Christmas Vacation Day 1...

On December 26th, we loaded up and backed out of our driveway at 6 AM headed to Ocala, Florida (10 hour drive) where we would meet Sam and spend the night at a hotel.

The kids did GREAT in the car...little Cooper giggled, and giggled, and giggled watching videos on the Ipad.



Once we got checked into the hotel, we walked across the street and had dinner at Cracker Barrel.  We were all so happy to FINALLY be with Sam...we had not seen her since October and were missing her bad. 

After dinner, the kids could not get their swimsuits on fast enough and were so excited it was warm enough to swim in December...

Just a quick little swim before bed...

Sweet Sam brought Christmas presents for all of us so of course, those had to be opened before going to sleep.

Cooper was a little too interested in his video to really enjoy present opening...but...he does love his new Ninja Turtle pajamas...

Anna Lauren got yoga pants and running shorts...her favorite kind of clothes these days.

Matt got a t-shirt to wear to the Miami Heat game...

And I got EXACTLY what I wanted...a plane ticket for Sam to come visit in February.  I asked her to not spend any money on me...put it towards a visit.  She listened...yay!

And nothing made me happier than knowing I had these three all together for a week...was such a good feeling to have the "family" together!

Christmas Vacation Day 2...

On December 27th, we left our hotel in Ocala, Florida and drove about an hour to Orlando/Disney World...

We arrived at Port Orleans around noon for our "play day" before our big day at Magic Kingdom...

While we were getting checked in, Sam took Cooper to the gift shop and bought him a sword.  Happy, happy boy!

Waiting on the boat to take us to Disney Springs...

On the boat headed to Disney Springs for the afternoon...happy kids!

And happy parents that they had happy kids...

Just a little fun on the bar stools after eating lunch at the Rainforest Cafe...

He wanted Mickey so bad...an honestly, he hasn't really put him down since he got him.  He LOVES a stuffed animal...

On the boat headed back to the resort after a fun afternoon at Disney Springs...

Of course, swimming was on their agenda...loving the "warm" weather in December!

After swimming, we grabbed some dinner at the resort and headed to bed early as we were leaving the resort at 6 AM the next day to be walking in the gates of Magic Kingdom at 7 AM.

Christmas Vacation Day 3...

On December 28th, we spent the day at Magic Kingdom...

It was still dark when we walked into the park at 7 AM and the castle was so pretty.  However, there was no time to really stop and admire as we were running to the rides.  We knew we were getting into the park an hour early and had to make the most of that hour before the lines got crazy long.

We walked right onto our first ride, Buzz Lightyear.  This dude obviously thinks he is super cool...

Then these three walked right onto Space Mountain.  Cooper was tall enough to ride, but it being number two, we decided to not let him ride.  Matt didn't want him to get scared and then be scared the rest of the day...

While the others were riding Space Mountain, Cooper was checking out the race cars.  Thankfully that was next on the list and he was oh so happy!

Proud of his driver license to drive the car...

If you cannot tell, he was happy...and...he wasn't leaving Sam's side either.

Not sure who was having more fun here...Matt or Anna Lauren?

See...the boy was not leaving Sam's side...

There was LOTS of this sweetness...

He loves the show Kickin It and has learned the Wasabi code...so...he felt the need for Sam to learn it too.

He had just woken up from his first nap of the day and was taking it all in and enjoying a Mickey Mouse ice cream sandwich.

In my opinion, the cutest pirate at the park...

Cooper after Big Thunder Mountain...he LOVED it!  Anna Lauren got to ride Space Mountain twice so we made it work for him to ride Big Thunder Mountain twice.  

You know...just life with boys and swords...

I need to do a little cropping to this picture, but I love it of all of us...and the funny thing is a family from Jackson was in front of us and took this picture for us.  Small world!

Just a little Mickey Mouse snack...

This boy crashed while we were waiting on the parade...he was SO tired.  

Actually we were all tired and just sat on the ground for about an hour or so waiting for the parade to start at 9:30.  We had some time to admire the pretty castle and just chill.  It was an amazing 16 hour day at Magic Kingdom and one we will all never forget!