Tuesday, April 24, 2018

Spring Break 2018


 March was probably one of the BEST months of my life! I can't even express how much I love my family on both sides, as this last month was dedicated to family. I was able to leave my job, and then immediately was able to have my family come and visit me. They all stayed with us in our 1 bedroom apartment. It was SO fun; they were such good sports for not having much space. We had them on our pull out bed in our sofa and my sister on the couch/another air mattress. I couldn't bear the thought of being separated from them in a hotel. They were so great to have. I was so NOT ready for them to go home. They drove out from Utah, so they had that blessed experience of driving through New Mexico!

Here are a few of the memories of what we experienced together:




Seriously, could they be any cuter??


JFK Museum





We played so hard, we pooped right out on the way home from Magnolia. Hailey is in her first year of college, so I think that caught up with her. I don't know what my excuse was! lol




Joe T Garcia with the fam-fam!





We went to the Aquarium, the JFK Museum, Torchys, the Skylounge at Chase Tower, Twisted Root, Chop House Burger, Magnolia Market, the Silos, Stockyard Station, Joe T Garcia, and we just had the best time.  I'm totally ready for them to come back. It was just SO much fun having them, and it was so nice to be together. They spoiled us rotten. We ate SO much food!

They left on Saturday, and then Alex and I left for Orlando (driving) that same day. I was able to cross off 4 new states on my list (Lousiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Georgia). It was amazing seeing the beautiful South!

We met up with Carter and Kari and their family in Vicksburg, Mississippi to see the Civil War sites. It was one of the coolest sites I had ever seen!

BattleShip Cairo



The Confederate Camel!! 😂 Google it...it's real!!! Carter said he had a surprise we would never forget and he was right!!


In case you're curious....



Alex and I stayed the night in the truck, which is not the most fun experience, but it was alright! We got into Orlando before everyone else, so we decided to play it cool at Disney Springs, where we saw bagpipers perform, walked around the beautiful areas, and most importantly visited Legoland. Later that night, Alex's parents, my sister-in-law, brothers-in-law and nieces showed up, and it was off to the races the next day! 


Can you believe this is made all out of legos??



*Sidenote, my parents-in-law were so kind to provide everything for this trip!! They were so kind to provide our honeymoon to Hawaii too. They spoil us absolutely rotten....like we stink we're so rotten.



Below are some snippets of some of our favorite memories:



This is the first time Alex and JT saw each other after JT's mission. It was tender I guess as they tried to take each other down...so typical of them. lol


The next morning we were at Magic Kingdom before the park even opened. I felt like a 5 year-old, I couldn't even contain my excitement. Kari made the cutest shirts for everyone, so we wouldn't lose each other. We got TONS of compliments on our shirts. She is such a rockstar.




Umm, it's a Small World...is there anything better?


Pirates of the Caribbean was closed down for the day (I was SO sad), so we decided to get a picture in the stocks. JT was my buddy that whole day because Kari and Carter had to leave to put their girls down, and Alex was working that day. We ended up walking like 14 miles that day. My feet were SO sore that Carter went to find me a wheelchair. We laughed so hard because the one he found was broken and I almost fell out of it, so I was like drunk walking and laughing all the way back. 


JT and I went on Splash Mountain...twice. I really tried to pose you guys. I really did. I just have zero composure in moments like these.


We missed Alex so much that we had to send him a pic:



The thing I was really bummed that Alex missed were the fireworks. The music, the lightshow and fireworks were sooo much to take in. It was overwhelming in the most beautiful, fulfilling way.



We were pretty hung over from opening and closing the parks, but the next day we went and got family pictures, which was way fun. It was the first time we were all able to get together for pics since our wedding, so it was a very special moment!

Here are a few of my favorites. I love that we were all numbered according to when we entered the family. I am the last at number 11 (which is really cool...because Stranger Things, right??)




Ummm this one is my absolute favorite because this is what every day looks like with these three!!!


All our numbers! :) 



The next day we went to UNIVERSAL STUDIOS. It was my first time ever, and I LOVED every moment of it. Can we talk about Harry Potter world?? It was seriously one of the most amazing experiences. The lines were SUPER long everywhere, but I loved every single ride we went on. I wish we could go back again and again! 






  

This picture is one of my favorite memories that took place in a parking garage. We had just closed down Universal Studios, and some random stranger tagged Kari and said, "you're it" while we were walking out of the park. It then became a wild game of tag all the way to the car...you know it was a good time because a milkshake ended up getting spilled. We were all so slap happy that we thought everything was just hilarious.


And here is the shake.... Oh my gosh, I'm still laughing. I love these people. 


The next day was a rest day, which I wasn't mad about it. Alex still had work (poor thing), so I took a long nap and then we played a bunch of games. Several went to the beach, but I was super pooped, so I didn't go. 

The next day was ANIMAL KINGDOM day and it was just as magical!! So many fun rides. 




The Dinosaur ride was SO cool!




The safari was pretty rad!


We finished our trip with a meal with Minnie, Mickey, Donald and Daisy!! It was so cute to watch my nieces be in awe of their Disney heroes. 



Exhausted after such a magical week, we began the journey home. I'm glad we were able to find a measure of magic in New Orleans. We rolled in at around 7 AM...the morning after Saint Patrick's day. The whole place smelled like Alcohol and there was trash everywhere and drunk people passed out. I was impressed with the beautiful architecture of New Orleans, but perhaps our timing was a little off. We had to stop at Cafe Du Monde though for their famous benigets! 



I made some attempts at photography. The fog was so thick that it made it kinda easy!






Then after this stop, I promptly slept the rest of the way home. Alex is such a trooper, and can drive forever. He did such a great job. It took us a couple of weeks to recover from all the fun we had!