Brothers

Seeing these two together gets more fun everyday. 

Gibson Family Vacation: Last Day

On our last day we took an airboat ride around part of the ranch.  It was awesome! It was super loud and fast and we had bugs flying at us the whole time.  It was a cooler day so we didn't see any gators sunbathing BUT both Brennan and I saw an animal slide into the water and make a splash.  It had to have been an alligator! 

After the ride, we finished packing, said our goodbyes and left for the airport.

We had such a great time visiting with our Gibson family!

We love you guys!!!!

Gibson Family Vacation: Hollywood Studios

The next morning we left for Hollywood Studios with Brennan and Cambridge.  Teri and Sandi were bringing the rest of the family later that afternoon.  Tony and I were excited to be able to go on the big rides together!

Aerosmith rollercoaster

We got there right when the park opened and in about half an hour we had gone on the Aerosmith roller coaster twice and Tower of Terror.  It had been years since either of us had been on a rollercoaster, can you tell from the picture? :)  It was a perfect day to be there!  I think people were afraid it was going to rain again?  We were able to do a lot really fast and saved the kid stuff for when the boys would be coming.

We didn't see many characters at Magic Kingdom, the lines were too long, but the lines were super fast here so we saw as many as we could.  The afternoon was all about meeting the characters...


Winnie the Pooh

 

Mike Wazowski & Sulley

Lightning McQueen & Mater

Charlie was so excited to see these two, but once it was his turn he was terrified!  

They were really loud!

Mickey Mouse!

Our family with Mickey Mouse!

That night we met up with the rest of the family for Fantasmic.  It was awesome!  Disney does such a great job with their shows!

 waiting for the show!

siblings

It was the perfect way to end Disney!

Gibson Family Vacation: Birthday Celebration

Our plan was to do a second day at Disney World, but with a storm looming over us we decided to make other plans and go back on Wednesday.  Charlie had been so great at Disney the day before, but was grumpy and tired the next day.  It was probably a good thing we didn't do Disney World two days in a row.  We needed a day to recover!

We went to the Orlando Science Center that afternoon.  It was a great place to let Charlie run around and explore.  We played, saw an imax show, Joey had a huge blow out, it was great :)

getting ready for cake and ice cream

That afternoon we headed back to the Smith's to celebrate birthdays!  We celebrated the birthdays of Charlie, Maya (they share a birthday) and Brynn.

nieces and nephews attacking Uncle Tony

The girls blew up balloons and it was a crazy birthday party!

Pictures from the party....

John

  Joey at the party

Addison

 Sweet nieces

Charlie was spoiled by his family!  He got a Lightning McQueen, a church book, cars and two mini lightsabers. It was like Christmas morning!  Since we've been home, he's been playing with his new toys non-stop!

Once the lightsabers were out it was all about the lightsabers!  I think there were 4 or 5 lightsabers in all?  It was a little crazy!

It was great to celebrate Charlie's birthday with our family.

Gibson Family Vacation: Magic Kingdom

It has been a dream of mine, for as long as I can remember, to take my kids to Disney!  It's just a magical place when you're little.  I was so excited to be at Magic Kingdom as a family!

Grandma and Aunt Sandi had these special "cousin" t-shirts made for all the kids.  Every where we went people were talking about these shirts. They turned out so darling!

 Charlie cousin #8 and Joey cousin #10

Our original plan had been to take our double jogging stroller so the boys could lay back and nap if they needed, but Tony was a genius and realized there was no way our suitcases plus the big stroller would fit into our rental car!  (can you imagine if we had realized that once we were IN Florida?!)  We were scrambling for a cheap umbrella stroller before we left.  Luckily we found one before we left--Cars themed even.  Everything seems to be Cars or trucks around our house these days!

I'm so glad we ended up using two strollers.  It was easier to navigate through crowds, plus I'm still nursing Joey so I was able to go to the baby center to feed him through out the day.  Those baby centers were a complete lifesaver.  A bit of a pain walking back and forth, but way better than sitting on a park bench with a nursing cover! 

We were a little more slow paced because of Joey.  It was too hard for me to go to the baby center, meet back up with everyone, get through lines...it was just easier to stay together.  We used that time, as a family, to cool off in the air conditioning, change diapers and let Charlie get some energy out.  It was good for Charlie to have a break every few hours.

  meeting Buzz Lightyear

That morning we got ice cream cones (with mickey ears--so cute!) and stopped to watch the show at the castle.  The whole time I kept telling Tony, "this is just a dream!"  The boys were being so good, we were all together, it was perfect. 

watching the show

Charlie was so fun at Magic Kingdom!  I was worried the lines would be too hard and the characters would scare him, but he did great. He was in awe of the rides and got so excited to see the characters.  I was so proud of him for being such a good boy.  I would say his favorite rides were Pirates of the Caribbean, the Tiki Room, Winnie the Pooh and the Carousel.

Later that afternoon it got pretty hot!  I thought I knew humidity, living in Arkansas, but WOW, it was hot and muggy that afternoon!  I can't imagine what it would have been like if we were there in July!  

cousins in Dumbo

Charlie & Daddy on the carousel

 We saw and rode pretty much everything we wanted to! 

watching the light parade

Riding the monorail back to the car, Charlie kept whispering, "mama! mama!  choo hoo!  choo hoo!" with a big smile on his face.

It was the perfect day!

Gibson Family Vacation: Horses & Cocoa Beach

The next day the whole family was going to be together!  Unfortunately papa got sick right before our trip so he and Grandma weren't able to come.  We missed them!

After resting at the ranch guest home, the Wood family came over to the house to see all of us.  They had taken the red-eye the night before and arrived early that morning.  Tony and I finally got to meet our new nephew, Beckett, although he is now 18 months old!  The last time we saw Tony's sisters, Charlie was 2 months old.  Our family has changed quite a bit since then!  It was great to be together.

 

Charlie & Brynn

Charlie riding with Jesse

That morning, Chad saddled up the horses and let everyone take a ride.  Charlie was in heaven and all the kids had a great time with Dakota and Jewel. 

Later that afternoon we piled into our cars and drove to Cocoa beach.

It was a cooler day and a little windy so it wasn't packed.  I was shocked at how warm and shallow the water was.  I could go far out and the water was still only up to my shoulders.  We tried boogie boarding for the first time and all the kids played in the sand.

 Charlie & Beckett

Joey enjoying the beach

Chad building a sand castle with cute Brynn, Cambridge and Maya

Charlie started digging a hole and once daddy started helping the hole got pretty big! 

cousins filling up the hole

After the beach we headed over to Steak n' Shake for dinner.  We were quite the crowd with 10 kids and 6 adults!

I think this day was one of my favorites!