Hi! I thought I'd set a new record and NOT wait 6 months to post vacation pictures! :) We made our first trip as a family to Disney World May 11-18.
Camden's Mimi & GaGa (Renee's parents) went with us too which was a huge help in keeping up with an adventurous 5 year old!
We flew out of Huntsville on Mother's Day, and we spent that Sunday evening at Downtown Disney. We did 6 Park Hopper Days and didn't see everything! My, what a huge place! If you are thinking about going anytime soon, may I suggest that we were really glad we waited to take Camden when he was old enough to not require naps and tall enough to ride almost all the rides. You have to be 42 inches to ride most rides there, and he was 43. We saw so many smaller kids crying because they couldn't ride many of the rides they saw. We were glad to not have to fight that battle! We stayed at the Pop Century Resort, and we used all their transportation to/from airport and to/from parks. We did save money using the Basic Dining plan too. We enjoyed all the major theme parks cram packed full of fun with character meals, thrill rides, and shows. We definitely learned what to do and what not to waste time or money on.
Camden wanted to ride ALL the rides, even the scary ones! Here's proof that my brave little boy inspired his Mommy to go on Splash Mountain at night despite the fact that I had already decided that the first time I went (in the daytime) that I didn't have to do that anymore! I wouldn't have even done it in the first place except that I don't want to instill fears in my child that keep me from being "the fun one." I want him to be brave enough to conquer obstacles and only fear (respect) those things that he should (God, touching a hot stove, getting squished by a car, etc). 
Eric and I celebrated our 10th Wedding Anniversary on Friday, May 16. We spent our anniversary at Animal Kingdom riding the Kali River Rapids over and over until evening. Then, it was time to attend Mickey's Pirate & Princess Party at Magic Kingdom. Eric had gotten me a ring for our anniversary back in November while we were in St. Thomas, USVI. It's beautiful. I had gotten him an iPod. However, that night, I was his princess, and he bought me my very first tiara. It even lights up! Ok, so it's plastic and has Disney characters on it, but it was nice to feel like a princess instead of a slave to laundry and dishes for a change!
Camden was actually 4 years old for most of the trip...he turned 5 at Disney World on Saturday, May 17. He had a good birthday breakfast with Lilo & Stitch, Mickey & Pluto, and family at Ohana's at the Polynesian Resort (Mickey & Camden pictured above on his birthday). We went back to Hollywood Studios to do some things we missed the first time like the Playhouse Disney area where Daddy got a good shot of Mommy & Camden together getting ready to watch the show!
We also revisited Epcot to ride the "Soarin'" ride one more time. That night, we had supper at the Garden Grill at Epcot with Mickey, Pluto, Chip, Dale, and our family. It was really good food. The restaurant slowly turned as you ate, but don't let that reel you into eating there. There's not much to see. However, the food was great, and it is a good character meal. Camden had a great birthday.
It seemed like a good idea at the time of booking the trip to leave early to come home so as to have time to rest at home before going back to the normal workweek on Monday. My mind wasn't processing that catching a 8 am flight out of Orlando would translate to having to have luggage at the bus by 4:30 am. It was nice to have time at home, but I think we will spend more of the day sleeping and at Downtown Disney before catching our flight home next time. Oh the joy of learning from experience!
