Also it will probably be months before I actually upload all of the photos, so I’ll include a lot below.
On our first day at the Magic Kingdom we shut down the park, staying until the last parade. During the parade Harper sat on Portman’s shoulders, her face covered in chocolate milk, and squealed with delight when she saw a character that she recognized. Mid-way through the parade the Little Mermaid float came into view. Harper saw King Triton and screamed at the top of her lungs: "I see SANTA!"
Harper watches her Winnie the Pooh movie over and over again (the classic one, not the new one), so we were not surprised that she was so excited about seeing "real Pooh" and "real Tigger." She hugged them so hard, and wouldn’t let go even to take a photo! We had to pry her off of them, and she still wakes up every morning talking about them.
Roman was amazing on the trip and didn’t have a single fussy episode. He loved watching all of the action from his perch in the backpack or from the stroller. On many of the rides we just left him in the backpack and put him on the seat between us. Here’s a shot of him on the teacup ride – there was a lot to look at!
At Hollywood Studios we got to see a Playhouse Disney live show featuring Harper’s favorite cartoon in the world: The Little Einsteins. Harper was very excited to meet the characters. She only wanted to "bump" Leo, but gave June and Quincy huge hugs.
Roman took to peeing through his pj’s on vacation, so we had a bit of a laundry situation. Luckily Harper’s pj’s fit him just fine. You can put him in pink pj’s, but you can’t take the "boy" out of him!
Harper and Portman brushing up on their drumming at Epcot:
Baby’s first tortilla at the San Angel Inn at Epcot:
Playing in the dinosaur bones sandbox at Animal Kingdom. I have a photo of Uncle Kevin playing in the exact same spot in 2001!
Harper and Portman riding Dumbo – we had to do this one more than once because Harper is obsessed with elephants (she has no idea who Dumbo is).
Roman passed out in Harper’s Mickey blanket. We had to buy Harper a warm blanket because it was uncharacteristically freezing and she kept whining "I need Ro Ro’s blankie!"
Breakfast at Chef Mickeys. In the first photo Harper was studying Goofy and wouldn’t look at the camera, and Roman was actually chewing on Goofy’s hand over my shoulder!
Every night when we had to head back to the hotel, Harper would protest from the back seat yelling "no go HOME!" She made it very difficult for us to leave! Our favorite moment was when we were driving home from Epcot at the end of a long day and we were talking about how much fun we had. Harper was saying her usual "Mama so happy, Daddy so happy," then she paused and thought for a second before saying "and I so happy!"