M-I-C...K-E-Y M-O-U-S-E!

Sorry it has been almost 3 months since I've last posted...time really does fly! We've had a busy past few months with work and Chris' soccer season is now in full-force. We were able to squeeze in a trip to Orlando for spring break to go play with Angela and Kyle and hit the parks! Here's a little recap of our wonderful trip!

We flew Allegiant from Knoxvegas to Orlando, and I have to say this is the airline to use for travel to Florida! We paid close to $300 for both of our tickets, round-trip, with one checked bag, and the best part is it was a direct flight! We left here around 11:40 on tuesday and were in florida by 1:00! Angela picked us up from the airport and gave us a quick "tour" of the main roads we needed to know and we dropped her back off at work and then went to their house to unload. Chris and I headed out to the H&M (one of my favorite stores) since we don't have one close at all to home! We did some shopping and we each got some new shirts and I got a dress too! We headed back to Kyle and Angela's and decided to go out to eat...we ate at this place called Seasons 52 (http://www.seasons52.com/) where I had a yummy chipolte shrimp flatbread. Oh i love seafood, especially when I know it's fresh! The best part about this restaurant is while the menu and food are classy and chic, every item on the menu has under 575 calories. I think that's pretty cool! =) After dinner we wanted to try this place called Jeremiah's (Kyle and Angela love it) that mixes gelato and frozen yogurt together. Oh my gosh this stuff is so good! I got the mint chocolate chip gelato with chocolate yogurt...yum!!! If you're ever in the Orlando area you have to look one up and go try it! During our 5 day stay, we went 3 times! Ha!

Wednesday was Animal Kingdom day for Chris and I. I had a blast at all the parks we went to but I have to say AK was my favorite day! We followed the "Unofficial Guide to Disney World 2010" book very closely and stayed "on schedule" with the order it has you visit the rides and attractions. This made our day work like clockwork and we got to see everything we wanted to and still finished by 4 or so! Our day started early and we were at the park by 8:15 or so, although it didn't open until 9. We had to get our tickets at will-call and I think they opened the park early. That previous Friday was Chris' birthday so I had (i.e. made) him get the "happy birthday" button to wear for the day! It was funny because every employee would yell out happy birthday chris! It was great!! I enjoyed all the animals that we saw and even got up the nerve to ride the big rollercoaster the Kilamanjarro Express! I even had Chris take my picture by the ride I was so proud I rode it! We would have rode it again but the fastpasses were out and the wait was too long when we were done for the day! We then ventured down to Downtown Disney and went to the largest Disney store and each got a shirt and some other goodies for ourselves and for friends too! Since it was St patty's day, we were dressed in our green and ended up meeting Kyle and Angela at an Irish bar in downtown disney. It was fun but we were tired so headed back to their house and grilled burgers for dinner!

Thursday was our day at Magic Kingdom. The park opened at 9 but the book said to get there early because it takes time to park, ride the trolley to the ticket/metro station, then ride the monorail into the park. Well we parked at the ticket station and hopped right on a bus to the park so we were there by 8. We knew the park opened early for those staying in the park and figured we'd go on in and wait to be allowed to go to the different areas. Well once we got in and took a few pics, we realized we could go on to the rides! We went to space mountain first and got our fastpasses and then followed the order of rides listed in the book. We did the Mad Tea Party, and all the other (smaller) kid rides before they got full of strollers and such! Chris loves the It's a Small World ride, and we got to sit at the front of the boat...he took a gazillion pictures inside. It was kinda funny! We did space mountain and the other rollercoaster at MK and enjoyed the other rides, shows, parades, and shopping. They had a Christmas store where we got an ornament for the tree! We both really enjoyed the Philharmagic 3D show too, that was the last thing we did for the day and it was a great way to end a (long!) day at MK. The parade and fireworks show started at 9 and 10:00 (respectively) and we planned to grab dinner and head back for those. We found a Bahama Breeze which is one of my all-time favorite restaurants very close to the park area. We got in fairly quickly and enjoyed some adult beverages and their yummy Cuban bread while waiting on dinner. I got a jerk-tilapia dinner and chris got a pan-seared salmon dinner. Oh it was so good! Needless to say, we were both really tired from the day and stuff to the max after such a great dinner at it was only 8:00 so we decided to head back home...and luckily we did bc it started to sprinkle on our way back! We played rock band with kyle and angela and i sang, alot!!

Friday we went to New Smyrna beach with Angela as she got to take the day off and play with us! We beached from about 10-3 and ate lunch at a local dive. It was a cute little area and it was interesting because in that county you can park your car on the beach! It was weird! But it ended up being good because while it was warm, there was lots of wind so the car blocked the wind so we could relax and tan! We drove back to Orlando, cleaned up, met Kyle, and went outlet shopping. Chris and I both got some good deals and I got mom a coach purse. It was a successful trip! And a great day to relax after being up so early for the park days!

Saturday the four of us headed off to Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure. I think this was Chris' favorite day because he likes to do all those crazy, fast roller-coasters. I like roller coasters, but not so much those! Universal has a few big crazy ones but also some more my speed. We had a great day and it was warm and sunny and wasn't as crowded as I thought it would have been...less strollers because I guess families are more at Disney than Universal. We went to both parks and finished up around 5 or so and went to Margaritaville for some boat drinks before checking out their store and heading back home. We did get to see the new Harry Potter area they are building, wish it was open but that just means we'll have to go back!! =)

Sunday we had to be at the airport kinda early to catch our 9:00 AM flight home...we were sad to go but at least we got home with time to get stuff done before the work week started back up! We had an absolute blast with the Paynes and can't thank them enough for their hospitality and sharing their home and city with us! We can't wait to go back one day...although it will (hopefully) be with kids!! The rest of our pics can be seen on facebook or clicking on the "favorite pics" up top which takes you to my online albums on picasa. Enjoy!