Family Vacay Part II: The Fun Stuff!

The plane ride = not fun. But everything other than that was a blast! The resort was lovely and provided tons of stuff to do, and we just had a really, really good time following Sweets' lead. We basically did whatever he wanted to do and it worked out great. At the last minute we bagged the Magic Kingdom - I just didn't think he was ready after the local zoo debacle - and it was the best decision we could have made. My conference was fantastic too, though it was challenging to sit in all those sessions knowing Sweets and Hubs were having such a good time out at the pool! Instead of describing all the fun, I'll let the pictures do the talking:

We began each morning with a trip to the resort's awesome playground while it was nice and cool out.

The grounds were sprawling and we often could entertain ourselves just by walking around.

After the playground, it was time to hit the pool! Or should I say poolS? There were probably about six of them to choose from, including this 1 foot deep kiddie pool, which Sweets loved.

We did take a shuttle over to Downtown Disney one afternoon to get our Mickey fix. Sweets was not impressed. Doesn't it look like he's having fun? ;)

Again, looking so thrilled.

"Mom, seriously, enough with the hats."

Outside the new T-Rex restaurant (which absolutely terrified my son, by the way).

These dogs made out of Legos were much more his speed.

Aaaaaand then there was our ill-fated dinner at the Rainforest Cafe. I knew going into this that it was going to go one of two ways for Sweets: love or hate. You can guess which way it went. He may look content here, but that's only because the first thunderstorm and its accompanying frantic rainforest animals hadn't struck yet.

The rest of the meal was spent in one of the following ways: a) reassuring him that the animals weren't real and couldn't hurt him, b) trying to distract him with his overpriced Cars souvenirs, c) walking around the gift shop with him, or d) trying to convince him to eat his $9 dino nuggets. 

Each evening we walked on the lakefront beach. Soooo relaxing!

Do they come any cuter? I think not.

Family foot portrait :)

Hubs managed to catch this super fast little lizard. Isn't he cute?

On Friday evening, my brother and sister-in-law drove up to see us and we all went to Universal's Citywalk, where we dined on some mighty tasty shrimp and gelato, and had a great visit! This photo was taken like a minute after Sweets totally blew out his diaper while waiting in line for a water taxi. That was fun.

It is my goal in life to stay at the Portofino Bay Resort someday. Does it look like we're in Orlando, FL, or Portofino, Italy? You decide.

While we were walking around, Sweets found these little paved walkways and kept referring to them as train tracks. All he wanted to do was drive the "J train" around on them all night!

After our evening out, Sweets was BEAT. He fell asleep in Uncle K's car and slept all the way back to the hotel, up the elevator, through getting changed into his PJs and until 8:30 the next morning!

Our last morning at the hotel :( But, um, how stinkin' cute is Sweets taking in the view for the last time?

Killing time before our shuttle to the airport.

So long, Disney Dolphin Resort. We thoroughly enjoyed you!

For a few days after our return, I had that bittersweet "our vacation is over and I'm so sad about it but so happy to be home" feeling. It didn't take long to slide back into our little summer routine, though. I'm so behind on blogging - we've done so much in the last month! - but hopefully will be able to catch up now that life is back to normal. Have I mentioned lately that Sweets turns TWO on Wednesday? I can't handle it. At.all. Where have the last 24 months gone???