Family Vacation: Disney World Day 1

We arrived in Orlando at 11pm--our thought behind taking a late flight was so all our kids would fall asleep on the plane, thus making it an easier flight. As you might guess, the plan backfired. No one fell asleep on the plane. No one fell asleep on the bus from the airport to our Disney resort. By the time we finally got settled into our room, it was 1am (felt like midnight to us). The boys fell asleep quickly except for Bryson who Matt took out and walked the halls with--he finally fell asleep at 2:30am. Not a very good start to our vacation! Despite the fact that none of our boys slept on the plane/bus ride, they were pretty well-behaved!

We slept in until 8am and then got going for the day. Our first stop for breakfast was to a character dining. (We got a Disney dining plan, something I'd totally recommend. You can get some great deals on them and it's so nice not to have to worry about paying for food the entire time you're there.)

On the bus

A beautiful double rainbow we saw on our way to breakfast.

We took a quick photo opportunity while waiting to be seated.

In the 30-45 minutes we ate breakfast, we only had one character come over to our table--lame. We had another character dining scheduled for another day but decided to cancel it, especially since Bryson freaked out about Winnie the Pooh when he came to say hi.

We then headed to Epcot. We knew this park would be the least interesting/fun for the kids so we decided to do it first and make it a shorter day. Here are some shots from the day:

A rare smile from Bryson--in fact the only picture I think we caught a smile the entire trip.

The boys had a great time on Test Track and Soarin', both of which they got to ride twice because of the rider swap system for families with toddlers/babies. Here's their ride on Test Track with Daddy.

Caleb was tall enough to ride Mission Space, but not Carter, so Matt and Caleb ran off to do that at one point. Matt convinced Caleb to do the more intense version. Caleb is a little more timid on rides than Carter, so we were surprised that Caleb claims it as one of his most favorite rides in all of Disney World.

Bryson was asleep in his stroller for this picture.

A visit from Tinker Bell!

We went to Le Cellier for lunch/dinner at 3pm, which is a steakhouse in the Canada section of Epcot. It was our favorite restaurant last year when Matt and I went to Disney World. We enjoyed it again! After our meal, we headed over to Germany to get some caramel treats for the bus ride back to the resort and called it a day. We knew the following day was going to be a lot busier!

We stayed at the Animal Kingdom Lodge. It had a lot of really cool features.

Our bedroom

The back side of the lodge

Viewing the animals from our balcony

It was so neat to wake up and find animals right outside our building.

Shurtliff Family Reunion Part 4

On the drive home, we decided to stop at the Corpus Christi Aquarium.

Touching the sea urchins

Watching the big fish

Visit to the sea turtles

This was a whale's blow hole at the entrance of the aquarium. The kids loved anticipating when the water would shoot up.

 Family picture in our matchy-matchy shirts :)

Kara snapped some family pictures of all of us

Our growing family

Silly one!

13 grandchildren and one more coming end of October

Siblings with Mom and Dad

And the "outlaws" who wanted their own picture :)

Just like last year where pink-eye spread around, this year did not disappoint and a stomach virus passed around throughout the family. The only saving grace (sort of) was that it didn't hit until after the vacation. So we were all able to still enjoy the vacation and not be sick. After vacation, it hit me like a freight train. I've never been so sick at a time in my life where I couldn't afford to be sick! Somehow we all pulled through and are so grateful it's over!

Shurtliff Family Reunion Part 3

The 3 new babies all got lots of attention. Bryson was really into holding all the babies.

Sammy, Bryson, and Teddy

Bryson doesn't know how to smile yet for pictures :)

Uncle Matt trying to get Ellery to smile.

Sunburned cheeks--Carter must do a lot of rubbing under his eyes because I always put extra sunscreen there!

Sammy and Alex celebrated birthdays while we were on vacation. They each got to make their own special cake with their mom.

Lili and Bryson fight over Grandma.

Carter was very attentive to the babies. Here he is with cousin Capri.

Playing on the bunk beds

We soaked up as much game time as we could--Seven Wonders, Dominion, Hanabi, Mexican Train, Ticket to Ride, The Game of Things, and Query. That's always one of my favorite parts!

Shurtliff Family Reunion Part 2

There was a small pool in the backyard, which we made good use of!

The beach was just down the street, so that made for another fun outing on 3 different occasions.

Clayton and Ariane were an unbeatable duo in boules.

Enjoying some sister bonding time.

Shurtliff Family Reunion Part 1

The Shurtliff summer vacation is the highlight of the year! I love my family so much and love spending time with them. It's so fun to sit around and talk to each other, work out together, and play games together.

I was not thrilled with the circumstances in which the vacation started. Unfortunately Matt had some big changes happening at work and came up a day later. That meant I had to make the 4-hour drive by myself with the kiddos. I should preface this by saying that whenever we drive long distances, Matt does the driving because I can last about an hour before I start getting sleepy at the wheel. I was SO scared about the drive knowing that I had my children's lives in my hands! A prayer, lots of phone calls and a book on tape, plus Caleb's help to make sure I was awake and somehow we all made it safely.

I had a huge head ache when I arrived though--something about driving that long with 3 kids and waiting in an hour long car line to cross on the ferry with a baby that only napped 1 hour when I was hoping he would nap 3. It was my turn to cook dinner that night, so despite the head ache and the unpacking that waited for me, I got started with our first meal of the vacation: BBQ chicken salad + french bread.

The kitchen was nice and large which was a must for our big group!

While I cooked dinner, Aunt Kara and cousin Ellery kept Bryson preoccupied with exploring the bedrooms.

We had, basically, a Family Home Evening every night. My brother, Clayton and his wife, Kara, had the idea to do a Family Tree Gathering each night based on Elder Cook's conference address: 

We finally have the doctrine, the temples, and the technology for families to accomplish this glorious work of salvation. I suggest one way this might be done. Families could hold a “Family Tree Gathering.” This should be a recurring effort. Everyone would bring existing family histories, stories, and photos, including cherished possessions of grandparents and parents. Our young people are excited to learn about the lives of family members—where they came from and how they lived. Many have had their hearts turned to the fathers.

Each couple was assigned some ancestors to research. Matt and I had Clara and Israel Savage. Even though it was difficult to find the time to do the research, I found it so fascinating to study their lives. The amazing trials they survived and how they clung to each other and their faith in Jesus Christ inspires me. 

Here we are gathering on the first night. 

Later we did a doughnut eating contest with homemade doughnuts. Such a fun idea, again by Clay and Kara.

The kids loved it!

Each morning when the kids got up earlier than the adults, the kids played on ipads so the adults could get a little more shut-eye.

Even though the ping pong table wasn't regulation size, we had a lot of fun with Around the World, doubles and singles games.

Grandpa and Caleb

Caleb and Drew played quite a bit.

We had some fun shuffleboard games as well.

Caleb is obsessed with America Ninja Warrior and loves to make up courses in our house or on our play gym at home. He showed off some of his skills on vacation.

Entertaining the young kiddos