The Calkins Family is Back Together!

So the trip to pick up the girls was a big success and we are all now back under the same roof.  And I then immediately went into a week of leave which allowed us plenty of time to reconnect; it was not really necessary though, because apparently, they really missed their Dad over the summer.

They missed the trampoline too
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New Year’s at Great Wolf Lodge

I have never been a big New Year’s Eve person, as drinking and dancing are not particularly my idea of a good time.  But magic, miniature golfing, and waterparks… yes, please.  Coming off a great Christmas with the grandparents, the girls and I headed up to Scottsdale to spend our New Year’s holiday at Great Wolf Lodge.

“Howl if you are ready for New Year’s!”
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Walt Disney World – Return Trip

While our time visiting the Walt Disney World (WDW) parks was over, we still had a half-day at the resort and then the flight home.  As I stated before, I wish I had planned for a day in the middle of our vacation to just enjoy the resort, so we spent the last day at WDW trying to squeeze in as much fun as possible.  While tired yet happy, we just did not want our vacation to end until we arrived back at our house.

All packed up and ready to go!
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Walt Disney World – Day Four (Magic Kingdom)

So we finally made it to Day Four of our Walt Disney World (WDW) vacation (thanks for sticking with us), with the Magic Kingdom batting cleanup.  This was definitely the grand finale, as the girls were not only going to meet their favorite Disney princesses in their respective dresses, but also dine at Cinderella’s Royal Table in her castle (which the girls labelled, “The Princess Dinner,” even though it was technically for lunch).  This was set-up as our best day of the trip and it did not disappoint in the least.

True Story: It took them ten minutes to sit still for this picture.
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Walt Disney World – Day Three (Animal Kingdom)

With two parks down and two to go, our Walt Disney World (WDW) vacation was halfway over.  But it was far from the end and we were going to keep up the pace until  we got on the flight home.  Day Three was Gabriella’s pick and she chose to go to Disney’s Animal Kingdom.  She is a huge animal lover and her perfect day back home is going to either the Reid Park Zoo in Tucson or the OdySea Aquarium in Scottsdale (at age three, without any pressure or influence from me, she wants to be either a veterinarian or a dolphin trainer).

Grab your popcorn and get your paint on.  The post is about to begin.
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Walt Disney World – Day Two (Hollywood Studios)

With one full day already in the books, the Calkins Family decided that Hollywood Studios was going to be the next park at Walt Disney World (WDW) that we were going to attend (which we actually decided weeks before so that we could lock in our FastPasses).  While the girls were extremely excited about the prospect of seeing Woody and Buzz Lightyear, I was looking forward to seeing if Gabriella grew in the past week (or if the sign was a tad short) so that she could ride Star Tours.  Either way, this was going to be another amazing day on our family vacation.

Or as Dad calls it, “The Star Wars Park.”
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Walt Disney World – Day One (Epcot)

After arriving the previous day, the Calkins Family was going to spend their first full day at Walt Disney World (WDW) at Epcot.  I gave the girls the option of where to go first, and since the best way that I could describe the park was “like a giant children’s museum that has Anna and Elsa,” they obviously wanted to go there first.

Definitely the “Happiest Place on Earth” if it gets them to stop fighting and just hug each other every now and then
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Walt Disney World – Preparation and Travel

After the New Year, the Calkins Family embarked on our much-anticipated vacation to Walt Disney World.  Resort reservations made.  Tickets purchased.  Bags packed.  And Disney movies watched again and again.  After months of preparing the girls for this trip, we set off from Fort Huachuca late at night so that we could catch our early morning flight to Orlando.

“Hurry up, Dad! Disney World is waiting for us!”
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Off to Walt Disney World

The girls are back home in Arizona and we are headed off to our next adventure at Walt Disney World today.  I will certainly post about our WDW experience when we get back.  I also have a follow-up holiday article coming up, as well as articles on how to manage (fix? not destroy?) little girls’ hair, organizing for toddlers, and travelling with little ones.

Walt Disney World is gonna rock!

I hope you are all having a great 2019 and we will be back in a week!

Cheers!