Hollywood Studios-Star Wars Weekend!

This was the first thing we noticed as we were walking up to the park, you can imagine the excitement of seeing a "real" Storm Trooper on the roof of the entrance!
The boys with Woody & Bullseye

Pictures with Captain Rex, Ahsoka & Commander Cody, we kind of stumbled across this, got into line and then our FAVORITE Captain Rex came out, the boys were so giddy & in awe of the characters...Blake & I couldn't believe all of the adults behaving the same way!

Riding on Chewbacca's vehicle

Having lunch with Special Agent Oso, Handy Manny & the Little Einsteins!

This chic was some Star Wars woman that was walking around and giving everyone the creeps, the boys are still talking about her today!

Posing with Jango Fett, Luke wouldn't smile, he was in "serious shooting" mode

Exhausted!


The Parade, Toy Story was definitely a highlight!

We were able to go to a Playhouse Disney show, they had puppets for all of the boys favorite characters, it was very cute & air conditioned!

Pictures with the Star Wars

We had been waiting the entire trip to go to Hollywood Studios because we knew that it was the last day of Star Wars weekends there so we were getting literally the last opportunity to meet some of our favorite characters. The boys LOVE Star Wars, although they have never seen the movie...just hearing about it from other kids & reading library books about them is enough to hook the boys!

The day couldn't have been more crowded and the heat was almost unbearable (98 degrees & high humidity). We had a good time despite the craziness and were able to go on the Toy Story Mania ride we'd heard about, as well as have Blake & Chase go on a simulated Star Wars ride. If you ask the boys if they had fun on their vacation, this is the day they talk about, no mention of Mickey Mouse, just Captain Rex!

Clearwater Beach

Digging in the moment we put our stuff down!

Burying Lukie in the sand

Luke Playing in the ocean

First time in the ocean for the Rosenberg boys!

Chase in the ocean

On our last day in Florida we were exhausted from all of our park visits so we decided to head out to the Gulf of Mexico to Clearwater Beach. We heard this beach was beautiful and it turns out we heard right. The beaches were white sand and it was very clean. We'd talked with the boys about going to the beach but I knew Chase didn't really get the idea when he said,"Can I jump off of the side and you can catch me?"

The boys were very surprised and disgusted with the salt water...it really does taste gross. Chase absolutely loved playing in the waves and Luke was hesitant at first but eventually warmed up to the waves and playing in them. We were so surprised at how warm the water was, it was honestly the temperature that I would bathe a newborn baby in! Although Blake hates the sand, the day couldn't have been any better and was the perfect last day for our vacation.

Disney World's Animal Kingdom

A meerkat on watch on top of a termite mound
Safari pictures

playing the drums

This was the coolest tree, it had animal shapes carved into it

Our day at Animal Kingdom was a hot one! We were really looking forward to going on the safari ride and it turned out to be just as neat as we anticipated. Being so close to the animals with nothing separating you from them was very cool and we were able to see so many animals! We did take the boys on a water ride (Luke barely made the height requirement) that they were excited to go on. However, once we got wet, Luke cried the rest of the time, oh well, the 3 of us had fun!

I was so impressed with this park. I loved the jungle feel that the park presented, it is going to be a let down when we go to Brookfield Zoo after this trip! The last picture is from the parade. It was so awesome. Unfortunately, I can't upload any video for some reason right now, I'll add some soon!

Sea World

Waiting for the dolphin show to begin

Our second day in Florida, we went to Sea World. Years ago Blake and I went to Sea World in California and loved it so we wanted to go back with the boys so they could share in the excitement. We saw a lot of great attractions like the dolphin show, sea lion show, sting rays, sharks, alligators, and penguins but our favorite was the Shamu show.

We made the decision to sit in the "splash zone" because we thought it would be great to see the whales up close as well as to cool off, we were hot. The show itself was amazing, it is so neat to see these massive animals up close. However, when it came time to the splashing, Luke didn't think it was so great. In fact, he screamed and cried so much that he actually made footage on the parks big screen, what fun, huh? In all, Sea World turned out to be a great day together!

Lake Buena Vista Resort

Kitchen & dining area
Family room (with all of our stuff in it!)

The boys bedroom

Our bathroom

Our bedroom

The pool~what an awesome pirate ship, there was a water slide inside that Chase went down!

The day we arrived in Disney, we figured it was too late to head out to a park so we went down to the pool, which ended up being an almost everyday occurrence! At first both boys were very hesitant in the water but once they got comfortable with the surroundings, they had a blast. Chase turned from a nervous little guy around the water to a boy with confidence, he spent a lot of time swimming under the water. Jumping off of the side of the pool was the favorite thing for them to do, as well as "go in the hot pool", the hot tub. I think every single night we heard Chase say, "Can we go to the pool tonight? Please?" :)

Disney World's Magic Kingdom

Shooting lasers on the Buzz Lightyear Ride, we rode this ride twice because

it was a lot of fun for both boys, as well as us!!

On the boat, ready to go see "A Small World"

3D Glasses to see the Mickey's Phil-harmagic Show.

The show was awesome, although it was our first clue that Luke wasn't going

to do well in these types of shows because it is truly a 4D show, because when

there is water on screen, you get wet. Blake & I loved it!

Cinderella's Carousel

Blake & Chase flying on Dumbo

At this point in the day, both boys were very grumpy, but of course,

neither one would pose with him so I was their stand in, I mimicked them pretty good!

Waiting for the electric light parade to begin!

We loved the parade but Luke is so sensitive to noise, he looked like this through pretty much the entire parade and several other times throughout our trip!

One of my favorite shots



The parade during the day which got the boys so excited because we were able to see so many of their favorite characters, they had no idea what a treat they were in for!


The electric light parade at night is my favorite things about the Magic Kingdom.

Watch this for video for no other reason than to see Luke's reaction the the Captain Hook & Peter Pan float, remember the noise sensitivity is huge with him!

With our first full day at Disney ahead of us, we decided to head straight to Magic Kingdom. We received lots of advice from friends that had been there before so we had an action plan, first stop, the Buzz Lightyear Ride. After that, we realized when trying to go onto another ride that Luke wasn't quite 40 inches so that meant that he would be limited to a lot of the rides in the park, which in the end, wasn't a big deal because he was too scared of most of them anyway!

We made our way through the park, riding on all of the traditional kid rides (Peter Pan, Winnie the Pooh, Dumbo, etc.) and saw our favorite Disney characters. With the head rising, we decided to head back to the hotel for naps so that we would make it for that evenings parade and fireworks.

When we returned, we found a great spot for the parade and met some fun people waiting for the parade to begin. The boys were in awe of the parade lights, it truly is a "magical" experience. We made an effort to stay and watch the fireworks at Cinderella's Castle but with Luke's fear of the sound, it was just too much for him. The day at Magic Kingdom was a perfect one!