First Family Vacation

We took our first family vacation two weekends ago and decided to go to the happiest place on Earth: Disney. We drove up to Orlando on a Saturday (after my first ever 6-mile AM run!) and drove down to Miami on a Monday. Because we stayed at my aunt's house we were able to stay longer and be in complete comfort. There were many tantrums (on the first day Cati cried and cried because she didn't want to go to Disney), interesting sleeping arrangements, and a lot of picture taking. Despite not being able to ride much with the two girls, we were able to do quite a bit. We went to all four parks and even had dinner at Downtown Disney on the first day there.

The first park we went to was Magic Kingdom and this park had the most rides for us to ride. Cati's favorite was the "It's a Small World" ride and now she sings the song around the house when she's in a good mood. My favorite part about this park was seeing Alex and Cati ride the race cars together.

The second park we went to was Animal Kingdom and this one had the most opportunity for character pictures. I thought Cati would be freaked out but she loved all the characters, especially Minnie Mouse, Tigger, and Daisy Duck. It was also at this park that we found out how scared Cati was of dark rooms and loud noises (Rainforest Cafe and The Bug's Life show). The best part about Animal Kingdom was seeing how excited Cati was during the safari ride. While at this park we told Cati she could have whatever she wanted from the Rainforest Cafe store. Do you know what she chose? A pink hat. With all the toys and stuffed animals and candy, she chose a hat. I love that kid.

On our last day in Orlando we went to Hollywood Studios and Epcot. We ended up doing both because there wasn't much for us to do at either park except walk around. This was the perfect way to spend our last day in Orlando because it was low-key. We even got to do something adult-ish with the Food & Wine Festival at Epcot.

Elina was the "easy" one on the trip and spent most of the time in the sling. Cati had her tantrums and thought bedtime was a game, but, for the most part, she behaved so well. So well, in fact, that we can't wait to go back again.

Guy Harvey's Island Grill

Here's another catch up post. We went to Guy Harvey's Island Grill close to a month ago. It was a Sunday night in Marco Island and, if you know anything about the west coast of Florida, you know that things aren't open very late on Sundays. We decided to go to this one area called The Esplanade because it has a few small shops, restaurants, and a marina with some incredible looking boats. We decided to go to Guy Harvey's since they were open and I was craving fried shrimp.

I got my fried shrimp and it totally hit the spot. The shrimp was lightly battered, tender and succulent. I was surprised by how many shrimp they dish came with, especially since they were so big in size. The fries were slightly sweet and seasoned with Cajun spices.
Alex ordered buffalo chicken. He had been in the mood for buffalo chicken and as soon as he saw this item on the menu he ordered it. He ordered the appetizer size and that was more than enough for him. The chicken was crispy and perfectly coated in the hot sauce.
We shared a dessert since I could barely stop myself from shouting "chocolate cake!" The cake was surprisingly light despite its gooey center. (Please ignore Alex's hand. He couldn't wait 2 seconds for me to get this shot).

If you are ever in Marco Island, FL I definitely recommend going here. The food is great and the atmosphere is very typical of west coast living.