Babymoon/5 Year Anniversary Trip

Last week, we went on an awesome getaway to Orlando to celebrate our upcoming 5 year anniversary. It’s hard to believe it’s almost been 5 years!!! We wanted to take the trip a few weeks before our anniversary just to avoid Christmas and waiting too late into my pregnancy. We had a wonderful time!

We spent a long Thanksgiving weekend with my family, so we left for Orlando from their house bright and early Monday morning. Monday was pretty much just a travel day because all we did when we got there was check in at our hotel and grab some supper nearby. It’s tiring to be in the car all day! I’m thankful for a husband who doesn’t mind driving that far…I didn’t drive a single time the entire trip.

Tuesday, we met Travis’s cousin David and his wife Lauren (who live in Tampa) at Animal Kingdom. They’d never been before, and it had been a while since either of us had been, so we were really looking forward to it. I should mention, I guess, that we went to Orlando on our honeymoon, but this time we did totally different stuff than 5 years ago. There’s so much to do in Orlando! Anyway, we had a great time at Animal Kingdom!! The weather was PERFECT, and it wasn’t crowded at all. My favorite part was seeing the Lion King and Finding Nemo shows, and of course the Christmas parade. Travis is a big animal lover, so he LOVED seeing all of the animals, especially the gorillas and tigers. We also went on a “safari” ride where we saw a lot of other animals…some up close and personal!!

Wednesday, we did something a little bit different. Instead of going to another theme park, we hit up Leu Gardens instead. It’s a 50 acre botanical garden, and it was really cool. We spent several hours just walking around looking at everything. The rose garden was especially beautiful, and I’m not even that big of a fan of roses normally. Side note: We just bought a nicer camera (Merry Christmas to us early!), but we didn’t have it with us on our trip, so Travis took all of these flower pictures with our point-and-shoot. I was really impressed!

So what do you think? I think he’s a natural photographer!! :) After we left Leu Gardens, we relaxed for a little while at the hotel before eating supper at Mimi’s Cafe (really good!) and going to church.

Thursday, we slept in and ate a late breakfast before going to see a matinee showing of Lincoln at a nearby movie theater. When’s the last time you saw a movie for $5.50?? We spent $11 total, which is usually the price of one ticket at Bridge Street! Anyway, we both really liked the movie. If it was pretty historically accurate, then I learned a lot about what went on “behind the scenes” trying to pass the 13th amendment. They just don’t teach you all that stuff in history class!

Later that afternoon, Travis appeased me (haha) and took me to Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party at the Magic Kingdom. Basically, you buy a special ticket and you can get into the park from 4 PM to 12 AM. They have most of the rides open, a special fireworks show, a light show at Cinderella’s castle, a Christmas parade, and “free” hot chocolate and cookies. We were really only planning to do one Disney park (Animal Kingdom), but once I heard about the Christmas party, I knew I definitely wanted to go. It was pretty crowded from 4 PM to 7 PM (when the park closed to regular visitors), but after 7 PM it was awesome. Very few lines on any of the rides, so we got to ride pretty much everything we wanted to. In case you’re wondering, I didn’t take Brooklyn on any roller coasters, so Travis rode them by himself, and we waited for him at the exits.  When we first got there and it was so crowded, I think Travis was regretting our decision to go (coupled with the fact that a lot of the rides weren’t as “cool” if you don’t have kids), but once 7 PM hit, it was so much better! He also found the turkey leg stand, so that helped too. Our favorite attractions were Mickey’s PhilharMagic, Monster’s Inc. Laugh Floor, and Stitch’s Great Escape. Disney also knows how to put on a pretty awesome fireworks display!! It ended up being a really fun night, and we managed to make it all the way to midnight. Pretty good for us!

Friday, we were pretty tired after staying up late, but we managed to get up relatively early because we wanted to spend the day at the Kennedy Space Center, which was an hour from our hotel. Honestly, I was not too excited about going, but I figured if Travis would go to the Magic Kingdom for me, then I could tolerate the Space Center for a day. Well, it ended up being a lot cooler than I thought it would be! Unfortunately, we really just ran out of time to do and see everything that we wanted to, but we got do most of the stuff on our list. I definitely learned a lot about the space program that I’d either forgotten or never known about. Travis really enjoyed it too! Probably the neatest part of the day was going on the shuttle bus ride and actually seeing the launch pads and the high bay where they keep the shuttles. KSC definitely exceeded my expectations!

Saturday was spent much like Monday…DRIVING (or riding, in my case). Travis was a man on a mission to get back in time to watch the SEC Championship game, so we left our hotel by 7:30 AM. We made it back to our house by 5:15 PM, so we made pretty good time! We recorded the game (which started at 3 PM), so we were behind everyone else watching it, but what a way to top off our fun week. That game was one of the most exciting games I can remember watching! I thought I would have a heart attack by the end. So glad we somehow won!!!! ROLL TIDE!! :)

I’m so blessed to be married to someone that I can really call my best friend. We have a blast together! These past almost-5 years have been really, really special. I love you Travis!!!