Summer Extravaganza!
The Most Magical Place on Earth...
Now that the kids are back in school and on a routine, I have time to document some of our monumental summer trips. Only the European mind can comprehend that Mrs. Cinnamon Bun took more than three weeks of vacation. I must say, you should give it a try when you have a chance. The level of relaxation was just phenomenal. But I digress. Our summer travels aimed to celebrate Mrs. CB’s mom, who turned 80 this year! We decided to maximize the trip by going on a Disney cruise and visiting Disney World. We herniated over the planning. Should we go after the family celebration? Before? Drive, fly, trust our fate to the whims of Uber? After all the cogitating, I think we landed on the perfect trip.
First Stop: Disney World!
I highly recommend recovering from jet lag in Disney World. You don’t care how tired you are; there is something to do at any time of the day or night, and getting up super early in Disney World means shorter lines. Although we were only there for two days, we covered a lot of ground. We stayed at the Grand Floridian. A fantastic resort that I would highly recommend:
The hotel sported a fantastic pool and play area. We used it during the day since it was July in Florida, and coming home mid-day was a nice break from the heat. We spent lots of time in the Magic Kingdom! Here we are, feeling Magical:
We were at Disney over the Fourth of July, so the fireworks were extra special.
See, we never even felt jet lag—the perfect solution. We also enjoyed some great food. We ate at the California Grill at the Contemporary Hotel, reliving our previous life in San Jose. We enjoyed a wonderful “character breakfast” and, of course, some frozen treats to keep us cool!
It was a quick trip to Disney World, but we packed a lot in! I’m sure we will be back in the not-too-distant future!
Adventure on a Disney Cruise!
We were firmly in the correct time zone, and our next adventure was a Disney Cruise! We departed from Port Canaveral, which is a short drive from Orlando:
I have not been on many cruises, but a Disney cruise is a unique experience. Disney does its usual job of excellent crowd control. But what made the experience so special was the family-friendly activities aboard the ship. One of our favorites was bingo! Yes, bingo. A comedian hosted it, and it was one of the Cinnamon Sticks’ favorite events. Here we are enjoying some wholesome bingo:
We saw many Broadway-style shows, including Alladin, a street magician, and a junkyard percussion band. We saw something almost every night. The food was fantastic, and gave the girls many occasions to dress up:
They had a Pirates of the Caribbean-themed dance party one night, with fireworks, of course:
The staff was charming and left us little decorations made out of towels and blankets. Here is one of the favorites:
The ship docked at several ports of call. Our favorite was the island owned by Disney called Castaway Cay. Both of the Cinnamon Sticks managed to get their hair braided, even our youngest, who sported a pixie cut:
The girls even completed a 5K on the island!
All too soon, it was over! It's time to move on to our next adventure. I’m sure we will be back…
The Grand Finale: St. George Island!
At long last, we reached the final stop on our journey. The lovely St. George Island! We were there to celebrate “Grammy” Cinnamon Bun and her 80th birthday. They rented a lovely beach house for the whole extended family. Of course, the entire week was fun; it was a fabulous time on a lovely beach:
We spent lots of time on the beach.
And celebrating Grammy!
One of the highlights was Grammy’s birthday dinner. Chef Ian came and created a fabulous feast for the whole family!
It was lovely spending a whole week with family. We all thoroughly enjoyed our trip and celebrating Grammy’s birthday!
Too soon, the week was over. It was an epic trip for the Cinnamon Buns!
We loved our time in Florida. Hopefully, we will be back again soon! For now, it was time to go home! Welcome back to Sweden!
To be continued…