Our Vacation (with pics)

Our trip to Florida was absolutely fabulous!  It was just what Trent and I needed for the two of us after a very stressful school year with work and grad classes and everything else.  Plus it was a chance for us to escape the daily drama of life and just be like little kids again!  That’s the whole magic of Disney…

*I tried to size down the pictures, so I hope they aren’t too distorted! 

Wednesday
When we arrived at Denver, the line to go through security was unebelievably long.  We were so happy that we had gotten there in plenty of time.  Our flight was delayed by about 30 minutes, but thankfully it was a direct flight so we didn’t have to worry about catching a connecting flight.  We got to Pop Century resort that evening probably around 8:00 or so, had supper, and headed to Magic Kingdom to catch a few of the rides.  We didn’t have to wait long in line because everyone was watching the light parade and fireworks, so that made for a fun time for us. 

Thursday
Thursday morning we overslept a bit (must’ve been a little more tired than we thought) and then headed to Epcot.  We spent the day there riding the rides and walking around the Showcase of the Worlds.  We stuck around to see their night show that night before heading back to the hotel.  We were pretty tired after a full day! 

Friday
Friday we headed to MGM-studios.  The Rockin’ Rollercoaster was down that morning, which disappointed us but we still rode on the Tower of Terror and went to many of their shows.  By afternoon, the coaster was back up and working, so we were very happy then!  After watching the Lights, Motors, Action show around supper time, we were warm and exhausted.  We decided to head out early and go to Downtown Disney for supper.  We ate at Planet Hollywood and did some shopping before heading back to the resort.

Saturday
Saturday Trent’s cousin met up with us at our resort and then we headed to Magic Kingdom.  She really wanted to meet Goofy and Mickey, so we figured this was the best park for us to take in that day.  We had such a great time with the three of us, and it was so nice to spend some time with Katie.  We did manage to get on many of the main rides numerous times throughout the day, which was great, and there’s no much that we missed.  We stuck around all day and then watched the light parade and fireworks that night before heading back to our resort.  Katie still had about an an hour drive to get home, so we didn’t want to make her too terribly late.  It was still about 11 before we got back to our resort anyway.  By this time in the trip, our feet were incredibly tired and sore!  It felt good to get back to the room every night and put up our feet!

Sunday
Sunday morning we got up and caught a cab to go to 9:30 Mass.  The Shrine was huge and beautiful!  We were lucky to find an older couple also headed to mass at the same time, so we were able to share a cab with them on the ride to the church.  That was a blessing and saved us some money!  After Mass we headed back to the resort where we ate lunch and then headed to the water park Typhoon Lagoon.  We had such a great time there!  We had never been to a Disney water park, so we weren’t sure what to expect.  It was a blast, and we loved the Crush ‘n Gusher water roller coaster!  Despite forgetting the sunblock in our motel room (which we are still paying for that mistake today), we had a wonderful day!  After being at the water park all afternoon, we showered and then headed back to Magic Kingdom.  We called our dads to wish them a Happy Father’s Day, took in some rides due to their late night magic hours, and then headed back to the room. 

Monday
Monday was devoted to Animal Kingdom, and that was a park that Trent had never been to.  We enjoyed the day, although that park definitely wasn’t our favorite.  It was extremely hot and muggy so we kind of took it easier that day.  We rode many of the rides and enjoyed the animals on the safari.  We did ride the Expedition Everest ride, which is new, twice that day. That ride was officially my favorite, and I wasn’t even going to go on it at first but I convinced myself it’d be all right.  It rained that night, so we waited around for it to pass, rode a few more rides, and then went back to our resort.

Tuesday
Tuesday was kind of a catch up day because we had already been to all of the parks.  So we kind of jumped from park to park that day.  We went to Downtown Disney in the morning for some shopping and lunch and also go to Disney Quest, and then we headed to Magic Kingdom in the afternoon to do some shopping and walk through the shops.  That night we went back to MGM-Studios and went on a few rides we missed before, and we wanted to see their night show Fantasmic!  It rained, so we managed to get wet while waiting for the night show but it was a great show!  Then we headed back to our resort and began to face reality that our trip was almost over.

Wednesday
Wednesday morning we checked our luggage with the airline at the resort and then walked around the resort taking pictures and seeing what all we had missed.  Then we went to Downtown Disney for lunch and walked through another shop or two before heading back to our resort to pick up our carry-on bags and get on the bus that took us to the airport.  Then we were on a plane headed back to Colorado where we then drove hom Wednesday night and got home about 2 am Thursday morning. 

Our vacation was absolutely fantastic, and I am so glad that we spent the money to do this one more time as a couple before thinking of starting a family.  We really needed this alone time with the two of us, and Disney is a place that we both love so much so it was perfect! 

We recovered on Thursday and then went to visit my brother and his family Friday – Sunday.  It was so nice to see my niece and nephew again.  Now I am home and just relaxing a bit and enjoying my summer.  I do need to get up to the school some and work on getting things situated in a new classroom, but I can’t really do that until the custodians get in and get the carpets cleaned and the things moved over to the new room.  I am excited to have a new space, but I am going to miss the closeness of my old room. 

Well, I really should get off of here.  Trent will be home soon from helping his dad, and he may be bowling tonight.  That means I better get some things figured out for supper!  Thanks for enduring through the minor details our trip — hope you all have had a wonderful month of June!