A little video from our trip to Florida.

Brian, Emily, and I had an amazing week together in Florida. We started our travels with my family in Tampa and Orlando, and then drove to Venice for the second half of the week to be with Brian's family.

All video filmed on my Canon 6D and edited in iMovie. Music by Katrina Stone. 

Our Florida vacation according to Instagram.

A little video from Florida.

Brian, Emily, and I had an amazing week in Florida. It was one of our most memorable trips yet! We are so grateful that we got to spend time with Brian's parents in Venice and my sister and nieces in Tampa. While we were there we visited Magic Kingdom, explored Animal Kingdom, and attended a Rowdies game in St. Petersburg. We can't wait until our next trip to Florida!

Scenes from the weekend.

"Laughter is timeless, imagination has no age, dreams are forever." -Walt Disney 

After surprising my nieces on Friday morning at school, we packed our bags and drove to Orlando early Saturday morning. We spent Saturday at Hollywood Studios and Sunday at Magic Kingdom and I thoroughly enjoyed each and every second of the weekend! After years of annual passes, my nieces are experts on the parks and were amazing tour guides as we took in the sights and rode our favorite rides. I experienced Tower of Terror and Rock-N-Roller Coaster for the first time and loved them both. But what I loved most was getting to spend so much time with my family. The weekend was full of laughter and joy! 

If you are interested, here are 16 Walt Disney quotes to help guide you through life. I am tempted to print and frame each and every single one of them... Hope you had a wonderful weekend! 

Where dreams come true.

Our three days at Disney were absolutely magical. As soon as we stepped into Magic Kingdom on our first day there, we were greeted by a singing quartet and bundles of brightly colored balloons on Main Street. The place just screams happiness. Reese and Sage eagerly cheered as they saw Cinderella's castle, and let's be serious, I did too. We continued smiling all day long as we rode our favorite rides, ate way too many french fries and chicken fingers, devoured soft serve ice cream, and watched the fireworks show light up the sky over the castle.

Our second day at Animal Kingdom was just as fun. I had never been to this park before, and loved how relaxed it felt compared to Magic Kingdom. Canopies of trees provided shade from the intense Florida heat and the shorter park hours made our day a lot easier. We closed out Magic Kingdom the night before and didn't get back to our hotel until after 1 am, so the 6 pm closing time for Animal Kingdom was very appealing!

The Tree of Life welcomed us as we started our adventures in the park.

We met Flick and watched him teach us all about bugs in It's Tough to be a Bug! in 3-D.

We laughed and danced with Pluto and Goofy in Dinoland, USA. We ran from ride to ride and were able to go on everything we wanted to: Expedition Everest, TriceraTop Spin, and the super-scary Dinosaur. We also saw Finding Nemo: The Musical and The Lion King. It was a blast!

We enjoyed ice cream treats as we watched Mickey's Jammin' Jungle Parade. Chocolate covered frozen bananas = yum.

My favorite part of the day was our safari ride. Animals roamed the wildlife preserve and walked right next to our safari truck. I loved seeing the hippos pop out of the water and the giraffes walk from tree to tree as we drove by.

We spent our last day shopping at the Orlando Premium outlets and the Downtown Disney Marketplace. We stocked up on toys and souvenirs at Once Upon a Toy and dined at Rainforest Cafe. For dessert, we ate treats from Goofy's Candy Co. It was the perfect ending to our Disney adventures.

Magical.

I spent the past two days in Disney World with my sister and nieces... I can see why they call if the happiest place on earth.

(filmed on my iphone in Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom using the 8mm camera app. Music by Sigur Ros.) 

More pictures and posts to come from my time in Florida. Happy weekend everyone!