Family Vacation!

Our family vacation was an absolute blast! Right when we got off the plane, we headed to Downtown Disney to get some dinner and to wander the shops. It was a great first night in Florida!

We stayed at the nicest resort in Orlando. We spent the first day there at the pool, waiting for everyone to arrive.  It was absolutely wonderful. In true Blainer fashion, we all got pina coladas to celebrate our fist day of vacation and mother's day! 

Monday we started off our Disney World experience by heading to the Magic Kingdom! It is my favorite park. I just love all of the rides and the atmosphere. There is just nothing like Pirates of the Caribbean, The Haunted Mansion, Splash Mountain, Space Mountain, etc. 

We had such a great day. That evening we headed over to Epcot to wander around the countries and to get dinner. We ended up eating dinner at a yummy Italian restaurant. It was very authentic and delicious! Even though it was rainy that night, it didn't stop of from seeing all of the countries and having a great time. 

The next day we headed to Universal Islands of Adventure. It seriously has the best rides, and not to mention HARRY POTTER WORLD! It is definitely a park that I wouldn't take my little kids to, because the rides are all huge and scary! haha. A few of the high lights were: Rip Saw Falls, Jurassic Park, Popeye's water rapids ride (we got absolutely soaked on all three), and the Hulk. The best was on Jurassic Park the ride attendants told us that we "wouldn't get that wet." Well... they were so wrong! We all got drenched. I've never seen Grandma B. so wet! It was hysterical! 

Harry Potter word was AMAZING. It was even better than I ever imagined it would be. They paid such close attention to detail, and it was unbelievably cool. The butter beer was to. die. for. We had two frozen butter beers, and I wish I would've had a few more. haha! The rides were awesome as well. The dragon roller coasters were crazy. My favorite ride was the one in the castle. The line was incredible. It went all through the castle, and it looked exactly like the movie. I could have stayed in the line for hours just looking at all of the details. I loved every second in Harry Potter World. Even Blair, who is not a big fan, was very impressed! Gavin and I did NOT want to leave. (We are obviously the most dedicated/hard core HP fans in the family). 

The third day we spent the morning at the Animal Kingdom. The highlights were: Its Tough to Be a Bug, the Everest roller coaster, and the Safari Tour.  I love how the whole park feels like you are in the jungle. It's so gorgeous. 

After Animal Kingdom we headed to Hollywood Studios. We rode Tower of Terror and Rockin' Roller Coaster 2 times each, in a row. haha! They are some of my favorite rides.

Just for the record, 

Bradley was an angel the entire trip! He was the easiest, sweetest baby. We had lots of time to love on him, and we are obsessed!! 

 After we wandered the park for a bit, we headed back to the Magic Kingdom so that we could enjoy it on our last night at Disney World. 

 It was quite the fiasco when we got to the MK. It had started raining, and we were literally running around the park in ponchos trying to get on a few last minute rides! Gavin, me, and my mom were sprinting from Splash Mountain to Main Street to make it to the Electric Parade in time. It was hysterical, we were laughing the whole time. The Electric Parade, and the magical fireworks were the best way to end our Disney experience. We were some of the last people to leave the park... we just didn't want it to end!

The next day we spent the day at the pool, sent Libby on her plane home (she had to go home for the State Track Meet), and then headed to Disney Quest at Downtown Disney.  It is a huge arcade where everything is free once you pay to get in. It was really fun!

The next day we packed our bags to head to the airport. While Landon, Courtney, and Bradley were heading home, the rest of us (Blair, Me, Mom, Dad, Gavin, and Grandma B)  were headed to Charlottesville, Virginia for Kellen's Law School Graduation. When we landed in Virginia we went and visited my cousins Cindy and Drew and their adorable 7 kids! It was great to see family that we haven't seen in so long! We loved Charlottesville. It is such a charming little town with an amazing university. While we were there we went on a nice hike, explored the University, and helped them get ready to move!

(this picture above documents a few seconds before we literally laughed the hardest we've ever laughed in our lives) 

 Kellen's graduation was wonderful. Everyone walks down "the Lawn," and it is really cool! Katie Couric spoke and I loved it. She had great insight, and kept her fun sense of humor at the same time. I thought it was phenomenal. We had such a great time in Virginia and we were so glad we got to to at Kellen's graduation. We are very proud of him! 

The only bad thing about the end of our vacation was that we had to say goodbye to Gavin. It was definitely hard... but we know that he will be an amazing missionary. Saying goodbye to a brother is never an easy thing. But he seemed very excited, so that made it a little easier :) I can't wait to get his letters every week! I already miss him so much! 

It was a wonderful vacation. We truly had an incredible time. We feel so blessed to have such a close family. We cherish the moments when we all get to be together. We are grateful to have wonderful parents, and siblings that we love so much. It was honestly a perfect trip! 

Thanks Mom and Dad for making it happen!!!

We love you!