La Pura Vida : Disney World 2013

In March we went to the one and only DISNEY WORLD! It was more magical than I had even expected. Asher and me flew from Spain to Utah (unfortunately without Ryan) for a few days in order to get over jet lag before we played hard for a week in Orlando! Our trip home went really smooth and Asher is a champ at traveling. The only rough part of traveling alone with Asher was the time I had to lug four suitcases and Asher in his stroller from baggage claim into a taxi to get to the hotel only to turn around and get back to the airport at 5am. That was not so awesome. But, we made it and I would deal with luggage 100 times again if it means that Asher doesn't cry one time on the flights home. Here goes the trip to Disney World!

The morning we boarded the plane to Orlando it was almost as if Asher could sense excitement in the air. He was so happy and was thrilled to be wearing his Buzz sweatshirt. The kids obsession with Toy Story is almost the same as Ryan's obsession with suits and ties.

The gang is reunited in Orlando! My parents are such party animals and my mom thinks of every little detail to make each trip top notch. This trip she sent each grandkid a suitcase with matching Disney clothes and swimsuits so that they would have gear for almost every single day.

Owen is the cutest little pip squeak. He is the worlds best baby. I don't recall hearing him cry even one time on the whole vacation. He sure does know how to smile and charm the ladies!

Every time we are around uncle Cody, Asher becomes really attached. He sure loves to have Cody carry him and play with him! As if Cody doesn't already have his hands full. The whole trip we couldn't stop saying how Disney World isn't possible without Cody. He is right on schedule with the ins and outs of Disney World. Where to get fast passes, when we need them, timing everything strategically to maximize the amount of rides and minimize the amount of waiting in lines. He is truly the best and we think people would want to hire him to take them around Disney World.

Our very first day we went to Epcot. Unfortunately, it was raining in the morning. We tried as long as we could to not buy the cheapest looking but incredibly overpriced ponchos. My dad kept saying "Just buy the dang ponchos!!" We would all resist until finally, with strollers soaking and kids crying we decided to spend about $80 on ponchos. Just as we got all of the kids geared up with their ponchos, strollers covered and even got our already wet hair covered it completely stopped raining! We even said as we were buying the ponchos that this would happen. It turned out to be a perfect overcast day and the ponchos weren't needed again. Good thing Danielle thought about taking them to the Animal Kingdom a few days later so that we could use them on Kali Rapids to not get soaked! Genius.

The boys with their matching shirts for the first day! Our favorite place to eat every time we go to epcot is in Japan at Teppan Edo. The food is amazing, the kids are entertained and it gives our feet a rest! Asher even attempted chopsticks and ate half of a steak.

Meeting his first characters. I wasn't quite sure how this would go. Would Asher be scared? Cry? Nope! He ran right up and gave them huge hugs. He loved all of the characters! After meeting the characters we watched the fireworks at epcot. Asher was an absolute blast to be with. His sounds with every firework were classic. "OH NO!! OH!! WOW!!!" And each of us had our faces grabbed and turned towards the fireworks by his little hands. "Gammie look! Mom!! Wow!!" Danielle was holding him most of the firework show while his squirmy, excited body would jump from position to position and would even climb his way up and over her shoulders as if he wanted to be higher to touch the fireworks. It was perfection.

Next day...Animal Kingdom! Asher was impossible to miss in his neon orange under armour outfit. I can't tell you how many people as they walked by would say "Oh wow! You sure won't be able to lose him!" Good joke folks but after the 30th person of about 100 it's a little overused.

Uncle Josh decided to tease Asher and put "doggie!" in his hood! We all thought it was hilarious but apparently Asher felt otherwise. While I went on the most terrifying ride with some of my siblings, my parents watched Asher and took him on his first ride! He wasn't quite sure what to think at first but then we got the very common Asher word of "gen! gen!" So we rode it again.

We went on a safari, a train ride and climbed Mount Everest!

Asher napped so that I could go on Kali Rapids and try not to get soaked like the last time we went to Animal Kingdom when I had to walk around with a see through shirt for about 3 hours because of the humidity and my dark blue pants bled onto my white shirt and that shirt was forever ruined and and and... ( I am aware of the run on sentence. I wanted you to feel the drama)

This time I did not get soaked because of the marvelous $80 worth of ponchos. This day we were saying they were worth every penny.

For whatever reason, every single day a plane would fly above and leave a message about Jesus. The first day I thought it was Ryan getting someone to write me a message from him in Spain. Not really. But, that would have been cool. Asher enjoyed just as much as the rest of us the dark chocolate mickey mouse bars. The worlds best ice cream.

We pet and brushed goats. I was freaked out and my dad had to help Asher because I didn't even want to get close! I am an awful mom.

Then Asher was able to see his first parade where he boogied his little heart out!

Then we took a day at the Magic Kindgdom and it was more than magical!

I love these cousins! Buddies when Asher was choosing to be nice and not hit. We definitely went through a hitting phase!

I will openly admit that I cried when Asher finally met Buzz Lightyear. His face lit up and I could tell that his dream (for a 22 month old) had come true! He didn't want to let him go and he kept giving him high fives.

Asher definitely loves his Bumpa and likes to spend as much time with him as possible.

We ended the Magic Kingdom with a character dinner in the Crystal Palace. I think my favorite was when all of the kids paraded around with the characters and lulu got lost and Asher cried. Oh, and the fact that I became really ghetto and shoved 10 extra cookies in my diaper bag. Hey! It was a buffet! WHY NOT!

The next day we spent the morning at Hollywood Studios where I danced like a teenie bopper to some incredibly cheesy shows and we also went on the Toy Store ride an unbelievable amount of time.

Getting wiggles out before dinner!

Asher was in love with the princesses. He left with a kiss on each cheek and his forehead.

On our last day we spent the morning at the pool and then finished off with another party at the Magic Kingdom!

I could tell that Asher wasn't feeling very well for the previous day or so. After the character dinner (photos above) we were in a gift shop and...Asher threw up all over the place. It was awful! I felt so bad for Asher but I also felt so bad for the employees in the shop! Asher was crying and my mom and sister were trying to wipe off my shoes and clean up the floor when the employees walked up and said "Please! No need to worry! We'll get it taken care of! Go take care of yourselves and we'll deal with this." They were so kind! How awful to clean up some random kids throw up. Not only did I feel so bad for Asher but then I started getting sick to my stomach. Luckily, it was just nerves because I knew the next day we were making the journey back to Spain and Asher was now sick.

But, as you can see he was fine! He literally slept the entire flight of all the flights. He was an angel baby and is the world's best traveler. Seriously.

This trip was absolutely amazing. Perfect to be exact! Well, except that Ryan and Tyler couldn't be there. My parents are awesome, my siblings and their spouses are awesome and Asher has some super fun cousins! Great memories were created and if anyone is thinking their kid is too young for Disney World, you are wrong! Asher was so fun to watch with every character and all of the different rides. His eyes would light up with excitement every day we entered a new park. I am so grateful my parents brought us along on this vacation and we are lucky to have such great memories!